I shake as I gulp down the contents, cupping the glass in both hands. He refills it when it’s empty.
“Thank you.” I keep drinking, smaller sips. I need to be careful, but I desperately need fluids.
“I will remove your clothes.” He puts the glass on the polished concrete surface next to the sink.
Even through my brain fog, a spike of adrenaline hits me and my hand shoots up to clutch the neck of my dress. “What? No!”
Lou takes my hand and unclenches it, finger by finger, lowering it to my lap. “Yes, Katarina. I need you to understand this. You cannot go back to your life as it was. From now on, your life rests in my hands. You belong to me.”
I widen my eyes and stare at him in horror. “What?” I whisper.
“From the moment—” He strokes a path from my temple down along my cheek, resting over the spot where I was bitten, then following my collar bone and down to rest at the top button of my dress. “—you traced my profile, back in the hospital, oozing of sadness, grieving a stranger you had never seen before, you were meant to end up here.”
I shake my head and he puts a finger to my lips, cocking his head as he holds my gaze.“You looked for me.”
In his deep brown eyes there is a promise of safety, of belonging, and of lethal danger. I swallow hard. “I didn’t know.”
“Know what?”
A shudder runs through me. He reaches behind me and turns on the shower.
“That it was dangerous.”
“That’s not true. You knew.”
I look down on my naked feet, dirty, bloodied. I don’t know where my shoes went. There’s no denying that I felt it from the first moment. “Yes,” I whisper. “But Lou… I have a life. I’m needed. People will miss me.”
Honestly, I don’t know which people I mean. My workplace. Mom and Dad of course. I can’t just…
Crouching before me, he undoes the first button. I look down at his powerful hands. So strong. I raise my gaze and meet his warm eyes. There’s compassion in there, and a need I feel as strong as if it were my own. How can this be?
The next button goes. My dress is stiff with dried blood, my chest painted in patterns of brown streaks.
“Such is life, Kat. People come. People go.” He flicks open the two next buttons. “Raise your arms.”
I tremble, shy, my cheeks burning with embarrassment, but I know I have no choice.
“Good girl.” He grabs the hem and pulls my dress up and over my head in one swift move. I cross my arms over my chest, but he’s not having it and tsks, his eyes turning darker.
“What are you going to do with me? I can’t stay here for the rest of my life.”
Lou stands and looks me over, cocking his head. “Come.” He takes my hand and helps me get my legs over the edge of the tub, then he steps into the shower, fully dressed, and sits me down in front of him, wedged between his thighs, my back to his chest. Grabbing the shower head, he begins to soak me in water heated to perfection for my eternally chilled body. “Worry about one thing at a time, Kat.”
My mind won’t stop spinning with one impossible scenario after the other, but gradually I relax into him, falling back heavily against his solid chest, becoming increasingly aware of his body, his strong hands, his massive thighs hidden beneath soaked, black suit pants. His hand in my hair, massaging my scalp, is bliss. It moves down to my shoulders, his touch replacing the memories of my attacker, the feel of his skin on my skin sending a flurry of tingles through my chest. The water that pools on the bottom of the tub is mixed with rivulets of red that gradually turns a lighter pink. I put my hands on his thighs, reveling in the feel of his hard muscles. He twitches and wraps an arm over my chest as a low growl escapes him, reverberating through me.
“Let’s get you out of this.” He puts the shower head in my hand and unclasps my bra, pulling it off me, dropping it on the floor. His hands caress along my hips and then slide inside the sides of my panties, pushing them down. I gasp for air, as I lift my butt, assisting him in his task, both horrified and at the same time burning with anticipation at the realization that in a moment I’ll be completely naked before this stranger, this vampire. This man.
Whatever else he is, he is also so much man, so painfully masculine, that he has wreaked havoc with my hormones since I first laid eyes on him, and now he’s baring me. I’m at his mercy, and he has made it clear that I’m not going anywhere. I can fight it, or I can let whatever happens, happen.
