Steal Me From Heaven (3 page)

“I’m sweating, aren’t I?” I reply.

“That’s a good sign,” he tells me.

My taste buds sour, and I lean my head to the side. As I stand straight up, the vomit goes all over the side of my leg. Jacob is instantly behind me with one arm around my waist and one hand holding my hair. He pushes my head forward, leaning me over the grate. I spill more contents of my stomach into the sewer. I have never thrown up this much in my life. I lose count of how many times. My body is slipping in his grip because of all my sweat. I am convulsing. I see my stomach rippling under my skin. I look down in horror and feel the pain in my abdomen. It feels like I am being gutted by a bear. Jacob releases his hold on me and steps back. My stomach cramps, and I shake in the chains. I wish I could double over. I scream as my bowel and intestine contents fall out of my body. I wish I was alone. I tell him to leave. He tells me never. My stomach cramps again and blood runs down my legs. I look down at myself and try to vomit again but nothing comes out. I am weak and sink down with only my chains to support me. Jacob turns around and walks away. I do not blame him. I stink like death and decay.

I feel the cold spray of water on my back and draw my shoulder blades together as if to block it. I cannot get to my feet. He is hosing me off with a water hose. I’m really going to have to talk to him about getting a hot water heater put in. He comes around to the front of me and sprays me down again. He then washes the rest of the stone off and into the drain.

“I need more blood,” I say.

“No,” he replies and walks off to the bedroom. I think he is getting me a towel but comes back empty-handed. “Sunrise broke twenty minutes ago. We barely made it. I’m going to push the couch out here and sleep. I know I said I wouldn’t, but I gave you more of my blood than I normally would. I should have given you more, apparently.”

“Where am I going to sleep?” I ask, hoping not to hear the answer that I know is coming.

“I can’t take you down for several more hours, I’m sorry. You said you needed more blood. You would find a way to get it even if you killed me.” He leaves me there and goes to retrieve his soft, cushioned couch. The one we made love on.

“You said you were strong enough to handle me,” I mock him.

“Usually that is true, but as I have said I am weak and need to sleep for our coupling tonight.”

I blush at what lies ahead for me even though we know each other’s bodies intimately. Earlier it was sex, tonight, he will ask for so much more. I think that he rarely admits to being weak so I do not push the issue. He walks over to me and strokes my face with his fingers. “There is something I could do that would get you released from the chains now.”

“Do it,” I demand. He presses two fingers against my temple and utters one word. “Sleep.”

Chapter 2

Again I dream of the cliff and the waterfall. I think that he must be feeding me, but he is not. I try to open my eyes but I cannot.
I am running toward the edge. My side is hurting. I look down and see blood soaking through my shirt. Someone is chasing me and shouting. It is not Jacob’s voice, but I know it. I stop short of falling over the steep cliff. I look back at my pursuer and then again at the pool beneath me. I feel a hand on my shoulder. I look over in time to see Jacob push me off the edge. I scream as I fall through the air. I sink fast to the bottom of the pool. I hear another splash above me. I swim as hard as I can for the surface before my air runs out. My lungs are burning and my heart is rapidly pounding in my chest. I feel someone grab my ankle and hold me under.

I wake up in a different room. This one is much more elegant with its furnishing and window coverings. There are automatic blinds on the windows. The room is dark with only a soft yellow lamp on my bedside table. Jacob is sound asleep. I can tell that it is daylight out by a feeling in my gut; that is, if I still had a gut left. But somehow I know. I look at him stretched out on his stomach, his broad shoulders resting just below hi
s jugular. I stare at the pulsing beat and lick my lips. Reluctantly, I roll over onto my side and face the other direction. I cannot look at him. He said I would kill him so I try not to think about his blood sliding down my throat soothing my appetite.

Good girl,
I hear him say. I look back over, and he is still lying there as if asleep. He must have projected the words in my mind. He told me I’d be able to hear him eventually. I want to touch him, to lift up these covers and see what is underneath. I am still naked. I guess he doesn’t have clothes for me or prefers me this way. I feel him roll over to his side and spoon me. I can tell now that he is naked also, but he doesn’t wake up.
Sleep,
he commands again.

