Page 70 of Love Bites
Even if it meant reminding Collin of his own past too.
Chapter Twenty-One
The weeks I spent at Elena'sdragged.She and Remy were gone for most of the day every day as they went into town to do their jobs, Elena atMaximum Media Magazineand Remy at that restaurant where he cooked. I thought it was calledPapillonor something. Some French name, in any case. Each time Remy left, he made Luke and me promise to be careful, as if he wasn’t the one heading into danger by leaving the safety of the house. I understood that Elena and Remy didn't want to put their whole lives on hold, but having them gone left me both worried and bored. Jared called every so often to make sure that Luke and I were all right, but his calls didn’t do much to break up the monotony of my days either. Honestly, he was acting as if we were children, but then, he always did.
Luke taught me more about his favorite pen and paper roleplaying game and I pretended to be enthusiastic because it took his mind off things and he needed that more than any of us, but honestly? I still wasn't really getting it. Once or twice, Remy and Elena and I tried playing the game with Luke, all of us committed to doing whatever we could to make him more comfortable, but we mostly just fumbled around.
I lived for the days that I got to see Talon.
As he'd promised me, we met up in a hotel room about once a week. I wished we could do that more often, but him traveling out of town so often would have aroused suspicion. He told me we were already skating on thin ice doing this every week. But he didn't suggest meetinglessoften, either.
Another problem was that my baby bump was becoming tough to hide when out in public.
But I had a solution to that, and it was going to surprise Talon too.
All I'd had to do was order some supplies online...
I had to admit, I felt a little foolish going out in public the way I was dressed, but I was going to see my man and nothing was going to stop me from doing that. I grinned at everybody who shot me looks as I entered the hotel lobby. It wasn't a big place, and thankfully, never too crowded. The baby moved inside my belly as if he too could feel that we were doing something silly.
Not silly,I told myself.Ingenious.
I rested a hand on my belly, waiting for the elevator that would take me up to the room Talon was staying in. He'd texted me the number earlier, the way he always did. I smiled when I felt the baby kick. He'd been doing that a lot lately, getting stronger all the time. It had felt super-odd at first, but now I kind of loved it. In the beginning, it had been hard for me to believe that I was actually carrying Talon's baby, but now that very baby was kicking me as if he wanted to remind me that he was real. Every time he did, I felt a little more connected—to both him and his vampire daddy.
His vampire daddy who was waiting for me now.
I knocked on the door to Talon's room and he opened within seconds. His mouth fell open as his eyes landed on me. I grinned. That was exactly the reaction that I'd been going for. "Collin?"
"It's Colleen," I corrected, shaking a finger at him, but then I had to laugh at the incredulous look on his face. Elena had helped me put this outfit together, and then helped me with the make-up and the wig too. We'd done a pretty good job. Honestly, Talon got bonus points for recognizing me in a skirt. I squeezed past him into the room and he closed the door. "I had to make sure no one would think anything of my baby belly."
"I see," Talon said, still staring at me. I couldn't at all tell what he was thinking, though.
"Do you like the way I look or does it turn you off?"
Talon made an amused sound, low in his throat. "It's rare for me to look at you and not be turned on, Sparkles."
I flushed, because the way he studied me now? Yeah, he was definitely interested. "I didn't know if you'd be into women."
Talon closed his arms around my waist and pulled me to him. "I'd be into you no matter your gender."
But hewasinto women, wasn't he? Or he had been, in his previous life, if he'd had a daughter. He must have had sex with a woman then. But maybe he was bisexual. Or his sexuality changed when he turned or...
Or maybe I didn't care what exactly turned him on as long as I was on that list, because the moment he cupped my chin and brought our lips together, everything else ceased to matter.
It had been too long. Every week, it was too long, and during every occasion when I finally got to see Talon, I complained about how long it had been. And every time, he made it better.
I'd started to get hard the moment Talon had closed the door behind us, like maybe I'd been trained to associate these hotel rooms with sex, or maybe that was just my reaction to seeing Talon these days. Either way, when his tongue entered my mouth and his hands kneaded my ass cheeks through my skirt, I slung my arms around his neck and rubbed myself against him like a bitch in heat. I wasn't even ashamed of my need.
Wasn't like Talon was faring any better. At least I was pretty sure that wasn't a stake in his pants.
"Undress me." I broke the kiss to whisper in his ear.
My vampire didn't have to be told twice. Not losing a second, he lifted me up and carried me over to the bed while I clutched on to him like a koala. I didn't let go until my back hit the mattress, and then only to lift my arms so Talon could pull my sexy pink sweater over my head. He gave a laugh when he saw the stuffed bra I was wearing.
"What?" I asked. "You don't like my boobs?"
"They seem a little fake."
"How dare you say that?" I crossed my arms over my chest. "You won't get to touch them then."
