A Beast For The Eyes: A Steamy Shifter Romance (A Ravenswood Romance Book 2) (11 page)

He sat back and chuckled to himself, wondering if he should tell Kate. But he thought better of it. “I’ll let the baby tell her for me.” He stayed until morning and let them see him off.

Later when Kate gazed upon their first grandchild, Damien saw her eyes were wet with tears.

“I thought you were happy for them,” he admonished gently.

“I am,” she laughed. “I am.”

Kat walked down the streets of New Orleans heading toward the French Quarter. She was anxious to check out the new Goth club that opened just on the outskirts. As she walked, she had the feeling she was being watched but when she looked around there was no one there. Her senses were always heightened so she wondered if the night was playing tricks on her.

As she got to the door of the Eternal Darkness, the door opened up and a couple walked out into the night air. Industrial music flooded the street as they exited. The girl almost ran right into Kat and the guy just stood there staring. Kat found this really amusing though she understood why he had this reaction. She was dressed in a beautiful red and lace corset that made her breasts look like they were struggling to be released. Her black, pencil skirt hugged her curves tight. She finished the look with spike heeled boots. Kat's long, wavy red hair flowed over her white skin and made a striking contrast. She looked at the guy and slowly licked her lips while thinking that was way too easy.

If looks could kill, the girl would have killed her dead. Kat just gave her a smile. She was used to this response from girls. The girl started to walk off but stopped when she realized her boyfriend was not following her. Finally, she yelled at him and it snapped him out of his trance. He turned one last time and Kat blew him a kiss then stepped into the bar. She laughed as she saw the guy stumble and the girl hit him. She thought he would be too easy. She was in the mood for a hunt tonight.

The bar was relatively dark, lit only with red lights. Kat walked to the bar and ordered a drink from bartender. She had no intention of drinking it but she wanted to look like she belonged there. It was very important to blend in. So she grabbed the drink, turned around to face the dance floor. She toyed with the glass, twirling the ice in it, hearing it clink against the sides. She did this as she looked around the dance floor.

Not finding exactly what she wanted just yet, Kat placed her still full drink back on the bar. Then switched it quickly with the empty glass of the guy beside her. He was tipsy and wouldn't notice what she did. Her hips swayed to the music as she walked out on the dance floor. The music seemed to go through her taking her away to another place and time. She was doing a seductive dance when a Frat boy approached her. He moved up behind her and pressed his body to hers.

Most women would have turned around and slapped him for being so forward, but not Kat, this is what she wanted. She hadn’t found anyone that seemed intriguing so she figured that she would settle for a college guy. She continued dancing with him. Her body moving with his, getting him more and more excited. She could feel his hardness pressing up against her. Turning around to face him, she continued the dance. She could swear she heard him moan a little. After dancing like this for a couple of songs, the guy leaned in and yelled over the music asking her if she wanted a drink. She shook her head and said, “No thanks, however, I'd like to go somewhere private.”

Immediately he started to lead her away from the dance floor and towards the door. He couldn’t get out of the bar fast enough. She grinned as she walked with him, Kat thought this might not be much of a challenge but she was getting hungrier and didn't feel like waiting anymore. They walked in silence to his car. He was a gentleman and opened the door for her, watched as she got in, then ran around to his side and hopped into the driver’s seat. He looked directly into Kat’s eyes and asked where she wanted to go. Kat told him that he should go down about three blocks and then take a left and pull into the first alley way he came to. The guy nodded and then followed her instructions.

When he parked the car she turned to him and gave him a kiss on the lips. He looked a little shocked but definitely not turned off by her aggressiveness. He grabbed her and pulled her close and started kissing her harder. He was a little clumsy, probably because he had a few drinks at the club.

When they broke the kiss he sounded almost out of breath, “You are the sexiest freak I've ever met.”

“You have no idea what a freak I really am.” The words came out almost as a purr.

Kat didn't want him talking so she started kissing him again. She was surprised he was kissing her so passionately. He either didn't notice her lips were cold or he was too excited at the thought he might get laid to care. It didn’t bother her because she would get what she wanted, in the end.

The guy started running his fingers over the tops of her breasts. She faked a moan. This was not about sex for her but she knew she had to make sure he didn't know that just yet. She would let him get a little farther just to make sure. Keeping his interest was essential.

Kat's hand moved down to his jeans and she ran her fingers over his zipper. His hardness was straining against his pants. She rubbed on it a bit until he was moaning some. He asked her, “Don’t you want to know my name?” Kat answered, “No not really.”

She moved from kissing his lips to kissing his neck. As her lips touched his neck, she could feel the blood moving through the large vein there. She could smell it and wanted to taste it. Kat unzipped his pants and slipped her hand around his hardness. He gasped and then her fangs came out. Piercing his skin and sinking them into him inch by inch. The rush of blood hitting her tongue was pure ecstasy. She swallowed down as she released her grip on him. Just before his blood became dangerously low, she pulled her fangs gently from him and licked his wounds closed.

He lay there slumped in his seat in a daze. Kat looked in his eyes and started speaking slow and softly,

“You will not remember what happened. You remember going to the bar and having quite a few drinks. You'll remember waking up and thinking that you must have passed out from having one too many. You will not remember me or anything I did to you. Do you understand?”

The guy mumbled, “Yes.” Kat got out of the car and straightened out her skirt then started walking towards Jackson Square. She felt like people watching. Things had changed so much over the centuries. She turned quickly, she had the feeling she was being watched again. Her senses were acute since she wasn't hungry anymore. She looked around in the dark but did not see anything out of the ordinary. She listened, but all she could hear where the sounds of the night. She decided she would keep her guard up the rest of the night.

