2. My Sexy Vampires
One of my least favorite parts about these stories being solely from my perspective is all the juicy details I have to leave out that happened without me there. I hate it almost as much as I hate sitting at home and not knowing what’s going on. What were Rigg and Alek talking about while they gallivanted through the trees? Edmund, evil hillbillies… me? Trust me, reader, this sucks for you as much as it does for me!
“Dear diary,” I spoke aloud as I typed away, spilling my soul into an open text document on my laptop. “How do you know if someone wants to date you? I mean, when you already have a boyfriend, that is. Actually, I guess I should clarify further… Everyone in the scenario is a vampire except for me.”
I felt silly speaking out loud, but at this point I knew that neither Alek or Rigg could pick up on my voice. “What do I do with these warm fuzzy feelings I’m having for another guy? Err, another vampire, even?” I asked my journal, which actually was just a meticulously organized Scrivener file living on my desktop.
Google search results could only help me out so much. I understood the basic tenets of polyamory, but… “Not a lot of hits for undead polyamory on here,” I said as I continued my online research.
My guess was that, much like how communities such as the LGBTQ+ community that are known for going against the ‘status quo’ are more accepting of diverse or alternative living arrangements, the same must be true for vampires. Alek said himself that many vampires shunned the traditional way of living that humans embraced.
“Are all vampires gay?” I asked aloud while typing my question into a search browser. “According to everyone who hates Twilight, the answer is yes,” I answered my own question after a few minutes of searching.
Oh, well.
“I wonder what’s up with the strange machete I found in the shed,” I pondered to myself. Unbeknownst to Alek and Rigg, I had brought it inside and cleaned it after they took off for their midday expedition. It sat on the living room table, mere feet from me, and I pondered trying to Google the symbols on it. Maybe it’s a special vampire sword? Scythe, maybe? Yes, I like how that sounds better.
The conversation I was having with myself was interrupted by three strong knocks at the door. Was that Alek? Rigg?… Edmund?
I wondered now about inviting vampires into places, and how it worked when the home was owned by someone who was dead. In the movies and literature I had consumed, all bets were off if the homeowner was dead (or undead) and vampires could enter at will. But then why would another vampire knock, anyway? Am I safe? Should I answer the door? I’ve got my scythe, but where are my vampire-fighting weapons?
A mad dash to my backpack upstairs proved fruitful and provided me some comfort. I clutched my crucifix in hand and tucked the vial of holy water into my pocket. As I dropped my backpack, I looked to the nearest nightstand, searching the countertop for anything useful, and had a revelation.
My pockets full, I headed down the stairs to the main floor. With each step I took, I worried that whoever was on the other side of the door had already heard my movement.
The half-moon window—a pane of frosted glass—at the top of the front door didn’t provide much opportunity for me to see who might be standing outside waiting for me. Expecting to see at least the shadow of my midday visitor, there was nothing. It appeared as though no one was standing in front of the door now.
Did they leave? I asked myself. Or is my visitor standing just off to the side to surprise me?
As I reached the foot of the stairs, I knew I needed to make a decision. I grabbed the holy water from my pocket and popped off the lid, which was conveniently attached to the canister. I could think of so many scary movie soundtracks perfect for this moment, I thought to myself as I came close to the door.
Holding my breath, I pushed my ear against the door to see if I could hear anything coming from the porch. Almost as though someone was waiting for me, three hard knocks again came from the other side.
Oh, fuck me, I thought to myself. My nerves were getting the best of me.
I stepped back and off into the living room, wary that my voice would sound suspiciously close. “Um, uh, coming!” I shouted. “J-just have to grab a pie out of the oven!”
Really, a pie? That sounds so gay, and I’m trying to keep our identities hidden. I should smack myself.
“Uh, I mean, uh, it’s actually my meat lover’s pizza that’s about to come out!” I corrected my earlier statement, though I wasn’t sure that was any better. Spoiler: it wasn’t.
I paced back and forth, looking from the holy water, to the crucifix, to the scythe sitting on the coffee table. Finally, I tucked the crucifix into my pocket, clutched my open vial of water close, and unlocked the door to open it.
“Hello?” I asked, coming face-to-face with absolutely nobody. “Is anyone there?”
