Either way, I assumed with his hearing he could tell if anyone was eavesdropping.
“Do you watch Truth Ranges?” I asked. This awkwardness reminded me of season three, episode eight, when Darleen didn’t like what Lynda cooked for Christmas lunch and made the mistake of saying so at the beginning of the meal.
He frowned, looking confused. “No. What’s that?”
We were incompatible. I’d said so from the start. “A show.”
“A musical?”
“That would be freakin’ epic. But no. It’s a TV show.”
He lifted a shoulder. “My free time is limited. I don’t like to use what time I do have watching television. My second eldest sister forces me to watch X-Men movies with her, however, and I spend a week watching television every six months to stay current with human mannerisms and slang.”
That was… mind-boggling. “You’re missing out.”
“I do like the play on words in the title,” the vampire said. “I assume Truth Ranges is both the setting and the premise of the show?”
Usually, I’d gush over the double meaning with whomever brought it up. With Kyros, it just pissed me off. “Yes. But down to business. Question time.”
We’d already ordered and, rather than looking resigned to answer my questions, Kyros appeared caught between wariness and intrigue.
“Vampires exist. What about other supernatural creatures?” I asked with bated breath.
He dipped his head. “Yes, all manner of creatures. There are only Vissimo in this city. We are extremely territorial.”
You don’t say.
“Which creatures?”
Kyros leaned forward. The table was a couple table—meaning that it was small enough for the occupants to lean and execute a spaghetti bolognaise kiss in the middle like Lady and the Tramp.
This tramp wouldn’t go there though.
“Werewolves,” he said.
“Jacob,” I whispered, thinking of Twilight. People actually turned into wolves.
I shivered.
He threw me a confused look. “Fae, demons, witches, and mages, to name a few. Their proper names are different, but that’s how humans identify them in literature.”
No way.
Discovering vampires existed had sent me off the deep end. Now I knew the world wasn’t the world I’d known, finding out about the other races was nearly exciting. I pestered him on everything to do with the different classes of supernatural races until he paused me to allow the waitresses to present the entrees.
My stomach had chilled out, and I pounced on the food. Yum. I loaded up my Miang Kham, sprinkling diced shallots, slivers of coconut, kaffir lime, and two strips of chili into a lettuce leaf. I drizzled on the palm sugar and sour tamarind dressing. Wrapping the package up, I wasted no time shoving the whole thing into my mouth. It was called one bite for a reason—even if the person who named it had a bigger than average mouth.
I set myself to the task of chewing. My lips didn’t quite close around the food.
Kyros hadn’t moved to touch his bao sliders—if he didn’t eat them, I would. Food jealousy was a bitch.
“I wondered if you’d fight me about eating too,” he admitted. He rested an elbow on the armrest, jaw propped on his hand.
I continued chewing, cramming the bits that fell out back between my lips. Amazing food was the part of my old life I missed the most—aside from Grandmother.
I swallowed and made up the second lettuce parcel. “I like food. Good food, good health. I don’t like that the current system keeps people without much money poor from health issues due to bad nutrition.”
He dipped his head. “The world has become a business. Those who rule it see poor health as another opportunity for revenue.”
Wrapping my second parcel, I remained mute. Only because I agreed and didn’t wish to.
“I’m surprised to hear you enjoy food,” he said before things became awkward again. “You don’t eat enough.”
“Recent events robbed me of my appetite.”
He picked up a slider. “I see.”
I watched the vampire chew on the human food, unsure what I’d expected.
“How can Vissimo be killed?” I enquired.
Kyros choked, and I smirked.
Win.
He glared when he saw the curve of my lips.
“That is where humans are remarkably accurate,” he replied after sipping at his beer. “Beheading. And any injury to the heart that our healing ability cannot cope with. If we are restrained, fire can kill us over the course of several hours—depending on the power of the burning Vissimo.”
“That doesn’t sound pleasant.”
He selected another bao slider after careful study. “It isn’t. So if you decide to kill me, I’d prefer a stake to the heart.”
“I’m not going to kill you,” I answered. “Not that I could. But I don’t want to kill anyone.”
“That’s surprising.” Kyros rested back, putting down the second slider. “You hate me.”
I rested my lettuce parcel on the plate. Did I hate Kyros? If I’d left the tower directly after the thrall, I might still hate him. Since then, we’d interacted too much. I’d seen facets to him that a heartless monster wouldn’t possess. If anything, the fury I had left was because he’d stolen away my loathing before I was ready to give it up.
“I hate that you haven’t once apologised to me for what you did that night. And during the thrall. Amongst other things.”
“Amongst other things?”
“Take it or leave it.” I shoved the second lettuce parcel in my mouth.
“I’m to gather that an apology, now you’ve informed me of the reason for your hate, wouldn’t be accepted?” His green eyes burned.
What was he annoyed about?
“Correct. I have no idea why you would want to.”
Suddenly, the craziness of this whole interaction hit me. “Christ, Kyros. What are we doing here? Why are we having dinner—that isn’t takeout, by the way. And why did you pick me up from the theme park? On that note, why is your brother trying to get to you through me? You’re a fucking vampire trying to take over Bluff City. What the fuck do you want with me?”
