“But why?” Lucius probed, his tone injured.
“You know very well, why!” I bellowed, causing others to look in our direction.
“No, I believe I do not,” he responded, claiming innocence. “What I do know is that when I returned home, you were nowhere to be found and after some persuasive enquiring, the stable boy informed me that you had left shortly before carting all of your luggage with you.”
He paused for a moment in thought. “Were you upset at my stepping out for a few hours?”
“It was not your stepping out that I am upset over! It is what you were stepping out to do!”
Again he looked at me bewildered, and a bit frustrated. “How could you possibly be upset by what you think I was doing if you have no idea what I was doing?”
“Because I followed you, Lucius!” I spit out at him. “And I saw you go into that woman’s chateau! Is that who you have been going to see all these times you have left me for hours at a time?”
A stunned look swept across his face. “Well, yes,” Lucius admitted, “but it is apparently not what you believe it to be. If you would just let me explain—”
“It is too late for that, I do not care to hear your excuses, Lucius!”
Noticing our apparent squabble, a guard of the station quickly makes his way over to us. “Is there a problem here, Mademoiselle?” he enquires, staring at me with concern.
Lucius was quick to speak up, using his pervasive charm to keep things smooth. “Not at all Monsieur, simply a little lover’s quarrel. But I do appreciate your concern.”
Without so much as another word, the guard nodded and walked off, leaving us alone.
How is he able to have that effect on people?
Turning back to me, Lucius whispered into my ear, “Gretchen, my love, please be reasonable. Let us go back home and work this out rather than making a spectacle of ourselves here in public.”
I shook my head vehemently, refusing to listen to him. “I am not going anywhere with you! Now leave me alone, Lucius!”
Silently, Lucius gazed down at me, hurt brimming up within his eyes.
I tried not to notice how crushed he looked. If I had not been so set in my obstinacy, it would have surely affected me instantly.
“I am sorry I have to do this, Gretchen, but you have left me no other choice,” Lucius told me, his low voice calm but tinged with pain.
Grasping me firmly by the face, he compelled me to stare into his eyes. I tried to shut them, to block him out for to look into those eyes hurt me so, unraveled everything I had determined to do, made me yearn to do things I had resolved not to do.
“Do not shut your eyes, Gretchen!” he ordered sternly.
I was powerless against him. Utterly powerless. I knew that now. The only way I had been able to leave him was that I had not had to face him, hear his voice, feel his touch holding me back. I would never have gotten this far otherwise.
The next thing I knew I could not see straight and was overcome with an extreme fatigue. I could not keep my eyes open, every part of my body was suddenly so heavy, I felt I would fall over any moment. And then I did.
And that was the last thing I remembered.
When I awoke, my head was so woozy that I could not focus at first. I was not at the train depot anymore, that much I knew. I was lying in a bed. My bed, perhaps? Was I back at Lucius’s chateau? Furthermore, all of my garments had been removed.
Well, I certainly hope I am not at a stranger’s house in this state!
Straining to fully regain my consciousness, I shook my head, blinking my eyes several times. The room about me came into hazy focus, but it was enough to see that I was indeed back at Lucius’s.
Enraged, I attempted to leap out of bed, only to find my legs seemed to still be incapacitated.
What is this he has done to me?
Screaming out in vexation, I threw myself back onto the bed.
Not a second later, the door to my chamber opened and Lucius was standing in the entrance.
“May I come in?” he asked cordially.
“No, you may not!” I yelled at him, turning away and clutching the covers to me, curling up into a fetal position.
Ignoring my childish response, he ambled into my chamber. Reaching my bedside, he sat down beside me.
“How did I get back here? What have you done to me, Lucius?” I demanded.
Smiling at me, he replied, “I immobilized you. Vampire gift…” I swore I detected a slight chuckle. “I do apologize, Gretchen, but you left me no choice. I had to get you where you would hear me out.”
Still lightheaded from his little stunt, I just gaped at him in disbelief.
As though it would smooth things over, Lucius added, “Not to worry, there are no lasting effects. See, it is already wearing off.”
Finally I said, “Alright then. You have me where you want me, now let’s talk.”
“What do you need to know?”
Insane with jealousy, I tore at him. “What do I need to know, Lucius? Well, for starters, I need to know why you leave me very few days to go to see another woman.”
A bit stunned at my lashing out, Lucius’s face wrinkled in thought.
Then smoothing out his face, he stated simply, “I go to see Anaïs routinely because she is able to give me something which no one else can.”
Seething at the mention of her name, I glowered at him. “Oh, her name is Anaïs… isn’t that lovely!” I mocked. “She gives you what no one else can… So she is your lover?”
“She was, on occasion… until I found you.”
I gaped again at his admitting blatantly to such a thing. I wanted so badly to throw something at him. But I did not yet have the strength.
“That is beside the point!” Lucius continued, becoming short with me. “I do not go to see her for that.”
His nonchalance regarding the matter elicited me to grimace. I was rapidly becoming exasperated with the seeming pointlessness of this conversation. I had made my choice. Why could he not have just respected that and left me alone?
