Master for Tonight (27 page)

He stripped himself of the barriers to
touching her skin to skin, and grabbed the collar of her pajama
top, ripping it down the center, baring her breasts. Standing, he
pulled her shorts and panties down her legs. Her head lolled to the
side as he pulled her to the edge of the bed. He held her bottom in
his hands and eased his pulsing cock into her. The air between them
charged and Kate’s eyes snapped open. She watched his hips rocking
against her as sparks popped, and her blood rushed through her
veins, a rolling thunder of waves crashing in her ears. She saw him
through a diaphanous fog. His fangs glinting in the light mimicked
by the demon’s fangs on his pendant.

She pushed herself on her arms, reaching.
Her hands slapped his shoulders and face as she desperately tried
to grasp him and pull herself up. He dipped at his waist, avoiding
her flailing limbs, and gathered her up unto him. His forearms
framed her spine and his fingers went into her hair at her skull,
supporting her in his strength. She looped her arms around his
neck.

Their eyes connected and neither spoke at
the coupling. Each recognizing the sanctity of the moment. Words
were inadequate to express it.

Kate ran her fingers over his lips, watching
as they travelled across them. She opened his mouth and pressed her
index fingers against his fangs until large beads of blood
surfaced.

She put her fingers on his tongue and he
closed his eyes, tasting her as his hips stilled. His tongue sucked
her fingers roughly, drawing them deeper into his mouth and moaning
at the offering of herself to him.

She slipped her fingers away and bent her
neck to her right, pressing her hand to the back of his head until
the tips of his danger grazed against her vein.

His apprehensive eyes found hers, and she
tapped his chest once with her fingertips.

He licked the spot on her neck as his arms
encircled her tighter. He set them in the bedside chair. He drew
her flesh into his mouth, tonguing the rope of her vein. She
circled her hips with a pleading moan and pushed closer to his
mouth.

The twin points punctured through her skin,
and he drew in her lifeblood, holding her head at the angle she
offered. She clutched him inside her, whimpering at the feel of his
hardness inside her neck and pussy. His tongue pressed between her
skin and his fangs in a soft seduction, chasing the small drops of
her blood that escaped the perforations, catching them, licking
them up as quickly as they trickled out.

The slow and steady thump of her heart
bounced against his chest as she gave him her very life, the
recognition of it sobering his inebriation. He stretched his legs
out to rest on the bedrails, pulling away and out of her. After
sealing the wounds, he laid her on top of his legs. Her legs were
splayed at his mid-thigh, the pink between them peeking out, her
head at his ankles, pressing slow kisses to his foot. Her breasts
rose and fell with each breath.

Julian gazed down at her, seeing the
vulnerability and frailty in her nakedness. His blood would only
strengthen her so much. The effects would wear off after a few
days, and he would have her drink again. She would do this until
she allowed herself to be changed. He was not taking any
chances.

Julian put his arms under her, lifting her
back to his chest, holding her close.

“What’s happening, baby?” She looked at him
dazed.

“Nothing.”

“Something with us?”

“No.” He gripped her scalp almost painfully
and made her look at him. “We are never ending. Never. Do you
understand what I am saying to you?” He loosened his grip slightly.
“Tell me you understand me.”

“I do.”

“Now that you’ve taken my blood, I’m going
to be hunting Evangeline nightly until she’s found and destroyed.
Reese needs my help. Evangeline is a crafty woman, but she won’t
have a chance against both of us.”

He reached behind his neck, removed his
pendant, and placed it in her hand.

“I want you to have this.”

“Why?” She looked down at it and back up at
him. “I’ve never seen you take this off before. What does this
mean?” A tremble passed through her body at the implication.

“I wear this necklace. Yeah? It’s a bit of
an inside joke. This is a representation of evil. You see, vampires
have been thought of as demons throughout the ages. I know that’s
not what I am. Still, I thought it was amusing to wear on the
outside, what people would see if they knew the truth—that I’m a
vampire.”

“You’re not a demon.” Her voice shook as she
looked into his eyes. “You’re not.”

