I wasn’t sure how I felt about that, but I’d better hurry and get used to it because there’d be nothing I could do about. The one thing I knew for sure about vampirism is that it was permanent.
“Are you okay?” Jack walked closer to the bed and looked me over.
“If I said no, would you stay here with me longer?”
Knowing Milo was alright had taken a giant weight off my shoulders, and it made me aware of how little time I’d really spent with Jack lately. I missed him terribly.
“I shouldn’t…” Jack trailed off, but I’d won.
Lifting up the covers, he crawled into bed with me. I snuggled up next to him and relished the feel of his strong arms around me. Despite Milo’s earlier proclamation, I knew there was nowhere in the world I was safer than in Jack’s arms.
“Everything’s gonna be okay.” He stroked my hair gently, and I rested my head on his chest, letting his heart thud slowly in my ear. “Milo’s going to be just fine. He just has to adjust to everything.”
“I don’t want to talk about adjusting or how everything is going be fine or okay or great in the future,” I said tiredly. “I just want to lay here with you.”
Jack settled into bed and I felt him relax with me. We rarely got to fall asleep together, let alone curled up in bed. The moments were few and far between, and I wanted to hang onto this one as long as I could.
We were woken up much too soon. I had been in the middle of a dream, and then I heard someone clearing their throat loudly in the hallway.
As I started coming to, I felt Jack’s arms pull away from me, and I clung onto them. He laughed quietly into my hair, but that only annoyed the interloper in the hall.
“Ahem!” Mae coughed loudly.
“What?” Jack groaned.
“It’s time to get up,” Mae said.
“But I’m still sleeping,” he yawned.
“Too bad.” To enunciate her point, she clapped her hands loudly. “Get up!”
“I’m up!” Jack insisted and freed himself from me so he could sit up.
When Jack sat up, he cleared my view so I could see Mae standing in the hallway. Wearing an elegant housecoat, she had her hands on her hips. Just the way she looked at Jack made me feel guilty.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Mae asked wearily.
“Getting up, like you asked.” Jack leaned back and stretched, and I watched the wonderful muscles of his back ripple underneath his tee shirt.
“I meant, what do you do you think you’re doing in that bed, with her?” She nodded at me, but she never took her eyes of him. “Did you think that since you left the bedside lamp on it would make it okay?”
“Kinda.” He smiled at her, but she was in no mood for it.
“Get up. We all need to talk downstairs.” Mae took a step away, but Jack stopped her.
“Hey, hey. Did Milo tell you about his little excursion last night?” Jack asked, and his voice took a more accusing tone. “When he was on your watch?”
“We’ll talk about all that when you get downstairs.” She turned sharply, her housecoat billowing behind her, and disappeared down the hall.
“Its way too early for a lecture,” I muttered into the pillow.
“You’re telling me.”
He looked back at me, and his smile deepened, growing more genuine. He reached over and brushed a hair back from my eyes. His hand rested on my cheek for a moment, and it grew warmer, but he let it linger.
“You’re really beautiful when you sleep,” he murmured.
“I am not.” My cheeks reddened and I buried my face deeper in the pillow. He laughed, and reluctantly dropped his hand.