“Mind blowing?” he asks shyly.
I giggle at his shyness. “That about sums it up. I should let you take the lead more often,” I tease.
His eyes light up. “I’d like that,” he says seriously, then grins. He strokes my hair as I lay my head back on his chest.
“You feel guilty, don’t you?” he asks, ever the one to read me like a book. I glance up at him. “You do, don’t you?” he persists in amazement.
“I don’t want to think about it right now,” I say with a frown.
“Don’t feel bad, my love. We’re Vampires. It’s what we do.” He reaches down to stroke my face. “Monogamy is not high on the list of things we’re good at.”
I bat his hand away. “You sound like CK,” I say, knowing he is right. I do feel guilty. It is easier in this body, this form, but I just can’t shake it off.
“Don’t leave me, Lizzie,” he whispers suddenly. “Please promise me that no matter what, you won’t leave me.”
Taken aback by his serious tone, I answer him, “Oh, Dev. I will never leave you. Not ever. Is that why you didn’t want me to tell Cole? Because you thought I would end up leaving you?”
“He knows now, the next step is to turn him. I don’t want you to turn him and forget about me,” he says sadly.
“What?” I say incredulously, sitting up. “Are you insane? That would never happen, Dev. Do you really think I would abandon you? After all this time, after everything we’ve been through, everything we’ve built together. Not to mention, you are jumping the gun a bit. I haven’t even bitten him yet and already you’re having me turn him.” I bite my lip to stop myself from telling him about the prophecy and Cole’s supposed role in it.
He looks slightly abashed at my impassioned words. “I’m just trying to be prepared,” he says. “And, no, I don’t think you would abandon me, not intentionally anyway. But look at you and Constantine. You both swore you’d be together forever, more than once, and now you live on opposite sides of the world and see each other every six weeks or so. I don’t want that to be us. I couldn’t bear it.”
Taking in his words, I realize he has every right to be worried if that’s how he sees things with me and CK. “Devon, CK and I are what we are because of you. I have you. You’ve been by my side for over five hundred years. Forgetting the Rebellion.”
He smiles at our coin of phrase and I continue, “You are the one I chose to ultimately be with in the end. We are perfect for each other. Look at all we’ve done together. CK and I would probably have staked each other by now if we had tried to build this life together. I love him completely and
I will be his forever, but you are mine forever and that will never change. And as much as I love Cole, and as accepting as he is, he may not choose this path.”
He’s looking at me with such adoration after my words that my heart just melts. “I love you,” he says simply, but this time I know he means it in the romantic sense. He said the words instead of his usual, ‘love you back.’
“I love you too,” I reply, trying to convey as much meaning into it as I can without us having a huge discussion about what this means for us.
“I suppose we should head to work,” he says reluctantly, either ignoring my tone or not getting it.
“Not yet,” I whisper.
He kisses me deeply and we start all over again.
I must have dozed off at some point, as I wake up suddenly, pushing my dark curls out of my eyes. It takes me a second to remember where I am, who I am. Glancing around the room in search of Devon, I find him, his naked back turned to me. Standing there in just his suit pants, I catch my breath. He hears me and turns around with that devastating grin and bold blue gaze.
“Hi,” he says.
“Hi,” I say back. “What time is it?”
“A little after 12,” he replies.
Shit! Work!
Laughing at the horror on my face, he pulls on a new shirt as I leap out of bed, Shifting at the same time. He freezes suddenly and I know he’s mourning the loss of Elizabeth. I turn my back and dress quickly in silence. I sense him behind me and turn. He embraces me, sighs deeply and kisses the top of my blonde head.
“We’d better get going. I had a busy day before our little rendezvous,” he says softly.
“I love you,” I murmur, and he whispers it back.
A t the office, I have a surprise waiting for me in the shape of Cole. That pesky guilt flares up again, but I push it back down, hearing CK’s voice in my head: “No regrets.”
He’s looking out of the window as I walk in, startling him when I close the door.