The Seduction of Gretchen: Paranormal Erotic Romance (Anam Céile Chronicles) (10 page)

L
ater that night I was huddled up with my luggage at
the departure station on a busy avenue in Paris waiting for a coach to Venice. 
Unfortunately it would not arrive for nearly two more hours.  Which gave me
plenty of time to think… and feel sorry for myself.  And miss him.

But why the hell should I miss someone who would persuade
me to leave my life behind to come with him only to be unfaithful to me?  I am
better off without him!  I do not need him!  I do not need any man!  I never
have and I should have kept it that way rather than allowing my heart to fool
me into believing otherwise!

So then why do I feel so miserable?

I just need to force myself to forget about him and go on
with my life as though I never met him. 

“Gretchen!” I hear his voice call from afar.

He sure does not make it easy, does he?  It is as though
I can hear his voice saying my name.

“Gretchen!”  This time the voice was right behind me. 

A hand gripped my shoulder, startling me.  I turned to stare
right into the face of Lucius.  Right into his deep blue eyes and I feel myself
go weak.  Quick to betray me, my aching heart leapt at the sight of him. 
Swiftly forcing myself disregard it, I bristled against his intense allure …
his heartbreaking smile… his expressive blue eyes.

I don’t know how he found me so easily.  But then, he was a
Vampire and they always
do
seem to have their ways.

Mustering up all the rage I could, I turned and hissed at
him, “I do not want to see you, Lucius!  Leave me alone!”

Affecting a bewildered expression, he gaped at me.  “I do
not understand, Gretchen,” he said softly.  “What are you doing?”

Without looking at him, I replied coldly, “Is it not
obvious?  I am returning to Venice.”

“But why?” Lucius probed, his tone injured.

“You know very well, why!” I bellowed, causing others to
look in our direction.

“No, I believe I do not,” he responded, claiming innocence. 
“What I do know is that when I returned home, you were nowhere to be found and
after some persuasive enquiring, the stable boy informed me that you had left
shortly before carting all of your luggage with you.” 

He paused for a moment in thought.  “Were you upset at my
stepping out for a few hours?”

“It was not your
stepping out
that I am upset over! 
It is what you were
stepping out
to do!”

Again he looked at me bewildered, and a bit frustrated. 
“How could you possibly be upset by what you
think
I was doing if you
have no idea what I was doing?”

“Because I followed you, Lucius!” I spit out at him.  “And I
saw you go into that woman’s chateau!  Is that who you have been going to see
all these times you have left me for hours at a time?”

A stunned look swept across his face.  “Well, yes,” Lucius
admitted, “but it is apparently not what you believe it to be.  If you would
just let me explain—”

“It is too late for that, I do not care to hear your
excuses, Lucius!” 

Noticing our apparent squabble, a guard of the station
quickly makes his way over to us.  “Is there a problem here, Mademoiselle?” he
enquires, staring at me with concern.

Lucius was quick to speak up, using his pervasive charm to
keep things smooth.  “Not at all Monsieur, simply a little lover’s quarrel. 
But I do appreciate your concern.”

Without so much as another word, the guard nodded and walked
off, leaving us alone. 

How is he able to have that effect on people?

Turning back to me, Lucius whispered into my ear, “Gretchen,
my love, please be reasonable.  Let us go back home and work this out rather
than making a spectacle of ourselves here in public.”

I shook my head vehemently, refusing to listen to him.  “I
am not going anywhere with you!   Now leave me alone, Lucius!”

Silently, Lucius gazed down at me, hurt brimming up within
his eyes.

I tried not to notice how crushed he looked.  If I had not
been so set in my obstinacy, it would have surely affected me instantly.

 “I am sorry I have to do this, Gretchen, but you have left
me no other choice,” Lucius told me, his low voice calm but tinged with pain. 

Grasping me firmly by the face, he compelled me to stare
into his eyes.  I tried to shut them, to block him out for to look into those
eyes hurt me so, unraveled everything I had determined to do, made me yearn to
do things I had resolved not to do. 

“Do not shut your eyes, Gretchen!” he ordered sternly.

I was powerless against him.  Utterly powerless.  I knew
that now.  The only way I had been able to leave him was that I had not had to
face him, hear his voice, feel his touch holding me back.  I would never have
gotten this far otherwise.

The next thing I knew I could not see straight and was overcome
with an extreme fatigue.  I could not keep my eyes open, every part of my body
was suddenly so heavy, I felt I would fall over any moment.  And then I did. 

And that was the last thing I remembered.

W
hen I awoke, my head was so woozy that I could not
focus at first.  I was not at the train depot anymore, that much I knew.  I was
lying in a bed. 
My
bed, perhaps?  Was I back at Lucius’s chateau? 
Furthermore, all of my garments had been removed. 

Well, I certainly hope I am not at a stranger’s house in
this state!

Straining to fully regain my consciousness, I shook my head,
blinking my eyes several times.  The room about me came into hazy focus, but it
was enough to see that I was indeed back at Lucius’s.

Enraged, I attempted to leap out of bed, only to find my
legs seemed to still be incapacitated.

What is this he has done to me?

Screaming out in vexation, I threw myself back onto the bed.

