Freed by Love: A Nine Story Paranormal Romance Collection

The Vampire’s Throne-5-1

Alice blinked awake. A note on the pillow next to her said, "Back Soon" in sweeping, old-fashioned handwriting. She smiled and stretched out on the soft silk sheets. She'd woken up a few times in the last few hours, woozy and feeling like every muscle weighed a hundred pounds, but upon waking this time she felt strong enough to lift up Christopher's four poster bed and throw it across the room.

The curtains were thrown open, revealing the sparkling brightness of the moon. Even though the room was fairly dim, everything looked brighter. Her senses were alive, the sounds of branches groaning in the wind and squirrels scratching at bark louder and more distinct than she'd ever heard before. She inhaled, and she could smell Christopher's scent imbedded in the sheets, as well as the faint burning of filament in the light bulbs of the chandelier above her. Every detail of everything around her was clearer, more beautiful than anything in her previous life.

Even her memories were sharper; the frame by frame replay of Christopher's skin, his lips, his tongue sliding and writhing with her, made her pulse race. She shifted beneath the covers, enjoying the slide of the silk against her skin. Margot was right. s*x as a vampire will be amazing.

She heard Christopher's footsteps approaching the top of the stairs, and she propped herself up in bed as attractively as possible. He opened the door slowly, like he was being careful of waking her, and nudged the door open with his hip while balancing a large tray between his hands.

The smell of orange juice, warm bread, and blood hit her nostrils like a wave. She'd smelled blood before once when she cut her hand cooking, the scent metallic like old pennies, but the row of red-filled shot glasses across the back of the tray Christopher carried gave off a confusing combination of scents, like she was smelling feelings.

Christopher smiled. "Excellent. You're awake. I brought you breakfast." He set down the tray on the end of the bed and walked over to give her a gentle kiss on the forehead.

"Thank you." She realized that she still wasn't wearing any clothes, and looked around to see a robe sitting on the bedside table beside her.

"Not a problem, it's just the beginning of getting you accustomed to all this." He settled next to the tray, keeping it between them, and averting his eyes as she pulled on the robe. Once she was relatively dressed, she crawled across the bed to join him.

"Are you regretting last night?" she asked.

His head popped up. "No! Last night was incredible, one of the best nights of my life. But it can't happen again, not now that I'm your sire."

Alice pushed down her disappointment. She'd known this was going to be the price of becoming a vampire, but that didn’t make it feel any less like a rejection. The s*x last night had been so much more intense than she'd anticipated, the feeling of being really one with him had been more than she'd ever felt with anyone else. Had he felt the same? She tried to distract herself by studying the tray he'd brought.

The man knew how to make a breakfast, she had to give him that. The tray was laden with a three-cheese omelet, warm cinnamon rolls dripping with icing, fresh-squeezed orange and mango juice, and a bowl of freshly-cut fruit. Across the back of the tray were six shot glasses filled with blood. The blood's intense pull sent nervous shivers of desire down her spine. I'm a vampire. Holy s**t.

She picked up the tray. With her enhanced vampire muscles, the tray felt like it weighed almost nothing at all.

"This is way too much food," she said.

Christopher grinned. "Think of it as my welcome to your new life. Nobody should start a fresh existence on an empty stomach, especially when your body is still adjusting."

Alice took a bite of the omelet and let out a moan. Each individual ingredient and spice was amplified beyond her imagination. Every morsel tasted divine.

"Do you want some? There's enough here for at least three people," Alice said.

Christopher shook his head. "I already ate."

Alice didn't need any further encouragement. She tucked in, each bite better than the last. And yet, there was a sense of emptiness that grew the more she ate, her hunger roaring at her even as she polished off the last strawberry from the fruit salad and licked the plates clean.

"Thanks, that was amazing," she said.

"You're very welcome. There's a lot to love about this life, I hope you enjoy it." Christopher ran a hand up and down her arm. Alice relaxed into his touch.

"No broody vampires on your watch?" She smiled at him, feeling the warmth of his gaze all the way down to her toes.

Christopher laughed. "Exactly." His face lit up when he laughed. He was truly the most handsome man she'd ever seen.

"Have you ever regretted becoming a vampire?" she asked.

Christopher sat back on his elbows so he was lounging next to her on the bed with his legs hanging off the side.

"I suppose every decision comes with certain downsides. I'll never know what it feels like to grow old. The turn of the seasons doesn't have the same relief it used to; the arrival of spring loses its joy when winter seemed to pass in a moment." He touched her hand softly. "I've met so many extraordinary people only to witness them age and die in what feels like the blink of an eye. It's part of what draws me to art: it's how thoughts are preserved after the artists are gone." He sat back, his smile shaky but still there. "But I've never seen the point in focusing on the downsides of my chosen path. Life is just too long to dwell on regrets." He put his hand over hers. "Are you having doubts already?"

"No! I just woke up, and everything is amazing. You've been so kind. I'll remember fondly my first moments as a vampire forever."

