Wicked Love

by Michelle Dare

  He wrapped his arm around me and guided me out of the lecture hall amidst the mass of students. “My name is Dorian Knight.”

  Ah, the popular Dorian Knight I recalled hearing so much about. I scanned the area for his ex-girlfriend but not goth girl dressed in all black was anywhere to be seen. It was relatively safe for now.

  I glanced up at him shyly, “Jane, Jane Wilder.”

  “And what is your interest in Greek antiquities, Miss Wilder?” Dorian led me outside the building into the brisk fall air. Step for step we headed for a little coffee shop I knew nearby called Arcane Delights, a hipster sort of place with artists and poets filling the tables along with young novelists typing away on Mac books.

  “Well, I’m fascinated with art history. I love the Medieval works, but I haven’t traveled much outside of New York to see the museums in Italy. I also love the Restoration period and really anything that focuses on the use of color and light.”

  “Ah, the reign of Charles II.” Dorian smiled and something in his gaze across the street held his eyes as he spoke.

  “Yes, but even before that too. Artists from the French court and…” I could talk all day about my love of art but Dorian seemed occupied and I hated feeling like I was rambling on and on to an uninterested audience.

  Dorian finally turned to look at me, “I should take you to my brother’s house. You would enjoy his art collection.” He hummed and we ordered our coffee sitting at a table for two by the window.

  “Your brother enjoys art?” I asked intrigued.

  “Sebastián is a lover of all things beautiful.” He sipped his coffee and his eyes returned to that blank stare that made me uneasy.

  “He must have an impressive collection, then?”

  Dorian laughed out loud, so loud in fact it startled me.

  “Enough about my brother, tell me, will you go out with me?” He reached his hand up to my face and brushed a lock of my hair back. It was disconcerting and I traced the route his hand took with my own hand taming the curl.

  “Go out…with you?” The pains come again and I sipped my coffee to focus on the hot liquid burning my throat. I couldn’t possibly go out with Dorian, but I don’t know why that is, in fact I don’t know what holds me back.

  “Go out with me, Jane.” He’s more persistent this time, reaching for my hands as soon as I put my coffee down.

  “Oh, I…” I hesitated and Dorian’s brows draw together.

  “Alright. Meet me somewhere. A party. Bring your roommate. We’ll make it a group gathering.”

  “Yeah, that’s a good idea.” The vague black splotches invade my head this time but since I’ve said no they vanish as quickly.

  Dorian leaned over the table and in a husky voice said, “I know an exclusive club. I’ll text you the time and address. Halloween themed so dress in costume, my little lamb.” Before I could stop him, Dorian reached for my bag and took out my phone. He smiled and typed in his number calling his phone. “I’ll catch up with you later. My brother is waiting for me.”

  I blinked my eyes and then he was gone.

  How strange.

  A moment later my phone pinged. Dorian texted me the address and time for the party. I wouldn’t say it was a date but it felt good to be seen and Nina would get a kick out of my interesting encounter.

  4

  The Bastard.

  BASH

  “You sneaky vamp.” I turned at the sound of Dorian’s voice lounging on my favorite blue sofa. He leaned back tossing an apple up and down in the air like he figured out some secret and was now in devious plot mode.

  “What the hell are you talking about now?” I sorted through my mail left on my desk, John.

  Dorian rose from his seated position and moved about the room with a predatory stroll stopping at the mantle. He put the shiny fresh apple next to the box with my mementos of Aileen’s.

  “The girl.” He quipped smirking.

  “What fucking girl?” I asked, my accent growing thicker as I tired of Dorian’s game. It had been a century since I lived in our native Greece, leaving behind our family name of Karras in favor of Knight. So many memories left behind, the vineyard was untouched by time. Caretakers maintained it thinking some rich mogul owned it and it would stay that way. Dorian had ruined that place for me as well, a massacre of bodies buried underneath the grapevines disintegrated over time. It seemed like he was ticking time bomb waiting to go off and we were close to repeating the patterns all over again.

