I wished he’d let go of me. I kept glancing at his hand as if I could make it disappear from my arm.
“You’re blocking me again.”
He said it casually, but his eyes narrowed. Green began to swirl in their depths, then it blazed forth to swallow the brown.
“Nice try,” I barked, “but I thought we’d already established that I have good defenses.”
Uh-oh. I’d jerked away while I said it, an instinctive reaction to him trying to pry into my mind. In a flash, I was flattened on the couch, Bones holding my wrists and tangling his legs in mine.
“Get off me,” I demanded.
Instead, his hold tightened. I became acutely aware that further thrashing would only ratchet my dress up higher. Considering the position I was in and the fact that it was already well past my knees, not wearing any underwear was about to become a real issue right away.
“Bones.” I stopped moving, trying another tactic. “Please get off of me.”
“Why do you want to become a vampire?”
Guess he wasn’t going to budge from his position. He wasn’t balancing his weight, either. He was letting all of it hold me down while flexing to counter my smallest twitch. I was having a hard time trying not to think that it had been, wow, weeks since he’d been on top of me. Furthermore, at this proximity, it was impossible to avoid his gaze.
I cleared my throat. “I’m sick of being a walking transmitter to Gregor, for one. If I’m a full vampire, Gregor gets locked out. No more shutting my eyes and plugging my ears when I travel, no more being bothered while I sleep.”
He didn’t glance away. “Is that the only reason?”
If I said yes, this conversation was over. Bones would never think that was a good enough reason. Only the truth was, even if saying it made my eyes fill with tears.
“You were right.” It was a whisper. “I did still think being a vampire was in some way evil. After all I’d seen, I was still prejudiced. What a fool, huh? You’re probably proud now that you shoved it in my face. Who could blame you?”
His fingers weren’t biting into my wrists anymore. No, they were doing something worse—stroking them with little circles. His eyes hadn’t turned all the way back to brown yet. I hoped it was just residual anger.
“No, I’m not proud for railing at you the way I did.” His voice was very low. “It took me fifteen years to come to terms with what I was after Ian turned me. Little wonder you still had mixed feelings over it.”
I hadn’t expected this. I’d steeled myself to hear a resounding agreement that yes, I had been a total ass over my discrimination. I swallowed, blinking to clear my eyes from the tears.
“Okay…so does that mean you’ll change me over?”
“Not so fast. The only reason you’ve listed for wanting to change is to thwart Gregor.”
“Do you just not want the responsibility of being my sire?” I asked, getting frustrated by the interrogation. “If so, Vlad already agreed to do it.”
Something glittered in his gaze. “I’m sure he did, but if anyone’s changing you over, it’s me. I daresay I’ve earned that. And if you think to do it behind my back, I swear right now that I’ll kill whoever sires you, no matter who he is.”
He’d kill anyone who changed you, Spade had said. Guess he was right. Damn possessive vampires.
“If you take my old prejudice out of the way, there’s no reason for me to remain part human,” I answered steadily. “As a half-breed, I’m easier to kill, and my abilities have a definite ceiling on them. As a full vampire, my potential is what I make it, not what my pulse and breathing limit it to. Plus, I can never go back to pretending to live a normal, human life. For all intents and purposes, I’m already a vampire. I just don’t have fangs yet.”
“Do you really believe that?” His voice was silky, but his gaze was rock hard.
“Yes.” No hesitation.
“Then prove it. Let me in your mind to see for myself.”
Oh hell no. No way was I about to drop my mental shields and expose myself like that. It wasn’t because I was lying about what I’d said. I was too afraid of everything else he’d see.
“Sorry, Bones, but you’ll just have to take my word for it.”
He didn’t say anything for a long moment. It was all I could do not to hold my breath.
“All right, then,” he replied at last. “I’ll do it tomorrow.”
I’d almost sighed in relief when he spoke again.
“On one condition.”
Figures. “What is it?”
“Oh, nothing too taxing. You’ll just have to share my bed tonight.”