Page 154 of Bleed

“Your opinion isn’t superior just because you’re a scientist.”

“It is when it’s correct.”

“Give me my phone.”

“I will, after the song ends.”

“Eli,” she whines.

I huff a laugh and set the phone aside, then move our wine glasses safely to the table before catching her around the waist.

She squeals as I pull her across my lap, lifting her to straddle me. Her knees settle on either side of my hips, her hands bracing against her shoulders as her green eyes focus on mine.

“You’re such a dick sometimes,” she grumbles.

“And yet you’ve chosen me as the muse for your art.”

Her jaw drops. “I thought we weren’t going to talk about that!”

The corner of my mouth twitches with amusement. “I said no such thing.”

“It was implied.”

She tries to look offended, but a smile breaks through, the symphony swelling around us.

Something expands beneath my ribs.

Not hunger. Not bloodlust. Nothing that needs to be analyzed, controlled, or cured.

Just… peace.

A quiet warmth spreads through my chest, unfamiliar only because I’ve gone so long without it.

I slide a hand around the back of her neck and pull her down to me. She meets me halfway, lips brushing mine, parting in invitation. I hold her there, my thumb brushing the warm skin beneath her ear as her fingers slip into my hair. Then I kiss her, hard.

The symphony swells again, and I feel the echo of her contentment through the bond, mingling so seamlessly with my own that I can no longer distinguish where one ends and the other begins.

Perhaps that’s the point.

For more than a century, I’ve dedicated myself to understanding the inexplicable. Reducing mysteries to mechanisms, isolating variables, and finding answers for questions no one else thought to ask. When it comes to Beatrix, however, I could spend an eternity studying her and never understand every part.

But for once, I find I don’t need to.

Chapter

Thirty-Two

BEX

Elliott’s hand swallows mine as we climb the front steps of the mansion, my stiletto heels clipping against the stone. They’re the tallest pair I own, and he still towers over me by a good ten inches, forcing me to take two steps for every one of his.

Annoying.

Mostly hot, though, so I can’t really complain. There are worse things than being permanently attached to a massive vampire.

The front door swings open before we reach it, the butler’s usual dead-eyed stare greeting us from the other side.

I immediately break into a grin.