Authors: Maya DeLeina
Steffan’s manicured middle finger waved in a silent response.
The women laughed.
Brynne went to work, towel drying Steffan’s hair as Catrin delicately dabbed his face dry. Although Catrin and Brynne were family, the act of being totally submissive to a woman excited and pleased Steffan.
He tucked that away as a mental note for Anya.
“Clean-shaven was definitely the right choice to go with,” Catrin said as she stepped back to examine their handwork on Steffan.
Brynne joined her in her examination. “He still needs a little something.”
“A new hairstyle, maybe?” Eilian suggested.
“New hairstyle? Women never complained about my hair before,” Steffan said hesitantly.
“I know…they liked the ponytail action you got going on here,” Eilian said as he tossed Steffan’s hair around.
Steffan’s hair sat just below his shoulders. Around his face, long layers fell in varying lengths between his cheekbones and chin. He would vary his look, letting his jet-black hair flow freely or sleeking it back in a ponytail, allowing the scraps of layers to fall where they may.
“But this is Anya you’re meeting today. Maybe something more sophisticated?” Eilian said as he winked at Brynne.
Brynne nodded in response.
* * * *
“What do you think?” Brynne asked.
She styled Steffan’s luscious locks in multilayers just above his shoulders. Long, sweeping bangs completed the look. It was a perfect highlight to his rugged features and a suited change.
“Actually, I like it,” replied Steffan as he used the handheld mirror to examine the cut from multiple angles and slowly ran his hands through his hair.
“Okay, wardrobe time,” said Catrin.
Everyone poured into the dressing room.
Steffan tried on several outfits and carefully weighed the responses from his audience. After dwindling down the choices, he settled on black trousers and a gray, button-down dress shirt. Catrin had suggested the colors since the gray shirt brought out the silver in his eyes.
Steffan dressed, and the girls helped with the finishing touches.
Brynne applied dabs of cologne on his neck and chest, while Catrin fixed a brushed silver watch on his wrist.
“What about my bracelet?” Steffan inquired.
The girls nodded in unison, agreeing that his leather bracelet that bore the eternal love knot would compliment his look.
The bracelet was a gift from Idris, right before he passed. The symbol had become part of Steffan, his amulet, a reminder of his desire, his hope for the future.
Steffan made his way through his master bedroom, down the catwalk and to the top of the grand staircase with Eilian, Catrin, and Brynne following closely behind. Below, Rhys waited, leaning up against the stately, iron newel post. Behind Rhys stood the remaining family, Griffin, Gwynn, Aeron, Haydn, and Ryan.
Playfully, Rhys gasped at the sight of Steffan’s new manicured look. “It’s alive! It’s alive!”
“Lay off of the movies for awhile, will you?” Steffan stared down at Rhys.
Rhys smiled and clapped as Steffan made his way down the staircase. The rest of the family followed his lead. Ryan joined in, looking awkward in the gesture.
“Thank you,” Steffan replied as he blushed from the unwarranted attention.
“Before you go, let’s take a walk in the gardens,” Rhys whispered in his ear as he drew him close by the arm.
“How did I ever guess you would suggest this,” Steffan said sarcastically.
The two men made their way outside and walked past the stone-tiered fountain to the entrance of the garden labyrinth. They walked side by side, in a leisurely gait.
“Steffan, you did it. You discovered your mate. But remember all of the advice you gave me when I was courting my mate? Chuck that all out of the window.”
“Why? I’ve read all about human mates. I feel ready. I feel prepared.” Steffan’s brow scrunched as he responded to Rhys.
“No amount of studying vampire-human mates in the bloodline reports will ever prepare you for this. Anya is your mate and she’s human, pure and natural. All of your instincts will be heightened when you’re around her. You will have these insane urges to have a sexual encounter with her, feed from her and have total dominance over her. You have to find a way to control yourself.”
“Control. I get it.”
“Steffan, it’s control like you’ve never experienced. It’s control that downright hurts.” Rhys slipped his hands in his pocket and took a seat on the iron bench they came upon.
Steffan took a seat next to him.
“What’s the claim ritual like Rhys?”
“The second phase is the hardest. Sex will be primal and very animalistic. You will have the strong urge to take her wildly and drink from her completely. For me, it felt like this phase was meant to test your love for your human mate against your own need for gratification and sating innate impulses.”
“I’ve read where many mate matches didn’t make it past this point,” Steffan said as he gazed into the distance, recalling his readings. Then he turned back to Rhys. “You did it, though.”
“Yes. But remember, I was careless. I completed the first two phases without Brynne even knowing it. And when I drank from her the second time, I was wild. Steffan, I thought about drinking her dry…to death.”
“What? You never said anything to us about that!”
“Not something I like to recall.” Rhys looked down and shook off the memory.
“I assumed that her accepting me as a vampire was the part that was going to be the most difficult.”
