Page 54 of Protected by the Vampire

Nox added. “Talk to him. Really talk to him. About the process, the pros and cons. Lay everything on the table.”

I glanced back at Theo again.

He was smiling and relaxed.

Alive.

Because I hadn’t lost him.

Because he was still here to make choices like this.

My chest tightened. “What if he regrets it?” I asked quietly, which was a major part of my reluctance.

None of them answered immediately. Maybe because there wasn’t a clear answer.

Finally, it was Riker who spoke again. “Then he deals with it,” he said simply. “Same as the rest of us deal with every choice we make in this world. Holy shit, I just sounded so fucking wise. Mark it down on the calendar.”

Nox snorted.

“He won’t blame you,” Deacon added. “Not if you’re honest with him about every detail.”

I looked down at the counter, jaw tight, then back at Theo.

He laughed again, nudging Razor with his shoulder.

So human.

For now.

“He wants to stand beside me,” I murmured, more to myself.

“You’ll sort this out,” Nox said.

I just had to tell him everything. But even with all the information, I had a feeling that Theo would still choose to be turned.

He loved me as much as I loved him, and I would do the same if I were in his position.

So, could I really doubt his choice?

“Anyway,” Riker sang, “I’m bored.” He slipped off the counter. “Daddy, I want to go home,” he called to Razor as he ran over to the man and straddled his lap. Razor dug his fingers into Riker’s ass cheeks.

Across the room, Theo glanced over at me again, and I winked. He tipped his chin up and returned the gesture.

Maybe a few extra days for Theo to think about this a little longer before I laid everything on the table wouldn’t hurt.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Spade

After we’d come home from dinner with Riker and his family the other day, Soren had sat me down and we’d made a pros-and-cons list. It was amusing that he thought the cons would outweigh the pros. They hadn’t, of course, because the simple answer—and one I wrote in bold letters—was that he was my everything, and my need to protect him as much as he did me was strong and important to me.

A few more days had passed before Soren brought up the subject of turning me again. I didn’t think it was because he’d been avoiding it, but more that he was thinking. Maybe he was even planning.

So, when he stood in front of me in his living room after we’d just spent the night downstairs in his club, I could see that familiar intensity in his eyes.

This was it.

“I’ll do it.”