Powers

there when I went to the bathroom…” she quickly said, not wanting Paul to suspect anything. “I was pretty smashed!”

  “That you were…Reason I didn’t stay. Didn’t want to take advantage of you in your condition.”

  She laughed lightly. “Appreciated…but I probably wouldn’t have even known about it.”

  “That I couldn’t cope with…Too big a blow to the ego.”

  She heard the store bell tinkle over the phone. “Guess you got another customer?”

  “Yeah…” he half growled. “That dammed Lodovico!”

  “Be nice,” she said, playing her part.

  “I’ll do my best…Later, sweetheart.”

  “Later.” She closed her phone and stared at it, wondering what Dorian was up to now. She knew he had to be the one who had left the chair in her room. “Asshole must have stayed and watched me sleep!” She wondered how he had gotten in, but then he was a vampire. She supposed that he could come in any way he wanted.

  Amber did a little housecleaning and was just considering how she was going to go about asking Grady for her book when he showed up at her door. Much to her relief, she saw he had her book in his hand. “Thank you, God!” she whispered and opened the door.

  “Thought I’d bring your book back…I’ve read all I wanted.”

  “You sure?” she asked, not wanting to sound as though she were anxious to get it back.

  “Photocopied anything I thought might be useful.”

  “So…You don’t really believe in vampires, do you?” she said, trying to sound casual.

  He got a funny look on his face, but replied, “Course not. But obviously someone believes he is.”

  “Yeah…I heard on the news about those five young men…all killed. Girl swore it was two vampires!”

  “No…Just dogs…” he said, glancing off as though distracted by something else. Then he turned back to her. “Haven’t had anymore unusual sounds around here, have you?”

  “No!” she said, truly surprised. “Should I be concerned?”

  “Guess not…Whoever or whatever is creating all this chaos has moved on…I believe. Just wanted to make sure that nothing else was going on I should be aware of.”

  “You’re a good man, Grady.”

  “That’s what I’m here for…to help.” He tipped his hat. “You have a good rest of the day!”

  “You, too, Grady!” He stepped off the porch and she closed the door, turned around and found herself face to face with Dorian. She gasped. “Shit! Don’t do that to me!”

  He was obviously amused and cracked a smile. “Got the book! Good! Now…don’t let anyone else have it!”

  “I won’t.”

  “Promise?”

  “Promise…and thanks for making coffee for me this morning.”

  His eyes lit up. “My pleasure…And it’s good to be appreciated.”

  “Don’t look at me like that.”

  “Like what?”

  “You know…You know what you do to me,” she said, glancing away.

  He took her chin between his fingertips and made her look at him. “What…do I do to you?”

  “Make me want to melt right through the damn floor!”

  “Is that so?” His pupils changed slightly, twinkling.

  She realized she was losing herself in them again. “Please…” she breathed. “Don’t…”

  “What? Do this…” His brought his lips down on hers ever so gently.

  Her toes curled, and she let out little gasps. He enfolded her in his arms and firmly spooned his body to hers. He kissed her neck and she trembled into him, wanting nothing more than to be his. Once more, his mouth smothered hers in sweet embrace. Between kisses, he confessed, “I love you, Amber. I really do love you!”

  “Oh God! Please! Oh God! Dorian!”

  His gentle lips touched her neck again and once more he bit into her warm, soft flesh. She cried in bliss as he fed from her. After several moments, he released the hold on her neck and kissed her again, and then he swept her up in his arms and carried her to her bedroom and eased her down, never turning his gaze from her. He then moved from her just long enough to quickly draw the blinds closed and joined her on the bed.

  Seconds later he transported her away from this earthly realm, out to the stars and beyond. She clung to him helplessly while he made love to her. She quivered in total ecstasy, not wanting him to ever let her go. Then, when she thought she couldn’t soar any higher, he took her on solar winds she never knew existed! She was completely his! They were one! She heard herself finally confess, “Dorian! I love you!”

  At this moment, he paused and bit into his own wrist. She looked at him questioningly, and then he held his bleeding wrist to her mouth.

  “Take my blood, Amber…Drink from me! I want to share my blood with you as you have yours.” So enraptured was she, that she didn’t think to resist. She tentatively put her mouth on his wound and let his blood flow in and she swallowed and realized she relished it! And drank eagerly.

