by Dani April
Hell, if there was a Chevy Blazer waiting outside the gates of the castle, why didn’t she just take it and get the hell out of Dodge? Of course yesterday in the motel room with Tex and Ramos, she had been confronted with the same choice. Those two seemed willing to take her away as well. She had declined them, and as a result she’d had more vampire blood introduced to her body last night. Now she could swear she felt it swimming through her veins. She felt Peter swimming through her veins.
If Tex and Ramos had really been her friends, they would have taken her back to the city yesterday after they made love and wouldn’t even have given her the choice of staying. Of course that was being unfair to them. After all, they were just human, and Peter had exposed them to his blood, too. They were addicted to it the same as she was, and breaking that addiction to vampire blood was an uphill fight. That was obviously the reason Peter trusted her to roam the grounds of his estate unguarded during daylight hours. He knew once she’d had a taste of him she would always be coming back for more, even if it meant her life, and in Rebecca’s case, it just might mean that.
“When you come down, join the two guys and me out by the back courtyard. The boys have breakfast set up for you out there. We thought the sunlight might do you some good,” Ian called to her as she was leaving him.
She nodded that she would do as he said.
“Don’t be long now,” he told her. “We need to have a long talk when you come down. That sound okay to you?”
“Yes,” she answered him in a quiet voice. “I want to have a very long talk with you all right. I want to talk about that Chevy Blazer of yours and how I can get the hell up out of this place.”
He smiled and nodded his head in approval at her response. “I have you figured for a pretty smart girl Rebecca Everheart. You just might make it out of this castle and back to Vegas alive.”
That caught her attention, and she paused to look back at him once more. He was speculating on her life? That was creepy, but of course Rebecca knew it was so very true at this point.
* * * *
“Where have you been?” Bruce’s voice was half worried and half that of the angry boss.
“Sorry, Bruce. I just got your messages.”
“It’s been two days since we last heard from you. I left you something like twelve messages. What have you been doing?”
“I know. I just checked my messages. I think I’ve been sick.” Rebecca was toweling herself dry. She had just taken a long and scalding hot shower, hoping to wash away the activities of the day and night before. “Remember I told you I wasn’t feeling well when I talked to you the other day. Well, I think I now have a full-fledged cold. I have a high fever and the whole works.”
“You don’t sound good, Beck.” Now Bruce was all concern. “In fact, you don’t sound like yourself.”
“Like I said, I think I’m coming down with a virus.”
“You need to call this interview off and come back home?”
This was it. He was handing her an escape route out of Peter’s castle. This was her chance to get away. No one was going to believe her if she said help me, I need to get the hell out of here because Peter von North is a vampire and he’s in love with me and wants to turn me into a vampire as well. Now she could just say she was sick, and Bruce would probably even send a limo out to pick her up and take her back to the airport in Vegas.
If she had been herself, that was exactly what she would have said. But she was anything but herself. She was infected with vampire blood, and after her sexual liaison with Peter the night before, that infection had grown tenfold. She had a fever and was sweating. She wasn’t lying to Bruce about being sick.
“Well…I don’t know…Bruce…” she stuttered, and she knew her voice sounded disconnected over the phone when she spoke.
One side of her was screaming to cry for help. Have her boss call out the Marines if need be to get her out of the castle. The sane side of her knew exactly what to say and how she could still save herself from dying and being forced to become a vampire.
However, the sane side of herself was very small at the moment and held very little sway with her. The infected part of her brain was in control, and she wanted to stay and experience another night with Peter. She wanted a chance to get to know Peter better, not Peter the vampire, but Peter the man. And there was so much of the man to enjoy. Peter had said he truly loved her. No one else had ever told her that before.
She also believed Peter really loved her, or at least he thought he did. He was risking a lot by bringing her here and trying to do this. She was, after all, in the news media and could expose him if she got out of this desert alive, and if she did that, she could certainly make his life very difficult.
She wanted one more night with Peter. She also wanted another day at the castle, which was not really all that bad after one got used to it. The desert was beautiful, and she was not afraid out here anymore. Far from fear, she felt a happiness she had never known before in her life. She felt special out here, far from the crowd of humanity. This was her time and her place, and she did not want it to end so quickly.
It was a fact she did not want to become a vampire. No matter how interesting Peter might be, she would not give her life up for him. Because Peter was in love with her, she thought that in the end she could convince him to forbear with his plan of turning her into what he was. Even if she did not, she had three strong guys who knew what they were doing out here with her, and they were all on her side. Although Peter was the one she really wanted to get to know better, the presence of the other three was also important to her and made her feel a warm security, most likely because they were human and Peter was not.
“I don’t know what to say, Bruce,” she stammered into the phone, the war between the sane and the totally crazy still being fought inside her.
“You sound strange, Beck.” He hesitated for a moment, maybe waiting for her to respond. She was too confused inside to say anything. “I’ve never heard you sound like this before. I’m starting to get worried.”
“No. Don’t worry about me, Bruce.”
“Look, Beck, if I didn’t know better, I would say it sounds like you’ve been drinking.”
