Blood Dolls (5 page)

“Leave,” Samuel said to Gordon. The man nodded, took one last glance at Celia, and made his departure. One good thing about Gordon is that he didn’t mess around. If Samuel told him to fuck off, he’d do it, and fast.

Celia didn’t move when she heard the door close. She just stayed there on her knees. Samuel’s cock hardened as he watched her kneeling so perfectly before him. It hadn’t been long since he’d played with a blood doll. Hell, he’d fucked Jade just the day before, but somehow, Celia stirred something inside of him.

He knew he wouldn’t be satisfied with having her just once. This wasn’t the type of situation where he’d drink from her, sink inside of her, then leave her. He couldn’t simply pawn her off on the other vamps who lived in the mansion.

No, he was going to want more of her.

More than he’d ever had before.

“Rise,” he said to Celia. He gave her his hand. For just a second, she hesitated, but then she took a deep breath and gripped his hand. He pulled her to her feet and she stood there.

Celia had the brightest blue-green eyes he’d ever seen. They reminded him of the sea. The color of the ocean shone at him in those eyes and for a second, Samuel remembered what it was like to feel free.

He pushed the memories away and focused on Celia.

She was gorgeous, to be sure, but he also knew she had an attitude. If he planned to keep her around for any length of time, he would have to ensure she knew he was in charge. That was one of the difficult parts of being a Vampire Lord. He had to ensure she stayed with him, that she wouldn’t spend all of her time and energy trying to escape. If she thought she could play him, if she thought she had any chance of getting away, she would take it.

Then he would spend all of
his
time chasing her instead of doing the things he wanted to be doing.

Instead of the things he
needed
to be doing.

“Tell me how he drank from you,” Samuel whispered.

“No,” Celia whispered. “That’s private.”

He knew why she was saying it. He knew she was remembering how intimate the moment felt. Feeding always was. It wasn’t like eating dinner the way humans did. No, feeding for a vampire was special, sensual. It was erotic. It was sexual. When you fed from someone, you were either fucking them or about to be. There was no such thing as chaste feeding.

Not in Samuel’s world.

“Did he feed from your neck?” Samuel pulled her close and pressed his lips to the nape of her neck. She let out a squeak, but her body relaxed against him. He could smell her arousal. He could tell what she was thinking about right now. She was into this just as he was. She wanted more.

He would give it to her.

“Did he feed from your thigh?” Samuel reached down and ran his hand over the fabric that draped her skin. It was thin enough that he knew she could feel his fingers against her skin. She would imagine what he would feel like without the fabric between them. She would think about how good it would feel for him to sink his fangs inside her there.

And he
would
have her there.

He would have her every way possible.

“No,” Celia whispered. “It…I was nervous, so we just…” She jerked her head toward her wrist and Samuel understood.

“He drank from your wrist.”

“Yeah. It…it seemed less intimate, I think.”

“And what about this?” He pushed back a strand of her dark hair and ran his fingers over her soft, pale skin.

“This feels more intimate,” she whispered. Her eyes were locked on his and Samuel realized the full extent of the impact he was having on her. She was having an impact on him, too. His cock was hard, straining at his pants to break free. He wanted her. He wanted her when he first saw her, but now, after talking to her just a little bit, he wanted her even more.

“How about this?” He whispered, and pressed his lips to hers. Celia tilted her face up toward Samuel and kissed him back. It surprised him. He knew she was aroused, but he still expected she would be a bit afraid, a bit scared of the way he wanted to touch her.

She wasn’t, though. She loved it. She needed this just as much as he did. For Samuel, sex was linked with food. For him, sex was about more than just carnal pleasure. He needed it to stay alive. He craved it. With Celia, though, he didn’t think he could just get a quick meal and be on his way. He already knew it would take a long time for him to feel satisfied with this one. She would leave him craving.

He could quickly become addicted to her.

Samuel kissed her harder, deeper, and Celia began to moan through their kisses. As they kissed, he untied the ribbons at her shoulders that held her dress on, and it pooled at her feet.

“Oh!” She whispered, pulling back. She looked down at her body, but didn’t try to cover herself. Interesting. “I’m naked.”

