Bound to Remember, a Paranormal Romance (Book 1 of the Spellbound Series) (6 page)

“
Today in the break room,” I started, talking with my hands to explain, a true sign that I was nervous. He smiled; obviously, he knew where I was going with this.

“
You mean when I kissed you?” I felt my cheeks get rosy but I played it cool.

“
Yes, you said you couldn’t resist anymore.” I threw it back at him.

“
Yes,” he smiled. He was having too much fun with this conversation.

“
When did you resist before — or did you just say that for Kevin’s sake?”

“
Well, the moment I met you, I wanted to hug you because you reminded me of my friend, Joanna. But when you left yesterday morning I wanted to kiss you, the way YOU kissed me in the break room. So I guess the real question is, why did you kiss me back?” He shifted on the couch. I began fidgeting with my fingers.

“
Oh, that.”

“
Yes, that,” he said, taking my hand in his.

“
Well, I guess it was a natural reaction to a passionate kiss.” I blushed.
Why did I even bring this up?

He raised one eyebrow. “That was passion to you, Toni?”

“
Well, sure. I mean, I can’t think of any other time that I’ve been kissed like that . . . ever.”

“
Wow.”

“
Wow what? Why is that so shocking?” I dropped my head, embarrassed again.

“
Do not be embarrassed.” He lifted my chin to look into my eyes. “I would think such a pretty girl would know more about passion and love than I do.” I shook my head.

“
Not me. Every boyfriend I’ve ever had lasted about as long as a school semester. So I lack experience in the love and passion department, I guess.”

“
Must be why that jerk, Kevin, was giving you a hard time.” Ben shook his head.

“
I guess so.” I turned away from him and pulled my hand from his. The silence in the room felt awkward. I looked over my shoulder to find Ben deep in thought. I was wondering if I should say something to break the ice, I’d created when Ben looked over at me.

“
Will you stay with me this morning? I promise I will not touch you and I will take you home before our shift starts.”

I thought about his proposal and conditions, as well as a few of my own. “Yes, but what if I want you to touch me?” I smiled seductively.

The look on Ben’s face was priceless. It was a combination of shock and confusion.

“
Well,” he started. I leaned over him, pushing the better half of my body onto his arm, and kissed him before he could answer. I felt his hunger as he kissed me back. I ran my fingers through his perfectly cropped hair and we kissed more intensely. This kiss was flavorless but filled with passion. I felt his hand run through my hair, cupping the back of my head, as his lips left mine and he began to kiss down my neck.

Suddenly, he stopped and pulled away. “I need to get something in my stomach before we go to sleep.” He stood up and hurried off toward the kitchen.

“
Of course,” I replied as I sat there in shock over the blunt rejection. When I followed him into the kitchen to ask him to take me home, he was holding a large coffee mug and gulping down the contents.

“
Are you hungry as well?” he asked with his deviously handsome smile.

“
Not for food. I would rather—” I never finished my sentence as his lips met mine. The kiss tasted just as syrupy as earlier and felt like heaven. The sweet taste of Ben's lips filled me with passion. It was soft, sensual, and even a little apologetic. He slowly pulled me closer to him and our tongues entwined together, he tasted like desire. It felt like there was nothing else in the world, everything else faded out of my mind. Our lips parted with hesitance.

I looked into his hungry hypnotizing eyes as my body relaxed in his arms. I felt that funny swimming feeling again and Ben sounded muffled. I kept hearing the word sleep repeated and a vision of two people in hooded cloaks appeared, one of them cradled me in his arms. I felt cold, really cold before I felt a kiss on my forehead. I was in Ben’s bed in his dark bedroom. My body was limp and in a snap, I was asleep.

CHAPTER FOUR

I woke up completely disoriented in Ben’s pitch-black bedroom. I felt around in the darkness for the lamp I remembered seeing on the nightstand. When I found it and switched it on, I looked on the other side of the bed and saw Ben asleep. I wanted to check his pulse, because he looked dead to the world. I looked down at his clothes, which consisted of a nice pair of boxer briefs, and I gave myself a once-over. I was completely dressed with everything, including my Converse sneakers, still intact.
I must have fallen asleep downstairs and he brought me up here,
I
thought. I looked at my watch; it was five in the afternoon on Sunday. My stomach growled in hunger so I felt my way out the room and to the kitchen. I found only a few items in the kitchen which included some bread so I made toast. The only drinks in his refrigerator were wine, water and the tomato juice he had been drinking yesterday in a solid white carafe.

I picked out a cup from the cabinet that held a sea of coffee mugs. I searched for the coffee to find none in sight. I poured a cup of the tomato juice without paying much attention because my toast was burning. I took my juice and toast into the living room, and flipped on the TV, hoping to catch a
Bridezilla
episode. The brides were at it, as usual, and I bit into the toast. Then I picked up the mug, eyes glued to the irate bride, took a sip, and gagged on the drink

My eyes darted to the fluid inside the cup as my brain registered what it was. Blood.

I shrieked in horror, as I felt disgusted. The blood had the same metallic flavor that I’d tasted on Ben yesterday in the break room. I had to wonder if he knew he was drinking blood.