“God, I haven’t had anything to drink, Bruce. You know me better, don’t you? It’s too early in the morning.”
“Beck, it’s almost three in the afternoon.”
This made her pause. She did a mental calculation of the time. She had just left Peter’s room less than an hour ago, and that had been when the sun first came up. Hadn’t it been less than an hour ago? Now her brain was swimming in confusion.
She let the towel she was wearing fall off her body and stood naked in front of the mirror to examine herself. She pushed her wet hair off her shoulder and noticed the two puncture marks over her jugular on her neck.
Remembering the previous night, she spread her legs and examined between her thighs. On both the right and the left, just beneath her mons were the same tiny puncture marks covering some unknown vein in her upper leg. None of the marks hurt, and there was no sign of dried blood. They were just there to remind her of what was happening to her.
Why in the hell did this super sexy vampire have to fall in love with her?
“Did you say it’s almost three?” She came back to herself long enough to ask.
“That’s right.” She heard him sigh on the other side of the connection. “Listen, Beck, you’re obviously in no shape to continue with this interview. Don’t feel bad. People get sick, even tough, finance reporters. I’m calling this off. Come on back home. Take a few days off and get feeling better. There’ll always be another interview.”
This sounded so good. The rational side of her mind loved to hear his words. She was about to let her guard down and tell him yes, she wanted exactly that. She wanted out of here at once. Then she looked out her window and saw how beautiful the butte outside looked in the shadows cast by the sun. She wasn’t ready to leave this place yet.
&nb
sp; “Today is Thursday, isn’t it, Bruce?”
“Yes.”
“I’m scheduled on the ten a.m. flight out of McCarran on Sunday morning,” she told him. Her voice took on a newfound strength. She hoped it would be enough to convince her boss. “I’m going to be on that flight. I promise you. Let me stay here and finish what I’ve started.”
“As long as you’re certain.”
“I am.”
“How’s it going out there? Are you getting anything out of this guy we can use in a story? Or is Peter von North just another boring billionaire?”
She had to laugh at his choice of words. “I’m going to have a fantastic story for us, Bruce. I can truthfully say you’re not going to believe it.”
“I pulled another couple of sources on von North. It appears he’s got quite the reputation as a womanizer. We kind of started suspecting here in the newsroom that he asked for you because you just happen to be one of our more attractive female reporters. He hasn’t tried anything inappropriate with you has he?”
“Inappropriate?” She almost began a recital of all the things Peter had done to her since she got here. But there would be time enough for that later. If she opened up to Bruce now, he’d never let her stay. “No. Nothing inappropriate,” she settled on telling him. “Peter is an old-fashioned romantic. In his own eccentric way, he can be rather charming at times when he wants to be.”
“So you’re able to handle this guy okay then, Beck?”
“There’s nothing about Peter I can’t handle, Bruce,” she lied. But she also realized she wanted her words to be true. She wanted to be able to handle Peter. She had just talked her way into getting one last chance to get the better of Peter. If she failed or had miscalculated in any way, she would probably never make it back home again.
“All right,” Bruce told her. “You’ve got the time. I’ll see you on Sunday.”
* * * *
Rebecca dug into the food the guys had set out on the table before her. “Why didn’t you all wake me up earlier?” she asked them.
They were sitting outside in the courtyard. The three men had set up a table and were seated with her. They had prepared a breakfast, although it was three in the afternoon. Rebecca’s appetite was ravenous. She wolfed down the scrambled eggs and sausage links. There was a fruit plate of pineapples, oranges, and bananas, and she attacked this with equal fervor. After every second or third mouthful, she would wash it down with a big gulp of grapefruit juice. She was about to finish the whole pitcher of juice, and she wasn’t even halfway into her meal yet.
Eating outside under the sky in the warm afternoon air of the desert was like a precious gift to her. She felt like she could conquer the world. That was just how it had been yesterday, although the sensation was multiplied by ten this afternoon. The vampire blood was really doing its job.
“We thought we’d let you sleep,” Ramos told her.
“We figured you could use the rest after your night with Peter,” Tex said.
“So tell us what you think of our undead host?” Ian asked.
Rebecca scooped up a couple pineapple slices from her plate and placed them in her mouth to chew. The juice ran down her chin. Peter had told her to eat lots of healthy food, and her body was now craving the nutrients.
“Well, he doesn’t scare me anymore,” she told them. “If I could get past the part about him trying to kill me, I might actually like him.”
“Great bloody hell,” Ian swore. “He’s never tried to kill any of the other girls he’s bedded.”
“Apparently I’m the lucky girl he picked to fall in love with.” Rebecca didn’t feel lucky at all. In a way, she felt there was a tragedy unfolding here. If Peter had only not been a vampire, she thought, but couldn’t let her mind run in that direction.
“You know he really isn’t trying to kill you,” Tex pointed out to her. “He just wants to make you one of his own kind.”
“Some girls might not mind so much,” Ramos said. “There are a lot of perks that go along with being a vampire. You are the first human he has ever offered this to. He must be truly in love with you to do so.”
