Ever After Series: Paranormal Romance Box Set (Steamy Vampire Romance)

by A. C. James

  “I don’t believe you.”

  I tried to stay clam but I could feel my heart beating like a trip-hammer.

  “Holly, it’s true.”

  “You’re a vampire. Then prove it.”

  “Didn’t I just do that? No one moves that fast.”

  “That might be true, but that’s not enough for me to believe you’re an honest-to-god blood-sucking vampire.”

  Arie sighed. “Fine.”

  He crouched in front of the sofa. He opened his mouth and fangs extended from his gums.

  I inhaled sharper than I would have wanted him to hear. “Why are you here? Every day you stop by the Coffee Grind. I want to know why. What am I to you—dinner?” I swallowed.

  Arie ran a hand through his dark wavy hair before turning to lean against the opposite wall, looking perplexed. Again, it seemed like he was grappling with something, but I didn’t know what.

  “Call it recreational curiosity. I meant what I said. I won’t hurt you. I can make you forget, if you want me to.”

  So maybe he had been influencing me, if he could make me forget. Was that why I felt dizzy sometimes? And if he could do that, I wondered if my attraction to him was genuine. It had to be, at least in part. I’d wanted him long before I’d ever talked to him or felt that persuasive dizziness when I was with him. I also wanted to ask him how he knew about my gift, or if in fact he did, but I didn’t want to risk it if he didn’t. Experience had taught me it was best if I kept that piece of information to myself.

  Besides, it might prove useful if Arie didn’t know I had the Sight. But if I invited him to stay, I could ask him more about what it was like to be a vampire. I found the whole thing shocking, a little hard to believe, and absolutely fascinating. If I was being honest with myself I’d wanted to know more about him before this. The way he handled himself, his manners, made me want him since the very first time I waited on him at the Coffee Grind.

  “No, please don’t. Why don’t you stay for a bite?” I gasped. “I mean for dinner. I mean if you eat…food. Um, maybe we could order a pizza?” Stupid, stupid, stupid. I sound ridiculous, babbling like an idiot. The words fell out of my mouth and I tried to catch my breath.

  “Great. I know a place near the Prairie District on South Archer that has decent delivery,” he said with an unreadable expression.

  I sat in stunned disbelief. “Sounds…great.” I finally managed, but my voice sounded weak.

  Arie grinned while whipping out his cell phone and dialing the number faster than was humanly possible.

  “You love showing off, don’t you?”

  “This is going to be fun,” he said with a grin.

  I gulped. Fun for who?

  Arie rattled off an order but it barely registered as my mind spun in a hundred directions. I had about a million questions and I didn’t know what to ask first. He ended the call and we stared at one another. Steadying my breathing to keep from prattling off the string of questions that had been forming in my head, I focused instead on just one.

  “You were influencing me before, weren’t you?”

  Arie smiled. “Only a little.”

  “Are you going to feed from me?” Like you did to the redhead in my vision?

  “No.”

  “Then what do you want from me?”

  “I want to know more about you, Holly.”

  “Why?”

  Arie’s eyes darkened. “Because you remind me of someone I used to know.”

  I wanted to ask him who, but I thought better of it when I saw the same pained look on his face that I’d seen when he rejected me outside the Coffee Grind. Instead I thought it would be better to change the subject. Something normal. Something mundane. “Would you like some more coffee?”

  Arie smiled, handing me his empty mug. I retreated to pour him another cup and gather my thoughts, but he followed me into the kitchen. He watched me pour him another mug. He had that look again—like half of him wanted me but couldn’t figure out if it was a good idea. And now I could understand how maybe it wasn’t. My fingers brushed his as I handed him the steaming cup, sending delicious heat down to my stomach. There it was. The undeniable desire filled the air between us, but now I wasn’t sure how I felt about it, with the revelation that he was a vampire.

