Afterward, during a rest break, she lay next to him feeling her body hum and marveling at her still blazing passion. She turned and watched him as he smoked a thin cigar. “Do you feel anything for me when we make love?”
He blew a thin stream of smoke out at the ceiling. “You mean like love?”
She laughed. “No, I wouldn’t expect that. I was just wondering.”
“I feel hungry.”
“Are you going to bite me?”
“No. If I did, I might not be able to stop taking blood from you. You might get turned by mistake.”
“Hmm, so you can’t control yourself when you’re with me. Better be careful, I might take that as a compliment.”
Mikel crushed out the tip of the cigar and left it in the ashtray. “Take it any way you want.” He brushed a lock of hair away from her forehead. “Do you feel anything for me when we have sex?”
She thought for a moment. “Yeah, I think I do but I’m not sure what it is. It’s probably nothing more complicated than fear. So I guess we’ll probably never see each other again after tonight, right?”
He kissed her and infused it with every sweet, dark sin she’d ever wished for. “That’s right. So let’s enjoy what we have now.”
“You’re my lord and master, what else can I do but obey?”
Chapter 5
Andrea’s body felt like it had been washed in scalding water and wrung out. Every muscle and fiber ached. She untangled herself from the white cotton sheets and stretched. Her muscles complained briefly then settled into relief. A soft darkness filled the room made all the more soothing by the tinted glass on the vampire’s windows.
At first she thought she was alone but a quick glance next to her revealed Mikel was still there. He lay on his side with his hips covered by the sheet. He stared at her with those chilling blue eyes.
A quick jolt of nervous joy filled her. She had no idea what it meant. “Hello.”
Mikel reached out and touched her lips. It was a tender loving touch that caught her breath in her throat.
“Hello.” His eyes lightened into a ghostly pale blue. “Did you sleep well?”
“I did. I’d ask you the same but I’m guessing you probably didn’t sleep at all like most vampires. Did you go out hunting after?”
“No.”
Andrea was concerned. Vampires usually fed several times a night. “You must be starving. Are you okay?”
He let out a light laugh. “I’ll be fine for one day. We have such little time together. I didn’t want to waste a second of it.”
“That’s very sweet of you to say.” She sat up and rested her back on the headboard. She didn’t bother to cover her naked breasts. It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen them a dozen times last night. “They’re coming for me, aren’t they?”
Mikel nodded. It was stiff.
She folded her legs under her and studied his room. Everything was perfect: the modern furnishings, the abstract art, the mixture of textures. But there was no life in the objects. He seemed to have picked these things because they were easy to care for and looked good. There also weren’t any personal items like pictures or quirky knickknacks. It made the room seem barren and cold. She found herself allowing a moment of pity for him.
He reached out and glided a brawny hand around her leg. He pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her. She was expecting a seduction but he only held her in his arms like she was going away on a long journey.
She settled into the coolness of his flesh and wished he’d gone out to feed. The coldness only reminded her how unhuman he was. “Who decorated this room for you?”
“I bought this place furnished.”
That figured. “You never changed anything?”
He gently kissed the shell of her ear. “No. Why should I? I don’t spend much time here. I travel a lot.”
She traced the thick veins on his hand. “Are you going to miss me when they take me away?”
Mikel pulled back and studied her face. He had a strange haunted look that unnerved her.
“Yes. I think I’m going to miss you very much. What about you? Are you going to miss me?”
She shrugged. “I’m not sure. I never really got to know you.”
The video monitor on the wall signaled. Mikel reached across her to the bedside table and grabbed the controller. He hesitated pressing the black device to his lips.
The monitor signaled again.
He pushed the button and a woman’s pale face filled the screen. The street behind her was busy with traffic. “Hello, Mikel. We’re here for your initiate.”
He pressed the button on the controller and let them into the building.
Andrea climbed out of bed. Her emotions were knotted in her chest like a fatal disease. She couldn’t take anything but short, quick breaths. “Do I have time to take a shower?”
“Sure. I’ll make them wait for you.”
Andrea went into the bathroom and closed the door. She leaned her back against the door and tried to fight the tears that forced themselves from her eyes. Why did her life have to be like this? Why were humans used and cast aside like so much trash? She hated being passed around from one cold-hearted vampire to the next. There had to be another way to live and Andrea was determined to find it.
She wiped the tears from her eyes and climbed into the shower. There she scrubbed and scrubbed, trying to wash the memory of her night with Mikel away. No matter how much she liked him, she had to forget him. Their time together was done, she was done. She would be going to her new master now and be forced to obey. As for him, he’d forget about her five seconds after she went out the door. It was inevitable. None of the vampires cared anything for their human slaves, everybody knew that.
Once she’d composed herself, she emerged clean and fully dressed.
There were two vampires waiting in the living room for her. One was a skinny man with a mean, narrow face and a voluptuous woman with bright red lips. Andrea recognized her from the monitor. Mikel sat in a chair off to the side with a broody scowl. Andrea suddenly hated him for giving her away like this without a fight.
