Second Cup 0

Throwing off her dress, Mora paused. “I can’t explain what
happened. Our connection was powerful. Intense. Unbearably
so. You see into minds. Do you have any idea who he is?”
“Sleep now. I will look deep to discern his roots.”
The next evening, as the minion swept her mistress’s ebony
hair into a nape-clinging nt Striga Vlonsky, a Romanian vampire
of heinous tastes. He is said to do more than drink the blood of
his victim. He sometimes ingests the heart.”
“Well, I find him captivating. I’m meeting him later this
evening after I feed.”
“Be wary, M’lady.”
But the loyal maid’s warning was lost as Mora rushed out
the door.
For her meal, Mora chose a young medical intern from
Philadelphia. She toyed with him at a lively poolside bar, willing
him to drink only Perrier so as not to dilute his blood. Her green
eyes mesmerized him into taking her to his stateroom where he
obeyed without thought, unbuttoning his white dress shirt so she
could drink her fill. His blood had that zest of youth—fresh and
bracing. Sated, she shape-shifted into the intern’s likeness and
emerged from the cabin just as a young blonde in stilettos
swayed by.
“Follow me,” said the blonde in Striga’s voice.
The two rushed outside as a thunderstorm abated. Lone
passengers on the deck, they huddled under a canopy, laughing
as they reverted to their own human forms. Mora’s smile fell
away though, when Striga took her by the shoulders, his
penetrating stare boring into her with alarming ferocity.
“The ice in my veins is heated by a hundred fires. In all the
ages I cannot remember a hunger as powerful as my attraction
to you.”
His hands lit a craving in Mora, a wild yearning resurrected
from a life forgotten. Her breath came shallow and fast.