Page 4 of Always Eros
“But he does want you in his bed,” Leander adds. “You are also welcome in ours.”
My body suddenly heats with the knowledge and blatant offer of carnal pleasure. These men make love to each other and offer me the same. What would it even be like?
“How do you avoid the damnation of society?”
“Simple,” Yves says. “We are only part of society to the extent we wish to be. We move around often, affording us a healthy anonymity. Obviously, if you were to say yes, we would leave England.”
“Where would we go?”
“Anywhere you will not be recognized. We’ll only return when it wouldn’t be reasonable for anyone to think it’s you. Fifty years, a hundred. Who knows.”
“A hundred years? How long do you plan to live?”
Yves cups my chin with his hand as he smiles. “For eternity, Henry. I can give that to you. If you accept, you will always be as young and beautiful as you are now. You will never fear a deadly disease again. You will remain strong and healthy and we will walk this earth together.”
“Immortality? That’s… impossible.”
“Is it? Alessio was born in 1471.”
I blink rapidly, trying to make sense of that as I gaze at the handsome young man.
“I was born in 1511,” Leander says.
“But it’s… Seventeen…” My words trail off in disbelief.
“And I am older than both of my brothers,” Yves says.
He exhales slowly, and I watch in awe as his skin grows pale and his eyes glow bright green with a red ring around the irises. As he parts his lips, sharp white fangs come into view. But I do not fear him. I am drawn closer.
“Vampire,” I whisper. “The folk stories are true.”
Yves smiles. “Indeed they are. So, fair Henry, you have a choice to make. If you wish, I will release you and return you to the palace where you can resume your royal life.”
I let that sit with me for a moment. I should want it, desperately, yet I need to hear the second option.
“Or you can choose to stay with us and embrace a new life. One with untold possibilities. You will be loved, Henry, but you will not be royal. We are not your subjects. You will be equal to us.” He puts his hand on my chest. “Search your heart, Henry. We will be in the sitting room awaiting your decision.”
Watching the three men leave the room stirs something foreign inside me. Something yearning and hungry, as if I want to chase after them. Perhaps I’m already dead and this is all just a remnant fever dream. Vampires are not real, much less an immortal life. It cannot be true.
But what if it is? What if I say yes?
I’ve already lived the life expected of a royal prince and it left me a widower and on my deathbed. What if I stepped into this new, unbelievable reality? My family already believes me dead. They’ll bury my memory and carry on. My parents are strong. They still have my younger brother.
Is it selfish and cruel to let them believe I have died? Is it crueler than the disease that brought me to this crossroads? Do I return to a life of decorum and duty where I’ll be forced to find a new wife while I still mourn the dead one, or trade it for one of forbidden desire and unnatural existence?
My legs seem to carry me on their own from the bed, through the room, and into the sitting room where the three men sit in their English finery sipping glasses of red liquid. I have a feeling it isn’t wine.
Yves stands, his expression both curious and hopeful. “You have made a decision?”
I nod, slightly disbelieving the words flowing easily from my lips. “I choose to stay.”
Yves smiles as Alessio and Leander stand as well. “We are so pleased, Henry,” Yves says. “Come sit with us.”
Taking my hand, Yves leads me to the couch where the three men sit around me. “How will you handle my family?”
“Shh,” Yves says, stroking my hair. “Do not worry, sweet prince. I will take care of everything from now on.”
He bares his fangs and a shiver runs down my spine. I grip his arms, both fearful and aroused. “Will it hurt?”