Blood Dreams

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BLOOD DREAMS An Ellora’s Cave publication written by MLYN HURN MS Reader (LIT) ISBN # 1-84360-468-X Mobipocket (PRC) ISBN # 1-84360-469-8 Other available formats (no ISBNs are assigned): Adobe (PDF), Rocketbook (RB), & HTML © Copyright MLYN HURN, 2003. All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave. Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc. USA Ellora's Cave Ltd, UK This e-book may not be reproduced in whole or in part by email forwarding, copying, fax, or any other mode of communication without author permission. Edited by Kari Berton Cover Art by Bryan Keller

Warning: The following material contains strong sexual content meant for mature readers. BLOOD DREAMS has been rated NC-17, erotic, by three individual reviewers. We strongly suggest storing this electronic file in a place where young readers not meant to view this ebook are unlikely to happen upon it. That said, enjoy...

Chapter 1 “Vampires do not exist!” The tall, blond-haired professor looked out at the audience, waiting for the usual sea of hands to rise up for the question period he allowed at the end of each lecture. Scanning the audience, he looked for the usual types that tended to sign up for the course he presented once yearly on “Vampiric Myths and Legends.” Through no effort on his part, what had started out as a one-time lecture given to fill in for a last minute cancellation on the guest lecturer circuit, had rapidly grown into a regular series of lectures, and soon an accredited class. Iain Dampier, PhD in European History, let his eyes roam over the waving hands until he spotted the type of person he typically let ask the first question. His blue-eyed gaze zeroed in on the gangly, black-haired, pale-skinned young man in the front row. The multiple body piercings and black clothes screamed louder than any words exactly why this young man was here. The young man jumped to his feet eagerly, revealing his zeal and belief in his soon-to-be voiced opinions. “Professor Dampier, how can you ignore all the literature that supports the existence of vampires down through the ages and in so many different cultures?” Iain watched the young man, who almost shook with fervor as he resumed his seat. Only as the young man sat did Iain notice the woman seated beside him. The first thing he saw was that the woman was not looking at him. While he wasn’t vain, Iain was aware that nearly every woman he’d ever met had found him irresistibly attractive. He wouldn’t brag, but over the years there had been quite a few whose hearts he’d broken. The woman moved in her seat, giving Iain a view of her profile, her long neck, and right down to where her Oxford-style shirt parted to reveal a hint of promising cleavage. Her hair was cut into a perfectly smooth bob haircut, with a fringe of bangs starting just above the copper-colored wire frames of her glasses. The sheen of her golden hair glowed deeply under the lights in the auditorium. Iain lifted one eyebrow as he waited for her to turn and focus on him, but still she continued to stare at the young man. Someone clearing her throat finally drew his attention back to the question. “There has been a definite growing belief in vampires over the years. Ever since Bela Lugosi, a love-hate relationship seems to have arisen. Perhaps it is due to Judeo-Christian beliefs overshadowing scientific facts, but I have yet to come across a documented case of a vampire, with the proper supporting data, and credible witnesses.” Iain paused to glance towards the young man who had questioned him, letting his gaze slide to the woman beside him. He was startled to find a pair of intense blue eyes staring back at him. Something about her eyes, her whole posture, was trying to tell him or warn him, he realized with a start of surprise. Shaking his head slightly, he looked back at the young man. “With the popularity of ‘Goth’ subculture, there are a growing number of people who claim to be ‘real’ vampires. These deluded individuals call themselves ‘mortal’

vampires and claim to be real. Yet by a lot of people’s standards for the mythic vampire, that of being undead or immortal, they simply are not! This belief about vampires has been fed by Hollywood’s vision of a myth and the desire to turn a profit. The Goth image, and the makeup, extravagant clothing and jewelry required to fit the part, have become a huge moneymaking business, and apparently show no signs of dying out. Unfortunately, the almighty dollar still drives many people.” Iain looked again at the woman, this time taking in the full lips, stripped of any false coloring. It appeared as if she had no makeup at all on her face. The blush staining her cheeks was due to warm blood alone. “Professor Dampier, how can you ignore thousands of years of folklore?” the eager young man persisted before Iain could continue. Taking a deep breath, Iain nodded patiently. Smiling slightly, he answered him. “You just answered your own question, young man. It is only folklore you have to prove vampires exist. Folklore is stories about myths and so-called over-inflated legends composed to put children to sleep. As adults, we should know the difference between fantasy and reality.” Iain couldn’t resist turning his head slightly and smiling at the woman. He was surprised that she didn’t smile, or at least blush more deeply in response. Turning away, he spoke into the microphone. “Next question?” “Could you go over the ‘Dracula Disease’ again, Professor?” A middle-aged woman stood when Iain nodded her way. Her question was one he had expected. Sometimes he wondered if anyone would ask a question that would surprise him. “Of course. It is porphyria,” he paused to spell the word before continuing. “This is a genetic disease, which means it is hereditary, and a human cannot be infected through blood or body fluid transfer. This puts to rest the myth that it is passed on to a bitten victim.” He smiled as many of the audience chuckled lightly, glancing once again towards the woman. She wasn’t smiling though, and crossed her legs as he continued to look her way. Iain lowered his gaze and looked at the stocking-covered legs that were long and sleek. For a moment, he was struck with the image of a finely bred racehorse—sensitive, skittish but eager to begin what it was meant to do since birth. Pulling his gaze again from the tempting vision, he chided himself on his unusual lack of control this evening. “Porphyria is believed to be the reason for the vampire myths down through the ages, and throughout the many cultures around the world. Now in layman’s terms, porphyrins combined with iron forms hemes in the blood. Heme makes the blood red, and if you don’t have the right amount of porphyrins, you can’t have the right amount of heme, which leads to imbalance. It is a commonly held belief that the disease originated among European royalty who, for many reasons, practiced inbreeding. “One of the rarer forms of the disease, congenital erythropoietic porphyria, has symptoms which can be viewed as vampiric: severe light sensitivity, reddish-brown urine and teeth, mutilation of the nose, ears, eyelids, and fingers, and an excess of body hair. For those who might like to delve a little deeper, there is an excellent book called: Porphyria, The Woman Who Has Vampire Disease. This is the true story of Tammy Evans, who grew up living in a house in darkness. Ms. Evans relates her life as she endures the days when her complexion turns eerily waxy and the suffering caused by visual distortions, abrupt changes of personality and an inability to tolerate sunlight.

“I have more specific information if anyone is interested. You can contact me during my listed office hours. Now, any other questions?” Iain added, glancing back towards the woman. Several more hands shot into the air, but Iain was concentrating on the woman who was now walking up the aisle towards the rear exit. She was wearing some kind of dark colored jacket and skirt. That, combined with her partially unbuttoned Oxford shirt he’d seen when she’d been seated, gave her a staid look, except for the twitch of the skirt as her hips rotated seductively from side to side. “Damn!” he muttered under his breath. Not learning the woman’s name was something he regretted suddenly, but dwelling on that would have to wait as several voices called out his name in an attempt to regain his attention.

***** AnnaBelle Blue breathed in deeply once she reached the cool night air. The air inside the auditorium had been stifling otherwise she would have stayed until the end of the question and answer period. Walking quickly to her silver SUV, she unlocked the door and tossed her purse towards the passenger seat. Lifting her free hand, she tugged the short blonde wig off. Shaking her head, her waist-length bright auburn hair swung free. Why her uncle had insisted on her wearing the wig made little sense to her. Climbing into the vehicle, she shut the door and then reached for the camera beneath her purse. Turning on the overhead light, she looked the camera over, making sure the special film was loaded correctly and ready for the first picture. The dark tinted glass of the sport utility vehicle would prevent anyone from seeing in, but she could quite clearly see the main exit doors of the auditorium. Now she just had to wait for the exodus to begin. AnnaBelle shifted uneasily on the seat. Something about that professor unnerved her. It was strange that she couldn’t figure out what it was either. Her sensory skills were honed to razor edge perfection. This was much more than just sexual attraction she was feeling. The desire that welled up inside of her as she looked at the handsome professor was so much more than just physical lust. There was a new dimension to this, and it didn’t make sense. Of course, the truth could be that she was just suffering from jet lag. She’d been awake for over thirty-six hours, ever since her uncle had called her in Paris, pleading for her help. It had taken a few hours to settle her business affairs and then she was on the Concorde’s red-eye flight to New York. Pausing to rub her temples wearily, AnnaBelle wished she had taken the time to call her parents in London before leaving the Continent. Now she would have to worry about time differences and their work schedules to get hold of them. From the frantic sound in her uncle’s voice, she had just assumed that he would have called her parents. However, since her arrival, her uncle’s level of nervousness surprised her. Fauster Blue was one of the best vampire hunters alive today. Yet his behavior since he’d met her at the airport seemed to belie everything she knew about him. Even though Fauster was only fifty or so, he appeared to have aged at least ten years since she’d last seen him at her parents’ wedding anniversary two years earlier. As he had continued to talk during the ride home to his apartment and while showing her around, her uneasiness grew. Sometimes he was almost manic in his speech and manner, and then he would

slump into a morose silence. At some point during his flitting from one topic to another, he had confided that he had arranged for her to attend a lecture on campus tonight. Even though AnnaBelle questioned him several times before she departed for the class, all he disclosed was that she must listen and observe and then after the lecture, take pictures. Fauster had then shown her the new film he had developed. After years of trial and error, he’d explained excitedly, this film would be able to capture more than just the image of a vampire. As a vampire hunter, he had added in a near whisper, this would become a valuable tool. So, here she sat, shivering a little as the cool air seeped into the car while she waited for the lecture attendees to exit. Restless, she reached back and pulled her hair up and over the back of her seat. AnnaBelle was so exhausted from the frantic rushing around and her flight that she lowered her eyelids for a moment. The only thing she needed more than sleep was a good lay! “What the hell!” Abruptly, AnnaBelle shot upright in the seat. Where in the world had that thought come from? And then she realized she had spoken out loud from the curious looks the young man beside her was shooting in her direction. Covering her eyes with her hand, she flushed in embarrassment. She hoped to God she had not said anything else out loud. She’d never said, let alone thought of something like that. It simply wasn’t in her nature. Of course, she felt desire for men in general, though it had been several years since she had been strongly enough attracted to a man to let it progress beyond friendship, or a casual acquaintance. So why would she think something like that now, especially when a moment earlier it had been sleep and food on her mind, not sex? She ignored the higher brain function that was trying to remind her of the hierarchy of human needs. Voices drew her attention, and looking over at the auditorium doors she saw people exiting the building. She snapped a few photos—the young man who had been sitting beside her, a tall, regal looking black woman and an attractive couple who exited arm in arm. The only reason she took those photos was to test her uncle’s film. There was no doubt in her soul that those people were vampires, and this would just test the accuracy of the film. Deciding she was too tired to trust her judgment, she started to set the camera on the seat beside her. From the corner of her eye she caught sight of the professor exiting the building just then. Immediately something about his presence set her nerves on edge again. The flare of sexual desire, which blazed inside her once more, was close to overwhelming. Without reason or pause, AnnaBelle quickly snapped the handsome professor’s photo—not once, but three times. Disgusted with herself, AnnaBelle set the camera down and started the engine. She needed sleep, damn it, and food! A big tofu burger, a salad, plus twelve hours uninterrupted sleep and she’d be back to her usual composed, self-assured vampire hunting self. The last thing she needed was sex!

***** Iain stopped talking and turned his head to watch a silver sports vehicle drive past the group of students he had been speaking with a moment earlier. The windows were

too dark and yet he sensed the woman who had intrigued him was inside the departing vehicle. It had been a very, very long time since he had felt such an immediate flare of sexual desire. He wasn’t sure why this woman had this strong of an effect over him, and they hadn't even spoken or been close enough to touch yet. As he turned back to answer another student’s question, he acknowledged that he was going to change those two facts soon.

Chapter 2 AnnaBelle came awake when the lights were turned on in the bedroom her uncle had made up for her to use during her stay with him. Turning over, she saw her uncle standing just inside the bedroom doorway. Pushing her hair out of her face, she sat up slowly. “Good morning, Fauster.” “You only took three photos, damn it!” Fauster came over and tossed the prints he’d made from the negatives onto the bed. All of them were perfectly clear. “Wow! It looks like that film really works, Fauster. That was a good idea to test it out at that lecture last night.” Fauster shook his head as he ran his hands through his newly grayed hair. It stood on end, which only added to his wild and unruly appearance. “I wanted you to shoot the whole role of film, AnnaBelle. I knew with your intuitive and sensory abilities you would not waste the film on humans.” AnnaBelle frowned at Fauster’s words. She looked down at the three photos and realized what was wrong. “There were only three negatives to develop? I thought I had taken a few more than that.” Fauster paused as he started to gather the photos together. “You had a few of the professor, but I didn’t develop those.” He turned and was at the doorway when AnnaBelle’s question stopped him. “Did you save the negatives?” “Sure, in the darkroom. By the way, the lecture starts in an hour, so you’d better hurry to get there before you miss anything important.” Fauster walked out, closing the door behind him.

***** Cursing under her breath, AnnaBelle made her way down the aisle of the auditorium. The lecture had already started, and the only open seats were in the first row. Sure that people were watching her, she made her way to the first empty seat. Not surprisingly, AnnaBelle found herself seated beside the same young man as last night. As she sat down, he turned and grinned at her. He appeared even younger than he had in the photo she had taken of him last night. Smiling thinly, she quickly turned her attention to the stage, the podium and of course, the professor.

***** Iain had seen her the minute she entered the packed auditorium. There had been articles about his lecture in two of the subculture newsletters, causing even more attendees than the previous nights. Turning his attention back to his notes, he had to clear his throat. From the corner of his eye, he saw the woman shift in her seat. As her legs crossed, his eyes were drawn to their long, silky length.

His sleep had been restless and plagued with visions of this woman. Almost too easily, he had imagined those long legs lifting to encircle his hips. It had felt very real, thrusting into her body, and therefore not surprising that he had ended up using his hand to end his very real physical needs. Shifting his feet, Iain began speaking once again. “As I was saying, vampire myths date back thousands of years and can be found in nearly every culture around the world. The variety is seemingly endless, ranging from vampire foxes in Japan, the Greek Lamia, which is comprised of the upper body of a woman and the lower body of a winged serpent, to the Penanggalang in Malaysia. This unusual creature consists of a human head with dangling entrails.” Iain paused for the usual nervous shiver from the women and the accompanying ghoulish noises from the younger men in the audience. Taking a quick moment, he glanced down to see how his golden-haired student took the information. To see her sitting there with a bland look on her face surprised him. “The modern vampire, although stretched and sometimes reassembled by modern film, is still largely based on Eastern European myth. The vampire you find in most modern literature and film still retains the compulsory blood drinking, rising from death and of course, the obligatory night prowling for helpless victims. When you leave tonight, you might want to check darkened corners and bushes.” Someone in the front row asked loudly, “For vampires?” Iain shook his head and laughed. “No! For muggers, or did you forget this is still New York City? A lot of that friendly, protective post ‘nine-eleven’ feeling is starting to fade. It’s back to business as usual for the city’s criminal element.” AnnaBelle heard the laughter around her and wondered what the joke had been? She had been focused on the professor’s handsome face, especially his sensual mouth. For some reason, it was incredibly easy for her to imagine those lips closing on her distended nipples and doing all kinds of delicious things! The next second, like a flash of lightning, AnnaBelle remembered her tortured dream from the restless sleep earlier that day. Now she had the explanation for why she felt exhausted despite ten hours of sleep. Closing her eyes, it was disturbingly easy to once again reconstruct the dream scenario.

***** Within her dream, she was in her bedroom in the Paris apartment. Her bedroom was the embodiment of romanticism. The huge, four-poster bed had been in her family for generations and was a nightmare according to the moving men, anyway. The wood was a deep, rich brown, and had elaborate carvings on the four posts, which matched the story told on the head and footboards. The carvings were of demons being slain at the foot of the bed, and continued with a resurrection-like scene at the head. The posts featured demons to be conquered and angels, knights in armor and even gargoyles to protect the sleeper within. To match the romantic bed, she had used white, whisper-thin tulle to create curtains that draped seductively into pools onto the floor, or could be pulled shut for the illusion of privacy. Roses and greenery added to the romantic tone of the room. That was the bed where AnnaBelle dreamed of a lover who joined her while she

slept. He had descended from above her body, floating slowly down until he covered her body. His kisses had been sweet and intoxicating as he slowly pulled the covers down. Then as he undressed her, taking his time to peel the white lace gown off, his mouth trailed down her chin and between her full breasts. Her back bowed upwards to meet his lips, eagerly wanting to feel the drugging intoxication of him suckling her nipple. Her lover was already naked, and the heat from his body prevented her from shivering in the cool night air. A moment later, his mouth deserted her breast and traveled down her body, over her belly. Feeling his breath caress her bald womanly mound had her shivering in reaction. Her thighs had spread without a word passing his lips, and his fingers trailed over her smooth lips in the softest of caresses… AnnaBelle shifted uneasily in her seat inside the auditorium as she remembered that her faceless lover had dragged a pillow down and shoved it under her hips. A moment later, his breath danced across her flesh again in uneven puffs of warm air. In the dream, AnnaBelle recalled her scream rending the night silence as his tongue delved straight into her fleshy folds. Each stroke, lick and teasing flick had her hips bucking like a wild mare resisting the saddle. She had orgasmed in her sleep, which had not happened to her in years, and remembering it now in an auditorium full of people was unnerving.

***** Someone touched her arm and AnnaBelle jumped in her seat, gasping loudly. A bright flush flooded her cheeks as she turned to look at the young man beside her, who was smiling and obviously must have been her “nudger”. “Sorry, was I snoring?” she whispered quickly, hoping no one else had noticed. The young man shook his head, grinning. Before he could speak, AnnaBelle heard Professor Dampier’s voice. “I was asking for volunteers. Perhaps you would come up to the stage.” AnnaBelle looked at the stage and saw that he already had two volunteers, and shook her head. Iain smiled and motioned with his hand. “Let’s encourage her, everyone,” Iain suggested, clapping his hands together. “There’s no reason to be nervous, and I promise to play nice.” AnnaBelle cursed under her breath and gave in as most of the auditorium joined in. Looking up at him, there was nothing in his eyes that reassured her about his niceness. Standing up, she felt the dampness between her thighs. Obviously the dream was still potent enough to affect her waking hours as well. Wishing she were back in Paris, safe in her bed, she reluctantly started towards the stairs furthest from the podium. As she walked slowly, she consciously worked to calm her breathing and her nervous body. Reaching the top step, she heard the professor asking the eager young man next to her to join them as well. “Damn it all!” she muttered softly, crossing the stage slowly. “So much for Fauster’s low profile idea!”

Chapter 3 Iain waited until the four volunteers were lined up on the stage. He had switched to a portable microphone and began walking towards them, moving behind his four nervous assistants. Three of the four were eager and excited. It was the beautiful woman whose reluctance was much greater than what he normally expected at this point in the lecture. As he neared the blonde-haired woman, he inhaled deeply. His sense of smell was much greater than most, and he was sure he detected the womanly essence of arousal. Walking behind the woman, he noticed how her hair revealed the long nape of her neck. There were also several wisps of reddish golden curls peeping from beneath the curled edge of her blonde hair. Obviously, the woman was hiding something. Iain didn’t need his superior vampiric senses to know she was concealing more than just her hair color. He spoke softly, but loud enough for the auditorium to hear. “Relax! I promise I won’t bite!” The audience laughed loudly and his volunteers, or rather three of them, giggled nervously. This woman did not and as Iain came around to face her, he saw her chin lift pugnaciously and she met his gaze. The intent clear blue eyes struck Iain oddly, but he couldn’t say what he felt just then. Desire most definitely, but it was as if this woman had a secret, and it went much deeper than just her hair color. Secrets weren’t unusual, what was strange was that Iain hadn't been able to read her mind and discover what it was. Reading minds wasn’t something he advertised, but he was quite adept at this unusual skill. Oftentimes, in large rooms like this, he had to shut down that part of his brain so he could lecture without “interruption” from incoming thoughts. Moving to the other end of the line, he requested each of his volunteers to tell their first name. “No last names, please,” Iain added, knowing that each one would deliberately focus on their last name so as to not reveal it. He gestured for the first person to start. “Vespa,” the woman spoke clearly. She had a shock of short, white-blonde hair and was dressed in a black T-shirt and jeans. Her thoughts revealed her last name was Bernstein. Iain smiled and nodded, looking towards the second person, a young man. Dressed in a tight, white T-shirt and blue jeans, Iain guessed he was one of the usual jocks who attended his lectures looking for an easy course to take. The muscular young man grinned as he spoke his name. “Randy.” Unspoken, his last name was Stone. Iain covered his smile with a fake cough. The third person was the young man chosen last, who had once again dressed in full Goth costume for the class. “Tony,” he said with a grin, his eyes sliding over to the beautiful woman beside him. Iain stepped between the third volunteer and the woman occupying too much of his attention. Tony’s thoughts had revealed more than just his last name of Winston. Iain hoped the young man’s thoughts would not result in any physical responses that might

embarrass him. “And you are?” “AnnaBelle.” Iain opened his senses and immediately received an influx of information. What he really needed to do was touch her, so he lightly reached out and brushed her arm. Another flood of information came into his stream of consciousness, but foremost were two words, Fauster and blue. He jerked back in surprise. It was not likely that the words were connected. In fact, he briefly thought that he had probably confused the thought in the jumble of incoming messages he had received. Whether those two words meant names or not, Iain knew he would have to worry about it all later. Moving back to his podium, he pulled out four cards. As he moved across the stage, he gave each of the volunteers a card. Standing beside AnnaBelle, Iain spoke clearly. “All right. You may look at the front of the card, but not inside. In turn, I’d like each of you to read the name of the items that are listed on your card. AnnaBelle? Shall we begin with you?” Iain liked her name, he realized. It reminded him of times gone by—castles, manicured gardens and beautiful women in long, extravagant lace and silk gowns. AnnaBelle looked at the items listed on her card and her blood ran cold. Of course, this group of words didn’t mean anything. This was all just a lousy lecture and a silly game. “Illegal.” She spoke the word without any tonal change in her voice. Her eyes followed Iain as he moved back down the line of volunteers, listening as each person said one thing from their card. Tony was still grinning as he called out his phrase. “Mid-nineteenth century.” Randy shrugged as he said, “The Masquerade?” Vespa nodded and spoke loudly, “Fictional.” Iain spoke to the audience. “Each of these items describes one of the currently popular roles, or individuals, seen in today’s trendy and rapidly growing ‘fake’ vampire scene. All right, let’s have another one or phrase from each list please.” Vespa went first this time as directed by Iain. “Supernatural being.” Randy, still looking lost, said the second item on his list. “The Internet.” Tony added his quickly, “Aristocratic and good manners.” AnnaBelle felt Iain’s eyes turn to her. Slowly, reluctantly she eventually spoke her item. “Bloody job.” Iain turned away from her and looked back at the audience before he went on. AnnaBelle purposefully tuned out what he was saying, marshalling her senses and consciousness to focus on perception of the air around her. She knew that something or someone here tonight was strong. From the moment she had entered, every hair on her body was standing on end. A powerful force was here tonight, and it had not been here last night. Tonight, she would take as many photos as possible. It might be possible that one of the true masters was present in the auditorium. She could see that one of them might consider it humorous to attend a lecture decrying his existence. AnnaBelle was grateful when they were allowed to return to their seats after the audience had guessed that the three types of fake vampires were Goth, role-players and Ricean, based on Anne Rice’s novels. No one, though, had guessed AnnaBelle’s, and she was very glad when Iain let the four of them be seated since it was taking longer than planned. The rest of the lecture passed quickly. After grabbing her purse, AnnaBelle

almost raced to exit the auditorium before the crowd. Outside, she jumped into her vehicle, preparing to snap the whole roll of film tonight. The camera clicked and whirled quickly, trying to catch as many of her fellow students as possible. Consciously, AnnaBelle reserved the last two negatives for Professor Dampier. She would stay up and watch her uncle develop all the photos tonight. Suddenly, her hair stood on end once again. Turning her head, AnnaBelle saw that Iain was standing with a couple of Goth-looking students. Lifting the camera, she prepared to take the pictures. Snapping the first frame, she quickly zoomed in for a close-up. Looking through the lens, her focus was on the attractive professor. Behind him she was sure she saw another person and quickly she moved her finger, capturing the moment. Lowering the camera, AnnaBelle started the engine. Deciding to exit the parking lot via the opposite direction tonight, she spent most of the drive back to the apartment telling herself the change was not so she could avoid passing the object of her… No! AnnaBelle realized that she had shouted the word in her brain. She had almost called Iain the object of her fantasy. If she admitted that, then it was just a small step to acknowledging her desire for him. Talk about a stupid and completely useless emotion! Using a stern voice, her conscience told her to forget this man. It could only be a dead-end relationship, and her life was in Paris.

***** AnnaBelle’s plans to develop the film fell apart as she fell asleep on the sofa after she ate the food her uncle prepared for her. At some point during the night, she made her way to her bed. Once again, her sleep was restless. The dream of the previous night returned over and over through the night. When she finally woke up, she disgustedly discovered it was nearly time for the lecture and she’d once again slept through most of the day. Staggering out of the bedroom, she made her way to the kitchen in the loft that comprised her uncle’s living space. It was an old building, in one of the seamier sides of the city. No one else lived in the building that she knew of, but her uncle seemed to use the other two floors for something. She remembered him commenting about his “workshop” at some point in their conversations. In the kitchen, AnnaBelle made a cup of the herbal tea she had brought with her from home. Moving over to the rickety kitchen table, she saw the note taped to it. The writing was scrawled and partially illegible. But after a few readings, she figured out that he had started to develop the film, but ran out of photo paper. On his way back, he had run into friends who wanted to go out for drinks. He was going to invite her, but decided to let her sleep. There were two more rolls of film by the camera, and he’d be waiting up for her. All the while she was dressing she couldn’t shake the same uneasy feeling she’d had last night in the auditorium. Every little noise spooked her. She was jumpy, jittery and couldn’t explain, or shake off, the unusual and disturbing feelings bombarding her senses—all seven of them!

Chapter 4 AnnaBelle reached the auditorium early, which didn’t surprise her considering the speed she had driven. Starting down the aisle, she was aware of small groups of people, some seated and others still standing, talking softly. Halfway down the aisle, the feelings she had been fighting earlier overwhelmed her in a rush of sensations. Stopping abruptly, her human senses and her extraordinary senses, shifted into hyper drive mode. Voices, which were whispering, suddenly seemed louder, while faint odors of perfume, aftershave and sweat assailed her scent glands. Turning slowly, striving to not draw attention to herself, she looked around the auditorium, giving each group of people she had skimmed over moments earlier a much longer and closer look. Tonight she had skipped the disguise her uncle had been insisting on. Instead, she looked more like she did most days in Paris, going about her “day” job. Her hair hung loose to her waist, brushing back and forth over the plain, man-style Oxford shirt. Washed out blue jeans and thick-soled athletic sneakers completed the casual outfit. On one level she had argued that this way, it was unlikely that anyone would equate her with the woman on stage last night. “Oh my God!” AnnaBelle fell back a step upon completing her visual tour of the auditorium and found Professor Dampier standing right in front of her. His unexpected and silent approach unnerved her, and her hand lifted to press over her heart. Her brain was shouting at her that something was wrong! Her normal perceptiveness would never have allowed anyone to come so close to her without setting off alarm bells within her body. Iain smiled. “Forgive me.” He even inclined his head in an old-world and courtly gesture. “I didn’t mean to alarm or scare you.” AnnaBelle was confused by the feelings of relief rushing through her nervous system as she looked at her professor, as she was frequently starting to think of him possessively. The relief came because she knew the professor was “safe” and definitely not a vampire. It would have been a serious concern if she’d turned and discovered that a vampire had gotten so close to her without her innate alarm system forewarning her. For some unknown reason, AnnaBelle lifted her hand and touched his forearm. As the warmth of his flesh crept through his shirt to her skin, her hand actually curled around his arm, feeling the strong muscle beneath. One part of her brain told her to step away from the man, and above all, to stop touching him! She didn’t though. Her behavior was completely abnormal as her fingers curled slightly and AnnaBelle actually squeezed the muscular forearm beneath a plain white shirt, remarkably like hers. One level of her consciousness opened its figurative mouth in surprise as AnnaBelle spoke. “No, really, forgive me. If you hadn't spoken, I would have plowed right into you.” Iain smiled. “Having you plow into me would have some advantages as well.” AnnaBelle couldn’t control the heated blush, which suddenly stained her cheeks.

She couldn’t deny the desire to feel this man’s body pressed up against her as well. It didn’t seem to matter that she was acting foolish and girlish and completely out of her normal character. She grinned back at him. “I was hoping you might join me for coffee or a drink after the lecture tonight. The campus has a coffee shop open late, and there is a popular bar just a block off campus.” AnnaBelle nodded her head in agreement before her brain seemed to realize she had commitments and was technically here on business. Fighting back the inner voice, AnnaBelle nodded again. “I’d like that. Shall I wait just outside the door for you?” Iain agreed. “Sounds like a plan! I see someone I need to speak to before the lecture, if you want to find a seat.” AnnaBelle grinned and almost skipped to her front row seat. Once seated, it took several minutes for her brain to take over again from the giddy schoolgirl that seemed to have possessed her all of a sudden. Staring straight ahead, she could hear her mother and father’s voices playing over and over in her head. Camilla Blue would tell her with a worried frown, “You know nothing about him, AnnaBelle.” Her father, Byron, would remind her of her own misgivings. “If you are questioning your own senses and perceptions, daughter, that is when you should back up and take another look around.” Their arguments were all well and good, if she were looking for a vampire. But that wasn’t what was on her mind right now. While it might seem coarse, she felt the strongest urges and desires for the attractive, blond professor. And her instincts were functioning fine, in her opinion. So far she had identified ten real vampires in the auditorium over the previous two nights and probably fifty or more mortal vampires, Goths and a small number of role-playing vampires. Relaxing and stretching her legs out in front of her, AnnaBelle felt pretty confident in her psychic abilities to spot trouble before it tried to make a blood donor out of her. Belatedly, she did wonder if the professor had not realized that she was the same woman who’d been his volunteer or not? Maybe it was strange and didn’t make much sense, but now she was feeling unnerved either way.

***** Iain was interrupted several times before he finally reached a man seated alone, in the far right corner of the auditorium. Iain crossed between the seat rows until he stood directly in front of the seated man. His eyes traveled over the dark-haired man. Gray streaks at his temples didn’t add to his age but merely made most women more attracted to him. The man’s skin was very pale and his dark eyes appeared black in the dimmed light of the auditorium. Iain noted the man was wearing a dark, expensive suit, white shirt and wine-red silk tie. “I am very surprised to find you here, Simon. Last I heard you were living on the continent.” Iain spoke decisively. The other man nodded his head and smiled slightly. “I’ve come here on business, but I don’t anticipate it taking too long. Besides, with all that political bickering and bartering over that damned park, I was glad to leave the area.” He paused and crossed one leg over the other at the knee, straightening the pleat before he continued. “It appears there is going to be a ‘Dracula Park’ after all. When I return, I’m sure all will be settled.” “I just learned that the governmental plans have approved the Dracula Park provisory, which is entitled ‘Dracula—Rasnov—Brasov—Transylvania—Park’.” Iain crossed his arms across his chest as he leaned back on the seat behind him. “Exactly, Professor. I am exceedingly grateful that they finally dropped the idea of using Sighisoara. Granted that it was the usual ranting ‘good for tourism, but not in my backyard’ reasoning, yet I had no desire to be seeing pint-sized Dracula imitations running all over the place, while their doting parents snapped pictures.” Iain shifted his feet, lowering his hands to rest on the seat behind him. “It is a shame because from what I can recall, Rasnov is a quaint medieval village with a powerful fortress on a hill above the locality, halfway between Brasov and Castle Bran. Beautiful and unspoiled land is about to meet Mickey Mouse, complete with fangs, red cape and all the benefits of American tourism and capitalism.” Simon laughed at Iain. “You are too harsh, my clever Professor. But rumor has it the first item scheduled is Dracula’s Castle, followed soon by the Institute for Vampirology.” Simon made no effort to hide his sneer. “Nothing planned for the throngs of blonde, Buffy-like vampire slayers, from the sound of it so far.” Simon frowned. “It is easy for you to jest since you will remain safe over here.” “I have no fear that you will continue your secure solitude, protected by your human puppets.” “Too cruel, Iain. They are free to leave, should they so desire. Some of my caretakers are third and fourth generation now.” Simon paused to glance around the rapidly filling auditorium. “I am rather like a family business, you might say.” Iain shifted away from the seatback he’d been leaning on. “You still have the same odd sense of humor.” Moving towards the aisle, he paused before walking back to the stage. “I trust you won’t be staying long.” Simon’s lips twisted into a semblance of a smile. “Subtlety was never your strong point. I’ll be leaving your precious city soon. It shouldn’t take me long to locate what I need, and then I shall be gone.” He paused to look over the audience already gathered.

