STORY EXCERPT: A Vampire in Paris
Bloody bollocks! What the hell is wrong with this woman? He kept his eye color from changing as well as maintaining a pleasant smile with no fangs showing. No sense scaring the woman, although she could use a fright and lose the stick up her arse. Keep calm.
Ramsey’s stamina quickly began to falter. He didn’t have much time left to do his preliminary interrogation of Camille du Bassin, Mademoiselle du Bassin, and the biggest Be-atch of Paris. No wonder she was unmarried at her age, she probably nagged any poor guy to death before he’d consider walking down the aisle with her.
“Monsieur Weiss, since your time is limited, I believe my sister can take you to my daughter’s flat and she can answer your questions along the way,” Étienne suggested as he sternly regarded Camille. “D’accord?”
“Bien. But, an hour eez all I can spare. I have work to do.” She glared at him, the green of her eyes glowed, intriguing and unique. Anger oozed from every pore on her skin and he sensed it, smelled her blood.
An hour with her is all I can stand. “Sounds good to me. Is the flat far from here?” Spending much more than an hour or even two would be too long, but to find Julliana, his Giselle, he’d make the sacrifice spending time with the exasperating woman standing before him. Women were his passion, he loved women, but this one he’d make an exception.
“Vas-y, Monsieur Weiss.” The be-atch turned on her spiky heels to leave.
“Oh please, call me Ramsey.”
With a haughty attitude, she peered over her shoulder. “You may call me Mademoiselle du Bassin.”
More like bitch. This is going to be one hell of a long hour.
The unlikely pair left the executive offices and entered the elevator, taking the four floor descent in silence. They made their way to the outside and after hailing a cab, and twenty minutes later arrived at an apartment building in the Le Marais District. After climbing three flights of stairs, they stood at the door of Apartment 3C.
“After you, Monsieur Weiss.” The emphasis on his name by the irritating aunt of Giselle made him grit his teeth. A slight upward curl of his lips was the extent of what he mustered. Their short trip to the flat had been nothing but silence between them, except for the one question he attempted to ask before getting cut off.
“Merci and I insist on Ramsey,” he enunciated succinctly. The politeness level wore thin. If Braedon got pissed with his attitude, so be it. He wanted to do his job, but sometimes the politics involved with each assignment rubbed him the wrong way.
Ramsey couldn’t read the woman, neither body nor mind. What ax did she have to grind with him? He believed as Giselle’s aunt, her family, the woman would be cooperative and want him to do everything possible to find her niece. After all, he was one of the best investigators at GSIS and considering his past relationship with the victim of the case, he’d have an advantage in finding her. But, maybe Miss du Bassin doesn’t know who and what I really am?
The nuisance named Camille pushed closer. “What are you doing? Can I help?”
After drawing attention away from scanning of the small living area of the flat, he met the unusual emerald green eyes, which now had softened to a few shades lighter. Still intense and sparkling, he recognized no anger deep inside this time. “No, but I do have a few questions for you.”
“Bien. What do you need to know?”
What you are hiding is more like it. Through half-hooded eyes he tried piercing the armor erected around her mind. Small glimpses of symbols and steel, sterile rooms brightly lit materialized in his mental visions. She worked at the Institute, maybe she worked in a lab. “When did you last see Gis—Julliana? I don’t think I’ll get used to calling her that.”
“I had lunch with her two days ago.” She wandered over to the brown and cream striped couch, sat, and continued to ask, “You never answered me at my brother’s office. Where do you know Julli?”
With narrowed eyes, he stared intently at her delicate facial features wondering why she cared. She already suspected him of being a stalker and a young punk, what difference would it make to her how he knew Giselle. Regardless of his previous relationship, this was a well-paying job and he’d treat the client no differently than if they were strangers meeting for the first time. But, he answered without thinking one more reason not to answer. “We met in Elounda, Crete several months ago. We were close…for a while.” Turning away from her, he continued to survey the room, searching for any clue that might lead him to Giselle.
“Hmm, I remember. I spoke to her right before she got on a plane to Hong Kong with a new man.” She paused, cocking her head as he turned to face her. “It was you?”
“I guess it was.”
“Merde! Vous avez rompu son coeur. Vous, vous êtes un vampire.” Inching off the sofa, she leaned forward, and then stood. “Julli told me everything.”
“Calm down. She told you I’m a vampire and I broke her heart? What else did she tell you?”
“You speak French. Oh mon Dieu!” She stared at him with intense green eyes. “I’m not telling you anything, nothing! You are a monster and addicted her to you creatures! You did this to her!” Camille lunged at him with the flower vase she picked up from the coffee table.
Dodging the arm clasping the crystal glass container filled with roses and cloudy water, his reactions were too fast for her to recover. He grabbed one of her flailing arms as she stumbled, losing balance, and ready to crash head first onto the hardwood floors.
