His Captive Mortal (A Vampire Romance)

And he knows it. The corner of his mouth crinkles as he studies my creation with apparent fascination. He turns his glittering gaze on me, and his eyes lock with mine. Eyes so dark, I don’t know where his irises end and his pupils begin.

Energy shifts within me. The street feels like it’s sliding out from under my feet, and when I step to balance myself, my belly seems to move to the left while my chest moves right.

In slow motion, the man raises his hand. Still holding my gaze, he snaps his fingers.

And my bubble of light...vanishes.

I gasp, swaying. I’m panting like I’ve run a mile. I tense, ready to run.

He smiles wider.

“Oh yes, run, my little Tinkerbell,” he murmurs, his voice deep and smooth as if he’s saying sweet nothings to a lover. “I do so love a good chase. I’ve been looking for one of your kind for a long time.”

I stumble backward. I want to run by my feet won’t obey. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.” What did he say earlier? “I’m not a priestess or a witch. I’m nobody--just a counselor at the School for the Disabled.”

The man stalks forward slowly, a predator content to know his prey is stuck fast. Every cell in me screams to back away, but I can barely take one backward step. It’s like I’m mired in quicksand.

“Where’d you learn to do that?”

“What? The bubble?” The words pop out of my mouth before I decide whether I want to talk. He’s controlling me, a panicked part of my brain screams. But I can’t resist. “I don’t know—I just invented it, I guess.”

“Powerful,” he mutters, more to himself than to me. Those black-as-night eyes fix on me like a tractor beam. “Do you do other magic?”

I shake my head so hard my hair flies in my face, looking around for anyone who might help me. “No, sir.”

I don’t know where the sir comes from, but it feels right. And it seems to amuse the stranger. His lips curl into another toothy grin, his fangs lengthening before my eyes.

And I remember something about vampires. It had been his eye contact that burst the bubble. All I have to do is avoid looking directly at him.

With a full body shiver, I focus on creating another bubble. It’s harder this time, like I’m straining a muscle I haven’t used before. A magic muscle. But it works. As soon as the white sphere pops around me, I take off running as fast as I can. I dash around the corner, listening hard, but there are no footsteps following. Only the sound of laughter--a deep, chocolatey chuckle that makes my stomach dip not in fear but another reason entirely. It’s the sexiest laugh I’ve ever heard. Coming from the handsomest man I’ve ever met. Lean and fit, with that face. And under his shirt and slacks….

No! Do not visualize the vampire naked. But if I do, is it really my fault? He’s got some compelling mojo. Sex and vampires go together, right?

I race home, every hair on my body standing up in warning. What else stops a vampire? I jab my key into the lock. So far so good. I slam the heavy door behind me, throw the deadbolt, check the locks. Then rush to the back door. Locked. And the windows--latched. All the while, I’m breathing hard from adrenaline and running. But my body feels slow and languid, like I’ve just gotten out of a bath or, Goddess help me, out of bed after a two-hour sex marathon with a vampire.

A stake through the heart. That’s how you kill a vampire. And garlic. I pull open kitchen drawers, looking for any kind of wooden stick. There—the dowel in the little Live, Laugh, Love wall hanging my neighbor gave me. The dowel is three quarter inches thick and 18 inches long. It might work. I grab a knife and begin carving the end into a crude point.

Only to drop it and scream when someone bangs on my back door. My neighbor’s voice calls out, “Hey, Aurelia, got any smokes?”

I never should’ve told my neighbor I had the night shift. It’s half past midnight, for Pete’s sake. “No, Karen! I don’t smoke, remember?”

A pause, then, “I accidentally locked myself out of my apartment. Can I come in?”

Crap.

I creep to the door, sharpened stake in hand, and open it.

And there he is next to my neighbor, my vampire stalker, tall, dark and toothsome as he leans in the door frame. Somehow I’m not surprised.

Chapter 2

Aurelia

“Go back to your side,” he murmurs to Karen, whose eyes are glassy and unfocused. My neighbor trots obediently away, clearly mesmerized by the vampire.

Thanks a lot, Karen.

I frown at my dark stalker, and I make a mistake. My eyes slide to his and my world turns black. I hear his fingers snap, and just like before, I experience a weird swirly sensation in my belly and chest like I'm being rendered in two directions