Craving: The Willow Creek Vampires Series

by Stephanie Summers

“I hadn’t intended to be uncovered. You must have stolen the covers away from me, but you better get used to it, sweetheart. This is what you’ll be seeing every day, especially if you don’t learn how to share a blanket. I’m just not comfortable sleeping in clothes; too binding.”

  “Have I told you lately that you’re such a pervert?”

  “I think you mentioned it once or twice recently. Now, you might as well get back into bed, love. We aren’t going anywhere for a couple more hours.”

  “I am not getting back in that bed with you being all naked like you are.”

  “Suit yourself.” He propped himself up on one elbow and eyed her. “I am getting a little hungry, though. Don’t suppose you’d mind if I had a little bite to eat? It would only be a quick nibble.”

  “Yuck! I will never let you bite me.” She turned away from him. “You’ll have to force me to let you every single time. I won’t submit. Ever.”

  “Sounds delightful for me. The more you resist, the better you taste.”

  She ran into the bathroom and slammed the door. Remy stood and pulled on his jeans. He left the room for just a few minutes to grab a quick meal from the front desk clerk.

  Chapter 10

  The sensation of non-existent bugs running up and down her skin unnerved her. Sabine trembled ever so slightly as she looked around the large living room at all the abnormally bright eyes leering hungrily at her. The air was thick and warm with little circulation. Sweat beaded in various places all over her body. Did that guy just lick his lips?

  A familiar chilled hand rested on the small of her back, guiding her to an empty seat. His fingers grasped her hips firmly, pulling her onto his lap as they sat down. The coolness of his body helped her to not be quite so hot. It was the only time she seriously considered ripping all of his and her own clothes off and pressing her body against him. She might have dreamt the scenario before, but never seriously considered acting on it. The heat was getting to her already, and she thought she might burst into flames at any second if someone didn’t open a window or turn on a fan.

  “He has arrived, yes?” Remy turned his attention to the vampire from the day before, Martin.

  “Yes. He has been chained in the basement and awaits your punishment.”

  “Good. Let him suffer with anticipation for a little while longer.”

  “Do you intend to kill him?” Martin stiffened, and his eyes flashed with excitement.

  Remy nodded once. Though Sabine couldn’t see his response, she was pretty sure she knew what it was. Her breath quickened and her heart started to pound.

  “Perhaps you should calm your lover, Remy? She sounds terrified. I’m sure you have noticed the hungry glances she’s received since walking through the door. A pounding heart won’t help matters any.”

  His lips brushed softly against her ear. Cool breath caressed her ear as he whispered to her. “Sabine, you must try and stay calm. You are in no danger with me right here beside you. I am older than anyone in this room by at least a hundred years, but I don’t fancy having to deal with any of them trying to get to you. I’ll finish my business soon, and we’ll leave. Remember I love you, and I would die before I let anything happen to you.”

  His last sentence sent shivers up her spine. No boy, or man, ever told her they loved her like that. Her heart sank because it was all an act for the others in the room. How was he so confident they wouldn’t hear her thoughts and know he wasn’t sincere? Maybe he didn’t really care if they knew. Maybe he was convinced he could take on any who might challenge him. If that was the case, why put on this charade in the first place?

  Remy pulled her close, guiding her head back to rest on his chest. He gently stroked her hair as he assessed the situation. There were 20 other vampires there, and at least half of them looked ready to pounce. The only thing stopping them was the belief that she belonged to him. He had to take care of Jackson fast if he hoped to get out without putting her in any danger. It was true he could take any of them down, but it wouldn’t be so easy to take all of them at once. One vampire acting out against him would be all it would take for most of the others to join and start a killing frenzy.

  The door to the outside flung open. In marched a line of scantily clad men and women. Fangs grew. Noises resembling snarling or growling emanated from deep within some of the vampires. These people were definitely human and definitely dinner. She averted her eyes away from them.

  A vampire she couldn’t see yelled out. “Food’s here! Have at it!”

