Part 9 (1/2)

A rush of something heavy seemed to flow into my head. It nodded before I was aware of it, suddenly feeling leaden, and then I snapped my chin up again as I fought to keep my eyes from falling closed.

”G.o.d, I'm so tired all of a sudden.”

”It's the dawn. It's on its way. I feel it, too.” He added larger logs to the fire, ensuring there would be a warm bed of coals still glowing at day's end. As he did, I quickly unrolled the blankets in what looked like a good spot. None of it was because we needed the warmth, because we didn't. We wouldn't be uncomfortable in the cold or even feel it once we fell asleep, nor would it kill us. But warmth was cozy, a creature comfort, and our kind apparently valued such things.

I stripped down to my T-s.h.i.+rt and slid in between the blankets, leaving room for him beside me.

Moments later, Ethan took off his shoes and jeans, and got in beside me wearing a T-s.h.i.+rt and boxers.

”It's been a long timeand it's extremely rare in any casesince I've slept with a woman,” he said softly.

”Literally or figuratively.”

I felt myself smile. ”It'll be literally this time, Ethan. But don't take it personally. I don't think I could stay awake if I tried.”

”You couldn't. But there's always tonight.”

I smiled weakly, already sliding into a sleep the depths of which I had only recently come to know.

And only once before that I could remember.

Ethan woke at sundown to find that he had rolled onto his side, either just prior to falling fully into vampiric slumber or just before emerging from it, because once a vampire entered the day sleep, he didn't move. He was lying with an arm draped protectively over her body, his hand resting near her hip.

One of his legs was entangled with one of hers, and her head was resting against his shoulder.

He shouldn't be surprised, he supposed. He knew he wanted her, had always wanted her. But this was different. It felt intimate, almost tender, holding her this way. It wasn't a feeling with which he was evenvaguely familiar, much less comfortable. He found it more confusing than anything.

Gently, he began to change position, but even as he removed his arm from around her, she opened her eyes, turned her head slightly and met his gaze. Her sleepy smile filled his head with notions best ignored, but then it faltered as she took in the way they were embracing. She whispered, ”Oh,” but she didn't pull free.

”I suppose we were cold or something,” he said.

”I'd bet more on the 'or something,'” she replied.

He took his arm from around her, rolled onto his back, then sat up slowly. ”Yeah. Well”

”You said we barely knew each other back at The Farm, right?”

”Right.”

”So we neverwe never shared more than that one kiss.”

”No,” he said.

”And it was well, what was it? Physical attraction between us?”

”It's hard to say what it was. I mean, neither of us had any kind of experience with the opposite s.e.x. No adolescent boyfriend-girlfriend drama, no dates, nothing.”

”Didn't they teach us about s.e.x? In the cla.s.ses, I mean?”

”Sure they did,” He cleared his throat, got to his feet. ”Just the basic physical aspects of reproduction though. We knew how it worked, just nothing about how it felt.”

”I see.”

He shrugged. ”They kept us apart, kept the males and females as separate from one another as possible to prevent problems. But you and I”

He broke off there, and she sat up. Her smile was mischievous, as was the twinkle in her eyes. ”There was something more between us, wasn't there, Ethan?”

”There were looks. I was attracted to you, and the way you returned those looks I got the feeling it was mutual. But we never got the chance to”

”To do more than share one kiss,” she said.

”No,”

”I wish I remembered it. That first kiss.”

”You might not have remembered it, even if your mind were intact. You'd been drugged and G.o.d knows what else. You were still recovering.” ”So you told me.”

”Besides, we've kissed since then.”

Her eyes flared so slightly that he might have imagined it, and she quickly averted them. ”My memory isn't that bad, Ethan. I haven't forgotten.” She shrugged, carefully moving her gaze back to meet his. Her eyes were beginning to gleam softly, a rose-tinted glow coming from somewhere beneath the surface.

”We have the time now,” she told him. ”To do more than kiss, I mean.”

He couldn't help that his gaze slid down to her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, even though they were hidden from him by the T-s.h.i.+rt she'd pilfered. ”You want to?”

”I wouldn't have said it if I didn't.” She got to her feet, s.e.xy as h.e.l.l in the oversized s.h.i.+rt, and moved closer to him. ”Besides, it might help my memory.”

She pressed her palms to his chest, and then her body was touching his as her hands slid higher and twined around his neck. She stood on tiptoe, tipped her head back, closed her eyes.

He had no earthly reason to resist the temptation she represented. None at all, and yet there was a tiny voice deep down inside him that told him there would, be repercussions. He ignored that voice, barely even heard it above his body's own urgent demands. His heightened senses kicked into overdrive as she pressed herself against him and set his very soul on fire.

He locked his arms around her waist and bent his head until his lips touched hers. They met lightly at first, and then the pressure increased. He wasn't sure which of them was responsible for thatmaybe both.

And then she sighed a little, and her lips parted, and something sort of shot through him. It felt the way he was certain it would feel if he poked his finger into a live socket. The next thing he knew, he was holding her harder, bending over her and kissing the living h.e.l.l out of her. He felt as if he could never get enough.

And she was kissing him back just as eagerly, just as hungrily.

At last they pulled apart, took a step back, arms falling to their sides, and just stood there, equally stunned and, he thought, equally aroused, as well.

”Well,” she said. ”That was even better than last time.”

”Yeah.”

”I guess you were right. I was returning your looks.”

He allowed himself a small, satisfied smile. ”Yeah.”