Love Bites

by Aleera Anaya Ceres

  All she knew was that only Ignacio could explain it.

  So she would wait for him to do that.

  “You change your mind? You no leave?” Josefina asked when Katheryn walked into the kitchen to find her stirring a pot at the stove.

  Katheryn stood awkwardly in the doorway, gripping the cotton fabric of the nightgown, biting her bottom lip. “I’ll wait for Ignacio to wake up. I’ll talk to him and let him explain.”

  “Good.” Josefina smiled merrily and continued to stir her food. When Katheryn didn’t move from the doorway, she turned back to her. “I can help you with something, Katerina?”

  “Yes,” Katheryn replied, awkwardly. “Um...I was wondering if you wanted help with that?” She gestured at the stove.

  “Oh, yes please.”

  “Also...”

  “Yes?”

  “Would you happen to have any other clothes I could wear?”

  17

  Ignacio awoke to the sound of voices drifting up to the attic where he’d taken his slumber. Feminine laughter and quiet conversation. He couldn’t quite register it at first. Then he recognized Katheryn’s husky voice. There was no anger in it, no fear, no distress. She sounded...at ease.

  He stood quickly, dressed and practically ran downstairs to the kitchen, where the voices came from. He stopped dead in his tracks at the sight that met his eyes. Katheryn stood at the stove in one of his white button-down collar shirts and black boxers.

  She was barefoot and rounded, curved in all the right places. His boxers reached down to the middle of her thighs, and his rumpled shirt hung just above them. The sleeves were rolled up to her elbows but slid down with every jerky movement she made. He swallowed at the sight of her.

  She poured soup into bowls, chattering away with his mother, who was setting the table with placemats, spoons and cups. Katheryn appeared so calm, he momentarily forgot why she was in his home, and what had transpired between them.

  “Katheryn,” he whispered.

  She froze, spoon midair and turned to him. Her face was an open book and said it all. A million words flew in his direction, the sharp edges of them slicing through him.

  Vampire. Liar. Bastard. Evil.

  The words shouted at him. He hurt, but he understood completely. Before he read more of her accusations, he turned and ran from the kitchen up to his room. Shame filled him. Despite her being comfortable with his mother, Katheryn hadn’t forgiven him.

  It hurt more than any other punishment.

  18

  “Let him go.” Ignacio’s mother said. “Eat. Then you will speak to him.”

  Katheryn sighed and took her advice. It wouldn’t do to speak to Ignacio on an empty stomach. She might lose her cool again. When she spoke to him, she wanted to do so with a level head and a clear mind.

  She must also save her strength, in case he tried to bite her again. She would fight him off if it came down to that.

  Cautiously, she took their bowls to the table and sat down with Josefina to eat in an awkward silence.

  Katheryn found Ignacio in the attic after searching for him in the entire house. Ignacio had his back to her as he sat before a black, grand piano. He was bent over the keyboard, his fingers moving sensually and expertly.

  The dark, sad melody changed tempo suddenly into one that seemed very familiar to Katheryn, though she couldn’t remember from where. Ignacio’s body relaxed as he swayed gently from side to side, seeming to follow his fingers as they danced across the keys.

  Katheryn had the urge to put her hand on his shoulder, but she fought the impulse. She wasn’t here to comfort him. She was here to listen to an explanation then leave. She wouldn’t stay at his home any longer than necessary.

  “So, you’re a vampire.” The statement was fact and accusation together. Her voice was harsh and sharp, intended to cut him like a knife.

  Fingers faltered against the keys, then there was silence. It was a long moment before he slowly turned and glanced up. He looked so tired so...defeated.

  “I am,” he said. “I am a vampire.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me when we first met?” she demanded angrily. “Or even after we started seeing each other? After we had—” she cut off the sentence and bit her bottom lip.

  Ignacio sighed and ran a hand through his already mussed hair.

  “I will not make excuses to you Katheryn. I will not say ‘I thought...’ this or ‘I wanted...’ that. The truth is I was a coward. I was afraid you wouldn’t want me once you realized what I was.”

