Alexander smiled down at her, “You are amazingly insightful for a little doggy bitch, aren’t you?” He smiled and kissed her forcefully again.
Ansuya accepted the kiss. She fought down the rise of bile in her throat as she forced her body to remain passive. “Who’s behind the attacks? Who is dumb enough to attack one of the Houses in the city?”
“Nobody knows, baby. And right now, who cares?” He kissed her again and forced her down on her back on the sofa. He started pulling at his pants and groping her skirt.
Ansuya had to fight every urge in her body to run. Panic rose up in her neck and face like a fever. She fought hard seconds to regain control of herself. She couldn’t breathe. She had to maintain control.
Alexander’s groping hands slid up her legs toward her center. She wanted to gouge his eyes out, to tear his hair out one by one, by each follicle. She couldn’t think. The panic gripped her and she was lost in a whirlpool of hatred and fear.
“Alexander.” Her voice was calm and firm. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, her mind ceased freewheeling and was steady again. Her own voice made the panic recede and she was once again in control. The vampire stopped immediately. He looked down into her deep brown eyes. “You don’t want to do this now,” she intoned melodically. “My food will be here any minute. Then we would have to stop.” She lifted herself up and whispered into his ear. “Don’t worry, baby, I’ll make it up to you. This morning after you come back, I will be so good to you, it will make yesterday seem like two teenagers fumbling in the dark by comparison.”
Alexander hugged her tightly to him as he kissed her, forcing his tongue down her throat. After a few moments he did ease up and finally got off of her. She rose to a sitting position as he stood in front of her.
“You’re right, my bitch, I do have things to do tonight.” He pointedly looked around the sitting room. “I thought that you said something about warming my blood for me.” It wasn’t a question.
Ansuya smiled and slid off the couch. She started walking toward the kitchen and she gave him a wicked smile as she passed. He returned the evil smile with a wicked lopsided grin of his own. Ansuya couldn’t see the man leave fast enough.
After a few minutes in the kitchen, she returned with a mug of dark liquid and handed it to the vampire. He swallowed the blood in two large gulps. “Perfect ninety-eight degrees give or take. How did you learn to do that so well?”
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Ansuya smiled at him and shook her head, “Alexander,” she said in mock admonition, “we women have to keep some secrets.”
The vampire smiled and looked as if he was about to grab her again when the front bell intoned melodically through the condo.
Ansuya took his mug and placed it on the kitchen island as she made her way to the front door. She looked at the door and tried the handle. She made a show of being incompetent, turning the knob, pushing on the door, fumbling blindly in the most obvious blundering way. Only a child would have missed that she had no idea of how to open the door.
Alexander stepped up next to her, “I know women aren’t good with technology. I’ll answer the door.” Ansuya watched as he punched in the door code, four, three, seven, nine, two, five. The vampire then took a key from his front pocket and jammed it into the dead bold key hole, and turned the bolt back. Ansuya stepped clumsily out of the way as Alexander swung the door inward to open it. Standing in the hall way was a young Indian man holding a white plastic bag with several Styrofoam boxes inside.
Alexander grabbed the bag and closed the door in the man’s face without leaving a tip. Ansuya asked, “Why didn’t you tip him?”
“I never tip the help. Money grubbing bottom feeders; all of ‘em. If he wants a tip get a real job,” Alexander retorted.
Ansuya put a hand on his arm. She looked deeply into his eyes and said, “You should always make the help feel appreciated, baby. By tipping them well they will work harder for you in the future. Of course they’re bottom feeders, but enough bottom feeders can rise up into revolution. Isn’t that the lesson of Rome’s arrogance?” she said nodding at the Jovanovic painting behind her.
Alexander looked at the painting, then back at Ansuya. “I don’t tip the help,” he said again flatly. He handed her the bag of food and disappeared down the hallway. She glanced at the closed door. Alexander was going to be a problem. She would have to pick her battles carefully with him. And although she felt sorry for the delivery man, that was a battle that she would have to let go.
Ansuya walked to the table and began laying out her meal in front of her. Her mouth was watering from the smells of the rich spices and warm bread in front of her.
When Alexander came back, he was in a completely different set of clothes. Without really looking at her he said, “I’ll be back before sunrise. I expect you to keep those promises you made when I get back.” The door slammed shut as he exited the condo. Ansuya heard the dead bold slide locked and an electronic beep as the keypad was rearmed. She was once again a prisoner. But this cage was far more comfortable than the cage she had been in. Even so, Ansuya breathed a sigh. It was nice to be truly alone without any security cameras watching her every move.
It had been so long since she had eaten real food, she had to be cautious. She tore off a small piece of Naan and dipped it into the Hummus. She chewed it carefully and swallowed. Her throat wasn’t used to the sensation and she had to sip water to help it down.