Sexual Appetites of Vampires (Sexual Appetites of Unearthly Creatures #1)

Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

“ M y grandfather lived when there was great turmoil in the area that is now known today as Romania. As he often told me, it wasn’t a pleasant era. Wars raged, people were persecuted for their beliefs, and survival was difficult, but it didn’t stop him from falling in love. Unfortunately, he fell in love with the wrong young woman. She was a gypsy and one of the free ones, since most gypsies, at that time, were slaves. Her family or troupe had managed to remain free, and they intended to keep it that way. Outsiders were forbidden.”

“But your grandfather was stubborn,” Lara said with a smile. She was a sucker for a love story, though she preferred the ones with happy endings.

“Determined,” Michael corrected. “And as my grandfather has explained time and again, my grandmother was too much of a spirited beauty to simply walk away and forget. He told me that he knew from when he first laid eyes on her that he loved her, and there was no way he would ever live life without her.”

“I guess the gypsies had other ideas.” Lara’s eyes turned wide. “Wait. I think I found the spell that was used on him.” She left her wine glass on the small table beside the chaise and hurried to the nightstand, snatching up the old, battered spell book. She sat on the chaise and carefully thumbed through the worn pages. “I recall reading a few words before I dozed off. I curse his soul . Here it is—” she shook her head. “Parts of the curse are in another language. Here you must know it. Read it.”

Michael took the book from her hand. “Not now.”

The distress in his eyes had her offering an apology. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

He turned and placed the book on the side table. When he turned back around, he asked her a question she had to stop and think about.

“What would you do if the person you loved from the depths of your soul was forbidden to you?”

After some contemplation, she said, “I wonder about love in today’s world. I sometimes think that love has become a word that is thrown around so easily that it has lost the sacred power it once held. I think sacred love has become rare and if I found someone who I loved from the depths of my soul I would fight with all I had, so I would never lose such a blessed love.”

“You would be determined.”

“Not only determined but committed to such a rare love.” She laughed softly. “And patient, since, no doubt, a love so strong would have its challenges.”

“Yes, it would, but I am confident that you would be up to the task.”

Her brow knitted and she tilted her head in question. “You barely know me and yet you have confidence in me?”

“You are like an open book to me that I have spent the last several hours reading and thoroughly enjoying, and I am eager to read more.”

She couldn’t help but wonder if the ending of the book would be a happy read for either of them, for what could the end possibly bring?

“It is after seven. I suggest we continue our talk while having supper,” he said, holding his hand out to her.

She took it and the familiar spark his touch ignited sent a sensual quiver through her body. She tempered it as best she could, but she realized that it was getting more difficult to do so. Her body was demanding what her mind was fighting and, most unexpectedly, her heart was joining in.

“I should change,” she said, stepping away from him, needing a bit of distance.

“Nonsense. Stay as you are...comfortable. Tonight is not for formality. We’ll enjoy our meal in the room off the kitchen.”

Lara couldn’t stop a smile from surfacing and admitting, “I’d like that.”

“Let me slip on a shirt and socks, though I fear I have no polka dot ones.”

Lara laughed and stuck out her foot. “I have dozens.”

They left the room together, though Lara waited in the hall. Michael didn’t take long. He returned wearing a black knit shirt that, of course, had to cling to his every muscle and curve.

They hurried off to the kitchen. Lara selected one of the pre-prepared suppers in the freezer and popped it in the microwave while Michael fixed a plate of raw veggies and fruit. He also chose a Pinot Noir from the wine rack, and they soon were ensconced in the comfortable room off the kitchen, sitting across from each other as they enjoyed supper together.

Lara couldn’t recall the last time she had felt so relaxed with a man. She found it hard to believe that it had been only this morning that they had met. They talked and laughed more like old friends than new acquaintances. He was easy and interesting to talk with and seemed so...human.

“You were never frightened growing up amid all those gravestones?” he asked, settling back in his chair with his wine glass in hand.

