Laura shook her head. “No, the thought of you having a mom.” She retorted.
He let out a fit of hearty laughter, and Laura knew that she had won back his favor. “Everyone has one.” he replied in a joking voice.
Laura glowered at him. “Oh you know what I mean.”
After that, the two of them settled into a calm silence, occupying their senses by taking in the night around them. Roy tried his best to keep a firm hold on her to keep her from freaking out and Laura tried her best not to think of every rustle in the bushes as her killer coming to slash her throat. They had almost reached the other side when Laura saw something move out of the corner of her eye. “Oh my God, Roy.”she muttered in an excited voice.
“What?” He demanded, darting around them.
But Laura had her eyes trained on a small rabbit who had found its way to the asphalt trail. His white fur gleamed silver in the moonlight, and his almond eyes, big and beady, seemed to carry the depth of all the oceans in the world inside of them. She found herself entranced as she slipped her phone out of her small clutch and knelt for a picture. “Oh, wait. I have to get this. Oh my God. It's going to look so good when I edit it.” she replied and focused her camera on it, her eyes wide as she was still mesmerized by the beauty of the creature right in front of her. For a moment, she had completely forgotten her fears about being in that park; had completely forgotten that it was so late at night to begin with.
Roy chuckled at this. “Hashtag. No filter.” he muttered.
It took everything in Laura to suppress that laughter. The truth was that she didn't want to scare that rabbit away. However, before she could even get a good picture of it, it scurried away. It's little feet moved so fast that it was completely out of sight before she could snap even one picture. “What the-” she started as she darted up, her gaze sweeping the ground around her.... but he was nowhere to be found. “Oh no!” she cried, finding herself stupidly disappointed that she could not get a good look at that rabbit.
But Roy had already taken his first step towards the bushes. “Don't worry. I know where it went.” he replied, reaching his hand out for her phone.
At the sight of him putting in so much effort for this, Laura already felt as if she had overreacted with the whole thing. “Oh, it's not that important. Don't worry about it.” she told him.
But he just shook his head and swiped her phone out of her hand. “I'd feel awful if you didn't get at least one little thing out of this insanely scary walk.”
Laura dropped her shoulders. “Okay. It's not that scary.” she replied, still a little hesitant about sending the guy she was dating after a random rabbit, just so that she could have a cool picture for social media.
But he didn't want to wait any longer. “Laura, just let me do this. I don't understand.” With that, he disappeared into the bushes with nothing but his footsteps to indicate that he was still there.
Laura sighed a little at a loss for what to do or think about in his absence. She paced back and forth, her heart swelling in that scary way that it does when she realizes that she might like someone a little bit more than they liked her. “How am I even going to ask him to be exclusive?” she muttered to herself as she stared at her white, pointed flats. Was tonight the night? Just as she was telling herself to calm down before she got way too ahead of herself, she looked up to find a man towering over her. His eyes were ice blue and his body, though draped in layers of torn clothing, was heavy revealing two forearms with his veins protruding just under the thin surface of worn skin. He held on hand out to her, but in the other hand was a blade, glinting in the moonlight.
Chapter Three
“Give me your money.” his voice shook enough to let her know that he was definitely doped out on something, but firm enough for her to realize that he would not hesitate to use that knife in his hand.
Eight years in New York had hardened Laura enough to say, “No.”
He raised one of those bushy eyebrows, cocking his head to the side as if he couldn't believe she would refuse him. He took another step towards her, then stood his ground, shifting his weight from foot to foot swaying back and forward.
Laura could say that she was incredibly frightened even though he couldn't even hold her gaze. She stood frozen in her spot, her stomach lurching and her skin covered in goosebumps. She could muster enough brain power to refuse him the expensive bag her late mother had given her for her 21st birthday. “I can't give you this. I'm sorry.” she replied, but because he had demanded it of her and not even deigned to ask her like a nice person, she wasn't the least bit sorry. Besides, Roy was coming back at any moment.... wasn't he?
“It wasn't a question.” he replied in his sickly voice.
Laura shook her head frantically, her heart fluttering in her chest and desperately calling out for Roy to come to her rescue. Yet, conveniently, his footsteps had already faded away. “Okay. Fine.” She replied, but she failed at keeping her frustration out of her voice. She rummaged through her clutched for her small wallet, but she always packed light when she went out with Roy, taking nothing but a credit card just in case, by some freak accident, one of his declined. Aside from that, she'd only have cash if it had been left in it from the last time she used it. A sigh slipped out of her lips as she shook her head. This guy was in for a big disappointment. “Look. I don't have any money in here.” she muttered as she opened her small wallet for him to see for himself.
He glowered disbelievingly at her. “Then give me the bag.” he demanded, lunging for it.
Laura jumped out of his reach, some sort of primal protective instinct igniting inside of her. “I can't give this to you. I refuse.” she hissed, wondering how the hell Roy still hadn't shown up yet.
