Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 53212 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 266(@200wpm)___ 213(@250wpm)___ 177(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53212 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 266(@200wpm)___ 213(@250wpm)___ 177(@300wpm)
“Hah. Right. Sense us. So, when you say that, you mean…”
“Smell, visions. Just overall intuition. We’re—our kind—is gifted in all sorts of ways.”
“Right, right.” She sucks her bottom lip into her mouth for a long moment before quietly asking, “And by your kind, you mean…?”
The word is a whisper and a bomb all at once. “Vampires.”
Her giggle turns chaotic as she jumps from the chair and starts to pace, turning back to me for confirmation every so often. I hold myself still and steady, waiting for her to be ready for more before continuing.
When she sits back down, she does it right next to me, pushing the heat of her thigh into the heat of my own for comfort.
My throat thickens instantly with want, but I shove it down.
“Vampires,” she whispers, testing the word on her tongue.
I nod. “Vampires.”
“Like…vampires in the way I’m imagining them? With bloodsucking tendencies and bats and glittery skin…”
“Minus the bats,” I say. “And closer to Dracula than anything sparkly. But the basics are relatively the same.”
“So, you need…blood…to survive?”
“Some vampires do, but they’re becoming an extinct breed.”
“What does that mean?”
“There are vampires who have been turned from humans, and there are vampires who are born into this world. I was born into this world, as are most of the vampires you’ve come into contact with in your daily life. It’s seen as a highly taboo practice for a vampire to turn a human now.”
A shocked laugh bubbles up from her lungs. “Well, I’ll be honest, I didn’t even know vampires existed until exactly one minute ago, so…yeah.”
“We blend in,” I tell her. “On purpose.”
“So…you and your brothers were born…like humans are born?”
“Yes.”
Her jaw drops. “That’s…how?”
“Vampires can mate with humans, Kylie. But they have to be the right humans with the right bloodline.”
“Can you…turn me into a vampire?”
“Sure.” I shrug. “If I wanted to.”
“But you don’t want to do that?”
“Fuck no.” I shake my head. “I’d rather off myself than do that.”
For a moment, her mouth turns down at the corners, and I furrow my brow as I take in her reaction.
“Are you disappointed?”
“I…” She blows out a breath. “Don’t know what I am right now.”
“The idea of changing anything about you is abhorrent to me,” I tell her and mean every single fucking word. I just want her. In all of her perfect humanness.
She nods and digs her teeth into her bottom lip. “So…vampires like you don’t need blood to survive?”
“No. And we don’t need human food either. Think of us as kind of self-contained battery packs, I guess.”
“Well, if you don’t need blood to survive, what do you need it for?”
I shrug. “Power. Pleasure. Longevity. And in some cases, healing. It’s an enhancer. And blood like yours…is the best.”
“So, I have good blood?”
I nod, and my mouth waters at the mere thought of her perfect, tempting blood. “Good isn’t a strong enough word for your blood, Kylie.”
“Human blood can heal?”
I nod.
“But I thought vampires couldn’t die…?”
“Once we turn twenty-eight, we age at a much slower rate than humans, but we can die. Not easily and only at the hands of another vamp, but we can.”
“How slow are you talking about?”
“We can live centuries. There are vampires out there who are five hundred years old.”
She pauses for a long moment. “And you said pleasure?” she asks, and her cheeks flush red. “In regard to…uh…drinking human blood.”
I smile. I can’t help it. Everything about the word rolling off her tongue is exciting. “Yes. Sucking blood from your mate during intercourse can be very pleasurable. For both the human and the vampire.”
She studies me for a beat, then stands and crosses the room. She walks slowly, like she’s deciding something with every step.
When she stops in front of me, I don’t move.
She lifts her hands and cups my face, searching my eyes like she’s looking for something final. Something concrete. “I think…I think I need to experience it to really understand.”
I lean down, lips brushing her ear. “Are you asking me to make love to you, Kylie?”
She nods. She’s not sheepish, not even unsure, but her breath hitches in her lungs.
“You have no idea how badly I want to,” I murmur. “I want to put myself inside you and never fucking leave.”
She shivers.
“But once I do,” I say, my voice growing rougher, “there’s no going back. Not ever.”
Her brows knit together. “What do you mean?”
“It means the first time won’t just be sex.” I trace her delicate jaw with my thumb. “And, well, I can smell that you’re still untouched. Still a virgin.” I lean down to brush my lips against her ear again, whispering, “Our first union binds, Kylie. It seals us. Permanently.”
She blushes. “You know I’m a virgin?”
“That and about a thousand other things, Ky.” I search her eyes and watch as her mind calculates everything I just told her. “We’re fated mates,” I add quietly, but there’s no lack of power or conviction in my voice. “Our first union would be as binding as an inked and sealed contract. It would bond us forever. It’ll make you mine, and me yours, until the end of the mortal world and won’t be broken even a second before. And because of the power of the bond, the aging process will slow inside you too. You’ll live much longer than an average human.”