by Zenia, Zara
“Well, you know you’re always welcome at my place.”
“Thanks, Bell.” I give her a smile.
“Look on the bright side,” Bella says, sounding optimistic, “you’re free of Marvin, and you don’t have to worry about him ever again.”
I smile, but I know it doesn’t reach my eyes. “True.”
“Come on, I know what you need. We’ll order steaks and eat ourselves silly… then we’ll head to my place and watch a movie on the laptop.”
I laugh, despite how sad I am about not seeing James for who knows how long. “Okay.”
Chapter 26
Carolyn
It’s been over a week, and I’m missing James. We’ve been texting, but it’s not the same. I finish up my school work and review for my final exams. My grades are still decent, but they aren’t straight As. I’ve let two of them slip to Bs, so I’m hoping that I do well enough on the exams to bring them back up. I’ve been studying for an hour when my phone dings.
Reaching for it, I see it’s a text from James, and I smile, clicking the button.
James: Pet, are you well?
Yes, I just miss you. How much longer do we have to stay apart? :(
James: Are you alone?
Yes, why?
My phone rings, and I answer it. “Hello?”
“Pet, I miss you as well. Please do not think that I do not.”
“I know you do, sir. But, can we please go back to seeing each other? Even if it is just at the club? I need you.”
He growls softly. “I have spent the last week searching for him, but he is laying low. I need you too, pet. I thought I would have him solved by now.” He pauses, and I can hear him breathing in frustration.
“Sir, when is the last time you had blood?” I ask softly.
“I had some yesterday, pet, no need to worry about me,” he murmurs.
“You are drinking from someone other than me?” Pain stabs my chest at the thought.
“No, pet, I had a drink at Club Toxic. It was not directly from a donor.”
“You went to Club Toxic without me?” The ache lessens.
“You know why, pet. I want Aubrey to stay away from you. If you are with me, it will only draw his attention to you.”
“Sir, please, let us meet at the club. I’ll drive myself there, you don’t even have to walk me to my car. He can’t even get in, can he?”
“No, they’ve barred him from the club.” He sounds frustrated still.
“I want you to turn me,” I murmur. He takes a breath and says, “You say that, but you don’t know what it means. You could die.”
I gulp, remembering he did tell me that before, but I trust him, and I have to have faith that he can do it. “I know. I know that is a possibility, James, but what kind of life is it if I can’t be with you?”
“I’ve told you I will stay with you, no matter what, pet. You don’t have to turn. I may want to do it, to keep you with me always, but you don’t have to.”
“I know, James. But don’t you see? You aren’t with me. You’re chasing after a guy who may hurt you, kill you even, and then I’ll be left alone.”
“Carolyn, it’s not forever. I will find him soon… end this, so we can be together, and you can take your time deciding when or if to turn.”
“I’ve already made my decision. I want to be with you. I didn’t just make the decision with the toss of a coin, James. I’ve thought about it since you told me what you are. I know there is a chance that I could die, but I’d already be dead if it wasn’t for you. Marvin would have killed me. In a way, I’m living on borrowed time. Twice I’ve escaped death—first with Bella’s help and now with yours. If I’m going to die, if God decides now is my time and this is the means by which it happens, then I’m okay with that. However, I think I met you for a reason. To be with you. To really be with you. And to do that, I need to be like you.”
He is quiet, but I can hear him breathing on the phone.
“James?”
“I’m here, I’m just... thinking. Turning you would make you safer should you encounter Aubrey, but what of your classes and work? Your friends? Everything you would be giving up?”
“I’ve thought about that too. My classes are nearly finished. I take the exams online, and I can take them from home. As for my job, it’s an internship that ends when my classes do. If I can get back on there once I’m safe around humans, I can work after sunset. Bella is really my only true friend, and I think she would be happy for me since this is what I want.”
