Dark Experiments

by Lana Campbell

  Not that she was complaining, but he had gotten a little wild there for a few moments. The memory made her tingle and grow wet in a place that hadn’t received hands on attention from anyone, even her own in a very long time. She kind of wished they’d had real sex instead but that might have been more than she could have handled. She still simmered from the memory of his touch and the emotional encounter last night.

  A knock interrupted the awkward silence. An older nurse with short salt and pepper hair, wearing a friendly smile and a pair of yellow maternity scrubs sporting kittens and puppies stood in the open doorway. “Hello. I’m Betty. I’m one of the RN’s here. You must be Tiffany. All of us have been eagerly awaiting your arrival. Welcome.”

  She returned one. “That would be me. Nice to meet you, Betty. Thanks. It’s good to finally be here.”

  The older nurse’s gaze darted between her and Katie with warmth. “Everyone’s decided to order pizza for lunch. Are either of you girls interested?”

  Tiffany felt her stomach rumble at the offer. “Yeah, that sounds awesome. Count me in. How much?”

  “It shouldn’t be more than five or six dollars, but I’ll let you know after it arrives.”

  “I’m in.”

  Katie grinned and said, “Me too.”

  “Pepperoni?”

  Betty smiled. “Of course.”

  Once Betty left, Katie stood and said, “I guess I should get back to work.”

  “Me too, but I think I’ll snag another cup of coffee.”

  Tiffany followed her out of her office and down the hall, her destination the break room. Katie’s had been too. She beat Tiffany to the coffee pot and poured them both a cup, then slid one her way. Enjoy and if you need anything or have a question about where something is located don’t hesitate to ask. I’ll be in or around the nurse’s station.”

  “Thanks.”

  Katie flashed a warm smile, picked up her coffee cup and left. Tiffany didn’t miss the last judgmental look she shot at her neck as she exited the room. No doubt about it, by days end every employee in the building would know she’d been bitten by a vampire. And not a soul would have a question as to who’d done the biting.

  Dang it, Christian! Couldn’t we have just had regular sex like normal people? Human people?

  Not when your lover is a vampire. You knew what you were getting into.

  “Ugh!” she exclaimed as she doctored her cup, so sick of ‘Christian’ thinking. She snatched a couple of brownies from a plate on the counter beside the microwave then headed for her office. She’d just taken a bite of one as she rounded a corner in the maze of halls and ran smack dab into the neck biting doctor of her dreams, which caused hot coffee to slosh onto her hand. “Ouch,” she muttered around a mouthful of brownie.

  But her hand wasn’t the only thing burning. The site of him, his incredible scent had her female parts bursting into flames as hot as a creosote flue fire. Damn! How was she supposed to control herself around him?

  Sex really did change things.

  “Sorry, Darlin’. Are you okay?” Christian frowned at her, his gorgeous honey-gold eyes ripe with concern.

  Tiffany swallowed then tamped down her lust. “I’m fine, but I think ya’ll need to install stop lights at some of these intersections.”

  He grinned and pointed above her head to a dome shaped mirror attached to the ceiling. “We have them, but it was my fault. I wasn’t paying attention.” He glanced at the open chart in his hands, then at the snack cache she held and sniffed. “Yum.”

  “Yeah, well… There’s more in the break room if you want some. You’re nurse Betty is ordering pizza for lunch if you wanna get in on the deal. I did, but I hope ya’ll don’t eat like this every day or I’m going to need to join a gym real quick.”

  He chuckled and closed the file, tucking it under his left arm. “No, once or twice a week we order take out, but normally we eat the cafeteria food which offers mostly healthy options. As far as the ‘yum’ comment, I wasn’t just talking about the brownies. I was also talking about you.” He flashed a playful grin, stepped toward her and stroked the back of his fingers across her cheek. “I’m parched and you know how I love the way you smell…and taste.”

  His gaze slid down her neck and he brushed a finger across his bite marks, instantly resurrecting every delicious detail from last night.

  God Almighty. Someone call the fire department!

  He must have been memory cruising too because he inhaled a sharp breath then let out a very low, soft vampire growl. “You’re not experiencing any discomfort?”

  “Of course not.” Not the way he meant anyway. She wanted to haul ass far away from the man but the lust pumping through her system had an affect similar to vampire venom. She couldn’t move and her heart beat so hard, it must have been deafening to Christian’s ears.

  He cleared his throat, then said, “Sorry, but I haven’t been able to get last night out of my mind.

  Join the club, she thought. “Let’s not go there, Christian. It happened, but it can’t again. We aren’t looking for the same things in life.”

  “What sort of same things are you talking about?”

  “I know the way it goes with your kind. You’re looking for a vampire life mate. I’m looking for—. It doesn’t matter. The more I’ve thought about it, I began to realize the kind of crazy we shared last night very well could have a negative impact on our friendship.”

  His features tightened with irritation. “Thats bull, Tiffany. We’re both mature adults. If we had sex every night for the next year straight it would never lessen my respect for you as a person or my love for you as a friend.”

  She couldn’t argue with his brand of logic, but then he obviously didn’t realize how easily she could fall in love with him. For all she knew she might already be a little in love with him. A crush could often be a cover up for the budding of amorous emotions.

