Counting Midnight Read online

  He lifted her and gathered her to his chest and sat down on the sofa with her in his lap. With one hand, he removed his tie and unbuttoned his silk shirt. Taking two fingers, he embedded his nails in the flesh over his heart and sliced a little opening in the vein.

  When the blood began to trickle from his small cut, he placed her lips over it and sent her the urge to open her mouth. He held her head in place with one hand so that the blood would drip onto her tongue.

  “Swallow it, meu dragoste.” Vasile encouraged her. “Take more into your mouth, Nina,” his black satin voice ordered. Even in his thrall, she resisted a little. He kissed her temple and told her again, “Drink from me, meu dragoste, only a little to help fight the infection.”

  He felt the tip of her hot tongue trace the small cut above his breast. Need slammed into his body in a solid wave. He hardened and tightened instantly. She whimpered in protest and he breathed words of comfort into her ear.

  He sent another, stronger mental command that she suck the blood into her mouth. She began to suck lightly. He stopped her after a short time and held her against him, letting her rest.

  As he cradled her on his lap, he pulled out his cell phone.

  “Beverly, I am running late today. Push the staff meeting back an hour. I will tell Miss Caruthers of the change since I must go over some things with her prior to the meeting.” He hung up the phone without waiting for a response.

  Vasile studied Nina’s sleeping features. She’d lost a great deal of weight and she’d never had any to spare, in his opinion. As his eyes roamed over her pale face, he noted the deep purple bruises of fatigue under her eyes. He also saw a long, thin scar that disappeared into her hairline beginning above one cheekbone.

  He thought back to the pain he’d felt that evening two years ago before he’d ceased to feel her. When she’d described her injuries, he’d imagined her broken body pinned in the filthy mud.

  Now, he explored her memories of the accident and once again saw her elderly grandmother wrenched from her arms and crushed by the train car. He felt with her those terrible moments when she’d flown through the air and tried to protect herself from the falling debris.

  Guiltily he searched her mind and found that, as she’d watched certain death hurtle toward her, her last thoughts had been of him.

  He remembered, two years ago, hearing her scream in his mind, “PLEASE FORGIVE ME. IF I HAD ONE MORE MINUTE TO LIVE, I’D LIVE IT WITH YOU!” and then she was gone.

  She had once again come close to dying. Was she destined to die a painful, horrible death? Was she destined to die before her time?

  Not if he could help it!

  He’d give her a month or two longer to get to know him but he would claim her for his mate soon after that. Vasile thought about that a minute. His mate…

  He hadn’t realized consciously that he’d intended to make her his mate. He knew he wasn’t going to let her go again. Making her his mate was the only logical next step.

  He’d fed on her blood many times while he’d been buried inside her body. She wouldn’t be his mate until she took his blood at the same time. They must drink from each other while joined. He could probably compel her to exchange blood with him. He could, but it would be so much better if she made the choice for herself.

  Carefully, Vasile lifted her and placed her back at her desk with her head resting on her folded arms. He straightened his clothing and replaced his tie. Pulling his suit jacket back on, he sent her the mental nudge that would wake her up. He unlocked her office door and appeared to be entering when she lifted her head.

  She seemed flustered and disoriented. She pulled a small compact out and tried to assess the damages of smudged eyeliner and lip color.

  “I’m so sorry, Mr. Velicescu, Vasile, I mean. I must have rested my head and…”

  “Do not worry, meu dragoste, you are in no trouble with me.” he walked to her and took her face in his hands. “You look beautiful, Nina, as you always do.”

  “Sir? Mr. Velicescu? I mean, Vasile.” she went red in the face. He could tell that she was still flustered. “I’m not very lovable or beautiful.” she blushed, looking uneasy.

  “Nonsense!” he declared.

  He’d called her “my love” and possibly she wondered at that. He hadn’t remembered that she understood his language.

