by Kitty Thomas
She recoiled as her eyes lit with recognition and a touch of fear.
He pulled his hand away. “I’m sorry, you seemed sad. Why don’t you leave your cart and come have some coffee next door with me? It might help to talk about it.”
Any other woman would have batted her eyes, excited for his attention, the mind control overriding any self-preservation instinct that might warn of a predator, unless the woman was oblivious to her instincts and didn’t require suggestion at all. But Nicolette was uncertain, scared.
“I-I don’t think so, but thank you.” She took a bag and filled it with the zucchini behind him and began to push her cart in the opposite direction.
If she got away from him this time, he wouldn’t have another chance to do this the nice way. A third approach would make her feel stalked and erect stronger barriers against him. A fourth might equal a restraining order no matter how spaced apart their meetings were. He followed her, trying to wipe away the panicked desperation she’d no doubt experienced on their first encounter weeks ago. Such intense emotion would do nothing to assuage her fears.
“Nicolette, wait.” His voice was more controlled than the day he’d chased her outside the coffee shop.
She stopped but didn’t turn around, her shoulders radiating tension. When he reached her cart, she said, “You remember my name.”
“And you remember me.” He hadn’t been a hundred percent sure that her fear wasn’t a natural wariness toward men she didn’t know. Some women were like that, and all things considered, it was a good instinct to have. And not just when it came to vampires.
“You would be hard to forget,” she admitted.
He wasn’t sure that was a compliment, but he’d take it. “One coffee. You’ll feel better.”
***
Nicole wasn’t sure why she agreed to coffee with the scary stranger. Sadness, loneliness, despondence, perhaps? Dominic had wrapped himself more tightly in his work, creating a cocoon she couldn’t hope to penetrate. It didn’t matter what she did, he’d shut her out, and none of it made sense.
She bristled when August guided her a back booth. There was no way she’d do this if it weren’t daylight outside with a bustling street of busy people around them.
She stared at the diamond bracelet she couldn’t bring herself to take off.
“Did your husband give you that?” August asked. He was perceptive. Maybe too perceptive. But then, what woman bought such an extravagant piece of jewelry for herself? Diamonds were the domain of lovers.
Nicole couldn’t help the tears that came then. She hadn’t expected or intended to cry in front of him, but she’d kept it in so long around others that the dam was bound to burst. With a stranger it wouldn’t matter. She hadn’t told her family or her coworkers. She’d thought if she went along and pretended that everything was fine with Rose and Rose that it would be.
“Are you happy with him?” he asked, echoing the question he’d asked the last time they’d met.
Pain radiated from his face. Had he scared her that first day because he was dangerous or because she’d been attracted? Maybe his danger was to her marriage, not to her, physically. She tried to remember their first meeting. Of course August was attractive. He was attractive in the way that no red-blooded American woman could deny, but then, so was Dominic. There was no need to seek elsewhere for that.
But here, now, was a man who cared, someone looking at her in that half-starved way her husband had always looked at her. That look she missed so much.
She didn’t pull away when he reached across the table, his large, cool hand covering hers. “Nicolette? Are you happy?”
“No,” she whispered. She’d never said it out loud.
“Then why do you wear the bracelet?”
“Because the moment he gave it to me was the last time he loved me.”
The depth of the pathos of that statement was reflected in the pity in August’s eyes.
“You don’t deserve to be treated this way.”
She jerked her hand away from his. “How do you know what I deserve?” If he thought that line was going to work on her, he hadn’t been on the dating scene in a while.
“What happened? You were floating the day I met you.”
Something niggled the back of her mind, but it didn’t make any sense. Coincidence happened. Maybe Dominic hadn’t been as great as she’d thought. Maybe she’d been settling somehow. Maybe running into August, another man showing a strong interest in her had taken the wool from her eyes so she could see Dominic for who he was.
But that didn’t make sense. She knew she hadn’t imagined the easy way between her and her husband, the caring, the jokes, the playful teasing, all the sex that wasn’t just two bodies joining, but two souls as well. All of that had stopped on a dime, as if when she’d come from the bathroom that night at Au Soleil, she’d stepped into a parallel universe where Dominic didn’t love her, and the only true evidence that he ever had, that he’d seen her as his soul mate, was an inscription underneath the bracelet she couldn’t bring herself to take off. It was all she had left from the other world before she’d entered this harsh, cold new one.
She guarded it as if it were an enchanted talisman that would somehow unlock a door in reality to take her back to the real world, the one where her husband still loved her. Sometimes she thought about going back to that bathroom, of wearing the same dress, of standing in front of the same mirror, washing her hands, and then walking back out to the table beside the fountain, and being back in the right world with her husband smiling up at her, the adoration lighting his face like sunrise. Maybe this was all some terrible dream.
“Nicolette, you’re worlds away.”
She blinked and shifted her attention back to the man sitting across from her. “We were happy, and then… we weren’t happy. And I don’t know what happened, what I did. It was so sudden, like a switch flipped in him.”
