Chapter 25
Finn
“Ineed to leave,” Eric whispered against my ear, sending a shiver down my spine.
“Don’t want you to,” I grumbled, blindly reaching for my boyfriend and pulling him on top of me so I could slant our lips together.
“The sun’s going to rise soon. I can’t stay.”
“Because you’re a vampire,” I said. I couldn’t help it; I needed to make sure this whole thing wasn’t a wild dream.
“Yeah.” He kissed me again. “And you don’t have blackout curtains.”
I groaned. I’d order them today—with same-day shipping. The fact that my boyfriend needed to get up and leave before I had to, when I was the one working in a damn coffee shop, was simply unacceptable.
“I’ll fix that. I hate that you have to go. At least you’re saying goodbye now.”
I strained to catch his lips again. He sighed against my mouth, but his tongue eagerly came out to play with mine.
I moaned, and he shifted, his hard cock brushing against mine.
My hands followed the outline of his spine, down his back until they reached his ass.
I got a kick out of grabbing his globes and pulling him down while I thrust up.
The friction was delicious, but nothing compared to the deep, almost feral groan and the way his kiss turned more fervent in an instant.
“I really need to go.”
I grinned against his lips, rutting up against him so his hard cock was rubbing against mine.
“No, you really need to come.”
Eric moaned. He shifted a bit, resting his weight on one arm, shoving the other one between us.
“I don’t have much time left,” he said, voice thick with lust. But even as he said that, he lined up both our cocks and started stroking them with quick, hard motions.
I urged him on, thrusting against him, as my own desire quickly washed through me.
That’s what I’d been dreaming of. My boyfriend staying the night, lazy morning sex, maybe a second round in the shower.
Granted, there was nothing lazy about this. And there wouldn’t be a second round. I actually didn’t want to risk Eric getting hurt again.
“Fuck,” I whispered, closing my eyes, my fingers digging into his ass cheeks as I tried to get him as close to me as possible.
His rhythm was unrelenting. Hard. Pushing me closer and closer to the edge by the second.
It was all too much. His weight covering me, his mouth on my throat, his hard cock sliding against mine. The friction, the growls, and the white-hot pleasure suddenly eclipsing everything.
I managed a strangled cry as I tumbled over the edge and spurted between us, just as Eric tensed on top of me and let out a low groan.
“Fuck,” I panted, my mind still buzzing with pleasure. “What the fuck was that?”
I blinked up at Eric’s face. It was still dark, but his red eyes were glowing, and his fangs were hard to miss.
“Sorry,” he mumbled, voice apologetic. “Uhm… I’m… I mean, I…”
My hand flew to my neck as I realized what he was trying to say. I touched the spot he’d been sucking at, but it wasn’t sore. There was no wetness. No wounds. Nothing that’d indicate he’d bitten me, but that was what he’d been trying to say, right?
“Did you seriously just bite me?” I asked, raising my brows. My voice was far too high-pitched and loud for this early in the morning. But seriously. What the fuck? “Did you drink my blood?”
Eric swallowed audibly, his eyes filled with guilt. He closed them and took a deep breath. Next time he opened them, they were back to looking normal. However, that didn’t mean this conversation was over.
“Eric?” I prompted after seconds had gone by without him answering me.
“Yes,” he mumbled, burying his nose in the crook of my neck. “I bit you.”
Great.
“Have you ever heard of the word consent?”
“Of course!” He sounded put off.
Well, too bad. Because I was put off by being bitten without him asking first.
I mean… it’d been kinda hot.
And it apparently instantly triggered an orgasm, which made it very hot instead of kinda hot, but still. Even if he was doing something that was very hot, he needed to ask first.
Wait…
“Was this the first time?”
His silence told me everything I needed to know.
I huffed, but still kissed the top of his head, trying to let him know that while I was irritated, I wasn’t full-on mad.
“Great. We need to talk about this, but you need to get going,” I groused, shifting beneath Eric to get him to move. “So, get your ass in gear, and we’ll talk while you’re getting dressed.”
“Fine,” Eric muttered, and slowly got up. He went over to the couch where he’d stashed his clothes and started putting them on.
However, he did not fucking talk.
Apparently, I’d need to be the one to initiate this conversation.
“How often?” I asked.
“What?”
“How often did you bite me without me knowing?”
Eric flinched.
“Uhm… full-on biting?”
“Is there a different kind of bit—doesn’t matter. How often. In total. Everything you could potentially count as biting combined.”
He mumbled something, but it was too low for me to understand.
I crossed my arms and gave him a look.
