The Vampire Jonah

by Ann B. Morris

  She wished. But she couldn’t say that to Scott.

  “Well,” Scott said, leaving his seat at the bar, “Since you don’t have anything for me to do, I’m going to head over to the club. I’ll check in with you when I return.”

  “Take care of yourself. Don’t work too hard,” she said as he walked away.

  She refilled her coffee cup and carried it back to her room. She needed all the boost the caffeine could give her. She plopped down on the end of the bed and took a swallow of the coffee. She couldn’t put off making the phone call much longer. The office of Mason, Munroe, Allen, and Dixon was one of the largest family law firms in the country. The chance to join them as an associate was the opportunity of a lifetime.

  She took the phone out of her pocket and put through the call to the firm. When the conversation ended, she walked to the window and pulled back the curtain. The weather hadn’t improved and neither had her situation.

  She was scheduled for an interview with the head of the firm early next week. She needed to let them know by Friday if she would be there. If she failed to make the appointment, they would look for someone else to fill the position. And that would be the end of her dream.

  JONAH AWOKE from his death sleep with Angela on his mind. She had invaded his dreams from the time he closed his eyes to the instant he stepped outside his coffin to greet the new night. He had promised himself he would not let anything or anyone come between him and Carnegie Hall, but it was harder to shake thoughts of her from his mind than to clear his ears of a badly played sonata.

  He dressed hurriedly and went to find Scott, who was in his office on the telephone when Jonah entered. Jonah sat in the leather chair in front of the desk and waited for Scott to finish his conversation.

  “Problems with the plumbing at the club?” Jonah asked after Scott hung up the phone.

  “Just a stopped-up drain in the kitchen.”

  Jonah leaned forward, both hands on his knees. “Did you send the acceptance?”

  “Of course. I made sure they’d have it tomorrow.”

  “Any problem filling my spot at the club until next week?”

  “It’s already covered. You can put that out of your mind and concentrate on the blacks and whites.”

  “Speaking of which, I’d like a tune-up. Think you can get our guy out tomorrow?”

  “I’ll call first thing in the morning.”

  Usually, Jonah left the minute his business with Scott was over, but tonight, he hesitated. When he walked through the office door, would his feet carry him to Angela or to the grand piano? Biting back an expletive, he pushed himself up from the chair.

  “Anything wrong?” Scott asked. “You seem agitated tonight.”

  Jonah gave his friend an icy stare. “Me, agitated? Now why in hell would you think that, with my so-perfect life totally free of worldly cares?”

  “Did something happen that I don’t know about?”

  Exercising every ounce of restraint he could muster, Jonah kept his tone cool, but he couldn’t hide the sarcasm. “I thought you made it your business to know everything there is to know about my life.”

  He heard Scott’s sigh of exasperation on his way to the door, as well as his whispered, “I’m here if you need me.” It was Scott’s way of telling him he understood his torment and was ready to do anything he could to alleviate it. He also knew Scott wasn’t finished with him.

  “Should I ask Angela if she wants to go to the club tonight? I don’t know if she’ll want to venture out at night again so soon, but I could ask . . .”

  “Do as you wish.”

  He closed the door behind him none too softly. He should be happy at the thought of being alone to practice tonight. If Angela wanted to go out, he had no doubt Scott would make certain she was protected.

  As he strode down the hall toward the living room, he kept his eyes focused straight ahead of him. Why the hell should he care whether she stayed or went? As long as she left him alone, it didn’t matter to him how she chose to spend her night. He crossed the room, sat down hard on the piano bench, and struck his first chord with more weight than necessary, continuing the chord run with unusual force on each key.

  He finished his limbering-up exercise and slid right into his rehearsal piece, conjuring up images of the great Hall to fill his mind. He knew each note of Beethoven’s sonata as well as he knew the back of his hands, so the work flowed easily from his fingers. He suddenly realized he was playing with the same intensity he’d expended on the chords. He felt inspired. On top of the world.

  He played the last notes of the sonata and moved smoothly into the beginning of the piece again. And then the reason for his inspiration came to him in a crystal-clear vision.

  As he sat on the imaginary stage in the Hall in his daydream, he looked out into the audience and in spite of the blinding spotlights, he saw Angela in a choice seat in the balcony.

  His next note was as sour as the bile that rose to his throat.

  Damn her for invading his thoughts.

  Double damn her for invading his life.

  THE SOUNDS COMING from the living room were like nothing Angela had ever heard before. Jonah’s playing was powerful. Passionate. She set aside the crossword she’d been working on, stopped at the dresser mirror to run her fingers through her hair, and left the bedroom. In spite of everything she knew, everything she feared, everything she could lose, she was drawn to the living room. Drawn to Jonah. She stopped at the entrance to the room as she had the night before.

  Come in. I’ve been expecting you.

  Her response was unplanned. I couldn’t resist. There is something different about your playing tonight. It’s more intense. More passionate. Brilliant, even.

  I’m honored by your compliments.

