I reel back, a little stunned by her statement. “Why?”
“You’ll look at me differently. It’s all well and good to know what I am and who my family is, but to see us feed for the sake of needing nourishment, there’s nothing sexy about that. Nothing appealing. It’s just for that one thing.” She’s wrong. It can be something intimate. I’ve heard Sol talk about it.
“And you think I’ve never seen a vampire bite someone?”
Gen scrubs a hand over her face. “It’s not just that. If you’re in the room, I…”
I step closer to her. “What?”
When her eyes meet mine there’s something deep within them. Something I can’t name. It almost looks like pain. That can’t be right. Whatever it is, she’s not going to tell me. “Can you take me home?” This is ridiculous. I won’t keep her from feeding.
“Yeah,” she says softly.
Gen holds out her hand and I take it, entwining our fingers. It’s the same every time she teleports us. It’s not the simple grip of a wrist or clasp of an elbow. There’s more to this touch, though I’m not sure what.
After dropping me in my bedroom, she opens her mouth to say something but then must think better of it and leaves. I step over to my bed and drop down onto my back.
My phone vibrates in my pocket, bringing me from my thoughts. I doubt it’s Genevieve messaging me. I pull it out and see a text from Lync, asking if I’m home or not. I reply that I am. Two seconds later, my bedroom door opens and Lync comes in, closing it behind him. His smile falters once his eyes meet mine.
Walking over, he sits on the bed until his back is against the headboard and my head is lying on his thigh. “What happened?” he asks. His hand strokes gently up and down my back.
Lync and I connected in a way most friends don’t. It was over him spilling the trauma of his past and me holding him long into the night as he told me what he went through. I held him as he cried. I rubbed his back as the tremors going through his body became unbearable.
He didn’t have to tell me. I told him more than once. But he said how much he trusted me and wanted to share everything about himself. In turn, I told him about my life. About my mom and dad, how we came to the pack, about my nearly nonexistent relationship with my dad, how we only see each other once a year.
My life was easier than Lync’s, but at the time I was going through it, it wasn't fun. Then I had to accept Merrick into my life. Lync knows everything about me, and I know the same about him.
For the two of us to sit in bed and comfort each other as we are now, it’s second nature.
With my fingers biting into his thigh, I tell him about what Ford and Sol said. How Gen freaked out and I asked to be brought home. In the grand scheme of things, it’s small. Miniscule. That doesn’t mean what happened didn’t unnerve me.
“I stand by my previous statement,” Lync says. “She’s your mate.” Before I can reply, he pinches my side to keep me quiet. “It may not be what you want to hear. You’re not going to do anything about it. But there’s something between you two.”
When Lync first brought up Gen being my mate, it wasn’t the only time I’d heard it. Sol and Ford aren’t quiet with how they think we’re fated. To believe those words and Lync’s? Not an easy thing.
I’ve been searching for my mate. Someone who is mine and mine alone. Am I foolish enough to think I found her at such a young age? Davian did, yes. Ari, Paige, and Brayden as well. But at some point, that streak of good luck has to end, doesn’t it? I’ve never been the lucky one.
“I wish I could offer you words of wisdom,” Lync says quietly. “You know what happened between Baker and me. It was love at first sight. There were no two ways about it. I fell for him hard and fast. But we’re both shifters. One touch and it was game over. There was no one else. The rest of the world fell away. That doesn’t mean it was easy all the time and I didn’t have insecurities.
“You’re not a paranormal, so your instincts aren’t the same. I don’t mean that in a bad way. We have something built inside us. Something that recognizes the other half of our soul. I wonder if that’s what Genevieve is feeling. She’s not a shifter, but she’s old enough, been around her family enough to see mates together.”
“If that’s the case, then why wouldn’t she tell me?”
Lync scoffs. “You’re not that naïve, Ladon. A vampire of her age and power. Someone who prides herself on not needing anyone. Who loves her solitary life and carved it out that way on purpose. Look how far in she’s let you already. Do you see any of her other friends while you’re there?”
“No.” I shake my head. “She said she has a few but doesn’t really talk about them.”
“She’s a loner. That’s how she likes her life, however, she made room in it for you. She’s changed so much because of you being in her life. She obviously wants you there. I’ve seen the smile on her face when she shows up to get you.” I have, too. It’s not easily missed. She lights up beautifully when she’s happy.
“So, what? I’m supposed to do this weird dance with her? Try to figure out who we are to one another by never getting up the courage to ask?”
“I don’t think it’s courage you’re lacking. It’s fear of rejection.” His words get me in the center of my chest, wound me, and leave me raw.
Lync has never been one to hold back or say what I want to hear. He tells me how it is. How he sees things. And I value him for that. No matter what happens, Lync has been there for me from the first time we met.
“I haven’t known her long,” I mutter.
Lync lifts my head from his thigh and slides down on the bed until we’re lying face-to-face. His bright and knowing eyes hold mine. He takes my hand in his. “I love you like a brother. You’re the second most important person in my life. I want you to be happy, Ladon. I want you to find what I have with my mate. I want the world for you. If it’s with Gen, great. If not, you’ll find that one for you. I feel it.”
Before I can respond, a knock sounds on the door and Baker peeks his head in. Once his eyes find his mate, a slow smile appears on his lips. “I knew you’d be in here.” He steps in and closes the door behind him.
Baker walks over to the bed and climbs on, sliding behind his mate then draping an arm over his stomach to hold him close. All the while, Lync keeps my hand in his and his eyes on mine.
“This is love, Ladon,” Lync says as his other hand closes over Baker’s and brings it to his chest. “Pure, beautiful love. I want this for you.”
“I want it, too.”
8
Genevieve
Drinking blood hasn’t always been about sex for me. It’s a necessary part of my life as a vampire. There are a handful of other vampires I drink from regularly and they drink from me. It’s a mutual thing. Vampires with some benefits. I don’t sleep with them all. Only certain ones. I’m picky.
Yesterday, Ladon was front and center for my mini meltdown over feeding. I tried to play it off like there’s nothing enticing or desirable about feeding. It didn’t work. Then I almost confessed how him being in the room while I feed would be the purest form of torture. So I turned to the fae wine. My fallback lately when things get tough.