Devereux- the Night Before Kismet Read online

  “That is very impressive.”

  A satisfied expression flowed across her features. “I also found a combination that creates relaxation, which can be very helpful for newly turned vampires who can’t control their behaviors or emotions. And there’s one for extended sleep, for when a vampire who might be getting tired of his or her daily existence chooses to ‘go to ground’ for a century or so. These new drugs will give the user a positive outcome.”

  “How far along in the testing procedure have you gotten? I do not recall receiving a report about your findings.”

  She chewed a fingernail. “I’m in the middle of writing up an initial report for you. We’ve only done a small clinical trial so far. Next week we begin recruiting volunteers for a larger study.” Her eyes glowed and a tremor of excitement vibrated through her. “Next year at this time we’ll be able to fine-tune the formulas to help all vampires. At this point, one unexpected result has been that each vampire experiences the drug slightly differently, depending on her or his age and power. We’ll soon be able to take all that into account and to create specific enhancements according to individual needs. It’s all so amazing!” She flung her arms out wide and sent a large microscope sailing through the air. It smashed into the far wall and stuck there.

  The woman really is a disaster waiting to happen. Why am I still here?

  “Oh, no! Look what I did. I’m so clumsy.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “Honest, I don’t usually cause this much damage in such a short time period.” She looked up at him, and bit her lower lip. “I think it’s because I’m nervous.”

  He laughed. “I would say that is an understatement.”

  Continuing to read her, he watched as she studied him to see if he was angry or making fun of her. When she sensed he wasn’t, she smiled. “Well, then, I won’t even bother to make promises I can’t keep. But since I seem to do a little better when I talk calmly about my work, maybe we should stay on that topic for a while. So, with that in mind, would you like to try one of the formulas? To see for yourself?” Her lips parted.

  It didn’t take a mind-reader to know which one of the drugs she’d like him to take.

  “You wish me to sample the one that has romantic and sexual elements? Are you certain you want to give permission for me to drink your blood? After all, we do not know what will happen. And you barely know me.”

  Oh, yes. She knows exactly what she hopes will happen. Hmm — I never would have guessed she knew how to do that...

  She stood straighter and gave him a clear blue gaze. “I know a lot about you — everything I could find out online and through vampire networks — and I would love to have sex with you.”

  “Well, then, how can I refuse such a delightful invitation? What do we do?” He licked his lips in anticipation.

  At least this part should be pleasant. Maybe I can see my way to forgive Elliott and Laurence after all. Of course, I have to rip their heads off first, just for my own satisfaction, but I will not make them crawl far to reclaim them. Maybe just down one staircase... or perhaps up on the roof.

  She shifted her gaze to the door of the sleeping room and back. “Why don’t you go to the area I’ve prepared and I’ll bring a bottle of the formula. We’ll put a drop on your tongue and then you can take some blood from me. As I said, the effect won’t be as strong as if you had human blood, but it will give you a good idea. The enhancement should last for at least half an hour.” She pointed toward the door.

  He gave a quick bow, strolled back to the room and pushed the door all the way open. Soft music floated from speakers in the walls, and pleasant aromas wafted from both the scented candles and fresh flowers placed in vases on every available surface. Luxurious white bedding covered the king-size bed.

  Well, since she has gone to so much trouble, it is the least I can do...

  A balcony overlooked downtown Chicago and the Lake Michigan shoreline. He slid the glass door open and stepped outside, appreciating the bracing air and the sounds of the city. He had forgotten what a marvelous view this building had.

  Sensing her approach, he returned inside, removed his clothes, folded them on a table in the corner and stretched out on top of the covers.

  Lilly entered the room carrying a small bottle with a light-pink label and an eye dropper. “Here’s the formula—” She stopped dead when she saw him on the bed and dropped the sturdy bottle, which fell with a loud clunk onto the marble floor.

  Devereux rolled his eyes as she bent to retrieve the bottle. He had to agree with her. She was quite uncoordinated. He looked down at himself and wondered if she could be trusted to handle anything... important.

