Night's Promise(60)
Did Mara know Derek was in her bed? Silly question. Of course she did. Sheree felt a flush warm her cheeks. It was one thing to share a bed with him in her own house; quite another under his mother’s roof.
When had he come to her? And why? Sheree recalled his remark about her nearness soothing him, though she didn’t understand how her mere presence could suppress either his hunger or his anxiety.
Sheree turned onto her side, studying him as she had the day before. His breathing was slow and shallow. It was a marvel that such an amazing and complex creature loved her. Almost, she could wish to be a vampire just so she could think herself to another country, or dissolve into sparkling mist, or run faster than the human eye could follow.
“I can arrange it, if you like.”
“No, thank you.”
He opened his eyes, his expression somber. “I should be thanking you.”
“Why?”
“You know why. I would have killed that man if you hadn’t been there.”
“If I hadn’t been there, you wouldn’t have been in that alley in the first place, and the man’s life would never have been in any danger.”
“I’m still in your debt. How can I repay you?”
“A kiss will suffice.”
Cupping her face in his hands, he kissed her gently, then said, with a teasing grin, “Are you sure you wouldn’t like me to bring you across?”
She swatted him on the arm, then sat up, intrigued and repulsed by the idea at the same time. “Have you ever made another vampire?”
He winked at her. “Not yet.”
“Do you know how?”
“In theory.”
“Is it done the way they do it in the movies?”
“Pretty much. I’d drain you to the point of death, then give you my blood. When you woke the next night, you’d be one of us.”
“Does it hurt?”
“I don’t know. No one ever turned me.”
“You said you’d have to drain me to the point of death. What if you took too much?”
“You would die. None of us, not even Mara, can raise the dead.”
It was a sobering thought and quickly obliterated Sheree’s curiosity.
Derek traced her lower lip with his forefinger. “You would make a beautiful vampire.”
“What do you mean?”
“All vampires have a sort of glamour that enhances their natural appearance. Haven’t you noticed?”
Sheree started to say no, but then she thought about Mara and Logan. There was something indefinable about them, an allure she had been unable to put a name to.
Troubled by his words, she looked at Derek. Had she been drawn to him because of some vampiric magnetism she couldn’t resist?
“Perhaps, in the beginning,” he admitted with a wry grin. “But the attraction between us is very real. Otherwise your blood wouldn’t have such a powerful effect on me.”
He tugged her down beside him, his arm slipping around her waist to draw her body closer to his. Sheree snuggled against him, her head pillowed on his shoulder, one hand resting on his chest. Butterflies danced in her stomach at the touch of his lips moving in her hair.
“Sheree, I can’t believe you’re here. Or that you’ve accepted all this . . .” He made a broad gesture with his hand meant to encompass the castle and everything in it. “I can’t help thinking that you were meant to be mine.” He kissed her cheek. “That you will always be mine,” he murmured, his voice thick with emotion.
She raised herself on one elbow so she could see his face. “Don’t you know I’ll be yours for as long as you want me?”
“Then you’ll be mine forever.”
Sheree smiled. It was a wonderful sentiment, but she doubted he’d feel the same when she was old and gray and he was still young and vibrant.
“I will want you until the day death takes you from me.”
“I’d like to believe that,” Sheree said. “I really would. But, honestly, Derek, can you really see yourself making love to some wrinkled old woman?”
“No.” He caressed her cheek. “But I can see myself taking care of you until you draw your last breath.”
It wasn’t fair, she thought bitterly. Why did she have to fall in love with a vampire? Maybe he meant what he said, maybe he would still love her when she was in her eighties, if she lived that long. But how would she feel about him? Would she love him until her dying breath? Or hate him because he didn’t grow old, because she was going to die while he would go on loving and living without her?
“Damn, girl,” Derek muttered. “Talk about looking on the dark side of things!”
“If you’d stay out of my mind, you wouldn’t know what I was thinking!”