Part 3 (1/2)
”No.” Aureliann had been surprised at the pa.s.sion of their meeting but not scared. ”I just didn't know what to do.”
Temperance nodded in understanding. ”Yep, I know that feeling. Vampires are just like you or me except for the whole teeth and blood thing. They want to be loved.” She tapped her finger on her lips and was quiet for a moment. ”You know I'm thinking if he came to you through the book then maybe you have a connection that cannot be broken.”
Is that what I want? ”Like it was meant to be?” Yes.
”Aureliann, I can't tell you what to do. I think you already know but you need to accept it. But call me if you need help.” Temperance reached out and squeezed her arm in rea.s.surance. ”This just may be the love of your life or a terrible mistake.”
”It's not a mistake.” If Aureliann knew nothing else, she knew that.
”See how quickly you answered that? You'll know what to do when you have to do it.”
Victor had come to the mortal world and tracked down the woman called Aureliann. He knew Valdemar was caught up in his quest for true love. That suited Victor as it weakened his cousin and made him careless.
Victor was surprised as he stood watching his woman talking to another. There was nothing particularly special about this Aureliann. The women in their own homeland were more beautiful than her.
”So this is the woman my do-gooder sap of a cousin is in love with?” Victor was only too aware that tradition decreed that the men in his family married mortal women. It was said to give them strength. Any male children from the bond were vampires. Victor had never understood how such pale and uninteresting creatures could provide the strong heirs that they did. They seemed too weak and placid to him and he believed that being mated to one of these women was where the problems started. It weakened a vampire being attached to a mortal. He had seen it in his father. He had been besotted with his mother. Victor had never understood the attraction. While he had respected his mother, Victor had never taken the woman seriously. She had not been a vampire and therefore she had been inferior in his eyes.
Oh yes, this woman looked beddable enough with those buxom curves but she was not someone who would be anything more than a good f.u.c.k. And yet, like all of his line, Victor was expected to hear the call of a woman and fall victim to her and lose his immortality.
”I will never answer any call. I will not fall. I refuse to,” he spat the words out angrily as he watched the woman. If he helped his cousin with the woman then his cousin was weakened and that worked in Victor's favor. However he also knew it was believed that the right woman strengthened his kinsman and the kingdom. Victor blew out an angry sigh. Killing Valdemar would be the best option as whatever power the woman had over him would die as well. The problem was that Victor knew the people of the realm would rise up against him. He had too few allies there. That was another reason he had come to this city of Brisbane. He was looking for some sc.u.m-of-the-earth mercenary vampires to aid him. They lurked in all cities. Victor planned to find them and promise them anything they wanted in order to help him succeed.
”Then I will crush them as I plan to crush the plebs.”
Chapter Four.
”He doesn't even know where I live so why am I getting all worked up over nothing?” Aureliann paced around her living room wringing her hands. The talk with Temperance had helped but the problem still remained. Was Prince Valdemar who he said he was?
”Do I believe him or do I check myself into a hospital room with rubber walls? The laundromat thing could have been a fluke and- Oh great, now I'm talking to myself.” She threw her hands up into the air. ”I just know he knows where I am.” Aureliann felt it in her bones and as much as this scared her, she wanted him to come to her. She walked over and peered outside the window once more. The street outside looked the same as it did any other night. Aureliann had changed outfits a dozen times since showering, finally settling on a nightdress to indicate she did not care whether he came or not. ”Anyway, that's the plan,” she muttered and jumped when the doorbell rang. She had not meant to race to answer it.
”But then I never meant to have s.e.x in a laundromat.” Aureliann threw the door open. The three small bodies belonging to the kids across the road clutching books of raffle tickets stood there. ”Oh what are you kids doing wandering around in the dark?” She grabbed her purse and bought some raffle tickets as they knew she would. She was a soft touch. ”Now go home.” Aureliann stood and waited until they were safely inside their own home before shutting the door. She looked down at the tickets. ”Great. Just what I need. A trailer full of beer.”
”I have never understood the human need for intoxication.”
Aureliann screamed and the tickets and her purse flew out of her hands. She swung around and saw him.
