Page 46 of Night Play (Dark-Hunter 5)
"Two weeks. Roughly. Barring any further demon or mother interference."
"Then how about we try and act normal?" She burst out laughing at the ludicrousness of that statement. Yeah, they were just Jack and Jill Average climbing the hill to hell. She only hoped Jack didn't break his crown or that she went tumbling after.
Bride sobered. "Okay, at least we can pretend to be normal. Let me see the real you in all your strangeness so that I know what I have to look forward to and then I'll decide if I can handle it all without going totally insane."
He looked stunned by her suggestion. "You're not just running away from me?"
"I probably should and I can't imagine why I'm even considering this. But I do like what I know about you, Vane, and I guess everyone has problems. Not as profound as yours, mind you, but at least with you, when I tell people that my boyfriend is a dog, it's not just a figure of speech."
He chuckled at that.
Bride squeezed his hand. "So give me your worst, wolf. I'll give you mine, and at the end of two weeks, we'll see where we are."
Vane couldn't believe her. She was too good to be true. In all honesty, he had expected her to scream at him and run out the door, calling all of them loons. But she was giving him a chance.
And that was something he hadn't had in a very long time Hope.
Joy burst through him at the thought that she might actually stay with him.
"There's so much I have to tell you."
She cringed. "You're not going to suck my blood, are you?"
Damn. She would pick that one thing to fear. Well, it was pointless now to keep anything from her. Better he lay it all out for her than she get pissed because he withheld something from her. As his mate, she deserved to have her questions answered. "I don't have to, no."
She looked at him suspiciously. "What do you mean, you don't have to?"
"My people aren't vampires, but there are two parts to a mating ritual. First is you accept me as your mate."
"How do I do that? Is it like a wedding?"
"To my people it is. Only we do it naked."
Her jaw dropped. "With witnesses? Forget it!"
"No," he said, laughing at her outrage. She was beautiful whenever her cheeks colored. It made her amber eyes glow. "It'll be just us. I lie on my back, we join our marks together, and you take me into your body, then we make our verbal pledges to each other."
She tilted her head as if she were less than sure about his honesty. "That works?"
He nodded. "It's magic."
"Okay, I guess, and then what's the next part?"
"The next is optional and can be done or not done whenever we choose. It's where I combine my life force to yours."
"Why would you do that?"
"Because you're human, and if we don't you'll die in less than a hundred years, while I still have another four to five hundred years left before my old age kicks in."
Bride was completely stupefied as she recalled Bryani's words. At the time she had attributed them to either her insanity or Bryani's. Apparently, it was true, just like the rest of this madness. "You really are four hundred years old?"
"Four hundred and sixty to be exact."
She breathed in slow and easy at that. Dear Lord, what would it be like to live so long? How much could a person see in all that time?
It was mind-boggling.
But more than that came a frightening realization. One that made her heart clench as a horrible panicked grief swept through her. "I would seriously outlive everyone I know," she breathed. "Tabitha, my brother and sister, my cousins. Everyone would be long gone before I even grew old?"
He took a deep breath and nodded. "It's not easy, but you would have me and my family and friends." His expression lightened as if a thought had occurred to him. "Sunshine Runningwolf. You know her, she's immortal."
Bride was shocked by that. She'd known Sunshine for years. "Sunshine's immortal?"
"Yes."
"Get out! Since when?"
"Always. Both she and her husband are."
Wow! Who knew the woman who sold her the art Bride had hanging in her store and her little apartment was immortal?
She paused at that thought. Now wait a second that wasn't fair!
"Why can't we be immortal?"
Vane shrugged nonchalantly. "Because my people aren't. We have long lives, but they are finite." His grip tightened on her hands. "There are some drawbacks, though. If you decide to bond with me, I will have to take your blood and you will have to take mine. A blood exchange is the only way to do it. Secondly, if one of us dies, we both do."
She went pale. That was a scary thought.
Well, then again, compared to other things in Vane's world, that was probably one of the more minor concerns.
"But you don't have to, Bride," he hastened to assure her. "Both decisions are yours alone to make."
She took a deep breath as she considered all of it. This was one helluva commitment Vane was asking from her. It took "until death we do part" to a whole new level.
But as she looked at him still kneeling on the floor, she couldn't help but wonder how bad life with this man could be. He was considerate and giving.
A rarity in her world.
