Love Bites (Book one)

Chapter fifteen

*Nelson*

I stalked up the stairs to Frankie’s room, prepared to ask the guards on duty to hang on as Yasmin had not been in the mess this morning and I was about to go and look for her. Not that I was surprised. I had seen her last night in the nightclub, shaking that f*****g fantastic ass of hers with Frankie, drinking liquor laced with blood like it was going out of fashion.

When she had entered, I contemplated going over to her and showing her that no matter what things used to be where she came from, here, women were below men, in more ways than one. I would have wrapped my hand around that slender neck of hers and backed her up against the wall before sinking my teeth into her flesh to taste what her blood was like, and no one would have stopped me. When I saw that she was with Frankie though, I knew that would have been out of the question and so instead, I watched her like a f*****g hawk, letting off the steam multiple times when I got back to the dorm.

As I got to the top of the stairs, I rolled my eyes when I saw Yasmin already there, waiting to take over from her Physvey friend. “Why didn’t you meet me in the mess?” I gritted out.

“You didn’t ask me to.” She simply stated, making me wish that we were not about to start on duty so that I could teach her to not speak to me with such disrespect. “You can go now.” She smiled at the other two guards.

“See you later Yasmin.” The female waved as the two went down stairs for some much needed sleep and we took their place.

I looked over to Yasmin, surprised to see that she was taking her duty seriously and standing to attention, her legs slightly apart and her senses on high alert. Turning her head, she sent me a glare that asked what I was looking at and I instantly turned my head to face front and center. It was not long before Frankie came out and walked down the corridor, acting like we were not even there. I waited until she was a short distance in front of us before I started to follow and Yasmin walked at my side.

I was so good at my job, that I don’t even think that Yasmin knew that Frankie had eyes on her twenty four seven. I had seen them together several times, but I had always assumed she would end up as part of some harem, never imagining that she would actually make it through to the guard. I mean, she is a f*****g Sedvey. Most of her kind spent their lives on their backs with their legs around some man.

Frankie walked to the Master vampire’s study, knocking once before waiting to be asked to enter. It was a few minutes before the door opened and one of the Master’s whores came scurrying out, her clothes still hanging from her body as if he had not given her time to redress properly. The Master looked out, his eyes moving from Frankie to Yasmin as he froze for a second. Humm, interesting, maybe Yasmin was a w***e on the side as well.

“What is it, Frankie?” He asked as she walked further inside before closing the door. Me and Yasmin fell on either side, unable to hear what they were saying inside. I played over the Master’s facial expression in my mind, looking over to see that Yasmin showed no emotion on her face. Humm, if she was a w***e, then she was a good one. Most women were just as possessive of men as we were of them and would go berserk at catching them with someone else. “No you wouldn’t? I have come home like that many times before and you have never acted like that!” We heard Frankie yell from the other side of the door, Yasmin flinching slightly.

“Don’t speak to me like that, you forget who you are talking to!” The Master vampire yelled back before the doors to his office were ripped open. “Get out of my sight until you learn your place!”

“Sire…” Frankie started but was silenced before she came storming out. We followed her downstairs to the hall where her, her brothers and the Master fed, again waiting outside as she went in.

“Is that you that they are arguing about?” I asked Yasmin, unable to keep my glee from my voice. She didn’t answer me, instead standing facing forward as if she hadn’t heard me to begin with. “I saw you last night, at the club, and the way that the Master just looked at you makes me wonder if it was your own bed that you returned to last night or his.” Again, Yasmin refused to look at me, but I saw the twitch in her jaw that told me something I had said was getting to her. “You know, if that body of yours is for sale, I wouldn’t mind paying for a ride.” I reached out to try and caress a few strands of her soft hair.

“Nelson!” The sound of Charles’ voice booming down the corridor made me snap back into position, although I knew that it was already too late. Before I knew it, he and Phillippe were in front of me, looking completely pissed off. “You were warned about behaviour while you are on duty, not only that, but who the Master vampire takes to his bed is really no concern of yours.”

The door to the side of us opened and Frankie came out with a face of thunder. “What is going on out here?”

“That is what I want to know!” The voice of the Master vampire boomed out, I tried to keep myself from cowering away, but I had to admit to a streak of fear running through me. Within the blink of an eye, he stood at Phillippe’s side. “Anyone want to tell me?”

“Nelson here thinks that he can flirt on duty, even after being warned not to!” Phillippe spat. “I told you it was not a good idea to let women into the guard.”