CHAPTER 2

Kat sat on a bench and looked across at the St. Louis Cathedral. It was even majestic at night time. It rose high in the sky. Her mind wandered to the time when she first came to New Orleans. She was called Kathleen then, it was 1832 and many Irish were coming over from Ireland to start a new life. Kat remembered traveling by boat for months with her husband. It was a bad trip. It was crowded and they feared that they would run out of food before making it to America. Several people became sick and Kat worried that she, or her husband, would be one of them. Some didn't even survive the voyage. It was the worst time of her life.

When they finally stepped off the boat in the Port of New Orleans they were ecstatic. It was a new life, a new start in a new country. They didn't realize how difficult life would be. It was not what they had hoped for. They lived in a small, run down, little shot gun house. Kat did her best to make their place a home. They lived in a neighborhood with several other Irish families. Even though it was just the two of them, it seemed they were surrounded by family. The older Irish women looked after her and made sure Kat and her husband were well taken care of.

Kat's husband found work digging the canal. The people here didn't want their slaves to work in the canals because it was so dangerous. Slaves were property.
You wouldn't just throw out a perfectly good pair of shoes would you?
So Irish men were paid next to nothing to dig. Many of them died in the process.

Kat remembers the day her beloved husband came down with the fever. She was petrified but did the best she could to nurse him back to health. People avoided them because they didn't want to get the disease themselves. Kat could only watch as her husband got sicker and sicker. He turned yellow and delirious with fever. She refused to leave his bedside. She stayed with him as he died a horrible death.

Kat didn't have money for a funeral. So her loving husband was buried in a pauper's grave. She felt lucky he didn't die digging the canal. There is no telling how many bodies were buried there, without a proper funeral.

A few days later Kat got the first symptoms of the fever. There was no one to take care of her. She knew she was going to die. As if in answer to her prayers, one day a stranger came to her. Kat wasn't sure if it was day or night because of the delusions from the fever. She thought he was a doctor or, maybe, a thief waiting for her to die to take the little belongings she had. He looked at her and he had these mesmerizing dark blue eyes. He told her that he could take away her suffering. At this point, Kat was ready to welcome death. She figured he was going to kill her and she didn't care. She looked at him and in barely a whisper she said to him. “Do it.”

The stranger leaned down as if he were going to kiss her. Instead of a tender kiss, Kat felt an excruciating pain in her neck then a feeling of floating, as if she wasn't really in her own body. The next thing she remembered was the stranger telling her to drink. She was so thirsty and the liquid flowing into her was the sweetest thing she had ever tasted. He pulled her away from her then said, “We must leave here now.”

Kat didn't understand and asked him why. He said, “You are immortal now and this is no place for you.”

Over time, Kat's new creator explained to her what had happened and what he did to save her. He instructed her on how to feed, what could kill her forever, and how to use her new powers. He took care of her and they traveled the world. No one really understands how long an eternity is until they have lived it. Staying together forever is a romantic notion, but not one that is really feasible. They stayed together for eighty years. Finally, he left her and Kat came back to New Orleans.

Kat stood up and walked to the church. She went inside. It was always beautiful inside. She laughed at the thought of a vampire in a church. The old myths and legends were still alive today. She made the sign of the cross and lit a candle for her dear husband. He was a good man that died too young. She said a silent prayer for his soul then turned to walk out into the night.

Kat took a left down a deserted street. She knew she was being followed. There was no doubt about it this time. She could smell her stalker, he was so close. She pretended not to notice and let him get even closer to her. She spun around quickly grabbed him and pinned him against the wall of a building.

“What do you think you're doing?” Kat hissed, her fangs extended. The stranger looked more amused the frightened.

He laughed and said, “Following you. I have to say, you are quite gorgeous.” He whispered close to her face. He stared at her with his piercing ice blue eyes.

Kat growled and then before she knew it, she was pinned to the wall instead of this stranger. He grinned at her and leaned in, whispering in her ear, “So nice to meet a fellow kindred.” He was handsome by any standards, with Nordic features and a shock of thick white gold hair.

Kat gasped for a moment and said, “There is not enough room for two of us here.” She wasn't sure if this vampire killed when he fed or not and she was hoping to scare him off.

“Sure thing darling. I'll let you go so you can pack your bags,” he leaned in and kissed her on the lips.

He disappeared into the night. She didn't know whether to be turned on or appalled. She did know that she was angry. Kat didn't want to share her town with another vampire. She had been here years and knew it was getting close to time where she would have to move on and reinvent herself again. Before people started noticing that she was not getting any older. But she wanted moving on to be
her
choice. No other vampire was going to invade her territory, no matter how handsome he was.

Kat was determined to find out who this vampire was and what he was doing here. After that, it now was her mission to get him out of her town. She had made her decision. However, it was too late to act on it now. She would have to wait until tomorrow night. She returned to her daytime hiding place.

CHAPTER 3

The next evening she went out just after sunset. She didn't need to feed since she took care of that the night before. Kat was bound and determined to find the vampire that surprised her last night. She wasn't sure how to find him but she had a feeling he might be hitting the clubs like she did. She'd search the city for him.

She went into bar after bar, hitting all the tourist traps. Kat even found herself in the Cat's Meow, the karaoke bar on Bourbon. She loathed that place. Finally she caught his scent and followed it into a small dark jazz club. He was sitting alone at the table listening to the band play on stage. He looked up as Kat walked towards him. She was glad she dressed in a sleek black mini-dress and heels. Her hair was wild and untamed as usual.

She sat down next to him and smiled. He smiled back.

“Come here often?” he teased.

Kat rolled her eyes. She took a quick look around the place. It was a small and dark with a stage up front and tables all around. The bar itself was small and the bartender behind it looked bored. Kat could understand why there was only about 5 customers in the whole place. She leaned in to talk to the stranger.

“So,” she paused. “I don't even know your name.” She said, annoyed.