Appetite of a Vampire [Vampire Love and Lust 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)
Page 25
“You are half vampire. Unfortunately all that means is that you were one hundred percent human until the summer of sixty-five, and then you turned into a vampire. Now you are one hundred percent vampire.” She looked down at Barry. “You have even made a new vampire.”
“But then why did they try to kill me?” Marty protested.
“It’s in your eyes,” Nerfeti told her. “You have the eyes of a human. You have your father’s eyes. When they looked into your eyes they didn’t know the suffering you’ve been through. All they saw were human eyes. Since you were with a human they thought you were both threats to us.”
“Will I ever be accepted anywhere? Will I ever fit in anywhere?”
“I can’t answer that question for you, honey. But I will tell the others you are one of us. That’s all I can do.” Nerfeti took Marty’s chin in her hand and smiled at her. “I think you’ve already found some people you fit in with. I think you’ve found some men you love. That’s more than most humans or vampires find in their lives. Be happy with what you have.”
“You’re right,” Marty admitted. “I do have love for those men, and they love me, too. It never mattered to them what I was, or how much danger I represented to them. They loved me unconditionally.”
“Then you’re lucky, my dear. Perhaps what you were looking for was inside your own house all along.”
Nerfeti called outside for one of the ancient vampires to enter. “Van Buren, could you please take these two in one of the limos to wherever it is they would like to go?”
“Of course, ma’am.”
The vampire bent down to take Barry out of Marty’s arms. She hesitated for a moment then decided if he had wanted, he could have killed them both without blinking an eye. She let him pick Barry up and carry him out of the room. When Marty got up from the floor, she felt dizzy and sick to her stomach. She almost fell back down in a faint. Nerfeti came to her and steadied her.
“You’ve lost a lot of your own blood, too, my dear. The process is also hard on the maker.” She surprised Marty by giving her a hug. “You’re going to need to get a lot of rest over the next few days, and a good feeding. Take care of yourself for me, will you?”
“Will Barry really be all right?”
“Let’s just put it this way—I wouldn’t let him out in the sun any time soon.” Then she called to the second ancient vampire who waited outside. “Bruno, help this one down to the car.”
There was a stretch limousine waiting out in front of the mansion when Marty walked out into the night. Barry was lying asleep in the backseat when Marty crawled inside with him. The two ancient vampires shut the door behind her, and the car started to drive back down Nob Hill. Marty noticed there was a human chauffeur behind the wheel. She gave him the address of the building they had been staying at, and he took them there. Marty looked down at her bloodstained watch. It was close to five in the morning. She felt utterly drained of life and very weak from all the blood she had given to Barry.
When they got back to the apartment, the chauffeur helped her carry Barry down to the basement and put him under the covers of their bed. Marty locked the door after the chauffeur left and then crawled inside the bed next to Barry. She fell into a deep and dreamless sleep and slept for the whole day. As her Nerfeti—her mother—had suggested, she said a silent prayer that Barry would be alive that night when the sun went down over San Francisco.
Chapter Thirty
Marty woke up with the setting of the sun outside and peeled off her bloody clothes from the night before. Barry was still asleep and not stirring. She removed his torn and bloodied clothing and let him continue to sleep. She tore into her supply of blood pouches and began devouring them. As the blood hit her system she could feel it restoring her strength. Afterward, she took a long shower and returned to Barry, who had still not moved a muscle.
She sat on the edge of the bed with him. His skin was pale, and his breathing was almost nonexistent. When she bent to his chest she realized he had stopped breathing altogether. Listening for the sound of his heart, she heard nothing. A moment of new panic and fear gripped her.
“Barry!” She called to him shaking his body.
Suddenly he began to move under her touch. But how is that possible? Then she steadied her nerves and held her hand over her own chest. She wasn’t breathing now either, and, feeling for a heartbeat, she knew there was not one in her chest. She had once remarked to Owen that she only breathed when she wanted to, and the same went for the beating of her heart. It came only when she willed it.
Now she looked down at Barry and realized the similarity.
He coughed and started choking. She helped him to sit up in bed, and he opened his eyes and looked at her with wide pupils of fear.
“Oh my God, Barry. You had me so frightened.” She gave him a hug, and to her comfort, when he hugged her back, he seemed to have a lot of his old strength left in his grip. “How do you feel?”
“I’m not for sure.” He seemed confused and disoriented as he looked around the room. She had forgotten to turn on the lights, and it was in complete darkness.
“Sorry,” she told him. “I’ll go turn on the lights for you.”
