She stared at him, unable to think of anything to say. Four hundred and thirty-two years. It was impossible, incomprehensible. And even as she tried to wrap her mind around the idea of living for such a long, long time, she wondered what it would be like to stay forever young. She had watched Granda grow old, noticed as the lines and wrinkles multiplied year by year, watched his dark brown hair turn gray. She had listened to his complaints as his steps grew slow, his eyesight dimmed, his hearing faded. It was the price you paid for living a long life. Unless you were a vampire.
She studied Kaiden’s face. His skin was unlined, his jaw line firm. There were no age spots on his hands, no gray in his hair. His dark eyes were vibrant.
Maybe being a vampire wasn’t so bad, after all, she thought. Until she remembered the blood part.
Kaiden sat back, his gaze narrowing as he watched the play of emotions on Skylynn’s face. He didn’t have to read her mind to know what she was thinking.
“You’re wondering about the blood,” he said quietly.
“How can you ... I mean ...” She grimaced. “How can you bite people and drink their blood? It sounds so repulsive.”
“It is, to a mortal. But you have to understand that when you’re a vampire, it’s entirely different. You’re different. The scent of mortal food, the taste, becomes repugnant.”
“And all that changed, with Granda’s potion?”
He nodded. “It was like being human again.”
“Do you miss it?”
“Yes.” He missed the sunlight, the food, the quiet that came with the lessening of his powers. He missed dreaming. With the potion, he’d even been able to avoid the Dark Sleep, that awful sense of falling into nothingness.
Leaning back on the sofa, Skylynn heaved a sigh. “It’s all so ... so ...”
“Unbelievable? Incredible?”
“Exactly.” She cocked her head to the side. “Do you sleep in a coffin?”
“No.”
“What was in that big black box you brought with you when you first moved in?”
“I wasn’t moving in,” he said, grinning. “I was moving back.”
“Back?”
“I’ve lived here, off and on, for the last 150 years.”
She digested that a moment. Then, like a dog worrying over a bone, she said, “The box. What was in the box?”
“A coffin.”
“But you don’t sleep in it?”
“Not anymore.”
“But you used to?”
He shrugged. “It felt right, when I was a new vampire.” “Do you still have it?”
“Yeah.” He kept it in the basement. He wasn’t sure why. It wasn’t as if he needed a reminder of what he was, although, with Paddy’s potion, he had been able to forget it for long periods of time.
“You’ve been a vampire for centuries,” she remarked thoughtfully. “There must have been women in your life.”
“Of course. I’m a vampire, not a eunuch, but those relationships never turned out well.”
“What do you mean?”
He considered lying but decided she deserved to know the truth. “I never trusted most of them enough to tell them what I was. When they started to care too much, or I did, I left.” He thought briefly of Mariana. She had fallen in love with him, had begged him to marry her, and when he refused, when he told her the truth in hopes of cooling her ardor, she had killed herself. Her death still weighed heavily on his conscience.
“Four hundred years is a long time to be alone,” Sky mused thoughtfully. “Is it because of what you are that you never married? That you never let yourself care too deeply for anyone?”
“Not entirely.” His gaze met hers, honest and direct. “It wasn’t easy, watching you grow up. Even saying it out loud sounds twisted, like I was some dirty old lecher lusting after a young girl. But it wasn’t like that. I wasn’t lusting after you, but I’m a healthy male and I couldn’t help noticing how pretty you were, couldn’t help wishing that I was a teenage boy so I could take you to a football game, or out for a Coke, or steal a kiss at the movies.”
“I had no idea.”
“It’s a good thing. Paddy would have had me arrested.”
“You already knew I had a crush on you.”
“Yeah. I sort of figured that out.”
“How? I never said or did anything about it.”
“Come on, Sky, I saw the way you watched me when I was out working in the yard. I heard you giggling with your girlfriends... .”
Sky stared at him, her cheeks burning with embarrassment as she recalled the afternoons she and Sally, who had been her best friend back then, used to sit on the porch and talk about him. “You heard that?”
Kaiden tapped his ear with his finger. “Preternatural hearing, remember?”
Mortified, she pressed her hands to her cheeks, then shook her head. “I don’t know what to say.”
He grinned at her. “Do you still think I’m as sexy as Rick Springfield?”
“I don’t know. Can you sing ‘Jessie’s Girl’?”
“Only in the shower,” Kaiden replied, and burst out laughing.
“Well, I think I’ll just be going now,” Sky muttered.
His hand closed over her wrist when she started to rise. “Come on, it was a long time ago. Besides, I was flattered.” His gaze moved over her, all laughter gone from his expression. “Why did you really come here today?”
“Don’t you know?”
“I guess I’m just an old romantic, but I want to hear you say it.”
“I’m in love with you. And it’s not a teenage crush this time. I love you and I don’t know what to do about it, about what you are. I don’t know how you feel about me... .”
He lifted one brow. “Come on, Sky Blue, you must know how I feel.”
“Is there any chance for us?”
“That’s up to you. I don’t want to hurt you. If you want to give us a try, I’m willing. If not, I’ll leave. Just tell me what you want.”
“You,” she said, her voice little more than a whisper. “I want you to make love to me. Here. Now.”
“Sky!” Rising, he swept her into his arms and carried her swiftly up the stairs.
They undressed each other with fevered hands, then fell onto the bed, locked in each other’s arms.
Thorne brushed his lips across her cheek. “Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?”