The Vampire Vigilante
Chapter 15

"You look good," Malachi stated, scoping me up and down, "I was wondering where you ran off to after your little accident with your parents." I clenched my jaw as several people began looking over at us.

"Malachi," Erik warned him, "I will not have any ill behavior tonight."

"Oh," Malachi chuckled, "The one you need to worry about is her." I kept my mouth shut, scared of what might come out if I spoke.

"Melody is here as my guest," Erik continued, "And I expect her to be treated as such." His grip tightened around my waist as I felt anger seething from him.

"Looks like more than a guest to me," Malachi replied with a spiteful smile, "But I will see you two around." He then turned on his heel and walked away. I felt like I was going to puke.

"Are you alright?" Erik whispered. I nodded quickly. "Never better." I watched as Malachi walked over to a group of people and started talking. He pointed to me and their faces turned white.

"Erik," I said, "I'm going to step outside for a minute." I pulled free of his grip and walked quickly up the stairs to the large doors. I pushed them open and went around to the garden. I sat down on my usual bench and put my face in my hands.

He was inside telling everyone I was the girl who killed my parents. No matter how big of a lie it was, they would believe him. All of the rumors would fire back up and I would be forced to leave.

Forced to leave Erik, Maya, and all of the other friends I had made here.

You can't leave Erik.

I knew we had a connection, but I wasn't sure it was enough to survive this. Malachi was going to make this his show and run it the way he wanted to. I leaned my head back and looked up at the night sky, wishing there was an easy way out of this.

You could just run. Run away forever.

I looked over at the wall, thinking how easy it would be to just leave and never come back. But something, or someone, kept me rooted in my spot: Erik.

The electricity in our touch made me want more; I wanted to figure out what it meant. I couldn't leave. Not with the sexual tension that was building between us.

I got up off of the bench and cracked my neck. I straightened my back and walked toward the front doors with more confidence than ever before.

When I walked in, I could tell that he had already started the rumors up about me. Everyone's eyes focused on me as I stepped down the stairs. I looked around the room as I walked slowly through the crowd.

"I was wondering where you went." The blood in my veins ran ice cold as I heard him speak. I couldn't find Erik anywhere either.

"I went for some air," I replied, turning around and facing him. He smiled, looking me up and down. "Why don't we share a dance? For old times' sake." I looked around again and realized Erik was no longer in the room.

Where the hell is he?

"Sure," I answered coolly. He held out his hand and I took it as we walked out to the middle of the floor. I kept my eyes locked onto his, giving him a glare.

On the outside I was calm and collected, but on the inside my mind was screaming to get the fuck out of there. He grabbed my left hand with his, and put his right arm around my waist.

This is a little too close for comfort.

I backed up just an inch to give some space between us. I kept my eyes on him at all times as we moved slower than the music.

"I was wondering where you ran off to," he growled for only my ears to hear.

"As you can see," I said, making my eyes glow, "It was far away from you."

"Not far enough," he snarled. This was it; I was fed up with him and all the torment he put me through. As the song continued to play and he tried to pull me closer, I leaned close to his ear.

"Let me tell you a little something," I said through gritted teeth, "I am not scared of you. I am not the little shy girl you saw last. I don't care what you might have planned, but I can promise you I will not be a part of it. And if you try anything tonight I will fucking end you." He threw his head back and laughed.

"Oh my Melody," he said, wiping a tear from his face, "You have always been so hilarious. You think I don't know what you are capable of? Or let me re-phrase that: what you COULD be capable of? Because we all know you cannot control yourself. Look what you did to your parents." I stopped moving.

I've had enough.

"No," I said sternly, "What YOU did to my parents. I had no part in their death, and you know that just as well as I do."

"You must think you are really something special," Malachi said, smiling, "Let me inform you that you are nothing. Why don't we go back to my palace and I can remind you of that?"

"I will never go back there," I said through gritted teeth, "And you are full of shit." I could feel the mist trickling up my arms as my anger grew.

"Come on," he said in a gruff tone as he reached out his hand to grab my arm.

Stop.

His arm stopped mid-air and he was unable to move it anywhere. I looked at him with blazing eyes as my tattoo burned in my skin. He looked at his arm then back at me.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," I spat out, "Might loose your arm." His eyes widened in shock as he realized what was going on.

"You..." he trailed off. I narrowed my eyes at him and took a step forward. "You had better pray to the gods above that you never encounter me again. Because I can promise you it will be the last time. I am done with you and your scare tactics. I have irrefutable evidence that you are the one who murdered my parents. I also have evidence of what you have done to me.

"You're a fucking monster, and I will show the world who you really are. So why don't you run back to your castle and never come out? It would make the world a much better place."

