4. Scandalously short

4

SCANDALOUSLY SHORT

S hould holding hands with the guy I'm engaged to make me nervous? Because it does .

I try to consider the emotions and the butterflies. It's not like this is the first time Damek has held my hand—he's kissed me before. But this is the first time we've done anything intimate since we got ‘engaged.'

It's still weird to call Damek my fiancé, and even weirder to be engaged without having anybody ask to marry me.

Succubi love big, showy engagements. Usually, when a succubus is getting engaged, there is a party involved, with lots of people coming to watch it happen. I've never liked the idea of having a party like that—it ruins the surprise. But I do want to be asked. I want a guy that I love to get down on one knee a propose marriage. I want a ring… something I don't have. Vampires aren't big on engagement rings. They typically only wear them after marriage.

"Are you cold?" Damek asks as he opens the passenger side door of his car for me.

I shake my head. "No. It's nice tonight."

As a hybrid, I feel the temperatures—most vampires don't. It's inconvenient considering my father's clan lives where it gets very cold in the winter and we are up at night. I don't even have the sun to help warm me. When I first came, it was the middle of winter and it was cold. Now that spring has come, it's not quite as cold at night.

When Damek starts the car, I see that the temperature is forty-seven. Maybe it is still cold, but I've gotten used to it. Or maybe forty-seven doesn't seem that cold considering it was single digits when I first came.

"Have you talked to your grandpa since he left?" Damek asks as he drives the car toward town.

"Uh, no. He doesn't talk to me hardly ever. I was surprised when he came with my mom." I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. "Though, I shouldn't be surprised. Succubi and incubi make a big deal out of engagement and marriage. There are always celebrations leading up to the wedding. And I am the first of my cousins to get married."

"None of your other cousins are married?" He sounds surprised.

"No. But I'm one of the oldest. My uncle has a son who is a few months older than me." I turn in my seat so that I can face him. "He's been dating a girl for a couple of years, but I imagine he won't get engaged for a while yet. The rest of my cousins aren't mature enough for marriage yet."

Damek frowns. "It's strange that succubi and incubi date for so long before getting engaged. Vampires are typically together for a couple of months before getting married."

That is why our having a six-month engagement is such a big deal. Scandalously short for a succubus and long for a vampire.

"I think six months is a good amount of time," I say in hopes that Damek feels the same.

Damek grins, his eyes meeting mine for a second before he looks back at the road. "Yes, I agree. Six months is perfect for us."

With his right hand, he reaches across the center console. He holds my hand, lacing our fingers together. This time, it doesn't feel as uncomfortable.

Since the moment I met Damek, he's made me very comfortable. We've never had to fumble through awkward conversations, so I'm not sure why I thought it would be weird now that we're engaged.

I think back to all the days we stayed up late, talking on the phone. We never seemed to run out of things to say.

"What are we going to do about our moms?" I relax into the seat, getting more comfortable.

"Let them fight it out," Damek suggests.

I laugh, shaking my head. "It was horrible. They were fighting over colors—your mom wants red and my mom wants pink."

"Pink is your favorite color," he says.

My eyes widen in surprise. "How do you know?"

"You told me once, but it's also obvious. You always wear pink." He shrugs like it's not a big deal. But it is a big deal. I'm not sure that I know what his favorite color is.

"You're right. But I don't want our wedding to be pink."

"Red is tradition for vampires, which is probably why my mother mentioned it. But we don't have to follow tradition—we wouldn't even be the first to break tradition. In the last ten years or so, vampires have strayed from tradition," he says. "So we can do whatever you want."

"What do you want?" I ask.

He shrugs. "Pink is fine. Red is fine. I don't care."

"I wish you would care." I sigh. "I don't want our moms fighting over our wedding. I was so excited about wedding planning. I was hoping that Eden and Mom could get to know one another."

Damek lifts an eyebrow. "You think they'll get along."

"I don't know. Maybe." I chew on my lip, wondering if I am insane. How could they ever possibly get along? But it would make my life better. I want both of them to be part of my life. And if we don't get over the awkwardness, every single life event that we celebrate will continue to be awkward. "They are going to spend a lot of time together."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, our wedding is just the beginning. There are holidays and our children's birthdays…" my voice trails off as I realize I've mentioned our future children. Will that scare him off?

We are engaged, but it's not like this is a typical engagement. This was thrust on him just as much as it was me. Neither of us had a choice.

"We haven't discussed children yet in our long phone conversations." Damek stays relaxed, not at all bothered by the mention of children. "How many children do you want?"

I take a deep breath and slowly exhale. "I don't know. I do know that it's lonely to be an only child and meeting Julien is one of the best things that's ever happened to me. He's annoying, but I love him. So I definitely want more than one."

He grins. "By law, we have to have at least two—an heir and a spare."

"How many children do you want?" I ask.

"I don't know. I guess that is something we can decide together when the time comes," he says.

I like the sound of that.

But this conversation makes me realize… Damek and I may have had a lot of late morning phone conversations, but we still have a lot to talk about when it comes to the logistics of being married.

Damek pulls the vehicle into a restaurant. He squeezes my hand before letting it go.

"Will you wait here and let me open the door for you?" he asks.

I nod. "Yeah."

He grins, revealing dimples, and then he gets out of the car. My heart pounds faster as he makes his way around the vehicle.

The more I get to know Damek, the more I like him. He's sweet and gentle, but he's also protective of me. He's exactly the kind of guy that I said I wanted to find, but I never thought I'd be able to.

He doesn't look down on me for my hybrid blood.

