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Whatever worked for him. I wasn’t sure I’d ever really understand their society. When it had been Fredrick running things alone, there weren’t meetings. Or if there were, I’d been unaware they were having them.
On that note, they left. I stretched my arms over my head. I’d wanted them awake, and now they were already gone. I did get a heck of a roll around in the sheets with Caesar, so I guessed I didn’t get to complain.
After a while, there really wasn’t anything else for me to straighten or make look nicer. I’d never lived in such a beautiful space, so for as long as I was there, it would be kept up really well. I wouldn’t take it for granted, that just wasn’t in my nature.
The rain let up a little bit outside, still coming down but not heavily. The previous owners had placed three rocking chairs on the porch under an overhang. I flipped on an outside light and thought it looked like the perfect place to sit, rock, read and watch the rain. Sure, I might seem like I was ninety years old, but what else did I have going on right then? My phone wasn’t great on a good day, and if I spent too much more time searching on the internet it might just totally die and have to charge, which one day it just wasn’t going to do anymore.
I didn’t get it from a reputable store, but one I was pretty sure had sold it to me on some sort of black market for phones. It wasn’t like I could get it fixed. I needed it not to die for as long as I could. Which meant that with no television and no company, I would instead read a book like someone’s grandmother and pretend that was absolutely something a person my age should be doing.
I could go out and find a social life. What did people do in this town for fun? Maybe I’d find out as I met people at work, assuming I got that job.
With all of it heavy on my mind, I sat down to read another vampire book Griffin had left behind. That was pretty much my reading material at the moment, if I didn’t want to study for the GED, which I had decided I would spend part of the next day doing. I would also buy some fiction. That was on the agenda big time. Or maybe I could look up some things online—when I had the phone officially charged—and see what some people were reading in college level classes.
That could be fun.If I managed to pass the GED test, maybe I’d enroll in community college. Work. Put myself through, maybe eventually even make it to a four-year college. Sure, it might take me decades, but clearly I would have time to fill in between vampire visits.
If I stick around that long.
In the meantime, I read my book and tried not to yawn. The really thick, dense material basically charted how vampires moved from season to season during the Middle Ages.Why did anyone write this crap down?
Thunder boomed again; seconds later, the rain picked up. How much time had passed? I yawned again and checked my phone. A strong sense of withdrawal hit me, and I grabbed my now-pounding head.Okay. I have to focus on something else.There was nothing I could do about the fact that, for some reason, I needed to be bit again, even though I had Caesar bite me earlier that night. Previously, I needed to be bit up to four times a night. It wasn’t so weird I needed them to feed again. No, it had been odd that it slowed down.I have to keep my head about this.Did one of the guys need to be fed? My sense of someone needing didn’t come. If either Caesar or Griffin needed me, I didn’t know which one.Maybe they are just too far away for whatever this weirdness is?If it was that at all.
I needed to think about something else. Anything else.Okay.What was I doing before the need hit?Time.Yes. How much time has passed?I looked back at my phone, rubbing my head. Surprisingly, several hours. I wasn’t sure I could give a report of what I’d read if I had to, but I understood the gist of it.They moved around because…
Lightning flashed again and movement caught my eye.Is someone there?It was dark except for the lights over my porch and the distant flicker of my neighbors’ homes, but no one was close. Certainly, no one came to greet us, and I really doubted they’d show up at almost nine o’clock at night.
The blurred image moved forward, fully visible for the first time to me as he got soaked in the rain, staring at me from about six feet away.
Tanner. It was Tanner.
I gasped. With my phone in my hand, I tried to think past my terror.This is bad.What is he doing here? How did he find me? Had something happened to Griffin and Caesar? I shot out a text to them. Two words:Tanner here.
He hadn’t moved, but I would have to soon. I stumbled to my feet, the pain of withdrawal making it hard for me to even do that, and I had to grip the chair.
“Hi.” It was probably a stupid thing to say, but I had no idea how to greet Tanner after so much time, knowing he couldn’t talk. “I know I shouldn’t be here. I know. It’s a long story. But listen… I’m not okay. That’s probably obvious. If you’re going to do something to me, I’m not sure… I guess, I don’t know what to say to you. Are you here to hurt me?”
That last question is really the most important.
He hadn’t moved. Rain pounded down on him, showing just how intimidating Tanner was in that moment. Somehow, being a vampire made him bigger, or maybe that was just in my mind.
I swallowed. He couldn’t answer me. Why had I asked?
My knees gave out. One second, I could stand. The next, I couldn’t, but I never hit the floor. Tanner was suddenly there, holding me up, my breasts pressed against his hard chest.
He stared at me, his eyes tinged vampiric red. Still, his hold wasn’t painful, gentle but firm.
Tanner carried me into the house, putting me on the counter so we were eye to eye. He let go of my waist so that he could take my hands in his. In a swift move, he flipped my hands over and examined my wrists, a frown forming on his face. He ran one finger over one of my scars.
“I know. It looks bad.”
If he heard me, he made no acknowledgment of any kind. Instead, he proceeded to check my arms and my neck. Finally, he lifted his gaze to meet my own. I swallowed.
“Tanner, I know this is weird. I know it is, and I know you’re breaking rules by being around me, but could you bite me? Please? It hurts until I’m bitten. It used to be constant, but now I can’t tell when or if I’ll need it. Please. I don’t know if…”
Whatever I would have said, stopped because he tilted my head back just a little. In a smooth move, he placed his mouth against my neck. I thought he would bite me—in fact I craved his bite—but he kissed me there instead. A deep press of his mouth against my skin. It was such a sweet gesture.
A second later, he bit where he’d kissed me. I sighed. Pleasure took over the pain, pushing it away. I knew this feeling. It was the same one as with Griffin and Caesar. This was what happened with them. Tanner was somehow the same and it was such a gift.
He caught his breath, letting go of where he sucked on me.