There was no response, and nobody in sight. Well, if I’m not protected in the house of a vampire anyway, does it matter if I step foot outside?
Before I could contemplate the answer to my own question, I threw caution to the wind and stepped onto the porch to have a look around. The edges of its floor were littered with raindrops, the sound of a light rain becoming obvious to me as I paced the length of the porch. “Anyone there? I was—I mean, uh, we all were just enjoying a nice hearty lunch. Sorry for the delay in answering the door.”
No one responded. There wasn’t even the sound of movement. Only the sound of rain.
“Gah!” I shouted, surprised as my foot kicked the pressure washer and knocked it over. “Oh, just this.” I shook my head and made my way to the edge of the porch to get a better look at the side of the house and backyard.
“Weird,” was all I could say after what I saw next.
The same shed that I had explored just hours ago—the one I had locked up before leaving—had its door ripped off its hinges. It laid on the grass, a soft pit-patter meeting my ears as raindrops landed on it. Alek is going to be so pissed. Let’s hope no one stole his cobwebs.
“Hm,” I said to myself before turning back around and heading for the door.
“Well, well, well,” came a familiar voice from just inside the cabin.
As I reached the doorway, it became apparent to me that I had made a mistake. Standing at the threshold was the tall—and handsome—Edmund. He held the scythe I had discovered in the shed in his hands.
“I’ve been looking everywhere for this, kid,” said the trespassing vampire. “Thanks for cleaning it up for me.”
Looking from my container of holy water back to Edmund, I quickly closed the bottle, stuck it in my other pocket, and bent down to grab the spray gun.
“I could at least do you the honor of cutting you in two with a clean blade, after all,” Edmund continued, stepping out onto the porch as he spoke. The vampire was still admiring the weapon in his hand and not paying attention to what I was doing. He flipped the weapon back and forth in his hands, admiring the craftsmanship.
“You know what, Edmund? I actually think I missed a spot while I was wiping it down,” I replied. “Here, let me get that for you.”
Edmund looked up at me just in time for me to click the pressure washer to its highest setting and hit the on button. The gun was already pointed directly at his face.
“Huh?” was all the unsuspecting vampire could muster before the force of the water smashed into his face, sending him hurtling toward the far end of the porch. I heard him howl—something like how I would imagine a gay banshee would sound—as the weapon fumbled out of his hand and he collapsed.
“Oh, still a little dirty, I think.” I continued, aiming the gun at his chest and continuing to spray him. “Just a little more. Oh, there we go.”
With Edmund pinned between fifteen-thousand PSIs of water and the porch floor, I collected the discarded scythe and held it up defensively with one hand. Wow, this is fucking heavy, I thought to myself, my wrist flimsy under the weight of the weapon.
I quickly played through all my options in my head: run into the woods, run back inside and lock the door, or cut this vampire’s head off. I wasn’t confident any of these three plans would go the way I hoped. Before I could even formulate another thought, I felt a familiar tug on the spray gun, one indicating that the machine was nearly empty. Fuck, I thought to myself. Okay, let’s hope this works.
“Alek! Rigg!” I shouted into the surrounding woods. “Edmund’s here and he’s trying to kill me!”
With that, I ran forward, aiming the spray gun as close to Edmund’s face as I could before I dropped it, took the scythe in both hands, and made a mad dash for the front door.
I could still hear Edmund’s grunts and groans as I used the full weight of my body to slam the door behind me. I imagined he couldn’t get up very fast after such a blast. Holy fuck, I did it, I thought to myself. Now, lock the door.
Before I could spin around to reach for the lock and deadbolt, Edmund’s hands busted through the half-moon window at the top of the door and grabbed me by my shoulders.
“Let go of me!” I shouted.
“Clever little queer,” Edmund hissed. “Thought I’d just let you go after you tried to rip my face off?”
“No,” I replied as I was able to free my right shoulder and spin around. “That’s why I have a back-up plan.”
“What’s that?” I could see him now, his red face peering through the edges of damaged glass.
“More water.” Dropping the scythe, I pulled my holy water from my pocket, popped the top, and splashed some into his eyes.
“Fucking fuck!” Edmund hissed, covering his eyes with his hands.
