Passion Follows Pain (Passion Series Book 3) (3 page)

For the first time in as long as I could remember, I felt myself relaxing, the tension easing in my shoulders. Maybe, just maybe I would be safe here. I could stay hidden from my father and hope that he would never find me. I would need to be careful and I hoped that he never found out that Debbie had had a major hand in helping me or her life would become hell.

I smiled down at the little dog and lifted him into my arms, cradling him close to me as he licked my face.

I heard a chuckle behind me and turned to see Daisy watching us. “Well, I see you’ve met Milo.” She said, giving me that warm smile of hers.

Chapter Two

Lucian

“Fuck I’m so damn bored.” Lucian sighed as he threw himself down on the lounge, his eyes shifting to Damien who too was looking about as enthusiastic as he was over their evening so far.

“Oh for fuck sakes, take yourselves out to a club or something and stop with the childish bleating you two.” Francesca grumbled at them. “I’m sure you’ll find one or two women eager to share their bodies and their blood with you and if they aren’t, just bend their minds until they’re happy to share.”

“What is wrong with my children this evening.” They all turned as Fabian, their sire stepped into the room, his little witch by his side, the glow of recent sexual gratification still showing in her eyes.

Lucian rose to his feet, nodding to Fabian and Sirene as he left the room. The truth was he wasn’t just bored, he was frustrated. A beautiful young woman was staying in the house over the road with their old neighbour. The old lady had broken her leg apparently and it appeared that the young girl was there to help her around the house.

The first night he’d seen her, he had instantly become hard, his cock straining against the black jeans he wore and he knew he wouldn’t be satisfied until he bedded her.

Each night for the last week he’d gone out waiting for a glimpse of her as she seemed to pick the evenings to take the old lady’s dog for a walk. Lucian so badly wanted to go up to her, but something about her held him back. There was a fragility, a nervousness, an almost timid demeanour about her, and although ‘me see, me take’ was his usual method of dealing with things, for the first time he found himself reluctant to force his presence on her and certainly at this stage he didn’t want to try and mind control her.

No, for now he would just suffer the agony of wanting her, desperate to go to her but determined to restrain himself from doing just that. If it meant a serious case of blue balls while he waited for the right opportunity to approach her he would settle for blue balls. Well, the prospect of blue balls certainly didn’t excite him and the ache he’d carried for a few days already in his dick and balls told him he wasn’t too far off a pretty decent case of it anyway.

Impatient with his thoughts, frustrated with his family but most of all, frustrated with the need he had for the waif across the road, he stormed out of the house and almost skidded to a halt when at that exact same moment, she stepped out of the old lady’s house with that tiny, oversized rat they called a dog on a lead by her feet.

He ducked into the shadows and watched her bend to pat the rat, hearing the soft tones of her almost musical voice as she spoke to it before straightening and walking up the driveway towards the road.

She paused at the top for a moment and almost appeared to look straight at him but he knew she’d never be able to see him in the dim lighting. Finally she turned and started to walk down the road the little dog trotting happily along by her side and Lucian almost envied the dog for being able to be that close to her.

He waited until she’d disappeared around the corner before heading down the street himself determined that tonight he was going to speak to her.

Using the other houses to conceal his presence, he rushed down the street until he was well ahead of her and crossed to her side of the road before settling down to a more sedate pace as he tried to give the illusion that he just happened to be out walking too.

Her reaction when she first saw him took him by surprise. She froze momentarily before appearing to almost shrink before his eyes. Her eyes widened and he could see the fear in them, he could smell her fear. The rat at her feet decided it didn’t like the look of him and began to yap, in some annoying high pitched bark. He glared at it which was enough to silence the damned thing for now, and again he raised his eyes to the timid woman before him.

“Are you alright?” He asked her but she didn’t answer him, she just stood, frozen.  Fuck she was literally rigid with fear? What the hell was wrong with her?

He stepped closer and stopped when she seemed to shrink back from him even more. Her reaction wasn’t something he was familiar with and it took him by surprise. Women generally fell all over themselves to be with him, just one of the perks of being vampire. This girl’s reaction was not quite what he’d expected. Ok, he could see from observing her over the week that she was shy, nervous, not exactly a social butterfly, but one look from him and the girl was nearly catatonic.

Slowly he approached her again until he was right in front of her, and could see the tremors running through her body. He reached out and hooked a finger under her chin, raising her face to his and his stomach clenched painfully when he saw what he could only describe as sheer terror in her eyes. God, what amazing eyes she had. They were big and round and startlingly blue; a beautiful shade of baby blue, blue as the sky on a brilliant summer’s day, they were stunning.

“What’s your name?” He asked her softly and he saw her swallow, watching the movement of her throat and the pulse in her neck leaping wildly. Why was she so scared? “Please, I won’t hurt you. I simply want to know your name. I’ve seen you coming out to walk this dog each evening. My name is Lucian Andreas, I live across the road from where you are staying. You’re living with Mrs Appleby aren’t you?”

He waited, watching her to see if anything he was saying was reaching her. Finally, finally her eyes shifted marginally until they almost met his, almost. “A..Arissa. My name is Arissa.” She said so softly, it was a mere whisper and her lips, those luscious full lips of hers barely moved as that beautiful name passed by them. She had such perfect lips, plump and with that naturally pouty look that made him long to lean forward and kiss her.

“Arissa.” He tried the name out for himself, before releasing her chin. He desperately wanted to spend more time with her, simply staring at her, but he suspected he’d just about tested her limit of endurance so far, so he stepped back. This was so unlike him to walk away but there was something about her that tugged at him on an emotional level unlike anything he’d ever experienced. Of course he still wanted her, the hard ridge of his cock straining against the fabric of his jeans proved that. Fortunately the dark hid his body’s reaction to her since he felt certain she would have been screaming rape if she’d seen he was hard for her. Well, scream or pass out cold at his feet. Either reaction was possible.

