Free Forever Night Sins by B.J. McCall

used to talk about the old days when common folk had real food instead of the processed stuff. Now I understand. I’ve never tasted anything so good.” After she finished the vegetables, Harper leveled a thoughtful gaze at him. “It’s like the difference between animal and human blood, isn’t it?”
    “An excellent analogy. But human blood straight from the source is like a drug.”
    “I heard in the old days the rich vampires got all the human blood they wanted.”
    “True. We didn’t go around attacking people. We hired staff to supply us daily. We paid them well, but humans can get as hooked on the giving as the vampires do on the receiving. Bonds can form.”
    “Ever happen to you?”
    “I never let things get that far until recently.”
    “You think we’ve bonded because you sucked my blood.”
    “Sex and blood is a powerful combination.”
    “Is that all it is? You stop tasting my blood and this thing we have will be over?” She reached out and took his hand. “The truth, Egan. My situation is too serious for you not to be brutally honest.”
    “I love you, Harper. Not just for your blood.”
    “We’ve got to make this work.”
    “I need blood to survive. The government delivers to the Cemetery, but outside the walls humans become the source. It’s different outside the cities. There are places where the vampires breed cattle and horses, providing their own nourishment.”
    “I thought vampires only wanted human blood.”
    “It’s the best, but top quality animal blood can sustain a vampire population. We used to buy it before the government forced us into the Cemetery.”
    “Is it really bad inside?”
    “Being a poor human is better than being a rich vampire. When I was alive I loved riding and sailing, feeling the sun on my face and the taste of salt in the air. It’s been so long, I can’t recall the sensations.”
    “But you existed for over two hundred years. The things you must have seen and done.”
    He lifted her uninjured hand and kissed her palm. “If I could have a wish granted, I’d wish for one year with you as a human.”
    “We could have eternity.”
    Egan dropped her hand and pushed away from the table. “No. Never. You can have a good life. Husband. Children. Old age. Natural death.”
    “You think it’s wonderful for us, but most humans I know are miserable. I live in an apartment that would fit inside your bedroom. My biggest pleasure is an afternoon flick once a month and a beer after work a few days a week. I don’t have much of a life to go back to.”
    Egan raked his fingers through his hair. “I’m offering you a new one.”
    “One without you.”
    “I can’t see you in a place like the Cemetery,” he said, pacing the room. “It’s dark, gray and crowded. It’s violent. Rapes. Turf wars. You’re given a pint of blood every couple of days, just enough to sustain you. I hate every moment I spend in that place.”
    She rose from the table and fisted the front of his shirt. “I love you, Egan. More than anyone or anything. More than life. Let’s leave the city, find a place together. Can’t we go to the place where the vampires raise cattle and horses? I’ve never seen a horse or a cow.”
    “Have you thought about drinking blood? Never eating again. Never greeting the dawn or walking in the sunlight. Think about forever in the darkness.”
    “I’ve worked nights for the last five years. The question is, do you love me?”
    He loved her. He’d walked this Earth for a long time and he understood the depth of his feelings. That was precisely why he couldn’t rob her of life.
    For more years than he wanted to count, Egan had longed for someone to share his existence. Someone to love and to cherish. Someone who would love him in return. Having Harper at his side would make forever endurable. Taking away her humanity and destroying her soul for his personal happiness was more than an indulgence in night sins, it was immoral. “I love you, but I