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

Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

“ Y our grandmother was—is—always has been—a vampire?” Lara asked her brow knitting more deeply. “Did she make your grandfather a vampire? Did he want to become one?”

“Let me finish. You’ll have your answers then,” Michael said.

Lara remained silent, more eager than ever to hear the tale. She had wondered about Michael’s grandmother and what she must have gone through discovering the man she loved was a vampire, and yet now it was just the opposite. How in heavens name had his grandfather handled it?

“My grandfather didn’t believe her at first, as my grandmother tells it—he laughed. He stopped laughing as soon as she showed him her fangs.”

Lara could relate to that, though she doubted his grandfather had fainted like she had done.

“My grandfather drew his dagger on her, which my grandmother says nearly broke her heart. He didn’t run, though, which gave my grandmother hope. He questioned her and they talked. My grandmother says that she knew from first meeting him that she loved him and that he was a man of great strength and that he was endowed with a courageous nature. And that if anyone could survive loving a vampire, he could.” Michael grinned. “My grandfather always puffs his chest out when my grandmother tells that part of it, though he does admit that she scared the hell out of him when she first showed him her fangs.”

Lara laughed. “I can relate to that.”

“My grandfather says he had first wondered if she had put a spell on him, since gypsies were notorious for casting spells and curses. When he asked her if she did, my grandmother got furious and told him to leave and never return if he believed she could do such a thing to the man she loved with all her heart. My grandmother can be very dramatic at times, and she has a temper, though it’s quick to fade. She claims it’s the gypsy in her.”

“But your grandfather couldn’t stay away,” she said, knowing how he must have felt, since the thought of leaving Michael filled her with sadness.

“No, he couldn’t stay away. He returned night after night, and then two things happened that changed everything. His father discovered that his son was involved with a gypsy woman and the gypsies discovered that my grandfather knew they were vampires. My grandfather was ordered to take part in a raid on the gypsy camp and kill the gypsy woman to break the spell his father had been convinced she had put on his son.” Michael paused a moment, his face suddenly shadowed with sorrow. “My grandmother was ordered to kill my grandfather.”

“Did they run away?” Lara asked, thinking it was their only way out of the horrible situation.

“It wasn’t a choice. My grandmother said her band of vampires would hunt him down and kill him. There was only one way—my grandmother had to make him a vampire.”

Lara gasped. “That’s when she cursed him.”

“That’s when my grandfather gave up being human for the woman he loved and as he says to this day, he has never regretted it.”

“So, she cursed him.”

“No, she cast a spell on him.”

“The book,” Lara said, pointing to it.

Michael picked it up, opening it and turning the pages with care. “My grandmother complied this book of spells, writing some lines in English and others in her native gypsy tongue. She felt it was safer that way, even though there were certain observances that needed to be met before a spell could be cast. She didn’t want to take any chances.”

He stopped at a page, though didn’t look at it as he recited the spell. “In the darkest time of night, when no moon shines fully bright, I call on the forces that be, to grant my impassioned plea, this love that beats strongly in our hearts, cannot survive if we must part, and so with love I curse his soul, as through the ages has been told, take our souls and combine, so that he/she will be forever mine, and in the years those we sire, will forever be born of fire, it is done and will always be, a love that lasts through eternity.”

“What happened to your grandparents after the spell was cast?”

“Once he proved to my grandmother’s people that the spell had worked, they married to seal his commitment to her and her people. My grandfather insisted my grandmother leave right afterwards since he knew the raid on the camp would come soon. He planned to join her after he spoke with his father. She refused to leave him and waited in a safe place in the woods. His father and he had a vicious fight and being my grandfather was so new at being a vampire, he couldn’t control the urge to show his fangs when threatened. His father ordered a stake to be driven through his heart and his body burnt. My grandmother could read my grandfather’s thoughts and sense his feelings, as I do yours, and she didn’t hesitate to save him. With constant wars in their homeland and changing times, they eventually came to the New World and made a new life for themselves and generations to come. But you will not see that story in the books on the Village of Mull and I know you will understand when I ask you to keep the story to yourself.”

