Chapter Eight

 

 

Built in a two-block stretch of a mountainside, Roman's home sat high up and well hidden from everyone. The front of the house hovered over the ocean while the back was built into the mountain. Having no windows, that area remained dark and cold. This is where you would find Roman most of the time. He much preferred the peacefulness and solitude of the darker side. He never cared for a house full of servants underfoot pestering him. Even though he had an entourage of servants on his staff that remained at his disposal, he kept them away and out of sight, calling upon them only when needed. 

Unlike most modern day vampires, Roman was old school. He preferred the traditional ways of the vampire, mysterious and private. You would never find him flaunting his wealth or living a wild and crazy lifestyle. He was a homebody and would be just as happy to sleep in coffins rather than his oversized California king size bed. He would even be down with only coming out at night if he had the choice.

He was also a man with many hard-set rules and a few pet peeves. Obedience was pet peeve number one. This made it impossible for him to maintain a relationship with a woman for any length of time. He lacked patience, social skills, compassion, and diplomacy. He refused to compromise on any rule and never failed to carry through on a promise or a threat.

Roman flashed himself into his private gym. Of course, he didn’t need to waste his time or his energy on a treadmill or lifting weights, he did it because he enjoyed going through the motions, claiming that it helped relieve stress.

After his visit with Delilah, he needed a stress release. Not only was he tasked with seducing a headstrong, human female into marrying him, now Delilah expected him to do it in a hurry and without his powers of magic. What next he wondered, do it all with my hands tied behind my back and blindfolded?

Roman knew next to nothing about modern day women and even less about modern day human women. He was stuck on ancient old traditions where women did as they were told, rarely opening their mouth unless spoken to. He would need help on this, so he summoned Ivy, one of his female servants.

Having no other choice but to come whenever he called, Ivy appeared before him. She was an exotic beauty who was doomed to a life of servitude as his slave. Making the mistake of falling in love with him had cost as her everything.  

“Yes, My lord?” She asked mockingly.

The title, My lord, was a show of respect to one’s master. It was a title meant for the one true ruler, Kourosh. Throwing this title in his face was like a slap in his face. It was a blatant show of disrespect. Disrespect was his second pet peeve.

He decided to make her wait until he finished his full hour-long workout before speaking to her.

Roman was a liberal master, giving his servants the freedom to live outside of his home. He expected them to appear immediately when summoned, ready to serve him without question or attitude. Most masters kept their slaves on lock-down and under spells at all times. Roman never had to resort to such treatment as long as everyone knew his or her place.

Roman had been a fairly decent master to Ivy over the centuries. Their affair had been the classic triangle love story. Boy meets girl; girl has jealous husband, jealous husband finds out about girl and lover, a fight ensues and jealous husband ends up torn into several pieces.

Of course, Ivy had no idea that her lover was a vampire during their dalliance. Once the shit hit the fan, Roman could not bear to leave her alone in Portugal to face a death sentence alone, even though his feelings for her were gone. There was only one other solution. To make her his personal slave.

Ivy spent many nights craving the man she could no longer have. Being his slave had its benefits but the disadvantages were far greater. After centuries of serving him, she had grown to hate him and wanted out.

Finally, after an hour of running on the treadmill, Roman slowed his pace until he came to a complete stop. He watched as Ivy huffed and puffed with her hands on her hip, letting her irritation show a little too much for his liking. She was once the love of his life, but now she was his slave. She had to act accordingly. He demanded it from all of his servants.

Roman grabbed a towel from off of a towel rack, wiping the sweat from his face he crossed over to where she stood.

“Have you forgotten your place, again?”

His hard gaze and authoritative tone tipped her off. He was in a foul mood, which meant she needed to take out the kid gloves and wear them properly while in his presence. Never before had she come across a vampire who had more mood swings than a woman did going through menopause.

“No, Master.” She said respectfully. If she had forgotten, she was sure that he had no problem reminding her. “Please forgive my rudeness, master.”

“Give me one good reason I should, and while you’re at it, give me another reason I shouldn’t have you punished?”

 Oh for goodness sakes, Ivy wanted to scream at him. Get a fucking life. Instead, she lowered her head as she was trained to do as his slave.

“There is no reason I shouldn’t be punished, master. I am sorry for my rudeness. Please, I beg for your kindness and your forgiveness.” She knew how much he loved it when women begged him for anything. “What would you have me do, master?”

Roman did not have time for all of this. He had a woman he needed to make his consort in order to gain her powers. Normally he would have had Ivy strung up and whipped for her behavior, but not today. Today he had many important concerns. But he had to do something to remind her of what she was- A slave!

“Leave. When you return have a different attitude.”

 She looked up at him baffled. What had his briefs in a knot?

“Are you serious, Master?”

His silence said everything and Ivy knew better than to upset him any further. Hell, she was getting off light. He always granted her some latitude because they were once lovers, but when he was in a mood like this everyone around him was fair game. 

She vanished. Seconds later, she reappeared with a different attitude. No huffing and puffing and definitely no hands on her hips. She stood there like a servant slave; head bowed and ready to serve her master.

“How can I serve you, master?” All she wanted to hear was that he had found a woman, any woman to take her place that would free her from his services. Her life as his slave sucked, and he was for sure a certified jerk. 

“That’s much better.” He said lifting her chin to meet his gaze. “This matter is not settled. You will be punished for your behavior.”

Ivy had no choice other than to obey her master when he looked into her eyes this way. She had to obey him, please him, and even give herself to him if he asked. “Yes, master.”

