Page 32 of Desired for Her Blood

“If you say so.” But I do know that my past is sexy AF for most women. Playing the pirate card has always spread legs without effort.

“How did you end up a pirate?”

“Answered an ad on Craig’s List.”

She slaps my chest lightly. “I’m serious. I want to know.”

I glance down to find her looking up into my eyes and her curiosity and affection are almost too much to bear.

My usual answers are all on the tip of my tongue, answers I’ve honed to match the fantasy people have of pirates, but don’t skim the truth’s surface. Real memories flash through my mind and my chest tightens. I don’t want to give her glib answers. I want to tell her at leastsomeof the truth. I’ll push down the worst parts.

“I lived in a fishing village in Denmark.” Might as well start at the beginning.

“You’re Danish?” Her fingers trace the shape of my chest.

“Technically, Danish, yeah. But haven’t been there since I was a kid.” I feel a sudden urge to return there, to see whether or not any trace remains of my village, but I shake that thought away.

“Is Stone a Danish name?” she asks.

I shrug. “Took that name at sea. Don’t remember another surname, if I ever had one.”

“I always think of Danes as fair-haired.”

“Lots are. But many of us, especially in the lower classes, were not.” Her leg slides against mine and my stomach muscles contract in a vain attempt to keep my cock from rising. “Probably some gene mixing from pillaging during Viking times and all that. Not to mention the Romans spreading their seed far and wide. Probably where I got my dark hair.”

“Wow. I never thought about that.” Her thumb flicks over my nipple and I choke down my reaction. “What was your childhood like,” she asks.

“Normal. Hard, by today’s standards, I guess. My parents both died by the time I was ten.“

“Oh, I’m sorry.” She lifts her head to look into my eyes.

“It was a very,verylong time ago. And not out of the norm for the times.”

“Normal?”

“Let’s just say I wasn’t the only ten year old kid on his own.”

She nods. “I was fourteen when I lost my mom—” Stopping she shakes her head. “I was alone from then, but compared to you, I had it super easy. What did you do after you were orphaned?”

I’m not so sure she had it as easy as she claims, but I’ll wait to ask her more about that later.

“I scrounged for food. Did small chores in exchange for scraps, but as soon as I was big enough, I joined a crew.”

“A pirate crew?”

I nod.

“How old were you?”

“Twelve, maybe thirteen?”

“So young?”

“Thirteen wasn’t that young to join a crew, but I was small for my age.” I remember well the look in Captain Roger’s eyes when I approached him in that drinking hole by the port.

That night, what I saw was his attention, his admiration and approval. The Captain made me feel like a man, like I could find a place to belong with his crew—a new family. I was way too innocent to recognize the lecherous glint in his eyes. And certainly didn’t recognize that he was a vampire. A shiver traces through me.

“Bad memory?” she asks.