by A. C. James
Slowly sitting up, I stretched in the light that streamed through the wall of glass overlooking the river. Walking down the stairs, I saw Arie on the leather sofa reading a newspaper. When I entered the room he stood chivalrously to greet me. I smiled shyly. His manner must be a custom carried over from a time when ladies were regarded differently in polite society.
“Good morning,” I said with a nervous smile. “Did you carry me to bed?”
I felt a little self-conscious standing in my pajamas. Arie had already dressed for the day.
Oh god, I haven’t brushed my teeth yet.
“Good morning. I thought you would be more comfortable upstairs. Did you sleep okay?”
“Yes. But I had a strange dream.”
Arie raised an eyebrow. “What was your dream about?”
Shit.
I wasn’t expecting him to ask me that but I should have been. My brain wasn’t functional without coffee. “I was at an opera, I guess, and you were there too.” My words came out in a rush and I felt flushed. “It’s stupid, I guess.” This was mortifying. Just stop and go back upstairs to brush your teeth.
“Not at all. I think it sounds reasonable. I’ve attended several over the years.”
“You were there with a dark-haired woman with hazel eyes.”
I didn’t dare mention what they’d been doing.
Arie frowned. “Katarina.”
“I’m sorry about what happened between you. How did she ever become so…unstable?”
“Her name is Katarina Beneczky, and I met her at Čachtice Castle when she became Erzsebet’s washerwoman. Erzsebet was a countess—a vampire. Katarina was a gypsy witch and clairvoyant like you. Erzsebet’s companions almost matched the countess in their unrestrained depravities. They tormented Katarina, who cooked and cleaned for them.”
“So you felt sorry for her?”
“I turned her and took her as my consort. It was the only way I could protect her from their sadistic abuse. When Erzsebet went to trial I saved her from death by dazzling witnesses to testify on her behalf, holding her innocent of the barbarisms Erzsebet and her companions inflicted. Erzsebet and everyone associated with her were accused due to association alone.”
Vulnerability showed in his face as he shared his past with Katarina.
“What were they accused of?”
“Killing peasant girls—among other things. It was all a lie, but I didn’t find out until much later. Katarina had enjoyed it just as much as the countess, perhaps even more so. She had participated and was every bit as guilty. When I saw her for the first time was when I discovered that the opaque aura with its gold outline marked those who possess the Sight. But Katarina suffered mental instability from the visions before being turned, because she could not control them.”
“You don’t have to control them. You just have to deal with them.”
I didn’t want Arie to worry that I couldn’t handle it.
Arie sighed. “The Sight penetrated her waking consciousness. I did not realize at the time just how unstable she really was. Turning her had forever changed her into a creature whose sanity ebbed and flowed with outrages. It left a string of violence in its wake. Turning her had made her worse, and I should have let her stand trial with all the rest.” His voice sounded bitter. “Actually, the night at the opera was when I finally believed what I’d been told about her because I had seen it first-hand.”
I saw it too.
My heart broke. He didn’t stay just because he loved her. He stayed because he didn’t know or didn’t want to believe it until he had no other choice.
“It’s not your fault. You were only trying to help her and you didn’t know how crazy she was.”
“Perhaps. But if I had stayed with her or put her out of her misery, she wouldn’t be here now threatening your life.”
I could see the guilt eating at him. “You had no way of knowing what she would do.”
“Yes, but I knew what she was capable of. Our heightened senses move us to crave beauty in all things—music, art, and the human form. We are capable of appreciating the finer things in life. She became more unstable after being turned, but I hoped with time she would adjust. But despite the years we shared together, she only became more vicious.”
“Still, you loved her.”
And she’s why you hold back with me. I have the Sight too.
“Once. I loved her once. Until my days and nights with her became endless drudgery. I bent to her every whim with indifference but then in reluctance I endured to keep the peace. Katarina only became crueler and more misanthropic than I could have ever dreamed.”
I couldn’t imagine how hard it had been to see someone you loved go off the deep end. I wanted to comfort him somehow, to show him it was different with me. The defenseless look on his face was killing me.
“I’m sorry for reminding you of her. I’m just going to go get dressed and I’ll be right back down,” I said as I turned toward the bedroom. He’d seen the Sight take over when I didn’t expect it to, like in the coffee shop, when I’d stared blankly at a customer before handing him his change. I couldn’t help but wonder if Arie thought because I couldn’t control the Sight that I would end up like Katarina.
“Wait. Your clothes are done.” He crossed the room and handed me the duffle bag. It had been sitting next to the sofa, but I hadn’t noticed.
“Thanks. I’ll just be a sec.”
When he handed me the bag his hand brushed mine and his touch filled me with a longing so intense it made me shiver. A dark curl fell across his forehead and into his eyes. My breath caught. And I wanted him. I wanted to make him forget the past while buried inside of me.
“Take your time. What would you like for breakfast?”
“I’m not much of a breakfast person. I drink coffee. I’ll just grab a bowl of cereal or a bagel or something, whatever you have. I’ll figure it out. I just need to get dressed.”
I backed away from him and headed for the stairs before I ended up kissing him.
