Page 82 of Love Bites
"Looks that way."
"You're going to kill me for what I did, aren't you?"
"I'd love to, but I won't." It wasn't Aldrich that he was mad at. He knew his partner hadn’t had a choice. "When did Zenon figure us out?"
"Shortly after we killed Lex and Betram."
The two vampires they'd encountered at Collin's family's house. Of course it would have been too much to hope to get away with that unscathed. "It's my fault for dragging you into all of this in the first place."
Aldrich shook his head. "Forget it. Let's just run."
Talon was in full support ofthatidea. "All right." he stroked Collin's hair again. "You okay to walk, love?"
Collin nodded, but Talon didn't quite trust his assessment, and he was right not to. Collin stumbled as he stood. Talon steadied him, hooking one arm under his.
"Let me carry you. We'll need to get some blood into you when we're home."
"That sounds good."
Talon couldn't say if Collin meant the blood or being carried, but he chose to act as if he'd meant both and picked Collin up bridal style. Being a vampire had its advantages sometimes. Increased strength sure came in handy.
"Okay, let's get going," Aldrich said, snapping his fingers again to make his wounds disappear. "We don't want to be here when they figure out that Zenon has been reduced to a pile of ash."
"No, we don't want to be here for that."
"All right." Aldrich opened the door and held it open for Talon to step through with Collin. Talon couldn't help but smile. He'd thought he'd never step out this door again, least of all with the man he loved in his arms, but their future was suddenly looking a lot brighter.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Somehow, we made our way to Talon's loft.Somehowbecause I slept through most of the journey. Whatever I'd done to pulverize Zenon, it had taken a lot out of me. By the time I properly woke up again, I was resting on Talon's couch, with my head in his lap. Aldrich had gone.Off to enjoy his new freedom,as Talon told me when I sleepily asked.
"That's good," I said with a yawn.
Talon offered me a bottle of blood. "You should drink."
"Okay." I sat up and took the bottle from him. It was already opened. "It feels good to be back here," I said, looking around the room. When my eyes landed on Eddie, I smiled.
"It's good to have you here," Talon agreed. "How are you feeling?"
I took a big sip from the bottle and then I grinned at Talon. "Like I can finally have all I want."
"And what do you want?" Talon asked, placing a light kiss on my forehead that had me craving more contact, so I cuddled closer.
"Can I dream big? I want a house for us and the kids to live in. Out of town, near where my sister lives."
"Kids?" Talon asked, looking amused.
"Kid. Whatever. You never know if we'll have more than one."
"Would you like more than one?"
I shrugged. "Let's just see how this one goes first." I gave my man a quick kiss for not being completely dismissive of the idea. "Actually, I'd like it if there was space for Luke too." My brother was still struggling and I didn't want him to be struggling by himself. I'd promised I would always be there for him, and I intended to keep that promise.
"We can absolutely make that happen. Whatever you want. But are you sure that you want to stay in the vicinity? Zenon might be gone, but he wasn't the only vampire in the city."
"I'm not going to move away from my family." I shook my head to underline the point. "Besides, I don't want to run anymore. You're afraid they'll come for us? I say let them come. I've fried one vampire, I can do it again. I'm done with being afraid of the dark."
"Fighting words," Talon commented.
