Crimson Rush A Vampire Romance (Crimson Book 1) (8 page)

“You want to fuck me don’t you?” he asked, as he continued to stare into my eyes - not blinking once.

“Yeah right! Not in this lifetime,” I lashed out, leaning back to put some distance between us.

He was clearly confused by my resistance, but before he could say anything, I saw a flash of movement. Marcus had a hand around Jonas’s throat and was lifting the vampire in the air.

“This one belongs to Luke,” Marcus spoke through clenched teeth.

“Bullshit!” Jonas forced the words out of his nearly closed throat. “She’s no one’s feeder.”

Marcus let go and the other vampire fell to the ground with a loud thud.

The vampire Jonas brought his hand up to his throat. “There’s not a mark on her, and she smells fresh.”

“Don’t touch her again,” Marcus told him in a quiet - even voice.

Marcus’s eyes were still burning with anger when he looked at me. “Miss Lavelle,’ he said, motioning for me to follow him.

I was more than anxious to get away from Jonas, though I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea of being with Marcus. Maybe it was all the bad things I’d heard about him that colored my opinion, but to me, he was just as scary as Jonas.

When we were alone in the back room, as I’d come to think of it, he seemed to relax.

“I take it you have some information for me, and that’s why you’re here playing with Grace’s toy?”

I’ve always had a bad tempter, and on more than a few occasions it has gotten me into trouble. I knew it was about to happen again.

“Aaron is not a toy! He’s a person! I can’t imagine why he puts up with being treated like an object … a meal!”

His glittering eyes widened in astonishment. “Really? And what brought you to this conclusion?”

I could actually feel my blood start to boil. “I can’t believe this! Do you honestly think people are on this earth to fulfill your needs?”

“Of course,” he said, giving me a cold - sarcastic smile.

At that point, I about swallowed my tongue. If I stayed one more minute in his company, I’d end up slapping him.

Not a good idea.

“I quit!” I bellowed, before spinning on my heels to leave.

When I heard his laughter, I was even more infuriated. I couldn’t resist turning back to throw one more cutting remark his way. “You’re just pathetic … dead and pathetic. I hope Aaron has enough sense to get out of here.”

I’d barely gotten the last word out before I realized he had my back pressed against the door.

My heart skipped a beat when I saw the fury in his eyes. “Don’t push your luck with me Star. I’m not that patient.”

He drew even closer, until our faces were nearly touching. I could feel his breath against my skin.

He was breathing!

For some reason I found this astonishing.

“Let me go.” I lifted my chin and met his icy gaze straight on.

“Do you take me for a fool?” he asked in a calm but hard voice. “You know too much for me to let you walk out of here.”

“So make me forget. I don’t want to remember all of this craziness.”

“Nice try,” he smirked “But I already saw Jonas try … and fail. Why didn’t it work on you?”

“I don’t know. You tell me,” I shot back, doing my best to cut him with my eyes.

Suddenly the anger fled his face and his features softened. I gasped when I felt his lips gently graze my forehead.

“You are cute when you’re angry.”

For some reason, the change in him frightened me even more than his anger.

“Marcus let me go.  I belong to Luke,” I added in desperation.

“You’re lying,” he whispered. “Jonas was right about that.”

I shook my head violently. “I’m his … we just haven’t consummated yet.”

He smiled at me, and it somehow felt almost as intimate as a kiss. “I want you to be mine.”

“I’d rather die.”

His arctic blue eyes grew luminous and deadly. “That can also be arrange,” he said in a low voice. As I watched, his fangs slid out until they were fully extended.

My stomach lurched, and as shameful as it is to admit, I felt something else. There was a kind of excitement in being so close to someone so beautiful - so powerful. “Marcus … please.” I could barely manage more than a whisper.

He blinked and backed away so abruptly it startled me. The way he looked at me, you’d think I’d just punched him in the stomach.

For a long time he just stared, and although he’d put some distance between us, there was an intimacy in his gaze that hadn’t been there before.