“I want you to wear it.” He secured it
around her neck, yanking on it once to make sure it wouldn’t come
loose. “I want you to wear this, because it means something to me.
That’s all. Not because I think something is going to happen. It
just means you’re in on the joke now. Very few people know your man
is a ‘demon.’” He made quotes in the air with his fingers. “I want
you to wear this until you agree to a more permanent connection
with me.”

Kate looked away, and he tipped her chin
back to face him.

“What are you thinking, beauty?”

“I’m thinking you want to own me.” She
tugged at the necklace, and he chuckled, recognizing his nervous
habit she had picked up.

“Then I’ve been as clear as I’ve meant to
be. I do want to own you,” he replied, and she pursed her lips at
him. “Not as a piece of property. You know this. I want us to own
each other as man and wife. I can enter a church, you know. We can
be married properly.”

Kate sputtered her response. “Are you
proposing to me? I’m naked!” She looked down at both of them.
“We’re both naked! You can’t be proposing to me like this.”

He laughed and pulled her against his chest.
He took the band out of her hair, and it cascaded down her
back.

“Beautiful girl, no, I’m not proposing to
you. I know you’re not ready, but I want you to know the direction
my mind is set.” He took her left hand in his, ringing her fourth
finger with his pinky. “I will stake my claim here in diamonds or
whichever jewels you prefer. Emeralds, perhaps, to match your eyes?
You should see them now and how they glow.”

“Glow?”

She got up and went into the bathroom to
stand in front of the mirror. Leaning over the sink, she stared at
her reflection. Her eyes shone back at her brighter and greener
than before she had taken his blood. Instead of the color of grass,
they were as Julian had said, like emeralds.

She reached out, touching her image on the
face. The skin of the woman looking back at her was tighter, and
the slight beginnings of crow’s feet no longer needed various
creams and tonics she had purchased to fight them. They were
gone.

She ran past a smiling Julian, to her
closet, opening the door to view herself in the full-length mirror.
She took her breasts in her hands, amazed at their firmness.

“My tits feel like they did when I was in my
early twenties,” she mumbled before turning her back to the mirror
and craning her neck to look at her behind. She smacked it with her
hand, and instead of jiggling freely, it held tight. “Wow.”

The word was inadequate, but the only one
which came to mind.

“I’m good for you. See?”

Julian watched her from the chair as she
inspected her body. To him, she was just as beautiful as she was
before, not more, but her reaction was what mattered. He knew she
wasn’t vain enough to agree to become a vampire based on her looks
alone, but surely, it couldn’t hurt. He’d take whatever he could to
support his goal.

“Yes, you do my body good, baby,” she
answered, still running her hands over her skin.

“Are you sure this will keep all the light
out?” Kate asked as she handed Julian another nail.

“Are you sure you want your walls damaged
like this?” The nail went into the stud with one tap of the
hammer.

“I don’t care about the house, baby. I just
want us to be comfortable and safe,” she replied, looking around
the room. “Just one more window to finish after this one.”

“In answer to your question, yes. Sealing
from both the outside and inside, with these wood panels and
darkening film in between, should do the trick. Good idea you had,
using closed shutters for the exterior.”

“Yeah, not as conspicuous. Don’t want people
asking questions.” Kate looked at Julian with concern. “Maybe we
should move.”

“Only if that’s what you really want. With
these fixes, I’ll be fine, and I know you don’t want to live in a
bunker.”

“I still want to have them sealed
professionally.”

A screech sounded outside the house, and
Julian flew to the open window.

“Get dressed!” Julian yelled as he threw a
shirt on. “Evangeline is outside!”

“Are you ready to die, Kate?” Evangeline’s
sing-song voice called out. “Die, die, die!”

“Oh, my God!” Kate scrambled out of bed,
grabbed her phone and made a call.

“What are you doing?”

“Calling Reese!”

“Good.” Julian watched Evangeline as she ran
across the lawn in zig-zags.

“No answer!”

Julian walked to Kate and took her by the
shoulders.

“We’re going to do this ourselves. I’m tired
of her antics. They end tonight.”

