The Thin Red Line Part 4: Immortal Desire
Part of the vampire’s allure in fiction is immortality: that
inability to age. Along with youth, the creature of darkness retains his zest
for life and love. He is a creature of desire and wanton cravings. We want him
to want us forever. And because he will live forever, we think that he can.
Normal love goes through several stages. According to http://www.ericrobersonmusic.com/2013/02/14/9-stages-of-love-all-couples-go-through/,
there are 9: infatuation, understanding differences, disturbance over
differences, opinion-making based on knowledge, molding one another into
personal ideals, being content, doubt, sexual exploration, and complete trust.
These are pretty self-explanatory, and I believe that any long-term
relationship that is successful does go through these stages. Looking back in
the ten years of my married life, I can remember each one.
There is an argument that most vampiric love in novels stops
at stage 6, if it ever gets that far. To be fair, most romances and romantic
novels end with a couple marrying or committing in some way, which makes this
logical. And the whole point of reading something romantic is to enjoy the
romance of it. Who wants to hear the terrible word “doubt” when that tall
handsome stranger is whispering that he’ll love you forever? The real question
here is the wrong assumption that a vampire’s ability to look the same extends
to all facets of his personality, including emotion. He will not change in
appearance, not if the legends are true. But inside, the vampire will change
with the passage of time. He didn’t always
love you, right? So if he can fall in love, he can fall out of love as well. So
why wouldn’t a long successful relationship with a vampire lead to all 9 stages
of love? My reasoning says it would.
Part of the allure is that we want the vampire to remain
just as he is that first moment he loved us; to lock that mindset forever in
place and have it remain as unchanging as he is. We want the intensity of
infatuation, the adventure of new romance, the life-and-death feeling of living
moment-to-moment waiting for the next encounter. We want immortal desire,
literally. But the truth is that if we could manage to stay in that exciting,
romantic stage by some magic, we will never get beyond to the stage of
happiness, or better yet, the stage of complete trust. Is that what we really
want…forever?
Author Bio: Tara
Fox Hall’s writing credits include nonfiction, horror, suspense,
action-adventure, erotica, and contemporary and historical paranormal romance.
She is the author of the paranormal action-adventure Lash series and the vampire romantic suspense Promise Me series. Tara divides her free time unequally between
writing novels and short stories, chainsawing firewood, caring for stray
animals, sewing cat and dog beds for donation to animal shelters, and target
practice.
Author Links:
Taken in the Night
is Book #3 of the Promise Me Series.
Blurb: When Theo disappears, Sar is left
bereft, the uncertain guardian of Theo’s newly born werecougar daughter, Elle.
As months pass, clues emerge about Theo’s disappearance, yet the twisting trail
ends repeatedly without answer. In her grief, Sar turns to Danial and
hesitantly begins to build a life with him and Elle.
Excerpt: “I should go,” Danial said reluctantly. “It’s late.”
I stopped him, my hand
on his arm. “Please, stay with me a little while.”
“Sar—” he began warily.
“Please, Danial. I have
to talk to you. Come with me.” I held out my hand.
He sighed, and took my
hand. I led him below to the bedroom that had been his not long ago. Danial sat
on the edge of the bed with me.
“She understands us,” I
said quietly. “I didn’t want to talk in front of her.”
“What is it, Sar?” he
said tiredly.
“You remember the
Hallows party a year ago?”
“Of course,” Danial
said with longing. “I remember being so nervous, worried you wouldn’t show. I
remember how you looked in the dress, dancing with me.” He paused. “Why do you
bring it up?”
“Because you must be
going to have another one soon, unless you’re skipping this year.”
“Yes, in late
November,” Danial said edgily. “I closed the business while looking for Theo,
and am going to reopen it next year. I need the last months of this year to
finish up loose ends of old business.” He sighed. “And I need to hire someone
to replace Theo, if such a thing can be done.”
“I want to be there,
Danial,” I said. “If you would permit me to come.”
“I had hoped you would
be,” Danial said, kissing me gently on the forehead. “I wanted to invite you,
but wasn’t sure you’d want to—”
“I know you will invite
Samuel,” I said forcefully. “I want to question him about Theo—”
His eyes tinted red
immediately. “Sar, that is not what I had in mind. I have already talked to
him, and he said he did nothing.”
“I don't believe him,
Danial. You weren’t there when he and Theo had words.”
“That doesn’t matter,”
he retorted. “He is a Ruler. You cannot question him as if he were a mere
human.”
“I certainly can—”
“Sar, I forbid it,”
Danial said arrogantly, grabbing hold of me. “And that is the end of it.”
“Who are you to forbid
me anything?” I said furiously.
“I’m a man that loves
you,” he said furiously back, and kissed me hard, pulling the length of his
body against mine as we fell backwards onto the bed.
I struggled, but he
kissed me more thoroughly, his lips and body cool against mine. I shuddered in
his arms, the feeling of being held and desired making me weak with relief and
happiness.
Danial moved, rolling
me from my side unto my back, his kisses intensifying. He shifted suddenly,
pressing down with his hips. I felt his erection pressing firmly to my belly,
and I shuddered, my mouth opening to let out a gasp. He saw the opportunity and
took it, sliding his tongue into my mouth to taste me. I trembled, and then
kissed him back for all I was worth.
Danial broke the kiss,
his black eyes staring at me beneath him as he pulled off his shirt. I arched
my back, pulling my sweater off over my head. All I’d needed to do was kiss
him, and I wanted him so badly I could taste it.
Buy links:
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