by T. S. Ryder
Rosa stood, stretching her back. Angelus couldn't help himself. He stared at the curve of her spine, her arms reaching above her head, emphasizing her breasts. She was the most sensuous woman he had ever seen, with her dark hair and dark eyes and shy smile. He would have to get Lucilia to take her shopping and fill her wardrobe with dresses–clothes that he could tear from her body, a marginal barrier to their shared passion.
He was so focused on his mistress that when his guard, Morgan, stepped up beside him with the daily security report, Angelus was actually startled enough that he jumped. He silently cursed himself. Distraction did not suit a King.
Morgan's nostrils flared and his head swung around, focusing in on Rosa. "So that's the human you've taken to your bed, my King? Mmmm. Smells good."
Angelus growled a warning.
Apparently, Morgan had a death wish. He ignored the warning. "When you're done with her, let me know. I'd like to bend her over my table—"
Angelus jumped to his feet. His chair went flying, clattering to the floor. It drew Rosa's attention and she stiffened, wide-eyed. The King attempted to give her an apologetic smile, then turned to glare at Morgan. The Vampire seemingly knew he had crossed a line as he withdrew, eyes wide, his face paling. The King jerked his head towards the hall, leaving his things on the table as he walked out. Morgan followed.
As soon as the door was closed behind them, Angelus spun on his heel, sinking his fist into Morgan's stomach. The Vampire heaved, doubling over. Another punch to the Vampire's face had him on one knee. Angelus stepped back, letting him recover from the two blows he had already received.
"I'm sorry, my lord," Morgan wheezed, still kneeling. "I meant no disrespect towards you. She is just so sensuous that I lost my head."
Another growl rose from the depths of Angelus' throat and he tackled Morgan, pummeling him hard in the face, chest and stomach. When the Vampire dropped to the ground, he kicked him in the back a couple of times for good measure before he stepped back, forcing his temper to cool.
"You will speak and think of my mistress with respect," he ordered. "If you ever try to blame her for your lack of self-control again, I will have you castrated and left to garden with the women. Do you understand me?"
Morgan groaned, curling in on himself. Thick, blackish blood stained the ground around them, oozing out of Morgan's wounds. Angelus' own knuckles were bleeding, although his blood was more fresh and red than Morgan's own. He kicked the fallen Vampire again.
"I asked you a question."
"I understand," Morgan mumbled. "I will not disrespect the human again."
"Good. She is mine. No one else will have her or lay a finger upon her. She is mine," Angelus repeated. For as long as she wants to be, his mind told him, but he didn't say that part out loud. Morgan only needed to know one thing. "She is mine."
Chapter Three - Rosa
The toilet was pristinely white and fitted a heated seat and gold-gilded handle. Angelus liked his gold. The back of the toilet was either carved from marble or designed to look like it had been. The water that flowed through it was scented of lavender and had the slight bluish tinge of sanitization products. Yet, none of this mattered as Rosa leaned over it, puking her guts out.
Rosa had never felt like she was particularly glamorous–not even like a tragic heroine meeting her Prince Charming. She was just a homeless girl struggling to make it through college. But she had never felt less sexy than over the three weeks since it was confirmed that she was pregnant. She thought she might die before making it to the fifth week.
I never asked what to expect with Vampire pregnancies, she thought ruefully, washing her face at the marble bathroom sink. There were two jewels implanted in the golden tap handles: a ruby for hot water and a sapphire for cold. She rinsed out her mouth and brushed her teeth. For some reason, the minty flavor of toothpaste was one of the few things that actually helped calm her stomach.
She knew that morning sickness was to be expected, but she hadn't expected to be so exhausted that all she ever wanted to do was sleep. How did women survive this for nine months? One thing was for certain: she wasn't going to have any more kids after this!
Just the movement of walking to the bathroom door had her head spinning. Rosa leaned against the wall, gulping in deep breaths to try to calm her stomach. Nope. She dashed back to the toilet, heaving until a little bit of acid came up. There was literally nothing in her stomach left to vomit.
