Page 43 of Loving A Vampire Is Total Chaos

Her hair tickles my face when I lean in and whisper in her ear, “When I officially make you mine, it’ll be on a lush bed and not on hard glass. You deserve more.” Her eyes soften at my explanation, and I place a soft kiss on her brow letting my lips linger. “Come on, I made crème brûlée.”

“Is there anything you can’t do?”

“I’m shit at patience.” The irony isn’t lost on me what with how long I’ve been alive.

Her eyes sparkle with humor. “I could’ve told you that.”

When I place the blanket down once more, carefully avoiding any fire hazards, I sit and she settles beside me, close enough that both our legs are touching.

Celine’s dead set on torturing me by being this close.

“We could have this for dessert instead?” I hold up the bag of gummy bears I stashed away.

Celine gasps and makes grabby hands.

“How’d you know I like gummy bears?” She wastes no time digging into them. “Never mind, with you I don’t even want to know.”

I chuckle and go about my task while she eats her dessert appetizer.

I grab a ramekin out of the basket where it sits on ice packs. A small butane torch is tucked away, and she reaches for it which makes her scent even stronger than before.

Fangboner incoming.

“Celine.” A growl sounds in my throat. “Unless you want me to cover your neck in my marks and spank your ass raw, you’ll sit still.” The gasp she lets out is telling, and I know if we were at the point where I could slip my fingers into her panties I’d find her fucking soaked for me.

I need to be on my best behavior. I don’t want to take Celine to bed until I tell her we’re mates and what I am. It feels wrong to take that step with her without her knowing the full extent of our connection. I might be a lot of things; killer, stalker, psychopath—but I won’t take advantage of my mate like that.

I torch the sugar covered top of the dessert. Once it’s caramelized to perfection we dig in and the gummy bears areforgotten. Celine taps on the top a couple times before giving it a firm crack to splinter it so there’s a bit in each bite of cream.

Small noises of appreciation come from her, and I soak it all in. How I’m sitting here with my mate, my human mate no less, I’ll never understand. I’d long given up on meeting my other half and figured I was unworthy with the blood I had on my hands. Killing vermin who deserved it aside, I had innocent blood staining my soul as well. Fledglings struggle with their hunger and mine was hard to keep in check for a while.

“This is delicious. Whenever I’ve tried to make crème brûlée in the past I either scramble the egg or end up warming the cream underneath too much and ruin the sugar.” Her pink tongue flicks out to get the remnants of the dessert off her spoon. “You’ll have to teach me your secrets.”

Celine lets out a startled cry when I gently bite down on her earlobe. “You just want me for my crème brûlée.” The temptation to break skin is dangerous but I can’t seem to keep my fangs off her. The need to claim her is nearly all-consuming, but I won’t do it. Not yet.

She swats at me and rolls her eyes. “Yes, you’ve found me out. Once I get the technique down, I’ll toss you to the curb because you’ll be of no more use to me.”

Rain still pounds on the glass and a particularly aggressive strike of lightning illuminates her blushing cheeks.

“On the contrary, I think you’ll find me very useful. In more ways than one.” The last part I whisper and she shivers.

Her cheek brushes mine as she turns to me and just when I think her lips will be on mine once more the shrill cry of her phone ringing ruins the moment. Her eyebrows furrow when she sees the name on the screen and quickly answers.

“Captain Barnes?” After a few seconds she jumps up to stand. Her bootsteps echo on the floor as she paces nervously. “What? Just mine? Fuck.”

A vampire’s hearing is stronger than that of a human, so it’s not hard to listen in on the conversation. I don’t want to invade her privacy, but I have to know what has her so stressed. I need to know if I can fix it.

“From what we can tell nothing’s been stolen but you might want to get here as soon as possible.”

“Oh my gosh, Midnight!” Celine turns to look at me, eyes wide with fear. “Is he okay?” Tears well in her eyes and I rush over to grab her hand in silent support. She squeezes mine but lets go much too quickly for my liking.

“Yes, he’s fine, don’t worry.” Just then a telltale meow echoes through the phone line and Celine visibly deflates like all she needed was the meow of confirmation. Her valuables could’ve been taken, but of course with her soft heart she’s more concerned about the cat.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can. Thanks, Captain.” With an abrupt sign off they both hang up and she pockets her phone.

“What’s going on? Everything okay?” I play dumb.

“Apparently some psycho broke into my apartment.” Celine starts to gather up her things. “I’m sorry to cut our date short, but I really need to get back to survey the damage and talk to the officers.” Her eyes dart around the room realizing how much is left on the floor. “Shit, I should help you clean this up.” The genuine upset in her tone while she debates between staying to help me and getting back to her broken in apartment makes me smile internally.

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