Page 46 of Vampire Pack

"Hmm.

"Would knowing that change things for her?" King sounded curious. There was no pressure behind his words. The problem was Jude's, not his.

"Probably not. Mal had a bad experience with a vampire in the past. It actually had to do with the way her blood tasted."

"With blood like that, bad experiences are going to be more common."

I could imagine.

"What kind of blood do I have?" I asked.

King had never been able to get enough of me, so I wasn't worried about it. Just curious.

"Your blood is rich, and so fucking thick." I saw a gleam of his fangs. If just mentioning my taste was enough to make his fangs appear, we were in good shape. "You're delicious, Yorkie."

"That's good, because you're stuck with me now."

"Thank fuck." He stepped closer, taking my hand and lifting it to his lips. When he pressed a kiss to my knuckles, my face grew a little warmer. "I spent some time on the internet, last night. It sounds like you'll probably go into heat sometime in the next few days. The first heat always starts within a week of sealing a mate bond."

Yeah. My face was officially burning.

"Maybe I'll get lucky with the timing, and it won't cost me another game," I said.

"Maybe we'll get lucky and it won't cost us another game, you mean. There's no world in which I would leave you alone while you're in heat."

"I'm not looking forward to it," I admitted. "Heat. It sounds terrible. All cramps and sweat and horniness and insanity. I'll be intolerable."

"You'll be sexy as fuck. God knows I'll enjoy it. I'll make sure it's even better for you." King lowered my hand from his lips, and released it. "Ready to see the rest of the house?"

I nodded.

He showed me their shared living space, including a home gym with a huge area of synthetic ice for practicing on the days they didn't feel like going to the arena. They had a theater room, and a massive living room, too.

It all seemed like overkill to me, but I wasn't about to tell a vampire that he had too much space. They were picky about that shit. Reason and logic didn't apply.

King's portion of the house had a smaller, cozier living room, a bedroom, and a spare room that had been turned into a comfortable reading nook. I didn't look closely at the titles, but I knew he had a thing for mystery novels. He'd mentioned it a few times.

Everything was done in neutral, calming colors. It was luxurious, but understated, and laid-back.

He'd already hung some of my clothes in his closet, which didn't surprise me at all after he'd stolen an entire duffel bag of my stuff.

More of my things were placed seemingly at random throughout the space. Small decorations that I hadn't noticed were missing. Clothes I'd worn, that smelled like me. One of my water bottles, on the coffee table. My towel, in the bathroom.

His hands were tucked in his pockets, and he stood a little stiffly, off to the side of the living room. He was waiting for feedback, and we both knew it.

A vampire's home was a sensitive subject, and a source of pride too. Even if we hadn't been mated, or together in any real capacity, I never would've said something negative about it.

As it was, there was nothing negative to say. I liked it, and I wasn't picky about my living space anyway.

I walked over to him, and reached up to take his face in my hands. My palms were on his stubbly cheeks as I tilted his chin down until our eyes met.

"Your home is beautiful. Thank you for bringing me inside. I'll definitely be comfortable living here."

The tension in his shoulders slowly dissipated. He dipped his head in a nod.

I released him, and walked back to the bedroom. "You need to nap. We have a few hours before the game. I didn't sleep much, so I'll try to rest too."

"Are you giving me orders?"