Confessions Of A Vampire (2 page)

“Well, yes
,
he just killed me
, sort of. M
y family thought I'd run off
with some drunk
. It wasn't a far stretch to come to that conclusion. I don't blame them for not looking harder or questioning things. It was most likely easier on them with me gone.”

My sigh was deep and I looked away to hide the tears that threatened to fall. Even now it still stung that they were better off without me in their lives. I'd loved them, despite everything that I'd done. They were my family after all.

“Did you ever get to see them again?” he asked with curiosity.

I nodded. “Yes, but not for some time after that
; it
was too dangerous for them at that time. I was a killer and it was very difficult for me to control my blood lust when I was hungry.
Every new vampire goes through a period where they’re uncontrollable and it’s often better if their human families think them dead or a runaway.
It wasn’t as if I could just return to life as normal. I wasn’t normal any more.
”

“So, Kieran, your maker, helped you learn to become a killer?”

I inhaled and held the breath as it all came rushing back.
My voice shook with the emotion of what had happened to me back then as I told this human about those nights spent with Kieran.

Those first few nights were
literally
Hell for me. The hunger I felt was overwhelming and I couldn't control it. I needed blood and Kieran was only too happy to teach me the art of hunting. He'd explained that we had to be careful in how we found our meals. Back then it wasn't easy to sleep all day and only be seen at night
. We
couldn't stay in one place
very
long
,
so we moved around a lot.
We were always the strangers just passing through and we always had an elaborate ruse in place to keep suspicion off of us as much as possible. I was adept at lying, so this wasn’t a stretch for me.

We soon had a routine in place.
Kieran liked to hunt first and then we could play
,
as he called it. Every evening started the same. We'd rise, often from the Earth
if we couldn’t find suitable
accommodations
, and set out in search of our meal. We often dined on campers we'd find in the woods or weak men who'd happened to cross our path.
It was easy to kill those that no one would really miss. We tried to draw as little attention to ourselves as possible.

Feeding was all I could think of those first few weeks. Kieran on the other hand had other ideas. Sex was always on his mind. I wasn't a virgin or a prude by any means and Kieran was easy on the eyes. Falling into his bed was almost as natural as breathing used to be. As my maker
,
he could have commanded me to sleep with him, but there was no need for that. He was exactly my type. His dark hair hung to his shoulders and he tied it back
with a leather thong. His amber
eyes held intelligence and authority in them. Standing six foot three, Kieran Blood towered over most men and certainly over little women like me.
He could be intimidating and I found that sexy as hell.

Several nights
passed
and we'd fallen into a routine
of
kill, fuck, kill some more and repeat until the sun
arose
or
until
we lay exhausted. I was learning that this life wasn't so bad, if you could call
our existence
living.

Kieran was attentive and helpful. At first
, that is
. Then as I started to gain strength and knowledge, he became more and more possessive.
My job had always been to get our meals back to our room or camp and
h
e'd never had a problem with me seducing the prey before. But one night, as I was making my rounds at all the local bars, something snapped inside of my maker and from that moment forth he became someone I longed to get away from.
I dreaded the hunt with him and I think he actually took pleasure in knowing that he scared me.
As he spiraled into madness, I learned that my only hope was getting away from him.

It wasn't long after that the beatings started and I began to plot my escape. Leaving one's maker isn't as easy as one would think and I learned the hard way
that I couldn’t just up and leave without
repercussions
. He could call me back to him at
any time
and I couldn't resist his commands. But I tried more than once.

The first time I tried to escape him didn't go quite as I'd planned. I'd been with him a little over a year and I'd had enough. The nightly abuse and his unreasonable and irrational demands had taken a toll on my sanity and I just wanted out. The plan was amazing, or so I thought. I'd waited until he was in downtime for the day and arranged for a young virgin to be brought to him from the local
orphanage
. Virgin blood was a rare treat, even in those days, and I knew he wouldn't be able to resist.

While he was otherwise engaged, I gathered the bag I'd thrown together and ran. I don't know why I thought I could get away or even what had possessed me to just run but I didn't make it far. Two days passed and I felt the pull. One I was unable to resist. My body betrayed me and made
its
way back to Kieran.

I paid a high price for that first attempt. Kieran beat me and threatened to destroy me. He seemed quite intent on it until I begged him to just do it. I no longer wanted this existence if I had to spend it with him.

As soon as the words passed my lips I knew that they were a mistake. His eyes lit up and I knew that he'd never bring true death to me. I was once more at the mercy of my maker.

The words died on my tongue and
I didn't realize I was crying until I felt his worry. Looking up I saw t
he concern etched clearly on my husband’s
face and smiled trying to alleviate some of it. Without a single thought to the young man that sat watching us, I stood and crossed the room.

