“I already drank from you today, amore mio.” He leaned in close to run the tip of a fang along her neck, anyway. “Shall we start our date night tradition tonight? I'm dying to take you out on the town.”
“Dying is an odd word choice for a vampire,” she teased.
His normally smooth expression suddenly became animated. “I have something to show you, piccolina.”
“What is it?”
“Come here.” He turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, holding a towel out for her before drying himself. Then he used his towel to wipe a clear spot on the fogged mirror and leaned forward to examine his hair. “Look at this,” he said eagerly.
She leaned in next to him. “What?”
“Look, here. Do you see it? It's a gray hair!” He turned away from the mirror and they stared at each other.
“You're… you're aging?” she asked, shocked.
He nodded, his eyes bright with excitement. “So it seems. Maybe more than just my semen turned mortal when I fought off Roxanna's attempt to turn me.”
“You're happy.” She wound her arms around his neck, trying to take in the significance. Dom had resisted their relationship in the beginning because he was unwilling to give his heart to a mortal who would die while he lived on.
“Si, bambina. We'll age together like married couples should. It's a miracle. Not as big a miracle as Luci, but almost.”
Her heart burst with love for him—she was moved by his desire to grow old and die with her, rather than continue his immortal life as a vampire. And just to see him so happy was a gift.
She offered her lips to him, pulling his head down to meet hers. “It's wonderful,” she said softly, pressing her lips against his, slipping her tongue teasingly between his lips. He cupped the back of her head and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her tightly against his naked form, his hard, lean body perfectly matched to her small soft one. They fit together in a harmonious balance of opposites: male to female, age to youth, vampire to mortal, dominant to submissive. And now they didn't have to fear their future. Their love may have no end, but their lives would—an odd thing to celebrate, but a blessing, nonetheless.
They parted when Luci woke with a wail. “I'll get her,” she murmured, and returned to the steamy bathroom with their other blessing in her arms. Dom wrapped his arms around both of them with a contented-sounding sigh. Luci crooned happily and she closed her eyes, savoring the joy that flowed between the three of them.
The End
Bonus Story: Mary Catherine Learns Her Lesson
Nanette had put on her default costume to work Halloween at No Return, the nightclub where she cocktailed. It was the same costume she'd thrown on last year and the year before. It was completely unoriginal, as evidenced by the six other Catholic school girls in the club. But it had taken no thought whatsoever and didn't encumber her movement around the crowded club, so it met her requirements.
The house band, The Morphs, was just about to play, so she headed over to the stage to see if any of the band members needed a drink. She hopped up on the stage and took a good look at Frank, the drummer. He was wearing a Catholic priest outfit.
“Frank Martin, you look ridiculous playing drums in that costume!” she exclaimed, laughing.
He looked up and grinned broadly, his eyes traveling up and down her body, resting a moment too long on her breasts. “Be careful how you speak to Father Frank, Mary Catherine, or he'll take a cane to your bare bottom!”
She couldn't help but giggle. “Mary Catherine, eh? You think I'm Irish Catholic?”
“I guess in Tucson it would be Maria Caterina, right?” he drawled, his thick-lashed green eyes locking onto hers in a way that took her breath away.
Why had she never noticed before how extraordinarily good-looking he was? She didn't know whether it was that glittering gaze or the way her thoughts drifted back to his threat to cane her, but her mouth had gone inexplicably dry and her heart had picked up its pace.
His eyes dropped again to her breasts, which she had squeezed into a cropped white t-shirt that was two sizes too small for her. “You look hot,” he murmured.
She normally had a snappy answer for every pick up line out there, but “Do you need a drink?” was all she managed to choke out.
“Sure,” he said, melting her with an impish grin. “Irish car bomb.”
“You got it,” she said, turning abruptly away before she made an even bigger fool of herself.
When she served it to him, he covered her hand as he took the glass so that she couldn't pull away. “We're working on your song,” he said, indicating Kate and Fox, the two lead band members with his chin. They were leaning together over an iPad with Fox trying chords on his guitar and Kate singing along. She looked at Frank's fingers, which were still covering hers. A current of electricity was zinging through them and she found herself wondering what it would feel like to have those hands on other parts of her body.
“What?” she asked dazedly.
“You'll see,” he said, relinquishing her hand with that boyish smile again.
A few moments later, the lead singer Kate got on the mic to open up the set. She was dressed as a sexy vampiress, with a short black skirt and long black cape and fancy fangs. Kate had married Nanette's boss, Dom, a month ago in the sweetest little wedding she'd ever attended.
“This first song is from Father Frank, going out to our favorite server!” Kate said and started singing a rock