I let his arm drop and the mist evaporated. I slid my fangs out to show him I wasn't playing around. He took a few steps backward before he walked to the door, gathering his guards. I watched as he left with his tail tucked between his legs. I let out a huge sigh of relief as I noticed nobody had watched what just took place. I slowly moved my legs to start walking toward the bar before I felt a set of eyes following me. I looked up to my right to see Erik sitting in the throne, smiling.

God, he is so irresistible.

I smiled back and he got up, walking toward the back rooms. He turned to give me a side look before he motioned for me to follow.

Shit.

I looked over my shoulder for Maya, but she was nowhere to be found.

Probably screwing whoever she was talking to earlier.

I snuck down the hallway and followed Erik who was making a beeline for the blood club area. I bit my lip, trying to understand what the hell was going on. From what he said to me before he didn't like blood clubs. But the look in his eyes tonight said a different story.

I rounded the corner down another hallway to see it was dimly lit with neon lights along the ceilings. The rooms had a red color beaming out from the bottom crack, there was obvious low moaning coming from most of the rooms, and guards at each door. I looked down the hall to see Erik leaning against the wall at the end. He motioned with his finger for me to come closer.

Oh. My. God.

The look in his eyes was pure seduction. My legs shook with anticipation and my underwear was instantly soaked. I slowly walked toward him and looked up through my eyelashes.

"You are incredible," he breathed as he reached out and put a hand around the back of my neck. He took his fingers and traced them along my collarbone, sending chills throughout my body. I closed my eyes and a low growl escaped from my lips. He pulled me closer by my neck gently and leaned his lips to my ear. "Let me show you something." His voice made my knees weak. I could only nod. He opened the door to his left and we slipped into the room.

There was a woman laying back in what appeared to be one of the chairs you see in a tattoo shop. She was almost lifeless; she didn't move when we came in.

"Have you ever fed like this?" Erik asked. I looked at the woman and shook my head. He took my face in his hands. "If you don't want to, I understand. I just...I can't hold back from you anymore, Mel. You drive me fucking crazy."

Whoa, hold back? What is he keeping from me?

"What do you mean, holding back from me?" I asked nervously. He chuckled. "We all have blood lust, Mel. I know you do; I've seen it. I just figured we could start off doing it together." His eyes turned bright gold and he looked at me like he was ready to tear me apart. "And it's known to cause arousal as well."

I watched in amazement as he pulled her hair out of the way to expose her neck. "Just focus on what you hear and smell." I looked at her neck to see her jugular pulsing. My eyes began to light up and my tattoo sparked to life. I closed my eyes and listened to the sound of the blood pulsing through her veins. I smiled in ecstacy; this new feeling was amazing.

"There you go," Erik breathed. I opened my eyes and looked at him to see he was at her neck. His fangs slid out and he gently pierced her skin. She twitched slightly, and his eyes opened to meet mine.

Why is this so sensual?

My core began to throb uncontrollably. I slowly walked over and leaned down, pulling his hair out of his face. He let go of the woman and looked up at me, licking his lips. I took my finger and wiped it across his lips before I stuck it in my mouth. A small explosion happened on my tongue and before I knew it I was sliding my fangs out to take my own bite.

I sank my teeth deep into her skin and moaned as the blood rushed from her vein into my wanting mouth. Erik took my hand that was resting on her stomach and squeezed it. I realized I had drank quite a bit from the woman so I pulled away. I looked up at Erik to see a sadistic smile spread across his face.

"What do you think?" he asked, breathing heavily. I wiped my mouth and smiled. "Very enjoyable." He then grabbed my arm and pulled me close as our noses touched.

"You are incredible," he whispered, "And as I said before, you drive me crazy. I have never felt like this before. I don't know what you have done to me, but I don't want you to stop." I was lost for words as I looked deep into his golden eyes.

Now is your chance. Just not here.

"Come with me," I said, pulling his arm. We went out of the room and back down the hall before taking the back way to break outside. Once we were outside at the back of the castle, Erik closed the door behind us and pinned me against the wall with his arms on either side of me. I looked up at him through my eyelashes and parted my lips, ready for him to devour them.

He put a hand on the side of my face, pulling himself down to me. When our lips met there seemed to be a crackle in the air. I closed my eyes as the sizzle between us grew into a hum of electricity. I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him closer as his tongue snaked into my mouth.

This is what heaven must feel like.

I could have stayed in that moment forever. It was pure bliss. His hands moved from the sides of my face to my neck as he wound his fingers in the back of my hair. His kiss left my lips and trailed down the side of my cheek to my neck. I felt my legs tremble as a moan escaped my mouth. I wanted more, but I knew we had to take this slow. I grabbed his face and pulled it back to mine as I planted a sweet, innocent kiss against his lips.

"God, Mel," he whispered as our foreheads touched, "I have been wanting to do that since I first laid eyes on you."

