Page 65 of Love Bites
"Not happening." I disconnected the call before Talon could argue any further. Bratty? Yes. Did I care? No.
* * *
I found Talon sitting on a bench seat at a table in the back of the pub, a glass of beer in front of him that he obviously wasn't drinking. The moment he spotted me, he rose. I broke into a half-sprint and jumped him, throwing my arms around his neck. "I'm so fucking glad you're okay." The words rushed out of me as relief settled in my gut.
I didn't remember exactly how the last night had ended, but the image of Talon getting shot had seared itself into my mind.
"I'm a vampire, remember?" Talon said softly, snaking an arm around my waist. "Takes more than a bullet to kill me. I was more worried about you. I would greatly appreciate it if you never did that again." His grip on me tightened. It was subtle, but told me how worried he'd been. A thought that melted my heart a little.
"I'm okay," I reassured him. "I don't really know what happened. One minute I felt really powerful and then the next, my head was filled with screams… Everything went black after that. I have no clue what that was.”
"I'm not entirely sure myself, but I don't want it to happen again."
That made two of us. Maybe? It had felt good at first, all that power coursing through me... what hadn't felt so good was how it had ended. Even trying to remember the screams made my head hurt. The pain receded, though, when Talon kissed me. The feeling of his lips on mine could makeeverythingbetter, especially when he pressed our bodies together like this, like he never wanted to let go again.
In the background, someone hooted.
I nearly laughed, I felt so light all of a sudden.
Until I remembered what exactly had driven me to seek out Talon. "I don't know if the baby is okay," I uttered, breaking the kiss without breaking away from him.
He studied me silently for a moment, then sat back down on the bench, pulling me with him so that I sat flush by his side. "Bite me," he said, his voice so low it was nearly a whisper.
"What?"
"The first time I bit you, we connected on a spiritual level," Talon explained.
I tilted my head at him. "Why didn't it happen the second time?"
"It might have, but we were both preoccupied with other needs at the time," Talon said matter-of-factly. "But if we connect, I might be able to find the baby's spirit through you."
"So bite me?"
Talon gave me a faint smile. "I know you'd like that, but no. If there's anything wrong with the baby, I won't risk making it worse."
"Fine," I conceded. Honestly, the longer I thought about biting Talon, the more the idea appealed to me. Maybe that was because I knew I wasn't really going to hurt him. And also... if it could bring us closer... and I really kind of liked the taste of Talon's blood, even if it wasn't very nourishing.
"C'mere." Talon laid an arm around my shoulders and tucked me against him. "We'll make it look like we're making out."
I almost laughed at that, because in a way, we were, weren't we? "You sure you're okay with this?" I asked, even as I kissed Talon's neck.
"I am. Go ahead, Sparkles."
That was all the permission I needed. I sank my teeth into Talon's neck. His blood was warm as it hit my tongue, just the way I'd remembered it. I very nearly moaned at the taste of it. If biting people always felt like this, I understood why vampires didn't want to restrict themselves to bottled blood.
I coulddefinitelyget used to this.
"That's it, Sparkles," Talon murmured, encouraging me. I lapped at his blood, my lids fluttering close. And then my world fell away as Talon's presence enveloped me. I fell into it as if falling into a warm bed, opening myself up to Talon as widely as possible, pretty sure that this was what heaven felt like
I lost all sense of time, losing myself in the sensation of Talon's mind rubbing against mine. It was impossible for me to tell how long we spent like that, our spirits intermingling like long separated lovers who'd finally found each other again.
I didn't open my eyes again until Talon's fingers tangled in my hair and gently pulled me away from his neck. I was pretty sure that my pupils were blown as I looked at Talon.
He traced my jaw with his thumb. "The little one is fine."
"Yeah?" It took me a second to even understand what he was talking about.
"Yes." He moved to kiss me. I whined when his lips parted from mine again. Not a sound I was proud of making, but whatever. "I do love how strongly you react to this," he murmured, as ifhewas completely unaffected. Which was bull. I reached to grope him, but he grabbed me by the wrist before I could reach his groin and confirm that he was getting hard too. He laughed. "Now's not the time for that." His voice turned more serious again. "You should go back to your sister's place. We've put up some wards that—"
