Tempted by a Vampire (Immortal Hearts of San Francisco Book 1)

by Susan Griscom

  “I don’t have time to discuss this right now. I need to get out of here before she comes down.”

  “Why do you need to leave?” a soft feminine voice questioned as Magdalena’s beautiful face peeked around the corner at us.

  The five of us stared at her.

  Someone cleared their throat.

  “Yeah, Cian, why do you have to leave?” my brother asked with great amusement in his tone before shoving the rest of the piece of bacon into his mouth. I hoped he choked on it.

  I took Magdalena’s arm and led her away from the others. “I’m sorry. I was going to have Ari take you home.”

  “Why? Where do you need to go?”

  Just then, all the shades in the entire house began to lower. We stood, and she watched as they all reached the bottom and then made that reassuring, yet obnoxious locking sound.

  “Come with me,” I said and took her back up to my room.

  “Cian, what’s going on?”

  “I know you have questions. And I know you have a right to answers, but I…”

  “Damn straight I have questions. You spend the entire night making love to me, telling me how much you want me, now you’re sneaking out, leaving me for your butler—or whatever the hell he is—to take me home, as if you can’t bring yourself to face me.”

  “It’s not like that, Magdalena.”

  “Then why are you trying to sneak out? Why do you need to leave? And why are all the shades closing and locking when it’s morning? And as long as I’m on a roll here, why are there no fucking mirrors in this house?”

  I stood in front of her, gawking at her adorable exhibition of a temper tantrum. Her hair was a tangled mess, and mascara was smeared below her eyes, but she was still beautiful.

  “There are things you don’t understand. Things you couldn’t possibly comprehend.”

  “Are you saying I’m stupid?”

  “Of course not. You’re just…human.”

  “What? What’s that supposed to mean?”

  I knew that if I told her and she freaked out and wanted to expose us, I’d need to compel her. But I had to trust that she wouldn’t. I also knew the possibility existed where I’d have to compel her if she didn’t accept me for what I was, For Magdalena, I was willing to take that chance, because I did not want to lose her. I blew out a frustrated breath of air. “Do you trust me, Magdalena?”

  “I’m not so sure anymore.”

  I swallowed. I was afraid she’d say that. I needed her trust if I was going to confide in her. “Magdalena, I need you to trust me. You need to understand and believe that I will never hurt you.”

  “The only way you could hurt me is if you tell me you don’t want to see me anymore, because after last night, yes, that would hurt me.”

  “You have no idea how that concept could be furthest from my mind. I want to be with you, more than I want anything else.” I needed her. Now that I’d been with her, there was no doubt in my mind that I needed her more than I needed the blood that sustained me. “In fact,” I continued, “I hate the idea of you leaving this house, but I can’t tell you anything without knowing you won’t run away.”

  “I won’t run,” she said, shaking her head slowly. “Cian, please tell me what’s going on. Two hours ago, you held me so tightly I thought I’d lose consciousness from the lack of air. You told me how beautiful I was and how much you wanted me. I gave myself to you completely. So, yes, I trust you. What is all this about?”

  “Please, sit down.”

  “I don’t want to sit down.”

  “Okay.” I sucked in a wicked breath of air and spit it out.

  “I am…vampire.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Magdalena

  I had to consciously close my gaping mouth before I laughed, rolling my eyes at his ridiculous statement.

  “Come on, Cian. Be realistic. How can you joke right now?” I accused, but something about the way he’d said it had me second-guessing everything I’d ever believed. “I am vampire.” Not I am a vampire. It just sounded so real.

  “I am telling you the truth.” His face showed no signs of jocularity. “I will never lie to you, Magdalena.”

  “You really can’t expect me to believe you.”

  “I knew you’d have doubts.”

  Vampires are real, you know, Vanessa’s softly whispered statement when we’d purchased the portrait came flooding into my mind like a tsunami.

  I shook my head.

  Everything began to make sense: the hypnosis in the bar, the lack of mirrors in this house, the shades lowering and locking at dawn, his…his, infertility. My knees became weak and the room spun around me. “I…I don’t feel so well…I think I’m going to…”

  I opened my eyes to see Cian’s silvery blue ones. I was lying on the bed while he dabbed something cold on my forehead. “There you are.” He smiled.

  Oh good, he smiled.

  “It was a joke, then?” I asked.

  His smile disappeared. “No. I’m afraid not.”

  I sat up on my elbows.

  “Easy.”

  “This can’t be happening.”

  “I wish, with all my heart, that it wasn’t.”

  “Cian. How is this possible? Vampires are not real. Are you one of those people who live a lifestyle as if you were a vampire? I’ve been to some of their sites on the Internet.”

  “There are people like that?” he asked with too much innocence attached.

  “Yes.” I shook my head. “Maybe, I don’t know. Do you have fangs?”

  He nodded.

  “Why haven’t I seen them? Felt them when we kissed?”

  “They only show when I’m about to use them. Otherwise, they remain embedded in my gums.”

  Duh. Okay, so that was a stupid question. “Let me see them.”

  “You won’t like what you see.”

  I bit my lower lip. “I won’t believe you are a vampire without proof.”