“I can see you are making a good living out of debunking your own kind. Far be it from me to curb your style, old friend. We’ve come close over the tides of time to testing our strengths, but I see no reason to risk our comfortable lives this time.” Simon crossed one leg over the other before stating softly, “I believe I will stay for your lecture. I can always use a good laugh.” Iain started walking back down the aisle when he heard Simon speak again. “And I could always use a little female companionship for the evening. There is nothing like pretty young co-eds.”

***** Iain was glad to end the lecture tonight. It was not only the drink he was having with AnnaBelle that he was looking forward to, but he also wanted to put distance between himself and Simon. Looking around, it appeared that AnnaBelle had gone outside to wait for him. Nodding to students, he wasn’t letting himself be delayed this evening. Outside, he glanced around once before he saw that AnnaBelle was standing next to Simon, only half hidden by the shadows.

***** AnnaBelle had hurried from the lecture hall, hoping the cool night air would shake the unusual feelings of uneasiness that seemed to have pervaded the hall. Moving towards her car, she had stopped when a deep, mellow voice spoke. The sound reminded her of dark velvet, burgundy cognac and mystery. Turning, AnnaBelle saw a tall, dark-haired man just a short distance away from her. As she watched, he smiled slightly, but AnnaBelle noted that the smile didn’t warm his cold, midnight dark eyes. “Excuse me,” AnnaBelle spoke in reply. “Were you speaking to me?” The man came a few steps closer. “Good evening. Did you enjoy the lecture?” “Oh! Why, yes, I did. Were you in there as well?” The minute the words left her mouth, AnnaBelle told herself how stupid they must sound. Of course he had been in there! How else would he have known she’d been attending the lecture, and not just walking by the auditorium? The stranger nodded his head, moving closer until there were only a few feet between them. “This was the first night that I was free to attend. Are you a devotee of vampire lore, or merely a curious on-looker?” AnnaBelle felt a shiver run up her spine as the man moved closer to her. It also dawned on her that she had been acting naïve since she had arrived in New York. She didn’t have any of her equipment with her, nor was she observing her own usual strict codes of safety. Something about this whole trip, pretty much since her arrival, had been off center. It was making her balance haywire, and she was beginning to worry that it was affecting her judgment skills. “Curiosity, nothing else.” “Aah,” the dark-haired man whispered softly. “Do you attend the university? Are you a coed here? I believe the correct word is coed.” AnnaBelle shook her head and had to laugh. It had been a few years since she had been that age. “No, I am not attending the university, but thank you for the compliment.” She planned on adding that she was just visiting the city when a touch on

her arm caused her to jump a little in surprise. Turning her head rapidly, she saw it was Iain who now stood by her side. Her heart was racing as she realized that she had been completely unaware of his approach! Maybe she was getting sick and that is why her usual perception skills seemed so impaired. Iain spoke softly. “Sorry for the delay, AnnaBelle. Are you ready to go?” Before AnnaBelle had time to wonder about Iain’s silent approach, or the obviously cold look on his face, the stranger spoke. “Leave it to you, Iain, to have a date with the loveliest woman attending your lecture tonight.” AnnaBelle flushed at the compliment even as she felt Iain’s hand curling around her arm. “Yes, well, we’d better get going, AnnaBelle.” The dark-haired man laughed softly. “I guess that means you wouldn’t welcome a third party, huh?” AnnaBelle looked from the man to Iain. The undercurrents of emotions and portents of “things that go bump in the night” suddenly overwhelmed her. It seemed natural to move closer to Iain even though her brain would argue the point if allowed. “Do you two know one another?” she finally asked around the lump in her throat. The other man spoke quickly. “We have known each other for what feels like centuries at times.” AnnaBelle looked at Iain and caught the frown that quickly disappeared. “Perhaps you two should go out and have time to catch up.” Iain moved fast this time. “No, I’m afraid we can’t tonight, AnnaBelle. You promised me a ride home in exchange for seeing that book.” AnnaBelle saw the other man frown for the first time. But it disappeared quickly and he smiled once again. “Not a problem, but perhaps I could treat you both to dinner after the lecture tomorrow?” Iain tightened his hand around AnnaBelle’s arm. “Thank you, Simon. But class doesn’t meet again until Monday, and I didn’t think you were staying that long in the States.” Simon’s smile narrowed, as did his eyes. “Yes, you are right, Iain. If I find my business delays me, I’ll come by at the end of the lecture Monday, and then we could enjoy dinner.” “That sounds like an excellent suggestion, Simon. Now we must get moving! Good night!” He turned away quickly, his hand still tightly holding AnnaBelle’s arm. They had gone several feet, when AnnaBelle spoke up. “My car is back the other way.” “Just keep walking for now, AnnaBelle. Trust me on this.” AnnaBelle tried to slow his pace and look over her shoulder, but Iain only quickened the pace. “Don’t look back either!” He turned his head and met her clear, blue-eyed gaze. “Just trust me!” Something in Iain’s voice and his eyes convinced her, and she stopped lagging and kept pace with him as they reached the far corner of the building and turned onto the next street. After they had walked another minute or so

Iain stopped in front of a traditional cottage-style house typically found surrounding college campuses. “Let’s go inside for awhile, and I'll give you a ride back to your car or home then.” Iain had taken the first step leading up to the house. AnnaBelle paused for a few seconds, not sure which would be the best thing to do. Iain turned back and looked at AnnaBelle. “I’m not a serial killer or a rapist. I am just an unmarried college professor—boring, staid and under paid.” AnnaBelle looked at his eyes, his face and felt something happening inside her that she couldn’t recognize. Taking a deep breath, she asked him softly, “Harmless?” Iain grinned at that, and shook his head. “I’m not completely harmless, AnnaBelle. I am attracted to you, which is why I asked you out in the first place.” AnnaBelle took the step and now stood beside him. “So this was a date? I wasn’t sure if you were just asking me to talk about class… ” Iain looked away from AnnaBelle’s clear-eyed gaze. “Come on inside. It’s a little cool out tonight.”

Chapter 5 Iain left AnnaBelle looking around the living room while he went into the kitchen to make some tea. Setting the teapot to boil, he got out teacups and saucers. Turning to lean backwards against the counter, Iain remembered back to when he had first seen AnnaBelle talking to Simon. Of all the women in the class, why had Simon chosen AnnaBelle? Had Simon been watching when he had asked AnnaBelle out? He didn’t think it possible that Simon’s powers could have increased to the point that he could read minds. In their past encounters, both physical and mental, he had never detected Simon reading anyone’s mind. Simon had always possessed above the normal powers of persuasion. Over the years, Iain had seen many women, and some men, fall prey to Simon’s smooth words combined with his innate Vampiric powers. Simon was a smart vampire and Iain was sure this had allowed him to live and escape destruction for almost three centuries now. Of course, Simon’s dark, brooding good looks made him the stuff that composed many women’s dreams. Iain knew that his own blond hair, and lightly tanned skin made him the “boy next door” for a lot of women. Since his earliest days though, he had never lacked for female company, either for dates or sex. His attraction to AnnaBelle didn’t fit any of his usual parameters for female companionship. And because he was always honest with himself, Iain admitted that he was not altogether comfortable in this situation, nor did he have much idea where this was leading. Somehow he knew that AnnaBelle was not the type of woman who enjoyed one-night stands. The teakettle’s whistle sounded loudly behind him. Iain turned towards the stove, turning off the gas flame. He was pouring the water into a china teapot as Annabelle spoke a short distance behind him. Startled, he jumped a little and the hot water splashed onto his wrist. “Can I help, Professor?” “Damn!” Iain said under his breath. AnnaBelle reached his side. “We need to run some cold water over that.” Iain considered refusing but quickly decided to let AnnaBelle do her thing. He watched as she turned on the cold water and pulled his hand over. She shoved the slightly reddened area under the cold water. Iain was much more aware of the way his arm, caught under AnnaBelle’s, was pressed against her soft breast. Leaning forward, pretending to watch what AnnaBelle was doing, Iain pressed his upper arm more firmly into her soft flesh. His body was already responding appropriately and if he shifted his body slightly, AnnaBelle would quickly know just how he felt about her. That would certainly quell any doubts she had about him inviting her on class reasons. “There,” AnnaBelle turned her head and smiled at Iain. “That should do it. Do you have any ointment we could put on it?” “No, but I’m sure it will be fine.” Iain reluctantly pulled his arm away from the

warm, softness of her body. “Let me finish the tea.” AnnaBelle sipped the tea a few minutes later as they sat in Iain’s living room. The heat of the tea wasn’t helping the flush staining her cheeks. Feeling his muscular arm between her arm and body, AnnaBelle had shifted until his arm pressed into her breast. She couldn’t say it was an accident either, and even wondered if she was glad that he had burnt his hand so she could touch him! Deciding the hot tea wasn’t helping her cool down, AnnaBelle leaned forward and set her cup on the low coffee table. AnnaBelle stood and walked over to the floor-to-ceiling bookcase. She read the titles that were closest to her line of sight. “In Search of Dracula, the History of Dracula and Vampires.” Moving a step to one side, AnnaBelle scanned a few more titles. “Hmm, Vampire Book, the Encyclopedia of the Undead; Piercing the Darkness, Undercover with Vampires in America Today; the Essential Vampire; The Vampire Companion.” AnnaBelle moved again, finding another interesting title. “Energy Vampires, a Practical Guide for Psychic Self Protection.” AnnaBelle lifted one hand to pull the last book from the shelf. Iain spoke suddenly, and from immediately behind her. “If you are interested in books, I have one over here you might like to see.” AnnaBelle turned, and followed Iain across the room. He walked into another room, and flipped on a light switch. AnnaBelle looked around, realizing that this room was full of bookshelves and books. She turned her head and saw that Iain had stopped by a glass case. Stopping beside him, AnnaBelle leaned down and gasped when she read the protected book’s cover. “Dracula, by Bram Stoker. Oh my God! Is this an original copy?” “Yes. Would you like me to take it out of the case?” Iain offered softly. AnnaBelle shook her head from side to side vigorously. “No! Leave it under the glass. I’d hate it if something happened to it.” “I’m not worried. I have several older books, if you would like to see them, AnnaBelle.” AnnaBelle looked up from the old book in the case and looked at Iain. Something in the way he had just spoken her name had sent shivers up and down her spine. “You collect old books? Isn’t that rather expensive?” Iain laughed softly. “On a professor’s salary?” AnnaBelle flushed darkly in embarrassment. “I didn’t mean that! I was just thinking that the books must be really expensive… ” Iain smiled, shrugging his shoulders. He could admit that when he first purchased the books, they were new and therefore not that expensive. But discretion won out, and Iain kept his mouth closed. “I keep the others upstairs, if you want to see them.” AnnaBelle paused, frowning. “Is that like ‘etchings you’d like me to see’? Once you get me upstairs, you ravish my innocent person!” The minute the words left her mouth AnnaBelle wished she had just kept her mouth shut. Looking up at Iain, she could see by the look in his eyes that she had definitely said that line out loud. “Oops! Foot in mouth?” she jested quickly. “Would you like to come upstairs and see the books?” Iain offered. AnnaBelle nodded her head, refusing to listen to her mother’s voice insisting that

going upstairs was a bad idea. She followed Iain up the dark wood staircase, unable to miss the way his chinos showed off his taut butt. Her desire to reach out and cup his ass in her hands shocked her. The need forced her to curl her fingers into the palms of her hands. By the time they entered the large master bedroom, AnnaBelle knew she had crescent moon indentations from her fingernails digging into the soft skin of her palms. Iain’s voice startled her attention away from the king-sized bed in the room. “Here is one of the older books that I have.” AnnaBelle turned and saw a book on a pedestal, opened to a page that appeared to be written in a script style. She reached out towards the page, but drew back; half afraid she would damage the book. Looking at Iain, she found that he was smiling at her. “Here is an ivory page turner you can use. This keeps the oil off the pages.” AnnaBelle nodded and carefully turned one of the large pages. “It’s really pretty silly for me to bother turning pages,” she added setting the carved ivory device down. Iain folded his arms across his chest. “Why do you say that, AnnaBelle?” “Even though this is very pretty writing, I still can’t read a single word.” Laughing gently, Iain gestured towards another stand, next to the bed, which displayed another book. “Sorry about that. The one by the bed is in English.” AnnaBelle nodded and walked over to the stand, keeping her eyes off the bed. “This one looks quite nice also, but I’m still afraid I don’t really know much about old books. My brother collected old comic books for awhile… ” Iain was standing behind her, looking over her shoulder. “Some of those have turned out to be quite valuable, I understand.” AnnaBelle turned suddenly, unaware that he had stepped closer to her a moment earlier. She stumbled a little and Iain’s hands came up to catch her arms and steady her. The bookstand wobbled a little but kept its place. As AnnaBelle looked up at Iain, she felt like her legs were much more wobbly than the bookstand had been a moment earlier. Closing her mind to the more staid voices in her head, AnnaBelle leaned towards Iain. She wanted him to kiss her. Iain seemed to read her mind and met her halfway. AnnaBelle closed her eyes as their lips met for the first time. His lips felt firm, and when she slid her tongue forward and touched his lower lip, they parted. Pressing her hands to his chest, AnnaBelle leaned closer and let her tongue begin exploring his mouth and tongue. Heat shot through her body and it felt as if every nerve ending was sending messages to her brain. Pressing closer to Iain’s chest, she rubbed her breasts against him. Her hands slipped up and around his neck, even as she continued to kiss him deeply. For a moment, AnnaBelle did pause and wonder if this was one-sided. As if Iain read her thoughts, or sensed her hesitancy, his hands caressed her hips and then slid around her body. AnnaBelle lifted her mouth from Iain’s, breathing in deeply. Looking up, she saw that he was watching her carefully. She felt the butterflies in her stomach leap to life and hundreds of wings began hitting the lining of her stomach. Not sure what to do, AnnaBelle started to pull back. Her retreat was stopped abruptly as Iain’s hands curled around her ass cheeks, cupping the rounded flesh eagerly. Her eyes opened wide, and then a second later she was gasping as Iain pulled her body into his, intimately. Iain smiled as AnnaBelle’s eyes

opened wider still when she felt his hard erection pressed against her soft belly. “Yes, I want you, AnnaBelle. Don’t ever doubt that!” AnnaBelle started to nod her head, or was it to shake her head? The next moment Iain’s mouth covered hers and this time his tongue took control. He swallowed her gasp of surprise, which repeated when his hand moved up and cupped her right breast. Her nipple was already hard, and AnnaBelle pressed her breast more fully into his hand. A second later, his hand squeezed the firm globe. His touch was firm and arousing. AnnaBelle turned her head away, gasping for air. Telling herself to get control of her emotions, she lowered her head to rest on his upper chest. She felt his mouth kissing along the side of her face, over her jaw. His fingers began toying with her nipple. One thigh moved between hers, and AnnaBelle freely pressed against his muscular upper thigh, nearly riding it in her passionate fog. The heat that moved through her body was unlike anything she’d ever felt before. The tiny voice in her head still argued for common sense, but then Iain’s mouth found her ear lobe. Slowly, his teeth and lips began a sensually teasing seduction of that tender bit of flesh. AnnaBelle groaned, not sure what she wanted. Iain’s one hand was molding and squeezing her breast. His thigh was pressed against her swollen clit, inviting her wanton movements against it. Totally caught up in the passionate response her body was having, she barely heard the snap of her jeans give way. She did feel Iain’s hand sliding the zipper down, but she didn’t say anything in protest. The truth was that Iain’s touch released her deepest desires. When his hand slipped inside, moving down over her soft flesh, AnnaBelle shifted to make it easier for his hand to access her body. “Oh, God!” AnnaBelle cried out as Iain cupped his hand over her mound. She barely felt the rush of Iain’s breath over the skin below her ear as Iain spoke. “I didn’t expect to find a shaven vixen, AnnaBelle. You feel so incredibly soft—” His voice faded as his fingers slipped between her lips, exploring. He groaned as her wetness eased his passage. AnnaBelle lowered her arms from around his neck and shoved her jeans downwards to ease his hand’s movements. As his mouth lightly kissed the side of her neck, she didn ’t give a damn about common sense and stopped listening to inner voices. Iain’s mouth, his hands and even his whole body, were driving her crazy with lust. She opened her mouth to tell him her demands. “Take me… ” The words were swallowed as she gasped in surprise. Iain’s hand, or rather his fingers, had found her clit. “Oh… yes!” Iain lifted his mouth from the warmth of AnnaBelle’s neck and looked down at the softly pulsating spot. The beat was the echo of her heart pounding against his chest. He began working his fingers more rapidly, almost matching the racing beat of her heart. His whole body cried out for him to lower her to the bed, and thrust deeply into her cunt. The desire to feel her flesh around him was as strong as the hunger to press his teeth into the beating vein down the side of her neck. Iain wasn’t an animal though. He refused to give into the beast that drove most vampires. Instead he wiggled his fingers between her fleshy lips, teasing her passionate bud. His mouth moved from her neck to her earlobe and he nipped it lightly with his lips only. Whispering into her ear, Iain commanded her response.

“Come for me, pretty lady!” Iain lifted his head and watched as AnnaBelle’s body quivered and her hips jerked spasmodically. Her eyes were closed, but her mouth was open, gasping for breath. Iain pressed more firmly, quickly, watching AnnaBelle losing control. He lowered his mouth to her ear again, only this time he nipped her lobe lightly with his teeth. “Come for me, now! Let me feel your juices flow over my fingers. Show me the depth of your desire. Come, AnnaBelle, come now!” As if his words controlled her and he was her puppet master, her body jerked wildly against him. A second later he felt her wetness soak his fingers while her voice cried out. “Yes!” That one word and the proof of her body’s reaction was enough for Iain. His free hand and arm encircled her body, holding her close as her body shivered and shook in reaction to her orgasm. The hand that had just brought her release merely cupped her body, and his fingers remained unmoving, still buried between her soft, wet pussy lips. Regretfully, Iain finally withdrew his hand slowly. Instead of wiping his hand against her jeans, or his, he slipped his hand beneath her T-shirt. As AnnaBelle lifted her face from his chest, Iain’s wet hand cupped her breast. AnnaBelle gasped in surprise and her eyes darted upwards to meet Iain’s. He smiled down at her while his fingers brushed over and all around her taut nipple. Stopping after a few moments, Iain shifted away from AnnaBelle. He saw the confusion and doubt on her face, but he still tugged her shirt upwards until he exposed her unbound breasts to the air. Pausing, he waited for AnnaBelle to look down. AnnaBelle was still stunned from her physical response. Looking down, she saw her naked breasts, one of them damp with her own juices. The nipple was quite taut and distended more than three-quarters of an inch. Suddenly that voice in her head was telling her to go now, before anything else happened. She was shocked to realize she was standing in a near stranger’s bedroom with her shirt shoved up over her naked breasts and her jeans hovering around her knees. AnnaBelle knew she had to leave… Thoughts of leaving left her head a moment later. Iain was leaning down, and a second later, his mouth engulfed the entire nipple. AnnaBelle sighed as Iain’s tongue gently bathed the elongated nipple with long, slow licks. Each time his tongue danced around her nipple, teasing it into even more of an erotic delight. Her hands grabbed at him, holding herself upright, since she doubted the ability of her legs to keep her off the floor. One part of her head managed to tell her she needed to get out of there immediately. Iain though, ended all such ideas as his mouth again tugged the nipple into his mouth. The suctioning he applied to the distended, tender bud caused AnnaBelle to cry out again. “Oh, dear God!” AnnaBelle threaded the fingers of one hand into the soft hair on his head. Iain eventually lifted his mouth once again, looking straight into AnnaBelle’s face. His mouth moved to the side of her neck once again as her face lowered to rest again on his chest. The feel of his mouth nibbling and nipping at the soft flesh of her neck, made her knees weak all over again. Thoughts of leaving Iain’s bedroom left her head. His lips and teeth moved slowly over her soft skin, testing and tasting the soft flesh

he found there. AnnaBelle savored the aftermath of her climax while he teased the skin at the side of her neck. Iain’s voice was husky as he spoke. “You smell very delicious, my sweet.” Pausing, his mouth lightly nibbled on her neck. AnnaBelle sensed his hesitancy and moved backwards. Iain released her and lifted his eyes to meet her gaze. AnnaBelle shook her head from side to side, trying to marshal her thoughts and regain some semblance of control over her emotions, and her actions. Iain smiled as he reached out towards her. AnnaBelle was expecting him to continue… instead he pulled her jeans upwards, after making sure her panties were righted. AnnaBelle’s blush grew hotter as Iain’s tender hands restored her clothing to decency. His hands lifted to the hem of her shirt, but he didn’t pull the white cotton down immediately. Looking at his eyes, AnnaBelle saw that they seemed to flare and burn as he stared at her breasts. Throwing caution to the wind, AnnaBelle shook her shoulders, making her full breasts bounce and jiggle. AnnaBelle stared at Iain closely, waiting for his reaction. She saw his eyes open wide at first, and then they narrowed to near slits. What she didn’t expect was that he pulled her shirt down, making sure, or so it seemed to her, his hands never touched her breasts. Suddenly feeling ashamed of her actions, AnnaBelle felt the need to get out of there, away from Iain, as quickly as possible. Turning abruptly, she almost ran to the door, muttering as she did so. “I really should be going, Professor… Iain.” AnnaBelle flew down the stairs, and then frantically looked around for her purse. Finally seeing it on the floor by the sofa, she snatched it up and sprang towards the front door.

***** Iain had soundlessly walked down the stairs, placing himself in front of the door to wait for AnnaBelle. She nearly cannonballed into him, barely skidding to a halt not a foot away. He could see that her blush had faded, leaving her skin looking pale. One part of him was tempted to let her go and forget their interlude upstairs had ever happened. There were many women in the world, and many would say yes to have him in their bed. Some would even line up and gratefully be a donor for him. His attraction to this woman didn’t make a great deal of sense to him. There were countless women more attractive both physically and psychologically. He had no doubt that AnnaBelle came with baggage that wouldn’t be easy to deal with—he had sensed it from the first time he stood next to her on the stage. So why was he reluctant to let her walk out his front door and out of his life? “I promised you a ride back to your car.” AnnaBelle shook her head negatively. “There is no need for you to get back out. It is only a block or so, and I won’t get lost.” “I understand, and this campus is fairly safe, but there is still the odd attack.” AnnaBelle shook her head again. “I’ll be fine. I can take care of myself. I’ve had self-defense classes.” Iain had moved to her side when AnnaBelle reached out to grab the door handle. He hadn't given up yet, but having AnnaBelle touch his body could break the thin control he was keeping on his own lustful desires for her. Looking into AnnaBelle’s clear blue

eyes, he shook his head. “There are some things you cannot easily defend yourself against.” AnnaBelle paused, and Iain could see she was torn between decisions. “I’ll be fine, and I should be getting home and into bed.” As soon as the last word left her mouth, Iain could see a blush moving up her neck and flushing her cheeks. Iain debated with himself and lost. “AnnaBelle, nothing would make me happier than the two of us going back upstairs and finishing things between us. I want you, but my good sense tells me it is too early. I don’t normally engage in one-night stands and I don’t believe that you do either. So, hearing you talk about beds only makes me want you more. And yet I know that—” Iain stopped talking as AnnaBelle’s index finger pressed against his lips. He couldn’ t resist pressing a kiss to her fingers. AnnaBelle smiled at his gesture and lowered her hand. “Thank you. I wasn’t sure if I had made a fool of myself upstairs or not. It’s good to know I’m not the only one who wanted to stretch out across your bed, too.” She took a deep breath and opened the door. “You go to bed, and I’ll see you at the next class. Oh, wait! That isn’t until Monday.” Iain nodded, feeling more than a little bit glad to hear the disappointment in her voice. “I’d like to take you out to dinner before then. Are you free for tomorrow, Friday?” AnnaBelle nodded her head. “I can come here first.” Iain nodded again, pleased by her eagerness to be with him again. “Come at seven, and I’ll make our reservations for eight. But first, I won’t follow you so long as you promise to call me when you get home.” AnnaBelle smiled, nodding her head. “I have the number on the class syllabus at home.” Iain shook his head. “No, here is my private number. Call me on this one as it rings in my study and next to the bed.” AnnaBelle accepted the piece of paper and pushed it into the pocket of her jeans. A moment later, resisting the urge to invite a kiss, she skipped down the front porch steps. Turning, she waved back at Iain before starting the short walk to the car. AnnaBelle walked more quickly than she normally did back to the car. A couple of times she jumped at a rustling of leaves, but the walk was uneventful. In the car, she quickly started it and headed back to her uncle’s place. The loft was dark, and AnnaBelle made her way to bed, trying to make as little noise as possible.

Chapter 6 AnnaBelle awoke late in the morning, expecting to see her uncle puttering around the apartment, or in the dark room. After a glass of juice, she glanced through yesterday’ s newspaper. Waiting an hour, she knocked on the door to the dark room, wondering if perhaps the light bulb had blown out. But no one answered from the other side, so AnnaBelle walked in. Scattered around the room, AnnaBelle looked at the different prints Fauster had developed from the film she had already shot. All of the photos revealed the aura of at least one vampire. She was confused by one of the pictures she had taken of Iain. Surrounded by students, half of whom were strongly exuding multi-colors auras, Iain seemed to have a glow about him, but she couldn’t say it was an aura. Also, she could usually tell if someone was a vampire, and other than the heightened emotions, there had been no hint of the hidden secrets that compose a vampire. AnnaBelle walked back out into the living room, unconsciously comparing this disorganized room with Iain’s organized, professionally decorated living room. Her uncle was a brilliant man, as Iain was, but his brilliance burned too brightly sometimes. Or at least that was how her mother had often described her brother-in-law over the years. Whenever Fauster visited them as AnnaBelle and her brother grew up, it had always been a wild, occasionally fun-filled two weeks. Her father would usually point out that Fauster came from the last of the old-fashioned vampire hunters. For the old-regime, the actual slay had been the object of the hunt. The new millennium had seen a change in the old ways, on both sides of the balance. Since the Great War and World War II, the number of true vampires lowered dramatically. The war seemed to have affected everyone, even vampires it seemed. Very few vampire hunting parties were formed back then, and even less now. Nearly all vampire hunters these days were members of a new society who sought to track and record the presence, and most importantly the location of sanguineous vampires. The relics, as the younger members called them, told stories of how it used to be when the destruction of a vampire was appreciated. These days, as her uncle often told her, vampires had been raised to the status of cultural icons. With the invention of the Goth subculture, the fascination with vampires was skyrocketing. In large cities across the planet, groups were rising up worshiping vampires and many of its members were claiming to even be “mortal” or human vampires. Vamp clubs were popping up and they attracted many innocent kids who didn’t have the slightest idea at all of what they were getting into. AnnaBelle had visited some of the clubs as part of her searches, but the truth was that very few real vampires “hung out” in places like that. Sometimes they would visit to meet new donors, but real vampires were truly a dying breed. Taking the blood of a victim until death ensued was illegal in nearly every country on earth. So most real vampires had developed alternative ways of staying alive. This had greatly decreased the number of new vampires. It would have seemed logical that the need for slayers would also have decreased. Many converted their

thinking to the new society and began the tedious business of cataloguing the vampires. Every so often a small splinter faction would erupt, proclaiming the world was being over run by vampires. Several innocent people, usually garbed in their Goth attire, had been assaulted by the radical slayers, but so far no deaths. AnnaBelle guessed that her uncle was somewhere in between. He still saw vampires at every corner, and that is probably what had spurred him on to invent this new film. If this film became easily available, it could lead to easier identification and classification of the minor vampires. The few major vampires that still existed might be able to use their “cloaking powers” to avoid detection. Plopping down onto the sofa, AnnaBelle leaned her head back, closing her eyes. Ever since she was young enough to know what her parents did for a living, if you could call it that, she had heard about the major vampires. Rumors put most of them in Europe, which the head of the society claimed their numbers were less than a few dozen. For many of them, it was easier to blend in with the old world flavor of the small villages, or get lost in the large, metropolitan cities. Her maternal grandfather had told her of one he had met when he was a young slayer. The powers that vampire possessed had been beyond anything her grandfather had ever seen before or since. AnnaBelle had shivered every time her grandfather shared his adventures with her. The old man had warned her to keep these stories their secret, even from her parents and her brother. But when she had asked him why, he would just stare into her eyes and murmur that she was the one… her day would come. AnnaBelle looked around the disorderly mess surrounding her. Fauster always had more important things to do with his time than worry about the little things in life. In fact, Fauster had always seemed bigger than life to her when she was a child growing up. Seeing him now, as an adult herself, she could see that he was no superman. Yet something about him screamed that he was more intelligent than most, and his eccentricities heightened one’s awareness of Fauster’s unusual mien. Dragging herself off the sofa, AnnaBelle decided to check on her uncle. He slept odd hours, but since he had already been in bed when she arrived home last night, she was rather surprised that she hadn't seen him up and about. Knocking softly on his bedroom door, she called out his name. “Uncle Fauster! Are you all right? It’s getting later and I thought you wanted to tell me something about the photos.” No answer came from beyond the door, nor did she hear any movement. Opening the door, AnnaBelle peered around the edge of the door. She moved slowly until she could see the bed. Her breath caught in her chest for a moment when she saw the bed was not only empty, but hadn't been slept in since she’d made it for him yesterday. AnnaBelle moved into the room, looking around carefully. She didn’t see anything out of place or unusual. She didn’t like the feelings welling up inside her all of a sudden. It was becoming clear that her uncle had returned home since he had left her that note yesterday. Taking a deep breath, AnnaBelle decided she would go down and check out the other two floors of the building. Fauster had admitted that he sometimes would hibernate in his workshop for days on end. He had confided that it was after working more than three days straight that he had discovered the right combination of ingredients to make this film. AnnaBelle dressed quickly, pulling on jeans, T-shirt and running shoes. Quickly she

French-braided her hair and then turned to leave the room. At the last minute, she stopped and walked back over to the carry-on bag she had brought with her. Something deep inside told her to be prepared, so she pulled out the jeans jacket she had never unpacked. Reluctantly she pulled on the jacket, feeling the heaviness that was not revealed by its simple appearance. The jeans jacket had been her idea. Inside the jacket was everything she might need should she encounter a true menace. Within the short-waisted jacket, she had pockets which held holy water, several Eucharistic wafers, one cross, and two wooden stakes, which were a blend of the three necessary woods: ash, aspen and juniper. She also had a pullout pouch that contained dehydrated garlic and dried wolf’s bane. AnnaBelle also carried what had now become standard vampire hunter equipment: the blood test her uncle had invented years earlier. AnnaBelle shook her head as she recalled studying the test and the theories that had been proven because of his findings. It still confused her at times trying to keep straight blood types A, B and O. Then you had to figure the antigens developed, the Rh factor… AnnaBelle decided just knowing the test worked in determining that the vampire possessed type O blood, and was completely free of antibodies was good enough for her. Taking a deep breath, AnnaBelle pulled out the specially made gun, which contained a magazine that held twenty rounds. She tucked it into the back of her jeans and shoved two extra clips into her pocket. On her way out of the loft, she checked the answering machine, but no messages awaited her.