  “Whew! Lucky I stuffed the cork in tightly so none of the liquid spilled.”

  He’d scooted up in the bed and leaned against the carved wooden headboard. He laced his hands behind his head. “Yes.” He grinned at her. “That is very lucky.”

  Her gaze shifted from his face to his genitals and seemed to get stuck there.

  “Lilly? Would you like to join me?”

  His voice startled her out of her trance and she jerked her focus back to his face. Her eyes couldn’t get any wider. “Yes.” She handed him the bottle and eye dropper, and kicked off her shoes. She unbuttoned the lab coat and let it drop to the floor. Underneath she was naked.

  He took a few seconds to track his gaze over her lovely body, noticing her rosy nipples and the golden curls between her legs.

  Hmm. Clumsy, possibly a bit crazy, but very sexy.

  He couldn’t resist asking. “Are you always naked under your lab coat? You seem a bit more conservative to me.”

  “You’re right, I’m usually more reserved, but I wanted to be ready in case the opportunity for us to have sex presented itself. I’m a very pragmatic vampire.” She crawled up on the bed and took the bottle from his hand. “The formula tastes pretty awful, but you only have to take a drop right before sucking blood, so it shouldn’t be too unpleasant.” She knelt at his side, pushed her hair behind her shoulder to expose her neck then extracted the small cork. “Open your mouth and stick out your tongue,” she said, then laughed. “I’m sorry. That sounds more like a visit to a human doctor’s office than a romantic interlude. But, please — that’s the easiest way to get the formula on your tongue.”

  Always willing to help further the cause of science, Devereux did as requested and she squeezed out a drop of the thick, dark liquid.

  She set the concoction on the table. “Okay.” She leaned in, sweeping her hair out of the way again. “Bite me.”

  The liquid did taste bad. He cringed as he bent toward her, opened his lips and pressed his fangs into the vein on her neck. But as the blood flowed into his mouth and washed away the foul flavor on his tongue, an unusual floaty sensation assailed him. His erection, which had been half-hearted, as if it wasn’t sure how much longer they were going to continue the date, now stood at full attention.

  He moved his hand to her breast, found her nipple and squeezed gently. His body tingled and a wave of warmth flowed down from his head to his feet. The more blood he drank, the more vivid the sensations.

  Lilly moaned and slid her hand down to grasp him. She began stroking his length and as she eased her finger over his tip, he grunted and withdrew his fangs. He licked the tasty residue from his lips and pressed them to hers in a passionate kiss, then pulled her down on top of him and ran his fingers along her body. Her skin felt hot to the touch, which was impossible for a vampire.

  Distantly, he noted how much he was enjoying kissing her, how sensual it seemed, which was different for him because his emotions were never engaged during liaisons with women he wasn’t close to. It felt like he could lie there, touching and kissing her all night. He assumed that was one of the effects of the drug.

  He got caught up in sliding his tongue under, over and around hers and had what felt like a mini-orgasm in his mouth. Amazing.

  After an eternity, Lily broke the kiss and said, “I want you inside me. Pleas
e.”

  Never one to disappoint a lady, he reversed their positions, nudged her legs apart with his and thrust himself into her.

  They both groaned.

  He had no idea if this was what a human drug trip felt like, but it was absolutely extraordinary.

  I’ll definitely be stocking up on this product.

  The soft music playing in the background came alive, the notes resonating in his bones, sounding so close it was as if the instruments were suspended in the air near his ears. Each place she touched him sent ripples of pleasure through his entire body.

  He kissed her again and eased his tongue into her mouth, circling in an erotic dance with hers.

  Simultaneously, they built toward climax, moaning and writhing until the tremors subsided, which took a delightfully long time, until at last, finally totally spent, he gave her a quick kiss, then rolled off. He lay on his back next to her, still under the influence of the strange mixture, concentrating on his bodily reactions. For the second time that night, his heart pounded on its own. Usually he only made that happen if he was around humans. No doubt it was another unusual effect of the drug.