“I promise you, Gretchen, I have not touched Anaïs— in that way— since you. It was only ever sex between us. Nothing else! I never had the feelings for her that I have for you. I have never had these feelings for anyone else.”
I always believed that his eyes were so evocative that they would tell me anything I needed to know. Gazing deep into his eyes now, I determined that he was absolutely sincere.
“Besides, it is not as though you have not had sex with others since me. Many more, in fact.”
“Yes, but that was different, it was my job. And believe me when I tell you that you were the one I was always thinking of, from the very first time I saw you, you were the only one ever in my head. It got to the point that I could not even climax unless I was focusing on you!” I confessed. “Now I have left there, left everything I have known to be with you. If you expect me to remain, then you must promise me that you will never see Anaïs again.” I gave my ultimatum.
“I am sorry, Gretchen, but I cannot do that,” Lucius apologized.
“You cannot do that… or will not?” I demanded. “You do have a choice!”
“Not if I want to be able to keep making love to you, I do not.
“What the hell do you mean, Lucius? You cannot make love to me unless you go see her first? Is that the only way you can become aroused enough to have someone like me?”
“No, Gretchen, you are being ludicrous,” he said, maintaining his composure under my harsh allegations. “You should know better than that, know how much you arouse me. You remember when you questioned me regarding my ability to function as a human man rather than suffering the consequences of the curse of a male Vampire?”
“Yes,” I replied tentatively.
“Well, Anaïs is the secret source to which I alluded.”
“She is?” I repeated incredulously. “How?”
“It is her blood. Many years ago, she swore me to oath that I would never r
eveal it to anyone else,” he answered. “But I can tell you this much… she is not human.”
“Is she Vampire then?” I asked, my curiosity aroused.
“No, Anais is definitely not Vampire, though she is an immortal. She was born immortal however, not merely became so as I have and is capable of far greater powers than any Vampire.
I was silent a long moment while I processed this information. Finally, opening my mouth to probe him further, Lucius interrupted before I could say anything.
“That is all I can tell you, Gretchen. Please do not interrogate me any further. I have already said more than I should. Anaïs has her ways of knowing. You are just going to have to trust me.”
“Well, how am I ever supposed to compete with that?” I queried, feeling more plainly human than ever. “She is gorgeous and immortal and she can give you something which I cannot.”
“You are not supposed to,” he responded, appearing vexed, something which I was not accustomed to seeing with him. “You do not have to. And you have given me something which no one else can or ever has, Gretchen. Can you not see that I brought you here because I love you and I want to be with you? If I wanted to be with her, I would be… Lord knows she has suggested it. But I am not and never have been. You are the only woman I have ever chosen to live with me.”
“Ever? I find that hard to believe that you have never lived with another woman in your five hundred years.”
“Why?” he said, his tone elevating. “Why must you question everything I say to you? Why will you not simply believe me? Believe that I love you and I would do anything for you. If you do not want me to see her again, then I will not. But, you must understand the consequences. I will no longer be able to make love to you as I have. But if that is what you want, then I will abide by your decision.”
Once more, I was left speechless. How could I possibly live without him making love to me now that I had experienced it? It was akin to a drug. The most addictive drug.
“Well, Gretchen? Is that what you want?” he reiterated somewhat harshly.
“I do not know, Lucius! I do not know!” I cried. Feeling entirely overwhelmed by it all, I buried my head beneath the pillow, hot tears spilling down my face.
It was too much. It was just too much to bear right now. For some reason, the knowledge of him drinking from her pained me just as much as him sleeping with her. Though I knew it was a bit strange, still I had relished the notion of my being the one to provide for his needs— all of his needs.
I love him. God knows, I love him. But the thought of him being with another woman, even just to drink from her, fills me with jealousy. When I came here, I thought I would be the only woman he would ever drink from, be with in any way, which made me feel so special, so important, so cherished. I cannot bear the thought of him putting his mouth on another woman’s body, taking her blood into him. I thought I was the one who would provide him all his nourishment. Now I find out he never even really needed me?
I felt his hand caressing my back and stroking my hair, coaxing me back to him. At last, I pulled the covers down and gazed up into the eyes of the man with whom I was hopelessly in love, wishing desperately it were yesterday, for everything to be as it was before this matter tainted what we shared together.
“Is there not anyone else from whom you can derive the same benefit? A man, perhaps?”
Lucius could not keep from laughing this time. “No, Gretchen, not anyone I know of anyway. While I am sure there are others, they strive to protect their identity. Otherwise creatures such as myself would have them imprisoned and they would be no more than slaves kept for the sake of their blood. My meeting Anaïs was a very fortunate thing for me. We have established a special arrangement. Most like her stay as far away from Vampires as they can because of the great risk they are under in our hands.”
“But she trusts you?” I asked, striving to understand.
“Yes,” Lucius answered earnestly. “I met her at a very low time in my existence and she was very kind to me. We have known one another for a very long time.”
“How long?” I probed, needing to know.
