Page 112 of The Ghost and the Graveyard (Knight Games 1)
"He'll try to take advantage of your inexperience." Rick shook his head like he was breaking bad news.
"Whoa. What? I thought this was wham, bam, memories back. Poof. I'm the witch."
"I'm afraid it won't be quite that easy, mi cielo. The power will come, but learning how to wield it will take some time."
I sighed. "And I thought I was done with school."
He brushed my bangs back and ran his fingers down my cheek to my chin. His gray eyes wrinkled at the corners with his smile. "You are more than capable of rising to this challenge."
His stare was too intense. I had to look away. Fidgeting, I dug my fingers into the holes in the afghan on the back of the sofa. "This is beautiful," I said.
"You knitted it over one hundred years ago."
I yanked my hand back and wiped it on my jeans. It didn't help. The weirdness stuck to me. "Where does the, er, ceremony have to take place?"
"The attic. It is your seat of power," he said.
"Can we move a mattress up there, or do we have to do it on the altar?"
He lifted an eyebrow, and a sultry smile stretched across his face. My blood accelerated to a frantic pace. Beast or not, he was incredibly attractive. "Didn't Prudence tell you? The attic adapts to whatever you need it to be. It is made of your magic. It can look any way you want it to look."
"You mean, like, I can change it with my mind? No furniture-moving necessary?"
"You might need Prudence's help at first, but yes."
"Let's do it." I tried not to think about the double entendre, but heat crept up my neck to my ears anyway.
Ever the gentleman, Rick pretended not to notice. "I think we should take my car. Even though it's the middle of the night, it would do us no good to have a citizen of Red Grove see us carrying a bound woman into your home."
"You have a car?" It sounded stupid, even to my own ears. "Sorry, that was silly of me. Of course you have a car. We live in the boondocks. You wouldn't be able to get groceries without one."
Rick frowned. "There are things about me you should know. Differences. I...I don't need groceries, unless I'm cooking for you."
I thought about the night I'd been over for dinner, how I'd never seen him eat. The liquid in his glass looked different from wine but somehow familiar. It was familiar. I worked with it every day. Blood.
"Logan said you feed off blood and other things. So that's all you need?"
"The magic that makes me immortal is tied to the evil I'm here to control. My strength is their strength, but I also inherited their hunger, their desires. It isn't always ideal."
My face was numb. I stood motionless behind our vampire captive, staring at Rick as if he had sprouted two heads. My thoughts immediately went to the practical. We would never share a bowl of ice cream. We could never go out for pizza.
"Oh, I can eat," he said, and I realized he was reading my thoughts. "I drank the wine at your house the night we met, remember?"
I nodded.
"But I don't have to. And sometimes, nothing but blood will do."
"Oh," was all I could manage.
"There is much I should tell you about me, but we have years, maybe lifetimes, for that. There is something more important for us to talk about now." He walked around the couch to me and took my hands in his. "There will only be this one first time. In your last lifetimes, you married me before the ceremony. I would have it that way again, if you would let me."
Blink. Blink. Seconds passed, but he didn't break into laughter or say he was kidding. "Did you just ask me to marry you?" I asked incredulously.
"Yes." He walked to the bookcase on the far wall and opened an ornately carved ivory box. In it, a heavy silver ring with a lapis stone gleamed. "I have the ring you wore the first time. I planned to ask you in a more romantic way, but it appears we are pressed for time. If we don't get Marcus out of her by sunrise, he will die inside her body for the day and she will likely not survive it."
"But Prudence said I only had to sleep with you to take back the power. She didn't say anything about marriage," I whispered.
"Technically, that is true but...." His face fell. "These are different times than when I once knew you. When you and I first fell in love, a lady would not do such a thing without being married."
