Page 13 of Threads of Crimson

As I sat, I gave a small shake of my head at a pretty little brunette who approached me hopefully. I didn’t need her blood. I wasn’t sure how I’d even drink from another after tasting Benji’s essence. Surely that feeling would go away with time. Hopefully.

It wouldn’t happen if I couldn’t control myself and stay away from here, though. I didn’t even have to look to know where Benji sat, to feel the weight of his regard on me. He’d been a participant here long enough to know that our encounter was the first and last of its kind—which somehow made me feel…desolate.

This was not good, not good at all. I needed to get out⁠—

“Hi, Lysandro,” Benji said, sliding into the chair next to me.

How in the world had that happened? Humans didn’t creep up on me. Hell, I hadn’t met a vampire in over five hundred years who could surprise me.

With practiced nonchalance, I tilted my head at him. “Benji.”

The man grinned happily, like I’d greeted him with warmth and affection. Why wasn’t he intimidated by me? Well, he had been until I’d rescued him from Mordie. What kind of door had I opened up? This was getting out of control.

“Don’t worry, I know you’re not looking for a donor tonight.” He chuckled self-consciously. “And I know I’d be out of the running now anyway. One and done, right?”

The forced amusement in his tone bothered me. I’d watched him grow in the last few years. He was still tinged with sadness, a despair that he’d carried forward from his life before Velvet Vein.

But he was also so much better than he’d been in the beginning. The quality of his clothes had improved. Thankfully, his housing situation had upgraded by one hundred percent, as well. Not that I’d been stalking him like Mordie had, but after the way Eric abandoned him on his first night here, I’d followed him home to make sure he was safe.

At least that was what I kept telling myself.

“That’s right,” I replied honestly.

“So then maybe we can be friends.”

I startled, my body jumping involuntarily at his surprisingly ridiculous offer. “Friends?” I asked, unable to hide my disbelief at his audacity.

The acrid scent of fear and embarrassment hit me before he smiled shyly. “Well, you don’t seem to talk to too many people. Or anybody, really. And Rafe’s kinda busy tonight, but I’m not ready to go home, so I thought we could talk or something.”

Something was exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to bury my fangs in the erratic beat drumming in his neck. He was playing it cool, but underneath his nervous sweat was the unmistakable smell of a horny human. A long, long time ago, I’d given those willing to give me their essence orgasm after orgasm. It was enjoyable enough, but then they’d want more.

I preferred the system Damien had established. Cold hard cash for blood.

“What would we talk about?” I heard myself asking.

Benji’s eyes widened with pleasure, making me feel like shit. I didn’t even know why I asked him that. I might be cold, but I was never cruel, and I had no intention of leading him on.

“Did you know panda bears poop up to fifty pounds of excrement a day?” That was what popped out of his mouth before he clapped a hand over his lips, likely wishing he could take it back.

It was hard not to laugh, but conscious of my surroundings, I merely said, “No, I can’t say that I did.”

His cheeks flamed bright red. “I’m so sorry. I can’t believe I said that. Pandas are my favorite animal, and I’m always reading and picking up useless bits of information, and oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. I’ll go.”

He was halfway out of his chair when I said, “Did you know that some spiders hide themselves as poop out of survival?”

He fell back in his seat. “What?”

I nodded. “It’s true. Pretending to be excrement is their version of camouflage.”

He snorted, then cackled, and I felt inordinately proud of myself for making him laugh. I’d never been a funny guy. At least I didn’t think I had. It was hard at times to remember how I’d been as a human.

“So you like random facts, too?” he asked.

There was no way I could show him who I really was, not here amongst my kind, so I said, “I like spiders,” which was technically true.

He wrinkled his nose. “Ew. Why?”

“I feel an affinity for dark, scary things.”