“Humph. I do not know what to think of this situation.” He takes a step towards me. “We have this incredible attraction towards each other, but you do not wish to explore it.” He takes another step, now about a foot away from me. “I pursue you all night, yet you still continue to reject my advances.” He takes the last step. I can feel his breath on my cheek. “Now, you follow me all over the city, hiding in the shadows. What should I make of this?” He asks me as his lips brush mine.
My stomach drops to my toes and my eyes are only open a fraction until they are just slits.
“Well,
ma chatte petite
, what shall it be?” He whispers into my mouth.
My body is vibrating with need. I know he can smell my desire for him just as I can smell his desire for me. Unable to deny the attraction any longer, I respond so quietly, I am surprised he could hear me. “I don’t know.”
“Very well.” He says on a sigh and then takes a step backwards. My entire body screams at me in protest. I think I might have even let out a whimper.
“Why are you following me?” He asks me again.
I clear my voice loudly. “I was curious about you.”
I mentally slap myself.
“You had the opportunity tonight to ask me any questions. Why not ask them and get an answer? What have you learned by following me?”
I think about it for a second before replying honestly. “I learned that you like to walk a lot.”
He chuckles. “I knew you were following me,
ma chatte petite
. I just do not understand why.”
“What does that mean?
Ma chatte petite
?”
“It is a term of endearment. It means ‘my kitten’.”
I tilt my head to the side, thinking about his choice of endearment for me. “Oh. Well I’m no kitten.”
“You are very precious, but no, you are no kitten. Maybe I shall change that to
ma chatte sauvage
.” He replies affectionately.
He looks at the shoes in my hand, then down at my bare feet and frowns. “There is a 24 hour coffee and doughnut shop around the corner. We should get some coffee and rest your feet.” He suggests, offering his arm to me in that old-fashioned manner again.
My feet are aching and I am exhausted from all the walking. Coffee, doughnuts and a chair sounds like heaven to me. I accept his arm and we walk down the street towards the smell of coffee.
He glances at my shoes. “You should put on your shoes. I am sure the ground is not very comfortable.”
“And ruin my shoes! Are you crazy? These are Manolo Blahnik spikes.” I stare at him incredulously. “I’ll walk through fire before I fuck up my shoes! These are my favorite pair.”
“Only shoes. Only shoes!” I squeal as we walk in and sit at a table in the corner, automatically positioning my back against the wall. “These ‘shoes’ are very special to me and cost me a lot of money. I don’t know what you do for a living, but my salary would not cover many ‘ruined shoes’ so I try to take care of them.”
He looks at me before looking down at my shoes again. “I can afford to buy you new shoes. I am not sure what makes these shoes so special besides the fact that they have been on your feet.”
I am speechless.
This vampire’s tongue must be made of silver.
I pause, which is a bad thing to do when you are about to lie. “I work at the club.” I keep my answer brief, hoping he will not pry. “What do you do?”
“Don’t go pointing fingers at me when you are being just as evasive, Christien. It is late and I have to go. Thanks for the coffee and doughnuts.”
I stretch my stiff muscles then my gaze wanders around the room, taking in the dozen or so humans starting their day.
I realize then it has been hours since I have fed and the blood thirst is riding me hard. My nose flares, taking in their scent and my eyes begin to change to the silvery haze over my dark brown eyes. I am moving before I can stop myself. I feel a hand touch my arm and someone talking, but I cannot hear anything except the rushing of human blood all around me.
I smell O positive from a large woman wearing a dress.
A couple more feet and I can sink my teeth…
I feel a sharp pain in my hand. I stop advancing and look down to see Christien has broken every bone in my hand. I stare at him angrily and then my head clears.
“Oh, no! No! No! Christien, get me out of here!” I plead with him.
Christien releases the grip on my broken hand and grabs the other hand, allowing my broken hand to begin to heal. He drags me from the coffee shop and we walk around the corner.
Once away from most of the prying eyes, he spreads out his aura, forcing people to look away from us. I have no idea how he is doing it, but I can now sense that is exactly what he wants his power to do.
I wish Austin were still alive so I could ask him to teach me how to do this.
The sun has not risen yet, but there are plenty of people mobile. Christien lifts me into his arms, carrying me like a small child. He uses his vampire speed, strength and ‘don’t look at us’ aura as we run through the city.
The thousands of smells assaulting me cause my blood thirst to rise again. I look at Christien’s neck and start to squirm in his arms.
“We are almost there
ma
chatte petite
, hold on.” He purrs in my ear.
Lust begins to rise to the forefront. My hands slide down Christien’s chest, loosening the top button on his silk shirt.
He stumbles then growls. “I have only so much power,
ma
chatte petite
. I need you to pull in your claws for just another minute. Once you have fed, we can continue to play your
chat et souris
game.”
I pout. The first reason is that I believe he is making fun of me. After thinking about it, I begin to think he is right. I do seem to be saying one thing and doing another.
