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  Chapter Four

  I awoke frustrated in more ways than one. Tied to the house and the human doctor that I needed to remain available for, I couldn’t go out in the field and see firsthand what my reports from my staff were telling me. In a nutshell, what I gleaned was that things were going from bad to worse. The daemons that had already crossed over were becoming more brazen and brutal-to the humans at least. They’d stopped more or less hiding in the shadows, a drastic change to their game plan which seemed designed to bring attention to themselves. I wondered if their switch in tactic had to do with our trying to sway humans to our side.

  Of course that kind of thinking meant I thought the daemons were more than beasts. Ha, I refused to give those hulking monsters that kind of status.

  Disturbing reports aside, I had other tasks awaiting me. I needed to prepare myself for the doctor by ensuring my hungers were sated.

  I feasted in the privacy of my room from a pair of blonds-eye candy that liked to do naughty things to each other while I watched and ate from them. Well fed, and self-pleasured, I figured I could handle the good doctor today without the same lapse of control I’d experienced the day before.

  I hated it when fate, with a nasty sense of humor, came back to bitch slap me.

  Rafe walked into the dining room where I was serenely drinking coffee and reading the newspaper. One whiff and all my preparation went out the window. Seeing him looking scrumptious with his serious expression I longed to corrupt was like getting sucker punched all over again-in the pussy. Forget dry panties, I soaked myself with his first casual smile and hello.

  He seated himself across from me along with a plate of food. I mumbled a good morning and hid behind my paper. My flimsy barrier didn’t stop smell and sound though. I could hear the sounds of him chewing and swallowing. Catch the tantalizing scent of the soap he’d washed with intermixed with a musky aroma which was all his own. I fought the urge, but lost the battle with myself. I lowered the newspaper and gazed upon him hungrily. The jerk stared at his plate of food, oblivious to me. How does he do that? This whole ignoring me thing really grated on my nerves.

  “What’s the plan for today?” I asked in a curt tone, determined to make him notice me.

  He didn’t look up as he answered. “Well, there are more tests I’d like to run with the equipment upstairs, but I’d also like to see some of your abilities in person if you don’t mind.”

  I knitted my brow. “You saw me eat. What else do you need to watch? I warn you right now, I’m not into people watching me have sex.”

  I got the blush I’d angled for and I grinned at his discomfort. So sue me. I enjoyed getting a rise out of him, especially given how hard it was to get him react.

  “No, I don’t need to see that,” he hastened to correct me. “I meant watching you do some things involving your speed and strength.”

  He wanted me to show off. “No problem. How about you grab your notebook and tag along as I train with some of my troops?”

  “Perfect,” he exclaimed as he jumped up. “I’ll be right back.”

  I sighed as I found myself watching his ass as it walked away from me out into the hall. Damned loose pants. I still couldn’t tell if he had a bod worth fantasizing over or not. Which made my reaction to him even stranger.

  At least I could go out to the training yard and work out some of my frustrations-my poor soldiers. Given my present mood, they’d never know what hit them. I drummed my fingers impatiently as I waited for Rafe to return. He did so quickly, his dratted notebook in hand.

  I stood and motioned for him to follow as I led the way downstairs to the gym I’d had created. Massive in size, I hadn’t dished out for padded mats and the like. The whole point was to win against your opponent, and I wasn’t about to molly coddle those who failed. A few hard crashes onto the concrete floor provided the incentive to stay on their feet. The walls I’d covered in shatter proof mirrors, the reflections bouncing around, confusing the fighters. I found them an effective tool for training. It forced my troops to learn to trust their instincts instead of their eyes. I’d also stocked the gym with every weapon imaginable. A vamp never knew what he or she would face from daemons or other foes determined to end our existence. I forced them to learn how to both defend and use the items from a simple kitchen knife to a sharpened stave. I expected nothing but the best from those who served under me, and in return, they got to live.

  I could hear Rafe furiously scribbling as we entered. I inhaled deep the scent of violence and enjoyed the musical sounds of combat-in other words, grunts and thumps. Those two things meant my soldiers were working hard, determined to beat anything that dared step in their path.

