Blood Curse (Misty Cedars - Vampire Edition)

by Adrienne Blake

  "Yeah, right. You mean you're a werewolf?"

  "No! Not the same thing at all!" Noah smiled. "I understand your disbelief, but it's one doubt I can easily dispel."

  "How?"

  "I wonder if you're strong enough."

  "Try me."

  "Very well. Don't be afraid. You won't be in any danger. I'm only agreeing to do this so you understand."

  Even as Holly pondered what Noah intended, he pushed back from the table and stood over by the window. He was unzipping his fly, and she didn't know whether to object or dash from the room. Well, dashing was beyond her at the moment, but she could certainly hobble as fast as her legs could carry her. She did neither.

  Noah peeled his pants off slowly, folding them meticulously before depositing them on the table in front of her. She blushed at his nakedness, observing his generous cock without feeling any particular arousal. Even thinking about sex right now was beyond her. Holly was in no shape to feel enthralled.

  "What are you doing?" she asked.

  "Seeing is believing."

  Noah closed his eyes, as if in prayer. But when his hands came together, instead of holding them palm to palm, he formed a tight fist and began to shake as if channeling all his thoughts into a central point in his body. And then his brown hair turned gray and began to thicken and grow all over him; his chest rounded, sucking flesh from his waist which became elongated and drawn.

  He fell forward, his sweating hands desperately clasping the ends of the kitchen table as the transformation hastened. His nose elongated, and he growled, revealing shifting molars and extending fangs. His cup rattled on the surface, then fell with a crash on the hardwood.

  Regardless, Noah remained upright on the table, only now his fingers contracted so that at last, he had to let go, dropping to the floor for just a moment. When he bounced back up, Holly saw his palms had hardened to rough pads that pawed and scratched on the wooden surface of the table. His body continued to contort and change, and only when the transformation was complete did he raise his head and howl, a high, melancholy cry that went right through her, chilling her to the bone.

  Holly's heart raced, but though transfixed in astonishment, Noah had told her she would not be in any danger, and somehow, she knew to trust him. The two stared at each other for just a moment, one panting like crazy, the other hardly daring to breathe. His eyes were now a brilliant yellow, completely feral and inhuman, nothing at all like the beautiful brown eyes he'd had before. They were calm now, but Holly could see how they might turn malicious in a moment.

  But then the wolf's eyes closed, and with a final howl to the ceiling, the transformation process began to reverse.

  In less than a minute, Noah was himself again. He stood, his body covered in sweat, his knuckles now turned into the table as he regained his composure. At last, he looked into her eyes, and she saw his were neither apologetic, boastful nor sad. But they were beautiful.

  "Does it hurt?" she asked.

  He shook his head. "Not especially. I think my pain receptors shut down during the shifting process. If it hurt, I would never do it. It aches a little afterward."

  As he said this, Noah raised his hands over his head and stretched. Once again, she was unavoidably reminded of his nakedness and turned away.

  "Sorry," he said.

  When Holly turned around again, Noah had his back to her and was hastily climbing into his pants. His butt was gorgeous. Still, she was momentarily at a loss for words and sat open-mouthed as she fought to take it all in. Outside, the clouds cleared the face of the moon.

  "Do the moon phases affect you?"

  Noah laughed for the first time. "No, no, not at all. Shifters are born, not bitten. As I said, we're not werewolves, you know."

  "Born?"

  "My family have been shifters throughout the ages. How we came into being, no one knows, but there are many of us."

  "How come I've never heard of one before then?" asked Holly, still skeptical despite the evidence of her own eyes.

  "Because you lived over there, in that world."

  Holly looked behind her. Although his eyes indicated some other place, she could only see the kitchen door. "I don't understand?"

  "We exist in valleys humans only ever think to pass through. Our worlds are adjacent yet they rarely see us."

  "Rarely?"

  "There have been glimpses. When that happens humans have rationally explained us away, but those exchanges have become the stuff of their fairy tales and legends. Nothing more."

