Dorian's Destiny: Altered by Amanda Long Page A

saliva
from his lips.
    Forcefully removed from his friend before
the unfamiliar urges could travel farther south, Dorian froze in
utter shock over his impulsive act. Utterly humiliated and confused
by the act and rejection, he left with saying a word.
    Thomas looked down at what remained of the
bum. “Dorian didn't even finish you off, did he? Well, I'm not one
to be wasteful,” he sneered.
    *****
    Dorian leaned against his locked bedroom
door, his heart racing from both the sprint home and his panic over
what he had just done.
    Why did I kiss
Thomas?
    He ran a finger gently across his lips.
Dropping his hand, he started to pace.
    What's wrong with me? I
shouldn't have these feelings for another male. Not only that, he
rejected me. What if he hadn't?
    Confused by emotions he had never faced
before, Dorian continued to pace, unclear what he should do.
    I can't ever face him
again. I'll have to leave here, but I don’t have anywhere else to
go. I'm not going back to the forest. I
like it here. I have an endless supply of books, blood, and a bed
that feels like a cloud. I'll just avoid him by staying in my room
when he's home.
    Dorian stopped his pacing, grabbed a book
from his nightstand and flopped onto his bed, determined to
sequester himself there for all eternity.
    *****
    Not seeing, even a glimpse
of Dorian for days after his unrequited show of affection, Thomas
thought it best to try and mend the broken bridge between them.
Entering Dorian's room uninvited after picking the lock on the
door, he found him propped up in bed reading.
    “It's bad manners for a house guest to
purposely avoid their host. Don't you agree?” Thomas made his way
over to sit on the edge of the bed.
    Dorian continued to read his book, making no
effort to acknowledge his presence. He hoped Thomas would take the
hint and go away, since he had no desire to discuss what he knew to
be the reason for his visit. In fact, he tried hard to forget the
entire evening, pushing the embarrassing event deep inside a back
room in his mind, locking the door and throwing away the key.
    Unfortunately, the only
way he had successfully kept his shame locked away was by avoiding
the one thing that had just broken into his room. Seeing Thomas
brought the unfortunate event flooding back. Thankfully, the
powerful attraction he felt that evening
was gone, but the sensation still lingered on his lips. Fighting
the urge to touch his, Dorian stared intensely at the words on the
page before him.
    “Dorian, I owe you an apology,” Thomas
stated sincerely.
    The word apology caught Dorian's attention,
pulling him away from his book long enough to risk a glance at
Thomas.
    “You caught me off guard that night in the
alley. Maybe, if you tried the kiss again, I would be more
receptive this time?” Thomas teased, puckering his lips for Dorian
to plant another one on him.
    Holding back a chuckle ignited by his
ridiculous expression, Dorian punched him in the right
shoulder.
    Relaxing his lips and rubbing his shoulder,
Thomas continued with his apology. “No, it's my fault. Drinking
human blood can be overwhelming at first. Along with the physical
changes, it can cause a myriad of emotions. Given your background,
I am sure some of those emotions were quite unfamiliar. I should
have anticipated such a reaction and warned you. For that, I am
sorry.”
    Dorian appreciated Thomas' apology and
explanation of his unusual feelings. Oddly, it gave him a sense of
normalcy, a rarity in the abnormal world he now existed in. More
than anything though, he desperately wanted to forget the incident,
“Can we just forget it ever happened?” He begged.
    “What happened?” Thomas asked, wearing a
puzzled look. Switching gears as only he could, he blurted out,
“Hey, let's go do something fun.”
    *****
    Thomas' idea of something fun was a trip to
an indoor shooting range. He conversed with the patron of the
established while Dorian perused the various types of firearms
lining the back wall.