Part 7 (1/2)

And there it was, the command that she could not ignore. She tried, but her body wanted to comply. Mal's reaction was knee-jerk and violent.

”No!” she yelled, and tried to back out of the room. ”h.e.l.l, no!”

Ahmose sat up, his eyes on hers. ”Get on the bed.”

This time he pushed the compulsion. With an expression like a thundercloud, Mal came forward and dropped onto the bed. She laid down beside Ahmose, her leg too close to that male organ that had all of her attention now.

”Could you at least put on some pants?”

”Does my body disturb you?”

He knew it did. Her breathing had quickened. He was certain that after he took his blood draw, they would have s.e.x. Consensual, of course, he would never use compulsion on something so intimate. But she wanted him, even if she fought the need. And when he fed, neither of them would be able to resist being together. The erotic nature of a blood draw combined with their already elevated s.e.xual tension made it definite. He felt his c.o.c.k jerk at the thought of sliding into her.

It had been a long time since he'd met a woman that intrigued him as this one did. Her strong confidence and aggression appealed to him. Most of the women he knew maintained a quiet deference with him because of his position in the community. It was refres.h.i.+ng and stimulating to be with a woman like Mal.

Ahmose slid off the bed on the opposite side and slipped on some khaki's lying on a chair.

As he zipped them up, he asked, ”May I ask your name? Not the one that started with detective.”

Mal stayed on the bed, as she was commanded to do, but sat up and faced him. ”I'm Mal. And if you rape me, I will kill you. Even if you do it while forcing me the way that you do, I'll still kill you.”

Ahmose sat on the bed beside her. ”I would never rape you, I promise. I have never, nor would I ever, violate a woman. You are all so beautiful to me, and I honor and respect you.”

”Then will you let me go?”

”I can't. But I will explain why and how I am holding you.”

Mal lowered her head as she nodded. ”That's a start.”

”You won't believe me, but this is the truth. It will also explain how I am alive when you verified that I no longer was. I am not the same as you. I am vampire.”

Mal just watched him after he revealed that strange thing.

He continued. ”Which is why, even though I was shot in the head, I did not die. A bullet cannot kill me forever.”

”Sure,” Mal responded finally. Now, she got it. He was an escaped mental patient. And he was probably on so many freaking meds, they had somehow helped him to survive a gunshot to the skull. Or maybe he was self-medicating with powerful meth-amphetamines, the street drug of choice. Either way, the poor man wasn't right.

Now she understood why he was so bizarre, the depth of his confusion. Her eyes moved over his body again. What a shame, he really was a stunning man.

”You don't believe me,” he stated suddenly.

”I believe that you believe it, and that's okay. We can get help for you.”

”I have the help I need. I am an ancient vampire with powers that would shock you. Someone just tried to murder me, and he would have succeeded if he had been able to finish his mission. Fortunately, he was interrupted. We heal incredibly quickly from nearly any injury, but once our bodies go to death, the healing takes more time. To begin the healing, I need to take a blood meal. That is where you come in.”

Bottom line, this poor man really thought he was a vampire, and he thought he was going to feed on her. She wondered what event or illness had driven him there.

”Well that's quite a story.”

Ahmose nodded with a slight smile. ”It is, isn't it? Vampires can use forced compulsion on humans when we need them to do things as we want them to. Tonight, I need your compliance. That's how I've controlled your actions thus far. Although you did not want to surrender your phone to me, you had to. Whatever I want you to do, I'm sorry, you have no choice.”

He paused to let her consider his words before he continued. ”I need the nutrition of a blood meal to heal, and you must be that for me. I promise, other than the blood meal, I will make no other demands of you and I will not harm you in any way. You will stay here until I am gone, and then you are free to return to your home.”

Keeping the story he spun in mind, not to confuse or frighten him, Mal agreed. ”I think that's fair. Would you let me do something for you, then?”

”That's the plan.”

”Oh, yes, you need my blood, but before that...”

”Come here.” The teasing tone in Ahmose's voice was gone.

Just when Mal thought she had regained some control over this situation, it all fell to h.e.l.l, because when he commanded her to come to him, she did so without delay.

Standing on her knees, Mal crawled across the bed to Ahmose.

”Ahmose...” She started to say, but he cut her off.

”Little detective, let me do the speaking. Please remove your s.h.i.+rt. Come down and lie on the bed.”

Within seconds, Mal had pulled her tee s.h.i.+rt over her head and laid on the bed, her b.r.e.a.s.t.s nearly exposed. She wore only a thin, transparent bra that barely contained full b.r.e.a.s.t.s that she had always thought were too large.

”You have lovely b.r.e.a.s.t.s,” Ahmose said.

”Go to h.e.l.l,” she answered.

”Maybe someday, not today. I will begin the feed, but I warn you, it is highly arousing. s.e.x is a natural finish for vampires following a blood meal. The feed itself often creates intense physical and emotional need. If you desire it, I would enjoy making love to you. It would only be if you ask it of me, without compulsion.”

”Go to h.e.l.l,” Mal repeated.

”I can tell you are a pa.s.sionate woman. I doubt you will be able to resist the physical pleasures we will have. Your choice, though, all the way. Only if you ask.”

”Never.”

”We will begin.”

Mal could move, but she couldn't make herself get up off the bed. She had control of her arms and legs, and tried to fight him off, but she admitted he was far too strong for her, it wasn't possible to get free.

This crazy man who thought he was a vampire was going to rip out her throat and she would bleed out here on this quiet beach before she ever had a chance to find where she really belonged in this world.

He stretched out beside her, lifted her hair away from her neck, and licked a row of flame on the skin that he had exposed from just above her breast to the side of her neck to her ear.

”You smell like chocolate,” he whispered.

Mal felt a sharp puncture on her neck and panicked, struggling suddenly with desperation, but his hands were just too powerful. The electric heat continued until her muscles became languid and relaxed.

His tongue moved against her neck while one of his hands held both of hers above her head. His other hand curved against her chest, the fingers moving slowly in little swirls against her bare skin. The sensation was the most sensual thing she'd ever experienced, and when the s.e.xual arousal began to spread throughout her body, she twisted her hands loose, and he let them go.

Instead of beating at him, the fingers from her left hand curled into that long slick hair she'd wanted to touch, while the other slipped along the hard smooth skin still bare above the pants he'd put on at her insistence. Now, those fingers played with the b.u.t.ton and wanted to crawl beneath. Now, she needed them gone!