Monsters are real.

I wake in my bed, and my eyes lock on Adam. He's standing at the end of my bed looking down at me. I realize I'm still in my underwear and pull the sheet around me to cover myself. Not like he hasn't gotten an eyeful already. How long have I been unconscious? We study each other.

Adam's a vampire, whatever that means. All I know is what I witnessed with my own eyes, and that was enough to bring my walls of normalcy tumbling down around me. I don't even know where to begin. Universal notions of vampires have one common thread, and that is they all drink blood to survive.

"That night in the garage, were you...?" I don't even know how to ask the question that is gnawing at my brain. I feel as though I'm being rude, like asking someone how much money they make or if they're sleeping with their neighbor.

"...having dinner? Yes, and you interrupted me." He pauses to watch my reaction. "If things had played out differently you could have been my dessert."

There is that underlying hint of a threat behind his words. Yet he hasn't hurt me. I think he's baiting me. I choose to ignore that statement for the moment.

"Would you have killed her if I wasn't there?" I ask, unsure I want to know his answer. I need to hear it, though. My world has been turned upside down, and I'm trying desperately to fit all the pieces back together again. I'm missing important parts.

"It is not necessary for me to kill in order to survive," he says.

"So Rebecca simply volunteers to be your dinner?" I ask, dumbfounded. I need to know how this works. I'm particularly worried about becoming an appetizer.

"That woman, Rebecca, does not recall our meeting. I've told you I can be rather persuasive," he says.

"So you persuade them. Why would they do it? What's their motivation?" I ask, still confused. Why would anyone stand there and let someone hurt them like that?

"Our blood and saliva contain a toxin. My bite causes pain only initially, but it's quickly replaced with something far more desirable," he says. His eyes are smoldering with a light blue glow.

He looks so incredibly alluring I feel like I could be happily lost in his eyes forever...

I feel as though I may have zoned out again. Wait! Was that him trying to use his persuasion on me? Is that how it works? I narrow my eyes at him, and the corners of his mouth turn up a bit.

"Did you just try to do something to me?" I ask, being careful not to look directly at his eyes this time.

"You seem to be immune to my charms. My efforts at using compulsion on you failed, as was apparent when you laughed at me," he says with an amused grin. "I had planned to make you tell me what you witnessed that first night, but I realize now that you either could not discern what I was engaged in, or your mind chose not to believe it. And in answer to your question, yes. You must not blame me for trying. I informed you before, I'm accustomed to acquiring that which I desire. You present me with an intriguing challenge," he says, crossing his arms.

"Don't ever try that on me again. I need to know where I stand with you, or our little sharing sessions are over. And get out of my room so I can get dressed." I'm tired of feeling vulnerable around him.

"Sharing? Are we sharing, Samantha? I've shared my most protected secret with you tonight. What are you willing to share with me?" His words are loaded and hang heavy in the air of my now crowded bedroom.

He moves to the side of the bed and looks down at me. He's ready for something, because his eyes are doing that preternatural glowing thing again. I pull the sheet further up my body and break eye contact.

"We are only sharing information—nothing else," I say without looking at him. "Don't think that because I'm not screaming my head off, we're anything beyond strangers. Now, get out of my room. I don't like talking to strangers while I'm in my underwear." I need some serious space between us.

He stands there another moment and then walks out of the room. Great. He didn't close the door. I swing my feet onto the floor and let go of the sheet. I take the three steps to the door as Adam appears in the opening. He's so close we're almost touching.

"I forgot to close the door," he says with a wicked gleam in his eyes. He scans my body slowly from bottom to top with a look that says he is removing what little I have on in his mind. I'm standing there turning all shades of red before I push him out the door so I can close and lock it.

***

I come out of my room a few minutes later wearing loose sweat pants, a t-shirt, and fuzzy slippers. My hair is piled on top of my head in a high ponytail. Sloppy and casual is me. Adam the vampire is standing at the patio doors, looking out into the night.

There is a vampire standing in my living room.

A nervous chill runs through my body. "You said the pain is replaced with something more desirable. What did you mean?" I ask as I put food in Wilbur's dish.

When I'm done, I grab a pillow from the couch and sit down cross-legged, hugging it to me.

But when I look at him, his eyes are smoldering again, and I'm wondering what changed. In the time it takes me to blink he is sitting next to me on the couch. I jump and squeak simultaneously.

"Should I show you? I've been told that the feeling is so pleasurable that humans can become addicted." He says this while his arm is behind me on the back of the couch, our thighs are touching, and he is leaning into my space again.

An uncontrolled shiver goes through my body, and my stomach does a flip. Before I can blink, his other hand is high on my thigh, and his lips are on my neck. Oh my...!

My hands are somehow on his chest, the only barrier between us.

"Adam, stop!" I tried to put some conviction behind the command, even though I'm not feeling it.

With the sensations I'm feeling I know what my body wants. I'm frightened, but also curious as hell. Thankfully, I'm more frightened than stupid right now.

I feel him breathing heavily against my neck. He's stopped his progression, but not before he licks my neck right below my ear. I'm a tsunami of feelings now, and none of them are healthy or safe under the circumstances.

"Maybe another time," he says, regaining some of his composure and easing back from me. His eyes haven't gone back to their normal brilliance, but he appears to relax some.

I can feel the energy humming through his body like a physical presence, so I scoot down the couch and give us both space.

"I won't bite you until you ask me to." The look on his face says "it's only a matter of time."

My look says, "Not this girl."

"That will never happen, so let's get that notion off the table and out of your mind," I say, attempting to look smug and confidant.

"We still need to discuss the matter of your safety. I chose to tell you what I am because you are in danger," he says with a serious look that replaces the bedroom eyes from before.

