by Moore, E. M.
Simon
Fury washed over me. Not only had my food passed out, but Greenie sounded so pompous over the phone. So dismissive of the situation we’d found ourselves in. That’s when I’d given in to the sweet smell of Delilah’s blood. Maybe hearing her desperation, or pain, might spur him on. If not, he’d find out sooner or later that it was not smart to trifle with me.
My body boiled with need. I still smelled and tasted Delilah’s blood as it made its way through my system. I hadn’t indulged in a long time. Sure, I’d kept myself fed, but I’d been too busy planning my revenge to choose the fine ones. The ones who tasted like nectar from the Gods themselves. Now that the gates had been opened, I wanted more. And Delilah was like the sweetest prize. Her flavor called to me, but equal—if not better than that—was how I could use her to get what I wanted.
I grabbed another pillowcase from the bed and tied Delilah’s feet. She barely moved as I wound the fabric around her ankles. I hadn’t taken too much blood, so her motionless state had to have been from something else. Maybe just the shock of it all. Finding out what I really was along with my bite could’ve been overpowering. She fought against it initially, but like with everyone we’d fed from, she’d given in. Our bite called to them. The act meshed perfectly with the tune of their bodies until they craved it.
That was why it was no shock when Kayleigh fell for Galen. The shock was when he did the same.
Me? I was too heartless for that.
Case in point, I stared down at Delilah and slapped her again when she showed no signs of moving any time soon. A pretty pink mark showed up on her cheek. Her eyes fluttered in response. “Wake up, Princess.”
I slapped her again. This time, her eyes flew open, and she looked around, her eyes darting everywhere around the hotel suite until she realized it was still just the two of us. “Grandpa,” she said. Her voice was soft, too tiny for her, almost a plea into the void.
“Not here,” I snarled. Need she point out the fact that I still hadn’t gotten my way yet? This might’ve been getting old except I had Delilah, and Delilah was sweet. “Just you and me still,” I purred.
I turned to the small kitchen area in the suite. There, I’d placed all the tools I’d need for my plan. I eyed the voice recorder and smiled. Delilah had been so obliging when I’d wanted her desperate pleas before. Walking over, I grabbed it off the countertop and turned back, placing it on the table in front of her. Switching it on, I smiled. My fangs were still out, aching for more relief. Once they had a taste, it was almost impossible to stop. My blood thrummed in my veins, mixing with Delilah’s. “Please beg,” I told her, motioning toward the recorder. “Tell your Gramps all about how you want him to come save you. Tell him.”
She clamped down on her jaw and shook her head.
A growl ripped from my throat. I walked over and bent near her. “Fine, I will.” I let my claws descend from my fingertips and dragged them over her skin. My scratches were venomous. They would make her skin burn like a fire had started on the surface and then she’d go numb. She cried out, her eyes widening with the pain. “Hear that, Greenie,” I cooed. “Delilah’s in pain. What should I do?” I did it again, this time dragging my claws down her bare thighs. Rivulets of blood sprouted up, making my throat ache. Delilah’s nostrils flared as she clamped her mouth shut to hold in the pain. She grunted, her breaths coming out in rasps, but she refused to scream. “Oh, Greenie, you should see how scared she is. She’s a fighter, I’ll give you that, but I. Always. Win. I’ll keep going, too. She’s not leaving here until I have your corpse.” Next to her knee, I let my claw sink in deeper and deeper still until she cried out. Smirking, I continued, “The longer you wait, the worse shape she’ll be in. All that pretty, flawless skin, is now marred, ugly. You do want her to carry on your legacy, right, Greenie?” I leaned forward, and she tried to back away into the couch, but there was nowhere for her to go.
“Don’t,” she finally cried.
I hissed at her, my fangs descending again, and she finally screamed. With my free hand, I stopped the recorder, but still descended over her, sinking my fangs into her once more, unable to stop myself. She struggled against me at first, then fell back, content with need coursing through her. Her breathing turned heavy, heady. At that, I pulled away before it went too far.