With a groan, Rosa lay on the heated tiles. If the floor wasn't so unforgiving and her breasts and back weren't already so sore, she would have just slept here.
"I'm going to die."
A moment later, the door opened, making her look up. Angelus' expression twisted in concern as he rushed to her side. Rosa struggled to sit up, but his hands pressed on her shoulders firmly, keeping her down.
"Your heartbeat is fine," he said, running his hands over her body. "Where does it hurt?"
Rosa repressed a gasp at his touch, heat building in her core. She dreamt of their attempts to conceive almost every night and she woke shaking, gasping, longing for his touch. She had to stop herself from moaning in dismay as his hands retreated. She had signed that contract to be his mistress, and yet he didn't seem very interested in taking her to bed since it was confirmed she was pregnant. Maybe that was because she was so sick with the pregnancy.
"What happened?" Angelus picked her up, cradling her on the way back into her bedroom. He tucked her into the king-sized canopy bed.
"Nothing, I just feel really sick today."
The Vampire King stroked her hair back from her face. Rosa leaned into his gentle touch.
"You said that you were dying."
He had heard that? Rosa felt her cheeks warm and shook her head. "I was being dramatic. It's because I feel like I'm going to puke whenever I sit up."
Angelus sighed in relief and his hand withdrew. "I see. The doctors and midwives that I've brought to see you all say that your pregnancy is normal. Are you sure these human medications don't work?"
He picked up the bottle of prescription anti-nausea pills that a doctor had given her. Rosa shook her head. Those awful things just made her feel worse whenever she tried to take one. "I haven't been able to do any studying in three days."
"You don't need to be done with your courses at a specific time."
"But I love learning. I feel so lazy just lying in bed all day." Rosa sighed. "Can you read my history book to me?"
"History? I don't need to read that to you. I lived it, Rosa. What I didn't witness myself I read about." Angelus settled in beside her, stretching his body next to hers over the blankets. "What do you want me to tell you?"
"Uh…" Rosa struggled to think with Angelus so close to her. What she wanted was for this feeling of sickness to go away so she could tackle the King to his back and spend the day making love. Yet, she wasn't about to risk vomiting all over him during sexy time. "How about yourself? When were you born?"
Angelus rolled onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. His mouth drew thin and his brows pinched together, and Rosa wondered if it was because he didn't want to tell her or if he was struggling to remember. Eventually, he nodded, his expression clearing.
"Somewhere around 44 BC. I was born just a year or two after Julius Caesar was assassinated. My original name was Julius, in honor of him. The Master was very loyal."
"The Master?" Rosa pressed, rolling to her side and fluffing her pillow so she could see him better.
"I was born a slave. My younger sister was, too. Eventually, I won my freedom as a gladiator. I was turned into a Vampire almost immediately, so I tracked down my sister and her daughter who were sold when our Master ran out of money, and…" He shot her a brief look, shrugging. "I turned them into Vampires as well. Well, I waited until Lucilia was old enough to make her own choice."
Lucilia. His aide. Rosa nodded. She had seen similarities between the two of them. A hand rested upon her belly. "And will the baby be born human or Vampire?"
"Human, but with the strength and speed of a Vampire."
"How does a human become a Vampire?"
Angelus rolled to his side, his cold fingers grasping her wrist. He brought it to his nose and sniffed deeply, closing his eyes. Rosa's heart rate spiked. She had seen some of the human women who worked as servants exit a room with two small puncture marks in their necks. They always had a glazed, glowing look about them that made it look like they just had the greatest sex of their life. Rosa thought that allowing a Vampire to drink one’s blood must be an erotic experience.
She couldn't wait for Angelus to drink from her and see if her theory was true.
The King tucked her arm back under the blankets. "How to become a Vampire… It's a simple process, really."
Rosa nodded, prompting him to continue.