  “If you insist.” He stood and smiled, but it didn’t seem like a smile. It was more of a snarl, and his facial features became animalistic, frightening, as two sharp teeth appeared. I jumped backwards, the headboard of the bed stopping me from going any farther. I suddenly wanted to run, but I couldn’t.

  A few seconds later, his face returned to the gorgeous man I’d made love to the night before.

  “Don’t be frightened. I will never hurt you. I promise.”

  “How can I believe you? You’re a…a vampire.” I couldn’t believe I’d made the statement. Saying it made it seem even more real.

  “Magdalena, if I were going to hurt you, wouldn’t I have done it already?”

  “Well, maybe you like toying with your food before you eat it.” The minute the words left my lips, and in no more than a blink of an eye, his face was inches from mine.

  “I do not “toy” with my food,” he growled, and I held my breath, knowing the horror that showed on my face as he got up and took a step back and then another. He ran his hand through his dark curls. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

  I wanted to cry.

  I was scared. He was scary. But the way his gaze held mine at that moment, the fear slowly slipped away. Though I didn’t want to find out what happened if or when that frightening animal came back.

  “I need to leave,” I said, trying to get up, but my legs were still weak.

  “Please don’t leave. Not like this.”

  I wanted so much to trust him, to believe in him, but I was still having trouble wrapping my head around the fact that he was a vampire. A creature of the night. An animal. A blood-thirsty killer. I studied him as he rubbed his hands over his face in frustration. He looked rather angelic sitting there worrying. He took my hand in his. So gentle. He’d been so tender last night. Not a killer. Not an animal.

  “You won’t hurt me.” It wasn’t a question. More a declaration, an order that I’m afraid didn’t come off as powerful as I’d hoped, considering my trembling voice.
r />   “I won’t ever hurt you. I promise.”

  I placed my feet on the ground and sat on the edge of the bed, feeling a bit less vulnerable and able to get up faster in case I needed to make a break for it. Though I knew I’d never make it, which brought me to the realization that I might as well stay and listen and find out as much as possible. What did I have to lose? And as Cian pointed out, he hadn’t hurt me, and if he was truly a monster, he would have already. I had to believe that the man who made such passionate love to me last night would not hurt me now.

  I sucked in a breath. “Is it true that vampires can compel their victims into submission?” I asked, my voice still shaking with fear.

  “Yes. Most of the time.” He let go of my hand and stood. He took a couple of steps, then turned back to face me and waited for my next question.

  “Are you compelling me now?” I asked.

  “No.”

  “Have you compelled me? Last night?” If he said yes, I was going to die. I didn’t want to think that all those feeling I’d experienced were fake.

  “No. And I won’t. Whatever you do with me will always be your own will. I promise.”

  I bit my lip, thinking. I didn’t know what I should do.

  “You have more questions.”

  I nodded.

  “Go on, ask them.”

  “Do your fangs really break through skin as easily as it looks in movies and is described in books?”

  He gave me a very dangerous looking grin then bit into his wrist. Blood dripped from two small wounds as he turned his arm toward me. Then he ran his tongue over the two red and bloody spots, and the wounds disappeared as though they had never been there.

  “So that’s how you are able to live? To drink someone’s blood without them knowing?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did you drink my blood?”

  “No.”

  “How do I know you are telling me the truth?”

  “You’ll just have to trust me on that one. But I promise you, I will never drink your blood.”

  “Good.”

  “Not without your permission,” he added with a sexy grin. “I did not drink your blood, but I must confess, last night, I did take a little taste.”

  My hands instinctively went to my neck and I had to overcome the desire to run.

  “Not from your neck. I accidentally nicked you while I was pleasuring you, but I slid my tongue over it to seal it. It was not my intention to drink that particular fluid from you last night. I had other things on my mind.”

  My stomach swirled at the memory of his mouth and the things he’d done to me with his tongue and I shook my head to clear the arousing thoughts.

  “Have you ever killed anyone?”

  “Yes.”

  I scooted back from him again. Still not sure what to think.

  “It’s been two hundred years since I’ve killed someone. Lane and I were turned at the same time. After going on a killing spree together, it sickened us both, and we vowed never to kill again. I will not harm you, Magdalena. Ever.”

  He sat back down on the bed and faced me, his long legs dangling over the side. He placed his hand over the top of mine. I pulled back slightly but then allowed him to touch me. “I do care for you, Magdalena. Believe that.”

  “How did it happen? How did you become vampires?”

  “While Lane and I were traveling to the States from London, we met a woman on the ship.”

  “The picture of you and Lane that I saw in the hallway. Is that the ship?”

  “Yes. It was in the year eighteen twelve, and we were twenty years old.”

  “You and Lane are twins?”

  “Fraternal twins, yes. I am the oldest, though.”

  I chuckled a little at the oldest remark.

  “I guess you could say that we were born and died together.”

  “Died? I don’t understand?”

  Cian’s face became serious, and I listened to him tell me about the woman who’d turned them into vampires.

  “Her name was Jewels. We never bothered to exchange last names. She left us to die, or rather, wake up to discover the monsters she’d turned us into.”

