“I feel like I’m going to explode,” she admitted softly. “I need you.”
“Shhh,” I soothed her. “I’m right here.” Dipping down, I placed my mouth over her swollen mound and savored the wet heat I found there. Pulling back for a moment, I stared up at her, darkness coloring my vision. “I will never need your blood as long as you give me this.”
Thea grabbed hold of my hair, her hips bucking up as they tried to relocate my now absent mouth. “Show me.”
She didn’t have to ask me again. But that didn’t stop me from devouring her until she came twice: the apology I’d meant to deliver and another just because I wanted more of her. She collapsed against the mattress, and I gathered her in my arms. Despite her languid limbs, she reached for the buckle of my belt.
“No, pet.” I stopped her. “I was apologizing, remember?”
“I thought you were teaching,” she teased. “What if I want to return to the lesson?”
“Later,” I said meaningfully. “Rest. I kept you up half the night last night–”
“I’m not complaining,” she interjected.
I ignored her. “And I plan to keep you up longer tonight. If that is permissible?”
“It is permissible.” She burrowed against me, sighing happily.
I smiled, recalling the insatiable appetite I now had. Some things didn’t change, no matter how many centuries passed. After a minute, Thea began to softly snore, and I reached into my pocket for my phone. There were a few missed calls from my family and a text from Celia. My family could wait. I had no plans to do anything but enjoy the exquisite creature next to me this evening. But as soon as I read Celia’s message, I regretted letting the outside world intrude. My plans would have to wait. I let Thea sleep a little while longer before I kissed her forehead and coaxed her to open her eyes.
“Pet, I’m afraid we have somewhere to be, and there are things we’ll both need to attend to before we leave,” I told her gently, unsure how she would take this news. Not that I had any choice but to deliver it.
“What? Where?” she mumbled sleepily, trying to bury her face in my chest.
I suspected my answer would wake her up. “Paris.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
THEA
“You aren’t really going to go,” Olivia said, taking a seat on my bed and folding her legs gracefully under her. I was a little jealous of how smoothly her dancer’s body made her every movement.
She looked out of place amongst my shabby bargain-store possessions. Her own room, while not much larger, was decorated in shades of pale pink. There were even framed pictures on her walls and curtains on the window. I’d never bothered with my own space. My bedroom had no windows. It was just four boring walls. No pictures. No matching pink bedding set. It was just a place to keep my things. With the hours I usually kept, I’d insisted the others take the rooms with views of the outside world. But now, my room felt much smaller than it had before. It felt like a cage I’d been trapped in, and I was on the verge of breaking free.
“Of course, I am.” I continued riffling through my drawers, looking for anything that felt even remotely sophisticated enough for a trip to Paris. I wasn’t having much luck.
“What about your mom? School? The fellowship?” Olivia demanded. “I can’t believe I’m the one saying this to you, but you can’t just skip out on your whole life for some guy.”
What she meant was that this was usually my job. I was the one talking Olivia down from following some random producer to Los Angeles or making Tanner actually leave the apartment during daylight hours. I went to class. I rehearsed constantly. I never missed one of my mom’s chemo appointments. Until earlier today, I’d even had a job on top of all of that.
“Thea, what’s going on?” she pressed, and I realized I’d been caught up in my own thoughts. “He can’t be that good in bed. Maybe it’s just because he’s your first...”
I whirled around, a bunch of panties in my hands, and gawked at her. “You think I slept with him?”
My roommate knew I was a virgin. She’d spent the better part of a few years trying to help me drop the label.
“I don’t know!” She threw her hands in the air. “You’re acting crazy, and you didn’t come home the other night.”
Both were good points. “Do you really think I would finally sleep with someone and not tell you?”
“I don’t know what’s going on with you,” she said softly.
I stopped stuffing clothes into my old suitcase and sighed. But before I could figure out what to tell Olivia, my phone began to ring. I checked the screen and put it back down. I could only deal with one disappointed person in my life right now.
“What do you want to know?” I asked, abandoning my crappy packing job and joining her on the other end of the bed.
“So you haven’t slept with him, but...” she trailed off with a wicked grin.
“We’ve kissed.” I didn’t really have words to describe the other things we’d done. At least, none I could imagine saying aloud.
“Kissed?” she repeated with downturned lips. “Tell me that you aren’t blowing up your whole life for some rich guy you’ve only kissed.”
“And some other stuff,” I said.
“Thea!” Olivia grabbed a pillow and whacked me with it. “Stop being so shy. Has he gone down on you?”
“Yes,” I said, starting to flush. That inevitably reminded me of the last time my cheeks had been this hot, and I blushed even harder.
“Ohhhh! And he must have been good at it since you’re following him all the way to Paris for more,” she teased. She waited a moment before her next question. “And what about you? Have you given him a–”
“Yes,” I cut her off.
“Impressive.” She nodded her head like she was an expert on the subject. “You must be really good at it if he’s taking you to Paris.”
“It’s not just about sex,” I told her. I took a deep breath and admitted the truth I’d been keeping secret–even from myself. “I really like him.”
“I hope so.” She rolled her eyes. “That’s a long flight to take with someone you don’t like.”
