by Dani April
From out on the desert floor below was the lonely call of a dog, or maybe even a coyote or a wolf. Rebecca shivered and shut the window against the sound. There was no lock on the window, but from this high up in the air she guessed she didn’t need one. She backed away from the window and decided all she wanted to do was go to sleep. Everything else could wait until the morning.
A quick check of the door to the side showed the bathroom to be as nicely done as her bedroom. It had a tile floor, a big rounded tub, and a shower that poured hot water when she tried turning the nozzle. The ceiling was built to a normal height, and the bathroom actually felt like one in an upscale hotel rather than one inside a creepy old castle brought back from the annals of time.
Remembering her luggage once again she hurried back to the bedroom to check after it. Sure enough, true to his word, Peter had had one of his employees deliver the three bags to the room, and they were now resting on a footstool at the end of the king-sized bed.
There would be no time for unpacking tonight. She would save that along with everything else she had to do for the morning. She opened each bag and made a brief inspection of it. All seemed to have survived the flight and subsequent transport into the desert.
She stripped out of her business suit and had a fleeting thought of jumping into the shower, but still didn’t exactly feel comfortable inside these strange surroundings and decided the shower could also wait for the light of day. She was hoping the light of a new dawn would be her panacea for everything that was disturbing about this place. Mostly she figured just a good night sleep would do the trick. She always felt a little lost when she traveled, especially the first night away.
She jumped into a pair of running shorts and a T-shirt she used for sleeping in. When she got under the covers of the bed, she found the mattress to be exceedingly comfortable. Under the tall canopy of the giant bed, she found she actually felt safe.
She curled into a tight ball, her favorite sleeping position, and was soon sleeping like the dead.
It was only a couple hours later when she woke up and could almost feel the presence in her room. Then she could see something. It was a shadow passing across the carpeting on the floor and stopping at the side of her bed.
When she sat up in bed, she felt like screaming.
Chapter Three
“Peter!” Rebecca exclaimed, sitting bolt upright in bed.
He was hovering over her bed, staring straight down at her. She thought she remembered locking her door and wondered how he could have gotten inside. The glare out of his eyes told her he wanted something more than just to talk.
Fortunately she slept in modest attire. Kneeling up on her bed and allowing the covers to fall from her, she faced him. His stare was unwavering.
“My God, you scared the shit out of me!” she told him, feeling he was probably in no mood to listen to what she had to say. “What are you doing here?”
He didn’t answer her. Instead, he kept staring. She could see his eyes all too clearly in the dark shadows of her room. He had her locked in to them again. This time in the solitude of her bedroom, she could not break the connection. She didn’t even try to fight. Her mind gave up the fight her body had begun. She opened herself to him and knew she would let him have anything he wanted, having no choice in the matter.
He reached a hand out to her and touched her shoulder. Even through the fabric of her shirt, his touch was so warm. His body heat made her feel so safe in this otherwise frightening place.
He caressed her shoulder and ran his fingers up her neck, reaching her cheek. When his skin touched her own, an aura radiated through her body. Dampness spread between her thighs. She couldn’t speak to him or even respond to touch him back. All she could do was stare into his eyes and wait for him. He was her master. She would do whatever he made her to do. The only thoughts she had in her mind were those of him, and she realized he was the most beautiful human being she had ever seen in her life.
“I want you, Rebecca,” he told her in a hushed whisper.
“Yes…” she answered him in an urgent whisper of her own. She wanted him, too. Right now, on top of this bed. If the trance he had put her in had left her any strength, she would have reached out and torn his clothes off of him and mounted him that minute. But she was in a helpless position against his overwhelming power, and she had to kneel there on top of the bedclothes and wait for him to make the first advance.
He had opened his mouth. His lips were inches from hers. Parting her own lips, she was ready for him, hoping to take him in and taste him. She had never needed anything so badly in all her life as she needed this gorgeous man standing over her bed right now. Desperation took hold of her, and though she could barely move in the state of hypnotic trance he had placed her in, a sweat broke out across her body.
Both his hands were on her now. They were clasping her shoulder-length hair and pushing it back behind her neck, revealing her skin. His open mouth moved closer still to her. Her heart was about to pound out of her chest.
He was on top of the bed with her, kneeling with her on the rumpled bedclothes, his body held tightly against her own.
Just as his breath danced across the naked flesh of her neck, he stopped and pulled back. His eyes were back on hers. In her trance, she could not pull away from her master and merely stared up at him, waiting expectantly.
“I can’t!” he cried into the night. “Not yet. It is my curse. You are not like all the others. You are special. We won’t make love until we are both the same.”
“I want you, Peter,” she told him in a voice that didn’t even seem to be her own. Somehow she realized she was asking him to do more with her body than just have sex with her, but she had no idea what that other thing he would do to her was. “Please take me now. Don’t make me wait any longer. I can’t wait.”
“No!” he cried again. “You’re not ready yet. We must be patient. That is why I gave us a week together. We can wait a few more days for our coupling.”
