by Wood, C. C.
“It may be a while before I find a place, Dee. Don’t worry, I won’t clear out without talking to you first.”
She nodded, though I could tell she wanted to argue. I was saved from further discussion by Conner coming back into the kitchen.
“Ready, Donna?” he asked.
She nodded and went to put her coffee cup in the sink. The look she gave me said that she wasn’t finished talking about this. I ignored it and waved good-bye to her and Conner as they left the kitchen. He grinned at me as they walked out. For some reason, the damn vampire thought I was hilarious.
I shook my head and set about making myself something to eat. Once I finished my bagel and coffee, I went upstairs to shower and get down to work.
That had been eight weeks ago. In that time, I had started working more and found an apartment. It was smaller than my previous place, but it was much safer. The complex was gated and had a guard at the front. I also had three deadbolts and a chain on my door. Though a vampire could probably just kick it off its hinges, at least I would have protection from human predators.
Also, in those eight weeks, I hadn’t heard a peep from Lex. I assumed he finally decided that the measly human, me, wasn’t worth the effort, and moved on. I told myself that I was glad, that I didn’t want a sexy vampire with dark eyes and phenomenal body chasing after me. I didn’t need someone so bossy in my life.
It was early evening on Thursday and I was leaving a meeting with a client when it happened. The sun was low in the sky and I was digging in my bag for my keys. I was a few feet from my car when a small woman approached me.
I nodded in greeting and kept walking. She stopped right in front of me and I started to sidestep her, thinking that she was being rude.
Even though she was the rude one, I muttered, “Excuse me,” with a hint of sarcasm and moved to skirt around her.
“Wait,” she whispered.
Against my will, my body stopped. Oh shit, not again. I looked up from my purse into her eyes, which were a brilliant hazel, glowing like two amber stones in the setting sun.
“Come with me,” she murmured softly.
She turned and began to walk to a large white SUV with dark tinted windows. My feet moved, even as I fought against it with every ounce of will I possessed. I glared at her, hatred in my eyes, as she opened the back passenger door for me. She gestured for me to get in, which I did, and then slammed the door. I tried to turn my head to watch her walk around the vehicle, but she made me sit perfectly still.
There was a male vampire in the front seat, smirking at me. If he hadn’t had such cold, dead black eyes and a cruel smile on his face, he would have been beautiful. I refused to meet his eyes as the female vamp opened the door directly behind the driver’s seat and climbed into the SUV next to me.
“Look at me,” she said.
Like some sort of doll in a horror movie, my head turned on my neck. Though I could slow down my body’s response to her commands, I couldn’t resist completely. The sharp edge of the memory of my repeated nightmares cut into my composure, but I couldn’t scream or cry as I wanted to. Instead, all I could manage was to face the woman who had essentially kidnapped me.
Her eyes were blank, not cold, not angry, as she studied me. Finally, after what seemed like minutes, she merely said, “Sleep.”
That was the last thing I remembered.
* * *
I woke up feeling well-rested and relaxed for the first time in months. I stretched my arms, arching my back. Sunlight filtered in through my blinds in my bedroom. I glanced at the clock and saw it was just a little after six in the morning.
With a sigh, I rolled out of bed. I looked down and realized I was dressed in my prettiest satin nightgown, the one I bought in hopes that it would inspire some passion in Stanley. It hadn’t worked and I had shoved it in the back of my lingerie drawer. Instead, I usually wore huge men’s t-shirts to bed and baggy shorts. Sometimes a big nightshirt.
I couldn’t remember putting it on, but, for some reason, that didn’t bother me. Instead, I went into the bathroom, slid off the gown, and climbed into the shower. It was Friday and I had made plans with Donna and several of my other friends to meet for girls’ night in at Donna’s McMansion. I couldn’t wait. Conner was supposed to be gone for the night. There was even talk of a sleepover in the huge home theater. Instead of chairs, though there were a few, Conner had installed huge comfy couches and daybeds. I honestly thought perhaps he hosted orgies in there before he met Donna, but I didn’t mention it.
