man.
Aloysius I knew. I knew him back and forth so well that I‘d learned to manipulate him in my own little ways. Suggesting lesser punishments that sounded worse than what he‘d think up for me, but punishments I could handle. Forcing his hand sometimes. And finally, knowing how his mind worked so I could escape. Though one might argue that Aloysius had let me run away –
yet another level to our endless mind games that we played.
He leaned in to me and I instinctively flinched, but David only began to kiss my shoulder softly, pressing light kisses along the bare skin. ―Tell me what I have missed in the last hundred and twenty years.‖
I found his touch oddly comforting, and I stroked the golden curls of his hair as I stared up at the ceiling, thinking. I could tell him about the endless years of depravities. The years that Aloysius had punished me for David‘s supposed betrayal and disappearance, letting me think 49
Slave To Her Desires
that I‘d somehow been responsible, when it had been him all along. The years that I fought back, and eventually gave in. The years he let his friends take their turns with me. The years I spent in a cage, locked in the basement of a vampire stronghold, blood slave to a dozen vampires.
I swallowed hard. I didn‘t like thinking about those years. They belonged to the past. So I only said, ―He is not who you think he is.‖
―On the contrary,‖ David said, his voice soft and sad. ―I think he is exactly who I think he is. Aloysius is miserable here on the mortal plain, and strives to make others miserable with him.
He cares nothing of the feelings of others – only himself. He is selfish, petulant, and bores easily.‖ David leaned in and kissed my shoulder again. ―You have known him for a hundred years, but I have known him for eons. And I did not see the darkness until it was too late.‖
―He is a vampire now,‖ I said. ―His soul is blacker than ever.‖
He thought for a moment, then sighed. ―I wonder that his soul has always been black, and I was too blind to see it.‖
David seemed so sad about it that I didn‘t have the heart to tell him I had no sympathy for Aloysius. Anything I might have felt for my vampire master – other than revulsion – had long ago disappeared.
―And you want to kill him?‖ David asked me. ―That is a grievous crime amongst immortals, unless much has changed while I slept.‖
―I don‘t care if they condemn me,‖ I said. ―It‘s the only way I‘ll ever be free of him. As long as he‘s alive, he‘s going to call me back to him. Continue torturing me. Make me suffer.
And I can‘t deal with it anymore.‖ My voice hardened and I stopped stroking the curls of David‘s blonde hair. ―Either kill him, or kill me, but it ends one way or another.‖
He said nothing, but I could feel the sorrow hanging over him.
50
Slave To Her Desires
I got up and left the room, leaving David to dress and come to terms with what I‘d asked him.
#
I ate breakfast in silence, my body a bundle of nerves. Noah Gideon was in his study, working. I could hear the quiet clicking of the keyboard as he typed. David had not emerged from the bedroom, and I continued to eat, ravenous despite the anxious churning of my stomach.
What if David said no to me? What options did I have? I was asking him to kill his best friend – the man he had been a companion to for millennia. Longer than that – they‘d fallen together. Who was I to come between them? A liability. A plaything. A sexual toy with no feelings or needs of her own. This falling out between them could be nothing more than a spat between friends. Like David had said, I had known Aloysius for a mere hundred years. David had known him for four thousand.
The pancakes I had made tasted like ashes in my mouth.
David emerged from the bedroom and I froze in place. He glanced around the room, no doubt noting the wealth of unfamiliar objects, or the small size of Noah‘s
Aloysius I knew. I knew him back and forth so well that I‘d learned to manipulate him in my own little ways. Suggesting lesser punishments that sounded worse than what he‘d think up for me, but punishments I could handle. Forcing his hand sometimes. And finally, knowing how his mind worked so I could escape. Though one might argue that Aloysius had let me run away –
yet another level to our endless mind games that we played.
He leaned in to me and I instinctively flinched, but David only began to kiss my shoulder softly, pressing light kisses along the bare skin. ―Tell me what I have missed in the last hundred and twenty years.‖
I found his touch oddly comforting, and I stroked the golden curls of his hair as I stared up at the ceiling, thinking. I could tell him about the endless years of depravities. The years that Aloysius had punished me for David‘s supposed betrayal and disappearance, letting me think 49
Slave To Her Desires
that I‘d somehow been responsible, when it had been him all along. The years that I fought back, and eventually gave in. The years he let his friends take their turns with me. The years I spent in a cage, locked in the basement of a vampire stronghold, blood slave to a dozen vampires.
I swallowed hard. I didn‘t like thinking about those years. They belonged to the past. So I only said, ―He is not who you think he is.‖
―On the contrary,‖ David said, his voice soft and sad. ―I think he is exactly who I think he is. Aloysius is miserable here on the mortal plain, and strives to make others miserable with him.
He cares nothing of the feelings of others – only himself. He is selfish, petulant, and bores easily.‖ David leaned in and kissed my shoulder again. ―You have known him for a hundred years, but I have known him for eons. And I did not see the darkness until it was too late.‖
―He is a vampire now,‖ I said. ―His soul is blacker than ever.‖
He thought for a moment, then sighed. ―I wonder that his soul has always been black, and I was too blind to see it.‖
David seemed so sad about it that I didn‘t have the heart to tell him I had no sympathy for Aloysius. Anything I might have felt for my vampire master – other than revulsion – had long ago disappeared.
―And you want to kill him?‖ David asked me. ―That is a grievous crime amongst immortals, unless much has changed while I slept.‖
―I don‘t care if they condemn me,‖ I said. ―It‘s the only way I‘ll ever be free of him. As long as he‘s alive, he‘s going to call me back to him. Continue torturing me. Make me suffer.
And I can‘t deal with it anymore.‖ My voice hardened and I stopped stroking the curls of David‘s blonde hair. ―Either kill him, or kill me, but it ends one way or another.‖
He said nothing, but I could feel the sorrow hanging over him.
50
Slave To Her Desires
I got up and left the room, leaving David to dress and come to terms with what I‘d asked him.
#
I ate breakfast in silence, my body a bundle of nerves. Noah Gideon was in his study, working. I could hear the quiet clicking of the keyboard as he typed. David had not emerged from the bedroom, and I continued to eat, ravenous despite the anxious churning of my stomach.
What if David said no to me? What options did I have? I was asking him to kill his best friend – the man he had been a companion to for millennia. Longer than that – they‘d fallen together. Who was I to come between them? A liability. A plaything. A sexual toy with no feelings or needs of her own. This falling out between them could be nothing more than a spat between friends. Like David had said, I had known Aloysius for a mere hundred years. David had known him for four thousand.
The pancakes I had made tasted like ashes in my mouth.
David emerged from the bedroom and I froze in place. He glanced around the room, no doubt noting the wealth of unfamiliar objects, or the small size of Noah‘s
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