Page 12 of Blood Ties
That wasn’t news to me, even though I hadn’t experienced it. I had heard it described as being blind when they were human and vampirism gave them sight for the first time.
After a few trips out on the city streets, I started taking him into public places. We went to lunch at one of the restaurants that Grayson owned. Out in the open, walking through the city was an entirely different than being in an enclosed in space where the smell of blood was so much more alluring. Being one of Grayson’s restaurants meant that if something did occur, finding a safe place for him to work through it would be a lot easier than somewhere else.
I noticed his expression shift as soon as we entered the building. His eyes widened in fear.
“If it’s too much, we can go and try again another time.”
Grayson shook his head no. “If I can’t work through this now then how will I be able to handle work? It won’t be safe for me to return.”
I exhaled a knowing sigh. I had been worried that he hadn’t really thought the whole situation through, that he was in such a rush to return to what had been normal for him, but I had been underestimating his thought process a lot lately. It was something I needed to remedy. With my hand resting on his elbow, I nodded as we continued into the restaurant.
“Mr. Alexander. Your regular table, I assume?” The hostess asked.
Grayson didn’t answer, so I chimed in. “That would be wonderful. Thank you.” She looked startled by my voice almost as if she hadn’t even realized I was standing there. I was becoming more and more use to the notion that when I was in Grayson’s presence I would be invisible to everyone else. I was okay with that because in a room full of people, I was the one to grab Grayson’s eye.
“Of course. Right this way.”
When we were seated the waiter immediately appeared. “What may I get you to drink?”
“We’re ready to order,” Grayson interjected, snapping out of his momentary coma.
“Of course, Mr. Alexander.”
Grayson looked at me and I could see a hint of remembrance lingering in his eyes. “I want a steak. Blue rare. And I mean rare-rare. No sides. Largest you have.” He ordered never pulling his gaze away.
“And you, Miss?”
I let a smile creep on my face. “I’ll take the same and two glasses of the house wine.” I handed him my menu. When the waiter left, I spoke. “It’ll help. I promise.”
“It just occurred to me why you ordered what you did the night of our second date.” I nodded remembering that night all too well. “I thought it was odd, but now I know. You werethirsty,” he whispered the last word.
“I was having blood lust,” I corrected. “Even the most experienced of us have it, if only every once in a while. You’re doing great though. The fact that you knew you couldn’t have what you reallyneeded, so you ordered the second best thing.”
“Well I could have what I reallywanted,but that would mean both of us heading towards the back office, which might look a little suspicious to the other patrons,” he divulged with a wicked gleam. I grinned from ear to ear looking like the freaking Cheshire cat at his comment. His smile faltered. “It’s strange. I can hear everything, even though I’m trying to block it out. Every single person’s heartbeat, their breathing. It’s overwhelming.” I wanted to help him. Blood would help, but sneaking off wasn’t the answer here. This was about Grayson gaining control. I just felt powerless and I hated it. I did my best to educate him the way a sire should.
I nodded. “It is. You have to focus on something. The ticks of the clock or one person’s heart. Single in on one thing,” I suggested then leaned across the table and grabbed his hand. I placed it on my wrist until his fingers fit over my pulse. “Listen to my heart. Feel it beating? Listen to the sound of blood pumping through me.” I could see some of the tension start to leave him. “Better?” He nodded. “Once you feed, it will ease and you won’t have to try so hard.”
“Promise?” He seemed nervous.
“I promise.” And it did. From the first bite of steak, I saw Grayson visibly relax.
“It’s not enough, but it does help.”
“I know, Grayson.” I closed my eyes letting the guilt overtake me. “I’m sorry this happened to you.”
“We’ve been over this baby.” He reached across the table covering my hand with his. “I wanted this.” I kept my eyes down. “Gabriella,” he demanded. It was the authoritative voice that I knew meant business. I looked up at him hesitantly. “I wanted this. Do you understand me? I. Wanted. This.” I nodded. “Now, no more with the apologies, alright?”
“Okay. I’m sorry.” Grayson raised his eyebrow at me. I giggled and he chuckled in response.
The rest of the week went similar. Grayson had times he struggled, but nothing compared to what a newbie should be going through. His struggle was similar to my daily one. It was impressive.
I wished to wait longer before he returned to work, but with no other reason besides just wanting to, Grayson wasn’t hearing it.
So Monday came as an unwelcome occurrence. Every night since his transition we had lost ourselves in each other. After our brush with death, we both had feared we might lose the other, and we wished to cherish the other as much as possible. Since Grayson was now a vampire, we always concluded our love making with the exchange of blood.
Drinking from each other wasn’t enough to sustain us indefinitely. It was like water in a puddle; it’d eventually evaporate without having more supplied. Blood was the same. Our bodies would use the blood, absorbing what was there. So a diet rich in human blood was the only thing that could fully sustain us long term. With the help of my mother, the arrangements were made to have the blood bank drop off a weekly supply to our apartment every Sunday as well. It would be nothing nearly as extravagant as what the nest received just a small cooler that was delivered to our door was enough.
When Grayson left for work on Monday, I made sure to hand him a thermos filled with blood. He had a mini fridge and a microwave in his office so he would have no problem preparing it. I suggested pouring it into a cup with a lid and locking his door before he fed.
