Single Mom, Vampire Lover Read online

  Single Mom, Vampire Lover

  Melisse Aires

  Copyright ©2009 Melisse Aires

  First published in 2009, title Shadow Rescue

  NOTICE: This work is copyrighted. It is licensed only for use by the original purchaser. Making copies of this work or distributing it to any unauthorized person by any means, including without limit email, floppy disk, file transfer, paper print out, or any other method constitutes a violation of International copyright law and subjects the violator to severe fines or imprisonment.

  Contains adult material and is intended for readers over 18.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews. Due to copyright laws you cannot trade, sell or give any ebooks away.

  Chapter One

  Darlene grabbed her car keys and headed to the office, glad it was Friday. Once outside she noticed that her son Brian haad parked his car halfway onto the front lawn. She glanced at her watch and sighed. She had just enough time to move his old Camaro and save her lawn.

  She backed up his car and parked it on the driveway, and thought about leaving a note, but decided she'd rather talk to him.

  Between Brian's job at the coffee shop at night and his social life she saw so little of him. It was hard finding a balance with a seventeen-year-old son. Brian wanted to be independent, but he wasn't always as responsible as he should be. She'd try to catch him this weekend for a chat. He'd do his best to avoid her, Darlene was certain. As she pulled the key out of the ignition, she looked at his messy car with a sigh. There was a stack of books and papers on the passenger seat of his car, and a flyer caught her eye. It was black and shiny, with lettering formed to look like drops of blood. VAMPIRE CANDY—The Party of your Dreams

  A band? Today's date. There was an address on it. Darlene sat for a moment, staring at the card. Maybe it was a concert. She sighed. Was he getting into a Goth thing? She tucked the card into her purse. She would ask him about it tonight at dinner.

  Later, during a break at work, Darlene did a quick internet search for Vampire Candy, but came up with nothing that seemed relevant. The address on the card was in the college area just a few blocks from the apartment she'd lived in before she married Brian's father. Maybe a club or a coffee house?

  During work Darlene had visions of Brian sporting odd piercings, tattoos, shaved crazy hairstyles, and black torn up clothing. Scars, too wasn't cutting part of the Goth scene? She imagined scholarship boards taking one look at a Goth Brian and giving the college money to some clean cut student. Her stomach knotted into a tight sour ball. We'll talk tonight, she promised herself.

  After work Darlene went straight home hoping to catch Brian, but he was already gone for the evening. No note on the fridge, either. She called the coffee shop where he worked to find it was his night off. His cell went straight to voicemail. His best friend's phone just rang.

  He is in so much trouble! What was she going to do with him? Brian was supposed to let her know his schedule and plans. She'd have to ground him. He'd be moody for a week. Darlene sighed, exasperated. Her rules were not unreasonable.

  After a solitary dinner and a few household chores, Darlene made some cookie dough and popped it into the fridge to bake tomorrow when Brian was home. When the late news started, she got ready for bed. Sliding under the covers Darlene looked through the stack of library books on her bed table, trying to find something absorbing to draw her into a world of fictional troubles and help her quit thinking about her own problems for a short while. After flipping through her third book and finding nothing that caught her interest, she kicked off the covers and sat up with an exasperated sigh.

  The phone rested next to her on the table, and she desperately wanted to call a friend, unload her fears about Brian, receive comfort and encouragement. But she didn't have any friends like that. Somehow, when John died, she'd let all those go, and kept her life revolving around her son.

  I need to get involved in a hobby or something and make some friends. Maybe date...

  Brian, her nonexistent life, and the need to make healthy changes all weighed on her mind, robbing her of sleep even though she was exhausted. Her head and stomach ached from tension. On impulse, she went upstairs to Brian's room. Perhaps it would inspire her in how to deal with her teenage son.

  The room was Brian's normal mix of mess and precision. Clothes littered the floor and pop cans lined the window next to his bed, but his action figure collection was dust free and his comic books were categorized and placed in special folders on his bookshelf.

  He'd left his computer on. She bumped the table and to her surprise an IM window popped up.