He slows his speed and stops. He puts me down carefully and that is when I realize where I am. I am standing on the front porch of my house.
Fury, panic, anger, and better yet, rage overcomes me. I push him away from me so hard that he falls down to the ground on his back. I pounce and I am on top of him before he can sit up. In mid pounce, I pull one of the silver stakes from my hair and position it over his heart by the time I land on top of him. He is surprised, but does not move.
Smart vampire.
“Are we really going to start this again,
ma
chatte petite
? You will not kill me so let us go inside, have a drink and we can talk.”
“Who are you?” I don’t really expect an answer.
“I am merely a single vampire. You have no need to fear me. I will not harm you,
ma chatte petite
.”
“I told you, I’m no kitten.” I snap at him, angry that I didn’t detect him following me.
“Of that, I am certain.”
I sit there on top of him and think about all that he has said.
He is right. I will not kill him. The contract clearly states that they want him captured, not dead. I also believe him when he says he will not hurt me. Why is that? He has had plenty of opportunities to kill me if he wanted. I have dropped my guard down around him without knowing anything about him. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I must be slipping. I am getting careless. I allowed him to charm his way in getting me to trust him.
Christien squirms underneath me. I can feel his erection pushing against my panties. My dress has ridden up, exposing most of my thighs. My hands are now stroking up and down his chest. The stake is lying on the ground beside his right arm. His hands are stroking my legs softly, moving from my calves and tracing their ways to my thighs. He is watching me carefully.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” I ask softly.
He tilts his head to the side as if pondering the question. “I am only wondering how much longer you wish to continue playing these games with me before you realize you have already lost and are willing to admit that you are mine.”
I stare at him.
“Come now,
ma
chatte
sauvage
, it is almost dawn and we are both tired. Let us go inside and continue this discussion in a more comfortable setting. The ground is wet and it is stealing the warmth from me.”
Unable to do, say or think about anything except the man in front of me, I say the only thing that comes to my mind. “Okay.”
I climb off him. I dust my knees off, pick up my stake, and adjust my dress. By the time I fish my keys out of the Kate Spade purse around my chest, Christien is standing very close behind me. His hands slide around my waist while he buries his head into my hair. I hear a ‘clack’ sound and my body stiffens.
“What was that?” I whisper. “Did you hear that?”
Christien continues burying his head in my hair, rubbing my neck with his face. He stops long enough to whisper, “Your keys.” Then he continues teasing me by pressing small kisses behind my ear.
“My…” I begin and then look down at the ground to find my keys.
What in the hell is going on with me?
I push away from Christien and pick up my keys. “Thank you for bringing me home, but I think this…” I point at him then me, “ends here. This, whatever this is, it is not working for me. I’m sorry Christien but I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
I drag myself into the kitchen. My feet feel like they weigh a ton. I grab three bags of blood from the fridge and pop them into the microwave. As my blood warms up, I kick off my shoes and pull off my dress, laying it across a kitchen chair. The microwave dings and I collect my blood and head upstairs. I finish all three bags before the shower heats up. After a long, hot shower, I dry off and climb into bed naked. The cool satin sheets feel wonderful against my smooth naked body. I set my alarm for noon, roll over and fall asleep.
Chapter 20
The next morning after having breakfast, a bag of blood, and taking the time to pick up my car from Blixen’s parking lot, I decide to look deeper into Christien’s file. Most of the information the client provides is pretty basic, which includes his description, places where he has been, and other things of that nature. There is nothing in his file about his personal life.
There is no explanation in the file about why they want him captured instead of killed. Maybe they want that pleasure for themselves.
I guess I should quit dragging my feet about it. I have had plenty of opportunities to snatch him. I could have delivered him yesterday if I could have kept my brain out of the gutter long enough. I can’t help but wonder what he has done to earn someone paying my sizable fee for his capture. No doubt, he pissed off the wrong vampire and now they want revenge. Vampires tend to become petty when their feelings are hurt.
Maybe he slept with someone else’s significant other. They found out about it and want to chop off his dick.
“Wouldn’t that be a shame?” I say to myself with a smirk on my face.
I bet that is something a male vampire would not want to have cut off. I recoil just thinking about how painful that would be when it grows back.
He probably used that silver tongue of his on some woman and she put out a contract to have him brought back to her so she could make him her sex slave. Hey, now that does not sound like a bad idea. Wait, what am I thinking? He is a vampire.
“There should be no sexual thoughts about him at all.” I say aloud, trying to convince myself and then groan. “I need to get laid.”
Maybe I should call Samuel and see if he is busy tonight. The sex was good enough that I would not mind sampling it again.
“I’m starting to wonder if it is sex I really want or if I want something more.” I muse aloud to myself.
After assembling Christien’s file, I glance at the clock. 11:00 am. I can go to the club and hook-up with someone, find and deliver Christien to the warehouse before he skips town, or go work out at the gym.
It’s too early to find someone for a casual fling. I hate working out. Guess I will go find Christien.