Two Halves of a A Vampires Soul (The Silver Series)

by Samantha Bates

  "Mmm, would you care to explain why you have your office shift covered?" Still sat at his desk he waited.

  "Not really boss, all will be revealed in…" Vlad watched as Shaun lifted his watch. "In about an hour all will become clear. Now until then Ice is going to be your best friend and PA."

  With that he turned on his heel and left. Looking at Shaun's back as he left, he saw Ice come into the room.

  "Don’t say a word. Just don’t bother." Ice was his second in command and the sullenest man he had ever met. But underneath that rough exterior, he knew Ice was a man in pain. A man angry at the world but the most loyal, protective person he knew. He could count the people he trusted on one hand, Ice, Shaun, Julian, Albert and Ben. He knew that was pretty sad considering he was over a thousand years old.

  "Why did he bother getting you to cover?" Vlad knew where Ice's skills were best suited and his office was not one of them.

  "Meaning?" Ice was moving papers around while looking at the computer which he hadn’t even turned on.

  "Meaning that there is no point in answering the phone, you either upset business acquaintances with your too charming manner, or you lose the calls trying to transfer them." Vlad wasn’t trying to annoy Ice, well actually he was it could be quite amusing.

  "First of all it is not my fault that your phones are faulty, nor is it my fault that you acquaintances feel the need to exchange small talk with me." The phone rang, Vlad laughed as he lifted the receiver no point in annoying Ice any more than he needed to.

  Finishing the call he handed Ice some invoices that required filing. Settling back down to finish composing his email he tried to block out Ice's tsking or cursing when trying to find a file. He had just pulled out a new pile of applications from those wanting to turn from human to a vampire. He hated these, every week he received about eighty requests. Each week he had to read through them, get his Elite team to do some background checks on all parties, send them for medicals and only then would he make a decision, at which point he would take them to the Council. In the course of a year he would probably only agree on ten to fifteen changes, hell if he agreed to them all New York would be over-run by vampires within five years. Not a pretty picture.

  Calling down to the kitchen he requested a glass of o positive, which he did not normally need to do. Albert always seemed to anticipate he needs although tonight Albert seemed somewhat anxious. Maybe it was just him, what was the likelihood of Shaun and Albert hiding something at the same time. Besides as the only human in the house Albert was the most solid fixture in this home, his loyalty was a dead cert.

  Ignoring his feelings he placed a call to Germany for an up to date report on some stocks he held there.

  "Hallo Max, hervorragende how are you? Ich erwarte die Aktie Bericht, wie bald mit ihm sein ...... verfügbar? Danke." A scent of Jasmine stopped his thought processes. Lifting his head to the door he just sat staring at the figure that had suddenly filled his doorway.

  With a pair of tight fitted black trousers, a red blouse and black waistcoat, the bright red shoes added to a look that just screamed, look at me. Her blonde glimmering hair had been tied back, lending her a serious, more mature look, one that hid her youth. Beth remained in the doorway her gaze on him, daring him to do something, say something.

  Beth in turn could almost see his brain working beneath that hair, the blonde hair hanging loose around his shoulders, his stony grey eyes flicking between her and Shaun.

  Hanging up the phone was poor business, but it was an automatic reaction to her appearance.

  "I assumed you would be getting ready for Europe." He didn’t know what to say, he looked over her head only to find Shaun and Albert behind her. Giving them both a stern look he hoped was fierce, although he suspected he looked surprised. Shaun openly grinned; Albert just lifted the glass giving him a waft of the scent, even that didn’t over power the scent of Beth, her perfume, her body's scent.

  Beth stood at the door looking at her surroundings waiting, until the phone rang. Ice was staring dumbly between them; Beth grabbed the handset before Ice could take over what she considered, was part of her job.

  "Tsychovsky Industries, how may I help you?" He had to admit her voice sounded confident, strong, sexy and right. Ice moved forward glaring at him.

  "What the fuck, I thought you said she wouldn’t be starting for months?" He didn’t think she would be although he wasn’t about to let Ice use that tone with him.

  "Things change Ice, since when do I have to pass everything through you?" His voice was low, but the steel running through it was real, Beth's smile was also real.

  "Unfortunately Sir, Mr Tsychovsky is currently indisposed with one of his senior advisers. I will ensure that he gets the message as soon as possible."

  She was a natural with the phone, laughing at some joke his German colleague had told. "We are currently in the middle of renovations, and as I am sure you can imagine these things do cause some disruption, especially to the phone lines." As she hung up she looked up at him grinning.

  "Good evening gentleman." She wasted no time in introducing herself to everyone before turning to him.

  "Now Vlad can I ask where my office is to be." Over the other side of the house suddenly seemed too close.

  He looked around at the people stood in his office all waiting for him to answer.

  "There, where that desk is." Well it was a desk albeit a small one. He didn’t need anything large after all his Elite spent as little time as possible in this room. He watched Beth bite her lip before addressing Albert.

  "I am sure you can see why this will not work." He watched her disregard him in favour of Albert. Waiting for the moment when Albert would defer to him Vlad it seemed would have a long wait.

