"He has a name now?"

"Yes. He's also a very attentive lover, and a devoted father." I liked Pierre less and less, and enjoyed the banter more and more.

"You have children?"

"Two."

"Risky."

"Why?"

"If they aren't like you, you must send them away."

"Another rule?"

"Yes," I said, remembering my mother's pain. It all had occurred so long ago. Yet it seemed in many ways to have happened just yesterday. "So that they can live with others like them. So they may have a normal life."

"Ren?"

"Hmm?" For a moment I'd gotten lost in the memories.

"n.o.body has a normal life. It's a myth."

"Like vampires are myths?" I said hesitantly, trying to gauge her reaction.

"I'm a vampire now?"

"Immortal," I clarified, not that she would understand the difference between those that

are immortal and those that have crossed the line.

"Do I have to drink blood, sleep in a coffin-?"

"You don't have to drink blood. You can eat regular food, and sleep in a regular bed.

Only the warped vampires traipse around biting people and draining their blood, Violet."

"Right. Sunlight?"

"It's a problem. The older you get, the more powerful, the easier you can tolerate it."

"I'm still saying I'd go for it and break the rules. I marry Pierre, keep the kids and live to

a ripe old age with no regrets!" she concluded, quite pleased with herself.

"You'd break the rules," I repeated.

"Yeah, why not?"

Why not, indeed? My father had broken the rules. I was here, after all. My parents died when I was still young, and Fred had essentially raised me. She certainly broke the rules. She didn't seem to regret it, either. Not one bit. Although she never had children, never had to face the pain of giving them up.

"Have you no respect for rules?"

"Are you asking Vampire me? Cause I hear vampires are pretty morally flexible, being evil and soulless and all."

"You're not evil and soulless. You're just...different."

"With stupid rules that make no sense. Okay, I have one now. You're stuck on an island for three whole days with a moderately attractive woman who finds you interesting and would like to get to know you better. Do you pretend you've already eaten, and make her dine alone in the guest room, or do you do the polite thing and have dinner with her?"

"How big are her t.i.ts?" I asked.

I saw it coming. I probably saw it coming before she even realized she was going to do it. Immortals are like that, especially those of us that have been around for a long time, we antic.i.p.ate, and we defend. She grasped the throw pillow and swung it towards my head in a wide arch. Long before it could connect, I had her wrist grasped firmly in my hand and her arm held up over her head. My body was hovering over the length of hers and the rumble of a low growl was still emanating from my chest. She glanced down and then back up, searchingly into my eyes. And, that's when I made the biggest mistake of my three hundred and seventy-nine years. I kissed her.

I kissed her, and in that moment nothing else mattered. I wasn't thinking about next year, or next month, or even the next minute. All I was thinking about was how incredibly good she felt beneath me. Her lips were soft and sweet and willing. No, wanting. I wasn't tender. I wasn't careful. And I wasn't holding back. Not anymore, and maybe never again.

As my tongue entered her mouth, I felt her arch up, her b.r.e.a.s.t.s coming into contact with my chest. I had never tasted anything so exquisite. Stroking, exploring, over and over. All that existed was her-this moment. I wanted it to last forever. Then I realized, with an almost blinding clarity, that I didn't want to last forever without it.

"Ouch!" she cried out.

I was off her and halfway across the room in a flash.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"For what?"

"For hurting you."

"You didn't hurt me. I was moving my leg and I kicked the side of the chaise with my

foot." She smiled at me coyly and added, "You could kiss it and make it better."

"We kissed."

"I kind of noticed. I was the one on the bottom. It happened right here, as a matter of

fact."

"It wasn't supposed to!"

"How do you know? Maybe it was fate? Face it, you're powerless against me," she

teased, her fingers playing provocatively with the top b.u.t.ton of the shirt that she was

wearing.

"I don't believe in fate. I'm going to reheat your dinner. We'll eat and then we'll... do something else."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. What do you feel like doing? We could read aloud to one another, or play poker on line or-"

"How about spin the bottle?"

"No kissing."

"It felt good," she sighed, sounding almost wistful.

And she was right. It had felt good, sinfully good. "Yes, it did," I admitted.

"Come here," she crooked her finder, beckoning me closer.

I closed my eyes in an effort to regain control. "No. It's too-"

"Never mind." She frowned. I could tell that I had wounded her, and I felt a pang of guilt.

"It would be my honor to have dinner with you, Violet. Let me take this back." I said,

picking up the tray. "I'll set the table, heat everything up, then come back for you. We'll eat in the dining room."

"Thank you. Ren?"

"Yes, Violet?"

"It was a really nice kiss."

I couldn't help myself. Against my better judgment, I found myself leaning down and

brushing my lips across hers. "Best kiss I've ever had," I murmured. "I'll remember it forever."

"You're impossible," she whispered.

"You're irresistible," I replied, my voice rough from pa.s.sion. "You make me want to forget..."

"I'm feeling..."

"Strangely aroused? Almost like it's beyond your control?"

"Yes!"

"Me, too," I admitted. I was hard again, and all I could think about was what it would feel

like to be inside of her. "But it's not beyond our control. We just have to..."

"Resist? What if I don't want to? It's perfectly natural, Ren. After all," she began, teasing my bottom lip with her tongue. "You're a man... I'm a woman."

I opened my mouth to her, and let her slide her tongue inside. She took full advantage,

searching, seeking, wanting, needing.

If I didn't end this now...I wouldn't be able to end it at all. I pulled back, aching from