I do not dream this time. When I open my eyes, Jacob is gone and a woman is sitting on the side of the bed.

“My name is Jessica. Jacob is gone to feed. He is close by. He’ll be back soon. He sent me to watch you.”

I want to back away and pull the covers up to my chin. She is definitely watching me but couldn’t she do that from the chair and not the bed? “Do you have any clothes?” she asks, and I shake my head no. “Well, wrap that sheet around you and follow me to my room.” I realize that Jacob must have heard me earlier and sent her to clothe me. I do as she asks, mainly because I really don’t want to be without a wardrobe again. We are about the same size, and she is beautiful.

“Jacob is my brother. He turned me about seven years after he was created. He got me out of a really bad situation.”

“How was he created?” I ask.

“That is his story to tell, and I will not dishonor him by being the one to tell you,” she says.

“Well, why didn’t he turn me like he did you? Why is he making me his bride?”

Jessica stops walking and looks at me. “You do remind him of someone. You look a lot like her.”

“Who? Marion?”

“I’m surprised he spoke of her with you. I wouldn’t bring it up to him anymore if I were you.”

“I will not be her replacement.”

“That is not his intention. My friend will be upset that Jacob is marrying you.”

“Well then, I guess I won’t invite her to the wedding.”

She chuckles. “I can see his attraction. My room’s right here.” She opens the large door. The room looks fit for a princess. For all I know, she could be royalty. A purple and blue satin canopy bed is diagonal in the room. A white desk with chair is sitting in front of a heavily draped window. Yellow wallpaper covers the top half of the room and white wood paneling on the bottom half. My mouth flies open.

“I love your room.”

She smiles at me. “Wait till you see the closets.”

She has three walk-in closets custom built. She leads me into one and hands me an outfit. I’m not bashful, not anymore. I drop my sheet and put on the dress. I am in Heaven. I try on many clothes and shoes. She gives me jewelry and purses. Her bed is piled full of my freebies. I feel like I have won a shopping spree.

“Jacob’s back,” she says. “We have to hurry to get you back in bed. I have one more outfit to show you.” I guess I was wrong about Jacob sending her to clothe me. She walks over to the big cedar chest at the foot of her bed and opens the lid. She pulls out a green box, closes the chest, and lays the box on top of it. “I was going to wear this on my wedding night, but my love was taken from me. I will not find another,” she says as she tears up. “I want you to wear this tonight. I want to do this as my gift to the both of you.” She pulls out a white silk negligee. It has spaghetti straps with a red silk empire belted waist that rests just below a lace bosom. It touches the floor with slits all the way up to the top of the thighs on both sides. The back is all lace, and it wraps around the buttocks and gathers back into silk.

“It is so beautiful. Thank you.”

She picks up a silk matching robe with feathers around the collar and hands it to me. “Wear the red shoes I gave you.”

“I’m so glad you are helping me. I feel like we are friends already,” I say.

“We are not friends,” she says. I swallow and look down. “We are family. Welcome,” she says as she hugs me.

I walk over to Jacob’s room carrying a pile of clothes. As she watches me leave, she tells me that I’m welcome to her closet anytime. I falter in my step and lean against the wall. I feel hunger growing deep inside me. I want food. I want blood. Jessica sees me and runs down the hall.

“I shouldn’t have gotten you out of bed. He is going to be so pissed.”

“I just need a drink,” I say, looking at her throat.

“No, you can’t drink anyone’s blood but his, not until you turn and your body gets used to the digestion of it.”

I drop the clothes and claw at her throat. She struggles to free herself and runs away. I scream for Jacob as I look down at my bloody fingers. I raise my hands to my mouth, ready to lick my crimson treats like popsicles. I close my eyes and open my mouth. I stop frozen still in an instant. Jacob has me by the wrists. Jessica’s blood is inches from my tongue.

No,
he tells me through his thoughts.
You’ll die.

