I flushed.‘What would you have done in my situation?Watch your fiancé die?’I was asking the wrong person for understanding.How could he understand my need to protect the man I loved, when he was the very person I was protecting him from?
He sighed.‘I am not so divorced from the feelings of mortals that I can’t see you’re having second thoughts.If you would like a way out, I’m willing to strike a deal with you.’
I narrowed my eyes.I’d be a fool to agree outright.Bargains with the devil always end in his favour, regardless of the outcome.‘Why?’
‘Because I want you to want me.’He stepped closer and raised his hand to my throat.One icy finger trailed upwards along my artery.My pulse thundered against his touch.‘Whatever is the point of an unwilling bride?’
‘I’ll never want you.’
‘Give it time.’For a moment I thought he might kiss me, but he stepped around me, bracing his hands upon my shoulders.I felt him bow his head, his lips a hair’s breadth from my neck.His breath tickled my skin.I hadn’t expected him to breathe.The dead weren’t supposed to breathe.‘We have nothing but time.’He did kiss me then, a chaste, light press of his lips to the edge of my throat.There was little passion to it, and yet my body was aflame.Rage, disgust, violation.Horror at what that kiss promised if only I would surrender everything to him.
‘I’d sooner die.’
‘Well, yes, that’s the offer.’
My heart stopped, his words falling into place.‘You’re planning to …’ I couldn’t say it.Couldn’t comprehend it.I couldn’t— he wouldn’t—
This is what marriage meant to him.It was suddenly so obvious.A vampire would not take a human bride.Why would they need to?An affair would suffice to indulge the fleeting beauty of youth without needing to contend with the inevitable inconvenience of ageing.All this time I had been worried that my life was about to end, while he was making plans for an eternity of darkness.
Raleigh studied me for a long moment.‘You didn’t know.’He finally released me, not seeming to notice as I pulled away, putting as much distance between us as I could.
‘I can’t imagine anything worse.’
‘Nor should you.But you’re still young and beautiful.We’ll see how you feel when that starts to slip away.’
He said it so carelessly that I was caught off guard.I’d never thought of myself as beautiful.Yann was the only one who had ever told me I was, but he’d only said it when the mood was right.When time was slow and there was nothing but us and a love so overwhelming it consumed all reason.Raleigh didn’t say it for flattery.He wasn’t being romantic, or trying to coax me into bed.He said it like a fact, plain and simple.One that – as was clear from his expression – he hadn’t thought could possibly have an impact on me.But I was struck rigid.
He spoke again.‘I do understand your hesitation, of course.Which brings me to our deal.’
‘I’m not making a deal with you.’
‘You should hear my offer first,’ he said, eyes glistening.‘Unless you’d prefer to marry me tomorrow.’
I ground my teeth.‘What do you propose?’
Raleigh took a long time to reply.His lips formed words that never left him, again and again until he found the right shape he wanted to use.‘I’ve grown tired of the restrictions of my curse.’
I frowned.‘You don’t wish to be a vampire?’
‘What good does it do me?Strength is a virtue for a soldier, but battles are fought in daylight.I have immortal life, but I’ll burn if I ever feel the sun’s warmth.I am beautiful, but I cannot see my reflection.Don’t make that face.Do you deny it?’
I couldn’t.Hewasbeautiful.I’d simply never heard a man describe himself that way.
‘Unfortunately I’m unaware of any feasible cure for one in my predicament.So here is my proposition.Help me find a cure before the year is out and I will give you your freedom.However, if I am still afflicted on the eve of the new year, we shall wed and be united forever.’
‘Why not step into the sun and save us both the effort?’
‘I don’t want to die,’ he said.‘I want tolive,even if that means dying in time.So long as I am cursed, I can never truly be free.’
‘You want to be free to live as you wish?’I asked dryly.‘Goodness, I can’t imagine howthatwould feel.’
To my surprise Raleigh stilled.For the first time it felt like he was really looking at me, not as a mouse on a string but as a woman.‘I’m sorry,’ he said, and in those words I caught a glimpse of the man behind the prince.He vanished as soon as the last syllable left his lips, and then the Raleigh I knew returned.‘Let me make this worth your while.’
‘You cannot,’ I said.‘If I live with you for a year –a week– I’ll be disgraced.’
‘Please, Clara,’ Raleigh scoffed, ‘you’ve been disgraced for years.’
I flushed.‘It’s a different disgrace to share a bed with a monster.’
