His Light In The Dark

Questions Answered

Mikhail watched his mate open and close her mouth, looking a bit like a fish out of water. Suddenly, her eyes focused on his fangs and she shuddered.

"You both have fangs. Wait a minute! What did he mean when he said they developed when he was created. I'm not losing my mind, right. You guys have fangs. Yes?" Ember was a little concerned about her sanity.

"No, Ember, you're not losing your mind. Your sanity is very much intact. We are an old race. One who, if truth be told, has evolved alongside humans. I do not know our origin story, just that we have been around a long time. We are what you would call the undead." Mikhail was not looking forward to revealing himself to his mate. She had no clue about the supernatural world. She, like most humans, went around never doubted that they were the only superior race that walked on Earth.

"What do you call yourselves, then?" She couldn't believe that she was calmly discussing this.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"You said we call you the undead. I assume by that you mean humans? So, what do you call yourselves?"

"Most know us as Strigoi. We call ourselves the vampires." Mikhail paused, then looked at his mate. "Are you not frightened of me? I figured you would be screaming your head off by now." He said with a frown.

Ember felt her sense of humor begin to assert itself as she felt her lips twitch as she spoke. "Would you prefer that I did? Or perhaps, fall at your feet in a faint? Or better yet, how about I  just die of fright. I don't think so, sir. I'm usually pretty down to earth. It takes a lot to shake me. I was a bit frightened, startled and then it dawned on me that you have taken great care of me. If you were out to harm me, you would not have cared for me like you have." Turning and looking around the decadently appointed room, then back to the big vampire, she raised one eyebrow.

"Care to tell where I am and what day it is. I mean, I remember my head hitting the  wall, Midge telling you to bring me upstairs to her apartment, then nothing until I woke with a really bad migraine. Then the next thing I know was your manservant coming in and introducing himself." Ember swung her eyes to the vampire and gasped. "You. I was lying against your chest."

"Yes. You were drifting and I was concerned. I was afraid something would happen and I wouldn't be here for you." He said as he nodded.

"But, you're warm. Every story I have ever read, every movie, tells me that vampires are cold, dead things. You are definitely warm and you don't  look dead to me." Without realizing what she was doing, she placed her hand on his massive chest and began to rub. Feeling an answering response in her body, she unconsciously leaned in to him and placed her head next to her hand and listened to his heart beat.  Gasping, she jerked her head up and looked him in the eye.

"You have a heartbeat! How?" Ember couldn't comprehend what she was feeling and hearing.

"Listen to me, Ember. I am not the undead as stories and movies have portrayed me. I AM however, a completely different species than you. As Vampires, we experience many of the same things that you humans do. We love, we mate, we eat food, we sleep. We have hopes and dreams. In short, Ember, the only difference between our two species is the need for us to ingest blood. That and the fact that we can live thousands of years." Ember had left her hand on his chest and he had laid his hand on top of it, trapping there. Because he was savoring the fact that she had touched him of her own free will.

" Wait a minute. You mate. You don't marry?"

"We do, but most of us prefer to just mate and during mating, we mark our mate on the neck or on her breasts. Some, like me, who have a human mate, will marry her to satisfy society's or the family's needs or the mate's desires. I will probably have a wedding."

Ember felt something twist in her chest as she thought of him with someone else. Before she could stop it, a tear fell from her eye, followed by another. Before she realized, she was crying. The pain in her heart, severe.

Mikhail watched his mate as she cried. Having heard the thought in her head, he knew what their cause was. Grabbing her, he pulled her close. Holding her tenderly, he waited until she was clam again before continuing. "My love, I am sorry. I just realized that you have no idea. You, Ember. You are my mate, my beloved. My other half. It is you that I will spend my life with."

The look on her face went from misery to absolute joy in seconds. Then, just as fast, confusion.

"But......won't I grow old and die?" She asked with a frown.

"No! I will not allow it! I have lost one love! I will not lose another! I cannot!" The roar of his voice was so fierce that she swore that the floor shook.

"Please calm down. You're scaring me." Mikhail took a deep breath to calm himself.

"I'm sorry , my love. I forget there are things that you don't know. Being my mate brings with it certain benefits. The first of which is that when we mate and I mark you, you will stop aging. If after a time, you want, I can turn you. We can do that. There are a lot of steps but, it can be done." Taking her face in both of his hands, he leaned down and gently touched his lips to hers.