by Sophie Stern
Good.
I loved a good chase.
My body was excited and suddenly, I felt wildly alive. She was running, and I was going to get to chase her. Oh, I loved a good chase, and it had been years.
“Sir?” A vampire servant appeared beside the door. “Do you want me to retrieve your supper for you?” He seemed mildly amused and slightly excited.
“Not at all,” I said, pushing my sleeves up. “The human is mine. Spread the word throughout the Grove. Nobody touches this one.”
“Understood,” the servant bowed slightly, turned, and left.
I went outside onto the large porch that wrapped around the mansion, and I sniffed the air. She’d only just started running. A minute or two head start wasn’t enough for her to get very far. Even if she was a huntress, she was still human. She was strong enough to fight vampires, but could she outrun one?
We were about to find out.
I could smell the body wash she used. Oh, she tried to stick to personal care items that were discreet and mild. She didn’t want to attract any extra attention to herself. I understood that perfectly well. Still, it didn’t matter. Kimberly’s scent was intoxicating, and I followed it easily, striding through the front yard of the mansion and then to the road. She’d gone East. I started walking. I was silent, but fast.
Soon the road forked, and I sniffed the air again. She was getting agitated, which meant she was starting to sweat. Her anxiety filled the air. It was a delicious sort of aroma, and I knew that i needed to find her fast before anyone else noticed that a little human had wandered into this part of the Grove.
Walking down the road, I turned once, then twice. Soon I approached an area that was filled with trees and tiny houses. It was a quiet sort of suburbia, I felt. Much of this area was abandoned. There were still vampires who lived here, but part of our nature was to move in groups. When the biggest vamp on the street had taken a “real” job in another city, most of the other vampires had left the Grove to follow him. I didn’t care. I wasn’t worried about our numbers or anything like that.
Instead, I wished him well.
Now, I was relieved there was nobody around. Kimberly had made me chase her, and I was going to punish the little brat when I found her. First, though, I was going to make her mine.
The third house on the left reeked of her scent. I stopped in front of it and looked up at the house. She’d probably gone in through the back door. I saw movement on the second floor of the house: a flutter of the light-blue curtains.
So, this was it.
This was where the little girl had gone to hide.
She probably expected me to knock politely on the door and to wait like the docile human boys she was used to. Well, tough shit. I wasn’t nice. I wasn’t polite. I definitely wasn’t going to knock.
Instead, I leapt up to the second-floor overhang that covered the front porch, strode over to the window, and kicked it in.
The moment I was inside, I knew I’d chosen the right room. She was on the bed, pressed up against the wall with her legs pulled up to her chest. She was shaking.
Finally, some fucking fear.
“Don’t touch me,” she said.
“Excuse me?” I crossed my arms over my chest, eyeing her. She looked damn gorgeous. Her dress had slid up to her waist, and the way she was holding her legs meant I had a clear view of her red panties. Obviously, that hadn’t been her intention, but she didn’t seem to notice, either.
“You heard me. Stay away.”
“Or what? You’ll stake me?” I raised an eyebrow. “We both know you can’t win this fight, love.”
“You aren’t even allowed to be in this house,” she gestured to the window. “How did you do that?”
“I don’t have to ask permission to enter a house in the Grove,” I pointed out.
“You don’t?”
So, she wasn’t completely omniscient. Interesting. Kimberly gave off killer-queen vibes to me. She seemed like the kind of person who knew everything any vampire in the world had ever done. Apparently, she didn’t.
“I don’t.”
“Then...then...”
“Then I’m allowed to be here,” I pointed out. “You, however, are not.”
“Why not?” She whispered. “I don’t think anyone lives here.”
“You belong to me now.”
“Why? Because that lady caught me?”
“That lady has a name.”
“What is it?”
“Helena.”
“Helena caught me. What does that have to do with you? Why can’t I just leave?” She whispered. She stared at me with those big, wide eyes, and I suddenly wondered what the hell I’d gotten myself into. She didn’t seem happy. She seemed horrified, and I suddenly caught a whiff of her true scent: fear.
She was scared of me, or perhaps of the entire situation we’d found ourselves in.
Good.
She should be scared.
Her entire life was about to change, and she had no say in the matter at all.
“Because you’re mine,” I told her.
“I belong to no man,” she said proudly, jutting out that perfect little chin of hers.
“Very brave, love,” I said. “But it doesn’t change facts.”
“What facts?”
“I want you. I’m taking you. That’s the way this is going to work.”
“I don’t want that.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “But I don’t really care what you want.”
She stared at me, and then, all of a sudden, she seemed to realize that her legs were up, and I could see her panties. She put her legs down quickly and clasped her hands together in her lap.
“Just let me go,” she whispered. “I won’t tell anyone where to find you.”
“And what? You’ll just stop hunting me?”
“Yes.”
“Kimberly, I’m trying very hard not to laugh at you right now. Everyone you’ve ever met knows you’re after me. You’d proudly display my head on a stick if you had the chance. No, that’s not how this ends. Now come here. Be a good girl and come to me.”
