by Wyatt, Dani
His eyes were like black flame as he gazed at me. His face carved from something ancient and wild, unlike anything I’ve seen before. His thick brow from an earlier age making him handsome and dangerous at the same time. He looked at me in a way I’ve not experienced before. As though he could see me.
Not just the vision of me that most men see. I may be inexperienced, but I’m not naive. I know most men find me attractive. But he saw through that. He saw right into my core.
I lost myself in that moment, wondering if this is what humans feel when they fall in love.
Because I think, in an instant, I’ve done just that.
Only, it cannot be. It cannot.
He is not one of us, and my place is with my kind. My place is with Alberto Messina, my betrothed. My place is creating a child for him on the night of my twenty-first birthday. Or trying to at least. That’s my duty, and I won’t betray it for my own raging hormones and a momentary obsession with a human I can’t have.
If I did, it would mean ruin for my family. The Messinas have protected us these past two decades. Without them, the other vampire families would have certainly killed me to prevent my coming of age, the threat of a vampire as powerful as I might become too much for them to risk.
My own father, strong as he is, could never have protected me from that kind of threat. He hasn’t fed on a human being since he met my mother. That was her condition for staying with him, and he would never break his promise, but it leaves him weaker than most of our kind. We’ve needed the Messinas, and in return, I’ll do my duty to attempt give them a powerful heir.
Simple.
No, not simple.
Those were Anna’s exact words from earlier, but I shake them away. It doesn’t matter what I want. All that matters is the safety of my family. If I betray our pact now, the Messinas would come for revenge, and we are no match for them.
We all have sacrifices to make.
As my mind battles with itself, my hands move deftly, the face of my pumpkin delicately coming into focus. There is a low buzz in the crowd as they watch. Children are laughing and working away on the tables beside me, then something switches. My senses dull, and it’s like someone just pressed the world’s mute button.
Water. Running water.
I don’t know where, but it has to be and it’s close. It is my kryptonite. I glance around me, confused, as a dull crunching sound comes from the darkened ceiling.
There it is again, louder this time.
Feeling groggy, I tilt my head back to look up just in time to see the glint of spotlights reflecting from the thousands of crystals as they plummet toward my head.
Robbed of my fast reflexes, all I can do is watch, unsure what I’m seeing is real, when I’m struck from the side, arms locking around me as the crowd screams, and my senses return just in time for my heart to leap at a shattering sound so loud I feel the impact in the air.
Glass flies all around, hitting my exposed shoulders and sticking in my hair as I land with a thud on the marble floor of the ballroom. My fall is broken by something both hard and soft, and for a moment I just stare at the ceiling where the chandelier was a few moments ago. Then I realize it’s not something I’ve landed on. It’s someone. People are screaming and running, toppling over tables in the chaos as adults clutch children close to their chests and run for their lives.
“Are you okay?” It’s Maxim’s voice in my ear as the lights in the main part of the room come up, and I glance over my shoulder only to fall into his black eyes.
“Yes,” I answer, shivering not because of what just happened, but because I’ve never seen anyone look at me as he is now.
I’ve never been touched like this before. Never been this close to a man besides my father, and even dressed as I am, I feel completely naked under his grasp.
Fire blazes through me as his hands tighten around my waist, pulling me up and into him as we sit together.
For a moment, I’m lost in his eyes, my breathing labored as carnal thoughts run riot through my mind. I want him to rip the dress from me and toss it aside. I want him to bend me over the bench where I’ve just been carving and sink his cock deep inside me. I’m struggling under the weight of my own desires, and it’s like I’m watching myself, knowing that it’s the wrong choice but unable to stop what’s happening.
Then I spot my father moving toward us through the crowd, fear covering his face, and I come back to my senses. “I said I’m fine.” I fluster, pushing myself away and tugging my legs up under fabric layers of the skirt of my dress, trying to deny the dampness that soaks my panties.
“Seleme.” Papa is on his knees next to me, my mother by his side. His eyes run up and down, inspecting me, and I know if I was hurt his intense vision would pick up on it immediately. I only worry what else he can see. “You are not harmed. Just in shock.”
The relief in his voice clutches at my heart even as my pulse speeds. I'm overpowered by Maxim’s scent. My head is spinning, but it’s not simply from the rush of adrenaline and the danger; it’s him. He’s so close. Too close.
There's no longer any way to deny the effect this human man is having on me, and it frightens me more than my recent brush with death.
Yes, death. Because until my coming of age, my mortality is a yoke heavy upon my shoulders and from the looks on my parents’ faces, theirs, as well.
We all stand, brushing glass crystals from our clothes, and I struggle to cast my eyes anywhere but back upon him.
“Thank you.” My father turns and extends his hand to Maxim, who takes it immediately. My father brings his other hand to cover their handshake as my mother runs her hands down my hair with concern. “How can I ever repay you?”
Maxim looks at me as I shift, and we both move together to stand between my parents. I look around the room and it’s clear at a glance that mercifully nobody else appears to be hurt.
His friend Dimitri rushes over. “Everyone okay? Jesus Christ, that was close.” He glances at the huge chandelier, nearly as big as a compact car laying on the floor next to where I stood, then at the ceiling, and then back to us.
