Jasper struggles to sit up, aware of Dudley’s voice calling to him. “Sorry, Dudley, I must have dozed off for a little bit.”
Dudley straightens from his leaning position. “That is not a problem at all, sir. I know that you are resting while Ms. Ellie is sleeping. You will have your hands full when she awakens.”
Jasper stands up and stretches. “Have Miguel come into the study, Dudley. Thank you.”
Dudley bows as he heads out to get the young man at the door.
Jasper walks to the window and gazes out at the pre-dawn light. Everyone thinks that vampires pass out at dawn or fry to a crisp. That simply isn’t true. The real story is that vampires do require sleep during the day because the power of the sun drains their energy. It seems to be an effect of the component in the blood. They do have to drink blood in order to live, direct sunlight causes skin burns, and for all intents and purpose, they will live forever. There are ways to kill a vampire just like every other creature. Decapitation and fire are the best. Good and bad vampires both exist and there are always a few that hide in the gray areas.
Vampires have relationships just like humans and in rare cases they even have children. Jasper sighs wondering if Ellie will be okay with all of the changes that will be part of the transformation.
“Hey, boss. I brought some stuff for you.”
Jasper smiles in welcome at the valet. “Thank you for bringing it over, Miguel. Any problems after I left the club?”
Miguel sits down in a chair by the window at Jasper’s gesture and answers, “Actually, yes. It was the strangest thing. Some man tried to get in screaming about how he was owed for an assault that Ian committed. Turns out, he was an employee at the hospital. We had him escorted off the property. The friend of Ellie’s that came in tonight, Sheila, she knew him and was able to get him to leave quietly. I heard her tell him that he was giving a bad name to her and Ellie at the club they like to hang out at and he needed to go before the police were called.”
“Interesting development. The man’s name is Adam Thornton. Ian fired him from Lochlan Medical when it was discovered that he was abusing women, especially Ellie.”
Jasper pauses at the rage coming off the valet.
“Are you saying that the scumbag that was at the bar tonight, hurt our Ellie?” Miguel starts to rise. “I will go take care of this problem, right now.”
“Settle down, Miguel. Adam Thornton will be dealt with but not in the old ways. Lord knows we don’t need suspicion of any kind heading in our direction.”
Miguel sits down and clasps his hands on his knees. “Ms. Ellie is a good person, Jasper. I’ve been tracking her for the last year for you and Mr. Ian. I have seen how she cares for the people in her life. She doesn’t deserve to be hurt by some filthy loser.”
Jasper smiles at the protective young man. “Miguel, how do you feel about a promotion?”
Miguel looks at Jasper curiously. “Depends on what you have in mind, boss. I like working the club because the drinks are some mighty fine women.”
“I was thinking of having you keep an eye on Ellie. It’s going to take some time for her to adjust to the vampire lifestyle and she will need someone to keep her company when I’m not available.”
Miguel looks at Jasper in surprise. “Ms. Ellie has already decided to become vampire? I’m so far behind, boss.”
“It’s okay, Miguel. A lot has happened tonight and there was an accident. It became vital that Ellie be saved and so I brought her here. She is upstairs.”
Miguel rises and extends his hand to Jasper. “I would be honored to take care of the pequeña belleza, boss. She has been nice to me and I would like to make sure that she is safe.”
“’Little beauty?’ I think that’s an accurate nickname for her, Miguel.”
Jasper stands up and heads to the desk. Pulling a business card out of the holder at the corner, he hands it to Miguel.
“Call Alice in Ian’s office at Lochlan Medical tomorrow, Miguel. Tell her that you and I talked and you will be adding security detail to your employment. Let her know that I will contact her with more information later in the week. You can start with Ellie next week if that works for you.”
Miguel looks excitedly at Jasper. “That will be fine! The pequeña belleza and I will get along brilliantly. I’ll talk to you soon, boss.” Miguel turns and heads to the door. “Have a great night.”