“What did you want to tell me?” he asked.

All I could do was stare. My mind had gone completely blank.

“You came here to tell me something. What is it?”

They found Jaycee dead … the woman who killed the guy at Westland’s yesterday. The sheriff told me there was nothing to indicate how she died. No trauma of any kind.”

His eyes took on a far away look. “Do you know of any other mysterious deaths around here?”

I shook my head. “Just that one … and the woman they found the other night.”

“Thank you,” he said with a curt nod of his head. “That will be all.”

Turning around, I grasped the doorknob and started to turn it, but stopped at the sound of his voice.

“You’ll want to tell Luke to claim you … or you’ll never be safe here.”

When I didn’t say anything, he added, “I hope we can continue to work together Star, we could be an asset to each other.”

My heart was pounding so furiously that I couldn’t trust myself to speak. Nodding, I rushed out the door and didn’t stop until I was safely in my car.

Resting my forehead against the steering wheel, I fought to bring my breathing under control

What was wrong with me?

Marcus Savoy terrified me. I would be a brainless nitwit if he didn’t. But there was also something about him that pulled at me - that touched me somewhere deep within my soul.

One of the things I was learning about vampires was that they could be all kinds of unpredictable, and it wasn’t just Marcus Savoy. Luke could also be unpredictable, but mostly in a good way.

When I arrived at my house, Luke had dinner waiting for me. He even had the table set.

“Wow! What’s the occasion?’ I asked.

“No occasion, love. It’s nothing special … just hamburgers, fries, and cola. Thought I’d repay you for your hospitality,” he explained.

“Well thank you,” I told him, suddenly realizing I was starving. Most of the time I forgot to eat. That was especially true the last few days.

As I ate, I brought him up to speed on the day’s events, including my experience at Club Crimson.

“To tell you the truth, he seems just as interested in what’s going on around here as you and Charlie. I’m really not picking up any guilty vibes from him.”

I couldn’t say I wasn’t getting
any
bad vibes from Marcus, because I was. Those feelings I was getting from Savoy, were just not the kind of bad vibes Charlie and Luke were looking for.

Luke chuckled. “I don’t imagine you would. He’s a vampire, and we are masters at subduing our emotions.”

I frowned. “I don’t know if I’d say that. He sure doesn’t seem to have a problem throwing tantrums.”

The smile on Luke’s face turned to laughter. “The old ones do tend to play up the dramatics. It’s because they are so accustomed to unquestioned obedience. When they do run into resistance, they go off like a volcano.”

“Well Marcus sure does act like someone used to getting his own way.”

Luke’s brow shot up. “So the two of you are still on a first name basis?”

Heat rushed to my cheeks.

Why was I always blushing whenever the subject concerned Marcus Savoy?

“You are positively medieval Luke. People don’t go around saying Mr. and Miss these days. At least not all the time.”

“But you’re blushing,” he pointed out, adding a hardy chuckle.

“Don’t even go there,” I said, throwing him a sour look.

“Has he touched you yet?”

I shook my head. “No … not really.”

“What does not really mean?”

“Well he kissed me on the forehead. It was nothing really. That’s what I mean.”

“Hmm … but still you are blushing.”

I refused to respond. Instead, I folded my arms in front of me and glared.

“I’m going to give you a bit of advice darling. Don’t let him get under your skin. You’ll never be anything other than a toy to him. Savoy is notorious for leaving a path of broken hearts and death behind him.”

Shrugging, I said, “Your wasting your time with all your gloom and doom warnings. I have no interest in him. I’m just trying to help my friend.”

Luke nodded, but said nothing.

“Where’s Charlie? When’s he coming back?” By this point, I was so ready to change the subject. Marcus Savoy was the last person I wanted to be thinking about.

“He should be back in a few days.”

“Where did he go?” I asked.

I found it strange that he would show up, drop the vampire bomb on me, recruit my help, and then disappear like he did.

“He’s taking care of some business for the SCC,” Luke informed me.

“What the heck is the SCC?”

