by E. A. James
“Is this how you treat your employees?” she responded quickly. “Showing up uninvited at their homes—twice in one day!”
He pushed himself up and followed her as she made her way towards the stair leading up to her apartment.
“I didn’t invite you up,” she said over her shoulder.
“But you want me to follow you,” he answered very bluntly.
“Excuse me?” she said turning around quickly.
“You don’t want me to leave.”
He was right. She was actually excited at his presence. But, she couldn’t let him know that.
“You’re very forward, you know that?”
“You like it,” he said stepping towards her quickly.
“What makes you think you know me so well?” she asked.
He reached out and wrapped his arms around her waist. He pulled her close to him. Her heart began to beat wildly in her chest. Letting out a slight gasp, she tried to remain calm, even though she felt anything but that.
He leaned in and whispered softly in her ear. “I can read your thoughts.”
His words sent a shiver running down her spine. It was either that, or the feeling of his breath against her neck. It wasn’t warm, the way one’s breath would be normally. It was cold.
She let out a soft laugh and pushed back against his chest. It was pure muscle.
“You’re kind of scaring me,” she said.
“No I’m not,” he countered. In the soft light of the moon, his eyes seemed to sparkle.
“Are you going to invite me in?”
“You tell me,” she said. “Since you know what I’m thinking and all.”
“Let’s go then,” he said, starting up the stairs, still holding her hand tight.
CHAPTER FOUR
“So, you can read my thoughts, can you?” Rebecca asked as she handed him a glass of wine. She had a hint of sarcasm in her tone, and she couldn’t help but let out a slight scoff at the end of her question.
“I can.”
“Then what am I thinking right now?”
“That you wish you had bought a second bottle of red.”
“Damn,” she said plopping herself down next to him.
He set his glass down on the coffee table and turned to face her. “Now you’re wondering if it’s really possible. You want to believe, but your rational mind won’t let you.”
“Maybe you’re just really good at drawing conclusions about people.”
“Rebecca, I’m telling you the truth.” He scooted himself closer to her and reached out, resting his hand on hers. “I know what you were thinking about me this morning, too.”
Her face flushed red with embarrassment.
“I’m sorry I made you uncomfortable with the way I looked at you,” he said. He reached up and pressed his hand to the side of her face, sending a chill racing through her. “You’re just so beautiful.”
She tried to speak, but her words caught in her throat.
“I didn’t come to see you tonight because of anything related to the lab,” he continued. As he spoke he leaned in closer, inching his face closer and closer to hers. She felt a burst of excitement and anticipation wash over her.
“Why did you come, then?”
“Because I felt a level of attraction to you that I had never felt before, at least not for a very long time.”
He leaned in and pressed his lips to her, slowly at first, and then more fiercely. Even his lips were cold, but their contact with her own sent a warm sensation of longing spread through her.
Her mind was spinning. Could he really read her thoughts? She still didn’t believe him, but she didn’t want him to stop kissing her, so she didn’t say anything.
He moved his lips from hers down to her neck, brushing them softly against her skin. “You tempt me, Rebecca,” he admitted. “I want you; I need you.”
She felt her pulse quicken and her hands become sweaty. Reaching up and running her hands through his hair, she let herself become completely consumed by the moment.
He sat back quickly, pulling his shirt off over his head. His body was perfectly sculpted, and she felt a stir of longing begin to form in her stomach.
He leaned forward, pushing her back onto the couch, lifting her shirt off over her head as he did. He kissed her chest as he ran his hands slowly over the curves of her body.
The contact of his skin to hers sent shivers running through her. Her hands shook as she reached down, fumbling with the zipper of his pants. He continued to caress her body, his movements slow and tender.
They both quickly slipped out of the remainder of their clothes, tossing them aside carelessly, still lost in their moment of passion. As he moved towards her, his eyes appeared to sparkle even more than they had previously. The blue in them was all but gone, leaving behind only the mesmerizing silver color.
When their bodies came together again, she no longer noticed the cold, cooling feeling of his skin against hers. The only sensation she had was that of pure lust and anticipation.
Lying back on the couch, she hooked her arm around his neck, pulling him down on top of her. She spread her legs, welcoming him. The instant he slipped himself inside her, a feeling of intense satisfaction overwhelmed her in a way she had never felt before.
