by Eden Robins
“But I live in a gated apartment complex,” she protested. “Surely that must offer some protection against this type of thing?”
“Only minimal. Do you mind if I take a quick look around?” Without waiting for her answer, he started towards her bedroom. “I’ll start in here.”
Alyssa was still trying to digest his disregard for the security offered by her apartment complex when she realized where Christian was headed. She sucked in a gasp, then let out an ear-splitting shriek.
“No, wait!”
Not her bedroom! She definitely didn’t need a good-looking and totally sexy vampire in her bedroom right now. Besides, her bedroom was in a state of chaos, with undergarments strewn everywhere. She had to do something to stop him.
Racing past him, she blocked the doorway before he could go through. He stopped inches from her, a little too close for comfort, but she held her ground. Their gazes met. He lifted one eyebrow in question.
“Is there a problem?”
His voice brushed against her senses like a feather. Chills ran up her spine. She tried to ignore it.
“Yes, there is a problem,” she said. She lifted her chin proudly. “I don’t want you in my bedroom, thank you very much. If you want to look around the rest of the apartment you may, but please stay out of this room.”
Alyssa could swear that she saw a twinkle of amusement in Christian’s eyes, but then it was gone. Had she only imagined it? His eyes did little more at the moment than reflect her face in their milk chocolate depths.
“I need to look over the whole apartment, palomita. That includes your bedroom.” His tone was quiet, but adamant. He was going to look in her room whether she wanted him to or not.
Christian tried to move past her, but she slid in front of him, once more blocking him.
“Wait,” she said again, this time breathlessly. Christian was so close to her she felt his clothing brush across hers. Tingles of awareness ran up and down her spine.
He didn’t seem to notice. His face turned stony and his eyes narrowed.
“Alyssa, we don’t have much time. We need to leave soon so that we arrive early enough to go through the security procedure I laid out to you. Move away from the door so I can check out your room.”
“No.”
“No?” His eyebrow lifted arrogantly.
Her no sounded firm. But when Christian said no, it sounded threatening. And the brooding expression on his face was no comfort. Somehow she needed to diffuse this situation—quickly.
“My room’s a mess. I need to pick up a couple of things first. Why don’t you look through the other bedroom and the rest of the apartment? By the time you’re done, I’ll be ready for you to come in here, okay?”
Christian looked like he was about to argue, but then gave her a curt nod.
“I’ll be right out.” Alyssa slammed the door in Christian’s face, but was too worried about the state of her room to think much about it.
How was she going to get this place presentable in a couple of minutes? She picked up all the clothing on the floor and dumped it into the hamper. She was so behind on laundry! Next she picked up books lying open on her desk and bed and carefully stored them on the shelf in her closet. She had checked out books about vampires at the library earlier in the day, but she didn’t want Christian to know she was investigating him.
She scanned the room. With the clothes and books put away, it didn’t look half bad, but she still wasn’t happy with it. A second later, Christian gave the door a cursory knock and then strode in without waiting for her to open it. He walked directly to her window and checked it thoroughly. He scanned the rest of her room, an intense expression on his face and then headed back towards the door.
What had she been so worried about? Alyssa’s sigh of relief got caught in her throat as Christian stopped short before walking out of her room. Slowly, he reached towards something hanging on her wall.
When Alyssa saw what it was, her eyes widened in shock. She moved forward. Trying to reach it before he did but couldn’t. Her world suddenly changed to slow motion. His hand wrapping around the object became her whole focus, as if a camera was doing a close-up shot. He turned towards her and she cringed at the amused curiosity in his gaze.
He raised a large strand of garlic up in the air.
“Planning on doing some Italian cooking? In your bedroom?”
Chapter Four
Alyssa wanted to crawl under a rock. The whole idea of buying the garlic had seemed good when she was at the grocery store earlier today, but now it just seemed really, really dumb. The books she read had all said garlic was good protection against vampires! Yet it seemed to have little effect on Christian as he turned around and hung it back on the wall.
“Don’t believe everything you read, palomita.” He turned and left the room, but not before she saw that irritating, knowing smirk spread across his mouth.
Darn it! The man was just too smug for his own good.
“I’m ready to go now,” he called from the other room.
“Fine. I’ll be there in a minute.”
Alyssa took a little bit longer than necessary, just to annoy Christian. So what if she was acting childish? So what if this went against everything she spoke to people about? It felt good! Thinking about speaking made her realize that she needed to get a move on. She didn’t want to be late.
“Ready!”
Alyssa left her bedroom and found Christian waiting impatiently by the open door. Finally having her chance to irritate him, she let mischief get the best of her common sense. With an extra sway in her hips, she brushed by him and smiled seductively. She could have sworn she heard a soft growl as she passed him. But he said nothing as they entered the elevator.
Not until she pushed the first-floor button and the car started to descend, did she realize she was in trouble. Christian reached over and held the Door Close button, suspending them between floors. He moved closer, until he towered over her. Trying to gauge his mood, Alyssa looked into his eyes. They were dark and unreadable. Placing his free hand at the base of her neck, he began drawing little circles with his fingers. Sparks of pleasure shot throughout her body. When he moved so close she could feel his hard chest pressed against hers, her heart sped out of control.