Quickly, I put away my clothes in the drawer that Arie had cleared out and hung my jeans in the closet. I felt relieved to get away from him for a moment. Standing so close to him made me feel nervous and giddy. I threw on another pair of jeans, along with a comfortable sweater so old it was threadbare but I couldn’t bear to part with it. Then I clasped my locket around my neck. I brushed my teeth before heading back downstairs, where I followed the smell of coffee and sausage.
Arie handed me a steaming cup when I sat at the breakfast bar. “I don’t know how you take your coffee.” He placed a carton of milk and the sugar bowl in front of me.
“Thank you.”
I added a heaping spoonful of sugar and some milk to my mug, stirring it together. Watching him cook sausage and eggs over the stove created an intriguing dualism of supernatural and mundane. It made me smile even though I’d told him not to bother. It was so perfectly normal in a situation so very not normal that it brought a small amount of balance.
“Do you have to work today?” he asked.
“No, not today.”
“Good. We’ll head over the club later. I have something I want to show you.”
“Okay,” I said, my voice betraying my apprehension.
My imagination ran wild thinking what this ‘something’ he wanted to show me could be. Maybe it would be something fun—like flogging, paddling, whipping, or whatever else they did upstairs. Get a hold of yourself. The direction of my thoughts made me blush.
“As long as you don’t plan on tying me up or leading me around by a leash, we’re good,” I said to cover thoughts that ran in an opposing direction.
“You’d be surprised. You might find that you enjoy it.”
I could feel my face flush crimson. I couldn’t quite tell how serious he was but the huskiness in his voice made my pussy clench. “Yeah, well, lots of people enjoy things that aren’t good for them.”
“How do you know it’s not good for you? It gives you
a profound sense of freedom.” Arie turned away from the frying pan.
I didn’t want to betray what I’d been thinking by asking a bunch of questions. I’d wondered myself if I wouldn’t feel some sense of freedom that would allow me to orgasm. Instead I lied because it was easier than talking about sex while he cooked me some sausage. “I don’t see how being tied up makes you feel free. I would think it would make you feel just the opposite.”
“Want me to tie you up and I’ll show you what I mean?” He put a plate with eggs and a side of sausage in front of me.
“No. Thanks, but no,” I said, rolling my eyes. When what I really meant was yes, one hundred and ten percent. After going to the club I wanted to see what it felt like.
His mouth looked serious when he said it but there was a joking light in his eyes. It warred with the gentlemanly side of him that I saw so often. The side that it seemed he slipped into when he forgot the customs of his current time period. The contradiction, though tough to swallow, was a total turn-on.
I took a bite of sausage. Even though I wasn’t much for breakfast, I appreciated the gesture. And I really wanted to take him up on it—both being tied up and the fucking. “Thanks for breakfast. There’s nothing like sausage on a cold day like this.”
A wide grin spread across his face before I realized what I’d said. “Indeed.”
Half-moon indentations pressed into my palm as I gripped my fork. I sighed and went back to eating my sausage instead of acknowledging the embarrassment that I’m sure Arie could read all over my face.
Chapter 10
Arie drove as we headed over to the club. Out front I could see Victoria scribbling on a clipboard. The snow almost disappeared in the fair strands of her hair. Her pale skin, almost the color of her hair, contrasted against the gray coat she wore. With tiny features, pale pink lips, and an angular chin, I thought she looked like an angel standing in the snow.
“Have you always dreamt what is true?”
I shrugged. “Yeah. I guess so. But not all my dreams are like that.”
He parked the Venom and we headed inside. The lobby stood unattended and we crossed the black marble to the bar at the downstairs Goth club, which at the moment was closed.
“Wait here. I’ll be right back.”
I nodded to Arie and perched on an empty stool at the bar. Victoria slid behind the bar so soundlessly as she entered that I startled. Clipboard in hand, she went through bottles lining the mahogany shelves, appearing to be doing inventory.
“Hi,” she said, her voice soft. “So you belong to Arie?”
“I came with Arie but I don’t belong to him.”
“He’ll be good to you, no matter how you may judge him. I consider him family, and by extension you are included.”
In truth, the idea of belonging to Arie appealed to me. I warmed immediately to Victoria. “I don’t judge him. How long have you known Arie?”
“Two-hundred and fifty years. He is my maker. You’ll have to excuse me. We’re getting ready for our annual gala.”
I thought about the dream that I had and now I felt certain it was really some sort of vision. “Annual gala?”
“It’s Tessa’s thing—the biggest night of the year, and one of our biggest money-makers. She calls it the Kindred Spirits of Darkness Gala.”
“That sounds like a lot of work.”
“It is a lot of work for me. But a part of the proceeds goes to a local charity. I get the joy of making sure the burlesque acts and other entertainments get booked.” Victoria scowled. “Actually, I pretty much organize everything.” The last part she muttered, almost to herself.
“Well, I’ll leave you to it then. Is Tessa here?”
“She’s in her office I think.”
“Do you have one of those key cards?”
