Vampires Are Foreve(30)
Thomas let his breath out slowly. He hadn’t expected this to become an issue so soon. He’d hoped to have a little time to woo her before approaching the subject of lifemates and so on. He somehow didn’t think Inez was ready for that discussion.
Immortals quickly accepted that the person they couldn’t read was their lifemate and acted accordingly. Mortals, on the other hand, were a bit trickier. Some accepted the idea of being a lifemate without difficulty, others didn’t seem to trust the idea and needed a long courtship, while still others simply wanted nothing to do with immortals or being one of them. He couldn’t just announce that they were lifemates and expect her to go along with it. Thomas wasn’t yet sure the news would be well received, and would rather avoid the conversation until he had some idea how she would take it. Would she be horrified by the very thought of being his mate? He, himself, rather liked the idea that she was his mate and found himself warming to it more with every passing moment they spent together, but how would she feel about it? She was no longer staring at him as if he was the Devil’s spawn, but that didn’t mean she would agree to settle down and play house with him…for the next several centuries.#p#分页标题#e#
“Thomas?” she asked insistently.
He opened his mouth, but couldn’t think of a thing to say to change the subject. His gaze slid desperately out the window and his breath whooshed out with relief as a bell rang. “We’re here.”
Standing abruptly as the bus slowed to a stop, he hurried off the vehicle, for once not taking her arm to usher her along. She was right behind him, however, and he almost laughed out loud when she muttered, “Saved by the bell,” in sour tones.
Schooling his features into a suitably innocent expression, Thomas took her arm to lead her into the hotel. She walked along docilely enough until they stepped through the front doors. Then she came to an abrupt halt and simply stared around the huge lobby. Despite having been there before, Thomas paused and peered around with her.
Built in 1867, the hotel was stately and elegant. It had a large white lobby, the center stretching up two floors with a carved wooden staircase leading up to the secondfloor balcony with its arches, columns, and carved railings. It was all quite impressive, Thomas thought as he took Inez’s arm to lead her to reception. He checked them in, politely refused help with his bag, and then led her to the elevator.
“So?” Inez said as soon as the doors closed on them. “Why couldn’t you read me or erase my memories?”
“Who says I couldn’t?” Thomas muttered evasively, dismayed by her persistence. “Maybe I just didn’t want to.”
“I heard you talking to Bastien through the bathroom door. You said you couldn’t erase my memories. Besides, everything would have been a lot simpler for you if you’d just made me forget everything that had happened. So, why couldn’t you read me or erase my memories? Are there many you can’t do that with?”
Thomas grimaced, wishing she’d forgotten her question at least until after he’d got to his room and consumed a couple bags of blood and his brain was in better working order again.
“Thomas?” she asked insistently.
“No, there aren’t many mortals an immortal can’t read, control, or wipe memories from,” he admitted grimly.
“But you couldn’t do any of those things with me?” Inez asked with a frown.
Thomas nodded, his eyes slipping to the elevator lights. They were almost to their floor.
“But you said Wyatt could and Bastien would send him over to do it for you if I didn’t come with you to Amsterdam and allow you to explain,” she pointed out and then asked, “Is Wyatt an older, stronger vampire? Is that why you thought he could do it when you couldn’t?”
Before Thomas was forced to come up with a lie, they arrived at their floor and the elevator doors opened. Nearly gasping with relief, he hurried off the elevator, glanced at the sign pointing out the direction to take to reach their room numbers, and hurried that way.
“You really aren’t comfortable with this conversation are you?” Inez asked dryly as she hurried up the hall behind him.
Thomas knew he was being rude not measuring his pace to hers, but he was almost desperate to get to their suite. He was sure if he could just slap a bag or two of blood to his teeth his mind would clear and he would know exactly what to say about lifemates and that she was his own.
He’d just stopped in front of the door to their suite when his phone began to ring. Tugging it from his pocket, he handed it to Inez.