My last post on my antagonist Eve was rather dark and disturbing. While barely a rough draft, I thought I’d post a softer side of my seductive villain Eve.
Eve curled her body around Helena, shuddering, holding her close as she kept her mind in step with Helena’s as she slept. Mind throbbing with every blow, every contraction as the baby within Helena’s body died. Her heart broke along with Helena’s as she heard the brutal words from her murderous husband. She pressed her lips to Helena’s hair, careful not to touch her skin. Using her gloved hands, she stroked Helena’s face as she cried out, reliving the worst night of her life in her dreams.
“It’s okay, Angel. That bastard is burning in hell. I promise. I only wish I could have put him there myself,” she whispered through clenched teeth. Her own body trembled, blood boiling as she saw and felt Helena’s pain and agony.
You’re so lovely Helena, she thought. I wish it could just be you and me, running our own business together somewhere. Somewhere where I don’t have to read the nasty thoughts of men all the time. You could paint and sketch and I could cook. That would be lovely. Just the two of us, not a care in the world.
The she sighed, plunking her head against the pillow. The world doesn’t work that way. The world revolves around money and power. And for now, men control all of that. The only way to get any is to take it from them. Eve twined her fingers in her silky platinum curls, wrapping Helena’s nude body firmly in the satin sheets. Helena batted with a satin gloved hand. Eve smiled, wishing she could touch her skin, but the gloves were a necessity until the herbs worked their way out of her system. Eve’s mind wandered as she watched her sleep. I wonder if she has what it takes to make it as a vampire. I hope she does. Most don’t last the first year. And if they do, they choose to go back to being human, its too much. I wish she were awake so I could look into those pretty eyes and make love to her again. Maybe later.
“What are you doing, Eve?” Bianca asked, petticoats rustling as she stepped into the room.
“Daydreaming,” Eve said. She gave Helena another squeeze. Bianca put her hands on her hips and pursed her lips.
“Be careful not to get too attached too soon,” she said. She ran her fingers over her bodice, toying with her favorite knife. “You never know what can happen.”
Eve let out a long sigh and gazed up at the ceiling. “I know. I remember how much you loved Calista.”
Bianca scrunched her forehead, face hard for a moment. The brass bed creaked as she sat down on the edge. She gazed down at Helena, then closed her dark eyes. “It was her choice. She decided immortality was not for her. Sometimes I think she was far wiser than I. I just didn’t know our time together was going to be—so short after that…” Bianca hung her head for a moment clutching at her skirts. “Sometimes, I think she made the right choice. But then—so did I. If I hadn’t chosen to be a vampire. I never would have met her. We were born 200 years apart.”
Eve sat up and reached for Bianca’s hand. “I’m sorry, love.”
“I—I’m not,” Bianca said, holding Eve’s hand for a moment in return before rubbing at her own eyes then smoothing her hair. “I couldn’t save her from the yellow fever in New Orleans after she decided to be human again. But at least I had time with her. I would like to think that my immortality will lead me to other wonderful souls like hers.”
“That’s a lovely thought Bianca,” Eve replied. She looked down at Helena as she murmured in her sleep. She focused her mind on changing Helena’s dreams, giving her something softer, sweeter to dream about until she could come back up and focus her energy on seduction. She disentangled herself from Helena, tucking the sheets and blankets around her. She tested the thick leather collar around Helena’s neck, ensuring it was securely locked and fastened to the metal bed. “I suppose I should change.” She ran her hands over her gown, emerald satin gleaming in the lantern light.
“Yes,” Bianca replied. “We have the five men who came back with us from the saloon…” her eyes went to the door as her lips drew in a hard line. “And then McNabb showed up with a friend. He’s specifically requesting Liz. They both want to—play with her.”
Eve’s stomach knotted. She rose from the bed and walked with Bianca to the door. “She needs to feed anyway—she did a lot better last time. With two of them—maybe we won’t have to kill either.”
“But are you up to it? Do you think you can control them, her and yourself?” Bianca asked.
Eve’s breath came faster. She wanted to be angry, to snap at Bianca for questioning her abilities, but she knew Bianca was right.
“I will, if I feed first. I’ll need your help. I need to focus when we’re down there. I can’t let them get her too wound up. She starts flashing back to what her family let those men do to her,” Eve shook her head as they locked the door behind them, leaving Helena sleeping and went into their own boudoir. “Bianca—I have never experienced anything so horrific. And the fact that it was her own parents—turning a little girl into some sort of animal. Because they wanted money. Letting her be gang raped, humiliated. They kept her in a cage, Bianca. They did so many things that were just unbelievable. And not just to her, but to her other siblings. Selling them off to the highest bidder like they were objects not people.”
“There are some truly disgusting people in the world,” Bianca agreed unhooking the back of Eve’s dress and holding it up while she stepped out of it. “While my own psychic abilities have increased over the centuries. Mine are just enough that I can manipulate them on a basic level. I don’t even want to think about what you deal with. I can’t imagine being completely immersed in someone’s thoughts and feelings.” Bianca turned so Eve could help with her dress.
“Sometimes,” Eve said, “It’s amazing. Like with Helena. Her pleasure and innocence just coursed through me like—like a river. Imagine having your own orgasm, but then having Calista’s at the same time.”
Bianca threw back her head and laughed as she wiped herself down with neroli and jasmine water. “I don’t know if I could handle that. It might be too much. Calista was a true Creole. She could bring men and women to their knees just by casting a glance in their direction. I swear, all she had to do was brush her lips against my neck and was ready to scream for her. She probably had a voodoo doll made of me the first night we met there in the French Quarter.” Bianca ran a silk cloth over her now heaving breasts, closing her eyes against the memory. “The only other lover I had that compared to her was Marissa.”
“Why did Marissa leave?” Eve asked. “Fabiyan won’t say anything. I’ve tried reading his mind, but it’s like a steel trap when it comes to her.”
Bianca re-applied rouge to her cheeks and painted her lips. “I wasn’t there that night,” Bianca admitted, adjusting her corset. “We were in France at the time, right before—you know.” She drew a line over her throat. Eve nodded. “I was in Paris with Heloise and Sasha. We were working the taverns, gathering information on the activity. The unrest just seethed in the city. It was like a pot, getting ready to boil over. Demyan and Marissa were at Versailles, working the royals. Something happened when they had to escape the palace. Some rift between them that she wouldn’t forgive. He met us outside of Paris. She vanished. She writes me from time to time. Her psychic powers are a lot like yours. She always seems to know where we are. She keeps trying to convince me to leave him and come to her. Part of me wants to, but then—I don’t know.”
“I wish I could have known her,” Eve said, as they made their way down to the parlor full of eager, waiting men. Not even in the room yet, and her temples were already starting to throb from their lust and desires.
“There was something about her,” Bianca said. “And it wasn’t necessarily how she looked. She claimed to be related to Cleopatra. She was Greek, Macedonian and Egyptian. Who knows, maybe she is? She’s a far older vampire than Demyan.”
“Well maybe someday,” Eve said. They both squared their shoulders and plastered on sunny smiles for their clientele and dinner for the evening.
Thanks for reading! A Drink of Darkness is still progressing. I hope to have a complete rough draft soon.
