B008DSVE7O EBOK Page 12

  “Liv, do you remember that weekend trip we took to the Bahamas?” Ian asked, leaning over to touch my knee.

  I smiled at him sideways. “I sure do. We had an amazing time, didn’t we?”

  “Are you seeing anyone now? Is that guy you came with your boyfriend?”

  “Benjamin? No, he’s just... a friend, I guess you could say. Currently, I find myself unattached.” Because you dumped me six months ago... Remember?

  “Well, you know,” he said, tracing circles on my knee with his thumb. “I have a hotel room upstairs for the night.”

  “Is that so?” I asked. This was turning out to be so easy, it was sad.

  “Why don’t you come up with me? We can catch up.”

  Benjamin would be so proud.

  “Lead the way,” I said, standing up.

  Poor Ian thought that I would actually sleep with him. I only wanted one thing, and maybe if I tried my hand at vampire hypnosis, Ian would never be the wiser. He’d feel weak from the blood loss, but probably assume he’d just had one too many drinks.

  I followed Ian into the elevator. Being in an enclosed space, I reacted instantly. Before Ian could even press the button for the floor, I had him up against the elevator wall. Looking into his brown eyes, I held my hand over his mouth before he could speak.

  “Ian, shhh. Just relax. You don’t feel anything, and once I leave, you’ll go to your room and sleep. You’ve had too much to drink. You understand?”

  Ian nodded and shut his eyes. I leaned his head to the left and brought my lips close to his neck.

  The elevator doors opened. To anyone else, it would have looked like I was kissing some guy in the elevator; but because it was Benjamin waiting on the other side of the elevator doors, he knew exactly what I was doing.

  Moving as fast as a blur, he yanked me from the elevator. With me in his arms, he rushed us through the banquet hall, past the lobby, and into the car, already waiting for us in valet.

  As we drove through Coral Gables to Benjamin’s home, I was scared and wanted to know what happened.

  “Were demons there? What the hell just happened?”

  “No demons,” he replied.

  My window was down and the air was helping to clear my head. I didn’t have the scents of a hundred humans in my nostrils, and I felt all the better for it.

  I knew I said I was ready to leave, but that was ridiculous. The way he just ran me out of the party. I doubted anyone even noticed, since we were moving so fast, but what if they had? How embarrassing! I didn’t even wish the bride a happy honeymoon. Not to mention that I never got to have my fill of Ian’s blood. We were pulling up to the house. I unbuckled my seatbelt as Benjamin parked the car.

  “You could have waited until I was finished feeding. I was finally about to do it, and you ruined it. Isn’t that what you wanted? For me to finally drink blood from a human? ‘Embrace the vampire that I am,’ you told me!”

  Silence.

  He exited the car, and instead of opening my door for me like he usually did, he walked up the stone steps, heading straight for the front door.

  I stepped out of the car, slamming the door behind me.

  “Is that was this is all about? Me drinking Ian’s blood? I guess it was a little public, but at least we were somewhat away from the party.”

  He unlocked the door while ignoring me. We crossed the threshold and I was tired of the silent treatment. I shut the front door behind me.

  “Hey,” I said, grabbing his shoulder from behind. “Answer me! What is your problem?”

  He whirled on me, pressing my back against the door. If I weren’t a vampire, he probably would have broken my spine with the impact.

  “My problem,” he said, his eyes icy and brilliant, “is that you were about to drink that human’s blood.”

  I’d never seen him like this. I felt his anger rolling off him in waves.

  “I thought that was what you wanted,” I said, swallowing hard. My feet dangled a foot off the ground. Benjamin was holding me up against the door, his hands on my waist.

  Benjamin’s eyes searched mine and then his lips were on me in an instant. He had kissed me before, but never with such urgency. His kiss did things to me. I felt a tingling all over my body. I felt a burning inside me that grew with every second his lips touched mine. I tried to build a figurative wall between us, but I couldn’t deny that I wanted him... needed him.

