Billionaire: Billionaire Romance: Billionaire Tiger (A Billionaire New Adult Shifter Contemporary Romance) (57 page)

When he parked the car she turned to him and gave him a kiss on the lips. He looked a little shocked but definitely not turned off by her aggressiveness. He grabbed her and pulled her close and started kissing her harder. He was a little clumsy, probably because he had a few drinks at the club.

When they broke the kiss he sounded almost out of breath, “You are the sexiest freak I've ever met.”

“You have no idea what a freak I really am.” The words came out almost as a purr.

Kat didn't want him talking so she started kissing him again. She was surprised he was kissing her so passionately. He either didn't notice her lips were cold or he was too excited at the thought he might get laid to care. It didn’t bother her because she would get what she wanted, in the end.

The guy started running his fingers over the tops of her breasts. She faked a moan. This was not about sex for her but she knew she had to make sure he didn't know that just yet. She would let him get a little farther just to make sure. Keeping his interest was essential.

Kat's hand moved down to his jeans and she ran her fingers over his zipper. His hardness was straining against his pants. She rubbed on it a bit until he was moaning some. He asked her, “Don’t you want to know my name?” Kat answered, “No not really.”

She moved from kissing his lips to kissing his neck. As her lips touched his neck, she could feel the blood moving through the large vein there. She could smell it and wanted to taste it. Kat unzipped his pants and slipped her hand around his hardness. He gasped and then her fangs came out. Piercing his skin and sinking them into him inch by inch. The rush of blood hitting her tongue was pure ecstasy. She swallowed down as she released her grip on him. Just before his blood became dangerously low, she pulled her fangs gently from him and licked his wounds closed.

He lay there slumped in his seat in a daze. Kat looked in his eyes and started speaking slow and softly,

“You will not remember what happened. You remember going to the bar and having quite a few drinks. You'll remember waking up and thinking that you must have passed out from having one too many. You will not remember me or anything I did to you. Do you understand?”

The guy mumbled, “Yes.” Kat got out of the car and straightened out her skirt then started walking towards Jackson Square. She felt like people watching. Things had changed so much over the centuries. She turned quickly, she had the feeling she was being watched again. Her senses were acute since she wasn't hungry anymore. She looked around in the dark but did not see anything out of the ordinary. She listened, but all she could hear where the sounds of the night. She decided she would keep her guard up the rest of the night.

CHAPTER 2

Kat sat on a bench and looked across at the St. Louis Cathedral. It was even majestic at night time. It rose high in the sky. Her mind wandered to the time when she first came to New Orleans. She was called Kathleen then, it was 1832 and many Irish were coming over from Ireland to start a new life. Kat remembered traveling by boat for months with her husband. It was a bad trip. It was crowded and they feared that they would run out of food before making it to America. Several people became sick and Kat worried that she, or her husband, would be one of them. Some didn't even survive the voyage. It was the worst time of her life.

When they finally stepped off the boat in the Port of New Orleans they were ecstatic. It was a new life, a new start in a new country. They didn't realize how difficult life would be. It was not what they had hoped for. They lived in a small, run down, little shot gun house. Kat did her best to make their place a home. They lived in a neighborhood with several other Irish families. Even though it was just the two of them, it seemed they were surrounded by family. The older Irish women looked after her and made sure Kat and her husband were well taken care of.

Kat's husband found work digging the canal. The people here didn't want their slaves to work in the canals because it was so dangerous. Slaves were property.
You wouldn't just throw out a perfectly good pair of shoes would you?
So Irish men were paid next to nothing to dig. Many of them died in the process.

Kat remembers the day her beloved husband came down with the fever. She was petrified but did the best she could to nurse him back to health. People avoided them because they didn't want to get the disease themselves. Kat could only watch as her husband got sicker and sicker. He turned yellow and delirious with fever. She refused to leave his bedside. She stayed with him as he died a horrible death.

