The New Vampire Page 6

“Gianna, you foolish girl. Your mind hasn’t healed enough for that.” She huffed out a breath, though her lips twitched, belying the stern cast of her expression. “The three of you have endured too much to jeopardize your progress through haste. You have forever to bond with them, or nearly so.”

  But I’d been alone for so long, already spent an eternity without them. “Can we try again later, when they come back?”

  “Of course, you may. In fact, I insist upon it. Apart, each of you is strong, but together, together you will be invincible.” She leaned forward and kissed my forehead. Her lips were cool against my skin, tender. “Though you must take things slowly.”

  “I’ll try.” And I would. I didn’t want to go back to the cage, though I was no longer afraid of it. If Grandmother locked me away in the cold damp, Eric and Jason would find me. The certainty filled me as Eric’s words drifted out of memory into mind. You’re ours and we’re yours, forever. And though they weren’t here, I knew they were close by, waiting for the time when we could all be together again. I felt it there in the love they’d left behind, wrapped firmly around my heart, lingering in the memory of their presence. “I’ll try really hard, Grandmother.”

  “Elizabet. Now that you have awakened, you must call me Elizabet.” She slid off of the bed and smiled. “Come along. You have duties to attend and much to learn.”

  “I’ll work hard, promise.” Anything to see Eric and Jason again, anything to be with them, safe, and cherished and never, ever again alone.

  “I know. Bathe and eat before you come down. Cook prepared a lovely breakfast for you.”

  She left, trailing a faint cloud of garden roses behind her. I eased out of the bed, leaving it unmade, and padded to the dresser where a wooden tray topped by a silver dome rested. I sniffed, scented fruit and toast and bacon. God, I hadn’t had bacon in so long, I’d almost forgotten the taste. I lifted the lid, fully intending to devour the lot, and paused when something flashed in the corner of my eye. There on the dresser beside the tray was an open box, and inside were two delicately fashioned rings, one gold, the other platinum…

  (…yes, absolutely. Are we finished yet? Laughter, a crowd of people. Grandmother’s man speaking. Forever joined in protection and love…)

  My fingers went slack and the domed lid slipped away, clattering against the dresser before it thudded onto the floor and rolled across the area rug.

  No. The Before couldn’t have me again, not like that. I forced myself into the Now and clamped an iron fist over the memories, stilling their rapid pulsations within my mind. Grandmother, no, Elizabet said that I had to control it, and I’d felt what she hadn’t said in a place buried so deep, it was little more than instinct. If I didn’t learn to control myself, one could never again be.

  I blew out a shaky sigh and willed my racing heart to calm. In, out, breathing slowly. There. I opened my eyes and focused on the rings beside the tray. The gold one was from Eric, the platinum from Jason. I don’t know how I knew who had given me which one, only that I did. They were beautiful, finely made, and they belonged on my fingers, not resting in a box, unworn.

  I lifted out the gold and read the tiny engraving on the inside of the band. Forever my heart. I smiled as I slid it onto the ring finger of my left hand, then grasped the platinum, engraved simply with Forever. I placed it on the thumb of my left hand, so close to the other. The metal was cool on my skin, heavy, and slightly loose, as if the rings had been made for larger fingers.

  Perhaps they had, but no matter. I was a different woman now, thinner, yes, but tougher, determined. Eric and Jason were mine. I had to find my control, had to learn how to hold on to them in this crazy new world outside my cage, and I would. I had awakened at last, emerged from the shadows that had held me for so long, and I would never again allow them to consume me. It might be a long, long while before I could face the Before, but I would get there, eventually, with their guidance.

  I held my hand out and twisted it slowly from side to side, admiring the glimmer of light shining upon each ring in turn. This was meant, these rings and the bonds they represented. Soon, Eric and Jason would return to me and wrap me in their love, and all would be as it should, three at last, forever one.

  Episode 2

  Beautiful Memory

  Chapter One

  Light streamed in through the kitchen windows. Mama whirled around the room smiling, her olive skin glowing as she passed easily through the sunlight.

  Let’s dance, Gigi, you and me.

