Chapter 4 #3
“I thought that you’d like it. Wait until you see the inside.
There are many features that keep the flowers blooming year-round that I’ve put in.
Also, the house is mostly green too. I’ve been thinking about it for a long time, and this is what I came up with.
Come on. Let’s go inside.” He got out of the car on his side and went around to help her out of hers.
It was something that he used to do all the time and had gotten out of the habit.
Now he wanted to make sure she knew that he could be polite when she was around him.
“The kitchen is the best. I don’t have a need for a cook or anything, but I hired one in the event that you’d come over for a meal.
I would love to watch you eat something. ”
“Calla said that Brew likes to watch her eat a burger and fries. I don’t know about that.
Doesn’t that seem a little odd to you?” He said that he didn’t and was looking forward to it.
“We’ll have to see. I’m not sure how much I trust this you yet.
You’re nice and everything, but I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. Understand?”
“I do more than you can know.” He toured the kitchen with her and showed her around the rest of the house.
There was plenty to see when they went up the stairs, and he was happy that she was still willing to look around the house while he had her there.
As they were coming down the stairs, he realized how late it was and asked her if she wanted to stay for dinner.
He could have a steak if she wanted one too.
“I can eat what I want, but it doesn’t settle well on my stomach.
As alcohol doesn’t bother me, I can drink as much wine as I wish. It doesn’t bother me either.”
“I don’t drink alcohol at all. It makes me sick.
” He said she might have to try it now that she’s part vampire.
“I wondered about that. Wondered if I was just a little bit or more vampire. Calla said that the white streak in my hair is much like hers and she got it when she and Brew had sex and fed from one another.”
“Yes. Well, I didn’t ask how she got it, but it’s a sign of great strength.
I’m wondering how much magic you have.” She explained to him how Tall was helping her figure it out.
“He would be the one to ask. Also Brew. He’ll be able to tell how much vampire you are, too. I’ll ask him if you’d like to know.”
“I would. Just so I know that I can protect myself if need be.” He said it would make him feel better, too, if she could at least use it to get away from some situation.
“I love the house. And if you think I’ll be safer here, then I’m willing to move in with you.
But not with you yet. I’m not ready for sex with you.
I have to trust that you’ll not fly off the handle again about me being human. ”
“I don’t care what you are right now. And I have fallen a little bit in love with you since we’ve been here.
I should have given you a chance when we were together before.
It’s totally my fault.” She didn’t agree or disagree with him, and he thought that was for the best. She was giving him a chance, and that’s more than he thought he deserved right now.
“How much of your household do you need here? I’m willing to bring it all here if you should want it.
My magic is considerable, and it won’t take me but a few seconds to bring it all to you. ”
“Nothing for now. I want to see how this works out for a few days first.” He nodded, knowing that she was right.
He had a lot to make up for. “I want to hear about your brother and why he thinks that taking me from you will cause you to be distressed. As you’ve pointed out, we’ve not had a good start to our relationship, or whatever you want to call it, and I don’t think that once you tell him about us, he’ll even care. ”
“He will. Trust me. He’ll want you dead even if it were to cause me just a little bit of distress.
And it would. Profoundly so.” She blushed slightly, and he found that he loved that about her.
“He’s not going to get you so long as I’m alive.
But he can’t kill me. He made a promise to his mother that he’d not kill me unless I tried to kill him.
And I plan on making sure he’s dead before I let him get that close to me.
But that doesn’t mean that he can’t destroy anything that belongs to me. ”
“You said destroy? Is that what you think he’ll do to me?
I have all kinds of thoughts in my head about what he’ll do if he catches me now.
” He said that for whatever she was thinking about what he’d do, it would be a hundred times worse.
“I see. I’m afraid now. I don’t want to be killed when I’ve finally got some of my life together.
Having money in the bank sure makes things a lot easier for me. ”
“I have a great deal of money. And as of the moment we met, it belongs to you as well. I know that I spouted off things about you not draining me dry, but I’ve since changed my mind about that.
” She asked how much money he had. “We could buy every house in the state and have them remodeled and never have to worry about money again.”
“That’s a great deal of money.” He just nodded. “I promise not to drain your account. I live modestly for the most part, and I will continue to do so. I have no needs greater than what I have now.”
“I plan on pampering you for the rest of my days to make up for the way that I treated you when I first met you. And I will tell you that I care for you and love you daily for the rest of our long lives together.” She blushed again, and he thought he could get used to seeing that on her face for a long time.
“You make me want to be a better man than I was. And I will be even if you have to take me to task daily. Hourly if necessary.”
“That sounds like a lot of work to keep you in line.” She laughed, and he joined her. It felt good to laugh at himself, and he was going to do that more, too. Just laugh because it was funny. “You’re doing all right at the moment, but I don’t know if you’ll keep that up or not.”
“That’s fair. I understand you’re not giving me your all right now, too.
I have to earn it from you, and I’ll work on that too.
” As they toured the house again, she picked out a bedroom that he had loved since it was put together by the faeries.
All she needed from the house was her computer, and he brought it to her in an instant.
He’d never used his magic so much as he had over the last few days, and he was a little bit rusty with it.
But he’d get better and stronger, too, because of her.
He knew that he had a long way to go to win her trust back, but as he’d told her, he was willing to do whatever was necessary to have her love him as he should have done in the beginning.
He wanted her to love and trust him. He only had to worry about David for now, and that was a big load on his shoulders.