  “Arie, I—”

  I didn’t have time to figure it out. He put his mug down on the table behind him and pushed me against the counter. Yes. I wanted to soak up all his pain, whatever haunted him, with every part of me that ached to be filled. He kissed me—a hungry, desperate kiss—as I wrapped my arms around his neck and curled my fingers in his hair. My pulse accelerated and then his hands were drifting under the edge of my shirt, under my bra, plucking so that my nipple tightened in response. I nipped at his lower lip and he groaned. I had no idea how long we stood there kissing each other as if there were no tomorrow, with his hands exploring my curves.

  And then there was a knock at the door.

  “I better go answer that,” I said breathlessly.

  He groaned again as I went to get the door. Paying the delivery guy for our pizza, I thanked him before taking the warm box. I set it on the coffee table and turned to Arie, who had followed me into the living room.

  “Holly, has your last name always been Ellis? Have you ever been married?”

  “Yes. I mean no. Why do you ask?”

  “Because I’m curious.”

  It felt like there was more to it than curiosity but I didn’t think I’d get a straight answer. “No, I’ve never been married, but my last name wasn’t always Ellis.”

  “I’m just going to grab us some paper plates,” I said as I left Arie.

  Dinner with a vampire. I could only wonder what would be for dessert.

  CHAPTER 3

  Stretched on my back under a towering birch, I soaked in the sunlight. The feel of the whispering breeze that billowed through the branches felt delightful on my skin. My curves were caught in the sunbeams that filtered through the canopy of leaves high above. The sun left trails of light that danced across my naked body. In the stillness I felt alone in the forest glade.

  A beautiful figure draped in white and surrounded by light appeared from deep within the forest. She walked slowly and deliberately toward me—our eyes met, each entranced by the other. Then she smiled, radiating a sacredness and serenity that seemed to make the earth vibrate with a primal force that hummed through me.

  The woman continued to walk past me to the tree. She closed her eyes, placing her palm on the white bark. I sat watching the woman like I had been placed under an enchantment. The vibrating hum intensified before tapering off as the woman opened her eyes. She walked to me and traced her finger down my forehead. Turning back to the tree reverently, the woman in white chanted:

  “Goddess of moon, love, and desire,

  Bring to me your passion’s fire.

  Enrich her life with health and love,

  Protect this child from below and above.

  In your name she walks the earth,

  Instead of death give her rebirth.”

  She turned her clear blue gaze to me, unconcerned by my nakedness. I wrapped my arms around my exposed body, shivering despite the sunlight streaming through the trees. In all my life I had never seen a more ethereal being, or felt more in awe than I was of her willowy stature.

  “Do not feel ashamed, my child.”

  “Who are you? Where am I?”

  “I am the Lady of the Woods, and you are descended from the Sacred Grove. This is the inner world, and it is safe here.”

  “But I don’t understand.”

  The Lady of the Woods smiled kindly.

  “No, but you will. There is little time before I must go. You are here for a purpose.”

  “What purpose?”

  “You are one of the last Children of the Woods. I have come to awaken you—and to warn you of a great danger.”

  “Danger? What danger, and how do I stop it?”

  “You
must take care when you go to where pain and blood are games for pleasure.”

  “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “The only way to stop the threat is to let light wrap around you and surround yourself in its love. The way to the light is found through darkness.”

  The woman turned slowly back toward the forest from whence she came.

  “Wait! You have to help me!”

  She turned and smiled at me.

  “I must go, but all will be revealed at the ball.”

  “What ball?”

  With that the ethereal figure vanished into the forest, leaving me alone in the glade. The birds, which had stopped chirping, and the movement of animals that had ceased slowly began to stir again. Everything felt fuzzy. Birdsong turned into a loud purr and I awoke to green eyes looking down at me, with Mystic curled next to my head. His presence felt comforting after such an odd dream.

  Note to self. No more late-night pizza before bed.