He winced as if in complete disbelief that she would deny him; a man clearly much bigger than her and brandishing a weapon of his own, when she stood there, caught off guard and unarmed. “It wasn't a request.”
“I know, but it's a waste of time. You won't get anything for it.” She replied, misguidedly thinking that she was going to be able to reason with him.
He just took another step at her and wrapped his rough hand around her wrist, yanking her so that she was standing that much closer to him. She could smell his foul breath and rancid odor of a body that had not seen a shower in weeks. “Give it to me!” he growled.
Laura gasped, trying to yank herself free of his grip, but it was completely useless. He was much stronger than his red eyes lot off that he was. She had no hope of getting free. That's when she realized that once she gave this man her purse, whose to say he would stop there? What if she had just found herself in a textbook mugging situation? How was she going to defend herself? She wasn't sure if it was the horror movie, or the ice cream, or all that time spent with Roy, but Laura was starting to feel a bit reckless and a little more sure of herself. She drew her clutch away from him and drove it into his face as hard as she could.
“Agh!” he let go of her and stumbled a few steps back, his hand flying to the rapidly forming bruise on the side of his face.
This time, Laura didn't wait for him to recover, or count on anymore reasoning for him. She pivoted on her heal and launched herself in the opposite direction, blindly running in the opposite direction from him. “Roy!” she roared breathlessly as she struggled to put one heavy foot in front of the other. Yoga had done nothing to prepare her for this kind of physical activity, but the sound of her attacker rapidly pursuing her was enough to edge her on.
“Come back!” he roared after.
She could feel him catching up to her, fancying that she could just hear the sound of his ragged breath shadowing over her neck. Just like that, she thought of darting off the trail, for as long as she stayed on the path, he could follow her, and it was becoming apparent that it was all too easy for him to outrun her. But if she jumped off, she could hide and hopefully he would give up the pursuit? But by the time she had reached the right place to jump away, he had caught up to her.
He threw himself at her, landing like a boulder on top of her. She tumbled to the ground, her ankle twisting in the process. A pained scream slipped out of her lips as she landed on the ground, her face scratching on the pavement. She gasped, a cracking sound ringing through the night as her skull slapped the asphalt. Her hands, which had flown in front of her in the hopes of catching her fall were scathed and bleeding. She turned to get back up, but he had already mounted her. This time, when she looked into his eyes, she saw nothing but stupid anger, uncontrollable and unfocused.
“Shit.” she hissed, just as he threw a punch.
Her head slammed to the right, her neck snapping to pick up the impact of it all. Her head rung from the blow, but something about that only made her more angry. She tried to pressed her body against him, throwing a punch of her own, but the force of that alone was enough to fracture her own fist. “Ughhh!” she screeched, but, luckily for her, he swayed a little backward. That punch, plus the impact of her purse was enough to fracture the bone beneath his tough skin.
Laura sucked in a deep breath and ignored the pain in her fist enough to throw yet another punch at him. This was enough to weaken his grip so that she could slither away from him. She twisted her body and crawled away, fully intending to stand up once she had put enough space between herself and him. But she had only crawled a foot away from him when he reached out and grabbed a handfull of the thick head of hair she had spent over an hour curling for that very date. A screech slipped through her lips as her neck yanked backwards. He lifted her onto her knees through the sheer force of pulling on her hair as he stood up.
Laura through her hand frantically upwards, trying her best to get a grip on him to stop him or anything. But nothing worked. He lifted her over her ankles, then drove the back of her head into the ground. Her eyes went wide as her brain slammed against the inside of her skull. The stars and the moon turned into white light as every hair on her skin stood on end. Her jaw hung stupidly open as she struggled to keep taking in oxygen. But nothing could help the mind blowing pain frying her every nerve. “Stoppit. Stoppit!” she gasped, as he grabbed her head yet again and began to drag her by it, a crazy laugh tumbling out of his mouth.
Just when she thought he would never stop, he did, haphazardly dropping her onto the pavement again. He began to rummage in his pockets for his knife, but, this time, Laura could do nothing to take advantage of this little bit of time. She willed herself to get up, but even sitting upright was to much for her to manage. She twisted onto her stomach and began to crawl away from him her arms giving out beneath her on every third step. Even though she could hear him walking beside her, taking delight in her every pained step, she couldn't give up and just accept defeat. “Roy?” she spat as her arm gave out for the last time.
This time, the man did not even bother to flip her over. He lifted her head up and placed that cold, glinting knife against it. Laura's eyes flickered shut. She was no fool. She could feel the end when it knocked on her door. She couldn't help but to think how terrible of timing this was. It came just as she was getting to know someone she really liked, just when her agent was in the middle of a deal for a great, midtown apartment, just when she was really starting to get the hang of this whole, adulthood, thing...
