Page 13 of Stolen By the Vampire

“We are something… else,” he answered, guessing her question. Esmae bit back her discomfort at being read so easily. “What the curse took from me, he still has. Another form that gives him long life. I didn’t realize becoming a vampire would take it from me.”

If he was another species… that explained how he could have a fated mate. “And anyone else?” She tried to keep her tone light. “A… lover? Mate?”

“I’ve never had a female like that,” Silas said immediately.

She blinked, covering her surprise. “So you don’t have a mate?”

He hesitated. Hiding something? Now she wanted to know that much more. As well as why he hadn’t ever been with a woman before. Was he simply not interested? Every scalding look belied that theory.

“You could say I’m unattached for the moment,” was what the vampire eventually settled on.

“Do you want to be?” she asked, trying to figure out the layers of the answer.

His face split into a grin. “Eager to claim me for yourself?”

She choked on the piece of fruit she’d mistimed, sputtering.

Silas was across the table in an instant, gently pounding her back while placing his goblet in her hand. Wine, not water, she was relieved to find while she cleared her throat. He rubbed her back, and after a moment of not being able to breathe, she settled against it before her brain caught up.

She shifted her chair and after a beat, Silas took the hint and went back to his side of the table.

I’m just going to ignore that. “I was just wondering. I assumed any mate wouldn’t be happy about you kidnapping some other woman.”

“Mmm, let me worry about my mate.” Not denying he had one? “I’d much rather learn about you, Esmae. Tell me, do you have a lover?”

He asked the words in a bored, uncaring way. His eyes said he felt any way but that.

“I don’t see why I should answer that.”

“I could make you,” Silas drawled.

She bit her cheek hard enough to sting. “I hate when you do that. Tell you what, I’ll answer your questions if you answer mine.” If his interest in her was her only leverage, she’d use it.

“A bargain?”

“What’s good for the gander is good for the goose. You claimed my blood for spilling yours.” His gaze immediately dropped to her neck, and she regretted bringing it up. Her pulse sped as she remembered exactly how his bite felt. “I’ll give you answers if you do the same.”

“Deal.” Not a trace of hesitation. She’d half-expected him to refuse and use his thrall to drag the information from her. It was utterly violating. But perhaps he preferred if she was willing. “Do you have a lover?”

“What do you plan to use that information for?”

Silas grinned, but it was cold. “Answer my question first.”

She forced her voice to stay steady. “I don’t have one. Why did you want to know?”

“Because if you did, I was going to kill him. Don’t look so surprised,” he chastised her, unruffled by her horrified look. “I’ve told you I’m territorial about what’s mine.”

“I’m not yours!”

“I say you are. But I’d agree, you’re not as much mine as you will be by the end of the night.”

“The end of the night?”

“When you’re in my bed.”

She jerked back and stood. “You’re unbelievable!”

He grinned. “We’ll see. Now, sit, and we can keep playing your game. Or we can play one of mine.”

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