"If you were to bite me, would I turn into a vampire?"

  "No. You'd need to be bitten on many consecutive days and then have your blood drained to the point just before death."

  "Then bite me and make me orgasm. Then I'll believe you are a vampire."

  Kendra was shocked, this was the last thing she'd expected.

  Abbot spoke. “I'll step outside for a moment."

  Eric looked over at Abbot. "But you have super hearing, right? So you'll hear us from outside, too."

  "Yes, but sometimes the illusion of privacy is better than nothing."

  Kendra needed to talk to Eric about binding him, get his permission. She had to bite him to bind him and she had figured that she would have to convince him to let her bite him. But he was wanting her to, was asking for it, so she needed to get permission now so she wouldn't need to bite him twice.

  "Eric, we need to talk about something before I bite you. It's part of the reason Abbot is here. Vampire society has a lot of rules designed to keep our secret and thus keep us safe. The only way we are allowed to share the information with humans is if we perform this little ritual that alerts us the moment that a human attempts tells our secret. I do not want to do this to you without your permission."

  "But, now that you've told me you kind of have to do it, right? So it doesn't matter if I give permission or not."

  "No, we have two options. I can make you forget I told you, or I can bind you so that I'll know if you ever attempt to tell our secret."

  He was trying hard to appear calm, but she could smell that he was not calm about any of this. "You can make me forget?"

  Kendra nodded. “Yes. Before blood banks when we fed on someone who wasn't a companion we had to make them forget it happened. It's an evolutionary thing, I guess. But, the fact is that you don't have to go through the binding ritual if you don't want."

  "You have to drink my blood to do the binding thing. What do you have to do to make me forget?"

  "Just look into your eyes."

  "And you are telling me this because you want to have a relationship with me."

  "Yes."

  "Would this relationship involve the regular taking of my blood?"

  "Only if you wanted me to. I told you, now that there are blood banks I'm no longer dependent on finding human sources for blood. There is something called a human companion, someone a vampire keeps around as an intimate source of food. And that is probably how the vampire community will see you at least at first, but if you don't want the sharing of blood to be part of our relationship it doesn't have to be. It's a very intimate act, almost more so than sex sometimes, but if you aren't comfortable with it then it wouldn't be pleasurable so I wouldn't want to do it.

  "After you've bitten me and bound me, if I wanted you to make me forget, could you still do it?"

  "Yes."

  He took a breathe and blew it out. "Okay then, Abbot go ahead and do your little illusion of privacy thing. Kendra, how do we do this?"

  "When I first bite you I'll need you to say the words 'I will tell no one of the existence of vampires. I will keep your secrets.' Abbot needs to be present for that part and then he can leave. Once you say those words I'll inject the feel-good stuff and then the bite will become pleasant. I can't make it pleasant from the very beginning this time, I'm sorry. I can keep it from hurting for more than a few seconds, but I have to wait before I can put the feel-good stuff in. Now, repeat back to me what you need to say."

  "I will tell no one of the existence of vampires. I won't tell anyone your secret."

  "No, the end is 'I will keep your secrets.' The wording is such so that you aren't just promising not to tell with your mouth, but not to give away the secret in any way. Not in writing, not by playing twenty questions until someone guesses, not in any way."

  "I will tell no one of the existence of vampires. I will keep your secrets."

  "Very good, if you don't say it correctly Abbot will correct you and you can say it again, repeating after him."

  Kendra got up and walked to the sofa and sat down. "Come sit with me Eric."

  As he got up and walked to her she realized why he was doing this. "You're in this for the experience, aren't you? A life experience few get to have?"

  He smiled. "Maybe a little bit. I'm still not completely convinced, but I'm willing to see where this leads."

  She smiled back at him. "Adrenaline junkie."

  He was still smiling, and he used the same tone of voice she had just used to say, "Bloodsucking vampire."

  He was sitting beside her now, she leaned forward to kiss him and changed her mind, she wanted him to kiss her, so she sat back up and said, "Kiss me."

  He didn't make her say please, and he gave her a passionate kiss. When they pulled back from the kiss she zeroed in on his neck, smelled and felt and heard the pulse, knew exactly where the sweetest spot would be, and she bit, numbed it, and then put the binding agent in just as he said the words, "I will tell no one of the existence of vampires. I will keep your secrets."

  Two heartbeats after the final word left his mouth she injected the right combination to make it pleasurable, gave it a second to be carried away from the bite, then injected the orgasm cocktail, waited a few heartbeats, and then, finally, she drank. As he orgasmed she took on just a little bit of his life force as she felt their auras do that thing where they mix together. They didn't join, there wasn't enough of a connection there for that, but they mixed together in a way that doesn't happen when it is a stranger. As she pulled back she ran her tongue across the bite marks. They'd be gone by morning, it usually took around eight hours for them to disappear to all but the most careful scrutiny.

  Kendra reached to hold him but instead he pulled her head to his chest and he held her. Yes indeed, if they managed to make a human companion relationship work, it would be different than anything she'd ever had before.

