Bitten By The Bad Boy: A Bad Boy Vampire Romance (16 page)

Michael picked her up himself, this time without any trace of security behind him. “You look beautiful,” he said when she came to the door. She had decided on a red dress, shoulder-less with a sweetheart neckline, with a skirt that flowed down to her ankles. The charity’s signature color was red, and he had told her to choose something bold, after all. The shine in his eyes made all the squeezing, pinching, and cussing it had taken to pour herself into the dress feel worthwhile.

The event had a red carpet with paparazzi swarming around taking pictures of noteworthy people. Chloe felt like a fish out of water, but tried not to show it. She was relieved when they made it into the ballroom. The place was opulent, decorated with white flowers, crystals, and candles. It might as well have been for a wedding, it was that pretty. A band played on stage, and there were people up and swaying to the music. Michael kissed her cheek and offered to get them drinks. The moment he was gone, Chloe felt a hand grip her upper arm.

“Come with me,” Sharla said.

“You’re hurting me,” Chloe said.

Sharla ignored her. She pulled Chloe down the hallway and into a small room. Once she had a chance to look around, she realized they were standing in a pantry behind the kitchen. Under any other conditions she would have complimented Sharla on her dress. It was a pale blue satin, draping down her body like the flowing gown of a Greek goddess. All Chloe could do was fight the urge to punch the woman.

“Look, I’m going to tell you this once,” Sharla snarled. “If you know what’s good for you, leave tonight and don’t come back.”

“What? Look, I know you don’t like me, and I have a pretty good idea why, but I haven’t done anything to you…”

“You’ve got that wrong, because if I really didn’t like you, there’d be no need for this conversation,” she snapped. “I’m not sure exactly what’s going on, but I can tell you don’t have a very good chance of staying in one piece if you stay in Michael’s company. It’s not that he doesn’t care for you. Just understand that women who hang around him wind up dead. I would know.”

Before she could ask what she was talking about, Sharla was gone. Chloe stepped out of the pantry and looked around. There was no trace of Sharla or which direction she went. Chloe found her way back through the shadows into the ballroom.

Looking around, she didn’t see Michael. She found her way back to her table, and decided that she would sit and wait. When Michael found her, he looked concerned.

“Where were you?” he bent into her ear and whispered. The music was loud.

“Um, went to the lady’s room and saw an acquaintance on the way back. I lost track of time.”

He smiled, but the look in his eyes let her know that he didn’t buy her explanation. She wasn’t sure why she should protect Sharla, but she had the feeling this wasn’t the time to tell him about what she’d just done.

“Let’s dance,” he said, taking her hand.

Once she was in Michael’s arms, Chloe tried to forget everything else. With the music, and so many people flowing around them, it was easy to hold onto him and close her eyes. She asked him where he learned to dance, and he replied that he’s learned back in the said when these dances weren’t so old yet. Such a strange answer. But then she knew him to be a patently strange man.

Chloe felt her heart skip when he suggested that they leave at the end of the evening. Michael drove quickly through traffic, bringing them back to the building. He was taking her to the penthouse. Once inside, he built a fire in in the grate. While he did that, Chloe stood at the window, looking out at the lights of the city. This was the point where things would change. When he came to put his arms around her, she sighed, enjoying the comfort of his nearness. He kissed her cheek, her lips. With her chest pressed against his, she shivered as his fingers traced the contour of her neck.

“I promised that I would tell you everything,” he whispered.

“Did you change your mind?” she asked. “Maybe we can just skip to the fun part?” Her fingers strayed to his hair. Since she met him she wanted to run her hands through those locks. His wavy hair was luxuriously soft.

“I wish,” he said. “Come sit with me.”

They sat down together, on the bear rug in front of the fireplace.

“It’s not so easy to be with me,” he began.

“Who is?”

“Chloe. Let me tell you. It’s not easy to say. I’m going to do something. Just stay still.”

“What?”

He turned away for a moment, looking into the fire. When he turned back, his blue eyes were lit with a preternatural shine. Parting his lips slowly, he showed her his fangs. And then, with a shake of his head, both were gone. For Chloe, it all felt like it was happening in slow motion. Jumping backwards, she pulled herself up unto the couch, legs up, arms at either side. “You… you’re a vampire!”

“I didn’t want to frighten you. But if I had only told you, you’d have thought I was insane.”

He reached for her hand and coaxed her to sit back down next to him.

“I don’t understand,” she said. “I’ve seen you walk around in the daytime. And eat. And drink wine. Not that you’re supposed to exist anyway!”

“Actually, he said. That’s somewhat true. My kind were never meant to exist, but yet, here we are.”

“Okay, so that means Sharla is too, doesn’t it?” she said.

“Well, if you must know, yes.”

“I
knew
it.”

“To answer your other question,” he continued. “Some years ago, I read about a scientist who was doing ground-breaking work with blood cells. He’d already done amazing things with stem cell research, and I was curious about what else he could do. You may have heard of him.”

“Dr. Emerson?”

“Yes. I basically kidnapped the man to get an audience with him. I wanted to see if it were possible to change the cells of vampires. Most of the things you have heard are true: we can’t go out in daylight, eat, and make love. I asked Emerson to work on a serum that would allow for regular blood flow, the ability to eat, and to walk in sunshine. This is how I’m able to do such things. I take the serum. So does Sharla. Emerson has two other vampires he gives the medications to. There are few side effects now. But to begin with, they were horrible, and I was his first guinea pig. And there were human trials. All illegal. Despite the suffering for all involved, that was how we developed more than half of the advances the company created, which will go to helping humans.”

“Enough about that. Tell me about you,” Chloe said.

