“Well, goody for you.I didn’t want your money anyway.”The bank manager looked confused, and she didn’t blame him.She was as well.“I’m going to open a savings account for the rest of my money.If you put my name on his accounts, I’m going to be really pissed off.I didn’t ask to be put on his accounts, and I don’t want to be.”
“Yes, ma’am.”He helped her with her accounts, and she had enough money in hers to pay her rent that was due next week and go to the grocery store.After getting everything finished with the bank manager, she smiled and shook his hand.He told her it was great doing business with her and hoped she had a good day.“If you decide later to have your name on his accounts, we can certainly do that.Have a good day.”
After leaving the bank, she headed home.She didn’t care what Rance did, but she was still ignoring him for now.Walking home, she decided to treat herself to lunch and went into the dairy bar and ordered a chef salad.
“You’ll need to eat more meat to keep up with me.”She had no idea what that meant and picked the meat out of her salad and put it to the side for now.“Now you’re just being childish.When I meant for you to eat more, that wasn’t an invitation for you to not eat any.You’ll only be unhealthy if you continue to ignore what I tell you.”
“You don’t seem to want me around, so why are you following me everywhere?Or, for that matter, why do you care what I do?I have a life that I’m living verily well, and I don’t need you in mylife.”She thought of something.“Thank you for getting my check back from that man.I’d not known that he’d taken it from me.”
“There are a lot of people out there that would pick you dry if you don’t pay attention to what’s going on around you.”She asked him if he was going to be one of those who picked her dry.“No.I’m going to have to protect you from yourself, I guess.It sounds like a full-time job, but I think I’m up for it.I have a house that I love.If you don’t, then I can get you something else.I love my new home and plan on living there until I decide I want to die.”
“If you’re a vampire, how are you out in the sun?”She smiled at him, but she knew that it wasn’t a friendly smile.“Or is this your way of getting yourself rid of me?I wouldn’t put anything past you right now.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?And I can be in the sunlight because I’m old.A great deal older than you are.”She ignored him again for her salad.Really missing the meat in her salad, she started eating it again.Once she finished her meal, she threw away her trash and headed the rest of the way home.She had plenty of shit to do now, and she wasn’t going to allow some vampire to dictate what her life was going to be from now on.
He stood on the doorstep when she went in.Asking him if he was coming in or not, he told her that he had to invite him.Skeptical at first, she asked him what he could do to her once he was inside.
“Since you’re my mate, I’m going to talk to you about my rules.Then after that, I’ll take you to my house, and you can see if you want to live there or not.I don’t really care if you like it or not, but it’s my home, and I’ll say what can be done with it once you move in with me.”She said she had a home.“You have a tiny place that is in a terrible area of town.Are you going to invite me in or not?I have things that I must tell you.”
“I don’t think so.Or better yet, you can come into the house this one time, but you have to ask me each time you come here.That’s my rule.I don’t know if it works or not, but that’s the rule that I have.”He started cursing again.“So I’m to assume that it will work.”
“Yes.”The single word came out like a hiss, and she was glad that she’d gotten the better of him once.As he followed her into her place, she pointed out where things were, like the kitchen and the bathroom.She didn’t know if he could use the bathroom or not, but now he knew where it was.“You’re going to listen to what I have to tell you sooner or later.As I said, I have rules that we have to go over, and I’m not going to be—”
“Can you feed from other people instead of just me?”He told her that it was true.“I like that too.You don’t have to feed from me when you’re hungry or whatever it’s called.”
“I thought that you didn’t believe in my kind.”She said that he’d proven to her that he was real in the bank.“So that’s all it took for you to believe me when I told you that I wasn’t human, me changing into my monster.You should have been scared.”
“I wasn’t.What kind of rules do you have to tell me?I’m not saying that I’m going to abide by them, but you can tell me.In the event it slipped your mind, I’m an adult, and I know how I want to be treated.If you continue to treat me like you are, you’re going to be one lonely vampire in your home.I’ll not give in to your temper either.”
“Are you always going to be this stubborn?I’ll have you know that I’m not going to be putting up with your little shows of temper, too.”She sat down on the couch while he paced around.“I knew that you were going to be human.I should have stayed home, and I’d not have met you.”
“I wish that as well.Especially if you’re going to be bossy.”Since there was nothing she could do about being human, she didn’t say anything about it.However, she didn’t know what that had to do with anything.Lots of people were humans.Or at least she thought there were more humans than vampires.But what did she know?Nothing.
As he told her the rules, mostly about what she wasn’t going to be doing as his mate and something about his money and home, she ignored him.He really was a bossy man, and she didn’t know if she could stand to be around him for much longer than she had already.She wondered if there was someone that she could talk to about this, but decided it would more than likely be anothervampire.
“Are you paying attention to me?”She said that she wasn’t actually, and that made him curse again.“You do that well.I’m betting that you’re doing it in all kinds of languages, too.Is there a vampire language?”
“Yes.Had you been paying attention, you would have known that.I’m not going to teach it to you because there are times when I wish to speak to my friends in private.”She asked him if he really had friends.“I do.Other vampires.Shifters as well.I told you about the king of wolves, too, but apparently you weren’t paying attention to that either.”
“No.You do go on a great deal.I don’t know why you’re wasting your time going over these rules and information.I’ve not decided if I want to be your mate or not.”He told her it was much too late for that.“Doubtful it’s too late for anything.It’s not like we’ve had sex, or you’ve even touched me all that much.I know for a fact that you’ve not taken any of my blood.”
“No, I’ve not.However, none of that matters as you are my mate and I’m stuck with you.”She had no idea why that hurt so much, but she went to the door and told him it was time for him to leave.“I’m not finished training you yet.”
“Get out of my home right now.”He went to the door and stood there.She didn’t know what would work on him and probably should have paid more attention.“I no longer want you to be able to be in my home.Leave now, or I’ll have to remove you myself.”
He threw back his head and laughed.Opening the door, she told him to leave, and he finally did.But he didn’t move beyond the door opening.Just as he was going to say something, no doubt more rules for her to follow, she slammed the door in his face and walked away.The arrogant fucker wasn’t going to come back into her home if she could help it.
~*~
Rance headed home when he couldn’t get the little twit to open the door for him again.There was plenty that he had to say to her, and he wasn’t nearly done with his rules either.The very fact that she’d not listened to a word he’d said pissed him off enough that he saw red.Literally red through his vision, and that wasn’t making him any happier.
Reaching out to Brew, knowing that he’d understand about what had happened today, he was telling him about her not listening to him when he cut him off.Asking him if he really thought that he was endearing himself to the Kimber.
“Frankly, I could care less or not.Did I mention she’d a human?”Hesaid that he had several times now.“I don’t want a human for a mate.She’s too young for me anyway.I bet she’s only about twenty-five if that much.A baby compared to me.A fucking human baby.”
“You do realize that my wife was a human too, don’t you?I don’t want to have to point out the obvious to you, but she’ll hand you your hat if you go spouting things off to her like that.”He said he didn’t care.“You’d better care.She’s going to be a part of this kiss now, and I don’t want any hard feelings with her and the other women.How did you even get her name from her if she’s not talking to you?”
“It was on the paperwork from the bank.That’s another thing I didn’t tell you: she refuses to have her name on my accounts.How am I supposed to curtail her spending if she’s out spending her own money?”He told him to allow her to spend her own money then.“I’m supposed to take care of her.How am I going to do that when she’s out doing things on her own?I can’t be responsible for her if she’s not going to be listening to me.Brew, how am I going to cope with a human mate?I can barely stand to be around them at all, and now I have one as a mate.”
