Reese Ch. 07

****

Cristiano looked at the three bodies that lay on the floor of the crimson room. Of the three only one still lived. He hadn't meant to kill any of them but he was angry beyond reason. He was also fucked. He couldn't do anything to Elena or her bitch servant. To harm them would be too great of a hit on his credibility. Then there was Joy his mate. As much as he could live without a mate, he knew that he had to marry her. If he didn't, he would never be taken seriously again. In his mind between the two women, he was royally screwed.

He was washing his hands when the tentative tap on the door came.

"What?" he bellowed.

Everyone knew that when he was in the crimson room he was not to be disturbed. For that reason, there was no phone. He didn't even take his cell phone with him. This was his time and he hoarded it greedily.

"Phone sire... a lady... she says her name is Joy Martinez."

Cristiano froze. Was the other shoe going to drop?

"Sire..."

"I'll be right there!" Cristiano snapped. "And get someone in here to clean up this mess!"

He finished washing his hands and left the room not giving the heaps on the floor a second glance. He rushed to his office, sat at his desk and looked at the phone that rarely rang. He took a deep breath to control his nerves and picked up the phone.

"Joy," he said in his most seductive voice. "It's a pleasure to hear from you."

He could tell by the pause that she didn't feel the same way, but then; neither did he. It was the beginning of a dance that would last for an eternity.

"What can I do for you?" he asked.

He listened as Joy told him about her proposal. As she talked, the anger that he had extinguished in the crimson room rose. The word blackmail came to mind as Joy talked about the school that she wanted and a few other things.

"I see," he finally said when she was finished talking. "As you know, I'm a business man and I agree to nothing until I see it in print. Why don't we meet this evening and I'll take a look at your proposal?"

His hand tightened around the receiver as he waited for her answer.

"That's fine," she finally said.

"Good, I will be at your house at seven and Joy? You do know that you cannot betray me don't you?" Cristiano asked.

"I am well aware of that fact," Joy replied and hung up.

Cristiano moved the phone from his ear and looked at it. It occurred to him that he may have seriously underestimated his bride to be. The question was would she be as wily as Elena had proven herself to be. He laid the receiver down and leaned back in his chair. Joy Martinez was going to be trouble. He just didn't know in what form.

****

Joy hung up. Her hands were sweaty and shaking. She was again realizing that Cristiano Borcelli was extremely dangerous. It had nothing to do what he said. Everything he said was reasonable but there was an undercurrent of.... Anger. That was it Joy decided. It was anger and a good part of it was at her. What she didn't understand was why. She didn't think that she was being unreasonable and she had agreed to marry him. The warning about betraying him was said lightly, but she felt the threat behind the words. From what she understood, betrayal was the one crime in which one mate could kill the other. She also knew that the vampire world was patriarchal. If anyone was going to die it was going to be the female. She sighed, looked at the papers in her hand and whispered a prayer. She was going to marry Cristiano Borcelli and hope for the best.

She put the papers in a folder and laid them by her purse. Cristiano's day was just ending, hers was beginning. She showered and dressed for a day with busy and rambunctious kindergartners and tried to push her meeting with Cristiano out of her mind. There was nothing to be gained by worrying about it. An hour later she was at school. As always she was the first to arrive and often the last to leave. As she moved around the small classroom, she imagined what Cristiano's money could do for her children as she thought of them. Dental care, psychiatric care, physical therapy, a music program... the list went on and on. She was still daydreaming when her assistant Betty walked in on her.

"Thinking about that hunk of yours?" The older gray haired woman asked.

"Actually no," Joy replied. "I was thinking about what these children need. Did you hear that they're cutting the budget again? And who do you suppose is going to get ripped off? The ones who need the money the most!"

Betty didn't reply. This wasn't a new discussion and she really wasn't expected to say anything. She was expected to listen and nod in all the right places. It wasn't that she didn't agree with Joy, she did but getting upset over it wasn't going to help.

"One day," Joy was saying, "I'm going to have my own school and these children will have whatever it is that they need."

"Are you playing the lottery?" Betty teased.

