My hands skirted up to the base of her neck and my teeth clamped down on her skin, her breath catching in the most delightful of ways. I brought her skin into my mouth, moaning and sucking furiously while my hands pulled and tugged at her hair.
The woman’s hands flailed and pushed at my shoulders, trying to force me off of her. I finally drew away and gave a passing look to her. One of her hands flew up to her neck, wiping the wetness from her skin. Her eyes were tightly shut when she pulled her hand away, tears carving small rivers down her cheeks. She hesitated to open them, only peeking through the tiny slits between her fingers. Her eyes enlarged, her lips quivered, and her shocked stare found me.
“What is it?” I asked. “Oh — I see. You expected there to be blood, aye?” I laughed and leaned against the wall. “I didn’t draw blood, now did I — isn’t that peculiar?”
I shot my gaze back across to the other two women sitting on the couch. “Did the two of you expect me to draw blood as well?” They both sat motionless and silent on the couch, afraid to provide the wrong answer.
Making my way back to the blonde, I said, “It’s not your blood I want, loves. That’s just a luxury with no substance to it. It’s tainted and purely mortal — although it does have a nice taste to it.” I paused and rolled my lips underneath my teeth. “I want the piece of you that belongs to my race. Your soul. The only part of you that truly is immortal.”
Reaching up, I traced my fingertips across the woman’s lips. I could see the absolute terror blanket her eyes. “You agreed to be a host — to feed us, what does it matter what part of you we feed from?” I placed my mouth on the full, smooth lips of the half-naked woman I had pinned up against the concrete wall. My lips barely touched hers and I held my mouth in place as I stared at her closed, quivering eyelids.
“Open your eyes,” I hissed the words over her lips.
The woman reluctantly opened her eyes. I rested my lips on hers as she stared into me, her body shaking.
“Very good, love, very good.” My tongue traced inside her mouth. “Am I not everything you’ve wanted?” I asked, my hand feeling down her chest.
The tremble in her lips grew.
“I asked you a question.”
“Yes.” She was barely able to whisper that single word.
Pulling my lips up into a partial smile, I positioned my mouth against hers, prying her lips open with my tongue. The rough texture of her tongue brushed against mine and I groped at her body, pinching and fondling at all the right areas. My fingers found their way back up into her hair and massaged the back of her head. My tongue plunged deep inside her mouth and the warmth of her being seeped into my mouth; the pure taste of her crept through my veins, filling me in the most beautiful way. I kissed her more deeply, unrelenting as I drained her essence from her. My kiss was depraved and the pleasure of it caused her legs to buckle beneath her. She flung her arms over my shoulders and I felt her surrender to my powerful touch.
My fingers wandered through her hair, wadding the tresses up into the balls of my fists. Her fingernails scratched across my back and clenched down as she pressed her body against mine. Lashing into her mouth, my tongue lapped up the sweetness of her soul as it fled from her body. I grabbed between her legs, palming her, and she moaned helplessly.
I abruptly released my hold on her and she languidly slid down to the floor. She flattened her back against the wall and stared at me with a look of complete desire.
“It’s lovely, isn’t it?” I asked as my fingers wiped the corners of my mouth.
“That was…” she trailed off and fought to catch her breath. She was experiencing a weakness she’d never fathomed.
“The kiss of death — not nearly as unappealing as it sounds, aye?” I tugged at the sleeve of my shirt as I made my way toward the door.
The woman forced herself to her feet, her legs wobbling beneath her, and she made an attempt to come after me. Seizing the back of my shirt, she tried pulling me back. I stopped and turned to face her.
“I want more of…” she panted, trying to catch her breath before continuing, “whatever that was. More of you. Don’t leave,” she begged.
I glanced over at the other women on the couch; they both looked more than curious at the abrupt change in this woman who, moments ago, had tried to escape me and had been near tears at her decision to come here. They stared at her now pleading for me to stay, to take more from her.