“It stands for the Subspecies Control Council. They keep those people, who are not quite human, under control and out of the limelight.”

“You mean vampires?” I asked.

Luke nodded. “And a few other types, but the less you know … the better. It’s taken over Charlie’s life … you don’t want it to do the same with yours.”

“There’s something else,” I told him, leaning back in my chair. “Marcus said that you have to claim me … or I wouldn’t be safe.”

I saw hunger flash through Luke’s eyes. Suddenly, I felt the same as I had when Marcus was sizing me up.

He swallowed hard and then cleared his throat. “He means I need to feed on you.”

“Bite me?”

He inclined his head. “Yes.”

“Oh no way!” I said, shaking my head.

“You could try and fake it … tell them I fed in a inconspicuous location,” he suggested with a teasing smile. “It might work on some, but not Savoy. He’ll pick up your virgin scent.”

I’d already guessed as much, but how could I just let Luke bite me? What if he went too far and killed me? What if it hurt?

“So what do you want to do?” he asked, the light of hunger in his eyes.

“Will it hurt?”

“Maybe at first, but after that it can feel a lot like doing the naughty,” he gave me a crooked grin.

The only sex I’d ever experienced had been with my high school sweetheart, Jasper Winston, and that hadn’t been all that hot. He’d always blamed it on me. Jasper claimed my expectations were too high, and if I weren’t waiting for one of them pretty boys to jump off the cover of a romance novel, I’d be happy enough.

Maybe a little romance to go along with your first time was too much to expect? But that was me, a hopeless romantic.

I quit seeing Jasper not long after that. Nowadays he was working at Hotshot Tire and Lube, and had a wife and two kids. Mom used to grumble about how dumb I’d been to let Jasper get away. I looked at it as more of a narrow escape.

So if getting fed on by a vampire was like having sex, I didn’t see a lot of incentive.

“Maybe just a little … a few drops.” I was still hesitant.

“Drink a beer. The alcohol will make your flood flow easier,” he said with a wink. “And you might not be so nervous.”

“Okay.” I went to the fridge and pulled out two bottles of beer. “Do you want one?” I asked him.

“I better. It helps with the hunger. That way I’ll be less tempted to take more than you want to give.”

The couch is so much more comfortable than the kitchen table, so that’s where I headed.

I was definitely nervous. It felt oddly like I was preparing for my first sexual encounter, instead of a little bite on the neck.

It was certainly awkward to sit on the couch with Luke. Though it was probably just my imagination, I could swear he was staring at me as if I were a juicy sirloin.

“So what’s it like to live for so long? It must be amazing to see the world as you have.”

He shook his head. “After a bit it gets repetitious. And you’re always alone … no matter how many people are around you.”

“Why’s that?” I asked.

“After a while everyone you ever loved is gone. Your human life starts to drift away from you until there’s nothing left.”

“So vampires don’t remember their human life?”

He nodded. “You do, but the parts of that life that are the most painful, become hazy the older you get. At some point you might not recognize a picture of your own mother. Blocking it out like that is a choice, but it’s a choice most of us make.”

“How sad.”

I’d never really thought of vampires as being sad, and I found it to be a shocking concept.

Luke took several gulps of his beer. “A tortured soul is the tragedy of the vampire. Immortality doesn’t come cheap.”

Luke’s eyes locked with mine, and I felt my heart quicken.

“It doesn’t work on me … the compelling thing. A vampire tried today and it didn’t work.”

An amused smile brightened his face. “I wasn’t trying to compel you.”

“Why do you suppose it didn’t work?” I asked, trying to find a way to stall the inevitable.

Luke slid a little closer. “It doesn’t work on everyone. Most people it does, but not everyone. I don’t know why.”

I flinched a little when he brought a hand up to caress my cheek.

“It’s not that bad,” he told me.

“Okay … let’s just get this done,” I said, squeezing my eyes closed.

I waited for the pain of his fangs sinking into my flesh, but instead I felt his lips on my neck, his tongue sensually playing on my skin. It was so unexpected; I was unable to smother the gasp that pushed through my lips.

