Kiss and Tell (22 page)

“Are you sure you aren’t some form of drug?” Willow asked as she jerked at his shirt. “Because I think I’m addicted to you.”

“No, sweetheart. But you are,” he said before kissing her.

Seth pulled on her clothing. In no time, the items were lying in a pile, ripped beyond repair as his quickly followed in much the same condition.

He lowered his head to tease her nipple but she yanked his head up to her mouth. “No. I need you now. You can play later. I’ll go insane if I don’t feel you inside me right now.”

Seth stroked down her body, his hands rubbing every inch of her flesh until he reached her sex. He slid a finger deep inside her, causing her to whimper and raise her hips, trying to take him deeper. “Gods, you’re wet already,” he moaned. With one quick motion he was between her legs and buried deep inside her.

Their loving was fast and hard, and after just a few strokes both were shouting with ecstasy as they came together.

Without separating them, Seth rolled onto his back. Once there, he rubbed her body from neck to ass.

Willow lay contentedly for a few moments, basking in the pleasure she’d just experienced. She gloried in smelling him beneath her, on her skin, feeling his arms wrapped tightly around her.

Suddenly, what he’d whispered into her mind as he drank from her clicked. Lifting her head she said, “Wait a second, back up there, Fangy, did you just ask me to marry you?”

“I was wondering if you caught that.” He smiled.

“Hey, it took a few minutes to process it. I was more than a little distracted you know,” she threw back. Her voice became more gentle. “Did you mean it?”

“With all my heart.” He stared into her eyes.

“See, now look what you did. Now I’m gonna cry…” Tears of happiness welled up in her eyes.

“I’m sorry, we don’t have to get married if you don’t want to.” She knew he was trying his best to comfort her.

“Listen here tall, dark and toothy, if you take that proposal back I’m going to break every window in this apartment, rip down all the curtains and bake your ass in the sunlight.”

Seth chuckled. “Then I guess that means you want to marry me?”

“Yes I do, vamp-boy.” She snuggled into his chest.

“Vamp-boy, fangy, fang-boy, tall, dark and toothy, what’s next? Bloodsucker?” She knew from his tone that he was teasing her.

“I’m just trying to find a nickname I like…” She purred as his hands ceased to be comforting and began arousing her.

“I draw the line at Dracula. That cousin of mine caused more trouble…” Seth looked at her and chuckled. “Long story, one I promise I’ll tell you…another time. What about my lord or prince of pleasure or, oh, master of my heart? I like that one. It has a nice ring to it.”

Willow laughed. “In your dreams. How about I just call you mine?”

“That will definitely work for me,” Seth smiled.

“Seth,” Willow began seriously, her tone stopping his hands. “Will you make me like you? Will you turn me into a vampire so we can always be together?” Her voice was just above a whisper.

“If that is what you want.” He pulled her head back down to his chest, comforting her again.

“And if I don’t want to be a vampire? I don’t want to die,” she confessed. “Even if I do come right back…”

“I told you, sweetheart, we aren’t dead. There is another option,” he began. “But it’s a little more…complex. We don’t have to discuss this now…” His voice trailed off.

“Will you tell me?”

“I’ve heard of another way, but only in stories. I’ve never actually known anyone that used the process. Typically people simply become vampires… But that doesn’t mean they die,” he quickly added again. “Think of becoming a vampire as more of a blood transfusion. You would be given my blood in growing quantities every few days until you were changed,” he explained.

“What about your need for my blood?”

“That will always be there, whether you remain human or become a vampire. But if you change, we will both need to drink from others for our…nourishment.”

“What’s the other way?”

“You still have to drink my blood. Only once every month or so, and in smaller quantities, but you’d have to do it for the rest of your life.”

“How long would that be?”

“Barring a fatal wound, you would live as long as I do. You would never grow old. My blood has regenerative properties which will stop you from aging and prevent you from catching most diseases. It would also change your body. You’d become more light-sensitive and your senses would become more acute, but not noticeably so. It would change you just enough to increase the chances of us having a child, if you want one.”

“Would I get fangs like yours?” She allowed one finger to stroke his lips, then slide down his mouth as if she were stroking his fang.

“I’m not sure.”

“Why isn’t it done more often? Why have you only heard about it being done in stories?” Willow raised her head and looked at him.

“You ask a lot of questions, sweetheart,” he teased before answering her. “Honestly, I’m not sure. Maybe people weren’t told it was an option… Maybe they didn’t believe the stories. But if the Blood Mate story is true, I have no reason to doubt that another one would be equally true.”

“Would you mind if we did that one? That choice?” She looked deep into his eyes.

“Not at all, sweetheart.” He gave her a brief kiss. “We can do whatever you want, whenever you’re ready. We have all the time in the world.”

“To your people, what would I be called? Wife? Mate? Donor?”

“I have to call my mom to be sure, but, in the stories they were called Blood Mates.” He nuzzled her neck, then scraped his sharp teeth over her flesh.

“Hungry again?” She chuckled.

“For you, sweetheart, always.” He nibbled on her ear.

“Wait, did you say mother?” She grew nervous.

