“You pick the hotel,” William said, since he didn’t know the area as well. He stopped right before they got into the car. “Wait, do you feel that?” he asked, his body on high alert.
“The presence?” Marie asked. She had felt it, too.
William scanned their surroundings, but the feeling was a faint one. They got into the car quickly.
“Can you head to the strip? I need another moment to decide where to stay.” Marie asked their driver.
The driver nodded and took off without another word.
William placed a hand on Marie’s knee, and turned around to see behind them. “There’s a car following us.” He closed to his eyes, trying to focus on the feeling. The car was just far enough away, and he couldn’t feel the presence anymore, but he was sure it was a vampire following them.
“I think he’s on to us.”
“You know what driver? If you could actually take us to the Palazzo entrance, that would be great,” Marie said, making up her mind.
“No problem.”
“And if you could lose this guy behind us, that would be even better,” William added.
“Uh, yeah sure. I’ll try,” the driver answered.
“So, how did your mom take it? Us getting married, I mean?” William asked Marie, more for the eavesdropping driver than for Marie.
“She’s not in love with the idea, no. But she’ll deal with it okay, I think.”
William took her hand in his and kissed it. They were quiet the rest of the way back.
Ten minutes later, the driver showed up at the Palazzo. The car that had been following them was out of sight for the last five minutes, getting caught at a light that their driver managed to go right through in the nick of time.
“You’re going to like it here,” Marie said.
The driver dropped them off at the entrance of the Palazzo. They tipped him handsomely and ran inside, shielding themselves from the heavy rainfall rain. Inside, Marie took William by the hand and lead him into the Venetian hotel instead, choosing to go through the Palazzo, since the two hotels were linked on the inside.
Once inside the lobby of the Venetian, Marie asked for one room for seven days.
“Your best room with a view, single bed,” William interjected as he slid his credit card over to the clerk.
Marie nudged William when the clerk gave them the total, indicating that he had just spent a handsome sum of money.
“That’s actually not that bad. And this is the only honeymoon I’ll ever really have,” he said with a smile.
She took his hand once he paid, and they headed towards their room. Neither of them knew that the driver who dropped them off at the Palazzo was being paid off for information in that exact moment.
The vampire who had been following them, Drake, had seen the car pulling out of the Palazzo. He tracked the driver down with his headlights and motioned for the him to pull over.
The driver watched as tall figure with long blond hair got out of his car and headed towards him despite the heavy rain. The driver rolled down his window. “How can I help you?” the driver asked.
The tall figure slipped a hundred-dollar bill in his direction. The driver held it up to the dim light, checking for fraud. Everything looked legit.
“I need you to tell me everything you know about that pair you were driving around.”
“You mean that married couple?”
The figure raised an eyebrow. “Married?”
“I heard them in the backseat. They must have gotten married or something. It’s Vegas, after all. That’s what everyone does when they come here.”
“Fine. Where did you drop them off?”
“What’s it to you? I don’t need two clients of mine showing up dead or what not. Sends a bad rap, and I’m trying to make a living out here.”
The tall figure gave him a sinister smile. “I’ll pay handsomely,” he said as he slipped one more hundred-dollar bill to him. “Look, I knew the guy from a few years ago. I just want to talk to him.”
The driver nodded and pocketed the money, feeling guilty about it. But two-hundred dollars was two-hundred dollars.
“I dropped them off at the Palazzo.”
“Very good,” the tall figure answered.
Next, the vampire headed towards The Palazzo, a sinister smile on his face.
Chapter Nine
William and Marie walked into their hotel room. “Wow, look at this room. It’s incredible,” Marie exclaimed, throwing her backpack on the floor and trotting over to the floor to ceiling window, offering a view of the glowing Vegas strip beneath them. Rain hit the windowpane, giving the city a blurry and magical glow.
William followed Marie to the window, but he could care less about the view in front of him. He was more interested in the view right next him. Ever since he realized that Marie might have fallen in love with him, William was starting to think that he was feeling the same way. Right then, he was aroused beyond belief, his whole body ached for her. Now, there was only one thing he wanted to do. He wanted to sink his teeth into her, sexually speaking. Not literally. Because that would cause some complications. He wasn’t that kind of vampire anymore, at least, he hoped he wasn’t.
William had done a lot of thinking the past few hours. He had never been with a woman like Marie before. Never with a woman who knew what he was. A vampire. And not that she was okay with it; she wasn’t. He could sense her fear, but he knew that as a witch herself, that she was strong, and he could sense that she trusted him. That meant a lot to him, and he was ready to do something about it. He turned towards her, looking into her eyes. He placed his hands on her waist and leaned in ever so close, closing the distance between him. His lips found hers, and she kissed him back softly, both of them moaning quietly.
“I want you,” he said in a hungry whisper.
Marie didn’t trust herself to speak. Instead, she kissed him again, passionately this time, as if she hadn’t been kissed in years. Truth was, she hadn’t been. Not like this. Not by a man like William. Yes, he was a vampire, but she had never seen quite a body like his before. Now, here she was, when she least expected it. She, a witch, could feel herself falling for a vampire. She would have laughed if she wasn’t so busy making out with the sexiest man she had ever laid eyes on.
Without breaking from kissing, they made it onto the bed. William’s hands explored her body. She stopped kissing him long enough to take her knee-high black boots off.
William ran his hands over her legs, where her boots had been, but her jeans were still one layer too many. He took them off of her as she lay on her back and watched him.
“Where’d you put that knife?” he asked. He wanted to place it on the bedside. The plan was, if he got too close and couldn’t refrain himself from biting her, she would take the knife and plunge it into his heart. It wouldn’t kill him, but it would stop him from doing damage to her. While he was sure he wouldn’t end up biting her from sheer desire, he remembered the last time he had slept with another woman, and she hadn’t been as lucky. William didn’t want to make the same mistake again.
“It’s in my backpack. Small pocket.” He nodded and went to pull it out. The blade was closed when he threw it on the bed next to her.
“I suggest you open in and keep it on the nightstand. One less step could be crucial.”