  “You know,” He pointed at me shaking his finger. “I thought I smelled something peculiar when I was here at the first of the year.” He lifted his head sniffing the air. He looked like a bloodhound and acted like a vulture.

  Ignoring him, I shuffled papers because no good ever came of giving in to Dorian.

  “You were probably hungover and still humming from your night out with Leo and Sara.” I reminded him. My electric bill was higher than usual this month and the cable bill had porn charges thanks to Dorian. I put them to the side and folded my hands giving him my full attention.

  Dorian leaned over the desk grinning. “She has a certain essence and a je ne sais quoi. You know, if you smelled her again, it might jog your memory.”

  He pulled a lock of brown hair from his pocket and placed it on the desk in front of me. I didn’t have to touch it to know how soft it was. I didn’t have to look at it a second time to recognize the mahogany hue. The scent alone was more than enough. I shut my eyes to hide them dilating with want and need. I breathed through my nose, and pretended the scent was merely my imagination.

  “Who?” I inquired, forcing my face to remain blank.

  “Jane Wilder.”

  Fuck.

  “And who might that be?” If my brother found Jane, he could and would do terrible things to her. He’d hurt her to spite me, and I would be forced to either take her or leave him to the Council to deal with.

  “She’s currently an art history major, loves coffee, and has the most amazing hazel eyes, but I’m guessing at some point you compelled her.” Dorian reached behind and pulled the apple off the mantle using his limited powers. He snatched the apple out of the air, and bit deeply into its skin. Juice ran down his chin, and his eyes sparkled with demonic intent. He wiped his mouth with his sweater sleeve placing the apple on my desk. It leaked juice onto the open documents I had for the art show coming up at the Whitney.

  It was his version of a threat.

  I leaned back in my chair and queried my brother. To admit anything would be giving in and showing my hand. To deny it, well, he’d take that as free rein to do as he damn well please with an innocent I’d shared blood and a brief bond with.

  “Why do I think I compelled her? Any vampire is capable of compulsion.” I crossed my arms over my chest waiting for his explanation.

  “Because that’s what blood bonds do, even if their fleeting or one time. It cancels out the compulsion of another in the blood line.”

  I scoffed at his explanation. It only worked with bondable mates and it wasn’t something vampires tossed around casually. Sure we could make unsuspecting victims do crazy and foolish things, but the compulsion wore off over time. It was only permeant in cases of siring someone for loyalty, or in protecting a mate. Besides, I would have felt something, wouldn’t I?

  “Jane Wilder means nothing to me.” But as I stated the fact, my chest pinched and I winced rubbing the spot. Dorian cocked his head looking at me funny.

  “You know, I might have believed you, but she did the exact same thing when I asked her out.” He pointed at me and I looked down at my button-down shirt, the place would a beating heart would have been if I was human.

  “You did what?” I roared standing from the desk and forced to lean over it when my chest seized in anger.

  Dorian picked up the apple again taking a bite.

  “Oh brother, you have it bad don’t you. Taken out by a little lamb at slaughter.” He chuckled.

  “Fuck you!” I yelled.


  “She smells a bit like apples, is that why you keep them in the house?”

  “Get out.” I growled pointing at the door. I was going to have to track down Jane, make sure she forgot everything about us, and sending her packing back home to where ever that was before she was branded by Dorian as his new toy to torture.

  “I bet, you won’t be able to stay away from her.” He taunted.

  “You don’t go anywhere near her.”

  Dorian chuffed. “Funny, because I invited her to the club Halloween party. She’s bringing her roommate, sounds like fresh meat to me, but if she doesn’t mean anything to you then I guess we’ll find out won’t we.”

  Dorian got up and laughed, the sound carrying all through my house. I should have torn him limb from limb leaving him out for the sun to turn to ash when I had the chance.

