Chapter 8 #2
“You’re sweet,” she said, turning her head to brush her lips over mine. “But this house isn’t big enough. Once we start having kids, it would feel like a clown car.”
My stomach swooped at the thought of having children.
“Then we’ll add on. Or build another house,” I pressed. “There’s plenty of land.”
“Maybe,” she said, like she was actually imagining it. “We’d have to clear some trees.”
“I think we could manage that.”
“Dinner’s done,” she announced, pulling away from me. “It’s not fancy, but wait until you taste the soup. It’s my mom’s recipe.”
“Smells good.”
The couple of feet separating us felt like too much, especially after talking about the future that still wasn’t promised. Rosemary let out a woof of surprise when I reached under her chair and scooted it closer.
I needed to figure out who was responsible for the attacks of Vampires so my mate would be safe.
Every moment I stayed with Rosemary, making dinner and chasing her around, was another moment when they were making plans, regrouping, and potentially tracking her down.
It put me in a terrible position, because I knew where I wanted to be—with her—but I needed to be with my brothers investigating the threat.
I couldn’t just ignore that it was out there. The knowledge that they could find Rosemary at any time was like a constant drum beating in the back of my head, impossible to ignore for long.
“This was always a comfort food when I was little,” Rosemary said, taking a bite of her sandwich. She closed her eyes as she chewed. “My mom made it on my first day of school, after doctor appointments, you know, that kind of thing.”
“For good reason,” I replied. I hadn’t paid close attention to how she’d made the soup beyond noticing a home-canned jar of tomatoes, but it was excellent.
“I know, right?” she said with a small laugh. “It hits the spot every time.”
“Did you spend most of your time with your mom?” I asked, watching as she dunked the corner of her sandwich into the steaming soup.
“Yeah, my dad didn’t retire until she was pretty sick,” she replied. “He was only home sporadically before that. Just long enough to get used to him again, really.”
“It must’ve been an adjustment when he was suddenly home all the time.”
“I loved it,” she said, grinning. “Having both of them home all the time was my dream. I hated going to school. I begged them to homeschool me.”
“They told you no, huh?”
She nodded. “Their excuse was that neither of them was qualified to teach me, but I think they just wanted the alone time.”
I laughed.
“I don’t blame them. They never really went on dates or anything,” she said with a smile. “If I wasn’t in school, it was always the three of us. I can probably count on one hand the number of times I had a babysitter, and that was usually just Aunt Halle.”
“It was the same with us,” I replied, remembering those times when my brothers and I were young. “But worse because we lived in a one-room house.”
“Nooo,” Rosemary moaned with a laugh.
“We were sent outside to play a lot,” I replied ruefully. “But my parents didn’t really let us go to other houses. It was different back then.”
“Well, no one knew what you were,” she said reasonably. “Imagine if you fell and should’ve been hurt but weren’t. People would’ve lost their minds.”
“Exactly.”
“What was it like?” she asked, bracing her elbow on the table so she could rest her cheek on her palm. “When you guys went public.”
“Mayhem,” I answered honestly. “Humans were suspicious of anyone, usually other humans. It wasn’t as if they’d noticed us before, so I was never sure why they thought they’d pick us out of a crowd once they knew we existed.”
“People are idiots.”
“They were afraid of what they didn’t understand.”
“So…assholes?”
“Some of them,” I agreed. “And then you had the usual suspects. The ones who acted like they’d known all along that we were out there. The ones who pretended like they didn’t care, even though they clearly did. The groupies. The protestors.”
“But it eventually calmed down,” she said as if asking for confirmation.
“When we didn’t jump out of the woodwork and start kidnapping virgins, yes. It took a while, though.”
“That myth always cracked me up,” Rosemary said, sitting back up. “Why would anyone want a virgin? Like, why is the ideal someone who hasn’t done something before? Logically—and for literally anything else—everyone would prefer a partner who had experience.”
“Purity,” I replied.
She made a gagging noise.
“I’m not saying I agree with it,” I said, taking another bite. “But that was the culture when I was young. A hymen was very prized by human men.”
