Chapter 30
Thirty
TALULLA
ONE MONTH LATER
It’s been a month since we got back to regular life.
The winter weather is definitely showing up, and a couple of flakes of snow are now touching the ground.
Flynn decided to turn his antique acquisition into an actual business—as in a legal one—and I’ve been working at the museum after I had Flynn help out with my sudden absence.
Mr. Evans was pleased to make his acquaintance, and they’ve already talked about him visiting Flynn’s archives.
I’m just glad Flynn didn’t rip any more hearts out.
I feel as if I’m the one owning him now. I swing the door of our house open and yell, “I’m home.”
A sudden voice catches my attention—a recording, in Romanian.
I remove my coat and place it in the closet as I continue to hear the words. It’s an app. A language learning app.
He’s learning Romanian.
The realization hits me like a physical thing, warm and overwhelming. He’s been doing this in secret, practicing my native tongue when I’m not around. For me. Because he knows what it means to hear the language of my childhood, the words my mother sang to me, the sounds that shaped who I am.
He’s learning my language because he wants to know every part of me.
I can’t help but smile at the thought of catching Flynn in this vulnerable moment—this ancient, powerful vampire stumbling through pronunciation exercises like a student.
He’s been trying to incorporate what he’s learning in everyday conversations, and the thought of it makes my cheeks flush and my stomach do backflips. The effort he’s putting in, the care—it’s such a Flynn thing to do. Methodical. Devoted. Completely unnecessary and absolutely perfect.
“Buc?t?rie,” he says in a perfect accent. Kitchen.
I follow the aroma and find him cutting mushrooms. “You’re getting so good.”
He smiles at my praise, but doesn’t reply.
I inhale the fragrance and shit, he’s so good at everything it’s almost nerve-racking. “It smells amazing.”
“Hopefully it tastes good as well.”
“It definitely will.” I smile at him. He’s an incredible cook, even if he doesn’t need to be because of his particular diet—he just enjoys preparing fancy food.
“Go get comfortable, food will be ready soon,” he says, giving me a quick peck on my lips.
He seems nervous, and when he’s nervous, something is up. “What’s up?” I ask, brushing my hand on his arm.
“Oh nothing. Let’s eat.” He shakes his head, trying to look a little less lost.
“Flynn? I know you. There’s something on your mind.”
He growls. “I wanted to wait until after dinner—” he starts saying, but my anxiety level shoots through the roof.
I caress his cheek and try to find the calmest words possible. “Remember the last time you waited to tell me something?”
“Yeah, yeah, your father showed up and kidnapped us.” He grabs my hand and kisses my palm.
I narrow my eyes at him. “Talk.”
“You know I don’t react well to insolence.”
I roll my eyes as the corners of my lips lift. “Oh please, you love it when I take control.”
“Talulla.” He rubs his temples, trying not to smile, which is making me even more nervous. What the fuck is happening?
“Flynn.”
“Okay, fine.” Flynn reaches for his pocket and takes out a small red velvety box.
My eyes widen so much they could probably fall out of my eye sockets, and then I bring my hands to my mouth. “Is that what I think it is?”
He lowers himself to one knee. “It is if you want it to be.” Flynn looks up at me and hands me the little package.
I grab the box with shaky hands and gasp at the emerald-cut rock inside. A yellow gold band with an enormous ruby as the center stone, smaller diamonds on each side. It’s perfect. This is me in a ring.
“Happy birthday, my red ruby.”
“Flynn, are you sure?”
“Am I sure?” Flynn chuckles. “You are my entire world, Talulla. Of course I’m sure. I wanted to give you this ring the moment I saw you the first time at Bear Creek.”
“Okay, but a wedding?”
“That, my love, is not just an engagement ring,” he says, still on one knee.
My hand rests on my hip. “Oh?”
He gives me the most beautiful smile ever. Still on one knee, as a sign of devotion, he finally speaks. “It’s also a daylight ring.”
I don’t even contain the gasp that escapes my lips. “You mean—you would?”
He’s offering me everything. Not just marriage, not just eternity—he’s offering me the ability to walk in sunlight as a vampire. To have the one thing most of his kind can never experience. He’s thought of everything, planned for a future where I won’t lose anything when I turn.
He’s been thinking about this. About us. About forever.
“If you still desire to spend eternity with me, this will take us closer to that goal.”
“You’re serious. You’ll finally drink from me. And you’d be willing to turn me.”
“If and when you’re ready to spend countless years with me,” he adds to his statement. “Will you do me the honor of spending eternity with me as my wife?”
This is it. This is the moment everything changes.
