Page 74 of Love Bites
"Nonsense, it wasn't his fault."
"Try telling him that." I sighed, because I'd tried a million times. Leaning against Talon, I rested my head on his shoulder. "Promise me you're going to be okay."
"I'll try." Talon carded his hand through my hair, then he tilted my head up, making me look at him. "I love you, Collin."
I blinked, because while I'd suspected so before, he'd never made a point of telling me, and now I felt all warm and fluttery on the inside. "I love you too," I sputtered, feeling a bit lame for not having said it first despite being the human in this relationship. But then Talon kissed me and I forgot all about feeling lame.
A sigh escaped my lips when they parted from Talon's again.
"I think you should regain your lost memories as well," Talon said, surprising me.
"Why?" So far, his stance had been that those memories had hurt me.
"You have to know your past to be able to process it," he explained. "I believe you're strong enough to do it. Besides..." He stroked my hair again. "You told me you heard screams in your head before you blacked out the night of the attack."
"I did." But I wasn't sure where he was going with this.
"Those might have been your parents'."
My eyes widened. "Why are you telling me this now?"
"I've been thinking about it for a while. I took too many of your memories, and I want to fix that, even if it means..." He broke off. "You might hate me after this."
I couldn't follow. Why would I hate Talon? For giving me my memories back? I didn't care how painful those memories were, I wouldn't hate Talon for them.
"There's another reason too," Talon continued. "Your magic is fueled by love. I made you forget the first people who've ever loved you, the people whose love brought you into this world. It might be my fault that you couldn't use your powers that night. I don't know what's going to happen from here on out. If Zenon beats me and comes after you, I want you in full control of whatever magic runs through you."
"I don't want you to fight your sire," I said, focusing on the one part that made sense to me. If there was any chance that Talon might lose, that I might lose him…
Ignoring my words, Talon got up and got the second bottle of blood from the table. "Drink this. I'll have to bite you to restore your memories."
"You'll bite me?" Instantly, I perked up. I still didn't want Talon to go out and fight, but I was 100% on board with the part of the idea that involved him biting me. Almost greedily, I grabbed the bottle and drank from it.
"No other way," Talon said, watching me. "There's another bottle of blood in the mini fridge in case you need more after this."
I nodded my understanding, even though half of Talon's words were whooshing right over my head. Damn it, but it had been too long since I'd felt his teeth on me. In record time, I drained half of the bottle and then set it down. Luckily, this seemed to be enough for Talon.
"Lay back," he said. "Get comfortable."
I scooted back on the bed and did as I was told. Talon climbed over me, took my hands in his own and kissed my neck. Already, my pulse was speeding up. The only thing that hurt my excitement was how not-excited Talon seemed, like he genuinely expected something bad to happen. "I love you, Sparkles," he said again, this time using that silly pet name he'd given me. "Remember that."
"Of course I'll remember. Just as long as you don't make me forget," I tried to joke to lighten the mood.
Talon didn't laugh, though. Instead, he crushed our lips together in a kiss that stole my breath from me. There was something... desperate about it. About him. I couldn't pinpoint it. I didn't understand what was going on.
And then I lost any ability to think about it when Talon broke the kiss and sank his teeth into my neck.
My mouth fell open. My eyes fell shut. My body relaxed, even as my heart raced at a thousand miles a minute, pumping blood through me and into Talon's mouth. My thoughts swam, drowning in endorphins.
Oh God, I'd missed this.
I would have moaned if I'd been able to produce sound.
My state of bliss was only interrupted when memories flooded my mind. Meeting Talon for the first time. Seeing him at the cemetery. Having sex with him in my old room.
Sothatwas how our baby had been conceived. The thought fell away from me before I could really grasp on to it. Too much information was coming at me from every side. I saw my parents again. How could I ever have forgotten them? I loved them so much.
Sorry, Mom and Dad.
