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“Was the donor Mr. Peterson?” I ask.
“Yeah,” she says, then looks at me. “You knew him?”
I sip the orange juice and nod. “He was a friend.”
She reaches over and rests her hand on top of mine. I look at this simple gesture of kindness and smile softly at her. “Jeb Peterson’s the reason I came to this town. It’s actually a funny story, how we met.”
Janet takes a sip of her orange juice and waits for me to elaborate.
“You know how I said being a vampire leaves a lot of time for reading?”
She nods.
“And that I was a king once?” I say. I realize I didn’t really explain it, and I’m not sure now is the time to go into all the details. I’d grown tired of ruling, just like I’d grown tired of living. “Anyway, I’m not now. I passed the mantle to someone else.”
I shake my head, pressing on. “When I built my kingdom. I based it directly under the Lakeview city library.” Lakeview was the nearest city, but still a three-hour drive away from here. “Our home cannot be penetrated by sunlight, or found by humans, unless they know where to look. It’s safe… and, as an added perk, it allows us to borrow books at night if we’re looking for something to read.”
“And an endless supply of books.” Janet’s eyes light up. Being with her is like sitting in the sun as a human. I feel warmer, kinder, and more alive. “So you met Mr. Peterson at the library?”
“Yes, and no.” I chuckle at the memory. “I’d borrowed a copy of The Great Gatsby and I’d been reading it while eating dinner.”
“I do that.” Janet nods in understanding.
“Well, not quite. My dinner was a blood bag. But there must have been some manufacturing defect, so it exploded all over the book.”
Janet gasps. “Oh no!”
I nod. “And it wasn’t just a paperback. It was a beautiful, gilded copy donated by one Jebodiah Alexander Peterson.”
“Mr. Peterson,” Janet says softly.
I nod. “I could have just left it alone, but I felt so bad that I tried to replicate the copy, down to the binding and gold leaf lettering. I returned the book and wrote an apology letter to Jeb. He’d been so impressed with the binding, we started corresponding. We began to meet at the Lakeview library. He’d drive in all the time until…” I trail off. Until he died.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” Janet says softly.
“So am I. Jeb was a great man.”
“Sounds like it.” Janet nods. “I see now why he donated the library to our town. He must have really loved books.”
“He did.” I nod.
We lapse into a comfortable silence. Janet digs into her breakfast, and when she clears her plate, she reiterates, “This food is amazing.”
“I love how you glow when you’re happy,” I say quietly.
She meets my eyes, and I just want to take her in my arms and kiss her again. Well, more than that. I want to hear her moan in passion.
“Thank you for breakfast.” She looks off toward the front of the stacks. “And for talking with me. It’s been so lonely here…”
I slide around the table and take her hands in mine. “I think we’ve both been lonely, and I think we could help each other be less so.”
Her cheeks grow pink, but she doesn’t draw her hands away.
I stroke her fingers. “I’d like to kiss you again.”
She nods.
I pull her into my lap, pressing my lips to hers as I stroke her shoulders and her arms. She tastes like sunshine and light. I deepen the kiss, wanting more, wanting everything. My interest rises beneath her, and she wriggles on my lap. I growl in response, and my fang accidentally pierces her lip.
