Page 64 of Patrick’s Seduction

Patrick led her outside by punching in a different code in the keypad next to the cell door. He took her hand as they walked to the elevator and rode up to the top floor. It was quiet on that floor, and she didn’t see or hear anybody. The office doors they walked past were closed.

The office Patrick ushered her into was a corner office with several large windows. It was furnished comfortably with a large desk, several chairs, and a seating area with a coffee table. On it stood a tray with food and drink.

“This is your office?” she asked, surprised that it was so large.

“It’s my father’s, but he’s still on vacation,” Patrick replied and pointed to the seating area. “Eat something.”

At that moment the sun was coming out from behind a cloud and shone straight onto the food, making her aware of something she hadn’t even thought about earlier.

“The sun! It’s gonna burn you,” she said, whirling around to Patrick in an attempt to shield him.

“It’s okay,” he said quickly, “the windows are coated with a UV film that protects vampires from the rays of the sun. But even if they weren’t, the sun can’t hurt me.”

“What?” Suddenly she remembered when Patrick had picked her up from the hospital and taken her home. It had been during the day. “You were outside when you… but how? Don’t vampires burn in the sun?”

He took her hands. “They do. But I’m a hybrid. My father is a vampire, but my mother is human. That gives me the ability to walk in daylight, unlike my father, who has to stay indoors while the sun is up.”

“Oh!” She’d never imagined that there was something like a vampire hybrid. “But if your mother is human, won’t she age and die, and your father will stay young and immortal? I mean, vampires, they’re immortal, right? And they don’t age?”

“Yes, they’re immortal. I’ll explain everything you want to know, but why don’t you start eating?”

He led her to the sofa and made her sit down. She reached for a piece of pastry and poured herself a cup of coffee from the thermos. “Go on.”

“You mind if I get breakfast too?” he asked.

“Just take some of mine. It’s too much anyway.”

He shook his head and walked to a small fridge. He opened it and retrieved a bottle. When he turned back to her and joined her on the sofa, she could see the bottle more clearly. The contents were red.

“Tomato juice?” she asked skeptically.

He shook his head. “No. It’s human blood.”

Her breath hitched. She should have expected this.

“We procure it from blood banks. We don’t attack humans to feed.”

She found her voice again. “So vampires don’t bite humans?” It sounded rather civilized and somewhat of a relief.

As he unscrewed the bottle, he gave her a crooked smile. “Well, it’s not as clear-cut as that. My father, like all vampires who are blood-bonded to a human, drinks only from my mother.”

Shock charged through her. “And she allows that?”

“Of course. She loves it. And it’s their blood bond that keeps her young. She still looks the same as on the day she met my father. She also drinks his blood on occasion, while he drinks hers daily.”

“But that must hurt,” Fallon said, still frowning.

“It doesn’t.” Patrick sighed and set the bottle on the table without drinking from it. “I have to make a confession.”

He hesitated, and instinctively, she froze.

“The day we had sex after you came back from the med center… I tasted your blood.”

For a second, she had trouble understanding the words. She shook her head. “No, that’s not possible. I would have known.”

“Remember when I licked your breasts when I was inside you? You were so close to coming.”

She remembered it well. How could she forget? It had felt out-of-this-world amazing.