Drop Dead Gorgeous (7 page)

CHAPTER ELEVEN

I’ll be back later. Don’t wait up.

That’s what he’d said before he left to go “set things up” for his new identity. She wondered what in the world that might entail, and decided it might be better if she didn’t know the details. In spite of his request, she did try to wait up, but failed.

She fell asleep trying to read, but was awakened by his cool hands roaming over her body. He’d slipped beneath the covers and soon covered her body with his. She spread her legs for him to enter her. It was like a dream the way he made her feel. She’d never had a lover like Derek – so patient and so skilled. Everything he did set her on fire. And just when she thought it couldn’t get any better, he bit into her breast and her whole world went white as another incredible orgasm flooded her senses.

She fell into a deep sleep as he massaged her back afterwards and when she woke, it was day and he was gone.

She seemed to sleep later and later every day. Once she’d eaten and dressed, she sat at the computer and played around with the only picture she had of Derek. She cropped it a little and began photoshopping copy around it as if it were a magazine cover.

She gave the magazine a name:
Men’s Press
and wrote some catchy article titles around Derek’s face. “How to Make Casual Friday Sensational.” “Why Women Love Cars.” “Adonis – Europe’s Newest Supermodel.” She grinned at her made-up men’s fashion magazine but had to admit, it actually looked pretty authentic. Of course, Derek was drop dead gorgeous and that didn’t hurt. Who else could take a casual snapshot and look like a cover model?

She wondered if he could shave the stubble that seemed to never grow on his face, but decided it would just be his signature look. She could promote him to clients as an eccentric prima donna who never compromised his tastes to suit other people. It might actually make him more appealing. Clients ate that star behavior stuff up.

Shortly after the sun went down, she got an email with attachments that said “Photos from last night” in the subject line. She opened the attachments and there were five photos of Derek in different clothes sitting or standing in a beautiful old house decorated with oriental rugs, richly upholstered chairs and sofas, and antique tables and cabinets. One was in front of an easel in what seemed an artist’s studio, but most of the painting was blocked from view. Was this “the nest?” She started photo shopping copy onto them as if they were pages from a catalog with descriptions and prices of the clothes he wore. She went back and changed the dollars to euros.

By the time Derek arrived, she was nearly finished. They were giddy from the excitement of their new idea, and equally enthusiastic about making love on the sofa. He gave her twin fang marks on her other breast.

Afterwards, she was showing him the new tear sheets she’d made from his photos.

“These looks like they’re from a real catalog,” he said. “You’re good at this.”

“I’ve done it before for new models that don’t have any tears yet. And some of my runway models that don’t do much print, but they still need tear sheets for their cards. With photoshop nowadays, clients know tears can easily be faked. It doesn’t really matter as long as the model looks good in the shot. That’s the bottom line. And you look amazing in these. I mean, of course you do. You know what you’re doing.”

He continued to scroll through the shots when suddenly he stood straight up and said, “One of them’s coming.”

She had no idea what he meant, but when he began dressing faster than any human possibly could, she put her clothes on as well.

“Who’s coming?” she asked, but before he could answer, there was a knock at the door. “What should I do? Should I hide?” She zipped up her jeans and checked the buttons on her blouse.

He looked at her and said, “Just stay behind me. It’ll be okay.” His fangs were down.

He walked to the door and opened it. She was right behind him, but peered around him to see who was there.

He was like Derek in that he had that same odd lightness to his eyes and skin, and he was also completely gorgeous just like Derek. He was tall, had dark blond hair, a square jaw, and piercing green eyes. She could see he wasn’t human, but anyone else would think his uniqueness was simply because he had the most beautiful eyes they’d ever seen. For an instant, he seemed familiar to her and she wondered if she’d seen him before. Had he been following her like Derek had before she’d discovered Derek in her apartment?

“Derek,” he said, smiling. Was that smile for her benefit?
Should I be afraid?

He caught her eye and said, “You must be Clara. My name is Terence.”

He extended his hand and she looked up at Derek who stepped aside so she could shake hands with the incredibly handsome Terence. He was as cold as Derek, of course.

She glanced at Derek again and he smiled and nodded to let her know it was okay.

“Would you like to come in?” she asked.

She and Derek sat on the sofa while Terence took the side chair. She almost asked if she could get him anything to drink, but stopped herself in time.

He set a briefcase on the coffee table and began to pull papers out.

“I just have a few things for you to sign,” he said.

This must be what Derek had meant about someone setting things up.

“Your name is Adonis Jones,” he started.

She suppressed a smile, pressing her lips together.

“He needed a last name. You don’t have to use it professionally.”

“Oh, it’s fine,” she said.

