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“Alright, I’ll leave you alone for tonight, but I want us to have a long talk tomorrow.”

“I can’t. I already have plans,” Sabrina answered way too quickly.

“Cancel them and I’m not going to back down about this,” he told her. “Either you cancel them or I’ll stay and we can get through this tonight. I love you and now that you know the truth about me you aren’t going to push me away anymore.”

“Zander, I’m not going to make any sort of promise to you. I need time and I won’t let you push me into doing something I don’t want to. I didn’t ask for this. You might have known about this for a while, but I haven’t. Truthfully, I’m still finding all of this a little hard to swallow. I still think it is a game or joke, but I’m willing to listen to you.”

He loved how Sabrina was showing a little more of a backbone, but tonight wasn’t the night for her to ‘test’ him. He was horny and ready to bite her, turn her and make the exquisite woman in front of him his forever. She wasn’t helping by standing up to him; it was more of a turn on more than a turn off.

“Like I said, I’ll leave for tonight, but we aren’t done with this. You have to know what else comes with being a
Unique
woman. Don’t try to hide from me because I will come to your job and drag you out of the courtroom.”

She eyed him with a stunned expression. “You wouldn’t dare do that to me,” she gasped.

“Try to avoid me and see what happens,” he warned.  Zander didn’t give Sabrina a chance to argue. Instead he pulled her to him and kissed her.

The touch of her lips on his sent a shock wave through his entire body now that his mate knew the truth about him. It was a divine ecstasy when he kissed Sabrina. He showered kisses around her lips and along her jaw.

Zander drank in the sweetness that surrounded her. He had a burning desire, an aching need, for a sample of her blood. All he wanted was a little taste, he wouldn’t take too much; however, he had to know what she tasted like.

Opening his mouth, he allowed his fangs to descend until they touched the side of her neck. He was dying to bite her, it would help bond them even more if he tasted her essence, but he couldn’t do it, not with everything he’d tossed at her tonight. If he took blood from her now, it would only make it harder for her to trust anything he told her after this.

Sighing, he moved back and just looked at Sabrina. She was so damn stunning. The perfect woman made only for him. He couldn’t ask for a better mate than the one who was born in his honor.

“What are you thinking about?” He didn’t want to invade her privacy again by reading her thoughts, but if he felt the need to do it he would, without a second thought about it. Why not?

Sabrina placed her hand against the spot on her neck where his fangs had touched her. She gazed up at him. “I felt your fangs against my skin,” she whispered. “They felt odd...almost like tiny pins.”

“I know, baby. I didn’t mean for that to happen, but I got caught up in the scent of you. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that without your permission first. You might be telling me no now, but it isn’t going to last. I can promise you. You will be begging me to bite you and make you mine sooner than you realize.”

“I’m not quite sure about that,” she denied. “You can believe it if you want to.”

“Sabrina, you are destined to have only one man in your life and that is me. I have taken a backseat too long and let you have your way, but it’s over now. I have been waiting for you to admit you felt our connection, but you never did.”

Dropping her hand, Sabrina glared at him. “Zander, I’m not telling you anymore that you need to leave. I’m done talking to you about this.”

He wanted to push even harder, but he couldn’t right now. At least, Sabrina wasn’t acting terrified of him anymore which was a good sign, but she was far from welcoming his love and bite with open arms.

One day at a time.

He had teased Jax about his way of winning over Sahara, but now that the shoe was on the other foot it wasn’t so amusing. There was still so much that Sabrina didn’t know about. He couldn’t force her into accepting her fate. He might actually almost experience the sleep of the dead like his brother, but he prayed it never got that close. He loved life too much to want it gone forever. Sabrina had to come around and see things his way.

“Alright, I’ll go but not before you understand being a
Unique
woman is a very special gift like the rose birthmark on your hip. Both of those traits make you the ultimate gift to me. I haven’t thought about or touched another woman since I found you.”

Sabrina snickered at him. “Sure you haven’t. What about the woman I heard on the phone when you called me earlier to cancel our date. She was inviting you back to her bedroom. Are you going to tell me I just made up her voice?”

