Misty (10 page)

She saw his chest rise in a deep sigh and she realized that he was taking air into his lungs, so Vampires breathed, at least sometimes. They must, if they could smell her. “You understand that being a Vampire has made me and all others have some traits that are appealing to mortals? We have looks that draw mortals to us. We don’t need it because we are stronger and faster than any mortal, plus the fates gave us the ability to control or influence most mortals. But it is there and it is a fact. We might be the minority on this planet, but we have been made to last.” He waited, his arm blocking her passage.

She started to step back but he caught her and drew her to him tightly. She had no resistance against his strength as he pulled her against his chest, and she did feel and smell the sex. He set her back on her own feet and she took a deep breath. She let her anger take over, it seemed to be the only weapon she had against him.

“Shit, what are you trying to prove? You already have me convinced that you are real and that there are things that go bump in the night. But I sure as hell am not going to let those things screw me or screw with my head. Now let me pass.” She was not foolish enough to try to push against him, so she just stood back.

“What I am trying to prove to you is that not all of them are like Bathromo. They will not try to overpower you or scare you. They will try to romance you, and you have won’t have a hell of a lot of resistance.” He moved into the room and she followed. He had a cell phone to his ear, but she didn’t want to hear, so she went to her bedroom and lay down on the bed to think things over. He seemed to leave her alone for almost an hour before she heard him call her.

“Misty, I want you to come out and try something.” She heard his low velvet voice. She did not want to be in the same room with him, especially since she was still processing the feelings from the contact on the balcony. But she thought that if she did not do as he requested, he might resort to force, and she did not like to think about that. She got up and went, standing in the doorway.

“I would like you to sit in the chair and close your eyes and tell me when you feel my presence. It will help me to protect you. You seem to have some extra talents that no one has discovered. We both know you were aware of Bathromo before you saw him. This could be an asset, but it might help to know how close or far the sense reaches.” She realized that he was being helpful by giving her an explanation. She had a feeling that he was more used to giving orders and not explaining himself.

She tried not to look at him, aware that he still wore only the tan pants. Since he was barefoot, she was pretty sure she would not hear him. She went to a chair in the middle of the room and sat down and drew her legs up under her. She felt him walk up behind her with her scarf in his hands as he folded it. She knew he intended to blindfold her and she gritted her teeth, determined not to let him see her reaction. Instead she gripped the arms of the chair as he tied the scarf, then he was gone. Really gone. She could not feel him anywhere. She could not hear anything

She sat stiffly, turning her head when she heard the elevator doors open. She knew a Vampire was in the elevator. It was not Rad
—
she was not sure how she knew, but it was not him. She was not sure what to do, but as long as she did not invite him in she should be okay. It was also not the ugly feeling of Bathromo. She felt Rad. He was to the left of her. She raised her hand.

He asked her, “What do you feel?”

She moved her head as she answered. “You are on my left, not very close, but in the room.”

“Good, that was the first sense you had of me, correct?”

She hesitated than went on to let him know the rest, even though he did not ask. “Yes, but there is a Vampire on the elevator. I can feel him waiting.”

There was a silence then she heard surprise in another male voice. “Amazing, will you invite me in, madam?”

She tore off the scarf and looked at the elevator. There was a handsome young man standing there with a large rolling suitcase beside him. He was fair with a lot of blond hair and what she guessed were probably blue eyes under the blond eyebrows. He was tall, but not quite as tall as Rad.

“Misty, this is a friend, invite him in. He comes bearing gifts, but unlike Greeks, the Swedes can be trusted.” Rad actually produced a smile that reached his eyes.

She did not offer a smile, but she did invite him in. He came over to her dragging the suitcase. He took her hand and she noticed his was cold like Rad’s.

He did not have an accent as he spoke. “Rad is not too polite. It comes from being able to give too many orders. I am Alexander Bider, and you are the lovely Misty Bower.” He kissed her knuckles and she saw Rad watching them closely as he moved away.

“Aah, the smell, so, so sweet. Please call me Alex and don’t worry about the big gorilla in the room. He is tame most of the time and he knows I will not bite you. I am very good at following the rules. But it is such a shame.” He looked at her, giving her a very large boyish grin. He pulled the suitcase over, laying it on its side. “Here is your surprise.”

He stepped back to allow her room to open the case. She hesitated, leaned down, unzipped and pulled the top back. The case was full of drawing material. More important, it was full of some of the finest drawing and watercolors on the market. One hundred percent cotton on backing, stretched so it would not warp when watered, pads of color from China and Italy, tubes of watercolors from Italy and Denmark. There were brushes of a multitude of sizes made from the finest of natural hair. She pulled up the items to see down in the case where there were drafting tools. She looked up at Alex.

For all his size and handsome face, he look hesitant. “Is it correct? Does it please you?”

She cleared her voice. “Yes, it is all very nice. Much better than I have ever been able to afford. Thank you.”

He grinned like a little boy. He turned to Rad. “Well, old man. What have you done to Bathromo? He has closed down half the town.”

Rad looked at Alex and shrugged. “Just doing my job. I passed on a message from the Council just a little while ago, so it might get worse. Let’s wait and see.”

Alex made a face. “Ouch, Bath does not like to have his wrist slapped. I think I will get out of town for a while, go down to New Orleans or maybe out to San Fran.” He was still standing close to her and the suitcase.

Rad motioned to a chair. “If you don’t move away, you are going to have help traveling.”

