Immortally Beloved: A Vampire's Vignettes

Chapter Five: The Red Question

"Desire begins in the mind. Cleopatra, she could seduce a man at twenty paces, without revealing an inch of Flesh" - Paola Frango, Dangerous Beauty

The rain still howled as the wind blew through the Parish, and everyone was safely inside. Everyone, of course, except Eleni. She couldn't sleep after the strange encounter with Marius. Staying in the sitting room of the hotel was too tempting. Eleni had to be careful. It was the last thing she truly wanted, and yet, it was what was needed. Especially with the tattooed Casanova parading around the hotel, claiming to know her, discretion was the better part of valour if she did intend this place to be her sanctuary.

Eleni's reaction was an unexpected one. She didn't know much about Marius. In most ways, he knew so little of her that it was hard to tell if he merely desired her, or something more. There was no way for him to suspect the desires that overpowered her were not as simple as they appeared to be. There were hints, perhaps, but there were equally strange things about him too. The fact he was always hot but didn't seem bothered, the ring on his finger, the guilt in his eyes when he returned Eleni's flirtations. There was more than the eye could see. Already, she cared too much to hurt him.

Eleni couldn't have the things she wanted from Marius, not yet, and the longing made her hear his heartbeat echoing through the old hotel. There were more natural ways, ways that soothed the vicious, savage need that controlled her as her elegant heels clicked through the violent gusts of wind and rain.