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Until I can’t feel anymore.
Until I wasn’t anymore.
Sevenhundredandthirty-twoyears on this planet is a long time. You’d think I would have seen enough to satisfy me for a lifetime, but I haven’t. I can’t get enough of this ever-changing world, and one of my favorite things is to insert myself around the humans that inhabit it. That’s why I find myself in the general store today, slinking through the aisles until I find the source of the most wonderful scent I’ve ever known.
She is beautiful.
Auburn hair and pale skin spotted with freckles. I watch her study the wine with such care and precision. Her eyes flick to a human male standing by the beer, loading a cart with cases. She calls, asking his opinion, and he says nothing. Anguish flashes across that beautiful face. Anger coils inside of me like a cobra. How could he be so fortunate to earn the attention of such a creature and then ignore her?
Her placing multiple bottles of wine in her cart makes me laugh to myself. It seems like she will be in for a long weekend that she might prefer to forget.
Centuries of practice made me excellent at being invisible, so I go unnoticed even as I stalk my quarry through the store. I study her as she fills her cart with food items, taking in her face as she makes each decision. Her lips are apart, revealing two large front teeth. The corners of my mouth tick upward. She looks like a little chipmunk.
I am behind her for the briefest moment, close enough to reach my hands out and weave them through her coppery hair. I want to wrap my arms around her, twist my fingers into her tresses, and kiss her soft pink lips. But I resist. She isn’t mine.
I am drawn to this human who smells like honeysuckle and fresh paper.
The man she is with is hers. His scent is all over her: Hopps and cigarette smoke.
I sigh. If I were a weaker man, I would destroy him and indulge this pull I have toward the human woman. They must be staying nearby. I could compel him away…
That isn’t honorable. If nothing else, I still maintain my honor.
I used to be a knight once upon a time.
That was before Leland, before my family, before I was truly born.
Before I was made a vampire.
The name was given to us long ago, and ever since I was turned, I have thoroughly enjoyed my life as one. There was something about having immense strength, fantastic hearing, and sight. Every sense is at peak perfection. I was practically indestructible, able to bend the wills of mortals, and being immortal is quite a perk.
It is also lonely.
Days bleed into months, bleed into years, bleed into centuries. Time moves so slowly when you have an infinite amount of it. Even slower when you’re alone. I have my family, but no one to call mine.
Our home in the Catskills was usually tranquil. The odd traveler here and there, but we are deep enough that tourists wouldn’t be camping that far out, and the locals are so spread out from us it is easy to be ourselves. When we stay in Callery, we have to be careful not to draw too much attention.
So I lurk, hovering by the cereal, watching the human woman search for her preference. The shelf between us hides my movements as they shadow hers, the boxes of cereal themselves blocking my face from view.
I want to hunt her, feed from her, bed her.
A low growl is rasping in my throat at the thought of taking her in my arms and sinking my fangs into her sweet neck. I feel my body respond to the idea of being pressed against hers.
The unexpected shifting of a box reveals her glorious gray eyes to me. We are face-to-face.
She drops the box with a little yelp. Before I can stop myself, and faster than I should have in public, I am around the shelf, picking up her item and presenting it to her.
Waves of electricity pass between us, and I return the favor as she drinks me in. Her sleight frame is delicate and begging to be thrown around by me. There is a gentle curve to her slender hips, and I can only guess beneath her sweater is a pair of small perky breasts that would each fit entirely in my mouth.
She tries to apologize, her voice breathy and frightened. Not because I am a predator but because shewantsme. I offer an apology of my own for startling her, only for her to protest that she is ‘fine.’ The scent of arousal blooms as her eyes lock on mine, and I resist the urge to compel her to leave with me. Our skin grazes as she takes her item in hand.
It is like a flame engulfs me, forging a new man, bound to this human woman. I want to steal her, claim, change, and keep her. I’ve never in my centuries of life felt this drawn to anyone before, human or vampire.
Impossible.
Had I found my mate in the general store? Had I truly felt the bond begin to form as I handed her a box of frosted mini-wheats?
I reach for her, yearning to feel more of the heat from her skin. My arousal is plainly evident. If I could hold her close, steal her away, and be alone with her for just a moment, I could seal the bond, and she would be mine.