  As he spoke, she saw the yellow of his honey gaze was rimmed red, flashing like police sirens.

  “I deserved to know,” she said, angrily. She refused to let his wounded puppy look affect her. She’d stand her ground without weakness, without mercy.

  “You did.”

  “I was always honest with you,” Katheryn continued. “I told you about my life, about my parents, about Hunter. But you...you couldn’t tell me you’re a vampire? You lied to me.”

  “I did. I’m sorry. I know nothing can make up for what I did. I lied, and I bit you without you knowing what I am, but now, I’m willing to answer any and all questions...with honesty.”

  Katheryn looked at him. Really looked at him. Despite his perfect, handsome features, Ignacio had creases in his forehead and dark smudges beneath his eyes. She’d never seen him look so weary. He was even a little pale.

  “How long has it been since you’ve last eaten...or drank or whatever?” She eyed him suspiciously. If they were going to talk, she didn’t want him to take a chomp out of her midsentence.

  He shrugged. “Since I bit you.”

  “Do you get hungry every day?”

  “Yes, like any human. The longest any vampire has gone without blood without going insane was about six months...that I know of.”

  “Tell me about your species. What’s it like? Do you see in color? Or do you see red? Your mother kind of explained stuff to me, but her accent is very heavy, and her English isn’t so great.”

  He seemed amused by the spate of questions. It was the scientist in her. Katheryn wanted to document everything, wanted to ask every question she could think of so she wouldn’t forget. Oh, if only she had a notepad.

  She shook her head, reminding herself Ignacio wasn’t some speck under a microscope to be studied. He was a human being—er, vampire—and she was asking questions about him, his life and not about anything else.

  “Always the scientist,” he replied. “Yes, I see in color. As for my species, there are two types of vampires: ones who are born and ones who are turned. We call them Natural Born and Made vampires. Although both have the same virus in their system, the two types are different.”

  “How?” She wanted to edge closer, to sit down beside him and take notes. Her anger was still there, and she hadn’t forgotten his betrayal, but his situation had stirred her scientist’s curiosity. It overpowered everything else. Her mind itched to learn more.

  "Natural Born vamps can father or birth children. They can grow old and die, or they can stay a certain age forever if they choose, although our aging process usually slows down in our twenties. We can heal from any injury except decapitation or a pierced heart or brain. If we go out in the sunlight, we will die. During the day, we sleep and are literally dead to the world. We cannot stand any type of human food or drink. We’re also the only ones capable of creating new vampires.

  “Made vampires are not born, and they can’t grow old. In fact, they’re considered dead. Made vamps were once human, but were injected with vampire venom that killed them and made them vampires. They remain frozen at the age when they were killed, and can no longer father or birth children. They can still eat food and drink—although they need blood to survive. They can’t go out in the sunlight either, but they can stay awake during the day.”

  Katheryn itched to take a sample of his blood to study it. But she tried to keep her face as impassive as possible.

  “Did you ever bite me bef
ore? Was that the first time? Or did you bite me and hypnotize me to forget?” she asked, almost afraid to hear his answer.

  He looked ashamed. “That was the only time, Katheryn. I swear.”

  Her blood boiled, and she clenched her fists as her sides. “Why did you do it?”

  “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I was drunk and lost control. I wanted you. I didn’t mean for it to happen, and I know that’s no excuse. But I was going to your hotel room to tell you what I was. Then it all spun out of control.”

  Katheryn recalled his mother’s earlier words. “The blood of a soul mate...”

  At her words, Ignacio flinched. She narrowed her eyes, wondering more than ever, what the words meant. “Why does everyone talk about soul mates as if they were a real thing?”

  “Because it is real,” Ignacio whispered. “For vampires it is, at least.” He hunched his shoulders as if he were trying to physically make himself smaller. His discomfort was obvious to her as avoided looking into her eyes.

  “What do you mean?”

