Marcus allowed his teeth to descend. He opened his lips to show her. Confusion and fright rocketed into him from her mind. She stared at him as she put the pieces together—her nicked tongue, his teeth, the exquisite bite. Her hand lifted to trace the small nicks he’d placed on her throat. Her eyes widened and clouded a bit as the light brush of her fingertips alone rekindled the passion they’d shared.
Carina shook her head to clear it. She wrapped her arms around herself like a shield as she backed away. “I don’t understand. You’re pretending to be something from a horror movie? Like some silly game?”
“No, Carina. I am definitely not pretending or playing a childish game. I was turned in 298 BC to save my life in a Roman coliseum.”
“Two hundred and ninety-eight,” she echoed, before adding “BC” as if that were a minor addition to the facts. She looked at him as if he’d grown a horn.
“Yes, Carina. I have waited for many years to find my mate.”
“Marcus, I must have misunderstood. If you were alive then, that would make you over two thousand years old,” Carinapointed out. “And you said turned. What does that mean? You’re scaring me, Marcus.”
His heart hurt to see her back away from him. He wished he could make this easier for her. “I am sorry, Little girl. You don’t need to be frightened of me. I would give my life to save yours.”
He closed the distance between them to wrap his arms around his trembling mate. Stroking her silky brown hair, Marcus savored the sensation of her curves pressed to him. He remembered what her thin nightgown concealed.
When she stiffened against him, Marcus knew her shocked mind had put together all the pieces and realized this wasn’t a prank.
“Shhh! I haven’t changed, Little girl. I’m the same as when you met me at Nightfall.”
She pushed him slightly away. Marcus relaxed his arms, allowing her to put distance between them. “I think I’m losing it. You’re not a vampire, right? I’m crazy?”
“You’re quite sane, Carina. I am a vampire. I walk through the world as you do, with only a few important differences.” His heart clenched when she looked at him as if he were a delusional stranger.
“Like you can turn into a bat and fly through the sky?”
“A myth. My feet don’t leave the earth unless I’m playing basketball.”
“This isn’t funny. You need psychological help, Marcus.”
His mate required proof. He hadn’t wished to scare her further, but she needed to recognize the truth. Marcus allowed his eyes to turn to their natural red. He spoke to her mind.
I am not mad, Carina. I am definitely a vampire.
“Are you going to kill me? Drain my blood?” Carina scoffed bravely, but he could hear the underlying panic in her voice. She backed away and stopped when she ran into the dresser.
“Your demise is definitely not in my plans. You are my mate. I live now to protect and care for you. Do I seem so different to you now?”
She ignored his question. Lifting her hand, she whacked her forehead. “A vampire Daddy. I knew it couldn’t be real. You couldn’t be so perfect. Oh, God. I’m such a fool.”
The underlying despair in her tone cut him like a knife. He could hear her heart breaking. “I am very real, Little girl. Test it out. Hit, kick, or kiss me.”
“Stake you?” she taunted, showing him a bit of her fire.
Her response gave him hope. The strong will of his mate showed as she straightened to face him fully. What he shared with her was hard to believe, but she listened and challenged him.
“I’d prefer not.” Marcus struggled to control the smile that threatened at her horror-movie-fueled suggestion. Staking was another of the simplistic myths about vampires designed to reassure the populace that an easily available weapon could defeat a much more powerful being.
“I think you should leave,” she told him.
No. We are linked together, Carina. You are mine. Come here, Little one.
She took three steps forward before stopping to glare at him. “You can’t use your vampiric mind control to force me to do what you wish.”
“I could, but that would not help. Listen to your heart, Carina. What is it saying to you?”
She lifted her hands to press them to her chest. Her gaze locked with his. Marcus gradually shifted his eyes to their original green. He filled their mental link with love and passion, his excitement in finding her, and his desire to care for her as his Little girl. Carina clinched her fingers tighter as he showed herimages of a beautiful nursery and the two of them having a Little tea party.
“We are linked in many ways, Carina. My body craves you. My heart knows you belong to me. And my dominance recognizes you as the special Little girl I need to complete me. Please do not turn your back on what we can be together.”