“Now,” He said smiling down at her breaking the spell. “There is a woman…”

Ivy’s heart leaped with joy. She wanted to drop to her knees and raise both hands to the heavens and thank the gods. Could it be true? Did she dare believe that her freedom could be just around the corner? Could he have found the woman that would free her from her bondage? She prayed that this was the case.

“A woman, Master?” She asked trying to keep the excitement out of her voice, but inside she was jumping up and down.

Roman closed his eyes. Using his powers, he showed her his encounters with Desiree. Ivy’s excitement peeked. “Is this what I think it is?”

“That depends on what you are thinking.”

The man was driving her to the brinks of madness. She took a deep breath and started over. “Who is she, master?” She asked calmly.

“Her name is Desiree Chase.”

“Is she human?”

Roman had to give that some thought. Desiree was a goddess, but, while living here in the human realm, she was human.

“It’s debatable.” He answered. “She is a descendant of a goddess.”

“How far down is her descent?”

Again, Roman had to give her question some thought. Desiree came directly from the womb of the queen who is now a goddess. Delilah mentioned briefly that her father was a god, so, that made Desiree a true goddess. Of course, that meant nothing to him, and it would not change a damn thing according to the laws of the vampires. She would still be his slave and him her master.

“She is an Egyptian goddess.” He said as if realizing this himself for the first time.

“A goddess?” Ivy asked incredulously, her excitement dwindled. Shit! She should have known that it was too good to be true. All Egyptian goddesses lived in Nirvana, the land of spirits. They were all glorified deities. “Is she a spirit, master?”

“She is more alive than either one of us. I must make this goddess my consort and I will need your help in making it happen.”

Ivy could smell the sweet scent of freedom once again. She would do anything to make it happen if it meant getting away from him. She wanted to get started right away. She wanted to find this woman, hog-tie her, and drag her home to him. She would lie, cheat, steal and oh hell, yes; she would even kill to make sure things went according to plan.

“Why isn’t she here with you now? Shall I go and drag her here for you, master?” Roman shot her a look. Her acting did not fool him. He knew how badly she wanted her freedom. It didn’t make him happy that she felt that way, but he understood.

“Calm yourself, slave.” He growled at her. “It is not that simple. She must agree to take me as her consort and submit to me freely.”

“I can make that happen, master.”

“It must be of her free will. Her acceptances must be genuine and heartfelt with no magic involved.”

Ivy’s excitement took another dip. No human woman would ever do such a foolish thing. Giving herself to her husband, it just did not happen. From what little she saw she didn’t see it happening, not with Desiree. There was nothing demure about the woman. What she saw was a modern day confident diva who looked like she was fully capable of taking care of herself.

“I will do all I can, master. But if you’re telling me that this woman is to be your consort then you might want to consider not being yourself when pursuing her. Humans are emotional creatures. Their feelings are easily bruised.”

“Whatever it takes, just do it. I have no time to deal with such trivial matters. Kourosh has sent for his blood demons. I don’t have time to play the dating game.”

He disappeared into the hallway and headed up the staircase. Ivy followed close behind. She had to make him understand that getting a woman to commit to him would be just as hard as fighting one of Kourosh’s blood demons- If not harder.

“If you want this woman you must court her, master. I cannot do that for you. And it is far from trivial.”

“When do you think I will have the time for courting?” He asked spinning around to face her. “I have companies to run and let’s not forget the mutiny I’m plotting against a mad man. I have no time left for dating.”

“Might I respectfully suggest you put just a little effort and planning into this woman as you do with everything else, at least until she is yours.”

Ivy opened her mouth to say more, but quickly shut it.

“What?” He snarled in frustration.

“Nothing, master.”

“What?” He yelled, demanded an answer.

“It’s just that once she is yours, it will not end there. She will require much of your time and attention. The same love and attention you once gave me. Women need that, master.”

Roman was not the same vampire he was centuries ago. Back then, he was wild and free, fucking anything that passed by him wearing a skirt. It was a way of life then. After the romance had ended with Ivy, no other woman could match the feelings he had for her, so he stopped looking for romance. His interest lay elsewhere. Matters of the heart became less important to him. He vaguely remembered the process of dating a woman. He didn’t have the slightest clue where to begin. 

“Leave instructions for courting modern woman for me. I will look them over and follow the ones that suit me.”

Ivy shook her head wondering when and how had he lost his ability to swoon a woman. She remembered how romantically charming he was centuries ago, how he didn’t need to cast a spell to make a woman fall deeply and madly in love with him. Now he showed very little interest in women at all. Power had become his mistress. He took it to bed with him at night and woke up with it. Kourosh was the nightmare that kept him awake.

“It’s not that simple.”

“Then it is your job to make it simple.”

Ivy took a deep breath and let it out slowly. The man was a hopeless case.

“You really need to get out more.”

“And what does that mean?”

“It means that you have your work cut out for you with Desiree Chase.”

Roman disappeared and reappeared in his shower. As the hot water ran down his naked body, he knew that Ivy was right. He would have to put forth some effort into capturing Desiree Chase. He was a man who immersed himself in the things he desired. Conquering the throne had become his greatest desire. It was his new mistress. He took it to bed at night and he woke up with it in the morning. It was a passion that stayed with him day and night, and haunting him to no end.

He always knew that he would make a better ruler than Kourosh. He vowed that if he ever got the chance he would prove it. He would start by showing mercy to those who deserved it, and he would rule with fairness versus fear. The true test of a man’s character was when he had power. He wanted nothing more than to test that theory.