The door opens and Damek holds out a hand to help me out. I accept his hand, putting mine in his. He helps me from the car and leads me inside the restaurant. He gives the hostess our name and we're led to a table at the back of the restaurant. We're seated by a large window that overlooks a lake.

"It's beautiful," I say, looking at the view.

"I knew you'd like it." Damek glances from the window toward me. "You can get here from the Rune estate by boat. We come here a lot in the summer months."

I raise an eyebrow. "But vampires don't feel the cold. Why not use a boat all year round?"

"Less conspicuous." He shrugs. "While some humans know about us, we try not to make it obvious. The less humans know about us, the better."

Ah, of course he's right. "Summer is better for me anyway. I don't think I could stand riding in a boat when it's this cold. But I do look forward to summer. Maybe we can come back then."

"I would like that." He grins at me and then glances at his menu.

Once we order our drinks and food, I look at Damek and try to imagine our future together. I can picture us coming here in the summer months on his boat. A future with Damek doesn't scare me like I thought it would. Instead, I find myself looking forward to the memories we're going to make.

"What are you thinking?" Damek asks.

My cheeks grow warm. "Just about the future and what it could look like."

"And what does the future look like?"

I shrug one shoulder. "Not so bad, especially if our mothers learn to get along."

He chuckles. "My mother is stubborn, but I know her. Once she gets to know you, she will love you. I know she made a bad first impression, but I promise she won't always be like that."

It's hard to imagine Queen Rune ‘loving' anybody. Well, except her family. I've seen how sweet she can be to her husband and sons. And even though Damek isn't her son by blood, she treats him as such.

Maybe once she gets to know me, she will consider me family too. But I somehow doubt it, especially since the only time Queen Rune deems to look at me, it's always through narrowed eyes or an upturned nose. I'm certain my mother didn't help the situation either.

Still, I will try. For Damek's sake, as well as my own. I don't want to be miserable and his mother, as queen of the Rune clan, has the ability to make my life very miserable.

I have learned that she is queen in name only—a consort to King Rune. She doesn't get to make any decisions and even her son, Duncan, isn't considered a spare. He's a prince in name only. And it's not just because she was his second wife, but it's mostly because she was human before they married. Her blood is considered weaker. I've even heard Kaine talk about how turned vampires are weaker, but from what I've witnessed, that's not true.

"I still can't believe you agreed to marry me." Damek plays with the straw of his drink. "Your dad showed my dad all the alliance requests that he had and some of the clans offered a lot more than we did."

I can't hold back my grin. "Oh, well, it was a close call between you and Prince Caedmon."

Damek chuckles, knowing that I'm joking.

"As far as choices went, there wasn't any. There is no competition, Damek. You were it from the moment I met you, even if I didn't realize it then." My cheeks grow warm at my admission. I'm not usually so bold, but I do want Damek to know where I stand.

"That's good." He sits up straighter. "I was disappointed when we met because I knew that we were there for my younger brother. I had never felt like that before. At first, I thought maybe I was drawn to you because you're a succubus, but it is so much more than that. I feel like it was fate for us to meet."

"Yeah, it would've been super awkward if I had gone out with your brother before I met you," I tease.

"You're the only girl I would consider fighting him for," he says in a serious tone. "I really like you, Maddie. I hope you know that. This engagement isn't something that was forced on me. I chose you."

My smile grows into something softer and my body relaxes. "I am glad because I feel the same way about you. I may have chosen to get to know you a little better first, but I am glad that it's you."

After dinner, Damek and I take a walk along a path behind the restaurant. There is a dock with boats tied to it and we walk to the end of it. I could imagine that this place is nice in the summer months and it makes me excited for the future that Damek was talking about.

I don't dread marrying him like I thought I would, but I'm not sure what that means. Not wanting to consider it, I push the thought aside for later.

Damek holds my hand as we stand at the edge of the dock and when I glance over at him, I see that he's watching me. I start to say something when he takes a step closer to me. Every coherent thought is gone as he leans closer.

We've kissed before, there is nothing new about it, but somehow it feels different tonight. His lips are soft and warm, never pushing too much or asking too much. The kiss makes my stomach knot up and my head spin. Damek puts one hand on the small of my back and his touch feels so warm. I scoot closer to him, stealing his warmth.

My heart pounds embarrassingly fast, but I can hear that Damek's is beating just as fast as mine. I wonder how this kiss makes him feel—is he just as enamored with me? Does he get butterflies? When Damek pulls back, his brown eyes are glowing. I lean into him, letting him take the bulk of my weight. He doesn't say anything, he just wraps an arm around me and tucks my head beneath his chin.

This is bliss. For some reason, I don't completely dread our life together. Damek is the kind of guy I always pictured myself with. He's the kind of guy I thought I'd never meet. I never realized that what I needed was a political engagement.

I think back to conversations I had with my mom—she wanted me to put myself out there and date. When she would mention trying to date a vampire, I would get so mad at her. But now, I can't remember why I was mad at her. She was right. I did need to try dating a vampire.

We stay like that for a long time, just enjoying one another's company. When it's time to leave, I'm a little disappointed that the night is already over. I want to spend more time with Damek and get to know him better.

As if reading my mind, Damek says, "We will do this again soon. I want to make us a priority."

"I would like that."

He opens the passenger side door for me. Before I can get in, he grabs my hand to stop me. I look up at him and he bends down to give me the softest of kisses.

"Sorry, I just had to," he says.

I grin. "Had to?"

"Don't you ever just have to do something?" His thumb gently caresses my cheek. "With you, I can't help myself."

"I don't mind." I chew on my bottom lip. "I encourage it."

His smile widens, revealing his dimples. "I should get you home before Julien complains that you're late for curfew."