“You’re beautiful,” he said.

“Thank you.”

Samuel narrowed his eyes as he saw her looking down. She was uncomfortable with the compliment.

“No one’s ever told you that, have they?”

He didn’t understand. She’d been sexually active before. She’d had sex with different men, maybe even with women. She’d even been with a fucking vampire. She hadn’t been told she was beautiful, though?

“No,” she whispered. “But I’ve never…I, um…”

“What is it?” He prodded, pushing her gently.

“I’ve never been with anyone more than once.”

“Never?”

“Except my, um…” A tear streamed down her cheek and he kissed it away. He wanted to push, wanted to ask her who she’d been with more than once, wanted to ask her what she had been so afraid of that she’d only had one-night experiences with people.

“Who?” He whispered.

“My stepdad,” she said.

Then Celia threw up on the floor.

Samuel watched Celia sleeping in the center of his bed. He’d already called Gordon and demanded to know what the hell had happened to this one. Gordon claimed he didn’t know. He knew the stepfather was an asshole, but he didn’t know the man had raped his stepdaughter.

He’d raped her.

Hurt her.

Broken her.

Oh, the irony didn’t escape Samuel. He had, after all, captured the woman for himself. Gordon had been the one to do it, of course, but it was all the same. Samuel had taken her, abducted her, and planned to keep her as a toy.

But there was a difference: Samuel planned to give her pleasure. He planned to take care of her. He planned to cherish her. It didn’t matter that he wouldn’t be taking her as a bride. He wasn’t going to take any of the dolls as a bride.

He would care for her, though.

He would protect her.

The dolls who lived in the mansion would service any of the vampires in Samuel’s employ. He couldn’t very well have his house of vampires go hungry. Though there weren’t as many living in his home as there once were, he liked to have dolls available to feed his employees, as well as his guests when he hosted parties or events for the Vampire Council.

When they captured a doll, she would be vetted by him and Gordon. Some of the humans they took weren’t emotionally ready to be dolls. They would do other ordinary housework until they were ready. Some of them never were. That was fine. He had two women working his mansion who weren’t dolls. They had lived here for many years, since he was a young man, and he had no intention of turning them out.

Once the dolls were trained, they were basically free to do as they wished as long as they stayed on the grounds and were available for feeding when required. The dolls never fed a vamp more than once a day. He kept them around for food: not to have them accidentally die.

He treated his dolls differently than many vampires did. Other members of the Vampire Council had criticized him, claiming he was pussy-whipped by his dolls. They thought he wasn’t a man because he didn’t keep his dolls chained up, because he actually tried to keep them happy.

What the other vampires didn’t understand was that happy dolls tasted better. They were more compliant. They were more willing. It was much more fun to bed a doll who wanted to be bedded. It was more fun to play with a woman who was spunky and fun, like Celia.

Only something had taken the spunk out of Celia.

Someone.

And Samuel knew exactly what he intended to do about it. He wouldn’t leave this one to Gordon. He wasn’t going to sit by and let the man who had attacked his blood doll get away with the pain he had caused her. Even in her sleep, Celia looked pained. She looked scared.

She looked afraid.

She looked like a scared little girl and Samuel thought that if he couldn’t get that look of fear off her face, his icy heart might just start to crack.

***

Celia opened her eyes. Something was wrong with the ceiling. The crack was gone. She’d asked Mr. Manchester to fix it several times, but he never had, and she’d finally given up on having him fix it. Now, though, the crack was gone.

But that wasn’t the only thing.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” a soft voice said from next to her, and it all came rushing back. Celia was gone. She was the thing that was gone. She was gone from her home and from her life and her job and the people that she knew. She was gone and no one would ever know what had happened to her.

“What happened?” She asked. She remembered crying in Samuel’s arms, in being so utterly humiliated that she couldn’t stop, and then everything had gone black for her. Had she passed out? Had she fainted? Had they fucked and she simply couldn’t remember? Had he fed from her? She wasn’t sure. Celia wasn’t sure exactly what had happened except that the night wasn’t what she expected.

