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“I’m glad you did. Now that you’ve made yourself sick, will you take a day off work?” Darius asked, setting her on the bed and curling himself around her.
Slowly, she regained her composure as the contact seemed to heal her discomfort. “Better,” she said a few minutes later. “That was the worst feeling.”
“Let’s avoid testing the mating bond for a while, Little girl. Our togetherness will heal the link between us.”
“What would have happened to you if they’d offed me?” Mara asked.
“Let’s not consider that.”
“Would you have died?”
“Possibly.”
That word hung in the air above them ominously. Tears sprang into Mara’s eyes. She hugged herself closer to him. Mara made a vow to herself to heed his warnings not only for herself but also for him. The magic that connected their bodies and minds brought extreme pleasure as well as agony.
Darius stroked his fingers through her hair, brushing the sleep-tangled tresses from her face. “I love you, Mara.”
“I love you too, Daddy. I guess I should call in and report myself as absent for the day and change my voicemail message. This will be the second time I’ve skipped work in a short period. I hope they won’t fire me.”
“Were you out a lot before we met?”
“Never. These two days are my first absences.”
“Then we keep you healthy in the future to avoid any problems. How about if I get your phone for you in a few minutes? Let me hold you for a bit longer.”
She nodded and pressed a kiss to his throat before whispering, “I’m sorry I didn’t listen.”
He hugged her tight, drawing a squeak from her lips. “Sometimes our bodies are more informed than our minds are. We need to listen to that as well.”
They rested wrapped around each other for several minutes. Mara admitted to herself that she didn’t want to be anywhere else as she enjoyed the treasured contact. A thought popped into her mind. “Can I ask you a question?”
He relaxed his arms around her and scooped her up. Carrying her to a chair at the side of the room, Darius sat with her cradled on his lap. “You may ask me anything, Little girl. If I can’t answer you for some reason, I will explain why.”
“What happens to you when I die? I mean, you’ve been around years. I’m presuming you’ll be around for long after I go.”
A muscle clenched in Darius’s jaw as he took a minute before nodding. “If you remain as you are, I will survive you by many years.”
“If?” she repeated. What did he mean?
“You could allow me to transform you into a vampire as well. Then we could live together for as many years as our future brings,” Darius said.
“Did Carina and Alessia do that?”
“That is their story to share.”
“Does the process hurt? What happens?” she asked.
“I drink deeply from you. You already know how that feels.”
Mara shivered, remembering the flood of intense pleasure she’d experienced when he’d bit her during lovemaking. She nodded, encouraging him to continue.
“Then, at the right moment, I feed you some of my blood. That second part of the exchange triggers your rebirth as a vampire.”
“What about then? Does that hurt?”
“No, Zoí mou. The process can be frightening, but I would be with you to keep you safe.”
“Could I die?”