***** AnnaBelle took the stairs down to the second floor instead of the loud freight elevator. Inside the large, open room she began walking around. The room contained medical telescopes, numerous medical supplies, filing cabinets and a computer. Yet only after a minute or two, it dawned on her that something was wrong. Things had been moved since she’d seen the room on her arrival. Her uncle had taken her on a brief tour and instinct told her that he had not moved these things. Finding his computer in a small area that was partially concealed by a large screen, she tried to access his files. Stunned, she realized the hard drive had been completely erased. Someone had reformatted the entire drive, and now it appeared as if it were new and never been used. AnnaBelle turned to the file cabinet her uncle told her contained important notes. He added that he usually backed up his files and stored the floppy disks to reference at a later date. A sick feeling crept over her as she saw that each of the three drawers was completely empty. No folders, papers or disks remained. She couldn’t think of any reason her uncle would have gotten rid of his life’s work. Sure, he could be eccentric at times, but to do this didn’t seem logical. AnnaBelle reached for the phone and started to dial her parents’ phone number in London. She dropped the receiver when she realized the line was dead. Standing up slowly, AnnaBelle knew that someone other than her uncle had ransacked the whole area. She could feel herself starting to hyperventilate. The extra sensory perception that aided in her work was going into overdrive. “Calm down! Fauster is probably running late from an all-nighter with some

beautiful woman. He probably did all of this. Just relax and stop seeing vampires everywhere!” AnnaBelle realized she was talking out loud and walked quickly to the stairs. Cursing loudly, AnnaBelle ran down two flights of stairs and to the sport utility vehicle. Jumping into the vehicle, she had to stop. Patting her jeans pocket, she breathed a sigh of relief that she’d grabbed the keys before leaving the apartment to start her exploration. She only dropped the keys twice before she finally was able to start the ignition. She drove to Iain’s house without once questioning why she was running to him.

Chapter 7 Iain walked towards his house, his thoughts still on his last class for the day. Some days he was sure that his students should be back in high school, or maybe even grade school! Between the unusual assortments of students peppering the campus these days, he probably shouldn’t be surprised at the ones he got in his history classes. He was only a few feet away from his front steps when a car door swung open. Before he could focus from his class to the present, AnnaBelle was jumping from the sport utility vehicle to stand in front of him. It took Iain a few seconds before he realized the look on AnnaBelle’s was not joy at seeing him. Two thoughts flashed through his consciousness. First was that he had not sensed AnnaBelle before she flew out of the car. Second was the look of fear in AnnaBelle’s eyes. “AnnaBelle! Are you okay?” Iain set his briefcase down and took hold of her hands. The coolness of her flesh surprised him. AnnaBelle was shaking her head negatively even as she answered him. “No. Damn it! I’m sorry for bothering you, Iain, but I think my uncle has disappeared. I went to call my parents and the phone was dead.” AnnaBelle took a deep breath—probably the first one in over an hour. “I know I freaked out, but suddenly it felt like someone was watching me.” “Stop, AnnaBelle! Take a deep breath!” Iain watched as AnnaBelle appeared to calm herself, but he could feel the fine, nervous shivering like a thoroughbred horse ready for the Kentucky Derby. Iain grabbed his briefcase. “Come inside, AnnaBelle. Have you eaten anything lately?” AnnaBelle followed him into the house. “I can’t remember, actually. I ate when I woke up yesterday.” Iain cursed softly and pressed AnnaBelle backwards until she landed on the sofa. “Stay there. I’ll make you a sandwich and some coffee.” Iain turned and walked the few steps into the kitchen. He had just turned on the coffee maker, when he heard AnnaBelle call out from the living room. “Could you make that tea, please? I’m really not a coffee drinker.” Iain smiled as he grabbed the teakettle and put water into it. He had spent most of the day thinking about AnnaBelle and the hot interlude in the bedroom he had enjoyed with her last night. Quickly he made her a sandwich and prepared a cup of tea. In the living room, Iain found AnnaBelle with her eyes closed. “Eat up, AnnaBelle.” He watched as she sat up and took a bite of the sandwich, and then another. Waiting until she had taken a sip of tea, Iain asked her a question. “Did you call the police?” AnnaBelle had just taken another bite and was chewing it quickly. She swallowed before answering. “I didn’t because they don’t usually do anything until a person’s been gone like two or three days.”

Iain nodded. “When did you last see him, yesterday before class?” AnnaBelle shook her head. “No. I didn’t have a lot of time, but there was a note from him when I got up yesterday.” AnnaBelle paused to rub her temples. “He had scrawled something about going out for a drink, I think.” Iain nodded, picking up the other half of the sandwich. “Do you have the note with you?” “No. I think I left it where I found it. When I woke up this morning, I thought he was in the dark room at first. Then I guessed he had to be in bed still. But the bed hadn't been slept in and I decided I would look for him in what he calls his workshop. Downstairs, I could tell he wasn’t there, and so I started looking around.” “Where does your uncle live?” AnnaBelle named a fairly deserted part of the city, stopping when Iain shook his head. “Hell! That’s not a good part of town.” AnnaBelle shook her head. “I feel safe, or at least I did. Anyway, I tried to check my uncle’s computer and I discovered the drive was wiped clean. So I figured I would check the file cabinet. He has always kept his notes, even if they were just half-thoughts and doodles in there. Also, that is where he kept his back up computer files, but the whole file cabinet was cleaned out.” AnnaBelle paused and took a deep breath. She finished her tea before she went on. “That’s when I started to get scared. I picked up the phone to call my parents and discovered the line was dead. All of a sudden it seemed like I was being watched or something. I bolted and came here.” Iain moved from his perch on the coffee table to sit beside AnnaBelle. He pulled her into his arms and AnnaBelle nestled her head against the side of his neck. He stroked his hand over the top of her head and down along the intricately braided ponytail. Slowly, Iain wrapped the thick fall of light auburn silk around his hand. Tugging gently, he lifted AnnaBelle’s face to his and kissed her.

***** AnnaBelle accepted the soft kiss. Iain’s lips felt good. The feel of his arms around her was comforting. She still wasn’t sure why she had freaked like she had. After all, there had been other tense times she’d been in and once a near-death situation. Granted, it probably wasn’t as many as her parents or Fauster had probably survived. But she didn’t usually go into panic mode over missing files or dead phone lines. Iain lifted his head, looking down into AnnaBelle’s eyes. “Relax, and let’s start again, at the beginning.” AnnaBelle took a deep breath and slowly repeated the day’s events until her arrival at his house. She wasn’t surprised when Iain slid his arm from around her shoulders as he spoke. To AnnaBelle the sense of comfort she felt was inexplicable when she was with Iain. And even though it wasn’t logical, she believed that he would not hurt her. “Let’s head back there to look around before it gets dark out. I need to run upstairs for a moment and then we’ll head over.” After they looked around the first and second floors, they headed up to the loft. There was still no sign of Fauster. AnnaBelle picked up the note he had left for her,

reading it again to see if she had missed something. Iain moved around the apartment, glancing in the rooms AnnaBelle had identified as her guest room and her uncle’s bedroom. The last room he guessed was the dark room by the “do not disturb” sign on the door and the light bulb hanging above the door. Inside, he glanced around and started to walk out. Iain stopped abruptly as one of the photographs caught the corner of his eye. Turning around he picked up the photo, studying it. He was in the center of the picture, surrounded by several students. There was no missing the faint glow that surrounded some of the people. It took him a few moments before he connected that the ones who “glowed” were the same ones he had identified as real vampires. Minor ones, but still they were the real McCoy! It was also apparent that not even the faintest of glows exuded from him in the photo. There had been rumors through the usual channels that a vampire hunter had supposedly found a foolproof method to identify vampires from a distance. Granted the blood test had existed for several years, but that would require very close contact. If someone really had developed a film that would record vampires, it could make a change in the current balance of power between vampires and their hunters. “I am sorry about that.” Iain turned and saw AnnaBelle standing in the open doorway, looking at him. “What?” “I’m sorry for taking your picture. I didn’t know you, and I was really just doing a favor for my uncle.” AnnaBelle picked up all the photos, straightening them into a compact handful. Looking up, AnnaBelle could see the strange look in Iain’s eyes. For a moment they seemed to glow in the near darkness of the room. Instinctively, AnnaBelle took a step backwards. A second later, alarms started going off inside of her. “Oh my God, no,” she muttered as she backed out of the darkroom. She was aware of Iain walking towards her. AnnaBelle looked around frantically. The need to flee was instinctual and on the most basic of animal levels. Dropping the photos, she lifted her hands, palms towards Iain, as if warding him off. “You are one of them!” Iain didn’t question what she meant. Instead he held the picture up towards her. “The glow surrounding these people is obvious, and yet there is none around me.” AnnaBelle could see the answer in Iain’s eyes. Even though the picture supported his words, she knew in her heart that Iain was a vampire, of some kind at least. The nausea that roiled in her belly was nearly overwhelming. Feeling her breaths speeding up into panic mode, AnnaBelle shook her head from side to side. Iain’s words surprised her though, spoken softly. “What’s the name of your uncle, AnnaBelle?” “Unc- Uncle Fauster.” “Hell’s bells! Fauster Blue.” AnnaBelle nodded her head in agreement, trying to decide on the best way to run out of the apartment. Iain shook his head. “You can’t run that fast, AnnaBelle, even though you do have lovely, long legs. No matter what you did, I would catch you.” AnnaBelle felt that Iain’s words told only half his thoughts. She couldn’t shake the feeling that from now on, no matter how far or fast she ran, she would never escape him.

Telling herself to think logically didn’t help. “Oh, God, no!” AnnaBelle turned and made a frantic dash to the bathroom. As she wretched violently into the toilet, she was glad that for whatever reason, Iain had not stopped her from running this time. A few seconds later she jumped as a cool washrag pressed against her forehead. Her eyelids jerked open and she turned her head, seeing Iain kneeling beside her. Unaware of it at first, tears started raining down her cheeks. Iain used the damp cloth and dabbed gently at the tears. He then handed her the cloth and stood. “I’ll wait outside while you tidy up.” Iain walked out, closing the bathroom door behind him. AnnaBelle stood up slowly and flushed the toilet. Running cold water in the sink, she splashed it on her face and neck. Standing back up, she looked at her reflection. Her skin appeared almost white and it looked like she had bruises around her eyes. “Looking like this I can assume that he’ll not be attracted to me again. Of course, that doesn’t rule out the fact that I still have blood… ” The look in her eyes stopped her from turning away. Knowing that Iain might no longer desire her body didn’t automatically turn off her desire for him. After the amazingly sensual onslaught of emotions and pretty much the most explosive orgasm in her life, her mind had dictated a never-ending dream parade starring Iain. Closing her eyes now, AnnaBelle could easily recall the feel of his warm and very talented hand against her pussy lips. Her whole body seemed to zero in on her cunt. It was almost as if she could feel his hand against her body, and his fingers inside it. And if she squeezed her muscles tight, clenching them while moving her hips forward… God! She could almost come again just thinking about him. Pulling the rubber band from her hair, she straightened her back and stiffened her spine. Staring at herself once again, she spoke softly, “Are you daft, girl? He’s a vampire and you are a slayer. There is no way this can go any further.” Nodding her head and lifting her chin with determination, AnnaBelle turned and walked out of the bathroom. Immediately she saw that Iain was leaning against the arm of the sofa, facing the bathroom. He was holding the photos she had dropped earlier on her mad dash to the bathroom. Glancing up, their eyes met. Iain’s voice was soft as he spoke to her. “Sit down, AnnaBelle. We need to talk.” AnnaBelle walked away from him, taking the long way around the room, and sat on the far end of the sofa. As Iain turned to face her, she spoke up quickly, almost tripping over her words in her haste. “If you’ll just leave, I won’t report any of this… to anyone.” Iain sat down slowly, his eyes never leaving hers. “I see, but what about your uncle’ s disappearance?” “It’s none of your business really, and I’m sorry I bothered you. If you will just leave, I’ll take care of this by myself.” AnnaBelle took a deep breath, but it didn’t seem to help as her breathing continued to speed up. The last thing she needed to do right now was start hyperventilating and end up breathing in and out of a damned paper sack. “Please! Just leave, Iain!” AnnaBelle watched his face closely, but her senses seemed to have shut down once again. Other than overriding fear, she didn’t seem to be able to feel, or think.

“Damn it, AnnaBelle, take a deep breath before you pass out.” AnnaBelle dragged one deep breath into her lungs, but immediately fear, doubt and unbelievable pain drove her back to panting. She rationalized that pleading once again might help. “Iain, please! Leave me… ” Iain shook his head decisively. “It’s too late for me to walk away and pretend we never met, AnnaBelle.” Tears started to fall once again and AnnaBelle cursed herself for this weakness. It was so unexpected and, she wanted to think, inexplicable. Her heart knew differently. She cursed fate for having her screw up and fall for a vampire! “AnnaBelle!” She lifted her eyes to Iain’s after he called her name. She saw that he was holding out his cellular phone. When she didn’t take the phone, Iain spoke quickly, and a little roughly. “Just take the phone and call your parents! Perhaps they’ve heard from your uncle.” AnnaBelle took the phone but she didn’t dial right away. “What do you want from me?” Iain folded his arms across his chest, and AnnaBelle saw the disgusted look cross his face quickly. “You came to me, AnnaBelle, for help.” AnnaBelle lowered her hand that held the phone until it rested on the sofa beside her. “Why are you teaching that stupid class, denying vampires when you are one?” She couldn’t hide her anger as she almost yelled at him. “Most humans can’t see what you put right in front of them.” “I think I should feel insulted,” AnnaBelle told him carefully. Iain smiled slightly. “But I sense that you are more than human, AnnaBelle. I am more than a little disgusted with myself for not knowing you belong to the infamous Blue family of vampire hunters. I’ve certainly heard of him, but I didn’t know he had moved to the U.S. Foster, right?” AnnaBelle could feel that she was relaxing a little. “Not Foster, but Fauster, like faucet. You aren’t recorded anywhere, are you?” AnnaBelle saw Iain stiffen suddenly, and she assumed it was due to her question. Iain shook his head. “No, I am not. I have managed to miss detection by the so-called new society of vampire hunters. I protect my privacy strenuously.” AnnaBelle nodded slowly. On one level she knew that the future she had been daydreaming and erotically night dreaming of with Iain could never be. She was a vampire hunter, and he was a vampire. So simple and yet so complex her mind boggled at what it might mean. “I won’t record you. I promise.” AnnaBelle spoke intently, wanting to desperately convince Iain. Their gazes met and held. Something in his eyes pierced her heart before he even spoke. “I never suspected that you were a hunter, AnnaBelle. Perhaps this is a sign that I am turning into an old ‘fogy.’ All the hunters I’ve met were men, and usually a wild bunch.” AnnaBelle had to smile at his disparaging words. “Women’s lib, remember? To be

honest, I was raised to hunt. My earliest memories are learning about vampires and how to recognize them. My father’s family goes back at least five generations of hunters.” Iain nodded. “I knew they went back for quite some time, but I didn’t realize it went back that far. But we are transgressing. What was your uncle working on? Did it have anything to do with these photos?” AnnaBelle paused, not sure what she should reveal or not. After all, Iain was on the other side. Iain’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “Forget about sides for now, AnnaBelle. Let’s focus on finding your uncle. Now, tell me about the photos?” AnnaBelle shook her head as she realized how close Iain’s words were to her actual thoughts. There was very little research on the telepathic powers of certain vampires. Rather like it was suspected, but no one had ever really encountered it. Giving herself a mental shake to concentrate on the present, and deal with the vampire in her home, and her heart, AnnaBelle reached out for the pictures and Iain passed them to her. “I got a call from Fauster, practically begging me to come here,” AnnaBelle told him quietly, speaking slowly and trying to remember to breathe. “He wanted my help. I’d only been here an hour or so, and he was rushing me off to attend your class. No explanations. My uncle just told me to leave the lecture a little early and take photos for him of the students. I didn’t really take him seriously and only took a few pictures that first night.” She paused and fished out the photos from the first night. Passing those back to Iain, she went on. “My uncle wasn’t real pleased with those and sent me back again. I took all of these the second night.” Iain picked out the photo that had first caught his attention in the dark room. “Why did your uncle call you, AnnaBelle, and not your father, or even do it himself?” “This will sound silly now, but I assumed it was because I have become known for my ability to sense a vampire. If you look at the pictures with just one person, you’ll see the aura. I knew as I snapped the photo that the aura, or the glow, would show up on the negative.” She gave a soft, scoffing laugh. “But obviously my skill is lacking because I didn’t sense you.” “Belle, don’t knock yourself down over this. There are reasons why you couldn’t sense me. Hell, honey, I didn’t know you were a hunter. This is a first for me as well… the fact that I did not recognize you as a slayer, or a hunter. Let’s leave that for now. Obviously your uncle has gone and invented a film that captures a vampire on film. I should imagine there would be a lot of humans and hunters very happy to hear about this invention.” “As well as a fairly large number of vampires who will be equally unhappy?” AnnaBelle asked carefully. “Most vampires, the minor ones, are relatively complacent about the status quo. They don’t mind that the new society, which was created last decade, is doing its best to catalog and pigeonhole them. There are also a few major vampires who have never been recorded and are equally as fervent about their privacy as I have been. It is possible that the rumors circulating about this film have been taken seriously by someone.” “You’re saying that my uncle’s work might have been stolen to keep him from producing the film?”

Iain laid the photos on the coffee table and reached out for AnnaBelle’s hands. “I think someone may have decided to do more than just destroy your uncle’s work. They quite possibly decided to stop your uncle from ever reproducing his work.” “You think someone killed him, don’t you?” AnnaBelle asked in tones barely above a whisper. Iain pulled AnnaBelle into his arms, holding her tightly. AnnaBelle couldn’t resist being held so close to him once again. She feared that her heart had already been lost, so any further struggle was futile. Growing up she had heard many stories about humans who lost their heart to a vampire. Once that happened you had two options. One alternative was to turn away, deny the love and live with a broken heart the rest of your life. The second choice, and the one most frequently chosen, was to love for the time you had, even if it was for only an hour, a week or rarely, for eternity. How she could have ever fallen in love with a vampire was beyond her comprehension. Her family would of course be shamed by her actions. Suddenly she pushed against Iain, putting a few inches of distance between them. The look of surprise on Iain’s face prompted her to speak quickly. “I want you, Iain. If you will help find out what’s happened to my uncle, I will give myself to you freely.” Iain’s eyes moved over her face and she could see that he was a little bewildered by her offer. His words surprised her though. “You are willing to sacrifice your virginal body to my lustful vampiric needs so long as I help your uncle. Isn’t that a little too melodramatic?” AnnaBelle shoved angrily against Iain, jumping to her feet. In her haste she knocked against the coffee table, spilling the photos to the floor once again. Before she turned to face him again, she rubbed the tears from her cheeks. “Not really. I want you to take me, Iain. I want to feel the same wildness I did last night when you touched me. The truth is that if you chose to reach out and take me, I doubt that I could resist you. I only said that in the hope that you would help me first.” Iain moved so fast that he blurred as he swept her into his arms. His mouth captured hers, kissing her wildly. AnnaBelle surrendered to the wildness and barely controlled passion.

Chapter 8 AnnaBelle didn’t give a damn that the guest room was a mess and the bed was unmade as Iain laid her down. His hands carefully unsnapped her jeans and dragged them down past her hips and off her feet. Her sneakers fell to the floor, tangled in the jeans. The thinnest of material concealed her crotch from his gaze as Iain began pulling the T-shirt upwards. Since she didn’t have a bra on, her breasts were instantly revealed to him. When his fingers moved to tease her distended nipples, AnnaBelle sighed and arched her back. Iain’s response was to cover her full breasts with his hands. She closed her eyes, savoring the feel of his hands on her body. A few seconds later, she lifted her eyelids and raised her hands to Iain’s shirt. Eagerly her hands began unfastening the buttons. Reluctantly, Iain deserted her breasts. AnnaBelle’s fingers weren’t progressing too well. Iain undid the cuffs and dragged the shirt and T-shirt up over his head and tossed them to a far corner. Standing beside the bed, he speedily unfastened his belt and trousers. Naked less than a second later, Iain lay on the bed beside her. AnnaBelle lifted her head and met Iain’s mouth eagerly. Her hands caressed his shoulders and then lowered over his chest. She paused to tease and toy with his nipples. His groan told her how much he enjoyed the gentle tugging she gave each nipple. When she flicked her nails over the nipples, they tightened more and he shifted on the bed. Instantly, AnnaBelle felt his hard erection pressing insistently against her hip and thigh. Her hand moved down Iain’s chest and enclosed his cock in her hand. She pulled on his hardness, letting the skin slide up and down beneath her fingers. The tension she felt in his body, followed by the wetness now on her fingers told her without words that her touches were as seductive as his. Her foremost thought was simple. “Take me, Iain! I want you. I want to feel you inside me.” Iain lifted his mouth from the side of her neck to look into her eyes. AnnaBelle smiled slightly, waiting and sensing that something held him back. “Please, Iain! Fuck me!” Silence followed her words. AnnaBelle had surprised herself in using that word. Yet she wouldn’t take it back for anything. Breathing in deeply, she repeated it. “Fuck me, Iain. Do whatever else you need, or want to do to me. But I need to feel your body in me. I want… no, I need to be one with you, joined. I am begging you… ”

***** Iain pressed his fingers over AnnaBelle’s lips. “Hush, my sweet. There is so much you don’t know, AnnaBelle.” “I don’t care. I need you. I have dreamt of being with you since I first saw you. I need more than what you gave me last night. I want to give pleasure to you as well. I just need you to tell me how. Show me how to love you.” Iain felt like a knife was stabbing him through the heart. He had avoided becoming “attached” through the centuries because he was not a bloodthirsty killer. Many times

he had been asked to bring some over, or awaken them to the life of the vampire. Only rarely had he given into the lust and the need. He lived a lonely life, but this way he didn’t have to watch people he cared about dying around him. Lifting his finger from her lips, he gently smoothed the hair back off her face. Slowly he trailed his hand down the side of her face and onto her neck. Lightly, he pressed his fingers to her pulse. “AnnaBelle, you don’t know what you are asking of me.” AnnaBelle shook her head quickly. “I do know. I’ve studied vampires all my life. Who could possibly know better?” Iain slid his hand down over her breastbone until his hand rested over her pounding heart. “My love, you only think you know all about vampires. Believe me when I say that you know very little.” AnnaBelle reacted instinctively to his words. Hearing him say “my love,” even if he was only using it like a common phrase, affected her deeply. Suddenly she knew what she wanted, and needed. Quickly she had made her decision and shoved at his shoulders, which toppled him backwards because she caught him off-guard. Without pause, she straddled his thighs. Curling her hands around his hard cock, she stroked him eagerly. With her eyes focused on her goal she rose up on her knees. His cock pressed against her wet pussy lips, and AnnaBelle didn’t wait another second. Iain lifted his gaze to her face, thinking she would stop in a moment. He was no sexual virgin, but he had never had a woman practically raping him before. Of course, it wasn’t really rape because he wanted AnnaBelle probably as much, if not more, than she wanted him. Her eyes met his the moment his flesh slid into her soft cunt. Iain slid his hands to her waist, not completely sure if he was going to assist her or push her away. Looking into her eyes, he saw a desire that matched his own. Or perhaps it truly was love. His hands tightened and pulled her body down to meet the upward thrust of his hips. In the quiet of the room, his voice echoed loudly. “Yes!” Iain felt the flesh of her body enclosing his cock. Her cunt muscles squeezed in around him, sucking him in even more deeply. A long undulating motion from within her body forced him to groan again. His voice was broken as he told her, “God, AnnaBelle! You feel so hot and sexy on the inside!”

***** AnnaBelle pressed her hands down over his chest, his nipples caught beneath her palms. They burned like two hot coals into her flesh, but the overriding sensation of fullness and heat was buried inside her body. Feeling his body, so intimately joined to hers, was too much. Her arms relaxed and she fell forward to lie on his chest. She nuzzled her face into the side of his neck and her lips kissed his flesh. She felt his hands at her waist for a moment longer and then they slid further down and cupped her ass cheeks. As his hips began moving and thrusting upwards, Iain’s hands began shifting and moving over her body. It felt so wonderful with his heat inside her and her mouth on his warm flesh. She began grinding her body down and side to side, stimulating her clit between their pelvic bones. Opening her mouth, she sucked the skin on his neck. The orgasm inside her was spiraling upwards as she opened her mouth and bit the side of Iain’s neck. She felt his surprise instantly, and lifted her head to smile at him. As their eyes met, AnnaBelle

moved, shifted and finally ground her pelvis against Iain. “Tell me how to please you, Iain. What can I do to make you feel the same things I am?” AnnaBelle stopped suddenly, biting her lip. She nearly told him that she loved him. Was a man still a man once he was a vampire? Would a vampire turn tail and run just as quickly as his human counterpart upon hearing the dreaded four-letter word? She’d never thought about whether a vampire would react to love.

***** Iain groaned as AnnaBelle shifted her body. Each time she did that she also flexed her muscles that held his cock so firmly inside her body. Another one of those and he was going to lose control. He moved one hand from her hip to AnnaBelle’s head, pushing her wildly flowing locks back from her face. “AnnaBelle!” Iain saw the smile curving her lips upwards. This woman was not what he had expected. A light dalliance had seemed just what he needed to shake the doldrums he’d been feeling of late. When he had first seen her, the sexual attraction had been nearly instant, and rather overwhelming. Seeing Simon talking to her, though, had stirred up feelings and thoughts he’d not experienced in several centuries. And now, joined so intimately with AnnaBelle, he wasn’t sure this was the right thing to be doing. Still, there was no way in hell he could stop. It didn’t bode well that she was a member of a famous hunter family. He doubted her parents were going to be very happy with this development. Even deeper was his concern over the fact that her uncle’s name was Fauster. “Damn! AnnaBelle!” Iain cried out as AnnaBelle squeezed her muscles down tightly around his hard cock again, drawing him inside her even more deeply. “Iain, my love, I’m not an impatient or demanding person, normally.” Iain listened to her words, and his head told him to ignore the word love. It didn’t mean anything really. A sociology professor had told him that in modern society, many people used the word so casually it could almost be interchanged with hello or hi. Most Americans didn’t even know the difference between love, lust and friendship. Suddenly, the feel of AnnaBelle’s body clamping down on his cock was more than even a stoic, well-controlled vampire could handle. Without a word of warning, Iain flipped them in the bed. The next moment he was above AnnaBelle, looking into her surprised face. And then he began moving inside her. He watched as AnnaBelle’s eyes closed and she bit her lower lip. Iain couldn’t hold back. His climax had waited too long, and he began thrusting in and out of her body, savoring each tight, dragging motion caused by her flesh clamping on to him. Without warning his spine stiffened, and his hips jerked hard against her body. His fluid shot forward into AnnaBelle’s eager body. Lowering his body to rest on hers but still joined intimately, Iain regretted for the first time in his Vampiric life the fact that his kind could not reproduce. There had been a few, vary rare circumstances. Lost in his thoughts and very much aware of the small contractions her body was still experiencing, Iain felt AnnaBelle’s lips kissing his jaw line and down towards his pulse. He wasn’t surprised when he felt her teeth lightly biting his flesh, just over the pulse that pounded beneath his flesh.

Iain lifted his body away from AnnaBelle, moving to lie on the bed. He reached down and pulled the blankets up over their naked bodies. Watching her face, Iain was aware that AnnaBelle had closed her eyes as he pulled free of her warm body. To be completely honest with himself, he hadn't felt awkward like this since he was a gawky teenager. Lying on his side, he reached out to stroke his fingers down the side of her face. Slowly his fingers trailed down until he reached the pulse at the side of AnnaBelle’ s neck. Iain pressed his fingers to her warm skin, feeling the strong and steady beat her heart was making to shoot her rich blood throughout her body.

***** AnnaBelle knew she couldn’t lay beside Iain another second, feeling his fingers absorbing the pulsations of her blood. She had begged him to make her his. Twice she had demonstrated her willingness by nipping at his own neck, and she had even revealed her emotions, surprising herself when she’d called him “love.” Lying beside him, sated on the physical level only, she prayed silently that she could get Iain to leave before she started to cry at his rejection. Moving suddenly and without warning, AnnaBelle almost jumped out of bed. Of course, she stubbed her toe, and then she couldn’t see any clothing lying around for her to put on and cover up her naked body. Tears were threatening to spill over from her breaking heart and stubbed toe. She yanked a dresser drawer open and pulled on a pair of panties. Next to the panties were some white T-shirts, so AnnaBelle quickly put one on. Immediately she realized it was one of the much smaller cotton shirts and therefore it fit snugly and ended above her waist, revealing her belly button. AnnaBelle caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror. Between the high cut panties and skimpy shirt, it was doubtful that covering up with clothes was going to be all that helpful. Glancing around, she realized that she would have to pass close to Iain’s side of the bed to reach the closet, where her jeans were hanging. Reaching back, she gathered her hair together and tied it into a knot at the base of her neck. “Damn it!” She cursed softly, wondering what the hell else was going to happen next.

***** “Hello! Fauster, you old dog! Are you here? I brought Chinese to eat. Damn it, dude! Why didn’t you call me?” Since neither Iain nor AnnaBelle had closed the bedroom door, it was wide open. AnnaBelle had paused in her dilemma of deciding what to wear and unfortunately she was standing directly in front of the open door. A moment later, the man speaking had reached a spot where he was looking directly into the open bedroom. “Holy shit! Fauster promised me a surprise for my birthday, but this is better than anything I’ve gotten before.” AnnaBelle felt like a deer frozen in bright headlights. The man who had broken into her uncle’s loft was tall and dark-haired with brilliant green eyes. She could see that he was powerfully built by the tight fit of his black T-shirt and jeans. It was when he smiled that she finally was able to move. Her hand reached out and jerked the blankets off the bed to cover her body.

Iain had already started to sit up when he heard the man’s voice. Luckily his trousers were on the floor and he jerked them on quickly. A second later he stepped into the doorway, shielding AnnaBelle’s body from the stranger’s view. AnnaBelle moved in close behind Iain, standing on tiptoe to look over his shoulder. “Who are you?” she demanded in a small voice. The handsome stranger was putting the Chinese food down on the coffee table. He was still smiling though when he looked back up. “I can’t begin to tell you how disappointed I am.” Iain tensed as the other man reached behind him. A second later, the stranger was flashing a police badge in one hand and police-issue handgun in the other. “I am Lieutenant Pete Walters, New York Police. Fauster called me a few days ago and asked me to stop by this evening. He had a surprise for my birthday. Now, who are you two?” Iain hadn't moved and he filled the doorway enough so that AnnaBelle couldn’t scoot around him. “Iain Dampier. I am a professor at the college.” He lifted his hands, palms facing the lieutenant. “My identification is in my wallet, in my back pocket.” Pete shook his head. “Let the lady pull it out for you and toss it over here. And where the hell is Fauster? Did you two break in here?” AnnaBelle couldn’t hold the blanket and check Iain’s back pockets. The first pocket was empty, but the second held Iain’s slim leather wallet. Still hiding behind Iain, she passed the wallet to him. AnnaBelle watched as Iain tossed the wallet over to land on the sofa, just to the side of the officer. As he picked it up, she spoke. “I am AnnaBelle Blue. Fauster is my uncle, but he seems to have disappeared.” Pete looked up from Iain’s identification. “Fauster told me his niece was coming, from Paris, right?” AnnaBelle nodded, now peering around Iain’s right arm. “Yes. Uhm, do you know where Fauster is?” “I haven’t talked to him since a few days ago. From what Fauster said, you were coming for a visit. He asked me to pick up Chinese and come here tonight.” Pete paused and looked at Iain. “Why are you here?” AnnaBelle peeked over Iain’s shoulder and answered quickly. “I went to Iain for help when I realized that Fauster was missing.” Iain looked over his shoulder at AnnaBelle. “You get dressed and then come out here where we can sit down to try and make some sense of this.” Iain reached for the doorknob and then pulled the door shut, leaving her on the inside. AnnaBelle could hear the men’s voices in the living room, but not what they were saying. Angrily she stomped her foot. She was the only one who really had a right to be here, damn it all! Walking to the closet, she pulled out a jeans skirt and quickly dragged it up over her hips. As she yanked open the bedroom door, she paused to reconsider the fact that the T-shirt was too tight and the skirt only came to mid-thigh. “Naaawwwww,” she muttered to herself. Nobody told her what to wear. In the back of her mind, she did acknowledge that she had just offered herself to Iain. And if he had accepted, then according to everything she’d learned about Vampiric relationships, Iain would have then been her “master.” She paused and rubbed the left side of her neck for a moment. Desperately she wished that her uncle would be sitting in the living room

when she came out. Perhaps she could then get out of here quick enough to salvage a small bit of her pride.