He buried his face into her neck as she dug her nails into his sides, pulling his body down further, forcing him deeper into her. His movements were careful and reserved, but still powerful. He let out a soft grunt as he shifted his hips around, finding each pleasure center in her, sending a shiver of satisfaction bolting through her with each movement.
She reached up and grabbed onto his hair, tugging at it greedily as she felt her body begin to tense with release. The experience consumed her completely. It was unlike any feeling she had had with any other man.
They pulled apart, a feeling of emptiness suddenly building up inside her quickly replacing the pleasure he had just given her. She rolled onto her side, trying to catch her breath. He smiled at her as he wrapped his arms around her. Pulling her to him and holding her close. She rested her head on his chest, her breathing heavy and her heart racing.
That’s when she realized something was very wrong. Not only was his skin still cold, his heart wasn’t racing. It wasn’t just that. As they sat in the silence, she listened. There was nothing—he had no heartbeat.
CHAPTER FIVE
She didn’t have to say anything because he knew. He sighed softly as the connections began to fire in her mind. She pushed herself up off him quickly, a look of absolute fear in her eyes. Reaching for her clothes, she quickly and sloppily pulled them on.
He reluctantly sat up, and began pulling on his clothes as well. “Will you let me explain?” he asked, his voice calm.
“What the hell are you?” she said, backing away from him.
In a flash, he disappeared from the spot on the couch where she left him. He appeared directly behind her, causing her to let out a horrified scream.
“Don’t,” he said in a hushed tone. “Don’t be afraid.”
Her heart was pounding violently in her chest, and her ears were beginning to ring. She felt a gripping fear wrap itself around her, causing her to become completely frozen in shock. “How did you…?”
He took her hand in his and let out a quiet sigh. “I’m not like you,” he said.
“That’s obvious,” she replied.
“You know what I am,” he said slowly.
“I don’t,” she countered quickly. “I have no idea what the hell you are!”
“Say it, Rebecca. You’re thinking it. I know you are.”
“You can’t be.”
He opened his mouth slightly, running the edge of his tongue along his teeth. As he did, she saw his incisors descend, becoming large, sharp, and fear inducing.
She ripped her hand from his and clapped it over her mouth, stepping away from him.
“You’re a…” she choked, unable to say the last word.
“A vampire,” he
said, finishing her sentence for her.
“Vampires aren’t real,” she countered.
He reached out and took her hand, placing it firmly against his chest—still no heartbeat. “I assure you, we are very real.”
She felt like she was going to pass out. The air seemed thin, and no matter how hard she tried to fill her lungs, she couldn’t.
“You need to sit down,” he said, wrapping his strong arm around her and leading her over to the couch.
Once she was seated, she pushed herself away from his as much as she could, turning to observe him with an air of caution.
“Will you let me explain everything now?” he asked.
“You can try.”
“Yes, I am a vampire. And, the honest truth is, many of the employees that are working at Dalton Research Facility are as well.”
“Many of them?”
“Not all of them, but there is a significant number who are like me.”
“Do the others who aren’t know? Do they know what you are?”
“No,” he said shaking his head firmly. “And my people prefer it that way. They’re still nervous around the mortals. They prefer to keep our existence a secret for the time being.”
“Then why hire us at all?”
“My kind is struggling right now.”
“What does that mean?”
“The inner workings are complex,” he said shifting his weight around, thinking. “The easiest way to explain it is that we have our own system. We have our own hierarchy, and I’m at the top of it. I’m the Clan King.”
“King?” she said, letting out a slight laugh. “You’re the vampire King?”
He looked at her, the expression on his face very serious. “Yes.”
“Okay,” she said, wiping the smile from her face and giving him her full attention again.
“I’ve been leading my people for over 50 years.”
“Fifty? How old are you?”
“I was born in 1912.”
Doing the math quickly in her head, her jaw fell open. “You’re 104 years old?”
“Yes. I was turned in 1939, when I was twenty-seven. My biological parents were both mortals. So was I, at one point.”
“What happened?”
“I was attacked one night. A group of men jumped me, stabbed me, stole everything I had and left me for dead. That’s when Richard Hanks found me. I was lying in a ditch, barely clinging to life. He turned me. He saved my life.”
“By killing you, sort of.”
“Yes,” he nodded. “Richard was the King before me. When he was ready, he stepped down and I inherited the title.”
“How? Obviously it’s not a blood line sort of thing.”
“Usually, the King chooses a successor. He spends years, decades even, training and preparing him. The clan accepts him, almost always without question.”
“What do you mean by almost always?”
