“Not until he made you suffer for being my mate.Even though you don’t want to be or aren’t in any sense of the word, you are my mate, and he’ll hate you for it.”She invited him to have a seat, and he took the couch across from the chair that she’d been sitting in.“I think you should come to my house, where I can protect you.The house is magical and won’t allow him in the house without permission.Which I will never give him.You’ll be safe there, and by magic, I can take everything from here and put it into the rooms that I have at the house.It’s large enough that you’ll never see me unless you want to.”
“What happened?”He asked her what she meant.“You’re being so nice.And thoughtful.It’s not like you at all.”
“I’ve been thinking about the way that it treated you, and I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m a bastard just like you called me.I’m no better than my step-father was when he was alive.”She asked how David was related to him.“He’s my step-brother.He was born to the couple I stayed with a thousand years after I’d left home.They spoiled him and gave him everything he wanted, so he got used to that.Now he expects everything given to him because he wants it.Even if he doesn’t, he’ll take it because someone else has it.It’s worse with me.He’s thought all his life that I shouldn’t have anything that he doesn’t.And me having a mate will make him take chances that he might not have ever taken before.He will kill you if he gets you.”
“But why should he care?It’s not like we’re in love or anything like that.I mean, you’re just another vampire that doesn’t have a mate.Not really.”He told her that he’d not see it that way.“Maybe if you spoke to him, he’d back off.I mean, it’s worth a try, don’t you think?”
“If he’s only sneaking around because he thinks you’re my mate, telling him that you are will confirm that.He’ll be after you right then.And he won’t stop at just killing you, Kimber.He’ll make you suffer like you’ve never suffered before.I can’t say this enough.He’s a monster, and he’ll come through that door and make you suffer a bit before he kills you.Simply because we belong to each other.”
She looked confused, and he didn’t blame her.He would have been better off just taking her to his home, but that would put him back to where he’d been with her before.A monster that ordered her around.He decided to come clean with her and see how she reacted.
“I’ve been self-contemplating a great deal.And I’ve come to the conclusion that I’ve treated you badly.Horribly, as a matter of fact.If you’ll allow it, I’d like to start over.For you to come to my house and see if you can live there.If not, I’ll look for something else.”She asked about his house and what had changed.“Nothing with my house.I’ve changed.I was raised to hate all humans, and that’s what I did.It was no more your fault that we’ve become mates and you just happen to be a human than it is mine.I should have also taken your feelings into consideration when I was spouting off things that I shouldn’t have.I’ve also said some things to you that make me regret the words that flowed from my mouth.”
“If you expect me to disagree with you, then you’re wrong.I agree with everything you said.You were mean to me.”He nodded and said that he’d been worse than that.“I don’t know that you were a monster, but you weren’t all that nice about us being mates.You’ve been really rude to me as well.”
“I know.And I’d like to make it up to you.”Suspiciously, she asked him how.He couldn’t help but laugh.“First of all, I’d like to take you to my home.You’ll be safer there, and I think that you’ll enjoy the house.I know that I do.If you don’t, then we can find something else.I’m not above building something you like or even changing something in the other house.I built it with my magic, and I can change it just as easily.”
“What makes you think that he can’t get to me through you?I mean, he could grab you and hold you hostage until I let him have me.”He told her to never give in because of him.He’d kill them both anyway.“I’m beginning to see a pattern here.He’s going to kill me no matter what I do, won’t he?”
“Not unless I kill him first.”She asked him why he hadn’t done so before now.“There was never a big enough reason for me to kill him before until you came along.”
“That almost sounded nice.Where were you when the other you decided I wasn’t good enough to be with you?”He said that he’d had his head up his ass.“I knew that too.So what has changed your mind?It couldn’t be because you’ve fallen in love with me.I’ve been talking to Calla and Tabby, and they said that as vampires, you fall in love quickly.I doubt that’s happened between the two of us.We haven’t exactly gotten off to a good start.”
“No, we haven’t, and that’s totally my fault.”She still looked suspicious, and he could understand why.He’d not exactly been the best of mates.Hell, he’d not even been a good man, but he wanted to make it up to her so that she’d trust him.“Let’s just go out to my house…our house and have a look around.If you like it, then we’ll go from there.But you will be safer there when David comes back around.I swear on my heart that he’ll never get to you while you’re in the home that I built.”
“All right.”He was excited for her to see the house, and when she was getting ready to go, he tried to think if he’d left it in good condition.He wasn’t one to be messy with things, but he’d been in a funk of late and had let things go.Hopefully, some of the staff at the house would clean up after him.“I’m going, but no hanky panky.Nor will you talk to me as you have before.”
“I won’t.I’ll be on my best behavior.I promise.”As she was getting dressed in different clothing, he sent Tall ahead to have the house readied for its new mistress.He didn’t know how she’d feel about that, but she would be mistress of the estate even if she had him change things around.Just as they were leaving for the house, he realized that he didn’t have a car.“I guess we’ll have to walk.Can you get around all right with your leg?I don’t want to put any undue pressure on you from that.”
