“Ah.” He didn’t move an inch but somehow seemed bigger. Stronger. More focused. “It’s good we’re having this chat.”
The entire world felt unsteady around her. “What do you want from me, Jared?”
It was the first time she’d used his name, and by the straightening of his body, he knew it. “Excuse me?”
“You’re offering me life and immortality. What do you want from me?” Favors were never free, and she had to know the full facts before agreeing. The way he looked at her kept her pinned in place. She was so out of her depth with him. “There has to be something.”
His expression revealed absolutely nothing. “All right. Here it is. Mating you gets me three things I want. One, I get to see more of my brother. Two, I get my mother and all other relatives off my back about finding a mate. Three, someday I get children.”
She leaned back into the sofa, her breath heating. “From me.”
His cheek creased. “Yeah. From you.”
So this was more than a one-night deal. “Wait a minute.”
He held up a hand. “I don’t mean tomorrow or even during this century. Five hundred years from now would be fine. But someday, I do want a family. As my mate, you’re pretty much the only one who can give me sons.”
“Or daughters,” she said almost automatically, her mind spinning.
“No.” He smiled now, transforming his face into raw beauty. “Vampires are male only. We’d have sons.”
Sons. Big, strong, dark little boys. Her damaged heart thumped. Strong and nearly immortal boys who she could adore forever. “What about love?” she asked, surprising herself.
“Even for humans, arranged marriages work out more than those founded by love,” he said evenly. “I want an agreement and you get to live. Take the deal.”
She came from a long line of passionate women, some still in Colombia, and others scattered across the world. Love meant something to them and to her. “You’ve never been in love,” she mused.
“Wrong.” He tightened his hold on her hand. “I did love a woman, a witch, and she mated somebody else two centuries ago.”
A witch? Seriously? Ronnie jerked her head. “Witches exist?”
“Yep. Another species. They use quantum physics to alter matter.”
Wow. Life was so different than she’d imagined. She’d find out more about witches later. How could any woman reject love from a man like this? The witch must be crazy. Even without love, an offer from a guy like Jared was tempting. He was sex and danger personified. “You think you won’t find it again. You might.”
He flipped his hand over and captured both of hers in a reassuring hold. “Nope. I’m not looking for love again, and that’s just fine with me. I like the thought of our arrangement.”
An arranged mating. She’d be giving up love but gaining life. A forever with Jared. Intrigue had her trying to concentrate. “I’m not ready to die,” she whispered, her chest compressing.
“Then don’t die.”
It was so simple for him, but she could barely think straight. Not enough oxygen was reaching her brain, and she knew it. “I need to rest before I make a decision.”
“Your head won’t be any clearer than it is right now,” Jared said, his face implacable.
“Okay.” She tugged her hands free to dig them into her hair. “Say we mate. Olivia says it’s sex with a bite and forever.” Sex. With Jared. With that body.
“Yes.”
“Then what? You take off, and we meet up again in about five hundred years?” She tried to ignore her clamoring body and concentrate on the facts. To have kids. Yeah. That kind of thing could be scheduled, probably. Just think what she could accomplish in five centuries.
“Well, not exactly. I’d set you up with a nice place and a monthly allowance, and you can do what you want.” He breathed out. “I’d visit periodically to see you and my family.”
Humor burst through her. Had he really just used the wordallowance? “You’re kidding.” She grinned.
“No.”
She laughed, unable to help herself. “You want a mistress. Not a mate.”