Chapter 9 Iain and Pete had found some plates and utensils and set up a makeshift dining space on the coffee table. They both turned as AnnaBelle entered the room. Iain immediately took in the tight T-shirt, which did nothing to disguise the fact that AnnaBelle’s full, firm breasts were unbound beneath it. His eyes lowered and saw the super short skirt. Anger and jealousy roiled up inside him as it seemed that AnnaBelle was flaunting her body at the cop who claimed to be her uncle’s friend. Seeing her jeans jacket on the floor, he walked over and picked it up. “Put this on,” Iain told her abruptly, leaving no room for discussion by the tone of his voice. He saw AnnaBelle’s eyes flare at his words, and he wasn’t surprised when she shook her head angrily. “No, thank you, but I will eat something. I’m starving.” AnnaBelle walked over to the open boxes with the assorted Chinese foods. Grabbing a fork, she stabbed a shrimp and ate it eagerly. “This is good. Thank you for bringing dinner, Pete. Or should I call you lieutenant?” Pete grinned at AnnaBelle, shaking his head. “Please, call me Pete, AnnaBelle. I must tell you that you are as beautiful as your name promised.” Iain almost growled in jealous anger as he watched AnnaBelle flirt with the cop. He tossed her jacket towards a chair, but it missed and fell to the floor. Several things rolled out upon impact, but most alarming was the gun. AnnaBelle was too busy eating to notice, but Iain noticed that Pete had seen the gun. In fact, the tall cop was already walking over and picking the gun and jacket up. AnnaBelle looked up just then and saw a cross and her high-powered flashlight fall onto the floor and that her gun was now in Pete’s hand. “Oops,” she muttered as she chewed quickly and then swallowed. “I have a permit,” she offered hastily. Pete was shaking his head. “Hellfire and damnation! Are you a bloody vampire hunter like your uncle?” Iain looked from Pete’s accusing glare to AnnaBelle’s guilty blush. The man’s words indicated that he didn’t like the hunters, which suited Iain just fine. He spoke quickly. “Let’s eat and then we can try and make sense of this, hopefully.” Pete nodded and laid AnnaBelle’s jeans jacket down, but checked the gun for the safety, and then tucked it into the back of his jeans. He picked up a plate and began filling it with rice and several different kinds of the Chinese food. Iain sat on the sofa beside AnnaBelle, taking a plate and handing it to her. As she took the plate, he laid his hand quite familiarly on her bare thigh. Ignoring the slight jump of surprise, he squeezed her thigh. “Eat up, my love. Low blood sugar can affect our judgment.” Iain took a plate for himself and then released her thigh. As he began filling the plate, he saw out of the corner of his eye that AnnaBelle started to fill her own plate in spite of the perturbed look on her face. He wasn’t completely sure as to why she was looking like that. The truth of the matter was that he didn’t like the way Pete had looked at AnnaBelle, and he

wanted to make it clear she was not available. With a nearly imperceptible shrug, he acknowledged that he was “marking his territory” and he didn’t give a damn how it appeared!

***** It was nearly an hour later that they made their way down to the second story of the building. Pete paused to look around before he asked AnnaBelle a question. “I’ve only been in here a few times, AnnaBelle. Does it look disturbed to you?” AnnaBelle turned around as she nodded her head in agreement. “You have a few more visits here than I’ve had, Pete. But I had the distinct impression things were moved.” She crossed over to the screened area where the computer was. “It was the fact that the hard drive was completely empty that first alarmed me. Then I opened his file cabinet, which I don’t think ever really had any order to it. It’s been emptied and he showed me that he kept his back up disks in there.” Pete had followed AnnaBelle, looking in the cabinet as well. “What was he working on? I’d guess that whoever nabbed Fauster broke in here and destroyed the hard drive and took his files.” AnnaBelle flushed and turned to look at Iain before she spoke. “He has this new film, Pete. Supposedly you can capture vampires on film and identify them by the aura, like a faint glow, that surrounds them.” Pete looked from AnnaBelle to Iain. “Are you putting me on, AnnaBelle? I know Fauster is brilliant, but I never put much stock in his puttering down here. If he really did have a film like that—“ “Hello? Is anyone down here?” AnnaBelle, Iain and Pete all turned in the direction of the voice. Pete was pulling his gun out as a woman rounded the screen. “Hello! Are you AnnaBelle? How silly of me! Of course you are, dear. I swear you are the spitting image of your grandmother.” AnnaBelle knew her mouth was open as she stared at the middle-aged woman in front of them, but she couldn’t help it. The woman was dressed in a flowing gown or robe of some kind. The material was silky and covered with silver moons and stars. Her hair was a soft lavender color and was a very close match to her clothing. She wore lavender eye shadow, lipstick and nail polish. AnnaBelle didn’t consider it a guess when she figured the woman was a friend of her uncle’s. “My dear girl, you simply must come with me and call your parents. They’ve called me twice already because it appears the phone line isn’t working here.” The woman reached out to her and AnnaBelle took her hand. It seemed like it was the right thing to do. They had walked a few feet when the woman glanced back. “Your little friends can come too, dear.” AnnaBelle glanced back and saw Iain and Pete exchange a look. Pete returned his gun to its holster and they silently followed. They didn’t have to go far. The woman lived just across the street in what looked like a deserted building. On the way to the fifth floor, they learned that her name was Lamenta and she and Fauster had sex every Saturday. AnnaBelle saw the grin the two men exchanged at Lamenta’s confession. Obviously

it didn’t matter… man or vampire, when it came to sex their minds still worked the same way. She followed the older woman out of the freight elevator. In the woman’s living room or what she guessed was a living room from all the pillows scattered about, Lamenta invited the two men to be seated. “Would you like some wine, or perhaps a beer? I have beer because Fauster likes it.” “Beer would be fine,” Iain answered. Pete nodded his head as he replied. “I’ll have the same, ma’am.” Lamenta smiled. “Such lovely manners you have, young man. AnnaBelle dear, I’d have sex with both of these young studs.” With a broad, waving gesture of her hand, she added, “You can never have too much sex, you know. Clears the mind, frees the soul, dear. Now, come with me and you can use my phone.” AnnaBelle knew her cheeks were bright red as she followed Lamenta. The woman’s bedroom was unbelievable. There was a huge mattress on the floor, tons of pillows in bright silk and a mural on the ceiling representing the celestial sky. Lamenta pushed her down onto the bed and then handed her a portable phone. “Call your mother, child. If the urge takes you, just call out to one of those handsome hunks to join you in here. I won’t mind.” AnnaBelle watched the other woman leave. She did end up lying back on the bed as she dialed the phone, listening to it ring. Glancing at her watch, she realized it was the middle of the night in England. Her father was a bear if he didn’t get a full night’s sleep. “Hello! Who is this?” AnnaBelle heard her father’s voice in her ear. “Hello, Dad. It’s me, AnnaBelle. Mom called here, I guess?” Byron Blue paused and AnnaBelle guessed her mother must have awakened. A moment later, Camellia Blue spoke to her daughter. “Hello, darling! I had to call Lamenta when the phone company told me the line was down to Fauster’s loft. He called here the other day and left the oddest message.” “What, Mother? What did Uncle Fauster say?” “Something about his latest invention, I gathered. Unfortunately the message was erased before your father could listen to it.” “You’d think he would learn, Mother. He’s no good with answering machines, microwaves or computers.” Camellia chuckled softly. “I know, AnnaBelle, but I’ll never convince him of that.” Through the phone line AnnaBelle heard her father mutter something about modern inconveniences. AnnaBelle shook her head. “Was that all he said? Uncle Fauster?” “That and he apologized for dragging you to New York.” AnnaBelle was shaking her head as she heard her father’s voice again. “Damned New Yorkers!” Her mother laughed. “I told you not to bet with Fauster. I think Lamenta can tell the future, so Fauster will always know who’s going to win the World Series, Byron.” AnnaBelle considered telling her parents about Fauster, but decided to wait until she knew more so she wouldn’t alarm them. Assuring her mother she was fine, she apologized for waking them and said goodnight. She had just set the phone on the low

bedside table when a noise caused her to look towards the foot of the bed. Pete was standing there, his arms folded across his chest. She wondered how long he had been standing there, and then took a deep breath. There was no denying Pete was an attractive man, but she’d already given her heart to a man who didn’t want it. Pete grinned and AnnaBelle watched his eyes move from her feet upwards. “You are a very beautiful woman, AnnaBelle. I wish Fauster had invited me over sooner.” AnnaBelle ignored the unspoken implications that if he’d met her before Iain things would definitely be different right now. Lifting her hand towards him, she wiggled her fingers. “Help me up, please.” Pete took her hand and pulled her smoothly to her feet. Before he released her hand, he told her softly. “It was very tempting to fall onto that bed and pretend I’d tripped.” AnnaBelle shook her head. “I am an unnecessary complication for you, Lieutenant Walters. I live in Paris, remember?”

***** Iain looked up as AnnaBelle reentered the living room. Her hair was mussed and she was tugging her skirt down with one hand and the edge of her T-shirt with the other. Jealousy raged up inside of him. One more minute and he would have gone into the bedroom to see what the delay was. He stood abruptly. “We should get going, AnnaBelle.” AnnaBelle stopped at his words. He could see the confusion on her face. Lamenta interrupted before either could speak. “You should have stayed and used my bed, dearest. I bet that cop has real stamina.” AnnaBelle blushed hotly. “We do need to get going.” Behind her she heard Pete reply. “Thanks for the compliment, Lamenta.” Lamenta smiled at the attractive officer. “If you ever decide that you like experience over youth, young man, you know where I live.” AnnaBelle rushed for the freight elevator. “Thank you, Lamenta, for the use of the phone.” Lamenta waved as Pete and Iain joined AnnaBelle. “You’re welcome, sweet child. Tell Fauster I’ll be over tomorrow.” The ride down was completely silent, and outside the building AnnaBelle almost ran across the street to her uncle’s building. Unlocking the door, she turned and spoke quickly, not looking at either man. “Good night. If my uncle comes back, I’ll call you both to let you know.” Iain stepped forward, pushing the door open behind AnnaBelle. Leaning towards her, he spoke softly. “I’m coming up.” AnnaBelle nodded imperceptibly. The look on her face spoke volumes to Iain. She obviously knew that arguing would be useless at the moment. “Good night, Pete.” Pete nodded, obviously sensing the undercurrents between the other two. “I’ll be over in the morning, after I check a few things out.” Iain gently pushed AnnaBelle into the building, turning to tell Pete over his shoulder, “You’ve got my cell phone number if anything comes up. Oh, and call before you come over to give us a little warning next time.”

The look in Pete’s eyes told Iain he had gotten the message. Iain turned as AnnaBelle made a disgusted noise and started towards the freight elevator. Iain locked the door and followed her quickly. The ride to the loft was more than just quiet, it was downright arctic! As soon as he opened the elevator doors, AnnaBelle took off towards the living room, her chin tilted at a defiant angle. Iain followed her slowly.

***** AnnaBelle had found her uncle’s liquor stash earlier, and pulled out a bottle of something. Twisting the cap off, she drank three swallows from the bottle. Coughing harshly, she recapped the bottle. Turning to the refrigerator, AnnaBelle pulled a can of diet soda out. Popping the metal ring, she took a few swallows from it. She heard Iain approach slowly. When she turned, he was standing a few feet away, arms folded across his chest. “You can leave now. I’ll be fine by myself,” she added defiantly. “I’m sure you would be fine on your own, AnnaBelle, but I’m not leaving. We need to talk.” AnnaBelle moved quickly back to the living room, flopping onto the sofa. She wasn’ t surprised when Iain came over a few minutes later carrying two glasses with about “two fingers” of her uncle’s whisky in each. Iain ignored the soda she held up. “Go on and drink this. It will help your nerves.” “My nerves will be fine. And by the way, we really don’t have anything to talk about. I got the message loud and clear earlier.” As Iain continued to hold the glass in front of her she took it and set the soda on the coffee table. She took a sip of the whisky, trying not to cough as it hit the back of her throat again. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as Iain leaned back into the sofa and casually sipped the whisky. It irritated her that Iain could sip the whisky so easily. He looked completely relaxed and at ease, while her stomach was knotted up. AnnaBelle felt frustrated, hurt and angry. Lifting the glass, she downed the whisky in one gulp. A second later she was coughing and sputtering so badly that Iain reached over and patted her back. Embarrassment and shame filled her suddenly. Jumping to her feet, AnnaBelle started towards her bedroom. She stopped a foot away from the bedroom door, aware that Iain had followed her. She couldn’t face him as she spoke. “Please leave, Iain. I don’t need you to hold my hand. You don’t have to worry that I ’ll record you either. We’ll just forget we ever met.” A moment later she felt her arm caught by Iain’s hand and she was jerked around to face him. “Damn it! What the hell are you babbling about?” AnnaBelle sniffled loudly, not wanting to cry in front of Iain. “Earlier when we—“ “Made love?” Iain finished for her. AnnaBelle jerked her arm from his grasp. “No, when you fucked me!” Iain smiled slightly. “To be perfectly honest, AnnaBelle, I do believe that you were the one to fuck me first.” AnnaBelle gasped. Of course it was technically true. Fine, she thought. She spun on her foot, muttering as she did, “Follow me.”

***** Iain watched AnnaBelle flounce into the bedroom. He finished his whisky slowly, thinking that this evening wasn’t going quite as he had imagined. A moment later he entered the bedroom. He had to stop short. AnnaBelle was lying on the bed, completely naked, with her thighs spread apart. She glared at him for a moment, and then turned her face to the side. His peaceful, calm life was over. As he stripped his clothes off, he acknowledged that life with AnnaBelle would never be dull. And he admitted that life without AnnaBelle would be intolerable. So that left him one option. Iain moved to the foot of the bed and crawled up, between her thighs. He felt her tense and then relax. His hard cock was already eagerly demanding entrance against her soft, wet flesh. AnnaBelle turned to look at him and he saw the tears on her cheeks. Gently he wiped the tears away. He pressed upwards and his cock entered her body, but just the head. He held himself above her on his outstretched arms. AnnaBelle though was already moving her thighs even further apart, bending her knees. The arch in her back allowed him to enter her a little more. He was surprised when AnnaBelle spoke softly. “I can’t deny that I love you, Iain. Lying here, waiting for you, my body was already getting wet. All I had to do was think about you coming inside me again.” “AnnaBelle, don’t look so sad. Everything will work out.” Iain whispered to her softly. “I promise you that.” AnnaBelle nodded and then encircled his hips with her legs. Iain couldn’t resist and thrust fully into her wet pussy. He groaned as he felt her flesh melt away and then fold back around him. The heat was intense, made even more so as he looked into her eyes. One hand eased between their bodies as Iain withdrew. With careful deliberation, Iain moved his finger between her lips, under the hood of flesh. Slowly, Iain rotated his finger, pressing lightly, then heavily. AnnaBelle’s body responded instantly, squirming, wiggling, and jerking her hips without rhythmic pattern. Iain held her gaze as he continued to caress and stroke her tender flesh into orgasmic release. She cried out when the spasms captured her body once again. Iain couldn’t wait any longer. Removing his hand, he began thrusting more quickly and deeply into AnnaBelle’s womanly flesh. Feeling her sweet contractions around his cock, squeezing and pulling his needy flesh, there was no way he could slow down. A moment later, groaning loudly, his back arched and his hips jerked quickly to empty his fluid essence into AnnaBelle’s body. Exhausted, Iain lowered his body to rest against her for a moment. AnnaBelle relaxed her legs, lowering them to the mattress, but she did nothing to hasten Iain leaving her body. When Iain finally turned them in the bed, AnnaBelle relaxed and pressed back against his hard body. Iain reached out and turned the light off. They soon were sleeping spoon fashion, nestled intimately together.

***** A dark figure turned away from the window he’d been looking into, even after the light went out. Cursing softly, he knew that the answer he sought still lay inside Fauster’ s apartment or with his niece. He walked to the far edge of the building roof, gazing out over the city. This was one of the reasons he hated New York City. Americans didn’t

take care of anything, and once something aged, they were ready to toss it out. Building or human, the treatment was the same. Simon saw his chauffeur driven limousine was parked just below. The night was still young and he felt in need of some fresh blood. With a slight jump, Simon shape-shifted into a bat and gently flew the remaining distance to the ground. Hovering above the cement, Simon restored to his humanistic form. His chauffeur was already opening the rear door for him. “Thank you, Franz. Why don’t you show me what you learned about the night life in this wretched place?”

Chapter 10 AnnaBelle turned over in bed, slowly realizing that she was alone. She hadn't expected that. In her pre-waking state, she had imagined Iain would still be in the bed beside her. There were things she wanted to tell him, her thoughts and feelings. Her body wanted him again this morning, even though he had awakened her during the night. With very little movement, he had entered her from behind during the night. Iain had shifted her uppermost thigh, thrusting gently into her well-prepared cunt. His fingers had busily teased her clit for many minutes. AnnaBelle awakened as her body climaxed, barely noticing his fingers so intimately coaxing and encouraging her body. Only then had his hard cock thrust completely into her, and that set off another spew of climactic muscle spasms. AnnaBelle had gasped in stunned satiation as she felt him begin thrusting to his own climax. Soon Iain groaned and filled her womb with his seed. Lying quietly, AnnaBelle savored the feel of his cock jerking spasmodically and then finally quivering to completion inside her body. All the while, her muscles continued to erupt in little quivers and shivers, even after his body stopped moving. She had tried to continue pretending she was asleep, all the while she lay quietly, and strove to take in every sensation her body was feeling in the aftermath of their climaxes, even as his manhood shrank back to normal size. Eventually she had drifted back to sleep. Now she was awake and could tell that it was light out already, but she had no idea of the time. Closing her eyes for a few minutes longer and ignoring the sense of loneliness, AnnaBelle recalled the day before—the first time Iain had made love to her. So easily she remembered how her body had felt. Nothing could have halted the scream of ecstasy that rent the silence as her body experienced a pinnacle of arousal. The orgasm crashed over her like a tsunami. She knew it was coming, but she’d had no idea how big or powerful it would, or could be. The hard, vigorous jerking had begun to slow down, and her body had still continued shaking and shivering in random, uncontrollable muscular reactions for quite some time afterwards. Opening her eyes reluctantly and returning to the present, AnnaBelle slid from the bed. She had three pressing needs as she stumbled to the bedroom doorway, which was open. Iain was sitting on the sofa, dressed and obviously freshly showered from the slicked back look of his hair. He was also sipping coffee, but he turned his head towards the bedroom as AnnaBelle cursed loudly. “Damn it!” She was aware of Iain watching as she struggled to kick free of the blankets she had dragged with her feet. When she finally got free, she looked up and met Iain’s eyes. His one eyebrow was curved upwards inquiringly. “Don’t you dare laugh.” Iain shook his head, coming to his feet. “Do you need some help?” AnnaBelle came forward and had to brush past Iain. She didn’t dare stop for two

reasons: she knew that she had to smell strongly of sex and secondly, her bladder felt near to bursting. Moving quickly she walked to the bathroom, barely pausing to push the door to close it. Sitting on the toilet, and very grateful that she’d made it in time, she lowered her head to her hands. “God!” she muttered into her hands. “I feel like a slug.” “You look beautiful.” AnnaBelle parted two fingers and glared up at Iain with one eye. “You probably don’t want to get too close. I stink.” “Aah. You mean that pungent aroma of sexual activity signifying total mind and body satiation?” AnnaBelle lowered her hands this time to look at Iain. “I thought vampires had heightened senses. Like better eyesight, hearing and smelling?” “That is true, my sweet.” AnnaBelle held up her hands. “Stop right there! You are being much too nice. Please go out and let me pee and shower in peace.” Iain partially closed the bathroom door, telling AnnaBelle as he left. “I’ll see what I can find to eat.”

***** Iain had only taken a few steps when he heard the toilet flush, followed by AnnaBelle shouting loudly. “Thanks! I’m starving.” Iain paused, wondering if AnnaBelle would appreciate knowing about the mascara smeared above and below her eyes. He’d only gone two more steps when he heard her shriek in the bathroom. “Damn! I look like a freakin’ raccoon!” Smiling, Iain made his way to the kitchen. He found eggs, milk and bread. As he set those on the counter, his cell phone rang. Pulling it from his shirt pocket, he answered. “Hello?” “It’s Pete. Is AnnaBelle right there?” “No, she’s grabbing a quick shower before we eat. I could stretch this to serve three if you want to join us.” “Thanks. I’ll come on over then. I just wanted to let you know that I checked the hospitals and no one fitting Fauster’s description was admitted over the last few days.” Iain nodded his head, but still asked the other most important question. “The morgues?” Pete sighed heavily before he answered. “Yeah, I checked there too. No John Does fit his description. That doesn’t mean he’s all right.” Iain nodded and then added, “I’m sure there are lots of missing people who are dead and the body is just never found. But we won’t go there yet.” “Yeah,” Pete agreed. “I’ll be over in about ten minutes.” Iain turned the phone off, and set it on the counter. Deciding he didn’t want AnnaBelle waltzing out of the bathroom naked after Pete had arrived, he went back and opened the door. He could clearly see AnnaBelle’s body through the clear shower glass. It was only partly fogged over.

“AnnaBelle?”

***** The hot water felt incredible as it streamed over her hair and down her body. She had scrubbed vigorously until she was sure she smelled clean. What would happen today? She didn’t have the slightest idea. The only two things she was sure of this morning were her uncle was missing and that her heart most definitely still belonged to Iain. Of course, it wasn’t logical and went against everything she’d believed about herself and relationships. She had half-hoped that pretending to just be there for sex last evening would have helped retrieve her heart back from Iain’s hands. It hadn't worked as she thought. Iain’s touch had been gentle, tender and caring. When he looked in her eyes, she had felt something inside of her give way. Instead of allowing her to put distance between them, she felt like she was becoming inexplicably joined to Iain. And all of this was regardless of the fact that Iain had not taken her as she begged. In spite of her spoken and unspoken pleas, Iain had not awakened her to the Vampiric ways. All of these things seemed to lead her to the fact that Iain didn’t want the link with her. It was almost funny, AnnaBelle thought to herself. She had been rejected and had done some rejecting herself. Nothing had ever felt this bad. Turning her face into the water, she couldn’t shake the fear that this was a rejection she might not get over. Or at least it would take a very long time. “AnnaBelle.” She turned as she heard Iain saying her name. Through the shower glass she could see him quite clearly. She saw his eyes travel down and she knew then that he could obviously see her just as clearly as she’d seen him! “I’m almost done,” she told him, raising her voice to be heard over the water. “Pete just called and is on his way over. I didn’t think you’d want to come out of the bathroom—“ AnnaBelle held her hand up and then turned the water off. “Can you hand me a towel?” Iain shook his head and opened the shower door. “No, but I’ll dry you off.” He reached over and pulled a towel from the rack. AnnaBelle shoved her wet hair back from her face and stepped out. She didn’t want to argue over it, nor did she want to get caught by Pete like yesterday. She had acted like it didn’t matter to her, but it had. Stepping forward, Iain started drying her off. She turned around when he twirled his fingers. As she felt Iain moving the towel over her back and then down past her bottom and finally her legs, she glanced up and saw their reflection in the mirror. “I can see you in the mirror.” Iain stood up and looked over her shoulder at their images. He smiled slightly. “Hmm, I guess that is another vampire myth debunked.” Holding the towel in his hands, he wrapped it around her, his hands meeting over her breasts. AnnaBelle couldn’t stop the flush that darkened her cheeks. “I better go get dressed.” Iain looked from her face downwards, his hands releasing the towel. They both

watched as her breasts came back into view, but the pressure of Iain’s body, now close behind her, kept the towel from dropping to the floor. AnnaBelle couldn’t turn away as Iain’s hands lifted to cup her firm, full breasts. As his hands began a gentle massage of her flesh, AnnaBelle felt her nipples turn into hard pearls, pressing eagerly into his palms. Iain leaned into her body, letting her feel his demanding, hard cock against her cheeks. He lowered his head until his mouth was against her ear. “I think even if we had made love ten times last night, I’d still want you this badly in the morning.” His mouth lowered, traveling down the side of her neck. One hand pulled all her hair to the other side. When he glanced back up, AnnaBelle saw the glow in his eyes. It was like a fire burning inside him, waiting to devour him and anyone else who dared to come too close. “Oh, God!” she cried out, unable to stop the words or the shock of fear that chased through her suddenly. Like a veil, the fire in his eyes was covered and he looked away from AnnaBelle. He stepped away from her and the towel dropped to the floor. Walking through the doorway, he spoke softly, yet AnnaBelle heard the hoarseness and the barely contained emotions. “I’ll go start breakfast and you can get dressed. We don’t have much time.” AnnaBelle watched Iain walk towards the kitchen before she bent down and retrieved the towel. She hurried through the living room to the bedroom. This time she completely shut the door. Unable to stand, she flopped onto the bed. Closing her eyes, she could easily recall the look that had appeared for those few seconds. Why she had cried out, she couldn’t say. Maybe it had been fear. She’d been asking for him to bite her neck and suck her blood. But when it looked like he might just do it, she cried “wolf”, so to speak. After a few minutes she sat up and looked at the open closet. Her few clothes barely took up a tenth of the space, reminding her that her life was in Paris. Being here was only temporary. As soon as her uncle returned, she’d be flying back home and resuming her normal life. Seeing the only dress she’d brought, calf-length, lightweight cotton and flowery, AnnaBelle decided it would have to do. Skipping underwear, she pulled the dress on. Hastily she combed her hair and then French braided it down her back. When she reentered the living room, she was barefoot. Pete and Iain were standing in the open kitchen, talking softly. AnnaBelle spoke, catching their attention. “Sorry I’m late. Something smells good.” Pete turned and smiled at her. “Iain is something of a chef. Since I got here, he’s been throwing interesting things together.” Iain looked over his shoulder at AnnaBelle. “I guess practice makes perfect. Any smart bachelor learns to cook, starves or spends a fortune on housekeepers or take out food. Can you get the plates and utensils, sweetheart?” AnnaBelle nodded, but her mind was stuck on what he’d just said. She hadn't really considered it previously, but all of a sudden she wondered how old Iain was? God! She must be losing her mind…

***** AnnaBelle found herself alone a little over an hour later. Pete was following Iain back to his house. From there, the two men wanted to check a few things. Both had

ignored all of her protests, but they had agreed they would meet back here in two hours. Frustrated at how they had ignored her protests, she finally decided to clean up the kitchen and do the dishes. Since that didn’t take long, AnnaBelle went to her room and changed the sheets on the bed. Coming back out, she wondered where her uncle kept his washer and dryer hidden. Of course, she reasoned, that was assuming he had them. Eventually she ran out of things to clean or tidy and wandered back into the dark room. Turning on the light, she began systematically searching the room. Perhaps there was something here that would give her a clue as to the location of her uncle.

Chapter 11 Iain drove back to the loft in AnnaBelle’s SUV. He had just parked it when Lamenta called out to him. “Yoo hoo! Young man!” Iain turned, trying to hold back his smile. Today Lamenta was dressed in a fuchsia pink floor-length dress. As she got closer, it looked like her hair was pink today. She stopped in the middle of the street. “Why don’t you two love birds come over for dinner with me tonight? I don’t think Fauster will be coming tonight after all. I have lots of food.” “I will have to talk to AnnaBelle first. I’ve still got your phone number programmed into my cell phone, so I’ll give you a call soon.” “Very good.” She turned and started back to her building. “Oh, and if that yummy cop comes back, bring him also. Since I’ll be alone tonight, I will work on convincing him to stay with me instead. Toodle ooh!” Lamenta wiggled her fingers at Iain and then she disappeared into her building. Iain made his way upstairs, using the key he’d gotten from AnnaBelle. Coming out of the freight elevator, he called out to her. “AnnaBelle? Honey, I’m home!” Iain noticed the loft looked much tidier, but he didn’t see AnnaBelle. He decided to try again. “Honey, I’m home.” From the dark room he heard AnnaBelle call out to him. “I’m in here, Iain. I found some pictures and negatives. It took me forever to find a magnifying glass.” Iain entered the dark room. “Let’s get out of here, AnnaBelle. The light is lousy in here.” “I know.” She pushed a large cardboard box towards him. “Can you carry that one out?” Iain grunted as he picked up the box, setting it down next to the coffee table. When he turned, it was obvious AnnaBelle had not followed him. Walking back over, he looked into the room again. “Is there another box?” “This one here and then there is another behind you against the far wall. I’ve got just this one and I’ll bring it out with the glass.” Several minutes later they were settled on the sofa. AnnaBelle was still sorting things into piles when Pete signaled his return. Iain went to let him in. Pete chuckled when he saw the paper mess AnnaBelle was making. “Where did you find all this crap, AnnaBelle?” “You’ll change your mind once you see what I have. Oh, would one of you get me something to drink? That darkroom is pretty dusty and dank. All right, sit down, take one of the photographs and look at it using each of these colored vellum sheets. Each acts rather like a professional tint.” She sat down and began chewing on her lower lip. “I’m thinking that we need to look at the photos again, but use a different tint to see how that changes the glow.”

Iain went to the kitchen and brought back cans of soda and then sat down on the sofa beside Pete. AnnaBelle was already seated on the floor, opposite the sofa and on the other side of the coffee table. “What are you looking for AnnaBelle?” “I think there might be more to this film that Uncle Fauster told me, but I needed better light to see than what is in the dark room.” She paused from moving the magnifying glass slowly over a photograph. “In the far left corner I found something that didn’t look quite right and when I kicked at it, it sounded hollow. I think there is even more stuff than what we have here. This might be where Uncle Fauster hid his research papers and files.” Pete looked up from the photo in his hand. “Do you want me to go in there and look? I brought a more powerful flashlight this time.” Iain stood and held his hand out. “Let me go while you look at the pictures and the negatives. Maybe you’ll recognize some known criminals hanging out in my class.” Iain took the light and started back across the room. He turned back when he reached the door. “I nearly forgot… Lamenta has invited us all to dinner.” AnnaBelle was nodding her head, focusing on one of the photos of Iain she had taken the second night. The students gathered around him looked the same no matter what color of tint she used. After a minute, she realized she was staring only at Iain. Disgusted with herself, she started to move the picture to the right at the same time she moved the magnifier to the left. It was probably a fluke, but AnnaBelle was sure she had seen Simon’s face in the darkness of the night. Quietly, AnnaBelle set the picture on the floor instead of the table. She waited until Pete was looking at a picture, comparing between two tints. She shifted like she was adjusting her dress, and sat on the photo.