Kat didn't have money for a funeral. So her loving husband was buried in a pauper's grave. She felt lucky he didn't die digging the canal. There is no telling how many bodies were buried there, without a proper funeral.

A few days later Kat got the first symptoms of the fever. There was no one to take care of her. She knew she was going to die. As if in answer to her prayers, one day a stranger came to her. Kat wasn't sure if it was day or night because of the delusions from the fever. She thought he was a doctor or, maybe, a thief waiting for her to die to take the little belongings she had. He looked at her and he had these mesmerizing dark blue eyes. He told her that he could take away her suffering. At this point, Kat was ready to welcome death. She figured he was going to kill her and she didn't care. She looked at him and in barely a whisper she said to him. “Do it.”

The stranger leaned down as if he were going to kiss her. Instead of a tender kiss, Kat felt an excruciating pain in her neck then a feeling of floating, as if she wasn't really in her own body. The next thing she remembered was the stranger telling her to drink. She was so thirsty and the liquid flowing into her was the sweetest thing she had ever tasted. He pulled her away from her then said, “We must leave here now.”

Kat didn't understand and asked him why. He said, “You are immortal now and this is no place for you.”

Over time, Kat's new creator explained to her what had happened and what he did to save her. He instructed her on how to feed, what could kill her forever, and how to use her new powers. He took care of her and they traveled the world. No one really understands how long an eternity is until they have lived it. Staying together forever is a romantic notion, but not one that is really feasible. They stayed together for eighty years. Finally, he left her and Kat came back to New Orleans.

Kat stood up and walked to the church. She went inside. It was always beautiful inside. She laughed at the thought of a vampire in a church. The old myths and legends were still alive today. She made the sign of the cross and lit a candle for her dear husband. He was a good man that died too young. She said a silent prayer for his soul then turned to walk out into the night.

Kat took a left down a deserted street. She knew she was being followed. There was no doubt about it this time. She could smell her stalker, he was so close. She pretended not to notice and let him get even closer to her. She spun around quickly grabbed him and pinned him against the wall of a building.

“What do you think you're doing?” Kat hissed, her fangs extended. The stranger looked more amused the frightened.

He laughed and said, “Following you. I have to say, you are quite gorgeous.” He whispered close to her face. He stared at her with his piercing ice blue eyes.

Kat growled and then before she knew it, she was pinned to the wall instead of this stranger. He grinned at her and leaned in, whispering in her ear, “So nice to meet a fellow kindred.” He was handsome by any standards, with Nordic features and a shock of thick white gold hair.

Kat gasped for a moment and said, “There is not enough room for two of us here.” She wasn't sure if this vampire killed when he fed or not and she was hoping to scare him off.

“Sure thing darling. I'll let you go so you can pack your bags,” he leaned in and kissed her on the lips.

He disappeared into the night. She didn't know whether to be turned on or appalled. She did know that she was angry. Kat didn't want to share her town with another vampire. She had been here years and knew it was getting close to time where she would have to move on and reinvent herself again. Before people started noticing that she was not getting any older. But she wanted moving on to be
her
choice. No other vampire was going to invade her territory, no matter how handsome he was.

Kat was determined to find out who this vampire was and what he was doing here. After that, it now was her mission to get him out of her town. She had made her decision. However, it was too late to act on it now. She would have to wait until tomorrow night. She returned to her daytime hiding place.

CHAPTER 3

The next evening she went out just after sunset. She didn't need to feed since she took care of that the night before. Kat was bound and determined to find the vampire that surprised her last night. She wasn't sure how to find him but she had a feeling he might be hitting the clubs like she did. She'd search the city for him.

She went into bar after bar, hitting all the tourist traps. Kat even found herself in the Cat's Meow, the karaoke bar on Bourbon. She loathed that place. Finally she caught his scent and followed it into a small dark jazz club. He was sitting alone at the table listening to the band play on stage. He looked up as Kat walked towards him. She was glad she dressed in a sleek black mini-dress and heels. Her hair was wild and untamed as usual.

