The Master of the City looked vaguely amused. If I smoked one of his vampires in self-defense, would he be pissed off?
Probably.
Then again, he did have the hots for me. In a manner of speaking. And he had looked more annoyed than aroused when the psychotic bitch had been pawing him.
I made up my mind. Showtime, then.
“I said I’m not the one dressed like a streetwalker, offering up my cookies, and pawing some Joe’s balls in public, so I’m not the whore here. Bitch.” I added, smiling pleasantly.
She snarled and reached for me. “I’ll rip out your throat!” she shrieked, livid.
A sliver of wood detached itself from my bar stool and hovered at her heart, pressing slightly against her skin. I smiled widely at her, and she stopped mid-stance, going very still.
“I’ve been doing this since I was twelve,” I said casually, “So there’s a fair chance this will go right through all that silicone and pierce your heart.”
A vein started twitching in her forehead, but she stayed put.
“Master-”
“Be quiet, before I incinerate you myself, Darlene,” he said calmly.
I glanced at him, surprised.
Ah well. One less murderous vampire to worry about.
I turned back to her. She would have killed me from where she stood, given the chance.
“Apologize,” I said quietly.
“Over my dead body,” she hissed, flashing fang.
“That will be the case, Darlene, if you don’t apologize and get out of my sight now. She has done nothing to you, and I have cautioned you too many times already about your unwarranted hostility to humans.”
She stubbornly kept silent, still quivering with rage.
Joao stood up. “Apologize, and leave. Don’t test my patience.”
“I will not apologize to this human whore!” she screamed.
The other vampires had quietly filed out already. Greg the bartender had disappeared.
Joao shook his head, and sat down. After a short pause, he sighed. “Stake the stupid woman. She’s flouted my rules too many times already.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You’re the boss.”
A little push. That was all it took. The wood hit home before she realized what had happened.
I stepped away quickly as she withered and crumpled into a little pile of ash on the floor.
He brushed off some stray ash with distaste.
“Uh- I’m glad you haven’t- eaten me for killing her, but may I ask why?”
He smiled.
“She was very stubborn. When I took over, I made it clear that the old era of enmity between humans and vampires was over. No more unwilling feedings, no more unauthorized turnings, no more using their psychics as aphrodisiacs, and no more uninvited advances from my females. I wanted a good, clean public image, to help the vampire rights legislation along. But she insisted on the old ways. She truly hated humans. Just last week, I had to discipline her for feed from an underage, unwilling human. Disgusting.”
“That’s very- enlightened of you.”
“Thank you. Would you like a bite to eat?”
The alarm must have shown on my face.
He laughed. “I meant something to eat, for you.”
“That sounds nice, but I should get back to my hotel. I have to sleep. Before dawn,” I added, a trifle unnecessarily.
“Alegria, if I wanted you, for food or sex, or both, I cold have you, right now, on the bartop. However, rape has never been something I consider acceptable behaviour, so you and the bartop are safe for now.”
Well. There was really nothing I could say to top that, so I just kept quiet.
“I must also admit that I’m more than a little intrigued by you. I didn’t know you were telekinetic as well.”
Hmnn. How did one turn down the Master of the City without endangering one’s life?
“Look, I’m sure your motives are- honourable, but I really am tired. Perhaps another time?”
I couldn’t believe myself. I was setting up a date with a master vampire. I’d never thought of myself as the suicidal type before.
“Tomorrow night, perhaps? I will pick you up from your hotel.”
The way he said it made it clear that it wasn’t a request.
“Right. I’m staying at the Four Seasons.”
He chuckled. “Not exactly the starving college student, are we?”
“It’s a long story. I’ll tell you some other time.” Some other time? Had I lost my mind?
“Tomorrow.”
I sighed inwardly. “What time?”
“I will pick you up at 8.”
“P.M., I presume?”
He stared at me blankly.
“Okay, fine, it was a bad joke.”
He stepped closer. Oh, shit.
“I thought you weren’t hungry,” I said, smiling nervously.
“I never said I didn’t want t taste those delectable lips.”
He was close enough now that I could hear him breathe.
“When you say taste, you don’t mean that literally, do you?”
He shook his head and reached out for my hair, tucking it behind my ear.
“Don’t you realize how beautiful you are?” he murmured, tracing my jaw lightly.
God help me, his touch was sex itself, starting a fire low in my belly. I was horrified, afraid, and very, very turned on, all at once.
“Please,” I whispered. “Don’t.”
“Haven’t you wondered what a kiss, just one kiss would be like?”
I kept quiet, heart thumping as he traced a finger down my throat.
“I’m not donating.”
“I’m not asking you to.”
His lips were full and lush, perfectly offsetting his masculine jaw and high cheekbones.
Damn, but he was fine.
He traced a finger over my lips. I trembled, and it wasn’t from fear.
I closed my eyes. I didn’t want to look at him. I might do something stupid if kept on staring at that beautiful face.
I felt his lips brush against my forehead. Oh boy, I thought. Here we go.
He tilted my chin up, sliding his hand to the small of my back, and kissed me.
Gently first, then hungrily; sexual tension arced through our mouths as he deepened the kiss, being oh so careful not to nick me. I placed my hands on his chest, which was warm and solid. I could feel his heartbeat pounding away madly.
After what seemed like an eternity, we broke apart. His eyes were wild and frantic, pupils dilated.
“Shit,” I whispered.
“You do not know your own power, little one,” he said softly. “One kiss, and you have me undone. I dread to think what more of you would do to me.”
I pulled myself together, shaking off the endorphins buzzing around my system, making it difficult for me to concentrate.
“Hey, I ain’t that kind of girl, mister. A kiss is a kiss is a kiss. No-one except my bed linen gets to see me undressed tonight. And uh- in the future.”
He only smiled smugly in response to this. “May I walk you back to your hotel?”
“I am not sleeping with you.”
“After what just happened, how can you be so sure?”
“Because I don’t sleep with people I don’t love, and while our chemistry may be off the charts, I certainly don’t love you.”
“Could you?”
“Could I what?”
“Love a vampire.”
I shrugged noncommittally. “Maybe, maybe not. A little hard to, when revenants killed my parents three years ago.”
©Samantha De Silva 2006
