Alien Romance: Alien Heart (Scifi Paranormal Alien Abduction Invasion Cyborg Romance) (New Adult Mystery Adventure Shifter Warrior Short Stories) (7 page)

Chapter Two

How would you have handled it. My first reaction was loss. I thought, “We’re not going to be together.” That knowledge created a deep, empty pit inside my heart.

He said, “Let me explain.

Whatever he was going to say was lost when someone knocked on the door again. He turned to answer it and stopped. He said, “It’s important that you know those two men weren’t my brothers. They came from another coven.”

He answered the door and a tall, stately man and a gorgeous woman came into my apartment.

The woman didn’t look at me at all. The man gave me a contemptuous glance that took in my entire body, much as a buyer studies a horse he might purchase. The man said, “Andrei. Are you well?”

I know fathers. I have one and my friends all have one. When a father asks his son that question, it isn’t simply to begin the conversation. He meant, “I know you were in a fight. I see that you won. I’m proud of you. Did you get hurt?”

Andrei said, “I’m fine, father”, which in father/son speak means “I’m undamaged. I disposed of our common enemy completely.”

The father continued, by the way without introducing himself to me or giving me the least bit of attention, “Tell me why this is happening to our family.”

The mother had been wandering around my apartment, touching my personal pictures and keepsakes. I know psychology. She’s invading my personal space to show me she could own me if she wanted, and there’s nothing I could do about it. I have to control my temper.

Andrei said, “It’s the Janov clan, again. I think they followed me when I left our house. Just two men. I don’t know why it wasn’t more.”

“Probably, a surprise to them. They came upon you by accident and thought they’d try their luck.”

I have had it. Enough. I gathered, not my courage, but my control, and stepped in front of the mother. She’d been making a circuit of my room, wandering from table to fireplace to table. I put myself in her way. She’d have to stop or deliberately walk around me. If she tried that, I’d take her arm and stop her. She knew it. She looked at me for the first time. “Well, what are you then. Usually, it’s a barmaid or a serving girl, even an actress. I suppose you fall in that category.”

I did it. I controlled my voice and answered in a conversational tone. “No. Actually, I’m the principal of a high school.” I had to add something to that. “I have a doctorate in Juvenile Psychology and a fellowship with Columbia University.” Not good enough yet. “My high school is part of the criminal justice system in New York. All the students have committed serious felonies.”

Damn, that felt good. I could see in her eyes that she considered me a worthy opponent. At least, I wasn’t dismissible any more. She said, “Interesting” and turned away.

I turned to both mother and father. “My name is Becky Matthews. This is my home. What are your names?”

They looked at each other. I kept my mouth shut and waited. They had two choices. They could turn and leave, and allow me to take their son as mine or they could acknowledge my existence and treat me with some tolerance.

They stayed. The father said, “I am Count Jovan Silviu Vidnesceau, hereditary leader of the former kingdom of Pietra Niemt in the current state of Romania. This is my wife, Georgiana.”

I kept it up. “Welcome to my home. Would you care to sit down?” I gestured to the sofa. They looked at each other. Once again, they had to choose between losing their son and recognizing me as a human being with innate value. They sat. Just one more. “Would you like something to drink? Coffee, tea?”

Score! The mother, Georgiana, said, “Nothing. Thank you” and looked directly at me when she said it.

I pointed at one of my armchairs for Andrei and sat down on another. I didn’t press it. I could have said, “Tell me about being a vampire”, but I didn’t. I looked at Andrei in a significant way. I didn’t need to. He picked up the ball very nicely. “I told her that I’m a vampire. She seemed to handle the news well.”

Georgiana took over. “Miss Matthews, may I speak plainly?”

She was going to tell me I didn’t deserve her son. I’ll let her do it. She surprised me.