Jasper smiles at the enthusiasm that Miguel displays, and knows that he will be a good addition to the security detail. Concern at the thought of Adam Thornton coming to the club in a rage is justifiable for asking Miguel to watch Ellie. Besides, she needs someone that can show her the ropes of adjusting to twenty-first century vampire life and since Miguel has only been a vampire for a couple of years that should work out well for both of them.
Sitting down and pulling out his laptop, he begins to finish the paperwork that he left at the office when he rescued Ellie.
Across town
Ian walks out to the club and hears the shouts for last call. Walking over to the bar, he buzzes the security stand. “Lorenzo, when you’re clear for the night, I would like you to come in here and see me.”
“Sure thing, boss. I’ll be inside in about two minutes.”
“That’s fine. Thank you.”
Sitting down at the bar, Ian is stumped at how strange the night has been and the incident with Ellie. There really is no reason that he would have been unable to stop, not at his age. If he was brand new then he could see how this happened but not now. Lorenzo walks in and sits down next to him at the bar. “What can I do for you, boss?”
“Did you notice any strange behavior tonight out of any of the patrons?”
Lorenzo shakes his head. “Nothing, except the usual drunks that try to get in. I did have a problem with that guy that was fired from the hospital, but we were able to get rid of him easily enough.”
Ian starts to laugh. “I can’t believe he thought he could come on the property”.
“I know you said to keep him off the hospital property. I will let all the staff know that he is not to be allowed on the premises of any of your holdings.”
“Thank you, Lorenzo. I also want you to add Ellie Dawson to the all access list for the bars. She is in the transformation process at Jasper’s place and I think she will be spending quite a bit of time at the bar with us.”
“I will see that it’s done, boss.”
Ian picks up his cell phone and dials Annabelle as Lorenzo leaves.
“Annabelle. I wanted to let you know that Ellie will not be able to make it tomorrow. Turns out that she is actually Jasper’s Hunger mate.”
“What! How in the world did this happen, Ian?” She pauses. “What a minute, it makes sense when you realize that you two are blood rel—”
Ian interrupts her, “Annabelle, I was drinking from her tonight and I couldn’t stop. When Jasper pulled me off her, I ripped her throat. Jasper took her home and she is in the middle of her transformation. I wanted to know if you could make sure that Claudine has some dresses in Ellie’s size here in the morning. I have a young woman who is going to be accompanying me to the ball, and she will require a dress as well. I figured I would let her help us with Ellie’s dress.”
“I will make sure that she has a perfect dress for the occasion. This is still wonderful news, my darling boy. It’s not as if you still won’t be able to enjoy her if that’s your desire.”
Ian stands up and starts pacing in front of the bar. “That’s true, but I think she might be feeling a little angry toward me for a little while.”
Annabelle gives an unladylike snort. “I would be too if you ripped my throat out. I wouldn’t be surprised if you received the cold shoulder from her for a few decades.”
“Thanks. That’s just what I wanted to hear.”
Annabelle’s laugh rings out over the phone. “Goodnight, my darling boy. I will see you soon.”
Hanging up the phone with Annabelle, Ian is positive that it will
not be decades, but he is not convinced that his little one will be in a forgiving mood anytime soon.
Suburb outside of Minneapolis
“I can’t believe that he had the nerve to fire me,” Adam Thornton raves as he stomps back and forth in his living room. “Who does he think he is?”
The red head on the couch glances up from the magazine she is reading. “I would assume he thought he was your boss and could fire you if he wants.”
Adam turns in disbelief at the audacity of the hooker he brought home after the club fiasco. Stalking toward her, he clenches his fist and swings it catching her in the jaw. The girl is thrown against the side of the couch and knocked out.
“That will teach you not to talk unless you are spoken to.”
Mumbling to himself, Adam starts pacing again.
“Sheila said she and Ellie have been hanging out at that club. I know that bitch has to be sleeping with him. That’s why I was fired. I know it was her fault, no one else knew what I was doing.”
Hearing the girl on the couch starting to stir, he glances over at her. Tears streaming down her face and her jaw starting to swell actually make her more attractive to Adam.
