Tempted by a Vampire (Immortal Hearts of San Francisco Book 1)

by Susan Griscom

  “Better bring a coat. It’s a bit chilly out tonight.”

  I grabbed my coat, and we headed into the elevator.

  Cian opened the back door to the limo. I stepped inside, and he followed in behind me.

  “Does Ari do all your driving?”

  “Actually, yes. I don’t have a driver’s license.”

  “You don’t?”

  “It requires a birth certificate or passport. And, well, I don’t have either of those. Though I could compel the clerk at the DMV to issue me one, I sort of like having Ari drive me around.”

  “What about Lane, or the others? Does Ari drive them around, too?”

  “Sometimes. But they’ve managed to secure their licenses. I just never saw the need. I’ve always had someone else do the driving. Except years ago, I did enjoy driving around in some of the first automobile models.”

  “Things must have been quite different back then,” I said, mulling over the idea. I had a difficult time accepting that I’d had sex with someone who was old enough to have driven a car that many years ago. But then Cian kissed me tenderly, but with a great deal of passion, and pressed his hand to the small of my back, gathering me in close against him. All thoughts of age left my brain, leaving me with an exciting anticipation of what the evening had in store.

  At the club, I sat at the same table we’d occupied last week. Vanessa and Tanner spent most of the time dancing, and I was left on my own again. But I didn’t mind. Cian spent a lot of time smiling at me and giving me his attention while he sang, and I felt very special.

  Like last week, neither Cian nor any of the band members came out into the club during their break. It concerned me a bit. I’d need to ask him about that later. But at least Vanessa and Tanner sat with me and didn’t go out to dance much the second half.

  After the band had played their last song of the night, Cian came up behind me. “Magdalena. Let’s get out of here.”

  I was more than ready to leave. I’d had enough of only wishing to be in Cian’s arms.

  Ari drove us to Cian’s house, and we stood outside on his patio, sipping some red wine and watching the city lights. The bridge was illuminated with a golden glow and lived up to its famous name.

  “It’s all so beautiful, Cian.”

  He trailed his finger down my cheek. “Not as beautiful as you.”

  My cheeks warmed, but I shivered.

  “Here, put this on.” Cian wrapped my coat around my shoulders and I slipped my arms into the sleeves.

  “Why is it that you and the band never come out into the club during the break?” I asked.

  He shrugged. “We like sitting backstage, discussing the songs we sang and deciding what we want to perform during the second half. We also share our customary bottle of scotch.” He grew silent for a moment, then gently rubbed his finger over my lips. “Sometimes some of the female customers wanting to get close so they can be the one to go home with one of us presents problems, as well. It has a tendency to hold up the second half of the show. I’m sorry. I didn’t think. You would have preferred I come out and sit with you?”

  “Yes. It would have been nice, but now that you’ve explained, I understand.”

  He took my hand and pulled it to his lips, showering little kisses across my knuckles, then turned my hand over and kissed my palm, tickling the center with his tongue.

  “I want to show you something. But I don’t want to scare you,” he said.

  “What?”

  “Wrap your arms around me and hold on very tight. Don’t let go, no matter what.”

  I did as he asked, and he draped his strong arms around me, holding me close against him. Our bodies jolted, and a second later, we stood together on the ledge of his building. Three stories up from the ground. I started to scream, but his hand covered my mouth.

  “Shhhh. Don’t scream. You might wake the neighbors.” He laughed.

  “Cian, this is crazy.”

  “Are you afraid of heights?”

  “No, but I can’t believe this is happening.”

  He smiled. “Hold on.”

  Next thing I knew, we stood at the top of the north tower of the Golden Gate Bridge, looking back at the beautiful city lights of San Francisco.

  “Cian. This is miraculous.”

  “I come up here frequently to think. To watch the city at night. It’s calming and makes me feel human.”

  “Human? There is nothing human about standing on the north tower at the top of the Golden Gate Bridge.”