  I smiled with her and held up my chubby arms, waiting for her to catch me up close to her. Mama loved to dance. Every day, she’d let me pick a CD and she’d put it on and then we’d dance, just her and me, until Daddy came home and danced with us.

  Mama lifted me up, up, up, straight up into the air. Look at that, bambina. Right to Heaven, that’s where you’re going.

  I shrieked out a laugh and clutched her shoulders. Higher, Mama, higher!

  Not so high yet, she said, laughing. Her eyes flashed with something warm and comfortable as she settled me into her arms. What did you pick this time, Gigi?

  Faded jeans.

  I always picked that one. It made Mama smile, and when Mama smiled, the whole world smiled with her.

  Spero che possiate I vostri sogni.

  I hope you get your dreams. Mama stopped dancing and her fingers pinched my ribs. Did you get your dreams, Gigi?

  I squirmed against her. This wasn’t right, not right. You’re hurting me, Mama.

  Her fingers became claws, digging into my skin, ripping flesh down to the bone. Did you get your dreams, Gianna? …)

  I woke with a gasp. The dream. That damn dream. It had haunted my sleep every day since leaving the cage, save that first night when my attempt to enter Eric and Jason’s connection had sent my mind into a tailspin. Usually, it ended in blood and death with me shaking like a leaf, cocooned in sheets soaked through with sweat and terror.

  A noise came, like a door being softly shut, maybe in the next room over, the one Eric and Jason used. The maids weren’t supposed to be on the second floor during the day. Today, though, I didn’t care. If their cleaning had woken me from a hellish memory, I was ready to get down on my knees and kiss their feet for saving me from it.

  I pushed a tangled mass of hair out of my eyes and glanced at the alarm clock resting on my nightstand. 10:39 a.m. Dammit all. It was way too early to get up, even if I’d gotten enough sleep, which I hadn’t. Alice had come in late after feeding from one of her pets and we’d watched chick flicks until the wee hours of the morning. I yawned through a smile and snuggled into the covers, letting my mind drift. Heaping bowls of freshly popped popcorn, the sappiest romantic comedies Alice could find, and the companionship of another human being.

  Maybe we could have movie night every week, make it a girly habit.

  A thud sounded from the foot of my bed, followed by a muffled curse. I stilled and searched the shadowed recesses of my bedroom for the intruder. My windows were layered with shades, blinds, and thermal curtains, blocking most of the morning light slanting through the glass panes from entering my bedroom. Not enough remained to illuminate the room. I sniffed delicately and caught a faint spicy scent, familiar, but so tenuous I couldn’t place it.

  The mattress shifted under someone’s weight, fabric rustled. A hard arm snaked around my middle, a very large, firm arm attached to a very large, muscular man. I slid my fingers across that arm and relaxed. This intruder I knew.

  “Jason?” I whispered. “What are you doing here?”

  “Sneaking into your bed.” His mouth found the side of my neck as he wrapped himself around me. “Didn’t mean to wake you up.”

  “You didn’t.”

  His hand slid under the edge of my t-shirt and came to rest with his fingers splayed across my stomach. “Why are you wearing clothes?”

  “Because I’m sleeping alone.”

  “Not anymore.”

  He sounded so adorably cranky, I had to s
mile. “Want me to undress?”

  “No, it’s ok. You’re supposed to be sleeping and if you’re naked, well.” His body flexed and something hard prodded my hip. “No telling what we’ll get up to.”

  I laughed softly and shifted until we were face to face, draped my leg over his wonderfully bare hip. “Especially since you’re naked as a jay bird.”

  “There is that.”

  I nuzzled his chest, rubbing my nose through the soft hair scattered there, and breathed in the scent I should’ve known, making it a bigger part of me so I’d remember him always. “Where’s Eric?”

  He stiffened so subtly, I almost missed it. “He couldn’t make it.”

  “Oh.”

  The silence stretched between us, thinning uncomfortably, and finally, he said, “You want me to go home and send him back?”

  “What? No, I…” I struggled through the weight of his arms and snapped on the bedside lamp, squinting through the glare until my eyes could focus on him. His vivid blue eyes were set in a carefully impassive gaze under the arm he’d thrown over his forehead. “Why would you say that?”