“Looks like that’s gonna do a number to your pretty face even more than the pressure washer,” I quipped as he let me go.
I quickly locked the door—opting not to try the bolt lock for fear my time to get away was limited—and jumped forward, stumbling to the floor before quickly regrouping myself and again grabbing up the weapon.
The vampire’s howls comforted me as I ran around the stairs and into the dining room, then into the kitchen. At least I know he isn’t coming after me… yet.
I quickly put the cap back on my vial, hoping to save my last bit of holy water for an emergency. Looking around the room, I started to panic. “Okay, okay. Where do I go?”
Just off the side of the walk-in pantry, I noticed another door. Alek’s words from earlier flashed through my mind. “I have yet to take you down to my kinky vampire lair in the basement.”
That’s it! That’s where I’ll go. I fumbled through my pockets, producing the skeleton key I had grabbed from the nightstand minutes before.
I pulled the door open, sure it was the right one. Instead, it was a closet.
“You’ll pay for this!” I heard Edmund calling from the porch. I knew I had to keep moving.
Pulling the pantry door open this time, I ducked inside, closing the door behind me and running to the back of the long, walk-in kitchen storage space. Maybe I could hide in here and surprise him? I thought to myself.
Moments later, I heard a heaving grunt and a large smash. My best guess was that the noise was Edmund kicking the front door open. I clutched the scythe in both hands tightly, securing it in a defensive position for when I would need to use it.
“You know, there are things I can do to you that make death seem merciful,” I heard Edmund shout in an angry, pained voice.
I could hear him in the kitchen now. He’s going to smell out where I went right away, I thought to myself. I should’ve cut his head off when I had the chance.
The familiar squeaking of the closet door opening cued me in on how close he now was to finding me.
Is this what my dream meant? Or did sharing my dream with Alek and Rigg change things? I’m not psychic. It was just a dream. It was just a?—
“Be a good boy and come out now,” Edmund said in a hoarse, upset voice. He didn’t seem too pleased that he couldn’t figure out where I was hiding.
The closet door slammed shut. I heard Edmund pull open the pantry door next.
“Your scent is here. It’s here, I know it,” Edmund howled, almost as though he was trying to convince himself. “Show yourself now. Give me the scythe and I’ll let you go.”
Let me go? I wondered, my grip on the weapon now tighter than I had ever held something. Should I trust that?
I could hear the sounds of Edmund pulling things off of pantry shelves in anger, kicking boxes around as though he didn’t know what else to do. From what I saw earlier, his left eye was sealed shut and oozing, and the rest of his face was very red. Maybe he can still smell, but right now he can’t see me?
Listening for his footsteps, he was closer to me now than he was ever before. Edmund stomped to the end of the pantry closet, a wall with no shelves but instead several hooks. On each of them, Alek had carefully placed an assortment of different cooking aprons. Weird for a male vampire to have so many of those, I had thought to myself when I first saw them. But also kind of cute and wholesome.
Things suddenly were quiet. Nervous, I pulled my shirt off and tossed it aside, getting on my knees and crawling away.
“Fucking hell,” Edmund hissed. “Show yourself now, you little brat. All I want is the weapon. You-you were just supposed to be some tasty collateral damage.”
I held my breath, knowing that he was as close as he could be to figuring out where I was. Here we go, I told myself. Be ready.
From my hiding spot, I could perfectly see what happened next. After a few moments of fumbling around in the pantry, Edmund put pressure on the wall with the hanging aprons. I could almost narrate what the vampire was thinking because I had just had the same realization.
By now, he was likely realizing that this wasn’t just an ordinary wall. He might have even felt the grooves of the hinges or discovered the handle underneath the apron furthest to the right. The jiggle of a doorknob alerted me that I was right. This was the door opened by the skeleton key, but there was no locking mechanism on the other side.
From my dark hiding spot, I saw light come in from the pantry as the apron wall’s hidden door was finally forced open, revealing the stairwell to the cabin’s basement.
“Hidden fucking passageways, eh?” Edmund grumbled. “Leave it up to my bougie brother to install something like that.”