***** Iain had just walked out of the dark room when he saw AnnaBelle sit on a photo. What the hell was she up to now? He walked across the room and set down another box. When AnnaBelle glanced from the box to his face, she smiled at him and looked completely innocent. “That board you kicked in there sounded hollow because there is a small hidden room. I pressed around on the wall until something moved and the panel swung inwards. I had to move the box to get to the floor in front of the door. Do you want to take a look in there, AnnaBelle?” From the eager look on her face, Iain was sure she was going to say yes. Instead, AnnaBelle shook her head. “Why don’t you two check it out? Uhm, I’ll wait here for you and keep checking the tints and stuff.” Pete nodded and stood. “Sure thing, AnnaBelle. Sit tight.” He took the flashlight from Iain, and headed for the dark room. Iain continued to stare down at AnnaBelle. When she looked up at him and gave him an innocent smile, he definitely knew something was up. He had no doubt that she had seen something on one of the photos, and she hadn't wanted Pete, or himself to see it. He paused for a few seconds and then followed Pete into the dark room. Inside the small hidden room there was one corner filled with even more boxes. Moving over to Pete, he saw there was a small table, on top of which were the classic vampire hunter’s tools. His gaze narrowed as he watched Pete look at the different objects.

“Sometimes Fauster scares the shit out of me with this hunting crap.” “You don’t believe in vampires?” Iain asked the other man quietly. Pete shook his head. “I’ve been a cop too long not to have seen lots of freaked out shit. Fauster has even introduced me to a few vampires he was recording for the society. I’ve warned him that ‘slaying’ is definitely frowned on by the new District Attorney.” Iain chuckled. “I’ve met the new D.A. He strikes me as a man without a sense of humor regarding quite a few subjects.” Pete laughed and turned away to keep looking around. “I don’t think Fauster has ever thrown anything away. I wonder what all this stuff is.” “Is it worth carting all these boxes out though?” Iain prompted. Pete shrugged. “I serve at milady’s whim, but we can leave it and check out what we have.” As they reentered the living room, Iain saw that AnnaBelle was now seated on the sofa. He was sure she had hidden the picture, the question now was where?

***** AnnaBelle hurried into the bedroom. Pete had just left to return to the police station. As soon as Iain had said he would walk him out, AnnaBelle rushed to check out the photograph. Kneeling down, she ran her hand over the floor until she found the photo again. She stared at the picture for a few minutes, moving it to the right and then to the left, but this time she couldn’t see anything. “What are you looking for, AnnaBelle?” Trying to appear nonchalant, AnnaBelle let the photograph slide from her lap to the floor. Luckily, she was on the far side of the room and hopefully Iain had not seen her actions. Coming to her knees, she turned and rested her forearms on the bed. Smiling at Iain, she tried to push the picture back under the bed with one knee. “I dropped an earring.” “You’re wearing two. Have you been hiding a third ear? Did I miss a piercing?” AnnaBelle came to her feet, shaking her head side to side. The golden circles at her ears glinted with the movement. “No. I had just finished putting it back in.” Lifting her hands she slowly undid the small buttons down the front of her dress. When she saw Iain’s eyes lower with her hands, she parted the dress revealing the soft inner curves of her breasts. One hand slipped inside the dress and she lightly rubbed her fingers back and forth over her nipple. Its response was immediate. She started to repeat the caress on her other breast when Iain spoke. “I think you are trying to distract me.” AnnaBelle smiled. “Is it working?” AnnaBelle lowered her gaze to Iain’s belt and then down. His growing erection was obvious. She shifted her shoulders and let the soft cotton dress begin a slow drop to the floor. If her dress caught and held on a curve, she waited a few seconds and then shrugged, or wiggled, and the garment would start its downward journey once again. She heard Iain’s surprised inward drawn breath as he probably realized for the first time that she had been naked beneath the dress all morning. When he took a step towards her, AnnaBelle shook her head. “Wait there, please.” Iain stopped and watched as AnnaBelle came forward. When she was a foot away

from him, her hands lifted and she started unbuttoning his shirt. Pushing it back off his shoulders, it fell towards the floor, but stopped at his wrists, held in place by the still buttoned cuffs. When he lifted his wrists, AnnaBelle pressed them back down to his sides. Her hands moved to his belt buckle, releasing it with a tug on the leather. In the quiet, the sound of the zipper sliding down seemed loud to her ears. As the trousers gapped open, AnnaBelle went down on her knees in front of him. She lightly tapped on one of his feet. When he lifted it, AnnaBelle removed his shoe. After he was shoeless, AnnaBelle returned her attention to his trousers. Her fingers slipped beneath the elastic waistband of his briefs and then pressed her palms against his skin. Slowly she moved his clothes down, pausing to ease the elastic over his obviously ready cock. She left the trousers and underwear in a puddle at his feet. Looking up at Iain, AnnaBelle slid her palms up his thighs slowly. As her hands reached his hips, her face moved forward and rubbed one soft cheek against the velvet soft skin of his cock. Pulling back a little, she slid her face towards the other side, letting her lips glide over the tip. His wetness clung to her lips but she didn’t pause. Instead she rubbed her other cheek forward and back. A moment later, she surprised him by taking his cock into her hot mouth. The suction was instant and intense. AnnaBelle heard Iain’s groan above her but didn’t stop her lavish attention. She moved her hands back to Iain’s taut ass and curled her fingers, digging into his butt cheeks. The next moment she felt Iain’s hands on her hair and realized that he had somehow managed to undo the shirt cuffs. The feel of his hands so tenderly caressing her face and head, stroking over her hair, was intoxicating to AnnaBelle. She’d always had a weakness for having her hair touched and played with, at any time. Combined with her sensual licks and kisses on his manhood was a heady experience of intimacy for her.

***** “AnnaBelle!” Iain groaned and half-shouted her name. His hands were unraveling her braid and his fingers were winding between the silky strands of bright golden-red hair. Right then and there Iain admitted to himself his need for AnnaBelle. Sexually he wanted her, but he had been denying the deeper needs and desires he was coming to have for her. He had fought his entire life to control the hunger. With diligence and masterful self-control, he had been able to replace the blood lust with the psychic lust. Unlike other psychic vampires, he didn’t have to drain one person for his sustenance. Iain had studied and worked hard and as the lonely years passed, his skill perfected. He could take a small amount of the energy from many people. Using his superior intellect, he had turned to teaching to be able to reach out to a number of people in a small place. Being a seventh generation dhampir, he was stronger than any other vampire, or dhampir, he’d encountered. But all of that faded in importance over the passage of time. His needs were more than just the age-old thirst. He must have more… AnnaBelle’s mouth drew him back to the need at hand. Looking down he realized that her hands had joined with her mouth. The sight of her hands caressing his manhood, cupping and fondling his sac and finally her tongue sneaking out to lick and

tease was too much. His climax rushed over him and he spurted his seed. AnnaBelle’s surprise was obvious as she was doused on her cheek, her chin and finally several times on her upper chest and breasts. Her softly gasped “oh my” told him that even though she had not been a virgin, there were things that she had obviously not sampled yet. She reached for the blanket to wipe off her cheek, but before she could do more than wipe his cum from her cheek and chin, Iain pulled her to her feet. He kissed her mouth before she could speak a word. She met his tongue eagerly. His hands moved down her naked back and cupped her ass, pulling her close to him. Pulling back a moment later, he moved his hands forward and began caressing and fondling her firm, full breasts. “Have I told you how beautiful you are today, AnnaBelle?” “No, uhm, yes… I don’t know,” she murmured in reply. Taking a step backwards, Iain whispered softly as his mouth moved to her breasts. “Remind me to tell you at least once a day—“ He stopped talking as he took her left nipple into his mouth. He sucked gently, and then his tongue flickered over the taut nipple. Before moving to the right, he added, “No, I’ll remember because I’ll be doing it every day for the rest of our lives.” While his mouth worshipped her breasts, he moved one hand between her thighs. Her legs shifted to allow him freer access and his finger found her clit a second later. As his tongue began a steady flickering across her left nipple again, he matched the rhythm and pace on her clit with his finger. AnnaBelle’s wetness made his fingers glide over her lips. When he slipped two fingers into her heated flesh, he straightened. Iain watched her face, eyes closed, as she drifted on the sensual river of ecstasy his fingers were providing. With his other hand, he pulled her hair over to the left side of her neck. He was kissing her lips, and then her right earlobe and moving lower as her orgasm swamped her senses. Iain wanted her nearly lost in sexual upheaval. He lowered his face to the side of her neck and his bite was quick and sure. As he tasted her blood, warm and wet, in his mouth, Iain groaned as the hunger drove him. AnnaBelle’s cry was loud, and then grew softer. Iain was careful to catch every drop of her hot, thirst-quenching and deliciously wonderful blood. He fought the driving, gut wrenching hunger to take it all. The last time he had done this had been centuries past—

Chapter 12 AnnaBelle felt dryness in her mouth as she awoke. As she opened her eyes and realized that it was dark out, she was aware of many things at the same time. The bed was cool beside her as her palm stroked across the sheets. Her skin seemed cool where the night air touched it, but right below the surface seemed hot. Breathing in deeply, she thought she could smell several things at the same time: Iain, the scent of the lovemaking and the lemon-scented dish soap she’d used earlier. She was hungry also, her stomach making growling noises in protest of its emptiness. Looking at the still open bedroom door, she could see that there were no lights on in the living room. “Iain? Did you have dinner already?” AnnaBelle called out. She stopped though, surprised at the dry feeling in her mouth and throat. Even her lips felt dry and cracked all of a sudden. She called out again, but this time her voice sounded hoarse and broke over the words as she spoke. “Iain?” Maybe he’d run out to grab something for dinner? Wondering what time it was, AnnaBelle abruptly turned her head towards the stand at the side of the bed. “Oh, God!” AnnaBelle cried out in pain. The side of her neck hurt like hell, she realized in surprise. Thinking she must have just slept on it wrong, she sat at the side of the bed. As her hair tumbled forward, she suddenly remembered the photo she had shoved under the bed. Turning on the lamp, she dropped to her knees at the side of the bed. Ignoring the pain, she twisted her head and then reached under the bed. But she couldn’t see or feel any paper or photo. Standing, she saw that her cotton sundress was tossed across the chair near the bottom of the bed. Deciding that she needed water first, food next, she grabbed the dress as she left the room. Pulling the dress on over her head, she had it buttoned to just above her waist, which left the sides of the dress folded back. This revealed the full inner curves of her breasts. Another need redirected her steps to the bathroom. She peed in the dark, paused to wash her hands and walked back to the kitchen. It took two glasses of water before her mouth and throat felt almost normal again. A sudden crack of thunder startled AnnaBelle so much that she dropped the glass into the sink. The flash of lightening outside let her see the broken pieces. Ignoring common sense, she reached in to pick up the pieces. The sudden cut on her finger surprised her because it wasn’t the pain that alerted her. Instead it was the drops of dark red on the white counter top. The dim lights from the bedroom and bathroom weren’t enough to see the cut, though. AnnaBelle grabbed several paper towels, pressing them to her finger. Another peal of thunder, followed a second later by the flash of light, told her the storm was near. Turning from the sink, she felt the sudden need to be outside. Suddenly she needed to be in the wind and the night. Walking from the kitchen, she turned and walked down a hallway that ended abruptly at a door. Sliding open the bolt locks, she took the metal

circular staircase behind the door, which led to the roof. Unlatching the door, she stepped onto the roof of the building. Thunder and lightning roared in greeting as she crossed the roof to stare in the direction of the storm. The wind was blowing and flattened her dress to her body. It seemed strange, but the closer the storm got the more alive she felt. Her breathing quickened and the sky opened up. A moment later, AnnaBelle lifted her arms towards the sky. It felt like the right thing to do… reaching up to touch the storm. Lightning split the sky and she cried out. Every nerve in her body felt twice as alive as it had a moment earlier. It was as though her body had been jolted by the electricity and was now filled with energy and a sense of power. Her breathing had quickened and was shallow. The storm passed almost as quickly as it had started. AnnaBelle watched as the clouds began to break up until the moon was once again revealed. She marveled at the night’s beauty and her reaction to the storm. It didn’t make sense, but still she accepted it. “You’ll catch a cold if you stay out here much longer.” AnnaBelle gasped and spun around. From a dark corner of the roof, Simon Ruthven walked towards her. She pressed her hand against her chest. The paper towels fell away and her finger started bleeding once again. Unaware of the small rivulet of blood coursing down between her breasts, AnnaBelle glared at the intruder. “How did you get up here?” Simon’s dark eyes zeroed in immediately to the blood. He breathed in deeply, his nostrils flared, as if to absorb the sweet, intoxicating scent. Shaking his head, he pointed towards her as he spoke. “You’re bleeding, AnnaBelle.” “Damn! I’d forgotten I’d cut it.” She twisted around, looking for the paper towel. Simon stepped forward, holding out a pristine white handkerchief. “Please, take this.” AnnaBelle looked up, surprised. “Oh, thank you. But you still haven’t explained how you got up here, or why.” “The how doesn’t really matter now. I need to talk with you. I’ve been watching the building, but this is really the first time you’ve been alone.” AnnaBelle frowned at his words, but she wasn’t scared. That fact didn’t make any sense, she realized. Looking at Simon, something struck her as odd. Then it came to her, rather like a flashback. She saw the photograph, and earlier when she had moved it and thought she saw something. Like crystal, her mind seemed to clear. In the photo, behind Iain, it had been Simon that she had seen. He must have been moving at racing speed, yet the film had almost captured him. AnnaBelle realized that unless you looked very closely at the photograph you might not see anything. “You’re a vampire.” Simon considered denying the truth, but then nodded his head. “Yes, for quite some time now.” AnnaBelle felt her breathing quicken as the implications hit her all at once. Her calmness had to have been a fluke. She had no business being calm. “I should have seen the truth about you earlier, when we first met!” Simon shook his head negatively. “Very few people can recognize the really old

vampires. Usually we have developed the abilities needed to mask ourselves when needed.” AnnaBelle shook her head this time. “But I’m a hunter. My senses should have told me instantly. Instead, the only thing I could tell was that your presence set my nerves on edge.” Simon laughed sharply. “Another vampire hunter! Hell, this is rich!” “Why are you here?” she asked him quietly, realizing suddenly that she doubted her skills. This was the second vampire she had not detected. Then it hit her. Perhaps her uncle’s film was more effective at detecting vampires than she was! “My uncle’s new film photographed you at the lecture the other night. I didn’t see you at first.” Simon nodded slowly. “I had a feeling that Fauster’s latest invention was going to be even bigger than he had suspected. He developed the film, but even he didn’t see me in the picture.” “You’ve seen my uncle? You’ve talked with him? Where is he? Have you hurt him?” “Please, AnnaBelle, stop! Your uncle is staying with me for a few days. We have nearly concluded our business, but he is being stubborn about two rolls of undeveloped film. Once I have all the film he had produced, I shall release him.” “Dear God! Have you tortured him? Is he hurt? You didn’t convert him… ” Her voice faded away as she could not dare to speak of the horror. The wind was starting to pick up again, blowing AnnaBelle’s hair every which way. Simon’s eyes were drawn to the flying strands of golden flame-colored hair. “Fauster is unharmed. I’d forgotten what a stubborn fool he can be at times.” AnnaBelle reached up with her hands and pulled back all of her hair to the back of her head. “You knew my uncle before all of this?” Simon moved closer, stopping abruptly when the clouds above shifted. AnnaBelle was suddenly bathed in bright moonlight, making quite an enticing sight to any man who had a preference for beauty at night. AnnaBelle watched his face as his eyes moved over her, until they saw something. “Well, well, well. It appears as if the professor has been busy the last few days. At first I assumed it was just some healthy animal lust he was indulging. But his feelings for you must be much more than that. He hasn’t ‘sired’ a pet for nearly four centuries. Iain even swore he would never awaken a human again. When did he do this?” AnnaBelle stepped back, away from the seductive “vibes” that seemed to be emanating from the man. Releasing her hair, she remembered her hand and pressed the cloth to it more tightly. “You have been marked, and since Iain is the only vampire that I’ve seen with you, the conclusion is the logical one. The noble professor has awakened you to the night. I’m guessing that it happened only recently by the way you are reacting to things. Have you had your first drink? If not, nothing would give me greater pleasure than to have you drink of me.” AnnaBelle shook her head from side to side. As she did, she felt the pain again along the side of her neck. She lifted her hand. Not sure where the pain was originating from, her fingers touched her jaw first, then slid to her earlobe, and then began moving down. Unconsciously, her fingers traced the route Iain’s mouth had taken over her skin a

short time earlier. The instant she felt the first raised, irritated circle piece of skin, she stopped. Letting her index finger circle the wound, defining its size and shape in her mind. There was no need to move her finger down approximately one inch to check for a matching wound. Like a flash flood, the memories filled her brain—Iain’s touches making her go wild when her body responded to him. As her climax seized her, Iain had taken her just as she had begged him to do the other day. The pain had disintegrated as she climaxed in his arms. Then it had turned into something else when he began taking blood from her. Iain had moved them both to the bed, still without releasing his bite upon her flesh. After that AnnaBelle knew she passed out because the next thing she knew was waking up alone in the bed. She lowered her hand and turned to walk away a few steps. For the first time, she was aware of the moisture on her pussy lips. Instantly she guessed it had to be from Iain entering her body and climaxing inside of her. Although it seemed odd that she couldn’t remember when he had entered her body. Simon’s voice whispered next to her ear a moment later. “I can ease those strange feelings you must be experiencing. I think it was rather rude of Iain to desert you at such a tender time in your newborn state. This is a time when comfort and concern, and of course education, can be most important. A sire’s place is always with his newest ‘ awakened’ member. It’s even been rumored over the years that some careless sires have actually lost their offspring to a more adept and caring master.” AnnaBelle turned slowly to face Simon. She didn’t fully understand everything he was saying, but she was not some mindless automaton, only needing another’s directions, or instructions, in order to move forward. “What Professor Dampier has done is not the issue, Mr. Ruthven.” Simon smiled slightly, and nodded his head. It had almost hurt him physically to see those marks on this young woman’s neck. He would never have brought her over because AnnaBelle would be the type constantly tortured by her Christian belief system that had been ingrained in her since birth. Secondly, she was Fauster’s niece, and a hunter. Simon moved a few steps away before he spoke. “Not that it is important, but the correct way to address me is ‘Count Ruthven.’ To my close acquaintances, I am known simply as Simon. Now to the issue at hand, please bring me the remaining film and any photographs you have developed. I’ll let you know where tomorrow and you must come alone.” Simon turned and walked over the edge of the roof. “If you want your beloved uncle back with all his vital parts intact, remember to come alone. No Iain and no cop friend. Au revoir, my sweet. You are definitely one of the most difficult sweets to walk away from.” As AnnaBelle watched in disbelief, Simon stepped off the roof and seemed to dissipate into a thick mist. She walked to the edge and looked down, but she couldn’t see anything. A moment later her stomach growled loudly, and she was reminded of the dinner invitation to Lamenta’s. Perhaps that is where Iain and Pete had disappeared to.

***** AnnaBelle smiled as Lamenta offered them all an after dinner drink. Something

about the older woman just made AnnaBelle smile. Tonight Lamenta was dressed in pale pink, but this dress fit tightly from the high neck all the way to the floor. The material was a patterned silk, and the style was the slim-fitting Chinese dress, and even had a slit, more than halfway up her thigh. The dress matched her hair, which matched her nails and lipstick. What kept AnnaBelle smiling was the shameless way Lamenta flirted with both men all evening long. Pete’s beeper interrupted them around eleven. He returned the call in Lamenta’s bedroom, and she followed him with a grin and a wiggle of her fingers. Several minutes later, despite a few deep yelps of surprise, Pete emerged relatively unscathed. “I’ve got a lead to check out. Why don’t you come with me, Iain? I don’t think it will take too long.” AnnaBelle looked from one man to the other. She considered objecting, but then decided that she needed more time to herself for thinking. “All right. I’ll stay with Lamenta until she kicks me out. I’ll see you both tomorrow. Good night!” The moment the door closed behind the men, Lamenta was over by AnnaBelle with a full glass of wine. AnnaBelle lounged back against the pillows, and then held her glass out for a refill. No sooner was it full than Lamenta reached over, and without a word of warning, pulled the silky scarf that had encircled her throat. “Which one of those two bad boys did that to you, honey? Fauster will shit a brick when he finds out.” Lamenta paused to take a big sip of her wine. “Whichever one it was, you need to make sure he uses a different spot next time. Those neck bites are hard to cover up, believe me. They also seem to take longer to heal, and they scar the worst.” “What do you mean?” Lamenta reached over and patted AnnaBelle’s hand. “I’ve lived as Fauster’s primary donor for more years than I can remember, child. Like I told you, every Saturday, like clockwork, he comes to visit. Now he only uses my inner thighs.” AnnaBelle blushed at the older woman’s words. It was easy to guess why Lamenta preferred that area to any other. But her mind was still trying to cope with what Lamenta had just revealed. “My uncle is not a vampire, Lamenta. He is a vampire hunter. No! He is the foremost hunter practically in the whole world! Everyone knows his name and his work.” Lamenta smiled softly. “I imagine this is all quite a shock to your system. Fauster will probably pop a blood vessel when he finds out what‘s happened. The minute he sees those bite marks he just might decide to go headhunting. Your family has guarded you so closely. I was surprised that Fauster called you, rather than Hunter.” AnnaBelle took in the older woman’s words. Nothing was making much sense in her life right now. Shaking her head from side to side, her thoughts rushed to protest Lamenta’s accusation. “My uncle is not a vampire! No way!” Jumping to her feet, AnnaBelle walked impatiently across the room. “I mean… how could he be a vampire? He creates all these things to identify vampires. Why would he do that if he were one?” AnnaBelle walked over to a window, which overlooked the street that ran between Lamenta and Fauster’s two buildings. Lifting her fingers, she lightly touched the marks on her neck. Iain had converted her today and probably changed her life forever. There really was too much information for her to take it all in right now. Taking a deep breath,

she turned to look back at Lamenta. “I wondered the same thing, Lamenta.” AnnaBelle crossed back to where her scarf was draped over one of the pillows. Picking the thin piece of silk up with her fingers, she looked at the other woman. “Hunter was always much closer to our uncle than I was. My brother is reportedly the strongest and cleverest hunter in all of the new society. And he is more like our uncle than either of my parents. Every time I used to visit Hunter he was experimenting or tinkering with some kind of new development. It never mattered how many times I asked, he’d never reveal what he was working on. It surprised me that my uncle had invented this film, not Hunter.” “You are seeing your uncle as a mixed up, slightly muddled old man. Like all vampires, he eventually begins to run out of steam.” “Lamenta, do you have any idea where my uncle is?” “We were out to dinner and afterwards, instead of coming back with me, Fauster left with his friend.” AnnaBelle’s voice was barely a whisper as she spoke. “Simon.” “Yes, dear, Simon. There are many things I do know about Fauster’s life, and a countless number of things I will never understand, let alone even know about. The day I accepted that truth, my life changed and only for the better. Now, enough about me! Have you called and told your mother yet?” AnnaBelle narrowed her eyes at the older woman. By the look in her eyes and the tone of her voice, she made this sound as if she’d succeeded at something or had something wonderful occur. Somehow, her being turned into a vampire was not the usual thing “to phone home about.” She couldn’t see that either one of her parents was going to be the least bit happy about this change. “I don’t really think my parents are going to see this as a good thing. They can’t possibly know about Uncle Fauster!” “You might be surprised at what your parents know, AnnaBelle. Now, would you like me to show you a few spells? I’ve got one,” Lamenta paused and leaned towards AnnaBelle. Her voice lowered to a whisper before she continued. “I’ve got a spell which knocks the socks off Fauster. He always gets this surprised look on his face—“ AnnaBelle shook her head. “I’m not really into casting spells or the magic thing, Lamenta. But thank you for the offer.” She looked around for her purse, shoving her feet back into her sneakers. “Thank you for the dinner.” Lamenta followed AnnaBelle to the door. “Don’t fret about the future, my dear. I think if you just relax you will find that life has a way of working out for the best. I also believe that you possess a hidden talent for magic.” AnnaBelle smiled doubtfully and then left to walk back across the street. She unlocked the door and took the freight elevator to the third floor. Walking into the dark living room she regretted not having left a light on. “What have you and Lamenta been talking about for the last hour or so?” AnnaBelle gasped and then had to blink rapidly as the light beside the sofa came on suddenly. She had forgotten that she’d given Iain a key to the building. “Just girl talk, nothing special.” AnnaBelle walked past the sofa Iain was lounging on and into the bedroom. She kicked her shoes off, but came back out still wearing her jeans, shirt and the scarf loosely

draped around her neck. Walking to the kitchen, she saw the glass in the sink, still broken. Looking down at her finger, she was glad the two Band-Aids she’d used earlier had stopped the bleeding. Carefully she picked up the glass fragments, and then put them into the small trashcan under the sink. She jumped in surprise when Iain appeared next to her. She’d not heard his approach at all. So much for the heightened senses crap, she joked inside her head. “When did you break the glass? Did you cut yourself?” Iain reached towards her hands, but AnnaBelle was too fast and jerked her hands and her body away from him. “I’m fine,” she added hastily. Changing her mind about the water, she walked back to the sofa. As she sat down, she remembered what Simon had said about the film. Somehow, she would have to get all the rolls, negatives and photographs together and be ready for Simon’s message. Focused on her own thoughts, she didn’t know Iain was behind the sofa until his hands settled on her shoulders and lightly massaged them for only a second. AnnaBelle’s reaction was instinctive and without forethought. “Don’t touch me!” She jumped from the sofa, only this time her body was quivering from her pent up thoughts and emotions. Maybe this all really was too much to take in, and all she needed was some time alone. “I’m sorry,” AnnaBelle muttered. Looking in every direction but Iain’s, AnnaBelle explained, “It’s just that I’m really tired. I think all this worrying about my uncle has caught up with me.” “That’s not surprising, sweetheart. Let’s go ahead and turn in. We both could use the sleep.” Iain started walking towards the bedroom. At the door, he looked back, surprised that AnnaBelle had not followed him. “What’s wrong, AnnaBelle? Can I get you something?” “Would you mind going home tonight?” AnnaBelle finally forced the words past her constricted throat. She swallowed hard as she waited for him to agree. “We can do that. Why don’t you pack a bag and we’ll just stay at my house the next few days. I have class tomorrow night.” Iain turned on the light in the bedroom. “I brought a few changes of clothes here, but I haven’t unpacked yet.” “I didn’t mean us… I meant for you to go and I will stay here, alone.” The stillness in Iain’s body should have alerted her, but AnnaBelle was so channeled into her feelings and dealing with everything she missed the clues. She turned and walked back to the kitchen, assuming Iain would take his bag and go. After all, she rationalized, they were adults. There was no reason not to expect to deal with this problem like intelligent beings. He hadn't really promised her anything, and she hadn't either, right? “What’s wrong, AnnaBelle?”

Chapter 13 Iain moved across the room silently. When he spoke he was only a few feet away from AnnaBelle. He saw her spine stiffen at his words. The real truth was revealed when she turned around, leaned back against the counter sink and folded her arms across her waist. “Nothing’s wrong. I just need a little time alone.” Iain studied AnnaBelle’s face, and even though she still wasn’t looking at his eyes, he knew that her words were a lie. Something was always wrong when a woman said nothing was wrong and then folded her arms across her waist. You didn’t have to live centuries to know that women could be hell to live with some days. “Are you angry because I wasn’t here earlier?” He watched AnnaBelle become a quarter of an inch taller. “Why should I care that you were not here? You don’t live here, after all. Obviously you have a life of your own that doesn’t include me. Just because our lives happened to have crossed momentarily doesn’t mean that we owe anything to the other.” Hell fire! This was turning out worse than he had thought it might be. When he had awakened earlier, he had been groggy. Of course, that had been the second time he had awakened. The first time he had felt incredibly intoxicated and aroused. He remembered that he began kissing AnnaBelle, and even though she didn’t awaken, he had entered her body and thrust to his completion. Sated, he had fallen back to the bed. Only seconds later, he had drifted to sleep once again. The second time, he had turned the dim light beside the bed on. Turning in bed to awaken AnnaBelle, he had been stunned to see how pale, nearly deathlike, she had appeared. Her skin appeared almost see-through, and there were dark circles under her eyes. Her golden-red hair, draped down over her scarcely moving chest had seemed unreal. Tenderly, he had pushed her hair back, behind her shoulder. His eyes had gone immediately to the two wounds in her neck. Her hair had concealed the small dried rivers of blood. Lifting his hand again, he laid it tentatively on AnnaBelle’s breastbone. Soon he felt the beat of her heart. It was slow and definitely not strong beating against her breastbone. She was alive, barely. That had been his greatest fear. For so many years he had controlled his hunger, he feared that if he ever fed again, the hunger would drive him to take too much. Sliding from the bed, Iain had gotten a damp cloth in the bathroom, and returned to gently remove the dried blood. He was in control now, but every time he looked at the shadows under her eyes, the paleness of her skin and lastly, the bite wound on her neck, the guilt and fear of losing her swamped in. Iain yanked his clothes on and then left as quickly as possible. “AnnaBelle, about earlier… ” AnnaBelle held her palms up, stopping him. “No excuses necessary. See?” AnnaBelle paused and twirled around in front of him. “I’m fine. I don’t need a nursemaid. It’s fine for you to leave.”

Iain stared at her face for the longest time. He couldn’t shake the feeling that AnnaBelle had almost added “me” at the end of her pronouncement of fitness and independence. The last thing he had wanted to happen was have her wake up alone. Granted, he never should have left the loft. After that everything had conspired to delay him. He had come here first and discovered the place empty, and had been relieved to discover AnnaBelle was already at Lamenta’s waiting to have dinner. The whole evening, his eyes kept returning to her neck, covered by the scarf. She didn’t look as pale, but he also knew that she had used makeup to cover up the darkness below her eyes. It had stunned him how much it hurt to see AnnaBelle this way. He had obviously hurt her, physically and emotionally. “I’m not leaving you, AnnaBelle. I shouldn’t have left earlier. You needed me when you first awakened. I could have helped you get through it more easily.” Iain stopped as he saw the fear fill AnnaBelle’s eyes. Damn! It hurt him to see her like this. He lifted his hands but AnnaBelle darted away from him. When he turned, he saw that she was now sitting on the sofa. Iain didn’t think this was better—now her arms and her legs were crossed!