  Then, he did look at her. His eyes lit a fire in her heart, causing her to step back from the intensity of it. His pupils practically swallowed his irises as he penetrated her with his stare. A chill went through her body. Goosebumps rose on her flesh.

  “We’re Soul Mates, Katheryn.”

  The hairs on her arms rose. She wanted to believe his words, for as soon as they were spoken, they struck a chord inside her heart. Soul mates. It wasn’t a real thing, was it? But she couldn’t deny something about him had attracted her from the moment they’d met.

  “You need to explain it to me,” she said in a trembling voice.

  Ignacio sighed. “Maybe you should sit down?”

  “Standing is fine.”

  They stared at each other for a brief moment before Ignacio began.

  “For humans, the concept of Soul Mates may seem a little farfetched, but to vampires, it is very real and the most important thing. Many search for it, but only a lucky few are able to find their Soul Mate. The virus in our system is what chooses our Soul Mate. It is our opposite, the match of our souls, someone who is destined to be with us, whether we want them to be or not. It may be a human being or even another supernatural. We don’t know who it is or even why the virus chooses this person, but we all know one thing for sure: once we meet our Soul Mate, we can never be without them.”

  Katheryn listened very carefully to his words. He thought they were soul mates because the virus in his system told him so? It sounded unbelievable. How could a virus decide such a thing? Now, she really had to get her hands on a vial of his blood to study it.

  “That doesn’t sound possible,” she said, doubtfully. “So the virus just whispers to you, ‘Hey, that’s your Soul Mate, get on it!’? Ignacio, that’s ridiculous.”

  He chuckled. “That’s not quite how it works. I know it sounds farfetched, but it’s the truth, Katheryn. The virus let’s our body know in other ways when we’ve found the one. It gives us signals, if you will, when we’ve come in contact with our Soul Mate.”

  Like when our human body signals us we’re coming down with a cold. Katheryn considered his words. The vampire virus sounds super advanced. “What kind of signals do you get?”

  He shrugged. “The most basic signal is static electricity seems to emanate between two Soul Mates. There is a sensation like fire cackling when their skin comes into contact with each other.” He stared at her, and his eyes flared when she licked her lips. “You know you feel it, too.”

  Katheryn couldn’t deny it. Since the first moment he’d touched her, she’d felt the electricity spark between them. It had intensified when they kissed or made love. However, she didn’t want to admit it, wasn’t ready to admit it. Not yet.

  “What else do soul mates share?” she asked to change the subject.

  “Everything. A Soul Mate is someone we never grow tired of, someone we share everything with: thoughts, dreams, pleasure. When you find your Soul Mate it is as if your minds’ become one. You feel each other’s distress, happiness, everything.”

  She thought of the dream he claimed to have shared, of the times he showed up when she was crying or in distress, of their lovemaking. Every time she’d touched him, she’d feel his pleasure course through her body.

  Oh, my God.

  Could it be true? Could they be Soul Mates? She looked into his eyes. Could that explain why she felt as if they were opposite ends of a magnet, being pulled forcefully together? Not that she’d minded before, but now that she knew he was a vampire...

  Now that she knew he was a vampire, what? Did she like him less than before? Did the simple fact of his nature make her want him any less? It seemed like such a racist idea. It was like saying just because she found out someone practiced the Islamic religion she didn’t want to be friends with them anymore. Or that because someone had African Americans in their family tree she wouldn’t date them.

  Maybe she’d blown it out of proportion, she thought. But he had lied. That hurt worse than the lie itself.

  “You still lied to me about everything. You lied to me about who and what you are. I don’t know if I can forgive that.”

  Her words seemed to deflate him. He reached out to touch her, but she stepped away from him. She didn’t want Ignacio touching her, didn’t want to risk that fiery sensation to distract her from what she had to say.

  “Katheryn,” he pleaded. The sound of her name on his lips was heartbreaking.

  “You lied…” Her voice cracked. “And you scared me, you broke my heart.”