My guess on the condition of his eyesight was confirmed when he stepped forward and went tumbling down the stairs. “Bloo-dy fu-cking he-e-ellllll!” Edmund emphasized his syllables with every step he hit on his way to the concrete basement floor.
Thank god for hidden basements, I guess, I thought to myself.
The only light that illuminated the room was a dim glimmer coming from the top of the stairs and the two frosted glass recess windows located on either end of the basement. Edmund was just out of eyesight, so all I could do was listen closely. I’m sure he’s listening closely, too, I thought to myself, recalling everything I had learned about the heightened senses of vampires.
Finally, a low moan echoed through the room, and I heard Edmund shuffle and stir. The next sound made my stomach churn—like a hunting dog, the vampire started to sniff me out. Oh, how I wish I had my phone on me, I thought to myself as I did my best to stay hidden. I visualized where I left it—next to my laptop somewhere upstairs—and held my breath.
The exaggerated sniffing continued, and all I could imagine was Edmund on all fours, crawling about like some supernatural creature even scarier than a vampire, searching for his next meal.
Instead of the sound of nostrils sucking in air, Edmund let out a deep, unnerving laugh. It started as a low grumble, but grew more unhinged as I could hear him getting to his feet.
“You thought you were so clever,” said the vampire. “And actually, you put up a good fight. For a human, anyway. But that’s over now.”
I knew it was almost my time to make a move. Steady, I coached myself. Steady.
Edmund’s hands dragged against the walls as though looking for a light. He then reached above his head, swaying his arms back and forth until he found a pull-string light above him.
“Gotcha!” the vampire hissed as the lights came on.
Even I was a little surprised at the kinky set-up of the basement now fully illuminated, but I could tell Edmund was more confused. He stood now at the center of the room, directly in front of a leather-clad, suspended sling with nylon webbing and a steel support structure—also known to us gays as a sex swing. Below the suspended harness was my discarded shirt. Edmund realized he had been fooled, but I could tell he was still trying to process where the hell he was.
Stepping out from the shadows directly behind him, I lifted the scythe up and turned it, smashing the flat, dull side into the back of Edmund’s head. It connected with a sickening thud, sending the dazed vampire sprawling forward into the swing. With his arms tangled in a mess of stirrups and chains, he howled in distress. I jumped forward, grabbing a ball gag off of a nearby table and shoving it directly into his mouth. He hissed, his vampire teeth biting into the gag. To seal the deal, I pulled the crucifix from my pants and used it to shove the ball gag further into his mouth.
“Mmmph!” was all Edmund could muster.
Despite his confusion and vulnerable state, he managed to grab my arm, scratching my skin in the process, and pull me close. I tightened my grip on the scythe, spinning it around and sinking it into his arm. Even the ball gag and crucifix couldn’t hide arguably the girliest scream I had ever heard, but suddenly I was free again.
I returned to the nearby table and grabbed a pair of handcuffs. No key in sight, I thought to myself as I quickly ran behind Edmund and closed them around his wrists.
“Elijah!” I heard a panicked voice from upstairs calling for me.
A familiar gust of wind tousled my hair and sent a shiver down my spine.
“Your sexy vampires are back,” Rigg said with a smile as he now stood before me.
Alek was there, too, and he grabbed Edmund’s wrists and pinned them down on his back.
“Looks like you found my special room,” Alek shot me a wink.
“You could say that,” I replied.
“Rigg, can you give me a hand?”
Rigg and Alek surrounded the howling, gagged, and angry Edmund, grabbing him under either arm.
“Meet us at the front door, babe, just as quick as you can,” Rigg said with a smile, and the three disappeared in a flurry.
That was close, I thought to myself as I ran up the stairs to meet them.
I was greeted by Rigg at the front door. “Long story, Elijah, but I need you to sign this.”
He offered me a leather folio and a pen, which I exchanged for the scythe.
“Almost doesn’t seem like a fair trade,” I quipped. “What is this?”
“Fast,” he added with some urgency.
I flipped it open to discover a formal piece of paper. The words TITLE DEED were printed in ink across the top. At the bottom were two lines, one already filled out that read ALEKSANDR FROST, GRANTOR OF PROPERTY. There was a blank spot underneath the word GRANTEE.
