Мишель Роуэн - Tall, Dark & Fangsome

Darkside—to be renamed The Chase—open so vamps in the city would have a place to hang out and relax and enjoy themselves and maybe do a little dancing. I’d land on my feet. I was all about the girl power.

Men… meh… who needed them?

“So why can’t I have the ring back?” I asked simply. Calm. Collected. Totally mature.

“Because I don’t have it anymore,” he said simply.

“Oh.” I frowned.

“Besides, it was only a small piece of metal with some tiny diamonds on it—meaningless, really.”

“Meaningless, huh?” I felt my cheeks heat with anger. Maybe I wasn’t all that calm and collected after all.

A smile tugged at his lips. “You are upset over this. Why?”

I shook my head. “I’m not upset. I’m perfectly fine.”

“I didn’t think that something like a ring would mean anything to you. After all, you agreed to be with me even knowing about Veronique, knowing that she has been my wife for a very long time. Even after she refused to agree to the annulment, you still wished to be with me. Has that changed?”

“Of course not.” I blinked. “I love you. A stupid piece of paper doesn’t change anything.”

“It doesn’t?”

“No.”

He crossed his arms. “Then I guess it won’t matter to you to learn that before she left

Veronique did consent to sign the annulment papers after all. The fact that you were able to see past my mask when she was not made her realize how deep your feelings for me are, and in return how deep mine are for you.”

I stared at him. “Uh… what did you just say?”

“Which part would you like me to repeat?”

“Veronique signed the annulment?”

“She did.”

“Holy crap.”

“Indeed.” He looked amused by my reaction. “I was as surprised as you. But as self-

involved as she might seem on the surface, Veronique is a romantic. She experienced true love herself a long time ago and that has stayed with her. She knows that I want to be with you, and since there is no chance at a reconciliation between us, she did what she knew was right and finally freed me from our vows.”

This I didn’t expect. I never would have thought, after everything that had happened, that

Veronique would sign. But she did? She signed the annulment. She and Thierry were no longer married.

I was officially no longer the other woman!

I smiled at him and reached down to take his hand in mine. “Then I totally understand the ring thing.”

“You do?”

“Yeah. After six hundred years, give or take, you’re finally a bachelor again. Why would you want to get tied down so quickly? We can date, if you want to. Maybe even go to the movies some time. I haven’t done that in ages.”

He tilted his head to the side. “You want to date me?”

“Sure. I mean, it’s not exactly the perfect fairy-tale ending I’d always dreamed of, but I’m totally okay with that. Honestly, Thierry, after everything we’ve been through, just to have you in my life is good enough. Hell, just not getting killed and being a normal, everyday vampire is happy ending enough for me. You’re just a total bonus.”

“Is that so?”

I nodded firmly. “Definitely. And no promise rings need apply. One day at a time is the way I like to think. I don’t need any kind of ring to make me happy—”

“What about this ring?” he asked.

I looked down. He had opened a black velvet ring box and inside sat some serious bling. A three-carat, princess-cut solitaire diamond ring.

My mouth fell open. “What is that?”

He smiled. “What does it look like?”

I raised wide eyes to his. “About forty thousand bucks is what it looks like.”

“Give or take.” His lips twitched with amusement. “Now, it’s not the ring I gave you before. I decided if I was going to replace that one then I should replace it with something worthy.”

I was speechless. I didn’t know what to say, which is what speechless meant, of course. I opened my mouth but no sound came out.

“I love you.” Thierry swallowed hard and squeezed my hand tightly in his. “You make every day special and worth living for me. Veronique has finally freed me. But I don’t want to be alone. I don’t want to be a bachelor. I want to be with you. I know it hasn’t been very long at all since we met, and our road has not been an easy one, but I know you are the true love I’ve waited my entire existence to find—and I’ve waited damn well long enough. Will you spend eternity with me, Sarah?”

I licked my dry lips and my damp eyeballs shot up to his, my heart drumming wildly in my chest.

His smile widened at my stricken expression. “I’m asking you to marry me.”

I still couldn’t find enough air to breathe. I felt faint and woozy.

His expression flickered from happiness to one of doubt the longer he waited for me to say something. His smile faded and a deep frown creased his brow. “Perhaps I should have waited. I… I shouldn’t have sprung this on you, today of all days. I will give you more time. I apologize for my enthusiasm. Let’s go on to see Quinn and Janie at the restaurant.”

“No, Thierry,” I began.

“No,” he repeated, the sound of the word heavy on his tongue. “Then I have my answer. I understand.”

A smile burst free on my face. “I meant no, you weren’t wrong.”

He eyed me warily. “I wasn’t?”

I shook my head. “You took me by surprise, that’s all. I didn’t expect this.”

His Adam’s apple shifted as he swallowed hard. “I went about this all wrong.”

“Ask me again,” I said.

“Ask you—” His frown deepened.

“Yes.”

“Marry me,” he said after a moment, raising his silver-eyed gaze to mine.

“Yes,” I said quickly this time, my heart overflowing with happiness. “Yes, yes, yes!”

He smiled wide enough for me to see his fangs. “Yes?”

I nodded enthusiastically.

“That is the answer I was hoping for,” he said.

The ring box fell to the ground and he slipped the most gorgeous ring I’d ever seen in my entire life on my finger. Then he took my face in his hands and pressed his mouth against mine in a knee-weakening kiss that made Janie and Quinn’s nuptial one look chaste in comparison.

And you know what? I still meant it. A piece of paper didn’t mean a damn thing, not when we’re talking about eternity. I would have stayed with him with or without any promises of a future together. With or without a sparkly ring that fit perfectly and looked gorgeous on my hand. I loved Thierry without all of those things, there was no doubt in my mind.

But it sure didn’t hurt.

Being a vampire would never be easy. I knew that. I couldn’t eat solid food. I needed to drink blood, although from now on it would only come out of shiny silver kegs courtesy of well-paid donors. I didn’t have a reflection unless I used an expensive shard mirror.

Hunters would always be a problem; there would always be people who wanted to destroy what they didn’t understand.

But there were a whole lot of good things, too.

I had great friends. The man I was crazy in love with loved me back—and hello? We were officially engaged. What more could a vampire gal like me ask for?

The future was as bright and sparkly as the ring I now wore. A long, happy future. Take away the wooden stakes, the vampire hunters, or even long walks off short bridges—and vampires were immortal.

Immortality might not bite, after all.

It was very good to know.