"Get out! Since when?"
"Always. Both she and her husband are."
Wow! Who knew the woman who sold her the art Bride had hanging in her store and her little apartment was immortal?
She paused at that thought. Now wait a second that wasn't fair!
"Why can't we be immortal?"
Vane shrugged nonchalantly. "Because my people aren't. We have long lives, but they are finite." His grip tightened on her hands. "There are some drawbacks, though. If you decide to bond with me, I will have to take your blood and you will have to take mine. A blood exchange is the only way to do it. Secondly, if one of us dies, we both do."
She went pale. That was a scary thought.
Well, then again, compared to other things in Vane's world, that was probably one of the more minor concerns.
"But you don't have to, Bride," he hastened to assure her. "Both decisions are yours alone to make."
She took a deep breath as she considered all of it. This was one helluva commitment Vane was asking from her. It took "until death we do part" to a whole new level.
But as she looked at him still kneeling on the floor, she couldn't help but wonder how bad life with this man could be. He was considerate and giving.
A rarity in her world.
It was worth a two-week shot, at any rate.
"Okay," she said slowly. "Now for my part of this. If we do mate, I want a human wedding. My parents won't understand anything less than that and I'm not sure if I want to tell them about all this."
"That's fine."
"That means you're going to have to meet my parents, Vane."
"Okay. They can't be as scary as mine."
"Well, they're not homicidal as a rule, but they are protective of me."
"I love them already."
Bride gave a nervous laugh at his small, playful grin. "You know, I always thought I would meet some guy and date him for a year or two and then have him go down on his knee somewhere romantic to ask me to marry him. I never dreamed this would be my engagement." She toyed with a lock of his hair. "I guess life is never what we want it to be, is it?"
Vane cringed inwardly at her words. He'd never meant to alter her life so horrendously. He'd only wanted to touch her for a moment.
To have her touch him.
Maybe this was cruel, and yet his heart didn't want him to leave. It only wanted her.
Both the animal and the man in him craved nothing more than to be touched by this woman.
"I'll do anything to make you happy, Bride."
Bride tightened her grip in his hair. In that moment, she felt as though she might actually love this man. At least she knew that she could.
But she had been burned and she didn't know Vane very well. She only had two weeks to learn about him. What she knew so far was terrifying and wonderful.
She only hoped he wouldn't lie or deceive her. If he showed her the real Vane and that man-wolf was honest, then she could accept him.
Her worst fear was that at the end of the two weeks, she would mate with him and he would become the psychotic, harsh animal his mother spoke of.
What would she do then?