Lucky the place was empty; I’d gone from a whisper to a shout.
Groaning, I dropped my head in my hands. “This sucks.” I hiccupped on my snicker. Sucks.
“Has it occurred to you to give in to your attraction for me?” Kyros asked, tapping a finger on the table.
I was startled into a laugh.
“What’s funny?”
That was just such an I’m older than a century thing to say.
I met his meadow-green gaze. “You just want to give in?”
I’d be lying if I pretended my body wasn’t way overdue for some sweaty, intense nooky.
“If it was up to me, you would have been in my bed for the entire thrall.”
I snorted. “Seventy-two hours, huh? What about your game? You just admitted you don’t have much free time.”
Kyros didn’t shift his attention from me. “In our culture, certain occasions warrant time off. Hold your next question, the waitresses are coming back.”
Vampires got time off to have sex.
I settled my napkin on my lap again.
“It doesn’t add up,” I said after our plates were exchanged for the main and the two women disappeared once more.
Mmm, Khao Soi.
“What doesn’t?” Kyros asked.
“You’re gorgeous. It can’t be hard for you to find partners. Don’t you have a harem?”
He frowned. “Who told you about that? And no. I don’t care for harems.”
My blonde braid slithered over my shoulder, and I tilted my head. His gaze followed its swing. I searched his face, rooting for the reason behind that confession. What man didn’t want a harem? Or woman for that matter. “Because of the uncertainty surrounding your birth?”
Kyros glanced up from his Tom Yum. “Correct. Well done.�
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“Gee, thanks, boss.” I settled into my curry, slurping back a mouthful of soup and crunchy noodles.
He settled into his shrimp Tom Yum. It smelled really good.
Dammit.
“Am I allowed to leave the tower whenever I want?” I asked before I forgot.
“As long as you’re safe. I’d prefer that you not go out at night without a guard.”
I was allowed out during the day without a guard when I wasn’t driving? Good to know.
“Is that something you ask of all your employees?” I said after swallowing another mouthful.
“Most of my other employees can protect themselves.”
I thought of his fangs and shuddered. “Yeah, I bet. Is Laurel really powerful?”
He didn’t blink at the subject change. “It’s considered rude to divulge that information about another Vissimo. You’ll need to ask her yourself.”
That wasn’t our deal, but I let it slide. “Being able to mute means someone is more powerful, yes?”
“It does.” He pulled the tail off a shrimp.
Aside from when Kyros drank from me, I’d never seen him or any vampire drink blood. “Where does your blood source come from? You can’t have a blood compulsion over enough humans to sustain the whole population, can you? Everyone would know.”
“When it comes to blood, the clans have treaties. Most of our workers alternate feeding days at blood banks.”
At the blood banks.
I thought back to when I’d donated for the grocery voucher. “Oh my god. The tubes go into the wall. Are you telling me there was a Vissimo sitting on the other side drinking my blood?”
Kyros stilled, lowering his spoon. “You’ve donated blood?”
I pulled a face at the memory. “Last week.”
His fingers curled around the spoon, and I watched as the metal crumpled. He crushed it into a ball and rested it on the table.
Shit.
“So the possessiveness.” I licked my lips. “I don’t know if it’s a Vissimo thing, an alpha thing, a blood-compulsion thing, or a Kyros really wants in my shorts thing. Maybe a mixture. And I need to know.”
His eyes blazed.
“I’ll give you a moment to rein in your control.” I returned to my curry and didn’t look up again until I’d polished off every bit of the spicy tofu and chicken drumstick goodness.
Kyros was watching my mouth when I did.
“Spill,” I said, wiping my lips with the napkin.
“I don’t know what it is,” he said, glancing away.
I leaned over the table. “Bullshit! You just don’t want to tell me. I’m the one you’re sniffing around, Kyros. I deserve to know.”
“I am telling you the truth, Miss Tetley. And I’m not sniffing around you. I’m unsure what’s going on. Vissimo don’t usually feel attracted to humans. I can only say that I want the urge to go away as much as you do.”
I blew out a breath, passing over my used spoon so he could resume eating since he’d destroyed his. “That’s some reassurance at least.”
A growl slipped between his teeth.
Eyes narrowed, I jerked the spoon back. “You’re not going to crush this one, too, are you?”
“It’s always possible around you.”
Yeah, yeah. I was annoying. Whatever.
I passed the cutlery over. “It’s got my germs on it.”
“We’re past that now, Miss Tetley,” he purred.
Mmm. That sound did things to me.
I tossed my braid back. “Why don’t vampires and humans mix?”
“Our species cannot have children together, and children are the priority of most Vissimo. Added to that, you’ve experienced what it is to be in my presence when I lose control. Such fear can kill humans. To be with a human, whether sexually or more, is akin to a dog constantly cornering a rabbit. We can never be sure when the human’s heart will stop.”
Shit. Tell it like it is. I’d been a monkey and a mouse, why not a rabbit too? “I’m a rabbit then?”
“You’re not. What you are is a surprise. A beautiful, hurt, and complex surprise.”
I wasn’t prepared to hear a compliment from his lips. Uncertainty flickered within me and I turned my face away.
