Page 7 of Finding Our Home

Dorian cupped my jaw and turned my chin to face him, then he leaned in and kissed my lips softly. “After I wash, we need to head back, but I’d like to show you where my room is in case you want to return tomorrow night.”

“Do you want me to?”

“Very much.”

“Then I’ll come back.”

“Good.” He blew out a relieved breath, then started washing himself.

“I can do that.”

He shook his head with a smile. “I like seeing you relaxed and cared for.”

I blinked at him.Is he serious?

Chapter Four

Dorian

Once I cleaned myself off, I wrung out the washcloth and stepped out of the pool. Grabbing a towel, I made my way back over to the chest to return the soap, then I laid the washcloth on top of it to dry.

Holding out my hand to Neo, I pulled him out of the pool and wrapped him in the other towel to keep him warm and dry him off.

Taking care of my lover to this extent wasn’t something I typically did. I wasn’t cruel, but I didn’t go around bathing them, either. Something inside of me was telling me to care for him. It was rooted deep within me, and after hearing my chest rumble the way it did, I was pretty sure I knew what.

But that wasn’t something you brought up only hours after meeting. Especially not to a human that had no idea about my world.

“My blood should help keep you warm,” I told him after I’d dried him off and he was dressing. “But tell me if you get cold on the way back, okay?”

He looked at me like I was crazy, but he nodded.

Once we were both dressed, I kissed his lips and grabbed his hand to lead him back to the castle where all of us in Dregan’s den slept. It was baffling that I technically lived in a castle now considering I’d lived underground for about fifty years before we’d escaped to this island. Not that the castle really looked like a castle anymore seeing how old it was, but we were working on rebuilding it. Our den was large and we needed to stay close together, so it was the best choice for us. The shifters had one corner of the castle so Dregan and his True Mate, Christopher,could stay near both their people. But the rest of us tended to steer clear of them.

We passed the other hot springs, and they were empty since it was so close to dawn. We walked beside one another, and this sense of contentment filled me, and I knew without a shadow of a doubt that Neo was meant to be in my life.

Now I just had to find a way to keep him.

But not today. Today, he needed time to process being fed from for the first time, and I knew that Remi and the other bestowers would want to fuss over him and make sure he was okay. I could tell that Remi had taken a liking to him, and even though Remi hadn’t been a bestower very long, the other humans looked up to him. Plus, Neo hadn’t eaten anything all night.Shit. Maybe I should’ve gotten him food.

As much as I wanted to ask him to come to bed with me, it wasn’t right to take that time with the others away from him.

“I’ll be sure to have food brought to my quarters tomorrow night for you,” I said as we approached the castle.

“Oh, um… thank you.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t think to bring any with us. You’re probably famished. I have water in my room, so when we get there, I can give you that, at least.”

“That would be great, thank you. I’m a little hungry, but I’m not starving or anything.” He sent me a small smile that made my dead heart flip.

And I couldn’t help it. I had to taste his lips right that second.

So I did.

Pulling him to a stop, I cupped his cheek with my free hand and slowly kissed him, savoring the flavor. I could taste myself on him, I could smell myself on him, and that made the beast inside me more content than ever.

When I pulled away, he smiled at me, so I smiled back, then tugged him inside the building and away from the rising sun. There were lanterns lit in the halls to light the way for the humans that lived with us. As a vampire, I could see in the dark, but it was nice having a little light. We’d bricked up the widows on the lower levels of the castle so there was no chance of anyone getting hurt from the sun.

I stopped at my door and unlocked it before lighting a sconce on the wall with one of the torches in the hall, and once I returned it, I fixed Neo a glass of water. There was an old armchair in the corner, plus my bed and a dresser, but not room for much more than that. Neo sat in the armchair, so I claimed the bed, even though I wanted to pull him close to me.

---