Page 40 of Immortal by Morning (Argeneau #37)
Abril started to shake her head, but then stopped because, frankly, she wasn’t sure what she was.
She wanted to say she wasn’t upset, but she couldn’t think of how to describe what she was feeling in that moment.
Dismay. Shock. A certainty that this had to all be some kind of weird dream she was having.
The only thing she really wasn’t feeling was horror, which rather surprised her.
Deciding to push aside her feelings on the subject, and the fact that she’d been making out with and was still lusting after
a man who was older than America, Europe, and pretty much anything else she could think of, she focused on a more manageable
fact, and returned to the original subject. “All right, so finding a life mate reinvigorates your interest in food and sex.
What else?”
Crispin had opened his mouth to answer, when another question struck her and she stalled him by saying, “Oh, wait! Are the
nanos why kissing and making out with you is so hot?”
He nodded. “Life mates experience each other’s pleasure along with their own. It grows in mounting waves, overwhelming them
at the end so that they both lose consciousness. We believe that is because of the nanos.”
“Damn,” Abril breathed. She’d avoided thinking about the fact that she’d fainted after each passionate encounter with Crispin.
The first time in the pool because she’d woken up lying on the man and had immediately been more concerned with other things.
Like that she was lying on the man. Her head had been nestled on his chest, her groin cuddled against his, and her body had
been instantly aware and eager to go another round with him.
She hadn’t thought about it after the time in her bedroom because she’d woken up to the intruder and been knocked out. It
had basically slipped her mind by the time she woke up with a pounding headache and Dr. Dani leaning over her.
“Back to your question,” Crispin said, regaining her attention. “Shared dreams are another symptom, which we also had.”
“Yes,” she acknowledged solemnly. “So, you think I’m a life mate to you.”
He nodded.
“Which means what?” she asked.
“Which means you are the one person that I could spend my life with happily.”
“One out of how many?” she asked. “How many other life mates are out there for you? I mean, they say there’s more than one
fish in the sea. Is there more than one life mate for an immortal too?”
Crispin hesitated, and then said, “You may be the only one ever. Some immortals have been fortunate enough to find a second
life mate after losing the first. But that is not guaranteed. You may be the only possible life mate I ever meet.”
“Why do you say a possible life mate? Am I or am I not your life mate?”
“I only say possible because you can refuse to be my life mate,” he explained gently. “As far as I am concerned, you are my life mate. There is no question. However, I cannot force you to agree to become my life mate, so, you are a possible life
mate. I very much hope that you would be willing to be my life mate.”
“I see,” she murmured.
While she was still considering what he’d said, Crispin quickly assured her, “I realize this is all new to you, Abril. And
this is a lot to take in, I know. I will not rush you. I am not asking you for a decision on if you agree to be my life mate
or not. I am just asking you to keep an open mind and allow me to court you.”
Abril peered at him with surprise. Court you was such an old-fashioned term.
“But we can set this aside for now, and simply deal with the issues at hand.”
“Issues?” Abril asked with uncertainty. Which ones, she wondered. There seemed to be so many of them to her. There were skeletons
in the garden outside, one in the indoor garden, and seven vampires—or immortals as they preferred to be called—wandering
around inside her boss’s house, one of whom she had the serious hots for.
“The issue of the rogue attacking you,” he explained gently.
“Oh. Right,” she said and could feel herself blushing. It was a little embarrassing to admit, even only to herself, but she’d
quite forgotten about that nonsense what with everything else she’d learned.
Crispen eyed her with worry. “Are you okay? I know this was a lot of information to take in in a very short time. It is perfectly
understandable if you—”
“I’m not freaking out, if that’s what you’re asking. At least I don’t think I am,” she added with a weak smile. “I mean, this
is a lot, but I think I’m okay. I’m handling it.”
Crispin nodded, looked away, and then back to say, “As I said, I will not push you on the matter of us. I know this is early
days and far too soon to expect—”
“Crispin,” she interrupted quietly.
When he paused and peered at her in question, she said, “This is a lot. And I would appreciate some time to think about everything. But honestly, I’m not looking at you like a monster or something if that’s what you’re worried about.
I’m not suddenly seeing you as some blood-hungry fiend.
You’ve explained it all pretty clearly. It sounds like a medical issue.
You have nanos which help you stay strong and healthy.
But they also cause a need for blood. Not unlike how it is for hemophiliacs.
.. only with the nanos.” She rolled her eyes at herself and then added, “Anyway, the point is, we can just hang out and see—” She paused and frowned there.