  I shed my zip up sweater to reveal a skin tight tank top. I left my black yoga pants on. On occasion, I made my subordinates fight naked, because, as I liked to remind them, menace could arrive at any time and in any form. What I didn’t mention was how entertaining I found their swinging cocks. The females in my ranks used snickering as a means to throw the males off. I wondered if that tactic would work with the daemons who thus far appeared as only males.

  I stretched my limbs as I sauntered towards the action. I didn’t make it to the mat when a change in the air currents made me whirl and knock a vampire aside. I grinned at Jerome after he lifted himself from the floor.

  “You almost managed it,” I said with encouragement. “Keep trying and maybe one day you’ll catch me and win the prize.”

  I’d challenged my soldiers a while back to sneak up on me. If they managed to take me down, I’d promised the winner a night with me. To my inner preening satisfaction, they’d been trying their damnedest to get me. And while none of them had yet succeeded, I could admit they’d gotten a lot better since we started.

  My presence noted, my ranks of men and women stopped their sparring and cleared a circle for me amidst them.

  “Looking good,” I encouraged them. “But, you need to practice more on working as teams. Your enemy might be bigger and stronger than you. Heck, they could be as nasty as me.”

  Chuckles met my announcement. They knew I didn’t boast, but hard ass as I might be, I took care of my own, and they loved me for it.

  A shift in their attention wasn’t needed for me to know Rafe approached. I’d never lost my awareness of him, a tickling radar that made me want to bang my head on the wall in incomprehension.

  “This is Dr. Angelus,” I said gesturing in his direction without looking. “As most of you have heard, he’s been sent by the humans to examine us. I expect you to treat him with the utmost courtesy, in other words, please be reminded he is not to be hurt or used as a snack. And Jasmine,” I said turning to the petite vampiress who eyed Rafe with interest. “No playing with him.”

  Jasmine’s full lips pouted, but given her taste for human men-she had a harem at home-I figured the extra warning was warranted. Besides, if anyone got to touch the doctor, it would be me. And only me. I never did acquire a knack for sharing.

  “All right then,” I said clapping my hands. “Team up in groups of four. Let’s see how you do against me. And remember, do your best because-” I paused to smile coldly, “I’ll be doing my best to take you out.”

  I saw Rafe stiffen from the corner of my eye, his mouth opening as if to protest. But I ignored him as the first squad came at me.

  I spent the next few hours tossing, smacking, and in general hurting my soldiers, all the while offering a commentary on where they’d gone wrong. It worried me that even with all our training, they still couldn’t take me down in groups of four. Although, at least they now managed to land blows whereas six months ago I would have danced around them, unharmed. Of course, I did have the unfair advantage of being much more gifted than them in terms of speed and strength. But I didn’t have the centuries needed for them to grow older and more powerful. Thank goodness, these recruits, the greenest of all my soldiers, weren’t yet needed in the field.

  But I dreaded their fate if called upon too soon.<
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  Workout over, I grinned as I mopped my sweaty face and watched my soldiers limp off to the showers.

  I’d almost managed to forget my silent observer. Okay, that was a total lie, but at least, I’d managed to distract myself.

  “That was quite impressive,” he said as he tucked his notebook under his arm.

  “Glad you enjoyed the show.”

  “Can I ask why you’re training them so hard? It’s almost like you’re preparing them for something.”

  Having not yet decided whether or not to let the doctor in on the secret of the world apocalypse arriving soon, I lied. “When you have an eternity to look forward to, you need something, a regime, to keep you from going mad. Since our kind tends to be attacked and persecuted by those who see our diet as monstrous instead of necessity, knowing how to defend ourselves is a skill all of my kind need to learn and it gives them something to do.”

  His blue eyes narrowed behind his lenses. “Why do I get the impression, you’re not being a hundred percent truthful?”

  I chuckled. “You’re being paranoid. Haven’t I cooperated fully with everything you’ve asked so far?”