Severu
s wrapped his arms around me pressing
a tender kiss to my forehead and I felt safe again. My words were a whisper as I tried to reassure him that I was okay.

“I was just telling this young man about Kieran.”

He nodded, not looking at the man, his attention focused only on me. Severus had a way of
making me feel as if we were the only two beings in the universe
. He rarely noticed anyone around him, or so it seemed. But I knew differently. My husband never missed a thing and if he thought I was in danger, he'd be the first to destroy
whoever
threatened me. It was one of the things I loved most about him.

I could see the young man staring at us. I knew that we didn't look like we belonged together but anyone who'd ever spent more than a few minutes with us knew
,
beyond a shadow of a doubt
,
that we were very much meant to be.

Severus was dark and handsome
while
I was pale and pretty in an unusual sort of way. His sense of fashion was evident by the expensive suits he wore effortlessly. I was most comfortable in torn leggi
ngs and band tees. We were complete
opposites but love doesn't really care what you look like
or even if you look like you belong together.

There was a time when we looked as if we’d been created for each other
, but that's another story that you'll learn later.

For the first time since he'd arrived
,
my husband acknowledged the young man's presence. With a
simple nod, he
let him
know that he was welcome here as long as I
was comfortable and safe
. Until such time as he felt I wasn't happy with the situation, my husband would keep his opinions to himself and allow this to continue.

He kissed me softly and I found myself getting weak in the knees even after all this time.
Once he was convinced that I was alright,
Severus left as quietly as he'd arrived and I walked back across the room and took my seat again.

I could see the questions running through the young man's mind and simply smiled at him.

“We've been married for about four years now though we met many centuries ago.” I felt the need to let him know that this wasn't just one of those meet,
falls
in love and marry kind of relationships, so I continued. “It took us a long time to get here, but we are and that's all that matters, isn't it?”

He nodded slightly, his voice soft when he spoke. “
Can you tell me about that first meeting?
?”

I thought back through all those centuries
before I spoke, wanting him to understand our beginning.

Chapter Four

I'm sure the smile lit up my face as I thought about that chance meeting that led to all of this
and my voice was filled with emotion
as I told him of the night I’d met the love of my existence
.

The year was 1342 and I was sitting at my vanity in the castle of a King. I'd been undead for almost 200 years by then and I'd grown quite accustomed to a lavish lifestyle. Being part of the Royal Court just somehow seemed appropriate.

King Edward III was a generous host and
had readily
accepted Star
and me into his midst without questions. Yes, my sister had been turned several years after my own turning, but that’s a story for another time.
He turned a blind eye to our odd sleeping habits and never once mentioned our lack of an appetite. In return
,
my sister and I kept a low profile outside of the Royal Palace.

We needed to feed to survive and we'd somehow convinced a few of the staff to be willing donors. That kept us fed and happy. During those times no one spoke of the odd lifestyle we led thanks to Edward
but even he couldn’t stop the stares that would come our way that night
.
My sister and I stood out in a crowd, as do most vampires, but that’
s part of the mystique and what allows us to survive
.

So there I sat, powdering my bosom, pulling the bodice of my dress lower. The swell of my breasts always drew attention and I used it to my advantage as often as I could. I raised my gaze up to watch Star as she expertly applied rouge to her cheeks and color to her lips.
Her smile met mine and I nodded, letting her know I was ready to go.

With a final look in the mirrored glass I stood and admired the green velvet dress that hugged every curve of my body. Setting the black mask in place, I linked my arm with Star's and hurried to make a fashionably late entrance into the King's Masquerade Ball.

My foot had just hit the marble floor of the ballroom when I felt his presence. Turning
,
I scanned the crowd, looking past others who would have caug
ht my attention any other night.  It wasn’t long before I
found sparkling blue ones staring back at me through a dark mask and I felt draw
n to him. I could not resist the need to be next to him
and ignored every other male in the building as
I pushed past them
.
There was no explanation
for what drew me to him but
I was trembling by the time I stood in front of him.

Taking a deep and
much
needed breath, I held it as he took my hand in his and led me to the dance floor
without a word
. His body pressed against mine in inappropriate ways and my heart sang. I felt alive in his arms. Alive in ways I hadn't since the night my life had been stolen from me. I could feel the heat of his body through his
silk shirt
, his breath on my neck
was
warm and I knew that before this night was over, I'd be begging him to allow me one taste.
He twirled me around the floor as if we’d been dancing together for years. His scent intoxicated me and I swear I was swooning, if such a thing actually happens in reality.
It was heaven in his arms and I wanted to be in them for an eternity.