“No, never. I was so young when my father got the position as the caretaker. I didn’t understand what a cemetery was. My father would take me with him on the riding mower when he cut the grass.” Lara smiled. “At first, I thought the headstones were doors and I would knock on them and asked to come in. Then I began talking to the deceased, calling them by name. Then one day my dad found me at one of the burial ceremonies talking to the widow of a man who had just been buried. He apologized to the elderly woman, but she told him it wasn’t necessary that I had made it easier for her to leave her husband’s graveside since I had promised her that he would not be alone that I would keep him company and talk to him every day.

“The woman always made sure to find me when she paid her husband’s grave a visit, and I would tell her what I talked to him about. She asked me if I would promise to do the same for her when her time came.”

“And you did.”

Lara nodded and wiped at tears lingering in her eyes. “She loved flowers, so I planted daisies, her favorite, and talked with her often until the day came that I had to say good-bye to them all.”

“That must have been difficult for you, since no doubt they felt like family.”

Lara stared at him. She had stopped sharing that story a long time ago because of the way people reacted. Most thought she was crazy or weird, not one person understood the cemetery had been home to her and the residents, though deceased, family she talked and shared her hopes, dreams, fears, and sorrows with...no one that was until Michael.

“You’re such an interesting woman, Lara, I could talk with you forever and never get bored.”

Lara had to laugh. “I think eventually you would grow tired of hearing the same old stories.”

“You will have new stories to tell, especially with your travels and the interesting subjects you write about.”

“I do enjoy traveling, seeing new places, meeting new people, and investigating strange phenomenon.”

“Have you traveled outside the U.S.?”

“No, but I would love to someday. And you?” she asked.

“I’ve been all over the world, but then I’ve had the time to travel.”

Lara grinned. “I forget your advanced age, though you look to be only in your mid-thirties.”

“We age, but much slower than humans.”

“What of the woman you fall in love with and marry or do you go through several wives in your extended lifetime?” she asked curiously, though she felt a twinge of sadness. She couldn’t imagine falling in love with him, knowing he would live well beyond her years.

Right, Lara, you’re more concerned with him living longer than you rather than the fact that you’d fall in love with a vampire. And why was she even thinking about falling in love with him? Because he appealed to her in more ways than just his good looks.

Stop thinking about it, he’ll hear you, she silently warned herself.

“We can marry our own kind, but if we choose to marry a human there is a way for her life to be extended.”

“A bite on the neck?”

“There are advantages to a bite on the neck for the woman I marry, but having children is what gives her the ability to live longer.”

“How and what advantages are there to a bite on the neck for the woman you marry?”

“The child’s blood mingles with the mother’s and slows the aging process.”

“So the more children she has the longer she lives?”

Michael laughed. “We’ve found that two children will usually give a human the same life span as a vampire, though my grandmother had six children and she’s definitely retaining her age better than my grandfather.”

Lara grinned. “I’d say it was the opposite for humans. The more children we have the faster we age, mostly from worry and anxiousness over being a good parent. I will admit, though, being an only child makes me want to have a bunch of kids. It was great having my father’s undivided attention, but there were times I missed having a sibling to share things with.”

“At least you missed the fights. My brothers and I were at one another’s throats at times.”

“Literally?” she asked with a laugh.

Michael laughed as well. “No, my father had bigger fangs than us and that kept us from going too far, though my sister suffered the most since we were always trying to keep her safe and protected. She wanted nothing to do with us and complained to my father endlessly. It did little good since vampires have this overpowering need to protect those they love.”

Family. She had none, no grandparents, no aunts or uncles, no one at all. She had few fears, but the big fear that had always lurked in her mind was losing her dad. Once he was gone, she’d have no one. She’d be alone, and now she was.

She shook the sadness away as best she could, not wanting Michael to sense it, and said, “What about the other part of my question?”

Michael moved forward in his chair and emptied the bottle of wine evenly in each of their glasses. He remained perched on the edge of the chair and after taking a sip of wine, he answered, “I would much rather show you what a bite can do.”

