I heard male voices speak, muffled at times and then Chloe’s voice, and I guessed she was acting out whatever memory they had chosen to give her. The voices continued on for a few more minutes until finally I heard the sound of the front door opening and then closing.
Quickly I jumped out of bed, ignoring the throbbing pain in the side of my head and hurried to the window to look out. I watched Damien, Lucian and Fabian come into view and walk towards their car.
They were all such amazingly beautiful looking examples of the male form but I really only had eyes for Fabian. He moved with such effortless grace for a tall man, his stride long, covering the ground quickly. When they got to their car, Damien and Lucian climbed straight in, but Fabian stopped, looked up towards my window, and I could have sworn our eyes locked on one another, before he raised his hand in what almost looked like a salute.
Slowly he too climbed into the car and I continued to watch as it backed out of the drive. It wasn’t until the tail lights had disappeared from my view that I moved away from the window, collapsed on my bed again and promptly burst into tears. I wept uncontrollably and inconsolably and the craziest thing about it was, that I had no idea why I was even crying.
Fabian
As they drove towards home, Fabian listened to Damien and Lucian talking about what they’d done to Chloe while she was under their mind control and when they laughed about it, for the first time he actually felt slightly uncomfortable about what they did to humans.
Feeding and fucking were both necessary. Their very survival depended on them doing both, but making a joke of what they’d done to Chloe and mimicking her, for once didn’t sit comfortably with him. When he realised the road his mind was taking, he cursed under his breath. Damn her. She voiced her disapproval of what they did and suddenly he was questioning their behaviour.
That little witch was getting to him and if he was honest with himself, he was drawn to her in a way he hadn’t been drawn to anyone in centuries. It pissed him off since he didn’t want to feel anything for anyone, and certainly not for one tiny extremely frustrating woman, who happened to be the very thing he should be staying right away from, a damn witch.
She had weakened him, unmanned him and anyone else, would have been killed. Fuck, if anyone was a threat to him, he killed them or got someone else to do it. Sirene had used spells on him, she’d cursed him. He had been nice to her, and he wasn’t nice to many women, and yet she’d made a mockery of his kindness by unmanning him, attacking his manhood and totally humiliating him. She’d done all that and he’d let her live? What the hell was wrong with him? He’d gone to see her intending to do something, kill her, or harm her and what had he done? He’d kissed her and wiped her tears from her face. He’d shown her more kindness, accepted her word that she wouldn’t do anything more to him, and fucking walked away? Damn her to hell and back. She was still unmanning him. She’d turned him into a fucking pussy.
When she had asked him to forgive her, he’d weakened and decided to give her that at least. He was mad at himself for giving into her, but mostly he was angry at himself for caring. Much as he hated to admit it, she’d penetrated his thick skin and made him care. She’d made him like her, but fucked if he knew why, after all she’d done to him.
He knew, if he had any chance of regaining some kind of control that he had to keep away from her. He knew, down deep inside, he knew, Sirene had the power to destroy him and she didn’t need witchcraft to do it. She made him feel things that were foreign to him and he didn’t want to feel anything for her. In fact he didn’t want to feel anything for anyone. Emotions weakened a person, made them vulnerable and he hadn’t made it over 500 years as a vampire by allowing himself to become vulnerable to someone else.
Hopefully if he didn’t see her or have anything to do with her, she would eventually stop plaguing his thoughts and maybe in time, he’d finally forget all about her.
Chapter Ten
Sirene
I settled into a routine at the club, singing four nights a week and the money was so good, I could survive on it far better than I could have waitressing for a full week. Tony was delighted with me. He’d found me a proper band and I even had a clothing allowance since he wanted me dressing sexy. I wasn’t very good at sexy, so I’d dragged Cassie and Chloe out with me, to help me choose a wardrobe suitable for making the men enjoy what they were looking at, while I hopefully had them enjoying what they were listening to.