“I don’t get it,” I said as I tried to read the rest of the page. “Is Alek granting me the cabin?”
That’s when it clicked.
Rigg raced past me to meet Alek outside in the driveway. “Go!” shouted Alek.
The two appeared just outside the door, a worried look on both of their faces.
My hand shaking, I quickly filled out the form. “Get inside, now,” I said to both of them. They quickly appeared next to me, flanking me in a protective manner.
Seconds later, Edmund appeared at the foot of the porch, his face bloodied but healing.
“You know you can’t keep anyone safe in a house that belongs to you, right, Alek?” he teased.
“Do you take me for a fool, brother?” Alek hissed, pulling me behind him as he stood mere inches from the entryway.
“I do, indeed,” Edmund said with a hoarse, almost unconvincing laugh.
“Well then,” Alek gestured, holding out his arm as though to welcome Edmund inside the home. “Do your worst, Edmund.”
I felt the breeze as Edmund darted to the door threshold. “Any last words, human?” he taunted.
“Three,” I said, moving out from behind Alek and holding up the completed document. “New homeowner, bitch.”
Edmund looked the paper up and down, then attempted to rush me. But something stopped him. It was almost like an invisible force that wasn’t there before, one that caused him pain as he smashed into it again and again. He couldn’t move past the doorway.
“Gah!” howled the vampire as he realized what was done. “Who gets into the county recorder’s office on a weekend?!”
Alek wrapped his arm around my waist, shooting me another sexy wink. “Ah, just me. Had to cover all my bases. You know how it is, Edmund.”
Edmund looked as though he was about to break something.
“Don’t come back here,” Rigg said through gritted teeth.
“I’ll send you the bill for all the damages, brother,” Alek said, closing the bent, half-buckled door and pulling the deadbolt across it. “Toodle-oo now.”
I looked from Rigg to Alek, surprise and amazement painted on my face. “Whoa.”
“Are you okay, babe?” Rigg placed his hands on my shoulders while Alek prodded and checked my body for injuries.
“I-I’m okay,” I replied. “He came knocking, and then disappeared, and I found myself outside?—”
“Looks like you did quite a number on him with the pressure washer,” Alek said with a chuckle.
I nodded, a smile on my face. Rigg pressed a dozen kisses into my forehead and cheeks before kissing me on the lips. “I’m so sorry we left you.”
“It’s okay, it really is,” I replied.
It was Alek’s turn now, and he ran his hands through my hair and gently placed the palms of his hands on my cheeks. “I hate that I put you in this kind of danger. This was not what I expected to happen.”
Emotions were clearly running high for all of us, and the genuine concern in Alek’s eyes seemed to awaken the butterflies in my stomach. “No, it’s fine. It really?—”
Alek cut me off with a passionate kiss, his lips kneading mine as he pulled me close to him. I felt Rigg wrap his arms around both of us from behind. I supportively grabbed Rigg’s hands as I nestled my face into Alek’s chest.
“It’s hard for me to put it into words, but you two are very important to me,” Alek whispered.
I don’t think I had ever seen Rigg so concerned before, and to me this was a completely new way of viewing Alek. We rocked and swayed as we all held each other.
“I love you, babe,” Rigg whispered in my ear. “So, so much.”
“I love you, too, Rigg,” I replied.
Alek pulled away slightly, as though to let us have our own moment. I think he was surprised when we both grabbed for his wrists and pulled him closer.
“It’s hard for me to describe, but I have strong feelings for you, too, Alek,” Rigg finally said. I could tell he was a little nervous about how to word it. “I want us all to be on the same page, but…”
Aww, I thought to myself as Rigg’s voice cracked and trailed off. His happiness made me happy. This moment made me want to say something, too.
“W-we want you to stay close,” I added. “Both of us do.”
“I will,” Alek said softly, pressing a kiss into my forehead and then Rigg’s.
“Wah, wah, wah, cooties!” came the sound of a voice from the porch.
The look on Alek’s face changed from puppy dog eyes to highly annoyed. “One second, gentlemen,” he said as he released me from his embrace and opened the front door.
Edmund stood ready to greet him, making mock kissing faces as he did.
