“Come on, then.” He let his arms drop and pointed to the bed. “Let’s go sit down, at least.”
Ian followed him, footsteps slow and measured as he took time to get used to the way his body moved now. The lingering ache he sometimes suffered at the base of his spine had disappeared.
I guess there’s that.
Jesse sat over the far side of the bed, giving Ian plenty of space, which he appreciated. He still wasn’t sure how he felt about Jesse. “What did you mean, before?”
Jesse frowned. “When?”
“When you said you didn’t mean for this to happen?” Ian swept a hand over himself. “Pretty sure I didn’t end up like this by accident. Don’t you have to do stuff to make someone into the undead?”
“Don’t call us that,” Jesse said softly.
“Why? It’s what you are.”
What we are.
“No.” Jesse’s voice was still soft but had an edge to it. “We’re vampires. I don’t know how it works or what exactly happens to our bodies when we change, but my flesh isn’t rotting. I don’t smell of death, do I?”
“No.” Ian remembered him smelling good, but that was before. Would it be different now? His gaze dropped to Jesse’s throat, then lower. Did he want to find out?
“My heart might no longer beat, my lungs might not need air, but I’m very much flesh and blood, Ian.” He shrugged. “As long as I drink enough of it.”
Ian grimaced despite devouring four bags of the stuff earlier; the actual idea of it disgusted him.
Sort of.
He closed his eyes.
How the hell has my life come to this?
Yesterday I was moaning about having to drive to bloody St Austell. Now I’ll be lucky if I ever see a Cornish beach again.
Christ.
“Can I go out in the sun?”
Jesse blinked at him. “What?”
“The sun. Is that a myth or will it burn me?”
Jesse’s sad smile said it all. “It’s not a myth.”
“I have so many questions,” Ian murmured, picturing white sands and turquoise blue sea as it shimmered in the sun—a sight he’d probably never see again. Hit hard by a pang of longing and loss, he clutched a hand to his chest.
“I know.” Jesse put a tentative hand on Ian’s arm, grip getting firmer when Ian didn’t immediately shake him off. “And I promise to answer every one of them, but first things first. Let me explain why it’s a good idea for you to stay here for now, then I’ll tell you how turning you was actually an accident.” He met Ian’s gaze, eyes as intense and captivating as the first time Ian had lost himself in them. “Then if you still want me to, I’ll answer your other questions.”
Ian settled back against the soft pillows.
Might as well make myself comfy.
He waved for Jesse to start talking. “Go on, then.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Jesse took a deep breath he didn’t need. Some human habits were hard to break, even after all these years, and when Jesse got nervous, he sometimes reverted to them.
Now was one of those times. If he didn’t nail this explanation, both of why Ian couldn’t leave his room and what had happened last night, everything was in danger of going tits up.