“Fine,” he sighed. “Four times. Including today. But I only full-on bit and drank from you twice—both times during sex. And the first time wasn’t intentional. It was like… my vampire side taking over or something.”
I snorted. “If you want to make me feel better about you biting me, the whole “Ohh, I just lost control, it’s not my fault” reasoning is not doing it.”
Four times.
“I never said it wasn’t my fault.” Eric plopped down on the bed next to me. “It was my fault. I did it. I just didn’t plan to.”
“Planned or not, I want you to ask beforehand,” I said.
“Every time?”
Why did he look shocked at that?
“Yes, every time.” I rolled my eyes. “I might decide at one point that you don’t have to ask and have permission to bite me in some situation—for example, in bed—but until you’ve shown me that you actually know how consent works, I want to be asked.”
He nodded.
“Okay. I can do that.” He leaned in, his face hovering inches from mine. “Can I kiss you?”
I laughed. “Kissing is always fine.” Then I remembered the whole blood-drinking thing. Yesterday, I’d made him brush his teeth. The thought of tasting blood on him had made me a bit squeamish.
But it’d be my own.
Was that different?
Too late now, anyway.
He’d leaned in and gently fused our mouths in a slow, languid kiss.
I sighed as he licked my lips and opened up for him.
He tasted like… Eric.
I sighed in relief, deepening the kiss.
Either blood didn’t have an aftertaste, or… I associated it so much with the way Eric tasted that it didn’t stand out to me.
Honestly? I didn’t care.
I snagged an arm around the back of his neck and pulled him closer.
I knew he needed to leave. He really did.
But fuck did I want him to stay.
Those damn blackout curtains couldn’t arrive soon enough.
“You seem impatient,” Maggie said, waggling her eyebrows, while I stepped out from behind the counter to lock up the door after the customer who’d come in one minute before our usual closing time, only to order six frilly drinks that took ages to make. “Hot date planned?”
“Something like that,” I said as I locked the door and turned the sign to Closed. Then I started lowering the blinds while Maggie cleaned up the espresso machine. “We’re going to a club.”
Truth be told, I wasn’t all that excited about the club part.
The last time I’d been to one, I’d been drugged and barely remembered anything that’d happened.
Apparently, Eric had been there. So yeah, I guess something good had come from that evening, but I’d still prefer to know how I met my boyfriend.
Also, I was going to the same club. As in the club I’d been drugged at. Because apparently, that was the vampire and all things supernatural hotspot in town.
I still needed to ask what all things supernatural meant.
Werewolves?
Witches?
Dragons?
Part of me desperately wanted to know, while a different part of me wasn’t sure about it. It was a kind of fucked-up feeling to realize the world you thought you knew was completely different.
“Ooooh,” Maggie sing-songed and gave me a huge grin. “You must really like him, then. You never want to go clubbing with me.”
I sighed. “His friend invited me. I didn’t want to say no.”
I couldn’t very well say no to Bennie after everything Eric had told me. Bennie had saved Eric’s life. Multiple times.
By now, their existences were so intertwined, I was acutely aware that they were a package deal. Which meant I needed to make an effort.
Then again, maybe I needed to make more of an effort with Maggie.
I liked her, even though her life was one big telenovela and way too much drama for me.
“Hey, listen. I don’t like to go clubbing, but my friends and I do enjoy pub nights. So… if you’re free next week, there’s a pub quiz at the Red Shamrock next Wednesday. You want to come?”
“Aww, bunny. That’s sweet.” Her pout turned into a wide smile. “I’d love to go. You sure it’s okay if I tag along?”
I shrugged. “Sure. We used to do this all the time, and everyone occasionally brought a friend. It’s the first time we’ve met up in a while, but that doesn’t mean you can’t come.”
“And what about your boyfriend?”
I furrowed my brow. “What about him?”
After I was done with the blinds, I started putting up the chairs so I could do a thorough sweep of the place.
“Don’t you want to, like… take him?”
Ohh.
“Uhm.”
I wasn’t sure Eric wanted that.
Was introducing my vampire boyfriend to my human friends a good idea? If we stayed together, they’d eventually notice he wasn’t aging.
Fuck.
I’d be aging.
If we stayed together, I’d get old, while he’d still be looking like twenty-five.
Would I have to become a vampire too?
I scrunched up my nose, my whole body turning cold at the thought.
I didn’t think I wanted that.
The thought of drinking blood… my stomach turned, and a wave of nausea hit me.
Nope.
Not gonna happen.
“You okay?” Maggie asked, her question ripping me out of my spiral. “You’re not sick again, are you? Because you just turned white as a ghost.”