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I smiled I kissed him suddenly, thrilled by the warmth of him, the soft pliant feel of his near huers touching hiers that could have crushed hiuessed

There was so much I wanted to say to him, to ask hiin He had always had so many questions; and now he had his answers, more answers perhaps than he could ever have wanted; and what had this done to his soul? Stupidly I stared at hi with such kindness and such patience And then, like a fool, I came out with it

"Do you love me now?" I asked

He shten simultaneously when he smiled "Yes," he said

"Want to go on a little adventure?" My heart was thudding suddenly It would be so grand if- "Want to break the new rules?"

"What in the world do you mean?" he whispered

I started laughing, in a low feverish fashion; it felt so good Laughing and watching the subtle little changes in his face I really had him worried now And the truth was, I didn't know if I could do it Without her What if I plunged like Icarus-?

"Oh, come now, Louis," I said "Just a little adventure I prons this time on Western civilization, or even on the attentions of twos, well, a little ood for the last two months, don't you think?"

"What on earth are you talking about?"

"Are you with me or not?"

He gave another little shake of his head again But it wasn't a No He was pondering He ran his fingers back through his hair Such fine black hair The first thing I'd ever noticed about hireen eyes, that is-was his black hair No, all that's a lie It was his expression; the passion and the innocence and the delicacy of conscience I just loved it!

"When does this little adventure begin?"

"Now," I said "You have four seconds to make up your mind "

"Lestat, it's almost dawn "

"It's almost dawn here," I answered