  I wrapped my legs around his waist and launched myself away from the door, effectively thrusting my pelvis into him. My arms hooked around his neck and my fingers knotted in his hair.

  Benjamin’s lips left mine and I groaned in protest until he kissed my neck, making trails with his tongue, tasting my skin. I moaned in response as my hands slid under his suit jacket, roaming over the muscles of his chest and broad shoulders. I wanted to feel all of him. I wanted to give myself to him.

  “Bed,” I managed to say.

  We could have made it to his room fairly quickly, but we moved slowly. Benjamin’s instincts were so astute, we didn’t have to look where we were going. Being super-human had its perks. I kept myself upright with my legs wrapped around his waist while his hands freely explored my body. He pulled my strapless dress down to my waist, exposing my breasts. He cupped their generous size with his hands while returning his lips to mine. His tongue entered my mouth, massaging my own.

  Grabbing the flesh of my bottom with one hand, he stroked my hard nipple with the other, sending shock waves through my body. He teased my nipples carefully, flicking the bud softly, then stroking rhythmically with his thumb.

  When we entered his room, he set me down on my feet. Reaching around me, he unzipped my dress and I kicked it to the other side of the room. Benjamin’s eyes roamed over my body appreciatively and full of lust. I pressed my hands against his chest and slid them up, removing his jacket. I unbuttoned his vest and dress shirt, throwing them to the floor.

  “Geez, you wear a lot of clothes,” I said, frustrated that it was taking so long to get him naked.

  His chest felt flawless under the soft pads of my fingers. Never breaking eye contact, I slid my hand down until I could grasp his erection. I rubbed my hand over the fabric until a moan escaped his lips.

  I sat down on the edge of the bed, leaning back. He tugged lightly at the lacy strap of my panties and brought my legs up to remove the small triangle of fabric. I’d never been so turned on in my life. Everything this man did was deliberate and slow, as if savoring every moment.

  “So, you don’t want me drinking from anyone else?” I asked, undoing his brass belt buckle. His pants were strained by his growing behemoth. I pulled the zipper down, my eyebrows rising in pleasant surprise when I released the source of tension in his pants.

  Towering over me, Benjamin shook his head, looking sexy as hell. He kicked his shoes off and dropped his pants, stepping out of them with polished ease.

  “How many ways do I have to show you that I want you to be mine?” he asked.

  He stood before me naked and godlike. I gulped at the thought of what would come next.

  “You’re going to have to be a bit more obvious,” I said.

  “Is this what you want?” he said, pushing my legs apart with his knee.

  I nodded quickly, taking his hard length in my hand in rhythmic strokes. Benjamin arched his back.

  “Tell me what you want,” he insisted.

  “Oh, Benjamin, I want you inside me. Now.”

  He hovered over me, effortlessly. His hand cupped my breast and then felt my side all the way down, around my hips, along my thigh until finally cupping the back of my knee. He hiked my leg up around his hips and lower back.

  I reached down, positioning him at my entrance. I was slick and ready for him. I called out with the first thrust. He held his position there for a long moment, staring at me with clear, bedroom eyes. I pulled him down, closer to me so that I could run my hands over his shoulders. His hard hipbones hurt as they pressed into my thighs, so I
spread my legs wider. He withdrew momentarily, at a maddeningly slow pace, and then drove in again, only deeper. I moaned softly as he rocked, filling me up entirely, quenching needs I didn’t even know I had.

  I met each of his thrusts with one of my own until I was about to come. He drove into me hard, his hips moving in forceful circles until my body shuddered and I called out just as his back arched before he relaxed on top of me.

  He gathered me up effortlessly and repositioned me in the center of the bed. The bed had moved to the other side of the room as a result of our actions. Benjamin lay across the bed, with his head propped up on pillows. He pulled me on top of him, my head resting on his chest as he ran his fingers through my hair.

  I sighed deeply, out of habit, bringing my arms in close to my sides, enjoying how wonderful it felt to be tucked into Benjamin’s body.

