Page 71 of Thirst

“I’ll tell you anything you wanna know,” he says, sipping from the drink.

“Alright. I wanna know if I can trust you.”

“Yes, Aaliyah, you can trust me. But me telling you that doesn't really help. You’ll have to learn that for yourself as I earn your trust over time, which I will happily wait patiently for.”

I bounce my head up and down, accepting the answer while thinking of another question. “Okay. But vampires have been portrayed in a lot of ways and I don't know what to expect. You don't have a deep, unbearable desire for my blood or something? I don't have to worry about you being unable to control yourself if we get too close?”

“I do have an uncontrollable desire for blood, but not so uncontrollable that I can’t stop myself from biting someone. I’ve been this way for a long time. I've gotten pretty good at it. We’ve already had sex, so if I couldn't control myself, you would definitely know by now. Plus, I've already tasted your blood, and while it is absolutely delectable, I won't bite you unless you ask me to.”

“But if you bite me, wouldn't that turn me into a vampire, too?”

“Not necessarily. Vampires have venom that we can control. If I wanted to bite you and turn you, I’d push venom into your bloodstream through my fangs. If I just want to bite you and drink, or just bite you for … fun, then I wouldn't inject that venom. We call it a dry bite. It’s why Stanley is still human after being bitten, as well as anyone else I've bitten, as I have never turned anyone.”

A memory flashes in my mind of the way Stanley’s body jerked back when Amari clamped onto his neck. It makes me feel uneasy, but I push through it.

“But what if I don't want you to drink my blood? How would you survive?”

“Well, the first part of the answer is that you can't demand that I no longer drink blood. That’s non-negotiable. Accepting what I am means accepting what I have to do. I'm a vampire and I will consume blood. But if you don't want me to consume yours, then I would have to get it from someone else, and that would require the use of Influence—making someone give me their blood and then forcing them to forget me. It’s what I've always done.”

“I see. And did you ever Influence me in a way that we haven't previously discussed?”

“Yes,” he admits expressionlessly. “In the Viper Room when I brought up my desire for blood play. I Influenced you into thinking that giving me your blood was your idea. It’s why you suggested it. If I’d asked you to let me drink your blood outright, surely you would've said no. I've also taken away your anxiety a few times.”

I tilt my head to the side and furrow my brow as I think back to when we were together in the Viper Room. I remember him telling me a story about how he was introduced to the blood play kink by a woman he was seeing, and we locked eyes after he was done. Then, the thought just popped into my head to explore his kink with him. I don't even know where it came from.

“Damn,” I whisper. “I remember. I got this warm feeling and couldn't figure out why I felt that way. You played me with that story.”

“Would you have agreed otherwise?”

“I don't know. Probably not, but that was my decision to make. But now you stand here and tell me I can trust you?”

“Yes, because that was before I realized who you were,” he says. “It won't help for you to know this, but before we felt anything for each other, I was who I was, and you were who you were. When we met, I was just a vampire, so I did what vampires do, using my capabilities to my advantage the same way you would grind your hips into someone to get the money you wanted. I know it’s not a perfect comparison, but the point is that we did what we could in order to get what we want. However, I do apologize for lying to you before. Truly, I'm sorry, Aaliyah.”

I shake my head, suddenly frustrated by this new information. “No more of that. At all. No Influencing whatsoever, no reading my mind, no manipulation. I have an idea of what it feels like now, and if I sense anything happening, you and I will be done for good. If I don't wanna do something, you're gonna have to just deal with it. You can't force me to do anything. Do you understand?”

“I understand.”

“Promise me.”

He nods. “With all my heart, I promise I will never Influence you again.”

“And don't read my thoughts.”

“I promise not to listen to your thoughts.”

“Amari, if you break this promise, I won't forgive you. You hear me, right?”

“I hear you. You have my word.”

“And you promise not to turn me?”

“Yes. I don't even want to.”

I let out a long sigh as I nod to myself, knowing that what I'm about to say will change my life forever. After I speak my next words, there will be no going back to life before Amari Goddard. But what pushes the words out of my mouth is the fact that I barely had a life before him.

“Okay,” I start, still nodding in agreement to my own thoughts. “I don't know how any of this is supposed to work, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't absolutely terrified, but I know I don't want to go back to what I was doing before I met you. I've seen my art hanging in a venue, waiting to be sold if not for Stanley's pathetic scheme. I've felt my heart pound from the mere sight of you. You brought adventure into my life when I was craving it, and showed me luxury I never thought I'd see. So I may not know what the hell I'm doing, but I know I wanna be with you, Amari. Yes, you’ll have to earn my trust, but I'm willing to let you, because I know I’ll be consumed by regret if I let you walk away. I don't wanna be a vampire, but I do want you.”

Amari smiles a genuine smile that reaches his eyes. “Well, I can't read your mind, so I don't know what you want me to do next, but I'm hoping you want me to kiss you.”