  “Romanians, we are sentimental. Please, Nina, I am sure the anticipation of our weekly staff meeting has overwhelmed you with excitement therefore causing your exhaustion.” His ebony eyes twinkled at her. “Let us join the meeting and address this week’s crisis,” he told her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

  Obviously, she didn’t know what to make of his familiarity but she didn’t struggle with him. Part of him wanted to walk into the meeting with her in his arms. No man would dare to touch her if they knew she belonged to him.

  As they walked toward the conference room, he told her what he planned to cover in the meeting. With difficulty, he moved away from her when they joined the group already assembled.

  * * * *

  After ten that night, Nina was finalizing a response to an overseas client regarding the new China Banking Regulatory Commission and Velicescu Finance. Since she was beginning to fight the fever again, she tried even harder to focus on the task at hand. She was so engrossed in her work that Vasile’s phone call surprised her.

  “Nina, may I speak with you, please? Come to my office.” There were many people still working even as late at night as it was so it took her a few minutes to get there. Knowing she was his assistant, a “yes” or “no” from Nina was almost as good as a “yes” or “no” from Vasile.

  Entering his office, she spoke up immediately, “I’m sorry, sir, three people stopped me on the way in. They all had life or death…”

  Vasile walked up to her and placed his hand on her forehead. “How are you feeling, little Nina?” he asked her. Her skin still felt warmer than it should.

  “Excuse me, sir? I’m…” she began, somewhat startled. His black eyes bored into her turquoise ones. “Nina?” he said very softly. “Answer me.”

  She began to tremble. “I feel just fine,” she whispered.

  His onyx gaze held her prisoner. “Nina, you will tell me no fiction.” His voice was a satin whip demanding an honest answer.

  “A little lightheaded but better.” she whispered in a low voice. “Please don’t fire me, Mr… Vasile.” she began to shake harder now.

  Would he yell at her? Would he fire her? He had a reputation as a rigid man who wanted his staff to be sharp and ready to work. She couldn’t have been more surprised when he reached out one hand and cupped her cheek.

  “Nina, it is permissible, is it not, to leave work early when one is feeling poorly?” he asked her. “I offer each of my employees what is known as “sick days” do I not?”

  “Y-Y-yes, S-s-s-sir,” she stuttered.

  “I’m sure this qualifies as an incidence when you are justified in leaving work before your scheduled time, Da?” he asked reasonably.

  “I guess so, S-s—sir,” she finally responded.

  “Nina?” he caressed her cheekbone with his thumb. “When you climb into your bed tonight and close your eyes, please to do something for me?” his sensual, seductive voice stroked her senses.

  “Okay.” she stared at him wide eyed.

  “Please to say my name over and over again until you fall asleep, hmmm, little Nina? Perhaps then you will get used to calling me Vasile instead of Mr. Velicescu.”

  Chapter 5

  Around eleven-thirty that night, Vasile found himself at a crowded bar. He stood just outside the door watching the arriving clientele. When a group of healthy young men came toward him laughing, he joined them.

  Soon two of them walked around the building with him, determined to bet on the outcome of the football game they’d come to watch. He fed from the first man and then leaned him against the building. Taking the other man, he stretched an arm across his shoulders a
nd leaned in as if he were confiding a secret. He fed well from both men.

  When he was finished he implanted the idea that one man had called the correct points spread and the other the correct number of yards gained by his favorite team. They would believe that they’d scuffled briefly with fans from the opposing team, explaining their fatigue and soreness. He tucked a hundred dollar bill inside each man’s pocket to be discovered at just the right time and took his leave of the bar.

  With his hunger satisfied, Vasile turned his mind more fully to Nina. He had been constantly touching her mind gently to assure himself that she was okay. She’d done some of what he’d instructed. In her mind, she’d repeated his name every so often.

  Over the span of the last hour though, Nina had seemed less and less lucid. Now he found that she was shaking with chills and barely coherent.

  He’d been to her new house since she’d come to work as his assistant, but she hadn’t invited him in and he’d never asked to enter. Tapping softly on the door, Vasile sent her the message that it was okay to answer.