  "Would you be willing to give me a tour of this beautiful house, I imagine you know it better than anyone else." She was smooth; cozying up to Albert would get her just about anything in this house.

  "Sharing an office really will not do. Shaun, I will also need some supplies collecting. I assume this can be arranged." Against his will his body responded to her take charge attitude.

  Vlad didn’t even realise that she was now addressing him; as he watched her walk around his office, looking at everything, opening drawers, checking phone systems, stationary drawers. As she came past his desk he saw the glint of platinum, the precious metal wrapped around her wrist. It was the bracelet but as she moved forward, his attention drifted to that lovely round bottom, as well as the curve of a smooth neck. She was in a word delectable and he could in no way share an office with her.

  Right now all he could think about was clearing his desk of papers and making room for her body. He could almost see himself ripping the trousers away so he could slide his hands up those long legs. Pulling her panties off to reveal her core, sliding his hands over her triangle of hair and his fingers into….. He was destined to be damned in hell.

  "Shaun, get what Beth needs." From the corner of his eye he saw the surprise on Ice's face, he chose to ignore it. He needed some space from her; she was too close her body screaming for him to take her.

  "Sure can boss." Shaun smiled as he turned to Beth. "After you beautiful lady."

  Vlad was not impressed; he needed to nip this in the bud. Shaun wouldn’t need to deal with a sexual harassment suit, just a pissed off and dangerous alpha. It wasn’t that Shaun's words concerned him, more that he didn’t want Shaun to have to deal with the consequences.

  "A word before you leave, please Shaun." Beth wasn’t stupid; she sensed that he wanted her out of the room. He saw her step towards Albert.

  "Would you mind giving me that tour before I leave with Shaun, that way I can see if there is anything else that I will need." Her generous smile was undoubtedly having an effect on Albert.

  "I think that would be marvellous maybe I can show you some of the bed rooms. I have been trying to convince sir to re-decorate may be you could give him a reason to?" Oh that was extremely cunning of Albert,
well he wasn’t going to re-decorate and he didn’t care who said he should change the house.

  Vlad watched Beth as she sashayed out of the room. The heels making her legs look so long, and inviting. Checking himself, he almost forgot why he wanted to speak to Shaun.

  "Take the scowl off your face Ice, don’t say anything. Shaun drop the innuendos and stop flirting with Beth, I don’t want to have to save you from a pack of wolves."

  As usual nothing fazed Shaun, he was laughing as he went to leave.

  "Of course boss, the wolves would be a problem. Although I have to say I don’t think the vampire boss would be too happy either. I wonder which would be the bigger problem." With that he shut the door leaving Vlad with a pissed off Ice.

  "What the fuck is going on Vlad?"

  Shrugging his shoulders he sat back at his desk and started busying himself with the papers.

  "I mean why the fuck did you pull Shaun into line over a female that shouldn’t matter? In fact, no let's go backwards, why give her a job in the first place, why allow her into the house and why the fuck is she wearing a bracelet that I know cost the price of a small house?"

  Taking a deep breath he looked at his closest confident, reminding himself that he was the boss.

  "Let me remind you that I am your boss, and that if anyone else had spoken to me in the way you just did, he or she would no longer be alive. I gave her a job because she can do it and do it well; I thought you would be happy not to play secretary anymore. She is probably one of the only people outside of this house that I can trust to know its location. And as for the bracelet I can give a gift to whomever I choose to give gifts to. Now that we have dissected this can we move on? Or would you like me to tell you when I last urinated?"

  He was being harsh he knew that. But damn Ice, he was too outspoken and opinionated. When Ice slammed the door on the way out Vlad knew the soldiers were going to get a hard workout tonight. Maybe he ought to warn Julian of Vlad's mood, he decided not to Julian could manage Ice.

  Chapter 11

  The house was enormous and utterly stunning; Beth had never seen anything like it. She had never seen a mansion built hundreds of years ago, but this is what she imagined one to look like. Beth walked with Albert staring in awe at her surroundings.

  The homes on the pack land were large and homely. This was a mansion and exactly that, the marble winding staircase, the large beds and dark wood furniture, all gave it a luxurious feel, so different to what she was used to. The kitchen contained every accessory known to man, state of the art appliances, black marble granite work surfaces, with a matching floor; it was as large as her apartment was small.

  There were sitting rooms, dining rooms, drawing rooms, a music room and the largest entertaining room she had ever seen. Entertaining room was the wrong word; it was a ballroom, with a high ceiling that had engravings etched throughout. Engravings that looked Latin swirled around the edges of the room, with a black baby piano sat to one side. She couldn’t play but she could see it was used frequently, the stool looked worn, and there were sheets of music on the top and against the lid. The piano was utterly dust free as though it was ready for its owner.

  The house had two wings each with eight bedrooms, and three bathrooms. One wing did not look used at all. In the other wing Beth could see that two bed rooms were rarely used. Although immaculate they lacked that lived in feel. She could also see that it was these rooms that Albert wanted to re-decorate. He had a point the drapes were floral, and the bedding matched. The carpet was patterned and extremely old, and the furniture didn’t even sit with the age of the house it was of a poor quality and utterly out of touch with the rooms.