Damn if he didn’t send her sensual senses somersaulting. How could she think a bite from a vampire could be sexy? She was definitely losing her sanity. She was the one who disproved such nonsense and here she was sitting with a vampire who wanted to bite her neck.

Yup, she officially had lost her mind.

She popped up off the chair. “It’s been a long and,” —she searched for a fitting word— “crazy day. Time for bed.”

“Mine or yours?” Michael asked, standing.

She had to grin while she shook her head. “Mine and alone.”

“My bedroom door is always open to you.”

She opened her mouth, but words failed her.

“Why deny what your body aches for?” he asked in a much too softly alluring tone that she fought to ignore.

“One word—vampire. Make that two—crazy.”

“Then let yourself be crazy for tonight and the next few days. Enjoy what I can give you.”

Why not , she thought. Why not have great sex with him while stuck here in a snowstorm? When it was over, though, then what? Does she simply walk away, knowing she’d never have such great sex again? Or was it that she had already started to feel something for this man—vampire— and she just might want more?

“You’re nothing that I would expect a vampire to be,” she said.

“You sound as if you accuse me of a crime.”

“It would be so much easier if you were like the evil, bloodsucking creatures in the books.”

“Then I would simply put you under my spell, suck your blood, and make you one of us, and that is not what true vampires do. They do not take what is not offered.”

“So, if I told you that I wanted you to bite me...”

“I would make it memorable, and you would not regret it.”

It would be so easy to surrender to him, to share a moment in time that would leave her with...memories. But would memories be enough for her.

With sadness in her heart, she said, “I will see you in the morning.”

“Sleep well, Lara,” he said.

“And you.” She turned quickly. “You don’t sleep.”

“We do, though we don’t require as much sleep as humans.”

She nodded and hurried out of the room, thinking that he would be up wandering the house as she slept. But there was no need to worry. Vampire or not, and odd as it seemed, she trusted Michael. It was herself who she didn’t trust.

Once in her room, she slipped out of the purple robe and climbed into bed prepared to read through some of the books she had collected from the library. She didn’t think sleep would come easily to her, but reading would help, though choice of subject matter might prove to make it more difficult.

Lara lay beneath the warm quilt, staring at the ceiling with no thought of reaching for a book. Her mind ran wild with the day’s strange happenings and again she wondered if she would wake and find that it all had been nothing but a dream.

But did she want it to be? Her father had been a practical man and had taught her that there was a reasonable explanation for everything. It was a debate on the unexplainable she had won with someone online that had encouraged her to start her blog.

Now here she was Ms Reasonable-Explanation-For-Everything finding herself in a situation that had no sensible reasoning to it. And, of course, how rational was it to want to have sex with a vampire?

She moaned and her cheeks blushed pink as she recalled how Michael had made her come—twice—in the shower. She couldn’t imagine an orgasm any better than that one, yet Michael had implied that it was only the beginning.

Lara squeezed her legs closed tightly against the titillating tingle that gripped her. She was on lust overload and the only thing that would satisfy it...sex with a vampire.

“Stop,” she shouted. She had to stop thinking about Michael and sex or she’d be calling him to her. And her resolve was growing weaker by the minute and before she knew it she’d be begging him to make love to her.

“Read,” she ordered. “Yeah, right...read about vampires. That will help.”

She shook her head. She was comfortable, the quilt warm, and her eyes heavy. Sleep was not far off, so why fight it. At least it would give her a reprieve from her chaotic thoughts. She snuggled deeper beneath the quilt and soon drifted off to sleep.

Lara bolted up in bed, her eyes wide and trying desperately to adjust to the dark. The fire in the fireplace had dwindled down to a few embers and there was a decisive chill in the air. She hurried to reach over to the lamp on the nightstand and turn it on, but it didn’t work. She scrambled across the bed to the other light and turned the switch—nothing.

Had the generator gone out again? The lights had been on when she had returned to her room after supper. How long ago was that? Had she slept several hours? Was it nearing morning?

Reluctantly, she left the warm bed, glad she had slept in her socks and stumbled around the room in search of her purse. She might not be able to get a signal, but her cell phone would still show the time.

