If this truly was the Lovarya gypsy who cost him Mihaela, then he not only needed to protect Meghan from him, he also had a very old score to settle. He descended along the side of the house where he’d come up and stood in the yard staring up at the window. Without an invitation, he could not get inside to kill the man. Mark would have to bide his time, but first, he needed to plant a seed. He left returning to the student dormitory. Entering this building was easy as it was public property. He found Meghan’s room and listened through the door. He could hear her soft breathing. The steady rhythm told him she was now sound asleep. He slowly dissolved into smoke and slipped beneath the door. On the other side, he solidified.
He could smell the iron and sawdust inside the locket. It was an old Romany safeguard against vampires, one that on its own, did nothing, but blessed by a powerful gypsy witch, effectively warded the Strigoi and could even kill them should they come into contact with the talisman. The glint of metal caught his eye and Mark saw that Meghan had taken the necklace off and left it sitting on the night stand by her bed. He was sure he remembered the little gypsy telling her she must wear it at all times for protection, but she did not tell her why. And being American, Meghan did not take such superstitions seriously. A point in his favor. This will make things much easier, he thought. I may not have to kill her friend after all.
Mark sat on the edge of her bed gazing upon her beauty. Reaching out, he touched her face letting his fingers caress her cheek. One finger skimmed down to her mouth. He ran the pad of his thumb softly over the fullness of her lower lip. Meghan sighed, shifting slightly. Resting his hand upon her smooth, bare neck, Mark entered her dreams.
###
The glen was dark, but the moon was high. Meghan knew this place. It felt familiar and comforting. The soft whoosh of water running through the river behind her filled her with peace. She was lying upon the soft grass staring up at the stars. A rustling in the rushes caught her attention, and when she turned her head to see what it was, her heart began to pound. He was here!
Tall, muscular, and powerful, he strode across the grass approaching her with the grace of a mountain lion. Shadows hid his eyes, but she detected the smile upon his lips. Meghan felt happy although she couldn’t understand why. She both knew, and didn’t know this man. Her mind questioned his identity, but both her body and heart welcomed him. He stopped and stood over her blocking the light from the moon.
“I have missed you.” The warmth of his words filled her with joy. The husky edge to his deep voice sent shivers down her spine.
“I know you,” she said. Meghan began to sit up, but he dropped down leaning over her bringing his face within inches of her own. He had both hands on the ground on either side of her head, and he slowly covered her body with his own sliding a knee between hers and urging them open.
“It has been too long, Mihaela.” He whispered her name as his hips fit themselves snuggly into the vee of her womanhood.
Meghan opened her mouth to ask who ‘Mihaela’ was, but she was silenced by his kiss. It began softly, wearing her down with each petal-soft caress. His hot lips infused her entire being with tingling warmth. She sighed and his tongue swooped in, tasting her, deepening the kiss. Desire flooded her as she felt his growing need pressing into her and rubbing back and forth against the thin barrier of her nightgown.
Nightgown?
She couldn’t make heads or tails out of what was happening, but she knew it was one sexy dream. She played along. Boldly, she raised her hips to meet his thrusts as his mouth left hers to lick a hot path to her ear, and down her neck to her shoulder. She ran her hands up his bare arms feeling the muscles. They were like steel beneath his skin. He moaned, and she felt powerful.
When his fingers moved to unbutton her gown, she arched her back. His deft hands spread the material wide exposing her breasts to the chill of the night air. Her nipples puckered and he sucked in a breath.
“Magnificent! I have missed your taste, my love.” Before she could respond, his hands slid up capturing each breast, massaging them while he stared in rapture at the bounty he beheld. His fingers kneaded, then lightly pinched her nipples before he descended and took first one, and then the other into his mouth, sucking greedily.
Meghan groaned her pleasure. My God, this is the best dream! She was eager to see it to its conclusion as need rose within her.
“You are mine. Say it!” He whispered fiercely between nibbles and licks of his tongue.