She lay against the sofa cushions, just staring up at me. “You’re evil,” she said.
I wiped her blood from my chin. “And yet, still not as evil as your grandfather.”
She shook her head slowly. “You’re wrong. He’s only doing a job, but you’re sadistic. You’re enjoying this.”
I shrugged. Couldn’t argue with her there. It was exactly what I’d been trying to tell Galen for weeks. We couldn’t fight our nature. One mate? I didn’t see how it could work.
She struggled to talk, starting and re-starting several times before she asked, “Why does it feel like that?”
“Feel like what?” I said, making her ask the words.
She stared at my mouth. “Why does your bite feel like that?” she asked, her voice turning harder. “It hurts at first, but then it’s different.”
“Different how?” I urged, enjoying this line of questioning. All the new feeders asked the same questions too.
She shrugged. “Just different.”
I pushed my claw into the mark I’d already made by her knee.
She cried out again, struggling. Then, she fell back, exhausted. “Different good. It feels good. Why?”
I smiled smugly. “It’s because we’re the perfect predators, Delilah. We hurt you and hurt you, yet you keep coming back for more.”
Her face paled, and her breathing shallowed. She stared at her thighs and knees in confusion. They were probably going numb at this point. Discreetly, I pricked my thumb with my fang until blood sprouted. Then, I came forward.
She shook her head and careened back into the couch to get away from me. “Not me. I won’t come back for more. Don’t bite me again.”
Fixated on my mouth again, I used that opportunity to heal the scratches I made. I hadn’t been lying when I said we were the perfect predators. I could play this game with her all day. Hurt her, heal her, and then hurt her again without her even passing out. I could have hours and hours of audio before I sent it off to Greenie.
“Did you hear me?” Delilah asked. “Don’t bite me again.”
Ah, human threats. They made me laugh. “Well, that’s really up to your grandfather, isn’t it? The sooner he delivers his dead body to me, the less you have to go through. I guess we’ll see just how much he cares about you, hmm?”
Tears welled up from her eyes. They stayed in the corners, making them look glassy, but refusing to shed them at the same time. Her jaw hardened. “Don’t touch me.”
I leaned over her again. Her chest raised, and her body pulled taut as if she was waiting for my next move. I could smell the want emanating from her. Her mind may have not wanted me, but her body sure as hell did. That was why we always won. “Don’t worry. I’m really not in the mood for you right now.”
I moved away. All the air escaped her lungs. Half in relief, half in agony. I could only imagine what the stupid, fragile human bodies went through when they were around us. I’d say they were a waste, but they were an intricate part of our existence too. Without them, we wouldn’t survive.
Chapter Six
Delilah
After packaging up the voice recorder and calling a delivery guy to take it to my grandfather, Simon fell asleep in the chair.
While he slept, I worked on the cloth around my hands. I was pretty sure I was loosening the knot. I was going to get the fuck out of here. Waiting on my grandfather was taking entirely too long. Simon was crazy. I’d never seen such evil incarnate. When he’d hurt me, he’d taken pleasure in it. He reveled in it. I could see it in the silvery glint to his gray eyes.
What the hell was my grandfather doing? Did he think this was a cakewalk?
Calm down, I tried
to tell myself. He was doing what he could. I was sure of it. He wasn’t going to let me stay here. He was figuring something else out because I was also sure he wasn’t going to kill himself to save me. I didn’t want him to kill himself to save me either. That wasn’t an option. He would fix this. I had faith in him. He’d been keeping me out of trouble my whole life. The run-ins at the private schools. The jobs I kept getting fired from. I knew I was blessed, and yes, there were times I knew I didn’t deserve a second chance, but being a Greene had its advantages, and I worked those to suit my life. This time would be no different. It was only a matter of time before I walked out of this place free again, and hopefully, get to see Simon punished for this.
My skin crawled as I thought about how the vampire had made me feel. I’d almost orgasmed from his bite. My pussy throbbed with want and juices dampened the cushion underneath me. I didn’t understand it. Why? He’d hurt me. He wanted to kill my grandfather, yet I couldn’t get my body to understand that fact. I was disgusting.
