Free Dying to Love Her by Dana Lorraine

sounded like he was getting an up
close and personal look at the toilet. She remembered her hurt feelings when the
impulse to hurry into the room to take care of him almost overtook her.
    “I told him not to eat too much.” Alec crossed his arms and
it accented the cut of his chest. “He’ll be fine once he gets it out of his
system.”
    “Why would he eat like that if he knew he’d get sick?” She’d
had enough of male stupidity today, not to mention dishonesty.
    “Rook doesn’t do much half-assed—you’ll learn that about
him. And this is new for us, Melanie. We don’t usually crave food, but you’ve
changed everything.”
    She held back a growl and crossed her arms defensively, much
like Alec. “So this is somehow all my fault?”
    “Not intentionally but yes.”
    Not the answer she wanted to hear and she felt the tension
take hold in the form of wrinkles on her forehead. The furrows deepened, listening
to poor Rook begin another round of retching. Not poor Rook, bad Rook. Remember
he’s kept something from you.
    “I think he needs some time to himself,” Alec said as he
passed by her. “Let’s talk in my room.” He boldly stood in front of the window and
light bathed his body.
    Lust filled hers. That agitated her even more. Had she lost
total control of her libido?
    “Did you hope I might spontaneously combust?”
    “No. Rook told me the light only gives you a sunburn.” She
stepped closer. “But your skin looks fine. Yet another lie, obviously.”
    Alec ran his hand along his arm, testing his exposed skin.
“The windows are coated with a film that protects me but if I walked outside I
suspect it would take longer for my skin to burn. That’s your fault too.”
    “How?”
    “Your blood, it’s special.” He tossed aside his towel,
swiped his pants off the floor and pulled them on before collapsing onto the
leather chair beside the fireplace. He sighed and it sounded like it was the
beginning of the explanation she’d been demanding.
    “We are born human just like you but a genetic mutation
keeps us from staying that way. In our early twenties, the change begins slowly
and by the time we near thirty, we’re vampires. ”
    Melanie sank onto the edge of the bed in a daze. The easy
smile that slipped across his face chipped away at her defenses.
    “And you’re thirty-five, right?” he asked. “So if you think
about it, technically you’re a cougar.”
    She bristled and shook her head. “As if. More like you two
are lecherous old men. How old are you and Rook anyway?”
    “I’m one hundred and thirty-four. Rook’s one-hundred and
fifty-two, give or take a few years. He’s not big on birthdays, so I’m not
sure.”
    And she thought her last birthday had put her in a bad mood.
Melanie slipped a strand of wet hair behind her ear, smoothing it down. Alec
was almost exactly a hundred years older than her. Still they seemed young. “I
expected you both to be older, being immortal.”
    Alec leaned forward, braced his elbows against his knees and
clasped his hands together. “I didn’t say we were immortal. Long-lived is a
better term. We don’t remain vampires forever. We return to being human and
live out the rest of our lives getting old and wrinkled like everyone else.”
    “Oh.”
    Alec’s dark hair was highlighted with distinguished strands
of gray and his vibrant eyes softened with crinkles at the corners. Melanie
could imagine herself being as attracted to him twenty years from now as she
was today.
    “So what age is it when you switch back to human?” She
scooted along the bed until she realized her movement brought her closer to
Alec.
    “Age doesn’t matter. It’s when we’re ready to make the
change and we meet the right woman whose blood is so special she can give us
new life again.”
    Rook stepped out of the bathroom, looking sexy as ever with
his towel draped precariously low on his hips. She’d never have known he’d been
sick.
    “You’re that woman. Your