Inexplicably disappointed, I pushed aside the blanket and rose from the chaise.
“Does that frighten you?” he asked, his brows drawn. “Having me next door?”
“I’m not afraid, Aidan.” Well, maybe I was. a little. But not of him. No, I was more afraid of this unfamiliar, overwhelming desire I felt — this crazy rush of emotions, the way my skin flushed hotly when he looked at me. I wanted to wrap my arms around him and press my body tightly against his. I wanted to tempt him, to make him want me as badly as I wanted him, vampire or not. But apparently he was putting me in the “rose room,” so my virtue was safe. Unlike Isabel’s, all those years ago. Try as I might, I couldn’t stop thinking about it, couldn’t stop picturing him in some opera dancer’s bed. What was an opera dancer, anyway?
Wordlessly I followed him back downstairs to the second floor and into a pretty, feminine room decorated with pale pink rosebuds and creamcolored lace. “Your bag’s right over there,” Aidan said, motioning toward my suddenly ratty-looking overnight bag. “And Trevors has filled a water pitcher for you there on the commode.”
Commode? He was pointing to what looked like a night-stand to me.
“Thanks, Your Highness,” I teased, trying to lighten the mood. He suddenly seemed so serious, so uncomfortable. “Or would it be Sir Aidan?
What do they call viscounts in merry old England, anyway?”
His eyes met mine, the connection so strong that for a second there, I could barely breathe. “Lord Brompton, at your service,” he said with a mock bow. And then he looked away, that troubled expression back again. “You’ve your own bathroom, right over there.” He indicated a door behind me, half ajar. “And my room’s just through here,” he said, pointing to a door on the opposite side of the room. “If you should need me.”
I did need him, and not on the other side of the door. I wanted him there, next to me. It’s not like I wanted to. well, you know. I wasn’t even sure that he could, being what he was. But still, I wanted him close by. Touching me. Holding me.
Summoning all the courage I could muster, I spoke the words in my head that I was too embarrassed to say aloud. Please stay with me tonight.
“Probably not such a good idea, Vi,” he said aloud, his voice a hoarse whisper.
I tried to hide my disappointment, but it was no use. My cheeks were burning, and I couldn’t meet his eyes.
“It’s. I have my reasons. Trust me.”
I shook my head, annoyed. I mean, he’d already told me the worst of it. Why keep things from me now?
“It’s just. my God, Violet, I’ve been alive, what? A hundred and thirty years now? Trapped forever inside this boy’s body, with a boy’s raging hormones and a vampire’s desires. I can’t. ”
He trailed off, and I saw him swallow hard. When he spoke again, his voice was more controlled. “It’s so much easier at school, where I can send you off to your dorm room. But here in my house, alone. I had no idea it would be so difficult. I thought I would be more. mature.”
I almost laughed at that, but somehow managed to squelch it. It was just so. crazy. “So you’re saying, what? That you might be tempted to ravish me? Or bite me?”
He sighed, looking defeated. “I’m just saying that it’s late, and that you’re swaying on your feet you’re so tired.”
He was right — I could barely keep my eyes open. Still, I’d never felt so rejected in all my life.
“Sleep tight, Vi,” he said, reaching for the door that led to his room.
“Yeah, you too,” I muttered.
Fifteen minutes later my teeth were brushed, and I’d changed into my pajamas and collapsed onto the huge four-poster bed. The goose-down pillows were fluffed, the satiny sheets pulled up to my chin. The house was quiet, and I could hear Aidan pacing back and forth in his own room.
Guess he couldn’t sleep either. I sighed, snuggling lower beneath the covers, trying not to think about Isabel, trying not to picture him kissing her, touching her.
And then my vision began to tunnel. My stomach pitched; bile rose in my throat. Everything went dark.
