Page 31 of Shadows of Eternity

Rising, Rohan bent down and brushed a kiss across the top of her head. “Think carefully about what’s been said, Princess. Because if you decide you want to share your life with me, I’ll go anywhere you want to go, do anything you want to do. But know this, once you’re mine, I’ll never let you go.”

Chapter Thirteen

In the morning, Leia woke feeling tired, lost, and confused. As she replayed her conversation with Rohan from the night before, it all seemed like a fever dream. In the early light of a new day, talk of vampires seemed ludicrous.

Rolling onto her side, she gazed out the window. The sky was a bright, clear blue. Birds were singing in the trees. She heard the laughter of the teenage girls who lived in the next apartment, the faint sound of a piano coming from the apartment on the other side, the barking of a dog. All the normal sounds of life. Of summer.

But there was nothing normal about Rohan. He was a three-hundred-year-old vampire. It was inconceivable and yet it was true. What was she going to do? Did she want to spend her life with a vampire? A man who would never grow old? Was love a strong enough foundation to build a life on when they were so different? Would those differences eventually tear then apart? How would he feel about her when she was old and gray and he was still young and virile and as sexy as hell? Would he grow tired of her? All the myths said vampires couldn’t reproduce. Did she want to be childless her whole life? Sure, they could adopt a baby, but she wanted to bear the child of the man she loved.

She knew he fed on people and that he’d eventually learned to feed without killing. Lordy, if he fed once a night … Good grief,it would amount to thousands of people! And how many had he killed before he learned it wasn’t necessary?

Feeling a tension headache coming on, Leia forced herself to get out of bed. Pulling on her bathrobe, she headed into the kitchen for aspirin and coffee. She needed a distraction, she thought, and reaching for the phone, she called Janae. “Hey, girlfriend, what are you doing today?”

“I’m supposed to take the kids to the zoo. Do you want to come along?”

She didn’t, not really, but she agreed to go anyway.

“We’re leaving in an hour, maybe,” Janae said. “Can you be ready?”

“Sure.”

“Okay, I’ll give you a honk when we’re out front.”

“I haven’t been to the zoo in ages,” Leia remarked as they bought their tickets and went through the turnstile.

“I bring the kids once or twice every summer,” Janae said, “even though it wears me out.”

Leia grinned at the boys. They were well-mannered, well-behaved kids, a little shy, which meant they didn’t often run off and get into trouble.

“How are things with Mr. Sexy?” Janae asked.

Leia sighed. “Not so good. He left for Arizona this morning.”

“Oh?” There was a wealth of unasked questions in that simple word.

“The dance troupe is performing at a pow wow there for a few days.”

“Ah. Did he ask you to go with him?”

“He asked me to think about it, but I decided against it. We’ve come to a crossroads in our relationship.”

“I see.”

Leia shook her head. “No, you don’t, and I can’t explain it to you.”

“Hey, this is me, your best friend. You can tell me anything.”

“Not this, although I’m dying to tell someone.”

They stopped in front of the giraffe exhibit, which housed close to a dozen of the critters of various sizes. Janae bought some lettuce and they lifted the boys up so they could feed the animals. Mike let out a startled wail when a long, black tongue plucked the lettuce from his hand, and then he laughed. “It tickles!”

Up and down the hills they went. “Lions, and tigers, and bears, oh my,” Leia muttered as they stopped to rest in front of a lion’s cage. Close up, the beasts looked huge. The female paced back and forth while the male slept on a rock at the top of the enclosure.

At noon, they stopped for lunch and were lucky enough to find a table in the shade.

“Leia, what you’re not telling me is driving me crazy,” Janae said, wiping ketchup from Mike’s mouth.

“Maybe when we get home,” Leia said. “Where there are no little ears to hear.”

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