  5

  This was no dark and stormy night.

  JANE

  “I still don’t understand why we have to go to a party before the party.” I grumbled at Nina as I swung around the table to sit down with her. I worked at this slummy diner four blocks from our apartment between classes. I didn’t have to work, my parents were loaded, but knowing that things like my expensive art books or my cheap pink wine came from my own wallet gave me a sense of ownership and responsibility.

  No one held a candle to the artists of my dreams. Leonardo, Rembrandt, Rubins, Vermeer, and Van Eyck. couldn’t wait to graduate and finally travel to Florence and Rome on my own without my disinterested family hovering, squashing my dreams in place of a MRS. degree. Just last week during my call home, my mother suggested someone my brother graduated law school with. I believed she called him a promising litigator, as if that was supposed to sway my mind to give up my dreams.

  Nina rolled her eyes. “We have to go because everyone who is anyone will be there.”

  I rolled my eyes back. I doubted this. Anyone who Nina thought was important didn’t register on my radar.

  “Right. Okay.”

  “It’s called pre-gaming. We can’t show up to the main event without having had a little fun beforehand.” She whined and I gave in. It was simply easier than having to fight with her over the same outcome anyway.

  “Fine.” I huffed getting up when I saw the cook poke his head out to see me sitting with Nina. I didn’t him yelling at me or worse firing me.

  “Tell me what costume you’re going to wear.”

  “Angel.”

  “Lame and cliché.”

  “Also, inexpensive since all I had to buy were the wings.”

  “Ugh, okay. I’m going as a hippie chic.” Nina spent the next ten minutes telling me all about her costume as I pretended to pour her coffee. She had the gift of gab and I appreciated the fact that she came to hang out with me until the end of my shift.

  By the time I was done and we walked back to our apartment she called three other girls I sort of knew to come with us.

  “You know, I’m not sure Dorian’s invitation was so broad and open.” I adjusted my halo and the strap for my feathered wings. Runway model I was not, but it was fun and would have to do.

  “I still can’t believe you have class with Dorian Knight and that he invited you. If you hadn’t shown me his text message I wouldn’t have believed it myself. They say all kinds of weird shit about him. Good thing he’s hot as fuck though.”

  I thought about my best friend’s objectifying commentary. She’d been encouraging me to go after Dorian last year and now she was gob smacked he’d been the one to approach me. I adored Nina, but sometimes she was oddly cruel without meaning to be. I sucked it up as we gathered small purses and met up with Kandace, Ruth, and Simone outside a club frequented by our college peers. We drank a few shots to loosen us up before heading to the club where Dorian said he would be waiting for me.

  “You know, maybe we should go somewhere else? What if he isn’t here.” I tried backing out of the line but Nina held my arm tight. The girls flanked me on all sides. There was no way I was going to get out of this.

  “Stop being a baby. You showed me the text. If he isn’t here, fuck him. We’ll go inside and have a good time dancing.” Nina dragged me past the bouncer who checked our ID and then closed the velvet rope off behind us.

  “This is so cool. I heard kinky shit happens at this place.” Kandice squealed.

  “And the owner guy is some art dealer. I think he’s wanted by Interpol or something.” Simone said grabbing a drink off a server tray like she couldn’t wait to get hammered. I decided right then, I was not carrying her ass home. Ruth was like me, quiet and taking it all in.

  “I don’t think we should make assumptions about anything.” I murmured as we stepped inside an elevator that was taking us to the top floor of the club. There were several floors but Dorian told me he would be up at the top waiting for me in the VIP section.

  “I hope your date doesn’t flake out.” Kandice eyed me up and down as we stepped out of the elevator. I knew I never liked her. Super judgmental.

  The club was decorated in black and gold. Red lights illuminated and smoke machines gave the place an eerie vibe that had nothing to do with Halloween. I’d. walked past several club goers in leather outfits, a few were making out against the walls pretended to dance to the heavy club beat grinding against each other. Something about the crazy sexual energy set my warning bells off and my chest took on that heavy pain that made each step more difficult.

