THE PERFECT TEN (Boxed Set)

have?”
    His throat ached, and it had nothing to do with the thirst that was eating him from the inside out. “Yes.”
    Her eyes softened. “Did you love her?”
    He considered telling her it was none of her business. His promise to answer all questions surely could not be stretched to include this. But somehow, he felt compelled to tell her. Why that should be, he didn’t care to contemplate
    So he thought about Reina instead.
    “Love her?” He sat back down beside her again on the edge of the bed. “She was intense and sensual and generous and very lovely, but no, I can’t say I loved her. Not in the way you mean. But after that, we were … connected.”
    “A blood bond.”
    “Well, a bond of sorts, yes.”
    “Did she love you?”
    “Again, not like you mean. She might have thought so once, but she quickly learned she no longer wanted me. That’s the fate of all vampires — relegated to the dark, lusting only after creatures of the light.”
    “And where is she now? Do you still see her?”
    “She’s dead.”
    At his flat pronouncement, her lips parted on a gasp. “But you said she was very powerful. How … I mean, what happened?”
    His gaze rested on her flushed face. No, not flushed. Abraded by his beard stubble. Whisker burned. He looked away.
    “Power is no protection from depression. For some, the weight of the years becomes too much. There’s so much change to deal with, yet at the same time, everything remains the same. And so much loss. The years stretch out endlessly. For some, it’s beyond bearing.”
    “She took her own life?”
    He shrugged. “She stayed up to greet the sunrise.”
    She shuddered and he knew she was thinking about what he’d told her. Acute solar uticaria, followed quickly by anaphylactic shock.
    “I’m so sorry.”
    “Me too.”
    “Did she enjoy her life as a vampire?”
    He angled a look at her.
    “Well, yeah, okay, she committed suicide, so she wasn’t too thrilled with it at the end. But what about before that? Did she hate it? Did she love it, but just got tired?”
    Trust Ainsley to ask the hard questions. “She was ambivalent about it. She certainly didn’t abhor what she was. Had she not had a deep fascination with vampires in the first place, she would not have wound up in my bed. And she certainly enjoyed her newfound power. But she didn’t ask for it. She didn’t actively seek the transformation.” He shrugged. “It’s hard to be wholehearted about it if the choice is not freely made.”
    “That sounds like personal experience talking.”
    “Funny, I thought it sounded like the end of a sad tale.”
    “Not quite. I have one more question in that vein before we move on.”
    “No pun intended, I’m sure.”
    She snorted. “Pure accident, I assure you.”
    “Then probe away.”
    “Oh, Gawd.” She rolled her eyes. “More phlebotomy humor.”
    His gaze fell on her smiling mouth, still swollen from their kisses. Dear heaven, he wanted to kiss her again. And how stupid was that? He’d just laid out very plainly why they couldn’t go there again. Her face sobered, and he realized he was frowning fiercely. He forced his brow to smooth, his jaw to relax.
    “Your question?”
    “Her name … what was it?”
    “You want to know her name? Ainsley, she’s been dead now for decades.”
    “Yes, I want to know her name. You’ve been honoring her by telling me her story. Finish the job.”
    “Reina. Her name was Reina.”
    She took his hand. “Thank you for telling me.”
    “You’re welcome. Are we done here?”
    “Almost. Just one more question.”
    “Just one?”
    “Okay, one more line of questioning.”
    “Then make it quick. I get cranky if I miss a meal.”
    She dropped his hand and jumped up. “Oh, shi … shoot. I forgot. This’ll wait.”
    “Just sit down and ask your question, Ainsley. I’m not in any danger of expiring. In fact, I can go several days without sustenance before it really starts to take a toll on anything but my disposition.”
    “You’re sure?”
    “Positive.” And a damned good thing, too, since he wasn’t going to be able to take blood for at least 48 hours. Ainsley presumed he could type and crossmatch his supper to avoid ABO incompatibility issues in the event the Merzetti Effect turned out to be sexually transmissible and triggered a reversal. Excellent reasoning. Except his mutation predated the pioneering work of Karl Landsteiner by almost a full century. Like all vampires, he was now