“No, a human one,” I say.
“So, your real name?” he prompts.
“Liv is my real name,” I state huffily. “If you are asking what my first name was, it was Aefre.”
“Ah-vuh,” he pronounces it slowly. “How do you spell it? It’s unusual.”
“A-E-F-R-E. It’s Saxon,” I point out.
“You were Saxon?” he asks incredulously.
I nod, rolling my eyes in exasperation at him.
“You’ll have to forgive my lack of British history dating back a thousand years,” he says sardonically. “Oh, the name of your company!” He lights up at the connection and reaches for my bracelet. “The ‘S’?”
“Right.”
“Aefre,” he says again. “What does it mean, in English?”
I cock my eyebrow at him, saying, “Ironically, it means ‘Forever’.”
He laughs a genuine laugh and it’s a beautiful sound after the stresses of the evening. “Well, my love, it seems your destiny was written, wasn’t it?” he says.
“Hm, seems so,” I say, a slight shiver going over me at his endearment.
“Something Devon said is puzzling me…he mentioned your blue eyes. Your eyes are the prettiest green I’ve ever seen and definitely not blue. What’s that about?” he asks.
Uh-oh, I had been hoping to keep the Shifting thing until another time, but oh well, in for a penny…
“I have a very rare Vampire gene, which allows me to ‘Shift,’ for lack of a better term, into someone else.” At his wide eyes, I clarify, “I’m still me, I can just make myself look different.”
“Oh, so…” he gestures up and down in my direction.
“Oh no, no. This is my natural form. What I really look like,” I say quickly. “Every couple of generations I adopt my natural look, it takes up less energy and it’s quite a good one, don’t you think?” I joke.
“Well, I can’t argue with that,” he says, slightly stunned. Heaving a big sigh, “It’s been a long night. We should get some sleep.”
I nod. “Sure.”
Knowing that sex is off the table for tonight, I grab a long, navy blue satin negligee from my drawers and I pull my dress over my head. I feel Cole standing behind me and cast a glance over my shoulder. He runs a hand down my back and turns me around. Casting his intent gaze over my face, my body, lingering in all the right places.
“A thousand years old,” he marvels. “You are exquisite. Flawless. It’s incredible, you are incredible,” he adds quietly. Taking the negligee from me, he, to my utter disappointment, pops it over my head and lets it fall. Grabbing the straps, he pulls them up my arms and over my shoulders.
Sighing softly at his touch, his eyes darken to a deep blue. He hesitates to speak so I do it for him. “It’s okay. You need time. I understand.” He lets out the breath he is holding. Turning from him, I crawl into bed and feign interest in my phone while he gets undressed, pulling out a t-shirt and a pair of boxers out of his overnight bag.
He climbs into bed and to my relief pulls me to him. I put my head on his chest and I can hear the too-fast thrum of his heartbeat.
He’s afraid. I sigh softly, but say nothing, as he doesn’t either.
We lie in silence for a while. Cole is awake but pretending to be asleep. I sigh inwardly and choosing to believe his pretense, I creep out of bed. I hear him stir but leave him be. I head downstairs, disappointed, frustrated and hungry.
Finding Devon still up, watching TV in the den, I grab a glass of wine and join him on the couch. We sit in silence for a few minutes, then he pulls me into his arms for a comforting cuddle. I relax in the familiar embrace of my darling boy.
“He’s taking it quite well, considering,” he says reassuringly.
“He’s afraid to go to sleep,” I blurt out a bit too loudly and wince at revealing that piece of information.
Devon chuckles. “He’s probably just trying to sort it all out in his head. Don’t worry so much. If he wasn’t willing to accept it, he wouldn’t have come home with you and he wouldn’t have sta