  Blood. The word screamed at her from the IM window. She'd never snooped on her son before, she should leave. But... blood.

  How do you feel? Any different? Someone named Slacker17 posted.

  I think I'm strongr. Which is cool, cz ur spozed to feel weakr aftr losing blood. Cam'75 replied.

  Brian's Camaro was a ‘75. It had been his grandfather's.

  That grrl u were w/ wz HOT!!!

  She wz!!! I was shocked when she pikd me

  U going 2nite?

  Yeah. 2nite might be the nite, u no? W /Cassandra

  U R 1 lucky dude.

  Darlene went downstairs in a daze. He'd lost some blood but felt stronger—what if someone was giving him drugs? What about infection, AIDS? Was this about some wild sex with that girl Cassandra? Was he involved in some type of vampire cult? She'd seen a TV show about vampire wannabe groups. Fear welled, filling Darlene with a chilling certainty. She had to rescue her son. He was just a boy!

  Fear, anger, and the desire to protect her child made her tiredness flee. Darlene threw on some clothes and headed for the college area. She would find him and drag him somewhere for help. She would not lose him.

  The address lead to an old house that had once been a gracious home, but now the porch sagged and its paint was peeling in the dim light of a low watt bulb. Loud music blared, not something unusual in the college area. Cars were parked up and down the street, a sure sign of a party.

  No one answered her knock, so Darlene carefully opened the door.

  A party scene greeted her. Kids, mostly dressed in black, some with multiple piercings, danced and drank or talked loudly above the blare of metal rock. None of them even noticed her. Darlene smelled the distinctive odor of pot, smoked openly.

  In the kitchen in the back, a teenaged girl wearing a lot of smudged black eyeliner mixed orange juice in a pitcher. She dumped a pint of vodka into it and poured herself a glass. She eyed Darlene in an unfriendly manner, and defiantly took a big swig of her drink.

  "I'm looking for Brian. Tall, thin kid with red hair?"

  The girl shrugged then went to a door that opened to basement stairs. “Hey,” she yelled. “Some old fat lady is here for that Brian kid."

  Old? Fat? She just turned forty and she had good skin! And she wore a size fourteen. For her height that wasn't fat at all. Darlene gave the spindly girl with the nonexistent breasts a sour look and pushed passed her to the stairs.

  "Hey, lady! You can't go down there.” The girl spoke in a whiney tone.

  Darlene ignored her and stormed down the stairs to a den area with shabby, mismatched furniture, a state of the art plasma TV in one corner. A set of amplifiers, guitars and a drum set filled another corner. The musty smell of damp rot mixed with the smoke of cigarettes and pot.

  A group of kids, late teens or college age, sat in front of the TV. These kids were quiet, staring at the TV as though drugged.

  Drugs! She knew it!

  "I'm looking for Bra
in, tall, with red hair,” she announced.

  One spotty faced boy flicked a glance her way for a moment, while the others ignored her. “Try one of the bedrooms,” the kid said.

  Darlene barged into one room through a shut door. A guy and a girl were messing around on a stained mattress with no sheets. Darlene quickly shut the door and opened the next.

  Brian was stretched across a bed, in a dimly lit room, his face so white the golden brown freckles that went with his red hair stood out clearly. Darlene rushed to him, grabbed him by the shoulders and shook.

  "Brian?” He didn't respond. Panic overwhelmed her as she tried to find his pulse. Was he even breathing? Was it a drug overdose? She fumbled in her purse to find her cell phone, hands shaky, bile rising to the point she felt like vomiting.

  The door behind her burst open. A tall, thin woman with short, black spiky hair, dressed in a skimpy black leather skirt and silky red top that left her chest mostly bare, stalked toward her. Before Darlene could ask her to help, the woman's hand lashed out and gripped Darlene around the neck, long nails digging in.

  It was almost like it was happening to someone else, the shock was so profound. Why isn't she helping Brian? The woman was so strong, her single hand squeezing the breath out of her and Darlene realized there was no help coming from this woman. Her eyes were half slits and chilling in their dead glare.

