Chapter 5 : In the Clutches of an Angry Vampire

"Care to explain why you were walking around at night, little human?" a deep male voice questioned.

That amber stare was fixed on me, but I could no longer think. Expecting to die, I tugged my arm, falling to the ground and whimpering pathetically. I hated my reaction, but I couldn't die yet! I needed to save Lucy! His grip was tight, unbreakable, despite how damn hard I was working to free myself.

"Let me go," I said, my voice laced with fear.

I couldn't see a thing, just swirling shadows and unclear objects. After a pause, the male vampire dragged me deeper into the room, and I heard a 'click!'. The light was now on, and I could see his features clearly. He wore a scowl, looking at me as if disgusted. He leaned into my face, baring his fangs and giving a low growl from the pit of his chest.

"No. What are you doing breaking the rules? Lorelei, is it? You know it is dangerous at night. Vampires have less control and more power during the night hours. If someone spots you walking around, they may try to hunt you. You were explicitly given the rules, and yet here you are. Care to explain?" he asked, his intimidating tactic not working on me.

I was too far out of it right now, fear coursing through my veins.

His hard stare reflected intense hunger. I noticed his lip twitch slightly as he kept his fangs bared in my face. After a moment, he opened his jaws slightly and drew his tongue over his lips as if preparing to bite me.

His eyes fell on my neck, however, noting the bite there. He then blinked, shaking his head as if he was angry at himself. Then, he returned his glare to me, waiting for an answer that I wasn't about to give. I merely continued to tug, resisting him.

At the moment, he was shirtless, his chiseled muscles rippling as he worked against me with ease. Vampires, like in the myth, were much stronger and faster than humans. They also had expanded senses, which reminded me.

My eyes widened as he studied me closely, tilting his head. A strand of his ebon hair fell into his face as he flared his nostrils, inhaling slowly and trying to take my scent in. The scent that wasn't currently there due to the salve, of course. It would be completely obvious I'd been trying to hide, and this was intentional.

I very quickly tried to save face. "Alexander, is it? Uh, I got hungry, I just wanted to get some food!" I said. "I didn't know it was that bad, I thought it'd be fine a-and that the rules weren't that serious! No one was taking them to heart, uh, I think I heard someone mention it'd be fine!"

"Sure you heard them say that. You are lying through your teeth. You masked your scent for some reason, too. What, are you about to tell me you did so because you're absolutely terrified of the residents? Why were you peeking into the beds, then? You can request to be taken by using the chatroom. Food, you can order room service. Don't play stupid, I've done research on you and know you will be in the medical field. That does not automatically mean you are absolutely brilliant, but I don't trust someone that gets that far in life to be that oblivious," Alexander said, shaking his head.

I was getting somewhat distracted by his scent. It was a mixture of musk and pine, an expensive cologne blended just right. At the worst of times, the wetness between my legs increased.

Why was I thinking about sex at a time like this?

Here was an angry vampire, calling me out for my lies, probably about to break the mansion's rules and end me. He could technically get away with telling people I was caught out, and given he was a resident here, people had no reason to question him. Not to mention, they wouldn't be wrong.

At that point, aside from feeling flustered and turned on, I was shutting down. The fear had me shaking, and my stomach was clenching with complete anxiety.

"I'm sorry," I said, shaking my head. "Please let me go. I'm sorry. Really."

I felt his grip tighten on my wrist, and suddenly was flying through the air. I landed on a very cushy bed with an 'oof!' and seconds later pounced on by the vampire.

His clawed hands were on either side of my shoulders as he leaned into my face, our noses brushing. I whimpered, widening my eyes. Was he going to take me here and now? He made no sign of undressing further.

Rather he kept his stare on me as he muttered, "That was not an answer. You have yet to explain anything, human. Do you know what my kind could do to yours, hm? You see us as celebrities, dazzling creatures of the night. These theatrics should not occur, because as soon as your people realize what monsters we really are, you will run screaming or try to hunt us down. We don't sparkle in the sun, we aren't little bats looking for love."

I nodded in understanding, hot wet tears trickling down my cheeks. My heart was pounding, probably something he could hear even through the spell salve now. It worked to a degree, but for this? Not at all.

Frustration flashed in his eyes as he flared his nostrils, no doubt unable to scent anything. Well, not anything blood-wise, anyway. The wetness between my thighs was still present and ever on the increase.

"This turns you on?" he muttered softly, as if in surprise. Did his cheeks tinge red slightly, there?

