Andrea shrugged and walked out. Are all humans under a vampire’s rule so subservient? Surely there must be some who fight their confinement. For the first time that night Andrea felt a sense of panic and loss. Was she doomed to end up like these other drones or be killed for trying to be independent? There was no choice for her. She would be who she was even if it meant death. She didn’t fear what that truth might mean. The only thing that did terrify her was the thought that she was alone in her defiance. Where were the other humans like her?
She found the Red League clinic just where the woman said it would be. The glass doors opened to a moderately furnished office space with a frail-looking woman at the front desk. Andrea walked up and smiled. The woman just stared up at her with muddy brown eyes. The marks on her neck showed she’d been used badly in the past few days.
“What are you doing here alone? Have you lost track of your master?” the woman asked.
“Um…no. I was trained for the Red League in the camps. When I was acquired by my new master, he sent me here to register.”
“Usually humans come in with their masters,” the woman said in a strained tone.
“Yeah? Well I guess mine thought I could handle this on my own.”
The woman sat very still. Then she unexpectedly stood up. “Excuse me for just a second, will you?”
Uh-oh.
Andrea knew she was in trouble. Unfortunately trying to leave now would only call more attention to her being here alone. Instead of turning tail and running, she settled for a stiff nod. The woman walked into a nearby office but kept the door open. Andrea could hear her talking to someone in hushed tones but she couldn’t make out exactly what they were saying. A tall, commanding vampire stepped out and came over. He was dressed in a dark suit with a black shirt and tie. His hair was dark brown, bordering on black and his eyes were such a light brown they could have passed for yellow. Andrea stared at his tie so he couldn’t work his vampire voodoo on her.
“Won’t you step into my office?”
A small tremor unsettled her stomach but she stood her ground. “Why?”
She expected him to be angry but he only smiled. He had to be an older vampire like Mikel. New vampires lost their tempers a lot because they weren’t secure in their power, but older ones knew they could kill a human in seconds so defiance only amused them.
“I’d like to talk to you for a few minutes. I assume you don’t have any pressing engagements.”
“My master is waiting for me. He told me to register and come straight home.”
His eyes danced with evil amusement. “He was so concerned about you that he didn’t come with you.”
Andrea suddenly realized the mistake she’d made by coming here. This vampire thought her master was weak and foolish. She was in real trouble. This guy could choose to keep her for himself. She fought hard not to panic and run out. She’d never make it. “He’ll come looking for me if I’m not home soon.”
The vampire smiled and it was chilling. He held his hand out. “I’m Bryce. What is your name?”
She shook his hand and was slightly relived when he let it go. “I’m Andrea. My master is—”
“Yes, Mikel. He and I know each other well. I know who you are too.”
Andrea’s stomach dropped. What kind of trouble had she gotten her and Mikel into? Perhaps she should have stayed home like he told her, but just thinking those thoughts made her furious with herself all over again.
Bryce leaned in confidentially. “He doesn’t know you’re here, does he?”
She opened her mouth to lie but he held up a hand to stop her and gestured to his office. Unable to say no without arousing even more suspicion, she went in and watched helplessly as Bryce closed the door behind him.
Andrea stood in front of his desk like a naughty school child. “I was trained for the Red League. I just wanted to do something with my life.”
Bryce sat behind his desk and interlaced his fingers. “I understand. I think it’s very brave that you came here alone. However you must realize the danger you put yourself in.”
“I don’t care about the danger. I just want and deserve a meaningful life. I want to do what I was trained for.”
A second of confusion came over her and then the room was filled with Bryce’s dark magic. It was thick like molasses and clouded her senses. She swooned and in a flash she was near him as he ushered her into his lap. Her thigh pressed against his thick, pressing erection while he wrapped his arms around her. Tender lips brushed the pulse of her throat. Andrea tried to fight the magic, but his light caresses and the feel of his mouth on her neck drained all the resistance from her. She had become a thing with no will of her own, ready and eager to be used by this blood-sucking beast.
Bryce moved his hands down her face and neck with eyes that burned like the sun.
“Does your master treat you well, Andrea?”
His voice was sweet poison, smoothing over her skin like velvet.
“I don’t know,” she whispered. Somewhere deep inside, her mind was screaming, begging her to snap out of this toxic game the vampire was weaving. But try as she might, she couldn’t break loose. Perhaps a part of her didn’t want to. She welcomed the destruction he offered and couldn’t think of a reason in the world to resist.
“I would be much better to you.”
A note of anger brought her partially back. “I don’t want to trade one slave master for another.”
Sharp teeth grazed her neck: tempting, teasing, threatening. Moisture pooled between her legs. She was his. Anything he wanted was his for the taking.
The point of a fang pressed against her flesh.
The office door banged open and Mikel filled the room. “Don’t you dare,” he said in a tone that conveyed a terrible warning.
Bryce wrapped his arms around her like a possessive lover. “I really like her. She is lonely. Where were you when she needed you the most?”
“I’m here. Get your fucking hands off her now.”
