B008DSVE7O EBOK Page 7
I nodded, looking over at the woman. She was stirring. “We should leave,” I said, still feeling the faint pangs of hunger. “Will she be okay?”
Benjamin placed his hand on the small of my back as we left through a door leading to the alleyway.
“Yes, she will wake up thinking she drank too much. She’s going to start thinking that meeting strange men at bars isn’t something she should be doing anymore.”
Benjamin and I walked outside the building and asked valet to bring the car around.
“I’m ready to go back to your house now,” I said. I was mentally tired from the encounter with the demon, but more importantly, I didn’t want to be around humans and their blood anymore. Benjamin didn’t speak as we drove from the beach to Coral Gables. I was expecting a, “Good job,” or something positive, but I guess he wasn’t that impressed with me. I personally thought I’d done an amazing job of saving the woman. I felt a little bit like a superhero; except that given another opportunity, I might also have gone crazy and ripped the same woman’s neck open to drink her blood. I shuddered at the thought.
When we arrived at Benjamin’s house, I went to my room to change. For the first time since I began spending a lot of my paychecks on expensive high-heels, my feet were not hurting. I think I may have found the number one perk to being a vampire. I could wear the most uncomfortable, to-die-for shoes, and I was finally tough enough not to feel the pain.
I glanced at the clock and saw that there were still a few hours until dawn. I put on black leggings and a light-blue t-shirt that I’d had since high school. It was definitely too tight to wear out, but I still wore it when I was lounging around the house. The material had softened over the years and it was the most comfortable shirt I owned. After a night of demon killing and soul reattaching, I needed all the comfort I could get. I planned to climb into bed with a good book and waste the rest of the night away. I needed to charge my phone, though, so I went into the living room to get the charger I left plugged into the wall outlet.
Benjamin was sitting on the large sofa in the living room, with his elbow propped up on the armrest. Great, I thought. I assumed he’d gone out to drink some poor, unsuspecting girl’s blood. Interrupting his deep thoughts, he turned his head toward me, looking me up and down with his serious eyes. Of course, I looked ridiculous in the tights and old t-shirt.
“Olivia?” he said.
“Mmmm?”
“Come here and sit down with me for a moment.”
I sat on the couch opposite Benjamin, bringing my feet up and tucking them under me.
Benjamin’s jacket was already removed. He was leaning back into the couch with his head resting in his hand. I’d never seen him looking so relaxed.
“Tell me about yourself,” he said.
“I enjoy running?” I said, not sure if that’s what he meant.
“It will seem painfully easy to you now. I hope you can still enjoy it. I imagine you’ll have to rein your speed in a bit if you go out in public.”
“Oh, right,” I said, sounding as disappointed as I felt. What would be the fun of running, now? Part of the thrill was pushing past the limits.
Benjamin frowned. “Where are your parents?”
“Dead,” I said. I didn’t want to go into the details. If he wanted to know all about the car accident, he could look it up in the news archives. Nothing spectacular about the incident. They were just at the wrong place at the wrong time.
“I need to ask you about what you did tonight,” he said, shifting his weight so that he was leaning forward.
“Which part?”
“What is it you did with the human’s soul?” he asked, his voice sharp and serious.
That’s not what I thought he was going to ask. Had he expected me to just abandon the girl when I knew I could make her better?
I stood, with my fists balled up at my sides. “What? Would you rather I had let her die? She couldn’t live without her soul, Benjamin. I don’t know what you and all the other vampires do when you come across a human in the hands of a demon, but you can be assured that if I’m around, I am going to at least try to help them.”
He looked directly into my eyes for a long moment, regarding me carefully, until he broke the seriousness with a quick smile. “You misunderstand me, Olivia. Come here,” he said, gesturing to the spot next to him on the sofa.
“Why?”
“Just come here,” he insisted, beckoning me with his hand.
I walked over to the sofa, desperately wishing I had not chosen the tights as my sleepwear. It was like wearing a darker shade of pantyhose. At least, that’s how exposed I felt. I could feel his eyes roaming over my body as I sat down on the sofa, taking the cushion next to him. I brought my legs up to fold under me like a pretzel, but the small movement made me wince in pain.
“What hurts you?” Benjamin asked, still calm and laid back.
“It’s nothing,” I said, stretching my leg out in front of me, testing how it felt to point my toe and flex the muscle. It hurt like a bitch. “The demon bastard got me in the back of the leg. Do vampires bruise? Because I’ll probably have a welt there tomorrow.”
“It will heal as soon as you drink blood. It’s been too long since I changed you,” he said.
“No, thanks. I’m sure it will get better on its own.”
“Here,” he said, patting his thigh. “Bring your legs up here.”
“No.” I wasn’t sure what I was saying no to, but I didn’t think I wanted my legs, practically bare in these skin-like tights, anywhere near his hands.
“Would you stop being stubborn? Just bring your legs up,” he said, his voice stern. Sometimes, it felt like Benjamin had all the patience in the world for me and other times... well, other times, he did not.
“Geez, fine!” I pulled my legs up and stretched them across his legs.
