Chapter Eleven
By Thursday morning the bite was practically gone. It had healed away to a barely-there set of pock marks only noticeable if Luis looked closely. By Thursday night, it was as though it’d never happened.
Luis spent all of the work day Friday trying to decide what he was going to do next. Karim had invited him Friday night for dinner and drinks.
Luis touched the spot on his neck again. It had become a habit, he couldn’t help the way his fingers found the smooth skin over and over again, tracing over the invisible mark as if expecting to find something.
It felt like a miracle every time that there was nothing to find.
He’d tested his levels after the bite, and he could still stand to lose more blood. One small bite was less than what he usually had to remove.
So tonight–dinner and drinks?
Luis shifted in his seat and tugged his attention back to the email he was supposed to be writing. He tapped his fingers on his desk, the words on the screen in front of him blurring.
Memories of Wednesday slithered to the front of his mind. The way Karim had touched him so gentle but steady, the way he’d checked in to make sure Luis was okay. It had been nice. Really nice.
And the feeling when he’d bitten Luis–
The alarm on his phone chirped. Time to log off. Luis finished the email quickly, rattling off what he needed from the client to finish the job for Monday and signed out.
Later, in the shower watching the soap suds circling the drain, the anxiety reappeared.
Had there been a fight between Karim and Julien when they’d gone home? Luis didn’t want to be the cause of tension between them.
His stomach. Come to think of it, he hadn’t even thought about the implications of letting Karim bite him. That had been stupid. He’d consented, but what if Julien was upset for more than just Karim going behind his back? What if he was mad that Karim and Luis had… had shared that.
Was biting a friend… inappropriate? Luis could see how it could be. The way his body had reacted…
He finished rinsing and hurried out of the shower, rough toweling his hair. Okay. So maybe an apology was needed on his end. Karim had shown up unexpectedly, but that very much had been a two-person agreement. Luis had said yes.
Stupid. Thoughtless.
He grabbed his phone and froze at the two missed calls, handful of texts, and one long voicemail from his mother. All received while he’d been in the shower.
Her timing couldn’t have been worse. He stared at the phone; at the first sentence of an all-caps text he could see on his lock screen.
I WAS TALKING TO PASTOR JULIO ABOUT YOU AND HE SUGGESTED–
Luis knew he could swipe open that message, could call her back, but it would delay him. He needed to leave soon for dinner, but a phone call with his mom could take an hour. Rushing her off the phone when she didn’t want to be rushed never worked in his favor.
Later. He’d call her later.
Luis swiped to clear the notification and then went to get dressed.
One thing at a time. First, he needed to fix the situation with Julien and Karim.
Half an hour later as he went down to his car, he put his phone on silence as another call came in. Tomorrow, he’d call her back.
The kit was noticeably missing from the seat beside him as he turned the car on. It had felt too presumptuous to bring, but now the vacant space also felt presumptuous.
There was nothing Luis could do about it. He was damned if he brought it and damned if he didn’t.
By the time Luis got to their house, his heart was hammering. Part of him wanted to turn the car around and avoid it all.
But he was trying not to be that person anymore. Not a coward, not a person who avoided the thing that was uncomfortable. He’d done something thoughtless, maybe harmful, and he could take responsibility for that. He could apologize.
He parked and got out. Julien answered the door a minute later.
“Luis.” The vampire smiled at him warmly, as though nothing had happened. He looked well dressed, hair pulled back with wisps framing his face. “I’m glad to see you.”
“Hey,” Luis said, trying for casual. Then, before he could even cross the threshold, the words tumbled out. “Hey, uh. I’m sorry. About Wednesday. I know Karim wasn’t supposed to show up, but I consented and–and I didn’t think about how that might make you feel. I’m really sorry if I upset you…”
He trailed off at the confusion growing on Julien’s face. “Why are you apologizing?” Julien asked.
“For letting Karim bite me…?”
Julien was smiling gently. “Oh no, that’s–that itself is not an issue. We–ah, we’ve each had our own partners over the years. We don’t always have… exclusivity,” Julien said carefully, like he was being deliberate with language. “Especially when it comes to sustenance.”
“Oh,” that was new information. Partners?
“I was angry because I told Karim not to put you in a corner by showing up at the bar,” Julien explained. “I was mad he may have compromised your consent, not that he bit you.”
“Oh,” Luis said again. Well, that was a relief. “I–he didn’t. I didn’t feel pressured. He doesn’t intimidate me like that.”
