very long time, Hansen, and you’ve known every one of my lovers, both male and female, but have you ever known me to rely on any of them for protection, to trust them with my life?”
“No, Sir,” Hansen whispered, breathless with his desire.
“There’s a reason for that,” Colton said as he cupped Hansen’s face in his hands and moved closer, “This,” he breathed just before his mouth came down, his lips pressing against Hansen’s, his tongue sweeping in once, twice then slowly pulling back, “complicates things. It weakens your ability to protect me and it would weaken me. I need you as my protector, Hansen. I have to know that you’re there for me one hundred percent all of the time. Love, desire, sex would distract you, distract both of us. But I understand that you’re lonely and I know that vampires are the only creatures that you can be with sexually. I am so anti-social in that area that I’ve neglected you and for that I apologize.”
“But it’s you that I want, Sir,” Hansen mumbled.
“It’s love that you want and it’s love that I will give you. Once Tess is changed and this whole mess is sorted out, I will take you to some vampire bars in Paris, New Orleans, maybe even the old country, and introduce you to some of my acquaintances. Perhaps one of them will catch your eye?”
Hansen stared into Colton’s eyes for what felt like forever. He knew that Colton was right, knew that if they became intimate that it would cloud his judgment and make him less effective at his job. He thought about how he would feel if he had to turn his duties over to someone else. He knew that he would never be able to allow that to happen. He would never trust someone enough to be as good at what he did as he was. Nobody would ever protect Colton as well as he did, nobody. Hansen closed his eyes and nodded his head slowly, “I’ll finish getting the room ready, Sir,” he said as he turned away.
Colton resumed his slow trek up the stairs. He paused just outside his bedroom door and took a deep breath. He pushed open the door and smiled slightly at the small gasp that Tess made. She was trying so hard to be brave but she was scared as hell, as she should be. There was nothing nice or romantic about creating a vampire – well, except for maybe the sex that they had at the very beginning – everything after that was cold, impersonal, painful and dangerous, very dangerous. It was never easy to gauge how much blood to take – too little and they usually got sick and died, too much and they died. It had to be exactly right. And though the instinct for that was ingrained in vampires as old as Colton that didn’t mean that the instinct was right every time. There were failures, there had always been failures and there would always be failures. That was one of the reasons that Colton had never changed someone before this. He knew how hard it would be to live with his mistake if he got it wrong. He knew that there were vampires out there who turned people all the time, surrounding themselves with their children, as it were. It made for a less lonely existence than how Colton lived, but it also invited disaster or mistake. If a change went bad, if the turned vampire became evil or uncontrollable – as did happen when the person wasn’t mentally strong enough to handle their new powers and desires – then the new vampire had to be dealt with in order to keep the existence of vampires out of the mainstream public’s eyes. Colton would never want to be tasked with having to kill one of his own. He sat down on the edge of the bed and took Tess’ hand in his, “I want to make absolute certain that you are aware of the risks here, Tess. I’ve never done this before. And while the ability to gauge how much blood is in a human is instinctual in vampires, it is by no means a perfect system. Mistakes are made, lives can be lost.”
Tess sat up, allowing the sheet to fall from her as she cupped her hand on Colton’s cheek. She saw the hunger flash in his eyes the moment he realized that she was already naked, “I know