  On the way through the house Albert pointed out who used which room, but didn’t take her into the ones used by the Elite Warriors. The final bedroom she found was obviously used, with a collection of books on the bedside table, a suit with a dry cleaners tag hanging from the door, a long black silk dressing gown hanging on the back of the door. The walls were a deep blue, the curtains black and unusually heavy, blinds also against the window although they were up at the moment. A chandelier hung from the ceiling, the posts from the large bed just missed their reach. A large television adorned one wall that had a small leather sofa underneath. Across another of the walls, were three large wardrobes that looked to be from another century. The room was neat and organised yet lived in and warm.

  As Beth went through to the bathroom she found more order and life. Shelves containing various products, a large shower which had two heads. It was the large freestanding bath in the middle of the room that caught her attention, it had to have been made to order large enough for two people, hell maybe three at a push. With two faucets both in a gold effect it was pretty and sensual. Running her hands along it she could see herself laid in a deep bath of bubbles and candlelight. Her body registered what felt like hands sliding down her neck, twirling round she was alone but the touch felt so vivid it was the loss that registered in her.

  Wandering back into the bed room where Albert waited clarity hit her.

  "Is this his room?" It made sense she could almost smell him in here, his whole presence reverberated through the room.

  "It is madam." Stood in his black morning suit and white shirt Albert nodded.

  "Why did you bring me in here?"

  "I just wanted to make sure you didn’t wander in here by mistake. What other reason would there be?" As they left the tall broody vampire called Ice came out of another room, glaring at her he walked past them. Beth just looked after him watching his footsteps make light work of the long corridor.

  "Do not concern yourself with master Ice; his bark is worse than his bite I assure you."

  The rest of her first day, correct that, the rest of her first night, ended with Beth doing the thing she loved the most, shopping. It might be office supplies but it was still shopping. She didn’t even mind that most of the items were ordered off of the internet, to be delivered the next day to her apartment. The other items she would purchase in the morning when the shops were actually open.

  Rather than have Ben bring her to and from work every day (heaven forbid she know the address where she worked), Shaun had arranged to collect her at nightfall every day. After clearing out the small room opposite Vlad's office, she was satisfied that this would make an excellent office for her. It helped that it wasn’t too far from his office. If he spoke loudly enough she could hear his deep, husky voice. In fact, the room previously housed what appeared to be excess furniture. She and Albert had fun debating which room would suit the individual pieces.

  As dawn started cresting she was startled by a heavy shuddering noise. Flipping her head in panic at what she didn’t know, Albert explained.

  "No need to worry madam, the shutters drop every morning as the night ends." Taking a breath she thought about how stupid she was, of course shutters kept out the sun. They both turned at the knock on the door, when he entered her breath caught a little at his presence. She recovered quickly, but it was hard. He looked flustered but god damned sexy.

  "I take it that your first evening was not too tiring? I just wanted to discuss hours with you, I imagine that working all night may be hard. If you would prefer there is the option of working days. I can leave a list of jobs that require attention and you could do them whilst I sleep." Albert had discreetly left them alone.

  "I don’t think that makes good business sense, I will manage the hours although maybe if I am ever given the address, I will make my way here a little before sunset. That way I can organise and have any messages waiting for you. I am sure that finding me waiting will start your day well. If you ask me nicely I could be waiting on your desk for you."

  "I think you meant to say, waiting at my desk." Thoughts of her on his desks, legs waiting for him popped into his head again.

  "I don’t confuse words Vlad, I meant on your desk. But you will have to ask nicely." He was still trying to think of words when she picked up her purse and went t
o leave. Only she stopped to run her hand down his chest, with a seductive glance she left. And he stood there, and stood there, not knowing what the hell he was going to do. The woman was dangerous, Ben should have locked her up when she was still young enough to control.

  The woman had an answer for everything, well he had tried to get her out of here and he couldn’t do much else. As he climbed the stairs towards his bedroom it occurred to him that he could fire her. He quickly dismissed this notion, Ben would be pissed and there was no point in breaking an alliance. No, he would have to put up with her.

  When Ben arrived to take her home she was tired, but it was a fantastic feeling. She had enjoyed herself tonight, Albert had been marvellous. Tomorrow she could get everything set up and then start in earnest.

  "Did you have a good evening Blondie?" She smiled inwardly at the nickname; she first met Ben when some asshole boyfriend was trying to take advantage of her. At only fifteen years old she was out of her depth, and Ben rescued her. From that night he had called her Blondie, he was the only person that could get away with it and the name reminded her of him.

  As far as stepfathers go, she had been damn lucky. Looking at him in the seat next to him she could see why her mother had fallen in love with him. With his shaggy dark brown hair, silver eyes and large physique, Ben was not without admirers although he didn’t notice. He certainly wasn’t her type, none of the wolves were. She liked her men to be strong and lean, with blonde hair and genteel mannerisms exactly like Vlad.

  "It was good actually I really enjoyed it. The house is breath taking, so opulent and beautiful."

  "It is that, although I have to say I wouldn’t want to live there it’s too big. Although we could lose your brothers for a while in there, maybe I need to talk to your mom about moving to a bigger house."