by Laura Del
“What has gotten into you?” I asked breathlessly.
He rolled off me, breathing heavily. “What happened?” He looked confused.
I hit his chest. “Very funny,” I said, looking into his eyes. He seemed truly lost, and I had to look away. Why didn’t he remember? It just happened!
Then it hit me. How he looked different, how he acted differently, and how he didn’t speak to me throughout. “Son of a bitch!” I sat up, balling my hands into tight fists. “I’ll kill him! I’m going to fucking kill that vampire!”
“Bébé,” Mike said, sitting up and placing is hand on my lower back. “What’s the matter?”
I stared at him wide eyed. “What’s the matter? I’ll tell you what the matter is. Samuel Satané just took over your body and fucked me! That’s why you don’t remember.”
“Well, I remember the beginning and the end,” he said, it as if it were nothing to fret about.
“How can you be so calm?”
He shrugged. “I figured that he’d do somethin’ like this. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m plenty pissed. But when he came to you in that dream the other night, I had a feelin’ that somethin’ like this was gonna happen. Did you enjoy it?”
I looked away from him, feeling my face grow hot. “That’s not the point. He used you to have sex with me. That’s all kinds of screwed up, Mike.”
“Don’t I know it,” he agreed.
I couldn’t believe that Samuel had done something like that. No. Actually, I could. This was Samuel Satané we were talking about. After all, he had tried it once when we were back in the Hamptons. Why didn’t I think that he would try it again?
Because some part of me thought that he had boundaries. And the fact that Mike had a feeling that this was going to happen and didn’t tell me just added fuel to the already blazing fire.
Then a thought crossed my mind. Now that he had triumphed, and knew that I couldn’t tell the difference between him and Mike, he could, and would, make the switch at any time.
The very thought made me sick to my stomach, and I had to hold back the vomit that was threatening to come up. I was vaguely aware that Mike asked me something, but I didn’t hear him. This whole situation did two things to me… it made me ill, and it scared the daylights out of me.
No pun intended.
chapter
FIVE
“Show yourself, you fucking bastard!” My voiced echoed in the dark wood of my “dream.”
“You do not have to yell,” Samuel said, as he appeared from behind a tree. “And you definitely do not have to curse at me.”
“Like hell I don’t,” I hissed, as my heart pounded in my subconscious ears. I was so angry. “You stay out of Mike’s head!”
He stepped closer to me, smiling like a fool. “You liked it. Why should I stop?”
I glared at him. “Keep away from his mind, Samuel, or so help me, I’ll—”
“You will what? Kill me? I would like to see you try.”
“Don’t push me, Samuel.” I warned him. “You just keep away from my b—” I cut myself off. I didn’t dare say that word in front of him. “Mike,” I finally finished.
“Your b—Mike?” he growled. “You were not about to call him your boyfriend, were you?”
“And what if I was?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at him. “What were you going to do about it?”
“I am your husband!”
“Ha,” I laughed without humor. “You sure don’t act like it. I mean, you are the vampire who’s screwing my sister, right?”
“Watch yourself, Patricia,” he said softly.
I folded my arms. “Or what? You’ll kill me? You tried that already and it didn’t work. Personally, I don’t think you have the stomach for it. Otherwise Kathryn wouldn’t have been able to stop you so easily.”
“Hold your tongue,” he roared at me, the vein in his neck doing a pulsating dance.
“What’s the matter, Samuel? Not the big, bad vampire everyone seems to think you are?” I taunted him, and when he was quiet for a minute, I said, “That’s what I thought.”
“Enough!” He held up his hands. “I did not come here to argue with you.” That made one of us. “I came here to tell you that I sent you an early Christmas present.”
I narrowed my eyes. We couldn’t even afford a tree because of him, and here he was giving me a gift? “What kind of present?”
He wagged his finger, walking closer. “I cannot tell you; it would ruin the surprise.”
