Take Me Once, I'll Bleed You Twice novel Chapter 43

RIAGHAIRE

The house was quiet – eerily so. Frowning, Riaghaire made his way to the kitchen to find it had been cleaned but was otherwise empty. Where had Beatrice gone?

He wandered back down the hall, turning right to enter an open living space with a sofa, a large black rectangle hung on the wall, and a few other furnishings that were of no particular interest to him.

Beatrice was curled up on the sofa, still in the silver dress, fast asleep. For a long moment he watched her, wondering why she had gone to bed. It would be far more comfortable than the sofa, would it not? And why not change into a more comfortable garment?

It suddenly hit Riaghaire that it was possible she’d been waiting for him to finish in the shower so she might take her own. Excep taken a long time and she’d fallen asleep. That was… not a pleasant thought.

He moved to crouch near her head, wondering how to wake her without giving her a fright. Would her green eyes go wide with fear upon

seeing him? Or, perhaps, she would smile?

Without realizing what he was doing, the vampire reached up and brushed away some of the hair that had fallen into her face, gently tucking it behind an ear. She didn’t so much as twitch. Did that speak to her comfort towards his presence or was she simply a deep sleeper? When she’d been in the neighbouring cell, she’d dozed off and began muttering in her sleep after a time; now, however, she was

silent.

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Riaghaire moved a few more strands of hair away from her face, this time eliciting a reaction from the human. Beatrice frowned just a little, drawing her hands closer to her chest and tucking in her chin. A few seconds later, her eyes opened but he was already on the other side of the room, far enough that she wouldn’t think he’d been near her only moments before.

“Mmm?” She hummed as she pushed herself into a seated position. “Oh, hey, Riaghaire. How was your shower?”

“It was…” he searched for a word that best described the experience. “Refreshing. I thank you, for allowing me the use of your shower ”

Beatrice waved a hand at him, the other covering a yawn. “Don’t mention it. I forgot to ask earlier, but, do vampires sleep? Or need

sleep?”

Riaghaire thought about the answer for a moment. Many things about his kind remained a mystery to others. Vampires were a secretive folk for various reasons; some of them were relevant, while others were born of paranoia. He had never spoken of what vampires could or could not do until meeting this human and it made him feel odd to do so.

and she didn’t seem the type to share There was always the worry that sharing information would lead to one’s true death Beatrice, however, had given him the impression of being far too forthright to use what she learned against him at least not without just cause information for the sake of sharing.

Perhaps he was giving her too much credit, but Riaghaire realized that he trusted this human. How very odd. They’d known each other

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18:53 Tue, Jun 16

Chapter 43

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less than two days and had conversed for only a few hours; why did he feel comfortable telling her things that were none of her concern?

“We can sleep, if we wish, but it is not necessary.” There was more to it than that but he held back the full explanation; that sleep ald make the blood a vampire ingested last longer. He had no intention of sleeping on this day and, though he trusted her, it felt too strange to reveal everything without being asked for specifics.

“Well, you have until I finish showering to decide if you want to sleep or not,” she told him, covering another yawn with her hand. “I’l get the spare room ready if you want it but, otherwise, I’m not going to bother.”

Beatrice looked dead on her feet, which was saying something when it came from a vampire who’d been starved for eighty some years ‘I will not require a room,” he assured her, watching as she got to her feet and stretched her arms over her head.

“Awesome. Glad to hear. You’ve got free rein of the house for the day. Watch some TV or read a book or… something.”

What on earth was a ‘tee vee‘, he wondered as Beatrice left the room. He heard the bathroom door close, soon followed by the sound

the shower.

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