even brought my food. I grinned at him, embarrassed, and said, “I’m usually not this much of a pig.”
He laughed and whispered, “Well, you HAVE been getting quite a lot of… h mmm… exercise lately.” I blushed three shades of pink.
He reached over and touched my cheek. “Beautiful,” was all he said. The waitress brought my food and despite the big basket of chips, I easily finished my enchilada and washed it down with a second ice cold beer. He paid the check then, giving the waitress an extra hefty tip, and walked to the hotel office with his arm around my shoulder. He paid cash for the room, a little extra so we could get the room on the end “a little more private” he winked at me, and I blushed again. We parked the car in front of the room and he carried the bags into the room. He put a few bottled waters in the fridge and then, strangely, he checked the microwave. I sort of wondered why, because we didn’t have anything to cook, but I didn’t say anything.
I told him I was going to grab a quick shower and went in to the bathroom. I was in there for a minute before a realized that I’d forgotten my shampoo. I started to open the door, but something stopped me. I glanced through the crack in the door and saw him pulling something out of the microwave. He turned so he was facing me, and I shrunk back, afraid that he had seen me. But I looked again and realized that his eyes were closed, and he was sniffing deeply what could only be a pint of blood, the kind you get from the blood bank. I relaxed for a moment, thinking he would, you know, pour it into a glass and drink it, but he just inhaled with this eyes closed, like he was waiting for something. Suddenly his eyes flew open, violent eyes, the black eyes of an uncontrolled monster and then, for the first time, I saw his fangs. If I had blinked I would have missed it. In the instant his eyes flew open , his fangs dropped down, stuck in to the bag and he drained it. Just like that. In the same amount of time it would take me to snap my fingers. And then, in the next instant, he blinked and his eyes were normal, the fangs were gone and he quickly dropped the completely empty bag into the trash. I wasn’t sure what to do then, wasn’t sure if I should say anything, was just deciding that I wouldn’t when I noticed that he was staring at me with a look of horror on his face. I went to him quickly, but he turned away, as if he was ashamed. I pulled his face back to me, looked deep into his eyes and whispered , “It’s okay, really it is.”
He frowned and stammered , “I… I… I… wasn’t ready for you to see that…”
I gently pushed him until he sat on the edge of the bed, I needed to look directly into his eyes when I responded and I couldn’t do that if he was standing. I cupped his face between my hands and said, “Look, we don’t know how long it’s going to take us to track down these clues. It could take months, years even. I don’t want you out of my sight for any longer than you absolutely have to be, so that means we will know everything about each other, everything that’s the same between us and everything that’s different. You have to believe me when I tell you that there’s absolutely nothing about you that frightens me. I love you, Matthew Pearl, with all of my heart and soul, with all that I am, and nothing you do will ever change that.”
And I kissed him, showing him that I didn’t care what had just been in his mouth, that I didn’t care that he had sucked down that blood faster than I could blink, that I wasn’t wondering ‘ if he could drain a pint that fast how quickly could he drain a human?’ Actually, I was kind of wondering that one but I didn’t let him know that).
He pulled away then and softly said , “I love you too Sarah,” and then he buried his face in my chest, his body shaking, as if he was sobbing.
I wrapped my arms around him and kissed the top of his
He laughed and whispered, “Well, you HAVE been getting quite a lot of… h mmm… exercise lately.” I blushed three shades of pink.
He reached over and touched my cheek. “Beautiful,” was all he said. The waitress brought my food and despite the big basket of chips, I easily finished my enchilada and washed it down with a second ice cold beer. He paid the check then, giving the waitress an extra hefty tip, and walked to the hotel office with his arm around my shoulder. He paid cash for the room, a little extra so we could get the room on the end “a little more private” he winked at me, and I blushed again. We parked the car in front of the room and he carried the bags into the room. He put a few bottled waters in the fridge and then, strangely, he checked the microwave. I sort of wondered why, because we didn’t have anything to cook, but I didn’t say anything.
I told him I was going to grab a quick shower and went in to the bathroom. I was in there for a minute before a realized that I’d forgotten my shampoo. I started to open the door, but something stopped me. I glanced through the crack in the door and saw him pulling something out of the microwave. He turned so he was facing me, and I shrunk back, afraid that he had seen me. But I looked again and realized that his eyes were closed, and he was sniffing deeply what could only be a pint of blood, the kind you get from the blood bank. I relaxed for a moment, thinking he would, you know, pour it into a glass and drink it, but he just inhaled with this eyes closed, like he was waiting for something. Suddenly his eyes flew open, violent eyes, the black eyes of an uncontrolled monster and then, for the first time, I saw his fangs. If I had blinked I would have missed it. In the instant his eyes flew open , his fangs dropped down, stuck in to the bag and he drained it. Just like that. In the same amount of time it would take me to snap my fingers. And then, in the next instant, he blinked and his eyes were normal, the fangs were gone and he quickly dropped the completely empty bag into the trash. I wasn’t sure what to do then, wasn’t sure if I should say anything, was just deciding that I wouldn’t when I noticed that he was staring at me with a look of horror on his face. I went to him quickly, but he turned away, as if he was ashamed. I pulled his face back to me, looked deep into his eyes and whispered , “It’s okay, really it is.”
He frowned and stammered , “I… I… I… wasn’t ready for you to see that…”
I gently pushed him until he sat on the edge of the bed, I needed to look directly into his eyes when I responded and I couldn’t do that if he was standing. I cupped his face between my hands and said, “Look, we don’t know how long it’s going to take us to track down these clues. It could take months, years even. I don’t want you out of my sight for any longer than you absolutely have to be, so that means we will know everything about each other, everything that’s the same between us and everything that’s different. You have to believe me when I tell you that there’s absolutely nothing about you that frightens me. I love you, Matthew Pearl, with all of my heart and soul, with all that I am, and nothing you do will ever change that.”
And I kissed him, showing him that I didn’t care what had just been in his mouth, that I didn’t care that he had sucked down that blood faster than I could blink, that I wasn’t wondering ‘ if he could drain a pint that fast how quickly could he drain a human?’ Actually, I was kind of wondering that one but I didn’t let him know that).
He pulled away then and softly said , “I love you too Sarah,” and then he buried his face in my chest, his body shaking, as if he was sobbing.
I wrapped my arms around him and kissed the top of his
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