“I’m yours,” Meghan replied, eyes closed as he trailed kisses further down her taut belly and lower still. Before she could even whimper, he plunged his tongue deep into her moist core causing her to shout “Yes!”
Her fingers slid into his thick hair and gripped the strands tight. He expertly licked and sucked, tweaking her sensitive nub with quick flicks of his tongue while his hands held her hips still. Meghan knew she was close to climax.
“Oh, God. Yes! Please!” She begged him for more.
“Please what, my love?” His deep tone vibrated against her.
She could tell he was smiling, enjoying having her right where he wanted her.
“Please, please, don’t stop!” She arched her back trying to lift her hips, but he had her well under control.
“Don’t stop what? This?” He gave her a long lick.
“Oh, yes!” Sweat beaded along her brow.
“Or this,” he said as he sucked her nub hard, flicking it with his tongue.
“Oh, oh!” Meghan thought she would just die if he didn’t stop teasing her.
He laughed low, and then began working her in earnest. Each thrust of his tongue sent her higher, and one large hand reached up and gently squeezed her breast, pinching her nipple while his mouth worked its magic. The pleasure/pain took her over the edge, and Meghan’s body exploded in a wondrous orgasm.
As she tried to catch her breath, marveling at the realism of her dream, her dream lover rose up, pushed down his pants, and revealed his massive rod. It bobbed in the breeze only for a moment as he reached down to guide himself to her wet and willing opening. Meghan couldn’t believe her luck and vivid imagination, but she gladly spread her knees wide and allowed him to inch inside filling her. It was amazing.
“Sweet God, I cannot believe you are here.” The reverence in his voice thrilled her. She reached to pull him closer, and as their lips met, he pushed hard thrusting home.
Their bodies knew each other, recognized each other’s needs. They began a dance as old as time, and as she wrapped her legs around his waist, he rode her hard. He rose up on his arms, his back arched, muscles bulging in his chest, shoulders, and biceps. Meghan could only stare at him in awe. The moon came out from behind the clouds shedding its light upon them. His face was illuminated at last. She could see the strong jaw, full lips, high cheekbones, and she was dumbstruck by his raw male beauty. Then he opened his eyes, and they glowed amber.
“What! Hey, what--” She felt fear well up from the pit of her stomach, and when he smiled, bone-white fangs peeked out of the corners of his lips. She opened her mouth to scream, but it was too late.
He thrust hard one last time and then swooped down sinking those sharp teeth into her neck.
Meghan braced for the pain, but instead, felt only mind-blowing ecstasy wash over her. As her body shuddered, the dream began to fall apart. Before he disappeared, she heard him whisper in her ear, “Beware of Petrescu. He is coming for you.”
Her eyes opened, and Meghan sat up in her bed clutching her neck. She felt the spot where he’d bitten her in the dream, and found nothing. She was dripping with sweat from head to toe. She looked around her room. All was quiet. All was still. But she still felt the dull, throbbing ache between her legs.
Chapter Seven
FRIDAY ARRIVED ON a blustery wind. The skies were gray all day, the clouds filled with the promise of rain, but that didn’t seem to dampen Dana’s enthusiasm. She jumped out of the large blue Volkswagon van that looked like a throwback to the early s
eventies. There were actually curtains hanging in the windows pulled back by beaded ties in every hue imaginable. Stefan was in the driver’s seat, and Ilana sat next to him. Meghan laughed.
“I can see this is going to be an adventure.” She eyed the interior as she approached. Dana hugged her, and took her duffel bag that was packed with enough clothes to get through the weekend along with her toiletries.
“You just wait and see, Meghan. You’re going to have so much fun, you will never leave. Which is okay by me. I will adopt you as my sister and you can change your name to Veleru!”
“I think my mother would have a hurt feeling or two about that. So would my dad.” She grinned.
