“Brennan,” Cole interrupted.
Brennan opened his eyes. Cole was close, one hand latched on to the edge of the pool, the other clinging to Brennan. He squinted, but his eyes must have been adjusting, because he almost caught Brennan’s eye.
“Yeah?” Brennan asked, his voice coming out deep enough to surprise even himself, and Cole’s eyes darkened, or maybe Brennan’s night vision wasn’t reliable and he was thinking wishfully.
“Can you see in the dark?” Cole asked. He unwound their fingers and slid his hand up Brennan’s arm, over his shoulder, up to the back of his neck. Thank god they were submerged in water, because Brennan felt like he was on fire.
“Um, yeah,” Brennan managed.
“Good. I’m afraid if I try to kiss you, I’ll miss.”
Brennan’s stomach did a dramatic somersault. He was a computerglitching, data not computing, but there it was: Cole. Wanted. To kiss. Him? The wheels kept turning—
“Do you need me to spell it out for you?”
Cole’s breath was on his face. His brain was slow like molasses, clogged up with processing new information, like, Cole smelled like old coffee and vanilla and chlorine. Like,ColewantedBrennantokisshim.
“Maybe,” Brennan squeaked out.
Cole laughed against Brennan’s cheek, eyes crinkling.
“Good lord, it must be exhausting inside your brain.”
Cole’s nose nudged Brennan’s, finding his way in the dark, pausing in question.
Brennan was overwhelmingly aware of Cole’s pulse—in his throat, in the hand pressed to the back of Brennan’s neck, rippling through Brennan from where their skin touched.
“You have no idea,” Brennan said.
But he wasn’t scared. He was in control. And for the life of him, Brennan couldn’t find a single reason to stop himself from what he wanted to do. He lifted a hand to cup Cole’s cheek, curved their faces together.
The wheels in Brennan’s head stopped spinning.
They met in the middle, soft and sure, and then pulled back, Cole’s breath against his lips, their foreheads touching, and Brennan closed his eyes again, but it was okay, because then Cole was diving back in and they werereallykissing.
The sensory difference of kissing, as a vampire, was the first thing Brennan noticed—because that romance-novel bullshit of tasting things besides morning breath on a kiss was true, and Cole tasted like mocha and ice cream. The smell of Cole’s shampoo mixed with the chlorine was suddenly overwhelming, this close. But he sunk into the soft press of mouths and let himself get lost in it, letting his more human instinct take over and kiss Cole with the thorough attention he deserved.
Cole wrapped his arms like vines around Brennan’s neck and shoulders, pressing forward and pulling Brennan in. Brennan followed gladly, drinking Cole in with his one free hand, cupping his cheek, his jaw, going up into his hair and down his back, wrapping an arm tight around his waist. Cole sighed a dreamy little sound and dropped his head back,Adam’s apple bobbing. Brennan pressed two hard kisses to the skin of Cole’s neck, then another, tasting the salt and chlorine.
And then the sound of Cole’s pulse in his ears, the feel of it rushing under his lips, sent a jolt of something feral through him, the same gut instinct that usually had him lunging after squirrels. He felt his fangs filling his mouth in that familiar, uncomfortable way.
He launched himself away from Cole in a jolt, splashing halfway across the pool, hands covering his mouth to hide his fangs.
Cole looked… like he’d been kissed senseless, frankly, lips red and damp hair sticking out in odd directions. Brennan wasn’t much better.
Then Brennan’s eyes fell to Cole’s neck, where a single dot of blood pearled.
“Oh god. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Cole said, dazed more than anything, but Brennan scanned him for signs of pain.
“You’re bleeding.”
“I’m okay,” Cole said again, daring to creep closer in the water. “Are you?”
“Yeah,” Brennan squeaked. “But maybe we should cool down.”
“Are you thirsty, do you need to go—”