ADULT EXCERPT ~ A VAMPIRE IN PARIS
“Bien sur. Je t’adore, mon bébé. Of course, my baby. I adore you.”
“Why are you continuing to speak in French? Trying to impress me, or what?”
“I don’t know. The language of love, I guess. Or maybe because you might know I mean this is real. After a few days with you, I realized there could be such a thing as love at first sight. I adore you, want you and don’t give a bloody damn how old you are. You are sexy, feisty, and the woman I want to spend a lot of years with, if not forever. Enough talking.” He lowered his head poised to capture her lips again.
“Merde! This is crazy. You know this is impossible.” She flattened her palms against his chest and pushed away, turning her back to him. “You’re like an old soul trapped in a young man’s body, Ramsey. A romantic? I’m not sure, or maybe you love the chase. One thing I do know is you’re a vampire and will be eternally young, living off blood. I’m not young and you’ll grow tired of me.” She turned to face him again.
His heart beat faster, almost painfully so watching her strain for words to say. She doesn’t want me and is letting me down gently? This must be how C.J. felt when Payton denied him.
She continued to speak, “You should have a gorgeous woman on your arm and in your bed. I can’t ever be that for you.”
Letting her go was not an option. With outstretched arms, he pulled her close against his chest. “Shut up woman and stop over-thinking how you feel. Kiss me.” Then he stifled any more words before they could be spoken, pressing her full and throbbing lips to his own.
Camille moaned into his mouth and then he felt the towel fall from around her, dropping into a pile at his feet. He scooped her into his arms and carried her to the bed, placing her gently on the rumpled down comforter.
Their gazes maintained contact as he situated himself next to her. “Baby, I only want to do this if you desire,” his voice now a rich, velvety tone filled with longing.
“Yes, I want you too, Ramsey, but I’m afraid. Promise you won’t break my heart. I’m getting too old for that kind of pain.”
“I promise.” He ran his hand along her jawline and a finger curled under her chin, lifting slightly so she would look at him. “I think I’m falling in love with you, Camille. I know I need you in my life. I desire your entire being, body, mind and soul. I want to make love to you and never be alone again, no matter how much time we have together. I just want you.”
“I…I think I’m falling for you too. I don’t understand how this happened so quickly, but I trust this is right. I trust you, Ramsey.” Tears, poised to fall, glistened in her eyes.
He shifted on the mattress to straddle her thighs. “I am yours, mon bébé.” He captured her mouth, kissing her mouth with such passion and intensity, he thought he’d drown in her essence. He sucked her tongue into his mouth so hard, she groaned and moved her hips against him. His hardening shaft pressed uncomfortably against the pants zipper, begging for release. All his concerns about losing her faded as the embrace deepened. For the first time in his vampire existence, a connection with a woman was powerful, craved, even wanted, and he welcomed the new sensations. He slid his hand down her arm and across her exposed breast as the heat of her body warmed his cool skin. He broke from her mouth, kissing her cheek, then jaw, to her ear and down the column of her neck where he ran his tongue over the pulsing vein there. “Bloody bollocks, you smell so good, Camille.”
“I want you, Ramsey. Don’t tease me.” She moaned, raking her nails down his back and brushing her breasts against him. “I want to touch every part of you, have you inside me, and make love to me.”
Ramsey issued a deep, guttural growl from his throat, the sound almost primal as her carnal desire pierced his every pore. He rose above her gazing into the deep emerald eyes no longer glistening with tears, but burning with fiery passion. He pulled his black shirt over his head in one swift motion then leaned over and his mouth found her breasts. He sucked and nibbled on the rosy pink nipples, alternating between each until she whimpered. He vowed to take and explore every inch of her tonight, piece by delectable piece.
When her fingers threaded through his hair, slightly pushing down, he realized her intentions. He made a slow trail with his tongue, licking and nibbling lower from her rib cage to her flat stomach and working further down. As he wrapped his hands around her knees, he slid her forward toward the head of the bed until her sex aligned with his mouth. The sensual scent of her wetness aroused and intoxicated his senses. He couldn’t wait to taste her cream, slide his tongue over her swollen, ripe lips, and feel her writhe and come hard from his ministrations.
“Oh you are so hot and wet, bébé,” he sighed. He drank in all the wanting need she gave him. He desired her more than any woman, begged her to surrender completely, and hungered to claim her. He gently stroked her damp outer lips, then used one finger and entered her slick channel.
She trembled and moaned as his cool breath and tongue reached her clit. Desire rolled and pulsed through his blood, the fire within demanding more. The tip of his tongue lightly danced over the hard nub drawing her ever closer to release. But, not yet, wanting to prolong her enjoyment, he taunted and teased, not dissimilar to their cat-and-mouse verbal banter.
