Page 29 of Love Lives
"There's very little space," I pointed out, because this wasn't exactly a California king bed.
"True." Still not moving.
Now it was my turn to sigh about my Velcro vampire. "At least change forms?"
Aldrich grinned, and then he shifted, becoming smaller, and furrier. It was going to be warm, having him in bed with me.
I didn't mind as much as I should have.
Chapter Twelve
Aldrich didn't sleepthat night. Words from a long, long time ago kept echoing in his head. His first kill as a vampire had been a rural family. He hadn't recognized any of them, but his sire had told him they deserved to die. That he'd wanted them to die, back when he was mortal. Aldrich had taken those words at face value. His sire had never told him what crimes this family had committed, though, or who they had been.
He hadn’t figured out their identities until much later. They’d been his family. His mother, his father, his sister… He’d killed them. His sire had said he’d wanted to. To this day, though, he did not know why.
The memory he'd seen earlier didn't clear that up, but it got him thinking. He’d given up on trying to figure out what exactly had happened a long time ago. He’d made his peace with the situation. With his past and who he was now… or so he’d thought.
In the darkness, he studied Remy's sleeping profile. It would be so easy to bite him again and get some answers.
He’d ruin any chances he had of getting into Remy's pants, though.
Aldrich closed his eyes again and tried to relax once more. Worrying endlessly about things had never been his style. Why think about people who would have died a natural death by now if Aldrich hadn’t killed them? That was utterly pointless.
What he should be thinking about was how great Remy's blood had tasted--and how he was going to get more of it. And everything else that he wanted. He'd never understood how someone could be an addict after one hit of a drug, but now...? Yeah, he kind of got the picture.
He was going to get another shot at this, and next time, his dinner wouldn't be disturbed by errant memories. He would enjoy every last drop of Remy's blood that landed on his tongue. That was the only way forward. The only thing that mattered.
Finally, he drifted off to sleep.
* * *
It wasn’t until early evening the next day that Aldrich finally heard back from Puck.When did that mark show up?
Yesterday, Aldrich texted back, while glancing at Remy, who sat on the living room couch with Elena, watching some sort of plant life documentary. The girl had freaked a little bit when Remy had mentioned the mark to her, but then he’d calmed her down and now they were watching TV together. It was all very wholesome. Aldrich had curled up in one of the armchairs nearby. He fired another text off to Puck.What is it?
Hold on.
A popping noise sounded to Aldrich’s left, making him turn around, only to come face to face with his favorite witch. Every head in the room snapped to Puck, but Aldrich was the first to speak. "What did you find out?"
"Let me see it first."
"You just wanna get your grabby hands on him."
Puck shot him a smile. "Jealous?"
"Just keep in mind that he's not one of your study subjects."
"How could I ever forget?" Puck gestured wildly with his hand. "I never get to study dhampirs." He turned on his heels and sauntered over to Remy. "May I?"
Wordlessly, Remy lifted his shirt. Aldrich didn't snarl when Puck touched him, but it was a near thing. He really needed to not do that. He wasn't a dog, and Remy wasn't his bone. No matter how much he wanted to bone the man.
"Fascinating," Puck murmured. "It looks like it's only penetrated the upper layer of your skin, but it actually goes much deeper than that."
"But what is it?" Remy didn't bother concealing his impatience as he asked.
"A number," Puck said. "A seven."
“So you can see it too!” Remy exclaimed, earning himself a strange look from the witch. Aldrich had no idea how Remy saw a seven in the mark on his skin either. To him, it looked more like a crudely drawn star than anything resembling a numeral.