Part of me was jealous of her beauty, but a little envious too. Maybe she could teach me a trick or two. In all honesty the BDSM I’d witnessed at the sex club made me curious. No one I’d ever been with had been able to make me come until Arie used his teeth not so tenderly and pinned me. It wasn’t kinky at all but after I’d witnessed her flogging that man, I wanted to explore a side of myself that I’d only imagined from the erotic romances I’d read. Besides, I wanted to know what this business of being a seer involved. I’d overheard her and Arie talking about it and he was against it, which only made me want to find out more. I wanted to know more about my visions. If I could control them then maybe I’d see Katarina coming and would be able to stop her.
Victoria gave me a cool look. “I do.”
“Would you mind swiping it for me? I need to speak with her.”
She hesitated before leading me across the empty dance floor to the elevators on the other side. “Just be sure that you knock.” Victoria swiped the key card and the door slid open.
I stepped onto the elevator and pressed the number three. “I wouldn’t think of not knocking,” I said as the doors began to close behind me.
When I reached the third floor, I walked down the hall to her office, where a muscled vampire stood watch. The vampire guarding her office grabbed my shoulder, spinning me around.
“I’m here to see Tessa,” I protested.
“You can’t go in there unannounced. Take a seat,” the security detail said, pointing to a lounge across the hall from her office.
I sat on a leather sofa waiting for Tessa to see me, glaring at the vampire, who continued to stand there like a stone statue. Wondering where Arie got off to and if he might find me, I swallowed the lump in my throat. When I came to her office with Arie I never noticed the engraved plaque on the wall. Then again, I was too busy eavesdropping and worrying about getting caught. The small scrolling font proved too difficult to read. Crossing the room, I came to a stop in front of its polished surface.
“For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb,
and her mouth is smoother than oil:
But her end is bitter as wormwood,
sharp as a two-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death;
her steps take hold on hell.
Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life,
her ways are moveable,
that thou canst not know them.
Hear me now therefore, O ye children,
and depart not from the words of my mouth.
Remove thy way far from her,
and come not nigh the door of her house:
Lest thou give thine honour unto others,
thy years unto the cruel:
Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth;
and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;
And thou mourn at the last,
when thy flesh and body are consumed.”
I shivered as I read the words and contemplated their meaning. Walking back to the sofa, I took a seat, and the guard spoke without approaching me.
“She will see you now.”
He must have communicated with her telepathically, because I never saw him move from his station. Standing in front of the office door, I hesitated with a hand on the knob and took a deep breath. Pull it together.
“Come in.”
I opened the door slowly. Tessa sat behind the large desk with a ledger open on its surface. Her large green eyes narrowed as I entered. A smile curved her mouth. I gulped under the domineering force behind her cat-like gaze. She stared at me with a depth that made me feel that she might swallow me whole.
“Please have a seat.” She gestured to one of the chairs.
I submitted to her request, noticing movement from under her desk. Familiar red hair peaked out from underneath. Clearly, she’d been going down on Tessa. Tessa yanked the redheaded woman up from underneath its surface by a fistful of long curls. I’d seen her before in two of my visions, first dancing in a cage, then with Tessa and Arie feeding on her. Again, undeniable jealousy coursed through me when I thought about her and Arie.
Tessa stood, pushing the woman’s hips backwards until th
e redhead sat on the edge of the desk. Standing between her open thighs, Tessa twined her fingers through her curls. Tessa tugged them tight and pulled her into a deep fist-in-your-hair kiss. My mouth dropped open in shock as I watched theirs press hotly together. Tessa had no shame. But it irritated me that she would choose to do this in front of me.
Tessa trailed the kiss from her lips down to her neck, yanking her hair and tilting her head back. The redhead remained complicit in her own demise, giving Tessa access to her pale smooth neck. Tessa’s fangs lengthened, penetrating the soft flesh at her throat. The redhead gripped the edge of the desk while hoisting her hips toward Tessa.
My irritation dissipated and I began to feel turned on as I continued to watch the two of them. I felt surprised by my reaction to watching them in this increasingly uncomfortable situation. Watching them kiss so passionately made me think of Arie and my whole body ached with a terrible hollowness.
I wanted to fill it with the crescent moon of Arie’s mouth, a vice that could prove dangerous. I’d be the one who ended up getting hurt. His past with Katarina was a giant elephant in the room that kept us from moving forward. When Tessa broke the kiss and released her hair, the redhead stood to straighten her dress. It had snagged on the desk. Crimson flushed her cheeks. I didn’t need to imagine what they’d been up to—Tessa made it clear as she smoothed her skirt, which rode high around her thighs.
“I can see this is a bad time. I can come back.”
“Nonsense. This is one of my dancers. I’m sorry. What is your name again?” Tessa asked.
“Isla,” the redhead said with a slight smile. She seemed unaffected by Tessa not remembering her name—like she expected it.
I shook my head as I tried to wrap my head around the power dynamics at play. Then Tessa pulled Isla toward her, brushing her lips against hers with one last breathless kiss. I stood motionless with a voyeuristic gaze watching their lustful encounter. Finally, I drew my attention to the pottery on her desk with its depicted scenes of both male and female homoeroticism. With a sigh, I regarded my shoes instead as I contemplated my reaction to them.