  He shrugged. “You asked.”

  “I asked where he was. That’s not the same thing as wishing him here and you gone.”

  His eyes fell to my chest and skittered away. He scrubbed his palms over his face and sat up. “Look, I’ll just text him real quick and see if we can switch.”

  My hand shot out and wrapped itself around his wrist, startling us both. “Just wait a minute, Jason. You act like I don’t want you here. That’s not true.”

  “Sure. You just want him more.” His mouth thinned into a hard line. “Look, I get it, really I do. You fell in love with him first. It’s natural for you to…”

  “To what?” When he looked away, I squeezed his wrist hard. “Tell me.”

  “To love him more, ok? I know you love him more.”

  I gaped at him. Of all the things for him to come up with, this was the last one I’d have guessed. He and Eric were so close to being equal in my mind, I couldn’t tell where one fell short to the other’s gain. “It’s not like that, Jason. Really.”

  “It was, before.” A raw bitterness floated under the words, too much for him to hide. He sighed and twisted his wrist out of my grasp. “It’s no biggie. I’ll text him and we’ll make the switch while you’re sleeping. By the time you wake up, he’ll be here.”

  I drew the covers up around me as he slid out of the bed and padded toward his and Eric’s room, his nude skin reflecting the soft glow of light cast by the lamp. Jason and Eric. That’s how I thought of them, as a unit so deeply connected, the individuals merged into one. They were mine, and they’d made a vow to me.

  “Jason, please. Don’t leave me. Not again.”

  He stopped in the middle of the room and bowed his head. “I can feel what you’re thinking, Gigi. We’re not the same person, me and Eric. We’re very, very different, with our own thoughts and feelings and needs. The bond between us doesn’t change that.”

  “I know that.”

  “Do you?” He peered over his shoulder and his eyes raked over me again, settling on my chest before drifting away. “The truth is, you had the chance to be with me and you chose him. I guess you don’t remember that yet, but it’s true. You chose him then, and you’re choosing him now.”

  I blinked at him and finally glanced down at my chest. A faded Aerosmith logo met my gaze, gracing the front of one of Eric’s t-shirts. I’d found it my second day out of the cage while rummaging through the clothes Alice had chosen for me. As soon as I’d touched it, memory had zinged through my head. His arms around me, his hands on my breasts, teasing me. The first time he’d given me a sample of his blood, and him feeding me cheesecake, one sensuous spoonful at a time as his eyes glowed brighter and brighter.

  The memory of our first date had hurt as it seeped through the wall between Now and Before, but once it was out, I’d replayed it over and over again, reliving the joy of discovery and the sheer happiness of being with him. This shirt, worn comfortably thin through the years by a man who cared deeply for me, had served as a talisman against the horror dwelling among the shadows of my mind. It had held me when he and Jason could not, protecting me while they’d been away fulfilling obligations Elizabet assured me were of great import.

  “I’m not choosing him over you.” I plucked at the t-shirt holding such goodness in its fabric. “This reminds me of a happy time, a safe time. It’s almost like having the two of you here with me.”

  He half turned toward me. “I’m sorry we can’t be.”

  “Then stay with me now, make up for all the times you can’t be here.”

  His hands clenched into fists, relaxed, clenched again. “You sure?”

  “Positive.” I tugged the covers down and patted the mattress beside me. “Come on. Give me a new memory.”

  He turned and padded toward the bed, slid in. His slow smile warmed his cornflower blue eyes and made my insides quiver and tingle. “How about we try to retrieve an old one?”

  A bubble of panic formed in my stomach. Old memories hadn’t been so easy to retrieve, and their aftermaths were a lot harder to deal with. “I don’t know, Jason. That hasn’t worked out so well for me yet.”

  “Then we’ll start with my memory and work our way over to yours.” He propped his head on his hand and stretched out on his side facing me. “Get comfortable.”

  I wormed my way under the covers, draped my leg over his hip, and rested my head on the pillow. “This ok?”