  Kendra heard Abbot coming back and figured she should warn Eric. "Abbot's on his way back in."

  "Why is he really here?"

  "Two reasons, the first is that the binding had to be witnessed and will have to be tested. He'll test it in a little bit. The second is that, well, just consider Abbot kind of like a big brother figure in my life, and you're the new boyfriend that he wants to meet."

  Abbot was back by then and spoke next. "I also want to explain a little bit about our society. If you are going to be in and out of our coterie house, there are some things you need to know. First, let's test the binding, that's a good way to get started on some of the explanations. Kendra will step outside for a moment for this part."

  Eric stood. “Hang on, I need to, ummm, I'll be right back."

  Kendra realized he was probably going to change, after the orgasm he'd just had in his pants. He wasn't gone more than a few minutes, and when he returned Kendra gave him a quick peck on the cheek before walking outside.

  Once Kendra was out of sight, Abbot removed a small notepad and a pen from his inside jacket pocket. On the first page was written a note to please turn to the next page and write about what he'd just learned, and to start the sentence with, "The woman I am dating is a..."

  Abbot saw him write the V with no trouble and then he stopped midway through the A before continuing. When he began writing the V Kendra had communicated via the mind link that she felt it, and Abbot was surprised Eric was still going. Eric managed to get the M written in a very shaky almost illegible scrawl, but he couldn't get any of the p to form, every time he tried to draw a line down, his arm jerked the pen away from the paper so no mark was left on the paper. After a half dozen attempts he looked up at Abbot. "I can't write it out, there's this vibration inside of me that hurts when I intend to write it. And I can't control my arm, it won't do what I tell it to do."

  By then Kendra was back. "Yes, and I felt the same vibration from outside. I'll know if you try to tell, no matter where in the world you are."

  "How? How is that possible? To make an oath... real? I tried very hard, I could not write the word. How is that possible?"

  Abbot answered, "It used to be called magic. Nowadays it would probably be called metaphysics. If some if the physicists out there knew about it they would probably use it to try to prove their nice little string theories. But now that you know we can do it, you need to understand that our society, vampire society, is set up on a sort of magical hierarchy with the more powerful vampires having rank over the less powerful vampires. I'm telling you this because Kendra won't, because she doesn't like to think of herself as being as powerful as she is. But the truth is that Kendra is probably one of the ten or so most powerful vampires in the United States. She isn't Master of her own territory only because she has no interest in it at this time."

  "So, Kendra has some sort of Master Vampire that's over her? What kind of hold does he have on her?"

  Abbot smiled, Eric had gone straight to worrying about how this affected Kendra instead of how it might affect Eric. Abbot liked this man. "I am Master of this territory, Kendra is my third in command. Kendra is also my friend, but even if she were not, I am not in the habit of forcing the vampires in my territory to do things they do not wish to do. I have rules that I require my vampires follow, but they are rules Kendra lives by anyway. Things like not killing humans, not kidnapping humans for use as companions, not turning a human into a vampire unless it is their decision, and bringing humans to me for extra counseling so we can all be sure of their decision before they are turned. There are some vampires who choose not to live in my territory because they don't like my rules, which is fine by me."

  "So, being her Vampire Master doesn't mean being her... Master?"

  "Yes, it does. Though not necessarily in the sexual manner you are implying. And I rarely pull rank on her. If I had to, I could, but she and I are in agreement on most everything, and we respect each other enough that we can work around the things we don't agree on. But while we are on the subject, that is another part of Vampire society you need to understand. When humans go into a power exchange relationship they do so based on preference, the way they are wired, so to speak. Someone who is aroused by submitting looks for someone who is aroused by dominating. It isn't about who is stronger, there are big strong men who submit to small women all of the time in human society. But in vampire society the power exchange is not decided by preference, but by the hierarchy. In just the way you felt that magical pull when you tried to write about our secret, it is impossible for a stronger vampire to submit in any way to a weaker vampire. The weaker vampire will always be the one submitting. It is possible for them to have vanilla sex in any form they choose, but if there is to be a power exchange then that isn't really a choice for them, their position in our society makes the choices for them."

  "And Kendra is powerful so she's used to being the one in control. But, I'm not powerful, so how is it that she...."

  "You aren't a magical being, so the rules are different. She can submit to you if she wants, though you need to understand it is going to cause a bit of an issue amongst the hierarchy when it comes out that she submits to you. That's not to say you can't go forward with it if that is what the two of you want, but I just want you to understand what it will mean in our world."

  Eric stood. "I need to use the restroom, if you'll give me a moment, please."

  Kendra spoke to Abbot through their mind link so Eric wouldn't overhear.

  I wasn't going to hit him with all of this at once, Abbot.

  I know, which is why I'm telling him. I know you can take care of him, but he needs to understand the political things going on if he is going to be in and out of the house. And I can tell from the way the two of you act around each other that he's going to be around the house a lot. If he'll be okay with everyone thinking he's a human companion for a few weeks then I think it will be easier for things to transition from human companion to boyfriend to Dom.