Bryce hesitated. The room filled with tension. Then it seemed he decided she wasn’t worth the fight and pushed her off his lap toward Mikel. “Don’t leave your new toys lying around the playground. Next time, you’ll lose her for good.”
Mikel grabbed her arm with such force she thought he was going to pull it from the socket. He dragged her out without a word. She wanted to talk to him and explain herself but her mind was still hazy. He wouldn’t be able to listen in his current mood anyway. But she was very grateful he had come to save her. It made her wonder if he really did have feelings for her.
“Thank you for that,” she said in a gravelly voice.
Mikel glared down at her as he rushed her through the street. He was definitely really mad about this. She wondered if maybe she might end up being given over to Bryce after all.
Chapter 13
Back at the apartment Mikel could barely contain his rage. He marched through the door and pulled her in behind him. He slammed the door shut. It sounded like a gunshot. Andrea looked at him with her best Ice Princess stare. Her arms folded.
“What did I tell you? What did we discuss just before I left tonight?” he roared.
She shrugged. “Something about me staying here until you thought it was safe for me to leave.”
“And what about that conversation did you not understand?”
“I understood it. I just decided I didn’t agree with it.”
He tried to soften his tone but didn’t succeed. “You could have been killed.”
“I wasn’t.”
“Don’t you care anything for your safety?”
“Not if it means being a prisoner waiting for you to come home and fuck me.”
Mikel clasped his hands behind his back and paced. “That’s a nasty little statement and not true, Andrea. I’m asking you to stay here until it’s safe for you to roam around, that’s all.”
“You’re keeping me here a virtual prisoner.”
“I love you, Andrea. I thi
nk I’ve treated you pretty well. All I’m trying to do is keep you from becoming someone else’s slave.”
“Liar,” she scoffed. “You don’t remember what it means to truly love someone. If you did you’d help me get in contact with the human resistance and get away from all this.”
A glacier of pure fear filled his gut. If anyone were to overhear the things she was saying, they’d both be turned in and have to face the wrath of the Council. “Andrea don’t, these walls are thinner than you realize. If someone were to hear you talk like that they could…”
“I don’t care! Let anyone who can hear me tell the High Council! Let them come and destroy me like they do all those who fight them!”
Mikel rushed over to quiet her but she scrambled away.
“Andrea, please!”
“Why do you want me to shut up, Mikel? Afraid they might take away your human plaything? If I went away you wouldn’t have me around to excite you anymore, poor thing. Am I not being a good human toy? Well I have a voice in my destiny and I’m going to use it! I don’t care who hears me!”
There was a knock on the door. Mikel’s chest tightened. He went and opened it but it was only an older vampire from next door. “Get a hold on your woman, sir. She’s yelling so loud she could wake the dead!”
“Yes, yes,” Mikel said, rushing the old vampire away. “I’m sorry. We were having an argument and it got a little loud. We’ll keep it down.”
The old man walked off shaking his head.
Mikel closed the door and rushed to Andrea. Her eyes blazed with ferocity. “Stop this foolishness. You’re going to get us both killed.”
“I don’t care.” She kissed him. It was one brief kiss but for the first time, it wasn’t enhanced by his power to seduce. She did it all on her own which surprised the hell out of him. Something inside him snapped and a rush of fevered lust came over him. He’d never met a woman like her. He wanted to protect her and destroy her all in one breath.
He ran his lips over hers, caressing them up over her cheeks and eyelids. His desire was building, roaring like a bonfire within, threatening to consume them both. He thought about killing her but knew he couldn’t. She was witchcraft in his blood: there was no escape. “There is a way you can find peace and more freedom. You may not like this idea but…I could turn you.”
She stiffened in his arms. “You wouldn’t. It’s forbidden without the express permission of the Council.”
“They would forgive me this one mistake. Especially considering how troubled they think you are.”
He glided his lips down to her throat and nibbled at the soft flesh. Andrea’s body was tense and hard as stone.
“I would never forgive you.”
“It would change you so much. You would forgive me in time.”
She ran her trembling fingers through his hair. “Mikel, don’t.”
“Why not? It would solve several problems. You would be able to have your freedom and we could be together as equals.”
“No, I don’t want to be anything but human.”
His nostrils flared taking in her rich, perfumed scent. The beast in his heart was taking over his will. Darkness filled him. He wanted to devour and destroy her and in the same moment, make her his dark bride. “How do you know you would hate it? Just think, my darling, I am offering you immortality. Think of all the good you could do to help your fellow humans as a vampire mistress.”
It was the hunger talking now. He’d lost all ability to think through the things he was offering. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew this was a mistake. Turning Andrea would definitely bring punishment from the Council but right now he didn’t care. All he wanted was for them to be together in the most intimate way possible.
Andrea pulled back to look into his face. She touched his cheek and gave him a fragile smile. “I’m so confused.”
“Let me do this and everything will become clear.” A voice inside him was telling him to stop, think, but he silenced it. He loved her. This was a way they could be together as equals. That was all that mattered.