  “That’s the way, my love…That’s the way.” Then he carefully took back his wrist and kissed her again, their blood mixing, their bodies melding.

  Fused in rapture, they drank in their passion. The rest of the world didn’t exist. It was just the two of them – one together. Complete. They lingered like this for some time, and then they finally began to slowly drift back to the world, and he held her gaze in his wondrous eyes as they finally softly landed back on the earthly plane.

  “You all right?” he asked with adoration in his velvet voice.

  “I think so…” She was so amazed at how wonderful she felt in his arms. So totally whole. “I do love you, Dorian!” she softly confirmed.

  He couldn’t have been happier. His eyes shone like the stars in a clear winter sky. “And I love you!” Then his attention was drawn to her neck. It was still bleeding. “May I?”

  “Of course!” she answered and sighed rapturously as he drank from her again. But he only took a little and pulled away from her. “Why’d you stop?”

  “Don’t want to kill you, sweetheart. Just turn you.”

  Suddenly the idea seemed wonderful, no longer abhorrent. “Yes! Turn me!”

  “That is what I am doing, but it takes time…But once done, we can be together forever.”

  “How long will it take? The transition?”

  “Depends on how strong you are.”

  “How long do you think?”

  “If you’re in a hurry…Possibly only a few days…but some people might notice you’re a little weak. Not a good idea. Better not to rush. Give the wound the chance to heal each time. And there are two reasons I wanted you to drink my blood. One is to strengthen you. And the other is part of the turning process…sharing. And it adds to the pleasure, doesn’t it?”

  “Yes…” she could only agree. His blood was like an aphrodisiac.

  “That’s my Amber,” he said and stepped out of bed and pulled on his jeans. “The more vampire blood in you the quicker you turn. And the older the vampire… the more powerful the vampire and the stronger the blood… the sooner you turn.”

  “How old are you?”

  He grinned hugely. “You really want to know?”

  “Yes!”

  “Counting my human years as well…three hundred and thirty-two.”

  She gasped. “You don’t look a day over thirty!”

  “I know…” his smile spread.

  She made herself get up and dress too. Star was suddenly there, forepaws on the end of the bed, woofing. “Bet you need to go out,” she said.

  “I’ll take him. Come on, Star.”

  Star wasted no time in following Dorian out the back door.

  While Dorian was out with the dog, Amber went to the bathroom and washed up and freshened her makeup. By the time she was finished, they were coming back in. She glanced at her clock. “Three!” she said.

  “Something wrong with that?”

  “No! Just surprised…how long w
ere we in bed?”

  “About three hours,” he said, smiling impishly.

  “I thought it was only a few minutes!”

  “How time flies when you’re having fun with a vampire.”

  “You’re awful!” she teased.

  “What makes me so adorable.”

  Her mobile phone rang. She took it out of her pocket. “It’s Paul!”

  “Well…you gonna answer it?”

  “What if he wants to see me tonight?”

  “I’m not your keeper, Amber. You can see anyone you want…as long as you love me,” he emphasized with his eyes.

  She frowned. “You’re not jealous?”

  “I was a little…but not anymore. You can go out with him. You’ll soon be with me forever, so go have a good time with him…if you want?”

  “I don’t know now… if I want to.”

  “Your decision.”

  She finally answered. “Paul? Sorry it took me so long to answer…was just struggling with it…the phone I mean.” She really didn’t want to lie, but found that she was. “Had it in my jeans pocket…Tight fit.” Her eyes trailed to Dorian who was studying her with an unreadable smile. “Tonight?” she said into the phone. Once more, she anxiously glanced over to Dorian and realized he had vanished. Shit! “Sure…come on over. Bring a movie…I can make popcorn again…Bye!”

  She went to the door and looked out. No signs of her vampire. “Where the hell did he go, Star?”

  Star jumped up on the door, looking out too.

  “Damn! He’s fast!” Then she suddenly realized that she had a fresh wound on her neck. “Oh shit! Oh shit! Paul will know!” she ran to the bathroom to look at it and was astonished to see that it had stopped bleeding and had already begun healing. “Surely I’m not turning yet!” At this rate, it would be closed by the time Paul arrived. It wouldn’t be