“You should know your place, girl. Women are not supposed to talk back and the quicker you learn that lesson the better off you will be.”
He watches as she gets up and starts backing toward the door.
“Where do you think you are going?”
She looks up in terror and Adam feels his cock harden. There is nothing more arousing then fear in a woman’s eyes, and this one was petrified. The woman glances to the door as she struggles to speak, “I’m going to the police, you bastard. Who the hell are you to hit me?”
Adam laughs at the naïve thoughts that this woman has and the fact that she thinks she is going to make it to the door. When she turns and lunges for it, Adam is on her, dragging her across the room. Throwing her on the floor, she is dazed by the impact. Adam straddles her and pins her down.
“No one threatens me, little girl. You’re a worthless whore who will never be missed.”
Watching the terror in her eyes grow, Adam wraps his hands around the girl’s throat and squeezes. As he chokes the life from her body, he is aroused at the thought of taking her life. Seeing the light dim from her eyes, Adam knows that he wants to see the same thing in Ellie’s eyes as he has sex with her one last time. Rising from the dead girl’s body, he unbuttons his pants and grips his penis. Pumping and stroking himself, he pictures the look in Ellie’s eyes when he is choking the life out of her as he thrusts into her body over and over again. He groans as his release hits him and sprays on the dead girl’s shirt. Tucking himself back into his pants, he now has to figure out what to do with the body.
Picking up the phone he calls the one person that he knows will never judge or tell a soul.
“Sheila, I need you to come to my place. I need your assistance with a disposal issue.”
Hanging up the phone with her after she agrees to come over, Adam goes into the bathroom and yanks the shower curtain down. He walks back into the living room, spreads it out and yanks the girl onto it. He heads to the door at the knock. Looking through the peephole and seeing Sheila, he opens it and pulls her in.
“I had an incident with a hooker who didn’t know when to keep her mouth shut. I need you to get rid of her body.”
Sheila looks at him in shock and fear. Sleeping with your friend’s boyfriend and hiding his personnel write-ups was one thing, but she wasn’t interested in getting involved with murder.
“I’m not hiding a body for you, Adam.”
As she turns to open the door, he wraps his arm around her throat. Grasping at his arm and trying to pull it away from her throat she hears him whisper in her ear, “If you don’t do this for me, you will be joining her, Sheila. Do you want to be in the same hole as a whore?”
Shaking her head as much as she can, she gasps in air when he releases his grip on her.
“Where do you want me to do this at?”
Turning away from her, he answers, “Anywhere but here. I’ll help you get her out of here and then you are to finish dealing with it. Understand?”
Nodding her head, Sheila drops her eyes knowing that he gets off on fear.
Adam walks over and hoists the shower curtain in his arms. Walking toward the door, he gestures for Sheila to hold it open. She rushes forward to open it and heads out to put the tailgate down on Adam’s truck.
“Here are the keys, Sheila,” he tells her after tossing the girl in the back. “Be careful and bring it back soon. If you have any problems, handle them yourself, got it?”
Sheila inhales deeply before answering, “Yes, Adam. I will take care of your problem for you.”
Sheila winces when he slaps her. Adam answers tersely, “This is that bitch friend of yours, Ellie’s problem, not mine. She is the reason that girl is dead. If she didn’t have me fired this would have never happened. You had better remember that.”
She nods in understanding and hops into the truck. As she pulls out of the drive and heads west toward North Dakota, she knows that all the bad decisions she has made are coming back to haunt her.
Ellie opens her eyes slowly and looks around at the bedroom. She made it through the transformation. She faced down death and survived it. The scariest moment in her life was the first glass that Jasper placed in her hands. She knew he would never intentionally harm her, but she had to take his and Ian’s word that she had the component needed for a successful turn. It’s not always easy to put faith into someone else, especially after what she had been through with Adam.
As she lies in the bed, she becomes aware of the sound of the shower running. Propping herself up on the pillows in the king-sized bed, she is hoping that Jasper will come out quickly and join her in bed. Moments later the water turns off and Jasper opens the door, striding out in nothing but a towel that Ellie is eager to yank off him.