“Come to dinner with me.”
Her eyes snapped up to his. “I can’t do that. I’m married.”
Any man who would pursue a married woman this doggedly was not a man she wanted to get involved with. But she didn’t say that out loud. She could never say it out loud. He was so sad and alone. Like her. It would be cruel to say something nasty to someone who was suffering. Had he been this sad when she’d met him? She couldn’t remember. She’d just needed to get away.
“How long will you hold onto a man who neglects you?”
She focused on the bracelet, willing it to transport her through time and space to where the world was right again. “I don’t know. Forever, maybe. He’s my soul mate.”
His hand on hers tightened. “Forever is so much longer than you could ever imagine. It’s far too long to suffer. Perhaps he’s not your soul mate. What if someone else is?”
“And that someone would be you?” She was sure the skepticism dripped out of her voice. He may have thought he’d fallen in love at first sight, but the concept was too esoteric and unreal to her.
“Sometimes souls wander centuries before finding one another, then when they do, it’s in the most mundane way. Give me a chance to put a smile back on your face. I’ll be a perfect gentleman.”
He talked like Dominic. Of destiny and soul mates, and the kind of love that spanned eternities. The kind of love she’d almost believed in, but now no longer could. Her husband had created the dream and then snuffed it out, all in the brief span of a decade. So much for forever.
“I can’t. I’m not going to cheat on him. I’m not that kind of woman. Thank you for the coffee, but please don’t bother me again.” She stood and made a hasty retreat to her car. She’d grocery shop in another part of town. It wasn’t worth it to return to her cart and risk August following. There was no part of her that believed he’d just happened to bump into her today.
Chapter Four
Another month passed. August stood among the bushes next to Dominic and Nicolette’s kitchen window. The husband had just gotten home. He’d
been arriving later each night for weeks now.
“I made your favorite.” Nicolette’s voice was hopeful.
She’d tried everything to reignite her husband’s interest. Lingerie. Fancy meals. Theater tickets. But nothing would sway the command the vampire had embedded in his mind.
“I ate at the office,” Dominic said. His voice receded, and August knew he was going to the study to work, shutting her out once again.
“I-is there someone else?”
The door shut without the courtesy of a reply, and Nicolette dissolved into tears, great heaving sobs that mirrored August’s nightly pain after feeding.
He should have taken her already, but once he crossed that line, it was crossed. He could never enthrall her and return her to her life with the world never the wiser. He’d wanted to give her another chance to come willingly. Things would go so much easier for her if she would open up to him.
He’d avoided approaching her again outright, knowing she’d feel hounded. Instead, he’d taken a walk past the flower shop she worked at. He’d put on a mask of surprise when he saw her through the window, smiled, and waved, but she’d turned away and gone to the back room.
She was never coming to him on her own.
He hadn’t anticipated the depth of her love for her husband or how faithful she would be despite his neglect. She saw August as a threat to her marriage, and even after the sad state of that relationship, she still guarded it like a seedling that might sprout into something breathtaking.
He could have put another command into Dominic’s mind. He could have made her husband a legitimate physical threat. Then August could be the man who rescued and protected her from the brutish bastard. She’d run to him for safety. But he would never risk her. Not ever. If her husband’s indifference didn’t make the necessary impact to bring her to August, he had to take her.
He watched through the window as she sat at the counter and ate the dinner she’d so painstakingly put together. She poured a glass of wine from a bottle she’d bought to make dinner special. At the wine shop, there had been so much hope in her eyes as she’d retrieved the money from her purse. Every time he saw that naked hope, it crushed him. He hated himself for this, and yet, nothing he could do to her could ever equal what he must do each night. She was a justifiable casualty in his war against the curse.
In a normal human relationship there were good times and bad times. Often one partner stayed long past the point they should have left because they kept remembering and hoping for the good times to return, and sometimes they did—if briefly.
But the vampiric mind control didn’t allow for glimpses of hope. From the moment August had gotten inside Dominic’s head, Nicolette was an annoying gnat to him. Inconsequential. It had led to a lingering sadness which would turn to full blown depression if he didn’t either release the husband or take the wife.
He listened in the shadows as she scraped her plate and the garbage disposal whirred, then she emptied the garbage and stepped outside.
The pungent cloth was over her nose and mouth before she saw him. That was for the best.
“Shhhh, shhh, shhh,” he soothed as she struggled in his arms. She went limp and there was no more time for guilt.
***
Nicole felt fuzzy and unreal when she came to. It took a moment to figure out what had happened. It had been her day off. She’d spent hours on dinner. She’d bought Dominic’s favorite wine. She’d worn his favorite dress, and of course the bracelet. She always wore the bracelet. The whole day’s work had been pointless. But none of that mattered right now. What mattered was figuring out where she was and how to get away.
She’d stepped out to take the trash to the side of the house. Whoever it was had been watching her, and deep down, she knew who it was. On some deeper level, unknown and hidden from her, she’d expected this. It was why her fear stood muted against the backdrop of inevitability.
