“How did you become a vampire?” I asked.
He sat down on the bed and looped his finger around the strap to my chemise. “You know, to a vampire that is a very personal question my dear.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know. Forget I said anything.”
“That’s quite alright. I enjoy talking with you like this.” He started rolling the satin between his fingers, tracing a line down to the vee between my breasts. “Have I told you yet how much I love this thing you’re wearing? I am very partial to red.”
I scooted back and brushed his hand away. “Leo.” I scolded as I pulled the comforter up.
He laughed again. “Let’s see, where should I start? I was born in 1494 in a quiet village on an island now known as Santorini. I relocated from Greece to London at the age of nineteen and was made vampire during my stay there, in the year 1522.”
“That explains the accent.” I said.
“What do you mean?”
“Your accent.” I clarified. “I just couldn’t figure out where it was from. Now I know.”
He smiled. “Have you given it much thought? Do I dare to hope that means you’re thinking about me in my absence?”
“What? Um…….” Shit, I need to get back on track. “We’re getting off the subject. Who made you a vampire?”
“Her name was Renata.” He said. “She took me as her lover while I was still human and enthralled me from the very beginning. Back then, our existence was still shrouded in secrecy but I always knew something was different about her. Yes, her heart beat the same as mine, but I started noticing that she did not eat food and she would never agree to meet me during the day. One evening, while we were making love, she fed off me. I experienced a pleasure like no other I had ever known. Afterwards, she explained to me what she was and offered to give me the gift of being like her. I was always an enterprising young man, and the idea of being an immortal had appealed to me. She turned me that same evening and we were together until I moved to the U.S.”
“When was that?” I asked.
“In the early nineteen hundreds.” He replied.
“Wow…..you were with the same woman for almost four hundred years? Were you exclusive?”
“Yes, we were. Renata was very special. She was incredibly wise as well as sexy. She taught me the ways of a vampire; I would have never survived the early years without her. Times were very different back then.”
“Yeah, but that’s quite a commitment for someone.”
“She was quite a woman.”
“Damn, nobody can accuse you of being afraid to commit.” I remarked. “How did you leave her though, if she meant so much to you?”
He shrugged. “It was time to move on.”
“Just like that?” I asked. “Why do I get the feeling there is more to this story?”
“Just like that.” He repeated.
Okay, so obviously he wasn’t going to elaborate. Time to change the subject. “So, that would make you over five hundred years old!” I said. “I can’t imagine all the wonderful things you’ve seen.”
“True, I have seen great change and progress throughout the years. But I have also seen far too many wars, famine, disease, and cruelty. In life, there must always be balance. You cannot have the good without the bad. That doesn’t change no matter how long you exist. You will come to see that in time.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“My pet, I can sense that your immortality is near. I could taste it in your blood. Once that happens, things will become much clearer for you. Hopefully by then, you will not feel the need to hide your true self.”
Oh shit, I do not like where this conversation is heading.
“I’m not hiding anything.” I lied.
He sighed as he held my face with his hands. “Karli, I do not know what you really are yet, but I do know that you are not a witch. You may be fooling the rest of the world, but the blood does not lie. A witch becomes immortal around their twenty-first year. You are almost to your twenty-fifth. A witch’s blood tastes woodsy, like cinnamon or cloves. Your blood is sweet, like honey….. with a nutty undertone. The contrast is too great to deny.”
“I……” I pressed my lips together and tried again. “Um…” Yeah, I really don’t know what to say to that.