  With that the vampires descended on the humans. She sat up quickly on Remy’s lap. Blurs of light and wind raced past her. As she looked around, all the vampires, each one with a newly acquired human, had returned to where they were seated only a second before. Groans of ecstasy erupted from almost everyone in the room. Some of the couples were kissing, some of them rubbing and caressing one another, and others were already feeding from their human donors. It was apparent that feeding and sex went together naturally in the vampire world. The whole thing gave Sabine the creeps.

  Remy pulled her back into his arms. His lips kissed the nape of her neck softly. He ran his hand up her spine and cradled her neck as he bent her head away from him. Is he going to bite me? He said he wouldn’t!

  He continued kissing her neck. Suddenly, he grabbed her and before she felt any movement, she was sitting on the chair, and he was on his knees on the floor with her legs on either side of him. He looked deep into her eyes, and nodded, reminding her to play along. He moved closer and grabbed her hands. He kissed her wrists and draped her arms around his neck.

  He kissed her fervently, pushing her back in the chair. His tongue explored the inside of her mouth. The sharp points of his teeth teased her lip before their tongues intertwined. She knew this was all for show, but deep down in her core, she wanted him to bite her. She wanted to feel what every other person in the room was feeling when a vampire sunk their teeth into flesh.

  His hand slid over her ribs under her shirt, stopping just short of her breast. She screamed to him in her mind to keep going, but her cries went unheard. He kissed a trail back to her neck and placed his mouth over her jugular. He did not bite, though the urge almost overwhelmed him. His promise to not bite her echoed in his mind. If he placed his mouth in just the right spot and sucked gently, he could fool those around him into thinking he was drinking her blood. He knew there were a few sets of eyes glued to them, waiting for him to slip up. It was in some vampires’ nature to covet another’s mate despite the possibility of death, and in a group as large as this one, there had to be at least a couple that desired Sabine simply because she was his.

  He sucked at the flesh on her neck. His hand wound in her hair keeping her head in place. He couldn’t afford for her to move and someone see that he hadn’t really bitten her. He pulled away, pretending to swallow. He palmed her neck where two bite wounds should have been to hide the lack of evidence. He discreetly bit the inside of his own mouth so that the blood would flow. He flashed a bloody smile at her before returning to the spot on her neck.

  She couldn’t believe he’d bitten her without even feeling it. The evidence was there, though. Blood dripped off his fangs and ran down his chin. She longed for him to kiss her again, but fought the feeling with all she had. She was enjoying this so much more than she should be. She glanced around the room to see most of the vampires had finished feeding and were starting to move around the room. The sound of new conversations sprang up all around them.

  Remy took his mouth off her neck. He stuck his finger to the point of his fang and gently rubbed the spot he’d pretended to bite. It was the only way to explain why she didn’t have puncture wounds. None of the other vampires appeared to heal the necks of the ones they fed from. This was something usually reserved for a mate or if the vampire was trying to conceal their identity. He leaned back and looked at her longingly while he wiped away the blood on his face. He whispered, “Thank you, my love,” and leaned in for one final passionate k
iss.

  Remy stood and announced that he was ready to take care of the vampire in the basement. He held out his hand to her, and she took it as he helped her out of the chair. She walked just behind him as close as she could through the house and down the stairs as others followed close behind.

  A man with short, dirty blonde shaggy hair stood with his arms and legs all separately chained to the walls. By the looks of it, he appeared to be slightly taller than Remy and just as muscular, if not more so. A female vampire who was half their size stood guard in front of him.

  Remy dropped Sabine’s hand and moved quickly to stand in front of the chained vamp. He stared into the prisoner’s eyes as he sneered back at Remy.

  “Where is it, Jackson? I hear you like to brag that you’ve bested me.”

  “It is here, but I will never give it back to you. You’ll have to rip it from my dead body.”

