THE HEALING HEART

by Zelda Clemens

  “What do you expect me to do Everard? Stay? And do what? No, I have a life back in London, I must return before dawn.”

  “Dawn would have already reached London by now,” he said gently, “If you left for London now, you would be burned to cinders in an instant!”

  August laughed then. A sharp bitter laugh. “And that would be a bad thing?” she snapped, “We are evil creatures. Perhaps death is what should befall us!”

  Instantly, Everard grew angry at her answer. He released her arm sharply.

  “Then why don’t you walk into the path of the rising sun now if you truly want to die?” he snapped.

  August did not answer him. She sighed heavily. She was tired of arguing.

  “I don’t want to fight with you Everard,” she muttered softly, “I have done what you have bid of me. I came at your call, and now I must leave. I have business to attend to, and a fledgling to kill.”

  “You're going to kill alone?” he questioned me in his deep French accent.

  “Yes,” she answered simply, looking deep into his eyes. For a long moment, Everard remained silent, his pale face an emotional mask.

  “You’re too weak,” Everard finally said, his voice low and dangerous. “Even a fledgling is too strong for you, my sweet.”

  When August did not answer, he began to pace around the room before he finally resumed his seat in the red velvet arm chair. He spread his legs out over the little oaken table in a relaxed manner. August watched him from where she was standing by the door, and suddenly he seemed like the young man she remembered from their mortal years. He sat with a slender hand raised to his chin as if he was deep in thought.

  “Sit,” it was almost a command. Hesitantly she obeyed, more out of curiosity than his power over her. A long silence passed between them as he sat there staring at me, drinking in everything about me. “It has been too long since I last saw your face,” he said to her. “After our ‘bitter’ departure all those years ago.”

  August remembered their last goodbye.

  “What's done is done,” August answered him, “I do not wish to dwell on the past any longer. I have let the past rule me.” Once again Everard rose to his feet and approached her. August watched him warily.

  “I have missed you,” he said, raising his hand to entwine it in my long black silken hair. He fondled August’s hair carefully as his eyes locked on hers. August could hear his strong heartbeat. “It has been too long my love.”

  August was trembling. He was weakening her already, trying so hard to seduce her and she was allowing it to happen. It didn’t matter how hard she resisted, he was her maker, her lover and she loved him still.

  “Can you forgive me for the death of your brother?” The mention of her brother pierced August’s heart like a knife. She had not expected him to mention the death of her brother here, yet he had, and he looked sincerely sorry.

  August tried to turn away from Everard's strong gaze, tears rising. It had been over two centuries now since her brother's death, yet to a vampire, it only seemed like yesterday. The hurt would never cease.

  “Everard please,” August began, but he cut her off, pale hand rising to her face gently caressing her like a long-lost lover. August bowed her head trying to hide her face, but he was no fool.

  “It hurts you still what I did does it not?” he whispered softly. A strange thing for him. He was always so angry, so cold and cruel. But that was only the facade of the vampire; the mortal lord before August had been so different and so loving, not a monster.

  “I need to know that I have your forgiveness for your brother,” he whispered gently, forcing August to look into his eyes. She could see that he was genuinely sorry for my brother’s death, but she was uncomfortable with being begged by Everard for her forgiveness. August sighed heavily, trying to be strong. She was a vampire; they are not born to weep. It was hard to tell if she had even forgiven Everard for what he had done after all the years she had spent apart from him. Staring into his supernatural eyes, she whispered the words, “I forgive you.”

  Silence. As he stared into her eyes, he swiftly leaned down and stole a rough kiss from my lips. August allowed him to kiss her, a fool’s weakness. She now knew how her lover’s victims felt when under his spell.

  He pushed August against the stone wall, and she succumbed to him. Gently his fangs bit into her lip just enough so that her blood bled into his wanting mouth. August felt his tongue lap at the tiny wound, tasting her ever so softly before he stared into her eyes once more. August’s blood painted his bottom lip red.

  August’s heart was racing now from both excitement and fear. As she stood agains the wall, her mind raced with thoughts. What was I doing allowing this raven-haired god to treat me in such a manner? I had walked into his home a strong and determined vampire, and now I was a mess. Weak at the knees for my maker, my lover, my one true companion.

  “I’m thirsting,” August suddenly whispered. The words had escaped her mouth before she had a chance to think about what she was saying. August saw Everard brush his thick black hair to the side as he revealed a long, sleek pale neck to me. The sight was enticing and so tempting. August stared at the artery, listening to the rush of blood that swirled around inside of his perfect body. Thirsting and wanting, wanting to taste him more than ever now. She suddenly realized that she had not hunted for days. Now her blood lust was consuming her; her animal side making itself known.

  “There isn’t a village for miles,” he purred, leaning against her fragile form. August could smell the scent of his hair, the perfume that only a fine young man would currently wear. He smelled divine. He was same old perfect Everard.

  “Oh, how I want you.”

