“Through blood, sex, and turning you into avampire. I can’t drink from you because I want forever from you,Melanie.”
Her mouth parted, but she showed no otherreaction to his revelation.
“I’ve known what you were to me for a whilenow,” he said. “But I kept myself under control because I hadn’treached maturity. However, that’s no longer true, and it’s going tobe a lot harder to control myself around you. Drinking your bloodwill only make it worse.”
Melanie had no idea how to respond to thisrevelation, so she settled on his odd words. “Reached maturity?”she croaked.
“I stopped aging. It’s something that happensto all purebred vampires.”
Melanie slumped onto the couch.
“I have to go,” he said. “I have to make sureLucy has enough blood to complete the transition.”
Melanie didn’t reply as he strode toward thedoorway. She didn’t want him to go, but his revelation sodumbfounded her that she couldn’t form words. He was strolling pastthe stairs and front door when she leapt up.
“If you drank my blood, would it help you andLucy?” she asked.
He stopped, and his head turned so she couldsee his profile. The veins in his arms stood starkly out as theflex of his muscles caused his tattoo to ripple.
“Yes,” he said.
“More than animal blood?”
“Yes, but it wouldn’t help you.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, that if you wish to remain human,then it’s best if that doesn’t happen.”
Melanie’s brain felt like a pinball machineas it bounced from one thing to another and lit up in places shehadn’t known existed before. Years of ingrained hatred towardvampires screamed that this was a terrible decision and one shewould regret.
But her love for Lucy and Kyle told her thatwasn’t true. She could never hate either of them, and she’d decidedfor Lucy tobecomea vampire. This was the least she coulddo for her friend, and if it could help them, then she would doit.
She had no idea what the future held, but sheloved him, and despite what he was, she trusted him.
“I’m not ready for eternity tonight,” shesaid.
“I couldn’t turn you tonight even if I wantedto. I couldn’t supply you and Lucy with enough blood to make yourtransitions successful.”
“Okay, then we’ll worry about that once we'refree of all this.” When he didn’t move but simply remained staringat her, she gulped. “I want to help both of you. You’re the twopeople I love most in this world.”
Kyle couldn’t respond as he stood staring ather. She loved him. She’d said it, and she lovedhim. Anache constricted his chest as he gazed at her. Standing there,silhouetted against the dim glow of the moon creeping through thewindows and spilling across the wooden floor, she was the mostbeautiful thing he’d ever seen.
Andshelovedhim.
Every part of him craved the taste of her,but his feet remained frozen to the floor.
“Melanie….” he started before words failedhim.
“It’s okay, Kyle. This is what I want.”
“There will be consequences.”
“I’m prepared for them.”
CHAPTER 38
Unable to resist, hestepped toward her, and when she didn’t flee, he took another andanother. Feeling like she was a magnet drawing him onward, hecouldn’t get his feet to stop even as his mind argued with him thathe should wait; they still had so far to go.