“I was going to say we could just hang around and see if we like each other, but I actually do like you already. Although,” she countered, “I don’t really know much about you, so maybe it’s actually just lusting after you.
But I mean if the nanos choose life mates—Are you sure the nanos are right when they choose life mates?
They never make mistakes?” she asked, knowing that she sounded terribly disorganized in her thinking right then, but her brain was kind of still bouncing around with the information it was trying to organize and file away.
Expression serious, Crispin clasped her arms, making sure to touch her only where her skin was covered by the cloth of her
sleeves, and said, “I know many life mate couples, and all of them are happy and in wonderful relationships. Even one couple
who have been together since Atlantis.”
“What?” she asked with surprise.
Crispin nodded firmly. “Nicodemus and Marzzia Notte. They were life mates in Atlantis before the fall, and they are still
passionately in love and happy together all these years later. There are others like them who have been together centuries
or millennia, and are happy and content together still. In fact, I have never heard of a life mate couple who were not happy
and passionately in love.”
They were both silent for a moment, and then Crispen peered at her seriously and said, “Lucian said you were considering running away. Putting Lilith in the car and just leaving.”
Abril paused briefly, surprised at the fact that Lucian had read that from her mind. But supposed she shouldn’t be, not after
everything she’d learned. Finally, she admitted, “I did consider doing that at one point.”
“And now?” he asked.
“And now I don’t feel like doing that,” she said simply and then admitted, “I was confused then, and distressed at everything
that was happening around me. I felt like there was something going on that I didn’t understand. Which was true. But now that
you’ve explained the situation to me, that feeling has receded.”
There was no mistaking the relief on Crispin’s face at her words. Now he offered her a smile. “I am glad to hear it. And I
hope that in the future rather than simply leaving or running away, you would feel comfortable enough to come to me and talk
to me about whatever is distressing you.”
“I think I could do that,” she said slowly. “You appear to have been honest with me, so I suppose I can be honest with you
too.”
“Good.” He smiled at her widely and then stood and said, “Unless you have any more questions, I suppose we should join the
others and find out what Anders and Roberts learned.”
Abril’s gaze widened slightly. “Are Anders and Roberts back?”
“Yes. They returned shortly after we came into your office.”
“How do you know?” she asked in surprise. “Can you guys send mental communication to each other, or something?”
Crispin smiled faintly. “Since they can all read my mind right now—”
“Wait, so you’re saying everyone in the kitchen is older than you?” she squawked with disbelief. While they all looked around
the same age, it was hard to believe there were beings around who were born in 900 BC, let alone earlier.
“No. Well, Lucian is, but the others are younger.”
“Then how can they all read you? You said immortals could only read the minds of other immortals younger than themselves.”
“Ah, yes, I suppose I should explain that,” he said with a slight grimace. He then took a moment before saying, “While it
is true we cannot usually read immortals older than ourselves, finding a life mate tends to temporarily change that. Even
the oldest immortal is easily read by all other immortals, no matter their age, once they encounter their life mate. At least
temporarily,” he added. “That usually goes away after a year or so. As does the fainting.”
“Why?” Abril asked at once.
Crispin shrugged helplessly. “No one knows for sure. It is presumed though that the fainting at the culmination of sex is because it is all so overwhelming at first and that once the couple adjusts to the extremes in passion they are better able to handle it and remain conscious. As for being suddenly readable by everyone...” He hesitated and then said, “I suspect that has to do with our minds struggling to accept everything happening. Busy processing all the new feelings both emotional and physical suddenly assaulting us, I believe our minds might just be dropping the ball on blocking others from reading us. But that too ends after a year or so.”
Abril nodded slowly, and then returned to her earlier question. “Okay, so how do you know Anders and Roberts are back? Can
you or can you not communicate mentally?”
Crispin paused briefly before saying, “I suppose I could send them messages in my thoughts since they can read me right now.
But I don’t think they can send them to me. The truth is, I just heard them return and can hear their voices in the kitchen
even now as they speak.”
Eyebrows rising slightly, she said, “I suppose that has something to do with your nanos. You did say they made you faster
and stronger. Did they give you better hearing too?”
Crispin nodded. “And better sight as well.”
They were both silent for a moment, and then he asked, “Any more questions? I am happy to answer anything else you want to
know.”
Abril shook her head and stood up. “Let’s go find out what Roberts and Anders have learned. I will be very interested to find
out whether it was the Bransons or the Foleys who are responsible for the bodies in the garden and why.”
“Me too,” Crispin admitted as he opened her office door for her.