by Tasha Black
Belatedly, Dru realized what it must look like.
“Hugh came by just now to see if I had unlocked Brian’s phone,” Dru said quickly. “We’re discussing the case.”
“Good to see you, Hugh,” Viktor said, in a tone that made it clear it was not, in fact, good to see him at all.
“I’m going to bring this downstairs with me,” Channing said. “It’s dreadfully dim in the dining room, so I can turn down the brightness and not waste batteries while I read some more about our late friend.”
“See you down there,” Dru said.
Viktor merely nodded in Channing’s direction, not taking his eyes off Dru.
She suddenly remembered she was wearing nothing but a bathrobe. She could feel the blood rising to her cheeks.
She heard the door close behind Hugh Channing on his way out, leaving her alone with Viktor.
A shiver went down her spine, and she wasn’t sure if it was fear or desire.
But she suspected it was both.
13
Dru looked up at Viktor, transfixed by his azure gaze.
“What was he doing in your room?” Viktor hissed, eyes flashing.
“We were looking at Brian’s phone,” she retorted.
“How do you know you can trust him?” he asked.
“How do I know I can trust you?”
“What is that supposed to mean?” he asked.
She shrugged.
“You’re practically naked,” he groaned.
The sound of his voice poured through her like honey.
“Viktor, I have to talk to you,” she said, trying to shake the onslaught of lust. It wouldn’t do her any good to fall back into his arms before she found out the truth.
He nodded, his fierce blue eyes narrowed.
“I have to ask you something,” she said.
Suddenly the room felt too small and his body too big. Her thoughts were scrambling, and she wanted to do anything but confront him.
But of course, she wasn’t really supposed to confront him. That would be dangerous.
She was supposed to use her wits to back him into a corner so she could figure it out without having to embarrass or endanger herself by saying it.
The plan had seemed so sensible when it occurred to her. Now she wasn’t sure.
“What do you want to ask me?” Viktor asked.
“Did you know that there’s a secret corridor from the catacombs that leads straight into my room?” she heard herself say.
She watched his face.
His eyes widened and he scanned the room, but his gaze did not linger on the bookcase. Though maybe he was too clever to give himself away so easily.
“You moved your bed,” he noticed.
“You used that secret entrance,” she said, pointedly not answering the question. “You were in my room while I was sleeping.”
“Drucilla, I wasn’t,” he said sadly.
“Someone was,” she said.
“You aren’t going to sleep in here anymore,” he said. “It’s not safe.”
“The hotel is full,” she said. “Someone booked three rooms.”
“I’ll un-book one of them,” he offered.
“You snuck into my room while I was sleeping,” she said. “And you won’t even admit it. You betrayed my trust, and I want to know what you want with me.”
“It wasn’t me,” he said quietly.
“Yes, it was,” she said.
“Why would you think it was me?” he asked.
“Who else would want to sneak in here?”
“It… it couldn’t have been me,” he murmured, looking out the window into the moonlit night.
She let his words hang in the air.
“Because you can’t go out in daylight?” she heard herself ask at last.
Dru, you weren’t supposed to confront him…
“I care for you, Drucilla,” he said, turning back to her. His expression was tortured. “I want to protect you.”
“You sent your things ahead,” she said softly. “Ancient trunks so heavy they could be filled with anything, like dirt to sleep in.”
He turned away from her again.
“You never eat. I never see you in daylight,” she went on. “You covered up all your mirrors and windows.”
“What are you saying, Drucilla?” he said pleadingly. “Think about what you’re saying.”
“You said that the person who came into my room in the daytime couldn’t have been you,” she said. “Why is that?”
“Because I only want to protect you.”
“Then tell me the truth.”
“You already know,” he said quietly.
“Tell me anyway.”
He walked to the window, resting one hand against the frame so that his body was silhouetted by the moon outside.
Moonlight kissed his chiseled jaw, leaving her weak in the knees. In spite of her trepidation about what she was waiting to hear, Dru couldn’t help admiring his inhuman beauty. She was helpless in its wake.
“It was a long time ago,” he said at last, his voice rough. “I was on my way home from the shops. A man cornered me in an alleyway. I thought he wanted to rob me.”
Dru held her breath.
“Instead he slammed me into a brick wall and bit down on my neck, tearing my flesh and feeding on my blood as if he would never stop,” he went on. “When he finally let go of me, I collapsed into the dirt of the alley knowing I was dying. But instead of leaving me to find my peace he said, ‘You’re a pretty one,’ and pressed his wrist to my lips, making me taste his essence.”
He turned back to her.
The floor seemed to drop out from under her.
She’d been the one to suggest it, but it couldn’t really be true.
Could it?
“The hunger washed over me like poison,” he went on. “It is a pain that cannot be assuaged.”
Dru was frozen in place, terrified.
She had suspected and made her case, all the while convinced in the reasonable part of her mind that she had to be wrong.
