well.
Once they were
alone, Nicole began to tremble. Could she still back out? Had she
already written that check, or did her consent have to come when he
bit her? She didn’t know how this worked. Why couldn’t he take
it? Was there something that blocked the bond from completing unless
she was willing?
She thought of
Dominic, of being back in his arms, back in their bed. Of the past
several months being a bad dream. It would finally be true, rewinding
things, stepping back into the right universe where her husband loved
her again. She would pay any price for that, to feel his strong arms
wrapped around her. To hear his teasing jokes. To bask in the way he
looked at her as if she were something made of magic.
“Come with me.”
She followed the
vampire upstairs. She was finally able to see his house—or maybe
castle. The timeless elegance of it. The obvious money that stood
behind it. Not that things like that mattered to her. She was
comfortable with Dominic. Very comfortable. Past a certain point,
more money was frivolity. Still, there was something ancient and
awe-inspiring about August’s home. It was something that said time
would pass away, and he would still be there in the shadows. And now
so would she.
“How do you have
all this?” she asked.
“How could I
not? Centuries. Compound interest. Only a fool could live so long on
this earth in perfect physical health and be poor. I’m not
suggesting it happened overnight or that I didn’t have many false
starts, but I wasn’t going to have the curse and live in
poverty. Determination and wise investments have paid off. It helps
when I can use mind control to learn company secrets and know which
stocks to buy.”
As tormented as he
may be, he’d still had the presence of mind to accumulate a
ludicrous living standard. So how bad could his suffering be?
Couldn’t he simply bear it and free her to go back to her life
without strings?
He led her to a
parlor and indicated a chaise lounge. “Sit.”
She couldn’t
stop the tremor in her hands, in her body. An icy coldness seeped
through her veins, cracking and hissing in her ears as it spread
through her, as if it were turning her into a solid block of ice.
He sat beside her,
his hand resting on her knee. “I’m sorry you’re so terrified. I
wish I could make this easier. Or make it not hurt. You don’t have
to do anything except remain in a receptive state. Accept my bite.
Don’t struggle or fight me. After I’ve mixed our blood, it will
be done.”
She looked away,
seeking some form of privacy for her misery.
“You must love
him very much to make this sacrifice. I envy him that. Some day you
will come to care for me. It will all be okay, I promise.”
She wasn’t going
to contradict him. If she’d be trapped with him forever, it was
better not to make waves. And she didn’t want to do anything to
make him go back on his word. No matter how sincere his pledge might
be, once this was complete, there was nothing that would force him to
uphold his bargain except the innate goodness he professed to still
have. But it was the one remote chance she had of seeing Dominic
again.
Nicole started to
cry when his fangs elongated.
“Be brave. It
won’t take long. You’ll become used to it over time.”
She
squeezed her eyes shut as fangs embedded in her throat. She shuddered
against the sharp, stinging pain that burned, not just her veins, but
her soul. She sobbed as he drank from her, the pain tunneling deeper
and deeper until it seemed to claw her skin apart from the inside.
She couldn’t take this every night. It was beyond what she was
capable of enduring, of what anyone could endure.
Hysteria began to
build inside her. She was moments from struggling, shouting no! ,
doing anything to stop the completion of the ritual, when Dominic’s
face floated into her mind. She’d sacrifice anything for a few more
decades with him. Anything. She tried not to think of how she would
feel when her husband
Once they were
alone, Nicole began to tremble. Could she still back out? Had she
already written that check, or did her consent have to come when he
bit her? She didn’t know how this worked. Why couldn’t he take
it? Was there something that blocked the bond from completing unless
she was willing?
She thought of
Dominic, of being back in his arms, back in their bed. Of the past
several months being a bad dream. It would finally be true, rewinding
things, stepping back into the right universe where her husband loved
her again. She would pay any price for that, to feel his strong arms
wrapped around her. To hear his teasing jokes. To bask in the way he
looked at her as if she were something made of magic.
“Come with me.”
She followed the
vampire upstairs. She was finally able to see his house—or maybe
castle. The timeless elegance of it. The obvious money that stood
behind it. Not that things like that mattered to her. She was
comfortable with Dominic. Very comfortable. Past a certain point,
more money was frivolity. Still, there was something ancient and
awe-inspiring about August’s home. It was something that said time
would pass away, and he would still be there in the shadows. And now
so would she.
“How do you have
all this?” she asked.
“How could I
not? Centuries. Compound interest. Only a fool could live so long on
this earth in perfect physical health and be poor. I’m not
suggesting it happened overnight or that I didn’t have many false
starts, but I wasn’t going to have the curse and live in
poverty. Determination and wise investments have paid off. It helps
when I can use mind control to learn company secrets and know which
stocks to buy.”
As tormented as he
may be, he’d still had the presence of mind to accumulate a
ludicrous living standard. So how bad could his suffering be?
Couldn’t he simply bear it and free her to go back to her life
without strings?
He led her to a
parlor and indicated a chaise lounge. “Sit.”
She couldn’t
stop the tremor in her hands, in her body. An icy coldness seeped
through her veins, cracking and hissing in her ears as it spread
through her, as if it were turning her into a solid block of ice.
He sat beside her,
his hand resting on her knee. “I’m sorry you’re so terrified. I
wish I could make this easier. Or make it not hurt. You don’t have
to do anything except remain in a receptive state. Accept my bite.
Don’t struggle or fight me. After I’ve mixed our blood, it will
be done.”
She looked away,
seeking some form of privacy for her misery.
“You must love
him very much to make this sacrifice. I envy him that. Some day you
will come to care for me. It will all be okay, I promise.”
She wasn’t going
to contradict him. If she’d be trapped with him forever, it was
better not to make waves. And she didn’t want to do anything to
make him go back on his word. No matter how sincere his pledge might
be, once this was complete, there was nothing that would force him to
uphold his bargain except the innate goodness he professed to still
have. But it was the one remote chance she had of seeing Dominic
again.
Nicole started to
cry when his fangs elongated.
“Be brave. It
won’t take long. You’ll become used to it over time.”
She
squeezed her eyes shut as fangs embedded in her throat. She shuddered
against the sharp, stinging pain that burned, not just her veins, but
her soul. She sobbed as he drank from her, the pain tunneling deeper
and deeper until it seemed to claw her skin apart from the inside.
She couldn’t take this every night. It was beyond what she was
capable of enduring, of what anyone could endure.
Hysteria began to
build inside her. She was moments from struggling, shouting no! ,
doing anything to stop the completion of the ritual, when Dominic’s
face floated into her mind. She’d sacrifice anything for a few more
decades with him. Anything. She tried not to think of how she would
feel when her husband