Please, be careful with me. I want to beg him, but I can’t make the words pass my lips. There’s so much he doesn't know about me, but will he care, or will he be like the other one who just pushed me up against a wall and took.
No matter what, my life has changed forever.
Chapter 6
Lou
She’s so soft in my hands, weak and beautifully pliable, but she smells wrong. The stench of another vampire is all over her and I have to make it right. My heart beats and I don’t want to make it stop. It beats for her. I feel her agony over losing her life. I feel her trepidation over being at my mercy, not knowing who I am or what I will do to her, and I feel the tension between us - that delicious sense of first discovery, of wanting to know more, wanting to explore.
Her submissive stance surprises me and delights me. I want to think it’s natural, and I don’t think I’m entirely off track, but I also know she’s beyond exhausted and that her lack of more forceful protests is probably due to that. In time it will come. Her anger, denial, fear, attempts to escape, and eventually acceptance.
I will relish each emotion and save it for future lonely decades, remembering this intriguing little human woman.
Filling my palm with soap, I rub my hands and then caress her neck, her shoulders, her back, and arms. I brush the sides of her breasts and she twitches, giving out a little gasp. I will explore more of that, much, much more, but first I need to make her smell like herself again, and let her gain back some strength.
“Lou,” she says on an exhale as I rub over her belly, “is it short for Louis?”
“I don’t know.”
She looks up at me, pushing her back against my chest as I slide my hands along the insides of her thighs. “How come? You— you don’t know your name?”
“My turning was... traumatic. I have very few memories of my life as a human.”
“Oh. What happened?”
My chest pinches. This is my one true weakness, that my mind didn’t survive those hours in the ground. That they traumatized me beyond healing. Maybe that is why I am so curious, so protective of the humans I have met and cared for, because I revere their vulnerability. It was once mine. I stroke a few strands of hair off her forehead. “Maybe another time, Katarina Donovan. Maybe another time.”
“No!” She squirms. Tries to push away. “You owe me more. You’re taking my life from me. Give me something to work with here. I need something. Where are you from?”
I grin as I hug her tighter to my chest. I like that she questions me, opposes me. No human has ever caught my immediate interest like young Doctor Donovan. She’s everything I thought she would be, and I’ve only known her minutes. I’m a devil to be doing this to her, but how can I resist? Her lifespan is a mere few years. I’m not taking much. Not compared to the eons of solitude that preceded my incidental meeting with her in the ER.
“Possibly the region that is now called France,” I say. “Maybe south of the Pyrenees. Spain. Or Italy. I have searched for my ancestry. I have compared my looks, my manners, and my fragmented memories to the people who live there. But I have never felt like I fit in anywhere.”
“I’m so sorry.”
I reach for the shower head and let the stream rinse off the soap. “It was a long time ago. You have nothing to be sorry about, young one. It’s not your burden to carry.” I lather my hands with shampoo and begins to massage her scalp.
“Why have you taken me?” she asks drowsily. “Oh, that feels so good.”
Her little moan
s of pleasure stir my cock, but I push it down. It’s not the right time. I will savor her, taste her, make her scream, but all in due time. “You need someone to take care of you.”
“No one ever does,” she mumbles, her eyes closed, her expression one of quiet rapture, as if she’s lit from within. “—cares for me.”
“I know. That changes now.” I rinse her hair and look around me, taking stock. Her hair needs balm, and I add it to my growing list of things I need to be able to properly care for this human. They are fragile little things and she won’t be able to take care of herself in my world. She is my responsibility now and until her last breath. “Come.” I stand and pull her with me, scooping her up in my arms again, wrapping her in a plush towel.
“Ow, my head spins.” She squeezes her eyes closed and buries her head against my dripping wet chest. She is clean and smells like herself and I revel in the warmth that radiates from her skin.
Standing before the bed, I realize the sheets need to be changed. I also have to bring her food and more to drink. I lay her down on my side, which hasn’t been soiled and tuck her in. “Rest. I’ll be right back.”