It had been two weeks since Fabian came to see me that night. That night where he could have killed me, but he’d shown that underneath that tough, arrogant exterior, there was a man with a heart, even if that heart was no longer beating.
Of course no way in hell would I ever have implied to him that he had a heart, otherwise he’d probably have killed me just to prove he was the heartless bastard he portrayed most of the time.
I’m not sure why he let me off; why it didn’t turn into a showdown of witch power versus vampire strength. I’m glad that it didn’t of course since it had the potential to get ugly. I’d have either cursed him for all eternity so he was little more than a pus filled sack of flesh and bone, or he’d have killed me, and be stuck dealing with the body.
It was obvious that despite everything, Fabian wanted a peaceful existence. He didn’t want people knowing what they were, and I think he did whatever was necessary to keep their identities a secret. Perhaps killing me would have been too messy for him. I had housemates, a boss, people who would miss me, or at the very least, notice I wasn’t around anymore. Maybe he didn’t want to risk anyone pointing the finger at him. Chloe had seen us together, so she could have mentioned that to the authorities. Yeah, my guess was, it was too messy for him, so that’s why he agreed to leave me alone. A tiny part of me wondered if it was because he cared about me, but then I instantly dismissed that idea.
I hadn’t seen him at all since that night. He hadn’t even turned up at the house, but given I still had the spell on Cassie and Chloe denying him access to their bodies, that wasn’t really any great surprise.
I’d looked out for him at the club, but nothing. I hadn’t caught sight of him trolling for someone to feed from. It was like he’d simply disappeared. Of course, I didn’t want to think too hard about why it disappointed me, that I hadn’t seen a single sign of him since that night he’d showed up in my room.
I was gutless; a real chicken shit and still hadn’t contacted Dominick and Allegra to tell them I couldn’t work for them anymore. They had sent me a few text messages and I’d glossed over things, making it seem like I was still on the job of tormenting Fabian. I knew I couldn’t put them off forever. I was going to have to call them, bite the fucking bullet and tell them I couldn’t work for them anymore. I just hoped they understood since at the end of the day, they were vampires too. They seemed far more human than Fabian and his vampire children but that didn’t mean that if pushed, they weren’t capable of doing something evil or violent. I really could do without having any more pissed off vampires after me.
I had to grow myself a set though and contact Dominick, so one evening as the fourth week since Fabian had walked out of my life rolled around; I took a deep breath and rang my clients.
I ended up speaking to both Dominick and Allegra for quite some time. I could tell from Dominick’s tone that he was concerned about why I felt I could no longer do my job for them, and despite him questioning me numerous times, I couldn’t give him a straight answer.
I nearly laughed out loud when he asked if I was in love with Fabian. Of course I didn’t love him. Could anyone seriously love a man like him? Plus how foolish would it be to fall for him? He didn’t like anyone let alone love them, and to have any kind of feelings for someone like him would only end in heartache.
Both Dominick and Allegra seemed a little disappointed that I no longer wished to torment him. I wanted to tell them how I’d tortured him with the whole not being able to come, then not being able to stop coming, but I couldn’t. If
I told them, then it would lead to a whole stack of questions I wasn’t prepared to answer.
I could at least reassure them that he was unable to use and abuse Cassandra or Chloe, explaining to them the spell I’d put on them, making it impossible for Fabian to mind control, feed or have sex with them. When I told them what the spell did, I was relieved to hear the peals of laughter down the phone line from them both.
At least they were happy about something. I might have disappointed them by quitting the job they had paid me to do, but they were obviously happy that at least my housemates could not be used and abused any more.
I spent some of my time on the phone reassuring them that I had not revealed who they were to Fabian or anyone for that matter and I wouldn’t do so. Dominick couldn’t answer my question about whether he and Allegra would ever return to Australia to confront the man who had tried to have them killed. There was something in his voice though, that made me suspect he wasn’t entirely telling me the truth. I didn’t bother questioning him. I had no right. I was not revealing all my secrets about Fabian to them. I had no right to expect them to be open with me.