“And that,” he hushed, tracing my movement, “that’s how I know you want me. I knew it today when Gerome sent the last picture. And now, when you’re unsure how my words make you feel though your body has decided.”
I forced myself to face him once more. “Kyros, I’m well aware how my body feels. And I’m well aware that I don’t want it to feel that way. What are the options moving forward?”
He leaned forward in a blur, and I slammed back in my chair.
“Option one. I can bend you over this table right now.”
My breath hitched. “I didn’t mean those kinds of options.”
“It’d make both of us feel better. Half of the time, I think the suspense of not knowing how your naked body would feel against mine is what draws me so strongly. Plus, if the sex is terrible, our problems will be solved.”
Despite myself, I laughed. “Don’t sound so hopeful. Rabbits aren’t known for their lack of enthusiasm.”
His lips spread into a slow grin.
“But seriously. We’re at the truth table, you need to answer my question.”
“I said I’d answer questions on Vissimo.”
Nice try. “You are a Vissimo. Therefore, questions about yourself are also allowed. You should have better defined the parameters if you couldn’t handle them.”
Fuck, we were nearly nose to nose. When did that happen?
Clearing my throat, I picked up my water glass and retreated. All the way back.
“Sleeping together is an option, whether you want to hear it or not. After that, the best idea would be to remain separated. If this attraction is the lingering effects of the thrall, time should help me recover.”
I was okay with Plan B. “Is it normal for the effects of the thrall to linger?”
His lips pressed together. “No. But not unheard of.”
Phew, that made me feel somewhat better. “There’s a third option?”
“I drink from you again and see if it’s an obsession with your blood. If so, I will deal with that as a separate issue.”
“You think it’s my blood?”
He swallowed. “Possibly. Or just that I drank from your neck. Due to our need to remain hidden, we don’t often drink from the source.”
Rabbit. Mouse, Monkey. Source.
“It is possible that’s drawing out my… possessive tendencies—as you called them.”
I mulled all that over. “Let’s try Plan B.”
“Hard to do in a tower.”
“Hard to do when you track everything I do,” I shot back. “From texts to whereabouts. You’re the one with the obsession issue. You need to rein yourself in. Not me.”
He eyed me. “I’m the one with greater power and therefore the more powerful reaction. I am not the only one with the issue. Your words say one thing and your body another, Miss Tetley. I can smell your want as easily as if it were perfume. I can hear your heart and see the rise and fall of your breasts, and your fucking pulse is like a siren’s call. All I can think about is what it would be like to put my head between your legs, pleasure you until you shatter around me, and sink my fangs into your femoral artery.”
His head between my legs?
Eyes wide, I stared at him, my thighs clamping together.
Kyros pushed back from the table, sending the chair scattering along the wooden floor. “We need to go unless you want an option A and C combination?”
I grabbed my pack and shuffled off the seat.
The staff was nowhere in sight, and Kyros stalked out ahead of me, seemingly unbothered about paying.
His unsatisfied urges were only partly to blame for his temper, I knew. The rest was because his control was lapsing again. He really didn’t cope well when that happened. Was that why Kyr
os simultaneously wanted and didn’t want to be around me? Did the cravings or urges he experienced around me make him feel unbalanced?
The car lights flashed, but I lingered inside the entrance of the restaurant.
“Should I walk?” I asked him, eyeing the tight confines of the car.
Because he was right about everything.
I’d thought it was a Vissimo thing—some kind of power to attract. But I’d spent the day with Gerome and felt nothing. Whatever Kyros was feeling, I’d caught it too. It wasn’t his temper that scared me. Not really. It was my reaction to him. A reaction I didn’t want to have. Even after acknowledging I didn’t hate him, I couldn’t go there. Sex with Kyros was too much after what he’d put me through, and he was a fucking vampire. A powerful one. One night with him wouldn’t be just one night if his current possessive behaviour was any indication.
Kyros blurred to me, and I stumbled back into the building.
“You’re not walking,” he rumbled.
I leaned against the wall, placing my hand on his chest. “I was asking, Kyros. No need to get toothy.”
“Would you like to see my teeth, Miss Tetley?” He lowered his head, and I watched in fascination as his fangs descended.
Fuck me, they were hella sharp.
His eyes blazed into mine. His smell. His warmth. He blocked everything out, not just from his sheer size. His nearness overwhelmed my senses.
In a daze, I reached up and ran my finger down the closest fang, careful to avoid the gleaming tip.
Kyros groaned, and the sound pulled at me. I stepped closer.
“I need you to get away,” he said, his entire body shaking.
I stared into his green eyes and placed my hands on his shoulders, rising on tiptoes. His head was already tilted down toward me.
No hesitation filled me as I traced the line my finger had just taken with my tongue. His shaking intensified. I pulled back, instinctively knowing repeating the ministrations on the other fang would push him over the edge.
“Basilia,” he breathed.
We collided.
Our limbs tangled in our haste. He sorted the mess of our bodies out, his hands moving with blurring speed. My legs were around his hips.
Blood Trial: Supernatural Battle (Vampire Towers Book 1) Page 26