"No," Joy replied and said no more. Everyone knew that she was seeing someone and that he had proposed. They also knew that he wasn't poor by any stretch of the imagination, but they didn't know how filthy rich he was either. By choice Joy kept all information pertaining to Cristiano close to her vest giving out only the barest of details. She had sworn her family to secrecy and made sure that they kept their mouths shut by promising to cut them off if any of them talked.

Betty had just finished setting the tables when the first child showed up. Joy fed the children breakfast every morning knowing that many of them hadn't eaten since dinner the night before. Some of them she suspected, didn't even have dinner. A firm believer in proper nutrition, she also provided snacks and additional food for lunch at her own expense. The other teachers talked about her behind her back but she didn't care. Her children were everything to her and she loved her job.

The day passed quickly and then seemed to slow down as the time to go home approached. She helped Betty pass out the last snack of the day, waited until the last child left before she packed up for the day. She wished Betty a good night and left her to clean the mess.

When she got home, she reread the proposal for the last time and with a churning stomach; got ready for her meeting with Cristiano.

*****

Elena and Bella were gone an hour after Elena arrived home. Neither woman looked back as they walked out of the front door and got into a waiting car. Bella felt self-conscious at the display of luxury and itched in her new clothes. Of the two of them, she was the one to finally look back as the car pulled away. She looked up to see Cristiano staring at them from an upstairs window. She shivered as she imagined how angry he must be that Elena had gotten away with everything that she had asked for. A small part of her felt sorry for Joy, but better her than them.

"It's over," Elena said softly taking Bella's hand in hers. "Thank you for insisting that we leave. I do believe that our former master was up to something."

Bella gave Elena's hand a gentle squeeze and looked at her.

"What?" Elena asked now familiar with when Bella had something on her mind.

"I... I think that we should leave here," she said quietly. "By here I mean Germany. I don't think that we should go to the ball."

"Alright," Elena replied slowly, "why do you feel this way?"

"I don't know," Bella confessed. "Maybe it's because I don't trust master not to find some way to go back on his word, but Elena- I have a bad feeling about the ball. Please let's not go."

Elena didn't reply but looked out of the window into the deepening darkness. Truth be told, she was having some misgivings about attending the ball as well. However, her misgivings had nothing to do with Cristiano. Her misgivings were due to a reason that she couldn't quite put her finger on. Suddenly the thought of the human male that she had turned came to mind. Reflexively, she cringed in anticipation of Cristiano's swift and often brutal punishment.

"Elena?" Bella called her voice filled with concern.

"I'm fine!" Elena replied sharper than she had intended.

Why was she thinking of the male now she wondered. Surely he was dead especially if he had no one to teach him how to survive as a vampire. She allowed her mind to drift back to the times that she had taken him against his will and then turned him. His hatred of her had been palpable. She recalled how he had prayed to god to help him and her response to those pleas. She hoped that he was indeed dead. If he wasn't and he found her...

Elena shivered although the car was warm. Deep inside of her, a small seed of doubt about the man that she had turned death began to take root. She wasn't so sure that he had died. Hatred was a strong emotion that made ordinary people do extraordinary and sometimes illogical things. Maybe... just maybe Bella was right. It was certainly worth thinking about but she wanted to go to the ball. It could possibly be the last one that she would ever attend. She trembled as a flash of fear that she didn't understand ran through her.

Bella watched but said nothing. She had to find some way to convince her mistress and friend to leave Germany.

****

Joy waited anxiously for Cristiano to arrive. She was casually dressed in blue jeans and a tee shirt, her long dark curly was hair pulled back into a ponytail. He hadn't said anything about going out so she dressed down. Promptly at seven, he was at the door holding a bouquet of roses. Unlike her, he was dressed for an evening out and his expression showed his disproval at how she was dressed.

"I... I didn't know that we were going out," Joy said as she took the bouquet of flowers from him.

"No matter," Cristiano said with false cheerfulness. "We can stay here if you like."

He sat on the sofa while Joy put the roses into a vase and filled it with water.

"Thank you for the flowers, they're beautiful," she called from the kitchen.