With the call finally made and nothing more to say, I apologised again for quitting my job with them and we both hung up. I had done it. The awkward call had been made, and although they seemed to take the news reasonably well, I knew, down deep inside, both Dominick and Allegra were disappointed with my decision not to go after Fabian any more.
Fabian
Fabian was bored; bored and incredibly restless. He’d been that way for several weeks now. He was getting tired of the nightly hunt, the need to go and find fresh bodies to fuck and feed from.
Thanks to Sirene’s damn spells, he could no longer mind control either Cassandra or Chloe and he couldn’t go to their home because she lived there too. The witch, who had become the great bane of his life, lived in the same house as them. Not even his sons would go there because of that annoying little witch. Fuck her; he should have killed her when he had the chance. He was in her room for fuck sakes, standing over her as she lay vulnerable in her bed and what had he done, comforted her when she’d been crying. The sight of her tears, her trembling lips and he’d crumbled. What the hell was wrong with him? What was it about her that got to him?
He should have killed her out of principle at least. She made him soft and that was bad. She’d hurt him, humiliated him and he’d meekly agreed to leave her alone. Fuck, he really was a damn pussy. He might not have seen her for weeks now, but he was still affected by her. Not being able to fuck Chloe and Cassandra anymore was because of her.
She might be keeping her word and not casting any other spells around, well he assumed she was anyway. He hadn’t had any unexplained incidences occur and no signs of early penis rot but he still had no idea who was behind her coming after him in the first place.
It pissed him off that he’d never been able to get her to reveal who she worked for and he wondered if she still did. He badly wanted to know who had employed her to come after him. Who it was that wanted to fuck with his mind? Obviously they didn’t want him dead, or she’d have arranged that by now. That was the problem with keeping a witch alive. She had the ability to end his life anytime she wanted and he’d never see it coming.
Damn her for what she’d done to him. She was fucking up his life, she sure as hell was messing with his mind and he didn’t like it. When he went hunting, she still got in his head and sometimes he couldn’t even get it up to fuck some of the women he mind controlled and fed off. He’d never had that problem before. She was making him soft in more ways than one. Blood and sex always went together in the vampire world, but one tiny little woman had fucked him up that badly he was turning into a limp dick. Fuck her. If she was dead he wouldn’t be going through this shit now. It wasn’t too late. He could still end her life. He didn’t owe her anything, and just because he’d agreed not to harm her that night, the last time he’d seen her, didn’t mean he had to honour it. He was a fucking vampire. Lies and deceit were part of his world. He didn’t owe her anything, so fuck her. Now was a good time to strike. He hadn’t seen her in several weeks; she’d never expect him to come after her now.
Feeling calmer than he’d felt in several weeks now he’d made up his mind what he was going to do, he walked into his bathroom to take a shower. Tonight was going to be the night that Sirene died, and he would finally be free of her torment.
Sirene
The club was packed tonight and the most amazing thing was, most of them were there to see me. A lot of people were dancing and appeared to be having a great time which still astounded me. These people were dancing and clapping and in some cases singing along to songs I was singing. Me, little never really fit in anywhere me, Sirene.
I finished my last song of the set and walked down the stairs, slowly moving through the crowds of people, stopping to thank some who commented to me on the way. I made my way from the room I played in, heading for the gaming room, where I usually sat and chatted with Chloe, while she served people at the bar, until it was time for me to go back on stage.
Suddenly arms came around me from behind, taking me by surprise, pulling hard and I tumbled backwards. I felt myself fall against a sweaty, large bodied man, who reeked strongly of the sweat that I could feel dampening my skin from his clammy hands. As the smell of him drifted around me I had to fight the wave of nausea that instantly rose to the back of my throat.
Damn, hadn’t he heard of deodorant before? I struggled to pull free, but he wouldn’t release me. Twisting my body in his grip, I jerked forward, attempting to get him to either release me, or to yank myself free of his sweaty grip. As I lunged forward, I heard the audible sound of fabric tearing and looked down in horror as part of my dress gave way in the fist of the jerk that wouldn’t let me go.
