Page 40 of Sweet Inferno

I was moving and she locked her arms round my neck. “I can walk.”

“I’m aware but I have plans for you, so consider this a conservation of energy.” I winked.

We toured the rest of my house then settled in the living room to eat. Uri picked up dinner on the way here. My brothers and I lived on land I’d purchased forty minutes from the city. We each had our own houses, but also shared one not far from the station that we kept for convenience. We discussed our day, ending up in my room with Uri propped against the headboard and me between her legs, arms hooked around her waist and my chin resting on her stomach while we talked.

She wanted to ask questions about my life while I wanted to eat her pussy and put her ass through this mattress until she was too exhausted to do anything but sleep.

“Where are your parents?”

“Ain’t no telling right now. They travel for months out of the year going to random places.”

“Do they live here?”

“Sometimes. They have houses all over the world though. My brothers and I used to travel with them when we were younger, but the older we got, the more we wanted to put down roots and did so in Hollow Grove.”

“How old are you?”

I smirked. “Old enough.”

She frowned. “That’s not an answer.”

“How old do I look?’’

“I don’t know, maybe thirty-something, but a very perfectly fit thirty-something that has never experienced sugar a day in his life and also hits the gym three times a day.”

I laughed. “I’m two hundred and eight.”

“Shit,” she rushed out. Then her brows slammed in. “Wait, how many women have you been with?”

“A few.”

“Have you ever been in love?”

“I’ve cared about people but that’s as deep as it goes.”

“And they were vampires?” she challenged.

I nodded and her brows edged in more. “So the women you cared about are still around?”

“Uri, chill with all that.”

“Chill with what?” She glared at me. “They’re immortal, I’m not. Wait, are they here in Hollow Grove?”

“No.”

“Have you been like this with them?” she asked, trying not to sound insecure but I felt that shit all over and it fucked with me.

“No, so get out of your head.”

Her eyes narrowed. “How do you know I’m in my head? Are you in my head?”

She began to panic.

I grinned. “What did I tell you?”

“You don’t take.” She repeated what I’d told her multiple times. She visibly relaxed and I gave her what she needed to ease her mind.

“This isn’t the same, Uri. It’s a choice and a need. A need directly connected to you. Nobody can touch that. It doesn’t fucking matter where my past is. Everything I am right now is connected to you. That’s not changing, which means I’m fucked, because if you decide that you want out, there’s nothing I can do but accept it and walk away. You have to want to be with me or it doesn’t happen. I’m not gonna force this shit, no matter what that means. You hold all the power.”