  Jonah lifted his hands from the keys and signaled her into the room with the crook of his finger. “Why don’t you come in?”

  Getting up, Jonah pulled a chair closer to the piano and angled it so she could have a full view of him. Then he took his place on the bench again and she settled into the soft velvet to listen to him play. And to watch him. To watch those beautiful, masterful hands travel over the keys with hundreds of intimate caresses. She glanced up at his face. He looked triumphant. Chills danced up her spine.

  She might have been able to play this sonata herself if things had been different. But certainly not this beautifully. Certainly not well enough to one day grace Carnegie Hall.

  The music stopped. “How did you find out about Carnegie Hall?”

  Taken aback, she looked up. “What?”

  “I asked how you knew about Carnegie Hall.”

  She drew her brows together in deep thought. Why would he ask such a question?

  “Because I read your mind. I told you that once a connection between us is established, it remains open until one of us closes it. Even though you were not directly communicating with me, the emotion behind your thoughts propelled them to me.” He paused, then, running his fingers over the keys once more, he continued. “Scott told you.”

  She felt awful. She had promised Scott that she wouldn’t let Jonah know she was aware of his secret. “Please don’t blame him. He was just trying to impress on me that I wasn’t the only one who had a lot to lose. I promised him I wouldn’t tell you.”

  “And you didn’t. It was the power of my mind that uncovered the information.”

  “Same thing,” she mumbled.

  “If it will make you feel better, Scott will never know I found out he told you about Carnegie Hall.”

  She felt immediate relief. She certainly didn’t want Scott to think she had betrayed his trust. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. Now, let’s talk about you.”

  “About me?”

  “About your unsatisfied desire
to play the piano.”

  Oh my God, he had taken that information from her mind as well.

  “Yes, I did.”

  Damn. She quickly closed the connection between them. Now if she could only be that quick to recognize the soft tap at the back of her mind when he wanted her to open the channel.

  “Well?”

  She raised her eyebrows.

  “Are you going to tell me why you never learned to play the piano?”

  No one had ever asked her this question before. Could it be because she had never confided her love of the piano to anyone? Not her aunt. Certainly not her father. The closest she had come to divulging that desire was when she had found the nerve to ask her father about lessons when she was ten years old.

  Her aunt, with whom she stayed whenever her father was on a long road trip or out of the country, had an old upright piano. For six months or so, her aunt had taught her some simple chords and the notes to Happy Birthday and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. Then her aunt had fallen and broken her arm, and the lessons stopped. That was when she had asked her father about taking formal lessons and he had told her they would discuss it later.

  Before she could bring the subject up again, her father had taken a job with a band that had a nightly gig in Vegas and she’d moved there with him full-time. She’d brought up the subject of lessons once, but her father had dismissed it with a wave of his hand. “You don’t want to waste your time on the piano,” he’d told her. “Find something more solid to invest your time and talent in.”

  And that was that.

  “Angela?”

  She looked up at Jonah, realizing his question had sent her back to her childhood and she had become mired in the memory of those years. “Yes?”

  “Did I go someplace I shouldn’t have?”

  She laughed. “No, I did. I was ten years old again.”

  Jonah leaned his elbow on the piano and cocked his head toward her. “Do you want to talk about it?”

  Her throat tightened. She shook her head. “There would be no purpose to that.” She hitched her chin toward the keyboard. “You, on the other hand, have a great purpose. You need to continue with your practice.”

  Jonah patted the empty space on the bench beside him. “Come here and let me give you a lesson.”

  She hesitated.

  He patted the bench again. “Come on. I won’t bite.”

  The remark made both of them laugh and it eased some of the tension. She walked to the bench and sat down next to him. Jonah lifted her hands and placed her fingers on the keys.

  The moment their fingers touched, she knew it was a mistake. And from the flash of emotion that crossed Jonah’s face, he knew it too.

  HIS HANDS STILL covering hers, Jonah looked into Angela’s eyes and could no longer deny the inevitable truth he’d tried so hard to ignore.

  This woman, sent to him by the goddess Lilith, was the one he wanted beside him for the rest of his life. This woman, who by her chosen profession would have spent her life helping the unfortunate. This woman, who had gone out of her way to do a perfect stranger a much-needed favor. This woman, whose blood would feed his hungry soul. This was the woman he was coming to love.

  The knowledge caused his heart to pound. His jaws clenched and his gums ached as his incisors began their descent. He tried to imagine what it would be like to drink from her. To have sex with her. Yet, even as his blood thundered through his veins, he rebuked himself for his wanton thoughts. But no amount of censure could rid his body of The Need.

  His dark thoughts continued to whisper his innermost desires. He wanted her. He needed her. It was his destiny. He started to turn toward her, but at the last moment, his conscience took control. He couldn’t take her against her will.

  The throbbing in his gums grew more intense. Soon, the incisors would become deadly fangs and would pierce his lip if they did not find other flesh. He dared not look at her. “You need to leave,” he said, his throat tight with emotion.