“Yes,” I answer. “It was.”
“That was some accident.” Dimitri’s words are tinged with sarcasm.
“Yep.” Maxim’s eyes are locked on mine. “No way that chandelier just decided to choose this moment to fall.”
My father steps towards Maxim. “Your reflexes are more than impressive. Do you by chance work with your friend’s security company?”
In unison, Dimitri answers yes as Maxim answers no.
My father gives them both a quizzical look before finishing, “The thing is, I agree with you both. What just happened could well have been intentional.” He clears his throat, then turns to Maxim. “I want to hire you. We’ve had some security concerns of late. Seleme is insisting that she be allowed to carry on as normal, but I’m worried for her safety, and after what just happened, I don’t want to take any chances. Your reaction time. I’ve never seen anything like it in a hum—. I mean, name your price and your terms.”
“Papa! I do not need protecting.” I narrow my eyes at Maxim, willing him to turn my father down. “He’s overreacting. I’m sure it was an accident. The estate is aging, things break.”
My father turns to me, shaking his head, then back to Maxim. “My daughter can be stubborn. I can protect her inside our own house, but clearly I need help when she’s out. Whenever she goes anywhere outside, I want you with her. I will be more than generous.” He shakes his head. “If you hadn’t been here...”
“I’ll do it.” Maxim’s voice is grave, and I roll my eyes.
“This is ridiculous.” I cross my arms. “Apparently I have no say. I’m just a helpless waif who cannot possibly make important decisions for herself.”
I know I’m being snotty, but the last thing I need right now is more time with this man. My life is complicated enough without his scent and presence sending my half-human hormones into overdrive.
&
nbsp; “Your alternative is to have me with you inside the house and outside. Is that what you want?” My father challenges.
“No.” With a huff, I run my hand down my shoulders, brushing away the last remnants of glass and pumpkin.
“Good. We are all set then. My wife and I will stay here. I need to be sure no one was hurt, especially any children. People need to know we haven’t abandoned them. Take my car and accompany Seleme back to the house, please, and stay with her until we get home.” He reaches into his inside tuxedo pocket and hands Maxim the valet ticket. “Seleme knows the code for the gate.”
I sigh as Maxim looks my way, then turn to follow him, but as we pass my mother, I lean in and whisper in her ear: “Make sure Papa checks for running water. I don’t know how, but I’m sure water was running somewhere. And if that’s the case, it was deliberate.”
Four
Maxim
“YOU DO REALIZE I AM acquiescing under duress.” Seleme eyes me with contempt from the passenger seat of the Bentley. What she doesn’t know is, showing me her defiant, bratty side only makes her sexier to me.
“And you realize, although I care and would hope you would feel otherwise, it is not going to stop me from protecting you. In any and every way possible.” My voice is harder than I’d like, but my instinct tells me it’s what she needs right now. There’s no wiggle room allowed at the moment because I firmly believe if I give her an inch, she will take a hundred miles. “I would be protecting you right now even if your father hadn’t said anything.”
“Sure, you would,” she huffs, and I glance to see the rise and fall of her chest. Her tits rise with each breath, bulging from the corset of her dress as her blonde hair hangs over one shoulder.
This close, I can indulge in her scent. It’s unlike anything I’ve experienced before. I can’t identify the sweet flower, maybe something like oleander, but there’s this exotic twist underlying it, and I’d swear it’s dark chocolate and cherries.
Whatever it is, it’s driving me crazy along with the rush of adrenaline still pumping through my veins. The thought that I could have lost her weighs heavy on my shoulders, and if I ever find out for sure that what happened was intentional, I will use my last breath to find who put her in danger and show them a taste of what hell has in store for them.
Seleme clears her throat as her hands run down the billowy red satin skirt of her dress, and my cock is thick and full imagining the treasure that lies beneath. As if she senses my lust, she flips her head and glares at me, and I do my best to keep my attention on the dark road that leads down our street.
“You’re not my kind,” she blurts out, and I frown and cock my eyebrows at her. “Type. Not my type. Just for the record if you have some idea otherwise.”
I shrug. “Good to know.” It doesn’t matter. She could be telling the truth or lying through her perfect white teeth, but in time she will realize I am her type, and she will be mine, one way or the other. I stop the car at the end of her driveway. “What’s the security code?”
Seleme shakes her head. “I’ll enter it. My father might trust you with my life, but I’m not sure I do.” She pulls the handle on her door, but I grab her arm.
“I’ll come around and open it for you. You’re not leaving my sight.”
She rolls her eyes. “I’ll be right there outside the car. What could possibly happen to me?”
“Not going to happen.”
“Fine. Just be quick, I want to get inside.”
I put the car in park, come to her side, and let her out. She whisks past me on a huff, punches some numbers into the keypad, then takes her seat back in the car with forced indifference as I close the door again and get behind the wheel.
Once inside the gate, I ease the car down the drive and park in front of the massive oak front door that looks like it belongs on a fifth-century Austrian castle. Then I get out, open her door and lead her inside.