“Do you want me to stop?” he asked, his lips moving against my throat.

Did I want him to stop?

Judging by the heat surging through my veins, I didn’t think so. “No,” I breathed.

His lips slowly made their way to my mouth and I tasted his tongue. I was shocked by the desire racing through me. My heart pounded painfully against my ribs when I felt his hand cup my breast.

I was being seduced.

Somewhere in the back of my mind I realized this, but I wasn’t sure I cared.

The feeling of his weight against me wasn’t unpleasant, nor was the slight prick of pain I felt when his fangs pierced my neck. As he fed from me, a surge of warmth spread through my body. I could feel his essence - see his memories. I experienced his joy, as well as his anguish. It was what I imagined it would be like if your soul could experience orgasm.

I groaned out loud, nearly overcome by the eroticism of the experience.

Luke pulled away abruptly. “Are you okay?”

I was so okay, but still gasping for air.

When I finally caught my breath, I asked, “Why would anyone not want to do that? It was incredible.”

He smiled and brushed the hair away from my eyes. “It’s not always that way, but I’m glad you liked it.”

“What do you mean … it’s not always that way?”

“The vampire can make the experience good or bad. If he is just feeding, it might feel like a medical procedure, but if he is angry, the experience can be terrifying.”

“Well thank you for making it nice.”

“You’re very welcome Star … and thank you. It was delightful for me too.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Do vampires have the same feelings as human men … physically?”

“Yes,” he whispered, “times a hundred. Our senses are magnified, as are our emotions.”

“Then why do vampires seem so cold and mean?” I asked, thinking about Marcus, and the vampire Jonas.

“We feel … we just become better at burying our emotions when it becomes necessary. Some vampires have their emotions buried so deep, there is little humanity left in them.”

I reached out and covered his hand with mine.

His teasing smile returned. “I better leave.”

“Why?”

“It’s just best I leave. You should get some sleep anyway.”

I didn’t know how I felt about him leaving, but I figured he was right about it being for the best. I wasn’t sure I could trust my own body after what he’d just done.

I nodded.

He leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “See you soon.”

As soon as I heard the door click, I let myself relax.

Holy cow!

If having sex with a vampire was anything like being bitten, I could totally understand why people were so attracted to the idea. Jumping up from the sofa, I headed for the shower. I began toying with the idea of finding out for myself what sex with a vampire would be like.

Closing my eyes, I let the water stream over me and pictured his brilliant green eyes. If I really concentrated, his presence became so real. I could almost hear his voice.

It started out great. I imagined his touch - the feeling of his lips on mine, but the picture changed. It was like I was looking out from his eyes, but not really being a part of him. It was more like I was a bystander, but still seeing what he saw.

I could see the lush interior of Club Crimson - hear the hypnotic pulse of the music - even the chatter of conversation as people tried to talk over the music. I was moving through the club - approaching Grace.  She was standing next to the long - leather trimmed bar.

“I need to see Marcus.”

Oh my God!

It was Luke’s voice. Somehow I really was seeing through his eyes - hearing what he was hearing.

Grace’s smile was cool - almost chilly. “Has he summoned you?”

“No.”

“Then he is probably going to be too busy to see you,” she said, before looking away.

“I need to see him now.” Luke’s voice had a hard edge to it that I’d never heard before.

“Well okay,” she shrugged. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

I was looking at Grace’s back as she led Luke through the black door.

There was a woman sprawled across Marcus’s lap. He was bent over her - feeding from her neck. When he heard them enter, he withdrew from the woman. There was blood streaming down his face.

“What do you want?” he growled.

“I need to talk with you … about Star,” Luke added.

Marcus wiped the blood from his mouth and pushed the woman from his lap. She fell to the floor. The fall didn’t seem to faze her at all, she was as still as a corpse. Though she didn’t move, she didn’t exactly look dead, but I couldn’t be sure. The scene was a little hazy.