21. Epilogue

Maisie

“Oh, I like this one!” I skid to a stop next to a coffin with a reddish-pink hue to the wood. The inside is lined with soft, cream-colored silk, and it’s probably out of our price range, but I instantly fall in love with it.

Barnaby hums, stopping next to me to examine it. He smooths his hand over the lining, squishing the padding.

“This would be comfortable enough,” he says. “What do you think?”

“I should try it out first.” I wave over the salesman, an unfortunately average human who has no idea why we’re here. “Excuse me, can I please get into this one?”

He stares at me. “Get... into it?”

“Yeah, I want to see how comfy it is. ”

His eyes widen, and he glances between Barnaby and me. The nearest funeral home is outside of Hallow’s Cove, so we had to make a little trek to a human-occupied town to shop for my new coffin.

“Sure, I guess so,” the salesman says.

He watches with concern as I climb into the coffin, then slide down so I’m fitted neatly in the silk padding. I close my eyes and let myself relax into it, imagining myself sleeping here every night.

“I need a pillow,” I tell Barnaby, cracking one eye open.

He nods. “We’ll get you a nice one.”

When I’m finished, I climb back out. “This one’s good,” I say. “Comfortable, cozy, and pretty to look at.”

The salesman’s mouth falls open as I pat the lid.

“How much?” I ask, but just as he’s about to reply, Barnaby holds up a hand to stop him.

“It doesn’t matter. I have the funds. I want you to be happy with your choice, Maisie.”

I stand up on my toes to kiss his cheek. “Thank you, love.”

The salesman rings us up and promises to call when my coffin is ready. People don’t usually take theirs home with them, but he agrees to it anyway. We’ll come back in a few weeks with Barnaby’s Wagoneer to pick it up.

I’m nearly bursting with excitement as we drive home to Hallow’s Cove. Barnaby is going to turn me soon, and though there are things I’ll miss—mostly coffee, pie, and potato chips—it’ll all be worth it in the end if it means I can spend centuries, maybe even millennia with my husband .

I shiver all over. It’s still new, but every time I think about it, it makes me even more excited for our life together. Barnaby is mine and I’m his, and soon we’ll seal it with our blood.

Still, as much as I love him, I make sure to take time for myself. Sometimes on the weekends I carry the latest book Barnaby’s gotten in stock up the mountain, and find a nice place to sit at the very top of Twilight Peak while I read. The view is phenomenal from up here, and sometimes I pause just to eat an apple and look out over Hallow’s Cove—my home.

One night, as we curl up together in front of the fire with me on his lap, Barnaby brings out a new book I haven’t seen before. It’s a modern book, which is very unlike him.

“I thought this might help,” he says as he holds it up in front of me. The title reads: Beginning Your Life as a Vampire . “I never had anything like this when I was turned, but I thought it might help you prepare. Those first few years are tough, and even though I’ll be here to support you, this might give you some additional tools to make the transition easier.”

I sweep the book up into my hands, marveling at the thoughtfulness of it.

“Thank you.” I kiss his cheek and rub my nose against him. “Thank you so much.”

Barnaby

It is, as I expected, a difficult ordeal to turn Maisie. If I hadn’t checked in with her many times over the last year, I would still be unsure of whether it was the right decision—but even after the thirteen-month probation period I suggested when we first married, she’s intent on her goal and I have no reason not to help her achieve it.

Besides, I have my own selfish incentives. I love her with all my heart, body, and soul, and I never want to say goodbye to her. Now we can spend forever together, and I expect we’ll discover even more new and interesting ways to express our feelings over time. I have some ideas that involve hot wax.

It’s frightening to nearly drain Maisie dry, and it makes me as swollen as a mosquito. When she’s just barely clinging to life, her face pale and her breaths shallow, I bite into my wrist and feed her. Gladly she drinks of me, which is its own kind of erotic.

And then, she dies.

Horror descends on me as Maisie’s pulse stops and her eyes turn glassy. Have I made a mistake? Have I lost her?

I panic, but Adeline is there to calm me down and help me move Maisie into her coffin. Now it’s time to wait.

I sit by Maisie’s side all night and then all the next day, my leg bouncing with fear and anticipation. I don’t remember how many days and nights it took for me to awaken—because, well, I was dead—but surely it shouldn’t be this long.

Then, I hear a tapping on the coffin.

“Barnaby!” a frightened voice calls out from inside. “Barnaby, help!”

Frantically I open the lid, and there’s my wife, her skin paler than before, though still covered in freckles. I gasp in relief and pull her out, into my lap.

“God, I’m so hungry,” is the very first thing she says, her new fangs extruding from her gums. “Holy shit, I’m starving !”

That is just the beginning.

Those first few months are as challenging for Maisie as I expected. She thirsts for fresh blood constantly. I do my best to feed her myself, supplementing with animal blood, but it’s not enough. She cries at night sometimes, asking when the craving will go away.

