“I’ll be fine. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She hurried out of the building and headed home on foot. Some fresh air would do her good.
The chill of evening seeped into her core, and she had to wrap her arms around herself to keep warm. When did the weather turn so cold all of a sudden?
She was still weak from blood loss, and the chilly breeze seemed cut straight through to her bones. She would have hailed a cab, like this morning, but she couldn’t afford to do that all the time.
As she walked, her mind kept going back to Andrei. How could she have known what he was? How could a person protect themselves from him and his kind? He looked and acted exactly like any other human man.
But he wasn’t like any other man, was he? If she lived a thousand years, she would never meet anyone else like him. The thought made her heart cry. All her life, she only wanted a man to love and cherish, a man who would look her in the eye that way. She would never be satisfied with any other man again.
Her thoughts drifted back to the moment when he sank his teeth into her throat. It had not been painful; it had been the most sensual experience she’d ever had.
“No,” she said out loud, startling an old woman passing in the other direction.
Picking up her pace, Dara shook her head. She had to get Andrei out of her mind. He’d sucked her blood and left her for dead. What did she want to dream about him for?
She was so tired and weak from blood loss, she didn’t realize she walked right past her apartment until she was two blocks away. Sighing, she turned around and headed back.
Inside her apartment, she stuck her head in the fridge, but the sight of everything in it turned her stomach.
She went back to her room and collapsed into her chair by the heater. It put out lukewarm air, not enough to chase the cold out of her bones. It took everything in her to pull the blanket off the bed and wrap it around her.
With revulsion, she looked around the room. Was it always so shabby. How could she stand living in this dump? But she couldn’t afford anything else. She ought to take Beth up on her offer to share a room. They could move into a nice apartment with a view of the park. Then maybe she could afford to eat decent food.
What had Andrei thought when he saw this place? He must have known what a cheap bite she would be. Maybe that’s why he picked her. Maybe he could tell by the cut of her clothes that he could suck her last drop and no one would care.
The image of his face hovered in her mind, and his eyes grabbed her by the heart, even in her memory. Would she ever see him again? How would she react if she did? How could she protect herself from him?
Even when she closed her eyes, he still haunted her thoughts. She’d promised him her body and soul for all eternity. Would she ever meet another man who affected her that way?
A deep yawn reminded her she should go to bed, but she didn’t have the energy to get out of her chair.
She shivered as she sat there. Would she ever recover her vitality after he’d drained her life’s blood? Would she drag herself through the rest of her life as a burned-out shell?
At first, she struggled to keep her eyes open. Would she dream about Andrei? Would she relive the horror of his bite again and again in her dreams? After a time, she fell into a fitful sleep there in her chair with all her clothes on.
She didn’t dream about Andrei, though. She dreamt about a city, brightened by street lights. Beautiful people roamed its avenues.
* * *
There was a palace on a large estate in the middle of a vast city. In her dream, Dara lived there. The staff greeted her and bowed in reverence when she passed them. She held herself up straighter and looked down on them with benevolent superiority.
She was heading for a great hall. But when she reached the doors, an attendant stopped her from going into the room. He gestured toward a staircase to one side, and when she took it, she found herself in a mezzanine overlooking a gathering of beautiful people.
Leaning over the railing, she trained her ear to hear the discussion going on below her. She admired the faces of the members, and drank in their profound words. Then one man, who towered over everyone around him, addressed the people. They listened to him with rapt attention, and his words rang through the hall.
Dara caught her breath and took a closer look. With one imperious wave of his hand, he concluded his speech and turned back to his seat.
As she watched, she became aware of a powerful presence behind her. She turned around and all she could see was Andrei’s fangs as he opened his mouth for her throat…
Chapter Four
Dara snapped awake and immediately started shivering. The heater had stopped working.
No sound permeated the room, but she sat up straight and looked around.
He was here somewhere. Andrei. She didn’t have to see him to know he was there. The air buzzed with electric tension. She searched the corners of the room.
The curtain fluttered over the window, and a shadow moved along the wall.
