Page 61 of Thorn Evermore

“What?”

“Immortal. Creature of the night, bloodsucker, we have many terms.”

“A vampire?”

“Yes.” He leans back a bit. “I was born in 1747 in Athens, Greece. My name at that time was Nestor Andreas Panos. My parents settled in London, England shortly after I was born.”

“1747?”

“I was a young man when the call of adventure urged me to go to the New World and settle in the Americas. I followed a cousin.”

I recall the previous conversation. “Cousin…” I whisper.

“I had no idea what I would find there, but I’ve always been a jump first look later kind of man. I found the colonies to be dull. So damn dull. I made my own fun in Boston, but I was wearing out my welcome there.”

Am I hearing this correctly? “I… what?”

“It was the night of the infamous Boston Tea Party, as it’s come to be called, and I was once again in trouble.” A nostalgic smile flirts on his lips. “I was being chased by someof the townspeople, and then out of nowhere, I felt a tug on my arm. It was Yves.”

My head swirls with thoughts. “Okay.”

“He pulled me into the safety of his home and covered for me. He wasn’t alone. He had already found Syn, Midnight, Eros, and Raphael. I couldn’t believe such beautiful men lived and loved together. It was a scandalous thought at that time, but I longed to be part of it. I sensed I could truly be free with them. Yves knew what was in my heart and offered his gift to me. He asked me to join his family, and I said yes.”

I blink rapidly as his story rings in my ears. The logical part of my brain is telling me this is nonsense, but my heart completely believes it.

“Yves is a vampire?”

“Yves isthevampire. He’s descended from the original, and to our knowledge the others in his first coven no longer exist.”

“There’s an original vampire?”

“Everything comes from something. He’s long dead.”

I swallow around the dryness in my mouth. “Can you… can you prove it? My heart believes you, but my brain…”

“I understand. It’s a strange thing to learn that the stories we thought existed only in books and movies are quite real. Give me a moment.”

He stands, turning his back to me and twisting his neck back and forth. When he faces me again, I gasp, and if I were standing, I’m pretty sure my knees would buckle.

His skin is paler, his eyes shining gemstones like topaz, and if that weren’t enough, he parts his lips to reveal the whitest, sharpest fangs I’ve ever seen, even in a movie. He lifts his hands to show off the talon-like nails now gracing his fingertips.

I should probably be afraid, but my swelling cock and the warmth spreading through me suggest otherwise. This is my fantasy come true. Vampires are real!

“I won’t hurt you,” Thorn says, his voice huskier than normal.

“I know.” I huff a laugh. “I don’t know how I know that, but I do.”

“It’s because youknowme on a level neither of us realized until now. I will be honest, Kyson, because I can never tell you a lie. I didn’t want to find love. I didn’t hope for a fated mate. I thought it would stifle me and hold me down too much. I cannot be a caged bird.”

“Oh.”

“But all those thoughts were wrong. They were invented in my mind. Nothing could have prepared me for what it actually feels like. I would happily step into a cage and hand you the key if that was what you desired.”

My eyes well with tears. “This is real? You and me… real?”

“So real.” He moves toward me in a flash. “I am so sorry you felt hurt when you woke up today. I spent hours trying to decide the best way to tell you what we are to each other. I was outside your job pacing when I felt that surge of discomfort. If he had harmed you, that building wouldn’t be standing anymore.”

“You mean that, don’t you? You meant it when you offered to kill him for me? I didn’t imagine that, did I?”