  “As you wish.” Remy turned to the vamp on guard and motioned for her to unchain Jackson. The other vampires backed away and spread out around the edge of the room. “I will kill you, but I won’t do it with you chained and unable to fight back. I’ll give you that much.”

  Remy stepped back, waiting for Jackson to attack him. Jackson rubbed his wrists, and paced back and forth. He glanced at Sabine for a split second before attempting to pounce on her, but Remy was ready for him.

  Remy intercepted Jackson and threw him against the concrete wall. He landed with a loud thud, and the concrete crumbled slightly upon impact. Sabine startled and raised her hands to her cheeks. Her heart tried to beat right out of her chest. Her knees went weak, and she braced her back against the wall to keep from falling. Martin gently held her elbow to help steady her.

  Jackson lay crumpled on the floor, trying to regain his composure. Remy stood over him. He knelt down and began to punch the vampire repeatedly in the face. Blood flew from Jackson’s mouth and nose. He tried desperately to push Remy off him, but he was no match. Remy stood, lifting his foot up above the battered vampire. He buried the heel of his boot in Jackson’s skull, crushing it. He bent down, and easily removed what remained of Jackson’s head from his body, tossing it aside.

  His bloodied hands searched the dead vampire’s pockets. He hung his head and gasped as he felt the fragile chain. He pulled out the necklace he’d lost so long ago. He savored the feel of the golden chain and purple stone in his hand as he held back tears of satisfaction.

  Sabine held her breath for what seemed like an eternity. She forced air into her lungs by taking deep breaths. The whole thing was the bloodiest, most brutal thing she had seen in her whole life, and it only lasted a few seconds. It made her fear Remy and what he could do to her that much more. She watched closely as he pulled a necklace from the dead thing’s jacket pocket. She wasn’t sure, but she thought she could see Remy’s eyes turning red with bloody tears. As he turned back toward her, his eyes looked normal, if only a little darker than they normally were.

  He marched over to her and grabbed her around the waist with his bloody hands, then kissed her—long and deep.

  *

  The silence in the car on the way back to the hotel was deafening. She had so many thoughts and questions running through her head, and couldn’t focus on just one thing to talk to him about. She was torn in two different directions. He’d left her feeling like she was missing out on something great with all the physical attention he’d paid her, yet she wanted to get as far away from him as she could when she remembered how violent he was. His true nature had shown itself, and the thought of it chilled her to the bone.

  Once they arrived back at the hotel, he unlocked the door to their room and held it open for her before he stepped in.

  “Would you like something to eat? I can order you a pizza or something.”

  “I don’t know. I don’t have much of an appetite. Let me just sit for a few minutes and figure it out.” She avoided eye contact as she spoke to him.

  “Are you okay? That must’ve been a lot for you to take in. I doubt you see a slaughter like that very often.”

  “I don’t know if I am or not.”

  “I assure you, he deserved what he got.”

  “Help me understand.” Her eyes raised to meet his. “Because what I saw was a one-sided blood bath. That guy didn’t have a chance, did he?”

  “No, he didn’t.” He lowered himself into a chair and sat quietly for a minute, debating on whether or not to tell her the truth. “He didn’t deserve to have a chance either.”

  She stood up and walked to the bathroom. She needed to be by herself for a moment, and this was the only place she could do that. Sitting on the edge of the tub, she tried to process everything running through her brain. She closed her eyes to try and ease the pounding sensation developing around her temples. She could see him ripping the head off that vampire at the same time she could feel his lips on her. She recalled the blood, her blood, dripping from his teeth at the same time she felt his arms around her and his hands tangled in her hair. Fearing him and lusting after him was the strange dichotomy she found herself in.

  After a long while, she returned to the bedroom. He stood looking out the window at nothing. Not turning toward her, he spoke. “You were never in any real danger. You know that, right?”

  “I get that, but that’s not what I’m having issues with…it’s not what scared me.”

  “What is it then?”