Rhys chuckled. “Oh, it’ll still be tricky. Now, the way I had to do it was not very ideal. My woman was stubborn. I think it will be easier on both of you if it’s not thrown at her all at once. Allow clues to pass in a progression. Don’t rush it. She’ll start questioning things in her mind. Main thing to understand here is that a strong bond can overcome any fear of the unknown she has in you. I didn’t know that back then, but I know it now. Once you see it in her eyes, when love outweighs the doubt—you spring it on her.”
“What do you think I should let her see first?” Steffan asked with a childlike enthusiasm.
Rhys deliberated for a moment. “The black blood.” Rhys nodded emphatically. “Definitely the black blood. Cut yourself ‘
accidentally.’
Let her somehow see the different blood you carry in your veins. Don’t be gushing out blood or anything. You don’t want her to be disgusted by it. Again, just do enough, a hint, just a little for her to question it in her mind.”
“All right. What else?” Steffan asked.
“Well, even though this will hurt, you should eat something without being on Consumption. Try something like pudding or crème brulee, something that’s a soft consistency. Don’t eat meat or anything like that, or your body will no doubt expel it. A violent bout of hurling will be a definite turnoff.”
“I’m thinking the convulsions from not being on Consumption will not be very appealing either,” Steffan said, “and will probably scare her to death.”
Rhys shrugged. “Well of course you don’t want to do this until you’ve bonded for awhile with her, till you
think
you have her. Look, this way, you let another clue pass that something is definitely not quite right
with you, and you can test the whole Florence Nightingale effect—see if she takes care of you even while being scared out of her wits. Then you know, without a doubt, that you have her.”
Steffan scrunched his face and shook his head. “I don’t know. I may skip that one. I just don’t think I would want to put her through that. What about the sun? Would I need to show a hint of that?”
“Are you kidding? You know what our burnt skin smells like. Talk about ruining the moment with that stench!”
“True,” Steffan commented. “Well, I’ll think of other subtle things I can do. Hopefully it won’t be as hard as it was with Brynne. Someday, I want Anya to know about what happened with the two of you.”
Rhys rolled his eyes. “Indeed a story for another time.”
Steffan squinted mischievously. “You know, in all this time, I never asked how you exactly revealed yourself as a vampire to Brynne.”
“I had to resort to the scary stuff to convince her. You know how stubborn she was.”
“Ah yes, hence her bestowed name.” Steffan chuckled.
Rhys smiled in reflection.
“Though I must admit, I loved her human name. Rain. It was so simple. Beautiful. I wonder what Anya’s name will be?” Steffan remarked, his last expression sounding like reflection rather than a statement. “So when you say the scary stuff, how scary are we talking?”
“I manifested in front of her. It would’ve scared the crap out of anyone else, but no…” Rhys drew out and emphasized his last word before continuing. “She thought it was an optical illusion. Then I drove down the mountain with no lights one night. Brynne? She didn’t flinch a muscle in the passenger seat. She said that I must’ve installed an infrared camera in my dash to see.” Rhys smiled. “That woman made me work so hard to prove I was a vampire.”
“So what was it that convinced her?” Steffan asked.
“I had to resort to the
special
stuff.”
“No, you didn’t!”
Rhys nodded slyly in confirmation. “I sure did. I dreamscaped with her and did cloaked manifestations in her bedroom. But trust me, I didn’t break any of our laws and creeds during this. I never touched her inappropriately while I was invisible to her human eyes.” Rhys paused and raised an eyebrow. “Of course, I waited till I had consent.”
“Good. But how did that convince her?”
“She had this security camera in the dog’s bedroom. I knew she would be watching the camera at work, so I did a cloaked manifestation in the room and kept letting my image be revealed here and there.”
“My word! You could’ve given her a heart attack!”
“Of course not! Not my Brynne. But I know she started to believe me, just a little bit, at that point. But honestly, it was the dreamscapes that finally did it for her.”
Steffan smiled. “Looks as if I have a lot to face.”
“What happened between Brynne and I may not happen with you and Anya. All I can say is to listen to what your heart is telling you and look into hers for the answers.”
Steffan nodded in understanding. “Thanks, Rhys. I appreciate this.”
Steffan and Rhys rose from the bench and made their way out of the maze in silence, contemplating the moment.
“There is one last thing.” Rhys stopped for moment.
“There will be no question about the immediate attraction you both will have for each other. Your connection will unfold and continue to be stronger the longer you two are with each other. Both of you, your predetermined path, it’s already been paved. It is all up to you Steffan, as the maker of the claim, to steer the two of you down this road, no deviation from the path.”
As Steffan and Rhys emerged from the gardens, Steffan was shocked to see Rhys’s vehicle in the driveway with the driver’s side door wide open. The entire family stood around the vehicle to see Steffan off on his quest to find Anya.
Steffan looked at Rhys in astonishment.
Rhys dangled the keys in front of him as he nodded in confirmation.
“Really? But you won’t let anyone near this thing. Why?”