I look at him. We both have tears in our eyes. For whatever reason, this man loves me. I relax my arms. He raises my hands to his mouth and licks the blood off my fingers one by one. Then he lets go of my wrists. He bows his head to me, presenting his neck as an offering. I close my eyes and feel my fangs emerge. I lea
n in and take his skin in my mouth circling my tongue over his vein. He sighs. I bite. I can feel the pain go through him as I suck on his neck. It wasn’t painful when he bit me. I must be doing it wrong. I try to think of how I felt in his arms. How he touched me. My anxiety fades, and I am emotionally and sexually charged. His pain is subsiding in my mind.

“That’s better,” he says. After a few more minutes he asks me if I have had my fill.

My hunger for blood is diminished. I release my teeth from his neck. The holes are starting to heal.

“Lick it,” he tells me. I do as I am told and lick the remaining drops of blood on his neck. The wounds immediately close. I understand two things in that moment. Lesson two and three: you control what your victims or lovers feel, and saliva heals wounds.

“Very good. You are learning fast.” He leans down and picks up my clothes. He reaches for the green box.

“I’ll get that,” I say, not wanting the lid to open and ruin his surprise. “How much time do we have?” I ask.

“Three hours till midnight. That’s when I will begin.”

“I would like to be alone from eleven till twelve,” I say, not knowing if it is possible.

“Why?” he asks.

“It is my last night as a human, and all I want is one hour to myself.” The answer is good enough for him. He opens the door to his bedroom. This place is old, I realize. He takes the clothes to an empty closet and starts filling the hangers.

“Where are we?” I ask.

“In North Carolina. You’ve probably never heard of this estate, especially the behind the scenes part. The backside and underground of the mansion are secret. The front side is for the public, with many rooms refurbished for display. The staff are all employed and paid well by me. The funds generated provide an excellent source of income for me. I built the Biltmore House in the eighteen hundreds. I had a lot of time on my hands and needed a distraction. The rest of the story is just that, a story. The continuous line of guests allows for an easy meal except for the other day when it was a Holiday, and I fed from Sarah.”

“You mean you kill the visitors?” I ask in shock.

He laughs at my comment. “No, they are given a private tour where we drink their blood and erase their memories. Some people are more than willing to offer themselves to a Vampire. They are sometimes offered more.”

“Like what?” I ask. He hisses at my question, but answers anyway.

“Employment, servitude. Some are turned eventually after a few years of loyalty, and sometimes sex.”

“And you?” I ask. He hisses again.

“I have offered all of the above. I’m not going to lie to you.”

“Tell me about Marion,” I ask, not caring what Jessica warned me about. Maybe I question him out of jealousy.

“She was my first wife. I told you.”

“Not everything,” I reply. “I deserve to know.”

“I guess you do.” He walks over to the big comfy chair and sits down. He motions me over, and I come. I sit on his lap. He stares across the room, refusing to look at me. I watch his face as he talks. “She was my soul mate. My human soul mate, that is. We were married young as many couples were back in those days. It was in sixth century. We lived in England. The Queen saw me at court one day. She wanted me. She sent the guards for me. I refused her. I told them I had a wife and was not interested. That night, she found a way to alter my drink with a drug. I awoke to find myself in her bed. We were not clothed. I did not honestly know if we had sex or not. Her husband walked in on us. I ran out the window. I didn’t think he saw who I was. I told Marion immediately when I returned home. She knew I never lied so she believed me.”

“The King’s fury sent his guards to my house when he ordered my death. They ripped my screaming wife from my hands. That night as I waited in my prison for my approaching death, the Queen came down to see me. She said she was sorry to have gotten me involved in her marriage and revealed herself as a Vampire. She had staged our bed scene for her husband to make him jealous and pay attention to her. The King had my wife and intended to kill her after my death. She planned to get her back if I chose to become a nightwalker. I accepted her offer. I would gladly give my humanity for her life. She informed me that her husband was a Vampire also, but one much stronger than she. She could not fight him alone.”