Page 108

Opening my eyes, I looked at the tightly shuttered window. Languidly, I moved closer to the house watching as the dappled moonlight danced with the shadows across the white walls. The trees were swaying to the music of the night and it lulled me into a languor.

Come to the window! Come now!

I sensed movement within the house. My eyes sharpened their focus, concentrating on the shutters.

Open the window! Open it now!

Slowly, the shutters opened. Standing in the darkness of his small bedroom stood a young man, his tousled hair falling into eyes that were heavily laden with sleep.

I spread out my arms and moved forward slowly. I could see the farmer struggling to clear his muddled mind.

No, no, do not be afraid. Look at me. Look into my eyes. Am I not beautiful? Do you not wish to kiss me?

The young man shrank back into the gloom of the hovel in fear and I sprang forward. I landed lightly on the ledge of the window and stared into the darkened room. A large bed dominated the room and by the lumpy shape on the mattress I realized there was a very pregnant woman asleep under the quilts. Her husband breathed heavily, leaning back against the bed, staring at me; the beautiful, ethereal creature perched in his window.

“Please…”

“Invite me in,” I urged him in a seductive voice. I knew my eyes were glowing in the darkness. I could see a blue haze coloring my clothes and skin.

“I cannot…” the farmer protested in a whisper.

I licked my lips with my pink tongue and focused my gaze on him. “Look at me. Do you not wish to kiss me?”

The young man stared at me with horror and yet, with desire. I could see it in the way he cast his gaze warily at his sleeping wife, then back at me. His desire was growing for me. He was drinking in my translucent skin and piercing aquamarine eyes. I could see that my long red tresses mesmerized him as they fluttered around the soft curves of my body. Falling back on the bed, he pulled the heavy quilt over him in an attempt to hide his body’s arousal.

“Come…in,” he finally whispered.

I smiled and dropped into the room that I could not have entered without invitation. The young man wiggled back to his side of the bed, his eyes watching me as I slowly advanced on him. When I pulled up my heavy skirts and placed one knee on the mattress, he moaned with anticipation. As I crawled toward him, I could not help but lick my long fangs. The farmer gasped, but did not move. He was foolishly clutching the quilt up around his neck. I reached out one hand and pulled it gently from his grasp.

The wife stirred, mumbling under breath.

The farmer froze.

My gaze shifted to the woman.

“Please, don’t…”

One sharp look silenced him.

I leaned over the woman, one hand sweeping back the woman’s dark hair from her face. Pressing my lips against the woman’s forehead, I murmured, “Sleep in peace. Do not awaken. ”

The woman sighed and her head slumped away from me.

“Now, for you,” I said with a smile.

The farmer swallowed hard as I moved over him and sat on his stomach. Looking down on him, I could not help but feel disgusted by his weakness. His wife was heavy with child and he was hoping that I would ravish him while his wife slept. It almost made me want to kill him, but I knew that soon a child would be born in the small cottage and it would need its father. I would take only what I needed.

Sliding my hands over his chest, I bent down toward him. He strained upwards for a kiss, but I pushed his face aside with one hand, exposing his throat. He was moaning beneath me, waiting for my passion to overwhelm him. With a soft hiss, I drew back my lips and drove my teeth into his neck.

I drank deeply, feeling his young blood coursing through me, renewing me. I drank until his heart began to grow weaker, then tore my mouth from the wound I had inflicted upon his neck. Still straddling him, I licked my lips with contentment.

A soft groan drew my attention back to my victim. He was gazing up at me with adoration mixed with horror.

“Come back to me again,” he whispered fervently. “Take me again! I want to be yours!”

I felt disgusted by his words and floated off the bed to the window.

He scrambled off the bed after me. “Please, my lady, please. I will serve you. I will do as you ask. I willingly give you my body. I will love you! Please!”