Drawing Bloodlines (The Princeton Allegiant Series Book 1)

by Deborah Garland

  “It was one of the highest probabilities, because it follows logic. Any normal person who saw what you saw should have at least screamed. Then gone to the office manager, even the police.”

  I tilt my head slightly. “Do you think I’m not normal?”

  “Many people prefer to look the other way.”

  “I think I was in shock, to be honest. And I don’t know if it’s because I’m a mother. I get the whole bystander effect. I expect someone else will always intercede before me. Which is ridiculous and completely selfish. Everyone has something to lose, no one wants to be the one to put themselves at risk.”

  “I’m curious. Did you draw any conclusion right away?”

  “Yes.” I’m amused at how his eyebrow arches. “But I quickly dismissed it. It would be like seeing a strange light in the night sky and for a moment thinking, oh, aliens. Then logic takes over and you think, it’s probably a plane.”

  “So, what was your probable conclusion?”

  “That you were a kook who likes to drink blood. To be honest I felt that made you more dangerous. I wasn’t going to risk tangling with someone unstable.”

  “You’d rather tangle with a vampire than someone unstable?” His shocked expression is adorable.

  “A vampire like you, absolutely. You seem reasonable and educated. If you’re willing to go through all this trouble to make sure I don’t out you, you obviously have something at stake.” I gasp. “Oh, sorry, bad choice of words.”

  Alex roars with laughter, but I don’t want him to think I’m ignorant or superstitious. He draws his head forward again to gaze at me, and there’s no trace of condescension. I want to know what he’s feeling. It’s unfair; he can read my body with laser like accuracy and my only recourse is to ask stupid questions.

  “Like I said before, I like you, Elizabeth.” He studies me and waits for some kind of similar response, but I hold my tongue. The amusement leaves his face and he studies me in a more serious manner. “I guess the question I have for you is do you like me as well?”

  The pounding in my head stopped. I’m not sure if it was his blood or the way his eyes dance all over me.

  “Kind of,” I answer softly, but my body sings at the thought of him.

  The idea of pulling him on top of me right now and feeling what was raging inside his pants the other night sends an explosion of arousal through me.

  His eyes become hooded, like his body senses what I feel. A hand rises to my blistering cheek. “This wouldn’t be one-sided, Elizabeth. I can please you beyond your wildest dreams. But—”

  I sit up. What the heck will come after that ‘but’? When he doesn’t immediately finish his sentence, I finish it for him. “But, I would have to make some kind of human sacrifice?”

  He smiles. “No. It’s just that, because of what I am and the rules I must follow, we can’t have the kind of relationship I think you want.” He bends his knee, leans back, and rests his palms behind him on my mattress. “I have to avoid humans in most social settings. Too many things can give me away. I don’t drink or eat so what happens if we go somewhere with food? I also can’t guarantee someone won’t touch me and feel how unnaturally cold I am. I have to be careful and—”

  I touch his cheek. This time the gesture startles him and his hand quickly closes around mine. “I could say you’re working and can’t make it. Or that you have food allergies. Or that you’re just not . . . thirsty.”

  He leans toward me and the look on his face makes my heart rate spike in my chest so hard, I touch my blouse to make sure it didn’t burst through. “I’m always thirsty, Elizabeth.”

  Yet, I’m the one to swallow. Hard. He already tasted my blood, but from a plastic vial. What would it feel like, his mouth on my throat, his teeth sunk deep into my flesh? The fear melts into a heady rush of arousal. I run a finger along my wrist. “Do you want to drink my blood again?”

  “Yes,” he says with a tight jaw, then turns my wrist away. “But I can control that.” With his lips so close, I only think about how much I want them on mine. His chin raises and it rests against my forehead. “And even though it’s hard to control other urges around you, you still have a fever.” He touches my face, running a finger under my eyes. Nodding, he gets off my bed.

  A car passes by sending a stream of light through my window and reminds me the world is still spinning outside.