***** Annabelle glared across the room at Iain. It was obvious he wasn’t leaving, or at least not soon. Suddenly she realized that he felt guilty, and must feel that he had to apologize to her and make some kind of atonement. “Just say you are sorry, Iain, and then everything will be fine and it will be okay if you leave.” As Iain walked towards her, something about the look in his eyes told her it was not going to be okay. AnnaBelle rushed to add, “You don’t even have to apologize. I understand perfectly that you had things to do. After all I’ve taken up way too much of your time. I’m sure you have a full life… and I certainly don’t need my so-called ‘sire’ to be nursemaid! I can take care of myself. I live alone, support myself and just because you accidentally bit me… well, none of it means that you owe me anything.” “Shut the hell up, AnnaBelle!” In silence, AnnaBelle watched as Iain stopped about a foot away from her. She tilted her head back to look at him and then hurriedly turned her face down. She considered trying to move, but doubted it would be successful. A moment later, Iain took her completely by surprise. “Take the scarf off, AnnaBelle.” AnnaBelle felt her breathing quicken in response to his words. The tone in his voice told her that he was tired of her nonsense. She lifted her hands and unknotted the scarf, grudgingly pulling it off. As she laid the it over the arm of the sofa, Iain kneeled in front of her. AnnaBelle turned to look at him; once again she was shocked at his action, especially when he put his hands on her legs, parting them and then pulling her forward. The touch of his hands sent shivers along her nerve pathways. Once he was between her wide spread thighs, he pulled his sports shirt up and over his head. AnnaBelle saw that he pulled something from his pocket, but she didn’t see what it was. His voice,

when he spoke a moment later, was husky. “Please take off your shirt, AnnaBelle.” Nodding her head, AnnaBelle undid the buttons down the front of her shirt and then shrugged it off her shoulders. As she watched though, Iain’s eyes did not lower to her breasts. Instead he was looking at her neck while gently holding back her hair. It didn’t make sense, but AnnaBelle thought that she could feel his fingertips in her hair. As his fingers moved to her neck, a small sob escaped her throat. She was unaware of the tears on her cheeks until Iain’s fingers trailed through the thin, salty rivers. Iain moved his fingers to the wound on her neck. He pressed his fingers around the spot, as if looking for something. “Is something wrong?” AnnaBelle asked softly. Iain shook his head. “It looks clean, and it should heal without problems. There may be a scar, since you are so pale skinned.” “I’ll get used to wearing scarves and shirts with collars.” AnnaBelle smiled, looking into Iain’s guilt-ridden eyes. “I should not have ‘awakened’ you. Even though you had asked me, I should have warned you of my plans.” AnnaBelle lifted her hands and stroked her fingers down the sides of his face. “I rather got the impression that you had not planned it at all. I felt the hunger that was building inside of you. I did nothing to stop you.” “You are assuming that you could have stopped me.” AnnaBelle felt her spine stiffen at Iain’s arrogant words. “I am a lot stronger than I look. My job may be mostly research and clerical these days, but I have kicked some vampire butt when the occasion called for it.” Iain slid his hand to the nape of her neck and pulled her forward. His mouth covered hers in a gentle press of lips. “Of course you have, my sweet.” AnnaBelle slid her hands down and caressed his chest. AnnaBelle parted her lips to deepen the kiss when Iain pulled back. “Soon,” he whispered. AnnaBelle frowned, but nodded her head. Iain lifted his other hand and for the first time AnnaBelle saw a glint of something in his palm. A second later as he slipped it over the tip of his index finger, AnnaBelle recognized what it was. She had seen a picture of one in a book, years ago. It allowed a clean, perfect incision of the flesh. Traditionally, it allowed for the chosen one to drink her sire’s blood. Iain’s words confirmed her thoughts. “We should have done this earlier, before we slept. It would have made things easier for you.” AnnaBelle shook her head negatively. “It wasn’t that bad, really. In fact, maybe we don’t need to do this part.” Iain paused, the sharp blade only a millimeter away from piercing his skin. AnnaBelle saw his eyelids narrow questioningly. “Have you changed your mind? There is no way to undo the awakening so far.” “What would happen if we didn’t proceed?” AnnaBelle covered Iain’s hand with her own. She felt the tension in him instantly.

“I cannot say for sure, AnnaBelle. Such events are rarely recorded. You have changed your mind though, haven’t you?” AnnaBelle knew it was mainly fear of the unknown stopping her. How could she leave everything she’d ever known behind? What if Iain was only taking the next step with her because he felt he had to, or that he was honor-bound to complete the turning? What if she could never see her family again? There were too many questions, and she had no answers. She lifted her eyes to find he was watching her. As she looked into Iain’s eyes, she remembered their strong attraction to each other. The desire that burned hot enough to sear right to the center of her being. With Iain, AnnaBelle had discovered a passion that she had assumed was for others, but never to be hers. The passion was hot, but so were the tender feelings she had for him. The gentleness in each touch throughout the last day or so had been sweet and intoxicating at the same time. So, in spite of her unanswered questions, one truth remained—she was in love with Iain. Sure, the love had happened fast and come out of the blue. And maybe it would turn out to be only lust, and fade over time. But the only question that truly mattered was, could she live her life without him? What would she be like without his love? Granted, she was assuming his feelings were the same for her. She’d seen him around his students, her friends, sort of, and a colleague of sorts as well. The bottom line became obvious to AnnaBelle a moment later. For now, right or wrong, she wanted to be with Iain. She lifted one hand again, lightly wrapping it around his hand. With the lightest of pressure, she eased his forward so the sharp blade was touching his skin. Before AnnaBelle could pull back her hand, Iain pierced his skin, quickly and cleanly. Looking up, he spoke. “Now, my sweet, you must drink but a few drops. I cannot touch you at this point. You must come to me freely.” AnnaBelle watched the tiny river of blood slowly ease down his chest. She moved closer to him, her eyes never closing. She braced her hands on his upper thighs and her mouth came within a few millimeters of his red essence. In that moment, everything around AnnaBelle seemed to stop moving or cease being. The heat from his skin seemed warmer. The manly scent from his body smelled musky and intoxicating. Her tongue moved forward and with just the tip, her tongue lapped at the first drop. She flattened her tongue to his skin, and dragging it upwards, taking all evidence of the river away. Her mouth on his chest wall, over the wound, sucked lightly, and began a light and steady suction. AnnaBelle could feel the change in Iain. She felt like she really was drinking is his life’s essence. It seemed like a long time, but was actually only a few seconds when Iain’ s hands threaded themselves through her hair. He pulled her away to look into her eyes. Without a word, Iain covered her mouth with his. AnnaBelle shoved her body forward in passionate desire, and a second later she felt the heat being generated between their two bodies. With her passion rising rapidly, she stopped thinking and worrying about anything but this moment, kissing Iain, and making love to him. Her hands lowered to unfasten his trousers. A second later, AnnaBelle felt Iain’s hands pulling the snap open on her jeans. Between the two of them shoving and kicking, they were quickly naked and lying on the sofa.

AnnaBelle had one thigh lifted, with her calf resting along the sofa’s back. Iain was snuggled between her thighs, poised, and trying to resist the seductive wiggles and encouraging rubs AnnaBelle was giving him. He lifted his mouth from her long, wet nipple to gaze down at her face. “Insistent lady tonight, aren’t you?” AnnaBelle nodded and gave another seductive wiggle of her hips. “Call me demanding because I don’t think I’ve acted anything like the lady my mom tried to nurture and bring to adulthood.” Iain chuckled and nodded his head. “Very demanding, it seems. Are you in a race?” he asked quietly and then he pressed forward and pushed his cock only an inch or so into her eager body. “Maybe later I’ll race you to the bed. Right now, I want all of you inside me. Please don’t tease me, Iain. When you are deep inside of me, and there is that moment of waiting—“ AnnaBelle’s eyes closed as she waited. She felt the stirring inside of her body. She pushed her hips upwards and Iain could resist her no more. He thrust the rest of the way into her body. “Yes… Iain!” AnnaBelle cried out a moment later. Seconds later her climax rushed through her body. Iain started thrusting himself quickly in and out of AnnaBelle’s body. AnnaBelle felt the stirring of an even deeper response from within her abdomen. As her second orgasmic release shot through her, even her toes curled. Her muscles contracted and began squeezing Iain’s cock. Hazily, as if on another plane, she realized that this was stronger and more potent than the previous times together. It was as if their blood joining, combined with the sexual joining, now linked them more deeply than ever possible. AnnaBelle watched Iain’s face, so intent and focused, that she lifted her head to kiss him. The movement, though small, tightened into the perfect muscular combination. A third climax started another deep convulsing of her muscles. AnnaBelle forced her eyes to stay open and watch Iain. She could see the moment Iain felt the new quivers and spasms around his cock. His control fell away and he groaned loudly. Over and over, AnnaBelle felt Iain thrusting deeply into her body. AnnaBelle closed her eyes as she felt his hot seed filling her womb. If this was going to be the rest of her life, even if it didn’t last long, she accepted it with open arms. She wrapped her arms and legs more tightly around him. Breathing in deeply, AnnaBelle savored the sense and feelings that her womb was sucking him into her body. Suddenly a thought bubbled to the top of her consciousness. “Condoms?” Her voice came out as a squeak. Iain groaned and lowered his mouth to kiss AnnaBelle. “It’s safe, my love. Vampires don’t carry diseases, and the last woman I was intimate with was longer than my manliness wants to admit. And just to be safe, I did get tested when all this AIDS stuff hit the news.” “There is still the other thing… a baby.” AnnaBelle saw the sad look drift across his face. “It is very rare for a vampire to reproduce, even a dhampir.”

He started to shift off her body when she suddenly tightened her inner muscles around his softening cock. He saw AnnaBelle was grinning at him. “Am I your donor now?” Iain shook his head. “I believe that I’ve been the one making the most donations lately. Let’s see—if we count this one, and work backwards… ” AnnaBelle lightly slapped his shoulder. “Very funny, but that is not what I meant.” “I know what you meant, and once we find your uncle, sweetheart, I’ll begin explaining all of the intricacies.” Iain straightened his forearms, lifting himself free of her body. “I think we should adjourn to the bedroom, honey. Rolling off this sofa in the middle of the night wouldn’t be much fun.” AnnaBelle accepted the hand Iain held out to her. Standing, AnnaBelle started for the bedroom. Purposely swinging her naked bottom, she looked back over her shoulder. “I should imagine at your age, something might break.” She giggled at the glare Iain shot towards her. Iain’s eyes moved down her back and then up. “If you twitch that hot little butt at me one more time—“ AnnaBelle jumped, shrieked loudly. “Eek! You wouldn’t dare!” She didn’t wait though, and a second later she ran into the bedroom. Crawling across the bed, she jumped under the covers. There was barely time to pull the blankets up over her head before Iain entered the room. A moment later the bed shifted, obviously from Iain. Still under the covers, AnnaBelle shrieked again when Iain appeared under the covers as well. “Are we going to play a game, or go to sleep?” AnnaBelle laughed and pulled the covers back down. “Sleep, please. I am really tired.” “I’m not at all surprised, sweetheart.” Iain shifted around on the bed, straightening his pillows before finally lying down on his back. AnnaBelle made her mind up quickly. “Start as you mean to go!” Her grandmother always said that, and she didn’t understand until recently what she meant. She scooted over and rested her head on Iain’s chest. “What did you just say, sweetheart?” Iain asked her softly. He had now wrapped one arm around her shoulder, holding her easily. His hand rubbed up and down her arm. AnnaBelle couldn’t help what she did next. With a smile curving her lips, she snuggled up even closer to Iain. “That was something my grandmother used to say. She was just full of those kinds of things.” AnnaBelle stopped as she yawned hugely. She mumbled the next phrase. “Just because your friends paint their butts green and jump off the bridge, doesn’t mean you have to do it too!”

***** Iain chuckled, tucking the covers up around AnnaBelle. He continued to rub his hand up and down her arm. It seemed almost unreal, lying here with AnnaBelle. They had now shared the most intimate act of all. Hearing AnnaBelle’s breathing deepen as she drifted to sleep, Iain knew that this would all work out. When AnnaBelle had hesitated at the completion act, Iain had felt his heart begin to

thud heavily in his chest. The guilt he had felt earlier at taking her without warning, and her knowledge, had driven him from the apartment earlier. They still had many issues to discuss, “relationship” ground to cover. He needed to know what she had experienced upon her awakening. Most of all, Iain was beginning to realize that AnnaBelle was going to be in his life for a very long time. The next second, in that quiet place we all have in our heart, where we hide our most protected hopes and dreams, Iain acknowledged that he hoped AnnaBelle would be a part of his life for eternity.

Chapter 14 AnnaBelle was alone the following day when the message came. Iain had left late morning to get ready for his evening class. Time after time that morning AnnaBelle had bitten her lip to keep from telling him about her visitor last night. There was also the other strange thing that had happened on her roof during the rainstorm. Why had she felt the need to go to the top of the building as the building weather conditions worsened? And of course the big question remained… was she now his donor or a vampire? She had not died, to her knowledge anyway. The message came in the form of a telegram and she was half grateful because it interrupted her doubting thoughts and speculations, which only served to make her nervous. AnnaBelle stared at it for several minutes before she opened it. After all the strange things that had been happening to her lately, the arrival of a plain old telegram seemed rather anticlimactic. Of course she chided herself over being so foolish. What had she thought would happen? She admitted with a wry chuckle that suddenly finding a black crow tapping on her window and a letter in its beak would have made a much better story. Or perhaps a bat to bring the note, screeching away loudly and scratching with its long claws on the window until she let it in. Once inside though, the bat would magically flap its wings and transform itself into a human and deliver the note. Reluctantly acknowledging that she’d watched one too many late night horror movies while growing up, she sat on the sofa, peeling open the telegram’s envelope. Her laughter faded immediately as she read the note. “Come nine. Stop. Club Hell Fire. Stop. Bring film and all photos. Stop. Dress Goth. Stop. Gatekeeper will have your name. Stop. Simon. Stop.” AnnaBelle set the telegram down on the coffee table. She had already gathered all the photographs except for the missing one, and there were only two rolls of film remaining, which she had retrieved from the dark room. By folding the pictures, she managed to fit it all into a small fanny pack, including the negatives. But the dressing Goth-style had her stumped. AnnaBelle went to see Lamenta for help with the Goth style of costume. AnnaBelle was pleased that Lamenta accepted her explanation about a costume party. And Lamenta loved dressing up, even if was only helping a friend dress up. Gowned, but not entirely ready, AnnaBelle took a cab from Lamenta’s at eight fifty. She knew she would be a few minutes late, but hopefully it wouldn’t matter. She’d gotten tripped up when trying to leave a phone message at Iain’s, and decided to call her uncle’s machine, and leave a message there as well. Thankfully, Lamenta had known someone at the phone company to get service restored today. After all, she didn’t want Iain to be worried.

***** Iain had just glanced at the clock once again and realized it was only five minutes

later than the last time he’d looked. When he had not seen AnnaBelle arrive as she had the previous nights, a few minutes early, Iain guessed she was just running late. Since it was now more than an hour and a half into the lecture, he was pretty sure AnnaBelle wasn’t coming as promised. He’d been talking as fast as he could, trying to speed through the lecture. There were a few things he left out, and one section he cut entirely. If he skipped the question period, he should be out of here by nine. Tonight was supposed to be on vampire traditions, but to be honest Iain’s brain was so occupied with worries about AnnaBelle, that he would be hard pressed to remember what he had been discussing the last hour. Something caught his eye, and he looked towards the open doorway at the rear of the auditorium. He saw someone waving towards him, but he couldn’t tell who it was until they stepped away from the bright light in the lobby. Iain froze for an instant as he recognized Pete. Pretty sure something was happening, Iain abruptly ended the lecture, rattled off the chapters to read and then took off running up the aisle towards Pete. He moved too fast for any of the eager pupils to catch him. Outside the auditorium, Iain stopped to question Pete. Pete shook his head and pointed to his car, which already had the emergency light on the roof of the car. “Get in! I’ll tell you on the way.” Iain barely waited to close his door before he spoke. “Where is AnnaBelle?” Pete put the car in gear and headed for the less respectable part of the city. “I went over to check with you both to see if you’d heard anything from Fauster. Lamenta called out to me from her window. It appeared that I had just missed AnnaBelle. Lamenta offered to let me into the loft so I could listen to the message she put on her machine for you.” Pete reached into his pocket and pulled out a yellow slip of paper. “I found that on the table and replayed the message. The telegram really tells what is going on, plus Lamenta told me she had to find AnnaBelle a suitable costume to wear this evening. According to Lamenta, AnnaBelle should fit right in.” “Hell!” Iain muttered under his breath. Simon must have contacted her, but she had not said a word to him. AnnaBelle had most likely decided she could handle this on her own. “How long will it take us to get to this place?” “We should get there around nine-thirty, if we’re lucky.”

***** AnnaBelle got out of the cab feeling ridiculous. As she looked at the line of club hopefuls it was hard not to laugh. There were about fifty people standing and waiting hopefully for admission to the popular club. And other than male and female, she saw that there was very little variation in their costumes. Ignoring the “boos” and “get back in line” statements and other colorful accusations thrown her way, AnnaBelle walked up to the club’s bouncer. She caught her breath as he turned to her. “Yeah? You need something, little girl?” His appearance, over six foot something, broad chest and big muscular arms, plus his black leather vest over naked skin was an impressive deterrent, she realized. Still, AnnaBelle cleared her throat. Since she had just seen him reject four perfectly dressed young adults, if he said no, or there was a foul up over her name, there was no doubt in her mind she would not be seeing her uncle tonight.

“Hello! I am supposed to meet a man inside.” She stopped as the man’s face changed and he reassessed her again. She could guess what his assessment of her would be. Her long golden-red hair was ratted high on her head. She had more eye makeup on tonight than she’d probably worn total in her life. Her lips were painted a perfect shape and a lovely shade of dark red. She was also dressed in a black leather vest, but hers fit like skin. Since it was laced together and too small, it left a great deal of cleavage visible. AnnaBelle hoped that nothing would fall out. She was wearing a short black leather skirt, fishnet stockings and bright red ankle boots, with three-inch heels to complete her knock dead sexy outfit. Yup! AnnaBelle had little doubt as to what this guy considered her business was tonight. “He was to leave my name here, so I could get in.” The man grinned, appreciating AnnaBelle’s cleavage. “What name, baby cakes?” AnnaBelle smiled tensely, working hard to reign in her temper. “AnnaBelle Blue.” The goliath didn’t check his list. He recognized the name immediately and the importance that had been placed on her admittance tonight. His manner changed also. He reached over and released the silver latch on the red velvet rope. “Right this way, miss.” AnnaBelle was stunned by the change in the man’s manner. She also ignored the catcalls upon her admission. A glare from goliath and one loud “shut up” effectively stifled the revolution. Inside the club, music was blaring, the lights dimmed and people were everywhere. AnnaBelle glanced around, but didn’t feel the least bit reassured by what some of the people were doing. She quickly deduced that the safest place in here, and where to get answers to her questions, was the bar. Traveling to the bar was an adventure. She received two offers to be bitten, three people, one of whom was a woman, offered to serve as a donor to her. At the bar, seeing her reflection in the mirror, AnnaBelle realized the makeup on her neck had rubbed off. She tried to rearrange her hair, but Lamenta had done a good job with the hair spray. Now all she had to do was catch the attention of the burly bartender.

***** In the car, Pete asked about the strange telegram he had found at Fauster’s apartment. “Any idea who this Simon is, or why he wants this film?” Iain had decided that Pete was trustworthy, if he knew about Fauster’s activities. “Simon is a vampire who lives in Europe. I should have linked it sooner that he arrived and then Fauster disappeared.” “Do you think this Simon has already murdered Fauster and is just luring AnnaBelle here to get those pictures?” Iain shook his head. “I don’t think Simon would murder someone just to get what he wanted, but then all of us are capable of unusual or out of the ordinary acts if we get pushed far enough.” They didn’t speak again until the reached the club. Pete used his flashing lights and double-parked a short distance from the entrance to Club Hell Fire. As Pete and Iain approached the long line of people waiting hopefully to be admitted into the club, each

scanned the line, looking to see if AnnaBelle was in the crowd waiting. Approaching the impressive doorman, Pete showed his badge and they were admitted without argument. Inside the club the music was blaring, people were dancing and Pete had to shout. “If we split up to look for her we can cover twice as much ground, but if one of us spots her, we’d never be able to contact the other one in time.” Iain didn’t like the way Pete said “in time.” He nodded his head in agreement when Pete suggested they start at the bar. The burly bartender tried to ignore them until Pete flashed his badge again. “We’re looking for a woman,” Pete started to explain. “Who isn’t, man?” the bartender snapped back. His hands rested on the black shiny surface of the countertop bar. Iain growled lowly, “Screw this!” He reached out and caught the big barman’s fingers, squeezing tightly. At this point he didn’t care that he could end up crushing the man’s bones. “She has long red hair and her name is AnnaBelle, damn it! Have you seen her?” Pete was so surprised at Iain’s aggressive behavior, which struck him as completely atypical for his idea of a college professor, that he almost missed the barkeep’s eyes darting towards the stairs for a split second when he heard the woman’s name. He shouted at Iain. “The stairs over there—come on!”

***** AnnaBelle paused at the top of the stairs. There was only one door so she guessed she needed to go in for further instructions. Moving slowly, trying to be quiet, she turned the handle of the door. It opened quietly and AnnaBelle entered the empty room. She could hear voices and moved in that direction. The door was open and inside AnnaBelle could see a large room. There was a table near the center, and two men were seated and playing chess.

***** Simon glared at the older man across the table from him. “Damn you, Fauster! How can you cheat at chess?” Fauster grinned and tossed back another shot glass of the rarest whisky made. “I’ll show you one day, Simon. But for now,” he grinned devilishly, “I enjoy winning too much.” “I’m beginning to think this whole trip was a mistake. I can’t get any rest from all the snoring you do all day long. No wonder you live alone!” Fauster chuckled. “And how is your harem?” “I don’t have a harem. It’s only three women—“ “How can you stand the bickering they must get into? Lamenta nags me enough for five women!” Fauster stood and moved over to the small kitchen. “Is there anymore of that prime rib?” “Holy hell! Do you ever stop eating?” Simon turned in his chair to look towards the kitchen. “I hid it at the back of the bottom shelf. It seems to me every time I leave, you

eat all the food.” Fauster laughed, but it was muffled as he reached into the refrigerator grabbing the meat. Walking back to the table, he started eating it cold. “Uhm, it’s still your move, Simon.” Simon glared at Fauster’s smile. “You could heat that up, you know.” “When you are as old as I am, Simon—“ “I’ll never be that old Fauster!” Fauster chuckled. “Time will tell.”

***** AnnaBelle couldn’t believe the way they were acting. For a kidnapping, this appeared entirely too friendly. “Uncle Fauster!” Both men turned abruptly at being interrupted. AnnaBelle stepped further into the room. She watched as Fauster turned to look at Simon. “Damn! Did you hear her come in?” Simon shook his head. “No, but considering the amount of noise you have been making I doubt we could have heard an entire herd of elephants!” He no sooner finished speaking when they heard footsteps running towards the room. Pete and Iain ran into the room a second later. AnnaBelle took a step towards Iain, but stopped as her uncle spoke. “Well, Simon, it appears we can hear when the elephants arrive. Looks like you’ll have to order in dinner. Chinese sounds good since I doubt you’ll pay for prime rib again.” “Stop!” AnnaBelle stomped her high-heeled foot and then grimaced at the pain. She hated heels and normally never wore them. Fauster crossed to AnnaBelle and hugged her tightly. “I am sorry to have worried you, niece. I do hope you didn’t call and tell your parents about this. Hellfire! Hunter!” Fauster hit his upper thigh with his fist. “You didn’t call him, did you?” AnnaBelle shook her head. “I thought you would be tied up, handcuffed or something. Instead you are playing chess like old friends! He’s the enemy, damn it, and a kidnapper!” She glared at Simon. “Pete, please arrest this man.” “We are old friends, sort of,” Fauster told AnnaBelle. He reached out to touch her hair and his ring got stuck. “Lamenta has to be responsible for this look, dear niece. The woman is a tramp at heart.” “No she is not! She has been really nice and sweet—“ AnnaBelle looked around the room at the four men who had dominated her life the last few days. “And I think she is the only person who has been completely honest with me.” Fauster grinned at his niece. “She is a—“ he paused as he considered how to classify Lamenta and her position in his life. “I would be lost without her, but I bet she put the moves on you, Pete!” Pete flushed in embarrassment, which only made Fauster laugh uproariously. Feeling the need to take care of the kidnapping issue, he cleared his throat. “We thought you had been abducted, Fauster. I found the telegram in the loft, and Iain and I have, uhm, come to the rescue?” Iain stepped forward, grabbed AnnaBelle’s arm and pulled her to his side.

“Obviously there have been some misunderstandings on everyone’s part. AnnaBelle, give Simon the film and we’ll get out of here. Fauster can explain everything to you later.” AnnaBelle shook her head. “I want to know what is going on. I walk in here and you two are squabbling like naughty, ill-behaved children.” Fauster looked at his niece, guilt written all over his face. “Well, Belle, I’ve known Simon for a long time.” “And that makes his kidnapping you all right?” Simon spoke up. “It wasn’t totally a kidnapping, AnnaBelle. If you will give me the film and the negatives, I’ll return to my home tomorrow, and quite happily.” “No!” AnnaBelle shouted, surprising herself at the anger, not relief, growing inside of her. “This film was supposedly so important that you implored me to come and help you, Uncle Fauster. I assumed I was helping you test it.” Fauster moved back to the table, sitting down. AnnaBelle was sure he looked even guiltier now than he had a few minutes earlier. “Just tell me what this is all about.” She twisted her fingers together. Over the last few days she’d had her world turned upside down. There was a growing sense of unease that she couldn’t rationalize away. “I needed you to come to New York. I didn’t think you would come if I asked you to visit.” Fauster glanced up. AnnaBelle saw his eyes move from her to Iain, at her side. “Maybe we should discuss this back at the loft.” Iain squeezed her arm. “AnnaBelle, let’s go for now. We’ll go to my place, and talk tomorrow.” AnnaBelle turned towards Iain. He was looking at her so intently, almost as if he were willing her to agree. She started to nod her head. Iain’s hand tightened and he started to turn. AnnaBelle twisted her arm free suddenly. She saw the surprise on Iain’s face. “No, Iain. I am not your puppy dog, willing to follow and chase after you!” Her words seemed to hang in the air. She saw the flare of his nostrils, the dilation of his pupils and the narrowing of his eyelids. Of course, AnnaBelle didn’t need to see these to know that her words had touched off something in Iain. Catching her lower lip with her teeth, she chewed it for a moment. There was a nervous tingle up her spine as she wondered what Iain would do. “Uh oh,” Pete murmured softly. “Maybe we should take off. Come on, Fauster. I’ll give you a lift back to your place.” Simon stood, speaking softly. “I’ll leave tonight, AnnaBelle. Just give me the film.” He paused and glared at Fauster. “This is your fault, Fauster.” Fauster grimaced. “Technically it is Iain’s.” Four voices replied almost simultaneously. “What?” “It was something he said at one of his lectures.” AnnaBelle looked from her uncle to Iain. “You know each other?” AnnaBelle felt Iain withdraw from her. Not once had he intimated that he knew her uncle beyond recognizing his name. Fauster answered quickly. “He didn’t know I was at the lectures. In fact, I hadn't let Iain know I had moved to the States.”

“Precisely!” Simon interrupted. “If you had stayed in Europe, none of this ever would have happened, which brings me to the other point of why you need to come back with me, Fauster.” Fauster shook his head. “I know you are still pissed about losing your peace and quiet, but times change. Look at Iain and myself. We are both older than you, but we have adapted to change.” “It’s not just peace and quiet, Fauster. Perhaps you have gotten used to ‘Mickey Mouse’ everything. But some of us are not happy about a thirty million dollar Dracula theme park in our back yard.” Pete laughed, and then coughed quickly. Everyone turned to look at him and a little uncomfortable at finding humor in this situation, he shifted his feet. “Since I’m not needed here to arrest anyone, I guess I’ll take off.” Iain nodded. “We’ll catch a cab home. Thank you for all your help the last few days.” “Glad I could help. I’ll be in touch, Fauster.” AnnaBelle watched Pete turn to leave. Suddenly she needed to think. “Pete!” AnnaBelle opened her mouth to tell Pete she wanted to leave with him. The next moment her mind was blank. Instead, she heard her voice thanking Pete for his help and then saying goodbye. After Pete was gone, AnnaBelle turned back towards the room and met Iain’s eyes. As they looked into one another’s eyes, AnnaBelle couldn’t shake the feeling that Iain was inside her head. Simon slammed his hand down on the table. “Fine! If you don’t give a damn about the rape of Sighisoara, then let’s talk about AnnaBelle’s awakening. When I found her on the rooftop, Iain had left her without completing the process. I probably could have taken her myself, if I had chosen to do so.”

Chapter 15 AnnaBelle sat quietly in her first class seat for the red-eye flight to Paris. She had left the loft very quietly, after Fauster had gone to the second floor to work on his next project. They had not spoken since leaving the club hours earlier. Fauster had suggested they all get some sleep and tomorrow they could go out for a late dinner after Iain’s lecture. She had felt an intense need to look at Iain, but she resisted until they were in a cab heading back to the loft. As the cab pulled away, AnnaBelle had allowed herself to turn in the seat and watch Iain. After a few moments, she had been surprised to see him go back into the club. Her mind had raced from one revelation to another on the drive back. The truth about her uncle had been hard to fathom, but after Iain had awakened her, it had felt almost good to know that her uncle would be able to talk to her parents about what had happened. Learning that her uncle had not been kidnapped had suddenly made everything seem anti-climactic, even though it was for the best. Her uncle’s fury at learning about her awakening had surprised her by its depth. Before she could think of the words to calm Fauster, he had rocked her world again. Fauster had glared towards Iain as he spoke. “You were only supposed to breed her, Iain, not turn her. Who knows how badly things are screwed up now?” AnnaBelle had turned to look at Iain. For the first time, the self-assured, accomplished professor-vampire looked discomfited and his cheeks actually flushed a dull red. That look answered better than any words. From the first time they met, he must have known who she was and what his purpose in her life was to be. It was equally obvious that her opinion and what she wanted meant nothing to either of them. Fauster had tried to explain to her about his plans for her meeting Iain, but each time AnnaBelle had shaken her head and complained of a headache. Fauster had gotten the message, and gratefully disappeared to his inner sanctum on the second floor. It was very easy for AnnaBelle to reschedule her ticket and get a last minute cancellation. The cab ride to the airport had been quick and uneventful. Settling fully into her seat, she closed her eyes. There were too many issues and facts to deal with at the moment. Like a movie reel that just kept cycling over and over, she couldn’t make sense out of the last few days. Each time she tried to sort the facts and the truth out she kept running into a stone wall. Her life had been changed forever, in less than a week. What she had thought was the truth had become half-truths and lies. Her uncle was not at all the person she had grown up believing him to be. She was an adult, AnnaBelle reminded herself silently, and she could have accepted learning some things about her uncle. The fact he had been a vampire for all of her life had been hard to deal with, but AnnaBelle knew in her heart she could have accepted that, eventually. But the one truth she could not accept was that Iain had made love to her, and then awakened her to vampirism, and yet he never let on that he knew her uncle. There had been a lot of yelling that night, as she recalled what they had all been saying. Fauster’s

anger had frightened her at first, directed at Iain, and then at her for accepting his act of conversion. As they had argued loudly around her, Fauster revealed his plan to her, but not on purpose. Fauster was very old indeed, much older she learned than Simon or Iain. He had not revealed his age, but he did admit to being “sire” to both Simon’s and Iain’s parentage. Through his careful planning and breeding of dhampirs, mixing sanguineous and psychic bloodlines, he had created some very powerful vampires who had managed to live for centuries. Fauster reluctantly admitted that one half of his centuries-old breeding plan would reach its goal. AnnaBelle was the integral link he had been striving to achieve. AnnaBelle recalled that she had turned to look at Iain, hoping, even praying to God, that he would deny her uncle’s words. She knew he wasn’t telling the whole truth. If Iain had even just looked at her so that she could have known he loved her, her uncle’s words probably wouldn’t have mattered. Lots of people came together through unplanned circumstances and they still fell in love. She had fallen in love with a vampire after all. It didn’t matter that logically she was now one as well. If Iain had said that he loved her, and she was the only thing that mattered, her heart would have been his. No matter how hard she had stared and prayed, Iain had not looked her way. Instead, his gaze had remained on Fauster. She could not read his thoughts, or his facial expressions, and that was why she had turned abruptly and run out of the room. In the tense cab ride to the loft, AnnaBelle had finally fought back the tears enough to ask her uncle a question. “Does Hunter know any of this?” Fauster had shaken his head, and added shortly, “No, and do not tell him.”

***** AnnaBelle resettled into her Paris apartment. She couldn’t call her parents because underneath everything Fauster had said, was the fact that her parents had known. It was very probable they were in the dark as well when it came to Fauster’s plans for her future. But her parents had known about Fauster’s secret life as a vampire. There were almost too many truths, facts and emotions for AnnaBelle to deal with at times. She had been home for two weeks when she called Hunter. On the phone, she was crying so hard he couldn’t really understand a word she said. Finally he told her to go to the airport, and he would have a ticket waiting for her. Three days later, AnnaBelle found herself getting off the last and smallest plane in her worldwide journey. Stepping down onto the tarmac of the landing strip, she looked around the desolate place. AnnaBelle had no idea her brother was so far away from civilization. Everywhere she looked there was dry, cracked earth, split occasionally by some kind of rocks or cactus. And it was hot, damn it! Slinging her carry-all bag over her shoulder, she started walking away from the plane, although where she was to go was unclear. ”AnnaBelle! Over here!” AnnaBelle turned towards the voice and saw a tall man dressed in khakis and a typical bushman’s hat waving at her. He was standing next to a dusty jeep, and looking the same as he always had, except that he was tanner than she’d ever seen him. AnnaBelle ran the distance and flung herself into her brother’s arms.