  “Oh, yeah.” His hand found my thigh and skimmed up, skidding along my skin, spreading a delicious heat wherever he touched. He leaned down and captured my lips with his, moaned into my mouth when I opened for him. His hand came to rest on my bottom, squeezing, pulling me into his hips, and his semi-hard penis rubbed against the juncture of my thighs through my panties. I tilted my hips forward, seeking his heat. He eased away from the kiss, nibbled at my lips, and said, “Wow. I forget how good it is, every time.”

  His heart thudded in quick raps under the hand I pressed to his sternum. I rubbed my fingertips into his skin, memorizing the smooth, taut texture. “Am I that easy to forget?”

  His laugh feathered along my neck. “No, baby. That’s what I wanted to show you. You ready?”

  I nodded, then said, “Wait. What are you going to do?”

  “Take a memory and project it you, like the other night, when you said thank you to Alice with your mind.”

  My eyelids fluttered closed as a blush heated my cheeks. I remembered trying to communicate with Alice mind to mind. I also remembered all the stares and speculation when I’d succeeded a little too well. “Will everyone else be able to see it?”

  “Only you. I’ll teach you how to focus later. Here we go.”

  A warm sensation brushed over my mind, then again, and I winced as an image popped into my head…

  (…bell rang. A blur of color and sound, people rushing by, laughing and talking, and a classroom. Professor at the front, reading a book. I sat down and swung my backpack under the desk, resting it between my legs. God, I hate English. Had enough of that in high school…)

  I gasped and arched away from Jason as my hands scrambled for purchase along his broad chest.

  “Shh, now. It’s ok. I’ve got you.”

  “It’s not… I feel…”

  “It’s ok, baby. That’s my memory. Relax into it, ok?”

  I nodded and squinched my eyes closed, breathed through the uncomfortable pressure in my head.

  “A little more now.” His hand ran up and down my back in slow circles…

  (…bell rang. The professor stood and shuffled his papers. Two girls ran into the classroom, giggling quietly. One was a blonde with her spiked hair streaked pink and green. The other was tall and svelte with deep brown eyes and the most beautiful skin I’d ever seen. She sat next to me and swung around with a friendly smile, and my heart squeezed so hard in my chest, I thought it would pop out and la
nd at her feet. I’m Gianna, she whispered, and I smiled. Jason. Nice to meet you…)

  My eyes popped open as the images faded. “That was me. In your memory, that was me.”

  “The first time we met.” He smoothed my hair back and smiled down at me. “You ok?”

  “Fine,” I said, and realized I was trembling from head to foot. My fingernails had sunk into Jason’s chest over his heart, cutting his skin. I pulled my hand away, too shaken to appreciate the blood welling up through the half-moon wounds. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

  “You didn’t, not enough to count, anyway. Here.” He pressed my head closer, urging me forward. “Take the blood. You need it.”

  I stared at it, aware of its rich scent and the tingle around my canines. “I have to fuck you when I feed from you.”

  “Not this time.” He pressed again, more insistently. “Take it.”

  I shook my head and pushed back against his hand, Grandmother’s knack for swift punishment fresh in my mind. “Elizabet said I was never to feed without sex, never.”

  “You have to learn control, Gigi. This is one way to do it.”

  He kissed my forehead, bringing the still-trickling blood tantalizingly close to my mouth. My nostrils flared as the scent wound its way around me. I closed my eyes, tried to turn away, and found my head locked in place by Jason’s massive hand. He shifted on the bed and his skin touched my mouth, and my control wavered.

  “That’s it, baby,” he crooned. “Take what you need.”

  My tongue darted out, breaking my will, and unerringly stroked over the cuts I’d made on his chest. His blood and sweat mingled together, an alluring combination, tempting and real. I inched forward and rubbed my lips over his chest, smearing the blood, and then latched my mouth over the cuts, sucking lightly. The shadows plucked at my mind, cold, ruthless, empty, inching closer with every sweep of my tongue over his skin, with every drop of nourishing blood spilling into my mouth.

  His hips shot forward as his hand tightened in my hair, and his erection rubbed along my sex. “Oh, God, Gigi. Sweet God.”