Not a second later, the door to my chamber opened and Lucius
was standing in the entrance.

“May I come in?” he asked cordially.

“No, you may not!” I yelled at him, turning away and
clutching the covers to me, curling up into a fetal position.

Ignoring my childish response, he ambled into my chamber.  Reaching
my bedside, he sat down beside me.

“How did I get back here?  What have you done to me,
Lucius?” I demanded.

Smiling at me, he replied, “I immobilized you.  Vampire
gift…” I swore I detected a slight chuckle.  “I do apologize, Gretchen, but you
left me no choice.  I had to get you where you would hear me out.”

Still lightheaded from his little stunt, I just gaped at him
in disbelief.  

As though it would smooth things over, Lucius added, “Not to
worry, there are no lasting effects.  See, it is already wearing off.”

Finally I said, “Alright then.  You have me where you want
me, now let’s talk.”

“What do you need to know?”

Insane with jealousy, I tore at him.  “What do I need to
know, Lucius?  Well, for starters, I need to know why you leave me very few
days to go to see another woman.”  

A bit stunned at my lashing out, Lucius’s face wrinkled in thought.

Then smoothing out his face, he stated simply, “I go to see Anaïs
routinely because she is able to give me something which no one else can.”

Seething at the mention of her name, I glowered at him.  “Oh,
her name is
Anaïs
… isn’t that lovely!” I mocked.  “She gives you what no
one else can… So she is your lover?”

“She
was
, on occasion… until I found you.”

I gaped again at his admitting blatantly to such a thing.  I
wanted so badly to throw something at him.  But I did not yet have the
strength.

“That is beside the point!” Lucius continued, becoming short
with me.  “I do not go to see her for
that
.”

His nonchalance regarding the matter elicited me to grimace. 
I was rapidly becoming exasperated with the seeming pointlessness of this
conversation.  I had made my choice.  Why could he not have just respected that
and left me alone?

“I promise you, Gretchen, I have not touched Anaïs— in
that
way— since you.  It was only ever sex between us.  Nothing else!  I never had
the feelings for her that I have for you.  I have never had these feelings for
anyone
else.”

I always believed that his eyes were so evocative that they
would tell me anything I needed to know.  Gazing deep into his eyes now, I determined
that he was absolutely sincere.

“Besides, it is not as though you have not had sex with
others since me.  Many more, in fact.”

“Yes, but that was different, it was my
job
.  And
believe me when I tell you that you were the one I was always thinking of, from
the very first time I saw you, you were the only one ever in my head.  It got
to the point that I could not even climax unless I was focusing on
you
!”
I confessed. “Now I have left there, left everything I have known to be with
you.  If you expect me to remain, then you must promise me that you will never
see
Anaïs
again.” I gave my ultimatum.

 “I am sorry, Gretchen, but I cannot do that,” Lucius
apologized.

“You
cannot
do that… or
will
not?” I
demanded.  “You do have a choice!”

“Not if I want to be able to keep making love to you, I do
not.

“What the hell do you mean, Lucius?  You cannot make love to
me unless you go see
her
first?  Is that the only way you can become
aroused enough to have someone like me?”

“No, Gretchen, you are being ludicrous,” he said,
maintaining his composure under my harsh allegations.  “You should know better
than that, know how much you arouse me.  You remember when you questioned me
regarding my ability to function as a human man rather than suffering the
consequences of the curse of a male Vampire?”

“Yes,” I replied tentatively.

“Well, Anaïs is the secret source to which I alluded.”

“
She
is?” I repeated incredulously.  “How?”

“It is her blood.  Many years ago, she swore me to oath that
I would never reveal it to anyone else,” he answered.  “But I can tell you this
much… she is not human.”

“Is she Vampire then?” I asked, my curiosity aroused.

“No, Anais is
definitely
not Vampire, though she is
an immortal.  She was
born
immortal however, not merely became so as I
have and is capable of far greater powers than any Vampire. 

I was silent a long moment while I processed this
information.  Finally, opening my mouth to probe him further, Lucius
interrupted before I could say anything.

“That is all I can tell you, Gretchen.  Please do not interrogate
me any further.  I have already said more than I should.  Anaïs has her ways of
knowing.  You are just going to have to trust me.”

“Well, how am I ever supposed to compete with that?” I queried,
feeling more plainly human than ever.  “She is gorgeous and immortal and she
can give you something which I cannot.”

“You are
not
supposed to,” he responded, appearing
vexed, something which I was not accustomed to seeing with him.  “You do not
have to.  And you
have
given me something which no one else can or ever
has, Gretchen.  Can you not see that I brought you here because I love you and
I want to be with you?  If I wanted to be with her, I would be… Lord knows she
has suggested it.  But I am not and never have been.  You are the only woman I
have
ever
chosen to live with me.”

“
Ever
?  I find that hard to believe that you have
never lived with another woman in your five hundred years.”

“Why?” he said, his tone elevating.  “Why must you question
everything I say to you?  Why will you not simply believe me?  Believe that I
love you and I would do anything for you.  If you do not want me to see her
again, then I will not.  But, you
must
understand the consequences.  I
will no longer be able to make love to you as I have.  But if that is what you
want, then I will abide by your decision.”