Kat
There’s a tiny rational part inside that screams at me that I need to try to escape from here, but remembering that I’m in a basement in a club full of vampires, I give up on the thought. I take in Lou’s broad back as he pulls off his soaked pants and shirt, my heart leaping to my throat at the sight of the naked vampire. He is beautiful with bulging muscles rippling under pale skin, strong thighs, a butt to die for and oh, how I wish he would turn around but he’s very gentlemanly about it, grabbing a pair of black jeans out of the closet and disappearing into the bathroom for a few seconds before he emerges again, his chest bared, but dressed from the waist down.
His eyes bore into mine, making my stomach flip. “Don’t look so disappointed, Kat.”
I quickly avert my gaze, busying myself with pulling the comforter up to my chin. “I don’t,” I mutter.
Lou laughs softly. “I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere. I will lock the door. Out there is a whole club full of ravenous vampires and humans too high to care. I will keep you safe, but you have to do what I tell you.”
“I’m not going anywhere. I can’t even sit up on my own. Please… come back.”
“Sleep, and I’ll be back before you know it.” He stalks through the room and the door clicks closed behind him before I can even blink. Damn vampire speed. It messes with my senses. I glance around the room, fighting to stay awake. I want to investigate, but as the rush of his touch gradually leaves me, it makes room for a profound lethargy unlike anything I have ever felt. I’ll just close my eyes a little.
“Kat.”
Something tickles my cheek. It takes me a moment, then I jerk awake and stare right into the dark depths of Lou’s eyes. He’s crouching by the bed, his head level with mine, a crooked smile on his lips.
“I thought you went away?”
“I’ve been away. I’m back.”
“I slept?”
“Like a log. Boozing and losing at least a quarter of your blood volume will do that to you. Come.” He reaches for me and pulls me up into his arms, carrying me over to an armchair I didn’t notice before.
“How’d you know?”
“Which?”
“Either? Both? Can you sense my platelet count?”
“Your blood is diluted. It’s too thin. Your lips are pale, your eyes hollow, and you are white as a sheet. I see it, I smell it. And you reeked of whiskey when I found you.” He holds up a pair of silky, navy blue harem style pants. “Give me your foot.”
“Panties?”
He looks dumbfounded for a moment. “Oh. I raided what I could find. I will get you everything you need, but for now this is what I have.”
“Everything I need. Except my freedom?”
Lou nods. “Correct.” He says it casually, as if there’s nothing dramatic about it. I’m too tired to think straight, but surely he doesn't mean to keep me here indefinitely?
I let him dress me. The pants are followed by a long-sleeved tight, white top and thick socks. He puts a wool throw blanket over my knees and points to the side table where a meal awaits along with water and a packet of iron supplements.
“Eat. I will make the bed.”
He blurs before me and before I’ve taken two bites out of a medium rare steak, he is done.
“How did you arrange all this?”
Lou crouches before me and puts his hands on my knees, making my head spin again, but this time not because of plummeting blood pressure, quite the opposite. His palms heat my skin through the thin fabric of the pants and I want to both spread my thighs and slam them together. I don’t do anything. I’m morbidly curious to see where all this is going. It’s too surreal. If I ever thought my life was monotonous… well, it isn’t anymore.
“Lucius was gracious enough to send someone for sheets and toiletries. I raided a couple of shops and this—” he nods at the plate, “is from a nearby restaurant.”
“Lucius?”
“The local king.”
“There’s a king?”
“A vampire king.”
“What? Like he has a castle, with a moat, and holds a court and—”
“Mmm no… Not quite like that. You’re in his club.”
“Club? Lou… where have you taken me? What is this place?”
“How much did you see?”
I glance at the closed door, remembering moans, sweaty naked bodies. My cheeks grow hotter, which is a blessing in a way because I’m in a constant state of chill.
“Sex. I saw people having sex.”
