Sandy Lynn - Kiss and Tell

“With all my heart.” He stared into her eyes.

“See, now look what you did. Now I’m gonna cry…” Tears of happiness welled up in her eyes.

“I’m sorry, we don’t have to get married if you don’t want to.” She knew he was trying his best to comfort her.

“Listen here tall, dark and toothy, if you take that proposal back I’m going to break every window in this apartment, rip down all the curtains and bake your ass in the sunlight.”

Seth chuckled. “Then I guess that means you want to marry me?”

“Yes I do, vamp-boy.” She snuggled into his chest.

“Vamp-boy, fangy, fang-boy, tall, dark and toothy, what’s next? Bloodsucker?” She knew from his tone that he was teasing her.

“I’m just trying to find a nickname I like…” She purred as his hands ceased to be comforting and began arousing her.

“I draw the line at Dracula. That cousin of mine caused more trouble…” Seth looked at her and chuckled. “Long story, one I promise I’ll tell you…another time. What about my lord or prince of pleasure or, oh, master of my heart? I like that one. It has a nice ring to it.”

Willow laughed. “In your dreams. How about I just call you mine?”

“That will definitely work for me,” Seth smiled.

“Seth,” Willow began seriously, her tone stopping his hands. “Will you make me like you? Will you turn me into a vampire so we can always be together?” Her voice was just above a whisper.

“If that is what you want.” He pulled her head back down to his chest, comforting her again.

“And if I don’t want to be a vampire? I don’t want to die,” she confessed. “Even if I do come right back…”

“I told you, sweetheart, we aren’t dead. There is another option,” he began. “But it’s a little more…complex. We don’t have to discuss this now…” His voice trailed off.

“Will you tell me?”

“I’ve heard of another way, but only in stories. I’ve never actually known anyone that used the process. Typically people simply become vampires… But that doesn’t mean they die,” he quickly added again. “Think of becoming a vampire as more of a blood transfusion. You would be given my blood in growing quantities every few days until you were changed,” he explained.

“What about your need for my blood?”

“That will always be there, whether you remain human or become a vampire. But if you change, we will both need to drink from others for our…nourishment.”

“What’s the other way?”

“You still have to drink my blood. Only once every month or so, and in smaller quantities, but you’d have to do it for the rest of your life.”

“How long would that be?”

“Barring a fatal wound, you would live as long as I do. You would never grow old. My blood has regenerative properties which will stop you from aging and prevent you from catching most diseases. It would also change your body. You’d become more light-sensitive and your senses would become more acute, but not noticeably so. It would change you just enough to increase the chances of us having a child, if you want one.”

“Would I get fangs like yours?” She allowed one finger to stroke his lips, then slide down his mouth as if she were stroking his fang.

“I’m not sure.”

“Why isn’t it done more often? Why have you only heard about it being done in stories?” Willow raised her head and looked at him.

“You ask a lot of questions, sweetheart,” he teased before answering her. “Honestly, I’m not sure. Maybe people weren’t told it was an option… Maybe they didn’t believe the stories. But if the Blood Mate story is true, I have no reason to doubt that another one would be equally true.”

“Would you mind if we did that one? That choice?” She looked deep into his eyes.

“Not at all, sweetheart.” He gave her a brief kiss. “We can do whatever you want, whenever you’re ready. We have all the time in the world.”

“To your people, what would I be called? Wife? Mate? Donor?”

“I have to call my mom to be sure, but, in the stories they were called Blood Mates.” He nuzzled her neck, then scraped his sharp teeth over her flesh.

“Hungry again?” She chuckled.

“For you, sweetheart, always.” He nibbled on her ear.

“Wait, did you say mother?” She grew nervous.

“Caught that, did you?” He was teasing her again.

“Does this mean I have to meet your family? How big is your family? Do I just meet your mom, or do I have to meet all of them? Oh God, what if they don’t like me? What if we don’t get along? What if your family and my family don’t get along?”

“They are going to love you. And don’t worry, I’m sure Roxy will grow on us all.”

She smacked his arm. “But what if they don’t? I mean, I’m sure I’m not at all what they expected. Do you have brothers and sisters? How many? You’re not what Roxy expected either, you know. Will they all be able to read my mind? How many people are we talking about, Seth?”

He sighed. “Well, I guess it depends. Are we counting aunts, uncles and cousins as well?”

“Yes. No. Yes. Just tell me.”

He kissed her gently on the lips. “Counting aunts, uncles and cousins, there were I believe three hundred at the last count. But you’ll probably never meet a couple of them.”

If her questions were any indication, her thoughts were flying all over the place. Before Jason came into his life, he’d have never been able to keep up with her—or understand her. No one else in Jason’s family had ever prepared him for such a quirky woman. He would have to remember to thank his friend for getting him ready for his mate.

“Three hundred! Wait, why won’t I get to meet them all?”

“Well, a few of them are…grounded, for lack of a better word.”

“Vampires can get grounded?”

“They can when their mom finds out they’ve been boasting to humans again. Of course the real trouble happened when my aunt found out that one of the humans who heard my cousin’s exaggerated boasts decided to write the story down and sell it as a book.”

Her eyes widened. “Who?”

“My cousin, Vlad.”

If possible, her eyes grew wider. “You mean, he… the Vlad is your cousin? That Vlad?”

“Don’t believe everything you read in a book, love. Almost every word he said to that old hack was a lie. Pure fantasy. But a little thing like that didn’t stop people from hunting us.”

“Okay, I was nervous before, but now… You’re family is famous. You—I…”

“Willow,” Seth interrupted.

“Yes, Seth?” She was clearly distracted by his revelations.

“You’re thinking too much.”

“Then help me to stop.” She lowered her head to his for a kiss.

“That, love, will be my pleasure.” He still felt hungry, still had the desire to drink from her, but the aching pain had ceased. And now that he knew he had an eternity to be with her, to taste and love her, his hunger seemed to ease.

Willow smiled as she watched Seth bring in the final boxes of her clothes.

“I don’t think your sister likes me very much,” he grumbled, remembering the way Roxy had yelled at him.

“Of course she doesn’t. She’s scared you’re going to break my heart. You should have heard what she had to say when she found out I was moving in with you. She’s not going to believe that you proposed until she sees us actually getting married. She warned me that I was making a mistake,” Willow said, clearly enjoying being able to tease him. “And she couldn’t believe I wouldn’t take my job back. She wanted to know how you got my boss to admit he was lying.”

“What did you tell her?”