by E. A. James
The bond between them grew more each time they saw each other. She felt herself falling for him, harder and faster than she had ever fallen for another man.
One night, as they sat on the couch in her family room, he confessed that he, too, was beginning to feel very strong emotions towards her.
“I had long since given up hope of finding someone that makes me feel like you do,” he said.
His arms were wrapped around her, and she cuddled up closer to him, the feeling of his cold, smooth skin relaxing her.
“My people are expecting me to take a Queen.”
“A Queen?” she stuttered.
“Yes, but it’s supposed that my Queen will be one of us. Another figure that my people can look to for guidance. Another vampire that will help me select and train our next King.”
“Oh,” she said her heart aching slightly at the thought. She was not like them—they would never accept her.
“But I don’t want any of the women who have been proposed. I want you, Rebecca.”
She turned to look up at him, his eyes once again nothing more than silver, sparking pools that threatened to consume her.
He leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her lips. He lowered his hands to the small of her back, pulling her closer to him.
“I don’t want you to worry about all of that right now,” he added. “I just wanted to be honest with you. I had to tell you how I feel about you.”
She turned her body around, straddling her legs at his sides. “I want to be with you, too, Charles.”
He smiled up at her. “That’s all that matters to me right now.”
Grabbing onto her shirt he effortlessly ripped it off of her, the tatters of fabric floating down around them. She pushed herself up and quickly they undressed each other, a combination of her flustered movements and his swift, quick, graceful destruction of her clothes.
When they were both naked, he grabbed onto her, lifting her up effortlessly, wrapping her legs around his waist and throwing her back against one of the walls of her family room. “Let me know if I’m too rough,” he said as he supported her weight, leaning in and whispering into her ear, sending a shiver running down her spine.
He ran his member along the inside of her legs, brushing against her, filling her with a wave of frustration and longing. When he finally pushed himself inside her, forcefully, she let out a moan of satisfaction.
She arched her back as he moved, passionately and fiercely. The first time they were together, he had been reserved, afraid to give away his secret with the swiftness and power of his movements. This time, he unleashed his passion with no reservations or worries.
His movements were still fluid and soft, but there was a strength behind them that consumed her, making her feel weak with pleasure.
He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her body to his and without spinning around and placing her on the ground. It happened so quickly, that she didn’t even realize they had moved until she felt the soft carpet rubbing against her bare back.
She became lost in the experience. She had no way of knowing if it lasted five minutes, of five hours. The feeling of ecstasy that he gave her made her cry out, more than once, as the passion and pleasure overwhelmed her, causing her body to tense with release.
When she was with him, they were the only two people in the entire world that existed. Their worries melted away; there was nothing that seemed to be able to keep them apart. There was just them, that moment, and the satisfaction of being together.
CHAPTER SEVEN
She was awoken suddenly to the sound of a loud crash—the sound of shattering glass. She rolled onto her side, searching the bed for Charles, but he was gone. He often left her during the night to return to his home. It was during the night hours that he tended to his duties, overseeing his Clan and taking care of whatever other business demanded his attention.
The sound of footsteps falling heavily in her hallway caused her to panic. She reached for her phone, but didn’t have time to make a call.
“She’s in here,” a voice said from the other side of her bedroom door.
She pushed herself to her feet, trying to frantically figure out what to do, but it was too late. The door flew open, and in a flash three men entered. She tried to flee, but they were far to fast for her. They apprehended her without trouble, and quickly and effortlessly escorted her from her rom.
As they took her from her apartment, kicking futilely in an attempt to stop them, she saw a man waiting for them. He was dressed all in black, and almost seemed to blend completely into the dark night sky which served as his ominous backdrop. He let out a haunting laugh as they approached him.
“This is the one that’s causing all the problems?” he asked, eyeing her.
“She fits the description the butler gave us,” one of the men holding firmly to her wrist replied.
“You,” the man in black said moving quickly and appearing directly in front of her, his face only inches from hers, “you poor mortal thing. You have no idea how much trouble you’ve gotten yourself into.”
She glared at him, her heart pounding angrily in her chest. “Go to hell,” she said to him between gritted teeth.
He leaned back and laughed heartily. “I can see why Charles is so drawn to you. You’re definitely a spicy thing.”
“He won’t let you get away with this,” she hissed.
“That’s the beauty of it. I have you, I’ve already won.” He circled around her slowly, observing her carefully. “You are his weakness, or did you not know that? He’s smitten with you. If I have you, I can control him. I can force him to hand over the throne to me; I can once and for all take my rightful place as the Clan King. Oh!” he said a realization suddenly flooding over him. “I haven’t introduced myself.”
“I know who you are.”
