by Pepper Pace
I kept my eyes averted from the towel around his waist. It was hard not to recognize that the only thing shielding his nudity was that one little towel. Zing! Instant flash back to what we had done last night.
I cleared my throat. "You look like you're feeling better." He did even though he still had dark hollows under his eyes. His color was back and he looked refreshed after his shower.
"Yeah. I'm feeling a lot better. I think your blood did the trick."
"Do you feel...abnormal or anything?"
"No." He smiled. "Not at all."
"You don't...think that you look any different physically, do you?"
He frowned then shrugged. "I don't think so." He touched his chest and looked down at himself. I swallowed. Lord help me...
He's sexier than he had been earlier...but I didn't think it was my blood. I think it was because I'm hungrier now.
He looked at me curious. "You think I look different?"
I turned away and shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe not." I fiddled with something on the dressing table.
"Mei Wah brought my clothes so I'm going to get dressed. I'll be right out." He left the room. "Oh, the girls are coming over shortly so we need to have a sit down before they get here."
"Yeah. Mei Wah told me." I called. "Tony's going to be gone for a couple days...he didn't say where."
Paul came out of the bathroom buttoning up the shirt he'd worn the night before and now wearing pants.
"I know. I actually talked to him before he left."
"Really?" I asked curiously. "Did he say where he was going?"
"He said very little. Just that I looked like shit and that I needed to go back to bed. I was trying to take care of some business before you woke."
"He wakes before me. I noticed that." I said half to myself.
"Well, he gave me permission to stay here, although I'm not going to." Paul grasped my hand and led me into the front room. "These rooms are a bit much for me." He sprawled out on the cushions and I sat down across from him.
He watched me for a moment. "I think the fancy clothes are great, but you really look good in jeans and a t-shirt." I smiled shyly.
"Thanks. You look...equally good in a towel." He studied one of the cushions. It seemed that we were both making an effort not to relive the night before.
"Amanda and I broke up." He said carefully.
"Oh, Paul. I hope it's not because of me because I didn't want to disrupt your life-"
"No." He shook his head. "She came to my apartment last night and found your pajamas, then she saw my bloody t-shirt. I never did clean that mess up off the floor and there was blood all over the place apparently." I grimaced. "It scared her and she tried calling me on my cell and at work. The job said that I hadn't been in and well..."
"So she broke up with you?" Yeah, that's the first thing I do when I'm afraid for my man; I break up with him.
"No. It was me. I started making up lies...and then I realized that it wasn't right to start with the lies. I mean...it's always going to end up being lies."
I looked away. "Shit. I could bite her." I said brightly.
He shook his head. "No. Then she'd be attached to me forever. And knowing that I don't want that makes me understand exactly how I feel about her. Long and the short of it; I love Amanda. But I'm not in love with her. And frankly, I have other interests that supersede me playing that roll with her."
I cocked my brow at him. O-kay, then.
"But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. Kim, I want you to turn me."
"What?!" My mouth dropped. "Paul-"
"Hear me out. I want you to turn me so that I can be your Second."
"I can't ...do that. I'd probably turn you into some kind of were-rat. If a second creates a lowly Third, can you imagine what a Third would create-"
"But you're not a Third. As of last night you are a Master, AND a Council member. You'll create a Second."
Oh yeah. I was a Master. Gee, I didn't feel like a Master. "Okay— But Paul you're asking me to kill you..." I couldn't even finish that thought. My brow knitted and I had to stand up and pace.
"No—I mean, yeah. Technically. But if I were your Second, Kim, you wouldn't have to rely on some stranger with a hidden agenda to have your back."
I stared at him. "Uh uh, this isn't about me. This is about you."
He looked at me closely. "You know how your life has taken on a change since becoming a Vampire? You're not worried about the he-said-she-said in the office. You're not worried about what to pick up for dinner tomorrow. Your outlook has taken on a total change, right."
I nodded.
"Mine has, too, now that I'm your donor. My nine to five job and listening to my girlfriend discuss which curtains to hang up in MY kitchen mean nothing to me anymore. And guess what; it never will again. Now that I have seen Vampires, the door is opened to another type of awareness. There are Vampires, there are probably werewolves, and leprechauns and...ghosts. So, the chance that I will just go back to my hum drum life is pretty much NILL." Paul sighed then smiled. "And I have to thank you for that, Kim. Thank you for taking me on this ride with you because THIS is what I want to do." He stared at me. Then he stood and walked over to me and placed his hands on my shoulders.
"Tony can turn me if you can't."
I flashed him an angry look. "Tony?! Then you will be like the rest of them. You won't still be human."
