Pigalle Palace (5 page)

A
t eight o'clock each night, my family prepared the club to open for business at ten. Azura counted the money in the registers, Onyx pulled the barstools down from the bar counters, Legend made sure all the light bulbs were working properly, and I couldn't focus. There was only one person on my mind…
Essence
…

I needed to see if her transition was going okay. I trusted Colette to look after her, but she hadn't called me as I'd instructed. I was growing impatient. I needed to see Essence. I'd never craved to feel a woman so much.

Azura tried to read my dazed expression, but I blocked her out of my head.

“We need some more vodka over here before we open and you over there daydreaming. What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing,” I replied quickly.

Father and Mother walked through the front doors, locking them behind them.

“You just had to have her, didn't you?” Father stated with his nostrils flaring in anger.

I didn't respond.

“Rain, we always said you can have as many women as you desire in your bed, but why her?” Mother added with a hint of sadness and betrayal wrapped up in her voice.

Azura's, Onyx's, and Legend's ears perked up.

“What's going on?” Legend asked, moving his dreads over his shoulder.

“Nothing,” I answered.

Why didn't they trust me? My judgment should've been enough for them to trust me.

“Your mortal is going through the transition right now, as we speak. That's far from nothing,” Father responded.

“Tell me you didn't do that, Rain,” Azura said.

I stared at my family, feeling as if I didn't have to explain why I'd chosen Essence to be the one for me. I wanted to share love with someone special, and she was that someone I wanted. I didn't see why that had anything to do with them.

“I did, but trust me, she's perfect.”

Legend groaned.

Onyx looked worried as he said, “You could've discussed this with us before you went off and made that decision. Who is she?”

“Her name is Essence…”

“What do you know about this girl?” Mother questioned.

“She's a twenty-one-year-old student, studying here from San Francisco. As I said, she's perfect for me. I want to spend the rest of my life with her.”

“What if her family worries about her?”

“She doesn't have any family. She's an orphan that was raised by numerous foster families.”

“You have a purpose that even you don't fully understand yet,” Father yelled, slamming his fist on top of the bar and causing the top to slightly crack. “You can't just up and decide who you want to be your bride. Mortals have no understanding to this life. Do you think she will accept this and be in love with you?”

“There's no doubt in my mind.”

“How stupid can you really be? Sometimes, I wonder if you even understand what you were chosen to become, who you're destined to be. The Divination is not to be taken so lightly. All of you take it too lightly.”

“I'm beginning to think the Divination is a bunch of bullshit,” I said underneath my breath.

Father stared at me with such a fire in his eyes that they turned red. “Don't you dare say that again.”

“How many more years will it be before this great thing is supposed to happen to me? We've roamed this earth for far too many centuries. It's time for me to take matters into my own hands and live my life the way I want to.”

Before Father could act out violently, Mother interjected, “Love from a woman seems to be what you're missing. We shouldn't have to tell you whom to love. We aren't like other vampires. We have a mission to carry out. Though, we don't know when we will be able to, we still have to do things a certain way.”

“How long will it be?”

“I'm not sure… Look, all we ask is that you talk to us before doing what you did. Now, all we can do is sit back and see what side she'll join,” Mother said.

“Colette is making sure she chooses right.”

“Look how long it took Colette to realize which side is right. If this transition goes the wrong way, you can predict what's going to happen next. I think you should be there, at her side, to make sure. Don't leave your mess up to Colette. So, when this goes bad, you'll only have yourself to blame,” Father growled through gritted teeth.

“You think I should go to her?”

“You should go right now!” Father commanded.

W
hen I woke up, familiar honey-brown eyes were staring down at me. The memory of him came crashing down into my memory bank. He wasn't simply a dream. He was real. He was standing before me. I panicked, but found I couldn't move away from him. The man they called Rain was here. God, he was so gorgeous, all I could do was stare at his beautiful dark skin. As he bent down over me, I felt a blast of pure lust. My center was hot, wet, and ready for him to take me again.

“I thought you were a figment of my imagination,” I uttered, feeling my nipples become aroused without him even touching me. “Or simply a wonderful dream that I never want to wake up from.”

His voice was deep and sexy as he replied, “I'm real. I came to make sure you're okay. How are you feeling? What are your thoughts?”

“I'm okay... Did you give this necklace to me?”

He bent his head down, lowered his thick lips to touch my neck, and I felt him inhale me. “It's my gift to you. Do you like it?”

“It's very pretty. Solid gold?” I asked, feeling very confused and dizzy all of a sudden.

“Twenty-four karats. Keep it around your neck or hide it in a safe spot. It's something my birth mother gave to me at a young age. It matches mine.”

He flashed his chain. The two pieces looked like they would fit together like a puzzle if linked.

“It's beautiful. Thank you.”

“You're welcome.”

“Why did you bite me?”

“I must admit that what I did to you was very selfish, and I'm not sure how you're going to feel, but I want you to be mine for eternity. Can you handle that?”