What’s the matter, Mikel? Are they taking away your new toy before you’re finished? Why did I let myself believe you were different than all the rest?
“Are you ready, dear?” the woman asked.
“I guess.”
“Would you like a moment to say goodbye to Mikel?”
Andrea stared at Mikel and all she could feel was regret. She should have never let him in to screw with her emotions. It was stupid to open up to him. “He did his job well. I think we’re done here.”
Mikel locked his gaze on her. He looked angry and she was glad she’d had a chance to give back some of what she felt. He got up from his chair and prowled up to her. His body moved with a cruel feline grace like a cat creeping up on its prey. She was expecting him to slap or punch her. Instead he wrapped his arms around her and gave her a soul-crushing kiss. The kiss went on for a full minute. Its lusty desire awoke and destroyed her. She was beginning to really hate him and how easily he could control her.
He broke the kiss. “Good bye, Andrea.”
She took a shaky step back and wiped the memory of his kiss of her lips with the back of her hand. “Yeah, good-bye, my Lord.”
Chapter 6
The city streets were all but deserted in the harsh daylight. Nightclubs, sex clubs, and massage parlors frequented by the vampire upper class didn’t bother to open their doors until evening. Andrea watched the vacant world go past as she was chauffeured in a white sedan to her new vampire master. There was a painful emptiness in her, something she’d never experienced before. Why had she let herself get sucked in? Why hadn’t she kept her guard up? Now there would only be misery until she got over him.
Their night together had been exceptional. He’d known every pleasure spot, every sweet word a woman wanted to hear. He was so good at seducing her that she’d actually believed she was different and special. But when morning came she realized her blunder. She was nothing to him, never would be. The harsh realization of that drove a spike of agony into her heart. Humans were only playthings to vampires. That was the one cardinal rule. She knew it and so did everyone else. It was foolish of her to ever believe anything else.
“Are you excited about meeting your new master?” the red-lipped woman asked.
Andrea forced a smile. “Very excited.”
“Charlotte hasn’t been able to talk about anything else but acquiring you.”
Great, her new master was a mistress. Andrea had no sexual interest in women but that wouldn’t matter to anyone. Humans did as they were told. If they didn’t, they were simply killed. Andrea didn’t fear death but she hadn’t lost hope yet in a happier life. Perhaps in a few years, she would feel differently about being owned by a woman and speak her mind more.
Red-lips gave her a sly glance. “Do you miss Mikel? I think he really enjoyed you.”
“It was fun but I don’t miss him.”
The woman leaned in close. “If you did fall in love with him, you wouldn’t be the first. I know dozens of women who have fallen under his blue-eyed spell. Don’t worry, it will pass in time.”
“I didn’t fall in love.”
“Maybe, if you’re lucky, Charlotte will allow him to pleasure you again.”
Andrea sighed. Didn’t anyone listen to a word she said? “I hope she doesn’t. I’d really be happier if I never saw him again.”
Red-lips shrugged. “As you wish, dear. All anyone wants is for you to be happy.”
Oh really?
Andrea held back a bitter laugh.
* * * *
Mikel didn’t know how long he sat in the living room. He sat in shadowed darkness behind tinted windows not answering the door or going out. He just stayed quiet in the quasi-darkness waiting for the night to come. Maybe when night came he could forget about
her
.
Andrea.
He had known so many women, why was this one stuck in his head?
Andrea.
Lust and desire slithered inside him resisting every attempt he made to drive them out. Why was he so smitten with this one woman? Was it something she uttered when he slipped into her yielding flesh? Was it the honeyed scent of her tanned skin? Was it the ferocity with which she loved him back as he took her over and over in the night? The truth was it was all of those things and much, much more. He was devastated by her loss and he didn’t know why.
Andrea.
Perhaps he could get her back. No. That was lovesick foolishness and he wouldn’t indulge it. All he needed was a good feeding and a night with as many women as he could conquer. Once he met the needs of his flesh again, he’d be cured and Andrea would slip from his mind like a lovely song heard once and then forgotten.
He needed to go out.
Darkest night was coming in a few hours. It would herald its coming by painting black shadows onto the tinted windows of his apartment. He needed to get ready. He needed to go out. Then everything would be as it once was. That’s what he wanted, for everything to be as it was before he touched
her
.
Chapter 7
They brought Andrea to a huge mansion that backed up to a small lake. Her vampire escorts couldn’t leave the vehicle as the sun was quite bright now, so servants escorted her inside. There she was taken to her room and told to wait inside it until nightfall. The room was enormous and decorated in neutral tones of beige and sage. It amused her that the vampires were so conservative in decorating their homes. She attributed it to their indifference to material things. They left painting and decorating to their human servants as they did most things. All vampires cared about were pleasures of the flesh.
Andrea put her bag down and smoothed her hand along the bedspread. One of the servants had taken her bag from the trunk and handed it to her. Just like she’d been promised, everything had been taken care of.