The Kingdom of the Nine; The Vampire Legacy IV by Dawn Gray Page A

about. Robert would threaten to take him away from me,
which he had already done, and the fact that I didn't have a steady
job that brought in the income needed to support him would be held
against me and I couldn't lose my son.
    After thinking about all of this, I realized that
there wasn't much that I had to hold on to. I was sinking, and
fast, into a world of supernatural beings, things that weren't
supposed to exist, but did. This thought frightened me and I got
out of the tub faster than I ever thought I could. Wrapped in a
terry cloth bathrobe, that came to my knees, and dripping from the
fact that my hair was still wet, I made my way up to the third
floor bedroom that I knew Julian occupied. The door had been made
to look like part of the wall, but with just a slight push on the
edge of the seam; it popped open wide enough to get my hand in.
    “Julian?” I asked, as I stepped into the room; at
first I didn't see him standing in a dark corner, until I stood
next to the bed, and turned towards the fireplace. He stepped out
towards me, wearing nothing but a pair of black cotton pants, which
I assumed he was going to sleep in. I stared at his face for what
seemed like eternity as he stood there looking at me. The fire made
his skin look as if it were glistening and thoughts of running my
hands over his defined chest and abs made my face flush with a
strange heat as I looked away. I felt his hand on my neck, and for
a moment I closed my eyes, but what I had to ask him made me turn
back and look up into his eyes as they glowed an odd red color. I
waited only a moment more before I placed my hand against his chest
and sighed. “What am I?”
    “I thought you'd never ask.” He smiled at me, and
then gestured to the bed, but I stopped.
    “I didn't come up here to be seduced by you, you
know.” I said, stepping back a bit, but still taking in the whole
view of him. “I came up here to find out the truth.”
    “And, I can give that to you, but you have to trust
me.” He whispered. I shook my head, knowing in my heart that even
though I had only met him, again, for the first time that
afternoon, that I trusted him fully, I couldn't quite get up the
nerve to follow it.
    “What, exactly, are you proposing to do to help me?”
I asked him. Julian smiled.
    “You don't trust me, then?” He smiled. I
shook my head again.
    “It's not that I don't trust you, Jules. It's
that I don't trust me.” I turned and closed my eyes, facing the
direction of the fireplace. “I was sitting in the bathtub, thinking
about our talk earlier about Robert, and I’ve come to the
conclusion, as scary as it might be, that nothing, except my son,
was holding me back from giving in to whatever the pull is that I
feel towards you, but my son is a big reason because if I ever did
give in and Robert found out,” I turned back to him, “I could lose
my son forever.” I crossed my arms over my chest and sighed. “So, I
decided that the best thing to do was to come right out and ask the
question that was there, in the back of my mind, so that I could go
home and try to get back to my life.”
    “You'll never be the same after this, Cait,
and you know it.” He spoke to me, softly, sitting down on the
bed.
    “I want to know who I am. I need to find out
what the things are that my inner voice is telling me about.” I
walked over and sat on the bed facing him.
    Julian reached out for me, but I backed away
a bit, not really sure what I wanted, but I don't believe he was
taking no for an answer this time, because he reached out quickly,
catching my face between his hands, which made me gasp, wide-eyed
at him, as he came towards me and kissed me forcefully on the
mouth.
    I wanted to pull away, but, I didn't and I
wanted to resist giving in, but I couldn't and the hands that I had
placed upon his chest to hold him away, defied my will. I began
caressing the masculine skin under my fingers, up and down his
chest and over his broad shoulders until they