  A hand snaked out of the crowd and pulled me to the side. I shrieked until a hand clamped over my mouth and Dorian Knight’s dark eyes swallowed me whole.

  “My little lamb came, dressed as a shepherd girl, no less.” He flicked my loose hair over my shoulders and I looked down at my cheap costume feeling my cheeks heat.

  “Angel actually, but whatever.” I guessed that if I took the wings off I’d be exactly what he called me.

  “Dance with me.” Dorian said leading me toward the back of the room away from the bar area and limited lights. I coughed as we walked through the sweet-smelling smoke and found myself up against a wall with Dorian caging me in.

  I gulped back my nerves and squinted to see my friends.

  “They’re in good company, lamb.” Dorian said in a husky whisper against my neck. I nodded and wanted to ask him to bring me back to them. This club, it wasn’t my scene, I shouldn’t be here and I swore to myself that if I got home safe tonight, I’d never come back. In fact, if my Greek Art History class wasn’t a requirement, I’d drop that too and avoid Dorian the rest of the semester.

  “Master Dorian.” A masked man approached us and I stepped back as far as I could.

  Dorian slowly turned his head to address the man. “What is it?” He growled and I swore something happened to his eyes in the low light. Maybe they glowed? Narrowed? I wasn’t sure what I was seeing in the distorted fog.

  “You’re needed in the uh…dungeon level.” The man backed away once the message had been delivered.

  “Be right there.” He said in the coldest voice, I thought I might have been touched by frost. He looked at me and the smile on his lips barely reached the rest of his face. “Don’t move.”

  I felt frozen for all of a second and when I blinked my eyes, he was gone. He disappeared into the red mist and I was all alone.

  A moment passed and I collected my breath. The damn pain in my chest returned.

  “You shouldn’t be here, Jane.”

  I turned to look at the new face in front of me. A dark angel compared to mine. He wore a black suit and rubbed his chest in the same way I did. I wanted to ask him if he was hurt, did he feel the same ache I did from time to time but found myself unable to form the words.

  Instead, I said, “Do I know you?”

  I swore he snorted in the dark but didn’t answer my question. Instead his hand reached for mine and he pulled me away from the wall and down another hall toward a second elevator.

  “Where are we going?”

  He spun me around as the doors opene
d, his hands rested on my shoulders.

  “Why do you look so familiar to me?” His eyes bugged like he’d seen a ghost but he didn’t answer my question. I watched his face harden, his lips pursed and I wondered what they might taste like. A strange thought to have with a stranger. I didn’t have those thoughts with Dorian.

  “Go home Jane. Finish your studies and then go home. Never come back here again.” He walked me back inside the elevator.

  “But my friends!” I practically jumped up, but he blocked me in and as the doors closed, he spoke.

  “Waiting for you in the car.” He stood there and the light flashed. As those doors slammed shut on his imposing body and beautiful face, I felt like I’d been in the presence of the only man who could give Dorian a run for his money in the looks department. I’d been treated to two godly men and I knew neither of them at all. It didn’t even phase me that Dorian might wonder where I had gone. After tonight, I figured I’d never seen him again unless it was in class.

  The elevator door shut, and that’s when I noticed two things. The first being that the elevator had no buttons inside it to call any of the floors, and second, how did he know my name?

  6

  A sacrificial lamb was still a dead lamb.

  BASH

  The moment I heard fresh meat entered the market, I was on high alert. Dorian knew better than to fuck with me. We had centuries of this nonsense and for all his stunted twenty-nine years of age he acted like a teenager throwing a tantrum. First convincing my treacherous wife to turn his sorry ass, and then Aileen, sweet girl who became his blood slut and then that of the entire Clan. She’d been branded a witch and then burned by the English. He really knew how to make life hell on Earth.