Maybe it would have all been bearable if James would just fucking tell me, why me? How did I catch his eye? What had I done wrong?
He’d taken me while I was carrying a stupidly heavy stack of manuscripts (who the hell sends paper submissions these days?) to the records room when I’d been working late one day. I was a new employee at the agency. I still read manuscripts from the slush pile. Other than the occasional nod in the hallway, he’d never even spoken to me other than a few words during my job interview. My dress was torn and dirty when I’d woken up on that gigantic, luxurious bed.
A bed he did not use for sleeping, heavens, no.
James Barnes had a game he loved to play with me.
“Feed, or fuck?”
I’m pressed up against the foot of that bed, wearing another soft cashmere sweater and silky leggings. James loved dressing me up, brushing my hair and styling it, kissing my temple, and calling me his “pretty doll.”
I watched him pull his latest victim into the room. God, this poor kid couldn’t be older than what? Twenty, maybe? She paused for a moment when she spotted me, then looked to James. “Yeah, so it’s gonna cost more if she’s jumping in, so-”
She was raised off the ground, sneakered feet jittering as James, still smiling amiably, still beautiful in his expensive suit, had her by the neck, easily holding the girl high as he gazed fondly at me.
“Tell me, doll. Doll-baby. Which is it?”
I was shuddering. I wanted to look strong. I wanted to be firm and tell this bastard that I wouldn’t play this sick game again. “I won’t.” His brows drew together as I mindlessly shook my head. “I won’t play this time, I….”
“Oh?” James inquired courteously. “Then I’m killing her? All right, I think I’ll tear out her throat, no screaming while she bleeds out. God, I hate the racket.”
“Wh-” the poor kid was trying to gasp out a plea, but her face was turning from beet-red to pale, and I knew I had just a few seconds.
I backed away to huddle by the huge, floor-to-ceiling window, curling in on myself. “No!” His jaw was open, the terrifying bristle of razor-sharp teeth elongating in his mouth. “No, James, I’m sorry, I didn’t-” Swallowing down my nausea, I forced myself to smile. “I m- meant, f….”
Say it!I raged silently,say it!Turning my face away from the grisly tableau in front of me, I licked my dry lips.
“Feed. Please.”
His grey-blue eyes were alight with mischief, with a sparkle that would be charming, undeniably attractive in any other situation. The corner of his lush mouth turned up.
“You want to fuck me, doll? Or feed me?” James when he was pleased, when he was triumphant, was at his most unearthly beauty. And his least human. The way his pupil swallowed all color in his eyes and his features sharpened, shadows cast on his face to make it a death mask. His sheer bulk - his heavily muscled body, powerful shoulders, and arms straining against his beautiful suit - always made me feel weak, hopeless. I’d never get away from him.
“Fuck her…” I whispered, swallowing hard. “And feed from me.”
The first time James had offered me his choice, I’d refused it. I was not going to make a choice that could hurt this poor girl. She was terrified, breasts heaving over the cheap corset she wore, carefully applied goth makeup streaming down her face. The heavy smell of alcohol and pot told me he’d picked her up in a bar. He had his arm around her chest, just under her breasts, and compressing her ribcage a bit as she cried.
“I’m giving you the choice, doll. Feed, or fuck?”
I knew by then he was a vampire. James had shown me his fangs shortly after taking me, but it wasn't like in the movies. He had me suspended over him with one negligible flick of his thick fingers, strolling around me while I shook and cried, ten feet up in the air.
When he'd grinned at me - I screamed and screamed. His full lips stretched around a horrifying thicket of jagged, razor-sharp teeth and he laughed at my terror. It changed everything. I may not be escaping this supernatural lunatic, but I would do anything to avoid having him put that monstrous mouth on me.
“Let her go, James! She hasn’t done anything to you.”
“Y- yeah,” the girl tried to agree, “I won’t tell anyone I swear I’ll never say a word please-”
He’d shaken her briskly to shut her up and she screamed, a high, thin wail that echoed around the soundproofed room.
“Shut up.”
James turned back to me. “I can either feed on her, and fuck you, or the other way around. Make your choice, doll.”
Shaking my head, I refused. “I’m not doing this sick fuckery! I’m not playing your game. Let her go,please,James!"
He’d sighed solemnly, and snapped her neck. I stared into her blank, lifeless eyes and burst into wrenching sobs. It was my fault.
I’d refused to look at him, curling in the corner of the room as every day, he would do the same thing; bring me dinner, take a shower, and change into thin, comfortable sweats that outlined his perfect ass. The food would cool into sludge as I stayed in my corner while he sat by the huge fireplace, reading through manuscripts, taking notes, and leaving messages for his assistant.