“Of course,” Lara said, “though who would believe it? It sounds more a myth.”

“But somewhere in a myth is a basis of fact, something that gave birth to the myth.”

“Like the suggestion that this town was founded by a vampire. However, did that myth, though actually fact, get started?” she asked.

“My grandfather credits my grandmother with that one. It seems Grandma wanted to honor her family or band of gypsies. They were known in their own circles as the band of mulla ...band of corpses. Grandpa shortened it to Mull, and curiosity—which you are very familiar with—had a journalist putting two and two together and coming up with the idea that the Romanians who settled Mull were gypsies. He insists that the original town name was probably Mulla, which then of course had to mean that the founding family had to have been vampires. The story stuck, though the town has fought hard through the years to negate such a ridiculous claim.”

“Your grandfather’s love for your grandmother must really run deep for him to have given up so much for her. It’s never wavered through the long years?” Lara asked curious that such an everlasting love could possibly be real. It was a nice thought and of course poetry and books had been written on such undying love, but was it real or simply a myth?

“I asked my grandfather that once, and I recall how serious his expression had been when he told me that never once had he questioned his love for his wife. He insists that his love for her has never diminished, but rather has flourished through the years. And that life would not be worth living without her. My grandmother told me just about the same when I purposed the question to her.” Michael smiled. “Not that I’ve never seen them fight. Believe me, they can go at it good sometimes, though they never stay mad at each other.”

“Now that I know all your dark, deep secrets?—”

He smiled and a hint of red shined in his eyes. “Sweetheart, you haven’t even touched on my dark, deep secrets yet.”

Her libido and curiosity went into overdrive at the same time. What more dark secrets could he harbor? She wanted to know, or did she?

“What bothers you, Lara?”

“Where to begin?” she said with a quivering laugh. “All of this is so surreal that I sometimes wonder if it’s a dream and I’ll wake up.”

“And would you be disappointed if it was?”

His question startled her as did the answer she kept from slipping past her lips— yes . She would be extremely disappointed, just as she knew she would be when it came time to say good-bye to him. Barely two days knowing this man, and yet she felt more connected to him than some of her friends she had known for years.

She realized he was waiting for an answer and she quickly said, “It’s been memorable.”

“I can make it more memorable.”

She had to smile. “I’ve no doubt you could.” Before he could respond or the conversation went in a direction that she preferred it didn’t, she stood. “I could use a cup of tea. Would you like one?” She shook her head. “You don’t drink tea,” she said more to herself than him.

Lara put the kettle on and tried to keep from looking at the section of the counter where only a few hours ago they had had quick, deliciously satisfying sex. She turned away and planned to busy herself looking through the wide selection of teabags kept in a beautifully carved mahogany box and found herself face to face with Michael.

“I would love to hike your skirt up, pull your panties off and have you here again on the counter, but I think we should try the library next. The couch is soft, though up against the ladder could prove interesting.”

“Damn it, Michael,” she said, stepping around him.

He grabbed her hand before she could get all the way passed him. “Aroused you, didn’t I?”

“Smart ass,” she said and yanked her hand out of his and turned around, opting for a regular teabag from the ceramic container on the counter rather than trying to get passed him.

He thought differently, snagging his arm around her waist and turning her around to face him. His lips caught hers in a kiss before she could say anything. And of course, she melted in his arms as always.

Always.

But it wasn’t always. They would have only this short time together and nothing more but...memories. Why did the thought disturb her so? Could she have actually fallen in love with him in such a short time?

His mouth left hers and he whispered in her ear, “Let me love you, Lara”

I’m not stopping you , she thought.

Aren’t you?

Now wasn’t the time to argue with herself or was she? She laid her hand to his chest and pushed him away, though he went only so far. “That was you in my head.”

“It’s grown more difficult not to respond to some of your thoughts since I hear them as if you spoke the words aloud to me.”

“Have you intruded on all my thoughts?” she asked, realizing what he would have heard. She didn’t wait for an answer, she moved away from him, shutting the whistling kettle off as she went.