  Opening the door, Nina stood in the doorway wearing a long, white linen gown that buttoned up the front and was gathered at the wrists. It had little pink flowers embroidered near the scooped collar. She looked young and innocent in her bare feet, and painfully delicate.

  “Vasile? Have you come to visit me?” she asked. She almost seemed dazed. Her face was flushed. “Please come in, you’ll catch a cold.” Nina stepped back from the door and would have crumpled to the floor if he hadn’t caught her.

  “Nina, my Nina,” he admonished her, holding her body against his chest. “What have you done to yourself?”

  “I forgot to fill my medicine,” she confessed into his neck.

  He pressed a kiss to her hot forehead and rubbed his cheek against hers.

  “What will I do if you die again, meu dragoste?” he murmured into her hair.

  “Vasile, I was watching a movie. I can’t die till it’s over. Will you watch it with me?” she implored him. “I don’t want to go to bed yet.”

  “Da little Nina, we will watch your movie. But you must do something for me, hmm?” he carried her into the living room where her television was showing “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”.

  “Shall I make you some popcorn?” she offered in a murmur.

  He chuckled at her, laying her down among the nest of sheets and blankets she’d made on her couch.

  “No popcorn, meu dragoste.” he assured her, kicking his shoes off and removing his jacket and shirt. “I will need a kiss goodnight before you sleep. Right here, okay?” he pointed at the place on his neck just below his jaw where his carotid artery was pulsing strongly.

  “Da, Nina?” he asked her.

  “Da” she responded.

  He slid behind her, pulling her onto his lap, and held her as they watched the Oompa Loompas sing their final song. He usually didn’t watch movies or television. Laughing, he found himself wondering how much of this was getting through to her in her fevered state.

  “Its true.” she answered his unspoken question. “If you’re not greedy, you should go far. I love the Oompa Loompas. I want to live in happiness as they do. I wouldn’t even mind being orange with green hair.” Nina smiled up at Vasile beatifically.

  He kissed her forehead and stretched the two of them out on her sofa. She didn’t fall asleep but he could feel her mind fading in and out. He chuckled to himself.

  My beautiful Nina with orange skin and green hair… I hope she doesn’t have a secret fondness for those clothes…

  He felt her mind begin to drift off to sleep. He turned her body toward his on the wide couch. He tilted her face to his.

  “I can’t see the movie, Vasile,” she mumbled in sleepy complaint.

  “Shh, meu dragoste, I will tell you what happens.” he promised her. “Look into my eyes, Nina.”

  She forced her eyes open. “Vasile? Please leave the TV on and let me stay here when you go, okay?”

  He nodded. “You will open your mouth on my neck, Nina. You will swallow the blood when it flows.”

  His black eyes fixed on her smoky cyan colored eyes, compelling her. He saw her confusion for only a second and then she breathed, “Okay, Vasile, if that’s what you want.”

  He slid his fingers into her hair and held her head in the palm of his hand. With his free hand he reached over and made a small hole in the artery using his fingernail. Quickly, he placed her mouth over the spurting blood. He made sure her mouth was opened and blood was trickling in.

  He felt himself grow hard as her lips and tongue moved on his neck. The sensation of her lapping at the tiny wound made him desperate for more of her. He slid his hand under the hem of her gown and up her legs, finding her nakedness.

  She never wore undergarments to bed. He’d destroyed three or four pair of panties that first year before she got the message. She was still prepared for him to come to her. Moving his hand between her legs he found her wet and very ready for him.

  “Ahhh, my Midnight Guardian.” she breathed when he touched her feminine heat. He pressed her mouth back to the trickling blood.

  His voice was strangled as he said, “Drink, meu dragoste.”

  He wanted to thrust himself inside of her. He wanted to bury his fangs in her pounding pulse. He could barely contain himself his hunger was so ravenous for her.

  “I want…” she whispered. “Please?”