He was everything she remembered and more. She felt hot and dizzy like she had drunk too much wine.
”How did you get in here? What took you so long? Why are you here?” The questions shot out of her mouth before she gave herself time to think.
Valdemar laughed in delight. ”Hmm, which question do I answer first, lovely?” He moved toward her. ”I have the ability to appear when I want. I wanted to give you some time to think and you know why I'm here, Aureliann.”
Oh boy. The look in his eyes made Aureliann's heart beat wildly. I want him. I want him. I want him.
”I don't need you,” she lied as she backed away from him. If he came any closer, Aureliann knew she was going to indulge in something really dumb and wonderfully delicious.
”Liar,” Valdemar responded, the words soft and filled with knowing, as he circled her.
The way he stalked her made Aureliann s.h.i.+ver in antic.i.p.ation. She moved as he did. ”You're an interruption in my life.” She knew her boring, tedious life would never be the same again.
Valdemar nodded as he continued his pursuit. ”As you are to mine but I welcomed it when you called me.”
Aureliann gulped. It would take nothing to rush into his arms and taste him once more yet this was all too soon, too sudden. Surely there had to be something wrong with this? Why can't I work out what?
”But many women must read that book and call out to you.” And when did I accept you were Prince Valdemar? Or have I always known?
”There are no women for me but you, Aureliann.” He reached forward and took her hand.
Aureliann trembled as his lips grazed her palm. ”That's all very romantic but I think my desperation for s.e.x called you more than any idea of linked souls calling out to one another.” Having an obsession for the book was one thing. Making someone, even a paperback prince, believe it was another. It was wrong to lead anyone on.
”No, I'm here because I have waited for years for you to call. I have dreamed of finding you, touching you, loving you.” Valdemar's voice was low and husky with emotion. ”Maybe there is a desperation in that.
Needing to be with the only one you could love can make it so.”
Love? Aureliann felt hot and cold chills run through her body. ”Dreams are one thing, prince, but reality is another. And I want more than just s.e.x.” The Vampire's Kiss was more than just s.e.x. It was about love and longing and the desire to be who you wanted to be with the only person who understood you.
”As do I.”
When she looked into his eyes, Aureliann wanted to believe the whole fairytale she was caught up in. ”I don't do uncomplicated s.e.x. The laundromat was unusual.” Bizarre. Crazy. Wonderful.
Valdemar pulled her body against his and sighed. ”I want complicated with you, Aureliann.”
”I am the queen of complicated and this is not rational,” she squirmed against him, unsure whether she was trying to free herself or mold her body to his. ”You're not supposed to exist.”
He smiled. ”Yet I do.”
”Yes.” The heat of his body was so good against hers that she gave in and relaxed against him.
”What are you thinking?” Valdemar placed soft kisses on her forehead, then her temples.
Oh boy. When he kissed her nose and rubbed his against hers, she sighed. He was so s.e.xy and sweet it was hard to concentrate on all the reasons she shouldn't be curling her arms around his body.
”You don't know me and what I know about you I have learned from a book.” And yet as silly as that sounded, Aureliann knew that was not the reason she was fighting what she was feeling. She was scared of giving too much of herself and being left wanting more.
Valdemar kissed each cheek then sucked on her chin. He grinned as she gasped. ”Let's learn more about each other.” His hands slipped the straps of her nightie down.
Aureliann grabbed at the fabric before it could fall at her feet. ”You want to learn by s.e.x?”
”It's a good way to start or we can chat,” Valdemar added, his voice light and casual even though they both knew the moment was anything but. ”Tell me about your life, your family.” The sudden pain in her eyes was evident to him. He reached out to her.
”They're all gone now.” Aureliann explained in a calm voice what had happened. Maybe it should not still hurt as much as it did but it was not a feeling she could stop no matter how much she told herself to toughen up. ”My cousin was the last one left and he couldn't deal with the pain of my parents' pa.s.sing. He killed himself.” Even though it had happened two years ago, the pain was still raw.
”Life is not fair sometimes.”
”No.” But whining about it got you nowhere. She wanted to get back to the topic at hand. ”Why are you here? Why me?” Aureliann was no more special than anyone else.