Belle Morte Bites (Belle Morte 4.3)

Elise: Part One

France, 1732

There was a girl in the river.

Ludovic froze. He was almost at the foot of the hill, where the evening shadows stretched like ink; the girl didn't seem to have noticed him.

When he'd retreated from the world years ago, after killing the monk who'd tried to help him, he'd sworn that he would never have contact with humans again, unable to trust his vampire side. But he'd quickly learned that he couldn't survive forever on animal blood. Unless he wanted to risk succumbing to savage desperation again and killing another innocent person, he had to drink human blood. He did it as little as often, venturing out of the hills where he'd been living rough all these years and visiting the nearby villages like a ghost in the night, and took as little blood as he possibly could, and every time he did, it awakened a pit of black fear inside him. He would dream of Maurice and the monk, and their deaths at his hands, and he'd wake up, clutching wildly at the air, sure that his hands were wet with blood again.

Other than drinking from the villagers, he'd had no interaction with human beings, and he shouldn't start now. But he couldn't seem to move.

He'd never seen anyone so beautiful.

Clad only in a thin chemise, the girl's hair was thick and red, wild around her shoulders, and freckles dotted her skin like grains of sand.

Ludovic couldn't look away from her.

She looked up.

Water had splashed the front of her chemise, making it cling to her curving hips and waist, the softness of her breasts, but she didn't shy away or cover herself. There was a challenge in her eyes.

"I'm sorry," Ludovic blurted out. "I didn't mean to . . ."

"To watch me? I think you did," she said.

"No, I just . . ."

She waited.

Ludovic had no idea what to say. He'd watched her because he hadn't been able to take his eyes off her, but it seemed foolish to say that.

"Who are you, anyway?" the girl said. "What are you doing out here?"

"I live here," Ludovic said, and then had no idea why he'd just told her that.

It was safer for him, and everyone else, if no one knew he was here.

"Where?" She looked around at the obvious lack of any buildings.

Ludovic made a vague gesture to the hills behind him.

"What's your name?" she said, climbing out of the river.

"Ludovic."

"I'm Elise." She tilted her head, scrutinising him intently.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" he said, after a few moments passed.

"I'm just wondering why your eyes are red."

Time seemed to stand still.

Ludovic's hand flew to his face, but it was too late to shield his vampire eyes. Why were they red? It was hours since he'd had anything to drink.

Elise drew closer.

Ludovic wanted to back away, but his feet were rooted to the ground. Desire flared inside him, like nothing he'd ever felt before.

He'd been with women before, but his past experiences had been when his old friends, the gang of thieves that Jehanne had slaughtered, visited brothels. He'd never been physical with someone he genuinely cared about. The sight of Elise, more beautiful than anyone he had seen, exposed in that damp chemise, her eyes gleaming with curiosity, affected him in a way that he'd almost forgotten he could be affected.