  “Ben,” I said.

  “Yes?”

  “I don’t want you drinking anyone else’s blood. I know how I feel when I drink your blood and,” I sighed, ashamed to admit it, “I hate the idea of you feeling that way with someone else.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it,” he said. “I think you know where I stand on the subject.”

  I smiled, as pure bliss radiated throughout me.

  “So now what?” I asked.

  “Now,” Benjamin said, “I plan on making love to you until dawn.”

  “Making love,” I repeated. “Is that what we just did?” I asked, smiling to myself.

  “Yes.”

  “But what about the demons? What have you been doing these past two days?”

  Benjamin turned me onto my side and faced me. “The world can go to hell for all I care. We can hold up in here as the last two vampires on earth.”

  “We can’t abandon everyone, Ben,” I argued.

  “Oh, no?” he asked, slipping one finger inside me.

  A moan escaped me and I thrust my pelvis forward, wanting more. This time I was on top. Benjamin sat up so that he could nip at my breasts as I moved above him. This time, we took things calmly. Just before I climaxed, my fangs descended and I bit hard into his neck. Benjamin bit into my shoulder, sending me on the most intense orgasm I’d ever experienced. As we lay back on the bed, I licked idly at his tiny wound until it healed entirely.

  Lying against Benjamin’s body, I could feel my muscles getting tighter. My vision also turned just the slightest bit sharper. I flexed my hands, feeling renewed. I was becoming a stronger vampire because of his blood and we both knew it. We hadn’t talked about it, but it was obvious. Why did I inexplicably wake up while the sun was still out? The only explanation had to be Benjamin’s blood. The gravity of that knowledge weighed heavily on my shoulders. If any vampire knew that Benjamin’s blood could do that...

  “No one will come between us,” he said, answering my silent thoughts. “I flew to Canada. There is a vampire there, an old friend, Christopher. He calls himself some kind of historian. I went through his personal library; and I found one mention of a vampire who was able to stay awake during the daylight hours.”

  “And?” I asked.

  “I don’t know anything more. He was eventually killed.”

  “By other vampires?”

  “It doesn’t say what killed him. But you don’t need to worry. You understand that? I’ve remained alive this long for a reason.”

  I nodded, somehow managing to press myself closer to his body. “Ben, I love you.”

  “I know you do,” he said, seeing just how difficult it had been for me to come to terms with that truth.

  “So now what?” I asked, echoing my previous question.

  “Now, we take on the underworld.”

  “Together?”

  “Yes,” he said. “Together.”

  Eleven

  “This is the man that hypnotized you, lost control, and drank all of your blood to the point where he was forced to make you into a vampire? The undead? Forced to live off the lifeblood of others? This is the man that you’re sleeping with?”

  “Yes.”

  “Have you ever heard of Stockholm syndrome?”

  “I was never his prisoner, Laura.”

  “He did get you into his house pretty fast.”

  “Of my own free will.”

  “I still think it’s a little weird.”

  I shook my head. We’d been out shopping for the past hour and Laura completely disappointed me. When she called saying that she needed a new pair of shoes, I jumped at the opportunity to tell her all about my amazing night with Benjamin. So far, all I’d gained from the whole trip was a new set of bedsheets.

  “How dreamy is he?” she asked, sensing my annoyance with her inability to just be happy for me.

  Images of Benjamin flashed before my eyes. The way he always wore his hair combed neatly. But now I’d discovered that when he makes love, his hair dishevels, making him even sexier somehow. His frost-blue eyes were something out of this world, and his body? Oh my, his body!

  “Movie-star dreamy, but that’s not all. He’s quick and intelligent, and half the time, I think I annoy him, but he puts up with it. Probably because he knows he annoys me too sometimes.”

  “So he annoys you?”

  “Ugh!” I said, throwing my hands up in the air. “I’m not explaining it right. I’m happy, okay? Scared to death, maybe. But happy. I told him I loved him.”

