walking across the floor—until his back hit the wall where he was stopped short. I moved ever so slowly, trying my best not to spook the hell out of him. My mind flashed back to my reaction to seeing Robert’s fangs the first time and it was painful to admit, my response had been even worse. I’d run but he’d tackled me to the ground and buried them in my neck. Shaking myself out of the memory, I forced myself to retract my fangs and slowly sat up.
“I’m not going to hurt you. Let me explain,” I whispered.
The pulse on the side of his neck throbbed enticingly and it took all the strength I possessed to keep from rushing over, grabbing him, and biting into his pulsing flesh. It was only the wild look in his eyes that made me react with great caution as I slid to the edge of the bed. I watched his entire body coil and tense to react as he looked toward the open bedroom door. His fight or flight instinct was kicking in and I knew I had to be careful. I didn’t want to hurt him but I had to make him understand, all the while ignoring the pulsing, twisting reality of my hunger.
“What… the hell… are… you?” he repeated.
“You’d call what I am vampire,” I whispered, holding out a hand to try to calm him. His heart was racing and I could hear his blood rushing through his veins. I swallowed hard. “Romeo, please… I have no intention of hurting you. I just couldn’t control my physical reaction,” I hurried to say.
He seemed to relax just the slightest little bit. “Vampires don’t exist in nature,” he said, slowly enunciating each word as he shook his head.
“Yes, they do,” I quietly insisted, regulating my voice to try to bring calm back into the room. “A lot of supernatural beings exist.” The scoffing sound he made felt like a punch in the gut. “Really, please… Romeo, let me explain.”
He stared at me for several seconds and I watched his posture change as he leaned back against the wall, nodding his head so slightly, I wasn’t certain I’d seen the acknowledgement at all. I sucked in air and then blew it out slowly.
“Explain,” he said.
“Romeo, vampires and other supernaturals exist all around us and if you’ll listen and not jump to conclusions, I might be able to make you understand.”
“Oh, I think we’re way past jumping to conclusions. I just saw a pair of inch-long fangs.” He reached up and put two fingers over the prick in his lip.
I sighed, acknowledging that he was right. I shrugged. “I-I… as I told you, I am a vampire. Vampires come with fangs.”
“Uh-huh,” he said. “And you said there are other kinds of creatures—other than vampires—that is?” He glanced back at the bedroom doorway as if he thought Frankenstein or the Mummy were going to come stumbling through. He probably had no concept of what kind of creature constituted my definition of a supernatural. I was going to have to make this explanation in stages now that the cat was out of the bag.
“Yes.” I was quiet as he pondered this turn of events. He watched me as if working something out in his head.
“Do it again,” he said suddenly.
I frowned. “What?” I changed my position, still moving slowly so that I wouldn’t spook him more than he already was. He appeared curious. I dropped both legs over the edge of the bed, aware that we were both still naked. The cold had seeped into my room and only because he was beginning to show signs of the cold with goosebumps on both arms, did it register at all with me.
“If you are a vampire, show me your fangs again,” he said, answering my question.
“Okay. I will but please, don’t freak out. I’m not going to hurt you,” I repeated.
Romeo nodded slowly.
I took a deep breath and dropped my fangs again, feeling the tingle of desire to taste him the moment I did it.
“Fuck!” he said, staring at my mouth for a full minute before I retracted them. He lifted his gaze to my face. “So how does this work?”
I frowned. “Sorry? How does what work?”
He rolled his eyes. “Are you going to eat me now… suck all my blood and then glamor me or something?”
“Glamor you?” I asked.
“Whatever you call it when your kind wipe our memories or make us kill someone or whatever,” he said.
“Seriously? You’ve