My fingers pried the woman’s grip free from the material and tossed it down to her side. The act of rejection caused tears to flood her slightly dulled eyes.
“It’s similar to a drug, isn’t it?” I asked as I nodded. “Sins are pleasures. Very rarely do they inflict pain, which is what makes them so tempting, so addictive, such a weakness to your kind. If you’re not careful you won’t be able to separate yourself from it. You’ll forget who you were and your need for this darkness will consume you, it will course through your veins with a vengeance and hold you captive.”
I stood still, my eyes focused on the back wall as I remembered how I’d come to be a captive of my own sins. “Understood?” I asked in a low voice. She shook her head, her eyes growing glassy. “Well, you will soon enough.”
Loud music rushed into the room from the outside corridor when I opened the door. The percussions radiated through my chest as I pulled the door closed behind me. Through the dimly lit hall I could see people heading to the open floor of the club, many of them completely unaware of the room I’d just come from.
Just as I placed my hand on the deadbolt of the front door I felt a tap from a firm, slender object on my shoulder. “You’re not going to stay?” Raven asked.
“No.” I turned toward her. “Not interested in it tonight.”
She tapped the end of the riding crop in her gloved hands. “There’s gonna be a lot of disappointed ladies tonight. You know you’re the reason half of them come here. The allure you have to these women—” Raven rolled her eyes and huffed. “I just don’t understand it, honestly.”
My face relaxed and my lips tightened. “I wouldn’t expect you to understand it,” I said and slid the deadbolt to the side, pushing the door open and walking out into the humid night air.
The inner turmoil I’d encountered since meeting Brooke was unreal. I lusted after her and I knew the only way to tame this immoral desire would be to have her. The way I wanted her made me restless and was damn near as strong as the urge I had to feed from mortals. I would just have to make certain to maintain control. I could not allow myself to become too involved with her. If I became entangled with a mortal not marked for me the consequences could be great. The way she haunted my mind; she made me exert a level of self-control I’d never had to before. I had to will the thoughts of her, of what I could do to her, out of my head more times than I liked to admit. It would require discipline and restraint in order to keep myself in check. In essence, because of who she was, she was much like the forbidden fruit. I’d been instructed to keep my teeth away from her, but the temptation I had for just a small taste was undeniable. The way I felt, I would have damned my soul all over again to feel her naked body underneath me.
It was a risk. Never had I taken a risk, for when you have nothing to lose – when life can’t be taken away from you – what risk is there? Brooke, she was my risk. A beautifully tempting, prohibited, dangerously delicious risk. Innocence in mortal flesh that I wanted to devour in the worst way.
Sighing, I made my decision. I knew I should just leave her alone as I read over the email regarding training for a new study we were opening in our department. Brooke would be the coordinator who handled all of the regulatory and administrative aspects of it, so it would only make sense that she go to Boston with me. I’d been hesitant to take her for fear of how difficult it would be to curb my desire to have her. The temptation to seduce her would be overwhelming.
Given the opportunity, I could be brutally forward and I most certainly didn’t wan
t to scare her. I knew she was attracted to me, but I was uncertain if she’d be able to handle me. My thoughts wandered off to seducing her, pulling her into my hotel room and slowly undressing her; feeling each curve of her body with my hands, grasping the soft tendrils of her hair within my fingertips. I could imagine the powerful feeling I’d have while I disrobed her, as I forced my want to overpower her deep inside.
It’d been so long since I’d had to do that, so long since I’d had to restrain my wants, and the thought of it seemed so erotic to me, causing a fire to flame through me at a furious pace.
I ran my hands down my face, ashamed at the complete loss of control I was experiencing over this girl.
Damn it.
Chapter Eleven
Brooke
July 7, 2014
Monday morning came more quickly than I’d wanted. I got dressed, but at this point had lost all will power to look nice. All I’d managed to do was get attention from the pervert of the year, my dressing up hadn’t even gotten a second glance from Dr. Hunter, which I wasn’t even sure why in the hell I wanted him to think I was attractive because I wouldn’t do anything about it. I couldn’t even talk to the man without stammering over my words.