Alex raised his eyebrows and laughed as he went and sat in the indicated chair. “You know, Misty, if you get tired of having someone around who frowns all the time, just call for me. I will fly you away and hide you so that we can smile a lot. Speaking of smiling, Rad, I did get a call from your servant, Marco. Seems he got the results on some tests you had him running. He needs to talk to you.”

“Thanks, I will give him a call. I do not want to take up too much of your time. You have been generous in acquiring these items.” He got up and indicated Alex should follow him to the elevator. She just sat and watched, then looked down at the treasures in the suitcase. It was great, but it was scary. This meant she was not going home. She watched the two men talking quietly at the elevator, but she stayed in the chair until Alex left and Rad returned to the couch.

He sat on the couch and looked at her for a moment. She finally felt uncomfortable. “What?” she snapped.

Rad nodded at her almost with approval, “You do have some extra talents. I was about 25 feet away and so was Alex. You also knew the difference. This is a good talent and you should be aware of it. It keeps any Vampire from sneaking up on you, and it also tells you where I am if you need me in a hurry.”

She went to her bedroom, then paced back and forth before going to the bathroom. She was restless, angry and scared. She took a shower and used a hand blower to dry her hair. She found a pair of slacks that were made of soft material with full flared bottoms. She put on sandals that were just some thin straps but she found a black blouse that zippered up the back. When the zipper was pulled all the way up, the collar turned over and formed a turtle neck about three inches deep around her neck. It had long loose sleeves that went almost to her knuckles.

She looked at herself in the mirror and smiled. She looked like a beatnik out of a movie set. She was hoping it would make her less attractive to a Vampire, less flesh showing, less color. She pulled out some perfume and sprayed it on. Maybe this would cover her blood smell. Okay, she was willing to try anything. She went back out to the main room. He was stretched out on the couch watching TV, as if nothing had happened, still no more clothes on and still lots of muscle.

She went to the chair, pulling the suitcase closer so she could begin taking items out and looking at them. She laid out the brushes on the table, and decided it was going to be a real joy to paint with them.

He sat up and she watched him from the corner of her eye. He leaned back with both arms stretched out on the back of the couch. He had his long legs sprawled out in front and if she had not known what he was, she would have thought she had never seen any man look so sexy. Hey, what was she thinking about? He wasn’t sexy, he was a bloodsucker, something different from humans. Geez.

She reached for some of the pads of colors, aware that he was watching her and not the TV. She was finally uncomfortable enough to look up and meet his eyes. “Are you interested in the art supplies?” She raised her eyebrow and held up a handful of supplies.

“I am interested in your outfit. Going to a funeral?” He had that small tilted smile on his face.

She pretended to be interested in the art supplies so she did not answer him immediately. She decided she did not want him to think that she was too much of coward. “No, I just thought it would be better to help set some boundaries. Better to cover up instead of advertise.” She put her head down and pretended to really admire some of the paper. She could see the crooked smile and it really irritated her. She took a deep breath, rose up, and faced him. “Okay, what? Do you find everything I do amusing, or you are just bored so that any little thing entertains you? I am stuck with Vampires and I don’t want any of them touching me. So what am I doing wrong?”

“Have you ever helped a friend get ready for a wedding?” Now he was really looking at her.

She looked at him with her mouth open, trying to figure out where he was going, what he meant.

“You know, one of those big weddings, with the bride in white and the groom nervous, you helped your friend get ready on her special day?” His voice was low but she heard it over the TV.

She sighed. “Okay. Yes, I have had a couple of friends in such weddings and I have helped the brides get dressed. What is this leading up to?”

“It is like wrapping a present. Most of the fun is unwrapping. The groom and the bride have a lot of fun, happily tearing off all the layers that you were so careful in putting on early in the day.” He looked at her with the crooked smile. “With a present, sometimes you want to open it slowly and carefully, finding the edges of the paper and slipping a finger under to loosen, finding the folds to ease the first layer off and taking time to fold and put it aside, going to the next layer and slowly the anticipation builds until you get to the last layer of tissue that you carefully pull open to expose the gift that is offered.” As he described the process he kept her eyes locked, his voice got lower and that velvet tone became softer. The tone changed. There was a rasp or hoarse tone that seemed to come from lower in his chest. “There are times when you just say
fuck it
and you tear it all apart, throwing all the wrapping around on the ground with the need to get to the prize and have it in your hands immediately.”

She sucked in a deep breath. This was a little more than she wanted to be discussing with him. She was aware that he had not moved, but she felt a lot more danger from him during the last few seconds than at any other time she had been in the room. She pulled her eyes away from him, aware that she was still holding supplies at an awkward angle, so she set them back down into the suitcase and began packing away all the rest of the items she had pulled out. She tried to zip the suitcase shut, but it would only go so far. Frustrated, she stood up with the extended handle of the suitcase and tried to balance it to pull it towards her bedroom.

She was aware of his eyes on her and she made it almost to the door before the case turned sideways, tipping articles out on the floor. She could not help herself. She stamped her foot and let loose with several loud cuss words. She took a deep breath and silently apologized to her dead mother, wherever she was, for the words. She turned to him and finally let out a deep breath. “You know you made that happen!”

“You are blaming me for what?” He got up to approach her. “The suitcase tipping, or your temper? Or were you responding to my suggestions?”

She choose to ignore him and squatted down on her heels to stuff the lose items into the case. She felt him move in close. It brought a type of heat to her body. Shit, this was not going to turn out good. She finished but looked over at a naked foot which had trapped a small pad to the floor. She tried to make up her mind as to what her next move should be. She knew he was pushing her, but it was a game she did not want to play, especially since she had started to find an excitement from being in contact with him that she did not want to acknowledge.