“I can’t wait even another minute, Peter! Please do it now!” Somehow she knew in the back of her mind that even though her voice spoke these words the thoughts were not coming from her. He was completely controlling her.
“I will leave you with something to stoke your lust and prepare you for me. You’ll need to open your lifestyle to new experiences and sensations in the next few days to prepare for what is coming next.” He bent to her and brought her face up to his. Their lips met. Her mouth was open to his, and she accepted him. Their tongues met and played. Then his saliva entered her mouth, washing along her tongue. It was like a drug, an upper that broke the trance, but provided him a whole new mechanism to control her by. Just the introduction of a few drops of his saliva had injected a powerful drug into her bloodstream, a drug that was the world’s most powerful aphrodisiac.
He held her in his arms, and had to support her weight after he broke their brief kiss. She felt her blood pressure race and her legs going weak beneath her. The bedroom that had a moment before been calm and still was now spinning around in circles before her eyes. It was as if the king-sized bed in the center of the room was a merry-go-round and she and Peter were taking a ride on it at a breakneck pace.
The room had been dark and illuminated only by the moonlight flowing through the window next to the bed. At least that’s how it had appeared before the kiss. Now bright colors were flashing inside the room as if someone had moved multicolored strobe lights in there with them.
Rebecca threw back her head. She would have fallen back on the bed if Peter had not been there to hold her up. She smiled up at the canopy of the bed above them. Her vision had become so advanced she could see every thread in the canvass of the bed covering. She allowed a small laugh to escape her. This was the best feeling in the world, and she knew what it was—the drug of his kiss. As crazy as the idea was, she knew his body fluids were an aphrodisiac.
“There are three other men here,” he whispered into her ear. “They are human
men and not like me. But they are my acolytes. I have promised them that they can have you. You will give yourself to them. You will love them and exalt in their touch as if it were mine. They will prepare you for me. In the end, I will have you and make you one of my kind. Then you will belong to me forever.”
She didn’t like to hear this and clung to him desperately. “Kiss me again, Peter. Let me taste you one more time.”
“No. You can’t take any more of my body chemicals right now. I’d never forgive myself if I destroyed things for us. We must both wait. We are very close now. We don’t have much longer to wait. We don’t know each other yet, but I believe we will grow to love each other in time.”
She tried pummeling her fists against his chest, but he was like a rock. “No, Peter. Stay with me tonight, or if you can’t do that, then be with me tomorrow. Take me around your estate in the morning. Show me everything in the light of day when the world is fresh and clear.”
Now he was the one to throw back his head and laugh. His laughter was loud and clear. “You still don’t understand, my darling little fool. I can’t be with you tomorrow in the light of the day. That can never be for me. And once I make you my own, you will never see the light of day again either.”
“But why, Peter? Tell me why?”
“Because, my foolish little Rebecca, I am a vampire. Before our week together is finished, I intend to make you one as well.”
* * * *
What a dream! What a crazy dream! Oh my God, am I finally going crazy? Rebecca rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.
The morning sun was shining brightly in the bedside window, making the big room appear almost cheerful for the first time. Outside some birds were chirping. A cool breeze blew back the tiny curtains covering the windowsill. Everything was right with the world once again and what had passed in the night had been only a dream…or more like a nightmare. But whatever it was, it was over now, and it had never been real.
Rebecca stretched under the covers of her bed. She felt well rested and full of energy to start the new day. The carpeting was comfortable under the soles of her feet as she slipped out of bed and stepped over to the window.
A beautiful day in the desert had just dawned. From her vantage high on top of the bluff, she had a panoramic view of the desert floor and the surrounding mountains. Everything looked so beautiful. She was exhilarated and ready to get started with the job that had brought her out here.
Finding her purse on the bedside table where apparently she had left it the night before, she reached inside and brought out her phone. After a couple taps on the touch screen to bring up her contacts and select her desired choice, she heard it buzzing in her ear. Thank God she at least had service this far out in the middle of the desert.
“This is Bruce,” a man’s voice came over the phone.
“Hey, Bruce, it’s me,” she greeted her senior producer. “I’m here. Sorry I didn’t get a chance to call last night, but we got in late.”
“How are things going?”
Rebecca hesitated for a second. “Well…things are different to say the least. One rumor can be confirmed. The guy does live in a castle. I’m talking about a real castle here. My room is in one of the towers. I’m looking down from it now.”
“Okay, that’s sort of creepy.”
“I know. Right?” She laughed and realized how good it felt to be talking to the outside world. “He told me he brought it over stone by stone from Europe. It must have cost him millions. But get this, he told me he doesn’t know or even care how much money the project set him back.”
“Is he going to make some time for you to sit down with him and talk today?”
“I don’t think so.” She brushed her flyaway morning hair back from her face and found she still had a few cobwebs from last night to clear from her mind. “I was pretty wasted from the trip when we got in last night, but I think he mentioned something about being gone all day.”
