Vampire Charming (40 page)

Slade
stopped arguing so fast it was almost funny.  “Alright.”

Jane
blinked, a little surprised by his quick agreement.  “Alright, then.  Good. 
Wow, that was easy.  I guess you do love me, because that was a fairly hostile marriage
proposal.”

“I
guess you do love me, if you are willing to endure Infinia and wearing a big
wedding dress, and tolerating the existence of my idiot sibling.”

“Is
that kid going to be living with us, by the way?”

“Probably. 
He’s seems to have imprinted on me like an orphaned duckling.  I’ve been unable
to shake him.”

Jane
rolled her eyes, because she had the feeling Slade wasn’t trying real hard to
get rid of Roland.  He liked having a little brother.  “Fine.  We can keep
him.  And I’m okay with the Infinia part.  Really.  But, a wedding dress…?  I
spoke without thinking on that one.  We might have to negotiate.”

He
slowly grinned.  “I do not wish to negotiate.  I love it when you wear
dresses.  And you’ll be happy to know that I look quite striking in a tuxedo.”

“Oh,
you would look ‘quite striking’ in a cardboard box.”  She headed over to the
bed and arched a brow.  “I hate to play the ‘handsome prince’ card again, but
you are just
so
. damn. handsome.”

“Handsome
king
.”  He reminded her.  “They just took a vote downstairs and I was
the unanimous choice for ruler.  Well,
nearly
unanimous.  That James the
Orc fellow is really an ass.”

“
I
voted for you, sweetie.  And not
just
because of the handsomeness.”  Jane
shook her head.  “For a lot of girls, that would probably be enough.  But me,”
she shrugged, “I’m a reformed pragmatist.  I want the whole fairytale.  Kind,
smart, brave, funny…”

“I
will be anything you ask.”

“Good,
because I’m
really
picky about my kings and husbands.  You might have
noticed that I don’t get swept off my feet by just any Vampire who wanders into
the supermarket.”

“I
did notice that.”  Slade tugged her down on top of him.  “I had to work very
hard to win you over.  I was quite disheartened at times.  I thought you would
never want me, as I want you.”

“It
was really a tough fight for you.”  She settled against him.  “I resisted you
for
at least
half-an-hour.  I’m surprised you didn’t give up in despair
at that kind of rejection.”

Being
Slade, he took that seriously, convinced that she really had tortured him by
playing hard to get.  “It was difficult, but I would fight for you forever,
Jane.”  He let out a contented sigh, brushing a hand against her cheek.  “From
the beginning, I knew there was no one else for me.  Every doubt in my head
goes quiet when you’re near.  You have faith in me and it gives me faith in
myself.  It’s a gift.”

“Yeah,
because you
really
need to work on your confidence.”

“Are
you claiming I’m arrogant, again?”  He nuzzled the side of her neck.  “That
doesn’t sound like something a besotted fiancée would say.  I prefer it when
you call me a hero.”

“You
are
arrogant.  And kind, and smart, and brave, and funny.  And my very
own hero.  Even when you drive me nuts, I wouldn’t change a single thing about
you.”  She paused and fluttered her lashes at him.  “…Except you’d be naked,
sire.”

Slade
laughed at that suggestion.  “You first.”  He drawled.

She
loved it when he teased her.  Jane obligingly unbelted her borrowed robe.  “I’m
going to need new clothes, you know.  I hate that dress your grandmother
apparently made for me and you ripped my khakis off, back at the lava pits. 
That leaves me with nothing but my bracelet.”  She held up her hand to show him
the Werewolf talisman.

Slade
kissed the inside of her wrist, his thumb brushing over the silver links. 
“With Fang gone, it is safe to get rid of this, you know.”  He murmured.  “I
know you do not like it.”

“Get
rid of jewelry?  Do you know anything about girls?  It could be a live snake
and I’d never take it off. 
You
gave it to me, dummy.”

His
mouth curved, pleased that she wanted to keep his gift.  “I love you.”  He said
simply.

“I
know.  It’s why you’re going to buy me pretty clothes.  Andra from the rebel camp
lent me this robe and some other stuff, but her personal style skews towards fur
bikinis. 
You’ll
probably like it, but it’s not really my taste.”

“You
need and I provide, my One.  I will give you whatever clothing you desire.”  He
peeled the robe from her shoulders, letting out a low sound of pleasure at the
sight of her body.  “Later.  Much, much later.”

“Later,
I desire
pants,
Slade.  I mean it.  I’ll give in on wearing a wedding
dress, but I have to have some jeans or heads will roll.”

“One
pair of pants.”

“Twelve.”

“Five.”

“Ten. 
That’s my final offer.”  She narrowed her eyes in mock ferocity.  “Remember,
I’m about to be your blushing bride.  Be nice to me or I’ll decorate the
reception hall with orange and pink.”

Slade
adopted a noble expression.  “All that matters is that you walk down the altar
to me.  For that privilege, I will give you closets full of scandalous clothes
and I will patiently endure any color scheme you wish.”

She
smirked at his self-sacrificing tone.  “Wow, this really
must
be love.”

“It
is.”  He ran a palm over her hair, his heart in his eyes.  “You are my soul,
Jane Squire.  In every possible way.  I will follow you anywhere.  We really can
live anyplace you wish.  Decorate in any way you wish.  Do
anything
you
wish.”

“Then,
I wish to stay right here in bed.”  Jane smiled brightly and leaned down to
kiss her Prince Charming.  “You’re my home, Slade.  And if movies have taught
me anything it’s that there’s
no place
like home.”

This
story is a sequel to
Not Another Vampire Book
.  Hopefully, you knew
that.  When I first conceived
Not Another Vampire Book
, Slade was
supposed to be the bad guy.  I pictured him possessing the worst qualities of
worst romance novel protagonists, flipping the usual hero/villain dichotomy.  I
fully intended to have some fun, kill Slade off at the end, and never look
back.  But, Slade wouldn’t let me.

All
my characters do things that surprise me, but few have ever surprised me as
much as Slade.  I saw pretty quickly that this guy wasn’t going to do
anything
I expected.  Within the first few chapters of
Not Another Vampire Book
,
Slade’s enthusiastic overconfidence and misplaced optimism won me over.  I had
to redraft the whole book to get him a happy ending.

Did
he thank me for it?  No.  Slade
still
wouldn’t shut up.  If Damien got a
book,
he
should get a book.  It only seemed fair.  He didn’t
like
his happily ever after.  He wanted something more.  I ignored him for a long
time.  Ungrateful jerk.  Besides, I had no idea what kind of story he could possibly
have.  Who would put up with that guy?

Then,
one day, I was watching a particularly cheesy fantasy movie on TV and it
suddenly dawned on me that
this
was Slade’s ideal world.  The knights
and swords and monsters. 
This
was what he wanted.  To be a hero in the
literal, King Arthur-y sense of the word.

Slade
would need a heroine, too.  I’d already given him a fairytale princess, though
and he wasn’t very interested.  Eventually, Jane Squire came along and I knew
I’d found the right girl.  Someone cynical enough to see through Slade’s
arrogant boasting and softhearted enough to love him anyway.  With Jane around,
things got done.  Slade wanted to talk to her and she was willing to talk
back.  I never had to wonder what was going to happen next, because --in every
scene-- he had some exciting new idea to share with Jane and she had some
snarky new way to insult it.  Thus,
Vampire Charming
was born.

I
enjoy creating these “story-within-a-story” books and hope to write more.  My
tentative plan is to do Amalie’s next.  Drop me a line to tell me what you
think at:
[email protected]
.