  “I get what you’re saying, but I’ve made up my mind. It was a one time thing. So let’s just put it behind us and get back to the way things used to be. I thought that’s what we agreed on if one or the other said no more.”

  He shot her a smug, conniving look. “If memory serves, I recall you mentioning something about us now being friends with benefits? I could agree on that. Reneging on the offer?”

  Her mouth popped open. He couldn’t be serious! The ornery gleam in his eyes told her he toyed with her. That pissed her off almost as much as that stupid comment she’d made. “It was a heat of the moment thing Christian. I wasn’t thinking clearly. That’s all. I don’t regret last night but we can’t do it again.” Obviously, he could, which was more reason than ever to halt this affair. He wasn’t getting emotionally entangled. She was.

  His eyes narrowed with dissatisfaction. “Why? I want the truth not some silly reason like species differences.”

  “Isn’t that a huge enough difference? Geez, Christian. Are you hard of hearing? I’m not a vampire nor do I desire whatsoever under any circumstances to become one.” He looked troubled by her statement. She didn’t know what to make of that.

  “That’s fine. I have no idea what makes you think I’d have some reason to insist you turn?”

  “Because, well, I just assumed that if something happened, that was like….”

  “Like what?”

  “I don’t know,” she whined, fed up with this conversation that was backfiring on her like a can of hairspray stuck in a the tail pipe of a muffler.

  “What’s the real reason, Tiffany?”

  “I have my reasons. Namely our friendship.”

  “That’s going nowhere. We’ll always be friends. Try again.”

  “I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” she snarled.

  “That’s really what you want?”

  “It is.”

  He harrumphed then an uncomfortable silence ensued for several moments.

  “Well I guess--”

  “I was wondering--” he said at the same time as she.
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  “Sorry go ahead,” Tiffany said.

  “Would you like to get together for dinner again tonight?”

  “Seriously?”

  He nodded briskly. “Yeah, seriously. We have to eat. We’re friends. Why not do it together.”

  Damn it! Was he not listening to anything coming out of her mouth?

  The way she felt now, Tiffany’s first thought was absolutely not. Then she thought better of that notion. If they had any hope of getting their relationship back to the way it used to be, avoiding him socially would be counter-productive. She had part in this mess and had to take responsibility in helping clean it up. “Okay sure.”

  He appeared a bit surprised for a second, but a pleased smile covered up the look. “Perfect.” He glanced down the adjoining halls, then leaned forward and slowly brushed his lips across her right cheek.

  It was a kiss between friends, she knew that’s what he meant it to be, but he’d stayed there just a little too long, applied just a bit too much warmth from his lips and breath. The soft contact made her tingled then shiver; an affect opposite of a chaste kiss between friends. She knew the gesture had been meant to entice her and he’d succeeded because her knees nearly buckled, and she stumbled, causing coffee to slosh onto her hand again. Thank God the wall had been mere inches behind her or she would have hit the floor like a felled tree.

  This affect he had on her made her boil, that and the fact he played her this way when she’d made her intentions firm. Apparently, she’d have to spell things out more clearly.

  She sucked in a fortifying breath then sidestepped him, putting a good, safe distance between them. “Stop it Christian. No more of that shit if you want me in your life in any aspect. I mean it. And this is your last warning. I’ll be out of here so fast it’ll make your head spin.”

  “So you’re definitely reneging on the friends with benefits suggestion?”

  She blinked at him, studying his features for a glint of humor, but his poker face was fully intact. The fact the could remain so aloof after a comment like that made her even madder.

  “It was an off the cuff comment, Christian. I didn’t really mean it.” Needing a distraction, she popped the remaining brownie in her mouth, then raked her fingers through her hair. At the moment she was so flustered, she didn’t know what she’d meant.

  Once she swallowed, she said, “You’re wearing me thin, Christian. I’m about two seconds from tossing this coffee in your face.”

  His answer was as harsh as the scowl he shot her before he replied. “Fine. We’ll do this your way for now, but not indefinitely. You want this thing happening between us as badly as I.”

  No she didn’t.

  Actually she did but wasn’t willing to pay the price.

  “Well?”

  “Well, what?” She was so befuddled, she had no idea what he asked.

  He let out a disgusted huff. “Never mind. Dinner it is. Nothing more. As I said, we’ll play it your way for now.”

  For now? That was no comfort. Apparently he intended to seduce her at some point in the future.

  And when he did?

  Yup, she would cave. She almost had a minute ago.

  “Alright. Then it’s a date. I’ll get in touch with you later, Darlin’.”

  “It’s not a date!”

  He lifted his hands in a defensive gesture. “Fine. Not a date. A get together. A social engagement. Two people sharing a meal and hanging out.”

  “Whatever, smart ass. Later,” she muttered sourly, then stalked off toward her office.

  What the hell had she been thinking last night when she knew nothing about male/female relationships? Better question, how was she going to get herself out of this mess she’d created?

  Chapter 6

  Christian sighed as he watched Tiffany storm off. What the heck was he going to do about her?