"Not as beautiful as you are," Cristiano replied meaning it. He had never denied that Joy was an attractive woman. "Where is this proposal of yours?"

Joy went to her desk and took the proposal from the drawer and handed it to Cristiano. She sat in the armchair across from him and nervously waited.

A few minutes later, Cristiano laid the folder down and looked at Joy.

"If," he said after a long pause, "I agree to the terms of your proposal, I expect you to act as a proper mate. I will bed you when and where I please and you cannot tell me no. I also expect to keep some of my female servants..."

"Slaves," Joy interrupted. "Call them what they are. I know that you have no intentions of getting rid of all of them. I also know that you and the woman lied when you said that you already had."

"Touché," Cristiano replied with a small smile. "The fact remains that you want to use my money to care for brats that aren't mine. Brats that even their own families don't want or care about. You want to use my money to build your fucking school and you are willing to prostitute yourself to get it. I find that interesting and it tells me something about you Joy Martinez. You aren't the sweet innocent that you portray yourself to be. But-I do appreciate your initiative. I will give you whatever you ask for but in return, I will continue my activities as before."

Joy stared at him. She knew that he had lied but she didn't expect him to admit it. She also knew that he would expect her to sleep with him as his mate but to keep slaves?

"Decide," Cristiano said firmly, "and know this. Once you decide there is no going back. If you decide not to mate with me, that will be it. Personally I hope you do say no. I can live without a mate. Especially one who is willing to sell herself for brats who don't stand a snowball's chance in hell at a future."

Cristiano watched Joy's face as he talked. He was taking a calculated risk by pushing her to say no. he watched as she struggled to decide what to do. However, he did respect her. If she married him it wouldn't be for her own personal gain and that meant something. It was also something that he wasn't going to tell her.

"Decide," he said again and stared at her.

"I can have everything in the proposal?" she asked.

"You have my word," Cristiano replied feeling that victory was close. "You also have my word that I will do nothing to renege on our agreement as long as you uphold your end of the bargain."

Joy didn't reply for several minutes keenly aware that Cristiano didn't like to be kept waiting but she didn't care. Finally, she looked at him and said yes.

"The decision is final," he said as he stood up and began to undress.

"What are you doing?" Joy said in disbelief.

"The mating occurs now," Cristiano replied. "The wedding is a formality that means nothing now undress."

"You can't be serious!" Joy replied not moving.

"I am very serious now undress or do you need me to do it for you?" Cristiano asked as he approached her now completely nude and erect. He stopped three feet in front of her and waited.

Joy slowly stood up and looked at him as she began to take off her tee shirt. She couldn't believe the coldness that she felt coming from Cristiano. This was not the man that she knew. That man was a fake. The real Cristiano Borcelli was standing before her with his erect cock in his hand slowly stroking it. Too late she realized that she had allowed herself to be pushed into making a decision. Too late she realized that she was now trapped for eternity with a man that she was sure that she would come to loathe.

When she was naked before him, Cristiano beckoned her to him. When she was standing before him, he looked her up and down evidently pleased with what he saw. Without saying anything, he pushed her down to her knees and nudged her lips with his cock and waited for her to open her mouth. It was barely open when the large bulbous head pushed its way past her lips and rested on her tongue. She tried to pull away when he put his large hands on her head and held it in place as he began to thrust in and out of her mouth.

"Since this is the first time, I'm being gentle," he said as his breathing sped up. "I do expect you to swallow all of it."

Tears of anger rolled down Joy's face as Cristiano pumped faster into her mouth. When she felt his cock swell, she tried to pull back but he held her fast. With his head thrown back, Cristiano moaned loudly as he filled Joy's mouth with his sperm.

"I will have one of my slaves teach you the way in which I liked to be sucked," he said when he recovered. "Take me to your bedroom," he demanded.

Joy looked at the still fully erect cock and knew that she was in for a long night. Mutely she led Cristiano to the bedroom where he wasted no time in picking her up and throwing her onto the queen sized bed.

"Open your legs, I want to know what you taste like," he demanded.