It was worth a two-week shot, at any rate.
"Okay," she said slowly. "Now for my part of this. If we do mate, I want a human wedding. My parents won't understand anything less than that and I'm not sure if I want to tell them about all this."
"That's fine."
"That means you're going to have to meet my parents, Vane."
"Okay. They can't be as scary as mine."
"Well, they're not homicidal as a rule, but they are protective of me."
"I love them already."
Bride gave a nervous laugh at his small, playful grin. "You know, I always thought I would meet some guy and date him for a year or two and then have him go down on his knee somewhere romantic to ask me to marry him. I never dreamed this would be my engagement." She toyed with a lock of his hair. "I guess life is never what we want it to be, is it?"
Vane cringed inwardly at her words. He'd never meant to alter her life so horrendously. He'd only wanted to touch her for a moment.
To have her touch him.
Maybe this was cruel, and yet his heart didn't want him to leave. It only wanted her.
Both the animal and the man in him craved nothing more than to be touched by this woman.
"I'll do anything to make you happy, Bride."
Bride tightened her grip in his hair. In that moment, she felt as though she might actually love this man. At least she knew that she could.
But she had been burned and she didn't know Vane very well. She only had two weeks to learn about him. What she knew so far was terrifying and wonderful.
She only hoped he wouldn't lie or deceive her. If he showed her the real Vane and that man-wolf was honest, then she could accept him.
Her worst fear was that at the end of the two weeks, she would mate with him and he would become the psychotic, harsh animal his mother spoke of.
What would she do then?
Taylor had been wonderful in the beginning of their relationship. He'd even bought her chocolates for their first Valentine's Day.
Over time, he'd become a total ass. Would Vane do the same?
And four hundred years that was a really long time to spend with someone.
Not if you love them.
Maybe that was true.
The least she could do was try. And hope.
"So where do we go from here?" she asked him.
"I have to find someplace to keep you so that if I have to leave you, you'll be safe."
"And my store?"
"I'll get someone to run it for you."
That sounded just a little too easy. "How?"
"I'll ask Acheron for another favor. They have humans who help the Dark-Hunters. They run a lot of the local businesses here in New Orleans and I'm sure they can send one of them over there to keep the shop open for you. The greatest benefit is if one of my people comes calling, they'll know how to handle them."
"All right, then. Let's begin our hand-fasting and see how this will all work."
Vane stood up and held his hand out to her.
Bride hesitated. She had never feared the future before, but she did now. Taking a deep breath for courage, she placed her hand in his and let him pull her to her feet. She expected him to lead her to the kitchen. Instead, he flashed her into the nursery.
"You know," she said, feeling light-headed from their "trip." "Feet work well."
Vane laughed. "You said you wanted me to be myself. I prefer the flash-mode of transportation. It's a lot quicker."
Ash sat in an old-fashioned white wooden chair, rocking the baby who was snoozing in his lap while he watched them curiously. He held a half-empty bottle of milk between his legs while the baby, dressed in a pink jumper, sucked on her tiny fist in the shelter of his arms. There was something so incongruous about that image that Bride couldn't help but stare.
A man decked out in black leather and chains with long red and black hair and a dagger earring in his left ear definitely didn't look like someone who should relish caring for an infant. And yet there he sat in the frilly pink room peacefully cradling the baby. Ash ought to look completely out of place and yet he seemed at home here.
"I've already called Jessica Adams to take over the boutique," Ash whispered to them. "She just needs to know where the paperwork is, where the keys to the store are kept, and what bank to make the deposits in."
"Damn, you're good," Vane said.
Ash gave a cocky grin. "The absolute best."
Vane shifted his weight. "Then you know"
"Here's the address." Ash held his hand up and a business card magically appeared between his first two fingers. He handed the card over to Vane, who stepped forward to take it. "You'll be safe there. Trust me, he's more paranoid than an Apollite commune. Nothing is going to get into his place."
Vane looked down at the name on the card and froze. "Will he be all right with us there?"
Ash shrugged. "His house is big enough. Just try to stay out of his way." He looked past Vane and offered Bride a smile. "He's a bit hard on the nerves, Bride, but Valerius is a good man so long as you don't mention Kyrian's name to him. He'll make sure nothing happens to you."
"Valerius?" she asked.
Vane let out a slow breath, then turned to face her. "He's a vampire with serious attitude."