Julien looked relieved. “That’s good. Now, come in? Everything’s been settled, I promise.”
“Ah, yeah, sorry,” Luis said and finally stepped in.
“It’s okay,” Julien said, turning to lead him toward the living room. “It’s sweet you were worried, but we’ve discussed you at length, so that part at least, is not an issue.”
“Discussed me?” Luis’s heart started beating faster.
Julien hummed. “Of course.” Then he gave Luis a quick up and down, “I see you haven’t brought your kit today.”
Luis almost tripped over his own feet. He got that feeling again, like everything was happening too fast. “Oh, uh, I wasn’t sure–I didn’t want to presume.”
“Karim will be happy about that,” Julien said. “You’re still short on your treatment quota I’m guessing, one bite isn’t very much. Unless you stayed for a second?”
“No, I didn’t,” Luis said.
They took seats in the living room, Julien across from him. “I know I’m a broken record, but however this goes, it’s up to you. And you can change your mind at any time.” He met Luis’s eyes as he said it.
Luis bit his lip, words sloshing around in his head. “I meant it, on Wednesday, I’m glad it was him. And… god, it was better than sticking myself with a needle.”
Julien nodded slowly. “I’m glad to hear it was a better experience. And it looks healed.”
“Yeah completely,” Luis said. “Which–I mean you can’t know how much it sucks to constantly be sticking yourself with a needle. It was nice to get a break.”
“I’m glad he could give you a positive experience,” Julien said. “But he still will be apologizing for how he went about it. He should’ve asked you beforehand, not cornered you in a bar.”
Luis nodded. Julien wasn’t the kind of person who’d let something like this go, so Luis would just take the compromise.
Their conversation moved on to lighter topics after that, interrupted eventually by Julien’s phone buzzing.
“Ah, dinner’s ready,” he said, standing with a smile. He reached for Luis’s hand, guiding him up. Luis led himself he led to the dining room, and Julien kept his hand the whole way.
##
Tonight, Karim had made something called ‘kofta’, which he served with a steaming pile of basmati rice. Luis was given a heaping portion, which his stomach was happy to see.
But some of Karim’s usual swagger had been dimmed tonight. He sat Luis’s plate down and moved on with only a mumbled comment about what it was.
“This looks amazing,” Luis said as he picked up his fork.
“It smells wonderful, darling,” Julien said.
Karim said nothing, taking his seat.
In the awkward tension, Luis scooped up a generous bite of dinner and slid it into his mouth. The flavor burned on his tongue, and he hummed his pleasure as he chewed.
Damn, Karim could cook.
At the sound, Karim’s eyes finally lifted to meet his. Luis felt a heady slash of triumph at getting his attention. He swallowed quickly, so he could get out, “Karim, this is really, really good.”
Karim made a sound of acknowledgement, and then his eyes dropped back to his own plate. Luis frowned.
“You haven’t lost a lick of skill in the kitchen,” Julien said after he’d taken his first dainty bite.
Karim started to push his own food around his plate with the fork. Luis had to do something.
“Listen,” Luis said, “about Wednesday—”
“Don’t.” Karim clipped at the same time that Julien set his fork down.
“Yes, let’s do. Karim?” Julien prompted.
The man moved his fork around, the tines scraping against the bone China.
“It’s really fine,” Luis said.
Karim huffed, putting his fork down. “It’s not.” Karim opened his mouth, then shut it. He met Luis’s gaze. “I’m sorry about Wednesday,” he said, voice stiff. “I shouldn’t have put you in that position. I should have–have just told you I didn’t want you to get bitten by a stranger.”
Luis blinked at him. That was way more honesty than he’d expected. “Oh. Why… didn’t you want a stranger?”
Karim huffed, looking at Julien who nodded him on.
He shifted in his chair uncomfortably. “I just–I mean you’ve said you’ve never given blood to a vampire before.
I just didn’t want it to be a bad experience.
Some of them aren’t careful with humans.
” The words sounded like they were being pulled from him.
“Thought it would be better if I did it.”
Julien said something in French, and then Karim countered, switching from English to French seamlessly. They went back and forth, Julien pressing and Karim growing more and more uncomfortable.
Luis looked between the two of them, hearing only his own name interspersed.
Was this good? Bad? Should he… leave them alone to discuss whatever it was?
A sweat broke out across the back of his neck.
Okay. He’d just… step out. Let them settle whatever this was that was starting to gain steam.
Luis managed a quick, excuse me, before getting up and fleeing in the direction of the bathroom.