I worked on my restraints harder. I had information now that I didn’t have before. I knew where we were. We were at the Ritz in Downtown Philly. I’d heard Simon give the room number and everything else to the delivery guy before he came to pick up the package. If I could just get to Simon’s phone, I could call my grandfather and tell him how to come save me. Maybe that was what they were waiting on, my exact location. Simon wouldn’t have given him that, or else Gramps would’ve already been here by now.
I pulled on the soft fabric again. I breathed out in relief when they loosened. Yes! It was working. I made the same movement again and again until I could slip one of my wrists through. The ache in my shoulders released immediately when I brought my hands forward. I watched Simon, making sure he wasn’t awake as I carefully slipped my other wrist through the fabric, letting it fall to the sofa. I worked my wrists around and around, trying to get feeling back into them. My feet were next. I bent over, trying to be as quiet as possible as I pulled at the knot Simon had made. Within a few moments, I’d worked it loose and now I was completely free from my ties.
I eyed Simon’s sleeping form and then the cell phone that lay next to him. I also looked at the door, wondering if I should just head that way first. If we were in a hotel room, I was sure I could just start knocking on doors and someone would come to my aid. I fretted over my lip, worrying over the best course of action. My grandfather was my only hope. He was the only one with ties large enough to save me. Simon was a…vampire. I knew in my heart I was right. I could still feel his fangs in my neck. He was strong and fast. He’d already killed Ronnie. No ordinary person could help save me from him, but my grandfather had access to weapons, weapons that might just be able to take out a vampire.
I moved forward on the sofa. My body cringed in pain from not moving for several hours. The sofa also creaked like my joints. Slowly I went, eyeing Simon the whole time. When I was to my feet, I stood there watching him. I looked around for some sort of weapon but found none. Were the myths true? The only thing that could kill them was a wooden stake? If that were the case, it was going to be difficult for me to find something right here and now. All the furniture was made of metal and glass, except for maybe the sofa and chair, but I was in no condition to tear the sofa apart to use it as a weapon. Even if I was, Simon would hear me.
No, the phone or a direct escape attempt was my only option.
I chose the phone. I tiptoed toward it. It sat on the table like a beacon, calling my name. One call was all it would take. One call and a short sentence for me to tell my grandfather where I was and then I would be saved from this maniac who shouldn’t even exist.
I crept closer, tiptoeing toward the table and subsequently Simon. He was still so handsome. An evil asshole, but still handsome. One of the most gorgeous men I’d ever seen in my life. I should’ve known something was up with him when I first met him. No one should be that good looking, that perfect. I reached out, my hands closing around the phone. My heart was in my throat as I turned. At the last second, I decided I would call my grandfather and flee the room at the same time. I flipped the phone open. It was one of those cheap, disposable ones. Perfect for kidnapping, I thought begrudgingly. The phone beeped as I pressed in the number. Excited now that I had everything I needed, I ran toward the door. I was just pressing in the last number, my other hand around the door knob when hands slid roughly around me. “Where are you going, Delilah?”
“No!” I pushed Send. The phone started to ring. I heard my grandfather answer and then Simon laugh maniacally in my ear. He batted the phone away, and it fell to the carpeted floor. “That was very naughty of you, Delilah.”
He pulled me back into him, his hips thrusting forward. It was then I remembered I was still naked from the waist down. His cock thickened. I shook my head. “No,” I said forcefully, though at the same time, my body responded. I should never have pictured him while trying to get myself off. “Don’t,” I said again, trying to act unafraid and forceful at the same time.
I knew his mind was already there. He pulled my chest back toward him, his hand snaking around me to cover my breast. I cried out, half pleasure, half incredulous.
“Oh, shh, now, Delilah. You brought this on. We could’ve just waited for your grandfather to come, but no, you wanted to be the hero and escape. Now you have to pay the consequences.”
