Nectar (Nectar 1)

He had a determined look on his face and he wasn’t moving. He was just blocking her attempted hits to the face and tolerating the hits and kicks she tried to inflict on his other body parts, as if they didn’t even hurt. She was hurting, though, she’d hurt herself trying to kick him in the shin in her bare feet; he was like a man made of steel or something.

“Ouch, fuck! Fuck off. Let me go!”

She stopped struggling for a moment, zapped of energy and totally winded, and looked around the room for something to use as a weapon while catching her breath. He let go of her hair and put his hands up in a defensive posture, looking sort of amused.

She hauled off, intending to punch his jaw as hard as she could to knock that smug look off his face but he caught her fist in his hand and leaned in as she heard the thump of her fist hit the palm of his hand. He tightened his grip around her fist and it hurt a little. She ignored the pain and brought her knee up hard and nailed him in between the legs. Nothing happened and she knew she’d hit hard enough that it should’ve sent him to the floor. It felt like her knee hit steel and pain spread out across her knee. Was he wearing a cup?

The smirk on his face evaporated. First, his jaw tightened and then his upper lip curled. Then, before her eyes, almost as if in slow motion, his eye teeth elongated and she was faced with fangs.

Vampire fangs?

What…

the…

fuck?They just protruded, like a magic trick or something. Her legs disintegrated into what felt like rubber bands and everything went black as the floor rose up to meet her.-2-Kyla heard conversation. After a nanosecond of disorientation she remembered the predicament she was in. And what a predicament it was! She kept her eyes closed and listened to male voices.

She was on the bed and her face was partially shielded by pillows. He, that vampire guy, was talking and she heard the tinkling of glass. He must be picking up broken glass from the decanter she had thrown. Then there was laughter.

That vampire guy? Wait. Was that really what had happened?

“Uh oh; losing your touch just as soon as you get your crown and sceptre?” said a male voice, not the vampire’s.

“Not funny,” was the vampire’s reply.

Her blood ran icy and hot at the same time and the hair at the back of her neck stood on end at the sound of that voice. Some survival instinct she had! Something like this happens and she faints instead of saving herself? Was she dreaming right now or had she really seen fangs emerge from his mouth?

She tightened every muscle in her body to try to stop herself from trembling. The room went dead quiet and it felt like there were eyes on her. She squeezed her eyes shut tighter and stayed as still as possible, biting down hard on her lower lip. Then she realized that this was probably the problem. Her breathing pattern changing had likely tipped them off to the fact that she was awake. Could he smell her fear? She heard rustling.

“Kyla Spencer. Looks like green-eyed Kyla is, uh, 24. Ooh, nice pink Taser.” another male voice said. He must be digging through her purse. How’d he gotten it? Her purse had still been in her locked locker at work. What on earth?

“Kyla,” the vampire said. The way he said it made her feel like he was tasting it. She cringed. She could feel the bed shift as he sat down, “Let’s try this again. Go ahead and get me all the details you can. Call ya later.”

“Got it, Boss,” a different male voice answered, then added, “Have fun.”

Fear rushed through her. A door clicked shut.

“Kyla?” the vampire said, almost sang, softly. She felt a hand in her hair and fingertips gently traced the curve of her ear, sending a shiver up her spine.

She bit down on her tongue and fought to remain still. The scent of baked goods filled her nostrils.

“I know you’re awake. Look at me,” he said softly.

She didn’t move. This was beyond scary! She dreaded the idea of seeing those fangs again. Fainting might not save her again. Would he drain her dry and toss her rumpled empty shell of a body into a dumpster?

“I’m not angry. You don’t have to be afraid,” he said this like he was talking to a small child, “You didn’t hurt me but you were about to hurt yourself so I had to show you who you were dealing with. Look at me.”

She remained as still as possible but couldn’t stop trembling. She could feel the bed press down further and pillows were moved out of the way. She opened her eyes to see him hovering over her, caging her in with his arms. The room’s lights were on now.