ANDREA'S OVERLORD (9 page)

A glacier of pure fear filled his gut. If anyone were to overhear the things she was saying, they’d both be turned in and have to face the wrath of the Council. “Andrea don’t, these walls are thinner than you realize. If someone were to hear you talk like that they could…”

“I don’t care! Let anyone who can hear me tell the High Council! Let them come and destroy me like they do all those who fight them!”

Mikel rushed over to quiet her but she scrambled away.

“Andrea, please!”

“Why do you want me to shut up, Mikel? Afraid they might take away your human plaything? If I went away you wouldn’t have me around to excite you anymore, poor thing. Am I not being a good human toy? Well I have a voice in my destiny and I’m going to use it! I don’t care who hears me!”

There was a knock on the door. Mikel’s chest tightened. He went and opened it but it was only an older vampire from next door. “Get a hold on your woman, sir. She’s yelling so loud she could wake the dead!”

“Yes, yes,” Mikel said, rushing the old vampire away. “I’m sorry. We were having an argument and it got a little loud. We’ll keep it down.”

The old man walked off shaking his head.

Mikel closed the door and rushed to Andrea. Her eyes blazed with ferocity. “Stop this foolishness. You’re going to get us both killed.”

“I don’t care.” She kissed him. It was one brief kiss but for the first time, it wasn’t enhanced by his power to seduce. She did it all on her own which surprised the hell out of him. Something inside him snapped and a rush of fevered lust came over him. He’d never met a woman like her. He wanted to protect her and destroy her all in one breath.

He ran his lips over hers, caressing them up over her cheeks and eyelids. His desire was building, roaring like a bonfire within, threatening to consume them both. He thought about killing her but knew he couldn’t. She was witchcraft in his blood: there was no escape. “There is a way you can find peace and more freedom. You may not like this idea but…I could turn you.”

She stiffened in his arms. “You wouldn’t. It’s forbidden without the express permission of the Council.”

“They would forgive me this one mistake. Especially considering how troubled they think you are.”

He glided his lips down to her throat and nibbled at the soft flesh. Andrea’s body was tense and hard as stone.

“I would never forgive you.”

“It would change you so much. You would forgive me in time.”

She ran her trembling fingers through his hair. “Mikel, don’t.”

“Why not? It would solve several problems. You would be able to have your freedom and we could be together as equals.”

“No, I don’t want to be anything but human.”

His nostrils flared taking in her rich, perfumed scent. The beast in his heart was taking over his will. Darkness filled him. He wanted to devour and destroy her and in the same moment, make her his dark bride. “How do you know you would hate it? Just think, my darling, I am offering you immortality. Think of all the good you could do to help your fellow humans as a vampire mistress.”

It was the hunger talking now. He’d lost all ability to think through the things he was offering. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew this was a mistake. Turning Andrea would definitely bring punishment from the Council but right now he didn’t care. All he wanted was for them to be together in the most intimate way possible.

Andrea pulled back to look into his face. She touched his cheek and gave him a fragile smile. “I’m so confused.”

“Let me do this and everything will become clear.” A voice inside him was telling him to stop, think, but he silenced it. He loved her. This was a way they could be together as equals. That was all that mattered.

She relaxed a little and leaned her head back exposing delicate tendons and two gorgeous bulging arteries. Mikel was overwhelmed. Never in his life had he wanted a woman like he wanted her now. They would be together forever. She would be his forever.

“Are you sure?” he said in a breathy whisper.

“You’re right. It’s the only way I’d be powerful enough to do some good. I’m sure, Mikel. I’m very, very sure.”

If he’d stopped to think, those words should have given him pause. But they didn’t. He was inches from having everything he thought he ever wanted. And in a moment of complete insanity, he took the plunge.

Chapter 14

Andrea had never wanted to be a vampire. But faced with being a prisoner for the rest of her life she would endure it. The added bonus was that she would be in a much better position to help other humans if she was a vampire rather than a fellow mortal. It wasn’t a very good plan, but at the moment, it was the only one she had. Two sharp pricks pained her neck and then withdrew.

“What? What is it?” she asked in a breathy voice.

Mikel pulled back and shook his head. “This is wrong, Andrea. Your taking should be a well thought-out exercise, not like this. This seems rushed. I wonder if you’ve really considered what this new existence could mean.”

There was no other way. Andrea knew that now. She had to be completely honest with him if there was any hope of living a decent fulfilling life. “This option is the only one I have. I want you to do it so we can be equals, Mikel. I also want you to do it so I can help my people without worrying that I might become someone’s lunch or sex slave. This is the only logical way.”

He stared into her eyes and her desire for him roared through her soul. This
was
the answer. She wanted all of him: his bite, his rage, and especially his sex. She accepted all and was able to embrace it.

His blue eyes seemed to be searching for doubt. “The change can be very hard at first. You’ll feel different. You may not feel the same about humans after the change. What if this changes you in ways you dislike?”

Andrea turned away from him and walked over to the window. Night was coming and the city was getting busier. She appreciated what Mikel was trying to warn her about but she already knew. It was a definite risk. “I know I’m unhappy this way. I hate feeling powerless and at the mercy of every vampire I meet. This is the only way I know of to change all that.” She turned to meet his concerned gaze. “Would you do it if I told you I was sure?”