“So, my dear friend has been talking about me!” he clapped his hands together. “Still, I feel I must make a formal introduction. Alex Peterson,” he held out his hand, “nice to meet you.”
She looked down at his hand and leaning forward, spit in it. This served to infuriate her captor. He reached back and let his fist fly, hitting her square on the jaw. The blow caused her lip to split open, and blood began to fill her mouth.
“Put her in the car,” Alex ordered his men.
As they shoved her down into the backseat, Alex leaned over to look at her. “I bet you taste delicious,” he said, eyeing the blood trailing down her chin. “I have no idea how Charles is able to control himself around you. Even just the scent of you fills me with the desire to feed.”
She opened her mouth to reply, but one of Alex’s men stepped in front of him, blocking her from his view. He looked at her intently, and silently whispered, “Sleep.”
She tried to fight it, but her eyes closed slowly, blocking out the entire world. And before she knew it, she was waking up in a cold, poorly lit room, a woman’s face staring at her, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open slightly, revealing sharply filed incisors.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“Don’t panic, not yet at least,” the woman said leaning back, smiling at her. She appeared to be in her mid-thirties, but there was no telling how old she really was. Her hair was pulled back tightly into a bun, and her deep green eyes, flecked with silver, shone in the light.
“I can’t hurt you—not until we get what we want,” she explained.
Rebecca pushed herself up onto her elbows. The ground beneath her was cold and hard. It appeared that she was in a sort of basement. The room around her had cinderblock walls and one single fluorescent light hanging down in the center of the ceiling.
“Charles will find me,” she said.
“Oh, we’re counting on that,” the woman said, grinning. “You see, my husband Alex deserves to rule our Clan. All the current King has done up to this point is weaken us. On top of that, he’s brought a mortal into our numbers!”
“What are you so afraid of?”
“I’m not afraid of
anything. It’s you that should be afraid,” the woman replied dryly.
“It seems to me that you and Alex have a fear of the mortals. You’re doing everything in your power to prevent Charles from moving forward with his plan, aren’t you? But, it’s for everyone’s good! Don’t you miss your life from before? Don’t you wish you could relate with the real world again?”
“Real world?” the woman scoffed. “You’re as pathetic as he is! They’ll never accept us! It’s a crucial part of our history—the constant struggle with the mortals. For as long as vampires have walked the earth, we’ve been hunted and executed by you mortals.”
“You were a mortal once yourself!” Rebecca countered.
“And so I know. I know what it’s like to live in fear of the unknown. To demonize everything and anything that’s different. Mortals think they rule the world, and they aren’t willing to give that power up. But we’re stronger, faster, and better. If they knew about us, they wouldn’t hesitate to wipe us out, simply to hold onto their false perception of superiority.”
“You can’t know that,” Rebecca said. “I never once had those thoughts. Some might, sure, but that doesn’t mean everyone is the way you’re saying.”
“Well, we’re not willing to take our chances,” the woman said. As she spoke, she lowered herself down, leaning in in an effort to intimidate Rebecca. “Once we make ourselves known, we can never go back.”
“I think it’s you that’s afraid of giving up your superiority,” Rebecca said. “Hidden away, you can live your lives knowing that you incite fear in others. You love that feeling. You don’t feel any remorse about killing, or harming the mortals. Anything to feel like you’re better than us.”
“I don’t have to feel like I’m better than you because I know I am.” She inched closer to her as she spoke. Suddenly, her face became filled with an expression Rebecca couldn’t interpret. Inhaling slightly, her eyes went wide.
She pushed herself to her feet without saying a word and turned to leave the room, leaving Rebecca alone with nothing more than her thoughts.
She was scared—terrified, actually. But, she wasn’t just afraid for herself; she worried about Charles. She knew how much he cared for his Clan, how much he had worked to keep them safe. The arguments that Alex’s wife gave made sense, but they were still twisted. It was that distorted logic that Alex was using to control those who had chosen to follow him. He was keeping them living in fear. He needed them to be afraid because that way, he could control them easier.
Rebecca tried to push herself to her feet, to examine her surroundings better. There was a small window up near the ceiling on the opposite wall, and she wanted to look out, maybe get an idea of where she was.
But, as she tucked her legs up under her, about to rise to her feet, a shooting pain spread through her stomach. It was so strong it knocked the wind out of her, and sent her stumbling backwards, back to the ground.
She tried to stand again, and again the pain came. It grew more intense with each movement, and finally, she gave up, lying on the ground, clutching her stomach and squeezing her eyes shut.
CHAPTER NINE
“What did you do to me?” Rebecca accused when Alex and his wife reappeared at the door to her holding area.
They didn’t answer her. They contemplated her for a moment before exchanging looks. “Are you sure, Claire?” Alex asked.
“Positive,” she replied.