“Well, maybe you can marry one of my brothers or cousins then, and your parents will be over the moon to see you become part of such a nice family.” Dana placed Meghan’s bag in the very back of the van. Meghan pulled out her cell phone and insisted they take a selfie. She made sure to get the crazy van curtains in the background.
“Say cheese!” Meghan aimed the eye of the camera in her phone at them. Dana grinned, and the flash went off. The girls giggled while Stefan sighed at their antics, clearly ready to leave. Meghan clicked to add it to her page. She was still typing the information for it as she settled inside on the bench seat. Dana climbed in taking the seat next to her, sliding the side door shut.
“Ha! Your brothers.” Stefan hooted speaking in his native tongue. “Sorin is too much the ladies’ man for Meghan, and Cosmin is too much a sour puss, and already married. That one, Meghan,” he looked back at her in the rearview mirror, “is never happy. Always going on about the Romanian government, politics, conservatism and returning to the old ways, yada yada yada. I’m sure he was switched at birth and really belongs to a New Republic power couple and not the Curarya.” He stopped at the end of the road, looking left, then right before turning right and heading out of the city via Old Town.
“He’s not that bad, Stefan.” Ilana patted his shoulder and turned to Meghan. “Now, our cousin, Fabian, he’s a good one. Just about your age, and an engineer!” She said the last with great emphasis. “He’s also considered very handsome by the local girls, but he will not make this weekend.”
Meghan stifled a giggle. These crazy, warm, and wonderful gypsies would have her married off before the end of the weekend, and popping out babies by Christmas if she let them have their way. Her thoughts strayed to the dreams she’d had all week. Each night since the first one, she’d dreamt of the same man. Marku. In each dream, he made love to her passionately, satisfying her in ways she’d never experienced in reality, not that she’d had much experience. There was Troy, her first, but they’d dated only two months the summer before her senior year in high school, and then there was David, her first college boyfriend. He made her freshmen year wonderful, but as it turned out, he also made Shelly Anderson’s freshmen year ‘wonderful’ too. His cheating ended the romance. She’d been single since, and now Meghan was haunted by a dream lover who seemed to know her body better than she did. And strangely, he would often bite her neck which had her thinking she’d read one too many vampire novels. But the strangest parts of all were the warnings. Each time he left her, he told her to beware of Petre Petrescu. That’s what bothered her the most. It was one thing for her subconscious to invent a dream lover. She was fine with that. It was quite another thing to ruin it all with dire warnings about a creepy professor she already knew to steer clear of. Her instincts had told her from the beginning something was off about him. She didn’t know what, exactly, but she had no intention of ever finding out. He was still in her class, but she could keep him at a distance by maintaining her professionalism. She avoided him easily by leaving right away at the end of class. Dana helped a lot, and she was grateful. Other than that, she hadn’t run into him on campus the entire week. Still, the nocturnal messages didn’t sit well with her.
Meghan had thought about telling Dana about them, but she didn’t know how to even bring it up, and she didn’t want to share the juicy bits. Maybe a little distraction from fantasy land would be good for her.
“I’m sure he is, especially if he has the family eyelashes.” Meghan leaned up to tease Stefan speaking in Romanian. “Why is it the boys always get the prettiest eyelashes?”
Ilana laughed. She knew Stefan got embarrassed whenever anyone remarked upon his eyes. To her surprise, he batted them like a Hollywood starlet and said “I couldn’t say, but I know they helped to lure this one in.” He reached out to grab Ilana’s hand. She blushed bright red at his show of affection.
Meghan smiled as she looked at the woman. Her long, dark hair was thick and full falling nearly to her waist. As tiny as she was, she looked like a doll with her pink cheeks and red, bow-shaped lips.
“Where’s Alexandru?” she asked after their son.
“He is already at the compound. Sorin came and helped Stefan fix a leak in our roof yesterday, and he took him along when he left this morning. Alexandru loves his grandmother, and he was so eager to get there to see all of his cousins, too.”
“A compound? How big is this house?” Meghan turned to Dana who was bouncing in her seat with every bump in the road that Stefan hit.
