She kisses him softly and sensually with just her lips, but the more she tastes his soft moist lips against hers the hungrier she gets for more. He pulls her to him even more, needing to be even closer. She parts her lips to allow him permission to go further. Once she feels his warm tongue touch hers she begins to caress it with her own. Fire stirs within them both. The whole room is ablaze like the night at the club.
Alessandro reluctantly pulls away from her lips to gaze into this amazing creature’s emerald eyes. If the eyes truly are the window to one’s soul, he could stare into her soul forever. He caresses both sides of her cheeks with the back of his hand. They are warm to the touch, flushed by her excitement. He can tell she wants him as much as he wants her. Her eyes say it all.
She looks away, feeling insecure. He pulls her face back to his and kisses her roughly as the desire pounds in his groins. He slows down and moves from her lips to her neck, licking and sucking every inch of flesh in between. She moans deeply for more. This drives him insane, so he goes back to her lips to stifle her moans.
With one quick swoop he picks her up and carries her to the bedroom, all the while their lips never parting.
Gently he puts her down on the bed and climbs on top of her. He reaches down and pulls her shirt up to expose her soft round breasts.
“Oh, Alessandro, I can’t take it,” she says out loud, her body trembling with desire underneath his weight.
He brings his mouth back up to hers and crushes his lips to hers again, needing to taste her.
After a long grueling minute, he sits up and slides down a little further as he tries to unbutton her pants.
He fumbles with the tricky button. “Dammit!” he says, unable to get the button undone. With a hard yank the button comes flying off.
Without hesitation he gets off of the bed and slides her pants down to the floor. He stares at her lying on the bed, now with just her t-shirt on, looking more beautiful than she ever has. He is unable to tear his eyes from her perfect body.
In a flash he is taking off his shirt and ripping off his own jeans, exposing the most beautiful body Anna-Marie has ever seen.
Anna-Marie leans on her elbows and stares up at this gorgeous man in awe. He is incredibly sexy with muscles rippling all through his body. His dark olive skin looks even more perfect without clothes on.
“Alessandro, you are so beautiful.”
He smiles back at her. “No, mi’ amore, you are the beautiful one.”
Looking at him now she swallows hard as fear sets in.
This is really going to happen? She thinks to herself.
The only person she has ever been with is Dylan and although he was naturally gifted in bed, his manhood wasn’t nearly as big as Alessandro’s.
She sits up and hugs her knees. “Alessandro, I’m scared,” she says and begins to chew on her lower lip.
His smile disappears and he sits back down on the bed beside her. “Why? What is wrong?”
“I have only been with one person, and it has been a while. What if-” She pauses and looks away feeling embarrassed.
“What if what, Bella?”
“What if I’m not any good?”
“Oh you crazy beautiful girl!” He pushes her back down on the bed and maneuvers himself to where he is now laying on top of her again. He begins to kiss her softly on her neck, and then works his way to her ear. “It’s not possible,” he whispers into her ear in a low husky voice.
He stares down at this beautiful creature that is now his, not wanting to miss a single expression and knows without a doubt he could do this forever.
“I love you, Bella,” he whispers to her. “You are so beautiful, you are driving me crazy.”
A tear rolls down her cheek, “I love you, too, Alessandro.” She knows this to be true, more so than she ever has before.
They make love for the next two hours, enjoying the sensation of each other as they come to the brink of orgasms many times, before they are finally satisfied. They both fall asleep happily with their bodies still intertwined and sleep more secure than either of them has in a long time.
Anna-Marie awakens suddenly and notices its dark out now. The bedside clock reads just after midnight. They had never intended to stay there that long. Surprised, she looks over and sees Alessandro is still deeply asleep in the bed beside her. She moves his arm softly off of her so she can go to the kitchen for something to drink.
She quietly searches in her dresser to find a pair of panties and an old t-shirt to put on, then tiptoes out of the room. Feeling curious, she moves the sheer living room curtain aside to look out the window at the sleeping street below. She is struck again how quiet and eerie the street is. There’s not a soul in sight, but she isn’t that ignorant anymore. She knows there are things out there stalking in the night. Things lurking in the dark and feeding off the life force of others. It’s still hard to believe not that long ago she was a normal person living a normal life, but now she knows she is far from normal. The illusion is gone. Now she has to figure out a way to live this new life as part human and part monster.
She drops her hand to close the curtain, but before she looks away, she sees something.
There is a movement on the fire escape across the street. Leaving the curtain in place she leans in close and peaks outside the window again. This time she sees a man standing on the fire escape staring in her direction.
She quickly moves the curtain out of the way and her breath catches in her throat.
“Dylan,” she whispers.
He is on the fire escape across the street staring straight at her with his piercing sea-green eyes. He knows she is there, too.
“But . . . How can that be?” She quickly puts her hand to her mouth as she remembers the man on the roof of the warehouse. “I wasn’t seeing things. It was him.”
Like a flash of lightening, he is gone, leaving her standing there still staring out the window, frozen in her spot.
