Page 21 of Kiss of the Vampire

“Was the…was the storm really bothering you, too?” she asked.

Levka patted her shoulder. “Too rough. Decided to try and play a card game until the seas quieted.”

“Too bad you couldn’t use your hypnosis on storms, Stasio.” Caitlin tried to smile, but another bone-jarring jolt to the ship, stole her thoughts. Under her breath she added, “Too bad you couldn’t convince me to go to sleep.”

“You’re not easily hypnotized?” Stasio discarded another card on the coffee table between them.

“No, no one can hypnotize me.”

Stasio glanced at Levka, and she noticed Ruric watching her with a curious look, too.

She shrugged, realizing how bulky and uncomfortable the lifejacket was, but she still couldn’t take it off.

“Do you want me to try?” Stasio asked.

“It won’t work.” Not with being a witch. She just couldn’t give up control to another in that manner. “It’s been tried on me before,” she said honestly, “and it won’t work.”

“You don’t want it to.” Stasio picked up a card.

“Oh yes I do if it can help me sleep through this.”

He looked up at her, his blue eyes fathomless. “If I tell you that you are getting sleepy, you will resist me.”

“I want to sleep.”

He smiled. “Yes, but not here, not in the ship’s lounge. You find the idea disagreeable because you’d feel vulnerable, and you wouldn’t go along with it. If I took you back to your cabin, you’d resist me because you would fear the unknown.”

Her whole body grew hot. She glanced at Levka, whose lips were smiling slightly.

Ruric had the same bemused expression.

“You’d fight me, because you wouldn’t entirely trust me,” Stasio added.

Arman came back with her hot chocolate topped with whipped cream. “Cheers. Maybe this will help you to relax.”

She took a deep breath and thanked Arman. The guys continued to play cards while she drank the hot chocolate. Not once did they flinch when the ship shook or rolled or felt as though it was going to sink. She didn’t think the storm bothered them at all.

She stared into her dwindling drink.

“You are getting sleepy.”

She looked up at Stasio, but she didn’t think he’d said anything. Not with his voice, anyhow. But he couldn’t have reached her telepathically. She kept her abilities locked up, not allowing anyone in, or letting her own thoughts out. Besides, she’d only known one person who could telepathically communicate with her besides her parents, and he was also dead.

Stasio continued to play his cards without looking at her.

Levka glanced at her nearly empty mug and looked at Arman, which seemed to prompt him to ask, “Want another cocoa?”

“Sure, thanks so much, Arman. I’ll return the favor tomorrow.” She took another deep breath and finished off the drink. “Okay, Stasio, go ahead. Try hypnotizing me. I promise I’ll try and accept it.”

He continued to discard a card, then picked up another. “I don’t like anyone to think I’m a fraud.”

She smiled. “I know you’re not a fraud. You’re very good at what you do.”

Looking up at her, he said, “But you would be more of a challenge than I’m willing to risk.”

“I give myself into your care.” She yawned. “Well, after I drink my second cup of chocolate or Arman will be disappointed.”

After Arman returned with her cocoa, she began to sip it, hating that the waves weren’t quieting. Several times she nearly spilled her cocoa until she drank enough of it.