I decided, on that day, that I was done trying to look nice.
I took a shower, only because I couldn’t handle the feeling of skipping one. I put some mousse in my hair and let it air dry. I pulled on some gray pants, a plain blue top, and some black flats. No jewelry. The only makeup I put on was some powder, and of course my red lipstick. I drug myself down the steps, and sunk down into the seat of my car.
Dejected!
The rush hour traffic didn’t even get me amped up, because honestly, I didn’t give a rainbow-sprinkled shit if I was late.
I walked into the office munching on my Poptart, dropping little crumbs all along the hallway, when I heard Nicole bitching about something not being done correctly. She seemed like she was in a foul mood, and I really wanted to go suggest she get Dr. Knight to pipe her down and bring her bitchiness down from a level nine to a level two.
On my way into my office I flipped the light switch. I stared at that damn switch and thought about Peggy. I wanted to work in the light, damn it! I grabbed my tape dispenser and furiously pulled out a long piece of tape. Tromping over to the wall, I slapped several long strips of tape over the switch, securing it in the ON position. I was tired of being nice and cheerful. I’d decided I would stay in this job for the year I was required and then transfer somewhere else. Peggy was annoying, Dan was creepy; the only thing that kept my job from completely sucking was Ashley.
Kicking my purse over to the side of my desk, I pulled my chair out. I sat down with a huff, thinking about how creepy Dan had been at the bar.
My phone beeped.
Dan: Good Morning. Did you come to work today?
My blood pressure shot up. Why in the hell was he texting me good morning and why was he asking if I was at work? He was really starting to get on my last, thinning, fragile nerve. I jerked the receiver to my desk phone up and called Ashley to vent.
“Well, hello there, Brookey,” she giggled.
“I want to beat him,” I snarled, furiously tapping a pencil on my desk.
“Has he already started?”
“He just texted me telling me good morning and asking if I was here. Why in the hell wouldn’t I be here? He’s so annoying and creepy. I just want to hurl something at him!”
“Uhhh, yeah. I can’t believe he came to the bar the other night. That’s some stalker shit right there. I mean, who does that? He just lurked over in the shadows staring at you.”
Thinking about the entire situation made me shudder. “I don’t even want to deal with him today.”
“Man, the more I’ve thought about it, the creepier it seems. It was like he was pissed that you had a ‘boyfriend.’ He got a crazy, psychotic glazed-over look in his eyes when Adam started talking to him, and all of those texts he sent you. He’s not sane, Brooke.”
“I know.” I paused and heard the door to the hallway open. Dan’s voice carried down the hall as he sang good morning to Sherry. “He’s here, I’ll talk to you later,” I mumbled into the phone before slamming the receiver down.
At that moment I would have paid money to be back in the restaurant dealing with rude-ass people.
I heard his footsteps stomping down the hall and I hoped that he’d just take his disgusting self into his office and leave me alone.
There was a knock on my door and I turned around to see Dan lurking in my doorway, smiling.
“Good morning, Brooke.”
“Hey, Dan.” I quickly turned back around to my computer and pretended to work. I could see him still standing in my doorway out of the corner of my eye.
“So, I forgot to ask you if you have a good time the other weekend?” He waddled into the office and took a seat in Peggy’s chair.
I kept my eyes focused on my screen. “Yeah, it was fun. I always love watching Adam play.”
I wanted to drill in his head that I was not available.
“You looked nice. You’re a pretty good dancer.” His lips twisted up into a painful grin.
Just hearing him talk made me feel like I had a thousand tiny spiders crawling all over me, pricking me with their creepy, hairy arms. I swallowed the saliva that was starting to pool in my mouth from disgust and took a very deep breath.
Dan glanced around my office and then said, “So, you don’t have a picture of your boyfriend up, must not be that serious.” He leaned the chair back and stretched.
