A Dangerous Game: The Rules

A Dangerous Game
By Misha

Disclaimer- Not mine.

Rating- PG-13

Summary- Adam and Lilith discuss the rules of the arrangement.

Words- 2554

Chapter Two: The Rules
(Story Timeline can be found here)

“Your house is beautiful,” I said after a few moments as Adam led me through the mansion. It was the first time I’d spoken since I’d told Adrian he could leave. Adam had been silent as well, obviously waiting for me to regain my bearings, which I appreciated.

“Thank you,” Adam answered graciously, “though if there are any changes you want to make, feel free.”

I nodded, though I honestly couldn’t see myself changing anything. Actually, I couldn’t even see myself living here, but I guess I was going to. “How is this going to work?” I asked after a moment. “I mean, what do you want from me?”

“Like I told you, I want a partner,” Adam told me, as he led me into a beautifully decorated sitting room. “Someone I can share my duties and burdens with.”

“You’ve been alive for 300 years, why now?” I asked curiously as we sat down on the couch. Adam draped his arm around me casually and I tried not to react, reminding myself I had to get used to him touching me.

“Because the situation now demands it,” Adam told me, “though, in the interest full disclosure, I had a wife. Once.”

I waited for him to elaborate, but he didn’t, obviously, he didn’t want to talk about it or he didn’t think the details mattered. After all, if it had been when he was human then it had been over 300 years, so it probably didn’t matter.

“It has only been in the last few years, as my political career grew, that the subject of me marrying has come up,” Adam continued after a moment, “but as I said earlier, the problem was finding the right candidate. Most of those who can be trusted with the secret don’t have the necessary temperament to be a politician’s wife.”

“But you think I do?” I asked softly.

“Yes,” Adam answered without hesitation, “the first time we met, I knew I had found the woman I was looking for, I just had to wait for the right moment to approach you. You were so passionate, Lilith, in defense of your friend and the more time I spent with you, the more obvious it became. You have the strength of character needed to survive in both my worlds, along with an admirable sense of duty and right and wrong.”

“Even though we disagree about the Clanless?” I countered, trying not to blush at the compliments he was showering me with.

Adam smiled, “disagreement is part of life, Lilith, and one of the most enjoyable parts. If we all agreed all the time we’d never learn or evolve.”

I was quiet for a moment, considering his point. It sounded good, though I had a feeling that Adm was an expert at making things sound good, the question was, did he mean it?

“How exactly is this going to work?” I asked instead, “I know you want a partner, but what does that entail?”

“You will accompany me to functions, but also represent me sometimes, perhaps pick some causes and charities of your own,” Adam told me, “I have a few specific organizations I’d like you to work with, relieve me of some of my daytime duties.”

“It must be hard, having to keep a daylight schedule,” I commented lightly, thinking of what Adrian had told me the day I’d first met Adam.

“It has its challenges,” Adam agreed, “and I will enjoy being able to pass some of that burden off to you, when possible.”

“Which is one of the reasons you wanted a human wife,” I realized, wondering why that hadn’t occurred to me.

“I doubt the press would buy that both my wife and I have a sensitivity to the sun,” Adam commented with a smile, “though you don’t have to stay human forever if you don’t want too.”

I blinked, “what do you mean?”

“Once my two terms in the White House are over, I will happily turn you,” Adam assured me, “if that is what you wish. You’ll only be what, 35?”

I did the math in my head, January 2029. “34,” I corrected, though it was slowly dawning on me exactly what I was agreeing to. This wasn’t a short-term situation. Adam was talking in terms of the next decade and then what? Did we divorce and I get to my own way? If I wanted to become a vampire would I be bound to him forever?

“Vampires believe in divorce,” Adam told me in an amused voice, obviously reading my thoughts, “after all, eternity is too long to be stuck with someone you can’t stand, and if that is the direction you want to go, once our deal has reached its conclusion, then I will respect your wishes.”

“You said something about a family,” I said after a moment, “but you can’t…”

“No, I can’t father children,” Adam said gently, “however this country has no shortage of discreet fertility clinics, we can get donor sperm.”

