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Chapter 30

I huddled in the straight-back chair farthest fro at the doorway Shit I wanted to run from the room, but why? It wasn&039;t Jean-Claude I didn&039;t trust It was un in , but it wouldn&039;t help ave me more problems

I honestly didn&039;t want to sleep with hilih, perhaps Or maybe I put the pale out of

"Ma petite?" His voice sounded closer than the bathroom

I didn&039;t want to look, as if, just as Grandma Blake had said, I&039;d be struck blind I felt hi in front of me Felt the movement of air I loweredin front of me, one of the thick white torapped around his waist

I loweredto his skin He&039;d co his face plainer, more unadorned than normal His eyes seemed bluer without his hair to frame them

He put a hand on each chair arm and raised himself up His lips brushed mine in a soft, nearly chaste kiss He o of the chair

I could taste my heart in my throat, and it wasn&039;t fear

Jean-Claude touched my hands, lifted them up He placed my hands on his bare shoulders The skin arhtly, very lightly I could have pulled away at any time He ran my hands down his slick body

I pulledHe stayed kneeling, looking at ainst the skin, and I wanted to touch it

I slid my hands across his shoulders and lowered my face to his He started tohis jaw and turned his head away I touched lips to his neck and slidagainst ue He tasted of perfumed soap, water, and clean skin

I slid fro in front of him He was taller now, but not too tall I licked water off his chest, and letI&039;d wanted to do for ainst me

I licked water off the center of his chest and ranhis waist up the damp curve of his back

He pulled the sash of my robe, and I didn&039;t protest I let his hands slide under the robe, aroundbut the t-shirt between his flesh andoverheavily in the loose cloth It was annoying

I raised ainst the long wet line of his body The toas perilously loose

His lips brushed, with his arms locked behindtop of the towel, and found it had already slipped My hand touched the smooth top of his buttocks Only the pressure of our bodies kept the towel in place

He ate atsharp, painful I jerked back and tasted blood

Jean-Claude let athered in his lap "I aot carried away"

I touched my mouth and came aith a spot of blood "You nicked me"

He nodded "I am truly sorry"

"I&039;ll just bet you are," I said

"Do not go all self-righteous on me, ma petite You have finally admitted to yourself, to me, that you feel the pull of my body"

I sat on the floor by the chair with my robe in disarray The t-shirt had ridden up to uess it was a little too late to protest my innocence

"Fine, lust; you happy?"

"Al in his eyes So, and older than it should have been

"I can offer you my mortal body, and more, ma petite It can be between us much more than any human lover could offer"

"Would I lose a little blood each time?"

"That was an accident," he said

I stared at hi on the floor with the white towel bundled into his lap, leaving nearly every inch of him bare

"This is the first time I&039;ve cheated on Richard," I said

"You have been dating me for weeks," he said

I shook "

"Then have you been cheating on me, with Richard?"

I didn&039;t knohat to say to that "Go get dressed"

"Do you really want me to dress?" he asked

I looked away I was embarrassed now and uncomfortable "Yes, please"

He stood up, the towel gripped in his hands I looked down at the floor and didn&039;t have to see his face to picture the smile on it

He walked away fro the towel around behind him Muscles moved under his skin from calf to waist He walked naked into the bedrooer to ot for French kissing a va about it made me nervous

"Ma petite?" he called from the other room

"Yeah"

"Do you have a blow dryer?"

"In my suitcase Help yourself"

Thankfully, I&039;d dragged my suitcase into the bedroom beside the bathrooli, I was embarrassed

I heard the dryer and wondered if he was standing naked in front of the bathroom mirror while he dried his hair I was very aware that all I had to do was go to the doorway and I could see for myself

I stood up, pulled my t-shirt down, tied my robe securely in place, and sat down on the couch My back was to the bedroo else I took the Firestar out of my pocket and laid it on the coffee table in front ofvery solid, very black, and somehow accusatory

The dryer stopped, and he called to ain "Ma petite?"

"What?"

"Colanced up at thehe had opened The sky outside was less black, not light yet, but not pure darkness anymore I closed the drapes and went to the bedroo was in the bedroom anyway

Jean-Claude had neatly folded the bedspread and blanket at the foot of the bed Only the wine-dark sheet covered hi over the dark pillows The sheet was bunched at his waist "You can join ainst the wall and shooksex, ma petite; dawn is too close for that I offer you your half of the bed"

"I&039;ll take the couch; thanks anyway"

He s back out It was aled "It is not ed

He raised the sheet in front of his chest, an alesture "It comes" Fear in his voice

"What colanced at the closed drapes against the far wall They were double thick, but a line of greyish light edged theht like this without your coffin?"

"As long as no one opens the drapes" He looked atmoment "I love you, ma petite, as much as I&039; I lusted after hi I loved hier, a white edge around the curtains His body sluainst the bed He rolled onto his side, one hand outstretched, the other curling the sheets against his chest He stared at the growing light, and I could taste his fear

I knelt beside the bed I almost took his hand but didn&039;t "What happens now?"

"You want the truth, then watch" I expected his eyes to flutter, his voice to grow sluggish as if he were falling asleep It didn&039;t happen that way He closed his eyes all at once Pain flashed across his face He whispered, "It hurts" His face went slack I&039;d seen people die, watched the light fade from their bodies Felt their souls slip away That hat I saw He died The light grew against the drapes, and when it was a solid white line, he died His breath went out of hi rattle

I knelt beside the bed and stared I knew dead when I saw it, and this was it Shit

I put my arms on the bed and proppedfor hi I reached out to his one outstretched arers hovered above his skin, then I touched him The skin was still warm, still human, but he did not move I checked his wrist, and there was no pulse No blood moved in this body

Did he knoas here? Did he feeltime So this answered the question Vampires were dead Whatever animated them was like my oer, soave necrophilia a whole new slant

Had I only iined that I felt the brush of his soul leave his body? Surely vampires had no souls--that was part of the point--but I&039;d felt soo for the daylight hours? Who watched all the vampires&039; souls while they lay dead?

There was a knock at the door, probably the other boys I stood up, pulling ht I was cold, and wasn&039;t sure why I went to answer the door The cut on

Chapter 31

I dreamed In the dream, someone held me in their lap Smooth dark arhing face She was the ainst her body, and the clean smell of her skin was there She&039;d always smelled of Hypnotique bath powder She bent and kissed otten the taste of her lipstick, the way she brushed otten bright red lipstick on my s brighter than lipstick Blood dripped down her thumb She&039;d pricked her skin with a safety pin It was bleeding She held her thumb out to me and said, "Kiss it, Anita, make it all better"

But there was tooface, and blood ran down it like rain I woke sitting bolt upright on the velvet couch, gasping for breath I could still taste her lipstick ontoat his eyes "What&039;s wrong? Did we get our wake-up call?"

"No, I had a bad drea, then frowned "Do you smell perfume?"

I stared at him "What do you ; do you smell it?"