“We’re fully booked tonight. How about tomorrow at 1 A.M?” she offered, her voice much cooler now. He’d never shown her any interest in all the times he’d visited the practice, and she’d finally given up wasting her charms on him. Just as well. Samson couldn’t stand her or her sugary smile.
“I think you can do better than that. Considering the outrageous fee your office charges me, I don’t care who you have to cancel.” This was a true emergency.
“One moment.” There was a click on the line and a short silence before she came back. “He can see you in half an hour.”
“Thought so.”
Samson hung up, snatched his coat off the rack and headed for the door. He could walk to Pacific Heights. The night air would clear his head. He sure needed it.
He stalked through the night, his collar turned up, his hands buried deep in his coat pockets. The rain had eased. The streets were still busy with humans. He ignored them. After midnight the streets generally became more deserted, and more vamps would be out. But it was still too early for that.
Samson didn’t understand why this human woman had affected him the way she had. True, she had a nice body and she was pretty, but he was used to beautiful women. As one of the most eligible bachelors in the city, he always had his pick of the cream of the crop.
He’d dated lots of beautiful women. Maybe “dated” wasn’t the right word—he’d had sex with lots of beautiful women pretty much whenever he felt like it. There was always a steady supply of willing females, all vampires of course, to satisfy his carnal desires in the hope that maybe he’d pick one of them as his mate.
But then he’d picked one, and all his troubles had started.
Samson always supported some of the local charities and went to two or three charity balls a year. At one such ball he’d spotted a new woman in town. He’d heard her name mentioned before, but he hadn’t yet seen her or been introduced to her. The moment he’d seen the tall redhead amongst the crowd, he’d fallen head over heels—in lust.
Rumor had it that Ilona Hampstead had come from a large coven in Chicago and was very well connected in the vampire world. She was the quintessential socialite and had decided to make San Francisco her home.
She played hard to get, and Samson’s hunting instincts took over instantly. It took him more than a month to get her into bed. During that time he’d continued fucking every available vampire female to get over his frustration. But finally he had his trophy and wasn’t shy about showing her off at every society event. She could be seen on his arm whenever he was out on the town.
The society pages were full with pictures, showing them at event after event. Contrary to common belief, vampires did show up in pictures. In fact, many were rather photogenic.
Despite his need for privacy, Samson enjoyed the attention and admiration of his fellow vampires for landing a beauty like her. While she was what he would call a high-maintenance woman, she did have her charms. She expected exclusivity, and he hadn’t objected.
Over the next few months he fell in love with her, and somehow she became part of his life. He’d been alone for far too long, and the thought of having a constant companion he could trust appealed to him. All his friends assured him how great they thought the two of them were together, all except Amaury who kept his feelings to himself.
Their sex life was excellent, they had the same circle of friends, the same standing in society. They were the perfect match.
It was only a matter of time until rumors of an impending blood-bond were circulating, and the thought of forming a permanent bond between them excited him. Something was missing in his life, and she could fill that void, so he’d made up his mind.
Samson pushed away the thoughts of that fateful night when his world had come crashing down in one sweep. The past had no place in his life now. Only the present did.
He wondered whether the fact that Delilah was human had something to do with how he reacted to her. While he’d certainly had sex with human women before, back in the day when he was still a little wilder and more untamed, none of those had really interested him, so little so, that he gave up sex with humans altogether.
Sex with humans always presented itself with more danger than the payoff was worth. Amaury didn’t share his opinion on this subject. But Samson felt that he’d always had to hold back and had never been able to truly unleash his power and strength on them without potentially injuring them. In the end it had felt like too much of a chore to continue with. Vampire females were easier to deal with when it came to sex. They could keep up with the strength and ferocity of their sexual partners and didn’t break easily.