“I hope this guy doesn’t waste our time by bringing you out there and then not giving us shit to use.”
“We should still be cool. He told me he’ll be back tonight and promised I could do a long interview with him then.”
“So that gives you all day to hang at his castle?”
“Something like that.” Rebecca shrugged and began unpacking her clothes for the day. “I’m going to go exploring today, take some pictures, shoot some video. He’s got a lot of acreage out here. We’re talking about a guy who really likes his privacy.”
“I hope this whole week-long trip turns out to be worth it, Beck.”
“It will be.” She was headed into the bathroom, getting ready to start her shower. “I get the feeling he’s going to open up to me. I have him pegged as the type who wants to open up to somebody, but he’s just been waiting for the right somebody.”
“And you think you’re that reporter for Peter von North?”
“I know I’m that reporter for Peter von North.” She had a smug feeling. This is why she had come out here. To do her job and prove she could do it better than anyone else. The light of the new day and the exhilarating air of the desert blowing in her window were giving her new confidence.
“I still wish he would have let us send a team out there with you.”
“You and me both.”
“How you holding up out there all by your lonesome?”
“I’m fine…well…I had crazy dreams last night, but that always happens to me when I travel. But this morning I really feel great. When I get back next week, you’re going to owe me a steak dinner.”
“Done!” He laughed with her over the phone.
“Don’t worry about me, Bruce.” She took another look out her window. “The desert out here actually looks real pretty today, and I’m anxious to get started.”
“Call me if you need anything—anything at all, kiddo!”
“You got it. Start reserving some airtime for the next couple of weeks. I think we’re going to have a lot to roll out on this one.”
She flipped the phone closed and set it down on her bedside table. Another fresh breeze blew inside. The desert had its own distinctive fragrance. She inhaled a deep lungful of air, brimming with reassurance now that she had herself convinced she could do a week out here at this place and it would be easy. It would be no problem at all. In fact, it would be a good learning experience for difficult interviews that would come her way in the future.
She enjoyed a ten-minute shower and then dressed in khaki pants, a pullover shirt, and all-terrain shoes she had purchased especially for this trip into the desert. Opening up one of her carry-on bags, she removed the two cameras she had brought with her. Each was tethered on a strap, and she placed both straps over her neck.
She supposed she would have to see about breakfast somehow and wasn’t too sure what the arrangements would be like out here, especially with her host away. She was about to walk out the door when a random thought brought her back to the tall window by her bed. This window had been open when she woke up this morning and allowed the glorious breeze from the outside to get to her. But hadn’t she closed it last night before she got into bed? She even remembered searching for a lock, finding none, and then chiding herself about being silly. No one was going to climb in a window over a hundred feet off the ground, she remembered telling herself.
This morning the window was open. That was odd. It hadn’t opened by itself. She paused for a moment considering this. Pulling on the window, she brought it tightly closed once more, hoping it would stay closed this time. Well, she must have been so tired last night that she had imagined some things, or had just failed to secure the window tightly enough and it had blown open of its own accord.
Nothing to worry about with such a big day in front of her.
Out in the long corridor, she closed her bedroom door behind her and started off. She did remember this long twisting hallway from last night when Peter had led her down it in the dark. In the morning light, it was not too much easier to s
ee in. There were a few windows set high up on the walls, and streams of daylight penetrated every dozen feet or so as she walked along, hoping to find the big front room Peter had first shown her last night.
If Peter ever ran out of money, he could turn this whole place into a wicked themed hotel. Of course, with being located as it was in the middle of the desert, no guest was likely to ever find their way here.
At the last turn in the corridor, she found herself entering the big room from last night. There were no windows in this dungeon-like room, but some of the daylight from the hall seeped inside and made the suits of armor hanging from the walls look tamer than they had the night before.
There was a fruit basket waiting for her on the table in the center of the room. It actually looked rather good. In between the oranges and grapefruits in the bowl was a hand written letter also waiting for her. She picked it up and read.
Dear Rebecca,
I have taken the liberty of setting out a small breakfast for you. Sorry, I didn’t know what you would like, but hope what I’ve prepared will be satisfactory. The kitchen is just down the hall to the left of this room. I have stocked a refrigerator with orange juice, milk, and yogurt for you. There is also cereal and oatmeal in the cabinet. I’m afraid this isn’t my type of food, so I really didn’t know what you would like. I will join you tonight, and at that time I promise to answer your questions. In the meantime, enjoy your day. I am told the sun of the desert is always bright.
Regards, Peter
What an odd man Peter von North was, Rebecca thought. But she looked forward to finding out more about him when he got back home tonight.
Chapter Four
After her sparse but healthy breakfast, Rebecca made her way along the passages of the castle looking for an exit to the outside. When she saw bright sunlight shining in around the next bend in the wall, she knew she had reached her destination. She would have to make a mental map of this place so she could find her way back to her room later. Of course Peter could always show her around when he got back that evening, but she’d rather be able to make it around on her own.