“Hey, kid! How was the trip?” That was all it took for AnnaBelle to start crying once more. Hunter managed to get his weeping sister into the vehicle, her bag stored in the back, and drove the short distance to the small outback town. He led her into the bar, and seated her at a table. Hunter returned a few minutes later with two cold mugs of beer. AnnaBelle shook her head at the beer, but Hunter nodded his head, removing the hat and setting it on the empty chair. AnnaBelle could see through her tears that his hair was a rich, dark burgundy-brown shade. His green eyes looked even greener against his tan. His white teeth were perfect and when he smiled at her, it was hard to resist. “Brother knows best, AnnaBelle. Drink up.” When he reached out and covered her hand with his, AnnaBelle finally lifted the mug and took a swallow. She coughed and sputtered a little. The woman who had just approached the table and was setting down two plates of food smiled. AnnaBelle noted that the woman’s skin was tanned and leathery looking, but her smile was warm and welcoming. “Eat up, Miss Blue. You’ll be feeling better in no time at all. And welcome to William Creek.” Hunter grinned and pushed one plate closer to his sister. “Gracie is right, AnnaBelle. Don’t ask what it is, just eat.” Gracie laughed heartily. She slapped Hunter’s shoulder playfully. “Don’t you listen to this bloke’s bit of gab? That’s chicken salad, no matter what he says.” AnnaBelle laughed and lifted the piled high sandwich and bit into it. She was surprised at how good it tasted and especially at how hungry she was. When she started to speak, Hunter pushed the mug towards her, encouraging her to only eat and drink for now. So she ate in silence, watching her handsome brother. He had not changed that much, even though it had been over two years since they had met face to face. Hunter seemed to have spent the last few years traveling, and the only times she had seen him in the last five years had been when he had arrived at their parents’ for Christmas. AnnaBelle wondered why he had suddenly gotten the wanderlust. For more than thirty years he had been a very successful hunter, but all this traveling and never staying in one spot for long, naturally made a hunter’s job more difficult. “Why are you here, Hunter?” “You mean in the middle of nowhere?” Hunter sipped his beer, his green eyes meeting hers. “Don’t you like my new home?” “Is this your home? This bar?” Hunter laughed softly. “No, not here. Look, AnnaBelle, let’s take off and we can talk on the road.” In the jeep, Hunter reached forward to start the engine when suddenly AnnaBelle’s hand stopped him. AnnaBelle spoke softly as Hunter turned her way. “I’m running away.” Hunter leaned back in his seat. “From what?” “I am really sorry about this… ” AnnaBelle couldn’t stop the tears from raining down her cheeks. “Come with me, honey.”

***** AnnaBelle sat on one of the twin beds in the motel room Hunter had booked them into for the night, or however long it took. Hunter had known it was too damned hot to sit in the jeep, and it was a dry, dusty two-hour drive to his place. His instincts told him this easily could be related to “man troubles.” Perhaps if they talked things out, AnnaBelle would suddenly decide to return to face her troubles. This way they could shower, talk, go to the pub later and eat, and then talk more. AnnaBelle had showered first and walked out wearing a towel wrapped around her breasts and falling to the top of her thighs. As she sat down, she smiled at Hunter. “You’re next. I tried to save you some hot water.” Hunter laughed at his sister. She’d gotten a lot more attractive since he’d last seen her. “I’ll wait for the water tank to refill. How was Paris when you left?” “Same as it was last time you came to visit, which was more than five years ago.” Hunter chuckled, watching AnnaBelle as she started to towel dry her hair. “Maybe I was waiting until I could attend your wedding and make it with a beautiful bridesmaid?” AnnaBelle leaned forward and started to wrap the extra towel around her hair like a turban. She straightened up and started to stand. Hunter had been watching her long hair, lying in ropes around her shoulders. It had taken him a moment, once her neck was exposed, for him to see the marks on her neck. After that it had been total disbelief that he was seeing bite marks that he had seen too damned many times to not recognize them. The hand that shot out and grabbed her wrist caught AnnaBelle completely off guard. She cried out and fell onto her brother’s bed. Hunter’s hand was already reaching out and touching her neck. Tears began welling up in her eyes once again. As Hunter released her hand, she lifted her hands and covered her face. “How?” AnnaBelle looked up slowly. “I’m sorry, Hunter. I feel like I’ve betrayed you and our parents. I should have told you before I accepted your tickets to come here.” Hunter stood suddenly and walked over to look through the blinds at the window. His thoughts were chaotic as he tried to deal with the fact that his sister had been awakened. He was also sure that meant that Fauster had gone ahead with his plans to… his mind stumbled on the thoughts even now, more than five years after Fauster had talked to him. “I went to New York to help Uncle Fauster. He had called begging me for help. He had this new film and he sent me to these lectures to take pictures.” Hunter turned from the window. “AnnaBelle, you don’t have to say anything else.” He realized that he should have told his sister the truth five years ago, when he had first learned their family’s true history. But he had been too disgusted upon hearing the truth, feeling torn between wanting to protect AnnaBelle and needing someone to talk to. He had chosen silence. Now he was facing the fact that his silence had probably led to this. “You aren’t to blame for this, I’m sure.” AnnaBelle shook her head and crossed to stand beside her brother. “I am to blame though. I begged him to do this.” Her hand lightly covered the healing scar. “He refused

at first, and then, well he did it.” Hunter turned to look at AnnaBelle. “I don’t know exactly what Fauster is up to… ” “But I do, Hunter. Fauster wants me to get pregnant by a vampire. It was only after Fauster learned out about this,” AnnaBelle half lifted her hand to lightly touch the side of her neck, and then let it fall to her waist, clasping both hands together. “Fauster was very angry with Iain. And I thought vampires couldn’t have children.” Hunter gently put his hand behind AnnaBelle’s back, steering her back towards the bed. He sat down opposite her. “AnnaBelle, everything about our family is a lie. I should have told you when I first found out, but I needed time, on my own, to sort my own thoughts and feelings out. Now, I wish I had told you.” “I’m sorry, but I don’t understand. I asked Mother and Father why you left so suddenly, but they wouldn’t tell me anything. Every time we talked, you would change the subject.” Hunter looked away from her accusing eyes. “When I first found out the truth, I couldn’t handle it. I ran away, rather than deal with who I was. Now I know that was wrong. It left you vulnerable, and I can never make up for this mistake.” “What happened to me is my fault, not yours, Hunter. You are my brother.” AnnaBelle reached over and patted Hunter’s knee. “Seeing you helped me realize that I have to go back to New York and talk with Iain. I am an adult now, and I can’t expect you to fight my battles. That’s why I came, but it was wrong.” Hunter wondered if he should tell AnnaBelle everything now that she had apparently come to a decision. Telling her probably wouldn’t help her, and it would more than likely hurt her more deeply than even this had done. For her to know the truth would help him and give him someone to share the truth with, but he couldn’t be sure. There was also the chance that it might cause her to end all of her family relationships, since they were all based on lies. Hunter reached out and covered AnnaBelle’s hand. “Good thing I bought all those tickets round trip, huh?”

Chapter 16 Iain walked home from his evening lecture slowly. It had been a month since AnnaBelle had left for Paris. Every day had seemed endless. He had thought eternity was long, but it had paled when compared to the last month. A minute with AnnaBelle flew by so quickly, but since she’d left him even a minute seemed longer than a day. As he continued the path to his house, his thoughts returned to the morning following the so-called rescue at the club. He had shown up at the loft that next morning, expecting to straighten things out with AnnaBelle. The shock of finding out she was gone had quickly disappeared beneath the pain of realizing that he had fallen in love with her. It seemed only fitting to take his anger out on Fauster. “Damn it, Fauster! Give me AnnaBelle’s phone number! Why the hell did you let her leave?” Fauster glared at Iain. “I’ve been up all night trying to sort through the mess my laboratory is in, and I didn’t hear AnnaBelle leave.” He turned his back on Iain, walking towards the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator, he growled over his shoulder at Iain. “Who put all this damned health food in here?” Iain watched as Fauster pulled out milk, orange juice and the carton of eggs. Folding his arms across his chest, he sat in one of the chairs at the table. “AnnaBelle went to the store a few times. Just give me AnnaBelle’s phone number and I’ll get out of your hair, Fauster.” Fauster ran one hand through his thinning auburn hair. “Why did you have to turn her?” he asked the younger vampire wearily. “You never told me your plans. Besides, it’s none of your business why I did it, Fauster.” Fauster turned from breaking eggs. “I hope you aren’t going to tell me that she asked you to turn her. AnnaBelle would never do that. She’s been raised a hunter, and had no idea about anything else.” Iain leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees. “What else doesn’t AnnaBelle know about her family? I didn’t tell her about you, or that I knew you. I didn’t realize what a hell of a mistake it was to stay silent. The minute I learned who she was I should have told her the truth.” “Simon admitted that he told her. Which reminds me—can you imagine the trouble we would have had if she’d let Simon complete her turning? I didn’t think any woman could distract you from your path once you’d decided—” Iain stood and walked away to look out the window. The sky was overcast, which suited his mood. “It was a mistake and I corrected it. Now, before I call AnnaBelle, is there anything else about your family or your plans that I should know?” Silence followed his words, so after almost a minute, Iain turned. Fauster was standing at the stove, stirring eggs, but staring straight ahead. Iain crossed the room again, coming into the kitchen area and leaning against the counter. “Hey! Fauster! You’ re drifting.”

Fauster turned, looking at Iain. “Look, Iain, you’re the one who left Europe for the brave new world. You weren’t interested in the old ways, but wanted to explore your psychic and telepathic talents. Granted that I and countless others have been grateful for your achievements in overcoming or replacing the blood lust, but the family didn’t remain static after you left.” Iain watched as Fauster dumped the scrambled eggs onto a plate. “What have you been up to, Fauster? You were still in Europe when you invented the blood test. When did you move here?” “I could say the same thing about you, Iain. I’m willing to grant you the first couple of hundred years, but communication has improved the last hundred, as have methods of travel.” Iain took a deep breath. “I seriously doubt that you’ve kept in touch with everyone in the family at the time I left.” Fauster set his empty plate in the sink. He started walking towards the darkroom. He paused after opening the door, looking back at Iain. “There is no one else left of that time, other than you and me. And of course, there was Simon. Take that worried look off your face, Iain. I wasn’t alone for long. I began doing what you did, studying and learning from the scientists of the times. The new society of hunters was actually my idea. Although very few people know the truth— counting you and myself, only five vampires know the truth. I trust three of them to keep the secret, and I believe the fifth will not reveal anything in order to protect someone. Now, I should get back to work on that film. I’m quite pleased that AnnaBelle didn’t turn it over to Simon after all.” Iain’s mind was working furiously sorting and understanding everything Fauster had just revealed. He pushed it all to the back of his mind, and crossed to the dark room to ask for AnnaBelle’s phone number once again. “Damn it all!” Fauster appeared in the open doorway again, looking angry and rattled. “The film and all my negatives are gone! AnnaBelle must have taken them with her.” Iain held back the smile that threatened to curl his lips. It appeared that AnnaBelle was quite a force to be reckoned with after all. In taking the film, she had leveled the playing field herself. Obviously, Simon had destroyed the notes that led to the development and creation of the film. So in order to reproduce the film, he was going to need a sample of the original. The person he had manipulated and lied to was the one who now held the power. Fauster crossed the room to his phone, irritated to discover it had not yet been repaired. It only took a moment for Fauster to think before he shouted. “Lamenta!” The word sounded harshly loud in the quiet of the room. Without a word of explanation, Fauster turned and left the apartment. Iain followed him, not saying a word. He did think it odd that the phone once again was not working. Thinking back, he was pretty sure he recalled Lamenta stating she could have it repaired for AnnaBelle, even over the weekend.

***** Lamenta opened the door to find two disgruntled men demanding entrance, asking

questions and wanting to use the phone. She smiled at the men, knowing that sooner or later she’d be seeing them both today. “Hello! What a nice surprise! I can guess why Fauster is here—it has been a long time hasn’t it, my big, bold stallion.” Lamenta smiled as Fauster flushed and grumbled, moving past Lamenta into her casual living room. Her smile changed to a grin when she saw that Iain was trying to suppress his amusement at Fauster as well. “Fauster, dear, the phone is lying on my bed, and yes, you may use it. Now for you, young man, come and sit down.” Lamenta sat a few cushions away from the handsome, blond psychic vampire. He was definitely the most frightening vampire she’d ever met. And even though she’d only become acquainted with vampires in the last twenty odd years, since meeting Fauster, it was Iain’s quiet determination and his intellect, which scared her the most. But she wasn ’t scared now—not after her long chat last night with AnnaBelle. She smiled again at Iain, thinking of all the fun these two young people were going to have as the years passed. There was no doubt in her mind that even though Iain was technically centuries older than AnnaBelle, only now that he’d met her would he truly begin living.

***** “Damn it all!” Fauster came back into living room. He practically fell down onto the cushions beside Lamenta. His head came to rest on her lap, and Iain watched in near disbelief as Lamenta began stroking his long hair to calm him. “What’s wrong, my dearest?” she asked him gently. Fauster closed his eyes as Lamenta continued to caress his forehead and hair. Iain could see by the soporific look slowly covering his face. It was obvious that Lamenta’s touch was calming the older man down. “AnnaBelle didn’t answer her phone.” “Did you call her parents?” Lamenta prodded gently. “Yes, but they are of no help. They had no idea where she was either, and they refused to call Hunter for me.” Iain did not miss the strained and irritated look on Fauster’s face as he spoke. “Why don’t you call Hunter?” Fauster glared at Iain, and then turned away. “I can’t believe I have such a stubborn brother.” Lamenta smiled at Iain, continuing to stroke and soothe Fauster. “Apart from the fact that he isn’t really your brother, did you leave a message for AnnaBelle at her apartment?” Fauster’s lips twisted into a mockery of a smile. “Hell yes! She will think twice before taking something from me again.” Iain shook his head. “Shit, Fauster! That has to be the stupidest thing possible to leave on her machine.” “Ahh!” Fauster shot him a glare, followed by his totally self-satisfied smile. “My message should scare her into coming back immediately with my film. That will be the last time she defies me… Ooww!”

Fauster’s head hit the floor with a thud. Lamenta had shoved him off her lap. She had hopped to her feet and was halfway across the room as Fauster spoke. “What the hell was that for, Lamenta?” Lamenta straightened her back, shook her head and made her glossy black ringlets bounce. “Because you can be a complete ass, Fauster! I can’t believe you would leave such a wretched message on your niece’s phone. Have you no heart? No shred of human decency left inside you?” Fauster came to his feet slowly, and his anger, mingled with disbelief was apparent on his face and in his voice. “This is family business, and I’ll thank you to stay out of it! I don’t want you gossiping about this either.” Lamenta’s head snapped back as if she’d been physically slapped. Her spine was now ramrod stiff and straight. “Get out of my apartment, Fauster Blue. I will call you if I decide we are to see one another ever again.” Iain started to rise, but he stopped as he saw the anger fade from Fauster’s face. The older man was still obviously surprised, but slowly he turned and left Lamenta’s apartment without another word. Iain turned to look at Lamenta and was stunned to see the woman was smiling as if nothing had just happened. She came over and sat beside Iain. Iain cleared his throat. “Is there anything I can help you with, Lamenta?” She shook her head, reaching over and patting Iain’s thigh. “Well, I don’t really think you mean that the way I’d be willing to take it. Don’t you fret, young man. When AnnaBelle was here last night, she was in pain, but I have no doubt once the pain fades, she will return here to deal with her anger. She was disillusioned, of course, but I feel that once she accepts her future, she’ll be back to work things out with you.” “How can you be so sure Lamenta?” “Because I read her future before she left, and even though AnnaBelle doesn’t know it yet, you and she will soon be making history.” “I don’t mean to belittle your powers, as such, but no matter how much I may want AnnaBelle, I can’t see us finding a way to be together. I wouldn’t blame her if she never forgave me.” Iain shook his head, confused somewhat by the overwhelming feeling of sadness he experienced as he spoke the truth. “I want you to know, Lamenta, that I had no idea about Fauster’s crazy plans. I can’t explain why I didn’t know he had attended a couple of my lectures.” Lamenta shook her head. “Be patient, young man, and don’t go chasing after her. You must wait here for AnnaBelle’s return to you. It is important that she decides to come back or not. Don’t call her home phone, or her parents. When she has made peace within her heart, she’ll come back to finish her battles and make peace with everything else. There will be much for her to look forward to in her future.” “You sound pretty sure about AnnaBelle and how she is going to deal with all of this stuff.” Lamenta paused for a few seconds before she spoke again. “I am a witch, Iain,” she told him simply, as if that should explain everything. “Now, it’s time for you to resume your life as it was before you met AnnaBelle.” Iain walked with Lamenta the rest of the way to the front door of her apartment. “Are you sure you will be all right, Lamenta? What if Fauster comes back? He sounded

pretty pissed when he left here.” Lamenta laughed as she opened the door. “Don’t fret, my dear Iain. I imagine Fauster is watching and waiting for you to leave so he can come back over here. He’ll bluster and stammer about, striking his chest a few times to prove he was right. I’ll give him the cold shoulder for a bit, and then I will let him apologize and come back. Fauster is the noblest of all vampires.” Lamenta threaded her arm under Iain’s, and started walking him towards the door. “Fauster may seem crazy at times, and he really needs to learn when to keep his mouth shut. Listening and patience have never been his strong points.” Iain shook his head. “I’m worried if he comes back, still so angry, that he might—“ “Injure me? Take too much blood in his anger?” Lamenta finished his thought. “Don ’t worry, Iain. Fauster is a pussycat. I’ve always let him think he has the power in our relationship. But I think after this latest fiasco, I’ll keep him off-kilter for longer than usual. He thinks he can control me. The truth is, Iain, he’s just never met a witch as powerful as I.” Lamenta didn’t look the least bit worried, Iain thought as she continued. “The problem is that you old vamps think you know everything there is to know. The day will come—“ her voice trailed away suddenly. “Never mind the ramblings of an old witch. Now run along so Fauster and I can begin our newest forgiving dance. I still have your cell phone number, in case I need anything.” Iain smiled and leaned over to press a gentle kiss on Lamenta’s cheek. “I’m beginning to feel sorry for Fauster. He doesn’t have a chance.” Lamenta winked wickedly as she shut the door, which only reassured him that she probably could handle that old vampire after all.

Chapter 17 AnnaBelle’s first stop upon returning to New York City had been to visit Lamenta’s apartment. The two women hugged tightly a moment after Lamenta’s door opened. “I knew you would come back, dear!” Lamenta dabbed at the tears welling up in her eyes. “Come inside. We have so much to talk about.” AnnaBelle was seated on the mound of pillows, sipping the herbal tea Lamenta had made when the older woman joined her. Lamenta shocked her with her next words. “Did you return for your heart or your baby?” “Oow!” AnnaBelle cried as the hot liquid splashed onto her hand as she jerked back in surprise. “I’m not pregnant!” Lamenta smiled, dabbing at the spilled tea. “I had a brief vision the last time you were here, but this time I am sure. If you aren’t pregnant yet, then you will be before too much longer. Have you told anyone else?” AnnaBelle shook her head. “I need to speak to Iain first. I’m not sure what will happen between us.” “I understand, dear. Finish your tea and then we’ll go and see Fauster.” AnnaBelle vigorously shook her head from side to side. “I’m not sure that I want to even see Uncle Fauster.” “I know, AnnaBelle, but family is all we have in this world. It’s time to mend fences. And I assure you, my dear, Fauster is something of a changed ‘vampire.’ He would deny it, naturally, but I think you will see the changes.” “All right, let’s go then.” “Not just yet, AnnaBelle. I have a few things I want to give you first.” AnnaBelle looked surprised and confused at Lamenta’s words. “I don’t understand, Lamenta.” “I know, my dear. There are a few more facts I would give before sending you forth to face the lion in his den.”

***** “Hello, Iain.” Iain’s head jerked upwards at the voice greeting him. He couldn’t believe his eyes and shook his head to clear it. But AnnaBelle was still sitting on his front step. Her hair was loose across her shoulders and down her back. She was dressed in jeans, T-shirt and jeans jacket. Beside her on the stoop were a large suitcase and her backpack. His heart soared upon seeing her suitcase. But he held back, not wanting to jump to conclusions. “Hi, AnnaBelle. Have you been sitting here long?” AnnaBelle shook her head. “I’ve had a busy day. I went to see Lamenta, and from there we went over to saw Fauster.” “I bet that was an interesting meeting.”

AnnaBelle grinned, holding her hand towards Iain. He took the hint and helped her stand. Not wanting to rush things, he started to release her hand. Suddenly her fingers closed around his, and using the element of surprise, she jerked on his, pulling him forward. Flinging her arms around his shoulders, AnnaBelle kissed him hard. Iain stayed still under the onslaught for perhaps a millisecond before kissing her back. His arms pulled her closer even as their tongues met and stroked each other in a hot, wet greeting. Iain groaned with desire, but that quickly turned to a gasp of surprise when AnnaBelle’s hand curved over his hard cock beneath his trousers. AnnaBelle’s hand followed him as he stepped back in astonishment, refusing to release its hold. AnnaBelle grinned at Iain as her busy fingers released the snap and then started tugging the zipper down on his trousers. Iain’s goal of keeping a low profile would be blown if he didn’t slow AnnaBelle down. “AnnaBelle?” Iain caught her hands in his. “I’m in the mood for love—“ AnnaBelle sang to him loudly, off key. “Inside, woman! Now!” Iain released her hands and grabbed her large suitcase, moving over and unlocking the door.

***** AnnaBelle laughed out loud as Iain grabbed her, kicked the door shut and spun her around. Her feet barely touched the floor before he was kissing the breath right out of her chest. AnnaBelle didn’t resist at all and threw her arms tightly around Iain’s neck and shoulders. After several long moments, he lifted his head to look at her face. AnnaBelle grinned at her lover. “We need to talk, Iain. I shouldn’t have run off without straightening things out between us.” AnnaBelle saw the happiness fade from Iain’s face. She reached up and curled her hand to the side of his jaw, lightly caressing his skin. Feeling his day old beard, she wondered what that might feel like rubbing across her skin. Iain turned his head and pressed his lips into her hand. Nodding his head, he pulled her hand down, holding it tightly with his hand. “Would you like something to drink while we talk like tea or something stronger? Are you hungry?” AnnaBelle shook her head negatively. Freeing her hand from Iain’s tight grip, she turned away from him and started walking up the staircase, which led to his large bedroom upstairs. At the head of the stairs, she stopped and looked into the only other room on the second floor of the house. It was small, and looked as if it was a storage room for boxes. She paused before closing the door until she heard Iain’s footsteps behind her. “I wondered what was in here.” She pulled the door shut, and then walked into the master bedroom. She looked around, checking out the large bathroom, the walk in closet, and finally the recessed flat screen television. When she finished the brief exploration, she came over to stand in front of Iain. Lifting her hands, she unknotted his tie, pulling it off. Her fingers next made quick work of the buttons on his conservative, Oxford style shirt. Iain grabbed her hands when she unbuckled his belt. “I thought you wanted to talk.” AnnaBelle leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his chin. “I do want to talk,” she

paused to unbutton and drag his zipper down in almost one uninterrupted move. “But I was thinking more along the lines of ‘talk later’ and make up for lost time now.”

***** Iain watched while AnnaBelle undressed him so slowly it was almost driving him crazy. In the past month, he had come to realize that the only reason he had transformed AnnaBelle completely was because he hated the thought of another hundred years spent alone. He loved her more than any woman he had ever met over his centuries on earth. In his head, he had begun planning a life with AnnaBelle. While it might not be the conventional lifestyle, he had little doubt that they could find somewhere quiet to live. He’d get another university position— AnnaBelle’s hands shoved his trousers and underwear to his ankles. Her hands were caressing his chest, moving downward to his hips, and then sliding back to cup his ass cheeks and squeeze. His body was having the expected reaction, and pretty much immediately. Iain lifted one hand and lightly ran it over her soft, shiny hair. “AnnaBelle, I missed you.” Iain stopped abruptly. The words had come from a heart he had considered dead for too long to ever feel such deep emotions again. He waited, watching as AnnaBelle lifted her face to his. What he wanted, or expected, he wasn’t completely sure. But when her hands came back around, caressing his hips before closing around his hard cock, Iain gasped in surprise. She didn’t stop what she was doing, though. Instead, AnnaBelle slowly lowered to her knees while her hands began pulling firmly, stroking his hard cock, tugging his skin with each slide of her hands. Iain was going to stop her, until she bent her head and took his hardness into the wet heat of her mouth. Feeling the swirl of her tongue, followed by the slippery pull of her lips around his cock was making Iain lose the little control he’d been holding onto tenuously. He moved his hands to either side of AnnaBelle’s head, threading his fingers through strands of her soft hair. Iain had every intention of pulling AnnaBelle back up and moving this to the bed. AnnaBelle surprised him by slipping one hand lower to cup his sac. Her hand squeezed him lightly and then gently drew the skin downwards with her fingers. All thoughts of stopping AnnaBelle ended then. Iain groaned loudly, clasping silken strands of her hair between his fingers. “AnnaBelle! I give you warning—“

***** AnnaBelle didn’t stop and a few seconds later, Iain spurted his seed forth. It caught her off guard and therefore, some hit one cheek, her hair and she lost track of where all else it splattered. She looked up and saw that Iain had his eyes still closed. Her hands had fallen down to rest at her sides, not completely sure what came next. She had done her best to think ahead, planning. “Don’t move,” she spoke softly, mimicking this duck’s voice she’d once heard in a recorded Internet joke. “I’ll get you a towel.” Iain opened his eyes. AnnaBelle was seated at his feet, with his cum dotting her face and hair. He wasn’t so “out of things” that he had not heard that stupid joke as well. “I

think I am supposed to say that.” AnnaBelle shrugged her shoulders and pulled her T-shirt up and over her head. Coming back onto her knees, she used her shirt to gently wipe the liquid from her face and then began wiping him dry as well. Tossing her shirt aside, she looked up to find Iain was gazing at her breasts, neatly confined in a plain, no nonsense white bra. AnnaBelle held one hand up as she spoke. “Help me up, please. Thank you, and before you comment—I was dressing for comfort not seduction.” She turned away, a little embarrassed after her aggressive behavior, and no return from him yet. Moving towards the bathroom, she told him over her shoulder. “I’m going to make use of your shower. I feel grimy from my flight.” In the bathroom, AnnaBelle paused in front of the large mirror over the double sinks. She looked just the same, she thought, and pulled her hair back to see that the marks on her neck were completely healed with only two small scars showing. AnnaBelle decided that it was now up to Iain to make the next move, given the fact that she had practically accosted him with her greeting on his front porch. AnnaBelle stripped her clothes off and walked into the semi-open shower. It took a few seconds to adjust the shower, but soon she was being pelted with nice hot water from several different showerheads. The heat seeped into her body, warming her quickly. Sticking her head under the tallest showerhead, she let it thoroughly saturate her hair. With the water beating down, she didn’t hear Iain come into the bathroom or the shower. Opening her eyes, she turned back around and yelped in surprise. “Sorry, sweetheart. I didn’t mean to scare you.” AnnaBelle ran her hands up over her forehead to the top of her head, sleeking her hair back. “It’s all right. Living with a vampire, one should get used to surprises, or so I would imagine.” Iain poured some shampoo into the palm of his hand and applied that to AnnaBelle’ s hair. “Turn around, AnnaBelle, and I’ll wash your hair for you.” AnnaBelle turned and when Iain’s hands began a gentle massage of her scalp as well as washing her hair, she almost melted back against him. “I love having my head touched, and my hair messed with.” She stopped, aware that she was almost ready to purr out loud in response. “Hmm.” AnnaBelle felt Iain’s hands move lower as they spread the shampoo through to the ends of her hair. It seemed perfectly natural as he reached the ends for his soapy hands to slip around her waist. A second later, his hands were cupping her full breasts, and massaging the sensitive flesh. Once her nipples budded in response, Iain caught each nipple between his fingers. Looking down, AnnaBelle could see her nipples poking between his fingers while his hands worked to contain her womanly flesh. AnnaBelle pressed back and wiggled her bottom against him. Iain shook his head and told her softly, “No, not yet.” He didn’t leave her confused for long and slid one hand down and cupped her mound. With one hand massaging her breast, and his other so obviously claiming her pussy, she felt truly possessed. Iain slipped his soapy fingers between her lips, under the protective hood of flesh and started to seduce her with clever flicks of his slick finger. A few seconds later he had

to desert her breast for her waist. Her legs weakened as his teasing finger found the perfect rhythm to delight her. Her hips jerked wildly and Iain sped up the flicks and presses of his fingers until AnnaBelle orgasmed in his arms. She was consumed by the fiery reactions of her body. Her legs were weak and she knew she’d slide to the shower floor if Iain released his hold around her waist. Feeling Iain shifting their bodies, AnnaBelle concentrated on making her legs straighten and keep her upright. The warm water pelting down across her head and shoulders washed away the suds that remained in her hair, and lingered in a slow slide down her body. A moment later she felt Iain’s hands, one with a bar of soap in it, begin moving over her body. Opening her eyes, she watched as Iain came around in front of her, and lifted one arm. He proceeded to run the soap all over her arm, before he released it to pick up the other and repeat the process. AnnaBelle waited for him to treat her breasts to such a thorough cleansing, but Iain instead moved to her feet, and worked his way up her legs. He paused at the top of her inner thigh just long enough to make her wiggle her hips in anticipation, followed by frustration as he moved away. His next stop was her back, which he then washed slowly, after moving her hair out of the way. AnnaBelle couldn’t stop the soft little purr of satisfaction as his hands worked their way down her back. As he reached her lower back, Iain began a gentle massage. His thumbs placed inward, his fingers lightly stroked and pressed down until he cupped her cheeks with both hands. His breath rushed over her right ear as he leaned over her shoulder. “Did I ever tell you what a lovely little tush you have?” AnnaBelle smiled at Iain’s words. “I don’t think so, but a lot of men have admired my dimples.”

***** Iain tightened his fingers, curling into her rounded, heart shaped ass. He heard the teasing tone of her voice, but he couldn’t stop the surge of jealousy that rushed through him. Slowly he moved his hands, shifting them until each thumb covered a dimple. “So, is it a milling throng that has admired these pretty dimples?” AnnaBelle turned in his arms, and he watched as she grinned up at him. She lifted one hand, pointed to the small dimple on the side of her mouth. “Countless men! Since I was a baby, from what I’ve been told.” “Tease!” AnnaBelle nodded and slid her hands forward, encircling Iain’s body. She leaned her head down against his chest, snuggling up close as his arms pulled her even closer. “Is it my turn to wash you?” she asked softly. Iain lifted his hands to AnnaBelle’s shoulders, gently moving her away. When she glanced up, he shook his head. “You can owe me that. If we continue this—“ He stopped as AnnaBelle kissed his chin. “Here, you take this bar of soap, and I’ll shampoo my hair real quick.”

