“It means I’ll have to see if you’re more brains or brawn,” she muttered.
“I’m both,” he assured her. “And just so you know, I’m okay with you finding me handsome as I find you quite intriguing.”
“I bet you say that to all the girls,” she snorted, but she couldn’t stop a blush from scorching her cheeks.
He foundherintriguing? She wasn’t sure what he meant by it, but the idea pleased her more than she would have believed possible. She resisted tugging at the collar of her shirt as her blush spread to her body.
His amusement vanished as his eyes held hers. “I’ve never said that to anyone but you.” Sensing her increasing discomfort, Mike decided to change the subject. “Where are you from?”
“Where areyoufrom?” she retorted defensively. She was still trying to get her blush under control and had no idea what to make of him.
Mike hesitated as he contemplated how much to reveal to her, but he could give her enough of the truth to retain her trust in him while also keeping his loved ones protected. Messing with her mind and taking her memories from her was not an option for him. He didn’t know what he would do when the time came for Mollie to return to her life; it wouldn’t be safe for her to retain her knowledge of vampires, but that was a problem for another day.
He also had the problem of the memories of the other humans they freed. Some of them might not know who imprisoned them, and might not have seen much, but some of them had seen enough to be aware of what captured them. He would have to figure out a way to locate those people and change their memories; but first, he had to survive.
“Originally, I’m from Massachusetts. Then I moved to Oregon, and now I live in Maine with my friends and family,” he said to Mollie.
“You have a family?” Mollie held her breath as she waited for his answer.Please don’t be married.
“Yes; they’re not blood relatives, but they’re my family all the same. My parents both died in their fifties. My mom from a heart attack, and my dad had an aneurysm. Going by my genetics, it’s probably a good thing I became a vamp, or I might be dead by now. I never had any siblings, but my friends are closer to me than any brother or sister could be. My friend Liam’s children, and their children, are my nieces and nephews. We’ve all been together for many years, and we’ve been through a lot more than most families.”
His strange life fascinated her, but so many questions tumbled through her mind that she couldn’t settle on one.
Finally, she asked, “How did you become a vampire?”
Mike sighed and draped an arm over his knee. “When I was in college, a vampire named Beth fell in love with Liam, or at least sheclaimedto love him. After everything I’ve seen when it comes to vampires and their mates, she most definitely wasnotin love with him. Beth changed Liam, but when he rejected her, she hunted down his best friends and decided to change us too. She thought it would make Liam fall in line with her and we’d be one big, fucked-up family.”
Mollie set the remains of the first rabbit aside and picked up the second. Her stomach still rumbled, but she was starting to feel a little fuller. “What a strange thing to do.”
“Beth was more like the ones hunting us than like myself and my family.”
“And you and your whole family are good vampires?”
“I’m not sure you could call us good. We’ve killed to protect those we love, but we don’t kill humans or innocents, and that is what turns a vampire into a Savage.”
“I see.”
Mollie munched on the rabbit as she contemplated what he’d revealed to her. Outside, the song of the birds became increasingly louder as the morning crept onward. “Wait, you said Liam’s children and their children, vampires can have sex?”
Mike snorted before flashing her a cocky grin. “Quite well, I assure you.”
That damn blush was back again as she recalled how his body felt against hers and the way it had made her react. Despite what she knew him to be, she couldn’t help speculating what sex with him would be like—mind-blowing.
“So you’re not, like, dead or the living dead?” she asked.
“No, we have heartbeats, blood, and sperm. During the change, there is a second when our mortal heart ceases to beat and our immortal one takes over.”
“Wow,” she breathed. “And you can all have kids?”
“Yes.”
“Are they vampires too?”
“Depends on the parents. If both parents are vampires, then they will have a purebred offspring. If one parent is human, then the offspring will be human but can be stronger than a normal person.”
“I thought the only way to become a vampire was to die or exchange blood or something like that.”
“An exchange of blood while dying is one way to become a vamp, but purebred vampires are born, and they’re stronger than a turned vampire, such as myself.”
