She thought it over. "Yes and no. Clay is…handsome. I understand the appeal. But vampires don't need to take on lovers. You don't procreate."
He looked amused, which made him appear younger. She guessed that he was at most mid-thirties. Did vampires age, or had he remained at this age since he was forcibly turned?
"Is that the only time you give in to your urges?" he asked her with a knowing smile. "When you feel the need to procreate? Because I hate to disappoint you, but vampires cannot reproduce. You won't be bearing my child."
She blushed hotly but refused to be cowed. "But he's a man. It can't be…easy."
"Oh, it can be very easy when you know how to do it." Vellum's grin was filthy, harkening back to his life as a human. As handsome as he was, he must have had a lover or a wife. Where were they now?
"I'll take pity on you, Mariel, and give you the answer you seek. Sex for vampires is mostly about power. If I were to mount the handsome Marshal, I would be exerting my power over him and that is a delicious thought. It…arouses me."
"So you want only to dominate. It has nothing to do with love or attraction, just putting us in our places."
She thought she'd kept her voice even, but something must have leaked through. Satisfaction flashed in the depths of Vellum's eyes.
"Why, Mariel? Would you like it to mean more? Do you, deep inside, yearn to win the heart of a vampire? Do you need to believe that each time I touch you it is with increasing affection for you? Is it love with a monster that you seek?"
"Stop it," she snapped, hurt and embarrassed but angry, too, especially since she'd felt a touch of jealousy over the lover he must have had while he was human. "I'm not in love with you and you're not a monster. You only pretend to be. I think—I think it's how you protect yourself."
Something like surprise touched his face.
"I don't pretend anything," he said eventually, no hint of teasing or mockery in his voice. Rather, he looked thoughtful, perhaps even cautious of her. "Clay illustrated the truth of the matter: your kind and my kind are uneasy neighbors. We will never live in harmony, which is why you'd be smart to guard your heart, Mariel. Desire and lust do not equal love when you're dealing with a vampire."
"If I loved you, you wouldn't know what to do with it."
His arm shot out, too quickly for her to block, but it was only so he could curl a hand behind her head and fondly caress her hair. "You're right, Mariel. I wouldn't know what to do with love, so save it for someone who does."
He didn't turn his head to look out at Clay, but Mariel understood that was whom he meant. She found it odd that Vellum would be interested in playing matchmaker. He shouldn't care about their fates, yet something told her Vellum was trying to make amends for dragging them with him.
It made her think: what kind of vampire was he truly if he'd been turned against his will? This life, such as it was, had been forced upon him. Had he been given the choice, he would be human.
You are lonely, she thought with sudden understanding. You never wanted this, and now you can't turn back.
"In a month, yours and the Marshal's lives will return to normal," he told her, and offered her an unusual smile, free of the slightly superior, cocky attitude that had inhabited his others. "Keep that moment in mind, Mariel. That's where your future lies."
He stepped away from her, allowing the night to rush into the space between them. His eyes glittered, cold as starlight. "In the meantime, we'll enjoy each other's company and know it for what it is…and what it is not."
He was warning her. It was a kind act, truthfully, but Mariel wasn't in need of kindness. Kindness she could find back in Willowtown as she changed the bedding or swept the floor of the inn. Kindness she had known with her husband Carl, who had left barely an imprint on her heart and soul. She had severed her connection to that kindness the moment she opened Vellum's crate. She might never be an airship captain but she could still be the type of woman she'd always suspected and hoped she could be: fearless, brave, and perhaps a touch foolish.
Those were the attributes of adventurers, and at the heart of her, Mariel had always believed that love was the last and greatest territory left to conquer. Perhaps it was time that she should.
~~~~~