“It’s nice that you think that,husband.” Now she sounds downrightevil. “If we’re going to be a couple, then this goes both ways. I’ll fake-date you, but you have to fake-date me. I like being wined and dined. I want to see you have fun outside the walls of Black Crag.”
I sweep my arms, gesturing to the tapestries hanging from every wall and the small pyramid of teddy bears under the window. “I know how to have fun.”
“Mykind of fun,” Winnie shoots back.
“Why don’t you come and sit in my lap, wife, and I’ll show you?—”
“You’re accompanying me to the Midsummer Festival this weekend. Those are my terms, vampire. Take them or leave them.”
I sigh. “Very well. Are there any other rules I should know about?”
“Yes.” Her cheeks redden further. “I think that we need to continue to be affectionate with each other in front of your mother. She doesn’t seem convinced that a vampire could be attracted to a human. We have to show her otherwise. And that means …” Winnie swallows. “You have to hold my hand, be affectionate with me, kiss me.”
“I have no problems kissing you, Winnie.” I long to kiss her now, to taste that forbidden sunshine once more. “But will you be able to kiss me back, knowing what I am?”
“I’ll manage.” Winnie stares at her feet. I lick strawberries from my lips. “We have to set some boundaries about … um …”
“About what?”
“Um … feeding?” Winnie touches her neck. “It looks as though you drank your way through your stash. Do you need to …?”
I swallow, finding myself quite without words. The day Reginald installed the refrigeration system and started procuring vintage blood, I renounced drinking from humans. It’s never felt right to me, even with consent.
But I’ve never been so tempted as when Winnie strokes her fingers over the vein above her collarbone, the same spot my teeth grazed her in the pub.
I’m a breath away from tearing strips of leather from the chair.
“The act of drinking from another being is one of utmost trust. I will never ask you to do this.” I swallow again. “However, if you should decide to?—”
“I plan on biting you first, vampire. To establish dominance.”
I cough a laugh, before grinning, showing her my fangs.
“I’d like that.”
“Gross.” Winnie rises from her chair, her golden eyes sparkling with delight. She has that same look of excitement that crosses her face whenever we begin organising another corner.
I stand and take a deep bow. “I am forever in your debt, Winifred the Magnificent, my faux-future-wife. Now, will you seal our oaths to each other with a kiss?”
Winnie bites her lip.
“I’d like that.” She grins. “But no funny business, vampire. I’ve got a pocket full of anti-you charms and I’m not afraid to use them?—”
I cannot hold myself back a moment longer. I cross the divide between us in a single beat of her delicate humanheart, pushing her back until she sinks into the chair, and I bend over her, all pretence of humanity washed away.
I smile down at her, fangs bared.
I let her see me,trulysee me, for the first time.
And although Winnie’s lip quivers at the sight of me, the hunger in her eyes matches mine.
I crush my mouth to hers.
The kiss hurts. It hurts because all wonderful, perfect things in this world are born from suffering. It hurts because I feel as though I have woken from the Kiss again, born anew with all my dead, necrotic tissue cut away.
I kiss her as though she really is my betrothed.
I drag her against me, my tongue diving deep as I drink in her strawberries and sunlight. She moans into my mouth and I listen to the universe shatter in that tiny, perfect sound. My shaft swells with wanting and my heart swells with hope, and I make a silent vow to myself. I will do anything,anything, to make Winnie mine for real.