There was a bed, one I had never seen before. It looked old-fashioned, like an antique. I couldn’t place the room, didn’t recognize my surroundings. My gaze shifted back to the bed, and I saw two people there, their bodies pressed close together. I heard a moan; could have sworn it was my own. And then I recognized myself on the bed, lying beneath someone, my skin pale as moonlight washed over me. “So beautiful,” someone murmured, the voice familiar. Aidan’s voice. And then it was as if I were seeing him from the vantage point of the bed, looking up into his face, his eyes red-rimmed and his jaw clenched as he stared down at me with pure, raw lust in his eyes.
I gasped loudly as the vision swam and disappeared. Blinking hard, I sat up, trying to catch my breath. Whoa. One minute I’d been trying to picture him in bed with his little opera dancer, and the next I was seeing something that looked like us in bed together instead. Doing. well, it was pretty obvious what we were doing. Or what we were about to do.
Thank God he couldn’t see my visions — and since I hadn’t felt any fear or called out his name while experiencing this one, he wouldn’t even know I’d had it. I decided to test it, just to make sure.
Aidan? I called out telepathically.
There was the familiar tickling sensation in my brain. Yeah, Vi?
Nothing. Just. just seeing if you were asleep yet.
Not yet. You still mad at me?
Who said I was mad? Just because you didn’t make Isabel sleep aloneGoodnight, Violet, came his exasperated reply, cutting me off, and the connection was closed.
I had only been teasing him, especially now that I was armed with the knowledge that at some point in time I’d get my way. Problem was, my visions were usually warnings. Only this one hadn’t seemed like a warning — in fact, it had seemed awfully pleasant.
I prodded my memory, trying to remember every detail. The bed. The moonlight. His eyes rimmed in red. A shiver raced down my spine. Just like they’d been in the chem lab on Halloween, when he’d been out of control and freaking out about the blood.
Uh-oh. Maybe I’d been mistaken; maybe the lust I’d seen in his eyes hadn’t been desire, but bloodlust. Well, that certainly changed things, I realized. At least it should.
Only problem was, I was pretty sure it didn’t. With a groan, I fell back onto the pillows and pulled the covers up over my head.
It was going to be a long night.
“Did you get any sleep last night?” I asked, perched beside Aidan on the sofa. A fire crackled in the hearth, and I turned my face toward its warmth.
“Yeah,” Aidan answered absently, trailing his cold fingers down my shoulder. “A little. I heard you in there, tossing and turning.”
“I just don’t get it,” I said, trying not to think about the vision that had kept me awake half the night. “Legend has it that vampires sleep during the day.”
He nodded. “Vampires are essentially nocturnal creatures. Our senses are stronger, sharper at night. Staying up during daylight hours and sleeping at night is against our nature, but it’s not impossible. Probably why I look so tired most of the time.”
“What about eating? You know, food,” I clarified, trying not to shudder as I thought about the alternative.
“Sure, I eat. Blood is our primary source of sustenance, but food is just”—he shrugged—“extra. Kind of like dessert is for you. You don’t need to eat cake or pie to stay alive, but you eat it anyway, because you like it. I’m told the more ancient ones usually lose their taste for food and drink, but I’m still young, as far as vampires go.”
“Hmmm, interesting. What about stuff like garlic and crucifixes?” As soon as I said it, I remembered Lupe’s gift. The crucifix necklace. I’d been wearing it when I’d left school, and now — I reached up and felt my neck. It was gone.
“It’s in your bag, Vi. It broke and fell off in the alley. Just needs a new clasp. Anyway, I’m fine with crosses and garlic. The chapel, remember?”
A log in the fire spit, sending up a spray of red-hot ash. I shivered and realized I was cold despite the fire.
“Want me to move over?” Aidan asked. “I can’t help it; my body temperature’s a little lower than yours.”
“No,” I said, scooting closer to him, wanting to prove to him that it didn’t bother me. It didn’t — not really. Kind of reminded me of Gran, who was always cold and complaining about poor circulation. “Now, let’s see, what else? You said the elixir makes you able to withstand the sun. What if you found yourself without the elixir? At school, I mean? Then what?”
“I have special quarters at school, in the underground tunnels. It’s really just a study with a daybed. My lair,” he said, raising his brows menacingly.