“But not Vampires?”
“I think Vampires have always been a bit more pragmatic, at least the ones I’ve known. A virgin’s first time is always a little shocking. Add in the mating bond and exchanging blood? That seems like a lot to deal with in one go.”
Rosemary chuckled. “Fair point.”
“My first time was with a widow,” I mentioned, enjoying the way her head jerked in my direction.
“Do tell,” she said dryly.
“She was pretty.”
She moved her hand in a circle, gesturing for me to keep going.
“She had blonde hair.”
“A pretty blonde widow,” Rosemary murmured. “That’s all you remember?”
“Of course not.”
“Well?”
“She had two sons. One was around six and the other was four. They were napping inside, and we did it against the outside of the house.”
She grinned.
“She was very concerned about pregnancy,” I said dryly, making her cackle.
“All good there,” Rosemary commented. Vampires could only procreate with their mates.
“It was over far more quickly than either of us anticipated,” I joked, my cheeks flushing at the memory. “Which was a good thing since her younger son started hollering out the front door before I’d even buttoned my trousers back up.”
“I’m sure she didn’t think it was a good thing,” Rosemary countered.
“She did not,” I agreed. “But I made it up to her later.”
“I bet you did.”
It was the first time I’d thought of Ella in more years than I could count.
She’d been quiet and petite, and I’d been more than surprised when she’d let me into her bed.
Years after we parted ways, I’d seen her at a distance, her grown son helping her down the street.
She’d never remarried. She hadn’t needed to.
Her dead husband had left her enough to get by on, and from what I remembered of the man, I knew why she hadn’t married a second time.
“Did you love her?” Rosemary asked quietly.
“No.” The answer was instant and firm. “But I liked her. She was a sweet woman.”
“I’d tell you about my first time,” Rosemary said dryly. “But I think you’d have a different reaction.”
“Oh, yeah? Why’s that?”
“Because mine is still alive,” she joked, raising her eyebrows. “It’s much easier to feel glad that you had a good experience knowing that the other woman is dead now.”
“How do you know she’s dead?” I asked innocently.
Rosemary froze.
“I’m fucking with you,” I assured her, smiling. “She was dead before your grandparents were born.”
“Well, mine isn’t,” she said primly, rising from her seat. “I saw him at the store last year.”
“Oh, yeah?” I asked, playing along as I leaned back in my chair. “Did you have the burning desire for another round?”
“I didn’t have a burning desire the first time,” she replied, rinsing her dishes. “I just wanted to know what all the fuss was about.”
“I’m sure that went well.”
“Two teenagers with no clue what they’re doing but a basic understanding of anatomy went pretty much as you’d imagine,” she replied, turning to face me. “But I figured out what worked eventually.”
“With the same boy?”
“Oh, hell no. He sucked. I found someone who knew what they were doing.” She pointed to my dishes. “Are you done?”
“I can clean them,” I assured her as I rose and took them to the sink. “So there’s no boyfriend I have to worry about showing up here, right?”
She scoffed, leaning against the counter beside me. “It’s a little late for that question, isn’t it?”
“I didn’t really think about it before,” I confessed. It was only the mention of her seeing an old boyfriend at the market that had reminded me that she had an entire life before we met, and that life included sexual partners.
“No boyfriend,” she replied. “I mean, I’ve had boyfriends, but no one current. With my job, I’m never in one place very long.”
“We can travel,” I told her as I washed my dishes and then hers. “If you want to. We don’t have to stay in one place if you’d rather—”
“I liked my job,” she corrected. “I don’t mind staying in one place, assuming I can leave my house.”
“This won’t last forever,” I reminded her. “Just until we know you’re safe.”
“It could be years before we stop them,” she countered in frustration. “Do you really think that I’m going to stay on this property for years?”
“It won’t be years.”
“It’s already been years.”
“It’s been less than a year since we lost Zeke,” I argued, grabbing a towel. “Give us a minute to—”
“Oh, because the Bouchers are going to sweep in and fix everything, right?” she said, throwing her hands in the air. “Uncle Dalton and my pop have been searching for these guys for a lot longer than you, and they still barely have anything.”