“And when the days extend, and the sun does not set until nine?” he murmurs, and I think he is still pushing to find a reason for me to not want this.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there, sir.” I know I have to be confident in my answers, or he will decide not to try it, but I want to be with him, and I am determined to see this through somehow.
“All right.”
He sounds almost sad, but my heart races. “You’ll meet me at the club? You’ll turn me?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“So anxious to die, pet?” he asks, sounding troubled still.
“No, sir, anxious to be with you.”
“Meet me at the club in an hour. Be vigilant.”
I grin. “You too, sir.”
“I love you, Carolyn.”
A happy squeal escapes my lips. “I love you too, James.”
He hangs up, and I hurry to get ready for the club. Nervously, I put my hair up in a messy bun and borrow a tight-fitting red dress from Bella. I’m a little taller than her and not as curvy, but it’s made of a stretchy material. We have the same shoe size, so I grab a pair of her matching red heels. I switch out my purse with one of Bella’s clutches. Pulling out my phone, I take a selfie and send it to Bella.
Borrowed this :) I text her.
Bella: You look great! Seeing James, I take it ;) Have fun for me. I’m stuck here at work till eleven :(
Yes, thanks! I will :) I text back.
I slide my phone into the clutch, grab my keys and head out the door. I keep an eye on my rearview mirror, but I don’t see anyone following me. I pull into the lot and park. I bypass the line of clubgoers and head straight for Maximus at the door.
“Good evening, Miss Carolyn. We’ve missed you around here. Are you doing a scene tonight?”
I blush, probably as red as my hair or maybe the dress. “I’m not sure if it will be a voyeur night or not. Is James here yet?”
He nods. “Arrived a few minutes ago. Go on in.” He lifts the rope to the crowd booing.
“Why does she get in before us? We’ve been here waiting!”
“Shut up or you don’t get in at all!” Maximus answers back. “Have a good night,” he says grinning at me.
With an excited breath, I head in and see James near the bar. He sees me and sets his glass down, joining me before I even get halfway across the room. “I missed you, sir,” I say softly.
“You look stunning, pet. I missed you as well.” He brings my hand to his lips and kisses it. “I’ve booked us a private room. I think what we have planned should be a private affair.”
I nod, feeling a little relieved. “What time, sir?”
“I could only get us an hour. Theo seemed pissed we did not wish to play for him and his audience tonight. I think he fancies you, himself.”
“He’ll get over it, will he not, sir?” I ask.
He chuckles. “Eventually, I suppose. Come, our hour starts in just a few minutes.” He takes my arm and leads me down the stairs. As we reach the last step, Theo approaches us.
“Are you certain you will not change your mind?” Theo sulks.
“Not tonight. Perhaps tomorrow, Theo.”
Theo arches a brow. “Can I count on that? If I know you’ll be here, I can let our clientele know you’ll be performing and draw an even bigger crowd.”
James looks at me, and I nod. “Very well. We will be here tomorrow evening, if it is possible for us t
o be.”
He looks at James curiously but opts to ignore the last part of his statement. “Excellent.” Theo seems incredibly pleased and leads us to the private room without another word.
James shows me into the room, and I notice this room is different than the one we used the first time we were together. There is a large bed, a padded barrel and a spanking bench. Shackles hang from the ceiling, and there is the usual wall of toys as well as the bureau.
“As beautiful as you look, pet, I’m going to take that dress off of you.”
I smile. “Yes, sir.”
He pulls the zipper and slides the dress off my shoulders and down my body. I step out of it, holding onto his shoulders, so I don’t trip. He lifts me up and sets me on the bed. The linens are black and soft against my exposed skin. “Stay here, pet.”
“Yes, sir.”
He pulls four scarves from the bureau and returns to me, stripping me out of the rest of my undergarments. He ties my wrists and ankles with the scarves and says, “I think we’ll forgo the blindfold tonight, pet, I wish to see your eyes.” He finishes tying the scarves to the bed frame.