I rolled my eyes. “Forget it. I don’t think I want to know anyway.”
We were about a foot away from each other, and I had to look up at him in order to keep eye contact. I didn’t like when men tried to use their height against me; I’m only five-four and it is a literal pain in the neck.
“You will like it,” he said, smirking down at me. “I promise.”
“You think your promises mean anything to me?” I placed my hands on my hips. As soon as I did that, his ice-blue eyes came to rest upon them, following the line of my body all the way up to my neck where they stayed for a second before meeting my eyes again.
“Trust me, you will like it.”
“I doubt that,” I said through my teeth. “But thanks for trying.”
He shrugged. “We shall see. In the meantime, I just wanted to tell you that this,” he pointed between us, “was fun.”
“Yes, we must do this again sometime,” I said with as much sarcasm as I could muster. But that’s just me. I was even voted by my high school class as “most likely to have a sarcastic comeback.”
“Be as sardonic as you want. I do not care. However, remember this,” he hissed in my face. “If I want you, I can just simply take you with or without your permission.”
I opened my mouth to say something but my mind went fuzzy. It usually did when Samuel used his mind control. He kissed me, sticking his tongue down my throat, and I could do nothing to stop him. Then his lips moved down to my neck and when they parted, he sunk his fangs deep into my flesh. The pain was so intense that I screamed.
Mike shook me awake, and I slapped him across the face. He fell to the floor again, and I leaned over the side of the bed. “You know this is getting old, right?”
He rubbed his cheek, grimacing. “Maybe if you didn’t slap me, I would still be on the bed.”
“So true.” I laughed, holding out my hand to help him up.
He took it, getting back on the bed and under the covers. “Don’t tell me. Sam?”
I nodded, rubbing the left side of my neck. The pain shot through me as my fingers traced two parallel bite marks. Well, shit.
I must have made a noise because Mike asked, “Bébé, what’s wrong?”
Pushing my hair over my right shoulder, I pulled my hand away to show him, and his eyes widened. “But how?” he asked, the fury rising in his voice. “You didn’t move!”
I opened my mouth to speak, but no sound came out. I was in shock.
Mike hugged me. “It’s all right. It’s gonna be all right.”
That was easy for him to say. He wasn’t the one with a vampire stalker. Of course, I couldn’t go back to sleep after Samuel entered my dream like that, but Mike did. After a long-winded and angry rant about how evil Samuel was, Mike turned over onto his side and fell asleep.
When he was snoring, I went to the bathroom, telling myself that I wasn’t going to look at the bite marks. But as I brushed my teeth, I couldn’t help it. They were fading already, but still rather bloody and swollen. I closed my eyes, imagining that I leaned back against his chest. He pulled my hair to one side, kissing the bite marks gently. Then he turned me around, lifting me onto the sink. I imagined him kissing me on the lips, moving his hands up and down my sides, while his brown hair fell into his brown eyes. The thought of how different he felt from Mike or Samuel passed through
my mind as he kissed my neck again.
I knocked over the soap dispenser and it brought me back to reality. Why in the hell was I thinking about Stag like that?
After all, I had bigger problems to take care of, and I didn’t need to add another man into the mix. Especially one as chauvinistic, pig headed, idiotic, funny, smart, confident, slightly sexy, and big of a pain in the ass as Stag was.
I sighed and yawned as I put on my robe. When I secured the sash around my waist, I made my way into the living room. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going because the next thing I knew, I was on my butt. “Ow,” I said softly, looking to my right to see the large box that tripped me. Feeling my brow furrow, I wondered how Samuel had gotten the box in the apartment in the first place. I pushed that thought aside, because I really, in all certainty, did not want to know.
Kneeling in front of it, I debated whether I should open it or not. After all, it wouldn’t hurt me to open it. Then again, I thought, it could very well kill me. Finally, I remembered that he said it was an early Christmas present, so it couldn’t be that bad.