“What do we do, then?”

The doorbell started ringing
incessantly.

“You answer the door.”

Kate rubbed her hands against her jeans.
Julian had assured her his scheme would work, and she had agreed to
the plan.

She stepped to the door and looked through
the peephole. Evangeline stood on the other side. Her arms were
outstretched to either side of the door and Kate could hear her
tapping her heel on the porch. Her mind returned to the booted heel
which had gone through her palm. Looking into the hand, which was
scar free, she gave thanks for Julian’s healing blood.

Kate reached for the doorknob, hands
quivering and moist. Taking the knob into both of them, she turned
it slowly to the left as her heart pounded hard and fast.

“Open the door, or I’ll bust it down,
bitch.” Evangeline’s voice washed over her through the crevices of
the door, and Kate backed away.

“Let her bust it down, then,” Julian
whispered in her ear, and walked away.

The entire house shook as Evangeline smashed
against the door and Kate skittered back. At the second blow, the
mahogany wood splintered down the center and crashed to the floor
inside the house. Kate backed away to the staircase and held the
banister to keep standing. Her eyes trained to the floor in front
of her, resisting any and all temptation to look into the
murderess’s eyes.

Evangeline threw herself at the opening,
screaming when she was repelled and flew into the yard. Picking
herself up, she gave a warrior’s cry, running full force at the
doorway. Kate screamed and put her hands over her ears. Evangeline
hit the space in the doorway and was momentarily held there, as the
field shielding Kate bowed in slowly and bounced back with such
force, the air snapped in thunder. Her body crashed against the
cement fountain, toppling and cracking it into pieces.

“Come out and face me!” Evangeline screamed,
getting up off the lawn again.

“Evangeline.” Julian approached her at a
leisurely pace from the back of the house.

“You come to face me, Julian?” Evangeline
jumped from the cement, to standing. “You mean to destroy me? Is
that it, lover?”

“I am not your lover. You know this. I
belong to Kate. You know this, as well.”

“But why?” Her eyes began to turn a glassy
red. “I’m sorry for what I did to you. I’m sorry for what I did to
those women. If I could take it back, I would. I went crazy when
you left me.”

“Come with me.” Julian held out his
hand.

She took it, and he walked to the doorway of
the house, releasing it when he walked through to stand beside
Kate.

“Look at us, Evangeline. If you try to
influence her, your head will be off your shoulders in a mere
moment.”

“What are you doing?” Kate whispered to him,
looking at the woman on the other side of the door. Blood ran out
of Evangeline’s eyes as she gazed at them, standing together.

“Giving her a chance to save herself.”

“What?” Kate exclaimed. “She tried to kill
me!” She threw her arm out, pointing at Evangeline. “She killed so
many women and destroyed so many lives! You can’t be serious!”

“Look who’s the bloodthirsty bitch now!”
Evangeline spat at her. “None of this would have happened if you
had just died.”

Kate tugged at the pendant around her neck,
and Evangeline’s attention was drawn to the movement.

“You gave her your necklace?” Evangeline
seethed before lighting the fires of her eyes and directing them
towards Kate. Julian bellowed his anger, and she spun from the
door, running at preternatural speed to escape him.

Instantly, Julian chased after her, catching
her by the cuff of her collar and taking her to the ground. They
rolled on the grass, coming to a stop by the destroyed fountain.
Small shards of cement cut through Evangeline’s coat as she fought
to free herself.

Julian held her by the throat as he sat on
her.

“You thought to murder her in front of me.
Didn’t you?” He squeezed her larynx in both of his hands, knowing
it wouldn’t kill her, but he had fantasized about strangling her so
many times. He reveled in the feel of her under him, finally at his
mercy as he squeezed and released, watching her eyes bulge.

She grabbed at the hands around her neck,
scratching and flailing as she ripped his skin open with her nails.
His blood slowly seeped through the cuts, causing his hold to slip.
She put her hands between his forearms and pushed with all her
might. His hands flew apart, and she hit his chest on his sternum,
pushing him off of her.