  Raindrops pattered on the fire escape outside my window. I didn’t want to get out of bed. Stroking Mystic down his back, I rolled to curl on my side with an inward smile from my dinner with Arie. It felt like nothing exciting ever happened to me, and now I was eating pizza with a gorgeous vampire. I rubbed my temples. A headache throbbed behind my eyes as I tried to remember the details from the night before.

  Last night Arie had leaned against a wall eating a slice of pizza while I ate mine in front of the coffee table, sitting cross-legged on the floor. Remembering the smell of his leather jacket and his breath on my ear as he leaned in to whisper from behind made me hot. But he was a vampire, and even though I wanted him, I didn’t know if we could be together. It was a lot to consider. Relationships within the same species are hard enough, for fuck’s sake.

  I’d had plenty of relationships, but it had always been difficult to really be with anyone—to let them in. The barrier of the Sight created an impenetrable wall that ruined every relationship I’d ever had. How could anyone accept something so unnatural? Perhaps that was why Arie being a vampire didn’t make me want him any less. We were both unnatural—different, but the same. There were so many things I wanted to find out. Maybe I could put my gift to good use with Arie. I’d never intentionally tried to use my gift on someone, but it was something to consider.

  Sometimes I loved the visions, but most of the time by date three, I was so damned disgusted it never got to date four. One time this guy hit on me in a laundromat and his arm brushed against mine while we folded our clothes. I could see his vulgar intentions. An image of being fucked from behind, tied to a sense of how quick he could put his clothes back on, passed through my mind. Imagine his surprise when his usual charm didn’t work on me. He never knew I could read his intentions with vivid clarity. There would be no point in screwing him. He’d be just another man whose desires got in the way of my own orgasm. The skin-to-skin contact during sex intensified my visions, it was too damned distracting, and I’d never been able to have an orgasm with someone else. I imagined someone would have to be a damned good lay to distract me enough or keep the visions at bay. And I’d found my indulgence in battery-operated toys to be sufficient at satisfying the needs that sex couldn’t.

  The only thing I’d ever wanted was to know that someone wanted me back and to not feel like such a freak. Having to move from foster home to foster home and adapt to new people, new kids, and new schools while not having a say in any of it had made me flexible. But if I admitted it to myself, my relationships were a mess. Every time I had started to get comfortable, the family wouldn’t want me around. I knew things I shouldn’t know—things that other people didn’t know. Finally, I learned not to share the pictures I saw inside my head. Sometimes it felt like I didn’t have any choices or any future.

  When I was sixteen I was placed with the Ellis family. Luckily, they adopted me. They didn’t turn me away like the rest, but they’d moved to Florida two years ago when they retired. Once or twice a year they sent me plane tickets, around Christmas and my birthday, to come visit.

  But Arie stirred an ache for something that I knew better than to want. Common sense told me a relationship with a vampire would be utterly impossible and most likely lethal. After last night, I had so many other questions I wanted to ask him. I’d watched plenty of vampire movies, but I wondered how much of it was true. Would he turn to ash if we walked along a beach at sunset? Could I serve garlic bread with spaghetti if I cooked him dinner? And what about the sauce? I’d never really been a religious person so I didn’t have to worry about wearing a cross. It all sounded absurd and a little crazy to have to think about these things when considering someone I was attracted to. I thought about firing up my laptop and doing a search on vampires, but wondered if it would return anything other than the pop culture stuff that I already knew. I didn’t have time for it anyway. I had to get ready for my shift and I had to take what I could get since Marshall cut my hours.

  With a quick sniff test I grabbed a pair of slacks and threw on a gray sweater along with some boots that I’d found in a thrift store. They had red laces and a few scuff marks. I threw on my brown suede flap coat, which I’d found in the same store. It had a cigarette burn in one arm, but I barely noticed it. Other than that there was nothing wrong with it, and I loved it.

  I ran a brush through my hair, throwing it up in a messy bun, and brushed my teeth. Reaching for my locket, I clasped it around my neck. I grabbed my army satchel and ventured out into the cold. When I reached the Coffee Grind, I found it darkened and locked. I used my key and found a note on the counter.