“So you do want children,” I said slowly, “how will that work?” How did you explain to your children that their father is a vampire?

“It’s been done before,” Adam told me, giving me new information to file away, “children are adaptable, Lilith, and if they grow up believing certain things, like homes with heavy curtains, are normal than they adjust to it and when they are old enough, we will tell them the truth and when they reach adulthood, they can be given the choice whether this is what they want.”

I gave a little sigh of relief that he wasn’t planning on turning them as children because Lula was sweet enough but she also gave me the creeps. “And if we divorce?”

“Then you will retain custody of our children and I will get visitation rights,” Adam answered patiently, “I won’t deny our children a normal childhood.”

“You keep saying children,” I remarked, “more than one?”

“I would like two,” Adam answered, “assuming that your first pregnancy and delivery go smoothly, of course, in the end, though, that will be your decision.”

“A lot of things sound like they’ll be my decision,” I commented, raising an eyebrow. If anything about this arraignment surprised me, it was that. I assumed a 300-year-old vampire would be used to calling all the shots.

“They will be,” Adam told me, “I told you I wanted a partner, Lilith, not a servant and one of the reasons, I chose you was because of your strength of character and strong convictions.” I nodded, oddly reassured by his words. “My lawyer is drawing up a prenuptial agreement,” Adam continued, “outlining the financial conditions, which I believe you will find very generous, as well as the terms of custody, etc.”

I nodded, that made sense, though I assume the prenuptial agreement would be absent of all mentions of vampires. I didn’t ask about the financial terms, because I didn’t really care, though a thought occurred to me. “Will I have to quit my job?”

“Yes,” Adam answered firmly, “You’ll be kept quite busy as my wife, besides it would be a conflict of interest to have my wife working for another Clan Leader.”

I had more or less expected that, so I nodded.

“Any other questions?” Adam asked after a moment.

“A few,” I admitted, “what are you going to tell the press? I mean, when we announce our sudden engagement. Unless you want a long engagement.”

“I do not,” Adam said bluntly, “but I have it all worked out, I plan on saying that we kept our relationship private until we were ready to make it official because I did not want to expose you to the press. There will likely be some speculation about your age.”

I made a face, but I knew he was right. I was 24 and worked as an executive assistant, he was 42 (well, at least that was his official age), there was definitely going to be speculation and rumors and I had a feeling my parents weren’t going to be so thrilled.

“But it’ll be a temporary thing and I’ll do my best to shield you from the worst of it,” Adam promised me, “and I have no doubt that you will win the press over as quickly as you have everyone else who crosses your path.”

I wondered if it was that simple, but I was marrying a ruthless vampire lord, being considered a gold-digging trophy wife probably wasn’t that big a deal.

“Any other concerns?”

I paused, biting my lip because I had one last question. “What about sex?” I blurted out, “I mean, do you want us to have sex?”

“Yes,” Adam answered bluntly, his arm tightening pulling me closer to him. He gazed down at me and the raw desire I saw there made my cheeks flush. I tried to remember Adrian’s warning that Adam was a lady-killer, but it didn’t make much of an impact. “However, I won’t push you,” Adam continued, still gazing down at me with that intense look, “if we have an intimate relationship, it will be on your terms.”

I nodded, swallowing hard. Did I want that? Ok, yes, I did. I wanted Adam on a purely physical level. I’d always had a bit of a crush on him and now sitting here, my leg pressed against his, I wanted to climb onto his lap and straddle him but a voice in my head told me that might not be the best idea.

Yet, I was marrying this man and was going to be married to him for at least ten years, it seemed obvious that sex should be part of that. I didn’t want to be celibate for ten years and I wasn’t going to break my marriage vows, even if this marriage wasn’t for the traditional reasons.

“However, I do expect you to be faithful,” Adam told me, almost as if he could read my thoughts. It was kind of creepy how good he was at that. Vampires couldn’t read minds, could they? “Affairs are never discreet, no matter how hard people try, and that kind of press could be disastrous.”