"First, you have to be near death. Doesn't matter what kills you. Car, gun, cancer, old age… Just as long as you're so close to death that the Vampire can smell it on you." He moved forward, pressing his nose into her neck. He inhaled deeply before kissing her. Rosa moaned, tangling her fingers in his hair. How someone so cold could build such heat inside of her, she didn't know. She loved it all the same. "Once that happens, all it takes is sharing blood. The Vampire drinks the human's blood, and the human drinks the Vampire's blood."
"Does it work if the human isn't close to death?"
Angelus retreated and shook his head. "In that case, Vampire blood is like a drug, enhancing human senses, but with narcotic-like effects: low inhibitions, wicked withdrawals."
He sat up and swung his legs off the bed. Rosa reached for him, not wanting him to leave her alone. She was so bored and having him close somehow helped to ease her sickness. Her fingers caught his wrist and he looked down with surprise at her hand.
"If you could choose now, would you still be a Vampire?"
"Yes." Angelus' voice had hardened, clearly stating that this conversation was over.
Rosa withdrew. "I'm sorry if you didn't want to talk about it."
"It's no problem, Rosa." And just like that, Angelus was back to being smooth and charming, like that moment of irritation had never happened.
It made Rosa shiver despite herself.
"How about you tell me a little about yourself now?" he continued, smiling at her. "You're still young, why don't you have a home? A family to take care of you? Why…?"
Rosa cautiously tested sitting. To her relief, her stomach stayed where it was, nausea at bay. "Why what?"
"Why would you agree to being a Vampire's mistress? There are plenty of people out there who consider my kind to be the spawn on Satan, so what makes you so desperate to agree to lie with one? To bear my child?" His hand rested on her stomach, making her insides do strange things.
"I'm not like that," she responded, not moving in case he retracted his hand again. "Vampires are people just like the rest of us."
Angelus tilted his head to one side. "What about your family?"
"My father died when I was a little girl and my mother died two years ago." She turned her face away. "I have no family left."
It was true. Her stepfather didn't count as family. Technically, the house and property that her mother had owned was hers, but she didn't dare try to claim it, not when her stepfather's threats were still hanging over her head. Her mother had supposedly committed suicide, yet she was a devoted Catholic woman and full of faith. She would never have taken her own life. When Rosa told her stepfather that she was going to prove it, he had laughed at her. Then he told her that if she didn't butt out, he would have her arrested for murder.
He was a cop. All he'd have to say was that she had confessed and that would be the end of it. She had chosen to run before he could do anything worse to her than just threaten her.
"There's nothing else?" Angelus pressed gently.
She shook her head. He had no authority over her stepfather, so it was better to just forget about it. "Do you think you'll ever want me to be a Vampire?"
The King looked shocked for a moment. He shook his head. "Now is not the time to discuss that, Rosa. You need your rest."
"I'm not tired."
He reached across her and handed her the TV’s remote control. "I have to go. I'll see you tonight."
Rosa frowned after him, disappointment rising in her. Well, that was her answer. He didn't want her to be a Vampire. He had chosen her to be his mistress because it meant he wouldn't have to keep her forever. A sigh escaped her lips. Oh, well. That was life, wasn't it?
Chapter Four - Angelus
Angelus sighed, steepling his fingers as he surveyed the Vampire Morgan had brought to him. She was blonde and shapely with a power radiating from her that would have caused lesser Vampires to quake in their boots. Tall even for this time, she was a giant when she roamed the Earth as a living goddess, preying on the Norsemen who prayed to her for protection.
"Freya, you know quite well that the creation of new Vampires without my prior consent is forbidden. The only exception is a case where the human being turned is bonded to the Vampire and the near-death is an unexpected event."
The Vampire rolled her eyes, tossing her hair. "Your rules, not mine."
"I am the King."
"And I think that the humans have the right idea when it comes to democracy." Freya smiled sweetly. "It's not like I was making an army. No harm done."
