So I'm Not a Vampire?

Hey Everyone,

So this is the completely edited version of

So, I'm Not a Vampire?

Thank you searchingforperfection for helping me edit the entire

So I'm Not a Vampire?

novellette. Thank you to my beta tester, Fanfare, for reading the entire Peaches series. Without you, I wouldn't have been able to work out those rough edges in the story. Thanks :)

-Rosi

***

Chapter Ten: Just Call Me Hot Air

"So ... ." I'd been starting off every sentence with that for the last ten minutes, but I hadn't actually been able to say anything else. I wanted to say that I'd always wanted to be married and I couldn't be upset with my groom. But I also wanted to say that just because we were married didn't mean I was about to give him my blood or do it with the guy.

Bottom line: I was confused. After Bane had given me the ring, things had settled down and mellowed out. Then I'd been introduced to several different vampires as we worked around the room. Each vampire had had a similar reaction to me: distaste first and curiosity next. No one at the shindig seemed to know what I was, so the party had been a bust.

Now we were heading back to our hotel, newlyweds, no closer to figuring out what I was than when we'd first met. I decided to change the topic completely and stop obsessing over something I couldn't change. "I'm worried about my family."

I'd tried to push the hard things I wasn't ready to deal with aside. They'd crept up a few times, but each time I'd found a way to distract myself. Locked in a car with my new husband, there wasn't much to talk about aside from what had just happened at the goth club, and I was not one to suffer silence. Dealing with unresolved things it was.

"Did you want to get in contact with them?" For once Bane wasn't speeding down the streets, and I wasn't in crash position. The question was harmless, but loaded with meaning.

I sighed and stared out the window, watching the city lights play against the night's darkness. "I don't think it's a good idea."

I felt Bane's warm hand on my thigh. He squeezed it gently. "We're family now,

habibi

. For better or worse, I'm with you 'til the end."

Yup, he was. Luther had explained to me the ramifications of a vampire marriage after I'd declared myself Bane's wife. He also explained that, had I not chosen to marry Bane, he would have let me go free. Not killing me. Figures.

Vampire marriage, as it was explained to me, was for life—Bane's or mine. There was no such thing as divorce between spouses who weren't both vampire, because the non-vamp could spill the beans and scare off their human food, blah, blah, blah. Bottom line was that Bane and I were stuck together until we died, and since I still didn't know how vamps died—or even how I would die for that matter—we had a

long

marriage ahead of us.

"Ya know, Bane, I always pictured myself in a white dress with a large crimson sash. My daddy would walk me down the aisle, and my groom would be waiting at the altar with a grin on his face. I imaged a beautiful church with stained glass windows and bright light shining through."

I turned to my vampire husband still clad in a black mesh top and skintight leather pants. Then I looked down at my red bustier and leather mini skirt. I'd taken off my heels as soon as we'd gotten into the car and I wiggled my naked toes. Unorthodox would describe my wedding perfectly, and "nothing like the books or movies" would also be an apt description.

Yet, it had been awesome. I mean, I was married. Really, truly married. And not having to worry about divorce was also a plus, unless Bane turned out to be an abusive jackass. I'd always thought I would marry Rob, buy the small house in the suburbs, have a kid or two, and be marginally happy. That was what I'd always been taught. Real life was a little drab, but I could always escape into books, movies, and shows.

But I was married to a vampire. I had no family or friends. I had no clue what I was. I was dead. The list of craziness that was my life went on and on and on. It. Was. Fantastic.

"I'm glad you can see the positive in all of this. I was worried there for a second," Bane said as the car picked up speed.

"Yeah, well, took me a while," I mumbled as I turned to stare at Bane. I'd never been the wallowing type. I'd always been the look forward, have memories, and try to not make the same mistake again type of girl. Sure I missed my old life and old friends, but that was gone. Stressing about my family, lease, or other stuff wouldn't do me any good now. I was dead to them all. My mother had even donated my body to my university for research. That was the only way I'd ended up in the morgue. Thank goodness my organs hadn't been harvested yet.

But that was all in the past. My mom, dad, Rob: that was my past life. I needed to stop thinking of myself as dead, and start thinking of myself as reborn.

Bane chuckled and the car was once again going

well over

the speed limit. "You're thinking like a vampire."

No, I was thinking like myself. Change still scared me, no doubt, but I wasn't alone anymore. I didn't have to deal with it all right now by myself. I had someone. I had Bane.

The car slammed to a stop, and then Bane used his vamp speed to open my door and drag me out. I didn't even have time to get my fold up flats on. He just picked me up, princess style, threw his keys at the valet, and strode into the hotel.