Joy did as she was told while she frantically tried to think of a way out of her predicament. She gasped and then moaned as Cristiano's hot, pointed tongue stabbed at her clit and then entered her. She tried not to respond but her body betrayed her. Before long her hips were rising to meet his hot mouth trying to get his mouth on her clit.

"Oh she likes it!" Cristiano said when he took his mouth from her aching pussy. "Tell me that you like it," he demanded.

Joy refused to speak.

"No matter," he said as he went back to sucking on her clit. Seconds later, Joy experienced the most powerful orgasm of her life. Later she would tell herself that it was because she didn't want it. Cristiano would see it differently.

After she came, Cristiano climbed on top of her and dragged his cock up and down between her slit. He savored the wetness and prepared to enter her. He had originally planned to be somewhat rough with her. He wanted her to know who was boss, but at the last minute; he gentled. He placed the head of his cock at her entrance and began to push it in. Joy squirmed beneath him trying to get away but Cristiano's much bigger body had her pinned. She gasped and then cried out in pain as he slowly but steadily entered her until she could feel his large balls resting against her ass. Finally he was all the way in and stopped. He began to make small movements inside of her increasing the movements and tempo as he felt her moisture increase.

"So tight," he murmured as he thrust in and out of her.

Once again, Joy tried to resist the immense pleasure she felt now that the pain had subsided. She tried to ignore the growing throb in her clit and thought that she had succeeded until Cristiano bent down and took a hardened dark nipple into his mouth and sucked hard. Joy wrapped her arms around his head and held him tight against her as he suckled, bit and then began to suck again. Later she would see the puncture marks on both nipples and realize that he had fed from her.

After she had her second orgasm, Cristiano raised up, made a cut across his right nipple and pushed it into her mouth giving her no choice but to accept the blood that flowed from it. She initially gagged and tried to spit the blood out but he wouldn't allow it.

"Drink until I tell you to stop," he commanded in a breathy voice that dared her to argue with him.

It was then that Joy realized that he was going to come again.

"Suck harder and use your teeth!" Cristiano moaned as he pushed his nipple further into her mouth.

When she did as he commanded, he exploded inside of her. She had to wonder what he would do if she got pregnant. It was clear that he didn't like nor did he want children. She didn't have time to give it further thought because Cristiano's thrusting had become faster and more erratic. This time he bit her on the side of her neck latching onto her as his cock seemed to swell even more and she came for a third time. He pulled out of her, straddled her face and made a small cut in one of his balls.

"Suck it hard," he said as he lowered his ass so that his balls were touching her lips.

Seeing that she had no real choice, Joy opened her mouth and took the offered balls into her mouth. She moaned around them when she felt two long, thick fingers enter her. Suddenly the balls were gone and were replaced by Cristiano's cock. A moment later she was swallowing his seed for the second time that night. Cristiano moved from her and stretched out beside her but didn't touch her. They lay side by side for several minutes before he finally got up and looked down at her.

"You are now my mate. We have one more exchange to do before you will undergo the change. That will be done on the weekend. Make other arrangements for your brats on Monday. You won't be able to teach."

He turned and walked away not giving her a chance to respond. When he was gone, Joy got up and took a long shower wondering if she was truly stuck with Cristiano Borcelli.

****

Jean sat at her desk making notes. Every so often she would glance toward the doorway wondering where Lewis was. She still thought that they should call her father but it was Edgar's asking her not to that kept her from doing it more than Lewis's demand that she obey him. She sighed and began to make a list of people she could talk to. An hour later, she had a list of four people- all of them servants. From past experience she knew that they would have the most reliable information as they were virtually ignored unless they called attention to themselves. On more than one occasion she was able to help Lewis get the bid for a party by talking to the servants of the interested parties. The challenge was going to be in finding a way to talk to them.

Lewis tensed and then relaxed when he didn't hear Jean talking on the phone. There was the possibility that she could be communicating with her father telepathically but he didn't think so. He had seen the resignation on her face when Edgar asked her not to call her father. Lewis like Jean realized that they needed to talk to one of the servants. Preferably one who worked in the kitchen or cleaned the house. Like her he also realized the challenge in doing that. Unlike her, he had resources to make that happen.