She knew what was expected of blood dolls because when she’d slept with Toby, he’d explained everything to her. It was strange, really, the connection she’d felt with him. It wasn’t love or anything like it, but it had been passionate. She wasn’t sure if it was a vampire thing, but Toby had been kind. He’d been sweet. He’d been the only lover who hadn’t made her feel like a cheap whore when they were done and to be honest, Celia kind of missed it.

She had a feeling things would be different with Samuel.

Samuel.

“Samuel is out and asked me to watch over you. Let’s get you showered and dressed, okay?” She realized it was Tasha’s voice and Celia smiled.

“Thanks for taking care of me.”

“Not a problem, honey. You’d do the same for me. I can tell.”

She took Celia and led her back through the mansion to the big bedroom she’d been in before, the room where the dolls stayed. Celia took a better look around this time. Now that she wasn’t scared, she couldn’t help but notice just how huge and beautiful the room really was. It didn’t just have beds in it. It also had vanities and dressers and pictures on the walls. It had personal touches like stuffed animals and figurines and trinkets.

“What can I say?” Tasha said, noticing her gaze. “We make ourselves at home. Come on.”

The other girls weren’t around, so Tasha bathed Celia herself. While she washed her, Tasha talked about life in the mansion and pointed out the good things, as well as the bad. She explained that sometimes, she’d have to entertain guests who are obnoxious, but that no one truly awful was ever allowed near the dolls. Apparently, not all vampires were like that, so Celia appreciated that Samuel was thoughtful.

Once Celia was done bathing, Tasha helped her from the tub, dried her off, fixed her hair, and helped her dress. Then Tasha hugged Celia tightly.

“Thank you for everything,” Celia whispered.

“Thank me like this,” Tasha replied. She pressed her lips to Celia’s. She was soft and sweet. Celia was surprised, but kissed her back eagerly, excited to feel her friend’s touch against her body. Tasha was gentle with her kisses and kept her hands firmly on Celia’s waist, but something told Celia this wouldn’t be the only time they were together, and next time, Tasha’s hands wouldn’t stay put.

“I’ll remember that for future reference,” Celia said. “That this is how you like to be thanked.”

Tasha just laughed and led her back to Samuel’s chambers. When they arrived, Tasha knocked on the door.

“Be good,” she whispered to Celia. “Obey him quickly and everything will be fine.”

“Enter,” a voice called out, and Tasha opened the door. She walked in ahead of Celia and bowed her head to Samuel.

“My Lord,” she murmured.

“I see you have taken good care of Celia, Tasha. Thank you for your service.”

“It was my pleasure, Master. Will there be anything else?”

“No. Leave us.”

Tasha squeezed Celia’s hand as she passed by and left the room. The door closed loudly. Then they were alone. Really alone.

“I’m sorry about last night,” Celia began, but Samuel shook his head.

“You don’t need to be sorry,” he said. “But you should know I took care of the problem.”

“What do you mean?” She had been raped repeatedly by the man who was supposed to protect her family, who was supposed to look after her. How was this something Samuel could take care of?

She’d gone to counseling. Maybe Lester had known what his son had done. She wasn’t sure. He had paid for therapy, though, and Celia thought she had worked through many of her issues while she was in therapy

Still, the pain lingered. She thought she would probably always feel a little used, a little worthless. She would probably always feel a little cheap.

“I mean,” he took a step forward and placed his hands on her shoulders. “I took care of the problem.”

Suddenly, the full impact of his words hit her. He had taken care of it. That was why he was gone when she woke up, why Tasha had taken her away from this room. When Samuel returned, he was probably covered in blood. She noticed now that his clothes were different, that he was wearing only a robe. He looked freshly showered; his blonde hair was wet.

“You killed him?” She asked, whispering the words. She had to know for sure. She needed to be certain.

“Yes,” Samuel said. He looked at her, waiting for her to say something. Did he think she would be mad? Hurt? She hated Raymond and all the things he had done to her and her family. She hated what had happened. She hated knowing that Raymond had exercised such control over her for so long.

And Samuel had freed her.

She threw herself at him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Thank you,” she whispered, kissing his cheek. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” Then she met his eyes and looked at his lips. “Thank you,” she whispered once more. “You freed me.”