When I open my eyes again, I feel like I’ve been reborn. I want to say something important, something profound, something along the lines ofyou are the most incredible woman I’ve ever met,orI would follow you to the ends of the earth.
What I actually mumble is, ‘I… That was…Fuck.’
Smooth.
Something like bashfulness comes over her face as she clambers off me, and in my post-orgasmic fever high it’s all I can do to reach for her– to pull her on top of my heaving chest and show her with my lips all the things my brain’s too far gone to say.
‘Please,’ I mutter, between kisses, ‘don’t be embarrassed. That was…’ I still can’t entirely form words. That alone should fill in the gaps for her.
Her brows pinch, a flush of colour flooding her cheeks. ‘But I was?—’
‘Perfect,’ I finish for her. ‘Magnificent.Transcendental.’
The pout of her lips quirks into a smile. ‘Transcendental?’
I laugh, and my head falls back against the pillows with the effort of it all. ‘That’s how good it was. I didn’t even know I knew that word.’
She chuckles, stroking a thumb down the edge of my jaw. ‘A new experience for both of us, huh?’
‘You have no idea,’ I say, grinning back at her. ‘We should give it another go– see what other abilities we can unlock.’
That makes her laugh again, louder this time, and the sound of it settles somewhere deep inside my chest. I’ve known Lucy was special since the second I laid eyes on her, but I’ve never felt anything like this before. Not with anyone.
And it’s then that I know I need to tell her. To say the words that are on the tip of my tongue.
It feels crazy.
It’s far too soon.
But at this moment there’s not a single thing in this world or the next that can stop those three little words from slipping out.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
LUCY
‘Sorry,’ I say, in a daze, like I can’t fully believe what just came out of Bram’s mouth. ‘What did you just say?’
He looks like he’s panicking– like he wants to take it back. But it’s too late. It’s out there now.
‘I said,’ he starts slowly, fingers gently cupping my jaw, drawing in a deep breath like he’s steeling himself to say it again. ‘I’m a vampire.’
I burst out laughing. I can’t help it. Bram just stares at me, utterly bewildered. It takes him a moment or two before he can speak again.
‘Not the response I expected, if I’m honest,’ he says eventually.
‘I’m sorry,’ I manage, through my laughter. ‘It’s just that you scrambled my brain with life-changing sex, and now I can’t tell if you’re messing with me.’
He says nothing, but his brows knot, and the way those sea-green eyes hold mine nervously shuts me up mid-giggle. That is not the face of a man who’s playing around.
‘Oh shit,’ I say quietly, anxiety creeping up my throat. ‘You’re serious.’
He nods. ‘Deadly.’
I wince, before the full impact of what he just said hits me, and then I snap up and away from him, grabbing the duvet and wrapping it tightly around my naked body.
‘Sorry,’ Bram says, visibly cringing. He stretches to reach his boxers and then pulls them on, sitting back down on the bed a little way away from me. ‘Poor choice of words.’
‘I, umm…’