I looked behind me to see if Mike was coming, but knowing how hard he slept, I doubted it. Once I made sure that he wasn’t going to get up, I ripped the tape off the cardboard box and opened the flaps. On top of a million package peanuts was a manila envelope that had Patricia, My Love written in Samuel’s handwriting. Shaking my head, I opened it and pulled out the papers inside. But they weren’t just any papers. Oh, no. They were the divorce papers.
I couldn’t believe it. They were ones that I had sent him the week before, and I couldn’t quite understand why he had chosen those instead of the ones that I had sent him a month ago. I flipped to the page with the signatures and there his was, in all of its glory.
“Wow,” I managed to say through my shock. He had finally signed it, and I began to smile. This was the happiest day of my life. Then I realized something: this put him one step closer to marring my sister. I would definitely have to figure how to get her out later. Right now, I was just so happy to be free of him. Finally.
Placing the papers on the coffee table, I returned my attention to the box, seeing if there was anything else inside. I pushed my hands into the packing peanuts, landing on something hard. Slowly, I pulled it up, seeing that it was another large box, only this one was wooden and had a note taped to it.
Dear Ms. Wyatt, (that was a bit formal)
I love you with all of my heart, however nonexistent you may think it is. And I hope that one day you will forgive me for all of the things that I have done, and attempted, to do to you. It is in my nature, and I am truly sorry that it got the better of me.
I rolled my eyes.
In this box is something that I know you will enjoy even more than our divorce.
Yours now and for all eternity,
S.
I froze for a minute, reading the note over again. Raping me was in his nature? How could that be? What did that mean exactly? That all vampires were rapists and murders?
He wasn’t making any sense. Then again, I was talking about Samuel; he never truly made sense to begin with.
I shook my head, crumbling the note and throwing it over my shoulder. After, I just sat there for a minute debating whether I should open the mahogany box or not. Finally, I decided it would be easier to give it back if I knew what was inside.
Closing my eyes, I flipped open the lid and waited for something to happen. When nothing exploded, I figured it was safe to open my eyes. I looked, seeing that there was a frame, with the picture in it facing down. So I picked it up, turning it over in my hands carefully. It was the picture of me on the bed that he had drawn, only it wasn’t a charcoal sketch, it was a painting. The colors were dark and wonderful and I looked so unlike myself. I was naked, but I didn’t look vulnerable. I actually looked sexy.
The picture made me frown. How could I have been stupid as to marry a man I didn’t even know?
I shook my head, putting the painting down gently beside me. Thinking that the picture was the only thing inside, I started to close the box, but something glittered in the dim light. As I opened it back up, I saw a key with an automatic clicker on a keychain. It was nestled right next to a blue Tiffany’s box and a check for two million dollars. I picked the check up and ripped it to shreds. I didn’t want his damn money. Although if Mike were awake, he would probably kill me for ripping up two million dollars.
The next thing I did was pick up the Tiffany’s box, opening it to see a diamond-encrusted ring inside. I quickly closed it and went to my desk to get an overnight envelope. I put the box inside, and then I had an idea.
I tiptoed into the other room, making sure Mike was still asleep, and went over to my jewelry box. Opening it, I found the item I was looking for and walked back out into the living room with purpose. I put my wedding ring (which was presumably Samuel’s grandmothers or so he said) into the envelope as well, and I felt my spirit lighten.
Placing the overnight envelope on my desk, I picked up the car key and my purse, and quietly went outside to see what it opened. When I walked out into the parking lot I clicked the alarm, seeing a car to my right beep and flash. My eyes widened. Shinning in the early morning light was a brand new Mustang GT.
This was a low blow. He knew I would lose all sense when it came to a Mustang. Bastard.
I walked closer to the scarlet red beauty. She was so perfect. Her grill shone silver chrome in the morning light, while her black rims where in stark contrast with the slightly gray asphalt. She had a black racing strip down her body that faded away just before the rear tire. And when I made my way to the back, her gas cap reconfirmed what I already knew, that she was a pure-bred ‘Stang.