  “Should I take some aspirin?” I smooth the sheets to rid my palms of the perspiration brought on from being so close to Alex.

  “Not necessary. You’ll feel better by morning.” He tugs one of my curtain panels to the side, his brows crinkling. “When is your . . . Annie coming back?”

  I note the correction, responding to my insistence earlier. “Tomorrow night.”

  Alex freezes, his fingers curling into fists. “I hate the idea that you’re here alone. Sick.”

  “I’ll be fine,” I force out of my mouth, even though I don’t want him to leave. “You’ve given me your treasured elixir.”

  “I’d like to give you a lot more than that.” His eyes blaze into mine, his thoughts translate so loud and clear they ignite my core.

  If I offer myself up to him, will the doctor turn me down out of civic duty, or will the vampire take me, right here, right now? Deep inside he’s a medical professional and I don’t want him to struggle with that moral dilemma.

  I swing my legs to stand and move to my bedroom door. “Maybe next week.”

  ~ ~ ~

  This evening must end, but I need one more moment with Elizabeth.

  I put my hands around her waist and she relaxes in my arms immediately. I can lose myself in her eyes and the warmth of her skin. She kissed me with so much passion the other night. To be so close to a vulnerable human, a female, one who wants me chews up my emotions like ice in a blender.

  I gently place my hand against the middle of her chest. My natural desire to dominate and force myself upon her battles my inner instincts in a cruel paradox. I’m compelled to be soft and gentle—give into the feelings bubbling to the surface after a dormant century. It’s been so long since I was like this with a human. I don’t know my limits yet.

  Instead of taking the lips she offers up to me, I kiss her cheek and release her. “Goodnight, my darling.”

  Her eyes flicker at my endearment and her lips curl into a smile. “I’ll walk you to the door,” she whispers, pulling on the ties of her sweater.

  “I can let myself out.”

  “Okay.” Her voice is soft and she steps back into her bedroom.

  At the staircase, I can easily leap to the bottom step, but I take it at a human pace. At the front door, I run my hands along the wood and the metal hinges as I search for weakness in their structure. There’s only one lock. Damn. I want to suggest she add a deadbolt, but I sense that would frighten her.

  I’m not entirely sure who I want to keep out of this house. It might be me.

  Chapter 7

  I step into Alexander's lecture hall the following Wednesday and unlike last week, I take an aisle seat in the very last row.

  Alex writes notes on his Smart Board but as I sit, his shoulders tense and he turns around to acknowledge me. He can smell me from nearly a hundred feet away. Impressive. Yet, several others walk in after me and draw no reaction from him at all.

  He puts a textbook down on the desk in the front of the room, checks his watch and sets the room in order. “Good evening. Before we pick up where we left off last time on page seventy-eight, I would like to inform you that I have asked Ms. Lockspier, an advanced placement mathematics teacher, to sit in on our classes. She’ll be advising me on some of the more complicated formulas we’ll be using in the course of our lessons.” He points to me and all heads twist around in my direction, prompting a quick wave from me. “While she audits the class
, I’ll be meeting with her directly after each session and will not be able to speak with anyone. My new office hours have been posted online. Once again, I encourage appointments.”

  While the few young male students shrug and go back to staring at their notebooks, the very many females however, narrow beady eyes at me.

  After gazing across the room, my eyes find Alex’s. He not only doesn’t look away, but both of his hands grip the spine of the textbook like he must steady himself. Perhaps he’s concerned he might do something crazy like lunge for me and drag me into the coat closet. I cross my eyes for comedic effect.

  Alex lowers his head and hides his smile.

  With an unsteady voice, he begins his lesson, but grows more confident with each passing sentence. He is passionate about the subject matter and although this should be a boring prerequisite class, he is fascinating to listen to. I’m almost annoyed when the math equations get in the way.