A chocking sound forced its way out of her mouth as what could only be described as a deep stinging ache spread its way through her entire body and a thick red substance began to seep down her neck. Just when she was beginning to lose consciousness, she felt something rip him off of her back. Her head, no longer supported by her killer's rough touch, slammed against the asphalt for the last time and she began to lose consciousness...
Chapter Four
Laura's eyes flicked open and closed as she watched a tall, lean figure that could only be Roy slam his head into that of the man who had attacked her. He slipped the knife clear out of his hand and drove it into his heart without hesitation. The man staggered backwards before toppling over like a great redwood, his eyes open like a dead fish. In the next moment, Roy was by her side, but when Laura looked at him, she noticed something incredibly strange about his face. His eyes had turned from their usual brown into a deep red color, and there were four fangs clearly protruding from his mouth. Laura wanted to demand of him an explanation of what had taken so long for him to come to her rescue, and what the hell was wrong with his face, but she was quickly losing consciousness and even a simple question was too much for her to wrap her brain around.
He cradled her head in his arms and even through his paranormal appearance, she could convince herself that she was seeing some sort of semblance of concern. “There's so much blood.” He croaked, his eyes scanning her body.
“What... took... you...” she started, but her lungs gave out. Her jaw swung open as she struggled to recover her breath.
“I could kill him.” he growled, his hands curling into fists as he glared down at her.
“You already did....” Laura replied, but her words collapsed into a fit of coughed, blood and plegm splattered everywhere.
“I am going to do something to you that will change your life forever.” Roy's voice had drastically changed, becoming much more calm and pensive.
Laura opened her mouth to demand some answers, but before she could say anything, he shushed her.
“I'm a vampire.” Roy confessed.
But Laura had already guessed that....
“And I'm gonna make you one too.” he continued in a voice that simply just could not be argued with.
Laura's eyes went wide and a gasped slipped out of her lips, but he sunk his teeth into her chest before she could utter so much as a gasp in protest.
Chapter Five
Laura's eyes flashed open to a four post bed and a mirror on the opposite wall, on in which she could not see her own reflection. She was lying in between 600 count Egyptian cotton sheets and a quilt embroidered with gold. The walls were painted red, interrupted only occasionally with a painting or two. To her right was the only window in the room, and through it, she could see the sky flashing crimson red as the sun began to set. She couldn't believe that an entire day had passed that she had been dead to the world. With a gasp, she had an urge to lunge for her phone, but when she checked the side table, the most natural place for it to be, it wasn't there. She sat back onto the ten pillows that held her propped up, and began sifting through her problem-solving brain to figure out what to do next.
She had only gotten through the process of remembering the mugging that had took her beyond the edge of her life before there was a knock on the door. “Yes?” she called, wincing at the croak that slipped out of her mouth.
The door opened to reveal Roy on the other side of it. He stepped inside of her room and made it to the bed. “Did I finally sleep at your house?” she asked, meaning for it to be a joke.
A look of confusion flashed across his face before he finally realized what she was talking about and managed a quick chuckle before sitting next to her on her the bed.
She shifted to the other side to give him room, but as she did that, her gown brushed against the wound on her chest, releasing a sharp pang. She looked down at it, seeing the holes the his fangs had left. Then the second part of that night came to mind. “Roy?” she asked, but when she looked up at him, she saw that he was already looking down at her, waiting for the inevitable question. “Did you bite me?” she asked.
He nodded solemnly.
She released a huff of breath, relaxing back onto the stack of pillows. “So, I'm a vampire now?” she asked, taking note of the fact that, aside from her many wounds and profound fatigue, she felt no different.
He shook his head. “The transformation isn't complete yet. I, as your maker, must plant my seed inside of you to make it complete.” he explained.
Laura sucked in a deep breath, panic setting in. “But, what if I don't want to be a vampire?” she demanded, her eyes prickling with tears.
At that, her door opened and another man entered.
She turned, merely to see who this new person was, but found herself mesmerized by his beauty. The man was even taller than Roy and his every muscle looked as if it had been meticulously carved by Michelangelo himself. But even in his youthful stance, there was something about his eyes that made Laura believe he was much older than the both of them combined.
“If I don't complete what I have started, the little bit of venom that is keeping you alive right now will eventually start to eat away at you. I have to end your human existence.”
Laura nodded. This had to be up there on the list of worst things that could possibly happen to her, but when it was immortality, or death, who would really chose the former.
The second man sat on the other side of her, examining her wounds. She desperately tried to ignore the way his touch was making her feel, but was bitterly failing. “So, you said something about planting your seed?” she asked.
He nodded. “This is why we have never made love before.”
The other man had already begun to run his hands up and down her bare arms, raising goose bumps all over her body. “Because it could kill me?” she asked.
Paranormal Romance: Saved For the Vampire (Menage Romance,BBW Romance, Vampire Romance) Page 2