Free Cronin's Key by N.R. Walker Page B

alone. He was doing what he thought was right.”
    Cronin raised one eyebrow at him. “Is that so?”
    “Yep. And anyway—” Alec shrugged. “—my leg doesn’t hurt anymore. He saved me plenty of times, or so it seems.”
    Cronin sighed loudly, angrily even, then was quiet for a while. Eventually, he said, “Your father…”
    “Yeah? What about him?”
    “Do you still talk often?”
    “Yeah, kind of. Not as much as I should, though. It’s just that life gets busy, ya know? I try to visit once a week. We have Sunday lunch together sometimes, but I was always busy with work.”
    Delaying those phone calls and postponing visits was something Alec was truly starting to regret. “I’d like to see him, not just talk to him.”
    Cronin nodded, then his brow furrowed. “I’d like to meet him also,” he said. “If you’re agreeable.”
    “If I’m agreeable?” Alec repeated with a smile. “You know, it’s kinda cute the way you speak.”
    Embarrassment heated Cronin’s cheeks.
    “And vampires blush?” Alec asked, his smile smug.
    Cronin barked out a laugh. “It is something I’ve not experienced in a very long time. Well, not before I met you.” He was particularly cute when he spoke with a smile. “I have adapted over the centuries. It helps with blending in, though human traits remain. My accent is long faded.”
    “Your accent is sexy as hell,” Alec said, unsure of what made him say something so brazen.
    Cronin blinked. “Oh.”
    Alec cleared his throat. “I really have no idea why I said that,” he said. “I mean, it’s true. But I’m not usually so… I don’t normally just blurt shit out like that.”
    Cronin laughed again, and there was nothing but warmth in his eyes. Alec couldn’t believe eyes that dark could be so warm. “For what it’s worth, Alec, I like the sound of your voice too.”
    Alec smiled back at him, their eye contact intense. It was the first time he realized he might actually be smitten with Cronin.
    Smitten , Alec thought. Who the fuck uses words like smitten ? Oh, that’s right. I do. Apparently. Since Mr. Suave-and-Sexy-Vampire here leapt into my life and informed me that we’re fated to one another for all eternity.
    The more Alec thought about the whole fated-soul thing, the less he minded. He couldn’t deny his physical attraction to Cronin. His heart rate spiked and his whole body flushed when he saw him, and dear God, when he was near him… But it wasn’t just physical. He was so intelligent and learned, he’d lived through things Alec couldn’t fathom, and Alec wanted to hear every story, every recount of every year he’d lived. Oh, and that rust-colored hair was so damn perfect, and he had the sexiest smirk. The kind that made Alec’s insides flip.
    Before Alec’s thoughts could get away from him, Cronin said, “It’s quite late. I hope you don’t think it rude, but I will retire to my room.”
    Alec looked at his watch. It was four in the morning. “Oh yeah. Me too,” he said, standing up. Then he realized how that sounded. “I mean, I’ll be going to my room. Not yours.”
    Cronin stood up as well, leaving just two feet between them. Alec could have sworn the air in the room was suddenly thick and electric. Cronin’s eyes seemed to darken, and his voice was softer when he spoke. “I knew what you meant.”
    Alec tried to laugh it off. “So, you do sleep? I mean, you said you did, but unless I missed something last night, I didn’t think you had.”
    “I didn’t sleep last night. I don’t require as much as a human, and I can go for a few days without sleep, though I do need to eventually, yes, but only for a few hours.”
    Alec nodded slowly, their eyes locked on each other. “Right. Good to know,” he whispered.
    They didn’t move, they didn’t blink. Alec could hear his own heart hammering in his chest and he was sure Cronin could too. The vampire smiled and took a step backward, away from him, though Alec thought he saw a