He went to her and wrapped his arms around her. His power enfolded and surrounded her making her feel like she’d been wrapped in a velvet blanket. His lips touched hers delicately at first, then with a little more ferocity.

“I hope you know what you’re doing. Please don’t make me regret this.”

She nuzzled his cheek. “I promise I’ll try my best to behave and play within the Council rules.”

Andrea melted into his quiet strength. His lips caressed her face and throat and stoked the fire within her soul. There was definitely nothing like being loved by a vampire. The very nature of their power brought something unique and exciting to the game of love. She could completely understand how some humans would choose to be a vampire’s plaything all their lives. They never had to struggle with the outside world, they never had to do anything more than please their masters.

Mikel eased her head back and ran his rough tongue along her flesh. This time her pleasure was heightened by the fact that he had hesitated, he’d cared and worried that she was making the right decision. She’d reassured him but deep down she had her doubts. Unfortunately she had no other option. She was strong-willed and stubborn and that only worked in a person’s favor if they were a vampire. Hopefully she’d be able to hang on to her humanity just enough to free all those humans bred in captivity.

His fangs pierced her throat. A current of pure agony ran down her body but after a few brief moments, it passed. Then the euphoria came. It howled through every cell in her body, pulling her into a vortex of the most exquisite bliss. His hands roamed her skin, touching, tickling, and teasing. Her panties were soaked before she knew what was happening. Then he had her over the glass dining room table, his huge fangs drawing in her blood as his cock roughly probed its way into her inviting center. She was filled up and consumed; a woman possessed and broken in the same moment. Her hands took on a life of their own. They tore at his clothing desperate to touch the heavy muscles of his back and chest. He impaled her deeper and drew a gasp from the depths of her lust.

Andrea clutched onto him and let out an animal moan. Her legs rose up and locked around his waist greedily, keeping the source of her pleasure connected to her body.

“Faster, Mikel. I’m almost there…faster.”

Her lover had become a beast, a great dragon tearing away at what used to be her humanity. His lust-fueled rage excited and terrified her, but no part of her wanted him to stop.

Mikel took control with a snarl and held her down onto the table. Then he pulled a small vile of blood from his pocket, broke it, and ordered her to drink. “This is the blood of the first immortal. We consider her to be our Eve.”

Andrea parted her lips as Mikel poured the foul-tasting blood into her mouth. She coughed and gagged. A second of panic filled her.
What have I done? There’s no coming back from this. I’m going to be like this forever!

But before she could really absorb the consequences of what she’d chosen, her orgasm came. It was an unequaled ecstasy that came over her like an all-consuming fire. She was set ablaze with carnal heat and the pounding sweetness of possession. She had no need for regret, for in the next breath she drew came a power that attached and infused itself into her very being. In that second in time, all that was human about Andrea died a quiet and peaceful death.

Chapter 15

Mikel watched Andrea as she awoke. Even though he’d found her beautiful before, she was breathtaking now. Her skin, which had always been light tan, had turned a pale, delicate porcelain. Her eyes were bright and clear like the crystal clear pools of a natural spring. He loved her so much his heart ached and worse still, he feared for her.

Andrea had never been shy about speaking her mind and after her bold excursion the other day who knew what the consequences might be? He kissed her cheek as she blinked away the cobwebs of sleep. “How do you feel, darling?”

She rubbed her forehead. “I feel strange.”

“That will pass.”

“Am I a vampire now?”

“Yes, but you are not complete until you take your first victim.”

She gave him a dubious glance and sat up. “And if I refuse to? Then what happens?”

His throat tightened. He prayed she wouldn’t bring such suffering on herself just for the sake of being stubborn. “You will suffer greatly until you do.”

Andrea swung her legs off the bed and sat up. She swooned and he sat next to her to steady her. She held her head for a moment then smiled at him.

“Thank you.”

Then she got up and disappeared into the bathroom.

Mikel got up and paced. He was so afraid for her. What if she couldn’t adapt to this new life? What if he’d made a terrible mistake in turning her? A million small terrors made his mind race. He went to the window and stared out at the city.

A heavy knock sounded at the front door. Mikel’s heart froze in his chest. He went to it and tried to calm his breathing. “Who is it?”

“Council Police. We’re here for your human servant.”

There was no running, he’d have to face them and try to talk them out of taking her. Mikel opened the door and gave them an acid stare. He didn’t invite them in. “Why? What has she done?”

The sergeant, a short stocky man, squared his shoulders. It made him look all the more imposing in his dark red uniform. “She’s been spotted in the streets alone. There are strict laws against things like that. Many have testified she speaks out against the Council. She’s accused of being a human revolutionary. We have orders to bring her in for interrogation.”

“The law no longer applies to her,” Mikel said. “She’s not human anymore.”

“You turned her without permission?”

“What can I say? It was a moment of weakness. She’s vampire now.”

The sergeant seemed to shake his surprise off quickly. “The Council said she is to come in regardless of circumstance.”