“Oh, look at the little lovebirds having?—”
The sound of Alek’s fist connected with his brother’s face interrupted Edmund’s taunts. Alek closed the door and re-bolted it seconds later.
“Gonna have to see about repairing that door soon, but I’m back,” he said with a smile, picking me up so that I lay with my back in his arms. “Now, where were we?”
Rigg stepped forward, giving Alek a passionate kiss as he wrapped his arms around his waist and pulled us all close together again. The two continued making out before Rigg turned his attention to me, slipping his tongue past my lips as he did so. I felt Alek’s lips against the tender spots in my neck, the gentle nibble of his teeth.
“It’s usually us walking around half naked, not you,” Rigg teased as he pinched my nipples.
“And now, I guess it’s all three of us,” Alek retorted.
“Long story, but I used my shirt as bait to trap Edmund in Alek’s sex swing.”
Alek and Rigg gave each other a look before they both chuckled. “Talk about fast thinking,” said Alek as he playfully bounced me up and down. “Smart, sexy, and resourceful, huh?”
Rigg and Alek moved me to the couch, pulling their pants off before taking off mine. I shared passionate kisses with both of them. We created a cuddle puddle with blankets and pillows, each of them pushed close to one another with me sandwiched in the middle.
“I don’t want to ruin this awesome moment of you two showering me in affection because I kicked ass today,” I began, “but what are we going to do about the homicidal brother outside?”
Alek’s face, one smiling, turned somber. “I’m sorry I didn’t have the courage or the resources to kill him today.”
“Hey, hey,” I replied, my hands gently running through Alek’s hair. “No one is saying that.”
“Well, if he’s a threat, maybe we should focus on eliminating him,” interjected Rigg. “I know he’s family, though.”
We were all silent. So quiet that you could hear my heartbeat.
“It’s not just that he’s family,” Alek finally replied. “He’s been a vampire longer than me, he’s technically stronger, and—and he’s my sire.”
“Does that mean if we kill him, you die, too?” I asked, oblivious but curious.
“No, no,” answered Alek. “His death won’t affect me. But it won’t be easy. And he’s not usually like this.”
“What, a psychopathic murderer?” Rigg asked.
Alek shook his head. “It’s almost like he’s—I don’t know—jealous.”
“What, that you’re here with us?” I asked.
Alek nodded. “There’s some history of us fighting over past lovers. And hurting those the other loved in an act of vengeance.”
“I think there’s a lot to unpack with that sentence,” I added. “And I plan to. But I think he also wants the weapon I found in your storage shed.”
“The machete?” Rigg asked, nodding to the coffee table where he had placed it.
“The scythe,” both Alek and I said simultaneously.
Yes! I knew it looked like a scythe, I thought to myself.
“A family heirloom, if you will,” continued Alek. “Something we have had for a very, very long time.”
“And it’s important?”
Alek shrugged. “Hasn’t been sharpened in some time, but looks like you did a great cleaning job.”
“What can I say? I’m a domestic gay,” I joked.
Alek laughed, pushing a kiss into my neck.
“Does it have some special power?” Rigg asked.
Alek shrugged. “I honestly don’t know, but it’s been great for beheading dictators, bad actors, and—if I’m being honest—lunches of days long, long past.”
I knew it, I thought to myself. “Ooh, is this the episode where we finally learn about Alek’s dark, bad boy vampire past?”
Spoiler alert: it’s not.
“I’m much different than I used to be, little one,” Alek said with a sigh. “I’ve learned to value human life. As demonstrated today, the same cannot be said for my brother.”
“What’s this?” Alek grabbed my arm, pulling it up to examine it. The scratch marks from Edmund remained, one deep enough to cut my skin and produce some blood.
Rigg sniffed, and upon realizing what it was, loosened his grip on me.
“Don’t be nervous, Rigg,” Alek said softly. “Don’t be afraid of your vampire side.”
“I-I just would never want to hurt Elijah,” Rigg said in a pained voice.
“You won’t hurt him. The difference between Edmund and I is that I’ve learned to embrace both my vampire side, as well as my humanity. My humanity reminds me of the care I have for every living creature, for those close to me,” Alek said softly, moving my outstretched arm back and forth as he examined the wound. “Coincidentally, as vampires, we offer something to humankind that no one else can.”