"Now is as good a time as ever for you to turn me. A lot of my blood is gone already." I pushed his hands off my shoulders.
"You can't be my second anyway. Remember I've got hundreds of Vampires bidding for the spot. What do you think they'll do come next Saturday when they've brought in all my Rogues and I tell them that I made someone else my Second. We'd both be lynched."
Paul walked away from me disappointed. "You are right about that."
I followed him and put my hand on his shoulder. "And you are invaluable to me as a human. You see things in ways that Tony no longer can. Plus who will I trust to take care of us during the day. Not to mention the fact that you're my-"
"Food?" He interrupted.
"Donor is what I was going to say. But yeah. I thought it was pleasing to you." He glanced at me from over his shoulder.
"Is that all I'm ever going to be to you? Your food?"
"How can you ask me that after last night?" I flopped down on the couch and rubbed my belly. It was all twisted in hunger.
Paul looked at me concerned. "Hungry?"
"Hungry doesn't describe it. Needing blood is like going through withdrawals."
He sat down next to me and rubbed my hand reassuringly which I didn't think was a smart thing to do. "Dinner will be here soon."
I stared at him and he looked away suddenly...but in a really cool way. Not like he thought I was going to drain him of blood. It would be a really good time to turn him, if I was going to, that is.
I shook my head. Paul is my friend.
"After you've fed we can practice dropping and retracting your teeth."
"Dropping them won't be any trouble right now." I opened my mouth and allowed them to drop. I drooled a little too.
Paul watched me silently then he looked at his wrist. "Where are those girls?! It has to be nine..."
I blinked. I didn't want to feed from those girl's. "What if it gets...weird?"
"God I hope it does."
"Paul!"
"I'm sorry, I forgot to not use the 'G' word-"
I threw a pillow at him. "Not that, fool!"
"I'm sorry, okay. I'm just a man." He laughed. I wasn't laughing. He straightened up. "I've been thinking about this a lot. Tony told you that you can shield yourself; hide your glow after feeding and cloak yourself so that you can't be read. It's something they do intuitively. But I think it's something you should be able to teach yourself. Then maybe when you feed, you won't feel everything so strongly." He shrugged. "Not that I mind for myself...but since I have to share you...I've been thinking about self medit
ation techniques that might help."
"I think I understand. How would it work?"
"After I'd made my first million I was under quite a bit of stress."
"Your first million?" I said with interest.
"Well, yeah." He at least had the nerves to look sheepish when he said it. "I started to meditate. I even spoke to a Guru. He taught me that if you can make your mind blank then you can build whatever ideas or concepts into it. You said that Tony told you that feeding wasn't about sex unless you chose it."
"Yeah. But Alexis said that I had more succubae in me then most."
"Alexis? Is that the scary Elder guy? I don't see how you could go off with him. He gave me a serious case of the willies." He did for me also at first, but not after I'd fed from him. Taking blood did change ones perspective. So after I've fed from someone...I could no longer really trust my thoughts about them. Alexis was a prime example of that.
Paul put his hand on mine again until he had my attention.
"You start by keeping your mind blank. Then you build a wall. It has to be white. Then you concentrate on how everything is blocked from you as long as you're behind the wall."
I nodded. "Seems tedious."
"I'll help you."
"After this feeding I'm getting rid of those girls."
Paul frowned. "I don't think that's a good idea. You're taking over Johan's territory. Who knows his business better then them?"
He did have a point. There was a tapping at the door. "That's them." Paul jumped up and hurried to open it.
Mei Wah ushered the five ladies into the room. They were dressed like they were going out to Club Midnight. Shit, I was underdressed. I stood up to greet them.
The first was a tall leggy blonde in a dress that ran down to her ankles and a slit that ran up to her ass.
Paul did the introductions. "This is...Monica, right?"
She smiled and nodded while giving me her manicured hand to shake.
"Nice to meet you Monica."
Paul turned to me. "Monica was Johan's personal secretary. Isn't that right?"
"Yes. It's nice to meet you Kim."
That surprised me. I killed her...lover, on that I was pretty sure (let's face it, what other reason would a man have for keeping a harem of beautiful women?) If another Vampire kills me, would Paul be so friendly? No, I didn't think so.
Next was a shorter dark haired woman that looked Hispanic. She had a curvaceous body sheathed in a short sparkly tunic dress that was the exact same color as her skin tone so she looked almost nude...but with sparkles.
"And this is Mara. Mara was Johan's attorney." I tried not to look surprised but I'm sure I failed when Mara gave me a wry smile.
"Johan didn't just choose us for our looks." She had a slight accent. I took her hand.
