I woke alone again, annoyed that Alaric didn't wake me. Pushing open the lid, I climbed out and pulled on my dressing gown. Padding quietly through the lounge room, I found Alaric in the dining room again.

"Afternoon."

Alaric lowered the newspaper, watching me as I moved to the end of the table. The paper was folded and set aside in favor of pulling me onto his lap. Sitting astride him, I toyed with the waistband rope that was tied off just under his navel.

"Silas is learning how to make breakfast, I hope you're feeling brave."

I chuckled, looking down as his fingers pulled open the knot and slowly peeling the sides of my dressing gown away.

"I happened to note that you are quite a good kisser Emmeline yet my research says that you're only eighteen and have lived a life in the government run all girl's orphanage."

His gaze lifted as the satin material fell over my shoulders.

"Anything you wish to tell me?"

I nodded, barely restraining the grin.

"When we turned sixteen, they started educating us on what was expected of us when we turned eighteen. Lots of lessons about having babies and doing what's right for the human population. And of course, how to please our man. So sexist."

Alaric nodded, pretending that he was sympathetic. I didn't believe him so I stuck a finger in between his ribs. He howled with laughter and mocked his pain, rubbing the sore spot.

"We knew that the time was coming when we had to leave the place. Between the forms for registering to become a breeder and the medical certificates, they also searched for temporary accommodation that we could live in until the government assigned our mates. Then we'd have to find something to house those bundles of joy."

I'd only been in the apartment a few months but I'd grown to like it. Of course, it was nothing like this oversized monstrosity but it was good enough for me.

"After lights out, we always talked about the lessons and the future. I'd already told them what happened to my mother and they all thought it was because she didn't know how to be pleasing. So sexist."

"What happened to your mother?"

"I thought you researched and stalked. What's the matter, realizing that you didn't check everything?"

He nodded, pressing his lips tight as he thought about it.

"After I was born, my father ditched her and my mother was heartbroken. She left me in the hospital and walked out into the night. The hospital contacted my father and according to the records that the orphanage kept, he told the nurse that he wasn't interested. He'd done his duty for the breeding program and he was on his way to enlist for the front line. He was listed as dead a few months later. So, anyway that kind of set it in their mind that the lessons about pleasing their man were important and there was a need to make sure we knew how."

"Oh my god, you didn't."

"We did."

Alaric sniggered, his hands moving onto my thighs to stop me from sliding down his lap. The shift in the movement was enough to reveal that he liked the thought of a little girl on girl action.

"So, we practiced kissing each other."

"Damn." He crooned.

"And we changed a lot to ensure variety."

"Be still my beating heart."

His hand slapped to his chest, the grin on his face was broad.

"Your perverted fantasy gets better."

Alaric's head lifted with mild shock resonating through his face.

"It does?"

I nodded.

"So, you might have mentioned the veggie friend. She kind of liked the whole kissing thing a lot more than the others. When we moved out to our own places, she visited. A lot."

"I want every single dirty detail no matter how sordid and you have to be thorough."

"Really?"

He nodded, shifting his body again and tilting me forward. I leaned down and kissed him softly.

"Maybe I could start with the first exploration," I whispered against the skin.

"No, not could, you should."

I picked open the first button of my nightdress, his gaze instantly lowering.

"It was our first night out of the orphanage, a terrible storm was raging. She used to live across the corridor from me and after the first large clap of thunder, she was banging on my door. Too scared to be alone, you know?"

Alaric nodded, still staring at my chest. I popped another button watching as his teeth and one fang caught and released his bottom lip.

"She was so scared, but she'd never been a fan of storms so it was understandable. We huddled under the bedsheet and tried to wait out the storm. Every clap of thunder made her scream so I thought that distracting her was a good idea. So, I suggested that we practiced some more and knowing that she'd be up for it, I said that if she wanted other things then I'd be okay with that too."

Popping another button made the material fold back. I pulled it open enough to show a lot of cleavage without giving it all away so early on. Taking a hand, I traced his fingers over the outline.

"We took off our nightdresses, laying under the sheets in our panties. Kissing with our bodies pressed together, sometimes kissing a little lower. She wanted to go further."

"Did you let her?"

I nodded, earning a groan of happiness from the eager vampire. His head rolled back against the back of the chair as he grinned madly.

"Tell me the storm was a ruse to get into your pants."

"Definitely was. Once I gave her permission to put her hands in my pants, she didn't care about the storm outside. I hope you're good at it, you've got some pretty big shoes to fill."

Alaric moved quickly, standing and putting me on the edge of the table. As he kissed me hard, he began lifting up the edge of my dress. The double doors swung open and I gasped, pulling the dressing gown over my shoulders and tight to my body.

Hendrick was standing at the doors again, a little cocky but shocked as well. Covering the front of my body, I slid off the table and stood beside Alaric who looked like he wanted to rip Hendrick's head off.

"Interrupted again. My timing is incredibly poor."

"What do you want Hendrick?"

"Just to deliver the news that Dubois and his horrid henchmen were found dead in Chinatown this morning. Curious, don't you agree?"

"No, not really. The man had a lot of enemies."

"That he did. Anyway, carry on with what you were up to. Though, perhaps you shouldn't. I'd hate to see a half-caste child being born."

With a smug grin, Hendrick turned out of the room and continued on to the main door. Nisha appeared when Hendrick walked through the main doors.

"Sorry, I thought you were alone."

"It's alright."

She nodded, closing the doors behind her. Alaric dropped into the chair with a sigh, scratching his fingers through the strands of black hair on the top of his head.