  So many girls in this class are taken with him. If I was an undergrad, I’d sit here and twirl my hair too. It’s incredible. Either Alex doesn’t notice them or he simply ignores the attention. Beautifully. He can’t be ignorant of his own mirror, but after being this way for so long, perhaps he’s just used to attention from females.

  The class ends and despite the earlier announcement, several girls rush to the front and form a circle around him. His face is taut while he apologizes and organizes his papers. These girls are insistent, though.

  Alex politely listens to the clamoring while he gathers his things. When he breaks through the circle however, one of the students isn’t having it. She grabs at his arm.

  I stand immediately, concerned about a possible confrontation and consider whether or not to intervene. A man that gorgeous, however has probably dealt with aggressive females before. I trust he can handle himself.

  “Miss Riley, yes I hear you.” Alex calmly shrugs out of her hold, but his teeth are clenched. “As I said, I cannot meet with anyone after class.”

  Miss Riley scoffs, but rubs her hand. The crinkle above her perfect nose, suggests she is confused by how cold Alex’s skin feels.

  “Dr. Manning,” I interject. “I’m ready to go to your office.” I scan the crowd however, and not him. That’s right, I’m going to his office, not you, Miss Riley.

  Alex walks toward the stairs that lead up and out of the lecture hall and with one glance back at his harem says, “Please make an appointment and I will do my best to accommodate everyone.”

  While he seems frustrated and angry from Miss Riley grabbing him, his hand rests softly on my back. We need to get the hell out of here before a stampede of women comes after us.

  A tinge of acidity comes off his skin. I’m learning that his venom takes on different characteristics when ignited by different emotions. Sweet is desire. Citrus is concern. Acid is anger.

  We don’t speak until we reach his office which is on the second floor. He shifts his bag to another shoulder and looks comically ordinary as he opens the locked door. For a second, I flush red hot, concerned somehow all of this is a con. Vampires are rumored to be lithe and graceful and must take careful steps to avoid scaring away prey. Trudging through his office and sloppily releasing a chunky schoolbag and loose papers on his desk, Alex looks haggard and shaken.

  I close the door behind me and take in the room. The second desk draws an immediate question. “You share an office?”

  Smoothing his hair and checking his tie, Alex answers, “Yes. But he’s on sabbatical this semester.”

  Convenient. I drop my bag on the seat of a guest chair and swing my arms waiting for him to notice me. Instead, he leans on his desk with his head down.

  Sensing Alex needs a moment to collect himself, I admire the high ceilings and elaborate crown moldings. A green chalkboard sits on the wall untouched, blocked by a rolling whiteboard filled with several formulas Alex presumably tried to work out himself. One of the walls is a built-in bookshelf chock full of thick and intriguing hardcovers, but I can’t take my eyes off the saddle colored leather sofa in the far corner.

  The room smells of years of paint and a faint whistling sound sizzles from the steam pipes. The books capture my interest, so I step toward the handsome volumes. Before my fingers touch a single leather binding, Alex’s body presses up against me. When his fingers grip the shelves to cage me in, the wood splinters under his touch.

  His nose burrows into my hair and when I soften into him, one hand releases the crushed wood to wind around my waist. The other hand moves the hair from my neck. My neck! I turn around quickly to face him. The stormy tension in his dark eyes makes his pupils shift as they catch my every movement. Alex studies me, as though he expects me to run.

  “Hi,” I offer softly.

  He catches my chin between cool fingers. “Hi,” he mimics and lowers his mouth to mine.

  The strength in his lips suggests this won’t be an innocent kiss. His tongue glides into my waiting mouth and swirls with mine, reaching deep inside. Desire makes his breath sweet and the taste of his mouth evokes my love of sugar.

  Alex balances the curious exploration of my mouth with soft flicks across my bottom lip. A growl escapes from deep in his chest, halting the kisses. He traces my face with his fingertips, like he’s memorizing me. “Elizabeth, before this goes any further, I need to make sure you understand a few things.”

