She did as Ronan had said, watched in amazement as the man walked away from her without a backward glance.
“So, that’s all there is to it?” Shannah asked incredulously. “I just call them to me?”
“That’s it.”
“And they’ll do whatever I ask?”
He nodded. “Shall we go?”
Side by side, they walked down the street, away from the night clubs.
“Where did you sleep last night?” he asked as they neared the house.
“In the basement.”
He looked at her, one brow arched.
“No,” she said, “not in your coffin. I just couldn’t. I slept on the mattress on the floor.”
He nodded. Tomorrow night he would carry the frame down so that she didn’t have to sleep on the floor, unless it occurred to her to do it herself. With her preternatural strength, she could easily carry the frame and headboard into the basement. He didn’t tell her, though. He wanted to do it for her.
She stopped when they reached the porch. “Thank you for your help tonight,” she said, her voice again cool and polite. And distant.
He took it for the dismissal it was, bowed his head in her direction, and vanished from her sight.
Shannah stared after him, the ache in her heart almost beyond bearing.
He arrived on her doorstep, unsummoned, the following night. “May I come in?”
She shrugged. “It’s your house.”
He smiled faintly. “I gave it to you, remember?”
“Does that mean you can’t come in here unless you’re invited now?”
He nodded.
“How does that work, exactly? I mean, what is there to keep you out?”
“The threshold of the house. Thresholds have a supernatural power of their own created by the emotions of those who live within the walls. It can be painful, even fatal, for a vampire to cross one without the owner’s permission.”
“All thresholds?”
“No, just residences.”
She looked thoughtful for a moment, then took a step backward, allowing him access. “Come in.”
He followed her into the living room.
“What brings you here tonight?” she asked.
“I thought I’d move the bed frame and headboard into the basement, if it’s all right with you.”
“Oh.” She wondered why she hadn’t thought of doing it herself. She started to tell him there was no need, but feared that if she did so, he would leave. And she didn’t want him to go. She told herself the only reason she didn’t want him to leave was because it was lonely, rattling around in the big old house by herself, and because he was the only one who knew what she had become and didn’t care. She recognized both reasons for the lies they were, but she couldn’t admit the truth, not to herself, not to him. “Thank you. I’d appreciate that.”
She followed him up the stairs, watched the play of muscles in his arms, back and shoulders with feminine appreciation as he dismantled the frame, stacked the pieces one on top of the other, and carried the lot down the stairs to the basement, where he quickly reassembled the thing, then lifted the box spring and mattress into place. The headboard came next.
“Is there anything else I can do for you?” he asked.
“No. I was wondering about your books and your other personal effects. Should I pack them for you?”
“Keep it all or throw it out, whatever you wish.” A muscle worked in his jaw. “Do you have any other questions? Anything else you want to know about your new lifestyle?”
She couldn’t think of any, nor could she tear her gaze away from his. He loved her. She could see it in his eyes. There was a lingering hurt there, too, and an aching loneliness that was like a physical pain. She felt it as if it were her own, knew how and what he was feeling because she felt the same way. Without Ronan, she felt empty inside, as if a vital part of her very being had been ruthlessly torn out. Was it love that made her feel that way, or merely the blood bond he had forged between them? Was it possible to even separate the two?
Did she really have any reason to be angry with him? He had only given her what she had come looking for. True, he had made her a vampire against her will, but he had done so because he knew she didn’t want to die. Because he didn’t want her to die. Because he loved her. Would she rather be dead now, never to see him again? True, she had lost much when he brought her across, but she had also gained much. It was all so confusing!
He stood there, motionless in the way of vampires, watching her, and waiting.
And she wanted him. Right or wrong, she knew she would never be happy in this life or in any other without him.
Desire arced between them, moving through her like a jolt of electricity. She felt it in every nerve and cell of her body, in the sudden intake of her breath, the pounding of her heart, the warmth that suffused her from head to heel.
And still he stood there, watching her, waiting for her to make the first move. When she continued to stand there, mute and unmoving, he whispered her name.
“Shannah.”