  He smiled, turned me around so that my back was against him, his arms around me, caressing me as I looked out across the bay at all the lights on the hills. “When I watch the lights and listen to the sounds of the city and feel the salty breeze lick my face, my neck, I feel alive in here.” He splayed his hand over my heart.

  His words struck me as sad. I hadn’t given much thought to his feelings about his immortality. He’d mentioned something about the loneliness of eternity, but the magnitude of that concept hadn’t settled into my brain until just that very minute. “It’s not fair.”

  “What?” he asked.

  “That you have to spend an eternity alone.”

  “Well, I have my brother.”

  I smiled. “You know what I mean.”

  “Yes. I do. Until I met you, I’d resigned myself to the idea of spending eternity alone. But now I can’t imagine doing so.”

  The significance of his last statement hadn’t slipped by me unnoticed, and as he kissed me, I suddenly couldn’t imagine a life without him in it. Intense heat soared through my body. He slipped his hand under my dress and skimmed up between my legs. The rip of my panties made me laugh. “You’re going to have to take stock out at Victoria Secret if you keep that up.”

  “For you, anything. Magdalena, I need you. The temptation is so difficult to resist.”

  “I thought I was the one being tempted.”

  “It’s different. I want to make love to you.”

  “Yes. I want that, too.”

  “No, you don’t understand. I want to make love to you as a vampire.”

  “How is that different?” I knew what he wanted. I wasn’t that naive to believe that he would never want to drink my blood. I’d read the fantasy books about blood drinking and sex and how they always went together, but that’s all it had been. Fantasy.

  “The allure of your blood has my head spinning. Being up here, at the top of the bridge, I can’t think of a better place for your first time.”

  I swallowed. “My first time?”

  “There is no greater sensation in the world, Magdalena.”

  My stomach knotted and I felt the wetness accumulating in my core as my heart pulsed with desire for him. The idea of him drinking my blood should scare the hell out of me, but temptation, the desire building inside of me, and the need to know how it would feel was winning over.

  “I’m scared,” I whispered.

  “I won’t hurt you. I promise. Do you trust me?”

  I wanted to trust him. As much as this whole new experience scared me, I wanted to take the chance. “Yes, I trust you.” I knew this was right, as much as my heart beat for me, I needed to give some of that to Cian.”

  “Will you let me?”

  “Yes.” I closed my eyes, taking in every pleasurable moment of his touch. I heard the sound of a zipper.

  “Open your eyes, my love. Watch the city. I love you, Magdalena, with all my heart,” Cian whispered right below my ear then he thrust his hard shaft inside of me. When he sank his teeth into my neck, my eyes shot open and I stared into the star-studded sky. It didn’t hurt, and I let out a delighted moan, astonished by the pleasurable sensation of his gentle sucking. I tugged him closer, urging him to take from me. A euphoric high soared through my mind as endorphins raced through my veins and my desire to give him everything that I had enveloped me, coating me with a nirvana I never knew existed. I climaxed over and over again as he pumped into me from behind. As he took in my nour
ishment, I wanted to be everything to this man.

  “Cian!” I shouted into the night. My mind flooded with a surge of emotions that I had no control over. The sensation was so overwhelming, the stars in the sky faded away and everything around me went black.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Cian

  Magdalena’s blood flowed into me, cradling me. Warming me. The excitement so powerful I was overwhelmed. I’d never tasted anything so heavenly before. It had been a week since I’d drunk from anyone directly. From the minute I’d met her, I vowed to never drink from anyone but her. It had been well worth the wait. This time was different for me.

  There was something in her blood that gave me more strength than I’d ever known before. As I sucked at the vein in her neck, I pumped my cock into her. Hard. Both sensations together brought me to a new state of ecstasy. As if heaven itself had reached into the dark depths of hell and grabbed my soul back from within the pit of fire. No drug existed on this planet, strong enough to match the high. She reached behind her and pulled me tighter against her when I began to suck. Her acceptance of me heightened the thrill.

