Page 163 of Vameer

I hum, thinking. “What’s your last name?”

Rune’s sound has more humor this time. “Destin. No middle name. Do you have a middle name, Vameer Vadas?”

“No.” I start back at the top of her head and slowly glide my palm down. “I like your parents.” She snorts. “Tell me about your childhood. I bet it was nice.”

She tells me.

About growing up as an only child. Going on trips with her parents all over the world. She talks about how funny it is that she has the same need to move that they did. But hers was to find me. Theirs is just their personality.

Rune tells me that her life has been good, but that she’s struggled with finding meaning. Purpose.

She tells me about her tiny clay vases and how she likes art but doesn’t think she’s great at it.

Rune tells me that she thought she was incapable of sexual attraction. Never understood why she had no interest in others. How she felt like an outsider in a world full of over-sexualized everything. And she tells me that she’s glad I was her first. Her only. Her last.

And she pokes me in the side when I try to apologize for my past. She tells me she wasn’t even alive before I went to sleep. That her parents weren’t even alive the last time I touched another woman.

My mate doesn’t hold any of my sins against me.

And I hold her even tighter to my chest.

“Now you.” She exhales contentment. “Tell me what it was like growing up so long ago.”

I inhale her calmness. “Things were so different then. Things were so different when I sealed myself in that cave.” I continue to stroke her hair, probably comforting myself more than I’m comforting her. “You’re here. With me. But I find myself feeling… stressed when I think about how much time I’ve spent without you. How many times I risked my life.” I swallow and whisper the last part. “How many times I could have lost you.”

Rune shifts and pushes up, her elbows on my chest so she can look at me. “When you say it like that, it stresses me out too.” She says it gently. No accusation. “But we’re here.” She drums her fingers on my body. “You’re here.”

I wrap my arms around her back.

Rune places her hands on top of one another over my sternum and rests her chin on her hands. “How old are you?”

“I was born in the summer, two hundred and ninety-eight years ago. Or so I believe.”

Rune’s eyes widen. “Wow. I mean, I knew you were old. But… damn.”

The edge of my mouth pulls up. “I’m not even middle aged.” My small smile fades. “I don’t know that I’ll ever shake the guilt I feel every time I think about falling asleep in that cave. I know I caused pain. Mostly to my brother. But also to the rest of our family. And there were many I fought beside for decades. I told them I had something to take care of, that I’d be back. They probably thought I died.” Rune’s back lifts as she takes a deep inhale, but I keep going. “I feel bad about all that. But another part of me…” I tighten my hold on my mate. “I’m glad I got to skip a hundred years. I came close to death many times in my first two hundred. If I hadn’t slept… I think the fates knew I would have continued to be reckless. They knew I needed you. I needed a tether. So… I slept. And I waited for you where it was safe.”

Charred apple skin mixes with Rune’s usual sweetness in the air. “You won’t be reckless anymore.”

A statement, not a question. But I still agree. “Never.”

I wipe one of her tears away, catching it on my thumb. Then I lift my hand to my mouth and lick it off.

It reminds me of the apple whiskey I drank in Chile.

“Weirdo.” Rune sniffs but still gives me an indulgent smile. “What were you like as a child?”

“Difficult.”

Her laugh is sudden and loud. “Sorry.” Rune moves a hand to cover her mouth. “I’m sure you weren’t that bad.”

“I was not easy.” I sigh. “I was quick to anger. Had trouble controlling my rage. Would set things on fire without meaning to. My mother used to talk to me about it. Our Fire Touch, it comes from her bloodline.”

“Fire Touch. Is that the name for it, when you turned that guy to ash?”

“Sí. A vampire’s temperature is like their gravito. The intensity and control vary. Some vampires run cold, like my Uncle Frio. And some run hot. Like my mother.” I hold one hand out away from our bodies. “Like me.” My palm glows red, heat rolling out of me. “Like my brother.” I release the power and bring my hand closer.

Rune reaches out and places her palm against mine, feeling that my skin is back to its usual heat.