Putting my palms against the hood of the car, I bit my lip. I knew I didn’t want to look inside because I would get too attached. But that little voice in the back of my mind nagged at me, so I just had to. I opened the door, biting my knuckle before I went and sat down.
Immediately, I could smell the leather of the interior. (I repeat, bastard!) Then I placed my bag on the passenger seat, the leather feeling like butter under my fingertips. I noticed that this baby was fully loaded: blue tooth, OnStar, XM Radio and surround sound speakers were all in shining black like the interior.
I turned her over and she roared, then purred. The dash came to life and displayed the temperature outside. I bit my lip again, trying to keep my wits about me. Then I reached over to open the glove compartment, and inside was the registration and insurance card. All in my name.
As I opened the envelope to see that the papers were in order, another note made an appearance. It read:
Heard you needed a new one.
S.
I shook my head, crumpled the note, and threw it out the door. “Jerk!”
Finally, the reality of the situation sunk in. I would have to give the car back. That very thought made me sad, which is most likely why he had sent it. He knew I would have this kind of problem. “Son of a bitch,” I said quietly and with feeling.
I had to give it back. Then again, he did destroy the first one, in which case I would keep it. But this was certainly a ploy to get me back in his grasp. I have to give it back. But she’s so pretty. Keep it.
My internal dilemma stopped when someone knocked on the windshield. I jumped a mile and looked up to see Elliot standing there smiling at me. “Stag,” I breathed, “you scared me to half to death.”
I hopped out of the car, turning her off. Then I grabbed my purse on the way out, and he backed up so I could shut and lock the door.
He smiled down at me, eyeing the car carefully. “This your new car?”
I grimaced. “Yes…no…I don’t know.”
“What do you mean, you don’t know?” he asked, laughing at me. It wasn’t funny.
“It’s a difficult situation,” I said curtly, narrowing my eyes. I
know it was wrong to be upset with him, but Stag was here and Samuel was in New York. Somebody had to pay.
“Let me guess,” he said, putting his arm around my shoulder, “the husband?” He gestured to the car.
I nodded, and then shook my head when I remembered. “Ex-husband.”
As we started to walk away from the car, he asked, “Why all of a sudden is he your ex?”
I shrugged, feeling the smile spread across my face. “He signed the divorce papers.”
“Get out. That’s great!” He picked me up, swinging me around. Good thing I didn’t have any breakfast or I would’ve vomited all over him.
When he set me down on the ground, I staggered as the world spun and he caught me. “I guess it is.”
“All right,” he said, pointing at me, “you confuse me, girly.”
When everything stopped going around in circles, I sighed. “I confuse myself sometimes.”
He folded his arms. “Well, I don’t care. I’m takin’ you out to celebrate, whether you like it or not.”
I looked down at myself, realizing I was still in my robe. “Like this?”
“After you get dressed.”
I nodded in agreement, and we walked back to my apartment.
Pushing the box aside, I walked into the bedroom to get dressed. Mike snored away as I put on a pair of low-rise jeans and my Edward Scissorhands shredded tank top with a black cardigan over it. I put on my black boots, taking my gray peacoat out of the closet. It was too cold outside not to wear it. When I was done dressing, I pulled my hair up into a loose ponytail, placed my cell phone in my back pocket, grabbed my keys, and I was ready to go.
It only took me about ten minutes to get dressed, and I usually didn’t bother with make-up, so it never took more me time than was necessary.
As I walked into the living room, Stag’s eyes widened. “Holy shit,” he whispered, looking at his watch. “That was a world record, girly.”
I laughed, now realizing what he was wearing. He had on a brown and cream plaid shirt open at his chest to show the black t-shirt underneath, with a pair of dark wash jeans and brown cowboy boots that finished off his unusual look. He looked like he belonged on a farm, and I kind of liked it.