“My leg is healed.As you told me once before.”He remembered too how he’d told her.“I can get around well.Or we can take my car.It’s not fancy or anything, but it gets me around town when I need to.”
They ended up taking her car.She allowed him to drive rather than him telling her how to get to the house.It was something that he was going to have to replace as well.It didn’t want to start when she handed over the keys to him.That would be bad if it were her only means of getting away from David.Just as he was thinking about his brother, he saw him standing across the street from the house.It was too late now to try and hide from him.He would know soon enough that she was his mate and try to kill her.
The ride over to the house was done with no small talk.He did tell her that he’d seen his brother at her house, wanting her to be aware of what was going on at all times.He didn’t know how to explain to her any more than he had what sort of man his brother was, other than to tell her the truth.He wondered if he should tell her what had happened to a man who had a nice car and what he’d done to him for it.
“Oh my, this is lovely.”They had pulled up in front of the house ten minutes ago, and she hadn’t gotten out of the car yet.But she did like all the landscaping around the house and the way that the flowers seemed to take over the front porch.He would find himself sitting outside on the deck inthe evening just to watch the hummingbirds and other creatures feeding themselves on the nectar of the flowers and bushes.“I could live here with just this around me all the time.”
“I thought that you’d like it.Wait until you see the inside.There are many features that keep the flowers blooming year-round that I’ve put in.Also, the house is mostly green too.I’ve been thinking about it for a long time, and this is what I came up with.Come on.Let’s go inside.”He got out of the car on his side and went around to help her out of hers.It was something that he used to do all the time and had gotten out of the habit.Now he wanted to make sure she knew that he could be polite when she was around him.“The kitchen is the best.I don’t have a need for a cook or anything, but I hired one in the event that you’d come over for a meal.I would love to watch you eat something.”
“Calla said that Brew likes to watch her eat a burger and fries.I don’t know about that.Doesn’t that seem a little odd to you?”He said that he didn’t and was looking forward to it.“We’ll have to see.I’m not sure how much I trust this you yet.You’re nice and everything, but I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop.Understand?”
“I do more than you can know.”He toured the kitchen with her and showed her around the rest of the house.There was plenty to see when they went up the stairs, and he was happy that she was still willing to look around the house while he had her there.As they were coming down the stairs, he realized how late it was and asked her if she wanted to stay for dinner.He could have a steak if she wanted one too.“I can eat what I want, but it doesn’t settle well on my stomach.As alcohol doesn’t bother me, I can drink as much wine as I wish.It doesn’t bother me either.”
“I don’t drink alcohol at all.It makes me sick.”He said she might have to try it now that she’s part vampire.“I wondered about that.Wondered if I was just a little bit or more vampire.Calla said that the white streak in my hair is much like hers and she got it when she and Brew had sex and fed from one another.”
“Yes.Well, I didn’t ask how she got it, but it’s a sign of great strength.I’m wondering how much magic you have.”She explained to him how Tall was helping her figure it out.“He would be the one to ask.Also Brew.He’ll be able to tell how much vampire you are, too.I’ll ask him if you’d like to know.”
“I would.Just so I know that I can protect myself if need be.”He said it would make him feel better, too, if she could at least use it to get away from some situation.“I love the house.And if you think I’ll be safer here, then I’m willing to move in with you.But not with you yet.I’m not ready for sex with you.I have to trust that you’ll not fly off the handle again about me being human.”
“I don’t care what you are right now.And I have fallen a little bit in love with you since we’ve been here.I should have given you a chance when we were together before.It’s totally my fault.”She didn’t agree or disagree with him, and he thought that was for the best.She was giving him a chance, and that’s more than he thought he deserved right now.“How much of your household do you need here?I’m willing to bring it all here if you should want it.My magic is considerable, and it won’t take me but a few seconds to bring it all to you.”
“Nothing for now.I want to see how this works out for a few days first.”He nodded, knowing that she was right.He had a lot to make up for.“I want to hear about your brother and why he thinks that taking me from you will cause you to be distressed.As you’ve pointed out, we’ve not had a good start to our relationship, or whatever you want to call it, and I don’t think that once you tell him about us, he’ll even care.”
“He will.Trust me.He’ll want you dead even if it were to cause me just a little bit of distress.And it would.Profoundly so.”She blushed slightly, and he found that he loved that about her.“He’s not going to get you so long as I’m alive.But he can’t kill me.He made a promise to his mother that he’d not kill me unless I tried to kill him.And I plan on making sure he’s dead before I let him get that close to me.But that doesn’t mean that he can’t destroy anything that belongs to me.”
“You said destroy?Is that what you think he’ll do to me?I have all kinds of thoughts in my head about what he’ll do if he catches me now.”He said that for whatever she was thinking about what he’d do, it would be a hundred times worse.“I see.I’m afraid now.I don’t want to be killed when I’ve finally got some of my life together.Having money in the bank sure makes things a lot easier for me.”
“I have a great deal of money.And as of the moment we met, it belongs to you as well.I know that I spouted off things about you not draining me dry, but I’ve since changed my mind about that.”She asked how much money he had.“We could buy every house in the state and have them remodeled and never have to worry about money again.”