Christopher looked away. "I'm very glad."

Alice put down the tray to curl up next to him. "What is it?"

"Just remembering something."

She brushed a stray lock of hair behind his ear. "Tell me." He suddenly looked so sad, so tired that she wanted to wrap him in her arms.

"I was thinking about my brother, Rhys. He and I were turned at the same time, by the same sire. Rhys wasn't a big fan of humanity. Within an hour of being turned, he slaughtered an entire village. Our sire didn't care. Humans were basically ants in his eyes. My first moments as a vampire were spent trying to save Rhys's victims, and I've been doing it ever since." He sat up. "But I refuse to be defined by that." He nudged the tray toward her.

He grinned again, and Alice could see the effort behind it. Damn, I could fall in love with this man. Her stomach sank. That wasn't an option. But everything about him called to her: his optimism and hope in the face of centuries of conflict, his kindness, and his smile. The way the moonlight hit his face transformed him into an angel, and she hungered to climb on top of him and ride his c**k until she screamed.

Christopher had been talking for a couple of seconds. Alice shook herself to stop staring at his lips and actually pay attention to his words.

"--shot glasses are all blood from different types of supernaturals. You'll learn in time how to tell the difference between each kind, and how to interpret what they were feeling when they donated. For right now, let’s just start with the basics."

Alice lifted one of the shot glasses and took a sniff. It smelled like soaring skies and fire, like cold scales and strength. She took a deep breath and drank down the shot in one go. A huge sense of power surged through her, and under all that, a sense of peace, joy, and contentment.

"A dragon?" Alice asked. She could barely believe that such things actually existed, and yet she loved how full the world was now since she gained her Sight.

Christopher clapped his hands. "Yes! That's the blood of a dragon shifter friend of mine who agreed to donate a bit for training purposes. She just got married a few weeks ago, and you should be able to smell her state of mind in addition to her species."

"We can really tell all that?" Alice asked. She tried to lean into the feelings that washed over her when she drank, but she couldn’t hold onto them. She sniffed at Christopher. "Why can't I smell your emotions now that I'm a vampire?"

He tapped his nose. "That would work only if I’m human. As a vampire, my blood would have to be in the open air for you to smell it."

"I can barely believe this is really real."

"This and more." He held out another glass. "Here, try this."

Alice felt her whole body go rigid. Fear pulsed through her. She tried to say something, but her jaw was locked. Her hand lashed out, moving against her will toward the shot glass. Every cell in her body demanded that she take the glass from Christopher and consume its contents.

What is happening? She yelled the words in her head, but nothing came out. Her body wasn't her own, her hand moving against her will even as she tried with all her might to force it away from the glass. Her fingers clutched around the shot and she downed the blood in one gulp. A surge of sweetness and flowers and light and sun passed over her tongue, but Alice couldn't savor anything in her terror. As soon as she swallowed, her body returned to her in a rush, and she fell back limp against the bed.

"What was that?" Her voice sounded small and scared. "What just happened to me? I couldn't stop."

"Oh gods, Alice, I'm so sorry." Christopher's words came in an anguished rush. "I didn't mean to. It's the hortari. Even when I don't mean to give you a command, my words require you to do what I say." He scrambled off the bed. "This is why I stay away from the vampires I sire. You deserve your free will, to learn and grow and be your own person."

A knock at the door made them both jump.

"Christopher?" A woman's voice said from the other side of the door.

"Yes, Valerie, I'm in here." He sounded relieved.

A lovely Latina woman with black hair pulled back into a long braid that reached down to her waist opened the door. Her brow was furrowed and her tight-lipped smile looked forced. Something’s wrong.

"Christopher, you need to get to the castle immediately." She glanced at Alice. "We'll look after the new recruit."

Christopher's face paled. He turned to lay a hand on Alice's shoulder. "I'm so sorry that things can't be different. Please feel free to explore as you wish the rest of the house and get to know the lieutenants in my sire line." He spoke slowly, like he was carefully choosing each word to make sure that nothing could be interpreted as a demand. He touched her face gently, like a farewell, and before Alice could say anything, he was gone. Valerie gave her a tight smile and followed after, leaving Alice alone.

Alice lay back against the soft sheets. Her heartbeat still raced. Both Christopher and Margot had warned her about the sire compulsion, but she hadn't realized how scary it would be to lose control of her body. It was terrifying to be forced to act against her will, even for something as mundane as tasting a drink she was planning on drinking anyway. Christopher's sorrow at having mistakenly used his sire power on her was sincere, but could she ever really be comfortable with him knowing that the slightest turn of phrase could strip her of her free will?

For the first time since meeting him, she understood fully why she wouldn't be able to have him in her life.

Alice shook herself. Christopher was right. There was no sense in concentrating on the negative. Life is just too long to dwell on regrets. She had heightened senses and super strength, and could tell how any human was feeling just by their scent.