Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 105815 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105815 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Grinning so wide he was in danger of pulling a muscle, Leo spun and pulled Junjie close. The vampire’s eyes widened, and he gasped.
“Silly bloodsucker. I like you too. A lot. You’re right. I don’t do relationships and I’m unreliable, but I don’t want to be a flake where you’re concerned. I want to be someone you can rely on while we get to know each other. Tomorrow is full of things we can’t plan for, but I can promise to be honest with you and help you any way I can.”
Junjie flashed him a questioning smirk and Leo groaned. He hadn’t been super honest with Junjie in the past.
“Okay. I promise to be honest about my feelings toward you. Besides, you already know my biggest secret.”
“Agreed.” Junjie sealed their bargain with a slow, tender kiss that left Leo’s heart swooning. Could this man be any more perfect?
As the vampire lifted his head, his gaze caught on Leo’s neck and his smile dissolved into a frown.
“Please forgive me,” he whispered in a strangled tone.
“For what?”
“I bit you without asking permission.”
Ah. Yeah, that probably was a big deal in the vampire world. Partners got consent. Leo had just thought it was sexy.
“You are forgiven.” Leo reached up and took Junjie’s face in both of his hands. “From this day forward, you have my blanket permission to bite me whenever you want. Wounded and need blood? Bite me. Feeling peckish and need a snack? Bite me. Fucking my brains out and want to send me screaming over the edge? Bite me.”
The tension and worry disappeared from Junjie’s face, and he kissed one of Leo’s palms. “Thank you.”
Leo released him and moved so he could step into the spray of hot water.
“However, you know I can’t feed from you exclusively,” Junjie tossed out as he turned off the water. “I wouldn’t want to put your life in danger.”
Leo glared silently at Junjie’s back as he thought about the vampire sinking his fangs into anyone else.
Oh, hell no.
Hell to the fuck no.
That was not happening. Ever again.
Leo let that subject drop for now as they climbed out of the shower and dried off.
“Are you planning to stay for a while longer?” Junjie inquired as he wrapped a towel around his waist.
Leo stood with his fluffy pale-blue towel held in front of him with both hands. He’d just been trying to figure out what to do next. Normally, he would stay with Erik in his cat form until the sun rose, which was still a few hours away. But after what happened, he was left wondering if maybe he should leave for a few hours to give them some space. Not that he wanted to leave.
“I could stay…if you want. Is there something you need?”
Junjie seemed to look everywhere but at Leo. They had frotted in the shower and come hard enough to make him temporarily forget how to breathe, and now this sexy man couldn’t meet his eyes?
“I was wondering if you would stay with me. In my bed. In your human form. Not all day, of course. Maybe just until I fall asleep.”
No. Stop. If this vampire became any more adorable, Leo was going to die from it. No one should be allowed to be this cute.
He tossed aside his towel and wrapped his arms behind Junjie’s neck. “How about I go check on Erik one last time while you get snuggly in your bed? I’ll join you in a minute.”
The smile that blossomed on Junjie’s face could have stopped time. It definitely stopped Leo’s heart. He grabbed a brief kiss and shifted into his cat form. Junjie let him out of the bedroom so he could pad across the hall. With a bump of his nose, he wriggled his way through a crack in the door. His sharp cat eyes scanned the semidark room for any signs of disturbance or Jiang Chong lurking in the dead realm. He possessed the same catlike vision in his human form, but it was more precise when he was a cat.
Everything appeared fine since he’d last stopped in Erik’s room. He crossed to the bed where Erik lay under a soft yellow blanket filled with cavorting cats of all colors and sizes. There was a plush rabbit doll on one side of him and a large koi fish doll under his arm, just like the fish he fed every day in the various ponds on the Zhang property.
After getting his fill of a soundly sleeping Erik, Leo trotted across the hall to Junjie’s room, where he found the lights out and there was a soft rustle of the blankets as the vampire got comfortable. The cat jumped onto the bed and shifted into his human form so he could pull the blankets down.
“Erik?” Junjie murmured.
“Sound asleep and safe. Nothing to worry about except for the fact that I like to burrito in the blankets while I sleep.”