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I caught him by the throat and tossed him back onto the bed with disgust. With one fierce thought directed into his drunken mind, I forced him to give up his memory of me.

Forget. . . for this was merely a dream.

He lay there, panting, his eyes closing in sleep.

I leaped out of the cottage and ran into the forest. I dismissed my victim’s amorous requests from my mind as I leapt about with wild abandon, feeling the blood within me spreading its life into my limbs. There was pure joy in the renewal that came with the feeding. Catapulting myself across the field in one great leap, I landed next to the carriage with a whoop of sheer delight.

One of the gypsy guards quickly opened the carriage door for me and I regarded him through slitted eyes. With one quick gesture, I grabbed him and kissed him so hard, I felt one of his teeth crack. Then I shoved him away and climbed into the carriage.

Vlad arrived a half-hour later. Moving into the carriage, he found me happily humming to myself. The blood of my victim had me drunkenly giddy. Perhaps it was my prey’s own frustrated sexual desires that had seeped into me through his blood, but I had never felt quite so aroused by the power of the feeding. When I saw Vlad’s stern expression, I burst into peals of laughter.

“That man out there. His mouth is swollen. Did you do that?”

“I kissed him!” I began to convulse with laughter. “They all want me. Every single one. Every time they look upon me, they forget their own names. He was lusting for a kiss so I kissed him!”

“You are drunk,” Vlad decided. “Young fresh blood full of mortal desires has clouded your mind. ”

“I do not care,” I answered glibly. “It was wonderful to feed so freely. ”

Vlad regarded me for a long moment, then slammed the door shut behind him before reaching for me. I recoiled at first, then he pulled me into his embrace. I could smell the fresh blood on his breath.

“Your victim…a woman…” I whispered.

“Yes,” Vlad responded as his green gaze bored into mine. “Do you wish to taste how fine her blood is?”

“Yes, plea

se, a taste,” I responded dreamily.

Vlad covered my mouth with his own then blood began to pour out of him into mine. Sweet, delicious blood, still warm and vital with life. Hungrily, I wrapped my arms around Vlad’s neck, relishing the bloody kisses my Master was granting me. I was only dimly aware of him fumbling with the fastenings of my dress.

Vlad tore his mouth away from my blood lips. “She was very young and so soft in her bed. ”

“Yes, yes,” I sighed, licking the blood from my teeth. I could feel this new blood rushing to mingle with my own feast and my vampire body growing stronger. I was dizzy, feverish, delirious and giddy. My head swam as tilted my head back and laughed.

Vlad licked my throat and whispered against it. “She welcomed me into her embrace. ” He pulled my dress down around my shoulders.

“She was awed by your power,” I murmured.

“And my need for her life was so great,” Vlad answered, kissing the curve of my bare shoulder.

“She answered to it,” I whispered back.

“I took it. And that of her unborn child. ” Vlad trailed kisses down my neck.

I froze, my fingers tightening their grasp on his hair. I wrenched his head back, forcing his mouth from my body. “Repeat what you said. ”

Vlad held me firmly to him. “I said, I took the blood of her and her unborn child within her. ”

I cried out in horror and flung myself away from him. “You followed me!”

Vlad chuckled mockingly, obviously amused by my distress. “Why did you not take them both, Glynis? What sort of hunter are you?”

“I took what I needed to stave off the hunger. I will not kill unless I am starving and I was not starving,” I shrieked at him. I was irate and overwhelmed with emotion. My hands fidgeted with my dress, trying to pull it up to protect the modesty I no longer truly had.

Vlad smirked. “You are a vampire. We kill mortals. It is our way. ”

“Not a woman with child, safe in her bed beside her husband. ”