I walked down the hallway after leaving Ms. Johnston’s room, thinking about what she had told me, as shock and disbelief filled my body. I just couldn’t bring myself to think that a vampire I had an affair with was responsible for my husband’s death. Could Lance have killed Steven to get to me? I suddenly remembered what he had said: that he didn’t want to share. I shuttered at the thought as tears came to my eyes. If this was true, then I was indirectly responsible for my husband’s … and his mistress’ … deaths. I quickly pushed the thought aside, unable to accept it. It was just too much. I couldn’t let my mind go down that slippery slope. If I did, my heart would go so far into a pit that I feared it would never recover.
Suddenly, I felt sick to my stomach at the thought. I covered my mouth quickly and ran to the bathroom, then threw up everything that was in my stomach into the toilet.
No, I refused to believe
“Leila, you don’t know that it was him,” she said in a low voice, sympathetically patting my arm. “It was just an unfortunate accident …”“But what if it was him?” I asked, cutting her off. “What if he caused the accident to get to me? To get rid of Steven? I don’t know if I could live with …”“Now, stop,” she said, forcing me to look into her eyes. “Stop that kind of talk right now! You’re sounding like a crazy person! You don’t know that was what happened. Here. Take a drink.” She pushed my coffee cup closer to me. “You just can’t think like that. How do you know that it was him? How do you know that it was intentional? The chances of him doing this on purpose …”“Rosa, he was looking directly at Steven’s car …”“That still doesn’t prove anything,” she interrupted. “A man
I finished my shift, despite the protestations of Leo and Rosa to go home, and I didn’t see Lance for the rest of the day. I wondered what Rosa had inadvertently done. I remembered the look of hurt and anger in Lance’s eyes as he walked away, and the most prominent of his emotions was the latter. You don’t upset a vampire and live to tell about it.“Are you sure that you’re going to be all right?” Rosa asked, pulling me in for a quick hug, something that she usually didn’t do at work.“Yeah, Rosa, I’ll be fine,” I said, smiling, then added, “Stop being such a mother hen!”“When you grow up, then I’ll stop mothering you,” she teased, patting my shoulder. “If you need anything, I’m just a phone call away.”“I’ll be fine, but thanks, Rosa,” I said appreciatively.“Don’t mention it,” she said.“Hey
He watched me, waiting to see what I was going to do, I guessed, but I didn’t pay attention. I walked in the darkness to the edge of the dam, lit up with white lights. It was truly a beautiful sight. Lance walked over and stood slightly behind me.“What was that all about at the hospital today?” Lance asked calmly, taking in the view.“Rosa thinks that you need to stop stalking me at work,” I said flatly.“What do you think?”“I just need for you to answer one question,” I said without looking behind me.“What is it?” he asked in a low voice, stepping closer.I turned around to look directly into his eyes. “Did you kill my husband?”Every emotion flitted quickly across his face from hurt, to anger, to disbelief. He swiftly composed his features, and then asked, “Why did you ask that?” There was hurt and anger prevalent in his voice.I took
“Who was he before he became a vampire?” I asked, not sure why.“I think he should be the one to tell you his story. After all, it’s not mine to tell,” she said, watching the castle.I nodded, and then smiled without humor as I shook my head in disbelief. “I’m sure that he wants nothing to do with me after tonight.”“What happened?” Charlotte asked, turning her eyes toward mine.I took a deep breath. “I accused him of killing my husband.”“What?” she asked, confused. “What evidence do you have?”I looked at Charlotte, wondering how much to tell her, not wanting to put Ms. Johnston in danger. After a moment, I relented and told her the story, but left her name out of it. Actually, it felt good to talk about it.“And you immediately thought of Lance?” she asked, her eyes giving nothing away.“Well, she described him t
I countered, taking a step toward the front of the car. He took another step around the car, away from the back door leading to the kitchen, just as I had hoped. “Oh? Have we met?” I asked, trying to sound casual.The man smiled, taking another step toward me as I stepped away. He seemed to be enjoying this game of cat and mouse. “A few weeks ago … in the castle … do you not remember?” he asked, clearly amused.Then, the realization of what he was set in: he was a vampire. Suddenly, a million ways to kill him ran through my mind … a stake through the heart … decapitation … silver … no, that was werewolves … or was it vampires? “Oh, I remember you!” I lied, trying to distract him, sounding matter of fact. “Well, of course you know I’m with Lance.”He shook his head. “I don’t think so,” he said, taking another step closer to me. “You were
“You need to lie down,” Lance said, eying my pale features then walked back into the kitchen.I shook my head. “No, I’m fine,” I replied, then walked over to the kitchen counter. “Sorry. I usually have a stronger stomach than this.”Lance laughed. “You just killed a vampire. You’re probably in shock.” He pulled out a chair and forced me to take a seat. Then, he opened a few cabinet doors and pulled the coffee jar and filters from a shelf, then rinsed out the coffee pot and filled it with water. Surprisingly, he knew his way around my kitchen very well.“Who was that and why was he here?” I asked, taking a deep breath, trying to steady myself as another wave of cold sweats washed over me. Lance was probably right. I was probably going into shock. I concentrated on steadying my breathing.“He was one of my men,” he said through gritted teeth, pouring the water into the coffe
Lance never made a move to seduce me while I sat on his lap and he rocked me back and forth in his arms, stroking my hair, and rubbing down my arms and my back. Suddenly, I could smell the blood pulsing beneath his skin. My breath quickened and my lips started exploring his neck. His scent was just too much to resist. “You smell so good …”“You’re craving blood,” Lance said, then bit into his wrist. A moment later, crimson blood was running down his arm.Without thinking, I took his wrist into my hands and licked the blood before it dripped onto the table, not wanting to waste a drop. Then, I covered the wound with my lips and drank, sucking the blood from his wrist, moaning in pleasure, as he cradled me to his chest. When I’d had my fill, I pulled back and the wound quickly healed.“Leila, are you sure you want this?” he asked. His pulse quickened, pushing the blood through his veins. “Are you sure yo
We made love into the night, repeating our words of love for each other over and again, truly making love to each other, until the rays of early morning sunlight came streaming in through the window. I quickly rose from the bed and pulled the shades, blocking out the light.“You’ll have to stay here for the day,” I said, crossing the room to the other window. I quickly snapped the shade shut. “It’ll be daylight soon and you don’t want to be caught outside.”“Stay with me all day,” he cooed against my skin as he wrapped his arms tightly around my body.Before I could answer, his lips found mine, cutting off any protests. Then, he pulled me into his arms and sank his fangs into my neck as my crimson, life-giving blood flowed into his mouth and my breathing quickened.When he pulled back, I said, “Feed me. I want to taste your blood again.”He leaned back onto the bed, leaned his head b