Keepers of the Flame (Trilogy Bundle) - By Melissa F. Hart Page 0,22

but how could I have done that when all we had were sparse phone conversations? What was the point anyway? He had stayed away for eight months. Eight whole months!

“This is pointless.” I struggled to sit up and stared out at the stars again. I was a nocturnal being, made to sleep during the day. That, at least hadn't changed. But because I'd had to get used to doing things the mortal way I needed to sleep at night. Some vampires opted for vampire night school for their kids, but my parents had wanted me to be as normal as possible, considering.

I'd had a busy day, but I knew there was no way I was going to get any sleep. Dylan's phone call had put paid to that. Besides, I'd rather be out there anyway. I got out of bed and slipped my feet into comfortable, fluffy bedroom slippers. They were forest green and I absolutely adored them. It was early April, so I picked up a small blanket. Armed with that, I slowly drifted up into the air until I went through the sky roof. I moved towards my favorite spot near the ledge and froze. Someone had already beat me to it.

Chapter Three

I felt her presence even before she made a move. I'd been sitting at that spot for the past thirty minutes, listening to her mumble and grumble in her room. She was so cute, she made me smile. I heard her move hesitantly until she was standing beside me. Silently, I made space for her and she sank down next to me.

“Hi.”

That was pure Luanne, I thought to myself. There was no what are you doing here? No why didn't you tell me you were coming. Just plain Hi. She would wait until I told her what was on my mind, or not. It was one of the reasons I liked talking to her. She didn't badger me with questions I couldn't answer, didn't judge me. She was just there, ready to listen. Except for earlier that day when she'd let her disapproval of the way I dealt with my family show. That had been unexpected.

“Hey,” I greeted without looking at her.

“It's a bit chilly today, don't you think?”

I smiled to myself. I knew she was nervous when she resorted to British speak. Not only was she talking about the weather, she'd also let her slight accent slip through.

“Yeah. Care to share your blanket with me?”

She shot me a puzzled look but I deliberately kept my face blank. After a slight hesitation on her part, she held out one edge of the blanket to me. Within a few seconds, we were both snug beneath the blanket. Our arms brushed each other lightly and I felt tiny sparks of electricity pass through. I felt her jerk and knew she must have felt it too, even though she was ignoring it, like I was.

“So how did your date go?” I asked casually, though I was feeling far from casual.

“It went fine. We went to a fancy restaurant and I really had a good time,” she replied brightly.

I clenched my teeth, making sure not to let her know how I felt about her words.

“So did he kiss you goodnight?” I asked in my best big brother tone, not like there was anything big brotherish about the way I was feeling.

She reared back and looked at me, finally. “What?” Her tone was incredulous.

“I asked if he ...”

“I heard you the first time!” she interrupted me. “I just couldn't believe you were actually asking.”

“What? I'm not allowed to know how your date went?”

“I told you it was fine,” she said shortly and went back to staring out into space.

I could tell she was upset and I hadn't even begun asking all the questions I wanted to ask. I wanted to know who the guy was that she'd gone on the date with. How long they'd been dating or if it was just a first date. If he kissed her or even laid a finger on her. I wanted to know every single thing and if I found out that he'd touched her in any way, I had no idea what I would do to him.

Watching her side profile, I felt a wealth of possessiveness rise up in me. Whether she knew it or not, Luanne was mine. As the thought crossed my mind, I knew it sounded primitive and chauvinistic, but it wasn't like that at all. I was crazy about