"What will make him go away legitimately?"

"Me on the throne and kicking him out or killing him?"

"Is that legitimate?"

Alaric shrugged, his fingers toying with mine.

"Some things don't need to be but I see your point. Rise to the top without any serious issues, right?"

I nodded, wondering if the guy in Chinatown would be a problem.

"So, what will get you to the top?"

"Confirmation of my lineage is the most important, acceptance of my claim to rule, a partner and in time, children"

"And you need a vampire for that."

He nodded.

"But you don't trust them."

"Yeah."

"Do you trust me?"

Alaric's eyes lifted from our entwined hands, meeting with mine. I could see the uncertainty written all over his face.

"You'd do that? You'd give up your humanity and risk the dangers of my world just to help me?"

When I first considered this path, I believed that I didn't have much of a choice. I thought that I'd been dragged into this life and there were elements of truth to it but I decided to meet up with Alaric for the second night, I agreed to give this situation and him a chance. There was a choice and I'd made several of them so far.

In the limo when he jumped me, I thought they were the wrong choices but now I thought differently. Alaric would learn things about me and I would learn things about him, and somehow, we'd find this crazy path and make it work.

I sat on his lap again, my feet barely touching the floor either side of his chair. Smoothing my hands over his bare chest, I smiled coyly at him.

"I would but I want some promises from you."

"Sure."

"Honesty in everything, nothing hidden and always open. Fidelity in your heart and your body. Protect me and our children with everything that you have. But the thing that I want from you before anything else is that I want you to love me. I don't mean the random words that can easily roll off your tongue, I mean honest love."

His mouth opened and I pressed my fingers to his lips, stopping him from talking.

"Don't Alaric. You couldn't possibly love me after such little time."

My fingers slid off his lips and onto his chin, the bite of the stubble scratching against the pads of my fingertips. I leaned down and kissed him softly.

"We can do the pretend thing to get you there if you want."

"I don't want to pretend anymore. I never really did."

"Then why say it?"

"Because I didn't think that you'd ever want something with a vampire. Like you said, you've been raised to fear us. How could I expect you to even hold my hand when I scared you? You surprise me, Emmeline. You're so accepting of things and I didn't think that you would be."

Leaning forward, Alaric picked up his phone off the table and started doing something on the screen.

"My stalking skills started the day you moved into that apartment."

Ooh...kay.

"I was emerging for a little stakeout of an issue that's yet to be dealt with and I saw you. Must be that hair."

"You know it's from a bottle, right?"

"Well, I didn't think that kind of red came naturally." He said dryly.

"Just checking. I've also been raised to believe that vampires are clueless idiots."

Alaric looked up at me, unsure if I was teasing him or not. I grinned and he smiled, choosing to ignore me. Turning the phone around, he showed a picture of me from several months ago. Yes, when I'd just moved into the apartment.

"Were you living across the road?"

"Yep. Crazy, right?"

"Yeah."

He flicked through a few photos, showing off a lot of images of me.

"So, I watched and figured out a few things. Grateful that the sun went behind my building so I could be on the street earlier than I should be. Look at that one."

Alaric showed a picture of me from behind, it was within a few steps.

"Gee, that's rather close."

"I know and she walked straight past me without a care for who might be watching. So, to prove a point on a few things here's some of the images I flicked past."

His finger slid over the screen, returning to the first picture.

"This is a vampire that was watching you a few days after I first saw you. He's dead."

A couple of images of me and then another male.

"Dead. Dead. Dead."

He kept flicking over a lot of pictures that were scattered between pictures of me. The phone was put on the table and his hands returned to my backside, keeping me from sliding off his lap. At least, that's what I was telling myself.

"I didn't do any of those things because I wanted to, I did it to keep you safe. This is odd and it's new, we're in a really crazy and dangerous situation so I get it that you're nervous and worried but I swear that I will always protect you. Silas and Nisha will as well. We're family and they've accepted you as a part of this family because they know that I've taken a long time to get to this point. I know it's only a few days for you but for me, it's been weeks."

He'd proven that he'd protected me for a long time now, all without my knowledge. I'd toyed with danger nearly every day and he was there like a guardian angel, watching over me. There was a stalkerish element to it but as he said, all vampires did that. Know their prey.

Only for me, it wasn't a case of me being the prey, I was something vastly different.

"You want promises? That's okay, Emmeline because I can do that. I've protected you and I promise that I will continue to protect you for as long as I have the strength in me. The children that we create goes without saying, but yes, I promise to protect them too."

Pulling the edge of my dressing gown, Alaric moved me so that he could whisper in my ear.

"I promise to be honest but remember that when we're outside, someone might be listening so if we strike a conversation that is delicate, I may divert the conversation elsewhere. If I do, I promise that we will discuss it later. Okay?"

"Sure."

"What was the other thing? Oh, that's right, the bane of relationships across the world, misbehaving partners."

His hand went onto his chest, offering a wicked smile.

"I promise that I will be a good boy and not stick any part of me into any part of another woman or man even though I'm not that way. And so that you know that I will be that good boy, you should know that as a species, vampires don't tolerate adultery. Aside from that, I'd hate to see the hurt in your eyes and the suffering you'd endure, so yes, I will be a good boy. Are you going to be a good girl, Emmeline?"

I nodded, leaning in for a soft kiss.

"I promise."

"Good. So, after all those promises on my part, do you think that maybe there's a chance that this could be something more?"

I shrugged, worried that I'd created something that was going to bite me on the ass. Alaric was clearly saying that he believed it and it might be true but the problem was, I couldn't return the love.