“No, you didn’t make her up. Ms. Case is a client who thought I would be interested in more than the normal house call for equipment repair. When she found out I was already totally into another woman, she didn’t like it but I don’t care. I’m not interested in her, only you.”

For a brief second, Sabrina smiled at him and then it disappeared as fast as it had appeared. He could feel the swirl of emotions racing through her. After his little confession, now would be the perfect time for him to leave.

He wanted her to be thinking about something else besides his surprising vampire confession. Being a vampire was only a little part of his life and he had so much more to show Sabrina about him if she got out of her head and allowed it to occur.

“I think I should go. I believe I’ve given you a lot to think about tonight. Do you want to walk me to the door and give me a good night kiss?”

“No, I think I’ll pass on that one,” Sabrina answered. “I believe you can find your way out without any extra help from me.”

Zander shook his head as he felt an odd twinge of disappointment, but he tried his best not to let Sabrina see it. He couldn’t force her love or acceptance of him. Both had to come freely from within her heart or he would still fall victim to the sleep of the dead.

“You’re telling me now, but I know a yes is coming so I’ll let it go for tonight.” He took one last look at Sabrina and then headed for the front door. He didn’t look back because if he did he wouldn’t be able to walk out the door.

Since Sabrina was no longer in the dark about their relationship, he didn’t have to romance her with kid gloves anymore. Everything could be full speed ahead and he couldn’t wait until she was completely his. He was almost at her front door when he heard a soft voice behind him.

“Wait.”

Spinning around, he looked at Sabrina waiting to see what she wanted. “You weren’t lying about being a vampire, were you?” she asked one last time.

“Darling, I’m 100% a vampire and nothing else. You will get used to it the more you’re around me. Good night. I’ll see you in the morning.” Zander turned back around, he opened the door and went out closing it softly behind him.

Chapter Thirty-Two

He’s a vampire
!

Not a pretend one like those actors from
Vampire Diaries
or the cult classic
The Lost
Boys,
but a real live breathing vampire. Sabrina still couldn’t get her head wrapped around seeing fangs coming out of Zander’s mouth. God! How could he calmly walk out of her front door after dropping a bombshell like that on her?

Placing her hair brush down on the vanity, Sabrina got off the stool and walked around her bedroom trying to figure out how in the hell she was supposed to deal with something so unbelievable.

Zander even knew about her birthmark. Placing her hand on it, she rubbed it through her night gown. While she was growing up, she wondered why the shape of it was so distinctive but her mother couldn’t ever give her a clear answer about it. She just stopped asking after a while and went on with her life.

How could she ever know years later the true meaning behind the rose on her hip? Just thinking about it now still seemed stranger than hell to her. Zander was a ‘creature of the night’ and her birthmark made her his mate.

Who in the world was going to believe any of this
?

Honestly, if she told her mother about any of this men in white jackets would come out of nowhere and take her away without any explanation and she sure couldn’t blame them for doing so.

For a while now, she’d recognized Zander was different from the other men around her. Both he and his brother Jax were bigger and stronger from most guys she knew, but she only chalked it up to good genes. Not once did she ever think they were paranormal... who would?

Hell, she didn’t even believe in ghosts, or any other thing most people hinted at that could be real. If she hadn’t seen Zander’s fangs up close and personal, she would think he needed some kind of medication to stop his delusions, but he wasn’t crazy and neither was she.

For years, she’d wished for a man only meant for her and no one else could come in and ruin what they had with each other. What woman once in her life time hadn’t wished for the same exact thing, but she never thought he would come in the form of a
sexy ass hell
vampire.

Sitting on the side of the bed, she dropped her head into her hands wishing she had the answers to all of the questions running around in her head.

What was she going to do about Zander?

Earlier, she was crushed thinking about him with another woman. Yet he tossed something at her that pushed his client out of her head. One time while he had been talking to her at Alpha Male Inc., he’d promised to keep her fascinated by introducing her to an assortment of surprises one after another but he hadn’t kept his word until this very moment.