  "But how would you know?"

  "I have entered their world. I look like one of them so it's easily done, although I can't stay too long. The urge to shift takes over, and sooner or later, I would give myself away. I suppose I could live among your kind, but why take the risk?"

  Noah bent down to pick up the mug fragments and tossed them into the sink. He ran the faucet and, having dampened a cloth, proceeded to mop up the tea.

  "My kind?"

  "What you were before. Not as you are now." He wrung the liquid from the stained cloth into the sink and after cleaning up, returned to his seat opposite her.

  Holly looked down at her pale white hands, then again to her fading image in the glass. "I can't go back?"

  "Never."

  "But I could blend in," she said quickly. "My family, my friends, they would never need to know!"

  "You would betray yourself before you knew it. And then they would destroy you. Humans have always killed what they don't understand."

  "But I'm not dead!" cried Holly in desperation. "I don't understand!" The thought of never returning home filled her with anguish. She couldn't give up everything she had been, everything she knew. She wasn't ready.

  Weak as she still was, she pushed up from the table and walked over to the window. Out there, lost in the darkness, were the footprints of her former world. Her parents, her sister, her school, and the life she'd planned. "I'm not dead," she whispered again into the darkness.

  "No," said Noah. "But you will soon be undead, and when you are, your fate will be sealed."

  5

  An Open Window

  After a fitful sleep filled with more dreams of blood lust, Holly awoke again. Outside it was still dark, and if the clock on the wall was correct there were still a few hours left before dawn. Though the air conditioning was on, she still felt hot. Feeling much stronger than she had before, she slid quietly from the bed and walked over to the window.

  Conscious that Noah was sleeping somewhere in the house, she unlocked the window and ran her fingers under the base of the sash. Slowly and carefully she hoisted it up. She froze as it creaked, listening intently for any noise that suggested she'd woken Noah, but she heard nothing.

  A second or two later, Holly pushed it up again. This time she went all the way, so any noise would be over and done with in a single jolt. She paused and listened again. Still nothing.

  Sticking her head outside, she appreciated the cool night air on her overheated body. Without another thought, she pulled off her tee-shirt and cast both it and her underwear on the disheveled sheets behind her. Her skin was so pale in the moonlight, and she ran her hands over her breasts, noting the hardness of her nipples and the flatness of her belly.

  It was her body, and yet, it was not. She felt leaner than before, and now the initial weakness was subsiding, stronger. Holly removed the bandage around her neck and let it fall to the floor. Her fingers touched the wound, tracing the two elevated puncture marks, spaced about an inch apart. Two tiny marks, nothing in themselves, and yet what a profound effect they had already had on her life, no, her death.

  Death. How could she be dying, or undead, when she had never felt so alive?

  A slight breeze caught her red hair, and she ran her hands through her silky curls, which were sleeker than before. She raised her hands onto the top pane of glass and pushed against the frame, closing her eyes as she allowed the night to circle her body and invade her pores. She felt glorious, and ve
ry much one of the living. Surely what Noah had told her was wrong. Not that she thought he would lie to her, but perhaps he was mistaken.

  "You're very beautiful."

  The sudden sound made her start and turn, but she didn't cover herself up. Holly wanted Noah to see her, just as she was now. She needed him to. At this moment, the only thing that mattered was to feel like a woman.

  Yet, Noah never moved from the doorway. His eyes were fixed on her face, but he made no sign of making a move on her. Slowly, conscious of the gentle sway of her hips as she advanced, she crossed the room. Just inches away from him, she stood silent for a moment, her eyes reading his desire, sensing he wanted her as much as she needed to be wanted. But still he did not move to touch her.

  Holly cast her eyes provocatively down her body, then with the backs of her fingers, ran a hand down from her shoulder, across her breast, where it lingered on her nipple, then traced along the crease of her bosom, circling back and forth suggestively.