“I know you’re there,” Dara called out. “Why don’t you show yourself instead of stalking around like a coward?”
Andrei stepped into view from the shadows. He smiled at her. “Hello, Dara. How are you?”
“How do you expect me to be?” she shot back. “You took every drop of my blood, and now I’m half dead. Did you come back here to finish me off?”
He took another step, and his smile broadened. Lamp light fell on his face, and she saw him clearly. His eyes still radiated their ethereal power. She couldn’t resist his gaze.
“I didn’t take every drop of your blood,” he said, “and you’re nowhere near half dead. You’re weak after that first feeding. Your body isn’t used to it. But it will make more blood, and then you’ll feel better.”
“How do you know?” she asked.
He titled his head. “I thought you would have figured it out by now.”
She had, but she still didn’t want to believe.
Then she realized what he’d said:
first
feeding. She stared at him, aghast. “You can’t be thinking of doing it again. It would kill me.”
“I wouldn’t do it now,” Andrei told her. “You’re too weak. But in a couple of weeks, you’ll be back to yourself again. Then you’ll be ready.”
“You can’t be serious!” she gasped.
“Why not?” he asked. “What do you think I’m doing here?”
“No way!” she cried. “I’m not letting you do that to me again. Never in a million years.”
“Who said anything about you letting me do it?” he asked. “I’ll be the one to decide if and when I do it.”
Dara sat up straighter. “What do you mean?”
Andrei gazed down into her face, and her heart beat faster. He was a predator, and she was his prey. He could kill her with one bite. He could break her neck with a snap of his fingers. If he opened his mouth a little wider, would she see his fangs?
“You’re mine now, Dara,” he told her. “You gave yourself to me willingly. If I want to feed from you, I will.”
“You won’t,” she shot back. “No man has the right to do that to me.”
In a low voice, he said, “I am not a man.”
Up until now, she had only been able to guess at the truth. While the words remained unsaid, there was always the possibility that there was some other explanation for what Andrei was, and what she was going through.
“What are you?” she asked, daring him to speak out loud what she silently feared.
“You know what I am.” Keeping his eyes trained on her, he said, “I’m a vampire. I survive by drinking human blood, and you chose to put yourself in my power. You gave yourself to me, body and soul, for all eternity.”
“That was just foreplay,” she told him, as if saying it would make it true. “You knew I didn’t really mean it.”
“You meant it, all right,” Andrei replied. “You wouldn’t have said it if you didn’t mean it. You knew exactly what you were doing. You knew when you first met me that I wasn’t like other men, and you knew when you invited me up to your room that it wasn’t about sex.”
“I won’t let you do this,” she wailed. “I’ll find a way to stop you.”
Andrei smiled. “I’ve drunk from you once. You can’t hide yourself from me. Wherever you go, I’ll find you. You put yourself in my power, and you’re mine now. Mine to feed from. No one did this to you. You gave yourself to me. You are my personal property. “
“You tricked me,” Dara snapped. “You made me think you wanted sex. You tricked me into saying those things.”
“No one can become the property of a vampire against their will,” Andrei replied. “I asked you point blank if you were mine, and you said yes.”
Tears sprang into Dara’s eyes. “You can’t do this to me.”
“Dara, Dara, Dara,” Andrei crooned. “Let’s not kid ourselves. When I asked you if you were mine for all eternity, you knew exactly what I was and what I meant. Why are you acting so shocked now?”
Dara lowered her eyes. “Get out. I never want to see you again.”
“You’re tired,” Andrei replied. “You’re weak after last night’s feeding. But that will change. You’ll get your strength back, and then you’ll be ready to give yourself to me again.”
Dara shook her head. “You might be able to do this to me against my will. But I’ll never give myself to you that way again.”
Andrei smiled. “You already have.”
Dara’s head shot up. “What do you mean?”
“I told you, Dara,” he replied. “I couldn’t do this if you weren’t willing. That’s our most fundamental law. You gave yourself over into my power, not just that one time, but for all time. Even now, you want to give yourself to me.”
