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

by Susan Griscom

  “Some, like compulsion are true. Where do you think most legends originate from?”

  “I always thought from someone’s imagination, some writer’s creation. Like Anne Rice or Bram Stoker. Your favorite. Remember? That’s what you said last night.”

  “It’s difficult to keep an existence such as ours a complete secret. There’s always a shred of truth behind all legends. Writers and such help fuel the belief that’s it’s all fiction, but in reality, the legends and stories of vampires have originated from fact.”

  “So, you would compel me to not remember that you’re a vampire?”

  “I wouldn’t want to, but I would have to. Unless I can get your complete and sincere promise to not breathe a word of this to anyone.”

  She grew silent, bit her bottom lip and looked down at our clasped hands.

  “Please, Magdalena. Don’t test me. I will wipe your mind clear of all of this and you will not remember a thing. I don’t ever want to compel you, but I would do it to preserve our secret, to ensure our existence.”

  She sucked in a jagged breath. “Okay. You have my word.”

  “Good. Do you want to go home now?”

  “I suppose I should, but then you can’t take me. Right?”

  “I can get Ari to drive you. It won’t be a problem.” I didn’t want her to leave. Not yet. Not after everything we’d just discussed. I needed to make sure she trusted me and would not divulge anything about my family or me to her friend. But I did want her to have complete free will.

  “Yes, I should go home, then.”

  “Okay.”

  “Will you be performing at the club tonight?”

  “Yes. Would you like to come and listen?”

  She nodded.

  “May I pick you up at eight o’clock?”

  “All right. Is it okay if Vanessa comes, too?”

  “Of course, I wouldn’t dream of coming between you and your friend. Not in that way, at least.” I chuckled.

  “Cian!” She studied my face. “Have you done that before?”

  “Done what?”

  “A ménage à trois.”

  “I told you how Lane and I were turned.”

  “That was with one woman and two men.”

  I shrugged. “I’ve been in this world for a long time, Magdalena. I’ve done a lot of things. So, yes, I have.”

  “So, are you saying you want to have sex with Vanessa and me?”

  “I only want what you want.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Magdalena

  The ride home from Cian’s was very unsettling at first. I still had a ton of questions. Though I knew I would keep Cian’s secret, I still had doubts as to whether or not I wanted to continue a relationship with him.

  He was a vampire!

  And that was a frightening thought. What was more frightening, was that I had agreed to see him again. Tonight.

  There I was, in a limousine with Ari, and from what I’d gathered, he was basically a human slave to Cian and his brother. I sat in the back, still unsure of everything Cian had told me.

  “Ari?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Do you like living at that house and taking care of Cian and Lane?”

  He laughed. “I knew you’d eventually ask me that.” He glanced at me through the rearview mirror. “Yeah, I do. You won’t find two people more decent than Cian and Lane. Not even human ones. They saved my life, you know.”

  “Yes, Cian told me.”

  “I owe them a lot. They took me in and let me stay in that huge house of theirs for free. Plus, they pay me very well for helping them through the daylight hours, doing things they can’t do when the sun is out.”

  “They pay you?”

  “Fuck, yeah. What’d you think? I was some vampire slave?”

  “I didn’t know what to think,” I admitted.

  “They pay all their employees.”

  “They have more employees?”

  “Who do you think does all that cooking and keeps the place clean? Not me.”

  “I hadn’t thought about it. Do all the employees know what they are?”

  “No. I’m the only one.”

  “Weren’t you frightened when you first learned about their…”

  “Vampirism?”

  I nodded.

  “Maybe. A little. But you have to realize that I woke up in that house in a clean room, on a clean bed with nice linens, and I’d come down from a near death high thanks to them and their blood. To wake up in an environment like that after being shitfaced down in a gutter full of puke and urine, believe me, I didn’t ask too many questions about my rescuers.”

  Ari pulled the car up to the curb in front of my apartment building. He put the car in park and turned around to look at me, placing his arm on the back of the seat. “Listen, Cian’s got a heart of gold, and I know he’d never hurt you. Try to remember that.”

  I gave him a smile. “Thanks.”

  “And just so you know, I’d do anything for him and Lane.”

  “Thanks for the ride, Ari.” I got out of the car and shut the door. In the elevator, I thought about Vanessa. I couldn’t tell her about Cian and Lane. I’d never been much of a liar, so I hoped she wouldn’t see through me this time.

  It was quiet inside the apartment. “Vanessa?”

  When she didn’t answer, I yelled out again. Still no response. A huge sigh of relief came out of me that she wasn’t home, even though I now worried about where she was. It was eight-thirty in the morning. If Vanessa was gone this early on a Saturday morning, that meant she probably hadn’t come home last night.

  Which also meant that I didn’t have to answer all her questions about where I’d been and what had happened on my date. But I knew I’d eventually be seeing her, and I’d need to be prepared.

  I sent her a text.

  Me: Where are you?

  Vanessa: I went out with Tanner last night. Stayed at his place.

  Me: Cian is picking me up at 8 to go to the club. You can join us if you want.