“Since the time of my turning. I never chose to become a Vampire. I was attacked one night on my way home and it was scared off in the midst of feeding from me. I was left in critical condition. Anaïs was the one who found me. She took me in and nursed me back to health. Had it not been for her, I likely would not have survived my transformation. I owe my entire existence to her.”
Hearing his story and what she had done for him put it into perspective for me. What if she had not come along and found him that night more than five hundred years ago? Then I would never have had the chance to meet him. The thought was too much to bear.
My tone softening, I suggested, “Perhaps if I at least were able to meet her, if this whole thing did not seem like some monumental secret part of your life that you kept from me, then perhaps I would begin to feel better about it.”
“If that is what you would like, then I will see to it that it is arranged,” Lucius agreed, relief in his tone.
“So then, why did you need me if you already had someone from which to feed?” I asked, the hurt still evident in my tone.
“I did not need you, Gretchen,” he answered nonchalantly, wrapping his arms about me. “I simply could not resist you.” Planting little kisses along the line of my ear, Lucius worked his way to the delicate spot just beneath at the point of my jaw. “Do you not like living here with me, the way in which I pleasure you?”
He very well knew the answer to that.
That smug grin. How he infuriates me!
How he arouses me…
He knew he had me wrapped around his finger. What made me even more mad was that I hated to admit it, but it was completely true.
I was hopeless!
Lying there in the afterglow of our lovemaking, Lucius kissed me more passionately than he ever had before so that I could scarcely breathe.
When finally he broke contact, Lucius gazed into my eyes meaningfully. “You must promise me you will never leave me again, Gretchen.”
“I promise, Lucius,” I said, still bestowing little kisses upon his face. “I will never leave you.”
Lucius said, “Then say you will become mine, Gretchen. I want you to be mine, and mine alone, forever.”
The beauty of his words elicited my eyes to fill with tears. I stared at him, endeavouring to comprehend his meaning.
Sensing my confusion, Lucius restated his intent, “Marry me, Gretchen. Be my wife.”
With that, I could hold back the tears no longer. As they streamed down my face, I gave him my answer. “Oui, Lucius. I would love to marry you!”
Perceiving his elation at my response, gazing deep into my eyes, Lucius took me into his arms and kissed me passionately.
Though I never would have believed it long ago, I now knew this— he— was what I had been waiting for all along.
Sanguelascivia Novellas Trio
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‘The Submission of Giuliana’
*** AWARDED REVIEWER'S CHOICE 2013 'BEST PARANORMAL EROTIC ROMANCE NOVELLA' by PARANORMAL ROMANCE GUILD!
"As I lay there being taken by two men, my orgasm swept through me, yet it was for another who had pleasured me only in the realm of my mind."
Giuliana never dreamed life would lead her to where she is now-- serving as a courtesan in the swanky vampire theatre Sanguelascivia in Venice, Italy. Some days, she hates to admit, she loves her job-- what woman wouldn't enjoy being sexually pleasured in a variety of new ways every day? She has been serviced by some of the most mouthwatering men she has ever laid eyes on.
And still other days, she cannot believe she has lowered herself to this. Then there are the Vampire patrons to whom she is expected to submit and service privately after the shows. Her life at Sanguelascivia is in severe contrast to the simple life she once knew with her husband and child. But she no longer allows herself to think of
them. It is too painful to face the loss.
Giuliana vowed she would never love again. That is, until she sees Vincenzo her first night at the theatre and something stirs deep within her. Night after night she aches as she watches him with other women, wondering when she will finally have her turn to be pleasured by him. The only way she is able to endure her performances with the other men-- and oft times women-- is to fantasize about him pleasuring her.
Will she ever feel him against her skin, feel his lips hot upon hers, feel him moving inside of her?
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‘The Love of Vincenzo’
“The first time I laid eyes upon her, I was instantly mesmerized by her softness, her beauty. I knew at once that I was done for… Never would I want another woman.”
Vincenzo was reasonably happy with his life. He had a stylish place to live and a job most other men would die for— having sex with multiple partners every night and servicing wealthy clients in the VIP, male and female alike. For years now, he had been one of the star performers at Sanguelascivia, a swanky erotic nightclub in Venice for the Vampire elite.
But then Giuliana wandered in to the club, a destitute young widow who had nowhere else to turn. She was nothing like the other women there at Sanguelascivia. Sure, many of them were gorgeous and naturally, he enjoyed fucking them, but none of them ever interested him in the least. Perhaps it was merely because Giuliana was not yet hardened by this lifestyle. She was beautiful in a soft and compassionate kind of way that he had not known in a long time.
Never had Vincenzo seen anyone quite like her.
And now, he could not seem to get her out of his mind.
Nor did he want to.
Vincenzo begins fantasizing about Giuliana during his every performance with the other women. Then he must agonizingly witness her initiation performance with two men. Will he be able to stand it, or will his emotion get the better of him?
The Seduction of Gretchen: Paranormal Erotic Romance (Anam Céile Chronicles) Page 9