8. Archie

The moment my fangs pierce her flesh, time stands still. I become acutely aware of every sound. The faint sound of the air-conditioning keeping the place cool. The rustling sheets as Janet arches her hips up, taking my cock deeper inside her. Her heart pounds double-time as I drink from her. And the best sound of all—her moans of ecstasy as I pleasure her with my cock and my fangs.

I slide out of her and then sink into her heat, pressing her into the soft mattress. She wiggles her hips beneath me, trying to urge me to fuck her, but I need to take things slowly. This is her first time, and I vow to make it good for her.

I focus on sipping her blood, so I don't take too much, and so I can prolong the pleasure I give her as I drink from her. Janet clenches around me, and I lift my head, removing my fangs.

Her metallic taste is still on my tongue, and I know I'm never going to be able to let her go. I thought I was ready to die, but Janet has shown me I'm just beginning to live.

"Please, Archie," she begs. "I need more."

I groan and start to move inside her, watching the pleasure on her face.

She wriggles against me, urging me on.

I try to keep my speed human-slow, letting her get used to the size of me. I can't believe I'm her first. That I'm the only man who's ever been inside this woman. That I am lucky enough to make her mine.

I run my fingers down her chest, over her breasts and her belly, and across her still sensitive clit.

"Archie," she groans, and I grin, showing her my fangs.

There's no fear in her eyes at the sight. Only desire.

"You feel so good," she moans.

"You feel better." Which has to be true, because this moment, right here, is the best I've felt in my very long existence by far. So good I can't imagine anything better.

I grasp Janet's hips, lifting them off the bed, so I can thrust deeper. I pick up the pace as she urges me on. She moans and arches against me. The pleasure builds in me, and I can't stop. I'm gripping her so hard, I'm probably leaving marks, but her moans of pleasure tell me she's loving every moment.

I hold on, wanting her to reach her pleasure first. I slip my hand between us again and run my thumb along her clit. She tightens around me, and I do it again, and again. When she screams, shuddering and squeezing me with her orgasm, I let myself go, joining her in bliss.

I wait for her to catch her breath. Then I lie on top of her, still half in her, and she strokes my hair.

"I wasn't too bad?" she asks. "For a first timer?"

"Too bad?" I take her face in my hands and meet her eyes. "You were amazing, my beautiful queen. I want to take you like that every day for the rest of our lives."

She blinks at me. "Really?"

"Really," I say, settling beside her and taking her in my arms. "I know we just met. And I know this is too soon…" I trail off as I try to find a way to put the glow in my chest into words. "Janet, until I met you, I thought soulmates were poppycock."

"Poppycock?" Janet's gaze drops down between my legs, and I feel myself growing hard again.

"Balderdash," I say.

"What?" Janet stares at me blankly.

"Poppycock means balderdash." I struggle to think of a more modern saying. "Nonsense."

"Oh…" she whispers.

"I thought authors made soulmates up, same as how they made up vampires needing to be invited in and not having a soul. At least, I assume we have a soul." I pull her closer. "We're definitely not cursed, just a different species than humans. But that's not what I was trying to say."

"It's not?"

"No." I shake my head. "I was trying to say that somehow, between the moment when you appeared on my front porch and this moment right here, I've fallen in love with you."

"Love?" she whispers, eyes wide.

I meet her eyes again and press my hand to her breastbone just over her heart. "You feel it too, don't you?" I ask. "That we were meant for one another."

"Soulmates…" she whispers.

I nuzzle her neck, resisting the urge to bite. "Exactly."

"I never thought I'd fall in love," she says quietly. "I didn't think there was a man out there for me."

I smile, flashing a fang. "No, not a man. A vampire."

She nods, eyes unfocused. I almost think she's fallen asleep, despite her somewhat uneven breathing and elevated heart rate, when she whispers, "I love you, too."

"You don't have to say it back if you're not ready. I'm willing to wait. As long as it takes. I'm immortal…" And that longing to walk into the sun and end my endless existence is completely gone. There's only one desire left—to stay by Janet's side for all eternity.

"I didn't know it could happen so fast," she says. Then, as if reading my mind, she adds, "But I can't imagine ever leaving your side."

I cover her lips with mine and pull her in for a luxurious kiss. I don't intend to take things further, but I'm already hard. I grab Janet's hips, but she pulls back.

"Archie… you'll live so much longer than me… I must be like a blip in your long life."

I sit up, ignoring our nakedness and the scent of our love-making. "I love you, Janet, and I want to be with you forever."

"Forever?" she asks, nibbling on her lip. "Do you mean I could… become a vampire?"

I nod.

"I don't know," she says. "I need my job to pay the bills, and I can't do it if I need to avoid the sun, and…"

"I've amassed some wealth in my long life. You wouldn't need to work, not unless you wanted to."

She nods. "What about Page? And my family? I see my aunt and cousins at Christmas, and I keep in touch with a few friends from library school. If I just disappeared…"

"You won't have to disappear. The cat can come with us, and you can still see your family, for a while at least." I take her hands in mine. "Let's make a life together."

A frown etches itself across her forehead as she thinks, and a heavy weight settles in the pit of my stomach. I need to say something, anything, to tip the scale and convince her to be mine.

"Food tastes better as a vampire," I blurt. "And sex feels more amazing as a vampire." I rack my brain for something else.

"Archie, I'm not going to turn into a vampire for the food and sex."

My heart sinks.

"I'm going to do it for you."

"Do you mean…?"

She nods. "Yes, Archie. Let's do it."

I pull her into a tight hug—but not too tight, since I'm acutely aware that she's still human. Though not for long. "I love you, my queen."

"I love you, too, Archie," she says, and pulls me to her for a kiss.