Appetite of a Vampire [Vampire Love and Lust 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Dani April

  Marty laughed. “You’re horrible,” she told him in jest, but truthfully, his offer was very tempting. She needed blood desperately and could hardly wait for it. She also needed the touch of his skin against her own, but she was afraid. The way she felt right now, she might go overboard and hurt him, and feeling the way she did, she would never be able to enjoy the ensuing sex. Right now she was just too preoccupied with her search.

  She gave up on the idea of sex with Derrick and covered her hideaway back over with the floorboard he had removed. She didn’t want to be interrupted by the volume of the TV, and the darkness under the floor was no problem for her eyesight. At that moment, she wanted very much to throw the computer and smash it into a thousand pieces. Her frustration level had reached the boiling point, and if she hadn’t been inside the small sleeping space where there was no room for her anger, she probably would have been shopping for a new computer tomorrow night.

  She pulled up her e-mail account and reread the note she had sent to Peter von North the night before. He hadn’t responded to any of her e-mails in the last several weeks, and she was worried that perhaps she had said something to offend him in one of her previous posts. Last night’s correspondence to Peter seemed appropriate to her as she read it again for the tenth time.

  Hello Peter,

  I haven’t heard from you in a long time and don’t know if you still want to talk to me. I hope you haven’t blocked my e-mail, and I feel like I keep bothering you. I’m sorry, but so far you are the only person I’ve met online who has been able to give me assistance with my problem.

  I’ve had a couple of new developments in my life since I last wrote you. I am now taking a blood drink a doctor at my hospital made for me. It helps control my cravings, and it is far better than the blood straight from the laboratory, though not nearly as good as the real thing. In fact, I still want human blood more than ever before.

  My friend, the doctor, also tried to hypnotize me. It helped me remember some details about my past. I came up with the name of a man I was dating as a human before I was made into a vampire. Unfortunately, this turned out to be a dead end.

  I am still determined to continue my search for my maker. He has got to be out there somewhere. I know you told me you used to be a vampire, so I am hoping you may have more information about these mysterious creatures to pass along to me. Though I am one of them myself, I am afraid my knowledge on them is very limited.

  Thanks again so very much for your help.

  Your friend,

  Martha (Marty) Williams

  Marty couldn’t see anything wrong with what she had written. Her patience was starting to run out. She was thinking again about reconsidering and asking Derrick to come down into her hideaway and make love to her. At least that would distract her from her worries and frustration for the next couple of hours. Even if the sex wasn’t satisfying, the touching would be. And, oh God, she needed to drink his blood at that moment.

  Then she noticed she had one unread message in her inbox. Quickly clicking the desired link on the screen, she was surprised to see it was from Peter. It had arrived earlier in the day. She had been so preoccupied with the search engine navigation that she had forgotten to check her mail. Opening the mail, she held her breath as she read.

  Hi Marty,

  Please accept my apologies in not writing back to you sooner. I have been on a vacation with my wife to the beach in South Australia. I’m afraid the two of us were completely out of communication with the outside world while we were there.

  I was sorry to hear your search for answers has not progressed further. Rest assured I will be happy to help you in any way I am able. Rather than just exchanging random e-mails with one another, I was wondering if you would like to meet in person. My wife and I will be flying down to Southern California for business next week. Perhaps we could get together at that time. I am sure you must have a thousand questions to ask me. Though I don’t proclaim to have all of the answers, I am confident I can lead you in the right direction regarding the vampire community I was once a part of.

  Until then, please take care.

  Your friend,

  Peter von North

  Marty wasted no time in clicking “respond” on her screen and sent Peter a message saying she would love to meet him anytime that was convenient for him.

  She pushed the floorboard back and jumped out of her hole. Derrick was still watching the TV in the living room, and she ran to sit on his lap, throwing her arms around him and giving him a powerful hug in her excitement.

  “I guess you found a new piece of information?” he asked her.

  “No, but I heard back from Peter von North. He’ll be in this part of the country next week, and he’s asked if I would like to see him in person.”

  “You really think this guy has answers for us?”

  “Yes. I think he just might have all the answers.”

  * * * *

  The Westin Bonaventure Hotel was located in the heart of downtown Los Angeles. Owen drove Marty there that night in his Volvo. From her home it was about a two-hour drive. They arrived in the midst of the business district at ten o’clock, and Owen let a valet of the hotel park his car for them.

  Marty checked her watch for the hundredth time and then looked down at the directions in Peter’s last e-mail she had printed just before they left home that evening. She was nervous and afraid of being disappointed like she had with the whole Thorn Fair debacle. Slowly resigning herself to the fact that the romantic dreams of her maker would never come true, she nonetheless was determined to find out as much as she could about why she was forced to live as an outcast. She just wanted someone to explain to her why she had become a vampire.

  “Let’s not move too fast with von North until we find out what sort of person he is,” Owen cautioned her in his overprotective manner.

  “Don’t worry. I am a nurse, you know, Owen. I do have a few people skills left even though I’m a creature of the night,” she told him as they entered the lobby of the hotel. “Peter and his wife are staying in the Palisades suite.”

  “What does this guy do for a living anyway?”