  Then suddenly as if a switch had been thrown, the formula’s effect ended, and the euphoric feelings vanished abruptly, leaving him feeling oddly hollow. Cold. Almost bereft.

  Intrigued, he examined his sad feelings. He’d never experienced anything like his current state, in the wake of the drug trip. It was like falling into an abyss or a black hole. He’d heard human depression described in such a way. Did the sexy little scientist know her discovery had adverse consequences?

  After resting silently for a few more minutes, willing his heart rate to slow, he rolled on his side, facing her. He lifted a lock of golden hair that had fallen across her face and smiled. “Thank you. That was beautiful.”

  She stroked his cheek with her finger. “It was for me, too.” She gave a contented sigh.

  They gazed at each other. He sensed her desire to ask him about his drug reaction, and though he was sure she wouldn’t like all of his feedback, she needed to know. And, as the owner of the company, he wanted this negative outcome explored.

  “Have you ever taken the formula yourself? Do you know about the after-effect? Have any of your subjects reported anything?”

  “No!” She bolted upright, alarmed. “What after-effect? Nobody has reported anything and I haven’t taken it yet. What do you mean? What happened?”

  He lifted a shoulder, still caught up in the heavy, vacuous — lost — feeling. He kept thinking he wanted to weep — something he hadn’t done in centuries. “I am not sure. During our encounter I felt blissful. My body thrilled with new sensations, everything was richer — deeper. The orgasm itself was extraordinary, as if it was happening in every cell simultaneously. I now understand why humans equate certain hallucinogenic explorations with spiritual experiences. I did have a sense of expanded consciousness, which is very appealing to me.”

  She frowned down at him, obviously irritated, her previously warm tone now harsh, the friendly mask tossed aside. “Well, that sounds great. What after-effect are you talking about? You seem okay to me.”

  “Do I? You do not sense anything different about my mood?” I am certainly sensing something different about yours.

  Cocking her head from side to side, she studied his face with clinical interest. “Well, maybe you do seem a little... sad, or something.” Her voice softened. She smiled and gave him wide eyes. “Did I do something to upset you?”

  Ah, back to the sweet innocent again. She has missed her calling in the theater.

  “No. But you are correct, I feel sad. No. More than sad. Hopeless. An emotion I have seldom experienced in my life, and there is absolutely no reason now. The feeling washed over me the moment the effect of the drug wore off, and it has increased.” He shook his head. “As a matter of fact,” he gazed off into the distance, thinking, “if I were anyone else, I would be concerned about myself. Even now I am contemplating ways to commit suicide.”

  She blanched. “Kill yourself? Seriously? But maybe you’ve just had a rough day and you’re feeling down. That’s perfectly natural.” Her voice acquired a sharp edge again. “Nobody else ever reported that result from taking the drug.”

  He looked at her. “Are you sure? Did you ask them to report on their mood afterward?”

  “Well, no, not exactly. Okay, maybe once, but they were mistaken. If there was a problem wouldn’t I know about it? Maybe you had such a strong result because you’re you. As I said earlier, there does seem to be a reaction difference between powerful and weaker vampires.”

  “Perhaps.” Whatever had caused his dark mood couldn’t be good. “Do you have an antidote?”

  “An antidote? What for? I don’t think anyone but you will have that negative after-experience. In fact, with your permission, I’ll prove it.”

  “Prove it? How?”

  “Let me take the drug and drink your blood. Then we can see if I become suicidal afterward.”

  He shook his head, frowning. “I do not think that is a good idea.” He remembered the extra oomph his blood had due to drinking from Maeve. “But we can ask a human to volunteer at another time.” He dropped his head back onto the pillow, suddenly tired.

  “I don’t want to wait,” she snarled. “I need to prove I’m right.” Faster than he’d seen her move before, she grabbed the bottle from the table, tilted it into her mouth and took a swig. Then she twisted her torso, latched onto his thigh, bit into his femoral vein and drank.