She fought with the decision. She wrestled with the choice, and I could see her fighting it. There was fire in her eyes. She’d never backed down from a fight. Ever. That was one of the things that I liked so much about Kimberly. She was wild and she was so damn strong.
“Can you read my mind?” She whispered. “The rumors are that you can read minds.”
“I can read minds,” I said. “But not yours.”
Maybe I shouldn’t have told her.
“Why not?”
“Because you’re my fated mate.”
“There’s no such things as mates, Mr. Vampire.”
“You can call me Liam.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Come here, human. Last chance. This is your only shot at having a nice, romantic transition into the world of vampires. I’ll pull you into my arms and bite your neck gently. You’ll love it. Then you’ll have a really sweet, happy memory of your transition into your new life.”
“And if I refuse?” She whispered.
“Then I’ll come over to you, and I’ll roll you onto your belly, pin your hands behind your back, and I’ll still bite your neck. You can transition to your new life as a vampire without any romantic inclinations at all, but you’ll definitely have one hell of an orgasm. I can promise you that much.”
Her mouth formed a tiny “o” and I realized that she liked the second option better.
Strange.
I’d never taken a mate before. I didn’t know what it was supposed to be like. I had just assumed that most women would like the romance package better. Apparently, I’d been wrong.
“All right,” I said. Then I moved swiftly to the bed, arriving in a flash. Before she could protest or think, I had her on her belly with her dress hiked up around her waist. I pinned her hands behind her back and leaned down pressing my lips to her hear.
“
You’re mine, Kimberly. Forever.”
My fangs extended quickly, and I pressed them to her skin. She didn’t fight as they sunk into the side of her neck, and I tasted her blood.
It was perfect.
5.
Kimberly
HIS TEETH WERE INSIDE of me.
They were inside of my skin, and they burned. Was it supposed to burn? Was that part of the deal? I was supposed to be the expert on vampires, and in many ways, I was, but I’d never spent a lot of time researching exactly how someone transitioned into their new life.
Instead, I’d spent my time learning new fighting techniques. I’d worked hard to come up with ways to make my own job easier.
I had never really considered that I might not only be captured by a vampire, but turned into one. Apparently, I’d been very cocky, and I was now paying the price.
“No,” I whispered.
I didn’t want this.
He was silent as he sucked, taking my blood from me. I could smell it. I could smell the coppery scent of my blood, and then I smelled the sickly-sweet scent of my sweat. I was scared. I was going to die, and it wasn’t some far-off, abstract idea. I wasn’t going to die someday or in a month. I was going to die right now. Immediately.
I wriggled, trying to get free, but he had me pinned flat on my stomach, just as he said he would. My head was to the side, and he was biting my neck. I squeezed my eyes shut, and then I opened them. I stared at the paisley flowered bedspread, and then I stared at the alarm clock on the nightstand, and then I stared at the blank walls where pictures should have been.
There was a streetlamp outside, and it cast a faint glow into the room. Aside from that, it was dark, and it was wildly silent. There should have been something else.
“Please stop,” I whispered.
Was this really how I wanted to die? Again, with the smells. I smelled my tears. They were pouring down my cheeks and they were salty. They hit my mouth, and then the bedspread, and I started to sob uncontrollably. As I cried, I noticed something shifted in the vampire’s demeanor. He loosened his grip on me.
Could I escape?
I moved my body, trying to see if I could move, but I only succeeded in rolling over onto my bed. His fangs slid out of my body as I rolled, and he looked down at me. He was over me, holding himself up on his hands, and he had my blood all over his mouth.
“I don’t want this,” I whispered.
“You don’t have a choice.”
“Shouldn’t I have a choice before you take away my humanity?”
“No.”
“Shouldn’t I have a choice before you rape me?”
“I’m not going to rape you.”
“But...”
“I’m turning you into a vampire, Kimberly. It’s for your own protection. Helena was right when she said I wanted to claim you. You’re my mate, after all, but I’m not a monster. I’m not going to fuck you until you beg me to. Now be silent so I can finish, and then I’ll give you that orgasm I promised you.”
“My own protection?”
“Kimberly, you wandered into vampire territory. The chances of me being able to get you out now are slim to none. I might be the Vampire Lord of this place, but that means nothing when a vampire is hungry. The sun will be coming up soon.”
“That’s when vampires are the most vulnerable,” I pointed out quietly.
“And it’s also when they’re the hungriest and least predictable. It’s when they have the least self-control. So if you think that I’m going to let you try to make it out of the grove when the vamps who roam here would easily jump on you like a cat on a mouse, you’re mistaken. Close your mouth, little human. Let me do what must be done.”
I was silent then. He seemed sated, and he went back to the spot on my neck. It felt like he bit me a second time, but I couldn’t be sure. All I knew was that I was starting to feel a little lightheaded, and a little dizzy. I felt tired, all of a sudden. It didn’t seem to hurt anymore. Instead, it started to feel kind of...relaxing.
Suddenly, I felt the bed shift and he was gone. His mouth was gone from my skin, and what was worse was that I missed him. I suddenly craved him and wanted to have him with me again.
“Come back.”
I tried to whisper the words, but the sound didn’t come out. I opened my lips. Then I closed them again.
