Daisy, when two lovers have been tom apart as often as we have in the past several centuries.”
Daisy rested her forehead against his chin. “Okay. But how exactly are we going to work this? I like it here, and you like Las Vegas—”
“In case you haven’t noticed, I find it easy enough to commute.”
This time it was Daisy who laughed, but there were tears blurring her vision when she looked up at him again. “What about that guy the Las Vegas police department arrested for the murders Krispin committed? Isn’t he a scapegoat, of sorts?”
Valerian shrugged elegantly. “I guess that depends on your perspective. The fellow has killed eight people, three of them children, and he’s always prided himself on pulling off the perfect crimes. Some might say that justice was done here, however indirectly.”
Daisy accepted that reply, although she knew it could have been debated for a long time to come, and returned to the original subject “I don’t see how we’re going to manage a relationship,” she fretted. “Do vampires even marry?”
“They mate, though to a much more profound degree than you probably think. Ours would be an eternal pledge, understand. Yes, you will grow old and eventually die. Then you will be born again, and I will be nearby, waiting for you to grow up and rejoin me.”
The idea was bittersweet. “What about kids? What about a house and a dog and all that?”
Valerian feigned a sigh. “Any natural child of mine, Daisy love, would be a monster in both the subjective and literal senses of the word. Still, there are plenty of children alone in the world who would be happy enough to join our unconventional little family. As for a house, you have only to tell me what you want, and I will provide it.” He paused. “The pet can be managed, too. It just so happens that an old friend has recently given me a splendid animal as a gift. You’ll like him—his name is Barabbas.”
Daisy considered her beloved’s checkered past and the multitude of romantic involvements he readily admitted he’d enjoyed. “You won’t get—restless? I should think a mortal might be pretty dull, over the long haul, when a guy’s used to lady vampires.”
He brushed her lips with his own. “If you knew what I have been through, just to be with you, you would never doubt my fidelity,” he answered at his leisure. “One day—or one night, rather—I shall tell you all about it. Furthermore, while usually beautiful and always fascinating, ‘lady vampires,’ as you so generously describe them, can be the coldest and most heartless beings in all creation.”
Daisy didn’t reply, but simply slid her arms around his neck and raised her face in the shimmering moonlight to invite the vampire’s kiss.
“Remember this night,” she whispered.
“Because we can be together at long last?”
She smiled. “And because it’s the beginning of always.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
LINDA LAEL MILLER is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of over a hundred novels. A favorite of romance readers, she expanded the scope of the traditional love story with her unique vampire series: Forever and the Night, For All Eternity, Time Without End, and Tonight and Always. Look for the upcoming books in the series, newly available on digital format.
Visit her web site at www.lindalaelmiller.com.
Table of Contents
Copyright
Dedication
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
About the author
Time Without End (The Black Rose Chronicles) Page 33
