Page 54 of Immortal by Morning (Argeneau #37)
“Now,” Lucian said as soon as the trio had left the kitchen. Turning to Abril he raised one eyebrow. “Are you going to agree
to be Crispin’s life mate? Or do we have to erase your memory and remove you from his presence?”
“Uncle,” Crispin growled in warning.
“It is better to know now and get it over with than to waste time on hope,” Lucian told him firmly, and then looked at Abril
again and asked, “Well? Which will it be?”
Abril turned to Crispin to ask with disbelief, “Agree to be your life mate or they erase my memories and remove me from your
presence? Seriously? Whatever happened to dating and stuff?”
Crispin opened his mouth to say something, but before a single word could leave his lips, Lucian said, “I am the one asking
questions, little girl. And I expect an answer.”
Scowling, she rounded on the man. “You are a bossy prick, sticking his nose in where it doesn’t belong and I’m getting really
tired of your high-handed bullshit. I mean, who the hell died and made you the lord and master?”
“Most of Atlantis,” he snapped back.
“Bricker is going to be seriously upset that he missed this,” Roberts murmured, sounding amused.
She thought Cassius might have cracked the briefest smile, but it was quickly gone and he merely grunted in agreement.
“Abril, sweetheart,” Crispin said soothingly, “Lucian is—”
“Lucian is tired, bored, and ready to go home to his beautiful life mate and children,” Lucian interjected, getting to his
feet. “So, I shall save us all some time and tell you, Crispin, that she has already decided to be your life mate. I just
wanted you to hear her say it. But since she has decided to be pissy...”
“ I’ve decided to be pissy?” Abril asked with disbelief.
“Yes,” he said simply, and then turned to head out of the kitchen, barking, “Make sure we have everything we brought with us, boys, and let’s get moving.
If we are quick, we can make it home before dawn.
” Pausing at the doorway, he swung back to spear Cassius with a look.
“I presume you are staying to help Detective Roberts out until Crispin gets the worst of this new life mate business out of his system?”
“Yes,” Cassius said at once. “I already discussed it with Alexander and he is fine with that.”
“Good,” Lucian said abruptly and then glanced from Abril to Crispin and announced, “I expect an invitation to the wedding.”
He was out of the room before Abril could grab something to throw at him. The man was just—
“We shall be in Abril’s room,” Crispin announced, catching her hand and tugging her in the same direction Lucian and the others
had just gone. Obviously by room, he meant the guest bedroom she’d been using and not her office, she thought wryly.
“That’s fine,” Cassius called after them. “We will take care of getting the contractors back here to resume the work on the
addition.”
“And we’ll handle Lilith too until you surface,” Roberts added reassuringly. “You two go on. You have a lot to talk about.”
Abril highly doubted it was talking Crispin was interested in.
She fully expected him to have her naked on the bed before the door had finished closing behind them.
So, she was a little surprised when instead, he urged her into the room, pushed her toward the top of the bed, closed the bedroom door and then sim ply leaned back against it, as far as he could get away from her while still in the same room.
Confused, she tilted her head and eyed him in question. “Is there something wron—?”
“Have you really decided to be my life mate?” he asked solemnly.
Abril hesitated.
“Was Lucian wrong?” he asked sounding amazed at the possibility.
“He wasn’t wrong,” she said and when he started forward, said quickly, “But he wasn’t right either.”
Crispin stopped abruptly, just steps away. His eyes narrowed. “I do not understand.”
Abril heaved out a sigh and then said with some exasperation, “Well, neither do I. I mean what is a life mate? I want to agree
to be yours, but how can I when I don’t know what that entails?”
Crispin was frowning now. “Abril, I explained that a life mate is someone we cannot read or control, who cannot read or control
us. Someone we can—”
“Live in peace with yada yada yada,” Abril said impatiently. “So basically, a human tranquilizer.”
Crispin arched one eyebrow, his lips twitching. “If you feel like a human tranquilizer for me, then I have been doing something
wrong in the bedroom... and the pool room... and your office... and—”
“Crispin,” she interrupted with exasperation, “What does being a life mate mean ? What would be expected of me? Is it like a wife? Would we marry? Or would I be a walking blood bag for you to feed off of
when you felt hungry? What?”
He relaxed suddenly, a gentle smile pulling at his lips and then closed the distance between them. Taking her hands gently in his, he said, “A life mate is very much like a wife, but it is an unbreakable bond.”
She frowned slightly. “Unbreakable? Like no divorce?”
“Unbreakable like the bond will never break and the passion will never die,” he explained. “I, of course, would be very pleased
to marry you with a proper wedding, but whether we marry or not, we will always be life mates, no matter where we are.” He
fell silent for a minute to let that sink in and then said, “And you will never be a walking blood bag to me. Immortals sometimes
will bite their mortal lovers if both parties agree, but once both parties are immortal that just cannot happen. It is too
dangerous. The nanos will not mix and blend. The original nanos see the new nanos as an invading force they must remove and
a battle will take place in the body that can kill the host.”
“Really?” she asked with surprise.
“Yes,” he assured her.
Abril was silent for a minute, and then cleared her throat and said, “You said once both parties are immortal . Does that mean...?”
When she couldn’t give voice to what she really wanted to know, he said solemnly, “It is customary for an immortal to use
their one turn for their life mate so that they may live out their long lives together. I would wish to turn you.”
Abril winced at the very idea and admitted, “I really don’t like needles and I’m not a big fan of pain either.
In fact, I’m kind of a wuss about stuff like that.
I don’t know if I could—” She shook her head, and then said, “And it’s such a big commitment to make when we’ve only known each other for a matter of days. What if—”
Crispin silenced her with a kiss. Abril thought it was terribly unfair of him to do that, for all of ten seconds and then
she was kissing him back, all her worries and fears pushed out of her head by the passion he stirred to life in her.
Breaking their kiss a moment later, Crispin pulled back and began to undo the blouse she’d donned when she’d given up trying
to sleep this morning as he said, “I will not rush you. We can take our time. I wish to woo you anyway, and we will do nothing
until you are comfortable.”
Giving up on her buttons, he reached down to slip his hand under the skirt she’d put on that morning, purely because it was
so convenient for moments like this. Though, she wouldn’t have admitted it to anyone.
When his hand began to glide up her thigh, pushing her skirt before it, Abril gasped and shifted, widening her legs as his
fingers found her panties and tugged the cloth aside. She groaned when he then began to caress her where she really needed
his touch.
“Crispin, I can’t think when you—I need to ask—”
He eased his caresses at once so that both of their minds cleared a little and leaned his forehead on hers as he whispered,
“What do you need to ask, love?”
Panting a little still, she opened suddenly anxious eyes and asked, “Lucian won’t wipe you from my memory if I don’t agree
right away?”
He smiled faintly at the worry in her expression. “No. The truth is he has read your mind. He thinks you are willing, so part
of you must be. He will give us the time it takes until you are completely ready.”
“Oh,” she breathed and smiled crookedly. “That’s good, because I really, really lust for you, and I like you a lot so far, and would hate to lose you.”
“You will never lose me, Abril,” he assured her solemnly, and began to caress her again as he eased her back onto the bed.
“I have waited three thousand years for you. Now that I have found you, you are stuck with me.”
“I can handle that,” she groaned, arching into his caress. “Now shut up and love me.”
“Always,” he breathed and kissed her hungrily as he gave up caressing her to quickly unzip his pants. A moment later, his
erection had pushed its way out of his boxers and slacks, he’d tugged her panties aside again, and was sliding into her. It
felt like finally finding home.