“What are you talking about?” she cried. “I’m not doing anything of the kind.”
Andrei took a step closer, and Dara’s heart leapt in her chest. He was the most stunning man she’d ever laid eyes on. He radiated magnetic energy. She couldn’t take her eyes off him. Even now, she wanted him, even when she didn’t really want to want him at all. If only she could hate him, but she craved him instead.
His nostrils flared. What did he smell? Did he crave her body or her blood? Couldn’t he hear her heart struggling to beat? She panted for breath. Was he coming for her again?
“You want me to take you, don’t you, Dara?” he purred. “You to be my consort forever, don’t you, Dara? Come on. You know you want me to own you. Tell me you do. It’s okay. I already know you do.”
Dara tried to scoff at him, but she only made a sobbing sound instead. “What are you going to do to me? Are you going to butter me up so I’ll let you bleed me again? I’ll never do that. I might want you, but I won’t have you feeding off of me that way.”
He tilted his head to one side and took a step back. “Such power in you.”
Then his expression softened. “Let’s not talk about that anymore right now. Let’s talk about you.”
Dara stiffened. “What about me?”
“How have you been?” he asked. “Why didn’t you go out with your friends after work today?”
“I wouldn’t go out looking like this,” she told him. “I should even set foot on the street looking the way I do now. I wouldn’t want anyone to see me.”
“Why not?” he asked.
“Why not?” she cried. “I look like death warmed over. I’m like a walking corpse. That’s why.”
“You don’t look like that.” Andrei chuckled. “You are stunning and beautiful.”
Dara snorted. “That’s a good one.”
“I’m serious,” he told her. “You are magnificent.”
“Are you crazy?” she snapped.
“It’s true,” he told her. “You should look at yourself in the mirror.”
Dara tried to get up, but she still couldn’t get off the couch.
She sank back down and said, “I
have
looked at myself in the mirror, and all I can see is this.” She pulled back the scarf and pointed at the puncture marks on her neck. “This is what I see when I look in the mirror. You did this. You tried to kill me.”
“I didn’t try to kill you, Dara,” he told her. “If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it, and no one would ever know it was me. I drank from you, and I left you alive so I could do it again. You’re upset, but you’ll get over it. Soon, the marks won’t bother you so much.”
“I’ll never get used to it,” she grumbled. “I’ll never let you do that to me again. I’ll kill you first.”
“That’s what they all say,” he told her. “Do you know something? Most vampire companions consider their bite marks a badge of honor. They show them off and wear specially revealing clothes so everybody sees them. They consider their positions as vampire companions a special privilege.”
Dara listened with her mouth hanging open. Her voice cracked when she answered. “What do you mean—most vampire companions? Do you mean there are others besides me?”
Andrei sighed. “Dara—my dear, sweet, delicious Dara—will you listen to yourself? I want you to be much more than a companion. I want you to be my one and only consort.”
“But,” she said, not understanding the difference.
He cupped her face in his hands. “Of course we have many companions. How do you think we have survived for so long?”
“By sucking innocent people dry.”
He pursed his lips together. “If we went around killing people all the time, humanity would hunt us down and exterminate us. Besides, we dislike killing. Yes, we feed on people; but they give themselves to us freely for that purpose.”
“Like who?” she demanded.
Andrei drew himself up. “Would it surprise you to know that entire races of people have made themselves our slaves and minions, just for the honor of serving us and giving us the blood we need to survive? And they’ve done it happily and willingly.”
“Then why don’t you go get one of them?” she sobbed. “Why do you have to pick on me.”
Andrei dropped to his knees in front of her. She stared into his eyes, something changed in how she saw him. The way he spoke was completely different from the way he looked at her. He longed for her. Maybe she had him at a disadvantage after all. Maybe she wasn’t as helpless as she thought.
“Isn’t it obvious why I want you, Dara?” He spoke in a low voice, so she had to strain to hear him. Some of her fear left her, and her pulse slowed. “I chose you because I
want
you. You, Dara, not some craven piece of meat.”