Oh, thank heavens.

"Why does he want to kill me if he knows you're hunting him?" I ask, getting back to business. "Why doesn't he run away?"

"It is his habit to run when I get this close to him. I'm not sure what game Zachariah is playing at, but I do know he's now focused on you."

"I still don't understand why killing me would affect you," I say.

This is one of those pieces of this new world that I'm fuzzy on.

"He only needs to believe that I desire you in any way to want to take that from me. His hate for me is the only thing stronger than his lust for blood and pain. That, and you look like his favorite type of plaything." An angry look mars his handsome face.

His words, 'I desire you', play at my senses and I quickly try to think of something else.

"I'm guessing plaything refers to his victims. I fit his victim profile. That's just great. And my day had started off so good. What am I supposed to do about this?" I ask.

"How?"

"How what?" I ask, confused.

"How did your day start off so good?"

What? Are we talking about a psycho vampire trying to kill me or my personal life?

"It was merely a figure of speech, but I did get asked out by someone today," I say, without thinking. No sooner have the words left my mouth when I suddenly feel shy and regret mentioning it. Adam looks slightly pissed.

What is his problem? Can vampires be bipolar?

"By whom?" he growls.

"By none of your business, that's whom!" I don't need to tell him who Gabe is. It has nothing to do with him.

"What does he look like?" he says with barely concealed rage. His hands are clenched fists, and a vein pulses in his neck. His face has darkened, and he looks like he may explode.

"His name is Gabe! He's lived in this building for the past six months, he has glasses, light brown hair, and I like him!" I blurt out quickly, not knowing why I added that last part.

Adam's face slowly relaxes and he no longer looks like a time bomb, but he is far from relaxed. He pins me with his stare.

"What did you say to him?" he asks.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

I feel like I'm handling explosives. I don't understand why this should matter to him.

Changing the subject I ask, "What does this Zachariah guy look like? Do you have a picture?"

"No, I do not have a picture. I may be able to acquire one. I'll need a few days. If you have a date with this Gabe, cancel it," he says.

I know I must have heard him wrong.

"Why would I cancel?" I ask. "I'm going out with him Saturday evening."

"It's too dangerous. You will cancel. The more public the place, the harder it is for me to protect you," he says.

What?

"You are not going with me on my date! I don't need you to protect me. What do I need, a stake, silver bullets, pepper spray?" I ask with complete sincerity.

"He would drain you dry before you raised your silly stake. Silver bullets are no more effective than any other, and pepper spray will only manage to anger him," he says.

I can tell he's getting annoyed with me.

"I'm exhausted, and obviously I need more information so I can avoid this guy, but I also need sleep right now. You need to leave; so can we meet tomorrow? I know a good coffee shop, and I'll have all my questions listed and organized." I stifle a big yawn.

"I'm not leaving you," he says, as though that's even an option.

"You cannot stay here. You have to go. I can't sleep with you here," I say in a panic.

"You won't even know I'm here. I'll be gone before you wake. I don't believe he will attack you during the day because we are strongest at night," he says.

He ignores my mouth hanging open, and proceeds to remove his shirt. He pulls it over his head, exposing smooth skin over a hard-muscled chest that ripples as he moves. Oh, my...

As I watch, he kicks his boots off and reaches for his belt. I can't believe this vampire is peeling off his clothes in my living room.

Oh, heck no!

"Adam! Put your clothes back on," I yell.

He gives me another wicked grin and slowly puts his thumbs in his pants, preparing to slide them off. I squeak and run into my bedroom, slamming and locking the door.

This cannot be happening. How can I sleep knowing he's in the next room? After a few minutes, I open the door enough to cautiously poke my head out. Thank goodness, he's lying on the couch with his pants still on. It's still an incredibly sexy image that will forever be burned into my brain.

"Do you need a blanket?" I ask from the door.

"I'm in no need of a blanket. But should I catch a chill, I'll come find you," he says.

There it is, that threat again. I throw one of my pillows at him, then close and lock the door for the second time.

I don't bother to take a shower because it's too risky. Although, a cold one might help. I'm absolutely convinced that I won't sleep a wink with him in the next room, but I drift off before I can count the first twenty sheep.

***

I'm in a castle with an enormously long hallway. I hold a candle that offers the only light chasing away the shadows. It's pitch black beyond the candle's light, and I can't see where the hall ends. I have the feeling that I'm not alone. Feeling exposed, I open the closest door I find and slip inside.

My candlelight illuminates the dark room while casting shadows that dance around in the flickering light. It makes me feel like everything is moving. The chamber is a generous suite with a massive carved wooden canopy bed dominating one wall.

Two large carved wooden doors with small painted glass windows stand open to a spacious balcony. Heavy drapes hang from the high ceiling to the floor on either side of the opening. Moonlight spills in from the night.

I walk toward the doors and step over the threshold. A cool breeze blows my hair back and extinguishes my candle. There's only moonlight to see by now. I'm peering into the dense, dark forest beyond the second story balcony when I feel someone behind me. My heart starts to race, but I don't turn around. I stand there waiting.

A masculine hand slides around my waist, and the other reaches around to my cheek to gently turn my head. I allow my head to be turned away. My neck is exposed like an offering.

Soft warm kisses trail down my neck from ear to shoulder. I lean into him and press my length fully against his hard, unyielding form. His hands slide down to my hips.

He reacts to my submission with a hunger that I can feel as his fingers dig into me almost painfully.

I finally turn my body in his arms to seek his lips with mine. My hands move up his body and reach around his neck to pull him even closer. I draw his head toward me, out from the shadows, and into the moonlight.

Just as I'm about to gaze upon his face...I wake.

Damn it!