“I don’t like to be teased, Alyssa.”
Christian lowered his mouth towards hers. When he spoke, each word brushed air against her lips. They tingled in response, ached for something more. As if sensing her need, he ran his tongue lightly over her bottom lip, then her top. He blew softly. His actions inflamed her. Alyssa wanted more. Leaning forward, she tried to touch her mouth to his, but he pulled back. She attempted to move forward again, but he gently grasped the back of her neck and held her in place.
She gritted her teeth in frustration. Suddenly she wanted the contact more than breathing. She needed, no she had to touch him. Now. Her self-control disappeared as he shifted his body. His chest brushed across hers, leaving her nipples sensitive and swollen. She couldn’t hold back her needy moan. Christian smiled knowingly. He knew she was his for the taking.
“You must never forget, palomita, that two can play this game. And I have had much more practice than you.”
Christian released her, let go of the Door Close button and moved to the other side of the elevator. Although he appeared cool and calm, he was anything but that. Back in her apartment, when she had looked so seductive and tempting, he had wanted to slam the door shut and take her then and there, damn the consequences. He barely controlled himself as she passed by, the scent of apples following in her wake.
She was teasing him and that he would not tolerate. The monster stayed leashed inside him because he chose to keep it there. It had not been a problem for a long time, but if she continued to play with him, he knew the beast would come out. And he was sure it would frighten her.
She looked scared now, as the elevator stopped and the doors opened, but he didn’t think it was because of him. He had a feelin
g Alyssa had her own beast inside that wanted to break free. That scared her. He already knew she valued being in control, so he understood how she must feel right now. Nevertheless, she needed to know he would not stand for her teasing. It could easily turn dangerous for them both. He needed to concentrate on her protection. She needed to concentrate on getting through her next three speaking engagements—and staying alive.
The evening started out as planned. Alyssa was very quiet as they drove to the auditorium in his car. He didn’t interrupt her silence. He kept his mind where it belonged—on the job. Once they arrived, he escorted her to the room they had prepared. He had scanned the building while they walked, but didn’t see or sense anything out of place or unusual.
He checked her room thoroughly. Satisfied that she was safe in the small waiting room, he said, “I’m going to do one more scan of the building. Lock the door as soon as I leave and don’t let anyone but me in. Understand?”
Alyssa hadn’t spoken since they left her apartment. She acted startled by his voice. Her far-off gaze shifted and focused on him.
“What?” She looked confused, disoriented.
What was she thinking about? Her eyes looked vulnerable, they called to him— No. He was here to do a job. Nothing more.
“I’m going to check out the building. Stay here, lock the door and don’t let anyone except me in.” His voice was gruff and unyielding, even to his own ears.
Her lips thinned and her brow furrowed. He knew that look. She was irritated.
“Fine,” she said.
That was her only reply before turning away, as if he no longer existed. Then she began rummaging through her bag.
“Fine,” he said through clenched teeth. He slammed the door a little harder than necessary as he left the room.
Alyssa’s shoulders slumped. She released a loud sigh as Christian left the room. Her body was shaking from the effort not to cry. She would not let this happen. She had seen what it had done to her mother and promised herself she would never live that way. Waiting expectantly for a man to come home, revolving her whole life around him, basing all her decisions, big or small, on what he thought. That was no way to live. Her mother’s suicide was proof of that.
Back in that elevator, for just a sliver of a moment, she had wanted to do exactly that, whatever it took to please Christian. To forget who she was and try to be who he wanted her to be, to make him desire her as much as she desired him. She had lost her self-control.
Shame washed over her. She had never let this happen before. Why him? Why now? It had to be the uncertainty of her situation. The fact that she had so little say in what was going on. But one thing she knew for certain, it wouldn’t happen again. She couldn’t let it. She would keep her distance from Christian. That was the only way. And when her last motivational speech was done, she would say goodbye to him forever.
She spent the remainder of her time alone studying her speech. It still amazed her that she had ended up using the speaking circuit to promote her book. She had always hated talking in front of people. One on one she was fine, but when it came to public speaking, she froze up like an icicle. Somehow that changed when she met her publicist. He told her she had to do these motivational talks if she wanted her book to sell.
He helped her realize that the anxiety she felt about speaking wasn’t worthy of her time. That she needed to put her energy towards more productive activities, like helping people by selling her book. Once she looked at it that way, her perspective changed. Her publicist gave her some tips on public speaking and she had no problem after that. Once she concentrated on what she was saying rather than the setting she was in, her anxiety disappeared.
Someone knocked on the door. She got up to open it and then remembered Christian’s warning.
“Who is it?” she asked quietly.
There was no response. Yet there was. She saw the doorknob slowly twist. Someone was testing the lock. The room’s temperature dropped substantially. She began to shiver from the cold. An overwhelming sense of discord hit her like a slap to the face. The doorknob rattled. She took an unconscious step back. Somehow she knew. Whatever was on the other side of that door was evil. And it meant her harm.
