e.Vampire.com (23 page)

“Thank you Jennifer. It means more to me than you could ever know.”

He kissed her then, a long, slow and deliciously soft kiss.

Once in the cafeteria, she ordered a hot-fudge sundae with all the trimmings. He sat with his chin in hand and watched her eat. It made her uneasy. “You’re making me nervous.”

“I like watching you eat.” He removed a smudge of whipped cream from the corner of her mouth with his finger and put it between his lips, sucked it softly and drew it back out in an obscenely suggestive manner.

She glanced around the room and noticed virtually half the people there were discreetly
, and not so discreetly looking at them.

Jesus Christ, take a picture! It lasts longer,
she thought.

The waitress greeted them in a warm seductive voice, practically pushing her breasts in Dorian’s face. He ignored her. Nor did he look at any of the other women. It seemed he only had eyes for her. The thought thrilled her.

“Tell me Dorian. Why are you all dressed up tonight?”

“I hadn’t planned on going to e.Vampire until you insisted. I was going to take you to a fancy restaurant and then a Latin dance club. But you sounded so upset I knew I had to put your mind at ease.”

When she’d finished he said he needed to stop by his office for a minute and then he’d take her home. It was 1:00 am and she had to work in the morning.

“I’d like nothing more than to spend the night having you wrapped tightly in my arms while you sleep, but we both have to work.” He checked his cell quickly. “Hmm, thirty messages.”

“Holy shit, that’s a lot of messages. I wondered why your cell wasn’t constantly ringing. You must have a lot of demands on your time owning such a large company.”

“That’s because I shut it off whenever I’m with you.”

She felt the familiar heat burning her cheeks and throat. Her heart beat as fast as a small bird.

Dorian went into the room hidden behind the bookcase. Into the area she’d deemed mission control.
Copy that,
she thought.

When he came out his entire demeanor had changed. He was obviously disturbed, agitated was more like it. He ran his hands through his hair. His face was dark and angry.

“Dorian? Are you alright?” she asked timidly. She’d never seen him look this way. Yes, he had that hint of cruelty in his eyes which made him look threatening, dangerous even, but that was just the way he looked. He could be a bit cocky at times, but this was none of those things. He was out and out pissed off.

“I’m fine. Just a business problem I have to attend too. I’ll drive you home first,” he said tersely.

He didn’t say a word on the way home. He kept his eyes glued to the road, his right hand on the steering wheel, the other brushed back and forth across his chin. Whatever was bothering him must be big, she thought. He was totally distracted. The car flew down the road and whipped into the parking lot of her apartment building.

“I’ll wait until you get in safely.” He came around to the passenger side and open
ed the door for her, just as he always did.

He gave her a quick peck of a kiss and bid her “Goodnight.”

She stood in the door way totally confused as the Ferrari sped off into the night and disappeared from view.

Ch
apter 19

Dorian was furious. He’d had to control himself with Jennifer in the car or she would’ve seen him transform into what he really was. Full blown rage caused his eyes to turn red-rimmed and his fangs to become visible. Looking in the rear view mirror, he saw the reddish hue already appearing on his bottom eye-lids.

“Damn him!” He pounded his fist on the steering wheel so hard he put a dent in it.

He’d gone into the dungeon monitoring room for a supply of blood and “beeps,” which were blood purifying pills. They were used when the vampire’s ingested any kind of food. It virtually disintegrated the substance from their unique blood. He’d been ravenous as well and noticed his body temperature beginning to drop while Jennifer was eating the sundae. And he’d consumed a miniscule amount of whipped cream.

He’d downed the blood, taken the pill and rinsed his mouth out with ice water. And that’s when he saw it. The lights on the panel beneath each room were all red, just as they should be. Except one; the room he and Jennifer had been in. The light indicator for that room was
green! Which meant someone had turned it on, someone had been
watching
them.

“Malachi,” he whispered aloud. It
had
to be him. Perhaps he’d even convinced the others to watch as well.

He was supposed to be his best friend for God sake. Well this time he’d gone too far. He’d already invaded his bedroom, a place he didn’t allow anyone other than Barbara who cleaned it each day
, and only when the door was unlocked. Jennifer was the only one he’d
ever
brought into his private suite.

He went back to Taylor and Van Ness, sure Malachi would be there.

An engineer who was working with Dorian on the current project ran up to him. “I think I found the glitch.”

“Not now.” Dorian didn’t even look at the man. He strode toward Malachi’s office with his head down.  He knew he’d scare the mortals if they saw his face right then.

Dorian shoved the door to Malachi’s office open. There was no one there.

“Oh. Mr. Taylor. I didn’t realize you were here tonight,” said Shane, Malachi’s assistant.

“Where is he, Shane?” Dorian fought to control his anger. It was becoming increasingly difficult.

Shane’s eyes went wide with fright. Dorian was looking directly at him, and he knew damn well he saw the red color of his eyes. Shane, like Ian knew exactly what his employers were. Still he knew it disturbed them when they actually witnessed their true nature. “He . . . went home for the night.”

Dorian pushed Shane aside without a word and headed for Malachi’s house.

He pulled up to the palatial mansion, a two story pale yellow home, with a multi-colored tile roof and enormous etched glass doors. He rang the door-bell frantically until he saw movement coming toward the door.

Rose, Malachi’s live in maid answered the door. “Good evening Mr. Taylor. Is Mr. Van Ness expecting you?”

