Free On My Knees by Ciana Stone Page B

An ordinary woman who got lucky. Now don't give me that look. It's true. There are people out there who can write circles around me. I got lucky. And maybe I can build on that luck, but I'm still nothing special."
    "You're wrong. Your abilities—"
    "Sensing other people's thoughts?"
    "Knowing when someone is telling the truth."
    "Oh. That. Well, I guess it has its plusses but it also has its negatives. Most of the time it just gets your feelings hurt or makes you mistrustful."
    "It could be invaluable to the peace accord."
    "Don't you believe what your people are being told?"
    "I am not certain there is complete truth being offered from either side of the table."
    "Are you serious?"
    "Very."
    "Well, I'll help you however I can on that, but I can be human and do that."
    "As Vampire your ability would be greatly magnified."
    "Maybe, but … look, I'm not going to beat around the bush here. It's a given that I'm attracted to you and have feelings for you, but we're – we just started out. Who knows how we'll feel in a month or a year? I was engaged to someone for a long time and I thought we'd get married, have a family, and grow old together.
    "That didn't happen. And there's no guarantee we'll last. And if this thing between us goes south – well no offense but the idea of being alone forever isn't real appealing to me."
    He did understand. Being alone was not easy. His kind shared more traits with humans than she realized. Both races were creatures with strong emotional components. The need to love and be loved was as strong in one as the other.
    "Fine, then we shall not speak of this again. If you change your mind the offer is on the table."
    "Thank you. Really. It's an incredible offer and I lo…"
    "Love me for making the offer?"
    "I can't say it."
    "Why?"
    "I just can't. Not yet."
    "It's alright. I can wait."
    "Can you?"
    "Yes."
    "Well, I can't."
    "Pardon?"
    Layla giggled and rolled over on top of him. "For this."
    When her lips claimed his, he released thoughts of tomorrow and allowed himself to be swept away in the now.

Chapter Nine
     
    I'm in love. With a Vampire. Damn, that sounds like the start of a romance novel. That makes me laugh. I never – not in a million years— would have dreamed that something like this could be real.
    Vampires are real. It's freaking unbelievable. And they're not what we thought. Well, they are, in a way. Augustus says that some Vampires are not strong enough to endure a lot of direct sunlight. Something about a genetic thing and whether they're full blood or mixed race. Therefore, they are more nocturnal. I guess those are the Vampires who spawned the tales of the undead.
    He's not bothered at all by the sun. Like today. He's mustering cattle. What a word. Mustering. I didn't have a clue what it was and couldn't Google it so I had him explain it to me.
    There's a heck of a lot more to being a cowboy than I realized. I should have taken notes. Right now it's all a blur. I remember something about his horse being one of the best at drawing cattle. I think that means the horse is really good at making cows look at him and come toward him, but I could be wrong.
    Augustus said he had two guys who were top-notch herd holders. What a term. According to him that means they're good a keeping the herd grouped or in control while a cutter works.
    Cutter. Kind of a harsh word. I was scared that had something to do with knives, but he says a cutter is the one who focuses on a single cow that needs to be separated from the herd.
    Apparently, he's a cutter.
    I really need to make notes on all of this and get him to tell me more. It sure would help in the book I just started. Yeah, I couldn't resist. A Vampire cowboy.
     
    A knock at the door had Layla getting up from the sofa. She'd spent the last two hours lost in writing. Augustus had provided her with a laptop and since he was often busy with The Seven business, she'd started a new tale.
    She wasn't ready for him to know the contents of her new