Free Dying to Love Her by Dana Lorraine Page A

blood initiates the change for both
Alec and me.”
    “What?” Her head swam and she gripped the comforter before
she fell off the bed. “Are you serious? My blood?”
    She hung her head. Now she understood why they had wanted to
be her consultants. It would have been better if they’d just asked for her
blood instead of romancing her to get it. They’d made her feel like she meant
something to them. Now she realized that they only wanted her to be a blood
donor.
    Alec and Rook came and sat beside her. Rook so close she
could smell his mouthwash-freshened breath. His towel parted, giving Melanie a
distracting view of his thigh. She wanted to rub her hand against his taut
flesh and seek his warmth, even as she hurt.
    Pitiful. She breathed in deeply, ashamed of herself.
Maybe the weight she’d lost overnight hadn’t come from her waist but her
backbone?
    Rook took her hand and she couldn’t bring herself to pull
away. “You are the reason we want to be human. We’re ready to give up countless
lifetimes for one lifetime—”
    “With you, Melanie.” The words rushed from Alec. ”We want to
spend that one precious lifetime with you.”
    Their words were epic, life-changing and hard to believe.
Her heart hammered so loud she could barely think. Melanie raised her head and
took turns trying to read their faces. Were they being serious?
    “Are you really suggesting I help the two of you become
human again, shack up together and live happily ever after?”
    They both looked unfazed by her question.
    She cleared her throat and tried to get them to see reason.
“I’m sorry but I live in reality, not some dreamed-up dirty erotic romance
fantasy world. I mean, I expected to one day be a Mr. and Mrs., never a Mr. and
Mr. and Mrs.”
    Melanie pushed to the back of her mind the sad the truth
that she’d begun to think she’d spend the rest of her life alone.
    “We’re rich, Melanie. That affords us a certain level of
eccentricity,” Rook said. “We can make this work however you want. Women like
you are few and far between. It’s not unusual for vampires who have the same
blood needs to share a lifemate. I’ve seen as many as four commit to one woman
and trust me, they keep her so happy she doesn’t give a damn what anybody
thinks. But if this lifestyle makes you uncomfortable, maybe sometimes you
could stay with me in the city and other times out here with Alec.”
    “No,” Alec interrupted. “That might work in the beginning
but what happens when we have children? Melanie being away from my side would
be hard enough—but my children? That’s never going to happen. We’ve talked
about this, Rook. We’ll be a family and that means we live together.”
    Like her ass was on fire, Melanie shot up off of the bed and
away from the two men planning a life for her without her say. “I don’t think
we’ve gotten nearly far enough in this conversation to be discussing living
arrangements and kids. I mean can you two really have them?” She thought of
their orgasms just moments ago. They both had been missing a key element
necessary for fathering children.
    “Remember, we’ll be human,” Rook said. “But you should know
we can only give you sons and they will someday become vampires too.”
    She paced the room as her mind raced, trying to put all the
pieces together. Too many were missing. “Look, this is a lot for me to try to
understand. I know you say you have feelings for me and I’m not saying I don’t
feel something too, but really is it something to base a lifetime on? I’m not
sure.”
    Her gut wouldn’t let her say no. That instinctual part of
her that embraced the crazy romance of it all didn’t care about doubts.
Unfortunately, that logical part of her brain that had been missing since
yesterday decided to show up. “I need some time. Let’s take it slow, get to
know each other better.”
    “We have until tomorrow night to do that,” Alec said, his
face a mask of guarded