three

Amelia

He hadn't told me his name, yet I was pressed in a dark room into a corner, walled in by the door, the wall and him, letting him do things to me I had once only heard Juliet and Helen talk about and causing me to make strange animal noises.

His tongue stroked mine, teasing, showing me the sweetest agony I had ever known and just when I thought he had shown me everything, his fingers started a new rythm on my chest. My gown was half way down now and shame burned my face when he lowered his lips to the exposed skin, but it was pleasure that made me cry out. He muffled my cries with his mouth again and when he brought his lips to my ear it was to whisper ''Keep screaming like that and you'll bring the entire frat party into this room to find out what's going on and for some reason, I don't want you to be discovered half dressed.''

I started to apologise but it only ended in a moan as he bit the tip of my ear and then kissed it.

My chest was still bare so that when he shifted slightly, I could feel the cold breeze against the warm skin that had been tortured by his lips, teeth and tongue. My whole body was on fire, I was feeling things I had never felt before. He trailed kisses back up again to find my lips plunching the tip of his tongue into my mouth then he froze. I felt it too, my fangs had come out, sticking abnormally longer than the rest of my teeth and he drew away from me immediately.

He walked over to the light switch to turn on the brighter light and I turned to flee.

''If you take one more step Amelia Rhinehart, I promise you a slow painful death.'' He said in the coldest tone I had ever heard. Not even a vampire had ever managed to sound so cruel, so threatening.

I turned slowly, unwittingly shutting the door as he turned on the lights and my hands went immediately to cover my bare chest. A single raise of an eyebrow had me dropping them again and even though I was a vampire, I could feel my self shivering.

He nodded at my gown. ''You should get dressed.'' I tried to pull up the gown but Clarrisa had made me wear a gown that was two sizes too small she had brought from heaven-knows-where.

He dragged a hand through his hair, the first sign of fraustration I had seen from him. ''If you can't put on the damn gown then leave it and come and sit over here. You and I are going to have a long talk -- nothing I haven't already seen.'' He added, his eyes raking through my bare skin and making my face heat once again as he locked the door and pocketed the key.

I could feel my heart beating erratically as I tried hard to calm down. A thousand 'if onlys' ran through my head. If only I had refused to come to this party, if only I hadn't worn that ridiculous gown, if only I hadn't come upstairs looking for the bathroom, if only I had turned around and fled immediately I saw him with a naked girl, if only my fangs had not chosen today of all days to come out for the first time, if only I were not a vampire.

''Sit down Vampire!'' He commanded and this time when he looked at me, there was nothing but disgust in his eyes.

I made my way over to the love seat in the room, all the while trying to gather my clothes around myself. He groaned in frustration, took off his shirt and tossed it at me. Then he came to sit beside me.

''How many of you are in this school?''

I lifted my chin. I didn't know anything about sex and I could get tongue tied in front of the hottest guy I had ever seen but I was Amelia Rhinehart, daughter of Christopher Rhinehart, vampire royalty and this line of conversation, it was my territory. ''Why would I tell you that?''

He smiled then, a cold calculated smile that actually reached his eyes, turning them a more icy blue. ''Okay. we'll do it your way. If you answer me, I let you live till the next day. If not, let's just say you wouldn't make it back to the party downstairs.''

I tried to master the terror I was feeling. ''You wouldn't try that, murder me right here in this room.--''

''Murder?'' He laughed again. ''You can only murder a human being. You and your people have lived for thousands of years, doesn't it occur to you that you might have lived your share?'' He stood up now and bent down in front of me. ''I'll tell you the meaning of murder. Murder is what you do when you go out at night hunting unsuspecting people. When you steal little children away from lonely streets and suck their life's blood out of them. Murder is what you do when in the midst of having sex, you sink your fangs into an unsuspecting man's neck and slowly drain him of his life. Murder is what you were about to do to me.''

I swallowed painfully, my eyes darting to and fro, looking for the best escape. I didn't tell him that it was my cousins and the rest of my family who were over five hundred years old, I was only nineteen. I didn't also tell him that I had never gone hunting before and that infact, my fangs were actually coming out for the first time. It was better to make him believe I was strong and experienced than for him to believe I was a defenseless nineteen year old vampire, totally at his mercy.

'' You'll have to admit I almost fooled you.'' I said instead, turning on my acting game.

''Into believing you were some innocent girl, fresh from high school? yeah -- almost. You were laying it on a bit too thick though, no one's that stupid and naive.''

I flinched slightly and tried to mask it by raising my chin a bit higher, he actually considered the real me to be stupid and naive. ''So now we've dispensed with the formalities, can you open the door for me and I promise not to murder you right here, you do know that aside from blood sucking, vampires do have special abilities?''

He laughed. ''You know you've actually made me laugh more today than I have in a year.''. Then his expression was serious again. ''Special abilities huh? I'll like to see you try.''

I started to panic once again. Why was he calling my bluff? Did he suspect I was not the ancient calculated vampire I claimed to be?

''Your powers don't work around me. Call that a special ability of my own.''

''But -- but my fangs came out'' I said then blushed furiously, even as I was mad at myself for being embarrassed.

He nodded. ''Yes, your fangs--'' then he shook his head. ''No let's not keep up the pretence about innocence okay, you don't have to keep faking that blush.'' he said and I nodded. how the hell did someone fake a blush?

''Your fangs came out yes,'' he said frowning slightly. ''But that's as far as you can get. Now back to the question I asked, before I change my mind and kill you right here. How many of you are in this school?''

I blew out a breath, feeling defeated. ''Just me.''

''Very unwise of your people.'' He said then searched my eyes with his piercing blue ones. ''If you lie to me Vampire -- ''

''I'm not lying!"

He nodded. ''You wouldn't be doing any hunting in this school Rhinehart.'' He said and it was my turn to nod. He looked suspicious. ''How would you be able to feed?''

''My father's servants would bring me blood daily.''

A flicker of disgust passed through his eyes as he nodded. ''And how would you tell them to start -- sending the blood parcels?''

''I... It's an arrangement that has already been made.''

He nodded a again and brought out a chip from his pocket and pinned it in my hair. ''You will wear this always Vampire or I'll hunt you down and kill you like you never mattered.'' Then he stood up and unlocked the door and I was only to eager to scurry out, yet when I got to the door, he blocked my exit. ''You would not call any member of your family again Rhinehart. That device I pinned on your hair, among other things is a tracker that can listen in on any sound around you. If you call your father or attempt to take it off then..... It's hunting time. Only this time you'll be the one that's hunted down like an animal.''

I nodded and rushed out of the room, almost tripping on my own feet. I knew now why my family had tried to protect me from the real world, it was indeed a wicked world.