Benjamin ran his strong fingers up and down my calves. He was incredibly quick and deft, as if he were playing the piano. When he massaged the muscle with his whole hand, I felt tension easing out of me that I didn’t even know I’d been holding in. He was observant though, and knew the sore spot was untouched.
“Where are you hurt?” he asked, kneading his hands into my calf muscle with the perfect amount of pressure.
I didn’t want to tell him.
“Either you let me help you, or I force you to drink the blood of the first human I pull off the street.”
I sighed. “It’s the back of my thigh,” I confessed. “When I slammed into the demon, he pushed me right into the metal pole surrounding the bar table.”
With the manner of a doctor, Benjamin nodded. I didn’t like the idea of what was coming next. I was pretty sure that Benjamin was capable of keeping things professional. I mean, here was this centuries-old vampire that had probably been in a million sexually-charged situations. Rubbing some girl’s bruised leg wasn’t going to throw him over the edge.
I, on the other hand, was just over a quarter of a century old and I could count the number of remotely sexual encounters on one hand. Not to mention that the hand about to touch me, belonged to the sexiest man I’d ever encountered. Could I handle his hands rubbing my thigh? I sure hoped so, because I certainly didn’t want to make a fool out of myself in front of him.
“Here, turn over, and I’ll massage the bruise while we speak more on this soul business.”
Without much effort on my part, Benjamin gently rolled me over onto my stomach. He pulled me down a little so that my thighs were directly over his lap. He touched my leg, just above the bend of my knee and slowly worked his way up, feeling for the tender spot.
“So, what do you think I did wrong? With the human, I mean.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong, Olivia,” he said, just as his hand reached the spot at the top of my thigh, right below the slope where my bottom begins.
I winced in pain and jerked my leg away from him.
“Alright, alright,” he said, as if soothing a hurt animal. “I’
ve found it now, relax.”
His fingers went to work with incredible tenderness. At first, his touch hurt terribly, but slowly, I felt the tension releasing and I started to believe that remarkably, my leg might feel better tomorrow.
“I’ve never seen anyone reattach a soul,” he said, continuing his maddeningly slow work on my leg.
I didn’t want to admit it to myself, but I was feeling a whole other kind of tension building just north of where Benjamin was massaging. It was all I could do not to squirm under the touch of his large hands. For a few long moments, I wanted his hand to stray. I wanted his hand to veer a little off course to where I felt the heat building.
“I’m sorry, what did you say?” I asked, struggling to concentrate.
“I said that I’ve never seen anyone reattach a soul.”
I thought about that for a moment. “You’ve never seen anyone do it? Or you’ve never heard about anyone doing it?”
Benjamin moved on to rub my other leg. The leg that I never said was hurting. I was acutely aware that we were moving into a whole other type of massaging. This was no longer therapeutic or necessary. Without even an ounce of grace, I folded my legs up under me and rolled over into a seated position.
“My leg feels much better,” I said. “Thank you.”
Benjamin nodded once. “What I’m saying, Olivia, is that I didn’t even know it was possible. And I know almost everything. What I don’t understand,” he said…
“Is how I knew to do it,” I continued, finishing his thought. “I don’t know. I just thought I’d try to save her.”
“It was instinctual, then?”
I nodded in response. “What?” I asked, noting the strange look on his face.
“It’s interesting.”
“You guys really don’t care about the humans. Do you?”
Benjamin shook his head once. “They are not the priority,” he said.
“Well, they’re going to be my priority,” I said, feeling a new sense of purpose. “I mean, of course I’m going to help the vampires too, but if I can help a human, I will.”
Benjamin nodded. “I’m going to research this topic. Until I know more, do not tell any one of the vampires about what you did. Not even Thomas. You understand?”
“Yes,” I said, feeling scared. I didn’t like the fact that there was something Benjamin didn’t know about. What if I had done something horribly wrong with the girl’s soul? What a horrific scene I’d been a part of today, I thought.
“Demons can’t track us here. Can they?”
“They can,” Benjamin said. “But I don’t think they will.”
I bit my lower lip, not liking Benjamin’s answer much. Were we safe during the daytime?
“Do you mind?” I started to ask, but stopped myself.
“What is it?”
“It’s nothing,” I said. “I mean, do you mind, maybe sleeping in the room with me again tonight?”
“You do know that there isn’t anything I can do to protect us during the day?”
“I know. But it makes me feel better. I’m just going to be reading in there until dawn. Aren’t you reading that portfolio?” I asked, pointing to the manila folder he left on the coffee table. “Can’t you just read it in my room?”
Benjamin picked the folder off the table and nodded. “Lead the way,” he said.
I didn’t care that it was silly of me to ask him to watch over me. Just as he said, it didn’t make a difference during the day whether he was there or not. I didn’t care.
Six
“Admit it, I’m getting good.”
“You’re getting better,” he said, leaving the fight room, as I liked to call it.
“I’m good, though. Right?”
“Yes, yes, you’re good. Bravo,” he said, clapping with exaggerated enthusiasm.
“Oh, shut up,” I said, punching him hard in the arm with uncalculated force.
Benjamin, caught off guard, fell against the hallway wall, denting the plaster that was no match for the vampire’s hard body.