I could say yes right now and it would be perfect. But there’s something I need him to know first. Something my mother told me that could change everything.
“On one condition.”
“Oh?”
“Remember when my mother left and took me aside?”
He nods. “Yes, I do.”
“She shared a little theory with me.”
“Theory?”
“I can’t be compelled, Flynn. No creature can compel me.”
“I know that.”
“Which also means nothing will make me actually lose control.”
His eyes widen. “You think…”
“You can drink from me and never have to be worried about me losing my ability to escape from you if I have to.”
“This is just a theory, Tal, I—”
“It’s a theory she has experienced, as in, she got bit in the past and nothing happened to her.”
His mouth drops open. “So what is your condition?”
This is the moment. The moment I prove to him that I trust him completely. That I’m not afraid of what he is, of what we could become together.
My mother’s words echo in my mind. You’re immune to compulsion because of what you are, Talulla. And if my theory is correct, you’ll be immune to the thrall of a vampire’s bite as well. I was bitten once, years ago, and I felt nothing but the pain. No loss of control. You’re stronger than that.
She’s right. I know she is. And Flynn needs to know it too.
“You drink from me now.”
His eyes widen for a moment, but a faint smirk appears on his lips. “That can be arranged,” he says, before adding, “So are you going to give me an answer or am I going to have to stay on my knees for much longer?”
“I do like you on your knees.”
“I’m not gonna drink from you from here, Tal. You’re gonna be riding my cock when that happens.”
My mouth drops open, and I can’t resist anymore. “Yes, I’ll marry you, and yes, I will spend eternity with you. I never wanted anything more.” I jump in his arms, and we both end up on the floor laughing. “I can’t wait to call you my husband.”
Flynn takes the ring out and positions it on my wedding finger.
This is what heaven has to feel like. Infinite years with the essence that matches mine. There is nothing else I could ever wish for. No more running. No more hiding from what we are. Just us, together, for as long as forever lasts.
“Our souls were always destined to be together, now and forever,” he whispers on my lips. Nothing could come between us now. “Now get naked, because it’s time for my dinner.”
FLYNN
“I—are you one hundred percent sure you want this?” I ask, as I follow her to the bedroom.
“Flynn, I’ve been wanting this since I’ve met you. I want to be more for you.”
“More? You’re already everything, little hunter. You don’t have to prove anything.”
“Actually, I do.”
“What do you need to prove?”
She turns to face me. “I need to prove to you that you are trustworthy. I need to prove to you that I love you and that I am willing to put my life in your hands because I know you would never do anything to put me in danger.”
“Talulla—”
“No, no Talulla. I’m yours, and why shouldn’t we test the theory that my little gift could go beyond compulsion? Wouldn’t it be beneficial to us to know?”
She’s right. It definitely is good to know. “It would.”
“And you could drink from me. No need to feed from a bag anymore.”
This makes me smile. “And when you decide to turn, you could feed from me and we would be sufficient.”
“What?” Yup, she didn’t expect that. But it is true. I wouldn’t need anything else, and she wouldn’t either. It’s our bond. This is why she enjoys my blood this much. It has to be.
“Our bloods are going to sustain us. We could still have blood bags, but what our own bloods will give to each other…” I sigh. “Let’s just say I have a feeling nothing else will ever compare to that.”
“Then drink from me. It always belonged to you, no one and nothing else. Me, my blood—it’s yours. Always.”
My eyes darken as I sit down on the bed, and wait for her to sit on my lap, her eyes never leaving mine. “You better let my cock sink into you, little hunter.”
“What?”
“Did you think I was joking and wouldn’t give you the full treatment?”
“I don’t think I’m following.”
“The orgasm you’ll reach with my teeth in your neck will be the best thing you’ve ever experienced.”
“Confident much?”
I grin. “Very.”
She takes her time, but as soon as I feel her walls wrap around my dick, I prepare her neck.
Almost a century. That’s how long it’s been since I tasted blood from a living person. Almost a century of denying myself this most fundamental part of what I am, of feeding from bags like some kind of domesticated creature. I told myself it was control, discipline, a way to hold on to my humanity.
But the truth is simpler: I was waiting for her.
I didn’t know it then, but every night I spent alone, every bag of cold blood I choked down—it was all leading to this moment. To Talulla sitting on my lap, her pulse thrumming beneath her skin, offering herself to me with complete trust.
She’s willing to let me feed from her. The magnitude of that gift isn’t lost on me. She knows what I am, what I’m capable of, and she’s still here. Still trusting me with the most vulnerable parts of herself.