Archer pressed his lips to my forehead and sighed as he began.
“I was born in Ireland in 672 and I was three years old when Cináed found me. I was wandering in a field all alone, naked and starving, and he took pity on me and carried me home with him while he searched for my parents. From what he could gather, they died from illness and I had no other family. Sadly, I don’t have any memories of my parents at all.”
“Oh, honey,” I whispered, holding him tighter. “That’s so sad.”
“Cináed became my father,” he continued. “He raised me, taught me religion, taught me how to read and how to hunt and feed myself. I always knew he was a vampire. He never hid it from me and I always just accepted it as the norm. Never once did he feed from me in all the years I was with him and never did my two uncles, his vampire brothers.
“When I was eighteen, I asked him to turn me. He refused and told me I needed to live this life first, so I did. I took a wife and she gave birth to our daughter Émer two years later. Life was good for a few years. I saw Cináed and my uncles often. Cináed especially had a soft spot for my daughter, always spoiling her with trinkets and carved wooden toys. One night while I was away with our sheep, a man from our village came and raped my wife. After he was done, he killed them both in an attempt to cover his crime.”
“Oh my God,” I gasped, covering my mouth as I fought off tears. I could feel the pain radiating off Archer and it took my breath away. “That’s horrible! I-I’m so sorry.”
“Baby,” he whispered, gently kissing my forehead as he rubbed my back. “Don’t cry. It’s okay… it was a long time ago.” I nodded my head and wiped my tears as he continued. “Cináed found the man and made him pay for his crimes. We buried my family at sundown the next day and I couldn’t look back. It took years to convince my father to finally turn me. He thought I was only doing it because I had lost my family; that was only part of it, though. I had wanted to be like my father since I was a child; I looked up to him and my uncles.
“I was 32 when he finally agreed, practically an old man in my day. The year was 704 when I awoke as vampire. After a few decades, I left Ireland and traveled around Europe with my brother Treasach, Cináed’s first son. Word reached us a few months after Cináed died but we didn’t go back home. I couldn’t bear to. I didn’t return with Aoife until 1744 and met Jameson my first day there. He made the homecoming bearable. We stayed in Scotland for a few years with Treasach and his family before finally moving to the States. We settled in Boston to start and the rest is history.”
“Rather boring, my ass,” I sniffed as I lightly swatted his chest with my hand. “That was tragic, Archer.”
“Not many people know about my start in life,” he whispered against my forehead. “I like to keep it that way. We all have tragedies in our past, that’s not what defines us. I don’t want people feeling sorry for me. I had a good life as a human, but I’ve had an even better one as an immortal. That path ultimately led me to you.”
“Oh, Archer,” I sighed as I rolled on top of him and kissed him. Our kiss was slow and delicate but despite that, I was getting turned on again. “Make love to me.”
Archer growled and rolled us over, doing just that.
Chapter Twenty
I couldn’t have been asleep for more than two hours when light kisses on my neck awoke me. Smelling Archer, I sighed and opened my eyes.
“Good morning, handsome,” I smiled as I squinted against the blinding light the lamp by the bed was throwing off.
“Breakfast is on the way, baby,” Archer whispered before placing a gentle kiss on my lips. “Why don’t you get cleaned up and meet me on the first floor. Gunnar brought a bag for you and I already placed it in the bathroom.”
I ran my hands through his wet hair and pouted playfully. “You took a shower