Page 48 of Love Bites
If I was pregnant, that certainly explained the vomiting, though.
Just thinking that kind of made me want to throw up all over again.
I was going to have to squeeze a baby out of me. Yay me.
For the first time, I thought that maybe I should have listened to Dad when he told me not to sleep with men.
But who was I kidding?
Nothing would have stopped me from jumping Talon.
Absolutely nothing.
Chapter Fifteen
The sound of the blinds opening roused Talon from his slumber. He didn't need to sleep often, but every now and then, it was nice to shut down completely and let his mind do a reboot. Especially after the day he'd had. Once Collin's crisis had been averted, Talon had escorted Luke back home, making him promise that he would redraw the sigils in the office so the family would have a safe room in that house. Luckily, they'd found a page full of warding spells and runes in the old man's journal. Luke wouldn't have to do much more than copy them.
"Are you going to be okay?" Talon had asked him when they'd reached the manor.
"Yeah, I'm just... I'm going to ask my friend to come over and help me, I think." Luke had looked a bit frazzled, but Talon assumed he was going to be all right once the shock of the day wore off. This was important because Collin was going to be unhappy if anything happened to Luke. Talon didn't want Collin to be unhappy. He couldn't say exactly why that was, when he hadn't cared about any human in so long, but he liked the way Collin looked when he smiled.
Absentmindedly, Talon touched the scar that ran down the side of his face. Looking at Collin now as he lay in the bed next to him, still asleep, Talon thought for the first time that, in the name of protecting this mortal, his scars had been worth getting.
It was a troubling thought, because he knew that protecting Collin would likely lead to him collecting more of them. What was more troubling was that this didn't lessen his desire to keep watch over the man who lay so peacefully in his arms. He couldn’t explain his odd attachment to the mortal, but he couldn’t make it go away, either.
They'd both agreed that for now, it would be best for Collin to stay at Talon's place. At least until they'd figured out their next steps. Collin had indicated being tired. Talon had offered him the bed, since he didn't really need it himself. Collin had settled in it, then looked at Talon and asked him to join him.
At first, Talon had assumed that Collin had a very specific activity in mind. One that required both of them to lose their clothes and get intimate with each other. They'd done the first part of that, but then the second part hadn't gone as Talon had pictured. Talon wasn't sure if Collin had changed his mind halfway through because he was tired or if this was what he'd been planning all along, but once Talon had climbed under the covers with him, Collin had turned around to him with a grin on his face, kissed his cheek and said goodnight.
Talon hadn't been sure what to make of that.
Why did Collin want him in the bed when he didn't want todoanything?
He'd been a little tempted to reach for his phone and text Aldrich to ask. For all his goofiness, his coven-brother was often better at interpreting human behavior than Talon was. Mostly due to the fact that Aldrich associated with humans while Talon did his best to keep his distance. Usually.
Then again, Collin wasn't really human, was he? He was unique. He’d cuddled up to Talon as if Talon wasn't a blood-sucking monster who could end his life in an instant if he so chose. "Lay your arm around me," he’d murmured.
"Why?" The question had slipped from Talon's lips before he could stop it. By all rights, Collin should have been mad at him for the mess he'd gotten him into. He shouldn’t have been seeking comfort from a vampire after all that. It was almost as confusing as his own need tooffercomfort to the mortal.
"Just do it," Collin had insisted.
Talon had given in. Honestly, it was almost as hard to say no to Collin as it was to say no to his sire, even though Collin didn't use magic to command him. At least, notthatkind of magic.
Collin had sighed contentedly. "This is nice." He’d sounded like he was almost asleep already.
Talon hadn’t argued with him. Ithad beenkind of nice. Collin had felt warm by his side, making Talon want to hold him even closer. Instead, he’d pressed a kiss to Collin's forehead. "You're not scared at all?"
Talon remembered the way Collin had shaken his head, his soft hair tickling Talon's skin. He’d mumbled something that sounded like he was saying, "I feel safe with you."
The words stuck with Talon as if Collin had taken a chisel to etch them into his heart. If there'd been any doubt in Talon's mind as to whether he would side with his coven or protect Collin, it vanished in that instant.
In all of the fifty years of his existence that he could remember, no one had ever placed that level of trust in him. Talon wasn’t going to betray it.
Long after Collin had drifted off to sleep, Talon lay awake and pondered what he could do to keep him—and the baby—safe from the other vampires. He wasn't sure when he'd fallen asleep, but now that the sky had turned dark, he itched to get going and make good on his silent promise to protect his new family.
For as long as he could remember, he'd been a man of action, and he had a mission now.
In his arms, Collin stirred, blinking his arms open. "Good morning?"
