Page 33 of Love Bites
"Yeah, maybe," I agreed, because he was right. If I was smarter, I wouldn't have been standing there waiting for the sunrise side by side with a vampire. But I dug my hands in my pockets and stayed where I was, because it was where I wanted to be.
For a long time, Talon didn't say anything. Then, "I didn't kill anyone tonight."
I glanced at him, but it was still too dark for me to make out his features. "Because you weren't ordered to?"
"Because it wasn't necessary."
"When is it necessary?"
Another period of silence. In the distance, the sky was starting to light up, the stars fading as black turned to grey. Soon, the first rays of dawn would make it across the horizon, waking the city from its slumber. I looked at Talon again, not ready to let this night come to an end without getting anything out of him. I wasn't even sure what exactly it was that I wanted, but something. He couldn't keep the tough-guy act up forever. I knew there was an actual human beneath his cold exterior. I could sense it.
Streaks of pale pink crept over the horizon to color the sky.
This was it. The break of a new day. It was morning, and in a little while, Talon would send me home and expect me not to come looking for him again.
The feeling of deja-vu was almost overpowering.
Because it had happened before, hadn't it? Even if I couldn't remember it. I wasn't going to let it happen again. At least not without a fight.
On an impulse, I grabbed Talon's hand. His skin felt cool. His gaze shot down to where we touched, then to my face.
"Be honest with me," I said before he could do or say anything. "Did anything happen between us before you erased my memories?"
He opened his mouth, but I didn't wait for what he was going to say. I already knew he was going to lie, anyway. There was only one way for me to find out if any of the things I'd seen in my dreams had happened in real life. I tugged on his hand to draw him toward me and kissed him. I'd remember the taste of his lips, right? If I'd tasted them before. I'd be able to tell if they felt the same way they felt in my dreams.
And just like that time in the bar when I'd tried to remember his name, somethingflashedin my mind, as if several lightbulbs all came on at the same time and then burned through just as quick. This, Talon and me kissing, this was related to a memory I'd lost.
Of course it was. I couldn't imagine a version of myself that wouldn't have caved and kissed the vampire. He might have been scary but he was also sexy as hell, in a way that made all my blood rush to my groin while my mind was still debating whether I wanted to be kissed or bitten or fucked.
"You can't fool me," I said, breaking away from Talon to be able to speak. Nevertheless I still kept my eyes on his and my grip on his hand. I wasn't going to let him pull the same shit on me that he did last time. No more lost memories.
"This changes nothing," Talon said. "You shouldn't get attached. It's far too dangerous."
"Apparently I'm in danger just by being alive," I countered.
"You'll be fine as long as you keep your head low. I've seen the protective measures around your family's house. Your father spent a lot of time trying to keep you safe. Do you want all that work to have been in vein?"
"I can't always honor my dad's wishes." My tone turned sharp. "He wanted me to be straight too, but guess what, I'm not." If I were, I wouldn't be tightening my fingers around Talon's wrist. I wouldn't be picturing him and me in bed together, his dick driving into me and making cum spurt out my own cock. I wouldn't be putting myself in danger just to feel his arms hold me after. Because he was right. It was insane of me to want to be with him even knowing that he was a vampire, a killer.
But I couldn't fucking help it. Now that I'd found the man of my dreams, I'd rather be in danger than be made to forget him again.
Talon sighed. "I should alter your memory of me."
"Don't you dare!"
A ray of pink light fell on Talon's face, softening the vampire’s features as the loft around us brightened with the arrival of the morning sun, and then a whirring sound came from the window and the room fell dark again almost instantly. I blinked, disoriented and unable to see. Talon used my moment of confusion to draw his hand out of my grip and then he moved, I wasn't sure where, he was too quick. Damn vampire.
"Automatic blinds," he said, his voice coming from somewhere to my right. "They have sensors to activate with the sunrise."
"Does the sunlight hurt you?" I tried to remember what Dad had told me about vampires and sunlight, but was too distracted to recall much.
"Let's just say it's not pleasant." Suddenly, he was right behind me. His arms encircled my waist and I very nearly leaned in to the touch, but I'd told him that he wasn't going to fool me.
"How did you take my memories? Do you need to bite me?" I kind of wish my voice hadn't trembled there, betraying my nerves. The worst part was that I didn't even know if it was excitement of fear that had me so riled up.
"I'm not going to bite you unless you ask me to."
That wasn't answering my question, but I never got around to complaining before I felt the vampires tongue on my neck and something in me screamed for him to sink his fangs into my skin. And then his teeth scraped my neck. Not a bite, not even close, but I moaned. I couldn't make sense of my body's reactions, but I couldn't fight them either.