“In the last few years, my reign has been questioned. There is a group, a small group, who want to overthrow me. Their leader Alex Peterson wants to take the power for himself.”
“Why?”
“He doesn’t agree with some of the changes I’ve been trying to implement—the synthetic blood research being one of them. As I’m sure you’ve figured out by now, we’re not just doing it for medical purposes. It’s for feeding as well.”
“Why would he be against that?”
“He and his followers believe that we are what we are, and we can’t change that. We prey on the living; we crave their blood. He believes that the synthetic blood will make us weak, at least in the eyes of the mortals, they won’t fear us anymore. But, I don’t see it that way,” he said passionately. “If we can find a viable substitute, then there might be the possibility of making our existence known to the world. If mortals don’t have to fear us, they may accept us. If they accept us, we don’t have to live our lives in hiding, in constant fear. It won’t weaken us, but make us stronger. We would be able to fully embrace who we are, and possibly even become an asset to society.”
“An asset?”
“We have abilities.”
“Like reading minds,” she noted.
“Exactly. Not all of us share the same abilities, either. There’s a wide range of things that could make us very useful in a lot of different circumstances.”
“I still don’t understand why you hired me or any one not like you to work at the lab,” she said. While the information he was giving her was quickly threatening to overwhelm her again, she tried to digest it slowly, piece by piece.
“Alex left our clan and took a decent number of our people with him. The reason we began hiring mortals is simple—we need more employees; we need more people working with us.”
“But isn’t that dangerous?”
“It hasn’t been until right now,” he took her hands in his and stared deeply into her eyes. “Rebecca, I need you to keep this a secret. The others at the lab cannot know that you know. It’s not just for me, but for your own good as well.”
“I won’t say anything,” she promised. “But why is it such a big deal?”
“It’s not something you need to worry about right now,” he assured her. “I think I’ve overwhelmed you enough with information for one night.”
He had. Her mind was still reeling when he left. It wasn’t just what he had said that left her feeling lightheaded. It was him as well. As she watched him leave, a part of her heart sunk into her stomach. She was terrified of him on one level, but on another she still longed to be with him.
CHAPTER SIX
“He told you, didn’t he?” Heather asked one day as she stared down into her microscope.
“Who told me what?” Rebecca asked, her heart suddenly leaping into her throat. She had spent the last week and a half trying to play it cool. It wasn’t hard, since the only person she interacted with regularly was Heather. She didn’t think she had let on at all. Clearly she was wrong.
“Charles told you about us.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, playing dumb.
“I can’t read minds like him,” Heather said turning to face her. “But I can sense feelings. And, since your second day here, you’ve been extremely nervous around me. At first I assumed you were just worried about being new. But, your emotions seem to waver back and forth between nervous, frightened, and curious.”
Rebecca looked at her, her mouth hanging open. “You’re one too?”
“Yes. So,” Heather continued, “when did he tell you?”
“The first day,” Rebecca admitted.
Heather’s mouth turned up into a slight smile as she studied Rebecca’s face. “You like him,” she noted.
“Excuse me?”
“When you talk about him, your emotions start to shift frantically. But, the strongest one coming through is attraction.”
“He’s handsome,” Rebecca admitted, trying to keep her feelings in check.
“He is,” Heather agreed, “but I’m just going to warn you, getting involved with him is not a good idea for you. It would be very bad news if a mortal got into a relationship with one of us, especially the King.”
A shiver of fear ran down her back.
“Oh, don’t worry,” Heather said, smiling weakly, “I won’t tell. I like you. I enjoy working with you, and I want to keep you around.”
Despite the fact they knew they shouldn’t, Rebecca and Charles continued to see each other regularly, always in secret. The first time he took her to his home was just a few days after her talk with Heather.
She was left speechless at the sight of it. It wasn’t just a house; it was a mansion. Tucked far back in the woods, it was almost completely hidden from view. As they got closer, she was quickly amazed by the mere size of it.
He led her inside, where she was once again amazed by the immaculate condition of the home. It was obvious that it was an old house, but its condition was very well maintained. A butler greeted them at the door. He eyed her suspiciously
before turning his attention to Charles.
“You brought one here?” he asked softly.
Charles didn’t respond, but pushed past him, taking hold of Rebecca’s hand and leading her further into the house.
“What about your servants?” she asked. “They know about me now.”
“They’ve been with me for as long as I’ve been King. I trust them,” he assured her.