The Art of Seduction

by Annie Harland Creek

  “Sorry, poor choice of words. Anyway, I meant it figuratively, not literally.” He stood up and walked over to David, placing a hand on his shoulder. “If you plan on going after her, and I assume you are?” David nodded. “Then you had better calm down. Remember the last time you lost your temper with her?”

  “I broke her wrist.” He placed his forehead into his cupped hands and sighed. “I would give anything to take it back.”

  “Hindsight is 20/20. Just don’t let it happen again, and make sure you stay out of sight.” He gave his brother a playful slap across the cheek and began to walk away. “Anna and I are heading out to visit Sofie if she ever finishes getting ready!” he called up the stairs.

  “Don’t get your knickers in a knot,” Anna complained as she made her way down the staircase. “I’ve been ready for ages.”

  “Sure she has,” he whispered the words to David. Anna joined him and he wrapped his arm around her waist. As they reached the door, he called back… “I have my woman. Go get yours.”

  ****

  Meaghan picked up a tea towel and joined Terry in the kitchen as he washed the dishes. “I’m stuffed.” She told him as she rubbed her belly. “Thanks for dinner.”

  “I’ve missed sharing meals with you, Megs. We should do it more often.”

  She nodded with a smile and put the last of the dishes away. “I should be going.”

  “Going? It’s still early.”

  “I know, but I’m feeling tired and I should get home.”

  “Not yet.” Terry grabbed her left hand and led her to the settee. “We haven’t had a chance to talk.”

  She laughed as she plonked onto the couch. “We haven’t stopped talking all night.”

  “Police stuff and small talk.” He sat beside her, still holding her hand. “I have a proposition for you.”

  Meaghan tilted her head to the side, her eyebrows narrowed. “That sounds ominous.”

  “Actually, I think you’ll find it practical.” He casually stroked her hand as he spoke, a gesture that did not go unnoticed. Meaghan stiffened in her seat feeling suddenly uncomfortable.

  “I want you to move in here.”

  “I have a place Terry. I appreciate the offer but it’s unnecessary.”

  “What place? Corel’s place? He’s dead, Megs.”

  “I’m well aware of that but I have been invited to stay. Derrick Corel says that the company will continue to fund my studies and they will even find me another teacher.”

  “But why stay there? Move in with me. We have fun together, don’t we?”

  “Yes, Terry but I’m settled in the cottage. You know I love you but—”

  “I love you too, Meaghan. I always have.”

  “I know that Terry, I—”

  His kiss came from left field. He lunged forward, cupping her head in his hand as he drew her in. There was no trace of brotherly love in the kiss, it was passionate, hard and unwelcome. She pushed him away and kept her palm to his chest as he pressed forward again, his arms crushing her to his body, his mouth bruising her lips. She slapped his face.

  “Terry! What’s gotten into you?”

  He appeared shocked, cupping his hand to his reddened cheek. “I thought…”

  Meaghan jumped to her feet, her own face hot with embarrassment. “I’m sorry if you misunderstood me, Terry. I meant that I love you like a brother.”

  “I want more.” He stood up and took her hands in his. “I was afraid that you were falling for Corel especially after your reaction to the news of his death.”

  She opened her mouth to speak but he silenced her with a shake of his head.

  “You recovered quickly. You couldn’t have loved him. Not the way I love you. Give me some time to prove that we can work. Move in with me.”

  She shook her head. “You’re wrong on so many levels. Moving in with you is a bad idea. And, Terry. As much as I hate to hurt you … I did love David. I still do. Nothing will change that.”

  He dropped her hands, flopped back onto the sofa and mumbled under his breath.

  “How can I compete with a dead guy?”

  “You can’t and you shouldn’t try. In your heart you know that we weren’t meant to be together. It would never work out. We have too much history. You’re my closest friend. Can’t we stay as we are?”

  “I don’t need any more friends.” He mumbled as he crossed his arms across his chest and stared down at his feet.

