Blood Promise Page 0,122

her and Rolan. "Karolina's good too. She reminds me of you. She really laid into some dhampir guys who were causing trouble."

He smiled again, and it was... nice. I mean, the fangs still made it creepy, but it didn't have that sinister edge I'd come to expect. There was fondness in his face, true affection that startled me. "I can see Karolina doing that. Did she have her baby yet?"

"Yeah..." I was still a little thrown off by that smile. "It was a girl. Zoya."

"Zoya," he repeated, still not looking at me. "Not a bad name. How was Sonya?"

"Okay. I didn't see too much of her. She's a little touchy... Viktoria says it's because of the pregnancy."

"Sonya's pregnant too?"

"Oh. Yeah. Six months, I think."

His smile dimmed a little bit, and he almost seemed concerned. "I suppose it had to happen sooner or later. Her decisions aren't always as wise as Karolina's. Karolina's children were by choice... I'm guessing Sonya's was a surprise."

"Yeah. I kind of got that feeling too."

He ticked off the rest of his family members. "My mother and grandmother?"

"Er, fine. Both of them." This conversation was becoming increasingly strange. Not only was it the first normal one we'd had since I'd arrived, it was also the first time he'd really seemed interested in anything that wasn't Strigoi related or that didn't involve kissing and biting, aside from some reminiscing about our early fights together-and the teasing reminders of sex in the cabin. "Your grandmother scared me a little."

He laughed, and I flinched. It was so, so close to his old laugh. Closer than I'd ever imagined it could be. "Yes, she does that to people."

"And she pretended not to speak English." That was a pretty small detail in the grand scheme of things, but it still kind of pissed me off.

"Yes, she does that too." He continued smiling, voice fond. "Do they all still live together? In that same house?"

"Yup. I saw the books you told me about. The pretty ones-but I couldn't read them."

"That's where I first got into American westerns."

"Man, I loved making fun of you over those."

He chuckled. "Yes, between that, your stereotypes about Eastern European music, and the whole 'comrade' thing, you had plenty of material."

I laughed too. "'Comrade' and the music were kind of out of line." I'd almost forgotten about my old nickname for him. It didn't fit anymore. "But you brought the cowboy thing on yourself, between the leather duster and-" I stopped. I'd started to mention his duty to help those in need, but that was hardly the case anymore. He didn't notice my lapse.

"And then you left them and came to Novosibirsk?"

"Yeah. I came with those dhampirs I was hunting with... those other unpromised ones. I almost didn't, though. Your family wanted me to stay. I thought about doing it."

Dimitri held the ring up to the light, face shadowed with thought. He sighed. "You probably should have."

"They're good people."

"They are," he said softly. "You might have been happy there."

Reaching over, he set the ring back on the table and then turned to me, bringing our mouths together. It was the softest, sweetest kiss he'd given me as a Strigoi, and my already considerable shock increased. The gentleness was fleeting, though, and a few seconds later, our kissing returned to what it usually was, forceful and hungry. I had a feeling he was hungry for more than just kissing, too, despite having fed recently. Pushing aside my confusion over how... well, normal and kind he'd seemed while talking about his family, I tried to figure out how I was going to dodge more biting without raising suspicion. My body was still weak and wanting it, but in my head, I felt more like myself than I had in ages.

Dimitri pulled up from the kiss, and I blurted out the first thing that came to mind before he could do anything else. "What's it like?"

"What's what like?"

"Kissing."

He frowned. Score one for me. I'd momentarily baffled an undead creature of the night. Sydney would be proud.

"What do you mean?"

"You said being awakened enhances all the senses. Is kissing different then?"

"Ah." Understanding flashed over his features. "It is, kind of. My sense of smell is stronger than it used to be, so your scent comes through much more intensely... your sweat, the shampoo in your hair... it's beyond what you can imagine. Intoxicating. And of course, sharper taste and touch make this better." He leaned down and kissed me again, and something about