I got ready for work and packed a small bag just in case girls’ night in led to drunken merriment and a sleepover. I even included my bathing suit. I had really enjoyed my last girls’ night with Donna in the hot tub before Lex showed up.
I floated through my work day, feeling less stressed than usual. I was excited about my weekend plans and I couldn’t wait to leave, but I wasn’t restless, which was strange. Usually, when I had fun weekend plans, I was full of energy and couldn’t sit still. I fidgeted through meetings and work. Today, I just did what needed to be done, oddly calm and serene.
I chalked it up to a good night’s sleep. When the clock hit five, I closed down my computer, grabbed my stuff, and headed out to my car. The drive to Donna’s took longer than usual because traffic was horrendous. When I finally arrived, I wasn’t quite as relaxed as before. Still, it wasn’t anything a glass of wine couldn’t fix.
I grabbed my stuff and climbed out of the car. Donna threw open the door as I climbed the steps.
“C’mon, bitch. Get a move on! I need a drink!”
I laughed as I followed her inside the house and we made a beeline for the kitchen. She had several bottles of liquor and mixers on the counter top and glasses. On the island, Donna had arranged several trays of food that looked incredible.
I glanced at her in disbelief. “You made that?” I asked.
She glared at me. “What, you don’t think I could?”
My eyes shifted away from hers as I tried to figure out the best way to tell her that I certainly did not but still not hurt her feelings. I was saved from answering by the clatter of heels from the hallway.
Shannon, Ricki, and Kerry burst into the kitchen.
“No, it doesn’t,” Kerry said.
“It does,” Ricki insisted.
Shannon was holding her phone in front of the three of them. “Sorry, Kerry, I’m with Ricki, it kinda does.”
“What are you three arguing about?” I asked, grateful for the interruption and the protection of the three of them.
Shannon handed me her phone.
“Oh sweet baby Jesus!” I shouted and tried to give it back to her. “What the hell is that?”
“It’s uncut peen,” Ricki answered.
“What?” I asked, trying not to look at the screen, but failing. It was like a car crash. You couldn’t look away, even though you really, really wanted to.
Kerry sighed. “It’s an uncircumcised penis,” she answered matter-of-factly. “And I don’t see what the big deal is. It isn’t a common practice in countries like Great Britain unless you’re Jewish. It’s natural.”
“It looks like a fucking Chinese finger trap, that’s why,” Ricki cried.
Shannon just snorted. I bit my lip to keep from laughing, because, while Kerry had a point, Ricki’s description was spot on and hilarious.
Kerry looked at Donna. “Help me out here, please.”
Shannon and Ricki looked at Donna in confusion for a moment and I realized what Kerry meant. I couldn’t hold in the guffaw that burst out of me and clapped my hand over my mouth.
“What?” Ricki asked.
“Think about it,” I managed to say between giggles.
Finally, the light dawned for Ricki and Shannon.
“Oh my God!” Ricki shrieked. “Does Conner have a Chinese finger trap?”
The rest of us, with the exception of Donna, dissolved into laughter. Donna’s face said it all, as a deep red flush crept up her neck t
o her cheeks.
“Shut up,” she snapped as she went back to making drinks. “I’m not discussing the state of Conner’s penis with the four of you.” She paused, looking confused. “And why are we talking about this at all?”
Shannon snorted. “Those pictures are from a guy I follow on Twitter. He’s constantly posting pics of his junk.”
This set us off again and it was at least five minutes before we were able to calm down. By then, Donna had mixed up a huge batch of mojitos and was watching us with a perturbed expression on her face.
I wiped the tears from my eyes. “Sorry, Dee. You have to admit it was a little funny.”
She made a face, but kept drinking.
I decided to let the subject drop, as did the other girls. It wasn’t nice to laugh at another woman’s peen. Or at the peen of her fiancé.