“I lost everything,” he went on. “My family, my career. I isolated myself. I raved and fought against the darkness.”
His face was drawn in agony now. And though she knew what he was, it was impossible not to feel his pain. It pulsed in the air between them, like another soul in the room.
“I fight my hunger, every day,” he told her. “I feed on lesser creatures,” he said softly. “I avoid human blood and human company.”
“The fox,” she breathed. “The rabbits.”
“It’s horrible, I know,” he said sadly. “But when I kill those animals, I can stave off the need for human blood.”
“Stave it off?” she echoed.
“I cannot survive forever without it,” he said, looking down as if ashamed. “But I can go long enough that I need it only once a year or so. And there are civilized ways to find it.”
Blood banks. He must rob blood banks. She’d read a pretty good horror story about some vampires doing that kind of thing.
“This is why I’ve been alone for so long,” he said quietly.
“You’re trying to do the right thing,” she said.
“I have endeavored to live this second life without harming others,” he said. “When I couldn’t avoid company, I have tried to behave with discretion.”
Dru’s heart threatened to beat out of her chest.
“But my heart is drawn to yours, Drucilla,” he said. “I cannot bring myself to stay away, even though I know I should.”
She pictured his arms around her, his mouth on her.
“This is why you didn’t want me to touch you,” she realized out loud.
“It was the first time any other hunger has obliterated my senses,” he told her. “I was afraid of losing control.”
She nodded slowly.
“You put together what I am, Drucilla,” he went on. “And I am glad, because I want you to know the truth. You should be frightened o
f me. I’m a monster.”
She opened her mouth and closed it again.
“I am a monster, but I will never hurt you,” he told her.
She gazed into his beautiful eyes.
“And I was not in your room,” he said. “Do you believe me?”
She found herself nodding slowly.
Against all odds, she did believe him.
“Then please also believe me when I tell you that I had nothing to do with that man’s death,” he went on. “Someone here killed him, and that person is still on the loose. A murderer is among us, and now you tell me that someone has been in your room.”
He paused and bit his lip, emotions battling on his face.
“Drucilla,” he said, “I understand that your feelings for me have changed. I’m a monster, but let me be your monster. Let me stay close so that I can keep you from harm.”
Her monster.
Dru liked the sound of that.
14
Dru closed her eyes, trying to call back her common sense.
But when she opened them again, she was still standing in front of a man she had come to care about.
Not a man…
“Drucilla, say something, please,” he murmured.
He lifted a hand toward her and then let it drop again by his side, as if realizing that she must be frightened of him.
But no matter how much she knew she should be, she realized that she never had been. From the moment she’d met him, she’d felt a connection, and she couldn’t deny it any longer.
The pain in his eyes was more than she could bear.
She moved to him slowly, lifting her own hand to touch his cheek.
He closed his eyes and leaned into her touch.
She lifted her other hand, cupping his face between her palms.
“Drucilla,” he murmured, eyes still closed as if the emotion would break him.
“I don’t care,” she whispered.
He opened his eyes.
“About what?” he asked.
“About any of it,” she said. “I need you, Viktor.”
His arms were around her in a heartbeat as he pressed his lips to hers. His movement was lightning fast, as if he had been hiding his true speed from her until now.
She had just enough time to twine her arms around his neck before he lifted her in the air and deposited her on the bed.
“Drucilla,” he moaned into her hair, sweeping his hand down to loosen the tie of her robe and expose her to the cold, candlelit room.
She watched his expression as his eyes raked down her body and saw tenderness and lust in equal measures.
His face was at her breast, as suddenly as if she were watching a film with missing frames.
She felt the softness of his mouth close over her nipple and the pleasure licked through her like a flame.
He flicked his tongue and circled her other nipple with the pad of his thumb.
The sensations sizzled and Dru arched her back and cried out, need setting her on fire.
He growled and nuzzled her belly, nudging her thighs apart as he trailed kisses down her body.
She howled with need, lifting her trembling hips to meet his mouth.
“My God, Drucilla,” he groaned.
Before she could beg, he gave her what she craved.
Dru felt herself almost lift off the bed with the pleasure of his tongue caressing her, slowly at first, and then with such speed his dark head seemed to blur between her thighs. His touch was quick, but light, just enough to send her over the edge with pleasure.
The the rising tide lifted her, then broke her into shimmering pieces.
But Viktor didn’t stop.
15
Dru was splintering apart with pleasure. The climaxes were coming so fast she could hardly tell where one ended and the next one began.
She tangled her hands in his dark hair, trying to pull him away before she disintegrated completely.
Viktor only growled and sent her flying again.
“Enough,” she whimpered as she came down from another dizzying high. “Please.”
She felt his mouth slowing on her sex, with long, soothing strokes of his tongue.
“Beautiful girl,” he murmured against her belly as he crawled up to lie beside her, pulling her close.
