Page 25 of Her Vampire

“Where is this?” I ask as he takes my hand and we walk away from the strip, into a small clearing and then beyond to a cabin that rests on the beach.

It overlooks the ocean, the ocean that seems to stretch to infinity as my eyes roam to the skyline.

“A perfect place to watch the sunrise,” Torsten says, the heat suddenly flowing through him descrying his desire. “I wanted a special place to spend tonight with you. So I bought this island and had this cabin built. I hope you’ll find it accommodating.”

“It’s perfect,” I whisper, turning to him and finding an out-of-place look in his eyes. “Torsten, what is it?”

“I need to ask you something,” he says softly, his voice just a few notes above a carnal whisper, the ocean an unceasing backdrop and the stars so bright this far away from the city they blare down like a million winking diamonds. “The most important thing I’ve ever asked anyone, in all my long years, a question I would’ve thought absurd before I scented you in the autumn air.”

I feel tears threatening to prick my eyes.

The voice of the woman I was before I met Torsten – the scared woman, the self-conscious woman – tries to tell me that this couldn’t possibly be happening.

But it is.

Oh my God.

It is.

Torsten reaches into his pocket and takes out a ring box, falling to his knee in a fluid movement, and looking up at me with so much affection in his eyes I can’t hold the tears back any longer.

“I love you, Tammy,” he growls fiercely. “I love you more than I thought a night creature like me was capable of. I’ve spent so many years wondering if I’d ever feel again, feel like mortals feel, but that question was answered the second I laid my eyes on you. You’re strong, passionate, loyal, and fucking sexy on top of all of that. You’re talented, kind, and easily the best person I’ve ever met. I’ve lived a thousand years and I’ve never felt even a tenth of what I feel now, looking at you framed by moonlight. I love you. And I want to spend the rest of my mortal life with you. Tammy Holden, will you marry me?”

Tears blur my eyes as I stare down at him, my voice threatening to catch in my throat and become useless.

But then I find it.

Because I’m done being voiceless.

Torsten has shown me that.

“I love you, too,” I whisper. And then I say it louder, almost screaming it, pride blooming. “I love you. Oh, God, I know it’s crazy. But I know it’s fate. Freaking fate led us together.”

I stare at the ring, an elegant diamond set within a silver band.

And of course, there’s a little red jewel, a small note of character, an inside joke in the form of a precious gemstone.

“And yes,” I giggle, smearing the tears from my cheeks. “Did I say that yet? Yes, yes, all the yeses in the world, Torsten.”

Red shimmers through his cheeks as he reaches over and slides the ring onto my finger, and then he stands up, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me close to him with the unstoppable power of a vampire.

I feel the heat of his amulet, blazing, urgent.

“Are you ready?” he growls, kissing me softly and then harder, a savage thrum moving through both of us.

“I am,” I gasp, breaking off the kiss, clasping his pulsating face in my hands. “But are you? No matter what you say, Torsten, you’re giving up a lot for me. You’re giving up—”

“I’m gaining so much more,” he says with passion flaring beneath his words. “A life. A life I never dreamed I’d have. Perhaps a life I didn’t think I deserved. I love you, Tammy, and nothing in this world would make me want to choose the dark of the night over the light of our love.”

I blink away another wave of tears and lean up, kissing him softly, and then harder, sinking into the kiss as my body rages just as hotly as his.Chapter TwelveTorstenI guide her into the cabin, minimally but sleekly furnished. The entire space is open-plan, with a deluxe kitchen, a corner couch arranged in front of a crackling fire that rages and crackles after a little encouragement, a separate bathroom with heated floors and then the bed, the goddamn bed, the only thing I’m interested in as my hand roams over my fiancé’s body and down to that round, plump ass.

“Fuck,” I snarl, palming it as she bends over for me, knowing what I like, knowing how to please me just as I’ll spend every day for the rest of our mortal lives trying to please her.

I slide my hands over her pants and then push her down softly, spinning her onto her back. The lighting is soft and the sheets are blood-red silk, but I can’t help but let the surging feed pulse through me one final time as I pull down her pants and her panties in one savage stroke.

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