Page 36 of Bound By Blood

“Define many.”

“Zack.”

“I’ve killed a few, especially in the beginning, before I learned to control the hunger. I don’t know any vampire who hasn’t taken a life or two.”

Kaitlyn nodded. She didn’t know if her father had ever taken a life to sustain his own, but she knew he had killed at least two men. “Would you be mortal again, if you could?”

“Hell, no.”

“Have you ever been married?”

“No.”

“In love?”

Colette’s image flashed through Zack’s mind. “Once,” he admitted, “a long, long time ago. How about you, Katy?” he asked, his voice suddenly silky smooth. “You ever been in love?”

She shook her head, although it wasn’t entirely true, because she was in love with Zack. “Is it true you can’t have children?”

“Yeah.”

“Does that ever bother you?”

“Sure, but …” He made a vague gesture with his hand. “You’ve got to take the bad with the good.” He stared into the darkness. “I guess that’s something you’re looking forward to—marriage, motherhood, the whole nine yards.”

“It’s expected of me.”

“Expected?”

“Our women are only fertile for a short time each year.”

“Is that why your grandfather had so many wives?”

“Partly. Our women outnumber the men, so it’s not uncommon for Master Vampires to take more than one wife.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Zack muttered and then grinned. “Your grandfather must have been quite a stud.”

Kaitlyn huffed a sigh of annoyance. “Do you think you’d like to have twenty wives and hundreds of children?”

“Well, I don’t know about raising all those kids,” he said, waggling his eyebrows, “but the begetting part doesn’t sound so bad.”

She punched him on the shoulder. “Men! All you ever think about is sex.”

“Ow!”

“Serves you right.”

Laughing, Zack pulled her into his arms. “Katy, I don’t want anyone but you.”

She stared up at him. Did he mean it? “Zack …”

“I know, I’m moving too fast. So, what do you want me to do? Back off? Go away?”

“Just kiss me, you idiot.”

“You sweet talker,” he murmured.

She sighed as his lips claimed hers. Falling for Zack was bound to cause nothing but trouble, but somehow, that didn’t seem to matter, not when he was kissing her as if he would never let her go.

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