  He told me how he and Lane had killed so many people on that boat just so they could survive. I wanted to cry.

  He held out his hand. “Please, let’s sit by the table for a while and I’ll try to explain more about it over some breakfast. You must be hungry. You barely ate anything last night.”

  “I doubt I can eat now. Cian, this is too surreal. I’m feeling a little nauseous.”

  “You do look a bit pale, and it is understandable. Some food in your stomach will help.”

  A few minutes later, Ari appeared at the door, carrying a tray with coffee and a plate of eggs, bacon, and toast.

  After he had placed them on the table, he left without saying a word. I turned to Cian. “How did he know to bring food?”

  “I told him with my mind.”

  “You can read minds?”

  “It’s a bond we share.”

  “Is Ari a vampire, too?”

  “No. He is human, like you.”

  “Explain this bond.”

  “Ari’s been with us for about seven years now. Lane and I found him beaten up and left for dead in one of Chinatown’s back allies when he was only fifteen. He’d been strung out on heroine, and whoever beat the shit out of him had taken all of his money and his ID. He also had no idea who he was. The poor kid had nowhere to go, so we nursed him back to health and gave him a place to stay. He’s been with us ever since.”

  “So how is he able to know what you are thinking?”

  “He only knows what I allow him to know. When we found him near death, we had to give him some of our blood to save his life. Vampire blood has a strong healing element to it, that’s why it is difficult to kill a vampire. We heal too quickly. He is able to know what I am thinking when I summon him because he has my blood in his system. This also allows me to always know where he is.”

  “And Lane?” I asked, not wanting to leave his twin out of the story.

  “And Lane,” he affirmed.

  “Why didn’t Ari become a vampire after drinking your blood?”

  He smiled. “It’s not that simple. I or another vampire would have to drink his blood to the point of almost draining him dry, then he’d have to drink a considerable amount of our blood in order to turn. Turning someone into a vampire is not something we like to do. It’s a very difficult life.”

  “But you live forever.”

  “Living forever in darkness and most of the time alone…it can be very lonely.”

  I thought about that for a second, and a stab of sorrow flowed through me. “Yes, I suppose so. Are the others in the band vampires?”

  “Yes, both Gage and Elvis are.”

  “Elvis?”

  “His real name is Preston. We used to call him Press, but he looks so much like Elvis Presley did back in the late nineteen-fifties, we started calling him Elvis. It stuck after he did a great impersonation of the King one night. We all met about ninety years ago on our way across country. We’d been running from some territorial types...”

  I frowned. “Territorial types?”

  “Vampires who feel the need to rule over other vampires because they are older and stronger,” he explained. “Gage and Elvis helped us fight against them—they are more mature in their vampirism and therefore more impregnable than Lane and me. After discovering our mutual love of music, we formed the band and have been performing together throughout the years. They live close by and frequently hang out here. Like Ari, they are family.”

  “What about the girl I saw sitting at the table next to Lane? She is beautiful, though she didn’t seem to be enjoying herself.”

  “That’s Chelle. She is very beautiful. But at the moment, she’s…more of a remorseful mistake to Lane than anything else.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Cian

  I handed Magdalena a piece of
toast, trying to take her mind off Chelle. I didn’t want to try and explain her just yet. That subject was better kept for another time.

  “Here, take a bite.” She opened her mouth, parting those luscious pink lips that I wanted to devour with mine. So much.

  After a couple of bites of the toast and some of the eggs, she sipped the coffee. I was relieved to see the color return to her cheeks.

  “You’re not eating. You ate last night. Don’t you normally eat? Food, I mean,” she blushed a bit. By the blush, I was sure she’d been referring to the oral pleasure I’d provided her last night, not eating people.

  I chuckled and touched her hand. “I do. Though I don’t require it the way you do. We usually eat for Ari’s sake, and because, sometimes, food tastes very good. Like last night. I’m just not in the mood to eat at the moment.”

  “Why did you say Chelle was a remorseful mistake to Lane?”

  “That’s a subject for another time.”

  “Cian, if you want my trust, you’re going to have to answer all my questions.”

  “I already have your trust, or you wouldn’t be sitting here.”

  “True, but if you want me to continue trusting you, then you should tell me everything. Besides, I’ll never be able to get through the next several nights listening to Vanessa badgering me about Lane if I don’t have all the facts.”

  “Magdalena, you can’t tell Vanessa or anyone about me or any of the others. Please, you must promise me you won’t say a word about this to anyone.”

  “Okay. I promise. But really, Cian, your secret would be safe with Vanessa. I’d state my life on it. She’s hopelessly infatuated with Lane, you know.”

  “You can’t tell her. Please, Magdalena, don’t make me force you.”

  “Force me?”

  “I don’t want to have to make you heed my commands, Magdalena.”

  “You said you would never use compulsion on me.”

  “Yes. However, if you insist on revealing our existence, I would be forced to.”

  “Yes, but…”

  “Don’t test me on this. I can be very persuasive, and you would never know it.”

  She swallowed. “So, all of the stories and legends about vampires are true?”