His hips circled into mine. My body responded, heat pooling at my center. Flashes of my vibrator at my clit rang through my mind. I’d wanted this once. When he drank from me, I wanted it even more. It was a kind of euphoria. My body betrayed me as my brain rebelled against the idea. “Don’t,” I told him again, trying to push him away. He was so impossibly strong though. It was like trying to move a tree with deep-seated roots. He wasn’t going anywhere.
“You know you like it.”
His hand came up to pinch my ass. Pleasure and confusion raced through me, and I didn’t know which would get to the finish line first. I didn’t want this. I didn’t. But at the same time, my body trembled with need.
He moved his hand over my hip, tangling in my pubic hair and then lower. He plunged his finger deep between my legs and my knees went weak. “Already so wet.”
“No,” I said, but even as I said it, he started working his finger inside me, and I knew he was right. I was dripping with my juices.
He growled. “Fuck, Delilah. So ready for me. I’m half tempted not to fuck you just because you want it so bad.”
“I don’t,” I said, closing my eyes, warring with myself. This was wrong. So wrong. He hit me. He took me from my home. He didn’t give a fuck about me. He wanted to kill my grandfather. He was sick, deranged. Psycho. “I don’t want this.”
He pulled his fingers from me and in one moment, I thought I’d won.
I was wrong.
His hands yanked at my shirt, and I heard it tear. My back was bare except for my bra. He tore the remnants of my shirt off me, throwing them to the floor. My bra was next. He pulled at it until the clasps gave way, my breasts spilling out as the bra dropped to the floor too. His hands came up to knead my breasts. They were skilled, almost artful as they pinched and massaged. I struggled against him, pulling at his fingers, but all it made him do was move harder, faster, and my body still betrayed me. My knees quaked so that he had to force his hips against mine to keep me standing.
“Stop,” I told him, tears of desperation springing to my eyes. I couldn’t win. I wanted him to stop and to take me at the same time. I was hopeless. There was no end in sight for me, no end that had me coming out ahead.
I heard the zipper on his pants as he pushed his clothes to the floor. His flesh met mine. His impressive cock nuzzled my backside.
“No,” I said softly. Even to my own ears, it sounded non-committal. What the fuck was wrong with me? I’d always suspected I was fucked up in the head. I screwed the guys who worked with my grandfather knowing nothing good could come from it. There was real danger in it. They would get fired—or wo
rse—and I didn’t care. It was all about my own wants. And here I was, the victim of some ransom with my grandfather and the guy was about to rape me and I wanted it, which technically didn’t make it rape it all. My stomach squeezed.
His hands smoothed over my abdomen and down to my pussy again. “Fucking Christ,” he swore, his fingers diving between my legs.
I bit down on my lip to keep from crying out. This felt a thousand times better than the vibrator did. This was Simon’s actual hand, his actual cock straining against my skin. Fuck me.
Simon snarled. “This is all your fault, Greenie. I hope you know that all of this could’ve been avoided if you’d just given yourself up already.”
For a moment, confusion swept through me. Then, I looked down, seeing the phone was still open. My grandfather was hearing all of this. “Please help,” I called out.
“Exactly,” Simon whispered in my ear. “Tell him you want to be saved. Tell him I’m hurting you.”
“Gramps, please,” I said, choking on a sob. I did want to be saved. I didn’t want this life. I wanted my old life back. I wanted to touch myself in the fantasy and still wake up in the comfort of my own bed. I wanted to wake up and go to the mall, talk with my girlfriends and buy clothes. “Please, he’s hurting me,” I yelled, not caring anymore about sparing my grandfather the details anymore.
At that, Simon snatched the phone up from the floor and closed it, then threw it on the chair. Returning to his place right behind me, his body rumbled against mine. His fingers dug into my skin. The surrounding air was thick. Simon’s breath came out in thick gasps as if he was trying to control himself but failing.
“I shouldn’t do this because I know you want it as much as I do but that’s the problem. I want it too.”
His hand swept up my thigh and to my pussy again. His finger parted my lips and dove inside. I cried out as he worked inside me. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. It felt so fucking good. But this was so wrong. “Stop,” I told him.