  She put her hand on his shoulder. Sparks of fire shot through his veins. “Do not touch me. Leave. Now,” he growled.

  “Not before you tell me what I’ve done wrong.” Her hand clamped down on his shoulder and she tried to turn him toward her.

  If she would not heed his warning, he’d have to find another way to make her leave. Exposing his fangs, he spun around to face her.

  Her scream turned into a moan as she collapsed. He caught her before she fell and carried her to the sofa, his mouth dangerously close to the vein in her neck. He quickly turned his head away. One drop of her blood and he would need more. He couldn’t allow that to happen.

  He doubled over in agony as The Need tore at him. His head pounded from the tension in his jaws, and his fingers stiffened as the nails lengthened. Damn her. Had she no sense at all? Didn’t she know she could only push him so far? But if she didn’t care about her safety, why should he? His control began to weaken again, and he brushed her neck with the tip of his tongue.

  Angela stirred in his arms, and he laid her on the sofa. The battle inside him raged. If he moved fast, he could satisfy The Need before it exploded out of control. Should he take the risk? He savored the salty taste of her skin with his tongue and prepared for his first taste of her blood. He would be quick and careful. He would not harm her. He pressed a fang against her neck, but at the last moment, threw his head back, spewing vile curses into the air. He could not do it. He could not drink her blood without her consent.

  He lifted her from the sofa and carried her to her room, careful to keep his eyes focused straight ahead. He laid her across the bed and sat down beside her until her eyes fluttered open. While he’d fought with himself to deny his lust for blood and to keep Angela safe, The Need had subsided and his fangs retracted. He could think clearly now.

  Angela looked around the room and tried to sit up, but he pressed her gently down. “Rest a few minutes.”

  “What happened? What am I doing in here?”

  “You had a bit of a shock, but you’ll be fine. You should rest now.”

  He saw, in the widening of her eyes, the exact moment when the memory of the last few minutes returned. “You became a vampire, tonight,” she said, barely above a whisper.

  He couldn’t suppress the smile. “Yes,” he said. “I did.”

  She turned her head to the side. “I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did. It wasn’t entirely unexpected.”

  He wanted desperately to take her hand in his and comfort her, but he remembered what a touch had started when they sat together at the piano. He had to leave. He couldn’t risk stoking The Need again.

  “I must go,” he told her, standing so fast he almost lost his balance. “I must continue to practice. I’ll try not to keep you up too late.” He also needed a Double B to compensate for the blood his body now craved since The Need had remained unsatisfied.

  Angela hiked herself up on an elbow. “Please don’t worry about me. I love listening to you play.”

  It looked as though she had something else to say and he paused at the door and waited. When seconds passed and she lowered herself back on the bed, he guessed he was mistaken. “Goodnight,” he said.

  If she answered, he never heard it. Maybe that was just as well.

  Chapter Nine

  SOMETHING IN THE back of Angela’s mind pulled at her as she lay in bed listening to Jonah’s rendition of Moonlight Sonata for the second time that night. She finally figured out it was the conversation she’d had with the office manager of the law firm. The idea that she would most likely have to pass up her dream job had never really left her thoughts. She had simply pushed it aside to deal with the matters at hand.

  Strains of the sonata filled the room and thoughts of the unbelievable opportunity that lay ahead for Jonah soon replaced her concern about missing the job
in Mobile. There would be other jobs. But how many chances would Jonah have to play at Carnegie Hall? How many obstacles had he overcome in his long, long lifetime to achieve this level of success?

  She thought of her father and his many disappointments. He had worked hard to hide them from her, but she could still remember the effect they had on him even though she had been just a child. She had not weathered nearly as many storms as her father and Jonah had.

  The music coming from the living room abruptly stopped. She looked at the watch on her arm. It had been less than ten minutes since Jonah had left her to resume his practice. She hoped he had not quit out of concern for her. She was considering going to see what had interrupted him when there was a knock on her door.

  “Angela?”

  She leaped from the bed, rushed to the door, and opened it. As she expected, Jonah stood on the other side.

  “I have to go out for a time. There is protection for you outside, so there’s no need to worry on that account. And,” he added, nodding at the watch on her wrist, “you’ve heeded my warning in that regard, so everything should be fine until I return.”

  She went weak in the knees. “Where are you going? Is there trouble?”

  Jonah leaned forward as though he might kiss her, but quickly straightened up. “It’s nothing for you to worry about. Try to get some sleep.”

  Then he disappeared down the hall and she was left alone with her thoughts and her fears.

  She knew sleep would be impossible as long as Jonah might be in trouble. So she sat in the straight-back chair by the window and waited for his return.

  At midnight, she grew chilled. She went to the closet for a jacket to throw over her shoulders and returned to her vigil. But after only a few minutes, she grew restless. So she left the room and without deliberate thought, headed for the living room. The piano drew her like a magnet. She spread her hands over the keys, remembering how it felt when Jonah’s hands covered hers. She attempted a few chords but the notes were flat to her ears. All she could hear were the beautiful sounds that had filled the air when Jonah played.