“You passed. The words I said were meant to dismiss you. We’ve been a royal family for five hundred years. Women come to our sons with their eyes full of money. They know they don’t belong, and they can’t stand up to the least amount of resistance. I apologize for including you in that group. You have accomplished a great deal. We will accept you in our family if we can work out the other thing.”

The Count jumped in. “He’s told you we’re vampires.”

Andrei tapped my arm. “Do you still have that piece of wood?”

I nodded.

He said, “Show it to me.”

I opened my hand. “I have to accept what you told me. I saw it happen. I have the proof of it right here.”

The Count said, “A moment ago, Georgiana said that this is a time for plain speaking. It is. You have a choice before you. I agree with my wife about your suitability for my son. You would make a good addition to our little group.” He leaned forward. “Your experience with criminals. Have you had to deal with violence?”

“Constantly. We have at least one fight a week between our students and one of our teachers is attacked a few times a year. Obviously, I don’t take part in quelling the fights. I direct our guards in the tactics of re-establishing peace and normalcy.”

“Excellent. You saw our enemies. They’re aggressive. If you decide to marry Andrei, you’ll have to deal with that.”

“I can do it.”

“Now, to the other question. Here’s the situation. As you may have heard, vampires don’t age. You may marry Andrei and remain human. We would put ourselves between you and harm to make sure you weren’t changed against your will. However, you would age normally and die. You may choose to be a vampire as we are. In that case you wouldn’t age and would remain with Andrei for the rest of eternity. Or until you die in battle. Do you understand?”

“Yes.” I paused. The next question was hard to phrase. “I have been a decent woman my entire life. My understanding is that vampires behave much like sociopaths. You don’t fit that description. Tell me about a vampire and good and evil.”

To my surprise, they laughed. Andrei held his hand out to me. “I’m sorry. We don’t mean to make light of your concern. It’s just that we have to deal with it so often. Let me explain.”

He kept holding my hand. I love the contact.

He continued, “There are good and evil vampires just like there are good and evil humans. We tend to be more extreme in our commitment to one side or the other. There are very few gray areas in our world.” He paused to collect his thoughts. “There are other differences. Food, for example. We’ve gone to dinner at restaurants. You’ve seen me eat and be satisfied. Four times a year, we must have human blood or we die. That means we have to kill someone. Long ago, we realized that there are many humans who deserve to die, many who would be found guilty in court and be executed, but they can’t be brought to justice. We step in and do what a court would do. For the last forty years, we have used Africa as our... well, I guess you could call it a jurisdiction. We patrol the land and identify mass murderers. They die at our hands and we drink their blood. Does that bother you?”

It was an easy decision. I shook my head. “It doesn’t. I’ve read news accounts of the atrocities that take place in Africa. Horrible.”

The Count said, “I’m glad to hear that. Our enemies are evil. The Janov clan has adapted to the evil in this world and developed gifts we don’t have. The chief one is hypnosis. They do it with a glance. Humans, especially human women, are so susceptible that one look, and they are lost to us. The Janov clan uses women as playthings. They collect many of them and take them to their cities. They’re incredibly cruel. They will often control the body of the woman but leave her consciousness intact. She can see what she’s doing and what’s being done to her and loathe it but be unable to stop it. One out of every fifty missing women in Romania is a victim of the Janov group. On a lighter note, as you’ve seen, we have some gifts. We can move as fast as they can, and we have control over physical objects. We can’t be hypnotized. It seems to balance out. Neither of our groups has been able to eradicate the other.”

I said, “Is it possible to recover any of the women who have been taken?”

“Yes. But difficult beyond imagining. Technically, killing the vampire who has taken a human will free the human, but any vampire close to the dead vampire can take the women for himself. They tend to stay together.” The Count looked at his son. “How did you leave the two attackers you face a moment ago?”

“Stake to the heart. They didn’t have the least bit of innocence left in them.”

“That part of the legend is true. A wooden stake driven through the heart will kill a vampire so will cutting the head off. Holy water and silver will discourage or contain a vampire but won’t kill. We did find a way past one of the problems in the legend. We cast a reflection.”

