Kiss of Crimson Samantha Coville (best short books to read .TXT) 📖

“And perhaps a sampling of your mother’s fine collection?” His eyebrows arched in question and my shoulders dipped. I hadn’t thought to ask her about that. How could I be so stupid as not to provide blood for a vampire guest?

“I apologize. It slipped my mind and my mother is indisposed at the moment.”

He was visibly disappointed, and I was concerned an awkward silence was going to take over the atmosphere. But then my mother appeared at the top of the staircase, looking as grand as ever. When she left my room, she must have fixed herself up fast. I didn’t know how she pulled that off.

With a cocky grin, she stretched out her arms to greet the client she had entertained on many previous occasions. “Ah, Ferdinand. It’s so very nice to see you. Have no worries about the beverages. I’ll have Jewel go fetch some from the cellar right now.”

The smile returned to Ferdinand’s face and I could feel the red come to mine. I was being upstaged by my mother. But maybe it was for the best. If she hadn’t shown up just in time with blood to supply, I would have had one unsatisfied lunch date on my hands.

“Well, to the garden then?” I asked quickly to regain the spotlight in the situation. I held up my sun hat for emphasis and his smile was back on me. He nodded his head and had his own servant come forward with a black wide-brimmed hat that he had taken off when he came into the house. Luckily, he hadn’t yet taken off his gloves. Between those, the hat, and the full suit ensemble, his sensitive skin was completely protected from the sun.

We chit chatted like old acquaintances as I led him through the ballroom where we had first met the night before. It seemed so much larger when it was empty, and our footsteps echoed in the wide space. You had to cross the ballroom to get to the doors that opened onto the veranda. Once out there, I pointed out my favorite parts of the view of the gardens. We had a fountain, though it was smaller in size, and there were rose bushes, daffodils, lily of the valleys, and more flowers than I could name. Set up in the middle of a collection of dahlias was a wicker table with two matching chairs. Food was already laid out in an appetizing array.

It was an old wives’ tale that vampires don’t eat human food. They enjoy the taste of it well enough. It just doesn’t satisfy hunger. It takes blood to do that. And, sure enough, Jewel scampered out right behind us with a crystal glass of the stuff for Ferdinand.

Ferdinand took the glass gratefully and set it on the table. Then he came around to my side and pulled out my chair for me, pushing it forward once I was sitting. He took his own seat and placed a napkin on his lap. It didn’t take long for him to take a deep drink from his glass and then turn his attention to the food.

“So what do you do for business?” I inquired while I added some grapes to my plate.

He shrugged his shoulders and didn’t even look up at me. “It’s quite boring, if I’m honest. I’m involved in the purebred dog business currently. In my prime, I was a banker, and a damned good one at that. Unfortunately, the Accord limited the professions I’m permitted to partake in, so I had to leave that career behind.”

That piqued my interest. I knew of the Accord, of course. A few hundred years ago, humans became aware of the existence of their vampiric counterparts. Fear and a struggle for power led to an all-out war. It was only the sheer number of humans that helped to win the war. Instead of eradicating the vampires, however, humans agreed to sign the Accord with them. It allowed them to be welcome members of society as long as they followed a set of rules. The Accord and its rules had expanded over the years and it was the size of a book at that point, so I never bothered to read the whole thing. I knew it stated vampires could only drink animal blood, which was where my mother’s business sprung from.

But this detail about the Accord detailing profession restrictions was new to me. “What other sorts of jobs are you not permitted to do?”

“All the best ones, of course. I can’t run for a political office. I can’t be involved in any business that holds government contracts. Oh, and for some reason, they won’t allow me to work in transit. Not that I’d want to anyway,” he added with a roll of his eyes.

He took a large bite of his food and moaned in delight. I followed suit and found myself pleased with how things were turning out. Our very first topic of discussion had been intriguing. What else could our lunch hold?

“Honestly, Eloise, humans are so trifle,” he groaned. I choked on the piece I had been swallowing and my eyes went wide.

That was not what I expected.

He continued on as if he hadn’t noticed me struggling with my lunch. “How many wasted hours have they spent on that silly Accord at this point? They spend so much time worrying about us vampires that they make very little progress themselves. They’re still bumbling creatures with no class or dignity.”

My face turned red. Was it anger? Embarrassment? A little of both? Did he forget the fact that I was, in fact, a human sitting right across the table from him? I couldn’t believe that this was the same man who had used the word ethereal to describe me less than twenty-four hours prior. I didn’t want to say anything back, however, because I didn’t want to upset him. So I bit my tongue and tried not to look mortified.

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