As Twilight Falls

If only he would stop.

If only he would never stop.

When he lifted his head, she stared up at him, suddenly ashamed of the way she had responded to him.

“That wasn’t so bad, now, was it?” he asked, a gentle chiding evident in his tone.

“Of course it was.” She would not give him the satisfaction of knowing how much she liked it.

“What a little liar you are.” There was no censure in his voice, only mild amusement. “You will stay here from now on. You may have the run of the house, but you will not invite anyone else inside. You may come and go as you please, spend your days as you see fit, but your nights will be spent here, with me. Do you understand?”

She nodded.

“There are a number of bedrooms upstairs. Take whichever one pleases you. Redecorate if you wish. You’ll find several catalogs in one of the drawers. In the kitchen, I think. Make a list of whatever you want and I’ll see that you get it.”

“Where do you sleep?”

“That’s something you don’t need to know.”

“How did you get in my house? I was told none of the vampires could come in without an invitation.”

“I don’t need an invitation. The town—and everything in it—belongs to me.”

And she was part of “everything.”

“My car is out back. Go get your things. You won’t be going back to Vaughan’s house again.”

“But . . .” She glanced out the window. It was dark as pitch outside.

“No one will bother you.”

She lifted a hand to her neck. “My scarf . . .” Without it, she would be vulnerable.

“You no longer need it. My scent is on you now. No one will touch you on pain of death.” He withdrew a key from his pocket and handed it to her. “You might want to stop at the store and purchase a few groceries and whatever else you need. Just tell the clerk you’re with me now.”

Too overwhelmed to speak, Kadie nodded, then hurried out of the house, anxious to be away from Rylan Saintcrow and the conflicting emotions he aroused in her.

Outside, she took a deep breath. She had a feeling that living with Saintcrow was going to be like living with the Prince of Darkness. She had his protection, but she was afraid it might come at the cost of her soul.

It didn’t take long for Kadie to pack up her few belongings. Still, she was in no hurry to return to Saintcrow, so she lingered in the house, alternately sitting on the sofa staring into the fireplace, and pacing the floor.

After an hour and a half, she climbed behind the wheel of Saintcrow’s silver ZR1 Corvette and drove to the store. She didn’t know much about cars, but she recalled seeing an ad for a car like this one in a magazine. If she remembered correctly, it cost over $100,000.00. How would a vampire come to have so much money?

Of course, she thought, he probably took it from those who came here. The humans had little need for cash in this bizarre place. Or maybe, being a vampire, he just took what he wanted and killed anyone who objected. She shook her head. He was over nine hundred years old. Even a small savings account would acquire a lot of interest in that amount of time.

She was turning onto Main Street when she made a hard right and headed toward the bridge. She was driving the head bloodsucker’s car. Maybe it could bypass whatever spell prevented her from leaving. It was certainly worth a try.

Hands gripping the wheel, she held her breath as she drove across the wooden expanse, but then uttered a very unladylike curse word when the car stopped a few feet short of her goal.

Expelling an aggravated sigh, she backed up and drove to the store, wondering what Mr. Rylan Saintcrow would do if she deliberately drove his luxury automobile into a brick wall.

Later, while pushing her cart up and down the aisles, she wondered why he even had a car, since vampires seemed to be able to whisk themselves wherever they wished to be.

She was standing in the bread aisle, trying to decide between white, whole wheat, or potato, when a sudden tension in the air warned her she was no longer alone. She didn’t have to turn around to know that Saintcrow was standing behind her.

“Finding everything you need?” he asked.

“Not really.”

“If there are things you want, all you need to do is make a list and I’ll see that you get them.”

“Is that so?” She turned to face him, and wished she hadn’t. She had forgotten how tall and broad he was. How intimidating. But she refused to be cowed. “Who do you think you are—Santa Claus?”

He laughed—a deep, masculine chuckle that made her toes curl.

Annoyed by his amusement, she moved to the next aisle, all too aware that he was following her.

When they passed the liquor aisle, he added several bottles of red wine to the cart.

“I don’t like wine,” she said curtly.

“I do.”

His nearness made her nervous. Deciding she would do her shopping during the day in the future, she headed for the checkout line.

Apparently Saintcrow made everyone nervous. The woman at the cash register refused to look at him or at Kadie. The bag boy kept dropping things. The checker handed her a receipt.

Saintcrow picked up the bags and followed her out to the car.

“You didn’t pay for anything,” Kadie said while he loaded her groceries into the trunk. “Why not?”

“No one here pays for anything.”

“Then why bother with receipts, or checkers or bag boys and cash registers?”

“The computer keeps track of what’s ‘bought’ so we know what to restock. As for the rest . . .” He shrugged. “It makes the humans feel more at home if we keep things the way they’re used to.” He shut the trunk and opened the passenger door for her.

After a moment’s hesitation, Kadie got into the car. She was living in The Twilight Zone, she thought as Saintcrow slid behind the wheel. No doubt about it.

When they reached the stone house, he carried the grocery bags and her suitcase into the kitchen, then stood in the doorway while she put the groceries away. The appliances were all state of the art. There were dishes in the glass-fronted cupboard, a set of stainless-steel utensils in the drawer. Since he had no use for the stove or the refrigerator or anything else, she supposed he kept all of it for his human slaves.

“Slaves? That’s a bit harsh, don’t you think?” He’d never thought of it like that. True, most of the residents would rather not be here, but they had stopped asking for their freedom. After all, life here wasn’t that bad. The people lived in nice houses. They had enough to eat, stores to shop in, a movie theater, a park, and a swimming pool. The ones who wanted to work had jobs. Hell, they were a lot better off than most of the people living in the outside world these days. They didn’t have to worry about the high price of living or anything else.