  Christian knew good and well Tiffany was attracted to him. He’d been in her mind, her soul, witnessed her every lustful thought, emotion, her fantasies and the joy she’d felt those moments when they’d finally becoming reality. Her passion and desire had been as starkly real as his own. Did she really think he was buying that crap about last night being a one time thing?

  Maybe the better question was she buying it herself?

  Let her try and shut him down. He’d be damned if he ever backed off. She was his life mate and one day she would accept him. He knew she had no idea he’d discovered that fact. The physic connection had been broken at that point. Good thing it had been. If the experience itself had been too much for her, the reality of what it meant would surely send her over the edge. He knew he needed to exercise some patience, but he was a vampire who had just discovered his life mate. The nature of a male vampire once discovering his life mate was an animalistic, full steam ahead approach, which usually wasn’t a problem because the female vampire recognized and eagerly accepted the experience. She too had been looking for her one and only.

  He saw now that Tiffany had only wanted the sexual experience. He’d been in her mind and no man had popped to the forefront except for him. That would seem like a good thing, but it could also mean she’d felt sexually deprived, in desperate need of release and he’d been handy.

  Truth be told, he’d been desperate in that regard too. He couldn’t judge her too harshly there.

  He retreated to his own office, shut the door and settled in behind his desk. He placed the chart from his last patient in front of him, opened and stared at it, but his mind was miles away from his last appointment.

  The scent of her perfume still lingered in the room from her inhabiting it all of yesterday, which fueled his discouragement. Christian was thrilled Tiffany was his life mate, but he couldn’t fathom why she’d become so skittish. The most logical explanation seemed to be she was afraid of messing up their friendship. That he could understand, maybe even work with if he could convince her nothing could change his respect and admiration for her, the enjoyment he experienced spending time with her. All those things had been a given between them for years, or so he’d thought.

  Thinking back, she’d also been adamant that she didn’t want to turn. He understood that too, but it hurt him to think she’d expect him to push her toward such a life altering decision. There might be many things she’d yet to discover about him, but how could she not know his character?

  The decision had to be hers. Despite what it would mean for their relationship, as a doctor he would advise against that decision if she were to make it. Great health risks were involved in the procedure. He’d conducted many over the years. Both life mates and doctor never breathed easy until it was over and successful. Of course he wanted his life mate to be of his own species, but not enough to put Tiffany at risk. If she ever volunteered to turn one day, he’d never allow it until he ran extensive tests to make sure she was a healthy, viable candidate.

  He’d just told her he’d never force her to make that decision. He’d also assured her a romance wouldn’t change their friendship. So, what was the real root of her fears? He’d never known the girl to fear anything. But something had her scared. Maybe something to do with her past? An ex?

  “Man, what I wouldn’t give to get inside that head of hers,” he muttered then pushed out of his chair and began pacing. “Maybe there’s a way.” He pulled his cell from the pocket of his lab coat and stared at it for a few seconds then dropped it on his desk with a disgusted grunt.

  He considered calling Mia, but she’d see through him instantly if he started asking questions about Tiffany’s past. Hell! Should Tiffany discover he’d been quizzing her mother—well he’d be a dead man walking.

  Still he had promised to call Mia. He hadn’t because Tiffany reached her before he’d arrived. He tapped a finger on the screen of the phone then snatched it up and made the call before good sense talked him out of the notion.

  Mia’s hologram popped up on the first ring. There were a few specks of flour on her right cheek and she wore a black chef’s ja
cket, also dotted with flour.

  In the kitchen as usual.

  “Ah ha. Something told me I’d be hearing from you today.”

  Christian rolled his eyes. “You’ve got the most honed physic abilities of any vampire I’ve ever met.”

  A soft, little wicked giggle followed as reply, then, “Physic abilities have nothing to do with why I thought you would call today, rather mother abilities. I called Tiffany earlier this morning and she became a bit cranky with me when I asked about last night.”

  “Really? I can’t imagine why. I told her you were just worried. She seemed to get over me checking on her quickly enough.” The tone of that reply didn’t even sound convincing to his own ears. What did the woman know?

  “I’m not entirely sure either. She said the two of you had a late dinner. She didn’t go into details, just said it was nice, but quite frankly she seemed troubled.” She paused there to clear her throat. “What happened?”

  Shit! He was in trouble. Bad idea calling Mia. Abort! Abort!

  Christian began to pace again. “It’s like she said. We had a late dinner at a club I’m partial to. Then I took her home.”

  “I see. Obviously, something has her in a snit. Do you know if her first day went well?”

  “I think so. I’m sure she was a little nervous. Who wouldn’t be?” He tried for a convincing smile.

  “True, but I guarantee you she’s more than just a little nervous about working at the V clinic. It’s been years since she’s worked in an office environment.”

  “Why would that upset her?”

  “A number of reasons. Namely building new relationships with strangers. I know you think you know Tiffany well, Christian, but you really don’t. In fact I’ll go so far as to say I think she missed her calling in life. She should have become an actress. She hides more fears and insecurities than you could possibly imagine and brilliantly. Sometimes even I miss the signs she’s so good at making everyone think she’s tough as nails and hasn’t a trouble in the world.”