  “It’s you.” His body stiffened as he heard the fear in her voice. His head turned slightly in her direction. “You scared me before, but I’m absolutely terrified of you now. You bit me when you said you wouldn’t, and I’ve never seen someone be as violent as you were. I’ve never seen someone die right in front of me, let alone such a violent death.” She pushed away the feeling of excitement she experienced when she wanted him to bite her earlier.

  “I didn’t bite you.” He continued looking out the window again and his body relaxed.

  “I saw my blood dripping off your teeth and running down your chin! Now you’re going to lie about it?”

  “It wasn’t your blood. It was mine. I meant it when I said I wouldn’t feed on you in front of all them.”

  “Oh… I saw the blood, and I thought,” she trailed off in mid-sentence. “I guess that’s why it didn’t hurt. I thought maybe you just made it to where I didn’t feel it.”

  “I wanted them to believe I was feeding from you, so I bit the inside of my lip. That’s why I kept my mouth on your neck for so long. I knew some of them were watching us. If I hadn’t pretended to feed on you, things could have turned sour fast, and it’s not like I could tell you my intensions without alerting everyone else.” He turned to face her just as she reached up and placed her hand on the spot his mouth had been focused on. He saw lust flash briefly in her eyes. Though he would never admit it to her, he enjoyed being close to her. He planned to tease her about kissing her and sucking her neck. He was going to act like he was the pig she thought he was, but he would never tell her how much he enjoyed kissing her and holding her. He longed to do it again.

  “Then what was with killing that guy? All for a necklace?” Sabine shook her head and looked at him incredulously. “You could just buy another.”

  He looked down at the floor. He couldn’t stand making eye contact with her while he revealed the story so close to his heart. “It isn’t just a necklace. It’s my mother’s, and later belonged to my wife. That necklace is the only item I possessed that belonged to either of them, and he stole it from me.”

  “I didn’t realize you still had feelings like that. You made it seem like you don’t care about anything.”

  “I do care about a few things. I may put on a tough exterior, but some feelings linger.”

  “So, it has sentimental value, but did you have to kill him?”

  “Yes. Everything I owned as a human was stripped from me by my father when I refused him. I managed to hide the necklace in a place he never suspected and I retrieved it later. So, you see, it wasn’t just th
at it was theirs, but it was the only thing I had left from my mortal life. The necklace was the last bit of myself that I could still hold on to. I helped Jackson after he was first made vampire. His maker abandoned him and he needed someone to guide him.” She sat on the edge of the bed, quietly listening to him. “I tried to teach him how to blend in with society, and make those he fed on forget instead of killing them. He grew angry with me over time for not allowing him to kill freely, and he knew that was the only way to hurt me. I’ve searched for him for 150 years; all the while he flaunted the necklace to every vampire he could about how he had stolen from me the only thing I cared about. In vampire culture, tolerance and forgiveness are not given easily. He deserved what he got.”

  “Why did your father take everything from you? What did he do to you?”

  He shook his head. “Not today.”

  She nodded her head in agreement and changed the subject. “I think I want that pizza now.”

  *

  “Are we going home tonight or tomorrow?”

  “Tomorrow.”

  “How far away are we? I want to let my parents know when we’ll be back.”

  “It’s only three hours. We will leave as soon as you’re ready in the morning. Sleep in if you like.”

  She texted her friends and her parents. It was only 11pm, but she felt like she hadn’t slept in days. The fact that she’d been awake since 4:30am or that she’d experienced the most horrific thing and the most pleasurable thing in her life all in the same evening probably didn’t help any. She’d been with boys before. Not that she was promiscuous, but she was no angel. She’d always had a thing for bad boys, and they seemed to know exactly what to say to her to get her clothes off. Maybe she’d been dumb for believing they wanted more from her than sex, or maybe she wasn’t all that different than most girls at that age; since before she graduated from high school, she hadn’t been with anyone at all. Maybe it was the situation she’d found herself in on her 18th birthday. She didn’t want to start something with a guy, only for it to go nowhere when she moved to Willow Creek Manor.