  Vanessa: Tanner is taking me. I’ll meet you there and I want details on Cian.

  Me: You and Tanner? Hmmm…

  Vanessa: Turns out, the guy has some major skills. Details later.

  Me: Ditto

  It was good that she’d decided to give Tanner a chance, especially now that I knew about Lane and Cian. It was bad enough that I was seeing a vampire. It would be too much if both V and I dated vampires, I think. Of course, I’d leave the vampirism out of any details Vanessa and I shared about our sex lives.

  I headed to my room, passing by the picture above the fireplace. I stopped to stare at it for a couple of seconds. They really are real. I stripped out of the dress I’d worn last night. I had no underwear on since Cian had ripped off the ones I’d worn, and the dress had its own bra sewn in.

  I was exhausted. Not only had Cian and I not slept much because of all the sex we had, but after learning everything about him, my mind was also spent. If I were going to be at all coherent tonight, I’d need to sleep for a little while. Too tired to even put on clothes, I curled up on the bed and pulled the covers up to my chin. I closed my eyes, thinking of Cian and whether or not I was crazy for agreeing to see him again.

  I turned over on my side and opened my eyes. I must have fallen asleep because the clock on the table said it was six o’clock. I’d slept all day. I needed to get up. I had some major thinking to do, which called for a long soak in a hot bath.

  But I was extremely thirsty. I threw on a bathrobe then headed to the kitchen and grabbed a glass, filling it with cold water from the fridge. I gulped it down, filled the glass again, and carried it back to the bathroom.

  I filled the tub and expelled a long sigh as I sank down into the very warm water. I’d added in some lemon-scented bath salts to help smooth out all the kinks manifesting in my muscles. I closed my eyes, wishing I could escape the nightmare that had suddenly become my reality.

  Cian was a vampire. I ju
st couldn’t bring myself to accept that. Even after he’d shown me his fangs and had bitten into his wrist, drawing blood. Vampires were scary creatures, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bit afraid of Cian and his family. Yes, he’d told me he’d never hurt me, but what if he lost control? What if his brother lost control? Or one of the others in the band? I shook my head. I wanted to believe I could trust him. He’d shown me nothing but kindness and respect all evening. And the way he’d made love to me…I couldn’t deny the pleasure he had given me. No, last night I wasn’t afraid, so why was I now that I knew what he was? The knowledge didn’t change Cian, but it did change my perception of him. I didn’t want to be the type of person who judged people based on their race. Wait. Were vampires even considered a race? Vampires were creatures of the night. Creatures. Cian had even called himself a creature. Actually, no. He hadn’t used the word, creature. He’d used the term monster. Cian wasn’t human. It was true, when you consider the definition of the word race, it was a classification of a specific group of humans, so technically, I couldn’t even use that term. Ugh, I could sit in this tub and argue with myself all evening and still not know what to do.

  He hadn’t hurt me.

  If anything, he’d given me the best orgasms I’d ever had. Sex with him was the mind-blowing kind that, until last night, I’d only had the pleasure of reading about. He said he’d been a vampire for two hundred years. So, that would make him two hundred and twenty years old. That was a long time. Plenty long enough to learn how to pleasure a woman. And I imagined that Cian had been a quick study, even back then. I closed my eyes and let my fingers roam down to the spot that Cian had so expertly pleasured over and over again last night.

  Cian, I wish you could be here with me, I thought as I touched myself.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Cian

  Cian, I wish you could be here with me.

  I sat up as the sound of Magdalena’s voice floated through my mind. The single drop of her blood that I had tasted last night must have been enough to allow me to hear her thoughts and be able to track her. She was in her apartment, though I didn’t know what she was doing, except that she was thinking of me. I smiled at the thought.

  Ah, you made me feel so wonderful last night. I need you and your magic tongue. I’ve been trying, to no avail, to mimic your techniques with my fingers, but I can’t get that same sensation without you.

  She was pleasuring herself.

  My cock grew hard, and my loosely fitted lounge pants tented.

  I wanted to go to her, pleasure her the way I had last night. I glanced at the window. The shades were still down. Fuck me. I grabbed my hardened shaft and stroked it along with the sounds of Magdalena’s moans that echoed through my mind. She was having difficulty reaching a climax. She needed me, but I couldn’t send back any encouragement. She’d need to take some of my blood for that. I stroked myself, slow at first, listening to her groans and sighs. When the sounds she made became louder and quicker, I lost control. Before I knew it, I’d come all over my stomach.

  That woman was going to be the death of me.

  I got out of my bed and grabbed a towel from the bathroom. It was time to get up and prepare for the night anyway. Just as I turned the shower on, Lane presented himself in my doorway.

  “What do you want?” I asked, knowing full well what he wanted.

  “What did you do about Maggie? Did you tell her what you are?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did you compel her to forget afterwards?”

  “No.”

  “Fuck, Cian. You know that’s like pointing a loaded gun at us.”

  “Humph. Then it will only sting for a few moments, and it’ll heal as the bullet works itself out, won’t it?”

  “Damnit. It’s going to cause too many problems for us to fix. What if she talks to someone and we don’t find out until it’s too late?”