  She screamed my name into the night air. I didn’t care up here on the bridge. She could scream all she wanted. A million beats of pulsating tingles shot through my veins with each thrilling sound and movement she made. As I emptied every ounce of semen I had into her, she grew quiet, her head resting on my shoulder.

  “Magdalena,” I whispered into her ear, but she stayed still and silent. I picked her chin up to see that she’d lost consciousness. Had I taken too much? I licked the wounds closed, her slight pulse on the tip of my tongue almost undetectable.

  I cradled her in my arms and flashed us both back to my bed where I laid her down. Her beauty brought me to my knees. I knelt beside the bed and rested my head on the edge of the mattress next to her, tears stinging my eyes.

  I had taken too much, and now she was weak. I worried that she might not come back to me. I knew there was the possibility of this happening. That I would enjoy her too much and take too much, sending her into a coma. A coma that I could never bring her out of. Fuck, I wanted to break my own fucking neck for going so far.

  She stirred. A slight moan. But it was enough. She wasn’t in a coma. Thank the gods. She wasn’t dying, but she was very weak, and she may be sick for a few days.

  I let her rest there on my bed, and I stood, zipping up my jeans that I’d left undone while I’d carried Magdalena in my arms back to safety.

  I pulled the blanket up over her small, delicate frame and walked to the alcove, staring out at the bridge where I’d sealed Magdalena’s fate. She’d never be the same. Oh, she’d still be her, still be the same sweet, wonderful woman I’d locked eyes with sitting inside of that little restaurant before heading to the club. But now, she belonged to me. I’d ensured that tonight when I’d drunk her blood. She would forever flow through my veins.

  “Cian,” Magdalena called to me. I raced to her side.

  “Yes. I’m here.”

  “What happened?” Her voice music to my ears.

  “You scared me. I thought I’d lost you.”

  She shook her head. “No. It was beautiful, but I’m afraid I must have passed out.”

  “Because I almost killed you. I’m so very sorry. It was stupid of me.”

  “Am I a vampire now?” she asked in a sweet, angelic voice. I had to laugh.

  “No, my sweet. No. You would have had to ingest my blood and die. You didn’t drink my blood, and you certainly did not die. You’re just…bonded to me now.”

  “Oh, is that all,” she closed her eyes. “I’m so tired.”

  “Rest. I’ll be right here.”

  “Magdalena. Wake up. The sun will be up soon. I need to take you home. You have work today.”

  “I do?”

  “Yes. It’s Monday, a little after four in the morning.”

  “Oh. I slept through yesterday?”

  “You did. I’m sorry. It’s all my fault. I drank too much. I will learn to pace myself next time.”

  She sighed. “It’s okay.”

  “No, it’s not. I will never do that again.”

  “But I want you to. It…it was amazing.”

  I smiled. “Yes, it was amazing. I meant I would never take that much from you again. It was the first time, and it had been a while since I’d drunk directly from a human. And I’ve never taken from anyone who stole my heart before. The taste of your blood consumed me more than I realized. I took too much from you. I promise never to take so much at one time again.”

  She sat up. Touched my cheek. “I trust you.”

  “That pleases me. Here, I have something for you.” I held up a gold-toned heart pendant dangling from a sturdy gold chain. The pendant was a set of marcasite angel’s wings surrounding a large ruby, as if the feathered appendages enfolded a heart of fire. “This belonged to my mother. My brother and I each gave her one right before we left for the States. This one has my name engraved on the back. Mom held both hearts fisted in her hand when she slipped from this world, as if she wanted to carry the memory of us with her. I want you to have this one.”

  “Oh, Cian, it’s beautiful.”

  “Here, let me put it on you.” She pulled her hair free from her neck, and I slipped the chain around her and secured the clasp.”

  “I’ll never take it off,” she said.

  “It’s double clasped for extra security.”

  “How did she die?”

  “It was a long time ago.”

  “Yes, but…did she know what you and Lane had become?”