Alyssa stared in horror at the doorknob. It stopped rattling. Then she heard it. It was a subtle but distinct sound, carried on the wind. The fact that there was no wind inside a building meant nothing. She heard it and that wasn’t all. It was someone whispering her name, someone calling to her. And it pulled at her. It reached inside her. She had to go to it. The wind brushed against her, pushed her forward. She didn’t question it. The voice needed her. How could she say no?
Her legs propelled her towards the door before she was aware of thinking about it. She reached it in no time. She grasped the doorknob. In that moment the smell washed over her. Sweet, that was her first thought—sweet, yet something more, too much more. It permeated everything. Made her dizzy. Her thoughts clouded, then suddenly cleared and crystallized into one idea. She had to open the door, now.
She began to unlock it. She needed to get out. The voice kept whispering, endlessly pressing her on. There. It was unlocked. Alyssa slowly twisted the knob. The door began to open.
The whispering in her head abruptly stopped and the wind brushing against her ceased. The sickly sweet smell disappeared. The urgent need to open the door was gone. Fear and shock instantly replaced that need. Then she heard it.
A screech so loud it ricocheted throughout her head. She covered her ears. Yet the sound was just as loud. She realized then that she wasn’t hearing the sound, it was coming from inside her mind. Her knees buckled and she went down hard. Then everything went black.
* * * * *
Christian scanned the auditorium. People were starting to file in. It looked like Alyssa was going to have a full house tonight. He was looking forward to hearing her speak. Whatever she was saying got people’s attention and they liked it. He had done some investigating and found out that Alyssa and her new book, Balance, were a hot item right now. She had made a number of the bestseller lists. Her down-to-earth, back-to-basic approach to getting your life in order and trying to live a personally productive and meaningful life was striking a chord with the stressed out, “no time to stop”, “have to climb to the top of the corporate ladder” population of today.
Of course, some people didn’t like that. They didn’t like change. They didn’t like someone stirring up the waters. Christian thought that was the type of person stalking Alyssa. She had somehow disrupted someone’s life and that person resented her for it. It seemed the logical explanation.
He remembered how the disruption of his life had affected him. In one night his fiancée was brutally murdered and he was turned into a vampire. He wasn’t happy with the world in general at that time and especially not with Bazhena. During the short duration that she had kept him on her leash, his only thought was murder. He wanted her dead and he would do whatever he could to accomplish that. She had altered his life forever and killed the woman he loved. At that time it hadn’t mattered that he caused his own troubles by questioning his love, and lusting after Bazhena. She was to blame and he wanted to make her pay for it. He went crazy from the rage and rational thought was not part of his life for a time. He took revenge often, wherever and on whomever he felt like.
Alyssa’s stalker hadn’t reached that stage, yet. But he was getting closer to it, closer to her. And as his anger and frustration grew, so would the severity of his actions. So far, Alyssa was the only one at risk, but others could be hurt. If they got in the way, they could be killed. And once that step had been taken, there was no turning back.
He remembered the first time he had killed someone in his anger to get back at Bazhena. Although he had no power over her at that time, he had power over mortals. He fed and killed. He was vicious and cruel, causing his victim as much pain as possible. It had been intoxicating. Addicting. It had momentarily satisfied him. If Alyssa’s stalker got a taste of that, the
re was no telling how many people he would kill.
Christian did one more check of the perimeter, then talked to the on-site security team. They said everything was going as planned. Nothing unusual. But Christian wasn’t satisfied. Something wasn’t right. He couldn’t place it, but he felt the disturbance in the air. As he headed back to Alyssa’s room, the feeling got stronger and stronger. When he realized the implication of that, the awareness hit him. He could feel the danger and he could sense Alyssa’s fear. He raced forward, using his mind to scan what he couldn’t see.
Bazhena. He would know her sickly sweet, cloying smell anywhere. She was trying to get to Alyssa. Christian slammed his mind into Bazhena’s, jamming her thoughts with his own. Because she had created him, they had a mental bond that was difficult to break. He had forgotten how sick her mind was and almost recoiled from the evil he felt. But he held on, pushing at her, diverting her attention from Alyssa. Bazhena was surprised by his presence. She had been giving her full concentration to Alyssa. This gave him a momentary advantage. Before she could switch to him, Christian sent Bazhena a violent mental push. It was designed to wreak havoc with her brain and cause incredible pain.
He heard Bazhena’s mind scream, then her presence was suddenly gone. He knew she would be out of commission for the rest of the night. He reached Alyssa’s door and pushed it open. He found her crumpled on the floor, unconscious.
Alyssa slowly opened her eyes. It hurt too much. Seeing could wait. She shut them again.
“You must open your eyes some time, palomita.”
Her eyes opened wide at the sound of Christian’s amused voice and she grimaced in pain. His softly teasing tone sent tingles up and down her body. She realized two things at once. She was lying on the floor. And Christian was holding her. The first fact left her curious. The second made her downright confused. She looked around, studiously avoiding Christian’s eyes. She already knew what those eyes did to her. She didn’t need any more confusion at the moment.