“Caught that, did you?” He was teasing her again.

“Does this mean I have to meet your family? How big is your family? Do I just meet your mom, or do I have to meet all of them? Oh God, what if they don’t like me? What if we don’t get along? What if your family and my family don’t get along?”

“They are going to love you. And don’t worry, I’m sure Roxy will grow on us all.”

She smacked his arm. “But what if they don’t? I mean, I’m sure I’m not at all what they expected. Do you have brothers and sisters? How many? You’re not what Roxy expected either, you know. Will they all be able to read my mind? How many people are we talking about, Seth?”

He sighed. “Well, I guess it depends. Are we counting aunts, uncles and cousins as well?”

“Yes. No. Yes. Just tell me.”

He kissed her gently on the lips. “Counting aunts, uncles and cousins, there were I believe three hundred at the last count. But you’ll probably never meet a couple of them.”

If her questions were any indication, her thoughts were flying all over the place. Before Jason came into his life, he’d have never been able to keep up with her—or understand her. No one else in Jason’s family had ever prepared him for such a quirky woman. He would have to remember to thank his friend for getting him ready for his mate.

“Three hundred! Wait, why won’t I get to meet them all?”

“Well, a few of them are…grounded, for lack of a better word.”

“Vampires can get grounded?”

“They can when their mom finds out they’ve been boasting to humans again. Of course the real trouble happened when my aunt found out that one of the humans who heard my cousin’s exaggerated boasts decided to write the story down and sell it as a book.”

Her eyes widened. “Who?”

“My cousin, Vlad.”

If possible, her eyes grew wider. “You mean, he…
the
Vlad is your cousin?
That
Vlad?”

“Don’t believe everything you read in a book, love. Almost every word he said to that old hack was a lie. Pure fantasy. But a little thing like that didn’t stop people from hunting us.”

“Okay, I was nervous before, but now… You’re family is famous. You—I…”

“Willow,” Seth interrupted.

“Yes, Seth?” She was clearly distracted by his revelations.

“You’re thinking too much.”

“Then help me to stop.” She lowered her head to his for a kiss.

“That, love, will be my pleasure.” He still felt hungry, still had the desire to drink from her, but the aching pain had ceased. And now that he knew he had an eternity to be with her, to taste and love her, his hunger seemed to ease.

Chapter Twelve

Willow smiled as she watched Seth bring in the final boxes of her clothes.

“I don’t think your sister likes me very much,” he grumbled, remembering the way Roxy had yelled at him.

“Of course she doesn’t. She’s scared you’re going to break my heart. You should have heard what she had to say when she found out I was moving in with you. She’s not going to believe that you proposed until she sees us actually getting married. She warned me that I was making a mistake,” Willow said, clearly enjoying being able to tease him. “And she couldn’t believe I wouldn’t take my job back. She wanted to know how you got my boss to admit he was lying.”

“What did you tell her?”

“I told her you showed him your teeth,” she teased again.

“Willow…” He scolded her menacingly, giving a mock growl.

“She thinks I was joking, calm down.” Putting the box in her arms down, she approached him. “I have a surprise for you.”

“You are all the surprise I could ever need.” Leaning down he kissed her lips tenderly.

“Then does that mean you don’t want to know what it is?”

“Hell no,” he laughed.

To his delight, Willow echoed the sound, giving the throaty laugh he loved. “You have to catch me first.” Without looking back at him, she turned and ran down the hall.

Looking at the box in his hands he smiled as he dropped it and easily caught up to her. Scooping her up into his arms, he carried her into their bedroom. No matter how many times he thought it, he couldn’t stop the smile that came to his face when that phrase came up. Their room. He wasn’t alone any more.

“No fair, you cheated.”

“Haven’t you heard, all’s fair in love, sweetheart.”

“Yeah, but you used your superpowers. And I don’t have any.” She pouted in his arms but didn’t struggle to remove herself from his embrace.

Seth had to fight to repress his chuckle. He knew she was only teasing. “Now that just isn’t true. You have much more power than I do,” he said, playing along.

“I do? What powers?” Her hands rested lightly on the back of his neck, her fingers playing with his hair.

“Well, you have total and complete power over my heart.”

“Good answer.” Leaning in, she rested her head on his chest.

“Penny for your thoughts. No, wait, that’d be wrong. Kiss for your thoughts?”

“Just thinking. I did have to finally fess up about what you were wearing at the bar that first night.”

“I always thought ladies didn’t play kiss and tell.”

“Yeah, but it’s one of the rules. And well, I didn’t tell them everything that happened between us.”

Even through his shirt he could feel her face heat up. “Anything else?”

“Yes. I was wondering how fast we could get these clothes off—without ruining them, Seth—so you could make love to me.”

That was all the invitation he needed. In one smooth motion he managed to pull her shirt off and lower his mouth to hers. As his tongue delved into her mouth, he freed her breasts. Ending the kiss, he helped her stand. Lowering the blasted jeans she insisted on wearing, he paused to place a tender kiss on her hip a second before he started nibbling on it. He smiled against her flesh as her hands twisted in his hair.