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A small smile tugs at her mouth which turns into her biting her lip. I want to tug it out from her teeth to prevent her from hurting herself. I wasn’t lying earlier when I told her I’d never hurt her. Vampires physically can’t hurt their mates. The worst we can do is lose ourselves to the pull of the mating bond and let our baser instincts to claim take over.

“You’re a vampire.” Celine reiterates like she still can’t quite believe it. I don’t blame her. The world likes to tell you what is and isn’t true and when that philosophy is challenged it’s hard to accept. “You drink blood. But I’ve seen you eat food.”

I understand what she’s getting at. “Vampires can eat normal food. Obviously, we prefer blood and that’s what sustains us, but some vamps, depending on their age, still like to eat human food. Whether they still like the taste or it’s a nostalgia thing, it happens.” I shrug, personally falling into both categories.

“Hmm.” She’s so cute when she’s thinking. Her brow furrows and her mouth twists to the side in contemplation. “When were you turned?”

“Oof. Going straight for the age, huh?” I try not to show it, but a large part of me is afraid once she gets her answers, she’ll be turned off by me. Vampires feel the pull of the mate bond much more strongly than humans and I don’t want to run her off. Besides, I want her to choose me for more than just the bond. “You sure you want to hear about the old fart you went on a date with?” I try and cover my concern with humor hoping she won’t pick up on it.

“The fact you’re a vampire is the biggest shock. I don’t think your age will be more shocking than that,” she reasons, and crosses and uncrosses her legs for the fifth time in the last few minutes.

“I’m three-hundred years old. I was born in 1725 and turned when I was twenty-six.” Even with her earlier statement of reassurance I still see her brows creep up her forehead.

I am indeed crusty, but hey, at least I’m the sexiest crusty vampire she’ll ever meet.

“Okay.” Celine takes it better than I thought she would and keeps on trucking with her questions. “How did it happen? Is it the whole other vampire bit you, drained you to the point of death, and then fed you their blood sort of thing?”

I smirk at her hypothesis. “You read too much fiction.” The plush pillow behind me pushes against my back as I settle in to tell her. “The shows and movies have always gotten paranormal creatures wrong. Vampires didn’t start by supernatural means.”

“Wait, what do you mean?” Celine’s voice goes up an octave and she rubs her palms nervously on her thighs.

“The start of us actually came from scientific experiments. It’s not like in fiction where some witch cursed our ancient ancestors and it led to vampires or some other nonsense.”Midnight’s fur is soft against my hand as I stroke him for comfort. “Back in the 1700’s the world was rampant with illness and disease it had no cure for, at least none that were guaranteed cures. Smallpox, dysentery, cholera, I could go on and on. Countries around the world decided to start putting the dead and dying to good use and began to experiment on them. How could we come up with a medicine to strengthen humankind, so they were stronger and didn’t fall ill to these silent killers?” My hair falls in my eyes as I shake my head in disgust.

“Were you one of the people they tested on?” Celine asks quietly.

I hesitate before answering. “Yes. But not in the way you think.” Guilt wracks my body as I remember one of the darkest periods of my life. “I offered myself up for it.”

“What? Why would you willingly offer yourself up for testing?”

“I had no choice.” Midnight curls up next to me with his tummy in the air and I grab his little paw in a handshake. “My family was in a bad way, and I caught wind they paid for healthy candidates to test on. Thought I could help the family out by doing the tests and coming back but...” I trail off and stare into the corner.

“That didn’t happen, did it?” Celine slowly stands and walks toward me when I shake my head sadly. Since Midnight is sprawled by my side she perches on the arm of the couch and rests a hand softly against my arm.

“As I’m sure you can imagine the testing resulted in ... this.” I let out a humorless laugh and gesture to myself. “We were indeed stronger beings, but we were also mutants and changed in a way that was unnatural. Both in awe and disturbed by the results they tried to see how far they could push us with experiments. How tough was our skin, how much pain we couldendure, what kind of conditions we could live in before our bodies gave out. All in the name of furthering the human race.”

Memories of needles, poking, prodding, and dark cells flash through my mind, and I cringe. My happy go lucky personality helps me cover up my pain and trauma but it's seeping through right now.

Fuck.

I try so hard to keep it locked away.

Pain.

Suffering.

Darkness.

My breathing quickens and I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to pull myself out of the prison in my mind. Whips, chains, musty air, and blood. So much blood.

A gentle hand grabs me around my neck and pulls me to a soft chest. Celine’s scent fills my nose, and I lean into her. Breathing deeply, I whimper and feel myself slowly grounding in reality. Silent tears track down my cheeks and she wipes them away with the pads of her fingers. The steady rhythm of her heart and the comforting touch of her hand on my shoulder calms me down.

“You’re okay. I’ve got you.” Her hands are warm and comforting on my cheeks.

Twisting toward her, I hold her to me like the most precious thing in the world.

Because she is.

“Man, hydrogen peroxide really does wonders getting blood out of hardwood floors and carpet, doesn’t it?” Celine muses as she finishes wiping up the kitchen floor.