Ascent of Blood — Elizabeth Marx

Love is conceived in the mind of a vampire long before it is ever realized. Vampire prince, Sebastian Pearce, has waited six hundred years for the right human mate. While vampires no longer require live donors for sustenance, Mother Nature has played a cruel trick on them making breeders a rare commodity. As numbers in Sebastian's imperial house continue to dwindle, his virgin bride eludes him. That is, until he happens upon a young woman searching for a secret vampire text, the Book of Descent. Sebastian's need for her is more potent than anything he's felt for another woman, but Everleigh Marbut isn't innocent. Worst of all she's an American with a mind of her own, and has no desire to carry an immortal being. But fate has forged connections between vampires and human mates in the form of the Red Veil for generations. As the Red Veil descends over Sebastian and Everleigh they fight their attraction to each other, but neither of them realize they're being lured into a battle pitting ancient myth against the power of modern science to recreate life until it's too late. The destiny of his lineage, and the bond forged between them, now rests in their acceptance of each other as they are. Can a modern woman endure an eternity of devotion from a sexy, old-world vampire?