  “Honestly, Lane. I don’t know what you’re getting all worked up about. So what if she talks. Who is going to believe her anyway? If the human world believed that vampires really existed, don’t you think they’d be hunting us down? Besides, I trust her. She won’t say anything.”

  “I don’t like it.”

  “I don’t care.” I shoved him out of the bathroom and shut the door then turned on the water.

  “You can’t just shut me out, Cian! I have a right to my opinion about the safety of this family!” he shouted through the closed door. “I can take matters into my own hands, you know!”

  I opened the door and grabbed Lane around the neck, shoving him back against the wall.

  “If you lay one finger on her, I’ll bury you in a metal crate so deep in a hole you’ll never be able to dig yourself out. Do you understand?”

  I eased up on my grip and let go. He coughed a few times.

  “You’re choosing her over me, your brother?”

  “That’s right. I love you, Lane, but don’t mess with what’s mine. I’ve fallen for her. I can’t help it.”

  “Are you saying you’re in love with her?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe. I’ve never been in love before. I don’t know how it feels. But if it hurts here, in my chest,” I pointed to my heart, “as if someone has lit me on fire from the inside, then yes, maybe I do.”

  “Could be heartburn.” He chuckled. “You couldn’t possibly love her. You’ve known her a week, and you’ve only been with her one night.”

  “Years ago, do you remember those rumors we used to hear about vampires meeting their soulmates? Someone who’s scent drove them insane, so crazy that they couldn’t stay away from them no matter how hard they tried?”

  “Those are just stories. Don’t you think we would have met a few women to love by now?”

  “You’re missing the point of the word ‘soulmate.’ From what I am experiencing, the way I feel, I…it’s as if I’ve been waiting for her my entire life.”

  “Fuck. Next you’ll be spouting off crap like; ‘she completes me,’ or something equally ridiculous.”

  “I can’t explain it. But maybe that is it,” I admitted. “Lane. When and if this ever happens to you, you’ll understand. I would never harm something that you love.”

  He shook his head. “You’re certifiable if you think she’s going to be able to return that love. We’re monsters. Remember?”

  I knew full well what we were. I didn’t need a reminder from my brother. “We don’t have to be monsters, Lane. We don’t live like other vampires. We don’t kill to survive.”

  “We do have to drink human blood to survive.”

  “But we don’t kill them. You and I both know that we are different. We’ve always been different.”

  “That’s just because we didn’t have Jewels’ influence. Do you think that if she ever returned or found us, that we would be able to deny her? Take a look at Chelle. She does everything that I tell her to do, no questions asked. She follows me around like a duckling trailing its mother.”

  “It’s been two hundred years since Jewels turned us and left us to die. You don’t seriously think she’d want anything to do with us now. Besides, she’s probably dead. Otherwise, how could she have just disappeared off the boat in the middle of the ocean?”

  “What? You think she drowned?” He laughed.

  “Well, no. But someone could have decapitated her and thrown her overboard.”

  “I think we would have heard about something like that happening from the other passengers.”

  “We were unconscious for days, Lane. There were a lot of things that could have happened that we never bothered to find out. Why are we even having this asinine discussion? I’ve told Magdalena about us and that’s that. She won’t reveal our identities.”

  I left Lane standing in my room and closed the bathroom door again, proceeding to take my shower. Magdalena would never divulge what we were. I was one hundred percent certain.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Magdalena

  It was surreal
the way my body ached for Cian’s touch. Even though the idea of him being a vampire scared the holy crap out of me, there was something so exciting and daring about the whole thing. I’d always been a risk taker, and so I decided to take my chances and see him again. I had to believe that, if he’d wanted to kill me or have me for dinner, he would have done it already. I was really looking forward to some more of that mind-blowing sex we’d had. After all, he and his band had been performing at that club for a few years now, and no one died yet. And after last night, I had no reason not to trust him.

  I’d chosen a black dress with a little pearl trim around the bodice that showed just enough cleavage to entice Cian without being ridiculous.

  My body tensed at the knock on the door, even though I was expecting it. I could admit, I was still nervous about being with a vampire.

  I opened the door to find Cian. Could he be any more perfect? His hair was combed back except for one tiny curl that hung down slightly over his forehead. He wore a black leather jacket over a white button-down shirt and dark jeans. He looked every bit the rock star, but I was looking forward to what would happen after the performance.

  I was very tempted to yank him inside, remove all those clothes, and tie him up to my bed so that I’d have him to myself all night.

  “Hi,” I finally managed, after drinking in all his yumminess.

  “Here, these are for you.” He handed me another dozen roses.

  “You’re going to spoil me, Cian. Thank you, these are lovely. I’ll put them in some water.” Cian waited just outside the open door to the hallway. “Close the door. You’re letting the heat escape into the hall.”

  “You’ll have to invite me in,” he said.

  “Oh. Of course. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize. I mean. I didn’t know. Please, come in. I’ll just be a minute.” Cian waited by the door as I put the flowers in a vase and placed them on the table, an uncontrollable grin plastered on my face. I’d never been treated so wonderfully before.