  Laura stopped in her tracks. “You never even told Ian you loved him; and you guys were together for two years.”

  “This is what I’m saying, Laura.”

  “And does he love you back?”

  “I don’t know,” I said, shrugging. Whether he did or did not, it didn’t change how I felt about him. “He’s a vampire. Been one for a very long time. I don’t even think he remembers what it was like to be human.”

  “Wait. You’re not human anymore?” Laura asked.

  “Umm, technically. I guess that’s a no.”

  Laura stared at me with a blank face, and then smiled brightly. “You pretty much just blew my mind, Liv.”

  “You’re welcome?”

  “I thought you said you were never going to forgive him,” Laura reminded me.

  She was right.

  “I still don’t know if I forgive him, but I decided that it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t change how I feel about him. I can’t help it. Since the beginning, I’ve wanted to be near him without even realizing it. Did I ever tell you that he gave me a chance?”

  “No. What do you mean?”

  “That night, after the bar, in his room. When he bit into my neck, he realized that he was losing control. He tried to get me to leave. He told me to leave. I should have gone, but I didn’t.”

  “That doesn’t mean he had the right to take away your humanity, Liv.”

  “Is that what happened? Is my humanity gone?”

  “You tell me,” she said, looking at me with pity in her eyes.

  We walked to the parking garage and put Laura’s purchases in her trunk. I kept my bag with me in the front seat. As she drove me back to my house, I grew uneasy in the silence. Could Laura handle being friends with me? Now that I was a vampire? Was Benjamin right?

  Laura stopped at a red light. “So when do I meet him?”

  I smiled, happy that she was still interested in my life. “Well, I suppose you can meet him now—when you drop me off?”

  “Let’s do this,” she said, pulling into my neighborhood.

  We were about two blocks away from the house when a man appeared in the middle of the road. Broad-shouldered with a muscular chest and torso, he wore a white dress shirt and beige linen pants without shoes. His skin was sun-kissed golden and his hair, a mix of blonde, bronze, and brown, fell to his shoulders. His face was angular and his nose straight. The man’s emerald green eyes were looking directly at me.

  This all happened in a split second, of course. As I was about to take over the wheel, sure that my new reflexes were superior to Laura’s, the car stopped. Actually, the c
ar froze. Laura froze. The man on the sidewalk, walking his Chihuahua froze. Except for the man in the middle of the street and I, everything else froze in time.

  “What the what?” I said, scrambling out of the car. I was ready to defend Laura’s frozen body from whatever the hell Goldilocks had done.

  “Olivia,” the man said.

  Oh great. It’s never good when they know your name. In the movies, the bad guy always knows your name.

  “And what if you are the one cast as the villain?”

  My jaw literally dropped open. Did he just read my mind? “I’m definitely not the villain, guy. I am trying to save the city from demons like you.”

  “I’m not a demon. And I’m sorry to tell you this, though your intentions are good, the fact that you are a vampire makes you the villain. You can save as many human souls as you wish, but you can never change what you are.”

  “If you’re not a demon and you’re not a vampire, then what the hell are you?” I knew I should have asked Benjamin about werewolves.

  “What you want to know is how I made time stop. I did not. I merely stopped the people. Time always marches on.”

  I was about to say something else, but he interrupted me.

  “You want to know if I’ll let your friend, Laura, go.”

  My fangs descended involuntarily. They did that whenever I got worked up sexually or really pissed off.

  “You want to know if you have to kill me,” he said, walking so close to me that I could smell the beach on him. “Many have tried.”

  And then he vanished. The man on the sidewalk resumed walking as if nothing happened, and Laura hit me with her Jeep! Boy, did it hurt. Well, a little. I went flying about one hundred feet down the street. When Laura slammed on the brakes of her Jeep Cherokee, the vehicle came to a screeching halt. The overweight man on the sidewalk picked his dog up and half ran down the street, reaching me only a few moments before Laura did.

  “Are you okay, ma’am?” he asked, fumbling for his phone. “I’m calling an ambulance.”