  “He owns companies. I looked him up online.”

  “Say anything on there about him being a former vampire?”

  “There wasn’t any mention of that I could find.”

  They stopped at the concierge desk and asked directions to the suite. The massive hotel encompassed a city block, and it took them several minutes to walk to the bank of elevators that would take them up to the suite.

  “I believe I’m going to have as many questions for this gentleman as you will,” Owen said.

  “The levelheaded, young doctor going off into the night to hunt for vampires with the feisty, female vampire ever at his side,” Marty teased him, laughing at the mental image of the two of them. “Bet you never thought you’d be doing anything like this.”

  “That’s for certain. A couple of months ago, if someone had told me they used to be a vampire, I would have recommended them to a good psychiatrist. At the moment, however, I can hardly wait to meet Mr. von North.”

  “I still wish the other guys had come with us.”

  “It’s better this way. Five people barging through the hotel at this hour would have only served to create a scene. Until we know exactly where we stand with Mr. von North, it’s best to keep a low profile.”

  Marty took his hand. “I’m glad I’ve got you with me tonight, Owen.”

  The elevator arrived, and they took it up to the thirty-second floor. Marty led them to the suite number indicated on her printout, and Owen rang the buzzer outside. After a minute, it was opened by a very pretty and poised young woman in her late twenties.

  “You must be Martha Williams and Doctor Bradon.” She reached out a hand in greeting to them. “I’m Rebecca von North, Peter’s wife.”

  Marty shook her hand and liked her immediately. She seemed warm and kindhearted and put Marty instantly at ease. If Pe
ter had told his wife Marty was a vampire, she certainly did not show the slightest bit of fear.

  Rebecca ushered them into a parlor that looked out on a spectacular view of the lights of the city. Peter was perhaps a couple years older than Rebecca, and a strikingly handsome man. He rose up from his seat and came over to introduce himself. Marty couldn’t help but feel the two of them were a well-suited couple. Peter definitely did not look to Marty like he had ever been a vampire. He even had a suntan.

  “It’s very nice to finally meet you, Marty,” Peter started after they had all been seated. “Doctor Bradon, could I offer you something from the bar?”

  Owen politely declined. Marty noticed Peter did not offer her anything, and she gave him a point in his favor. He knew at least one thing about vampires, and she was hoping he knew a whole lot more.

  “Rebecca is not drinking, but please join me in a glass of champagne, Doctor Bradon. Tonight is a celebration for Rebecca and me.” He gave his wife a warm hug and handed a glass over to Owen.

  “Peter and I are going to have a baby. I just found out today,” Rebecca was positively glowing as she shared the good news with Marty.

  “Congratulations,” Marty said. She somehow knew these two would make wonderful parents. Just seeing the two of them together lifted her spirits.

  “Allow me to be completely honest with you, Marty.” Peter took a seat across from her and Owen and put an arm around his wife. “I was astounded when you first contacted me. I didn’t know what to make of your correspondence. I thought perhaps you were a fraud. A vampire is an exceedingly rare creature you know.”

  “Peter let me read your e-mail,” Rebecca said. “He and I talked about it for quite a while. We kept going back and forth on the authenticity of your claim.”

  “Finally, it was Rebecca who convinced me to take you at your word. Then some of the experiences and feelings you shared with me struck home, and I realized you were telling the truth.”

  “I was so grateful when you first responded to me. I felt like I wasn’t all alone for the first time. You seemed like you understood what I was feeling. I actually cried after I read your first e-mail.”

  “Mr. von North, would you mind if I asked you a question, sir?” Owen inquired.

  “We’re all friends here. You should call me Peter, and yes, you can ask me anything you like.”

  “In your first e-mail you stated you used to be a vampire, past tense. How can that be?”

  “I don’t know the right answer for you, doctor. I am puzzled by that myself every day I wake up and watch the sun rise. I lived as a vampire for a very long time. No being is immortal, not even a vampire. I almost died. Then, instead of dying, I woke up as a human one day. The disease of vampirism had left me. You can be assured, I consulted many medical specialists around the world. Not a single one of them could shed any light on my condition.” Peter turned to Marty. “From a medical perspective, I’m afraid I can’t help you, Marty. I don’t have any answers. But maybe I can help you with other aspects of your condition, seeing that I lived with it myself for a thousand years.”

  Marty almost fell off her chair. Owen reached out to steady her. “A thousand years?” She had to control her voice from rising to a scream.

  “Since I’ve become human, I’ve forgotten most of those thousand years.”

  “When did you become human again?”

  “Only just recently. The first thing I did as a man was to marry Rebecca.”

  “So you’re aging now like anyone else?”

  “Yes, and if I’m lucky, in fifty or sixty years I will die like everyone else.”

  Rebecca put a loving arm around her husband. “In the meantime, we have a lot of living to do.”

  Marty felt herself starting to tremble. She could not even begin to think about a thousand years of existence and wondered if she was prepared for all of the other revelations that were likely to come.

  “How does someone become a vampire?” Marty asked.

  “There is only one way,” Peter explained. “A human being who is close to death must be turned by the blood of a vampire.”

