“You’re quite welcome.” My heart beats proudly. I am a changed vampire, a better one, all because of my love for Stella.
Her mother releases me, and I make my way swiftly to the stairs. I catch her excited whisper to her husband. “We can send Mabel and Eliza to culinary school,” she says.
I smile to myself. Stella’s family is pleased with my plan. Now I simply need to inform my mate.
“Stella, my love,” I call.
Her bedroom door opens, and she walks to the top of the stairs. “I am not your love.”
It is a dagger to my heart. My knees actually go weak. I lock them and pull my shoulders back to display my manly form. “Stella, we must talk. Alone. It is important.”
She walks downstairs, her gaze locked on mine. “Anything you have to say to me, you can say in front of my family. They deserve to know the truth.”
“I have already—” I turn, shocked to find her sisters hugging me.
“Thank you, Boz!” one of them exclaims.
“Mom just told us! You rock!” the other exclaims.
I pat their heads. “Which one is Mabel? And which one is Eliza?”
They giggle.
“I’m Eliza,” the girl with the cupcake T-shirt says. “You can tell because I have a scar right here.” She lifts her chin, exposing her delicate neck.
“Eliza! No!” Stella exclaims, putting herself between us.
She believes I am a monster. That I would destroy her sister because she offered me her neck. But I do not dine on children, and that goes double for my mate’s siblings.
“What is wrong with you?” Eliza asks Stella. “I was just telling him how to tell us apart.”
Her mother appears in the foyer. “What’s all this yelling?”
Eliza turns an affronted look on Stella. “Stella’s acting all possessive of Boz. I wasn’t flirting, I swear! I was just explaining how to tell Mabel and me apart.”
“Okay, girls.” Her mother gestures them toward her. “Let’s give Stella and Boz some privacy. He has something important to ask her.” She winks at me.
They leave.
Stella crosses her arms. “Fine. What is it?”
This is not going as I imagined. By this point, Stella was supposed to be gazing at me with total adoration. I remember the importance of the close heart-to-heart talk between partners and gesture for her to sit with me on the stairs.
Once we’re settled side by side, my heart beats in rhythm with hers. My mate, if only I could make her understand my love is sincere. “Stella, I have offered to buy your family’s vineyard and run the combined vineyards as equal partners. Your parents have happily accepted my offer.”
Her hand flies to her mouth, her eyes watering.
“It is my sincere grand gesture so that you may know that I take care of those my mate loves.”
She drops her hand. “Oh, Boz. I’m overwhelmed by your generosity and so thankful, but…” She swallows audibly. “The mate part. I’m not sure I’m ready for what that entails.”
She needs more from me, so I continue from the heart. “I did everything properly and received your parents’ approval to ask you to marry me.”
She blinks.
I gaze deeply into her eyes. “I love you. I didn’t realize it until we met, but you are the one thing I have been missing from my life, the one woman capable of filling the dark void in my chest with sunshine. No one could ever come close to your beauty, your kindness, your pure soul. Only you could have broken the curse.” I take her hand and brush my lips across her fingers. “Stella, you are my destiny. I do not expect you to be anything but you. I would only turn you if you chose it, when the time is right. I am immortal. I can wait as long as you need.”
She sighs. And when I lower her hand, she leans close, her lips meeting mine. A surge of triumph goes through me at contact. I frame her face with both hands, deepening the kiss, keeping my fangs in check. She needs a slow seduction, my sweet virgin.
When I release her, she’s breathing hard, staring at my mouth. “I don’t see fangs,” she whispers.
“I can control when they emerge. Stella, I would never hurt you. Only bring you pleasure.”
She shivers. “This kind of love was never in my plan.”
I smile. She’s seeing her way to a different kind of love with me—fanged love. “Let me see your planner. I have something to write in it.” She is quite fond of her plans.
Her lips twitch, and then she goes upstairs to get it. When she hands it to me, I step away to write my most personal grand gesture for tonight before handing it back to her. She must meet me halfway. I want her willing.
“Now it is up to you, my love.” I brush a kiss over her lips, just enough to tempt her for more. Seduction is my strong suit.