  Noah wanted her, she not only sensed it, but she could smell it. The scent of his longing was as clear as if he'd conveyed his desire on a written note. Noah's pupils were dilated, and she could almost feel his shallow breaths as his own lungs betrayed him.

  She took a step forward, and clasping his hand in her own, placed his open palm on her breast. The sense of another's touch sent a jolt of desire through her body. Holly threw her head back, closed her eyes and gasped. Every part of her, every fiber of her being was hungry for him. Still, Noah didn't move. He did nothing to remove his hand, but at the same time, made no attempt to advance the situation on his own.

  She licked her lips and raised his hand to her mouth, kissing the tips of his fingers and his palm, then when she had kissed them all, she pushed his index finger into her mouth and started to suck it suggestively. Noah was entranced, his own lips parted, and he closed his eyes tight shut, trembling as her tongue worked its magic on his fingers. Holly now moved so close that Noah's chest hair brushed her nipples, and that small contact sent violent shivers southward, making her pant with bold desire.

  Her gaze locked with his, and Holly sensed a new power she knew no earthly human would be able to overcome. She raised her hands to his shoulders, then slowly traced down the outline of his arms, up over the soft hairs on his chest, caressing the circles of his nipples with just the lightest touch of her fingers. Then down and down her fingers crept, like a black widow slowly closing in on its prey. Yes indeed, no human could resist her now. Her hands clasped the top of his jeans.

  But Noah wasn't just any human. In that moment, he brushed her hands aside and put his own on her shoulders, not to press her forward, but merely to keep her from advancing further.

  "I'm sorry, Holly," he said. "But this cannot happen."

  The longing was still strong in her, and she tried to press forward, but his grip was firm.

  "No."

  The spell was broken.

  "I'm sorry, Holly."

  Suddenly conscious of her nudity, she covered her breasts with her arms. She was herself again, and she shook her head in wonder at the woman she had just become. She had never been that bold, not ever. Overcome with embarrassment, she snatched at the tee shirt on the bed and with her back to him, covered herself as quickly as she could.

  "I'm sorry, too," she said too quickly, her thoughts incoherent and jumbled as she tried to think how best to explain. "I- I don't know what I was thinking. I've never done anything like that before. I haven't even.. Not all the way... I mean... I'm."

  This time Noah did come into her room, and while her back was still to him, he gently placed his hands upon her shoulders and turned her around.

  "It's okay, I do understand," said Noah softly. "You are a very beautiful and desirable woman, and you were not wrong. I did want you."

  Holly looked up to his eyes, searching them, looking for the truth. "Why then?"

  "I am a shifter. I'm not like other men."

  "You mean - you mean you can't?" she faltered.

  He smiled. "No, I can, that's not what I mean at all. But the wolf in me, well, you see, we mate for life. I can't give myself freely to any woman, not just like that. I have to be sure."

  Holly knotted her brows as she considered this.

  "You have a power, Holly, a very dangerous power." Noah walked across to the open window and gazed out into the night.

  "It didn't work on you."

  "No. But as you're now fully aware, I'm not like other men."

  "You mean you can resist me?"

  "Exactly so."

  "How?" she asked.

  Noah turned and rested back on the window sill. "Well, we have certain things in common."

  "Like what."

  "We can both shift into other beings."

  "I can shift?"

  "Not now, but in time you will. The undead can replicate any living creature, but only for a very short time."

  "Oh? What about you?"

  Noah scratched his head. "I am basically a wolf, but I can, at will, switch into any other creature of a similar weight and size. So I can become a lion or a bear, but never something small, like a bat or a mouse, and never something larger than a horse. I can do a great pony impression."

  Holly laughed, grateful he could still make light of things in spite of... before.

  "I thought vampires could only turn into bats and wolves?"

  "You've watched too many movies! No, that's not true at all. They are creatures of the night. They generally shift into what best preserves their secrecy. They can mimic anything, but like I said, only for a little while. They must transform back. I can adopt whatever guise I choose for life."