  Staring into his eyes, August was blood crazed. Just the smell of him ignited her fury for his blood. She wanted to feel him running through her. Suddenly, she wanted to know what it was like to be one with him again.

  Slowly, taking her hand, Everard walked to the red velvet armchair, never taking his eyes from hers as she hazily followed him. He sat down and pulled August into his lap. Placing a slender finger underneath her chin, Everard guided August’s face to his before consuming her in a passionate kiss. He nipped at her throat playfully and she gasped at the sensation. Then August tore her lips from his and drove her fangs deep into his bare slender neck.

  It started instantly, the low thrum of his heart against hers as she drew the blood to the surface lapping at the sweet, thick nectar that flooded her mouth like a red fountain.

  A flash took August back to the time when they had been mortal, and she could see him upon his bed with her beneath him as he thrust into her as they made love. Another flash took August to Paris on the night of her change. For the first time, she properly saw how confused and crazed Everard had been that night.

  August saw myself as a young mortal girl sitting by a dresser writing in a journal that she so loved, her free hand caressing the swell of her belly as she wrote. August was smiling. Another image after that showed her lying upon the Rue Chavern's floor screaming wildly, lashing and thrashing as she was turning, her chiffon nightgown stained red from between her legs as their child bled out of her as August died.

  Everard’s heart was weakening, and August knew that if she held on any longer that she would kill him but he did not protest. It was then that she felt his gentle hand on her head, then guiding her as she retracted her fangs to peer into Everard's eyes. For a long moment, he gazed into August’s eyes before leaning up and placing a gentle kiss upon her lips, licking the blood away.

  “You belong to me, my love,” Everard whispered into August’s ear. “You always have.”

  THE END

  Another bonus story is on the next page.

  Bonus Story 14 of 44

  Passionate Fly Ball

  Description

  Vanessa Birdle gets lost one evening during a storm after watching a baseball game late into the night. The weather is stormy and visibility is bad as she heads back to her
newly acquired ranch and she misses her road and takes a wrong turn, leading her to a wild part of the frontier. She could hear wild animals howling outside and she freaks out even more when her engine suddenly sputters and dies. She began to freak out, especially when she saw red fierce eyes in the dark of the night. Suddenly something happens so fast and the wild animals disappear. Before she can tell what is happening, Ethan Parker walks out of the darkness and helps her fix her car, explaining that he lives nearby. He is the captain of the baseball team that she was cheering, a handsome guy with an athletic body.

  Ethan Parker is a baseball player and also a lion shifter. After a Friday match, he decides to head off to his ranch, where he can be himself without the fear of humans finding out his real identity. While running out in the rain, he sees a woman in distress and goes to her rescue. She turns out to be a sexy woman that gets him turned on in every way. He helps her back to his house and they end up making love. She later finds out that he is a lion shifter and is intrigued by the idea.

  *****

  Vanessa struggled to see through the storm. The visibility on the road was next to zero and she wished that she had remained behind in the city after watching the baseball game. She had been crazy thinking that she would make it back to her ranch when she knew very well that there was a storm brewing. Now it was too late and she was just going to have to find her way around somehow. She did not even want to start imagining the sort of dangers that she could face out here especially since her ranch was in a part of the state that had a lot of prowling animals in the dark, and God knows what else. She checked the central locking of her doors just to make sure that they were locked.

  Vanessa Birdle had bought the ranch not very long ago and did not spend much of her time at the ranch since she had another home in New York. Vanessa was, therefore, not yet very familiar with the country roads here. She had gone to watch the baseball game, which was in the city, at least four hours away by road. She not only loved baseball, she also thought that some of the male players were rather hot and it felt good just watching them sweat it off in the sun. she hoped that maybe one day she would have someone as handsome as these men, but then again, that was just a fantasy that every woman got to experience every once in a while in her life time. She particularly loved the way that they usually showed off their bodies by removing their shirts after a game, most of them showing off their tanned bodies.

  Seeing them like that made her think about her own love life. It was nothing to write home about since it was majorly a very stale one. A one-night stand every once in a while to take care of her sexual desires and nothing more. At times, she felt as if all the good men were either gone or not yet born, and the ones that existed did not seem to notice her. She would probably have to go and have a makeover, change her looks and her tact completely.

  “Fuck,” she cursed as her truck ran right over a pot hole, making her even more frightened.

  She should have brought one of the ranch hands, or the foreman along with her when she went to watch the game, but she had not wanted her workers seeing the way that she gawked at the sexy baseball players, and particularly the batter on the home team, Ethan somebody, if she could recall properly. Just thinking of the men brought goose bumps on her forearms, a slight excitement passing through the sensitive spot that was in between her thighs. She would definitely be back there to watch the games the following weekend.

