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Chapter 42

The dreae canopied bed The drapes were heavy blue velvet, the color of ht skies The velvet bedspread was soft under oith lace at the collar and sleeves I&039;d never owned anything like it No one had in this century

The walls were blue and gold wallpaper A huge fireplace blazed, sending shadows dancing around the room Jean-Claude stood in the corner of the roo the same shirt I&039;d last seen him in, the one with the peekaboo front

He walked towardsin his eyes

"Why don&039;t you ever dressnormal in these dreaown?"

"Hell, no"

He gave a slight smile "You always did have a ords,me that, da in the way he said my name that I didn&039;t like at all

"What are you up to, Jean-Claude?"

He stood beside the bed and unbuttoned the first button of his shirt

"What are you doing?"

Another button, and another, then he was pulling the shirt out of his pants and letting it slide to the floor His bare chest was only a little less white than own His nipples were pale and hard The strand of dark hair that started low on his belly and disappeared into his pants fascinated me

He crawled up on the bed

I backed away, clutching the white gown to me like some heroine in a bad Victorian novel "I don&039;t seduce this easy"

"I can taste your lust on the back of ue, Anita You want to knohat my skin feels like next to your naked body"

I scrambled off the bed "Leave me the fuck alone I mean it"

"It&039;s just a dream Can&039;t you even let yourself lust in a dream?"

"It&039;s never just a drea in front of me I hadn&039;t seen him move His arms locked behind my back, and ere on the floor in front of the fire Fire-shadows danced on the naked skin of his shoulders His skin was fragile, smooth, and unblemished--so soft I wanted to touch it forever He was on top ofainst mine

"One kiss and I&039;ll let you up"

I stared into his ht-blue eyes from inches away I couldn&039;t talk I turned my face away so I wouldn&039;t have to look into the perfection of his face "One kiss?"

"My word," he whispered

I turned back to him "Your word isn&039;t worth shit"

His face leaned over"One kiss"

His lips were soft, gentle He kissedht that all curly hair was coarse, but his was baby fine, silken soft "One kiss," he whispered against the skin ofthe pulse in my neck

"Stop it"

"You want it"

"Stop it, now!"

He grabbed a handful of hair, forcing s His eyes were drowning blue without any white at all

"NO!"

"I will have you, ma petite, even if it is to save your life" His head ca at a ceiling I didn&039;t recognize

Black and white drapes were suspended fro in a soft fan The bed was black satin with too many pillows thrown all over the place The pilloere all black or white I earing a black goith spaghetti straps It felt like a real silk and fit me perfectly

The floor was ankle-deep white carpet A black lacquer vanity and chest of draere placed at far corners of the room I sat up and could see myself in the mirror My neck was smooth, no bite marks Just a dream, just a dream, but I knew better The bedroom had the un of poison How had I gotten here? Was I underneath the Circus of the Daht wrist hurt

There was a white swathe of bandages aroundit in the cave

I stared at ee hed I matched the decor I matched the damn decor

A door opened behind a white curtain I got a gli but the silky bottoms of men&039;s pajamas He padded towards me on bare feet His bare chest looked like it had in my dream, except for the cross-shaped scar; it hadn&039;t been there in the dream It marred the marble perfection of him, made him seem more real somehow

"Hell," I said "Definitely Hell"

&039;What,where I was If you&039;re here, it has to be Hell"

He smiled He looked entirely too satisfied, like a snake that had been well-fed

"How did I get here?"

"Richard brought you"

"So I really was poisoned That wasn&039;t part of the dreae of the bed, as far away froet and still sit down There were no other places to sit "I&039;m afraid the poison was very real"

"Not that I&039;, but why aren&039;t I dead?"

He hugged his knees to his chest, a strangely vulnerable gesture "I saved you"

"Explain that"

"You know"

I shook my head "Say it"

"The third mark"

"I don&039;t have any bite ed"

"You bastard"

"I saved your life"

"You drank ave the slightest nod

"You son of a bitch"

The door opened again, and it was Richard "You bastard, how could you give rateful to us, Richard"

"You said you&039;d rather die than be a lycanthrope"

"I&039;d rather die than be a vampire"

"He didn&039;t bite you You&039;re not going to be a vareat choice"

"It&039;s only the third mark, Anita You aren&039;t his servant yet"

"That&039;s not the point" I stared at him "Don&039;t you understand? I&039;d rather you let me die than have done this"

"It is hardly a fate worse than death," Jean-Claude said

"You were bleeding fro to death in my arms" Richard took a few steps towards the bed, then stopped "I couldn&039;t just let you die" His hands reached outward in a helpless gesture

I stood up in the silky gown and stared at them both "Maybe Richard didn&039;t know any better, but you kne I felt, Jean-Claude You don&039;t have any excuses"

"Perhaps I could not stand to watch you die, either Have you thought of that?"

I shook my head "What does the third ive you over me?"

"I can whisper in your ained power as well, ma petite You are very hard to kill now Poison won&039;t work at all"

I kept shaking ive you for this, Jean-Claude"

"I did not think you would," he said He seemed wistful

"I need clothes and a ride hoht"

"Anita, you&039;ve almost died twice today How can you"

"Can it, Richard I need to go to work tonight I need so that&039;s mine and not his You invasive bastard"

"Find her some clothes and take her hoe"

I stared at Jean-Claude still huddled on the corner of the bed He looked adorable, and if I&039;d had a gun, I&039;d have shot hiut He meant to make me his servant, whether I liked it or not I could screanore it

"Coain, Jean-Claude, for any reason, and I&039;ll kill you"

"Three marks bind us now It would harhed, and it was bitter "Do you really think I give a damn?"

He stared at me, face calm, unreadable, lovely "No" He turned his back on us both and said, "Take her holanced back with a sry"

I wanted to spit at hih I couldn&039;t kill hio Grace under pressure I followed Richard out the door and didn&039;t look back I didn&039;t want to see his perfect profile in the vanity mirror

Vampires weren&039;t supposed to have reflections, or souls He had one Did he have the other? Did it oing to give Jean-Claude to Oliver I was going to give the city to Mr Oliver I was going to set the Master of the City up for assassination One more mark and I&039;d be his forever No way I&039;d see him dead first, even if it , not even eternity

Chapter 43

I ended up wearing one of those dresses with the waist that hit you about at the hips The fact that the dress was about three sizes too big didn&039;t help h heels It was better than going barefoot Richard turned up the heat in the car because I&039;d refused his coat

We were fighting, and we hadn&039;t even had one date That was a record even for me

"You&039;re alive," he said for the seventieth time

"But at what price?"

"I believe that all life is precious Don&039;t you?"

"Don&039;t go all philosophical on me, Richard You handed me over to the monsters, and they used me Don&039;t you understand that Jean-Claude has been looking for an excuse to do this to me?"

"He saved your life"

That seeument "But he didn&039;t do it to save my life He did it because he wants me as his slave"

"A human servant isn&039;t a slave It&039;s almost the opposite He&039;ll have almost no power over you"