  “So there always has to be a maker vampire?” Owen asked. “One can’t just contract vampirism like it was the common run-of-the-mill virus.”

  “Yes, there is always a maker vampire. Vampire blood injected into a healthy human will just act like an inhibition-reducing aphrodisiac.” Peter gave Owen a knowing look. “I suspect you’ve already discovered that with Marty.”

  “So what you’re telling me is that some vampire had to kill me—or almost kill me, and then they had to inject their vampire blood into my veins? That’s why I’m a vampire now?”

  “It’s a violent process,” Peter admitted. “Regardless of what the vampire’s intentions are, it is the wrong thing to do.”

  “Why would someone have wanted to kill me?” Marty felt the trembling inside her body increase.

  “I don’t know,” Peter said. “But I’ve never heard of a maker leaving the new vampire alone before. In vampire circles, that would be an unforgivable sin. When you first told me that you had been abandoned, I was shocked. I’m sorry to have to say, Marty, whoever your maker vampire is, they are not of a good character. They must be despicably evil to have consigned you to all those years of hell by yourself. You couldn’t have known what was happening to you when you changed. It’s a wonder to me that you even survived those first few years.”

  Marty knew she would finally have to accept the truth. Whoever had done this to her was not some romantic hero. He was a villain. She had to give up the fantasy she had harbored for the last fifty years. She suddenly felt wronged by the whole world and angry at everyone in it. For a moment she felt like getting up and running from the room. Only the restraining hand Owen placed on her shoulder prevented her.

  “Peter, what can we do to help Marty now?” Owen asked, taking over the conversation for her.

  “Marty has to find out all she can about vampires,” Peter answered simply. “And one thing more…” He hesitated. “I hope you’ll forgive me. This is rather of a personal nature.”

  Marty looked down at the couch she and Owen were seated on. She couldn’t meet anyone’s stare.

  “Have you and Marty become close, Doctor Bradon?”

  “Marty works as a nurse. I’m a doctor in the hospital she works at. She came to me with her unusual condition two months ago. I’ve been treating her as my patient ever since.” Owen was dissembling on his answer. Marty looked up, not wanting to leave it at that.

  “Owen and I are lovers,” she proudly told Peter and Rebecca. “There are also three other men. They have all helped me. One of them saved my life from the sun. Two of them readily gave their blood to prevent my hunger. Owen created a blood drink, so I don’t have the constant craving as bad as I used to. Together, they have become my family.”

  Peter didn’t seem to like her answer. “Have you ever met another vampire before, Marty?”

  For a moment, Marty debated whether to tell him about the evil female. Then decided she had to be completely honest. “Yes. A few weeks ago, I was taken inside of a limousine by a group of vampires. Their leader was a beautiful, female vampire. She was the most frightening creature I’ve ever met in my life.”

  “What did she want?”

  “She warned me not to pursue the search for my maker.”

  “That’s very strange.” Peter seemed to be genuinely perplexed by this turn of events. “Vampires never reveal themselves in that manner. She must have had a very strong reason.”

  “She told me she knew who my maker was but just laughed at me and refused to tell me anything else. It was like she was playing with me. Those were the only vampires I’ve ever met before. I’m not sure I ever want to meet any again.”

  Rebecca sighed and gave Peter a kiss and a hug. “It was nice to meet you, Marty, Doctor Bradon.” She got up and excused herself. “I write a column for a newspaper up in San Francisco. I have to get back with my wor
d processor and put the story I’ve been working on to bed.”

  Peter indicated he wanted Marty and Owen to remain. “I’m afraid you two aren’t going to like what I have to say.”

  “That’s all right, Peter. Go on. It seems like bad news follows me where ever I go. I’m starting to get used to it.” Marty felt herself bristle. She let go of Owen’s hand.

  “Rebecca first met me when I was still a vampire. She hated me. I was filled with bloodlust then, the same as you are now. I couldn’t be a decent companion for her. No vampire can be a decent companion for a human being.” He put force behind his last sentence to emphasize each word.

  “I don’t think of Marty that way.” Owen objected to Peter’s statement. “None of the men she’s been with do. She seems more human to me than most people I meet.”

  “Believe me, I understand what you all are going through. I’ve been in the same situation. When I made the choice to leave Rebecca, as a vampire it was the most painful thing I ever did. But if I had stayed with her, she would have died. She only spent a week with me, and I almost killed her.”

  “So, Mr. von North, are you saying you want me and the other men to leave Marty?” Owen was starting to get angry. “You want us to just abandon her and leave her like we found her?”

  “No, Doctor Bradon, I’m not saying that at all.” Peter had nothing but sadness in his voice. “The men that Marty has been with have been exposed to the vampire blood inside her body. It’s much harder for a human male to break away from a vampire female. Human females, as in Rebecca’s case, can sometimes escape if they have a little help, but the human male never leaves his vampire female once he’s been exposed to her blood.”

  “You’re damn right about that!” Owen was suddenly not the mild-mannered doctor. “You won’t get any of us to just walk out on her.”

  “What I’m saying is that Marty is going to have to leave you.” He fixed his eyes on Marty.

  She covered up her face with her hands, feeling like she had just received a physical blow.