Erik, I am a vampire, wanna share my pad?
My c.o.c.ktail of choice is O positive.
Garlic is a big no-no in this relationship.
Got any crosses on ya?
Holy water burns...
Wanna see my fangs, big boy?
Leah sighed and made a face at her reflection. Of course she had one, it was just that Erik couldn"t see it. He was human.
She"d like to banish that word from existence for all eternity.
What was she thinking of doing? They"d been all over each other like white on rice for nearly a month now and she"d stalled him for about as long as she could. She was now a svelte one hundred and thirty pounds. She"d lost over fifty pounds in a very short amount of time and lied to Erik a whole lot. She still hadn"t figured it out completely. Her mother once told her that if she found her Life Mate, all things would be possible. Well, that must include weight loss because she had no other explanation. It must be their chemistry.
She couldn"t believe she was contemplating this crazy notion of moving in with him, it was ludicrous. But she was falling in love and obviously not thinking clearly. She didn"t care either, being with Erik was all that mattered now, it was all she thought about.
He didn"t even have to become a vampire. She lived in modern day society and no one was the wiser. There were adjustments, but they weren"t ones they couldn"t overcome. Though the prospect of him dying and her having to live out centuries without him was killing her.
Whoa, one trouble at a time there, miss.
Leah sighed. She was in deep human s.h.i.t.
"Well, look at you. Very s.e.xy." Erik whistled and pulled her close to him, finding her lips and wedging his tongue of silk between them.
"I guess you like, then?"
Erik cupped her breast in his hand to show his approval. "I like. Now take it off, woman and let me see you naked. I like that much better."
Leah laughed at him, tilting her head back to expose her throat as he nibbled his way to her ear. "Hold on there, I want to talk first."
Erik moaned at her, "Why do we always have to talk first? Can"t we talk while we do it?" He pinched her a.s.s and wiggled his eyebrows.
Leah squirmed out of his arms and took him by the hand. He behaved like such a child sometimes. "Sit down, Erik and no touching until we talk."
He mocked a pout and pulled out a chair at the dining room table. "Okay, but is it going to take a long time? I don"t know how long I can wait."
Kissing his lips one last time she grinned at him. "I"ll try and make it snappy."
Erik grinned back. "Well, in that case, let"s get busy. What"s up?"
Leah took a deep breath. "Have you ever wondered why I don"t go rollerblading with you? Why you never see me during the day?"
He shrugged his big shoulders, "Sometimes. Yeah, I do. I just figured it didn"t interest you and you were more of a night person."
"It"s not that it doesn"t interest me, it"s that it takes place during the daylight hours."
He frowned and leaned back in his chair. "I"m not following you. You"re allergic to the sun?"
Leah might have laughed if this wasn"t so serious. "Sort of."
"I"m definitely not following you..."
"What I"m about to tell you is going to change everything between us, Erik. All of your preconceived notions of me are going to go to h.e.l.l in a handbasket."
"You"re starting to freak me out here, honey. Is something wrong? Are you sick?" The concern in his voice was evident.
She shook her head. "No, I"m not sick. I"m very different from you, though."
"Spit it out, Leah. You"re married aren"t you?"
"Listen to me Erik. I"m not married and if you want this relationship to go to the next level, then you"ll have to accept something about me."
"Well, what for Christ sake? Tell me!"
She had to just do it. He was going to have a chicken over it, but she had to just do it.
Poor human.
"Look at my teeth, Erik, watch them." Leah exposed her fangs.
If Erik"s eyes got any wider, they were going to pop right out of his head. "How the h.e.l.l do you do that?"
"How do you think I do it?"
"Can I...can I touch...touch them..."
She leaned forward and let his fingers tentatively touch her fangs. He yanked his hand back quickly. "What the..."
"I"m a vampire, Erik."
Erik"s eyes rolled to the back of his head as his chair tipped backward and he landed on the floor with a loud thunk.
Way to freak the human out, Leah.
Chapter Four
"Erik, oh, honey wake up, please..." She sobbed as she lifted him off the floor and over to the couch. Would he be able to accept her superhuman strength too? Her hands went to his forehead, soothing his still features.
s.h.i.t, there were so many things he"d have to come to understand.
She sat beside him as his eyes fluttered and he tried to focus. He jumped so quickly when he finally focused on her that she jumped too. Maybe the "oral show" hadn"t been the way to go.