  “Shh, little Nina.” He whispered this back to her.

  Vasile moved his fingers back and forth through her wetness and eased one finger inside of her. He knew she’d been celibate these last two years.

  “Yes.” Against his throat he felt her release a soft sigh.

  “Drink” he said pulling his hand away from her center.

  She began sucking at the small puncture again. He slowly eased two fingers back into her and felt her arm slip around his waist.

  He heard her mind weeping, “I thought you’d never come back to me.” She continued to suck at the cut over his artery.

  “As long as you live, I will be with you,” he thought to her in return.

  “I’ve missed you so much,” her mind whispered.

  “I’ve missed you just as much, meu inimã,” he murmured to her aloud. Would she know that he’d spoken? Would she know that he called her his heart? He realized that, if he had one, she was exactly that.

  The fingers cupping her rounded bottom flexed and he could tell that she was no longer feverish. Her body temperature was normal. He withdrew the fingers between her legs.

  She mewled in protest and he reached up and closed the wound at his throat. Her eyes were open and she looked at him as if she might cry.

  He moved his hand back between her legs. Pressing her clit with his thumb, he continued to plunge a finger in and out of her, soon adding a second one. He opened his pants and freed his rigid erection.

  He pulled his hand away from her wet heat and moved his swollen shaft between her legs positioning it beneath her moist labia. He rubbed her with the tip of his rod until he could stand no more and slid it between her legs.

  He would not put himself inside of her but instead he rubbed her nub and her wet lips back and forth over his hard erection. At the same time he moved to plunge his two fingers into her from behind. When he felt his climax building, he sank his fangs into the pulse at her neck.

  He growled his climax as she screamed hers. Careful not to drink more than she could stand, he fed only enough to satisfy the worst of his hunger for her. He licked the tiny holes closed and held her in his arms for a long time.

  He’d never get enough of her. Her blood was the finest wine to him. Her body was so welcoming, so perfect. He realized that Nina was his home, his heart. He had to keep her in his life.

  Entering her mind again, he reinforced that she’d had an erotic dream about him where her old lover and he became the same man. He knew that she had had strong feelings for him when he was little more than a sexua
l phantom to her. He believed that she was developing real feelings for him now.

  He could only send her desires in the direction they wished to go anyway. Still, he reinforced the joining of his old self with the man she knew today. He’d learn soon how successful he’d been.

  Carefully, he moved her so that she was facing the television again and he sat looking down at her. He saw that her black wavy hair was growing long again. It brushed the top of her shoulders now. Soon it would be as long as it had been two years ago.

  Her delicate face was so pale. Her full lips were so pink and beckoning. She was his beautiful Snow White. Vasile instructed her mentally to call in sick the next day.

  Chapter 6

  When Nina awoke the next afternoon, she was already very late for work. In a panic she called Beverly.

  “Oh Nina” cooed Beverly. “You really have to talk to Mr. Velicescu. Hang on, let me transfer you…”

  “Wait, Bev, what kind of a mood is he in?” Nina asked hurriedly.

  “Hmmm, Nina Caruthers, what kind of a mood would you like him to be in?” purred the black satin and velvet voice she’d been dreaming about.

  “Vasile,” she whispered breathlessly. She was sure she must sound like she had sex on her mind.

  “Beautiful Nina, you keep me in that kind of a mood, did you not know?” His caressing, seductive voice vibrated down the phone to her.

  “Um, Sir? I’m sorry but I overslept and…” she couldn’t seem to string one coherent thought together just now.

  “Hush, little Nina,” he crooned. “Stay home today, hmmm? I will check on you later, Da?”

  “Thank you… Thank you, Vasile.” she was so embarrassed.

  “Do not worry, Nina. Stay home and recuperate. Watch a movie. Perhaps you can go to bed early. You are welcome to dream you are with me instead of coming to work.”

  She heard him chuckling at her as she hung up the phone. Since she didn’t know how to take his smug male amusement, she chose to ignore it.