Chapter 44

ARIC

The man hammered on the door.

“Dimples, come on! Please, just open the door. We should talk!” he shouted.

Eleanor still stood next to me, my hand still on her hip. She slowly put her wine glass down, then glanced at me and gave me a small smile.

“That’s Logan,” she explained, looking sheepish. She stepped away from me, running her fingers through her hair and sliding over toward the door.

She glanced back at me and smiled at me. I felt my heart swell again.

She swung the door open, and immediately a large, hot-blooded human threw himself on her.

“Ellie, I’m sorry. I love you. I didn’t mean it,” he said quickly as his arms slipped around her waist. He pulled her against him, picking her up and plastering his mouth to hers.

I let out a low growl before I could stop myself. The man immediately pulled back from Eleanor, his brown eyes narrowing when he saw me in the kitchen. Eleanor was looking at me wide-eyed.

“Who the fuck are you?” he spat, pushing Eleanor behind him slowly and marching toward me.

“Logan.” Eleanor caught his arm, but he pulled away from her. She glared at his back.

“I’m gone one week, and you already have someone over,” he snarled, never breaking his gaze away from mine.

“Logan!” she snapped, skipping ahead and putting herself behind him and me, almost touching me. I felt the heat radiating from her body. “This is my ~brother~,~ Aric.”

She plastered her hands on his chest and pushed him back.

Logan had the good sense to look ashamed. His eyes widened as he took me in.

“Oh,” he glanced down at her. “Sorry. I’m sorry. I overreacted.”

“You did.”

“One of your foster brothers? I’m Logan,” he held his hand out to me. I shook it, squeezing. He drew back, frowning, trying not to show the pain in his hand.

“No, well, he’s my brother from my first family,” Eleanor said, gazing up at me. Logan nodded slowly.

“The family who abandoned you,” he said, staring straight at me. “So, why come find her after all these years?” he asked, glaring.

“To make sure she’s safe,” I answered. He arched his brows, he looked unimpressed, but his heart was racing.

He turned back to Eleanor, clenching his fists.

“Babe, can we talk? We need to talk,” he said quickly. She glanced at me.

“Okay, but we’re not going to talk it all out tonight,” she told him. “I have a guest.”

He nodded and stepped back. She gave me a small smile. “Do you, ah, want something to drink or eat?” she asked me, glancing around the kitchen. “Do you drink wine?”

“Sure.”

“Does it get you drunk?” she asked quickly. I grinned at her.

“Yeah, but you don’t want to see that,” I assured her. Her eyes widened, and she nodded. She quickly served me a glass of wine and handed it to me.

“We’ll be right back,” she promised, then stepped toward Logan. He immediately wrapped his arm around her shoulders and led her into what I suspected was the bedroom.

I slid into the chair and sipped the wine. I could hear Eleanor sitting down on the bed as Logan paced.

“Dimples, I’m sorry,” he started.

“Logan,” she sighed. “You and I both know we love each other. But maybe that’s not enough anymore. If we don’t want the same things, it doesn’t make sense anymore.”

“How can you say that? Ellie, I proposed to you because I want to spend the rest of my life with you!”

“No, Logan, you want to spend the rest of your life with the idea of me,” she corrected.

“Dimples,” he had stopped pacing and sat down on the bed as well. “I cannot imagine my life without you.”

“Logan, we’ve known each other for almost a decade, and wow, it’s been magical. But you want to buy that house and have kids. And that’s not what I want, at least not right now.”

“I can wait.”

“I can’t make you wait. That’s not fair.”

“It sounds like you don’t want us to be together anymore,” he said stiffly. “I’m not ready to let you go.”

“Neither am I, Logan. I’m just trying to be rational. I got a great opportunity in Toulouse. I don’t want to ignore that. And you have a great job here. I know you love it. I know you don’t want to leave.”

“I have already followed you halfway across the world. Why would this time be different?” he snapped.

“Because this time you don’t want to go!” she replied. “Logan, I said I needed time to think, and I still do. I love you, Logan. I don’t want to lose you either, but I want to travel and learn more languages and not settle down,”

Her voice had grown soft. For a few long seconds, neither spoke. “I don’t want the white picket fence that you had.”

“So, now I just wait? To see if you decide to break my heart?” He spoke in a soft whisper.

“Logan. Please.”

“Are you thinking about it with that brother of yours out there? Where the fuck did he come from? You never told me about a brother!”

“I never told you anything about my first family,” she grumbled. “And leave him out of this. He’s just here to make sure I’m doing well.”

“Sure,” Logan sighed heavily. “There’s something off with him, though. You do see that?”

“That family is a little different, Logan. They live off the grid. Don’t sweat it,” she answered lightly.

I heard a body fall against the bed, then the other. Eleanor let out a heavy sigh.

“Ellie, I’ll go now. But I’ll call you tomorrow, okay? We can get some coffee and talk. Would that be okay?”

“Yeah, Logan, that would be okay,” I heard the bed sheets rustling then the soft sounds of humans kissing.

I didn’t like the sound of it. I didn’t realize I was clenching my fist until the wine glass in my hand shattered. I felt the glass slicing through my hand, and the wine sloshed to the ground. I swore.

I was halfway through cleaning up when Eleanor came running in, her eyes wide.

“Are you okay?” she asked, rushing toward me. She took in the broken glass and wine on the floor, then the blood dripping from my fingers.

“Aric, you’re hurt.” She grabbed my hand, pulling it toward the kitchen light so she could see better. I watched as she saw the cuts pull themselves together. Her eyes were wide.

“I’m fine,” I told her with a small smile. “I’m sorry about that glass.”

“I’d forgotten it was so fast,” she murmured, then smiled up at me. “It’s fine, just don’t start breaking my grandmother’s crystal bowls, then I’ll be in trouble,” she joked, her eyes bright.

Logan shuffled out of the bedroom, looking unhappy. He frowned at us.

“I’ll call you,” he told her, stepping toward the door.

Eleanor flitted away from me and hugged him tightly, wrapping her arms around his waist. He pressed his face into her neck, kissing her gently.

“Get home safe,” she murmured, pulling apart. He nodded, gave me a curt smile then slipped out the door. She shut it behind him slowly.

“So that was Logan,” she said, turning toward me.

I stepped toward her, at her side in a second. Her opal eyes were wide. I had her up against the door, planting my hands next to her face. I gazed down at her. I knew my eyes were red.

“He’s a fool,” I told her in a low voice.

“Aric,” she squeaked. Her heart was racing again.

“There’s something I’ve been wanting to do since I first saw you tonight,” I murmured, lowering my head to hers. She sucked in her breath.

“Aric?”

I gently pushed her dark hair back from her shoulder, exposing her neck to me. Her heart raced. I wrapped one arm around her waist, pulling her against me, plastering her body to mine.

I liked the feeling of having her against me. I lowered my lips against her skin. It was warm, pulsing with blood.

Then I bit her.