Benjamin stood quickly and studied the fresh damage to the wall. I stood next to him, too shocked to speak.
“My dear, Olivia,” he said, still staring at the wall, “now, look what you’ve done.”
“I didn’t mean to hit you so hard,” I said, biting my lip.
Benjamin turned to look at me. The hard line of his mouth curled up into a menacing grin. “Now,” he said, “I’m going to get you for that.”
Benjamin flashed his teeth at me and I took off running down the hallway and into the living room.
“It’s just a little drywall,” I wailed, stopping to hold my ground in the living room. If he wanted a real fight, I’d give it to him.
He stepped into the living room slowly, stalking me as his prey. Even when we sparred, he’d wear casual slacks and a t-shirt. In a flash, he was right next to me, and I jerked my fist back, meaning to land it on his jaw. He was too quick and anticipated the blow, ducking out of the way. My follow-through propelled me forward. He swiveled around, grabbed me by my waist, and flipped me over onto the floor. My back hit the ground with incredible force.
He was on top of me in a second, holding my arms above my head in his iron-like grip. One of his knees pressed down onto my thigh while his other hand held my other leg in place. I was completely immobilized.
I struggled a moment, squirming under his body until I broke into laughter.
“Somebody has been seriously holding back in sparring practice,” I said.
“You noticed?” he said, staring at me intently.
I caught his gaze straying below my face and to my chest. Suddenly, my sports bra seemed like a terrible idea. I didn’t even sweat when we sparred. What was I thinking? I was so used to wearing my workout clothes to kickboxing class that I didn’t even think twice.
“Alright,” I said, “You got me. I’ll call someone to fix the wall. Now get off me so I can go meet Laura.”
“You’re not going anywhere, until you start feeding on humans. You think I’m going to let you out on the loose so you can go on a human feeding frenzy? You’d be no better than the demons.” He pushed himself off the floor, heading for his room.
I followed closely behind; finally ready to ask the question that was rattling around in my brain for the previous two days. “And what makes you different than the demons?”
“We don’t kill humans,” he said, in an apprehensive voice.
“And yet, you killed me.”
“I didn’t kill you,” he said.
“Had you not changed me, I would have died, Benjamin. We both know that.”
“I didn’t mean for it to happen, Olivia. I’m not perfect. We take what we must from the humans in order to survive. Just like humans eat cows.”
“Ugh! Did you just call me a cow?” Feelings of resentment for Benjamin resurfaced with renewed vigor. I’d gotten caught up with the exhilaration brought on by my new abilities. Slowly, I was starting to forget.
I left the house and surprisingly, he didn’t stop me. I arrived at Laura’s apartment close to nine o’clock. She had just moved into this place about a week earlier and it was my first time seeing it. I brought a houseplant for the occasion. Thank goodness for the hardware store staying open until ten. I knocked on the door and heard the sound of her high-heels hurrying across the floor to greet me.
“Hey, stranger!” she said, showing me inside the apartment.
I gave her a hug and inhaled her scent involuntarily. The fragrance was intoxicating and I couldn’t help but wonder what perfume she was wearing.
“Here, I brought you a cactus,” I said, handing her the potted plant. “I’m pretty sure you don’t have to do anything to keep it alive.”
“That’s great!” she said, closing the front door behind us. “Are you hungry? I have leftovers.
“I ate, thanks,” I lied. I was starting to feel hungry though. That’s weird, I didn’t think I’d want food anymore, now that I was a v
ampire. Unless… I was hungry for blood.
“Come here, sit down,” Laura said, leading me into the living room.
I sat down on her white, plush couch and tried to relax. How exactly do you tell your best friend that you have been turned into a vampire?
“Are you still feeling sick?” she asked. “You still look a little pale.”
“The place looks great,” I said, dodging the question. “I have to admit that I’m a little jealous.”
Laura threw her head back. “Ha-ha. We both know your apartment is in a much nicer building.”
Okay, I thought. This is your chance to move the conversation into the unpleasant time. “Actually, I moved out of my apartment and into a house in Coral Gables. I have a roommate now.”
“Oh,” Laura said, obviously taken aback. “I would have helped you move. You could have stayed here with me for a while until you got a new job.”
“I know, and thank you for the offer. You’ll like Benjamin though. I have a feeling you guys will get along… by being exasperated with me, mostly.”
“You moved in with some guy?” Laura shrieked, ready to hit me over the head with the couch cushion.
“Yes, I kind of had to. Laura, there is something I have to tell you.”
“Oh my God, you’re pregnant!”
“What? No! I’m not pregnant, dummy! But, something has happened to me. I’ve changed.”
“Did you join a cult?”
“Why are you asking me all these crazy questions?”
“Because you won’t just come out and say whatever it is that you need to tell me. Out with it already!”
“Okay,” I said, taking an unnecessary breath. “But you can’t freak out, okay?”
Laura nodded.
“You’ve known me for most of my life and I need you to listen to me and give me the benefit of the doubt.”
Laura nodded again.
“It turns out that there are things in this world that we didn’t know existed,” I said, looking to her for some assurance that she was following me.
“Alright, keep going.”