A Vampyre's Daughter - Jeff Schanz (easy to read books for adults list TXT) 📗

essentially offered herself and he had wavered. She had seen it as a denial. I’m sorry Lia. I was just confused. Still am. But I do want you.

As had happened so many times before, Lia seemed to sense his mind. Her arms raised and rested on his shoulders. Her lips trembled. Then her eyes opened. They were an almost neon, more brilliant than he had recalled them ever being before. They stared intensely back like she could burn holes through his pupils. The simplest way to describe her look was “hungry.”

Oh, thank God. Brandt tightened his arms around her, but it wasn’t necessary. Lia encircled her arms around his neck and pulled herself up to him, pressing into him with more force than he thought a woman could. It was all he could do to keep his balance, or they would both be laying on the ground momentarily. Might be a good thing. Later. She ate at his lips and tongue with a ravenous fever. He responded with equal vigor. Her hands found the back of his head and raked through his hair. His hands multi-tasked by caressing her back and head at the same time. Ambidextrous skills. Despite her slender figure, she was strong. As he lifted her to gain balance, he noticed that she was much lighter than he expected. Extremely. Like a toy. Maybe a third of the weight he would expect. Maybe a quarter. His brain couldn’t be functioning properly. It had been fritzing out before he was lip-locked with this beautiful woman, so it was probably even less trustworthy now that his hormones were running all bodily operations. So, she’s light. Even better when she’s on top of me. He was getting ahead of himself, but it didn’t seem like a crazy leap. She pulled her mouth away to kiss and lick his neck. He grasped her buttocks. Her response was a slight moan and a fervent ear kiss. He caressed everything he could reach, then decided to do something that might seem mundane, yet was one of his favorite things.

He loved the underside of a woman’s neck. Besides the typical things, the throat of a woman was the most sensuous thing to him. He pressed his mouth under her chin and she responded by tilting her head all the way back. She put her hands behind his head and encouraged his exploration. He kissed, nibbled, and caressed her exquisite throat with his mouth. She shivered even more and gripped his head with her hands, pulling him tighter. It was like she was in a passionate trance. He worked his way up to her jaw, then her chin. He was not done with her neck, but he needed her lips again. Those incredible, edible, electric lips of hers. He brought his hands to both sides of her face and angled her mouth closer to his. He looked at her wet lips, drinking in their bright red color. They seemed vibrantly crimson now. Her tongue licked them like she was prepared to dine on him. Though her eyes were closed again, her nervousness had faded. No more trembling. Just ecstasy and hunger. Her lips parted. He moved toward her.

And froze.

There was something wrong with her teeth. Very wrong. He had seen people with long canines before, but nothing like this. Two extremely long and slender objects extended down about an inch and a half past the other teeth, protruding from an odd cylindrical pocket of gum, and tapering into needle-sharp tips. Her mouth pulled farther apart as she came closer to his neck. The two lethal-looking teeth pulsed a little inside their raised sockets. For all the world, they resembled a serpent’s fangs.

Brandt shuddered and involuntarily pulled back. Lia began to close her mouth, and as she did, the fangs pivoted and tucked themselves inward just like a snake. A small little chirp of surprise emitted from Brandt’s throat. Lia came out of her rapturous trance and looked into Brandt’s eyes. Seeing his horror, she panicked.

She clapped both her hands across her mouth and took two steps back. Her eyes grew wide with fear. Falling to the ground, she scrambled backward like a crab until she was stopped by the stone wall. She looked like the horror movie victim who just found the killer in her closet.

Brandt was oblivious to that. He took a step back himself, numbly. His body was robotic and his mind was on fire. He simply couldn’t think past the image he just saw.

She has snake fangs. Fangs! She’s… She’s a….

But she couldn’t be. No one could be. There was a rational explanation for what he just saw. But he did see it. He was sure his eyes worked fine. Those things weren’t some misshapen canines or crooked teeth that resembled fangs. She had real, functioning, retractable, serpent-like fangs.

He had seen her with her mouth open plenty of times and never saw fangs before. Where did they come from? Why now? What the hell was she? Certainly, there were no such things as…

He seemed to notice Lia’s dismay for the first time. She was sobbing against the stone wall, curled into a fetal ball, arms thrown over her head. A part of Brandt wanted to walk over to her, cradle her, and tell her everything was all right. But the other more paranoid part of Brandt was running the show.

Nothing was all right. Lia had told him there were things about her that she needed to show him. Things he needed to know. Now he knew.

What do I know? He didn’t understand what he just saw. He had no idea how to react or what to say, and no idea what it meant. But his damaged brain was telling him what it thought it meant. She’s a vampire.

Lia picked herself up slowly, using the wall for support. She glanced at Brandt for a moment, then turned away from him again.

Brandt couldn't move. His rational side wanted to go to her and assure her whatever it was it was all right. But it wasn't. The paranoid part of him wanted to get away from her. But he didn't do that either. He stood stock-still and stammered, “What…?” The need to say something was pressing. Words were about to tumble out of his mouth, pushed by his dysfunctional brain to address the awkward situation, but as the phrases flew by in his head, nothing was right. What are those? No. What’s wrong with you? No. Why do you have fangs? No. Were you going to bite me? No. Nothing was properly prepared to be voiced, but words came out anyway. His feverish and faulty brain opened his mouth and out came, “What are you?”

Through breath-halting sobs, she answered, “You see me as a monster.”

Again, he wanted to respond with something tactful, but the paranoid side of him just kept saying, vampire, vampire, vampire. His reasoning wasn’t working with so much irrational noise.

“I don't…” he started and wasn't sure how to finish it. “It's just…” he started again, and couldn't go in that direction. Lia was looking at him like he was the monster, even though she was the one with the fangs. He tried to justify his stuttering. “I'm sorry, but it almost looks like you’re a… But you couldn’t be a vam…” He stopped himself. He shouldn’t have started that sentence and instantly regretted uttering it. There was nothing in those words that could possibly make things better. He expected her to scream, or swear, or throw something, or laugh at him because he was crazy, or just storm away. But she did none of those things.

She stood up, straightened her back, and pressed her dress flat against her waist. He sniffed and forced her tears back, making only one move to swipe her cheek with her sleeve. She was gaining composure slowly.

“You were going to say vampire,” she said, contempt undisguised. “And I assume you already have preconceived notions as to what that means.”

Brandt was utterly dumbstruck. Was that an admission, or some kind of baited question? Was he misinterpreting her words? “You’re not saying you’re a…? You’re actually a…?”

“What I am is a woman,” she said with a haughty air. “My affliction does not define my identity. I am Natalia Viktorovna Zakharyina, daughter of Viktor Zakharyin, and heir to the titles of Zakharyin and Romanov. But for your simple mind, you will have a simple answer. Yes, you may call me a vampire.”

END OF SAMPLE

 

 

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Publication Date: 05-24-2018

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