  Holly,

  I went home sick. You know what to do.

  -Marshall

  At least I would get a reprieve from his gruff and overbearing presence. I flipped the sign on the door to ‘Open,’ started brewing the coffee, and then restocked the Styrofoam cups. Connie had been the heart and soul of the Coffee Grind. Instead of closing it, Marshall more or less ran things, but his heart just wasn’t in it. As it became more and more dilapidated, fewer and fewer customers came in.

  Pouring myself a cup of bitter varnish remover braced me against the dampness. I pulled a book out of my satchel and read a steamy romance to drive away the sinking feeling of boredom. I always wished that I could be as free as the women I read about. I envied their boldness and how they felt so secure in their own skin. I sipped coffee as I read about women who were far more confident than me. The bitter warmth comforted my ridiculous jealousy at fictional characters.

  The hours dragged by and only a handful of customers came in. An elderly woman wearing a hat bought a muffin, then stayed and pulled out a historical romance—or at least that’s what it looked like from the corseted cover. She’d been good conversation. A few other people came in for coffee, including some regulars who left decent tips. I took inventory and cleaned out the cooler in the back, but quickly ran out of things to do.

  Reading my shameless smut, I felt restless. And I couldn’t stop thinking about Arie, even though it wasn’t in my nature to obsess over guys. Not that I didn’t have desires, but I wanted to fulfill them with someone that I was completely into. Someone like Arie. He seemed different than anyone I had ever met, almost gentlemanly at times. Now that I knew he was a vampire, it made sense that his mannerisms would be more formal. Although he only slipped into formality occasionally, as if it were a habit he tried to break but forgot sometimes. Still, his odd mannerisms felt refreshing after the Sight had given me so many insights that I often didn’t want to know about.

  It occurred to me that I didn’t know how old he was. When I tried to ask, he’d been evasive. We talked about some of the perks of being a vampire, but he didn’t want to talk about weaknesses. He admitted that he could influence people, but he’d called it ‘dazzling.’ I had pretty much given up on meeting a nice, normal guy. It would be my luck that the first one I’d been curious about was off-limits. To me, ‘vampire’ was the very definition of off-limits. I could always count on my batte
ry-operated toys. I wasn’t desperate, but I still wanted to see him again. I just didn’t think it was a good idea. Common sense was starting to outweigh my insane attraction.

  The icy rain outside had switched to snow during the long, dull hours of my shift. I closed up the Coffee Grind an hour early. It didn’t matter much since I’d only had a few customers all day. I felt disappointed when Arie didn’t come in like he usually did, and locked the door to the coffee shop, sighing in resignation. I left footprints along the snow-covered sidewalk as I walked to my light blue Beetle.

  I grabbed the keys from my satchel and tried to start the engine. It sputtered as it tried to turn over. Damn! Staring out the windshield, I swore under my breath and gave up. Slamming the car door, I stepped out of the Beetle to trudge home through the snow. My mouth dropped open as Arie landed in the snow ten feet from where I stood. The short dark waves of his hair were disheveled, evidence of his cat-like leap. But I couldn’t tell where he’d leapt from. He threw me a lopsided grin. I closed my mouth and tried to compose a look of nonchalant disinterest. I looked down the street to see if anyone had witnessed Arie jump from god knows where, but all I could see was a man clearing snow from his windshield. He wasn’t even paying attention or looking in our direction.

  “Damn you. You enjoy making me jump, don’t you?”

  His grin only spread wider. “Having car trouble?”

  “You’ve been spying on me.”

  “That’s stating the obvious,” he said sheepishly.

  Arie crossed the snow to stand only two feet in front of me. Snow fell around us in fine flakes that stood out in his hair. I couldn’t help but admire him, but I still didn’t know what to think or how I felt about it.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  It must have shown in my expression. “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just really cold out here.” I lied through my clattering teeth—well, half-lied, it really was freaking cold. But I was still trying to adapt to the knowledge of Arie being a vampire.