Just her name, nothing more. Never before had she heard such love, such pain, injected into a single word. It brought a hot rush of tears to her eyes, scalding tears that burned away her anger and turned the last vestiges of her resentment to ashes.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “So sorry.”
He took a hesitant step toward her, his arms open, and she closed the distance between them in the blink of an eye, her arms wrapping around his waist.
“I missed you,” she said. “I missed you every night, so much.” She felt the brush of his lips in her hair. “Can you ever forgive me?”
“Hush, love, there’s nothing to forgive.”
“I’ve just been so confused. Everything’s so new, so different.” She made a vague gesture with her hand. “Nothing is as I thought it would be.”
“I know.” His arms tightened around her, as if he would never let her go. “I know.”
She looked up at him. “You’ll stay here tonight, won’t you?”
“If you want me to.”
“Not just tonight, every night.”
“Shannah!” Closing his eyes, he rested his brow lightly on the crown of her head. “I was so afraid I’d lost you forever, that you would never forgive me. I worried that you might hate me, that you might hate yourself. That you might destroy yourself.”
“I behaved badly.”
“No.”
He lifted her head and gazed down into her eyes. “Tell me that you forgive me.”
“I forgive you, though there’s nothing to forgive. I’m glad you brought me across.” She smiled up at him. “Like you once said, it isn’t a life I would have chosen, but I don’t regret it now.”
“Ah, Shannah, love!”
“Aren’t you going to kiss me?”
“Count on it,” he murmured, and lowering his head, he claimed her lips in a kiss that seared her heart and soul, kissed her until she clung to him as the only solid thing in a world that seemed to be spinning out of control.
When she could breathe again, she rested her cheek against his chest. “I love you,” she said softly.
“And I you. Will you marry me, Shannah?”
She looked up at him and blinked. “You want to marry me?”
“Very much, if you’ll have me.”
“Of course I will!” Standing on tiptoe, she pressed her lips to his, thinking she was happier at that moment than she had ever been in her whole life, past or present.
“Can we make it soon?” he asked.
“Are you in a hurry?”
“Most assuredly. I’ve wanted to make love to you since the moment you first knocked on my door.”
“Then why haven’t you?”
“Because you’re a virgin, my sweet, and I’m an honorable man.”
Touched by his old-fashioned chivalry, she rested her head on his chest again and listened to the slow, steady beat of his heart. He wanted to marry her. The thought made her smile anew, and then she raised her head and looked up at him once again. “How long will you love me?”
His knuckles stroked her cheek. “Ah, Shannah, I will love you as long as I draw breath and beyond.”
“Will you? People are always telling each other ‘I’ll love you forever’ when they don’t have forever. But you and I…we could have centuries together. What if you get tired of me?”
“It seems more likely that you’ll get tired of me.”
“Never! But I keep remembering your friends getting married because they had nothing better to do…”
“Believe me, Shannah, that’s not why I want to marry you. I think I loved you the moment I saw you. Do you have any idea how difficult it’s been for me to hold you and not ravish you?”
“Well, it’s your own fault. I’ve been willing on more than one occasion.”
“I know, love, but I’m a product of my time and, as I said, an honorable man. I couldn’t defile you, couldn’t take your virginity when you didn’t know what I was.” He glanced past her, his expression suddenly solemn as he murmured, “I have enough sins to atone for.”
He really was an honorable man, the most honorable man she had ever known, and she loved him the more for it.
With a sigh, she caressed his cheek, then frowned. “What about my parents? They’ll be so hurt if they aren’t at the wedding.”
“Then we’ll invite them, and anyone else you like.”
“Oh, Ronan, you’re so good to me!” She showered him with kisses and, abruptly, she drew back, frowning.
“What is it?” he asked. “Have you changed your mind already?”
“No, but don’t you think it’s time you told me if Ronan is your first name or your last?”
Chapter Thirty-One
Shannah called her parents the next evening to tell them the good news. “Married?” her mother said, sounding somewhat hesitant. “Is that wise? I mean, well, you know, your health…”