I nodded, because that made sense, given his personal motivations, though it also felt a little cold. “Besides, I don’t share,” Adam answered, the previous look on his face replaced with something darker.

“You won’t have to,” I answered him, “If I’m going to make vows, I’m going to keep them.”

“Good,” Adam told me, “and don’t worry, Lilith, it goes both ways. I won’t take anyone else into my bed.”

His words filled me with relief, which was odd, given the nature of our marriage. On impulse, I leaned forward and brushed my lips against his. Adam immediately deepened the kiss, lifting me onto his lap as he did so, his arms wrapping tightly around me, anchoring me in place. I responded eagerly, burying my hands in his hair as we continued to kiss. This was the best kiss I’d ever experienced. But I guess 300+ years of experience would help.

I was gasping for breath when we finally parted, though Adam, of course, was fine.

“I don’t want to rush into anything,” I told him hurriedly, which sound silly to my own ears given that I was still on his lap, his arm wrapped tight around me.

“And we won’t,” Adam assured me, “don’t worry, Lilith, I can take it slow. I find it can be very rewarding.” His words sounded like a promise and they sent a thrill up my spine.

I still wasn’t sure what I had gotten myself into, but I knew I wanted this man who was going to be my husband. I still had huge misgivings about him on a personal level, was concerned about his ruthlessness, and yet I wanted him more than I’d ever wanted anyone in my life. What was wrong with me? Suddenly another question occurred to me.

“Blood,” I gasped out, “you need blood.”

“I do,” Adam said patiently, “I have a list of regular donors, all of them very discreet. It’s a business arrangement, nothing else. You can be present if you like.”

“Uh no, thank you,” I said immediately, shuddering at the thought.

Adam didn’t seem concerned by my reaction, “sometimes the human partner prefers to be involved, other times they don’t, it’s a matter of personal preference.”

“So this situation has happened before?” I asked curiously, “a human and vampire marriage?”

“Yes,” Adam answered, “and no, I’ve never been married to a human before, at least not since I was human, but I have associates who have.” I wondered what kind of associates. Were there other vampire politicians?

“And does it always end with the human becoming a vampire?” I asked instead, deciding I really didn’t need to know the answer to that, I was still adjusting to how big of a hold vampires had over the human world.

“Usually,” Adam answered, “that is the most mutually satisfying option, though, it doesn’t always end happily.”

“Because the risk of going feral,” I realized, I’d been thinking about it in terms of whether or not it was something I’d be interested in, but it wasn’t that simple.

Adam’s expression grew serious, “yes. It’s something that must be considered, but thankfully that is a quite a ways off for us.”

I nodded, though my previous passion had dimmed and I climbed off Adam’s lap. He made no move to stop me, though as soon as I sat back down, he wrapped his arm around my shoulders once more.

“Would you want to feed off me?” I asked instead, going back to my original question about blood.

“Yes,” Adam asked simply, “it’s always more enjoyable when there’s an intimate aspect to it, but again, I won’t presume, it’s something you will have to offer willingly.”

I thought about how it felt when Jax fed on me, the pure pleasure that had run through my body, how it had felt akin to an orgasm. The thought of sharing that experience with Adam was both exhilarating and terrifying…

“But we can worry about that later,” Adam continued before I could respond. “If you don’t have any more questions, we should probably get ready for tonight.”

“Tonight?” I asked as I got to my feet.

“I have a charity function,” Adam answered smoothly, standing up as well, “you will attend with me. I’ve arranged for several gowns to be delivered and a stylist should be here soon.”

I nodded because I didn’t know how else to answer. I felt very unprepared for this life. I was actually more prepared for the vampire aspect than I was for the political wife part.

“And one other thing,” Adam said, reaching into his pocket. He took out a small velvet box and then reached for my hand with his free hand. “May I?”

I just nodded, gazing at the exquisite diamond ring that Adam slid onto my finger. It was a perfect fit. I’d have been surprised, but I had a feeling Adam knew everything about me.

“It’s beautiful,” I told him honestly, though I was a little overwhelmed by the reality of it, by what it represented. I was really doing this. For better or worse, I was going to be Mrs. Adam Vega.
—