  Is this how I die? Darlene struggled to get away but the woman's hand just gripped tighter and pulled her up until her toes barely brushed the floor. Darlene dropped the cell phone and her purse and grabbed at the woman's hand with both of hers, trying to pry it off her neck.

  The fingers didn't budge. They tightened.

  She's going to break my neck! Darlene's hands fell away, all her effort had to go into dragging in short, shallow, choked pants.

  "You are troubling me. You shouldn't be here,” the woman hissed. Then she smiled, not a nice smile. Her teeth were white and Darlene watched in horror as her teeth changed. Gleaming white fangs descended and she opened her mouth wide.

  A vampire? Darlene stared in confusion at the teeth. They looked so real. So deadly. She tried to kick and squirm away, but the woman just smirked at her and tightened the grip of the steel-like hands around Darlene's neck, cutting off all breath. The dim light of the room went darker.

  Suddenly, the woman's grip evaporated and Darlene fell hard to the floor. The woman turned gray and crumbled to the floor into a pile of fine dust.

  Darlene gasped for breath, her throat aching as well as the rest of her body from the sudden fall to the concrete floor. She stared up at a man who stood where the vampire woman had been. He was tall and broad shouldered, dressed in a long sleeved black knit shirt and black jeans. Blond, wavy hair, cut close around the ears, framed an impossibly handsome face with high cheekbones, a square jaw, and full lips. His eyes were bright blue, visible even in the dim light, long lashed and tilted upwards similar to a cat. His presence seemed as bizarre as the vampire woman. Darlene shook her head and tried to pull herself together.

  "Leave,” he ordered in a hard voice.

  "My son! I need to call 911.” Her voice came out in a harsh croak, her throat hurt when she talked. She got up on her knees and reached for her cell but a sharp kick from the man sent it flying across the room. She collapsed onto the floor and moaned, realizing he must be another one. A vampire. She crawled onto the bed and embraced her son, weeping. At least we'll die together

  The blond man brushed her out of the way and examined Brian. “Too late,” he said in the same hard tone.

  "No!” She cried in horror at his words but she knew he was right. She could see the twin puncture holes over Brian's jugular. She swayed, almost falling off the bed. “He's my son! He's only seventeen,” she pleaded, needing to stay with Brian.

  The man grabbed her with strength she recognized as inhuman, and one hard hand on her jaw forced her to look into his face for a long moment. “I can give him life, but it won't be the same,” he finally spoke. “It won't be human life. It is too late for that. The boy will have to live with me. Or he'll turn into a monster like the woman I just dusted. Is this what you want? He will be a vampire."

  Hope, pure and sharp, filled her. She looked into the man's hard blue eyes, and thought she saw a flicker of compassion deep in the depths. “I want Brian alive! I don't care what you have to do.” For some reason she did not question his ability to save her son or question the fact that vampires were totally real. There was something powerful about him, something compelling. There was no time for doubt.

  The door opened and a large black man, biceps bulging, looked in.

  "I'm going to change the boy,” the blond man told him. “Make sure the house is cleared."

  "Yes, sir."

  The blond man glanced at her again. “I'm in charge now. Don't interfere. When I'm done I will immediately need blood from you. Are you willing to do that?"

  "Yes. Anything."

  He nodded then turned to Brian and moved on the bed next to him while she sat, shaking, on the edge of the bed and clutched Brian's cold, limp hand. The vampire bit his own wrist with a pearly fang, then opened Brian's mouth and placed his bleeding wrist over it.

  At first nothing happened, Brian was as still as a corpse. The blond vampire did not move his wrist away, and a small trickle of blood slipped out of the corner of Brian's mouth. Then Darlene saw Brian's throat move in a swallowing motion. He was alive! She looked at the vampire for confirmation. He caught her glance and gave her a nod. Brian began to suck on the man's wrist, and he drank for several minutes.

  Finally, the man pulled his wrist away. Darlene noticed it was not bleeding anymore. Brian did not move but she could see his chest expand as he breathed evenly.