  I suppose you're right, but I still would rather not burden him with all of this. It's my worry, it shouldn't be his.

  If he is clueless then he may say something that would make things harder than they have to be. He is smart enough to grasp the political side of things and act accordingly. He has your safety in mind, that is clear. He'll be fine.

  When Eric came back he sat down on the sofa beside Kendra and reached for her hand. "Kendra, I'll listen to the rest of Abbot's explanation in a moment, but first I want you to tell me how you envision our relationship working."

  "While Abbot is correct that he doesn't tell me what to do very often, he does offer me advice. He is an expert at working the political parts of vampire society and it is usually smart to listen to his counsel. His advice is to tell my housemates that I'm grooming you to be a human companion, they will smell confusion in my statement, but it can easily be explained away by my saying you're unlike any human I've ever met and that grooming you is going to be a fun challenge. This means we'd act like you'd expect things to work in the beginning of most any human relationship. At some point the other vampires would realize that we are acting like a human couple for longer than would be expected, and at that point I would admit to having decided against a formal human companion relationship with you. I would once again hint that you are a bit different than most humans and say that I'm having some wonderful adventures with you. This way when it is discovered that I am submitting to you it won't come as a complete surprise to them. I'll let Abbot explain the political ramifications of my submitting to a human."

  "Kendra, you will have to formally put him under your protection when you state that you aren't grooming him to be a human companion. He'll lose the protection automatically given to human companions as soon as you tell someone you aren't grooming him for that anymore. And I recommend you formally put him under your protection at least two weeks before it comes out that you are submitting to him in bed."

  Eric leaned forward in his seat. "Protection? You mean, going against the.. norm? That could put me in danger? What about Kendra, would it put her in danger as well?"

  Abbot and Kendra looked at each other, Abbot answered. "There are many vampires who see humans as a lesser species. Kind of the way humans view pets. Or maybe the way you view some of the smarter monkey species. Kendra and I do not see you that way, so don't get defensive, I'm just trying to explain that there will be some vampires who will take it as a personal insult that a vampire that is over them in the hierarchy is submitting to a human. There will be challenges to her status as third, but she is more than capable of taking on any challenger so there are no worries there. But, if you aren't under the protection of a strong vampire, then it is possible some of them could try to challenge you. Their logic being that if you are holding yourself as stronger than a vampire then you are putting yourself in a position to be challenged."

  "You're the Master of the territory, right? Why can't you just put me under your protection? Wouldn't that solve the problem?"

  "If I were to do that it would undermine Kendra's position. I would be saying she isn't capable of protecting you. I have done this for weaker vampires who took on a human girlfriend or boyfriend, but politically, I can't do that for Kendra."

  Kendra spoke up. “Actually Abbot, if he were working for you then he'd be protected as an employee. Haven't you been looking for someone to teach some of the older vampires who have resisted your efforts to get them to put some of the latest technologies to use? If you can get them to finally be set up to check and send emails and text messages then it will make some things much easier for all of us."

  Abbot looked at Eric. "You make computer games for a living, correct?"

  When Eric nodded Abbot continued, "Would you be qualified to teach vampires who have lived hundreds or in some cases thousands of years how to use a computer? How to use email, and how to send and receive text messages on a cellphone? I realize money probably isn't an issue for you, but it would pay well and it would include being placed under my personal protection."

  "I can do more than that. If you set me up with a classroom with as many computers as I'll have students then I can teach them all at once. I find that group learning works better for people who are resistant as long as at least half the class is interested in learning. If you have all resistant vampires then you'll need to send some in who want to learn but just haven't done so yet. I'll give them the basics of how to move around in whatever operating system you choose, and then I'll get them familiar with email and with some basic internet surfing. If you give me notes on some of the resistant people's interests I can target some of the internet searches I use as examples towards their interests and that will help show them how this can benefit them personally. But the other things I can do for you include looking over your current set-up and finding the security holes and plugging them up. I can also talk to you about the various ways to encrypt the messages going back and forth that you don't want outsiders to read. And as I see emerging technologies that may be of use to you I can bring them to your attention."

  Abbot looked thoughtful. "Kendra, this could work. Having him teach classes puts him in the position of being a human who is teaching vampires. It puts him in kind of an authority position to start with." He looked back at Eric. “Eric, once our contract is in place and you are my employee then there is a way you must answer any challenge you get. Should anyone challenge you in any way that would require that you defend yourself you must say, 'Since I have a formal arrangement with Abbot Hamilton any challenges you might have towards me should be directed to him'. Once you are under my protection you will be able to speak to me with your mind, and you'll need to open up so I can hear those words. I will know who you are saying it to, and I will then be able to control them. If you act in any way to defend yourself then my protection will do you no good though, so it is imperative you don't try to go all macho when challenged by any of my people."