“I was made a long time ago.”

“How long is long? Before the Civil War?”

“Before that by a long shot.”

“1600s?” Chloe teased.

“1690.”

She sat, trying to absorb what he’d just told her. “Where?” she asked.

“Italy.”

“Do you still drink blood?” she asked.

“I desire it,” he said. “I can live without it, but from time to time, I crave it.”

She took in a deep breath. “This is why you say it’s hard to be with you.”

“Yes. Are you okay, honey?” he asked.

“Probably not.”

He got up and poured her a drink. Rum. Chloe swirled it in the glass, and then downed most of the liquor in one shot.

“Did you want to become vampire?”

“No. Almost no one wants this, I didn’t. That’s another long and sad story, but my maker has long been dead.”

“Is Sharla yours?”

“Yes. Though she is much younger than I am.”

“She’s still in love with you?”

He smiled. “No. She has love for me, as I do for her, but we’re not
in love
with each other,” he said. Michael caressed her face with is fingertips, the gentlest of touches. “We all have someone in our past that we have affection for. It’s nothing like how I feel for you.”

“Then… what happens between us?”

“You have a decision to make,” he said. “If you want to be with me, you can’t remain human. It would be too dangerous for you and me both. It would be too easy to hurt you without meaning to, and that’s something that I won’t allow. But you need time to think about it, and make sure that it’s something you really want.”

“What happened to the girl that used to work for you before me? Jennifer?”

“How do you know about her?”

“It doesn’t matter. You want me to trust you, so just tell me.”

“It was not my intention to hurt her,” he said quietly. “She found out my secret, and she was going to tell. I couldn’t let that happen.”

“You killed her.”

He nodded in agreement. “Ugly truth.”

“What happens if I decided not to be yours?” Chloe asked.

“You’d have to leave the company. I’d help you find work anywhere you wanted to go. I have faith that you would not reveal my secrets.”

“Why is that?” she asked.

“I couldn’t continue to see you every day, knowing what I missed out on. I need you too much for that, and I know that you feel something for me.”

Chloe nodded. “How would this work?”

“If I drink from you, just a taste,” he said. “It will make a bond between us. I can be with you. It will allow me to sate… some of my desires, enough to allow me to be gentle with you. That blood bond will last a little while, maybe a week, if I don’t drink from you again. You can think about what you want to do. I would not ask you to leave your life behind without time to consider the choice. Like human life, a vampire’s usually begins with desire and hunger, with no thought to consequence. That’s the way it’s always been.” His blue eyes sparkled, reflecting the firelight. He licked his lips. “I know what a serious thing it is, one I would not ask you to enter into without thinking about.”

Chloe thought of Sharla’s words to her earlier that night.
Just understand that women who hang around him wind up dead. I would know.

“Darling,” he said. “Let me be with you. And if you change your mind later, then at least we have this night.”

Chloe knew she should be frightened. She
was
frightened. But she kissed him anyway. When they parted, his fingertips went to her throat. With his fingertip, he traced her vein. She felt his skin resting lightly at the place where she felt the pulse. She wondered if he could hear that throbbing. Of course, he probably could. She tried to slow her breathing, but her heartbeat accelerated.

“Will it hurt?” she asked.

“It will,” he said. “Like a pinprick of pain.” He kissed her neck, following the trail his finger had made a moment before. When his lips parted he licked her. Chloe closed her eyes and tried to relax her body against him, though it took all her effort. “Chloe,” he whispered, lips against her flesh, the coolness of his canines touching her flesh. “Don’t fear me, I love you.”

She was aware that his hands moved, one to hold her the back of her head against his palm, the other to rest on the middle of her back, supporting her. A lick against her now heated flesh turned into gentle sucking, eliciting an animal grown from her throat. And then he bit her.

The pain brought tears to her eyes, deeper and longer than she expected. As her blood rushed up to her skin to meet his tongue, she felt something, a pull so strong it felt like being struck with lightening, her nerves and senses being heated from a fire within. The drink, as he called it, could only have been seconds, but for Chloe it was hours. She was caught in pleasure so deep that it involved every part of her being.

When he pulled away, she felt slightly dizzy. Michael pulled away from her, licking his lips. His eyes glossy, his cheeks filled with the most gorgeous blush.

“Ah. Sweet one,” he whispered, placing his hands on her shoulders. “Let me love you.”

She nodded yes. She reached back to unzip her dress as he started to discard his own clothes. Sitting there, with the softness of the rug beneath her, naked, she felt vulnerable and full beneath his stare, ready to partake in his passion. With some shock, she realized that she was no longer scared of him. There was no part of her that wasn’t ready to yield, to give herself fully and feel all the things that he could give her.

He smiled. Of course Michael knew her thoughts and feelings now. He could read her mind. There was another part of the mythology that was true.

My thoughts are with you now
, he told her.

With her face cupped in his hands, he poured a litany of thoughts into her. How he saw her, how he loved her. How there were days when his heart was filled with fear. So many things that she couldn’t even comprehend them all at one. But what surprised her was all the emotions she took in. His life was full of darkness and things that haunted him, but what he felt for her was full and light and gave her hope.

His kisses on her skin prickled her body with heat. He took his time exploring her with his tongue, soothing her with his caresses. It felt like she hardly had time to give him all the attention that she wanted to. Her hands strayed to his stomach, letting her fingers trace the dips and curves of each muscle, her body thrilling to each move. She kissed his lips, his chest, even as he teased her.

When she looked in his eyes she saw something that she could only define as joy. She felt it too. There was no need for reserve between them no, no more hiding. Only now, when the two of them were letting go, did she realize how hard it had been to hold her control when she was around him.