Read Online Hungry for Your Love: An Anthology of Zombie Romance by Lori Perkins - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Lori Perkins
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through me, I knew I still really wanted to find out what sex with Mark would be like.
68
A publishing convention was taking Brody to Chicago for a couple of days, so in his absence I arranged to have dinner with Mark. He’d chosen a zombie-friendly trattoria close to his apartment, and when I arrived he was already seated at a discreet corner booth, well away from the undead couple having a blazing row at a table near the door. It was a little hard to make out what was being said, given that the pair of them were rather more decomposed than most and her jawbone didn’t seem to be properly connected, but the gist was obvious: he was dumping her. Seemed like relationships didn’t get any easier even after you were dead.
I ordered a bowl of linguini, and Mark went for what was described as the charnelhouse special: a plate of sloppy meat with what looked uncomfortably like a piece of windpipe sticking out of it. Vaguely repelled by the whole scene, I asked myself what on Earth I thought I was doing here, and then Mark looked at me with his dark, rheumy eyes and my reservations melted away. So many times I had dreamed of sharing a romantic candlelit dinner with him, and now here we were, clinking wineglasses in a toast to each other and chatting together companionably.
As we ate, I filled Mark in on everything that had happened while he had been out of my life, telling him about friends we had known who’d got married, or had started raising a family. He told me he was aiming to raise money so he could go traveling, though he aimed to stay well away from Britain, given the country’s less-than-welcoming attitude to the undead.
Soon, it felt as though no time at all had passed since the afternoon I had made plans to go for a dinner like this with Mark, only to receive a phone call a couple of hours later to let me know he was dead. It didn’t matter that one of us was alive and the other 69
not. At this moment, we were just two really good friends on the cusp of becoming lovers.
There was, of course, the small matter of Brody standing in the way. Mark insisted on being told all about him, and I obliged. “You should meet him,” I said.
“You’d really like him.”
“Do you love him?” Mark asked
“Yes. Yes, I do.” I drained the last of my coffee. “He’s bright, he’s funny, he’s an amazing lover. He’s all the things I’ve ever wanted.” All the things I know you would have been , I almost added.
“But you’re still sitting there, thinking of what it would be like if we were together.” Mark put his hand on top of mine. It was the first time I’d ever been touched by a zombie and, remarkably, I didn’t immediately recoil. “You know if you come home with me it will change everything forever, don’t you?”
I nodded, prepared for anything which might be about to happen. Nothing more needed to be said. We paid the bill and made the short walk to Mark’s apartment. It took a while, as we were moving at Mark’s pace, but with his big arm wrapped around my shoulders I was completely comfortable. We got the odd scandalized look from people who still weren’t happy with the idea of mixed-mortality couples, but I didn’t care. Let them think what they wanted; I had been given a second chance with Mark, and if I didn’t take it, I knew I would always regret what might have been.
Behind Mark’s closed front door, I surrendered to my desires. His skin was cold to the touch, but no colder than the night air outside. All the comparisons Brody had made the night he’d fucked me in the ways he said Mark never could came flooding 70
back, but I was so caught up in the thrill of finally being with Mark after all this time that it really didn’t matter. He pleasured me with all the skill he could muster, everything slow, everything measured, and my body opened for him willingly.
Afterwards, I knew I had crossed the line. Cheating on Brody with anyone was something I had never planned to do, but
68
A publishing convention was taking Brody to Chicago for a couple of days, so in his absence I arranged to have dinner with Mark. He’d chosen a zombie-friendly trattoria close to his apartment, and when I arrived he was already seated at a discreet corner booth, well away from the undead couple having a blazing row at a table near the door. It was a little hard to make out what was being said, given that the pair of them were rather more decomposed than most and her jawbone didn’t seem to be properly connected, but the gist was obvious: he was dumping her. Seemed like relationships didn’t get any easier even after you were dead.
I ordered a bowl of linguini, and Mark went for what was described as the charnelhouse special: a plate of sloppy meat with what looked uncomfortably like a piece of windpipe sticking out of it. Vaguely repelled by the whole scene, I asked myself what on Earth I thought I was doing here, and then Mark looked at me with his dark, rheumy eyes and my reservations melted away. So many times I had dreamed of sharing a romantic candlelit dinner with him, and now here we were, clinking wineglasses in a toast to each other and chatting together companionably.
As we ate, I filled Mark in on everything that had happened while he had been out of my life, telling him about friends we had known who’d got married, or had started raising a family. He told me he was aiming to raise money so he could go traveling, though he aimed to stay well away from Britain, given the country’s less-than-welcoming attitude to the undead.
Soon, it felt as though no time at all had passed since the afternoon I had made plans to go for a dinner like this with Mark, only to receive a phone call a couple of hours later to let me know he was dead. It didn’t matter that one of us was alive and the other 69
not. At this moment, we were just two really good friends on the cusp of becoming lovers.
There was, of course, the small matter of Brody standing in the way. Mark insisted on being told all about him, and I obliged. “You should meet him,” I said.
“You’d really like him.”
“Do you love him?” Mark asked
“Yes. Yes, I do.” I drained the last of my coffee. “He’s bright, he’s funny, he’s an amazing lover. He’s all the things I’ve ever wanted.” All the things I know you would have been , I almost added.
“But you’re still sitting there, thinking of what it would be like if we were together.” Mark put his hand on top of mine. It was the first time I’d ever been touched by a zombie and, remarkably, I didn’t immediately recoil. “You know if you come home with me it will change everything forever, don’t you?”
I nodded, prepared for anything which might be about to happen. Nothing more needed to be said. We paid the bill and made the short walk to Mark’s apartment. It took a while, as we were moving at Mark’s pace, but with his big arm wrapped around my shoulders I was completely comfortable. We got the odd scandalized look from people who still weren’t happy with the idea of mixed-mortality couples, but I didn’t care. Let them think what they wanted; I had been given a second chance with Mark, and if I didn’t take it, I knew I would always regret what might have been.
Behind Mark’s closed front door, I surrendered to my desires. His skin was cold to the touch, but no colder than the night air outside. All the comparisons Brody had made the night he’d fucked me in the ways he said Mark never could came flooding 70
back, but I was so caught up in the thrill of finally being with Mark after all this time that it really didn’t matter. He pleasured me with all the skill he could muster, everything slow, everything measured, and my body opened for him willingly.
Afterwards, I knew I had crossed the line. Cheating on Brody with anyone was something I had never planned to do, but
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