“You have a social security number and post office box and a bank account. This is a standard management contract. You’ll get fifteen percent of his income.” That was directed at Clara. “After you take your cut, just send the checks to this address and include this account number.”

He set a contract on the table and she and Derek both signed it. Her company address was the same as her apartment. She glanced up at Terence and he explained, “I prepared Derek’s will. Don’t worry, the others don’t know your personal information.”

She didn’t really want to know who else he might be talking about.

Derek began signing other documents – a social security card, an unlaminated California driver’s license that already had his photo on it.

“This is an illegal social security number,” Terence said.  “But it’s unlikely anyone will discover that until your career is over.”

She must have looked puzzled until he added, “He can only do this for…I don’t know…maybe five or six years. He’ll have to stop before anyone notices he doesn’t age.”

“Oh, right,” she said. Terence had thought of things she hadn’t.

“It’s a fake identity – not like those I use for Madeline, so there is some risk. But as long as your taxes are paid and there are no red flags, you should be fine for a while.”

Derek handed the documents back to Terence and he started to put things back into the briefcase.

“You’ll need to memorize your social and the PO Box address,” he said to Derek. “I’m assuming he’ll have an agency contract as well. You can take care of that?” he asked Clara.

“Sure. Not a problem,” she said.

She noticed he was staring at the bite marks on her neck and she wished she’d had enough time to put band-aids on them or at least cover them with a scarf. She felt very uncomfortable with another vampire glaring at her neck.

Terence and Derek both stood and so she did as well.

“Thank you for coming,” she said and shook Terence’s hand again.

They all walked to the door together, and Terence just stopped and waited for an awkward beat before he said, “Derek, may I have a word with you alone?”

Derek looked at Clara and she excused herself and went into her bedroom and closed the door.

She waited for a moment and soon heard the front door close. The bedroom door opened and Derek came in, looking very serious – almost angry.

He opened his mouth to reveal his fangs and touched his index finger to one. Then, he pressed the blood drop on his finger to the bite marks on her neck – first one pair and then the other. Then, he pricked his finger again and raised her shirt, wiping the blood on the marks on her right breast. She looked down and watched as the marks vanished. He did the same to the marks on her left breast and then turned her around.

As he healed the marks on her back, he said, “Fuck. Nobody tells me shit.”

She turned back around and reached up to kiss him.

“Honey, this is great,” she said.

“You mean about Adonis Jones?”

They both smiled.

“Well, yes, but also about the marks. If they can be healed that easily, we don’t have to worry about…you know…a lot of them. You can have at it.” She blushed a little and added, “And so can I.” The thought of how being bitten made her feel sent a rush of sensation between her legs.

Derek’s grin widened and he kissed her again and hugged her to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and closed her eyes, relishing the feel of him against her body. She felt so happy – like things were finally going their way

“Honey?” she said.

“Hmm?”

“Who’s Madeline?”

She felt him stiffen in her arms and suddenly the mood in the room seemed to change.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Derek stayed with Clara until she fell asleep. They’d had sex again after Terence left and this time, he was able to heal her bite marks immediately. Why hadn’t someone told him about that? Fuck. He always felt like he was missing his instruction manual.

He watched her sleeping and wondered if he’d made a mistake lying to her about Madeline. Well, it wasn’t really a lie as much as it was an omission of the truth.

“Madeline’s a vampire in the nest where I live,” he said.
True.

“Like Terence?
”

“Yes, like Terence, but well…kind of like our boss. She has a little more power than the others.” 
A lot more.

“Why? Why would she have more power than anyone else?”

“She also owns the property where we live.
” True, but not exactly why she’s more powerful.

“Okay.
So, is she someone I should be worried about?”

“Absolutely not.
” Not even a little true, but let me do the worrying.

The real truth was that he didn’t want Clara to get involved in any way with the nest and especially with Madeline. Lying beside him, still and breathing softly, she looked so vulnerable – so human. There was no doubt in his mind that Madeline would kill Clara. She’d killed the woman Raymond loved. Just the thought of it made his fangs extend. How he hated Madeline. He wanted to keep her as far away from Clara as possible, and if that meant keeping information from Clara, then it was justified in his mind. But that didn’t make the twinge of guilt go away.

He carefully climbed out of the bed, kissed Clara on the cheek, and tucked the covers around her, leaving her to sleep peacefully for the rest of the night.

Walking home, he thought about the prospect of being able to work again, and was grateful to Terence and Raymond for their help – Terence for his legal skills and Raymond for shooting his new tear sheets.

He stopped in the living room to thank them both, interrupting their usual silent tasks of reading and painting.

Climbing the stairs to his room, he considered how lucky he was to have such companionable roommates. It certainly could have been much worse.

