sleeping so deeply for a long time.”
“You got an earful last night,” William said. “I can imagine it was a bit of a shock. How are you feeling?”
“I feel great,” I said, and I meant it. I was happy to have found William. I knew it was going to make all of the rest of what I had to do more complicated, but I didn’t care.
“Mind if I come over and say hello?” I asked.
William set down his guitar and opened his arms. I came and sat on his lap and lay my head on his shoulder.
“Do you sleep?”
“Not so much,” he said, adjusting his body to accommodate me.
I was eager to feel his skin against my body. He smelled delicious, lemony, like a very sweet sugary lozenge, with a hint of rosemary. I sat there for a while not saying anything, sitting in the cocoon of his body. I’m not sure how long we sat in the chair together. Time stopped. We kissed, but it was nothing urgent. After a few moments, we paused to talk, revealing the small details of our lives.
I told him more about my campaign and described Levi and explained how I had worked for him before. I didn’t mention the Council. I’m not sure why. I had a feeling that maybe this thing between us was too fragile to be laden down with such complicated issues. In fact, it all felt a little complicated. I’d never spent the night at a man’s home before where we didn’t have sex. I’d never spent the night at a vampire’s house. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was out of time to wonder. I looked at my watch and thought of the long list of obligations I had pending. I was long overdue at work.
“I have to go,” I said. “I don’t want to, but I am really running late for what will be a very busy day.”
“Can I see you again?” was his reply, which sounded so normal that I laughed.
“Forgive me,” I said. “It’s just that this sounds like the conversation any man or woman would have. Are you asking me out on a date?”
“I am asking you on a date,” he said, crossly. “Please keep in mind, darlin, that I’m not a character in a pulp-fiction novel. I won’t be using mind control to lure you to my side.”
“Bummer,” I said. “What about bats? Will you be flying in my window like Gary Oldman?”
My remark seemed to defuse the moment. I had no desire to offend him and I was relieved when he shook his head and smiled.
“No bats, no flying. I have none of those tricks up my sleeve. I meant what I said last night. I’m simply a man who wants to date a pretty woman.”
“You are a man who drinks blood,” I said looking him in the eye. “That does seem like a topic worth discussing.”
To his credit, William did not break our gaze. “I might take a taste, but I will not drink your blood unless you offer it to me, and even then I might refuse.”
“How do you survive if you don’t drink human blood?”
William turned away slightly from me as he spoke. “I do not need to eat as often as young vampires do.”
“Yes, well you are 181 years old,” I cut in.
William smiled. “I can see you’re good at math. So when you are as old as I am, you do not need to feed daily.”
“But when you do feed, what do you drink?” I asked. “And why wouldn’t you drink from me if I offered?”
“When I first became a vampire, my hunger was overpowering, but now I can survive for weeks without feeding. When I do need to eat, I drive up into the hills and search for wildlife. Deer are plentiful nearby so I never have much of a problem.”
“I saw you drink alcohol last night.”
“Interesting, isn’t it? All of the myths about vampires and most of them are as untrue as we are undead. Alcohol is something I’ve grown accustomed to over the years. Newly made vampires require a lot of blood to survive. Alcohol is too disruptive to their nervous system. But later, as you are able to feed less, you can introduce other forms of pleasure back into your life. For me, its whisky, sometimes wine. I like to eat raw fish and meat occasionally. It’s good to blend in with people and eating and drinking makes it easier to