“I don’t do it on purpose,” he said.

‘That’s not what I asked and that’s not an excuse.” She folded her arms tightly across her chest.

“Shielding yourself from me?” he asked with a nod to her folded arms.

“Is a shield possible?”

“Shall we see?”

She kept her arms tight against her, but he didn’t make a move. He didn’t have to. She gasped when she felt his fingers slide between her legs and enter her ever so slowly.

“You’re wet, but then my touch, even the lightest one turns you wet.”

She grabbed the edge of the counter. “Stop.”

“Are you sure?” he asked his fingers going deeper.

“Yes,” she shouted and gripped the counter even harder when his touch left her.

“Looks like shields don’t work.”

“So, you cannot only read my mind at will, but you can also touch me without physically touching me. Do I have no way of defending myself against you at all?”

“Why would you need to?”

She threw her arms up in the air. “Oh, I don’t know. Could it be that you invade my thoughts and touch me at whim...no matter where you are? Is that why I always want you?”

“I don’t invade your thoughts. Your thoughts reach out to me. I’ve blocked them when you’ve asked me to, but as I’ve explained, the more we connect the harder it is to block you.” He took a step toward her, though left a small distance between them. “I never touch you at whim. I touch you because I can’t resist not touching you. You’re like an intoxicant to me, once tasted impossible not to taste again. My appetite for you is ravenous now.” He shook his head. “I cannot imagine what it would be like if I did bite you while making love. I fear that I would never get my fill of you.” He took another step closer, their bodies almost touching. “But then I think you feel the same, since your ache for me is of your own doing. Never would I touch you if you didn’t want me to and believe me, sweetheart, you have made it quite obvious that you want me.”

“So, what you’re saying is that we’re simply two consenting adults that have fallen into—lust,” she said annoyed

He brought his face to rest so close to hers that their noses almost touched. “What else could it be?”

Her heart thundered in her chest, her stomach fluttered uncontrollably, and she fought to control her thoughts, fought to stop from silently shouting, love, you fool...love!

His arm went around her waist, and he brought his body to rest against hers. “Let me love you, Lara.”

Yes, yes, love me, she thought and pushed away the thought that ached to follow, the one she didn’t want him to hear . Love me like your grandfather loved your grandmother...a forever mine kind of love.

Her eyes closed as he kissed her and she got lost in it, got lost in him.

She didn’t know how they had gotten to the library, but she knew they were there. She could smell the aged books and feel the rungs of the ladder against her back as he leaned into her.

Just the thought of him taking her there against the ladder, hiking her skirt and slipping her panties off to bury himself inside her had her growing so excited and wet that she feared she’d come before he could get inside her.

He was right. Her ache for him was of her own doing, and she didn’t want to think that there would come a time when they would make love for the last time.

She felt warm air brush her legs and knew he had lifted her skirt. Soon his hands would be at her panties pulling them down. Her hands hurried to push his sweatpants down, and when her hand slide over his penis, she took a moment to caress him. The feel of him so silky smooth, yet so thick and hard had her moaning with the anticipation of him slipping deep and sung inside her.

An incessant ring had her scrunching her brow, breaking her concentration, and then she heard Michael utter, damn , and step away from her.

She reached out to grab him.

“Only a moment, I promise,” he said and squeezed her hand before releasing it.

She sighed with frustration, wondering what could be more important than making love with her, and then she realized what had separated them—the phone was ringing.

It was like being doused with cold water. If the phone was working, then that meant—she turned to look out the window. It had stopped snowing.

Lara stepped away from the ladder, her skirt falling to her ankles as she did. She caught clips of what Michael was saying, and dread began to clench at her stomach.

After returning the phone to its cradle, he walked over to her. “That was the private contractor that handles my snow removal. He says that the main roads will be passable later today and that he will be here early tomorrow morning to dig me out and that he should be done by noon. He also had a message from Martha. The bed and breakfast will be open tomorrow and your room ready for as long as you need to wait for your car service to come and get you.”

Her stomach twisted tight. Today was her last day with Michael. Tomorrow it would all be over and they would part.