I watch as he meticulously strips out of his jacket and button-down dress shirt. He lays them with my dress and undergarments, undoes his pants and places them with the rest of our clothes. He selects a few toys and brings them to the bed, setting them within reach. I glance at what he’s chosen and notice they are merely toys for pleasure—a vibrator and a plug—nothing for blood play. I look back at him, and he seems conflicted.
“Sir?”
He shakes his head and moves back to me, releasing my ankles and wrists. “This isn’t what I want right now,” he says softly as he pulls me into his arms. He brushes from my face the loose strands of hair that have escaped my bun and leans in, kissing me softly.
The kiss turns more passionate, and I cling to him, my heart racing. He lays me down on the bed and moves over me, clasping my hands in his above my head. He nuzzles my neck softly, and his large cock throbs against my leg. My core dampens and heat pools in my stomach. I press my body up, closer to him, connecting us in as many spots as I can. His teeth graze my neck, but he doesn’t bite me, just sucks on my neck a bit. His mouth moves back to mine, and he moves one hand down, squeezing my breast. A moment later his mouth skims over my neck down to my breast, and he takes my nipple in his mouth, sucking it. He switches hands, keeping my hands up above my head, and squeezes my other breast, giving it the same attention.
His mouth moves back to mine, and he squeezes my hands. “Keep them up here, pet.”
“Yes,” I say breathily, completely turned on.
He moves down my body, his lips gliding over my skin, until he gets to my core, then he continues down, ghosting his lips down my thighs. His warm breath against my skin makes me even more turned on. He moves back up my legs, kissing my inner thigh, very close to my pussy, and I moan. He hovers there for a moment, and I watch him with a hooded gaze.
“Open your eyes, pet, I want to see you.”
Taking a shaky breath, my gaze connects with his as he settles between my legs, licking me. I squeal at the pleasure of his tongue on my clit and shiver in delight. My gaze stays locked with his as my orgasm builds, but I don’t come because he hasn’t told me I can. I bite my lip, trying to keep it at bay.
“Come, pet, no holding back tonight, no waiting for me to tell you,” he murmurs and returns to pleasuring me.
“James,” I scream, doing exactly as he said, allowing myself to come as he continues to pleasure me.
He moans against my core, and his tongue delves between my folds. I come again, and then he bites me, and I come a third time, bucking and shaking against him, but he holds my hips firmly as he drinks from me. He moves up my body, his lips crushing mine as he pushes deep inside me. As he thrusts into me, he makes a cut on his neck and brings me up to it, pressing my lips to the cut.
“Drink, pet,” he murmurs.
I do, sucking on the cut he made pulling in a mouthful of his blood as he crushes me to him. I gulp the blood and cry out as I come again. He bites me as he comes, and I’m floating on a cloud of ecstasy. My vision fades, and I’m dizzy as he lays me back on the bed. My breathing is erratic, and after a moment or two, I pass out.
When I wake, I don’t sense any difference in me. I only seem just a bit drained. He’s sitting over me, his finger lightly tracing the curve of my face. I blink up at him in confusion.
“I couldn’t do it, pet. I couldn’t kill you,” he whispers softly.
I reach up for him, moving directly into his arms. He seems so lost and forlorn. “It’s okay. I… maybe I’m not as ready to die as I thought,” I whisper back, and it’s true. I thought that I was ready, but… I must admit I am rather glad he hasn’t turned me yet. I think maybe this isn’t the right place for him to turn me, considering all he’s told me. If I died, I wouldn’t want it to be here in Club Toxic.
He smiles gently and kisses me. “I love you,” he murmurs. “I just… I’m not prepared to lose you if this goes wrong.”
I cup his face in my hand and look him in the eyes. “It’s okay. We’ll find another way. Another place too, I think. I think when we turn me for real, it should be somewhere more private than this club.”
He nods, kissing me again. After a few minutes he breaks the kiss and smiles. “Yes, perhaps you are right.”