Freaked out, she checks the lock on the window and runs to the door to do the same. After everything is secure she runs back to her room where Alessandro’s sleeping body awaits. She curls up beside him trying hard to get the trembling to stop. She lifts his heavy arm and wraps it around her. She will lay here in the safety of his embrace. One thing is sure, she will not dare close her eyes again tonight.
22
Anna-Marie glides through the following day in a daze. Alessandro had to go out on patrol early in the morning, leaving her at the manor alone in his room with her thoughts to entertain her. She knows with all of her heart it was Dylan on the fire escape the night before. Could it really have been him at the warehouse as well?
“How is this possible?” she asks herself. “I held his cold lifeless body in my arms that night and I saw him in the casket. How could he have become a vampire? And how did he get out of his casket once he was buried without a trace of any kind of disturbance?”
Then an idea comes to her. She jumps up off the bed and walks over to her bag with all of the stuff she brought from her apartment and fishes out her trusty laptop.
She sits on the plush chair beside the bed and puts the laptop on the small table in front of her.
It doesn’t take long for the sleek hot pink contraption to light up. On the Google page she types in one simple word, vampire.
“Holy cow!” she says out loud once the search is complete.
There are thousands of links referring to vampires. She clicks the first one and reads it slowly.
Dating back for hundreds of years… said to have originated from Romania… mysterious creatures known as vampires rose from their grave on the seventh day after death and stalked the night in search for blood . . .
“Well, that is the typical stuff you hear. There has to be something else,” Anna-Marie says to herself and continues to read.
…these undead creatures tend to be unrecognizable to the people who once knew them. Their hair, nails and body stature tend to continue to grow at a rapid pace for the first year. Aft
er that said first year their soul dissipates, leaving an animalistic monster that leaves bloodshed in its wake.
She remembers she didn’t recognize Dylan at the warehouse. It was too dark in the room to see him clearly. The only time she got a good look at him was when he was standing on the roof of the warehouse after she got out. He was illuminated by the light of the full moon behind him. His hair had grown into a shaggy mess falling into his face and his features were sharper and angry, but she saw his eyes. She would know those eyes anywhere, even if they looked to have lost their light.
“That’s just creepy,” she says to herself.
She didn’t get a good look at any of the Rogues from the warehouse either, but she does remember everything about the man from the cemetery and the one from the alley. They were animalistic for sure, but they were also very man like. However, all of the Brotherhood and Protectors she has met so far have been completely different, utterly gorgeous, very much resembling their angelic ancestors and very much different from the Rogue.
“Note to self, ask Alessandro why the Brotherhood and Rogues look so different,” she says to herself.
The thought makes her sad, now that she has seen Dylan. It’s obvious what side he is on, but is it too late for him? Could there still be a part of him that’s still Dylan? She can’t imagine him not being the beautiful man he always was. Maybe, just maybe, it’s not too late for him.
Wouldn’t it be great if he was able to work with the Brotherhood? She thinks to herself.
She pulls her attention away from that thought for now and goes back to her search.
“Hmm . . . very interesting, however nothing even close to making sense of how a person becomes a vampire.” She had asked Alessandro once before but he never really said how.
About a hundred web sites later. Anna-Marie only finds one similarity from almost all of the websites she has visited; a person has to receive a bite by a vampire to become one. To be more exact, a vampire has to bite its victim, but if for some reason the act is interrupted and the victim is not fully drained of all their blood and die instantly, the venom will surge through their veins and that person will become a vampire in seven days.
Anna-Marie thinks back on the night Dylan died. She has no clue how long he had been out there before he died or what could have happened to interrupt the attack. No incidences were reported of any kind that night. Plus, the coroner did say Dylan didn’t die instantly. What he said was it was possible he died instantly. Clearly, the two are not the same.
She closes her laptop and sits back in the chair. It’s pointless to keep searching for answers she already knows. To top it off, it’s Friday. Dare she bother going to the cemetery anymore? Really, what’s the point if he isn’t even dead, but instead haunting the night as a monster? She erases that thought as soon as it comes to her mind. She knows without a doubt she still loves him in many ways and probably will for the rest of her life. She can still mourn him. She can mourn her best friend since childhood, the innocent love they shared, the man that was her life and the life they will never have together again. Yes, technically he is still alive, but the person he once was is dead. It’s clear he will never be the same person he once was and neither will she.
“No, I will not mourn at that hallow grave again,” she says to herself finally.
She stuffs her laptop back in her bag and grabs her cell phone and pushes speed dial, number four.
“Hey, mama.”
“Anna-Marie dear, how are you? I’ve been so worried.”
“I’m okay, I promise. I’ve been busy and staying with a friend. I was actually thinking of coming up for a visit.”
“Really?” her mom asks in surprise. “When?”
“I was thinking maybe this evening, if that’s okay?”
“Oh, honey, I’m so happy you’re finally coming home. Your father will be, too.”
“Okay. Well, I’ll be there sometime this evening. I’ll call you later when I get my plans in order to let you know the time.”
“Alright, sweetheart. I love you.”