  I didn’t wait for his reply. I sauntered off to find my room and a shower. I looked once over my shoulder to see if he followed and stumbled as I caught Rafe staring at me with smoky eyes. A look he quickly shuttered. The man was like a robot who could turn it on or off at will. I unfortunately couldn’t. I raced away from him, suddenly hungry, a craving ache that wouldn’t dissipate no matter how many pints of blood I imbibed.

  Chapter Five

  Sleep proved unattainable as I tossed and turned all day long, my body and mind restless. Just before sunset, I gave up and rose to prepare for the night. A really long shower later, I still felt like the dead. My attempt at humor with myself did nothing to improve my mood.

  I breakfasted on Reginald who also doubled as my chauffeur, but as I sucked on his neck, much as I tried not to, I couldn’t help wishing I had a different neck at my mercy.

  Disgruntled, I snarled at my staff, who, used to my mood swings, stayed well out of my way. An hour passed, then two, before I went looking for Rafe.

  I found him-big surprise-in his lab-A.K.A, his medical torture chamber.

  “Ah, there you are,” he said turning and greeting me with an absent smile. “I wondered when you’d show.”

  I tried not to gnash my teeth. I’d assumed he’d come looking for me. It galled me that all this time he’d been waiting for me to cave and come to him.

  Just like the previous day, he wore shapeless garments covered in a white lab coat. His blond hair was deliciously rumpled though as if he’d run his fingers through it.

  “What’s on the agenda today?” I asked, perching myself on the bed.

  “Some Q &A first if you don’t mind?” His eyes briefly met mine from behind his lenses.

  “Ask away.”

  “Garlic? Does it keep vampires away?”

  I giggled. “Only if you have a sensitive nose that can’t stand it. Me, I love a little Italian flair in my blood.”

  He shifted as he noted my response. “I already know you’re allergic to sunlight. What about crosses and holy water?”

  I rolled my eyes and sighed. “No matter what the religious institutions might want people to think, we are not evil, ungodly creatures. I can not only wear a cross without harm and gargle holy water, I can walk into a church, fuck a priest and not even sweat.” My crude claims didn’t even faze him.

  “Does your kind believe in God?”

  I was surprised at the intentness of his expression as he asked me this. “There is no God, not like the bible claims anyways. Although, I do have reason to believe there is a Satan.”

  “How can you believe in one and not the other?”

  “Let’s just say I have my sources and I have it on good authority that there is a realm out there that could aptly be named Hell, and it’s ruled by a creature whose title is Satan; I’ve never seen irrefutable proof of Heaven, however. It could exist, but in either case, I do know people’s souls don’t depart this planet for either damnation or eternal fields of sunshine.”

  “What do you believe happens to the soul instead then?”

  “When you die, your soul, the energy that animates a body is released to be reborn again in a new body.” Or absorbed by someone like me.

  “You believe in souls, yet you don’t believe in religion.”

  “Souls aren’t religious, they’re proven fact.” I frowned at him. “Why all these questions on religion? Are you like some closet fanatic who’s going to pull out a stake and scream death to the vampires?”

  His lips quirked. “Just curious. I’ve noticed most humans have strong beliefs when it comes to the existence of God along with Heaven and Hell.”

  Something about the way he said humans struck me as odd. But I ignored it in favor of a question that interested me more. “And what do you believe?”

  “I believe in God, the one God, and I know in my heart Heaven exists.”

  I laughed. “A man of science who believes in religion? How odd.”

  “No odder than discovering vampires exist.”

  “Touché,” I replied with a rueful grin. “On to the next question.”

  “Can you turn into a bat?”

  I almost fell off the bed I laughed so hard. “No,” I gasped.

  “And I know you’re not a walking corpse,” he muttered scratching on his notepad.

  Gee, I wonder if my having a heart beat gave that one away. I kicked my feet as I waited for him to ask his next myth related query.

  “Can you turn into a mist and float through cracks?”