Raising her head, she fell back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. She wondered if it was the vampire part of Zander she couldn’t resist every time he came close to her in the past. He did have a very powerful magnetism that attracted her no matter how many times they got into one of their fights.

She never could quite put her finger on exactly why her body always sizzled when Zander was around, but now a lot of unanswered questions were beginning to get answered.

Could she really ignore all of the warning bells in her head and believe everything Zander told her? He seemed so truthful and convincing. Why would he lie about it? God, who would think up a lie so deep? And his fangs were definitely real. She could still feel how they felt touching her skin. She should have been scared when his fangs scraped over her neck, but it had really turned her on. The sharpness of them actually made her panties even wetter. It took everything inside of her not to moan, but being attracted to something unknown and wanting it for the rest of her life was totally different in her eyes.

Sabrina sighed as she sat back up on the bed. Zander was determined to make her believe being a
Unique
woman was a gift for both of them, but she couldn’t see it like that, not right now.

How could she give up her life to be with him for eternity? No one was supposed to live forever; it wasn’t right. How could she keep going on once her mother was gone? She wouldn’t ever be able to see any of her family again.

To her living forever seemed more like a curse than a blessing and she wasn’t sure Zander would ever be able to tell her anything that would
ever
change her mind. As much as he believed she would grow to accept her ‘fate’ with him, she couldn’t do it.

Once he made up his mind, Zander was strong and determined to make things happen the way he wanted them, but this wouldn’t be one of those times. She didn’t want to live forever and he would just have to accept her decision because it was final.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Later that night, a cool breeze came through the open window making the white curtains dance like a kite in the sky. Zander sat down on the edge of Sabrina’s bed. He brushed a piece of hair off her forehead as he gazed down into her sleeping face. It was hard for him not to come back to her sooner, but he had to make sure that she was totally asleep before he came to her bedroom.

After everything that happened earlier, she probably wouldn’t be too thrilled to find him here with her.  Despite the fact, Sabrina acted like everything wasn’t bad when he left. She had been lying to him.  He still felt her lingering fear of him even after he walked out of the door. She didn’t want to believe what he told her he was the truth.

He couldn’t blame Sabrina for wanting to fight her destiny. Everything she had seen, along with what he’d told her, was too much for anyone to handle in one night, even someone like Sabrina who pretended be the stronger than she was. |But he saw the real her.

She was a sweet, caring woman who loved her family and friends with everything in her and would do anything for them. She would put her dreams aside to help someone else.  There wasn’t a selfish bone in his mate’s body and that was one of the qualities he loved the most about her.

Another thing he admired was Sabrina’s determination to get what she wanted out of her life. She never allowed anything to stand in her way of achieving her long term goals. When she hadn’t gotten hired as a court reporter her first time out, his mate kept at it until she climbed her way back on top. She wasn’t aware of how much he respected and admired her ambition.

Looking down at Sabrina, he smiled when she made a sound in her sleep and moved closer to him. She might be a little afraid to be around him when she was awake, but her subconscious knew he was here and was reaching out to him. His mate’s nature was to be cautious. Sabrina wasn’t about to jump in with both feet without thinking it through. But he loved that about her because it worked for her and she constantly achieved what she desired.

“Sweetheart, I love you. I will fight to make you understand how being a vampire isn’t so hard; in fact, it will be a lot easier than you think.”

Bending over, he kissed Sabrina on the forehead so he wouldn’t wake her up. She needed her sleep because tomorrow was a new day and his pursuit to win her over was going to be in overdrive. In his mind, Sabrina was his everything plus ten and he wasn’t going to waste any more of his life without her right at his side.

Zander got up off the bed and stood there for a few more minutes taking pleasure in the sight of his woman sleeping so peacefully. Knowing she was no longer clueless about the secret he had been keeping from her felt like weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

I love you, Sabrina
. He touched her mind with his sending her the message. He stole one last look at her and turned around then left the bedroom as quietly as he had entered it.