He held her back. “You don’t have to, Marty. I can see everything just as good as you can.”
They looked at one another. They were both afraid to speak. It was dawning on them together what had happened.
“I’m so sorry,” she told him. “This is all my fault. If I hadn’t been so weak and if I hadn’t needed you so much, none of this would have ever happened to you.”
“Did I die?” he asked her.
“No,” she told him. “You lived.”
“But Marty…I’m now a…” he wasn’t able to finish.
She nodded, tears falling down her face. “Yes, you’re a vampire now.”
The truth was out in the open finally, and she braced herself for his reaction. She waited as he got up from the bed and slowly walked around the basement, taking in everything like he was seeing the world for the first time. She knew it had been all her decision, and if he hated her for it then he would have every right to do so.
He turned to her. “Who was my maker?”
“I was,” she told him simply. “I couldn’t let you leave me, Barry. I’m so sorry.”
He stared at her for a long while saying nothing. She looked down at his chest and realized he was breathing again. Vampires only breathed when they felt emotion, and he must have felt a lot right now.
He picked her up off the bed in his arms and held her. He kissed away the tears falling down her cheeks. “I love you,” he told her. “Thank you.”
“You always kept telling me you wanted to be a vampire,” she said. “You finally got your wish.”
“I know that’s what I said.”
“You didn’t really mean it?”
He laughed and gave her another kiss. “What I really meant was that I wanted to be with you always and have a chance to love you. Being a vampire is just a means to an end. I’m a man in love.”
“You’re not a man anymore, Barry,” she corrected him.
He used his fingers and wiped some more tears from her eyes. “When I was dying last night, I remember you telling me something. Was that only a dream or did you really say it? You told me you loved me, too.”
Now her tears were flowing from joy, and she hugged him tightly and kissed his lips. “Yes, I did. I told you I loved you, Barry. I want you to be with me forever. I need you more than anything.”
“Did you find out who your maker was?”
She smiled and nodded. “My search is finally over. It’s complicated, but don’t worry. You don’t have any other vampire rivals for my affections.”
“I’m not worried.” He returned her smile with that handsome smile of his own, and she was pleased to see that even as a vampire he had not changed in his character. “But there are three human men who also want you.”
“And if it’s all right with you, I would like to have
them back in my life.”
He nodded. “Let’s go. We’ve got a plane to catch this evening. I’m taking you home.”
* * * *
It was approaching midnight when they came down the jetway in LAX. Their arms were around each other at the waist as any ordinary, young couple in love. Marty even leaned her head on his shoulder because she was so tired.
They had just stepped past the security check point when they were mobbed by the three men.
“Goddamn, if it isn’t good to see the two of you again!” Derrick said. He hugged Marty tightly to him and gave Barry a handshake.
Then Aaron had her in his arms, and it wasn’t long before Owen took over. Marty had never felt so good about her life or about the prospects for her future as she did at that moment.
“Did you guys have a good trip up to Frisco?” Aaron asked.
Marty and Barry just looked at each other. Marty didn’t know if it would be more appropriate to laugh or cry. “It was different,” Barry finally answered.
“Did you find out about your past?” Owen asked Marty.
“Yes, I did,” she told him. “I know why I am a vampire now, and I also don’t have to worry about my maker any longer. It’s finally all over.”
Derrick held back Barry as they were heading out to the parking lot. “You look different, man. What’s up with you anyway?”
“I feel a lot different, too.” Barry thought about it for a moment. Marty wondered what he was thinking and reached out to his thoughts. She could hear nothing. He was a vampire, and his thoughts were no longer open to her. Barry gave her a smile. “Don’t worry, I’m fine…actually, I’m great. All of my dreams finally came true, thanks to Marty.”
Marty led them, her family, out into the night. “We all have a lot to talk about. Come on, guys, let’s go home.”
THE END
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dani April is a pseudonym for a writer who lives and works in the Midwest. Raven’s Ranch was the first published work by Dani April.
Dani’s hobby is writing fiction, particularly erotic romances, and Dani is always working on a new story.
Dani was a computer programmer for over ten years and then gave up the profession to teach English in China and Thailand. Now living back home in the USA, Dani works as a team lead for a tech support company.
Also by Dani April
Siren LoveXtreme Special Edition: Raven’s Ranch
Ménage Amour: Superstar
Ménage and More: Vampire Love and Lust 1: A Week with a Vampire
Available at
BOOKSTRAND.COM
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
About the Author
Also by Dani April