“Hello, Jasper.”
Turning at the sound of the sexiest voice he has ever heard, Jasper gasps at the sight of her.
“Hello yourself, gorgeous. I was wondering if you were ever going to wake up.”
Jasper strolls toward the bed. She smiles at the rampant thoughts pulsing through his head.
“Do you really see me as a seductive predator, Jasper?”
“You are breathtaking, gorgeous.”
Making room for him, she smiles as she snuggles into the curve of his body.
“How long was I out for, Jasper?”
“About sixteen hours, love. I was getting ready to start working my way up your body to see if I could get a reaction from you,” he says with a sexy smirk.
In a move so quick, humans would have missed it; Ellie flips him on his back and straddles his waist. “What’s stopping you now, lover?”
Running his hands up and down her back, Jasper looks into her eyes. “You are going to need to drink and get something to eat before we have that marathon session of sex I promised you, my love.”
Pouting at the seriousness of Jasper’s tone, she leans down and kisses him on the lips. “But, Jasper, I have everything I want right here.”
Jasper sits up against the headboard and pulls her into his lap.
“Sweetheart, in a few minutes you are going to be in a really grouchy mood because you are going to be hungry. You are like a newborn babe right now and will need to drink on a regular basis. We have to build up your strength, Ellie.”
Ellie looks at him in confusion.
“How am I supposed to drink? I don’t seem to have any fangs.”
She runs her tongue and then her finger across her teeth.
Jasper smiles at her. “They will come in after you have your first meal as a vampire, love. Are you ready to get started or do you want to go freshen up?”
“I will go freshen up and be back in a few moments.”
Jasper watches as Ellie heads to the bathroom and shuts the door. Closing his eyes for a moment, he is stunne
d by how easily she seems to be grasping the concept of being like him. Saying a quick prayer that it stays that way and she doesn’t have any major problems, Jasper gets up to throw on a pair of workout shorts.
Climbing into the center of the bed with his back to the headboard, Jasper waits for the sensual creature that’s now Ellie to come back to him.
“Jasper,” she asks as she comes out of the other room. “Why can’t I hear you anymore. Is something wrong with me? Am I broken?”
Jasper smiles at the concern in her voice. “No, beautiful. I’ve blocked my thoughts to you for the time being. I didn’t want to overwhelm you till after you had some blood.”
Ellie stalks to the bed and gracefully leaps up on to it with him. Crawling into his lap, she snuggles up against him and Jasper wraps his arms around her.
“Jasper, do I have to kill someone to get a drink or just go to a blood bank? I don’t really want to hurt anyone.”
Jasper pulls her tighter as he tries to decide how to answer her. “Ellie, as a new vampire, you are going to make mistakes. There is always a chance that you will not be able to stop and will take too much blood. I would like it if you considered staying with me until you learn the ropes and feel comfortable on your own. I have also talked to Miguel and he has agreed to be your guide and make sure that you don’t run into any problems when I’m not around.”
Ellie looks up at him with devilish laughter in her eyes. “Jasper, are you asking me to move in with you?”
Jasper kisses her on the lips and turns her around so her back is to his chest. Moving her hair to the side, he kisses the side of her neck.
“Yes, Ellie. I’m asking you to move in with me and be my lover.”
Feeling the goose bumps on her arms, he smiles knowing that his words are turning her on.
“First things first, gorgeous. I need you to drink from me. I’m old compared to most of the vampires in the Mid-west and my blood will be strong and help you to find your teeth.”
Ellie nods her head and leans her head back into his shoulder. Reaching for the knife on the bedside table, Jasper slices his wrist again to get her started. Holding his arm in her hands, Ellie leans forward and tentatively licks the drops of blood from his wrist. Jasper laughs silently at the feral growl from her throat as she proceeds to devour his wrist and take as much as she can get.
Everlasting Hunger (The Hunger Mate Series) Page 12