"No harm except your victims are children, and you killed their parents! Vampire hatred is on the rise and actions like yours, slaughtering innocent people and stealing their children, are just making it worse. We need to live in harmony with humans."
Freya scoffed. "Always so concerned with what the humans think."
Angelus pursed his lips as he considered the woman. Freya had been giving him trouble ever since he refused to make her his Queen a hundred years ago. He really ought to have her killed before she started putting Vampire lives in more danger than she already had. Yet, since she had witnessed such history, he was reluctant to end her life. He turned to Morgan. Perhaps a more severe punishment would change her ways.
"Take her to the courtyard and nail her to a post."
Freya laughed, her eyes flashing. "Nail me to a post? What sort of punishment is that?"
"You will also shave her," Angelus added, his anger spiking. "Leave her golden hair at her feet. Three days of humiliation, and then she will be sealed in a coffin for a hundred years."
"You cannot be serious!" Freya's face paled. There was no worse fate for a Vampire than to be cut off from the world, unable to retreat into sleep or death, alone with their thoughts in the blackness.
Angelus stood, nodding at Morgan to deliver the sentence. He disliked using violence to get his point across, but when dealing with ancient vampires with no moral compass like Freya… sometimes it was necessary.
Distancing himself from the unpleasant situation, he headed for the library. Rosa was feeling better these days and they were studying the culture of ancient China together. She was so eager to learn, so receptive to all knowledge. It warmed his heart. He had made the right choice in the mother of his child. She hadn't spoken about the possibility of becoming a Vampire again, but it weighed on his mind. He would very much like to have her with him forever, but she would have to risk death first. That was a risk he didn't want to take.
Rosa wasn't in the library. Angelus frowned. She was never late to one of their study sessions, even when she was so sick that he had to carry her back to her room.
Angelus ran from the library, books rustling in his wake, and headed for her apartment. As soon as he entered her parlor he could smell her and his shoulders relaxed. He had feared something had happened to her… but she was here, safe. No harm done. Walking at a more human pace, he went to her bedroom.
She was laying under the blankets, her head hidden. Angelus heard soft sobs ripping through her body and his lungs seized. He wanted to rush over to her and find out what had happened and destroy whoever had harmed her. Yet, he made himself move slowly
.
"Rosa? Are you okay?"
She flinched when he put a hand on her back even though the touch was indirect, buffeted by blankets. Angelus' eyes widened and he withdrew. She never recoiled from him, not even on that first night when he scraped his fangs along her collar. It had happened once when he first touched her, but she assured him it was because she wasn't expecting his skin to be so cold. What had happened that she was withdrawing from him now?
"Is it the baby? Are you hurt? Let me see you, Rosa."
She pulled the blankets tighter.
Did she think he would hurt her if she had miscarried? His heart felt like it might collapse at the idea, but he pushed aside his worries about the baby. Rosa came first: her health, her safety. Angelus gripped the blankets, peeling them down.
Her dark eyes shone with terror when he finally saw them. Terror of what?
"Tell me what happened. Please."
Rosa swallowed audibly. "You were late for our studying, so I went to see you. I heard you... Nailing a woman to a post…?"
Angelus blinked in surprise. "That's it?"
He had said the wrong thing. Rosa's eyes widened and she shifted away from him, trembling. Angelus shook his head. He couldn’t expect her to understand the Vampire ways or the history of infractions that Freya had committed to warrant such a punishment.
"That woman is a dangerous criminal."
Rosa's hands clutched the blanket as she nodded. She didn't believe him. It was clear as day that she thought he was making up excuses for what she saw as an act of barbarism. He sighed. He'd have to introduce her to the children Freya had turned, then. There was the slight risk that one or more of them were psychopaths, but even child Vampires were usually able to control their newfound desire to drink blood–unless they actually liked hurting people.
They had a long adjustment ahead of them, though. He shuddered, thinking about the other children Vampires he had met. Just imagining being an ancient being stuck in a body that was, for all intents and purposes, defenseless made him feel sick.