  “I think I should go.” She grabbed her bag from the kitchen table and marched towards the door. He remained in his seat but called after her.

  “Fine. Go! Run back to your dead boyfriend’s house but don’t coming crawling back to me when you realize that you want a flesh and blood lover. Dead is dead, Meaghan, and I’m done waiting for you.”

  ****

  As she ran to the bus stop, blinding tears streamed down her face blurring her vision. She ran head-long into a wall. At least it felt like a wall. She looked up into familiar eyes and felt strong arms wrap around her as she dissolved into tears.

  “Hush, kitten.” He soothed as he stroked her hair. “Tell me what happened.”

  “Oh, David.” She sobbed. “I’ve been selfish and blind. I’ve unintentionally led Terry on and now … our friendship is probably over.”

  “It’s not your fault, Chérie. The heart wants what the heart wants. He’ll get over it.”

  “He doesn’t understand. He and I … we could never be more than friends.”

  “Because you think of him as a brother?”

  “Yes and…”

  “And?”

  She gazed up into his eyes, her eyes filled with tears. “I have already given my heart to another.”

  His mouth dropped.

  “I had hoped—”

  She silenced him with a kiss.

  “I love you, David.”

  “You don’t know how long I have waited to hear those words from you.” He drew her in and kissed her. His warm, soft lips welcoming. He whispered into her ear.

  “I love you too, kitten. I always have.”

  A noise from the adjoining building broke the magic. They turned quickly, expecting danger. The elderly man shuffled past them, mumbling under his breath about his wife’s nagging driving him from the house on such a cold night. He tipped his cap as he passed them.

  Meaghan gasped. “David. You shouldn’t be on the street. What if someone recognizes you?”

  “I guess that would complicate matters.” He grinned before kissing her again.

  “Be serious, David. Terry could be watching from his window. If he sees you–”

  “I know. It’ll blow my cover.” He took her by the hand. “My car is around the corner; we’d better get you home quickly.”

  Meaghan looked around suspiciously. “Why? Did you hear something? Do you suspect that something is going to happen?”

  David’s mouth widened into a grin before he leaned in and whispered into her ear. “I suspect that if I don’t get you home soon, I’ll be forced to make love to you … here. Right on the sidewalk against this wall.”

  She returned the grin. “Then you’d better take me home now, Mr. Corel and don’t spare the horses.”

  Chapter Twenty

  “Tired?”

  Meaghan fidgeted in her chair.

  “I’m fine thanks, Anna.” She moaned quietly as she adjusted her position on the lounge. Her body ached in places that she never knew existed. David’s “lessons” were becoming strenuous. Strenuous, but exhilarating. Her skin still tingled from his touch and his close proximity was making her feel uncomfortably aroused. She turned to face him and was horrified to see him grinning like a Cheshire cat. She frowned and slapped his arm. Her facial expression only made him laugh.

  She was about to reprimand him when her phone began to dance across the glass table. As she picked it up, she noticed that it was Terry and hesitated before announcing,

  “Excuse me, I have to take this.” As she walked out of the room
, she pressed the answer icon. “Hello?”

  “Oh, thank god you’re okay. I thought … I’m so sorry I let you walk home alone, Megs.”

  “I’m okay Terry. Why do you sound so breathless?”

  “I called you last night, after … I just wanted to apologize. I called every hour and left messages. At first I thought that you were ignoring me, which I completely understand. But then, I considered that you might have been attacked by the unsub...”

  She heard a catch in his voice.

  “I should never have let my ego put you in danger. If anything had happened to you Megs—”

  “I’m sorry to have worried you, Terry. I was tired and put my phone on silent so I wouldn’t be disturbed. I guess I forgot to turn it back on.”

  “I’m just grateful that you’re okay.” He sighed. “Do me a favor, Megs? Actually, more than one.”

  “Of course.”

  “Delete all the messages I left. I said a few things that I regret. I was drunk and hurt and acted like a real prick.”

