"You have children?" she questioned wide eyed, pain shot through him.
"Had..." he replied, more pain, "I am the only living person of the Leor blood line today." A twinge of bitterness shot through him.
"I thought you said you'd lost your child?" she wondered as confusion crossed her face, "You never mentioned remarrying after your change."
"I've been married multiple times Aria, and, well, vampires can still conceive; the male ones at least." Such a difficult thing to discuss he thought to himself.
"Why only males...and how...I thought you were like undead."
"Vampire women's bodies cannot change nor grow or expand to bare children and their bodies are frozen in time which renders their eggs useless whereas with us our sperm is still very much alive." He explained then stared at her as she sat quietly waiting for him to continue, "So...we uh...we can still have children with a mortal woman, hence using protection every time we've had sex. These children are what's known as Dampires, they are part human and part vampire, Dampire women can conceive." Pain slowly rose in his core, "I married a woman whom was also named Mina, Mina and I conceived before time inevitably took her." He let out a painful sigh, "For many, many years I was active in my blood line as it continued and expanded and then there became so many that I lost track for a long while however when the big war happened my blood line was all but wiped out..." more pain, and a tightening in his throat, "Uh...my enemies purposely began hunting down and slaying anyone that carried my eternal mark within their blood." Looking away from her he bit back the bitter taste of his venom, just remembering both angered him and bereaved him. He looked over finally as Aria sat there silently staring wide eyed a mixed aura coming from her.
"So, were all your descendants these Dampires?" she finally asked.
"No, the further the blood line spread, the further it watered down per se until the only thing that remained was the mark or the scent."
"These Damp..." she began only for him to cut her off.
"Are very dangerous to carry and conceive." He stated bluntly, a slightly disappointed look crossed her face, "Aria..." he began, "Do you want children some day?" he questioned unsure if it was too early to be asking her that. Getting up she meandered to the fridge and opening it she stared in.
"I don't know...maybe...I've never had any luck conceiving before though..." she mumbled, hesitance and pain in her voice, what had she not told him yet?
Getting up he approached her and wrapped his arms around her closing the fridge as he did so, "What do you mean you never had any luck...did you try to have children once?" he questioned knowing very well he could be touching on a very sensitive subject.
"Tried...no...been pregnant yes..." she mumbled, pain rolling off her, "I lost all 3." She finished in a low voice.
"What do you want out of life Aria...what is your dream?" he questioned, he had a feeling he knew.
"I always imagined I'd be married and have at least one child by the time I was 25..." she sighed, "But...obviously that didn't happen." She mumbled then pulling free she returned to the couch and flipped on the T.V; his signal that the conversation was over.
Turning the T.V off he lifted her and carried her to the bed where he slowly but gently worked towards making love with her once more; in the aftermath he lay there deep in thought tracing nonsensical patterns on her stomach right where her uterus was located. The thought of conceiving with her had grown stronger sense he'd first envisioned what their child may look like and he was almost positive that without bluntly saying it that she had told him she wanted to have children some day earlier.
"You're going to be 34 this year right Aria?" he randomly questioned, breaking their silence.
"Yes." She answered then eyed him, "Am I already getting too old for you?" she questioned guardedly.
He let out a guffaw of a laugh, "Good lord no." nuzzling her neck he gave it a nip, "I'm not that type of person Aria, I stayed with Mya, one of my other wives, until she was 78. When I fall in love I fall not in love with the body, not the looks, but the heart, mind and soul of the person." He continued, then kissed her lips lightly, "Even at 78 I still found Mya beyond beautiful; matter of fact as my wives aged I found them even more beautiful like fine wines that only got better with age." He sighed, "You humans just don't understand, your mind and heart and eyes are clouded whereas once a person becomes a vampire everything becomes very vivid and clear." He finished then tugged on a piece of her hair.
"What do you mean?" she questioned.
