I’d love to tell you that the rest of that night was easy. Or that I was completely adjusted to my new life as a vampire by the time the sun rose in the sky the next day. But reality was a lot crueler than a vampire novel. And instead of a romantic night, I spent half the time in the bathroom, puking my guts out while my body raged with fever. It was like the worst flu I ever had times a thousand. Which wasn’t surprising, I supposed, since technically I was dying. At least the human part of me was.

But after the death came the rebirth. And that made it all worth it in the end.

It was funny in a way. All my career people had asked me: would I choose to become a vampire if I had the chance? And I would always answer no. But now that it was actually happening, I didn’t mind it as much as I thought I would. In fact, it was sort of like being given a brand new life. Still me, only better. I could shed the skin of my former self. All my anxiety, my inhibitions, all the guilt and fear and anger from what had happened in my past. All of that fell away as my vampirism began to take hold. Instead of a dark, lonely life, there was nothing but hope and possibility now. No one could hurt me. I didn’t need to hide away.

Well, that wasn’t technically true. I mean I still had to stay inside during the day—that was going to be quite a bummer at first. And I’d never again get to taste the awesome of pepperoni pizza or chocolate ice cream. Logan told me he’d set me up with a blood donor, but if I wanted to try synthetic blood at first, just until I was used to it, that would be okay, too. We would make it work.

And we would make us work, too. That was something I was sure about. I may not have known Logan long, but I knew him as well as I knew myself. Now that we’d bonded, shared our blood, shared our sorrows and pain. I knew he would never hurt me, never leave me and would do everything possible to keep me safe. Not that I hadn’t done a knock up job of saving myself, thank you very much. But sometimes it was nice to have backup.

Especially sexy, yummy broad-shouldered, six-pack abs backup like Logan.

We spent the next day sleeping, of course, and when night fell I was starting to feel a bit better. Logan gave me a blood cocktail which was actually pretty delicious (I drank it out of a martini glass) and we settled into the living room of his home to watch a movie.

Yes, real vampires watched movies. There was a lot I was learning.

Of course we barely paid attention to the actual film. Because real life was suddenly becoming a lot more interesting than anything on TV. And soon I found myself once again curling my new, powerful body into Logan’s strong frame. Wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him toward me. He looked down at me, adoration swirling in his beautiful blue eyes.

“Again?” he teased. “Why, Miss Miller, you have developed quite the appetite.”

I blushed. “Gotta make up for lost time.”

“And here we are. With all the time in the world.”

He reached out, taking my jaw in his hand and tilting my head until my lips were lined up with his. Then he leaned forward, pressing his mouth against mine. Hard, fast, unyielding. As if I were some gourmet dessert and he hadn’t eaten in years.

I smiled against his mouth, kissing him back in return. The sensations flowed through me igniting every nerve. But there was no doubt or fear left inside. What Jake had stolen from me all those years ago? I’d gotten it back, tenfold. And I would never let anyone hurt me again. Or take something away from me that was so pure and good and make it into something evil.

From now on I was in charge of me. And right now this “me” wanted a piece of Logan.

I rolled over, straddling him with my thighs, my lips never leaving his. He groaned in pleasure, his hands gripping my hips, then rising up to graze my stomach. Electricity shot through me and soon I was burning all over again from his touch.

Fun fact: vampires felt things a thousand times more strongly than people did. Meaning it was almost too much, while at the same time not nearly enough.

“I want you,” I whispered in his ear, daring myself to nibble the lobe. He rocked against me and I could feel his desire rising to meet my own. He wanted me too. That was for sure.

And there was nothing left in our way.

He grabbed the remote. Turned off the film. Laid me down on the couch and pulled down my pants. I sucked in a breath, for one split second feeling exposed and scared all over again. But then he tilted my head back up, so I was forced to meet his eyes. His beautiful, kind eyes that held no deception. I could trust him. He would never hurt me.

The connection that flowed between us was both powerful and sweet at the same time. And after, he collapsed on top of me, his breathing hard and heavy, I rolled over, cradling my head in his nook. He reached up, stroking my hair.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“I’m perfect,” I said with a happy sigh. “In fact, I’ve never been better.”

Then something occurred to me. And I laughed.

He propped himself up on his elbow, staring down at me. “What?” he asked.

“Nothing,” I said. “It’s just…” I shook my head, amusement dancing through me. “When you walked into that bookstore during my signing. When you told me I didn’t know anything about vampires—or men for that matter?”

He groaned, dropping back down to the couch. “You have to bring that up again, now?” he asked.

I playfully poked him in the stomach. “You were right,” I told him. “I didn’t know. I thought I did. But I had no freaking clue. But now… I’m beginning to get an idea.”

He smiled, revealing his fangs. Fangs which had once scared me, but now looked pretty damn sexy as part of his smile. I wondered, suddenly, if vampires ever drank from one another just for fun.

There was a lot I still didn’t know. But I was eager to find out.

“So does this mean I win the bet?” he asked throatily.

I broke out laughing. “I forgot we even made one. What was it again?”

“That I would convince you, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that vampires existed.”

“Well, mission accomplished. I guess you win. What was your prize again?”

“That you stay with me for a weekend.”

“I think I can do better than that,” I said with a grin. “How about an immortal lifetime?”

“I could live with that.”

We kissed again, though it was actually kind of difficult, as we were both smiling so much. And then the kiss deepened and I could feel him becoming aroused again. One more thing to add to my vampire notes: they had amazing stamina.

Good thing I’d now be able to keep up.

“Hannah,” he whispered. “I can’t even begin to tell you--”

But he never finished. Because suddenly there was a knock at the door.

We looked at one another. My non-beating heart was in my throat. Who could that be? Was it just one of the Blood Coven members, coming to check on us? Or…

Logan rose to his feet and grabbed his jeans, slipping them over his hips and zipping them closed. He turned to me, his eyes wide and serious. Then he nodded his head toward the closet at the far end of the room.

At first I wanted to protest, but I realized it would do no good. He wasn’t going to open the door with me standing there—afraid of putting me at risk. I was still pretty weak from my transition, after all. Until I gained strength, I had to be content to still act like a human.

And so I slunk into the closet, pulling the door closed behind me. Deciding that if there was any trouble, I would jump out to help.

I watched from the sliver in the door crack as Logan went to the front door. He looked through the peephole and I saw his face pale. I swallowed hard. Oh God. What was on the other side? One of those horrible vigilante vampires, out for blood? A member of Slayer, Inc. with a new contract to kill?

As I watched, Logan pulled the door open wide, revealing a woman standing behind it. A small, thin woman dressed all in black. Breathtakingly beautiful with pale skin, huge red lips and dark, mysterious eyes.

Another vampire, I realized. But who?

“Oh my God.” Logan exclaimed, his voice hoarse and filled with dread. Whoever this vampire was, she was clearly not someone he’d expected to see. “You’re…I thought you were… Oh my God.”

The woman didn’t seem to notice. She stepped into the house, walking right up to him. Then, to my horror she wrapped her arms around him, dragging him to her until their bodies were flush against one another.

“Come now, baby,” she purred. “Is that any way to greet your Maker?”

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