After a few bumps to the chins and ankles and a couple of ouches, she found her purse and a quick search inside produced her phone. It read, 2:00 a.m. and then went dead.

“Damn,” she muttered. She might not have a signal now, but as soon as she was able to get one she wanted the phone working.

There was no point in plugging it in this room when the electricity was unreliable. Downstairs was her best bet, since the electricity had held firm there. After locating her charger and managing to find the purple robe she had on earlier, she went to the door, opened it, and stepped out.

It was so dark that she couldn’t see a thing and a twinge of fear engulfed her.

Calm down , she silently told herself. All you have to do is turn left, hug the wall until you come to the end and proceed forward slowly until you feel the top step of the stairs. Once you make it down the curve in the stairs, you’re bound to see the light from the floor below.

Holding tightly to her courage, she stepped out of her room. Her toe caught on the edge of the hall runner, and she stumbled and fell to her knees, her cell phone and charger flying out of her hands.

Lara frantically searched around on her hands and knees and sighed with relief when she found both. She got to her feet and was about to turn left when she realized she wasn’t sure of her direction.

Don’t panic. Don’t panic. It’s a hallway. At one end is the stairs, the other Michael’s room. If you should reach his room, you only need to turn around and go the other way.

Her sensible, silent urging did not stop her heart from pounding, but it also did not stop her feet from moving. She took cautious steps until, to her relief, she touched the wall. She halted a moment and took a deep breath, knowing she’d be fine now no matter which way she went.

After a few steps, she grew more confident and picked up the pace, tightly hugging the wall as she went. Then suddenly, without warning, she encountered an empty space and fell into what she surmised was her room.

She lay on the floor for a moment, calming herself and her breathing. At least now she knew where she was and this time, she had managed to hold on to her cell phone and charger.

Pockets. She shook her head. Why hadn’t she thought of that sooner? Probably because she was too busy thinking of her cell phone as a lifeline and not wanting to let it go. She got to her feet and checked the robe and sure enough it had pockets. She slipped her cell phone in one and the charger in the other.

Lara took cautious steps to get her bearing, and her knee hit something. She reached out to touch it. It was a wooden chest with a metal lock, and it made her realize that she hadn’t fallen into her room.

Of course, there wasn’t a fraction of light anywhere and if it had been her room there would have been the glow from low embers from the fireplace. The same if this was Michael’s room, so where was she? The other bedroom she had spied on earlier. And in what direction was the door?

She reached out hoping to connect with a wall, but she connected with something that hung on the wall. And the realization of what it was, startled her...it was a set of shackles, thick iron-cuffed shackles. Further exploring along the wall, she touched something else and after examining it with her hands, she surmised it was a cat of nine tails.

She backed away from the wall, bumped into something and fell to sit on a chair and jumped up as soon as she did, having felt something prick her backside. She cautiously ran her hand over where she had sat and felt pointy steel spikes protruding up through the seat.

What the hell was this room? She shook her head, wanting nothing more than to get out of there. But where was the door and what obstacles did, she need to get passed to reach it?

She could call out to Michael for help, but why hadn’t he realized she needed help. He read her thoughts so easily. Was he sleeping? Could he not sense her when he slept?

She shook her head again and gave herself a small pep talk. “You’re on your own, always have been. You can do this.”

Lara took several cautious steps, bumped into a thing or two, though didn’t dare touch the objects for fear of being pricked again. After what seemed like forever, but was probably only a few minutes, her hand finally connected with the frame of the doorway. She sighed with relief and stepped through the door.

The wall sconces suddenly flamed with light, and there at the end of the hallway by the stairs stood Michael in nothing but his black sweatpants, his chest muscles taut, his eyes flaming red and his fangs protruding.

Instinct took over, she ran in the only direction left to her—straight for his bedroom. Once inside, she locked the double doors. Her heart beat like a mighty drum against her chest, fear sent gooseflesh crawling over her entire body, and her wide-eyed stare was glued to the doors.

“Lara.”

She froze. It wasn’t in her head she heard her name being called. It was from behind her.