He holds me close, and we just sit together for a few minutes, both of us lost in thought. In my head, I make new plans. I’ll finish my classes and say goodbye to everyone at the center. Maybe tell Bella that I’m moving, just in case something happens, but it won’t. I refuse to die and give up now. Even if I have to technically die to become a vampire, but in my head, that’s not like permanent death. It’s just an inconvenient fact of turning.
“I need to just find Aubrey and confront him. Give him a direct challenge. Stop letting him dictate the terms of our engagements,” James says, breaking into my thoughts.
“But isn’t that dangerous? And I thought he’d disappeared.” Worry fills my heart as I look up at him.
“I can beat him, pet. Before I had no real reason to live. I do now. I will do everything in my power to stay alive, but should I be wrong, should he kill me, do not mourn for me. I want you to go on and live a happy life. Live for me, pet.”
Tears fill my eyes. “James,” I say softly, my fingers playing over his cheeks, stroking his lips. I kiss him as my tears spill, but he brushes them away.
“Promise me, pet.”
I swallow hard. “I promise.”
Chapter 27
James
“I have a plan,” I say as we lie in my bed. We’d left the club and returned to my house. We spent the entire night making love and being close. Now, as the sun gets ready to make its debut for the day, I lazily trace my hand over her back.
“You do?” she murmurs, her head resting on my chest.
“When we drove here this evening, I spotted Aubrey trying to follow me. He’s still in that blue sports car.”
“Is that why it took us so long to get here?”
“It is. I think he’s trying to track me from the club. Maybe I can get him to follow me from there to some secluded part of Tucson, so I can confront him in private. I would not wish to kill him where humans would encounter us.”
“And where am I supposed to be while all this is going on?”
“At the club where you are safe. Or you could come here to my home, or return to your apartment, I suppose. But only after Aubrey follows me from the club.”
She nods but looks worried. “Fine. You really think this will work?”
“I do,” I say. It has to. I can’t let Aubrey harm Carolyn. If anything were to happen to her, it would devastate me. That’s why I stopped last night, why I couldn’t bring myself to take her life. I was terrified something would go wrong, and she wouldn’t come back to me. I’ve never turned anyone before. And if there was a chance that she would just die, then I couldn’t ta
ke that risk. A life without her in it is impossible to me now. And should she die and not come back, I would take my own life. Perhaps then we’d find each other in another life and be able to be together for eternity.
“Okay.”
“Okay what, pet?”
She frowns. “Okay, sir?” she replies looking confused.
I shake my head. “No, what are you okaying?”
She giggles. “Oh. Okay to your plan.”
“You had better get some sleep... tonight is going to be a long evening.” I kiss her temple.
She smiles and lays back down on my chest. “Well, I wouldn’t be so tired if someone didn’t keep me up all night.”
I swat her bottom and chuckle. “Pretty sure it was you keeping things going, pet.”
She laughs. “I’m not denying it, sir.”
“Do you have anything pressing to do today?” I ask, feeling the fatigue hit me.
“No, sir. I was going to study, but I have no classes, and I don’t work tonight.”
“Good.” I nod, my eyes getting droopy. “Now go to sleep, pet.”
“Yes, sir,” she murmurs, and I know she’s about two minutes from being out.
I lazily rub her back, and once I hear her gentle, even breathing, I, too, doze off.
* * *
At 7:50, I send her on her way with a nervous wave. She awoke some time during the day, took an Uber to get her Blazer and returned here. Apparently, she did some research while I slept. She found a warehouse I could lure Aubrey to without humans noticing us. We decide to keep her on speaker phone while she’s driving, just in case anything untoward happens. She’s singing along with the radio as I dress for the evening. I think it’s adorable. I decide instead of wearing a suit, as I usually do when we go to the club, to opt for jeans. I don’t want to ruin a suit when I confront Aubrey. I pull out a dark blue Oxford button-up shirt and put it on. I haven’t quite decided on what we’re doing tonight for our voyeur scene.
