When she opened it, he was standing there, a big grin on his face.
“You were already here when you called, weren’t you?” she said, taking a step back to allow him to enter.
“No. But I was close by.”
She closed the door and when she turned around, he took her in his arms. “I missed you.”
He brushed a kiss across her lips. “Tell me you missed me.”
“You know I did.” Tugging on his hand, she led him to the sofa and sat down.
He settled beside her and draped his arm around her shoulders. “What would you like to do?” His gaze moved over her face and settled on her lips. “I know what I’d like to do.”
“So do I,” she said, with a knowing grin. “But not tonight.”
“Ah. Another hope crushed.”
“We could play cards. Or watch a movie. Or you could tell me how you...I mean, when you....”
“Are you trying to ask me how I satisfy my thirst?”
She nodded, her cheeks reddening with embarrassment.
“Funny you should ask. That’s what I was doing before I called you.”
“Oh?”
“Are you sure you want to know?”
“I think so.”
“It’s easy, really. I find someone, usually a female who’s alone. I call her to me, assure her that she’s in no danger, and take what I need. It isn’t much, just a few swallows. Then I wipe thememory from her mind and send her away. It doesn’t take more than a few minutes.”
Bryn nodded slowly as she tried to picture it in her mind. “It’s not like that in the movies.”
“Movies!” He grimaced. “Hollywood makes us out to be monsters. In a way, I guess we are. But not like those ravening creatures on the screen, tearing out throats.” He shook his head. “They’ve given us a bad rap.”
“What’s it like when you rest during the day?”
He shrugged. “It’s the only part I don’t like. It’s kind of like being swallowed by darkness. I’m not aware of anything until the sun goes down. After a while, I won’t have to rest during the day, although I don’t know how long I have to wait.” Even as he said it, he wondered if telling her these things was a good idea.
“Are you sorry you let your father do it?”
He took her hands in his. “Only because it might keep us apart. For your sake, I’d undo if I could.”
She leaned into him, touched by his words, by the love in his beautiful midnight-blue eyes. She sighed as he wrapped his arms around her, lifted her face for his kiss as he lowered his head. Right or wrong, vampire or not, in his arms was where she wanted to be.
Conor held her close, inhaling the fragrance of her hair and skin, loving the way she responded to his kisses. The scent of her blood called sweetly to him, but he ignored it, wanting only to hold her and caress her, to lose himself in her warmth.
Inevitably, his desire grew stronger, more compelling. He waited for her to back off and when she didn’t, he called on every ounce of self-control he had and released her.
Bryn looked up at him, her eyes cloudy with desire, her lips slightly swollen from his kisses.
Conor took a deep breath. “Unless you’ve changed your mind about tonight, I think we’d better slow down a little.” Even as hesaid the words, he couldn’t believe he was saying them. “Another thing about vampires, the desire for blood is aroused by other desires, as well.”
She stared at him, uncomprehending, for a moment. And then she blushed, remembering she’d told him ‘not tonight.’ “Oh.”
“Yeah.” He took a deep breath. “Why don’t you tell me a little about yourself. Your family.”