Dirk: A Stepbrother Romance(79)
“But vampires aren’t real,” Ginny started to reason. She was cut off however by Liam baring his fangs to her. The fear that Ginny thought she should have felt was somehow overshadowed by her innate curiosity and wonder. She reached out to touch the sharp fangs and pulled back when she realized they were real.
“I assure you I am very much real. Though I must say that those ridiculous Twilight books have it all wrong. I do not sparkle in the daylight.” The joke was exactly what the moment needed and an odd sense of pressure was lifted. Ginny didn’t feel uncomfortable or afraid in the least, rather her journalist instincts came raring to life and her need to assess and analyze the story became too strong to overlook.
“Do you suck blood?” Ginny was fascinated - still slightly skeptical - but fascinated nonetheless. Liam chuckled at her question. His laughter made her spine tingle with the reminder of her less than subtle lust for the man, or vampire, or whatever, was in front of her. Vampire or not, he was still hot.
“That does always seem to be the first question anyone asks. Yes, I do, but only from willing participants and never to the extent of draining all of their blood and killing them. Contrary to popular belief we vampires can exist on relatively little blood. The main thing we need is the iron in blood and sometimes a rare steak will do a decent enough job if blood is not readily available.” Liam was trying to be as informative as possible to help Ginny believe in what he was saying.
“I would have never guessed that.” The reality of being a vampire was clearly not represented well in the modern interpretations that Ginny had seen in books and movies. “How long have you been a vampire?” This was going to be a truly interesting thing to know, seeing as Liam only looked to be in his late 20s-early 30s. Ginny loved history and all things antique, so if Liam was a really old vampire he would surely know interesting thing about the past.
“About 700 years or so. I have seen my fair share of history repeating itself.” There was a hint of sadness and despair in Liam’s voice that made Ginny wonder if perhaps she had unknowingly trodden onto territory Liam would rather not talk about. It made Ginny’s heart hurt with the desire to soothe his worries so Ginny decided to change topics completely.
“Well I feel like you have been put on the spot, what with answering all of my questions, so it is only fair that you get to ask me something. What do you want to know about boring old me?” Ginny sat ready and waiting for Liam. The distraction worked, he seemed to let go of some hidden pain and smiled at her again. He reached for her hands and held them in his, once more setting off Ginny’s desires.
“Hmm, well a good starting place is always, where are you from and what do you do for a living?” Liam leaned back into the couch and let the cushions cradle him slightly.
“I am from the other side of the state actually, Buffalo to be exact. I moved to the big city in order to chase my dreams of being a journalist. Currently I work at a low level newspaper as a column writer, but I do hope to someday cover the big stories.” Ginny went into one of her fantasies then, imagining what her future might hold. It was nearly trance like and if left any longer Liam was sure to notice she realized. So she pulled herself out of her mini fugue and refocused her attention on Liam. A slightly embarrassed smile once more found itself on Ginny’s face. It was becoming a staple expression for her, which wasn’t necessarily a good thing.
“I once visited Buffalo, many years ago. It was a much different time and place though.” Ginny was fighting the urge to ask Liam about his past. She desperately wanted to know the history but she worried about unveiling an unpleasant memory. Curiosity eventually won out.
“When were you in Buffalo?” Ginny probed cautiously.
“It was the turn of the century, when the World’s Fair was held there. Man was the city a sight to behold. At that time it rivalled any big city in the country. The Fair was a gathering of the brightest minds in the world and the creative vision they had was like nothing else. It was one of the first times the x-ray machines were presented to the public you know. Everything was going so well too, that is until the president was shot. Knowing what I do now they should have used that x-ray machine. But it was still too new and untested. It was a truly unfortunate thing to have happen but the past is the past.” Though, as Liam told the story she could feel her heart breaking for him and an overwhelming desire to just hold him filled her being, her journalist curiosity yearned to delve further into the story to get all the details. She imagined it must be so lonely to have lived so long and hold such ancient pains, but she pushed that aside. It was a delicate balance she needed to achieve. Liam seemed inclined to change the topic and Ginny complied.
“I love all kinds of history, always have. I think that is partly why I love journalism so much. It is the facts of today that will become history tomorrow.” Liam wrapped his arm around Ginny’s shoulders in a slightly intimate manner. His firm body was pressed flush against hers and Ginny could feel the heat racing to her face. In that moment Ginny wished that there was nothing separating them from touching skin to skin.
“If you like history than I have more than just a few good stories to tell you. But that is for another time. Right now I have something different in mind.” Liam caught Ginny before she said a word. His lips were on hers in seconds. It wasn’t a forced kiss, but rather a slow and simple one. It was as if Liam could read her mind and knew exactly what she wanted in that moment.