“I love you, too, mama. Bye.”
Anna-Marie throws her phone on the table and walks to the fluffy bed and lies down. In one fast swoop, she throws the black velvet blanket over her head and buries herself underneath. It’s funny how comforting it is to hide under the blankets. It’s a childish notion to think no harm could come to you as long as the blanket is over your head. No matter how big the boogie man is, he could never break through.
“It might be a good idea to get some rest, because I have a feeling this visit is going to be very draining,” she says to herself.
She intends to ask about her adoption. It didn’t register until recently that her mother seemed like she knew something about her adoption. She acted like she so badly wanted to talk to her about it, but Anna-Marie wasn’t having it. She didn’t care one bit about the details and has always refused to even think about it, until now that is.
At sundown Alessandro and the other Protectors come home to the manor. Alessandro doesn’t linger to speak to anyone as he would normally do. Instead he heads straight up the stairs to check on Anna-Marie. This has been the first day he has left her here alone since they found her.
As he opens the door he spots her lying on the bed, seemingly asleep. He quietly walks over and gently climbs onto the bed beside her. He lays there in the dark room staring at this sleeping beauty. It reminds him of the first time he saw her sleeping in the cemetery. He gently strokes her cheek.
“Alessandro?” she whispers.
“Yes, Bella, it’s me. How was your day?”
She smiles and scoots closer to him so she can wrap her arms around him, “It’s better now.”
He laughs. “I’m happy to be of service.”
“So I talked to my mama today.”
“Oh yeah? How did that go?”
“It was good. I kept it brief. She was really happy to hear about my plans to come for a visit.”
“Have you decided when you are going?”
“Yes, I have. I want to go today.” She pauses for his reaction.
“But it’s already getting dark out.”
“I know, but it’s not that late. I took a nap, so I will be rested up for that long, boring drive. I should be there in time for a late dinner. I could have left earlier but I wanted to wait for you to come home.”
“Well, I think you need a little remembrance of why to come back,” he says with a sneaky smile.
“Oh, yeah? What do you have in mind?”
He pulls her even closer and grabs the back of her head to pull her in for a deep passionate kiss.
She pulls away just barely and smiles. She whispers so close to his lips he could still taste her. “Is that all?”
He smiles back and without saying a word he kisses her once again, this time not letting up for a break. They kiss deep and hard, letting all of their emotions run through their lips as their tongues roll around and caress the other.
They make love for a few hours and by the time they are both spent and satisfied they both roll over onto their backs and pant for breath.
“Wow!” Alessandro says.
“I second that.” Anna-Marie rolls over on her side. “You are a very sneaky man, Alessandro Pierre.”
“Me? What did I do?”
“You know what you did, or am I supposed to believe it is a coincidence that you have distracted me for-” she looks over at the clock on the table, “. . . two hours?”
“Aww . . . does that mean it is too late to drive tonight?” he says still smiling his sly smile.
“Okay fine, you win, this time, but I am leaving tomorrow morning, no matter how good your kisses feel.”
“Well, thank you for pacifying me, mi amore. I won’t try to stop you tomorrow, I promise. I do feel better that you will be traveling during the day, though.”
“I know. I am just anxious to get this over with.”
“I know you are. All you have to do
is go there, ask your questions, then come back home to me.”
She slides closer to him and lays her head on his chest and listens to his heart pound in his chest.
He wraps his arm around her and they both fall into a blissful sleep.
***
By seven the next morning, Anna-Marie pulls away from the expansive manor heading toward Highway 70 to go home to Pamlico County.
The two-hour drive through the country goes by uneventfully, as usual, but as soon as she crosses the border of Craven County into Pamlico County, she catches her breath. It’s not been quite a year since she had last been here and during that time everything seems to have changed.
The last time she was here was when she and Dylan had spent their last Thanksgiving with both of their parents, a week later Dylan was dead. At that time the four lane road wasn’t even close to being finished, making her humble little country roads look ugly with torn down trees and mounds of dirt everywhere. The construction leading up to this end result was nothing short of hideous. It’s amazing they got any tourists at all during those five long years.
She decides to keep driving long past the road that leads to the back roads to her parents’ house. She wants to see more of this new county that has been her home for her first eighteen years.
Sure enough, just past the newly extended high school and in front of the courthouse there is a second stop light. Her mother told her there was one, but it was hard to imagine it.
She pulls over to the gas station across from the courthouse and marvels at the wonders she has seen.
“Wow, Dylan would be impressed,” she says to herself without thinking first.
Her smile fades away at the thought of him. Dylan will most likely never witness these changes.
She starts her car up and turns back onto the road and heads down highway 55 towards Oriental, where her parents await their baby girl’s arrival.
As she pulls up the driveway, she sees both of her parents sitting impatiently on the wraparound porch in their individual wicker rocking chairs. She had lived in this house her whole life and had loved every minute of it. It is the perfect quintessential cottage on the creek, with its graying wooden exterior from resting so close to the water for so many years and moss grass sprouting up everywhere.
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