My cheeks turned hot underneath. He was right. “What does that mean, though? That being bitten makes me want to…to have sex with you?” I whispered the ‘s’ word.
“Yes, but I prefer to think of it as—” he stroked the backs of his fingers slowly over my cheekbone, “—making love.”
My breath shuddered. “Surely that’s not right—for me to be turned on by you doing dangerous things to me?”
“Of course it is. It’s called human nature. What’s not right is taking pleasure in taunting me when I’m about to kill you.”
“Is it—” I chewed the inside of my lip. “Is it wrong for me to want—” Gah! I huffed the rest of my words out in one gust.
“Ara?” David stepped closer, towering over me a little, eyes of concern stealing his smile. “S’il te plaît, mon amour? What is it?”
“I—I want you to—”
“Ara,” Vicki called before she walked through the doorway. “It’s late, time you were getting to bed.”
My shoulders dropped. “Sure, Vicki.”
“Ara, please?” David said quietly. “What were you going to say?”
Come back? I looked up at him. When she’s gone to bed?
David nodded. “Goodnight, Ara.”
“Night.” My smiling eyes stayed locked to his as he backed away, kissing my hand.
“Goodnight, Mrs Thompson, and thank you for a lovely meal.” He smiled at Vicki with all the charm and sincerity of an eighteenth-century prince. She totally fell for it.
“Well, you’re welcome, David. Any time. Maybe next time I’ll cook something a little more interesting.”
“To be perfectly honest—” the prince bowed his head, “—I’ve not had a meal that delicious in a long time.”
Vicki’s chest puffed up, and the smile on her face spread so wide I pictured her as a big feathery chicken that just laid an egg.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.” I linked arms with him and led him to the door.
“You will. Until then—” he bowed his head, “—tu es dans toutes mes pensées.”
I heard Vicki gush behind me. Sucker.
But as the door closed, my heart fluttered and a pathetic girlie giggle shook my chest. I didn’t even know what he said, but I bet it was romantic. All I knew, from growing up with Mike saying stuff like that all the time, was that S’il vous plaît was please, respectfully, and S’il te plaît was for addressing a close friend, while mon amour was my love. Not that Mike ever said that to me, but I heard him groaning it to other girls when I slept over his house. He really used his French upbringing to his advantage when it came to girls. I wondered if David was doing that—trying to woo me, or if it was just a habit for him to speak French.
“Ara?” Vicki stood beside me.
“Hm?” I looked away from the front door, shaking off that little shiver David left behind in me.
“Stop staring at nothing. Go to bed.”
“Oh. Right.” I rubbed my head. “Sorry.”
As I took the first step, Vicki gently grabbed my hand and smiled up at me. “And by the way, David is a very lovely boy.”
“Thank you.” I smiled, gripping her hand for a second.
“And he’s more than welcome here anytime.”
“Cool.” I tugged my hand away and ran upstairs; I just wanted to be in his arms again. Having him in my room past nine at night was a real treat. I wasn’t going to waste even one second more talking to Vicki, even if she was actually being nice.
I flung my door open to a dark room, slamming it shut with my heel. “David?”
“Ara.” Dad waltzed in without even knocking, and flicked on the light.
“Dad? What’s up?” I quickly checked around my room.
“Just wanted to say goodnight.” He smiled warmly, resting his shoulder on the doorframe.
“Oh. Well, you should’ve knocked, Dad. I was just about to get changed.”
He looked at my clothes, his eyes going wider. “Oh, I’m sorry, honey. I forget you’re all grown up now.”
“It’s okay.” I walked over and gave him a quick hug.
He kissed the top of my head, patting my hair, then stood back. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Night, Dad.”
“Night,” he said again and closed the door.
I spun around a few times, but the quiet emptiness of my room remained the same. Maybe David was waiting until my parents actually went to sleep. So, I took a shower, washed my hair, and slipped into my nice pyjamas—the ones that actually matched—then jumped into bed to keep warm in the cooling air.
The cold turned to frost and my tired eyes felt sandy by the time Dad and Vicki finally shut their door. Then, with a stealthy silence that even the cat on the end of my bed didn’t pay attention to, David slipped through my window, lifted the covers and snuggled down beside me, pulling me onto his chest.
“Hello,” I whispered.
“Hello.”
“Mmm.” I breathed him in deep; he smelled sweeter than he did before—a more concentrated version of his scent, kind of like a Terry’s Orange Chocolate treat. “What’ve you been doing? You’re all hot and you smell so nice.”
“Do you really want to know?”
“Were you…hunting?”
“Would it bother you if I was?”
A minute’s silence passed in a second. “I’m not sure.”
“Just don’t think about it, sweetheart.” His long fingers swept my hair back over my forehead, leaving behind a warm sensation under the tingling cool.
“So, that smell—it’s the blood you just had?”
He laughed a little. “Kind of. It’s how my body interprets the blood, which is unique for every vampire.”
“I like it.”
“That’s because you like me.”
“So, it’s also why you’re so warm all of a sudden, then?”
“Yes.”
“Then, why are your hands cold when the rest of you is so warm?” I traced a line over his index finger.
“Because it’s cold outside. I’ve been waiting for your dad to go to bed.”
“Why? He wouldn’t have known you were in here.”
“I wouldn’t be so certain about that, my love.”
“Mm. I like it when you call me that.” I smiled and slipped my fingertips under David’s shirt, resting them on his belly. “I like it even more in French.”