He inhaled softly, then regarded me again, staring down at me. "Nevermind that. You need to know my kind has instincts. In the past, we ripped the throats out of our prey like wolves to rabbits. Your people are our prey. We grew tired of hiding, yes. But that doesn't mean all of these games are good for our species. It leads to things like this. You breaking the rules and putting yourself in danger. Because while I may not rip your throat out here for breaking the rules, some may be looking for an excuse to do just that. Do you think our claws and teeth are just for show?"

"N-no," I whimpered, then added, "I am sorry."

He clenched his jaw and stared down at me, likely growing more and more annoyed with my reactions. What did he mean by dangerous people here? The mansion was always shrouded in mystery as the place to be for those who followed luxury things.

Vampires were worshipped as celebrities, sexy monsters of the night with the highest sex appeal there was. That said, they were under close watch, right? People would know if there were truly dangerous people here?

But then again, Alexander had a point with his claws and teeth. When it came down to it, vampires were a predatory species that hunted humans like me. There would logically be malicious ones here as well. What did that make him?

I stared into his amber eyes, then looked toward his lips, wondering what a kiss would feel like.

Seeing all of those scenes of indulgence was really getting to my head. This guy was holding me down, possibly contemplating just ending me to make things easier, and I was swooning like a lovesick fool, wanting him to take me.

That probably wasn't going to happen. The more likely scenario was that he'd be annoyed enough to just go through with ending me like I thought he planned on doing from the start.

That's because he bared his fangs and leaned down, putting his teeth against my throat, quite like someone holding a knife to it. "Your rare salve protects your scent from me, meaning I am not inclined to listen to my instincts right now, much as it would make sense to do so," he said.

Then, he paused. "Aside from your intimate fluids. That scent is getting stronger."

Somehow, my face reddened even further, and I tried to wiggle away from him. I felt his fangs scrape my skin, but not shed blood, as he spoke with his jaws against my throat. Eventually, he leaned away and rolled off me, letting out a low grumble. He brushed himself off, his black hair spilling down his back as he faced away from me.

I took this opportunity to calm down and close my eyes, reaching up to rub at my temples. This room was full of deep blacks and blues, like the midnight sky. His bed was expansive and comfortable as I lay there and stared up at the ceiling.

This one wasn't a canopy, though he had a chandelier. It was decorated with deep blue crystals, which added a dash of said color to the room along with white light. I turned my head, studying the nightstand. A lamp sat there with carved shark designs upon it. The general scent of the room reminded me of a pine forest near the ocean. The vibe was as though I was looking out toward waves as the clock struck midnight.

It would be calming if the shark himself wasn't stalking the waters here. Speaking of which, I sat up and looked at Alexander, who was running his brush through his hair. He turned his head, glaring at me from the corner of his eye. "Did I get my point across, or are you going to sneak out again?" he asked.

I gulped and replied, "I'm sorry for breaking the rules. I understand, you got your point across."

I worded that incredibly carefully, to the point where he turned around and fixed me in that strong glare of his. That expression was one of disbelief. His brow was furrowed, and his eyes slowly began to narrow.

"You never answered whether or not you would sneak out again. Better hope it's me who catches you next time as opposed to Remus or Misty. Either would love an excuse to drink a human entirely. Probably for their cultish ritual or something," he muttered.

He placed a hand over his face, dragging it down slowly, and looked at me again. "Are you good to go back to your room now?"

"Cult?" I whispered, having not been aware of that here.

"Oh, now you want me to answer questions when you have yet to answer one of mine? No, come on. We're going back to your room," Alexander growled. In the next instant, I was in his arms, bridal style, staring at the door. I gasped at his speed, squirming in his arms. "Oh, calm down, I will not be biting you, trust me."

The door opened, and in under a minute, we had gone through the mansion once again and were in my room. Taken aback by his speed, I wobbled when put down, my legs giving out as I sat there on the floor and stared up at him.

Alexander gave me a withering look, picked me up, and gently placed me on my bed. "Stay," he muttered.

He turned toward the exit of my room, stopping there as another shadow appeared on the other side. I heard a familiar voice - the vampire who'd taken me the first night here

He said, "Alexander, getting some? I could have sworn I saw you carrying her back to her room… You know you can fuck in here, right?"

Was Alexander going to rat me out?! Oh no… I put my hand over my heart, adrenaline spiking within me.

Alexander replied, "You saw wrong. I came here to check on her. This place is a lot, and we wouldn't want humans complaining about treatment here." He paused. "I would leave her alone for the night, she really isn't in the right mindset for sex."

The other vampire said, "Noted. Well, time to go hunt down Misty then, she lets me bite her double time." With that, he was gone, leaving just Alexander there.

He turned to glare at me, made an 'I'm watching you' gesture, and then darted out of the room, closing the door behind him.

He'd just stood up for how I was feeling…