Toxic

“Some Q &A first if you don’t mind?” His eyes briefly met mine from behind his lenses.

“Ask away.”

“Garlic? Does it keep vampires away?”

I giggled. “Only if you have a sensitive nose that can’t stand it. Me, I love a little Italian flair in my blood.”

He shifted as he noted my response. “I already know you’re allergic to sunlight. What about crosses and holy water?”

I rolled my eyes and sighed. “No matter what the religious institutions might want people to think, we are not evil, ungodly creatures. I can not only wear a cross without harm and gargle holy water, I can walk into a church, fuck a priest and not even sweat.” My crude claims didn’t even faze him.

“Does your kind believe in God?”

I was surprised at the intentness of his expression as he asked me this. “There is no God, not like the bible claims anyways. Although, I do have reason to believe there is a Satan.”

“How can you believe in one and not the other?”

“Let’s just say I have my sources and I have it on good authority that there is a realm out there that could aptly be named Hell, and it’s ruled by a creature whose title is Satan; I’ve never seen irrefutable proof of Heaven, however. It could exist, but in either case, I do know people’s souls don’t depart this planet for either damnation or eternal fields of sunshine.”

“What do you believe happens to the soul instead then?”

“When you die, your soul, the energy that animates a body is released to be reborn again in a new body.” Or absorbed by someone like me.

“You believe in souls, yet you don’t believe in religion.”

“Souls aren’t religious, they’re proven fact.” I frowned at him. “Why all these questions on religion? Are you like some closet fanatic who’s going to pull out a stake and scream death to the vampires?”

His lips quirked. “Just curious. I’ve noticed most humans have strong beliefs when it comes to the existence of God along with Heaven and Hell.”

Something about the way he said humans struck me as odd. But I ignored it in favor of a question that interested me more. “And what do you believe?”

“I believe in God, the one God, and I know in my heart Heaven exists.”

I laughed. “A man of science who believes in religion? How odd.”

“No odder than discovering vampires exist.”

“Touche,” I replied with a rueful grin. “On to the next question.”

“Can you turn into a bat?”

I almost fell off the bed I laughed so hard. “No,” I gasped.

“And I know you’re not a walking corpse,” he muttered scratching on his notepad.

Gee, I wonder if my having a heart beat gave that one away. I kicked my feet as I waited for him to ask his next myth related query.

“Can you turn into a mist and float through cracks?”

I grinned and shook my head. I didn’t mention I could cloak myself in shadows. Not all vampires could do it, and I reserved the right to keep certain things to myself.

“Levitation?”

“I can float above the ground for a few minutes, but if I try to go too high gravity grabs me with a vengeance.”

“What about hypnotizing people?”

I waggled my fingers at him and rounded my eyes. “Ooh, you will now cluck like a chicken.”

He tapped his pencil on his notebook. “Nice try, but I saw the press conference. I know you have some power to manipulate people.”

“Yes, yes I do. But not all my kind have the same ability. I’m a lot stronger than your average vamp and thus have more powers.”

“Can your mind control be fought?”

“Funny you should ask considering your mind keeps refusing my requests.”

“And what have you tried to get me to do?” Rafe asked with a ghost of a smile.

“Well, for one, I keep trying to convince you to take off your damned coat and shirt so I can have a peek at your bod.”

“Whatever for?” he asked his forehead creased in puzzlement.

I grinned toothily at him. “To see if you’re hiding a six pack or a margarine tub.”

He blushed and pushed at his glasses on his face. “Okay, on to the next question.”

I chuckled at his discomfort.

“Teeth? They retract into your gums I’ve noticed. Is it painful?”

I shook my head. “Only the first few times. And just so you know, they aren’t like regular enamel teeth. They’re more porous and exude a relaxing agent when we use them to feed.”

“Fascinating,” he murmured as he scribbled madly. “Will you allow me to take a sample?”

“Sure,” I replied benignly. “And I’ll even allow you to try it out; just say when… and where.”

He didn’t rise to my challenge; although, I’m sure I caught him smiling before he turned away. He fiddled with some dials on one of his machines as he spoke to me over his shoulder. “Okay, I already got measurements for your body the first night. Today, we’re going to take a look at your internal parts. I’m going to start out with the ultrasound and then we’ll move onto x-rays.”

“Okay, let’s get this over with,” I grumbled. I lay on the bed only to sit up again when he turned and handed me a paper gown. I arched a brow. “Seriously? You want me to wear this oversized Kleenex?”

“I don’t want your clothes to get slimy with the gel I use for the ultrasound probe.”

“Ooh, probing. I’m in.” I chuckled as I tugged my shirt off in front of him. He quickly averted his face, then his whole body. I smirked at his back as I finished disrobing. I returned to the table and stretched out, naked as the day I was born. “Ready,” I sang.

He turned around and did a double take. “Um, where’s the gown?” he asked in a thick voice.

“Oh, that thing? Too scratchy. Besides, I’m perfectly comfortable in the buff. Feel free to join me if you feel overdressed.”

He blushed and I thought he was cuter than ever. He took my blood with shaking hands and I thanked my high tolerance for pain as the trembling needle didn’t exactly feel great. But once the pain was gone, I had nothing to take my focus away from him. Oh dear.

I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the tantalizing scent of his skin just barely covering the network of veins that I longed to plunge my teeth into. I tried to deafen myself to the steady thumping of his heartbeat, music like no other. But with his hands palpating me and checking my musculature among other things, my body, despite my clenched teeth, grew aroused. My cleft soaked the skin of my thighs and my nipples hardened into points.

Lost in my own misery I didn’t notice at first that my calm and cool doctor wasn’t so blase. My ears eventually heard the increase in his heart rate, the way his breath caught and his hands kept inadvertently stroking me.

Aha! I knew he was hiding his attraction to me.

I opened my eyes to see his face flushed and his eyes out of focus behind his lenses. Finally, I had his attention and it had only required me getting naked. I sat up and faced him. For once, he didn’t turn away. His fingers brushed at my cheek, and I leaned into his touch, like a cat looking for a petting except my brand of purring was deadly.

He moved in closer and I knew I should walk away. The rational part of me screamed to put a stop to this even as I acknowledged the fact I’d intentionally maneuvered him into this position. But since when had I ever done the right thing?

I met his questing lips. The touch of his mouth on mine sent an erotic shiver through me, one that tightened my nipples even further and started a throbbing in my cleft. I didn’t stop him when his hands came to rest on my hips, bigger and rougher than I would have expected of a man of science. He pulled me closer to him, the hardness of his cock, even through his bulky layers of clothing, pressing against my lower tummy and spiraling my desire. His kiss deepened and I parted my lips for him, I even allowed him to slip his tongue into my mouth. I couldn’t stop myself from enjoying the arousal he incited, a sexual excitement like I’d never imagined and one which unfortunately couldn’t go any further. Not if I wanted him to live.