"Literally everything enhances when you change, it's like a shroud is lifted from you, your eyes see more vividly, your ears here more acutely, your sense of smell becomes animal like, your mind runs like a freight train, everything enhances and you feel much deeper." He continued, tugging at the piece of her hair thoughtfully still, "It's like everything's been put beneath a microscope and been magnified." He drifted off and they lay there in silence.
Finally she climbed over him and went to the bathroom to undoubtedly do her cleansing regimen that she always did after they were intimate; he listened to her hum as the water ran. Getting up he meandered to the door and leaned against the frame in the opening watching her cleanse herself delicately; he'd asked her about it once asked if it made her feel dirty and she had told him no that it was for health reasons.
"Aria..." he began, "...where do you see this going...where do you see us going?" he questioned, "And are you sure making love to me doesn't make you feel filthy?"
"I told you it was for health reasons and sanitary reasons; I am prone to irritations from not cleaning properly after sex." She said rolling her eyes.
"Ok...and the other answer?" he questioned, understanding now what she meant, he had treated women before during his career as a doctor for similar reasons.
"I...I don't know." She mumbled quietly, then turning off the water she walked passed him and began searching in her drawers for night clothes, "Just...everything still feels...kind of like a dream...like if I try to focus on it too much it will fade away and I'll wake." She continued as she grabbed out a pair of boyshorts and slipped them on; he flitted over to her and hugged her from behind.
"Well, unless you tell me to go away cherie I am not going anywhere, I told you we mate for life...and I told you someday what I'll ask of you." He mumbled then nibbled her neck just hard enough to prick the skin and flick his tongue across the little blood droplets as they welled up; she let out a slight laugh.
"If you're hungry go find you a meal elsewhere." She taunted as she grabbed up a silken, thin strapped pajama top.
"I don't know why you're putting that stuff on...I always end up taking it off of you again." He teased, suckling on her neck lightly, "And I'm not hungry...not really, besides, you've got the liquid sun I want to taste." He breathed causing chills to break out over her skin.
"Able...will Bastian ever be happy again?" she questioned lowly her hands stalling in her pant drawer.
He let out a low sigh, "I don't know...he's sustained two nasty blows in his life...I'd...I'd like to think that he will someday." He mumbled, his heart ached for Bastian, "I'm glad your noisy ass moved next to me...if you hadn't...." he muttered and trailed off, he would still be messed up he knew, "Hey Aria..." he wondered to himself if he should ask and if he did would he frighten her.
"Hmm?" She questioned, pushing him away so she could slip on her bottoms.
"I know I said it's dangerous...but...I was wondering...if I can prove to you that I'm not going anywhere...would you consider marrying me some day and having children with me?" he felt her stiffen, "I'm not saying right this second, we've only been together for a few months...I'm saying...in a year or two?"
She pulled out of his embrace, "You must understand...I've been on the verge of marriage before and both times the relationship ended...and I've no luck carrying a baby full term thus far..." she began, turning her he looked in her eyes.
"I'm not saying right now...I'm asking if you think you could consider it someday...I'm asking if you could see yourself marrying someone...someone like me."
"Yes, yes I could." She answered which made explosions of excitement go off inside of him.
"Then...a year from now...I will ask this of you." He stated then crushed his mouth to hers and swept her off her feet which made her laugh.
"I'm a bit heavy for you to be lifting on all the time aren't I?" she giggled.
"Nope, I've lifted heavier than you." He snorted, "I can lift a semi-truck with barely a sweat. My strength is nearly incalculable, I have more than just one ancients blood in my veins; I come from the fount itself." He growled out, "Aria...can I..." he mumbled then nuzzled her neck.
"Just a little I guess." She agreed then fluttered her eyelashes at him.
"I told you there was no use putting those on." He taunted then laying her on the bed and lying full atop her he pulled down her pajama top revealing the mound of her breast, kissing it gently he sank his teeth in the orgasmic spurt of her blood filling his mouth.
© Eva Henderson, 2016