  He looked, or rather, she felt deep in her chest an emotion foreign to her own body. It took only a moment to realize that she was feeling his distress. His own need to take a knife and plunge it into his heart for what he’d done to her. It was so sincere, that all doubts floated away.

  She was bitter, and that wasn’t who she wanted to be. She didn’t like what it did to her. It had made her angry and impulsive. She pushed Ignacio away when every molecule in her body had wanted to reach out to him, to hold him, to kiss him and be with him.

  She wrapped her arms around herself to avoid doing that.

  “That will be my biggest regret until the day I die.”

  Tears prickled at the backs of her eyes at those words. They were the hammer that pounded through her armor and made her give in.

  “That piece you were playing, what’s it called?” As if she knew a single thing about music. She didn’t, but it was perhaps the only words that would keep her from breaking down completely.

  Ignacio seemed to sense that, because he answered without comment on the abrupt subject change. “Mond Schein Sonate.” When she raised her eyebrows at his perfect German he chuckled and patted the spot next to him. She sat, facing the piano and saw there was no music sheets or anything. He probably had it all memorized.

  “Mond Schein Sonate,” he repeated. “The Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven.”

  “You play very well,” she complimented, running her fingers lightly across the piano keys. “I’ve never known anyone to play that beautifully.” They weren’t just empty words to fill the spaces between them. She meant every word.

  “Would you...” Ignacio began. “Would you like me to teach you?”

  “Yes.” She felt breathless. “I’d like that very much.”

  He smiled at her then darted his golden eyes down to her hands. He held his own hand out. “May I?”

  She nodded, and he took her hands in his. In an instant, the sparks and fireworks were back, but she didn’t flinch as his fingers traced lines over hers.

  “You have beautiful fingers,” he murmured after a moment.

  Katheryn didn’t know what to say. No one had ever said such a thing about her. Hunter certainly never had.

  Ignacio brought her hands down over the keys with her fingers lightly on them but not quite pressing down. The ebony and ivory rectangles were cool beneath her fingertips. Ignacio’s hands splayed over hers like a glove. When h
e pressed down, so did she, making music together.

  Her heart thundered in her chest at his nearness, at their joined hands. She was suddenly nervous, nervous about everything. She pulled her hands away from his in order to steady herself.

  Ignacio gave her a curious glance but made no comment, merely continuing the lesson while she fought to control her breathing. He pressed on a few keys, picking out a simple melody on the instrument. After a few more notes, he indicated she should try the same. She did, but it didn’t sound quite the same.

  “When you play these notes...” Ignacio’s fingers glided slowly over the first few keys. “You have to pause before continuing on to the next few keys. A brief pause, mind you.” He demonstrated, pressing the next few notes. “Now you try.”

  She did, executing the notes the same way he had.

  “Good, very good.” He smiled.

  “I like listening to you play more. I’m afraid I’m no good at stuff like this. But throw me a Petri dish with some mysterious substance and I’ll quickly identify it for you. That’s something I’m good at.”

  Her laugh caught in her throat when she realized Ignacio wasn’t laughing along. Instead, he stared down at her with his intense golden eyes. Katheryn suddenly felt self-conscious, but fought the urge to turn away.

  “What?” she asked, shifting uncomfortably beside him.

  “Can you forgive me?” His honey eyes were glossy as if filled with tears he couldn’t shed. Funny how a broken heart could be seen through the eyes. “If you want nothing to do with me, I’ll understand, but please forgive me.”

  “Ignacio, I forgive you.”

  He took a breath. “You do?”

  “And I—” This was the harder part. The part where she gave in, where she fell face first into love. “I want to be with you.”

  A shuddering breath sucked into his lungs. He murmured something in Spanish that sounded strangely like a prayer and then he kissed her.

  Katheryn leaned into him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. His hands found her waist, slipping his fingers inside of the back of her shirt—well, technically it was his shirt—sending fire over her skin. His body felt so good against hers, safe and warm.