"Okay, tell me what the h.e.l.l is going on here, Leah. This isn"t funny."
"Hold my hand, Erik." She held out her hand and waited for him to grab on. "C"mon now, it"s okay," she coaxed, "I promise not to suck your blood."
"That is not funny, Leah. I"m not laughing."
"I"m sorry. You"re right, it"s not funny. Okay, listen, I am a vampire Erik."
"That"s impossible." He stated firmly.
"Don"t make me show you my vampire bag of tricks, Erik."
His mouth fell open. Leah put her hand under his chin and pushed it shut. "Look, honey, this is why I was so hesitant for us to move in together. This is why I sleep all day and stay up all night."
His eyebrows rose as he put two and two together. She could almost see all of the moments they"d shared racing through his mind. "Holy s.h.i.t!"
She nodded knowingly at him. "Explains a lot doesn"t it?"
He snorted at her. "Next you"re going to tell me you"re like centuries old."
Leah remained silent.
"Jesus Christ. How old are you?" He nearly yelled the question at her.
She smiled sheepishly and mumbled quickly, "fourhundredandtwenty."
"I"m sorry. Did you say four hundred and twenty? Four hundred and twenty f.u.c.king years old?" He jumped off the couch and paced as he spit the number out, shoving his hands in his pockets roughly.
"You"re three hundred and eighty five years older than me?" His face was incredulous.
Well, his math skills weren"t suffering over the shock.
She winced. "Um, yeah..."
"Okay, I need some time...time to absorb this. You"re freaking me out... I love you." He slapped his forehead. "I know this isn"t the time to tell you, but I was going to tonight anyway. I just didn"t know I loved a vampire. That means you"re dead, right?"
Leah felt as though she"d been slapped. "Ya know what? I know this is a big adjustment here. But dead is such an ugly word. We prefer the word undead, immortal, children of the night, ya know? Like we live for eternity."
He looked contrite for a moment. "I"m sorry, but for the love of Mary, Leah, what the h.e.l.l am I supposed to say?"
"You"re right. Do you have any questions you want to ask?" She queried hopefully.
He ran a hand through his thick hair with impatience. "Yeah, you bet I do. But I can"t string them together to form one single sentence at the moment."
"I"m sorry Erik, but there was no other way to tell you. I just had to say it. I sense you believe me to a degree and I know it"s a lot to take in right now."
He sat down on the couch beside her and gave her a quick hug. "It"s not every day I hear something like this, that"s for sure."
"So are we going to break up? I"d like some advance warning so I can get the box of tissues ready."
Erik chuckled. "Are you going to bite me with those fangs if we do?"
Leah laughed and kissed his cheek quickly. "I promise not to hurt you, unless your blood type is O-positive. That"s my fave and I don"t know if I can resist the temptation."
His eyebrows shot up.
She nudged him, "I was just yanking your chain. Relax."
He visibly relaxed and blew out a breath of air. "Can I have a day or so to think about this? I love you, Leah. I knew it from the minute I met you. But I need some time to wrap my brain around this."
"I understand. I love you too."
He squeezed her arm and left, closing the door behind him quietly.
Aren"t you pretty today? Her reflection mocked her. c.r.a.p, she was a mess. She"d spent the better part of two days crying her eyes out over Erik. Not a peep, no word at all from him. Not a phone call, a note, nothing...
Well, it was over then.
So fine. That was just fine.
No, no it wasn"t. She was in love and she wanted Erik to love her for who she was.
A vampire. Night dweller, bloodsucker, whatever they were calling her kind these days.
Leah stripped her clothes off and got on the scale. Well, h.e.l.l, she"d gained two pounds for her trouble to top everything else off.
d.a.m.n.
She pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. If she could have a headache, she figured she was due for a real whopper.
Throwing on a robe, she made her way to the kitchen. She wasn"t even hungry and she was gaining weight just thinking about food. The light on her answering machine was blinking.
Erik!
Her fingers shook as she pressed play. "Leah, this is your father. Where are you and why haven"t you come to work in two days? I"ll expect to hear from you before this afternoon." Her father"s no-nonsense voice echoed through the kitchen. Stern and unyielding, leaving with it a bitter taste in Leah"s mouth.
Oh yeah? Bite me!