I saw the corner of Donna’s mouth twitch and realized she caught that last errant thought. She hadn’t completely lost her sense of humor.
“So who made the food?” Shannon asked.
Donna set her glass down with a sharp snap. “Goddammit, is it so unbelievable that I could cook something like that?”
Kerry and Ricki both nodded.
Donna threw her hands in the air. “Fine. No, I didn’t cook it. Mrs. Brown, the housekeeper, did.”
I walked over and took a glass of mojito from the counter in front of her. When her eyes met mine, I winked. She just shook her head, but smiled. We lived to give each other shit in our group. If we weren’t ragging on one another, that usually meant someone was sick, hurt, or we were fighting like sisters.
We all snacked and drank and discussed our week. It was nice to hang out. Now that things were more settled between Donna and Conner, we tried to have girls’ night in at least twice a month, though we usually had it at her house because it was so much larger and nicer than anything we had on our own. Kerry’s condo was pretty damn cool, as was Ricki’s loft and Shannon’s apartment, but putting the five of us in any of those spaces was a tight fit.
Finally, after we cleaned the platters and stuck them in the sink, we took our booze and headed toward the hot tub. I brought my bag and purse with me so I could change into my suit.
Everyone changed and we all sat in the hot, bubbling water, sipping our drinks, and chatting quietly. It was incredibly relaxing. I felt the last of the tension caused by the earlier traffic jams finally ease. I leaned my head back against the side of the tub and just breathed.
It was going on ten at night when Donna perked up.
“Conner’s home,” she squealed.
She was definitely tipsy, which meant that she had consumed a lot of alcohol. Vampires had to drink much more than an average human in order to get drunk. Or drink blood from someone who was two drinks away from alcohol poisoning. I glanced at the table near the hot tub and saw two empty bottles of rum. Shit, we were all hammered.
I climbed out of the water and was standing by the table, pouring myself one last mojito, when Conner walked into the room. All the girls, with the exception of Donna and I, whistled and catcalled as he walked toward his fiancée.
I could understand why. He moved with loose-hipped grace that was emphasized by his snug dark wash jeans and tight black t-shirt.
As he leaned down to kiss her, the noise intensified. When he straightened to grin at the girls, I swear they all moaned and he just chuckled.
“Okay, bitches, this is killing me. I need more booze,” Ricki said loudly. She pointed to Kerry and Shannon. “You two come help me make some more mojitos or margaritas or something.”
Conner and Donna grinned at them as they left the room.
I realized that I had somehow ended up over by my bag. I glanced around, wondering how in the hell I had moved without realizing it. A little voice whispered almost silently in my mind. I stopped what I was doing for a moment, trying to catch what the voice said, but couldn’t quite grasp it all.
In horror, I watched as my hands began to move without my permission. My left hand opened my purse and my right reached inside. I tried to stop myself, to control the motions of my hands, but they seemed to have a mind of their own. Literally.
I tried to say something, to scream for help, but no sound came out. Instead, I watched as my right hand emerged from the bag, wrapped around the grip of a snub-nosed revolver. I wasn’t even sure what kind of gun it was. Only that it was big and scary looking.
I told my fingers to release the handle, but my feet carried me toward Conner and Donna. As I moved across the room, I realized that I was about to harm one of the people I cared for the most. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. A vague memory of a female vampire with hazel eyes skirted the edge of my mind, but refused to come into focus.
Donna and Conner were talking to Ricki, Kerry, and Shannon and they were laughing and smiling, completely oblivious to the danger I presented. I struggled to force enough air to scream past the tightness in my throat, but nothing happened.
God, I was going to shoot my best friend and her fiancé in cold blood. Sweat broke out on my skin as I fought the hold of the vampire mind control. I was slowing down my movements, but still couldn’t gain complete control.
I realized that there was nothing I could do, physically, to stop what I was about to do. Then, it hit me. I didn’t have to say anything aloud. While the mind control and brainwashing controlled my body, my mind was still clear.