He cocks his head and seems to gauge my reaction. I have no particular reaction to that, though. The human body doesn't frighten me, and sex is an integral part of life. Food, sleep, and sex are the top priorities in any human’s mind. Fighting for it, or fighting against it. Same passion, same instincts. Is it the same for vampires?
“Not quite. But close. This is where vampires come to feed.”
I twitch and drop the fork. Lou grabs it while it’s still in the air, his hand shooting out at an inhuman speed. He holds it up before me.
“Does it scare you?”
I stare at him, at the door, at the fork, feeling as if the walls closes in. “Yes.”
“I will not let harm come to you, Kat. You have my word.”
Raising my hand to my neck, I finger the side where I was bitten. “But you will drink my blood.”
His eyes darken. He puts the fork on the tray, his moves slow and measured. I shrink back, suddenly forcefully reminded of his non-human nature. The air thickens between us and he doesn't answer immediately. He moves his hands up along my thighs, over the silky material of the pants, raising goosebumps wherever he passes. I hold his gaze, transfixed by the volumes of emotions in it. There is hunger, but also sadness, longing, suppressed need. I’ve always been good at reading people and even though he isn’t exactly ‘people’, I still see a person and not a simpleminded monster.
“Yes,” he finally says. “I will feed from you.”
My breath hitches on the exhale. I don’t say anything. The room seems to tilt and my heart slams in my chest. I need my blood, or I’ll die. How much will he take? Will it hurt as much as it did when the monster in the alley bit me? I have a thousand questions and I don’t dare to ask any of them.
“Please, Lou. Let me go,” I whimper, biting down on my lower lip to stop it from trembling.
He lifts his hand to my cheek and strokes it with the pad of his thumb, then threads his fingers in the hair in my nape and lets his hand rest there, against my vulnerable neck. I can’t help that I lean in, seeking support from the only source I have.
“I can’t,” he says softly.
“Why? You can’t just take a person from their life.”
“I can, and I did. You have seen too much. You don’t need to ask this again. I have chosen to keep you because you intrigue me, but in
other circumstances I would have needed to kill you or wipe your mind from any memory of me.”
“You said that once,” I whisper.
“And you begged me not to.”
“You let me go that time.”
His lips pull up into a crooked smile that makes my insides ache. “Not quite true.”
“You followed me?” In the midst of it all, my heart jolts with joy. I looked for him, longed for him, thought I would never see him again, but he was there the whole time.
“I had to.”
“Because I had seen too much?”
“No. Because I had to see you again.”
“Why?” The air between us thickens, and I don’t even know how to draw my next breath.
“I met a girl who showed me infinite compassion, who smells of flowers, of whiskey and loneliness, who couldn’t keep her hands off me, who mourned my presumed death without even knowing me. How could I not want to know you?”
“But…”
“Eat up before it gets cold. You need sustenance. I will leave you alone.” He removes his hand and stands. I miss his touch immediately.
“Where are you going?”
“I need to feed too, Kat.”
He leaves me alone, the door whisking shut. The implication is too much to wrap my mind around. He is off to feed. Someone’s blood. He will take mine when I’m stronger. I look at the food, at the iron supplement. I could refuse to eat, stay weak, but honestly, I don’t want to do that. No one has ever cared for me like Lou has these last couple of hours, bathed me, dressed me, and fed me. I want more. I want to know more.
My head spins. There are vampires. And a king? I can’t help that a little, half hysterical laugh escapes me. What if the US government knew we have a king? What if the world knew there are larger predators than us, that we aren’t on top of the food chain after all?
My stomach plummets.
Oh my God. I’m food.
Chapter 7
Lou
I’m out the door in the next moment. I desperately need blood. Her taste still tingles on my tongue from when I licked her wound and my monster has raged in me ever since, wanting more. I don’t want just anyone. I want her, but she needs her strength back first.
Her Vampire Hero (Midnight Doms Book 4) Page 5