“How is Yasmin getting blamed for this when it is Nelson acting inappropriately?” Frankie screamed, Jesus, she needed to learn her place as well but being the Master vampire’s creation, no one would. Maybe that is where Yasmin is getting her ideas from.

“Phillippe, do not question my decisions. I know what is best, and if you have something to say, you come to me in private!” The Master vampire spat, his hand turning into a ball of electricity at his side, showing his anger. “Frankie go back into the hall. You two as well.” The three vampires stared at each other for a moment before filing into the hall, closing the door behind them. He then turned toward us, his eyes scanning from me to Yasmin. “You have been a guard for two nights and this is the second time I am having to speak to you, one more and you will be out!” He barked in her face before he followed the others into the hall.

I could not help but smile internally at the Master threatening to dismiss Yasmin, that would teach her to speak out against a man. I looked over, expecting to find her on the brink of tears, but she was surprisingly stoic in her expression. Humm, maybe she was not as weak as I expected. Maybe she did have what it took to be part of the guard, and that only made me more curious about her.

*Martyn*

I sat in my office, looking over the reports on my desk. Why my sire asked for Yasmin to be paired with someone like Nelson was beyond me. It seemed to me that, although she was a woman, that she was handling her duties and having to put up with Nelson, admirably. Nelson was starting to grate on me, the way he would leer at Yasmin, looking at her like a piece of meat.

For the first time since I was turned, I had started to question the laws that we had in the kingdom. Was it fair that Yasmin was the one on her final strike when she had ignored Nelson’s jeers and was not participating in flirting with the other guards like some of the other women were, but then even they were being discreet about it. In the kingdom, women were property of men, what a man said went and a man could pretty much do as he pleased without repercussion. Now that we had allowed women to join the guard, and after seeing how well they worked, maybe some of these rules were outdated.

There was a knock at my door and I let out a long sigh. “Come in.” I bellowed before the door slowly opened and Yasmin walked inside. “What is it, Sedvey? I am busy.” I groaned, having an inkling of what she was here to speak to me about and knowing that I could not grant her wish.

“Sir, I was hoping to speak to you about my pairing for guard duty.” She declared with confidence.

“What about it?” I gritted out.

She took a deep breath. “I do not think that my pairing is working out. I understand that you took the time to think about who we should work with, but Nelson is insufferable. I believe that he is purposefully being an obnoxious jerk and trying to get me into trouble so that I will be dismissed.”

I leaned back in my seat, shaking my head. She was doing the right thing coming to me with this, and she had actually been kind about Nelson’s actions, knowing that I would have chosen some much more choice words to describe Nelson’s actions than what she had. But, it was the Master vampire who had requested for her to be paired with him, and without his approval, I could not change it. The sad thing is, that if she was a man, or even one of the other women, I would have probably granted her request which made it that much harder to dismiss her.

“Yasmin, this is not a game of tennis where you can choose who your partner is. You have been paired with Nelson and if you really think that you cannot work with him, then maybe you shouldn’t be part of the guard at all.” I stated plainly, keeping my face as neutral as possible.

I saw a flash of fear and then determination flash across Yasmin’s expression. “No sir. I am sorry for bothering you.” She nodded before turning and walking out of my office.

When the door closed, I let out a long sigh. I needed to speak to Sven about this, as it was not going to be long until Nelson took his behaviour too far and Yasmin would be kicked out. I walked out of my office, finding that my maker was not in his and so I headed out to the hot springs.

He was laying in one of the natural bubbling pools, his face a ravine of peace and I started to rethink about the decision to disturb him. “What is it?” He asked, opening his eyes and looking at me.

I let out a long sigh. “Sire, I wanted to speak to you about one of the guard pairings…”

“Is someone not able to hack it?” He smirked, seeming ready for someone to quit.

“No sire, but one of the pairings is not gelling well and I was hoping I could change it.” I stated.

Sven gave me a pointed look. “Given that if it was any other pairing other than one I had made myself, you would change it without question, and so I have to draw the conclusion that you are talking about Yasmin and Nelson.” I nodded my head in response, not sure why I did not just get straight to the point. “The pairing stays, unless Yasmin wants to leave the guard?”

“She doesn’t sire.” I responded.

He nodded his head, letting out a sigh as he leaned back in the warm waters. “Then the pairing stays.”

I bowed my head respectfully, before turning and leaving. There had to be some reason that my maker was doing this, but whatever that reason was, I hoped that it did not come back to bite him in the ass. Nelson was not a nice guy, and it seemed cruel to leave Yasmin to his mercy, and all I could do was hope that she would be able to handle herself and not let him ruin her chances in the guard.