***** Iain was aware that AnnaBelle’s eyes followed him about the kitchen as he fixed

them both something to eat. They decided to delay their talk in favor of eating. She sipped from the glass of wine Iain had poured for her. “Has Simon left?” Iain chuckled softly, turning from the stove for a moment. “He was one very unhappy vampire once he realized that you had not only left that night with the film, but vamoosed off the face of the earth.” He turned the fire down to simmer under the sauté pan. Picking up his wine, he sipped and then asked AnnaBelle a question he’d been curious about since her return. “Did you bring the film back with you? I have no doubt Fauster was glad to get it back.” AnnaBelle shook her head. “No, I didn’t bring the film back. And needless to say Uncle Fauster isn’t very happy with what I did with it.” “Are you going to tell me?” AnnaBelle held her empty glass out for a refill, but requested water instead of more wine. Sipping it once, she set it back down on the table. “I’ll save that story for another time. I told Fauster to start working on something new. He ranted about fortunes, but it wasn’t long before he was rattling on about something else. And I really don’t think he cares at all about making money or not.” Iain chuckled. He could just imagine Fauster’s reaction to that news. It would teach him a lesson about trying to control people’s lives. Of course, Iain had long ago acknowledged that if Fauster had not been pulling strings, he might never have met AnnaBelle. Whatever trouble and stress he’d experienced over the episode he had written off because he’d met AnnaBelle. He turned back to the stove. “I have a long weekend in two weeks. I would like to meet your parents.” Iain had spoken his words softly, not sure what AnnaBelle’s reaction would be. He was still in the dark as to her feelings, or what plans she had in mind for her future. It surprised him that he had no trouble reading other people’s thoughts but with AnnaBelle there was nothing. Certainly he didn’t want to actively press her to open her mind to him. Hopefully she would see the advantages to their being together. Her words surprised him though. “All right. I’ll call them and see if they have some free time that weekend.” Iain turned in surprise. When AnnaBelle laughed, he knew it was in response to the stunned look on his face. “Sorry, honey, but I was expecting you to say no, or at least not yet.” AnnaBelle stood and walked over to him. “That proves that no matter how old a man might be, he still has lots to learn about women.” Iain laughed and pulled her into his arms, kissing her gently and then just hugging her close. “I’m willing to devote a lifetime of study to the subject.” AnnaBelle nodded her head and returned to the table. “We’ll discuss that later. For now, my stomach is growling so feed me the old-fashioned way!”

Chapter 18 Over dinner, Iain explained to her the theories regarding psychic draining, and that there were specific methods she could learn in order to do it safely. Once she learned safe ways to manage her hunger with careful psychic draining or transfers, she would probably be a lot more comfortable. He was very surprised to discover that apparently AnnaBelle didn’t have any sanguineous hunger. It had taken him a long time to conquer and convert his hunger drive, and for many blood lust vampires it took even longer and was more difficult. Gradually, more and more true vampires decided that it was worth the effort. AnnaBelle had listened to his explanations, shaking her head. There was no driving or insatiable hunger inside her. And not the slightest light sensitivity. Also, with a huge smile lighting her face, she had confided that garlic didn’t bother her either. “I don’t know why, Iain. I had expected there to be something. I admit I have wanted to eat some pretty strange foods lately.” “Rare meat?” Iain had questioned in between bites. “Nope, and I’m not going to tell you because it might gross you out.” AnnaBelle finished eating quickly. “Let’s go online and book our flights.”

***** Returning to the kitchen to tackle cleaning up, AnnaBelle wouldn’t stop doing little things to irritate Iain. While rinsing the dishes in the sink, she had sprayed him once with the faucet. Giggling at the shocked expression on his face, she had gone one further. She had turned the spray on herself, flattening her cotton T-shirt across her unbound breasts. Iain had returned to loading the dishwasher, and then wiping off the table. Finally all the dishes were loaded into the automatic washer, and Iain had just turned it on. He had turned and seen AnnaBelle leaning back against the sink counter. Almost immediately his eyes moved down and she shook her shoulders, making her breasts jiggle and bounce. His erection was close to instantaneous after that, but AnnaBelle still spoke to him seductively. “I never really understood the appeal of the wet T-shirt contests one always hears about in America. Maybe I could enter one sometime—“ AnnaBelle took the sponge from the sink and walked across to the table, wiping it off. The fact that she was wearing one of his T-shirts and nothing else allowed him an enticing view of her bottom. Not one to ignore such a lovely presentation, Iain had pressed up close to her ass. His hands cupped her hips, and since he was only wearing a pair of cotton boxer shorts, there was no way AnnaBelle could miss his rock hard arousal nudging between her ass cheeks. AnnaBelle sighed loudly before she spoke. “Oh my goodness, sir! Are you an officer of the law? Is that your gun?” He groaned when she wiggled her bottom, returning his pressure by leaning back

against him. “Don’t move, AnnaBelle,” Iain told her. “Just lean forward and rest your head on your forearms.” Once she was positioned, Iain had her spread her feet further apart as he released his cock. He pushed the shirt up her back, stroking his hands over her rounded bottom. His shorts slid to the floor and his hands came around her body and cupped her dangling breasts. The soft flesh overflowed his large hands, and his squeezes began plumping her breasts. As her nipples tightened, he paused to tug, pull and lightly flick his fingertips across them. AnnaBelle’s groan and the wiggle of her bottom spoke loudly of her readiness. One of Iain’s hands moved down to her clit. Teasing presses and massages of the super-sensitive flesh had her hips jerking in response. Iain moved his hands to her hips and thrust into her wet heat. “AnnaBelle!” Iain cried out her name as he felt her hot, wet flesh enfold his cock. She took him deeply and freely, adjusting quickly to his rhythmic thrusts. Iain moved his hands back to her breasts, squeezing and massaging her now shaking tits. Inside her body, he could feel the most glorious squeezing around his cock. When she rocked against him, he could feel his rod pressing against a different kind of tissue. Without pause, Iain began the clit teasing and massage once again. He wanted to take her over to the truly passionate side of her nature while buried inside her body. AnnaBelle was groaning and gasping, pressing back against his thrusting pelvis. Suddenly, Iain felt her grind and wiggle back against him, which further shoved his cock inside her. A moment later, she cried out. “Oh, God! Iain! Yes!” Iain felt the contractions, like shivers at first, coursing through her muscles around his cock. Her back arched, tilting her for even greater pressure. Iain thrust forward over and over, bouncing against her round ass. With each move against her, there followed the sound of his balls slapping against her flesh. Sliding his hands down, one started to stimulate her clit and the other clasped her hip. “That’s it, honey. Let it go, Belle.” Iain told her quickly, and between his words and his fingers on her clit, AnnaBelle experienced another much stronger climax. Iain could feel the strong contractions and used both hands to hold onto her hips. He quickened his pace, thrusting faster and with shorter strokes. He whispered her name and thrust into her deeply again, shooting his hot seed deeply into her body. His back stiffened and with several more quick pushes forward, his balls emptied their essence into her womb. As he held her body closer, thrusting one more time, Iain realized in near disbelief that he wanted to get AnnaBelle pregnant. In didn’t matter that history was against his being able to procreate, despite Fauster’s plans. Memories of Fauster’s statement came back to him as he stroked his hands over her back and hips, cupping her breasts as he leaned forward. Fauster had stated his plan involved Iain impregnating AnnaBelle, which apparently had been his real reason for asking her to come to New York. Almost every single day she’d been gone, Iain had recalled making love to AnnaBelle, and wondering if it had been the right time for her to even conceive. The real issue, of course, was whether he could even do the job? There might be no choice in the matter at all and whatever Fauster’s plan really was wouldn’t matter. Iain

couldn’t shake the certainty he’d felt that Fauster still had revealed everything about his plans. Deciding that this wasn’t the time, or place to be thinking about Fauster, Iain caressed AnnaBelle’s soft skin. “Are you okay, sweetheart?” he asked tenderly, slowly easing away from her body. AnnaBelle stood up and turned to face him. She shrugged as she grabbed the sponge off the table and started back to the sink. Over her shoulder she shot him a playful grin. “If okay is a word you choose to use… but I was thinking more along the lines of ‘amazing, incredible’ and maybe even a little mind-blowing.” As she stood at the sink, rinsing the sponge under running water, Iain noticed that her shirt was still hiked up on one side. Walking over to her, he pulled her back to rest against his chest. He had wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face in her soft hair. Inhaling the sweet smell that seemed to be a combination of the shampoo she used and what he was coming to recognize as her true natural scent. In that moment Iain was stunned at how peaceful and right it felt to be holding her in his arms.

***** Iain watched AnnaBelle as she shifted around in his bed, trying to find a comfortable spot. She had come out of the bathroom wearing the sexiest little piece of night lingerie he’d ever seen. Her breasts were threatening to fall out either side of the narrow silk and lace bands that held them. The black bands came over her shoulders about four inches in width, and it narrowed to three as it attempted to contain her full breasts. The short flirty skirt had flipped up several times on her way to the bed and revealed nothing underneath. His blood pressure had gone up several notches. Nothing screamed sexy like a pantiless woman! AnnaBelle finally seemed to find a comfortable spot, her pillows plumped up behind her, when she reached over and picked up a heavy black book. On top of the book were her narrow, copper framed eyeglasses. She smiled when she saw Iain was watching her. “Is something wrong? Did you want to turn the lights out right away?” Iain shrugged nonchalantly. “We can leave it on, but I wasn’t planning on any reading. Reading in bed, from what I’ve heard, doesn’t come until several years after people have lived together.” His eyes lowered to her breasts, where her nipples were poking definite tents against the silk that attempted to bind them. “If you are too tired… ?” The words seemed to hang in the air, waiting for her reply. AnnaBelle shook her head. “I wasn’t sure if you’d want to do it again, considering what happened while we were doing the dishes.” Iain nodded as her cheeks flushed. “I feel it is my pride and duty to be ready at my lady’s whim.”

***** AnnaBelle giggled as she reached over and lightly ran her hand down the front of Iain’s chest. She had not missed the fact that Iain had gotten into bed naked, but she had also wanted to see his reaction to the first and only sexy nightgown she had ever purchased. She scooted down in the bed, letting the book fall to the bedspread between them. Turning on her side, she was completely aware of how close her breasts were to

spilling out of the confining bands. Letting her topmost arm slide forward, AnnaBelle knew it would make a seductive cleavage. “I suppose I should ask, or wait to be invited, but I just assumed I could stay with you. If you’d rather, I could stay with Fauster. You know… like if you need to get your rest or something.” Iain picked the book up and set it on the stand by his side of the bed. Her glasses came off next, to lie atop the book. Turning back to face AnnaBelle, his hand moved to her upper shoulder. His fingers caught under the silk, and AnnaBelle waited for him to pull it off her shoulder. Instead, Iain slid the tips of his fingers forward, under the silk. His skin pressed against the silk while he caressed her flesh, over her firm breast until he reached the aureole. He paused and then one finger slid across the taut nipple. AnnaBelle was aware that she was breathing more rapidly and when Iain started to squeeze and pull her nipple with his fingers, she fell back onto the pillows. Her breast fell from the band. Iain pulled his hand free and looked at the unbound breast. “You have the prettiest nipples,” he told her softly. Stroking the back of his fingers back and forth over the taut bud, Iain looked up and met AnnaBelle’s gaze. “I have an idea—“ Iain pulled AnnaBelle up and lay down on his back. His cock was already hard and demanding attention as he instructed AnnaBelle to straddle his hips. She pressed on his chest and tightened her thigh muscles until she was poised above his cock. Using Iain’s help, she slowly slid down until he was completely enveloped by her flesh. AnnaBelle heard Iain groan once they were joined. “Am I too heavy?” she asked him quickly, pressing her hands down to his chest. Iain shook his head. “Don’t move! I don’t think I’ve ever been this deep inside you before.” AnnaBelle flushed at his words. She had never felt so full either. It was like this hard pole, velvet over steel, was embedded inside of her. If she moved her hips, she could feel him move within her body slightly. She didn’t know if it was possible, but it felt like the tip of his cock was pressed up against the opening of her womb. Before she could shift her hips and try another slant, she saw Iain’s hands lifting.

***** Iain didn’t move as slowly or as carefully in pulling the other strip of silk off her shoulder. Instead he tugged firmly and her other breast popped out. His eyes were glued to her full breasts, jiggling and swaying with her movements. He lifted his hands to cup the full globes on the outside, pressing them close together. AnnaBelle’s taut nipples were poking out more than half an inch and Iain began rubbing his thumbs back and forth, lightly flicking them. As AnnaBelle started to move her hips, forward and back, side to side, Iain knew that she was enjoying this “breast play.” “Lovely bosoms, my dear,” he told her a moment later. AnnaBelle opened her eyes and looked down at Iain. He grinned up at her, flexing his hips slightly, which evoked another groan from AnnaBelle in response. Her tongue came out and licked her lips before she replied. “Thank you, sir. I believe they run in my family.” Iain’s grin widened. “I never noticed Fauster’s before… Ouch!” Iain covered her

hand where it rested on his chest, having lightly pinched him a second earlier. He let his smile fade as he continued. “I would like to be completely honest with you, AnnaBelle.”

***** AnnaBelle stopped shifting her hips even though she had discovered that in this position she was finding several new spots of pleasure. His serious tone alarmed her a bit, but she still nodded her head as she spoke. “All right.” “Unless you are in a big hurry, I think I could stay here for quite some time just playing with your pretty titties.” AnnaBelle flushed at his praise. Her body was something she had never paid much attention to, other than making sure she was fit to do her job. It was surprising, and she felt a little guilty also, at receiving Iain’s attention. She looked down where his hands were cupping, squeezing and sometimes massaging her lush anatomy. Bracing her palms on her thighs, she began rotating her hips, but not quite in the same rhythmic pattern. “Nice long nipples, and the more I tweak and tease them, the longer they get. I love sucking your nipples, catching them with my teeth sometimes, or just nibbling with my lips.” Iain’s words aroused her, made her feel sexy and desirable. AnnaBelle pressed down, and then lifted up with her thighs. She soon felt Iain’s hands on her hips, helping her. A few moments later, perhaps seconds or minutes, it seemed as if Iain expanded inside of her more still, and she felt the heat low, in her belly. A few short seconds later she felt his seed fill her cunt and possibly her womb. Iain slid one hand down over her belly. He delved with his fingers, and discovered her clit, hidden inside its fleshy hood. AnnaBelle shifted her hips on his cock. Iain’s finger was relentless in its quest to pleasure her. Without conscious thought, AnnaBelle lifted her hands and began squeezing her sensitized breasts and nipples. It only took a few seconds of the increased stimulation and then AnnaBelle was climaxing atop him. “Iain!” AnnaBelle lowered her hands to his chest to steady her body as the muscles clenched and spasms shivered and quivered through those innermost muscles and nerves. It almost felt like her cunt were nibbling and sucking his cock, trying to pull it up more deeply into her body. Several long, exhausted moments later, AnnaBelle seemed to melt into a limp pile of butter across his body. “Don’t move,” she whispered to him softly. “Please. Give me just one more moment.”

***** Iain grinned at AnnaBelle’s words. He didn’t think he could move unless bombs started going off around them. The sensations caused by her cunt sucking his now softening cock were incredibly pleasurable. If he were forced into a long sleep, this would be the ideal way to do it, he reasoned with a small smile. He reached out and pulled the sheet, blanket and comforter up until AnnaBelle’s shoulders were covered. He lightly stroked her back with one hand while the other caressed the soft, silky fall of her hair. A second later he heard AnnaBelle snoring softly. He shrugged and reached

over to turn out the light. Their discussion would have to wait until tomorrow to be continued, he reasoned sleepily. A short time later, Iain fell asleep, completely aware that his mouth seemed unable to stop grinning.

Chapter 19 AnnaBelle stayed with Iain the next few days and played at the role of “wife.” She made him breakfast each morning while he got ready to head to his office at the University. While he was gone, she would tidy the house, often doing the dishes from their evening meal. It was becoming a habit that as soon as their food-hunger was satisfied, they sought satisfaction for their sexual hunger. After she cleaned and tidied the house, AnnaBelle often showered, dressed and went out to the small market near the campus for fresh vegetables and fruit. It was within walking distance and the exercise felt great to her. Soon she would need to see about retraining and getting back into shape. In the afternoons, if she wasn’t too sleepy, she would read from the old book that Iain had set aside that first night. She bought a notebook and started filling it with thoughts, notations, and questions as she worked her way through the book. Several times she called Lamenta with a question, or a clarification about something she’d read. Two evenings the first week, AnnaBelle went to the university and sat in on Iain’s lectures. The first night, sitting once again in the front row, she had watched and waited until he saw her. He covered his surprise well, but AnnaBelle saw the small smile as he began speaking. After the first lecture came to an end, Iain took her out to dinner at a small café on campus. The second evening, he knew she was coming, and made them reservations at a much nicer place, just a few miles off campus. On Saturday morning, after being there for almost five days, AnnaBelle was surprised that the time had passed so quickly and that she was happy and contented. She had been unsure about how a life together might work out, but AnnaBelle was finding that she didn’t miss her life in Paris, or her work. Being with Iain satisfied her emotionally, sexually and intellectually. She ignored the little voice telling her that they still needed to discuss certain issues. Saturday evening they were invited to attend a party given by the history department head, at his home. Iain had volunteered to cancel, but AnnaBelle had thought it would be fun to meet these people. Since it was a cocktail party, AnnaBelle went shopping Friday for the perfect little black dress. She didn’t really know any one else in the city, so Lamenta was the one who went shopping with her. Needless to say, AnnaBelle had a very difficult time discovering a plain black dress in the shops Lamenta normally visited. AnnaBelle had just finished pulling the dress on when Iain came out of the bathroom. With a towel around his waist, AnnaBelle thought to herself that he was quite a hunk, despite being a college professor. Iain could see her smile reflected in the mirror. “What’s the smile for?” he asked, pausing to rub a smaller towel over his hair. AnnaBelle turned and leaned back against the dresser. “I was thinking that you are quite a stud muffin for a history professor!” Iain laughed, shaking his head. He stopped a moment later as he noticed her dress.

It was knee length, covered her from neck to knees, even with long sleeves. The dress draped in cowl-like folds at the neck and the top of the sleeves gave the same impression of draping before narrowing at her wrists. There was a gathering of material at one hip and more folds swathed down to the opposite hip. Other than the folds it was skin-tight and looked black, until she moved. Then the dress appeared to be a very dark blackish green, but with a shimmer like the pearl colors seen inside shells. “Damn!” Iain muttered finally. “That is one hell of a black dress!” AnnaBelle laughed and turned back to the mirror, affixing a small gold ball earring in one ear. Her hair was swept to that side and held in place with a dark clip. On the exposed ear, she had a dangling earring, courtesy of Lamenta, which was ornate, gold-colored and had tiny opalescent stones hanging from the intricate gold weave of the earring. “I went shopping with Lamenta. I should have thought this through more thoroughly, considering what I’ve seen her dressed in so far. This was the most sedate thing I found between three stores. I was getting frustrated and ready to suggest Sears!” Iain laughed as he came up behind AnnaBelle. “Now there is an interesting thought.” She smiled at his reflection in the mirror. It was strange, but sometimes it seemed as if she couldn’t see him. Usually she just ended up shaking her head and blaming it on hormones. “What is an interesting thought?” Iain lowered his head, and kissed her neck, right below her ear. “Lamenta in Sears!” He nibbled and kissed her skin, working his way to her earlobe. “If I weren’t on a diet, you would make a very tempting dinner.” AnnaBelle shook her head. “I’d probably taste bad. The restaurant Lamenta took me to yesterday specializes in garlic, and seemed to be intent on getting it in everything but the tea.” “Hmm,” Iain murmured as he walked towards his closet. “I wonder if she and Fauster have made up yet.” AnnaBelle turned and watched Iain dress. “They have, but she is still making him pay, in small ways. I think Lamenta is surprising him. Fauster has been taking her for granted for much too long.” Iain paused in tying his silk tie. “What has she done?” “I’m not sure if I should reveal all of her secrets. She is not an ordinary human, from what I’ve figured out so far.” “Honey, from the moment I first met Lamenta there wasn’t a single thing about her I would have considered ordinary.” Iain pulled his suit jacket on. “I know she tells fortunes.” AnnaBelle nodded. “Yes, but she is descended from the Druids, according to her great-grandmother’s recording of the lineage. It is all pretty interesting. Damn! If we don’ t hurry, Iain, we’ll be late.” “I’ll get the car while you grab your stuff and meet me out front.”

***** AnnaBelle enjoyed being introduced to Iain’s colleagues, even though he looked a little nervous and unsure, which seemed unusual to AnnaBelle, when he first

introduced her as his girlfriend. She was so intrigued by the whole scene, so unusual from the life she had known previously that she didn’t care what Iain introduced her as. As they circulated through the different conversational groups at the party, AnnaBelle couldn’t miss the interested looks the men were giving her. Most of the women seemed friendly, until she met Claudia Drake. The woman was tall, raven-haired and dark-eyed. She was model thin and as they approached the woman, Iain told AnnaBelle that she occupied the office next to his. There was no mistaking the cold look that displaced the warm and welcoming look on her face as Claudia first saw Iain. But as Iain introduced AnnaBelle, the drop in temperature was palpable to AnnaBelle. “How nice to meet you, Ms. Blue.” Claudia held her hand towards AnnaBelle. Unable to avoid touching the other woman, AnnaBelle shook her hand. A distinct chill raced through her body, and she knew it wasn’t only due to the woman’s cold skin. Pulling back as quickly as was polite, AnnaBelle watched while Claudia proceeded to ignore her and flirt with Iain. If she didn’t know better, or feel doubts in her skill of detection after all she’d been through recently, she would investigate the woman for being a vampire. But if Claudia was a vampire, why hadn't Iain told her? It didn’t surprise AnnaBelle that Claudia was able to draw Iain away, saying she wanted to discuss something that had come up in a class of hers during the previous week. Turning away, AnnaBelle walked over to the hors d’oeuvres table, and picked up something that looked interesting. “Try this green one over here.” AnnaBelle looked across the table towards the speaker and saw an attractive man, smiling and pointing to what appeared to be some kind of seaweed sushi. She smiled as she picked one of them up. “Did you taste one already?” “Would it make a difference if I said no?” AnnaBelle popped the delicious treat into her mouth, chewing it slowly and savoring the taste. She knew the man was watching her, waiting for her reaction. She smiled. “If you haven’t tried it, you should.” She held her hand out towards him, introducing herself. “I’m AnnaBelle Blue.” The blond-haired, blue-eyed man took her hand eagerly. “Nice to meet you, AnnaBelle. I’m Rowdy Jasper. You have to be someone’s guest tonight because you aren ’t dusty enough to belong to the history department.” AnnaBelle shook her head. “And you look too tan to be on the East Coast with Christmas looming.” Rowdy walked around the table, standing less than a foot away from her. “You’ve caught me. I’m from California, and I miss my sunlight and getting tanned. Now I visit the tanning places.” “Nothing wrong with that,” AnnaBelle replied, moving down and putting more distance between them. “I’m guessing you are around thirty, right?” Rowdy grinned and nodded his head. “In about ten years, if you keep tanning, you’ll have skin fit to make leather suitcases.” Rowdy’s head jerked back, his surprise obvious at AnnaBelle’s blunt honesty. “I’ll bet you don’t do the club scene.”

AnnaBelle shook her head. “I’ve always been too busy to waste my time on such things. In fact, I think the only club I’ve ever set foot in is called Hell Fire.” “Wow! You don’t believe in starting in the beginner’s section!” AnnaBelle shook her head, even though she wasn’t completely sure what he meant. “What do you teach?” she asked, reaching across the table for something piled high. “I teach mostly American history, considered by many to be the most boring subject in high school. What did you think of it?” AnnaBelle finished chewing and sipped her soda. “I didn’t go to high school. I was home schooled.” Rowdy picked up a cracker topped with cheese. “College?” AnnaBelle shook her head. “No, although I have always been studying something or other. My work is pretty absorbing.” She put another foot between them, moving towards the sweet items on the table. “What do you do that is so absorbing, and yet required no formal education?” Taking a bite of cake, AnnaBelle glanced around, looking for Iain. Swallowing, she looked back at Rowdy. “If you’re trying to pick me up, you are wasting your time.” Rowdy looked surprised at her words, but AnnaBelle could see he was still not quite ready to admit defeat. “I’m just making casual conversation. Now why don’t you tell me what kind of job you have that consumes so much time?” Deciding that moving away from the table might help dissuade this persistent man she told him politely, “My feet are killing me. I’m going to find a seat somewhere quiet. Nice meeting you.” AnnaBelle had to wander through two rooms before she found an empty seat. Unfortunately, it was a loveseat, but AnnaBelle sat down anyway. She wasn’t used to wearing high heels, and wished she could put her sneakers on right now. “You forgot to bring food.” AnnaBelle looked up just as Rowdy sat beside her. She scooted over, but she was still crowded. She saw that he had brought a plate piled with food and he reached towards her, setting the plate on her lap. “Uhm, thank you,” she murmured, turning and setting her soda on the small end table. “I think they are making these things smaller, don’t you?” Rowdy asked and then lifted his arm to rest along the back of the sofa. “There, that seems a little better.” He then reached towards her lap and picked up one of the tidbits. Without asking, Rowdy held it up to AnnaBelle’s mouth for a bite. Stunned, she opened and took a small bite. It didn’t surprise her when Rowdy finished the morsel. “Hmm, now that was tasty. Want another?” AnnaBelle shook her head. “No thanks. I’m really not hungry anymore, and we have dinner reservations for later.” “And who is we? Who should I hate and be jealous of for getting the pleasure of dining with the most beautiful woman at this boring party?” “Me, Rowdy. You either get up right now, or I’ll tell O’Brien who smuggled the mule into his office last year.” “Iain!” Rowdy spoke and jumped off the loveseat at the same time. Iain sat beside AnnaBelle and picked up one of the tidbits and popped it into his mouth.

AnnaBelle watched Iain chew and stare at Rowdy. “Well, I better start mingling and make sure O’Brien sees me. Uhm, it was nice meeting you AnnaBelle… uhh… Miss Blue.” AnnaBelle turned as Rowdy practically ran away, tripping over his feet and almost taking an innocent bystander down with him. She was surprised to find that Iain was looking at her, but not smiling. “I was ambushed trying to find food,” AnnaBelle told him softly. “I have no doubt, sweetheart. Rowdy is quite the bachelor of the whole history department. I’m also sorry I left you alone for so long. Claudia kept asking me questions and I finally just had to be rude. What do you think of the party so far? Think you could stand to attend these things twice a semester?” AnnaBelle watched as Iain ate something else from the plate. She couldn’t believe what he had just said. It had been spoken softly, casually, as if the words were no different from any other. Of course, Iain still didn’t have all the information. Also, she didn’t have the slightest idea what to reply. There was no doubt, after the last days spent with Iain, that she could be happy living in his nice house with him, and doing wifely things. But did they have enough things in common?

Chapter 20 Several hours later AnnaBelle was sitting on the sofa as Iain came back in from putting the car away. She had considered going upstairs, but decided neutral ground would be the best place for finishing their discussion. There was no missing the surprise on Iain’s face to find her still downstairs. “Not tired?” he asked quietly. AnnaBelle shook her head and patted the sofa cushion beside her. Once Iain was seated, she took a deep breath. “I should have told you this when I first saw you on the front steps.” “I knew there was something else,” Iain replied quietly. “But I didn’t want to push you.” “I know, Iain. I knew tonight when you asked about going to the parties that before we go any further, you should know everything.” Annabelle looked away, her fists twisted together. “Just spit it out, sweetheart.” “I… uhm… I think I’m pregnant. It is possible that you did the job after all for Uncle Fauster.” AnnaBelle stopped abruptly. That wasn’t at all what she’d wanted to say! She’ d opened her mouth and it had spilled out. Now she wasn’t sure she could face Iain, especially since she’d added that last bit. It had all been sorted out in her head, how she would tell Iain. Bringing Fauster into it was the last thing she had wanted to do. Dear Lord! Perhaps in her heart she blamed Iain as well.

***** Iain heard the two words repeating in his brain as he stared at AnnaBelle’s profile. “I ’m pregnant… I’m pregnant… ” Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he remembered the last part of what she’d said. As far as he was concerned, Fauster had changed his life when he’d sent AnnaBelle to attend his lecture. He also didn’t give a damn why Fauster sent her. AnnaBelle had come, he had seen her and that had been it. Even now he couldn ’t say when it happened, but he had fallen in love with AnnaBelle, and that was all that mattered. “To hell with Fauster and his damned plans!” He reached out and lightly touched her chin, turning her face to his. Wishing to hell he could read her thoughts, he went on. “AnnaBelle, I want to be with you, and the baby, if there is one. I have no doubts about that whatsoever. If you want, we’ll move away and start over. We’ll be two ordinary people. Fauster may have been instrumental in our meeting, but his plans have nothing to do with us.” AnnaBelle sniffled quietly. “We’d be the odd couple—the younger man with his older wife.” “We don’t know for sure. I don’t know why you didn’t experience the usual hunger, or have had to contend with the usual problems. There is no reason to assume that you aren’t a vampire. I tried to get more information out of Fauster the morning after you’d

left, but he clammed up. I believe we will have a long life ahead of us.” “And if we do have a child, Iain? What will it be?” Iain took both of AnnaBelle’s shoulders in his hands, turning her so they were face to face. “The baby will be ours. We will love our child, protect him, or her, worry and do all the usual parenting activities. If something comes up, we’ll deal with it head on, together. Marry me, AnnaBelle.” The silence seemed too oppressive as he finished speaking. He couldn’t deny that he was nervous, almost scared that AnnaBelle might refuse and disappear once again. For a moment, he was tempted to make a telepathic link with AnnaBelle. It would be so easy for him to know what she was thinking, feeling at this important moment in their lives. Yet he also didn’t want to alarm her since he had never discussed these abilities with her yet. This also reminded him that there were several things he needed to tell her about his life, his past. Fauster had very reluctantly admitted that he had known Iain’s parents long before they met. There had been so many undercurrents the last time he spoke with the old vampire that his emotions had inhibited his abilities to read Fauster’s thoughts. Now he was wondering if there were truths about AnnaBelle and her past that she was unaware of as well.

***** AnnaBelle slowly lowered her gaze to look at her flat stomach. She slid one hand onto her belly, rubbing it in small circles. Everything Iain said made sense. They could make their own life together. He had conquered his blood thirst, and even though it was humbling to meet the vampire that accomplished sublimation of the need for blood and fed instead upon psychic energy, she wanted to be with him. It wasn’t modern, nor was it a feminist attitude, but she was ready to leave her previous life behind. “There is so much we don’t know about each other, Iain.” AnnaBelle spoke softly, not completely sure what to say or do. “I know, AnnaBelle.” Iain’s hand covered hers, resting atop her belly. “I swear on our child’s life that I will never do anything to consciously hurt you or the child. I have a lot of years, but I have no experience at relationships, being a husband, and to my knowledge, none as a parent.” AnnaBelle had to laugh at his jest despite the seriousness of the moment. They may not have had a lot of time together as measured by seconds on a clock, but the ones they had shared so far had been intense, and yet at times filled with humor. Her mother had told her many times that a man with the ability to laugh at himself and life was priceless. And if he was a hunk as well, grab him quick, her mother began adding as AnnaBelle got older. “I’ll marry you, Iain, and I guess we’ll learn about each other as time goes by.” Iain leaned forward and gently kissed AnnaBelle’s lips. “I love you, AnnaBelle Blue. No secret about you could change how I feel, and I know that we can be a family, and happy. Together we can break the mold and show that vampires really can be happy.” He paused for a moment, needing to put into words his doubts. “If you aren’t pregnant, that won’t change anything for me. I love you, darling. And I will still love you if we can’ t have a baby.”

AnnaBelle threw herself into Iain’s strong arms. She pressed her lips to the side of his neck and murmured quietly. “I love you too, Iain.” Pausing for a few seconds, AnnaBelle moved her mouth and lightly bit the skin over the large vein in his neck. After the quick nip, she licked the abused skin. A moment later she felt Iain’s fingers thread through the hair at the back of her head, tugging a little until she pulled back. Iain smiled at her, shaking his head. “Not quite the right spot, my love.” “Good thing I’ll have the professor around to teach me from now on!” Iain pulled AnnaBelle close and proceeded to give her a very interesting and quite detailed lesson right then and there on his living room sofa.

The End

Learn more about AnnaBelle and Iain, and Fauster’s plans in Blood Dreams II: Hunter’s Legacy.

Also by Mlyn Hurn

Family and Promises Family Secrets

Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc. www.ellorascave.com