I was really hoping that damn chair would fall backwards, causing him to hit his head on the doorframe and knock him unconscious.
“No, it is. We’ve been together for a while. I’ve been meaning to bring some pictures in.”
Dan fiddled with his waistband before coming over to me. “You should lose him. He’s not good enough for you. You need someone who can take care of you.”
I jerked my head around and glared at him. I was afraid my heart was going to burst through my chest. My voice had a noticeable tremble as I said, “You know, I don’t think you should really be giving me advice about my personal life.”
His smile turned and his lips lay straight across his face, one eye narrowed to look at me as he straightened himself up. “Brooke, you really need to watch the tone you take when you speak to me. I’ll have you remember that you’re on a probationary period for your first few months here.” He gave me one final stern, disappointed dad look and walked into his office.
I was livid. I rested my elbows on the edge of my desk, placed my head in my hands, and massaged my temples with my fingertips.
Surely to God I’m taking things too seriously. There’s no way this man could possibly be so deranged. I’ve got to go talk to Ashley about this creep.
I was going over every possible profane word I could think of in my head while I walked towards Ashley’s office. Gavin passed me in the hallway just as I stopped at her door.
“Brooke, can you come to my office when you get a moment? I need to go over a new study we’re about to initiate,” Gavin asked, continuing to walk down the hallway.
Fuck him and his sexy voice! Arrogant ass wipe!
“Sure,” I snarled.
The unexpected hostility in my tone caused Gavin to stop and turn back in my direction. I took a deep breath.
“Sorry.”
He didn’t say anything. He just shook his head and made his way into his office.
Ashley’s face wrinkled up. “What’s wrong? You look sick and pissed. Poor Dr. Hunter. You were just a total bitch to him.”
I threw my hands in the air. “What’s wrong with the fucking people in this office? Dan just told me that I should dump Adam, that I should be with someone who can take care of me. I’m assuming he’s implying his stupid ass because you know he’s made the comment that he’s loaded.” I huffed loudly. “Peggy’s ju
st — shit — just — ” At this point I was so angry I couldn’t even think of words to put together and just let out a very agitated grunt. I sat down in the chair and slammed my head back against the wall.
Ashley twirled her hair around her finger and laughed. “Man, you’re breaking a little earlier than I thought. It usually takes people about a month and a half to get to the point you’re at right now. I mean, the whole thing last weekend definitely accelerated it.” She dropped the strand of hair and looked stunned. “I’m just saying, Dan must really have it for you. He’s really taking things to the extreme.”
I glared silently at her before I banged my head against the wall several more times. “This can’t be real life,” I mumbled.
After a minute I managed to regain my composure. “Let me go see what Dr. Hunter wants,” I said. “Of all the damned days for him to need to talk to me. I have on no makeup, not that it really matters, but who wants to go sit in front of some hot guy knowing they look like crap? This day’s just getting more amazing by the minute.”
Ashley laughed. “You don’t look like crap. You just look like you don’t feel good.”
“Gee, thanks.”
I got up and walked to Gavin’s office. His door was slightly open. I peeked in to find him leaned over his desk looking at some papers, one hand on a coffee cup, the other tapping a pen on his desk. I knocked on the door. “Dr. Hunter?” I said softly as I pushed the door open.
Gavin looked up and grinned. “Come in.”
The phone rang just and he glanced down at the caller ID. “I have to take this, it’ll be brief. Go ahead and have a seat.” He pointed to two sleek, modern-looking white leather chairs across from his huge wooden desk.
Sitting down, I looked around his office while he took his call. There was a huge window behind his desk that overlooked the downtown area. A bookshelf in the corner was filled with medical journals. The wall to the side of his desk was covered with diplomas, various certificates, and medical awards. The wall behind me had an autographed piece of sheet music with hand written notes and the title “Imagine” written across the top of the page. At the bottom was John Lennon’s signature. I could definitely see him listening to that kind of music. I faced his desk as he hung up the phone.
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