  “No probs. What was the other favor?”

  “Take the sick leave. I need some space until I can face you again. Please, Megs. Stay away from the station … and the case. You know how I can be, and throwing myself into a case will give me time to move on. Do that for me.”

  Meaghan was tempted to argue. She opened her mouth to speak, let her shoulders drop as she sighed.

  “All right Terry. I’ll stay away … for now.”

  “Thanks, Megs.”

  “Terry.” She hesitated as she waited to see if he was still on the line.

  “Yes.”

  “Friends?”

  “Friends.”

  She heard the familiar sound of a dial tone as Terry hung up the call and wondered if he really meant what he’d said. He’d sounded sad, defeated.

  “Is everything all right?” David asked when she joined the others in the living room.

  She nodded and forced a smile before sitting beside him on the couch. “What did I miss?”

  “Anna and Derrick were just telling me about their meeting with Sofie.”

  “Sofie?”

  “The witch that I told you about.”

  “Oh, yes. I remember. The one who’s teaching Anna.”

  “She has a store in town where she sells crystals and does readings etc.” Anna informed her. “We’ve been trying to work out who is blocking our powers.”

  “Any leads?”

  “Not yet. It’s very frustrating. “How about you?”

  “I was talking with Terry last night…” her thoughts drifted back to the end of the evening but she blocked them out as she continued, “about demons.”

  Derrick sat forward in his seat. “He believed you?”

  Meaghan shook her head. “Not about the demon, but I think I convinced him that whoever summoned the demon believes in demons.”

  “I imagine that he found it all a bit surreal.”

  “Yes, Derrick. Even as I told him, I could hardly believe what I was saying. I wish it wasn’t true. It’s hard to sleep knowing that there are creatures prowling the streets looking for blood.” She realized her blunder. “No offense, you guys.”

  David placed his hands on her knee. “No offense taken. Besides, I don’t prowl, I shop and evil is not confined to creatures of the night. Humans can be just as malevolent, maybe more. It’s a fact of life, kitten. Since the dawn of time, good and evil have co-existed. You can’t have one without the other.”

  “We’re you lying about your age?” she teased. “Have you been around since the dawn of time?”

  Derrick choked on his drink, spitting the wine across the table as he chortled. He wiped his nose with a handkerchief as Anna used a napkin to clean the table. “I like her, David. You should hang on to this one.”

  David wrapped an arm around her and squeezed. “I’m glad that I have your approval, brother, because I’m never letting her out of my sight.”

  “That’s going to be difficult,” Anna reminded him, “when you’re asleep, she’s getting up and vice-versa. Unless—”

  “We haven’t discussed that,” David interrupted as he rose from his seat pulling Meaghan up with him. “If there isn’t any more news pertaining to the murders, we’ll be heading downstairs.”

  “David, I didn’t mean anything by it. I just—”

  David stopped her again. “It’s all right, Anna. Goodnight.” He hurried Meaghan down the stairs to the studio and led her towards the bed.

  Meaghan stopped short of the bed. “What did Anna mean David?”

  “How would I know,” he teased as he attempted to nuzzle her neck. She pushed him away and held him at arm’s length.

  “What’s the unless she mentioned? Is there a way for us to be together?”

  “There is only one way for us to be together, kitten ,and I don’t think that you’d consent. Let’s forget about it for the moment and hop back into bed.” He sat on the edge of his bed and patted the mattress.

  “She was talking about making me into a vampire, wasn’t she?”

  David nodded. “She doesn’t know about your hemophobia. There is no way she would have suggested it, had she known. It’s my fault, I should have told them, warned them not to drink blood near you.”

  Meaghan sat down beside him. A chill ran down her spine. Even the thought of blood made her ill. “Is that likely to happen? The blood drinking, I mean.”

  “No. I’ll make sure that they understand. Besides, Anna only drinks blood from David.”

  “How does that work?”

  “Easy. He feeds … usually from a blood bag and then he feeds her.”