He was lying down watching TV when he felt an additional brother in the house, and shortly after there was a knock at his door. He opened the door to Billy who looked like he’d been crying.

“Come on in,” Derek said.

When the door was closed, Billy sat on the bed and Derek pulled a chair over and sat to face him.

“What’s going on?’ Derek began.

Billy put his face in his hands and rubbed his eyes, then shook his head before speaking.

“I killed somebody.” His bottom lip trembled and he looked so young – like a little boy, really.

“Okay. You want to tell me about it?”

His eyes filled with tears. “I don’t want to be what I am.”

“I understand. I think we all feel this way at first.”

“I killed her,” he said and covered his face again.

Derek waited until Billy stopped crying and dropped his hands. Then Billy spoke again.

“Madeline brought me a girl. A few nights ago. She was really pretty. We fucked her and I bit her. God, it was so much better than biting Madeline. She was so warm.”

Derek thought of that first time he’d bitten Clara and there was no comparing it to biting cold, hard Madeline. It was heavenly.

“It felt so good, I couldn’t stop. Even after I came, I kept sucking. I was out of my mind. And then I realized her heart had stopped. She was dead. I fucking killed her.”

He cried for another minute while Derek just waited.

“Did you do that too? Have you killed anybody?” Billy asked.

“No, not yet, but I’m probably the only one who hasn’t.” He thought of how easily he could have killed Clara that first time. He hadn’t wanted to stop drinking her blood, but her voice had brought him out of his mindless state. It scared him how out of control he’d been and what could have happened.

“The others act like it’s no big deal. Bradley just came in and took her body. Christopher actually congratulated me.”

“Yeah, well, Christopher’s an asshole.”

“Madeline said she thought my first human bite had gone well. Gone well! I fucking killed her!”

“They’re just more used to it than we are.”

“If this is what it is to be like this, I don’t want it. I don’t want to get used to it.”

“I know how you feel. I do.”

Billy started crying again. “I want my life back.”

Derek felt a pang of guilt. No, he’d never get his life back either, but he was still with Clara and now he might even do some modeling again. It was as close to getting his life back as he could imagine.

“I know,” he said to Billy.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Don’t say anything to the others, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Do you know how we can die? I mean really die. Finally die.”

“Not really. The others would be able to answer stuff like that a lot better than I can. I’m just figuring all this out myself.”

“I don’t think I want to ask them.”

“Well, let’s see. I would imagine being in the sun would do it. A wooden stake through the heart – that’s in all the movies and books. Being beheaded. Fire, maybe? I don’t know.”

“When I was alive, I never would have even thought of suicide. It never would have crossed my mind. Now, I can’t stop thinking about it.” He stopped and lowered his voice to a whisper. “Have you ever thought of killing Madeline?”

“Well, that would definitely be a suicide.”

“What do you mean?”

“If she dies, we all die. That much I do know. She made all of us and we’re connected to her through her blood – the magic, I guess.”

“Shit, really?”

“Well, that’s what I was told.”

“Who told you?”

“She did. And so did some of the brothers. I would imagine it’s crossed all our minds to kill her at some point. She did kill us all.”

“What if one of us dies? Will we all die?”

“No. I’ve heard that others have killed themselves. Probably when they hit the point you’re hitting right now. I considered it myself. You have every reason to be pissed. And depressed.”

“I hate her, but then I still want to fuck her. And then I hate myself.”

“Well, try not to be so hard on yourself. She made you and she’ll always have power over you – over all of us. Take what you need from her. Fuck her if you want to. But, try not to hate yourself. You can’t help what happened to you.”

Billy looked so sad – his face stained with tears.

“For the record, I’d be upset if you killed yourself,” Derek added.

“Why?” Billy laughed and shrugged his shoulders.

“We’re brothers now. We need to take care of each other. And I like you.”

Billy tried to smile, but he was clearly still upset.

“Thanks, man. I should go. Can you feel that?”

“Yes. I’d swear my heart was racing, but we know it’s not even beating.” That got a little smile out of Billy.

“It’s so weird. What we are now.” Billy’s smile faltered and he added soberly, “What I am.”

“I know. You should get going, back to your house.”

Billy left and Derek lay down on his bed, feeling the increasing rush of dawn’s pull. He thought of poor Billy and tried to imagine how he would have felt had he killed Clara.  

Then he thought of how many times he’d bitten her and taken her blood. They’d discovered how to heal the wounds, but still, he was taking her blood – blood she needed. He realized he’d have to be careful to not take too much. Maybe she should be taking vitamins or something so she wouldn’t get anemic. Maybe there was something in one of her books about that. He made a mental note to talk to her about it tomorrow night and then his world suddenly, but not unexpectedly, went completely black.