  I nod, but tension creeps into my spine as I anticipate what he’ll say.

  He continues in a soft voice. “I’m a licensed doctor. Fifteen years ago, I attended Johns Hopkins University. Passed all my boards, fair and square. I’m not trying to impress you with my resume. I’m trying to keep everything in perspective when I tell you, first and foremost I am vampire. Regardless of my education and training, I am dangerous. I can kill you very easily in a number of different ways.”

  A jolt of genuine fear shivers through me, but I manage a crooked smile. I don’t know what compels me to ask this, but I swallow and the words tumble out. “Do you want to tell me the ways?”

  His dark eyes meet mine and his voice drops an entire octave. “I don’t want to scare you, but I could literally rip you to pieces with my bare hands. I could scale this building while holding you in one arm and drop you to the pavement below.” He pauses and runs a hand up from the center of my body. The pads of his fingertips glide like icy silk along the column of my throat as his voice grows thick. “Of course, I could just drain you of all your blood.”

  “Oh my,” I whisper from my already empty lungs.

  I tip my head back and let his fingers close around my neck so he senses both my submission and my bravery.

  “I can even do something far worse than all of that.” His fingers tighten ever so slightly. “I could keep you confined somewhere and just feed off you.”

  Hearing these things should send me running for the door. Guess, I’m not ‘normal.’ Every time he speaks it feels like his words stroke something deep inside me. I want more.

  “But I assure you.” His hands leave my neck and glide across my shoulders, easing my cardigan down my arms. “If I was to make you my prisoner, I wouldn’t just feed off you.”

  “What . . .” My voice is barely audible above the low hiss of the steam. “What would you be doing?”

  Red lips curl into a feral smile. “Having my way with you.”

  My bare upper arms pebble with gooseflesh, not just from his icy touch but also the idea of being chained to a wall somewhere, while Alexander takes me again and again. A hard thump between my legs propels my pelvis toward him.

  “Okay,” I whisper. “Noted.”

  “All of that aside, Elizabeth, I never deliberately took a human life. As a doctor, I lost patients. I do feed off those who are ready to die so that I can survive and one less healthy person won’t have to suffer.”

  I swal
low and clear my throat. “Kind of like an organ donor program.”

  My quip causes a spit of laughter from Alex, but his quick change of expression tells me he wants this conversation to be as serious as possible. “A vampire’s habits and level of evolution simply depend on when they were made. Those who are thousands of years old, while they do their best to adapt to the world as it is today, do not play well with others, especially younger vampires. But we all share one thing in common.”

  “What is that?” I focus on his face to stay part of the conversation, ignoring the quiver low in my stomach from his shocking words.

  “Deep inside, our natural instincts are not too different from that of cavemen who concerned themselves with three basic needs: hunting, eating, and sex.”

  “And how do you manage those needs?”

  “I don’t hunt humans. I satisfy those urges by continually engaging my brain, searching for up-to-date medical information. I have colleagues all over the world and we share terabytes of data each year. I do not sleep, so I spend my evenings either buried in books or at hospitals dealing with emergencies.” Alex sounds quite sane.

  I nod, accepting his logic.

  “Eating, of course, is simple,” he continues. “I need blood to survive. Currently I’m in a situation where I have ready access to it. But I assure you, if that changed for me—” It’s as if Alex can’t even bear that possibility.

  All the while I picture him shirtless with muscles flexing; his mouth and more importantly, his teeth grazing across my skin. If he’s always thirsty, would he drink from me? I get the feeling he wants me, no needs me to be strong. A quaking waif is not much of a challenge. I accept him for what he is now. Maybe he tells me all this to know if I can face him when and if he becomes a horrible version of himself.

  “What, Alex? What would you do?”

  “I would survive.” His eyes turn matte black, no shine, no hint of green. I must ask him about that, but his voice is absent of any emotion. Like he put up a solid wall between me and whatever he feels at this moment. “Let’s leave it at that for now.”