  Shocked at her unexpected action, he hesitated a few seconds before grabbing a handful of her hair. He made a valiant attempt to pry her head from his leg, but failed. She’d suddenly become astoundingly strong, even more than could be accounted for by drinking his blood, and he realized he’d been so distracted by her lack of grace and her bizarre performance that he’d missed how old she was. Her strength proved she’d lived for centuries.

  After a few more seconds he was able to exert enough force to lift her face from the messy wound she’d made. He used the brief reprieve to roll off the bed.

  He came to his feet unsteadily near the sliding door he’d left open and backed onto the balcony.

  “No! I’m not finished. I won’t let you ruin my research,” she shrieked from where she was still kneeling on the mattress, her mouth and fangs covered with his blood. Growling, her eyes went wild.

  He didn’t know how much of her actions now were due to the potency of his blood alone, or because of the excessive amount of the formula she’d ingested. Most likely, both. Apparently, lack of physical vigor was another possible effect of the formula he’d taken, because he was having a challenging time snapping out of it.

  She leapt at him and he stepped aside at the last second. The final thing he heard as she careened over the railing of the balcony was a long, echoing, “Fuuuuuuuck!”

  Stunned, he moved to the railing and looked down. There she was, about five or six stories below, splayed out on the ledge of the wider part of the building.

  “Well,” he said, knowing she had been rendered incapable of hearing him, “at least it will not take you as long to heal from falling that distance as it would have all the way to the ground below. I do not know whether to be angry or concerned, thanks to your volatile drug, but I do know your days at Devereux International have ended.”

  He shook himself, trying to clear the now-lessening effects of the drug, and sent a mental command to the site manager, requesting his immediate appearance.

  A few seconds later, a tall, business-suited male vampire popped into the bedroom and stared at the naked, disheveled Devereux.

  “Sir?” He looked slowly around the area, then focused on the bed.

  Without divulging all the details, Devereux gave his employee a quick mental rundown of the pertinent facts, and walked him over to the railing. He pointed, noting the obvious. “There she is. Have her treated and interrogated for information about her project. Her employment, of
course, will be terminated, and she will be brought to me, accompanied by security, as soon as you have finished with her. I will handle the situation from there. I trust this episode will remain confidential?” He gave the man a steely look.

  “Absolutely, sir. As always.”

  Devereux scanned the man’s mind to make sure he was loyal. Satisfied, he gestured, releasing the manager to carry out his new orders. He hated to be such a hard-ass, but it hadn’t been his blood that caused Lilly to attack him. It had been her own character.

  He was disgusted with himself for not paying closer attention. At the very least, his friends had proven yet again to have faulty intuition about women. Why should he be surprised?

  Pleased the drug’s residual effects had finally waned, he gathered his clothing from the chair. He dressed, then said to nobody in particular, “This is done! When I get back, Laurence and Elliott are dead. This ludicrous date night is now over.”

  And he was sailing through space and time again.

  Date #3

  “Wuf—” he huffed as he slammed onto frozen, snow-covered ground.

  Scrambling to his feet, he studied the area, preparing himself for the last act in his friends’ miserable play, thankful this would be the final curtain. With their track record, there was no telling what waited for him in this literal and figurative dark night.

  Deep snow filled the frigid, desolate landscape, and all around him pine trees and other evergreens were layered with white. He breathed on purpose to watch the air puff like steam from his lips, then folded his arms across his chest and stared up at the blanket of stars, reveling in the beauty of the sky. The cold didn’t bother him — in fact he found it invigorating. He could actually feel the dense silence press against his ears.

  I must admit one thing: I have not been bored so far.

  He braced his hands around his mouth and called out, “Hello?” half-expecting the word to echo in the stillness.

  “Hello.”

  That wasn’t an echo.

  Startled, Devereux spun toward the speaker, upset that he’d allowed himself to get so caught up in admiring the scenery that he’d missed the arrival of the owner of the feminine voice. What if it had been an enemy? Then, realizing he could hear the heartbeat and smell the blood of the person standing in front of him, he became even more alarmed that the greeting had come from a human woman.