"Bane!" I looked around at the staff, mortified. The few people still in the hotel at whatever o'clock in the morning it was were looking at us like we were crazy. "Put me down!"

"No." Bane didn't even look at me as he bypassed the elevator and went for the stairwell. "Just sit still, and hold on."

"I am not a

dog

." The last word was lost as Bane shot us up over thirteen levels in less time than it took me to draw breath. We were in the hotel suite before I could let that breath soak into my lungs, and I was on my back in his bed before I exhaled.

"Holy shit."

Bane smirked and planted his hands on either side of my head. "I could have found another way to get you out of there, Peaches," he began, never taking his eyes off my face, "but I

chose

to make you my wife."

I didn't know exactly what that meant, but I got the gist of it. Bane had chosen me, and from what I'd gathered at the party, Bane didn't choose people. He didn't seek people out or try to make alliances. He was a lone wolf, and I was special to him.

God, was that sexy.

I reached up and kissed him, just attacked him with my lips and tongue. I tasted blood and felt his fangs rub against my lips and teeth. Instead of fear, I felt exhilaration. I felt happy and sexy and horny. I wasn't thinking about my weight when I kissed Bane, or my failed relationships. I wasn't thinking about how I probably smelled like fear-sweat and vomit because of the party. I wasn't thinking about a single negative thing because I was enjoying kissing a man who wanted me.

I'd never really been wanted in my life except for Jimmy Patucci in seventh grade, and that was only because he'd been dorky, unattractive, and weird and had heard I screwed anything with a penis. Yeah, no.

It was a novel concept to kiss a guy and have him kiss you like he was trying to suck out your soul. It was the sort of kiss I'd seen in movies so many times: the hard, fast, claiming kiss before they went off and did something dangerous. Bane kissed me like we were about to jump off a bridge onto a moving train, or fight ninja warriors.

"You think too much." He pulled back, ripped off his shirt, and made short work of my outfit. Sweet baby Jesus, vampire speed was a sight to see. One second fully clothed, next second completely naked. He didn't even get to see the bra and panty set I picked out.

Bane groaned low and lowered himself back down to me. "Oh, I saw them,

habibi

."

Hmm ... Bane didn't kiss me again on the lips. He ran his tongue everywhere else, starting at my ear and moving down to my hips. My breasts were swollen and tender, nipples wet and erect. I wasn't a patient girl. I wanted Bane's cock now, ten seconds ago, ten minutes ago when he'd first started this torture.

"I want you," I moaned for what had to be the hundredth time.

He chuckled against my navel. "And you'll have me, wife. Patience, patience."

No! Dick, dick, dick. I tried a different tactic, writhing desperately on the sheets. "God, Bane, I'm so wet. I need you inside of me. I want you to make love to me. I want to feel your cock between my—"

I was flipped over and he was behind me, mushroom tip at my entrance. I felt his breath on my ear as he slowly thrust into me, but the words weren't in English. Rich, exotic words that seemed to come from deep inside of him entered me at the same time he did. I clawed at the sheets and bucked back desperately against him.

Rob had never been like this. Neither had Darin or Jason or Kyle. Compared to Bane, all the men I'd had before had been boys, inexperienced, immature boys. He thrust harder, turned his hips in a way I didn't think any human man could do.

"You will not think of other men." He withdrew. "You are mine." He thrust back in. Hard. "You think only of me."

His accent was back, so thick it was hard to figure out what he was saying. And then suddenly, it didn't matter what he was saying, because I could feel him. I felt him in my mind. His emotions became my emotions. I wondered why I could feel it now, but even as I thought it, Bane's answer came to me through our link. He'd lowered his shields. He'd let me in again.

Nothing. Nothing in the whole universe, in this life or the next, would trump what I felt for Bane in that moment. I couldn't even give it a word. It was more than trust and appreciation and horniness. It was something I'd never felt before, not for any other being on the face of the planet.

Then suddenly I wasn't thinking. Not about anything. Bane thrust faster, harder, and leaned down and buried his fangs in my neck. I smelled exotic oils, his sweat-soaked skin. His finger was on my clit. No, my nipples. No, he was inside of me, surrounding me, licking me, sucking me, fucking me. He was behind me, in front of me. We were on our sides, I was riding him. It blurred, everything blurred until I wasn't having one orgasm, I was having a million. And he wasn't grunting or panting, he was singing out his pleasure.

I wasn't Georgia Kent anymore, and he wasn't Bane ... whatever his last name was. I wasn't a mystery, and he wasn't a vampire. In that hotel room, on the bed, against the wall, in the bathtub, we became one. I knew it sounded corny. Sex for me had never been a real joining, but more of a release. But Bane and I did join. All we were was explosive sexual energy, chaotic emotions, and steam. A lot of steam.