“He says he is in love with me.” Rebecca poured herself another glass of pineapple juice. “Only he isn’t offering me a choice. He’s determined to make me a vampire whether I like it or not.”
“And like the sensible, bourgeois American girl you don’t want that.” She didn’t know whether to take the big Australian seriously or not. He always had a sparkle in his eye when he spoke.
“No thanks,” she told him. “I have a life outside of this castle and a family. I hope to be an anchorwoman someday and maybe get married and have a family of my own. Being turned into a vampire would put an end to all those dreams.” She paused for a minute while she chewed her food and thought about Peter. “I’m sure an attractive and rich guy like Peter could find many girls who would willingly go with him. I just wish he’d start looking for them and leave me alone. I told Peter last night and I’m telling you guys now—no matter how much vampire blood he infects me with I’ll never change my mind—never!”
“Bloody hell, I guess you have a fine opinion of him then?”
“I hate him.” Her anger rose inside of her, and she nearly swallowed half a link sausage whole. She had to quickly take a sip of juice to keep from choking. “I came out here to do an interview with a billionaire investor and tour around his estate for my news network. It was going to be a week of work on a news story. I came out here to do my job. No one told me I’d become the bride of the vampire.”
“I’ve known Peter for over ten years now,” Ian said. “I’ve never seen him care about anyone until he met you. Now I think you’re all he thinks about. I think he’s got something like a schoolboy crush on you.”
“Terrific…” Rebecca had a sad smile on her face.
“Peter is a good man…a good vampire,” Ian corrected himself. “He doesn’t want to harm you, but he’s in a strange place right now. His strong feelings for you have clouded his better judgment. Peter is used to getting what he wants when he wants it. Right now he wants you. I’d be a damn bloody liar if I didn’t warn you of the danger you’re in as long as you stay here.”
“Of course if she leaves,” Tex put in, “Peter will follow her. I think he’d follow her to the ends of the earth if he had to. There’s no place a vampire can’t go, especially not one as old and powerful as him.”
“I talked to my producer at the network today,” she told them. “He offered to get me out of here early, but I told him I wanted to stay on until Sunday and complete the assignment.”
Ian grunted dissatisfiedly and threw his long hair back over his shoulder. “Bloody fucking hell,” he exploded in his baritone. “You’ll be a bloodsucker by Sunday.”
“According to what Tex just said, no place I’d go would be safe. Anyway, I want a couple more nights with Peter. I’m not afraid of him anymore. He isn’t so bad after you get to know him. I think I can talk him out of doing any more. I think he’ll let me go on Sunday.”
“Are you willing to bet your life on that?” Ian stared at her. The sunlight sparkled off one of his earrings, adding a layer of intensity to his face.
Rebecca pushed her plate out of the way and tossed her head down toward the table, covering her face with her hands. “I don’t know! I don’t know anything anymore! It’s the vampire blood! Its making me to take chances I never would otherwise.”
“Why in the bloody damn hell didn’t the two of you get her out of here yesterday?” Ian cast an angry glance over at Tex and Ramos. “Too busy thinking with your cocks and not with your minds?”
“Listen, Ian, we offered to take her out. We tried, man,” Tex pleaded with the big Australian.
“We love Peter,” Ramos continued for Tex. “We owe Peter our lives. He’s the best man I’ve ever known. We didn’t really think he would do anything to Rebecca. I, for one, still don’t think he will. He likes to fuck a woman, that’s all. We all do. I kn
ow Rebecca has enjoyed it, too, just like all the women do. In the end, he’ll let her go just like all the others. Then we can get back to normal around here and Rebecca can go on with her life. You’ll see…it will work out.”
“Bull!” Ian scoffed at him. “Peter means to turn this beautiful young woman seated over here into an undead creature of the night just like he is so the two of them can fuck each other for the next millennium. And unless we get her away from this castle, we won’t be able to stop him.”
Tex and Ramos looked at each other. Rebecca could see they suddenly weren’t so sure of Peter’s intentions. She buried her face back down into her arms folded on the table.
“How do you two brainless idiots think life will go down at this castle if we introduce a second vampire into the mix…a female vampire?”
Ian looked at them. They couldn’t meet his stare. Ian became red in the face with anger. Rebecca thought he probably had the same thought that was running around her head. Except Ian wasn’t too shy to speak it out loud.
“You two dip shits want that, don’t you?” The Australian’s voice thundered across the courtyard. “Peter likes to share his women. You’d like to keep Rebecca out here so you two can keep on fucking her along with him.”
The men didn’t answer because there was probably more than just a little truth in this. Rebecca remembered how hard and fast the three of them had gone at it yesterday in the motel room. She couldn’t bring herself to be angry at the guys. They were only human after all. That was what she found comforting about them. If only she could have said the same thing for Peter.
“But that isn’t all, is it, my lads?” Ian went on. “You motherfuckers know what it would mean to fuck a female vampire. You’re both thinking ‘why not have four vampires out at this castle!’”