She snuggled in, letting his clean scent wash over her, as she tried to catch her breath. She felt like she was filled with warm honey, tingling and sweet all over.
Viktor pressed his lips to her hair. She could feel the steel length of him pressed to her hip.
Lust shot through her again, stronger than before.
She rolled over slightly to stroke him with her hand.
He pulled away so fast her hand caressed only the air.
“Drucilla,” he said warningly.
“I want to touch you,” she told him. “I need you.”
He paused as if torn, but when she reached for him again, he caught her wrist easily in his hand.
“Please,” she whimpered.
“Oh, Drucilla,” he murmured. “Don’t you see that you can’t?”
She buried her face in his chest, embarrassed that she couldn’t control herself enough to make this easier for him.
He let go of her wrist and she slid it up to his chest, stroking him lightly.
“That’s so good,” he whispered, his eyes closed as if he were in ecstasy. “It’s been so long since anyone has touched me like that. I’m afraid of what might happen.”
She leaned back slightly and caressed his rough jaw and the silk of his hair.
“Do you ever have to cut your hair?” she asked absentmindedly.
He laughed gently. “No,” he told her. “I don’t have to shave either.”
She slid her hand back to his chest. Even through his shirt she could feel the solid planes of muscle. She stroked his pecs and allowed her hands to slide down to his abs.
He put his arms behind his head and relaxed.
The room was cold and quiet. There was nothing but Dru’s breathing and the slight hush of her hand skimming across the fabric of his shirt.
She felt such peace, even as the tension in Viktor’s body grew. He never opened his eyes, even as his cock strained for her hand.
He could do this, she was sure of it.
She lay her head on his chest again and ran her hand slowly down his right hip, melting inside as she saw his cock twitch in anticipation of her touch.
She slid down slightly, loving the feel of his abs under her ear.
“Drucilla,” he whispered.
“It’s okay,” she crooned.
When she brought her hand back up again, she allowed the tip of her finger to trail along his length.
Viktor groaned but he didn’t move.
Emboldened, she slid down further still, and nuzzled him through his clothes.
His hands gripped the sheets, knuckles white.
She smiled and kissed the tip of him through the fabric as she stroked his length with an open palm.
“No,” he roared.
Suddenly she was being pulled into the air and pinned on her back.
She gasped and he sealed her mouth with a brutal kiss, his tongue invading her mouth as he held her down.
When she tried to pull back for a breath, he released her and sat back.
“Viktor,” she murmured.
He smiled at her lazily and she could see his canines were just a little too long. His eyes were so pale that they were nearly white.
He turned his head away a second before a loud knock sounded at the door.
16
“Just a sec,” Dru yelped, scrambling out of bed to get dressed.
By the time she had tugged on some clothes, Viktor was standing beside the bed, looking unruffled.
He observed her curiously.
What could he be thinking?
“Dru?” Channing called, banging on the door again.
She rushed over and opened up.
“It’s t
ime for interviews,” Channing said excitedly. “I need my recording officer.”
“Of course,” she said. “Let me grab my notepad. Or should I use the typewriter?”
“Notepad is best,” Channing said. “The typewriter will make them nervous.”
He stepped inside. “Oh, hello,” he said, turning to Viktor.
“Hello,” Viktor replied.
There was a beat of awkward silence while Dru grabbed her stuff.
“Let’s go,” she said brightly when she had everything in hand.
Channing seemed a little troubled.
She guessed it was because he hadn’t expected Viktor to be included.
But Dru understood that she couldn’t really ask him to leave her side.
Let me be your monster. Let me stay close so I can keep you from harm…
She would not deny him that.
It was quite possible she wouldn’t deny him anything at all.
Though he seemed quite willing to deny himself.
A shiver of lust at the thought of touching him went through her and she had to force herself to get out of her own head.
Beside her, Viktor was smirking, as if he was reading her thoughts.
Wait, vampires can’t read thoughts, can they?
Viktor, if you can hear me, nod your head.
Nothing.
She made mental note to ask him about it later anyway, then scowled at him and headed into the hallway with the two men in tow.
When they reached the lobby, she could see that many of the guests were waiting by the fireplace.
“I can’t believe they didn’t all heed the summons,” Channing muttered to himself.
“What do you mean?” Dru asked.
“I asked them all to report to the lobby for questioning,” Channing said. “Some of them denied my authority.”
Dru couldn’t blame them for that.
“But my authority isn’t what’s important,” Channing went on. “The sooner we take statements, the more people will remember. If we wait for the police, valuable testimony could be lost. And the longer we wait, the more the guests will speak to each other, which will influence their stories.”
“You have a point,” Dru admitted.
“Besides,” Channing added. “As an actor, I am a dedicated student of human nature. Being observant enough to imitate is a hard-earned skill. I intend to use it to help solve this crime.”