In my head, as loud as I could, I screamed, Conner!
It worked.
His head snapped up and twisted so he could see me. When he saw the gun I held in my hand and the sweat pouring from my forehead, he immediately understood what was happening.
Help me! I begged silently.
Moving so quickly that my eyes couldn’t track him, Conner crossed the room and grabbed my wrist.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. Then his free hand came up and he clocked me with his palm.
At his open-handed slap, I went down hard. All I could think is that at least it hadn’t been his fist, because that fucking hurt, then all the lights went out.
Chapter Five
Something rough moved lightly across my cheek. I twitched, trying to dislodge it, but it continued on a path across my cheekbone, up my temple, and into my hair. I realized that someone’s hand was in my hair, gently massaging my scalp and running fingers through the strands. It felt incredibly nice. Without a thought, I turned my face into the caress, enjoying the sensation of being petted.
Then my memory returned and my eyes popped open. I started to jack knife into a sitting position, but a firm hand on my breastbone held me flat.
“Sh, little one. Don’t try to sit up just yet. Give yourself a moment.”
My eyes rolled around until I could see Lex sitting next to my hip, wearing a dark red shirt and gray slacks. He looked edible.
“Is Conner okay? Donna? I didn’t hurt them, did I?” I asked. “Oh God, what about the other girls? Did they see?”
Lex shook his head. “They weren’t in the room when Conner took you down.”
I tried to sit up again.
Lex continued to stroke my hair. “Calm down, Ivie. It’s fine. You did not have a chance to harm them.” He turned my head slightly so that the left side of my face was in the light. “I’m more concerned about you. Conner said he hit you a little harder than he normally would have. He wanted to be sure you were unconscious.”
I blinked and took stock of my body. Other than a slight headache and the pain in my cheek, I felt fine. “I think I’m good,” I murmured.
I gingerly pushed myself into sitting position and looked around. I didn’t recognize my surroundings. Touching my cheek and feeling the tightness and swelling under my skin, I winced.
“Where am I?” I asked.
Lex pushed my hand away and touched his lips to the place where Conner’s slap had connected.
I froze and stared at him as he straightened and stood from the lounger I had been lying on. I completely lost track of m
y question because I was so consumed with the hot imprint of his mouth on my cheek.
“You’re at my home,” he answered shortly.
“Huh?” I asked. Then I blinked and remembered that I had asked him where I was. I watched as he walked to a small bar area in the corner of the room and poured me a glass of water from a bottle. “Why am I here?”
“For your safety,” was his only answer.
I stared at him for a moment before I responded. I didn’t like the way he was avoiding my gaze or the way that he wasn’t giving me any more information than necessary. I didn’t like it at all.
“What do you mean, for my safety?” I asked.
He came back to the chaise lounge and handed me the water. “Drink that.”
I took the glass, but just held it and stared at him.
“Drink,” he said again, his voice dropping.
God, he was so damned bossy. I wished that I didn’t find that attractive.
I took a couple of small sips. “Are you going to answer my question?”
“After your actions at Conner’s home, it has become clear that our enemies intend to use whatever means necessary to obtain what they want, even if the means are dishonorable.”
“Okay, what exactly happened?” He looked at me incredulously, and I clarified. “I mean, I know what I did. I didn’t want to do it, but couldn’t stop myself. I’ve only felt that way one other time in my life and that was when I was kidnapped a few months ago. Obviously, a vampire brainwashed me, or hypnotized me or something.”
Lex nodded. “Yes. We are unsure who the culprit was, but it seems that someone among our kind decided to make a preemptive strike and remove Conner from the equation permanently.”
Now I was even more confused than before. “What do you mean, remove Conner from the equation permanently? What equation? Why would anyone want to hurt Donna or Conner?”
Sighing heavily, he came and sat down next to me again, much too closely. I moved back slightly so there was a small amount of space between us. I wasn’t ready for him to touch me again just yet. Along with my memory of the night before, I also remembered that he had disappeared for two months.