Frantically I grabbed at it as it began to fall free of my breasts, but obviously that excited the great oaf holding me and he spun me in his arms, pressing me hard against his beer belly. That close to him, my stomach roll over when I felt the obvious sign of his arousal..
“Let me go!” I yelled at him, but he didn’t. He just leered down at me, his lust filled eyes moving over my skin that was now exposed from the torn dress. I tried to hold the strips of my dress together to keep myself covered up so Mr Bad Body Odour couldn’t see my breasts and fight the idiot off at the same time, but unlike him, I wasn’t an octopus and I couldn’t pull free of his surprisingly strong hold on me and keep my dignity in tact while I did it.
Suddenly, he was pulled away from me and I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Benny, one of the club’s bouncers grabbing the oaf by the back of the neck and with an apologetic grimace to me, he hauled the man off towards the exit of the club.
Finally free of the disgusting sweaty arms of that creep, I continued on my way, frantically trying to hold my dress in place. I had my head down, hurrying to get out of the crowded room as quickly as possible, so I could change before the next drunk and horny creep thought he could put his hands on me. It would have been so much easier to cast some kind of spell over that horrible sweaty one, but I didn’t use witchcraft at work. It was too risky that something may go wrong and draw far too much attention.
I was dragged from my thoughts when I slammed into a hard, muscled body. I gasped, the air knocked from my lungs, but not before a beautiful scent rose around me. I started dragging in mouthfuls of air, as that scent drifted around me. It was intoxicating, familiar, I knew that scent.
Reluctantly I raised my eyes, meeting the pale silvery gaze of the man I hadn’t seen in a bit over a month. It was him, it was Fabian. Of all people I had to run into, literally, it was him and fuck he looked incredible. Sexy, gorgeous, hot as hell and just to add to my discomfort at seeing him again, he had to smell even more delicious than I remembered. Typical that it happened when I was looking less than my best, with my torn dress and probably smelling of the great oaf’s putrid sweaty body.
“Fabian.” I squeaked. Dammit,
I squeaked at the man, my heart beginning to pound hard until I was sure he’d be able to see it. He looked so good, dressed in black jeans, a white shirt and black leather jacket. It wasn’t fair that he looked so good, while I probably looked a mess. I felt flustered. Not just from his presence but after what had happened with the great oaf.
I stared at him, unable to get my brain to work long enough to say something remotely sensible to him. Why did he have to look so good? He looked too damn good. So good in fact, he was playing havoc with my senses and suddenly I wondered what he was doing here, in the club.
“Sirene, are you alright? You look quite flushed.” His deep, husky voiced flowed over me and my whole body broke out in goose bumps at the sound of it.
“I’m fine; I just had a run in with someone. Please, let me go, I need to change.” I tried to step back, but he wouldn’t release me, and I lost my grip on the torn section of my dress I’d been holding.
It fell down, and the swell of my left breast, almost to the nipple, was suddenly exposed. I made a lunge to grab it, but Fabian’s hand was there first, gently pulling the torn fabric back up until my breast was covered again. I looked up at him but his eyes weren’t on mine, they were fixed on my breast as he held the material in his long fingers. I felt the back of them brush over my skin. It was the briefest touch, barely more than a feather light touch before it was gone and his eyes lifted to mine. When I saw the look in his, the way they seemed to almost glow, I gasped.
He stared at me for a few moments before closing his eyes and one of his hands dropped to my waist before sliding down, his palm caressing me, until he was cupping my ass. I gasped again, when he dragged me against him, his actions almost rough. When our bodies touched, I shivered in reaction to being close to him again, but my shiver turned to aching need, when I felt the hardness of his erection. Fuck he wanted me, despite everything, he still wanted me.
Passion By Control (Passion Series Book 2) Page 14