My shriek must have woken Ben from his slumber, because he was at my side in no time.

“
What happened? Why did you scream?” he said, in a defensive stance. Ordinarily, I would have marveled at the handsome man with perfect abs as he stood in his boxers next to me, but I was still gagging from the blood that settled in my mouth.

“
This is blood! Not tomato juice!” I held the cup up in front of him.

He was silent for a moment, apparently waiting for my reaction to end. Then he dropped the defensive stance and casually said, “I know.”

My eyes widened and my mouth dropped open. He took the cup from me and placed it on the table next to us.

“
You know! You drink blood?”

He took a step forward as I took a step back. “Can you sit down for a moment?” he said. He was calm, which scared me.

I shook my head. “Hell no! Now answer my question. Do you drink blood?”

“
Yes.”

Fear flooded over me. I picked up my bag that was on the couch and turned toward his front door. Instantly he was in front of me, blocking my way.

“
How did you do that?” I asked with a shaking voice. Terror had now taken over.

“
If you sit down, I will explain everything!”

“
No, I can’t do that!” The next thing I knew, I was in his arms and upstairs in the study. We had moved from one room to the next in nanoseconds. I had no clue as to how and was at the point of fainting, but I was too afraid of what might happen to me if I did.

“
I need you to listen to me.”

“
HELP!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.

“
The house is soundproof; no one can hear you. Now will you please sit down and listen?” He pointed to a chair in his study.

“
Are you going to kill me?” I asked, beginning to cry.

“
What? NO! If I wanted to kill you I could have done so a long time ago — like last night.” I sat because his reason made sense, but I knew I needed to get out of there.

“
Then why do you have me here and why do you drink blood?” I felt more tears welling up in my eyes.

“
You are here because you wanted to be. Last night you even tried to seduce me, and yes, I drink blood. That is the only way I can survive.” He began to pace the floor of the study.

With my tears blurring my vision, I looked at him skeptically as I thought about me trying to seduce him.
I don’t remember that.

“
So are you a sanguinarian?”

“
What? No.” He looked as confused as I felt.

“
People who drink human blood are sanguinarians!”

“
I know that, but what I am is far worse than that.” The look of shame on his face made him look remorseful but I feared him nonetheless.

“
Well, what are you?” He didn’t answer, but his expression was enough. I battled to keep the folklore myths out, but I lost when a whisper escaped my mouth: “Vampire.” I clapped my hands over my mouth in shock. “That’s just a myth,” I added. “Right?”

He stopped his pacing as he turned toward me and crouched down; then he simply smiled. As he grinned, the whites of his eyes went completely black and his canines extended into razor sharp points, making them longer than his other teeth. His completely black eyes met mine. Dread washed over me, and I felt faint.

“
Does this look like a myth to you?” Ben said, and I screamed. I had gotten myself into this situation, and now I was about to die.

“
I told you, I will not harm you.” Ben retracted his razor-sharp fangs and replaced them with his dimpled-filled, genuine smile.

“
Don’t do that EVER again,” I said breathlessly. My heart pounded. I still felt very afraid but I needed to play it cool until I could escape.

“
I will not. Now, please calm down; your heart beating that fast makes me thirsty for your blood.”

I stopped breathing altogether, when he said that. But I had too many questions in my head that I wanted to ask; I blurted the first out before I could stop it.

“
Is that why you became a nurse, so you could drink blood from the patients? Did you kill Ms. Blanke?” I put my hand over my chest at the thought.

“
No! I am a nurse to help people. Plus, there is a blood bank in the hospital that supplies me, hence the juice.” I noted he conveniently left out Ms. Blanke that’s when a tear rolled down my cheek.

“
But… Ms. Blanke?” I choked out.

“
I did not harm Ms. Blanke!” He stated as a matter-of-fact. I sighed in relief that he didn’t.

He stood calmly and I saw my opportunity to leave. “Well, can I go now? I mean, there’s no reason for me to stick around if I’m not your victim, I mean dinner, right?” I grabbed my bag again.

“
Not yet; I have to clear your memories of this. I cannot have you telling everyone that you just met a vampire.”

“
What do you mean ‘clear my memories’?”

“
I can make you forget this entire conversation and about vampires,” he extended his hand to me.

“
No, I don’t want you to do that to me. I want to remember that you are a vampire.” I pulled my hand back from him.

He shook his head. “I have to; even you cannot know what I am.”

“
Why?”

“
You could be killed for knowing this!” The trepidation in his eyes seemed genuine.

“
Killed? Who would kill me?”

“
He will have you killed.”
He fears for me, not himself.
But then again, he was a vampire
.

“
Who is he, and why are you afraid? You’re a vampire!”

Ben began to pace the floor again before he spoke. “Hades! He is more powerful than I and he owns the souls of the dead.”

I relaxed, almost amused at his fright. “Wait a minute, Hades as in the Greek god?”

“
Yes, Toni. This is not a laughing matter.” I wasn’t sure if he used Hades as a ploy to calm me down or not but it worked. Here he is a vampire afraid of a villainous storybook character.