They both crossed the room and stood over her. The pain in her stomach ripped through her again, causing her to writhe on the floor. “What did you do?” she asked again, trying to fight off the tears that threatened to spill out of her eyes.
“We didn’t do anything,” Alex said, kneeling down. There was a hint of amusement on his voice. “This is all thanks to your beloved.”
“What do you mean?”
“She doesn’t know,” Claire said, walking over and setting her hand on Alex’s shoulder.
“Sir,” a voice called out to Alex from the door. Rebecca recognized the man immediately as the man from the car the night before. “He’s here. And he’s not alone.”
“Wonderful,” Alex said between a toothy grin. “Bring her up,” he ordered the man.
Rebecca tried to back away from the man as he advanced quickly towards her. But, with a wave of his hand she felt herself freeze in place. “Sleep,” he said. She didn’t try to fight it that time. Her body ached, and the relaxing feeling that washed over her was a welcomed change to the gripping fear that it replaced.
When she awoke, the panic quickly wrapped around her once again. She didn’t need to open her eyes to know that there was a large group of people around her.
“I’m glad you came,” Alex said softly.
“You’re not going to get what you want,” Charles spoke.
At the sound of his voice, Rebecca sat up quickly, her eyes flying open and her heart beating excitedly. She was right; there were a lot of others in the room with them. Alex stood at her side, and behind them, at least a dozen others. In front of them was Charles, with nearly double the number of men and women standing behind him.
“I think I will,” Alex countered. He reached out and lifted her to her feet, the pain once again spreading through her stomach.
She saw Charles tense, but one of his supporters reached out and set a firm hand on his shoulder, keeping him in place.
“I trust you all know who this woman is.” The group behind Charles let out a quiet murmur. She recognized many of the faces from the lab. Heather was among them, staring at her with concern and worry on her face. “Good,” Alex said with a nod. “Well, she’s not just another one of Dalton’s mortal employees.”
The group didn’t seem surprised. “They know who she is,” Charles said calmly.
“Do they know you plan on making her their Queen?” The group behind him shuffled around, nervously. “They don’t, then,” Alex concluded.
Charles turned to face his people. “It’s true,” he announced. “But she doesn’t present a threat to us. Isn’t this what we wanted? To be able to live in peace with the mortals? This is a step in that direction!”
“It’s more than a step,” Claire said.
Charles turned to give her his attention. “What do you mean?”
“She’s pregnant, Charles.”
“What?” Rebecca asked. She felt like the air had been knocked out of her.
“Even if she agreed to turn,” Alex spoke, “even if she agreed to live among us, the child she carries will be a Dhampir—a half-blood!”
With this announcement, the group behind Charles became restless. They shifted their weight back and forth, unsure how to respond.
“The half-blood is a threat to our kind. That’s why we’ve worked for centuries to ensure that their existence be prevented! And your King has disregarded the safety of the Clan to indulge his own carnal desires.”
Alex increased his grasp on Rebecca’s arm. His nails dug into her skin, causing her to let out a soft gasp. Her mind was spinning and her stomach ached. She felt faint, and suddenly, the air around her became thin. She felt like she couldn’t breathe, and a dizzy feeling overwhelmed her.
“Let her go,” Charles ordered him.
Alex just laughed, apparently feeling confident that he had done sufficient enough damage to their King’s reputation.
In a flash, Charles launched himself across the room, throwing Alex back onto the ground. Released from his grasp, Rebecca fell forward, unable to hold herself up.
Heather suddenly appeared at her side, wrapping her arms around her and pulling her back, away from Alex’s group. Claire reached out and grabbed onto Heather, preventing her escape.
A quiet roar began to fill the room as bodies flew back and forth. All of their movements were quick, almost too quick for Rebecca to perceive.
“Stop!” Rebecca yelled out. She wasn’t sure how she summoned the energy to even speak, but she had pushed herself to her feet and stood, staring at the madness
ensuing around her.
Everyone froze, their eyes glued to her.
“I don’t want this,” she said, her eyes burning with tears. “I don’t want to cause so much tension between you. I would never do anything to harm any of you. Don’t you see? And now, knowing that I carry a baby who will be like you, I am even more on your side.”
The room was silent, and her words echoed back at her. She barely recognized her own voice as she continued speaking.
“Charles is a good King,” she said. “He cares about you. He only wants what’s best for you. Alex has been filling your head with lies—with fear! He doesn’t care about the good of your kind. He only cares about power. And he wants the power for himself. He’s not worried that my child will expose your existence. That won’t happen, unless you all want it to! He’s worried that if you accept me, accept my baby, his hope of being King will be lost forever. His only hope of ruling you is by keeping you locked in fear. If you aren’t afraid, he has no control!”
