“She’s also one of my guardians. I knew she would do what I asked, and since…and since I’ve known her for so long, I knew…um…I knew I’d take every precaution to make sure I wouldn’t hurt her. And after everything was said and done, I came back here, got cleaned up, and then knocked on your door.”

“And I became that outlet you talked about. A way to burn off the energy that you get when you feed like that.”

“Yes, and that’s why I prefaced this by saying if you want to end our relationship, that’s fine. You deserve more than a vampire who likes to bed you just to burn off energy, and I’m ashamed that I exploited you like that last night. It was way over-the-top.”

“You didn’t enjoy it?”

“What? No, of course I enjoyed it, but—”

“Bennett, I went into this friends-with-benefits relationship with my eyes open. You made it clear you didn’t love me, and I’m good with that. You made it clear what we have is about sex only, and I’m good with that, but what you just said proves you do at least care about me a little, and that goes a long way. And you really have to stop assuming that you’re the only one using someone in this relationship. Hello? I didn’t slam the door in your face last night, and I didn’t say no, so if you’re on some sort of guilt trip, I sure as hell hope you bought only one ticket.”

Bennett shook her head. “Perhaps you didn’t fully grasp what I said.”

“Yes, I did,” Ruby said, setting her glass aside. “You could have bitten me last night, but you stopped yourself. You could have killed me last night, but you stopped yourself. And, to top it all off, you made sure to get me out of here as quickly as you could so you wouldn’t hurt me. Did I miss anything?”

“So…so you aren’t…” Bennett looked over at Ruby for a moment. “So, are you saying that everything I just told you doesn’t make you want to run or…or, at the very least, slap me or something?”

“Bennett, the way I see it, last night, you saved me from a vampire. Why would I be angry or afraid? Like I said, it shows that you care about me.”

“I do. I don’t…I don’t want to hurt you.”

“And you didn’t, and that’s good enough for me.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re almost too good to be true.”

“What can I say?” Ruby said, shrugging. “I know what I want.”

“Which is?”