For the first time, Georgiana spoke with a bit of humor in her voice. “Hard to do one’s hair without a mirror. I’m glad we solved that little puzzle.”

I smiled at her. She smiled back. Not bad.

We spoke a little more, mostly biographical information about me. They left in a pleasant mood.

Andrei stayed with me. He slept on the couch, damn him, until I put on my most seductive nighty, threw back his covers and laid myself down on top of him. Even then, it took a lot of kissing and rubbing to get him to consider touching me. He said, “I’m worried about the decision you have to make. What if we are intimate and fall in love, and you decide to stay a human woman. I’d have to watch you leave me. I don’t like that.”

“Then you can bite my neck and make me a vampire. Now that your parents have accepted me, I think it would be a valuable life.”

“Would you think about it for a few days?”

“Would you take my clothes off and have your way with me?”

“When was your last period?”

“Two weeks ago. Yes, I’m fertile right now and I don’t take birth control. I don’t care. I want you.” I kissed him then turned to the side and placed his hand on my right breast. I said, “How does that feel?”

“Wonderful.”

As with most men, his eyes and brain cleared of any conscious thought as soon as he touched my breast. I like that. It showed that a man desired me. I love that most of all.

I had a thought, but I had to remove his hand from my body to get his attention. When he actually saw me, I said, “Can vampire men make human women pregnant?”

“Most assuredly. If I made love to you right now, you would become with child. The child of a human and a vampire is always human.”

I laid down on top of him again and held him still with my hands on his cheeks. “Until now, I’d considered my life to be lost for all normal womanly things. I wasn’t going to get married and have children. I wasn’t going to be loved by a man. All of that has changed. I’m greedy. I want all of the things a woman can get; and, frankly, I don’t care what order they come in. If you have me tonight, I get a baby. I hope to have a husband, but a baby would be such a joy that I’d take it even if it came without a father to help me raise it. Do you understand me?”

I’ve never had an answer come with such compelling clarity. He didn’t say anything. He pulled my nightgown up to my waist. I raised my hips to help him do it.

I was mesmerized by the sensations. Maybe because I’d never felt a man’s hands on me. I know my mouth dropped open when he slid his hands inside my panties and held my rear end. I think I might have shaken and quivered as well. If I hadn’t had to stay with him to further our relationship, I would have ran up and down Fifth Avenue yelling “It feels so good” at the top of my lungs.

It got better. He kept eye contact with me. His beautiful eyes... no, sorry. He’s most definitely a man. No part of him is beautiful. ...his handsome, sensitive eyes filled my heart with unexpected emotions. I felt so grateful that he cared for me.

It would have worked better, or at least, more gracefully, if we had stood up to get our clothes off. But then we wouldn’t have rubbed against each other. I had to get rid of my nightgown and panties and he had to get his boxers off. That’s boxers, not briefs. Boxers are more manly. Twelve year old boys wear briefs. Men wear boxers.

We found a perfect way to get my panties down my legs and off. Andrei kept his hands inside the panties and I wiggled my way up his body. I started out with my nose, happily nestled in his chest hair. I’m pleased to report that he wasn’t hairy. He had enough hair on his chest to be a man but nothing more.

I moved, as sinuously as I could, up his body until I could kiss him. Mother Nature gave woman breasts to feed our babies and keep our men. That’s the prevailing wisdom. There’s another reason. She gave them to us as a reward for being women. My boobs have millions of nerve endings, most of them centered in my nipples. The intensity of the feelings generated by those nerve endings made me dizzy. I rubbed them against his chest hair and paused again so he could kiss and take them in his mouth. I whispered to him, “You do such a wonderful job with your lips, would you mind if I stayed right here for a few more minutes so you could do it some more.” Surprise, he agreed.

My body has an unbreakable bond with my emotions. Everything my body experiences is reproduced in my feelings.