“It never truly does,” I tell her as she sits in my lap by the fire, and I stroke her brilliant red hair. “But the ache will fade with time, and meanwhile, you always have me.”

She settles back into the circle of my arms, her nose pressing into my throat. She inhales, her whole body going taut, and it’s almost instantaneous that my cock comes to life. There’s nothing it loves more than being inside her.

“Maisie,” I murmur, my hand trailing down her shoulder to her breasts, where I cup one in my hand. “I think you ought to get on the chair now, so I can eat.”

She giggles, knowing just what I mean. We trade places so now she’s sitting in my armchair, and her breaths are already coming faster. I unbutton her jeans, then slide them down her legs until I can toss them aside. But her sweet center is still hiding from me inside her cute underwear, so I shimmy those down, too.

Once upon a time I might have folded her clothes before setting them aside, but I’m too hungry for Maisie.

I pull her legs apart and dive in, sweeping my tongue all the way from her slit to her clit just so I can taste her. She sinks back into the chair, her hips sliding closer to me, and I lick even more frantically as her quick breaths become gasps, and then moans. It’s easy to fit two fingers inside her—given that I make love to her twice a day at least—which catapults her moans into cries of ecstasy.

“Barnaby!” Her wet heat clutches me tight. “Ah!”

I moan, too, as I pump my fingers inside her, imagining how it will be my cock soon. Then she hits her peak, and her release trickles down my hand.

I love making her come more than anything.

“That was so good,” Maisie whispers, still breathing heavily. “But I need something else now.”

I know just what my woman wants. I undress in front of her, her eyes drinking me up while I remove each layer—my vest, my tie, my shirt and pants. When I’m finally naked, she has a broad smile on her lips.

Now it’s my turn to sit in the chair, my cock poking straight up between my legs. Maisie crawls onto my lap, pushing me down so my shaft brushes over her wet sex. She rubs us together, and my senses are already so heightened that this simple contact is driving me wild.

“Maisie.” My voice is strained. “I need to be inside you. Now.”

With a mischievous grin, she lifts herself up and positions my cock right at the crux of her thighs. Then, ever so slowly, she sinks down onto me.

I let out a thick moan as she easily swallows me up, taking me deep into her body. I’ll never stop marveling at how wonderfully warm she is, how well she fits me. Maisie rises to her knees again, changing her angle as she brings me inside her a second time.

Her eyes roll back in her head. “You feel so good,” she moans.

I give her a mischievous smirk. “You know what would feel even better?” I run my hands up from her belly to her breasts, cupping them in my hands before plucking her nipples.

“Wh-what?” she asks, breathless as she impales herself on me again.

It’s easy to summon the monster, as it always lurks close by when I’m naked with Maisie. Hers comes out from time to time, too, and more than once we’ve made love high in the sky above the manse, both our sets of wings flapping.

Eagerly, my true form rises to the surface, my bones stretching, my face changing—and most importantly, my cock swelling and lengthening.

“Oh, fuck,” Maisie moans as she gets even tighter around my increasing size. “Yes!” She pulls me in close to her as she continues fucking me. Her lips find mine, and it will never cease to amaze me that not only does she not find this form horrifying, but it turns her on.

As her pleasure takes her over and her thighs wear out, Maisie’s thrusts slow down. I pick her up by the ass, still sunk deep inside her, and flip us over. Now she’s on her back on my chair, her legs wrapped around my waist as my instincts take over.

I plow into her mercilessly, overcome with need. She clutches me even tighter against her as her fangs emerge.

“Barnaby,” she whimpers, her whole body shaking underneath mine as she approaches her climax. “Barnaby, please!”

I lean down and tilt my neck so she has easier access, and she buries her fangs into my flesh.

That’s all it takes. The sharp bite and the instantaneous burst of pleasure meld together, and soon I’m roaring, plunging inside her as all my muscles bunch up tight.

“You taste so good,” she moans, licking my blood off her lips. Her cunt is squeezing me, daring me to go off inside her.

“And you feel incredible.” I nuzzle her nose with mine. “My love. My wife.”

I lean down toward her own exposed throat, open my mouth, and bite her.

Her orgasm is instantaneous. Maisie lets out a full-throated scream as I suck on her, devouring her, all her perfect, hot blood fueling me even more. I fuck her with even more muscle, using all the strength in my true form, and Maisie’s head falls back as she comes a second time.

Finally, I can’t hold off any longer. I sink into her once more, and as I meet my own powerful finish, everything spurts out of me. I groan as I nearly collapse on top of her.

Maisie smiles warmly at me, her mouth red with my blood. She kisses my lips again as she tangles her hands in my hair.

“I love you,” she whispers.

Still buried in her warm depths, I hug her back with all my might.

“You mean the world to me, Maisie.”

We lounge in the soft, warm fog of our lovemaking for some time before finding our way to our coffins, where we say goodnight.

As I pull the lid shut, I never could have believed I’d find a happiness like this one, where I could love someone so fully and she would love me in return, until the end of time.

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