She sat down next to him and smiled. He smiled back.

“Come here often?” he teased.

Kat rolled her eyes. She took a quick look around the place. It was a small and dark with a stage up front and tables all around. The bar itself was small and the bartender behind it looked bored. Kat could understand why there was only about 5 customers in the whole place. She leaned in to talk to the stranger.

“So,” she paused. “I don't even know your name.” She said, annoyed.

“It's Eirik, although these days I go by Erik. Times change.” he shrugged, his voice low enough for only her to hear.

“You’re Scandinavian. You are a long way from home.” She said it as an accusation.

He ignored her jab. “And may I ask, lovely lady, what is your name?”

She thought for a moment and debated whether or not to give him her real name. She decided it wouldn't really hurt. “I was born Kathleen. These days I go by Kat.”

“Nice to meet you, Kat. Are you Irish? Seems like you are a long way from home too.” He leaned casually back in his chair.

Kat narrowed her eyes at him. “Touché. But I’m not here for pleasantries. I want to know why you are here in New Orleans.”

He looked at her incredulously. “The music, the food, the culture and what other city has a whole celebration to the god Bacchus. Not to mention the incredible feeding ground here. What more could a vampire want?” His blue eyes twinkled at her. His blond hair kept falling into his eyes as he spoke. Kat found it alluring.

Kat stared into his eyes and tried to wipe out the image of him kissing her. She had to admit it was one hell of a kiss. It had been so long since she had been kissed like that. She felt heat rise in her body. She shook the thought out of her head.

“How long are you going to stay? Are there others with you?” She demanded.

“I don't know how long I will stay here. I’ve just arrived, dear Kat. I am, unfortunately, alone.” He winked at her again. She raised her eyebrow at him.

He had the nerve to say, “Even if there were any others out there they would either bow down and worship me, flee the city after seeing my magnificent good looks, or I'd destroy them one by one.”

Kat rolled her eyes at him. She thought to herself what an arrogant jerk he was. She couldn't believe it. She debated whether she should just leave now, rather than spend any more time with him. Kat felt his hand on her shoulder.

“Stay and dance with me,” he said to her. She looked at him like he was insane. He continued, “I know you fed last night so you're not hunting. What harm will it do if you have one dance with me?”

Kat just looked at him with disgust in her eyes and said, “Hell will freeze over before I dance with someone like you,” then she stormed out of the club and into the night. She was angry at herself for the attraction she felt for him. He was so arrogant! How could her body betray her like that?

A couple of nights later, she spotted Erik in Eternal Darkness. He was at the bar surrounded by women. They were all throwing themselves at him like he was some kind of rock star. He had the nerve to look at Kat and give her a sly smile. She turned her back to him and walked to the dance floor. The DJ was playing one of her favorite songs. She started to move around on the dance floor. Kat stopped as Erik came up behind her and put his arms around her. A thought came into her mind. She decided to play him. Kat started grinding against him. Several girls at the bar gave her a mean look. She danced with him a few songs then suddenly turned to him and leaned in close and said, “Gotta go. Later stud.” She walked out fast before he knew what hit him.

CHAPTER 4

It had been months since she last saw Erik and she was glad. She hoped that he left the city for good. She didn't feel like running into him, especially not tonight while she hunted. Kat wandered if she spent too much time at Eternal Darkness and decided to try the Dungeon instead. She didn't want to draw too much attention to herself.

She made her way upstairs to where they had a small dance floor. Her hips swayed as she walked and she knew the behind her was watching her every move. He was too easy. She needed the hunt. When she arrived at the second floor several guys made eyes at her, but she ignored them. She had her eyes on the lone guy in the corner. He was going to be a challenge and that excited her.

Kat started to walk towards him. She smiled at him but he didn’t smile back at her. He looked lost in his own world. He seemed indifferent. She wasn't used to getting this kind of look from a guy.