She relaxed a little and leaned her head back exposing delicate tendons and two gorgeous bulging arteries. Mikel was overwhelmed. Never in his life had he wanted a woman like he wanted her now. They would be together forever. She would be his forever.
“Are you sure?” he said in a breathy whisper.
“You’re right. It’s the only way I’d be powerful enough to do some good. I’m sure, Mikel. I’m very, very sure.”
If he’d stopped to think, those words should have given him pause. But they didn’t. He was inches from having everything he thought he ever wanted. And in a moment of complete insanity, he took the plunge.
Chapter 14
Andrea had never wanted to be a vampire. But faced with being a prisoner for the rest of her life she would endure it. The added bonus was that she would be in a much better position to help other humans if she was a vampire rather than a fellow mortal. It wasn’t a very good plan, but at the moment, it was the only one she had. Two sharp pricks pained her neck and then withdrew.
“What? What is it?” she asked in a breathy voice.
Mikel pulled back and shook his head. “This is wrong, Andrea. Your taking should be a well thought-out exercise, not like this. This seems rushed. I wonder if you’ve really considered what this new existence could mean.”
There was no other way. Andrea knew that now. She had to be completely honest with him if there was any hope of living a decent fulfilling life. “This option is the only one I have. I want you to do it so we can be equals, Mikel. I also want you to do it so I can help my people without worrying that I might become someone’s lunch or sex slave. This is the only logical way.”
He stared into her eyes and her desire for him roared through her soul. This was the answer. She wanted all of him: his bite, his rage, and especially his sex. She accepted all and was able to embrace it.
His blue eyes seemed to be searching for doubt. “The change can be very hard at first. You’ll feel different. You may not feel the same about humans after the change. What if this changes you in ways you dislike?”
Andrea turned away from him and walked over to the window. Night was coming and the city was getting busier. She appreciated what Mikel was trying to warn her about but she already knew. It was a definite risk. “I know I’m unhappy this way. I hate feeling powerless and at the mercy of every vampire I meet. This is the only way I know of to change all that.” She turned to meet his concerned gaze. “Would you do it if I told you I was sure?”
He went to her and wrapped his arms around her. His power enfolded and surrounded her making her feel like she’d been wrapped in a velvet blanket. His lips touched hers delicately at first, then with a little more ferocity.
“I hope you know what you’re doing. Please don’t make me regret this.”
She nuzzled his cheek. “I promise I’ll try my best to behave and play within the Council rules.”
Andrea melted into his quiet strength. His lips caressed her face and throat and stoked the fire within her soul. There was definitely nothing like being loved by a vampire. The very nature of their power brought something unique and exciting to the game of love. She could completely understand how some humans would choose to be a vampire’s plaything all their lives. They never had to struggle with the outside world, they never had to do anything more than please their masters.
Mikel eased her head back and ran his rough tongue along her flesh. This time her pleasure was heightened by the fact that he had hesitated, he’d cared and worried that she was making the right decision. She’d reassured him but deep down she had her doubts. Unfortunately she had no other option. She was strong-willed and stubborn and that only worked in a person’s favor if they were a vampire. Hopefully she’d be able to hang on to her humanity just enough to free all those humans bred in captivity.
His fangs pierced her throat. A current of pure agony ran down her body but after a few brief moments, i
t passed. Then the euphoria came. It howled through every cell in her body, pulling her into a vortex of the most exquisite bliss. His hands roamed her skin, touching, tickling, and teasing. Her panties were soaked before she knew what was happening. Then he had her over the glass dining room table, his huge fangs drawing in her blood as his cock roughly probed its way into her inviting center. She was filled up and consumed; a woman possessed and broken in the same moment. Her hands took on a life of their own. They tore at his clothing desperate to touch the heavy muscles of his back and chest. He impaled her deeper and drew a gasp from the depths of her lust.
Andrea clutched onto him and let out an animal moan. Her legs rose up and locked around his waist greedily, keeping the source of her pleasure connected to her body.
“Faster, Mikel. I’m almost there…faster.”
Her lover had become a beast, a great dragon tearing away at what used to be her humanity. His lust-fueled rage excited and terrified her, but no part of her wanted him to stop.
Mikel took control with a snarl and held her down onto the table. Then he pulled a small vile of blood from his pocket, broke it, and ordered her to drink. “This is the blood of the first immortal. We consider her to be our Eve.”
Andrea parted her lips as Mikel poured the foul-tasting blood into her mouth. She coughed and gagged. A second of panic filled her. What have I done? There’s no coming back from this. I’m going to be like this forever!
But before she could really absorb the consequences of what she’d chosen, her orgasm came. It was an unequaled ecstasy that came over her like an all-consuming fire. She was set ablaze with carnal heat and the pounding sweetness of possession. She had no need for regret, for in the next breath she drew came a power that attached and infused itself into her very being. In that second in time, all that was human about Andrea died a quiet and peaceful death.
ANDREA'S OVERLORD Page 6