  “No. We were here in the States. She stayed in London. She was a wonderful woman, always encouraging us to be our best. She taught us how to play the piano and coached us in our singing lessons.” I chuckled at the memory. “I miss her, so does Lane. That song I sang and dedicated to you that first night at the club?” She nodded. “We wrote it for her.”

  “It’s a beautiful song. I remember hearing it on the radio. It came out right around the time my own parents died. I listened to it over and over again. It gave me comfort.”

  “I’m sorry you lost your parents but I’m glad it gave you comfort. And now, like this necklace, the song belongs to you.”

  The color in her face drained a bit as she stood, teetering on her feet. I held her around her waist to steady her.

  Do you feel all right? Maybe you should call in sick from work today.”

  “No. I can’t. I’m still in training.”

  “Come on, then, let’s get you home now, or you’ll have to wait until Ari wakes up to take you. Then you’ll be late for work.”

  I teleported us to her apartment, not wanting to bother anyone else to drive us. We materialized inside her bedroom where I knew our sudden appearance would go unnoticed.

  I still had a couple of hours before the sun came up, so I decided to stay just a little while.

  We entered the living room and I glanced around. I’d been in her bedroom without her knowledge, but I’d never been in any of the other rooms. Even when I’d picked her up I stayed by the door. The hairs on the back of my neck stood straight up as I turned to see what could be having such an effect on me and stared straight into Jewels’ eyes.

  “Magdalena, where did you get this picture?”

  “Oh. Some little art gallery on Union Street. Isn’t it magical?”

  I glanced at her. The childlike expression on her face, so full of awe and beauty, rendered me incapable of thinking. But, the possibility of Jewels being alive, here, in San Francisco, frightened the hell out of me. And the thought that my beautiful Magdalena may have had a dangerous encounter with the beast, even more so. “Yes, it is. How long have you had it?”

  “About a week. Vanessa and I bought it the day after we moved here. Why?”

  I shrugged as if it weren’t important. No need to alarm her about something that she probably would never need to know. I needed to talk to Lane, though. If Jewels were in the city, tha
t meant she was feeding. And possibly siring more vampires. The thought of her doing to others what she had done to Lane and me, sickened me. In all of our vampire lives, I had never turned a single human. And we had both gone almost an entire two hundred years without turning anyone until Lane had his unfortunate accident with Chelle. It was barbaric and cruel to sentence an innocent to this life of darkness. Though, the portrait did look as if it had been painted many years ago, artists could give their work any type of texture and background they desired.

  “I’m starving.” Magdalena’s voice brought me back from memories of my sordid past, and I went to her and caressed her cheek with my palm.

  “It has been a whole day since you’ve eaten. Again, I’m sorry.”

  “Stop saying you’re sorry. I wanted it. I let you do it. I could have said something when I started to become weak.”

  “No, I doubt that.”

  She sighed. She had no clue what I’d done to her. The power I had over her from the minute I’d sunk my fangs into her vein.

  “I’ll make some eggs. Do you want to eat?”

  “No. I think I’d better get going. I have some things to do before the sun comes up.”

  “Oh. Are you going to…you know, feed?”

  “No. I think I’ve had enough of your blood to sustain me for a while.”

  “Cian, you said you don’t kill when you feed.”

  “That’s true.”

  “How do you get them to let you drink their blood?”

  “I compel them. They let me feed, and then I wipe their memory of it.”

  “I guess that’s okay. As long as you’re not hurting them.”

  “I promise; it has never been anything more than what I did to you, only without the added bonus of a wonderful orgasm.” I grinned, but in truth, I would never drink from another now that I’d had Magdalena.

  I closed the short gap between our bodies and kissed her cheek. “Since I’ve met you, Magdalena, I have not fed from anyone until last night with you. I have no desire to be that intimate with anyone but you ever again.”

  She sighed into my chest. Lifting her chin with my finger, I kissed her plump lips and darted my tongue into her mouth. She moaned as her tongue scraped under one of my fangs that, like the hard-on in my pants, had a difficult time keeping its presence hidden from her.