  Meaghan gasped and held her hand to her mouth.

  “No, you goose.” David laughed. “Not like a bird feeds its young.”

  “Then how?”

  David’s mouth twisted into a smile and Meaghan saw a twinkle of mischief in his eyes as he told her, “I’d rather show you. I promise that I won’t bite.” He moved his lips to her throat and ran his tongue over her carotid artery, his cool breath tickled her skin and she shivered. She touched his face.

  “Your skin … it’s so cold.”

  “I missed my dinner.”

  “But we ate less than an hour ago.”

  “I can consume human food, kitten, but it doesn’t nourish me. I need blood to live. My body will continue to grow colder until I feed.”

  Meaghan gasped. “You’ll die?”

  He shook his head. “Basically, I’m already dead my love. I’d enter into a state of hibernation if I go without blood for a long period of time. Either that, or I’d turn feral.”

  “I don’t like the sound of either of those choices.”

  “Then, I’d best be off to the upstairs refrigerator.” He rose to leave the room but she reached for him and drew him back to the bed.

  “Not so fast. I have more questions.”

  “Yes Officer Lamb. Fire away…” He held out his palm in mock horror. “Not literally of course. I haven’t quite recovered from my last encounter with bullets.”

  Meaghan ran her hand over his chest. She could feel the slight impressions of the bullet holes that had torn through his body. She pictured the stake that barely missed his heart. She’d almost lost him.

  “I’ve noticed that you and Derrick have a psychic connection. He and Anna seem to do the same. How does that work?”

  “It’s called a sire bond. When a vampire is turned, the victim is drained of blood, almost to the point of death.”

  “Almost? I thought … didn’t you say that you were dead?”

  “If you’ll allow me to finish…”

  “Go ahead.”

  “When the victim is close to death, the vampire opens a vein and forces the victim to drink.” Meaghan could feel the bile rising. She held her hand to her throat and closed her eyes. David touched her hand.

  “Are you sure that you want me to continue?”

  She opened her eyes and nodded. “Yes. Go on. I want
to know everything.”

  “After consuming the vampire’s blood. The transformation begins. The human part dies and the vampire is born.”

  “And the psychic connection?”

  “The new vampire will always remain connected to his or her sire and the sire has the ability to find the newborn whenever he is.”

  “So, if a human consumes vampire blood, he automatically becomes a vampire?”

  “No. Only if he is drained. Why are you asking?”

  “One more question. Does the connection work both ways? I mean, if we—for example—had a psychic link, could I contact you?”

  David nodded. “Yes, most definitely. You and I already have a strong connection.”

  “I’d like to try.”

  “As much as I want to taste you kitten. I’m not sure if you’re ready.”

  “Feed from me, David. I want to be the one who nourishes you but more than that, I want to feel you close to me when daylight keeps us apart.”

  “That would make things easier.” He narrowed his eyebrows. “Especially when you take off to investigate on your own. But there is one, rather big problem.”

  “Being?”

  “You do understand that the process involves the taking and giving of blood?”

  Meaghan swallowed the lump that was caught in her throat. “Could you hypnotize me? Maybe you could knock me out?”

  “Both those suggestions are abhorrent to me, kitten. I would never knock out a woman and I want you to be fully in control of your faculties when you accept my blood. I vowed that I’d never again…”

  “What is it? Have you forced someone to drink your blood? Wait. Your connection with Derrick. Did you … are you Derrick’s sire?”

  David rose from the bed and walked to the liquor cabinet. He kept his back turned to her as he poured himself a scotch. “Yes, kitten. I sired Derrick. It wasn’t by choice—his or mine—and he hated me for years. I found him beaten almost to death, our sister dead by his side. Her ruthless thug of a husband had killed her and his minions were still beating on Derrick when I arrived. I … dispatched them, and tried to help Derrick but he was already dying. I had no choice but to convert him.” he turned to Meaghan with tears in his eyes. “I couldn’t watch my brother die.”