“Good girl,” he said, kissing my neck. “You did such a good job.”
He slid his tongue over the wounds on my neck. Was he sealing them up? Or was that another rumor? Hunters always liked to tell stories, and a popular one was that vampires could take your blood and then seal you right up like an envelope. Nobody would ever know you had been drained of your blood unless they did an autopsy, and who had the time or money for that?
I couldn’t talk, couldn’t move. I just felt so relaxed. I felt so tired. Was this what it felt like to die? If I closed my eyes, I might never wake up, and the crazy thing was that I didn’t really care even a little bit.
“We’re not done yet,” he chuckled.
Why not?
He’d sucked me dry. He’d taken everything. Now I just wanted to sleep. Now I wanted to rest.
It was over, I thought. All of this...it was all over.
There was nothing else but this moment, and it was...
Cold.
Suddenly, I felt wildly cold, and I started to shake. I couldn’t get warm, but I also couldn’t move. I couldn’t cry out or yell, and that was when I felt his lips on mine. They tasted like blood. I thought it was my blood, at first, but then I realized it was his. His lip was bleeding. He’d bitten it to make it bleed, and I tasted that blood. It was warm. It was the first warmth I’d felt in awhile, and it was delicious.
Everything about the kiss seemed perfect to me. Granted, I might not have a lot of experience kissing vampires, but it seemed like a good kiss.
Then I closed my eyes again.
I felt his hands on my breasts and in my hair. He was touching my bottom and my back and everywhere. He touched my face, and then he touched my thighs. Finally, his hands found their way between my legs, and he touched me there.
As promised, he brought me to the edge. It was so much faster and stronger and powerful than it should have been. It was different than what I was used to. As he touched me, he whispered to me, but I couldn’t understand what he was saying, and to be honest, I didn’t really care.
All I wanted was more.
I needed more.
I craved it.
Soon, I was coming apart. He held me as I silently cried out, begging for more but unable to speak. The orgasm raged through my body, filling me with satisfaction and completely exhausting me. When it was finally over, I felt my body weaken.
The vampire kissed me again.
“Such a good girl,” he murmured.
Why did that make me feel so happy? It shouldn’t have made me feel happy, yet it did. The words he spoke seemed strange and wicked to me, but also wildly wonderful. He touched me until I felt like I couldn’t stay awake for a moment longer, and he seemed to understand exactly what I needed. I felt safe with Liam, and I loathed him for that. I didn’t want to feel safe in his arms. I wanted to be scared. I wanted to fight him. That was what I’d trained for.
I hadn’t trained for this.
“Sleep,” he whispered. “It’s okay, little vampire. You’re safe. You can sleep.”
So, I did.
WHEN I OPENED MY EYES, the world was dark.
The room was dark.
Everything was dark.
I opened my mouth to speak, but my throat was dry and coarse. It hurt, but that was the only part of me that hurt. Everything else felt strangely normal. If anything, I felt better than I usually did.
I hoped I wasn’t getting a cold. That would be annoying. I climbed out of bed and reached for the lamp I kept on my nightstand. Flicking on the switch, I stood and stretched, and then I looked around.
Only, I suddenly realized that I wasn’t at home a
nymore.
I wasn’t even close to being at home.
Certainly, I wasn’t in my home.
“Where am I?” I whispered, looking around. I was in a large bedroom. The bed I’d crawled out of should have been a dead giveaway to the fact that I wasn’t in my tiny little place. My home was a shack compared to this haven. I’d just had the best night of sleep I’d ever had in my damn life, and now I was...
Where was I?
The bed was a four-poster one with a deep burgundy blanket on top. There were lots of pillows, and judging by the way the entire bed was unmade, I figured it was safe to assume I hadn’t slept alone. There were no windows in the room. If there were, they were concealed behind the many paintings that hung on the walls. The hardwood flooring was cold, I thought, but beautiful. Well, judging from what I could see of it, which wasn’t much.
Only, I actually could see very well. Despite the fact that the nightstand lamp was very small, I could see remarkably well.
“Strange.”
There were a few doors to choose from, so I walked to one and pulled it open.
Closet.
I walked to another pulled that one open.
Bathroom.
I walked in and stared at myself in the mirror.
I blinked.
What the hell was I staring at?
It was still me, but I looked...ethereal. I looked different. I turned on the faucet and splashed water on my face to see if that would clear things up, but when I looked back at the mirror, the same face stared back at me.
That face seemed smarter than I was.
Wiser.
Wilder.
“What the hell is going on?” I whispered.
I reached out and touched the glass, placing my hand on the mirror. Something was going on, and I didn’t know what. I was naked, which wasn’t unusual, but my hair seemed like it still looked just as good as when I’d fallen asleep.
Only, I couldn’t remember falling asleep.
I walked back into the bedroom. There was a man standing there with his back to me. He turned around, and he smiled at me.
“You’re awake,” he said, and suddenly, everything came rushing back to me.
Liam, the Vampire of Garnetia, had turned me into a vampire. He’d turned me into a monster, and I hadn’t fought him nearly as much as I should have. In fact, by the time he was almost done, I was super into it, and the experience had been wildly wonderful. He’d even made me come.