  She was not sure if the next turn was the one to her ranch, being that there were no sign posts. She brought the truck to a stop and tried to figure out what to do before deciding that it couldn’t be the one. She eased her foot on the gas and drove further on, keeping her eye peeled for the next branch off. She finally came across it and branched onto the gravel road. The storm just seemed to be becoming worse and Vanessa found herself beginning to become really frightened now. Outside she knew that there were wild animals lurking, and being a city girl, she was not really sure what she would do if they attacked her in the car. It was a good thing that she had carried a rifle with her, although she had no idea how to use it. The ranch foreman had insisted that she carry it to fend off any attacks by wild animals. She had not thought that it would come in handy, but seeing the situation that she was in right now, she tried to remember the instructions that he had given her like releasing the safety latch and shooting.

  The truck suddenly skidded through a muddy patch and as she slammed onto the brakes, it skidded into a ditch and the engine sputtered dead. Now her heart was really pounding, so hard that she could hear it in her ears. She could not remember ever being as scared as she was right now. She reached for her handbag and pulled out her cell phone, cursing softly when she realized that there was no reception where she was. She tried to fire up the engine of the truck, but it did not even respond. Now she was totally screwed, and the worst part was that in the storm outside, she could hear the howls of wild animals. What if a bear or something of the sort came and attacked her? Heck, she should have agreed for her foreman to come with her, it would have saved her all of this trouble. The battery of the truck was probably dead or something like that, and it looked like she would have to spend the night in the truck. She reached into the back seat for her jacket and pulled it around herself before putting the gun on her lap. It felt good to know that at least the animals could not get her when she was in the truck, but what if there was some lose pervert hanging around in the wilderness.

  No, she had to stop being paranoid and get the scary thoughts out of her mind. She reclined the seat slightly, leaving just enough space for her to see outside, and looked at the way the flashes of lightning lit up eerily. At some point she even thought that she saw what looked like the eyes of some animal in the dark, red and menacing, and many of them. She gripped onto her gun harder, ready to use it if need be. It was probably her eyes playing tricks on her, but then again, she had been warned. She checked her phone again to see if there was a signal, but there was none.

  *****

  It had been a good day for Ethan Parker, and as soon as the game had come to an end, he had headed off to his ranch, located in the wilderness. He loved it there because out there he could stop pretending and just be himself. As he had gotten home, there was a huge storm outside, and it had immediately beckoned for him to shift. After a quick snack, Ethan left the house, his body immediately shifting into his lion form. It always felt good being like this especially since it reminded him that he was the king of the jungle and only another lion could challenge him. He sprinted through the rain, scaring away the wolves and other animals that came across his path. It was too bad that there were no female lions in these parts because in such great weather, he would not have minded having some sex. He knew that pretty soon he would have to get himself a pride mate so that he could begin his family. At the age of thirty, there was piling pressure from his family for him to begin a family so that their bloodline could continue, but the main problem was finding the right pride mate.

  He could easily date a human being, but that could prove to be quite a risky affair because it was hard for humans to keep their mouths shut. The moment that they found out that he was a lion shifter, they would run off to tell the rest of the world about it, and that would possibly be the end for him and his kind. Humankind would probably capture them for experiments and that sort of thing, and it was something that he did not even want to think about. That is why he was taking his time, waiting for the right mate to come along, although that might mean travelling to some other state to look for his kind. Travelling out meant that there would have to be a fight with other males when he got to their territory, and most of those fights were not very cute. Lion shifters were highly territorial and protected the females within their territories. He would have to figure something out soon enough before his folks brought him someone that he was probably not even attracted to.

  He was running through the rain when he picked up the scent of adrenaline. There was someone in distress somewhere not far off from wh
ere he was. His ears also picked up the sounds of animals congregating where the scared person was. He hated it when animals took advantage of situations to scare human beings, and so he immediately bounded in that direction. He grabbed the first wolf that he came across with his jaws, sinking his teeth into the wolf’s neck and flinging him aside. He then roared menacingly and when the animals realized that there was danger, they went scampering away.

  His eyes were red with fury as he approached the truck that was in the ditch. It looked like the driver had probably lost control or something, but what the hell were they thinking driving on these roads at night and in this storm. His body began shifting back into his human form as he got closer to the car and peeked into the truck. Inside there was a blonde woman who seemed to have turned as white as a sheet. She held onto a gun and was staring out of the window. She had to be the sexiest woman that he had ever seen. She had long, wavy blonde hair, blue green eyes that went well with her hair, even though now they were wide with fear. She was wearing a jacket and beneath it, a blouse that showed off an irresistible cleavage that made his cock shift around in his pants when he tried to imagine what she would look like without her clothes on. He knocked on her window.

  “Are you okay in there?” he shouted above the roar of the storm.

  At first she just stared at him, but recognition seemed to come to her eyes when they rested on the baseball badge of her jersey.

  “Open up, I only want to help you out. It’s not good for a woman to be out her all alone on a stormy night,” he shouted as she finally sat up and pulled her window down a notch. “I'm Ethan Parker, you don’t have to be afraid of me, I live right up the road.”

  She finally let down her window. “Thanks, I don’t really know what happened to my truck, the engine just went dead when I skidded into the ditch, and it would not fire up again.”