“I realize that.”
“What makes you think that you’re going to find things out so much faster?”
“Well, for one, we won’t be using mortal humans as bait,” I bit out, my hackles rising.
“Then what was Charlie?” she snapped back.
“Charlie is immortal.” I tossed the towel back onto the counter.
Rosemary’s mouth snapped shut, and her head jerked back in shock. “What?”
“He’s mated. He’s no longer mortal.”
“But Zeke—”
“Is dead,” I said flatly. “They completed the bond before he was killed.”
Rosemary stared at me, her eyes growing glassy. “Oh, man. Poor Charlie.”
I nodded. “Lucy tethers him here. For now, at least.”
“Lucy is his sister, right? Ambrose’s mate?”
“Yes. When we went searching for Charlie after we lost Zeke, we found Lucy.”
“I can’t believe he’s…” She paused. “He seemed okay. He—I talked to him. He introduced himself.”
“He struggles,” I replied. “Obviously.”
“I’ve never met someone who’d lost their mate before.”
“They usually don’t live long afterward.”
“I know. But Charlie, he’s choosing to stay?”
“Yes.”
“Incredible.” She shook her head. “How fucking sad. I can’t even imagine it. I mean, I don’t even like you that much, but I don’t know if—”
“Hey,” I protested, yanking her toward me. I didn’t want to hear the end of her sentence.
“Fine, I like you a little,” she conceded, smiling. “So don’t die, okay?”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I promised.
She continued to smile, but her gaze shifted away from mine. “Let’s finish cleaning up.”
I washed, and she dried the pans, and then we made our way outside and sat down on the sofa on the back patio.
The night was clear enough that the stars were easily visible between the clouds, and I felt my body relaxing against the cushions.
It was cold outside, but Rosemary seemed comfortable enough pressed up against me, and I liked being able to hear everything going on around us.
The walls of the house muffled a lot of the sound, and I found myself listening more intently than I usually needed to, trying to be sure that there wasn’t anyone getting close to the house.
There wasn’t anyone around for a pretty good distance, and being there reminded me of home.
The closer you got to town and neighbors, the harder it was to filter out the noises that were normal and those you had to be aware of.
I’d spent my entire life doing it, and it was second nature, but that didn’t mean I didn’t notice and enjoy when I didn’t have to do it.
“I didn’t expect to start a family so soon,” Rosemary said after she’d been quiet for a long time.
“We can wait.” I kissed the top of her head.
“Once we cemented the bond, we only have ten years,” she countered softly. “If we don’t want to have babies one after the other, we’ll have to start soon.”
“We don’t have to think about it yet.”
“But if we wait until all of this is over,” she argued. “We might miss our chance.”
“We’ll figure it out before it becomes an issue.”
“You don’t know that.”
Instead of arguing with her anymore, I held my tongue. I didn’t want to waste one of the only times we’d been alone going back and forth about it.
I wanted to hold my mate in my arms and stare at the stars. I’d been waiting my whole life for that moment.
“I should probably go back to school,” she said after a little while.
“Why’s that?”
“Well, I know that Uncle Dalton won’t let me work for him in the field anymore,” she replied tiredly. “And since I don’t want to work for another security company, I should probably learn a new skill.”
“What do you think you’d like to do?” I asked, wondering what I would do now that I could no longer work for Vampire Command. It didn’t really matter. I was wealthy enough that neither of us ever had to work again if we didn’t want to.
Rosemary sighed. She wasn’t going to be content without a purpose, and I understood the feeling.
“Probably something with computers,” she said finally. “I’d like to continue working for Strike if possible. Filing and answering phones isn’t really my jam, and I don’t want to work with money. But I could do IT shit.”
“Is that a formal position?” I asked.
“IT shitter,” she replied, nodding. “Very lucrative.”
“We’ll figure it out, baby,” I assured her. “We have time.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it’s true.”
I felt the moment that the reality of just how much time stretched out before her finally sank in. Her body seemed to sink into mine, going boneless against me.
“Shit,” she whispered.