The Vampire in the Bookstore

by Elle M. Drew

Books. He would never tire of the scent of books.

“Yes, I’m still in love with your books. With all of them. And your library.”

“I sought you out because I thought you would understand me, and my love of books, but beyond that, you were a mystery I had to solve. You shaped so much of my life, even pushed me outside of my normal reading spaces. I mean, you could write a book on how to change tires, and I would probably read it.”

“And then you invited me to dinner, and appreciated my love of books, and my work. You were interested. Do you know how many guys are interested in a girl who spends her days covered in paste and stitching new spines and—But you were interested, and then you invited me back here, and showed me the most amazing library, which I never want to leave, and Declan, I’m—”

“I’m... maybe a little in love with you as well. I don’t know. But you can tell a lot about a person by their bookshelf and their book collection, and what I can see here is a love of literature and knowledge, and preservation, and art, and it’s something I’ve never found matched in another person, ever. The way you care for these books, the way you write, the way you—I never want to leave this place.”

“Truly? Be certain of how you answer. Would you truly never want to leave this place?”

“Would you want to stay?” he asked again, his voice full of wonder as he stared down at her. She liked it. Liked their slight height difference. She could lean into him and feel his lips on her forehead easily, or perhaps go onto tiptoes to kiss him. She could do that. She could—”Would you stay forever?”

“The only way I can stay forever is if you make me immortal, like you.”

“You see, I am far beyond immortality, my dear,” he growled around his teeth. His voice was deeper like this, rougher. “I am the monster in dark shadows, who sinks his teeth into the innocent, draining them of their life and their soul. I am one with the night, unable to ever bathe myself again in the light of day. I feel no warmth, require no food, and yes, I have immortality, but the cost...”

Lifting her wrist to his mouth, he fought the urge to bite her, and instead licked her flesh, his tongue dragging along her pulse.

He could nearly taste it, could feel it against his touch, and he let himself lick again, this time adding the drag of his fangs. He didn’t pierce her, not yet, but he craved to.

“Even now, even with as much as I want you,” he continued, his voice still deep. “As much as I crave you as a woman, crave you naked beneath me and over me, I crave your blood even more. The desire to drink f...

“You should know that we will always be bound to one another, should I turn you, although the bond will lessen with time, if we part ways.” “And leave this library behind? I think not.”

A vampire had her trapped against a bookshelf, his body pressing against hers, and all she could think was that her underwear was soaked, and she really hoped he took them off soon.

It probably made her a terrible human, being turned on by a monster who had stalked her through his library, and killed a man for having ill intentions for her, but she wasn’t going to be a human for much longer.

Oh girl, any monster that unalives someone that had ill intentions for me and wants me, I’ll fold like a pancake. 🥵🔥

“My attraction to you is limitless. I crave you intellectually, yes, but also carnally. I would know your body, every soft dip, every sound you make, every desire you hold.”

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🥵

“I want you.” Declan stopped moving his head at her words, and looked at her, his gaze darkening fully. His eyes were so black, she was lost in them, unable to look away. “You know I want you. Desperately. If you touched me, I would lose my mind. So, my condition, my request, my proposition, fuck—” “Say it,” he growled, leaning into her. “Tell me you desire what I long for.”

“If you’re going to turn me, if you’re going to drink from me, and me from you, then have me. Have sex with me. Fuck, that feels so lacking a word, but I want the intimacy too, I want the pleasure with the pain, I want you, I want your teeth in me while I ride you and—” Declan’s growl cut her off, and then he was surging forward, his mouth at her throat. She could feel his teeth scraping, and she arched up against him again, unable to do anything more to do the distance. “Bite me,” she begged, struggling against the bond. “Drink me, undress me, fuck me, love me, just bite—”

“Oh, yes. My jaw will be quite the throne for you. I long to feel your thighs on either side of my head, gripping me. You will always be welcome to sit on it.”

“You forget, my dear, that I am dead. I don’t breathe. You can sit on my face for hours, without pause, coming on my tongue until you cannot move. And even then, I’ll still devour you.”

“Can vampires get UTIs?”

I died, but also yes. 🤣

“I... I don’t want a UTI! I haven’t gone pee in what feels like hours, and I can feel... well, I’m going to guess your cum isn’t like sperm, but I need to pee, and—”