I smiled up at him because the thought seemed romantic. I touched his cold face with the palm of my hand, lifted myself up toward him, and captured a kiss from his lips. He lowered his kiss down to my neck, over the spot he'd tenderly bitten, and let his tongue roam freely.

Baring my new fangs, I let out a hiss, feeling this crazed uncontrollable need for his sex.

Rain took ahold of my jaw making my mouth open up for him so he could take a good look. “You, my lady, are a vampire.”

The thought suddenly scared me. If I was a vampire, that meant I was no longer alive. What would people think? Whom could I tell? How would I tell my friends? Feeling this incredible strength inside of me, I pushed him off of me. He flew across the room and crashed onto the floor. Tears wanted to fall from my face.

“What am I going to do now? Am I going to continue to sleep the day away and awake every night feeling this need for blood and sex?”

“That's why I'm here to help you,” he replied, standing on his two feet. “There's a whole new life ahead of you and you can't go back to doing things the way you did them before. If you're not careful, you'll kill anyone for blood and your insatiable desire for sex will become uncontrollable.”

“Why'd you choose me?”

He was back by the bedside in the blink of an eye. “You're so beautiful. I had to have you.”

My hunger was back. My stomach pangs confirmed that I wanted to eat. “I'm so hungry. Where's Colette? I need something to eat.”

“Colette won't be helping you anymore. I'm going to make sure you get everything you need.”

“Okay… Do you have anything to eat?”

B
ringing her back to Club Vaisseau in the middle of her transition was dangerous, but she needed blood. I hoped her thirst wouldn't allow her to kill to get it. Once she had her first kill, the thrill from it would be too powerful, and she would no longer be one of us. One of the dark broods would have no problem taking in another scavenger.

We had spare blood from blood givers. They gave their blood willingly to keep us alive in case of emergencies. Every night, in a small room inside the club, we collected blood and it was smooth and easy. We hunted normally, but this blood was for our emergencies only.

If she didn't get enough as needed, she would die. I could've taken her on her first hunt, but since it was excessively early to be exposed, I had to go into our emergency reserve. I wanted her to realize what was happening gradually. The smell of humans would possibly send her over the edge, and her strength at this tender moment would be too strong for me to control, but I took the risk anyway.

As I escorted her through the back of the club around midnight, I made sure she wouldn't come into contact with any humans. At that hour, the blood drive was usually over, giving us more than enough to get us through to the next night.

As I expected, no one was in the room. I sat Essence down in a chair as her head rolled around. She was ready to get to sleep, but her hunger pangs wouldn't let her. If I didn't hurry, she was going to bolt out of the room at lightning speed and kill the first human she met.

I opened the warmer and got out an airtight thermal. As soon as the container was opened, she could smell it. She snatched it from me and drank it quickly. Suddenly, she calmed down. Wiping the excess blood from her mouth, she stared at me.

“Better?” I asked.

“I'm better now.”

“Good.” Worry fled from me. I could see the calm in her eyes. She was going to be fine.

“What's your real name, Rain?”

“I remember being called Eric, early on in my life. I was told that I'm not supposed to have many memories from my life before I changed, but for some reason, I remember a lot of it.”

“You have a woman or a wife at home?” She rose up from the chair and floated toward me.

I took both of her hands in mine and lowered her feet to the ground.

“I'm married...to you.”

Essence shook her head slowly. “No, you're not. Where's your wife and don't lie this time?”

“I just told you. I'm now married to you.”

She laughed hysterically, as if what I'd said was too funny.

“It's not a joke. This is the way it works, here, in Pigalle Palace.”

She leaned even closer to me and whispered in my ear, “You're one of the sexiest men I've ever laid eyes on. Your smooth skin, your dark eyes, and your incredible smile drives me wild. Can you
really be all mines?”

“Yes, I'm all yours.”

Her eyes lit up with fascination. “It's that simple, huh?”

“It's that simple.”

She stared into my mouth as if she wanted to devour me. “When can we consummate our marriage?”

“We've already done that, but there's plenty more where that came from.”

Essence moaned and wrapped her arms around my neck. “I hope you know what you created here.”

“I know what I'm doing.”

“Confident…I like. What are we going to do now? Stay in this tiny little room for the rest of the night?”

“You're going back to your dorm to get some rest because you need it.”

“I think you should come with me. That sounds better, doesn't it?”

“I'm going to take you home, but I have to leave you because I'm working tonight. As soon as I'm off work, I'll be right there with you, sweetheart.”

“Maybe you shouldn't work tonight.”

“No can do.”

She groaned.

“Listen, I promise to be there as soon as I'm off. I have to be here tonight.”

“Aw, too bad because I'm so ready to have you all night long. This good pussy needs you.”

The words
good pussy
made my dick harder than a military tank. I knew how good her pussy truly was. I picked her up and laid her on top of the table. In a flash, I had her pants off.