"Same," I chuckled, stroking his face, "But we need to take it slow. Something is building, and I'm not sure what it is. We need to be careful." He nodded slowly as our noses brushed against each other. He kissed my forehead before he took a step back and grabbed my left hand with his right. "Would you like to go back inside and enjoy the rest of the night?"

"I would love to," I answered, smiling up at him. We went back to the ball, hand in hand. I guess he wasn't planning on keeping our relationship to himself.

That's fine with me.

The rest of the night went very well. I stayed on Erik's arm the entire time as he introduced me to different people. He used my nickname, thankfully, and told them that I was a friend from out of country. We danced several more times, trying not to make out in front of everyone. He would lean down and plant a discreet kiss on my cheek or neck that sent chills throughout my body. But we knew we could not take it any further since it would more than likely turn into something for only our eyes to see.

When the last guests left, it was only Erik and I in the room. Guards were beginning to close and lock doors. I turned to look at Erik and noticed he seemed exhausted.

"Why don't you go and get some rest?" I asked, rubbing his arm, "You look tired." He turned to me and placed his hand on my cheek. "I am extremely tired. It was a long night." I smiled softly at him. "Yes, it was."

"Come stay the night with me," he whispered, kissing my forehead. My breath caught in my throat.

"We don't have to do anything you don't want to," he added, looking down at me, "We can just sleep if that is what you wish." I smiled, holding his hand that was on my cheek. "Some sleep does sound nice."

We walked up the stairs hand-in-hand and went to the opposite end of the hall before we came to a set of large doors. Erik took a key out of his pocket and unlocked the doors before opening them.

His room was immaculate; there was a large king-sized bed in the far right corner without any posts, a reading area on the left with a small bookcase, a TV on the wall adjacent to the bed, a bathroom to the left, and a large window in the middle. I closed the door behind me and watched in awe as he began to undress.

He had a natural tan to him with muscles showing every time he made any small movement. When he pulled his shirt over his head it made his hair fall out of place, making him even more irresistible. He then unbuckled his belt and snatched his pants off.

Oh, my.

I couldn't keep my eyes off of the front of his underwear. It was when I looked up at his eyes I saw that he was grinning from ear to ear.

"I'm s-sorry," I stuttered, "I wasn't trying to stare." He threw his head back and laughed. "Like I said, it's up to you what we do."

And what I would love to do is jump your bones here and now.

"I know," I sighed as I smiled, "I think we can wait." He turned and went to the bathroom still smiling. I then looked in the long mirror to my right and turned around to try and get my dress off. S~ᴇaʀᴄh the (F)indNƟvᴇl.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

You don't have any other clothes.

I stopped fidgeting with the zipper when the thought crossed my mind. I wasn't so sure I was ready to be completely naked in front of him yet.

"What's wrong?" Erik asked as he walked out of the bathroom wearing some athletic shorts. I turned and looked at him, blushing. "I don't have any other clothes." He grabbed one of his button-up shirts from the closet and threw it my way. I smiled and looked down at the floor with my back to him as I took a huge breath before attempting the zipper again.

"Let me help," he whispered as he came up against my back. He pulled my hair out of the way and took his thumb across my tattoo. Fireworks exploded on the back of my neck and I shuddered under his touch.

"This is exquisite," he said, "I've never seen one like this." I bit my lip as he trailed his fingers down my back as he unzipped the dress slowly.

I can't hold back much longer.

I felt my face become hot as I bit my lip to keep the moan from escaping my lips. His fingers touched gently all over my back before he stopped and stepped away.

"Mel," he said in a heartbreaking tone. I grabbed the shirt and pulled it over my head quickly, covering myself and all of the scars on my back from Malachi.

"I know," I said, crossing my arms over my chest and turning to face him, "They will probably never go away."

"Why?" Erik asked, looking at me sadly.

"Why what?" I replied almost a little too harsh, "Why did I get beaten to a pulp every day for absolutely nothing? I have no fucking idea." I walked over to the bed and sat down with my face in my hands. "I'm sorry you had to see it."

"Don't be," he said, walking over and sitting next to me, "It just makes me furious that you went through that." I looked up at Erik to see his warm eyes were focused on mine. He took his fingers and placed them under my chin, pulling my face to his. He gently kissed me, sending waves of fire between my legs. He then pressed his forehead against mine and sighed. "I will kill that bastard, I promise you." I smiled at him and put my hand on his face. "Only if I don't get to him first."

"Oh I'm sure I won't stand a chance at him once you get your claws in him," Erik chuckled. There was a long pause before he stretched. "Let's get some rest, Mel. It's been a long day."

"Agreed," I said, yawning.

We slipped under the silk sheets and I got the best sleep of my life wrapped in Erik's arms.

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