And, well, it seems that nothing says that like… actually saying it.
He lights up with a huge, dimpled smile. ‘It’s ok. It was only the best kiss of my entire life. I’m pretty sure I’ll get over it.’
I hit him with a theatrical shoulder slap, but inside I’m grinning too, because I’m pretty sure that was the best kiss of my life, too.
If only I knew what the hell to do about that.
* * *
It’s just after 1am when we finally make it to the leisure centre, after a quick stop at Quinn’s flat to grab his swimming stuff, and just as Louise promised, it’s all ready for us. I assume she’s around here somewhere because the door’s unlocked and some of the lights are on, but she’s doing a great job of staying out of sight. It feels private. Intimate, even.
I lead Quinn to the male changing rooms and disappear into the female ones, telling him I’ll meet him on the other side. And when I do, I immediately realise my mistake. I definitely did not factor in the level of nakedness that would come into play here, and now we’re here, and Quinn’s leaning against the tiled wall, and I don’t know where to look.
Ok, that’s a lie. I knowexactlywhere to look, I’m just not sure that if I do, I’ll ever be able to look away. The slightest glimpse of his broad, toned chest had my brain in a tailspin, and I’m worried that any more will be the end of me. So I concentrate on keeping my eyes safely above his shoulders, only, when I do, they lock with his eyes and that feels dangerous, too.
‘Come on,’ I say, desperate to calm whatever fire it is that’s blazing in my body right now before I make any more impulsive decisions. ‘Let’s get in.’ And then I skip the few steps to the pool’s edge and dive.
There’s something about being in the water that I’ve always loved. It’s the weightlessness, maybe, or the feeling of being held in place. And since I was turned, there’s one other big advantage too.
‘Ok, so what’s uniquely vampirey about a swimming pool?’ Quinn asks, as he pops up out of the water three feet away from me. He flips his head to the side to flick water out of his hair, and I pretend not to notice the way the action makes the muscles in his shoulders flex. This man is a walking anatomy lesson. ‘Wait, I thought you guys couldn’t go in water?’
‘That’srunningwater,’ I say, rolling my eyes. ‘And it’s only slightly true.’
He shrugs, his lips pressing together like he’s itching to smile. ‘Then what? Are you immune to verrucas?’ He looks around, the pool lights reflecting in his eyes. They look like they’re glowing blue. ‘I assume this isn’t holy water.’
‘No, Quinn.’ I try not to look at the tiny pool of water gathering in the hollow of his throat. ‘It’s because of this.’
I kick my way down into the deep end and then blow all the breath out of my lungs and immediately start to sink. When I reach the bottom, I sit cross-legged on the tiles and wait.
I discovered this trick as a young vampire living in Cornwall in the 1880s. The sea was always so clear there, I could see all the way to the seabed sometimes, to every sunken ship and lost treasure. There wasn’t the equipment then that we have these days, and the diving suits available were far too bulky to fit through small gaps in rock, or tiny ship windows. But I wasn’t.
I had to be careful not to go out in full sunlight, of course, but that made it even better. There weren’t many other people in the sea at daybreak or twilight so it was like a whole universe just for me. I spent hours exploring those wrecks, trailing my fingers across small piles of treasure that wouldn’t be discovered for decades.
There’s a splash up on the surface and then Quinn is diving down towards me. I haven’t been here long, maybe a minute or two, but I can see the surprise in his eyes as he sits next to me, his hands sculling small circles to keep him from floating upwards.
The trick, of course, is to expel as much of the air in your lungs as you can because that helps fight the buoyancy. It’s not easy to do in a body that relies on oxygen, not for any great length of time, and after around thirty seconds I see Quinn’s expression falter before his breath escapes him and he pushes to the surface in a long trail of bubbles.
I give him a minute and then I follow him up.
‘How long can you stay down there?’ he asks as he treads water. His voice is a little breathless and it does things to me that it shouldn’t.
I look away. ‘Indefinitely. I mean, I don’t need to breathe, so… I’ve not found the limit yet.’
‘You do breathe though.’ I can feel his eyes on me, and it takes everything I have not to turn back towards them. ‘I felt it when…’
He doesn’t say it, but I hear it anyway.When we kissed.When our faces were so close to each other that we couldn’t have missed even the slightest detail.
‘I do.’ I nod. ‘But I don’t need to. It’s more of a habit. Or sometimes it’s an?—’
I realise what I’m about to say and stop dead. I hope he’ll leave it, but of course he doesn’t.
‘An…?’
Damn it.
I meet his gaze and bite the bullet. ‘An emotional response. If I’m really happy, or scared, or shocked, or, you know…’
Turned on.