“What’s that?” I asked. “Immortal life?”
“Well, yes, but our blood can do more than that,” replied Alek. “Why don’t you show him, Rigg?”
Alek adjusted his hold on me so that I slipped onto my back between the two of them as they faced one another.
The worry left Rigg’s face, but he still seemed hesitant. Bringing his wrist to his mouth, he protruded his vampire fangs and bit into it. “Don’t be grossed out, babe. Just trust me,” he said as he offered me his bloodied wrist.
“What am I doing?” I asked.
“Drinking,” was all Rigg said.
I looked from Rigg to Alek, the latter of the two nodding encouragingly.
Placing his wrist against my lips, I kept eye contact with him as I let the metallic taste of his blood enter my mouth.
“That should do it,” Alek said as he pulled Rigg’s wrist out of my hands. I watched as the bite marks on Rigg’s wrist seemed to instantly scab over and begin healing.
“Now look at this,” Alek said, gesturing to my scratched up arm. The shallow red scratches on my skin quickly faded away, while the dull, stinging pain of the deeper, bloodied scratch disappeared instantly.
“Whoa, vampire blood has healing properties,” I realized.
Alek nodded. “We’re going to make sure you have some on you at all times going forward.”
“But doesn’t a human also have to feed on a vampire to complete—I don’t know—their transformation?”
Alek nodded again. “That’s true. In fact, all that’s truly needed to turn a human is for them to have a vampire’s blood in their system when they die.”
“So, you—I mean, a vampire doesn’t have to necessarily feed on me?”
Alek shook his head.
“I mean, it’d be nice to offer the vampire something for the gift of immortal life, I suppose,” Rigg joked as he tickled my sides.
“All right, cool,” I said as I processed everything. “So, if I were to slip and fall down the steps and break my neck right now, would I?—”
“Debatable,” Alek cut me off. “You might need a little more blood in you than what it takes to heal a minor scratch.”
“Interesting,” I replied. “I don’t even know how you guys do it, the whole blood drinking thing. That stuff tastes nasty.”
“Does it?” Rigg asked, pressing a kiss into my blood-stained lips.
“I like sharing my blood with a human,” Alek added.
“Me, too, I guess,” said Rigg. “I like sharing with you.”
“And I like sharing with you,” Alek replied as though Rigg was speaking to him, grabbing my butt and pinching my nipples as though he were referring to me.
“I’ll always share with you,” Rigg said sweetly, his hand running through Alek’s long hair.
“Do you guys want me to be a vampire?” I asked, to no immediate response. I studied their faces for some kind of reaction when they didn’t reply.
“No,” said Rigg, clearly unsure of himself. “I mean—well, I don’t know.”
“I—” began Alek. “I want you to decide what’s right for you.”
“Staying young forever would be awesome,” I mused as I gently tickled Alek’s chest and squeezed Rigg’s hand. “Especially if it’s with you two.”
“Listen, why don’t we start small?” Alek smirked. “How about we start with the title of, um, boyfriend first?”
Whoa! I didn’t expect that. But what about Rigg?
“Alek and I talked while we were out, babe,” Rigg interjected, giving my hand an extra squeeze. “He asked me, too.”
“I wanted this to be a lot more special than spooning on the couch, but given the circumstances I figured it best we stay put…” Alek’s voice trailed off.
“Yes! Yes, yes, yes!” I tried to contain my excitement. “I would love for you to be my boyfriend.”
It looked as though Alek was blushing, his cheeks pushed out as he smiled a big, bashful grin. “Well, it looks like I went from having zero boyfriends to two in just a couple of hours. I-I couldn’t be happier.”
“Same,” I replied.
“Same,” added Rigg.
“Now I guess I really can call you both my sexy vampires,” I said between kisses and hugs.
“Yes,” replied Rigg. “Yes, you can.”
“Ah, thank god. I was really nervous for a second there,” Alek said with a long sigh.
“Nervous, huh?” I teased.
“Well, I didn’t expect today to go as it did, so—yes,” Alek answered. “Now, should we plan tonight’s first official date night as boyfriends?”
Looking from Rigg to Alek, every care in the world melted away.