Part 2 (2/2)
”Yes and before you think I'm insane, this is real.”
”No, actually I don't believe you're mad,” Temperance responded in a calm voice. ”I have seen way too much to know that things are never what they seem. And no, you don't want to know what.” She critically surveyed the woman before her. ”So what's the story on this prince of yours?” Aureliann breathed out a sigh of relief. Someone believed her or was as crazy as she was. Whatever. She was going to run with it. ”I read the book and Valdemar came to life.”
Temperance tilted her head to one side in thought. ”Huh, interesting. I have not heard that one before.”
Seeing that she was not laughing at her, Aureliann told her everything she knew. ”I actually really like the book and I read it over and over and I wished for someone like the character of Prince Valdemar in my life and he appeared.”
”Wow.”
”Pathetic, huh?”
Temperance smiled at her. ”Yeah, kinda.”
”I think I'm losing my mind.” That or I need to get out more. Maybe start a hobby before I start reporting myself being abducted by UFOs next.
”Not necessarily,” Temperance said, a hint of amus.e.m.e.nt in her voice. ”Vampires are complicated souls and they can drive you insane if you let them.”
”You believe me?” Her best friend wouldn't, yet this woman, a stranger, did.
”Well, this is unusual but I'm used to that.” Temperance a.s.sessed her as if deciding her ability to cope.
”This is a case of thoughts into action. Thought transference. I'm new to all this freaky stuff. I understand vampires but the rest I'm learning about. I'm sure Sybylla would know more on this. She's a lot smarter than me.”
”Sybylla?”
”She's a friend of mine who happens to be witch. Sybylla is also in love with a vampire.” Temperance said it matter-of-factly.
Aureliann felt the relief rush through her. Two weeks ago if someone had said to her what Temperance just had she would have told them they were insane.
”So vampires really exist? I'm not going crazy?”
Temperance laughed. ”I can't vouch for your sanity but yes they do exist.”
The soft look in the other woman's eyes could only mean one thing. ”You're in love with a vampire too.”
”Head over heels, but Asher is reformed.”
”Huh?” Wasn't it a case of once a vampire always a vampire?
”It's a very long story that ends in love.” Temperance told her some of what she had gone through in her own life. ”Is this prince threatening you?”
”Sort of.” If the promise of enduring love and excellent s.e.x could be a threat.
”Sort of?”
”Valdemar seems very determined that we must be together.” And Aureliann had to admit there was a s.e.xy possessiveness that turned her on. However she was also a woman who wasn't about to be pushed into anything, no matter how good it felt.
Temperance rolled her eyes knowingly. ”Tell me about it, sister. So this vampire, is he trying to seduce you?”
Tried and succeeded. Aureliann ran a hand through her hair. ”I don't know what to do. I can't think of anything but Valdemar.”
”Oh yeah, been there, done that,” Temperance mused with a smile. ”Have you had s.e.x with him?” ”Well,” Aureliann hesitated. What did she admit to? That she was hesitant about the whole vampire thing but willing to have him jump her bones after one soul-spinning kiss? It made her sound like a s.l.u.t.
Temperance wagged her finger at her. ”Yeah, you have.”
”Was it like this with you?” Aureliann needed to know she wasn't the only one who found herself doing crazy things. She had a feeling this woman was a kindred spirit.
”Oh yeah, in a graveyard.” Temperance laughed as Aureliann's mouth dropped open at her word. ”You?”
”Laundromat on the folding table.”
”Whoa, kind of adventurous with all those people around.”
”He made them disappear with the wave of his hand.” That Temperance did not laugh her a.s.s off told Aureliann two things about the woman. She was open-minded and probably a little crazy. But crazy was okay.
”Valdemar tried to bite me.” Aureliann remembered the look of desperation in his eyes. What was it he said?
That he wanted to bond fully with her? She s.h.i.+vered at the thought and it wasn't fear that made her tremble. It was need.
”But you wouldn't let him?”
”I don't know him.” The minute she said that Aureliann realized how dumb that sounded.
”Uh-huh, but you had s.e.x with him?” Temperance shook her head. ”No, truly I understand. Vampires have a way of getting to you. They mess your mind up with hot, s.e.xy thoughts and you have no idea what to do other than to go back for more.”
”Have you been bitten by a vampire? Did it hurt? Were you bonded?” Was it like in the schlock 1950s vampire movies? Did you become a vampire after being bitten by one?
”Yeah, but not the way you mean. Asher had his teeth ground down.”
In this short talk with Temperance, Aureliann was learning more than she thought she would. Her mad moment of desperation had led her to the internet to find help, all the time expecting some wannabe dressed as Buffy the Vampire Slayer would turn up and not someone like this woman who seemed to take everything she was saying in her stride.
”Have you thought about getting rid of the book?”
Yes, of course that would be the obvious thing to do. ”I don't want to.” What if she got rid of it and Prince Valdemar disappeared as well?
Temperance nodded. ”When is he coming to you next?”
”He says tonight.” The thought of being with Valdemar once more made her body tremble in l.u.s.tful antic.i.p.ation.
”Does he frighten you?”
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