Top Secret Vampire (Monsters, PI #4)

23. Reese

Chapter 23

Reese

W e left Shriek & Nail and got into my SUV.

“Where to?” I asked because I didn’t know where the witch lived.

“I sent her a text, and now isn’t the right time. I’ll have to handle it at another time instead of this afternoon.”

“Is there anywhere else we need to go before I return home and catch up on my writing?” Which I hadn’t had the chance to do so far despite bringing my laptop. But I’d been as eager as him to speak with Thain and the director of the historical society. And I felt good now that I had bear spray.

“I think we’re done in town for the day.”

I took us home and went to my office. He followed, sitting on the sofa and flipping through his phone, trying to discover anything he could about our suspects.

I worked through the afternoon, and then we had dinner together, me enjoying homemade chicken alfredo, him another bag of blood.

“Have you ever thought of drinking some of my blood?” I asked after we’d savored our meals—such an odd way of putting it when he’d drunk his from a blood bag.

His hooded gaze shot to my neck. “I’d be lying if I told you no.”

“How badly do you want it?” Curiosity drove me, not an urge to tease. I wanted to know.

“There isn’t anything I wouldn’t give to take a sip of your blood.”

The guttural need in his voice made me want to offer him my wrist right now. Bare my neck to him. Hell, beg him to bite me wherever he pleased. While I knew most of the stories told about vampires were myths, it wouldn’t surprise me to hear that a vampire’s “victim” could feel pleasure from his bite.

“Why not take a sip if you really want it?” Maybe this was a foolish offer on my part, but any twang of fear I felt came from made up stories about vampires, not because I was afraid of Wolf.

“I’d never do such a thing without your complete understanding of what it would mean and your full consent.”

“Will one bite turn me into a made vampire?”

“You’re in a unique situation in that you can be transformed into born like me.”

I leaned forward, really intrigued now. “What would it mean if I became a born vampire?”

“You could bear my children. You’d live longer.”

“Thousands of years like you have?”

“I’m nowhere near the oldest of my kind.”

“I don’t know if I want to live forever.” There couldn’t be anything more torturous than watching everyone you knew die, over and over again. My mom. Even my aunt. “How do you let yourself make friends?”

“You learn to love completely while you can and mourn when they pass. It’s not a step to take lightly, and not for that reason alone.” He gestured to my empty plate. “Food doesn’t taste the same any longer. You’ll get hungry and often, but blood will be the thing you crave the most.”

I didn’t like the taste of my own when I licked a bleeding cut, so I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.

“I’m fortunate in that I can go out in the sun,” he said. “But many born vampires can’t. I sleep when I feel the need, but some fall into such a deep sleep during the day that they can’t be woken. Some of the things you’ve heard about vampires are true. It’s not always an easy lifestyle.”

But it would mean I could be with him forever.

If we did this, I suspected it wouldn’t be a human marriage that could be ended fairly easily. Once I’d committed, it would be for life. No, for eternity.

“This is why I haven’t suggested I take a sip of your blood.” He flashed a smile, but his eyes remained serious. “I would never steal or give in just because I crave it more than anything. I’m happy with the way things are right now.”

“But you want more.”

“I don’t only crave your blood. I want you by my side, bearing our children if you think you want them, spending our lives together. I don’t offer that lightly. I’ve never felt this way about anyone, and I never will again.” He held up his hand. “Please don’t feel this means you need to say you want this as well. If you do so, it must come from your whole heart.”

So many things to think about. I liked him very much. I was sure I was falling in love with him.

But become a born vampire?

At least I didn’t have to decide something like this now.

“Why can I be transformed into a born vampire?” If he thought I’d missed that statement, he was mistaken.

“Because you’re my true mate.”