A piece of cloth covered her eyes, but her hands and feet were free. She was fully clothed. All good things. The smell of a man’s cologne hung on the air. She reached up to remove the blindfold, but was stopped by his voice.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. The sight you’d be greeted with is not what you’re used to.”
“August?”
She flinched when he took her hand, partly because of his touch, and partly because he was wearing gloves.
“I’m just helping you to sit up. I’m not going to do anything to you that you don’t agree to.”
As if she would agree to anything at all after he’d kidnapped her. But she allowed him to pull her into a seated position. Sitting was better than lying down right now. It was less vulnerable, if only by a small degree.
“Here, drink this.” He pressed a glass into her hand.
“W-what is it?”
“It’s water. It’ll help the fogginess.”
“Can I please take the blindfold off? Please, August.”
“No, you may not. I’m not ready for you to see yet.”
“See what?”
“Drink.”
“I’m fine. I don’t need any… ”
His mouth was next to her ear now. “If you don’t drink, I will pour it down your throat. I would not give you anything that would harm you.”
He’d only stalked her and kidnapped her. So of course whatever was in the glass was harmless water. Fuck him. She didn’t owe him trust or acquiescence or anything else.
She hauled back and threw the glass, surprised when she didn’t hear it smash. Instead, she heard August place something on a table. It sounded like a glass. Had he… what? Caught it? Maybe it was his own glass. Maybe hers had hit a pillow or something, preventing it from breaking the silence.
“I understand you’re frightened, but please don’t throw my glassware. It’s quite old and priceless.”
The stupid part of it all was that she’d found him attractive. And she’d hit her limit with Dominic. Her husband was making her miserable, and nothing she tried to reach out to him worked.
“The last thing I would ever want is for anything to harm you. I’m sorry for how you’ve suffered the past few months, but it’s what had to be done.”
“What do you mean? Did you say something to my husband? Did you tell him we were having an affair?” They were the only plausible words that could have passed between the two men to turn Dominic away from her with such finality. But wouldn’t he have confronted her? Asked her? How could he believe such a lie from a stranger?
“No. I didn’t tell him anything like that. Come with me, and I’ll explain and show you everything.”
The panic rose as he helped her stand. “Where are you taking me?”
“Downstairs.”
“Where are we?”
“My home.”
He wasn’t annoyed by the questions. If anything, he was trying to be less threatening. But if that was what he wanted, a blindfold couldn’t accomplish those goals. It made the dread inside rise to strangle her.
She tried to pull out of his grasp, but his hold was too tight. She used her free hand to try to remove the blindfold, but he was too quick. And then he was holding both of her wrists in his impossibly vise-like grip.
A small whimper escaped her throat. “Please, you’re hurting me.”
His grip loosened. “I apologize. I forget my strength at times.”
There was nothing for her to do but allow him to lead her through his endless house.
Finally they stopped, and a door creaked open.
“Step down,” he said. “These are the stairs.”
He had her wrists, holding her steady, but she wanted to be able to hold onto something, even if it was him. Without anything or anyone to grasp onto, she felt more helpless as she stepped blindly down each step into darkness. The air grew colder around her and damp with the faint scent of mildew. The wood beneath her feet creaked ominously as she descended.
When they reached the bottom, she heard crying.
“Plea
se, let us out.” A man’s voice.
“We won’t tell anyone about this.” A woman.
The idea that he was keeping others against their will hadn’t crossed Nicole’s mind. Both men and women. He’s going to kill all of us. Once the thought had wriggled in, she could barely stop herself from hyperventilating, but then August let go of her wrists and took several steps away from her.
“You may remove the blindfold.”
Now she didn’t want to. She didn’t want to see or know what was down here, the end that awaited her.
“Please, you can still let me go. I don’t know anything. I haven’t seen anything. I don’t know your full name or what kind of car you drive or where you live, o-or anything important.”
“If only it were so simple, Nicolette. You’ll never know how sorry I am for doing this to you. Now, please, take it off.”
Her hands shook as she lifted the fabric from her eyes. It took several seconds to fully process what she was seeing. It was too nightmarish to be real. There were cages. Two stood unoccupied. The others each held a man or a woman—some of them crying, some of them in shock. A few clasped the bars and stared out at her like abandoned pets at the pound, while others huddled in the corner trying to be invisible. Finally her eyes went to August.
He stood under a light observing her, and his face… it was… Nicole had no words to describe it. No longer did he look like the dangerous but beautiful man she’d seen. He looked like a corpse, like he was rotting. Now she understood the gloves and was thankful he’d put that barrier between them. She turned and ran up the stairs.
“NO!” he shouted.
The door at the top slammed, and she heard the lock turn over. When she looked back, his arm was outstretched as if he’d made the door shut and lock with his mind and voice. But that wasn’t possible.
“Come back downstairs, and you won’t be harmed. I give you my word. Don’t make me come after you. I’m far too tired and hungry for it.”