"That's good to know." I felt a little better understanding that I wasn't just dealing with Johan's sexual play things.
The next was a striking woman that appeared Brazilian or of some type of mixed heritage. She wore a strappy loose blouse, no bra was evident. Her loose pants flowed about her shapely form.
"And you are Kat with a K, correct?" Paul was very good with names.
Kat took my hand. "Yes. I was Johan's image consultant."
I tilted my head. "Image consultant?"
"Yes. I was his masseuse, hair stylist, and fashion coordinator, as well as his interior designer for both his homes as well as his businesses." She gave me a quick up and down. I could have done the same to her considering how Johan was dressed when he'd died.
The next lady was thin to the point of anorexia. She had dyed black short choppy hair and skin almost as white as a Vampire's. Her too large eyes were heavily outlined. Still she was beautiful in a waif-like way.
"Tyler here handled Johan's finances." Tyler wouldn't meet my eyes and I noticed that she had been crying. Her I thought I might like. She at least reacted in some human way to me.
She reached out her hand and shook mine. "Hello." She spoke in a hoarse voice.
"Last but certainly not least is Karen." He looked at her for confirmation and she nodded. Karen was the only Black woman. She was petite and ebony brown with long black hair that ran past her shoulders. It looked like her own and not a weave. She was dressed in a nice black suit with a sequined blouse. Her skirt was cut way above the knee and she had on heels that would have caused me to break both ankles, shins and knees!
"I'm ...or...I was Johan's International Affairs Coordinator."
"Karen speaks five languages fluently."
Karen looked awfully young to know how to speak so many languages. I would not have guessed her age at more than 22 or 23.
"Nice to meet you Karen." After a brief moment I turned my back to them and walked away.
"What?" Paul thought to me curiously.
"I want to know why they're here? Why everybody except Tyler looks like they could give a shit?" I turned back around and watched them all.
"Ladies," Paul addressed them rubbing his chin thoughtfully. He hadn't shaved so it was stubbly.
"We don't understand why you seem so neutral in your emotions." He glanced at me. "Kim and I have a very strong link and we've only been together a few days."
Karen crossed her arms in front of her. "We're here because we need the rush."
I took the time to look at each of them "But how do you feel about me being the one to take your...lover's life?"
Karen must have been the designated speaker because it was her that responded. She did glance at Tyler.
"Fuck Johan."
Kat and Monica looked terrified. Tyler had silent tears slide down her face. Karen put a protective arm around her.
I felt so bad for Tyler. "I'm really sorry. It really wasn't my intention to hurt anybody but I had to save myself."
Tyler looked at me for the first time. "Thank you. Thank you for killing him."
Paul and I glanced at each other.
Monica spoke next. "He was a sadistic bastard."
Mara had tears in her eyes now, too. "He was unnecessarily cruel."
"You mean that Vampires can take human donors and mistreat them and nobody's accountable for it?" I was shocked.
"No. If a Vampire mistreats a human then that human is supposed to be able to report back to the territorial leader...which was Johan. And as he was a Council member we really had no recourse."
"Damn."
"That's another reason that it's important for you to take control. There are a number of things that are not right within his Territory. So far, though," and here Karen smiled. "You've already killed two of them."
Each of the ladies nodded. Tony made it seem so benign. I was outraged that humans were being mistreated by Vampires!
"She's not angry at you." Paul said quickly. I looked up at them. They were crowded together fearfully.
"No. Not at you." I said being careful to calm my features. I must have gone all hissy faced. "Look." I said shakily. "I need to feed. Now. But I'll never force you to do anything for me. I'm not the boss of you. We work together. If you agree to be my willing donors then we need to make some things very clear."
This time Tyler spoke. "We want to continue being donors. You have no reason to take us. We're...used. But we can help you."
"We can be invaluable to you." Mara said. "I've already begun the process of liquidating Johan's assets and I've changed his accounts at Paul's request to prepare for your transition."
I looked questioningly at Paul.
"Later." He promised.
Monica spoke next. "I've prepared the necessary documents for you to take over as the rightful owner of whatever used to be his."
"And you believe that his assets are rightfully mine? What about you?” If they'd been through the hell that I suspected, then what right did I have to just step in and take this monster's money? They served their time with him, not me!
Tyler shook her head. "We are all financially secure."
I couldn't hide my surprise.
"And yet you've stayed with Johan."
Karen gave me a dry look. I was stepping on her toes, but I didn't understand. "You look at me and see a girl of twenty. I'm actually forty-seven. When I stop giving the blood I will begin to age at a normal pace again. I don't want that."