“No. He’s not.” His voice was strained, making it clear that he was in no mood for questions. He’d thrown on a pair of sunglasses in the car before coming up to the house. He couldn’t very well avoid eye contact with everyone. It wasn’t his intention to scare or hurt anyone, except Malachi.

He burst into Malachi’s bedroom and there he was, sprawled out naked on the bed. Two female vampires, Theodora and Bianca were pleasuring him.

“Dorian, come join us,” Theodora rose gracefully from the bed and came to him. “Ah, I’ve missed this.” She slid her hand between his legs and squeezed.

“Get your fucking hands off me.” Dorian grabbed her by the wrist and flung her across the room.

She got up fast and stood facing him once more. Her eyes were wide, and obsidian black in color as was her long hair. Her
skin still held a hint of the bronze exotic beauty she’d been when she’d lived.

“Don’t you miss me, Dorian?” she teased.  “Remember how you used to love to whip me until I bled? You can screw me and hit me until I’m black and blue and I won’t so much as bat an eyelash, let alone tell you to stop.” She mocked him.

He knew without a doubt, she’d watched what went on in that room as well.

How very cruel she was. Although, he couldn’t deny what he’d done with her.  He’d had brutal sex with her and hit her many times, often leaving welts and bruises as she begged for more. Luckily, a vampire’s wounds healed within hours.

He hadn’t practiced that sort of heavy BDSM in a long time. Even before Jennifer had come into his life, he’d started to question his sexual nature. And as he did, he found the beatings, whippings and violent couplings with the females among them less satisfying. He wanted more. More of what he didn’t know. Now he did.

Theodora was a vicious bitch. To think he’d been with her at all disgusted him and filled him with self-loathing. She scared him too. If she truly desired him, she’d move heaven and earth to get what she wanted.

She sighed. “Oh, relax, Dorian. You’re not that great a lover. You can have your little farmer’s daughter. I have so many others to choose from after all.” She grabbed his hair, pulled it callously and kissed him full on the mouth.

He pushed her away so hard she went flying across the room and landed at the foot of the bed. She didn’t approach him again.

Bianca was silent. Her body was draped across Malachi’s. She openly fondled him while her cold and emotionless eyes fixated on Dorian. He’d never had sex with her and was thankful now that he hadn’t. She was as hard and cold and void of feelings as Malachi; Malachi who hadn’t spoken a single word since Dorian had entered his bedroom.

“Bianca. Theodora. Leave us.” ordered Dorian.

They looked to Malachi. He nodded. “Do as he asks.”

As soon as
the women were gone, Dorian flew at him. He wrapped his hands around Malachi’s throat and pushed him down on the bed. His face loomed above his, his eyes smoldered, his voice was harsh. “Tell me why I shouldn’t cut out your miserable fucking eyes right now?” Dorian hissed.

“You can’t kill me, so what purpose would it serve?”

“It’d punish you for what you’ve done.
Why
, Malachi? Why would you do such a thing?”

“Come now, Dorian. I’ve watched you many times in the past and so have the others. You never minded before. And now all of a sudden you do? You lied to me Dorian. You said she meant nothing to you, that you’d take care of her when you had enough. But that is not the truth is it? I observed you in that room when you thought you were alone with her. And I saw something. You treated her differently than you’ve ever treated any of the others. You have
feelings
for this girl.”

Dorian tightened his grip on Malachi’s throat and bared his fangs. “And if I do? That’s my business not yours! The others don’t seem to care. Only you
, who call yourself my best friend.  Up until now, I’ve merely existed. And it’s been a lonely existence at that. Why can’t you be happy for me?”

“Because Dorian. I’m in love with you,” Malachi said quietly.

Dorian was speechless. He released Malachi and stared at the vampire he’d known for almost a century. Realizing this creature had taught him very well about killing, sex and how to survive, but he’d never taught him how to
love.

Dorian knew what love was when he’d been human. He’d experienced it in his devotion to his mother and sister, the kind of love in which one is willing to lie down their very life for another. He knew full well that Malachi was incapable of such strong feelings.

So, what madness did he speak now? He’d told him he couldn’t be with Jennifer because of e.Vampire.com’s rules. Suddenly, it all became clear. Malachi had used the rules as an excuse to hide the real reason he didn’t want him to be with Jennifer. He was
jealous
!

“I . . . don’t know what you expect me to say here, Malachi. I told you right from the beginning that I was not a homosexual. Do you remember your answer to me then? You assured me you were not.”

“I’m not a homosexual. How I feel toward you has less to do with sex than it does with how you make me feel. I was falling fast into the abyss, becoming like some of the oldest among us. I felt nothing. All was meaningless until you made my heart come alive once more and have every day since. I wanted you that day and still do. Your beauty, youth and grace held me captive from the moment I laid eyes on you. I understand your loneliness more than you know Dorian.

I cannot claim to feel love as intensely as you can and for that, I envy you. And yet when I’m around you, it is then and only then that I feel anything at
all
.  I’ve hoped all these long years that I could fill that void for you, as you’ve filled mine. It appears I was wrong and now I cannot bear the thought of losing you.”

“I’m sorry, Malachi. You snatched me from the brink of death and gave me a new life and for that I will always be grateful. But, I cannot put you above her. Please don’t ask me too choose, I beg you!”

Malachi kissed him chastely on the cheek and whispered menacingly in his ear. “You misunderstand, my friend. I’m not asking you to choose. You
have
no choice. I will
never
let you go. I will do whatever it takes to keep you with me, even if my actions cause you to hate me.”

At that very moment, he knew the true depth of his feelings for Jennifer. He’d fallen in love with her. And Malachi knew it even before he did.