“Make yourself comfortable, Mr. Forsythe, but not too comfortable. I’m going to my room to shower and change, then I’m going to sleep. You can wait in the kitchen for my father to get home. It’s through there.” She points to a door, beside which hangs what I could swear is an original Picasso, then turns toward the massive curved stairway and stalks away from me. My mouth goes dry as I watch her ass move under the satin dress as she lifts the front, looking every bit like Cinderella as she takes each step in her delicate crystal-looking shoes.
It’s cold inside the house, almost colder than outside, but the thought of her naked in the shower sends hot blood surging down into my already hard cock. I’m sure she’s deliberately trying to be distant with me, and I have no idea why, but it’s not having the effect she’s going for. If anything, it’s only making me more intrigued. I watch her from behind until she disappears through a doorway at the top of the stairs, then I draw in a deep breath and wander into the kitchen.
Her family may not like to spend money on heating, but it’s not because they’re lean in the wallet. I know from the size of this place, the decadence of the party, and the Picasso hanging in the hall—and the rest of the house from what I can see is just as opulent. You could park twenty Bentleys in the kitchen and dining space. Its cabinets match the carving on the front door, and the surfaces are all white marble. The dining table glitters with crystal and porcelain, as if Gatsby himself, along with a party of fifty, is expected any moment.
My footfalls are nearly silent on the stone floor as I walk to the refrigerator and pull the door open, curious about anything and everything that touches her lips.
Inside, the appliance is nearly empty.
No ketchup and mustard. No bottles of soy sauce or balsamic vinegar. No milk or eggs. None of the staples most people keep on hand.
What I do see only adds to the low hum of confusion that’s building inside my head. In neat Cryopaks are pounds of fresh beef. The clear plastic sleeves filled with blood and red flesh line the entire bottom shelf in neat rows.
The remainder of the refrigerator is sparkling clean, looking like it’s never been used, and when I reach down and pull out the bottom drawer where most of us store our lettuce and tomatoes, the chill I felt entering the house is nothing compared to the shiver that runs down my back now. My muscles twitch and tighten as I extend my hand and trace a finger along one of the small bags labeled beef heart stored in blood, with yesterday's date.
I swallow and close the refrigerator, stepping back and looking over my shoulder, then make my way to the door at the side of the room. I close my hand around the cool brass handle and pull it open to find a walk-in pantry as large as most bedrooms.
Empty.
Except along one shelf at the back, there are boxes and boxes of Cheez-Its. Fifty at least.
I shake my head, trying to process the odd clues about Seleme and her family from my kitchen snooping. I work my way through the dining room. Over the set table hangs a chandelier nearly as large as the one that fell at the party, only it is filled with candles instead of electric bulbs, and I wonder how the hell someone can get up there to light them all.
As I exit the dining room and enter the grand hallway under the curved stairs, I take in a wall of photographs of Seleme and her parents.
I step closer, inspecting them, and a thrill courses through me to see Seleme as a child. As stunning a child as she is an adult. Almost otherworldly in a way, but that’s not what makes me rub my jaw and squint closer at each photo.
Each photo is of one or a combination of the three but no one else outside of Seleme and her parents which seems a bit odd but that seems to be becoming a theme around here.
Her parents are unchanged over the years. There's a shot from their wedding day, Seleme’s mother already round with a pregnant belly but looking not a day younger than she did tonight. Her father is the same, perfectly persevered, and I make a note to ask them if their unique diet is the key to the fountain of youth.
Beef hearts and Cheez-Its. Who knew?
From over my should
er I hear a thump at the front door. Then a second. Finally, a third, and I pull myself from the photos.
It didn’t sound like someone knocking, more like something being thrown against the door. When I open it, the chill I felt is gone, replaced by a wave of heat as my heart speeds and my protective instinct heightens.
Three lifeless white doves lie on the limestone just outside the entry.
I step out into the cooling breeze of the night and look around. There’s nothing. And the front entry gate down the long driveway is closed, with no cars in sight. I look up at the house and see a light in one room upstairs.
I don’t care that Seleme is convinced there’s nothing to worry about. Dead doves on the doorstep sure feel threatening to me, and the fact that her light is on right above where I’m standing worries me. Anyone could have seen it and used the doves to distract me.
Appropriate or not, I know what I have to do.
I race back inside, slamming the door and take the stone steps two at a time until I am on the second floor and see the stripe of light coming from under the first door.
I stall outside for a moment, wondering what the protocol is here. My Ranger training never prepared me for this kind of urban protection detail, and I’m not sure if I should announce my presence or just kick the door down. If there’s someone else on the other side, I don’t want to give up the element of surprise. I’m on edge. I know at least one person is behind the door, and while protecting her is my top priority, I can’t help feeling like an animal on the hunt.
My prey is within reach, and I only need to make one last move before I can drive my teeth into my victim’s neck and make her understand, good or bad, she belongs to me now.
And she will. Someday, some way, she will belong to me.
But right now, I just need to know she’s safe.
Every inch of me feels alive. More alive than I think I’ve ever felt, and the chill that’s cloaked me since I entered the house is gone. It is definitely warmer up here. By at least twenty degrees. But it’s more than just the temperature.