  I grinned and shook my head. I didn’t mention I could cloak myself in shadows. Not all vampires could do it, and I reserved the right to keep certain things to myself.

  “Levitation?”

  “I can float above the ground for a few minutes, but if I try to go too high gravity grabs me with a vengeance.”

  “What about hypnotizing people?”

  I waggled my fingers at him and rounded my eyes. “Ooh, you will now cluck like a chicken.”

  He tapped his pencil on his notebook. “Nice try, but I saw the press conference. I know you have some power to manipulate people.”

  “Yes, yes I do. But not all my kind have the same ability. I’m a lot stronger than your average vamp and thus have more powers.”

  “Can your mind control be fought?”

  “Funny you should ask considering your mind keeps refusing my requests.”

  “And what have you tried to get me to do?” Rafe asked with a ghost of a smile.

  “Well, for one, I keep trying to convince you to take off your damned coat and shirt so I can have a peek at your bod.”

  “Whatever for?” he asked his forehead creased in puzzlement.

  I grinned toothily at him. “To see if you’re hiding a six pack or a margarine tub.”

  He blushed and pushed at his glasses on his face. “Okay, on to the next question.”

  I chuckled at his discomfort.

  “Teeth? They retract into your gums I’ve noticed. Is it painful?”

  I shook my head. “Only the first few times. And just so you know, they aren’t like regular enamel teeth. They’re more porous and exude a relaxing agent when we use them to feed.”

  “Fascinating,” he murmured as he scribbled madly. “Will you allow me to take a sample?”

  “Sure,” I replied benignly. “And I’ll even allow you to try it out; just say when… and where.”

  He didn’t rise to my challenge; although, I’m sure I caught him smiling before he turned away. He fiddled with some dials on one of his machines as he spoke to me over his shoulder. “Okay, I already got measurements for your body the first night. Today, we’re going to take a look at your internal parts. I’m going to start out with the ultrasound and then we’ll move onto x-rays.”

  “Okay, let’s get this over with,” I grumbled. I lay o
n the bed only to sit up again when he turned and handed me a paper gown. I arched a brow. “Seriously? You want me to wear this oversized Kleenex?”

  “I don’t want your clothes to get slimy with the gel I use for the ultrasound probe.”

  “Ooh, probing. I’m in.” I chuckled as I tugged my shirt off in front of him. He quickly averted his face, then his whole body. I smirked at his back as I finished disrobing. I returned to the table and stretched out, naked as the day I was born. “Ready,” I sang.

  He turned around and did a double take. “Um, where’s the gown?” he asked in a thick voice.

  “Oh, that thing? Too scratchy. Besides, I’m perfectly comfortable in the buff. Feel free to join me if you feel overdressed.”

  He blushed and I thought he was cuter than ever. He took my blood with shaking hands and I thanked my high tolerance for pain as the trembling needle didn’t exactly feel great. But once the pain was gone, I had nothing to take my focus away from him. Oh dear.

  I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the tantalizing scent of his skin just barely covering the network of veins that I longed to plunge my teeth into. I tried to deafen myself to the steady thumping of his heartbeat, music like no other. But with his hands palpating me and checking my musculature among other things, my body, despite my clenched teeth, grew aroused. My cleft soaked the skin of my thighs and my nipples hardened into points.

  Lost in my own misery I didn’t notice at first that my calm and cool doctor wasn’t so blasé. My ears eventually heard the increase in his heart rate, the way his breath caught and his hands kept inadvertently stroking me.

  Aha! I knew he was hiding his attraction to me.

  I opened my eyes to see his face flushed and his eyes out of focus behind his lenses. Finally, I had his attention and it had only required me getting naked. I sat up and faced him. For once, he didn’t turn away. His fingers brushed at my cheek, and I leaned into his touch, like a cat looking for a petting except my brand of purring was deadly.

  He moved in closer and I knew I should walk away. The rational part of me screamed to put a stop to this even as I acknowledged the fact I’d intentionally maneuvered him into this position. But since when had I ever done the right thing?