  The vampire leaned limply against the headboard, his head resting back, revealing the smooth line of his neck. “My name is Vare. I am now your son's sire, in vampire terminology and he is now what my clan calls a wristling, one who is dependent on the clan for feeding. I will have to keep him with me for a few years, or he could easily turn into a monster like the woman who drained him. Young vampires need care, just as young children do.” He paused, lips tightening. “Who are you?"

  "I'm Darlene Maxwel."

  Vare nodded and looked at her for a moment his glance traveling her in a way that made her breath catch. She recognized hunger. “He will not be quite the same boy you knew for some time to come. You and his father will not be able to control him."

  "H-he lives with just me. His father died years ago."

  Vare nodded and pursed his lips, staring at her intently. “Come here.” She came closer, heart rate soaring.

  "Closer."

  Darlene sat stiffly on the edge of the bed. One of his arms curved behind her and a steel strong hand gripped her shoulder, the other hand gripped her head.

  "I want to turn around,” she said, her voice raspy from pain and emotion, near tears. “I want to watch Brian."

  Vare was incredibly strong. He flipped her around so she sat between his knees, facing Brian. She held her breath and he bit into her neck.

  Sharp pain filled her. Then he sucked and an overwhelming sensation of warmth ran through her, as though every blood vessel in her body received a delicate caress. Darlene held still, eyes shut tight, barely breathing, so she could concentrate on the exquisite feeling. The bite no longer hurt, nor did her throat or her body from the jar of falling to the floor earlier. All her muscles relaxed at once and she slumped against Vare, boneless, and watched Brian breathe.

  A few moments later Darlene became aware of the body against her. His arms and chest hard and muscled. He shifted until his body surrounded her, his legs spread so she pressed tight against his crotch. She felt the hard ridge of his erection pressing stiffly against her bottom and gave an involuntary wiggle as desire pooled between her legs. Her eyes drifted away from Brian, closing, as all the warm sensations changed, heating. For a moment she drifted from the ugly room, the desperate, biza
rre scene, into a sensual haze of heat and melting desire.

  Vare's hand on her shoulder slid slowly down, caressing all the way and gripped her hip. Holding tight, he thrust upward, and she ground down onto him in response. Her hands found his thighs and wished she could feel his skin. It's been so long.

  Gradually, Vare's sucking slowed and stopped, but his teeth remained inside her. Rushing pleasure flowed to every part of her body, and she gasped. Her fingers and toes—even her most private parts—tingled with electric, liquid warmth.

  Vare withdrew his fangs and she sat back and looked at him. He seemed to glow in godlike beauty. She wanted desperately to give him something. What?

  She was a good baker. There was all that delicious cookie dough in her fridge. “I'll make you cookies,” she blurted out.

  Vare's full lips curved into a half smile. “It's the elixir from my teeth. It stops the bleeding, but leaves you with warm feelings toward me. It will pass.” He stood. “Come on. We need to get out of this lair and let the clean- up crew do their job."

  Darlene stood up and swallowed hard, her hand finding the bite on her neck. There was no blood or pain. She felt tingly, alive. Aroused. She glanced at Vare, who picked Brian up.

  Brian! I should have been helping Brian. Guilt flooded through her. What kind of mother was she? Her son was half-dead...vampires...and she was practically making out with a stranger on the bed next to her injured son.

  Vare looked at her, his expression serious. “It is all right to feel overwhelmed. You've done nothing wrong. You've chosen life for your son."

  Darlene jerked her head in a curt nod, unable to speak because of the lump in her throat.

  "Let's get out of here,” Vare said. She picked up her purse and cell phone and held the door for him with a shaking hand. She felt like a sleepwalker in a strange and frightening dream.

  The house was quiet now except for the sound of a vacuum. Several fit looking adults in dark clothing were cleaning, using lemon fresh cleanser and rags.

  The muscle bound black man joined them in the kitchen. “There was another one. I did her. She's in my van. I'll call the Duchene clan and see if they want a young one."