Page 7 of Threads of Crimson 2

“Benji, if more of my kind had this gift, the human race would know nothing but slavery. Enough of my people already consider themselves gods, so it’s very important that you keep this information to yourself.”

I gulped. “I understand. I swear, I won’t breathe a word to anyone.”

“Not even Rafe or Eric?”

“Not even them.” It would be hard hiding the mind-blowing revelation of what this meant from Rafe, but Eric was easier. I’d texted him multiple times over the last week about my move, and he’d left me on read every time. Fuck him.

His gaze held mine for a moment longer before his eyes fell to my groin. He licked his lips—in what I was pretty sure was a subconscious gesture—before his eyes trailed up my chest like a caress and landed on my mouth. He was killing me. It was a relief when he spun and opened the refrigerator. “Let me see what I can whip you up for breakfast while you get dressed. I want to walk you through town a little, and I have a job opportunity if you’re interested.”

Grateful to be able to escape the kitchen in my half-hard state, I dodged out of the room. Before running upstairs, I peeked back in and held the door frame with one hand and squeezed my cock with the other while my lower body was outside of his vision.

“You mean it about the job? Ever since I realized how small the town is, I’ve been worried whether I’d be able to find anything.”

“I thought given your love of libraries, maybe you’d like to work at the Willowhope Library with me.”

I tried my best to control my happiness at the idea of working with him, but I wasn’t sure I pulled it off based on the twitch of his lips. “With you?”

He nodded. “Yes, I’m the head librarian, so I thought—”

Badass Lysandro Moretti lived in this small town on the Jersey shore as a librarian? No one else had that information but me. He hadn’t told anyone else he was a daywalker but me. Me. Benji Parker.

I couldn’t help myself. He didn’t finish his sentence before I’d moved into his space, throwing my arms around him, and finally doing what I’d wanted since the first time I’d seen him.

As our lips touched, Lysandro went stone still, and I worried that I’d gone too far; then his strong arms locked around me like steel traps, and he swept his tongue across the seam of my lips seeking entrance. A breathy sigh escaped me, caught between us, as our tongues tangled in the longest, slowest, most erotic kiss of my life.

I was kissing a motherfuckin’ ancient ass vampire, and damn was I here for it.

Lysandro

Benji’s mouth was so warm, his tongue like a hot little dagger branding me and chasing away the cold darkness I lived in every day of my life. It was everything I never knew I needed but also more than I deserved.

“Wow,” he breathed out as I forced myself to part our lips.

He wasn’t wrong. Wow felt like an understatement, but this wasn’t supposed to happen. I’d known he’d be a forbidden temptation here in my town—in my home—which was why we needed to get to the library as soon as possible. Being alone with Benji shook my resolve and would inevitably be disastrous for him.

Letting him go hurt like my turning from human to beast, but I forced myself to step back. “Run up and put some clothes on.”

“Noooooo,” he groaned but obediently backed away, grinning like he’d swiped the last tasty treat from the cookie jar. “Let me run up to my room, and I’ll be right back.”

I nodded sharply, focusing on anything but the bulge in his boxers. It had been bad enough these last few months watching his pert little ass from behind, but knowing and feeling the perfectly proportioned package he carried up front was going to haunt me.

The sounds of him moving around upstairs alerted me to the fact that he’d chosen to move into my bedroom. I’d washed the linens for all of the guests’ rooms preparing for him, and had even considered locking my own door to keep him from wandering in there, but I hadn’t. My thoughts were going to torture me, picturing him in my bed in his briefs, imagining him bringing pleasure to himself in my sheets…

“I’m ready,” he said, running back into the room.

I blinked out of the fantasies already swirling in my mind. “You didn’t have to hurry. I haven’t even had time to make you a cup of coffee or breakfast.”

He shrugged. “I want to see the library. Is there a Starbucks or something we can stop at on the way?”

Clucking my tongue, I swept an arm out for him to go on, and I followed him to the front door. “Thankfully, those chains haven’t moved into Willowhope yet, but I have a place that I quite think you’ll enjoy.”

He stood on the porch, surveying the area now that he could see it in the light of day. It was a relief to see the appreciation on his face. The town with its fresh ocean air, its placement on the ley lines, and the incredible magical beings who inhabited it made it my favorite place on Earth. I’d hate for Benji to dislike it, especially since he was essentially stuck here now—whether he realized it or not.

As I opened my rainbow-patterned umbrella over my head, he sputtered out a laugh. “What in the world is that?”

“It’s one of the best ways to protect me from the sun. Just because I’m…me, doesn’t mean I can be mindlessly walking around outside,” I said, trying not to feel silly about my large umbrella or its pattern.

I’d carved a life away from anyone who thought they knew me at Velvet Vein, so I wasn’t used to scrutiny. Being the eccentric librarian in town meant people were nice to me, often asked for my help, but they also kept a certain distance that I found preferable. Friendly acquaintances, not friends. That was my motto.