  "Why don't you stay a wolf then?"

  "They don't have the Internet."

  They both laughed at that.

  "How do you even have that? If this world exists outside of mine?"

  "It's the same world. And though humans naturally avoid these places, they will always come when invited. And I like to keep tabs on the world. I am forced to live alone, but I like the company of others, just as you once did."

  "Did?"

  "Things are changing for you."

  Noah pushed away from the window and strolled across the room to where she stood. "Try and get some sleep. We can talk again in the morning."

  Holly nodded, and as she lowered her head, he kissed her forehead. A flicker of the former passion returned, but before she had a chance to act on it, he was gone. She sat on the edge of the bed and lay back. She could close her eyes and sleep might come. But rest was beyond her.

  The wolf bent down to sniff the musty ground. The scent of broken twigs, rotting leaves, and moist dirt coated in morning dew was unmistakable. Traces of deer, chipmunks, rabbits, snake and mice that were there. Not to mention all the insects and birds you could ever want to imagine.

  But there was no trace of the immortal.

  He was afraid that Micah could return to finish the job he'd started. Then again, perhaps he thought there was no need. Maybe he thought he'd done enough to kill the girl already? But Noah would be failing in his job as protector if he failed to complete his patrol.

  A small stream trickled a few feet away, and he sauntered over. The refreshing water revived Noah, and he shook himself to dry his fur, then raised his head to survey the land around him. It was his favorite time of day. Oh perhaps it was true, most of his kind preferred the sunset over the sunrise, but Noah's true love was the earth, and the early hours revealed it in all its glory.

  It was his custom to patrol a section of his land every day. But it was something else that drove him from his house this time. Holly. Noah hadn't slept a wink. He'd tossed and turned, dreaming about the woman in his guest room. His thoughts tormented him even now, remembering her standing there, naked, offering herself freely to him. Those intense eyes, her breasts, and oh God, that amazing body.

  He'd grown hard as she'd sucked his fingers, her sweet lips tasting each digit one by one, her eyes on his, wantin
g him. How he'd longed to indulge and return her embraces, to finally enjoy the sweet kiss of a beautiful woman, but that would have been insanity. She was not as crazy as he'd first imagined, but there was still no getting around the fact Holly would soon be undead.

  Only by shifting could he conquer himself of this madness, only as the wolf was he safe from her temptations, or from himself maybe. He lingered a little longer by the bank than usual, enjoying the comfort of a place so familiar, which was a relief when everything else in his life was such an awful mess.

  Oh, Holly, Noah thought wistfully. What strange wind had brought her to him? She was just the right mix of sweet, spit and vinegar to tempt him, too. It wasn't just her beauty, well, of course, that was the icing, but there was a quirkiness to her that amused him, and she was clearly smart. Why wouldn't he be attracted to her, well, other than the nearly undead thing?

  But still, he couldn't indulge. After all, what possible life could they share? As he meandered through the trees, he amused himself by fantasizing about sex with a vampire. No doubt it would be smoking, but it had its downside. They'd never dare kiss. Those lips were red-hot but he wouldn't trust them within an inch of any part of him. He growled as he imagined the worst.– Yup, that could freaking hurt.

  So much for wild, untethered sex. But there was more to it than just complications in the sack. What about later, as he grew older, and she did not? What then? Would she turn on him? Abandon him? Betray him?

  And if Holly fell in love with him, what about her? What would it be like to watch as the man you loved grew old and sick and feeble? Noah was mortal after all, and a day would come when he'd have to shed his mortal body and journey to the beyond. When that happened, Holly would have to face an eternity of loneliness, a fate he would wish on no one, human or immortal.

  No. The vampire in her was getting stronger, and with each hour that passed, her desires were intensifying. She couldn't control what was happening to her, so it was down to him. He would have to be strong for them both. No matter how much he wanted to make love to her.