“Good bye Arissa.” He said softly and stepped back from her, but then a powerful desire struck, a need to taste her, so strong, he couldn’t ignore it. Softly he called her name, watching as her eyes met his and before she could look away, he locked on her, bending her mind to his control. When he saw her expression go blank, almost serene, he stepped up to her again, bending forward until his lips touched hers. God they were so soft and he wanted more. He kissed her, teasing, nibbling at her, tracing his tongue along her full bottom lip that drove him crazy, before slipping inside to taste the sweetness of her mouth.

He groaned softly, his hands shifting to her hips where he pulled her into him, curving her body against his. She was so thin, so fragile, like the finest bone china and he worried that he might accidentally snap her in two.

For a few moments he indulged his fantasies, savouring the feel of her soft warm body against his, his cock pressing insistently into her stomach and he even allowed himself to grind into her before reluctantly releasing her again.

It would be so easy to take advantage, but he couldn’t, not yet at least. Despite the urgent demands of his body, he had to practice something he wasn’t accustomed to, restraint. He didn’t know why he was acting so restrained with her, but something about Arissa brought out a strong desire to protect her and to tread carefully with her. It was totally against his natural urges, his animalistic needs that would normally have him tearing the clothes from her body and fucking her.

So no one was more surprised when he stepped back, staring one last time into her face made calm and relaxed by his control over her. With a snap of his fingers, he watched her come round again, the wariness settle in her eyes as she stared at him.

“Good bye Arissa.” He said softly and without a backward glance at her, he headed towards home.

The walk back was agonising and he almost laughed at himself. All this shit for one woman? He was in pain and well on his way to a classic case of blue balls for one pale, skinny female? He was either losing his mind or getting soft in his old age. Was she worth this? An image of her beautiful face filled his head, the stunning blue eyes that had looked at him with such fear, and yet haunted at the same time. Something had happened to her, something had made her the way she was. He’d never seen such fear before, and he knew it was her fear that motivated him to take it slow with her. It was going to kill him not just getting in and fucking her as he longed for.  He needed the release and he needed it now. He was vampire after all.

He liked Arissa and wanted to get to know her. He was drawn to her, to that air of fragility that hung over her. He was curious about her, about what made her the way she was, but he was still vampire and he needed blood but most importantly, right now, he needed to fuck. He couldn’t wait for her to warm to him. She might never warm to him, given how flighty she was.

He could have her if he mind controlled her, but he couldn’t bring himself to do that to her. He wasn’t sure what it was about her, but he liked her too much to treat her like one of the women he usually picked up, mind controlled, fucked and walked away from, never to see again.

Arissa deserved something better and that surprised him. For the first time ever, a woman had his attention and made him feel something besides just lust. Maybe she got his attention because she was a challenge? She was certainly a novelty. He wasn’t accustomed to women being terrified of him and wanting to run away.

No; one thing was for sure, he was going to have to go slowly with her, but in the meantime, he needed a fuck and he needed blood. He’d find out what Damien had planned for the night and see if he wanted to go and find some women to spend the night with, maybe even bring back to the house for some relief from the sexual tension that literally had him by the balls the last few days.  

The diversion of a welcoming cunt from a woman that wanted him would help take his mind off Arissa and certainly give him the relief his body craved. Nothing could beat the hunt although it rarely was a hunt for women to fuck and feed from, they really did fall all over themselves to get to him. It wasn’t all just about the whole vampire thing. Their scent, everything about them was set up to make them as attractive to humans as possible. Still he liked to think it was his looks that helped pull them in too.

Lucian knew he wasn’t ugly. He wasn’t as tall as his sire or Dominick at six foot but he was in good shape. Broad shouldered, or so he’d been told, well-muscled and with a six pack that the women seemed to enjoy touching. He was lightly tattooed compared to both Dominick and Damien. He had a dramatic tattoo of a huge animal paw print on his back, with the claws extended and large scratch marks extending out from them. They had a three dimensional look to them so it was very realistic looking, right down to the blood at the scratch marks, and what appeared to be muscles and sinew showing through the open scratches. He’d certainly startled a few women with his tattoo in the past that was for sure. Hopefully he would get the chance for Arissa to see it one day too.

Other than that, the only addition to his body were piercings. He had two Frenum piercings, two barbell looking rods that ran through the underside of his cock, plus he also had a scrotal piercing. He’d never regretted getting them as the women couldn’t get enough of his cock and he was more than happy to share it around in exchange for a good fuck and some blood.

A part of him wondered what Arissa would think of his piercings if she ever got to see them? He wanted her to see them, to enjoy them, just as he wanted nothing more than to bury himself inside her, but after seeing the sheer terror on her face tonight, he knew he didn’t have a hope in hell of that happening any time soon.

“This woman is fucking with your mind. The only damn thing she’s fucking with.” He whispered as he let himself into the home he shared with his sire and family. When he closed the door, Damien was just walking towards him, dressed, obviously to go hunting in jeans and a tight fitting t-shirt that showed off his physique. It was all about attracting the women so they could fuck and feed after all.

“Where did you go?” Damien asked him. “I was going to see if you wanted to come hunting with me. A couple of nice, willing women for the night brother, what do you say?”

Briefly Arissa’s face filled Lucian’s head but he forced her from his mind. She was beautiful and he wanted her but she didn’t want him, not yet at least. He couldn’t wait for her. She already had him in enough pain as it was. He needed someone who wanted him, who wouldn’t go almost catatonic when he looked at her. He needed to fuck, urgently, desperately and he needed to do it now. “Fuck yes, let’s go then.” He said and despite having only just walked back inside, he spun around, and followed Damien out the front door.