“It is huge, Meghan. There are four acres of land, three houses sit on those acres, and many smaller cabins near the river.”
“Holy cow! It sounds like a resort.” She hoped she brought appropriate clothing now. Most of what she packed had been very casual.
“No, no. It is family home. That’s all. You will love it. You will stay in the main house with me. I have two beds in my room. Stefan and Ilana will stay in their cabin. You will see. The Curarya take very good care of their own.”
Stefan chimed in. “The land has been in our family for so many generations, no one can say for sure how far back that ownership goes, but grandfather used to tell us stories about how our people worked the land every year when they traveled through. Most still travel and only come to stay during the summer and for special occasions. You can’t ever completely remove the need to wander from a gypsy.”
“And the ones that stay?” Meghan asked.
“Cosmin and his wife, Anamaria, they are always there with grandmother since grandfather passed. My mother and aunt, Stefan’s mother, they also live there in the other two houses. The family grows corn, wheat, potatoes, and we also have a modest crop of grapes, mostly for the wine!” Dana grinned.
“Your family makes its own wine? Well, this really is going to be an adventure then.” Meghan was impressed.
They spent the rest of the ride out of town filling Meghan in on everyone she would meet. The gypsy van rolled through the streets of Old Town, and then finally came to the outskirts. Stefan turned onto a stretch of country road leading toward the mountains in the distance. Very few vehicles took that exit, but a dark colored Audi lagged two cars behind.
###
Mark’s eyes opened as soon as the sun went down. He lay still surrounded by the red velvet drapes that framed his canopy bed. They were more ornamental than anything since the windows in his room were covered by steel shutters set on a timer. In another minute they would slide on their perfectly greased rails to reveal the moon rising in the night sky. It was one of the few modern luxuries he had installed in his family home, that and an elaborate security system, and WiFi for his computer. He felt strange. Something was off this evening. His senses told him everything inside his room and his house were the same. Nothing amiss. But he felt off. He reached out with his preternatural psychic abilities feeling around for whatever was wrong. As his mind wandered in concentric circles steadily out and away from his home, it hit him. He didn’t feel Meghan. Couldn’t sense her.
Mark sat up quickly, his mind racing in a beeline for her dorm room. Ever since he’d begun visiting her nightly in her dreams, he’d been building a psychic bond with her. One where he could easily locate her whereabouts, sense her moods, and even know when she was thinking about him. Of course, to Meghan, he was still ju
st a dream lover that satisfied her body in every erotic way possible, but to him, each moment strengthened his own feelings for her, merging not only his body to hers, but his mind, heart, and whatever was left of his soul. Those moments also fed the demon that lived inside of him. He didn’t need to actually drink her blood to feed off her. Psychic energy was just as good if not better than blood although the taste of her on his tongue was its own pleasure.
“Where have you gone, Meghan?” He jumped out of bed and rushed to his closet. Inside, he chose black jeans, a black cashmere sweater, and black snakeskin boots. He dressed quickly while mentally searching the areas around Old Town where the university was located. He could not find her, and if she was nowhere to be found, only one person could possibly be to blame. “Petrescu!” He spat the name out even as he was already plotting the man’s murder.
Mark ran his fingers through his hair as he thought. He went straight to his computer. Meghan was a normal American college student. If she was going to share her whereabouts anywhere, it would be on her social media. He sat in his chair spinning around to the desk where his fingers flew across the keyboard pulling up her MySpot account. He’d neglected checking in on her since he’d been invading her dreams. His time with her there lulled him into a sort of complacency, but he figured if she was making plans, she would have told him while they were in their glen. He smirked. “Well, when did I give her any chance to think of other things?” he said out loud. He knew he spent most of their midnight moments kissing her breathless, nibbling away her cares, caressing her skin, licking her senseless, and pounding her most sensitive flesh with his own. The only other times words were spoken happened when he left her with the warning to beware of Petrescu.
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