PS01 - Tall, Dark & Lonely by R.L. Mathewson Read Free Book Online Page B

useless. He never escaped his nightmares and never felt close to the woman. It always felt like he was fucking air.
    “Come on, Madison, you’re a teacher so tell me what a slut is,” the little boy said impatiently.
    He couldn’t help himself. He had to answer. “I believe young man that name is given to a woman who gives her affections too
    freely to men.”
    “Oh my,” The little girl turned to look at him. She licked her lips invitingly. He was going to have to lock the connecting door
    at night to the main house. This was all he needed, he thought dryly.
    “What?....Ow!” a woman’s voice said.
    The smell of that virgin blood hit him hard. He stopped himself from stumbling back. That wasn’t the worse part. Hunger
    ripped through him viciously. That was odd since he just finished two bags of blood on the way home. He wasn’t hungry, but
    the smell of her blood was intoxicating.
    At the moment he wanted her blood more than anything on this earth. Her blood screamed for him. His hands clenched tightly,
    stopping himself from attacking her in front of these two children. Get it under control! It didn’t matter what this girl looked
    like, he wanted her blood. He’d never felt this intense need before not even those twenty years he spent in Nichols’ dungeon.
    His fangs descended. He learned long ago how to control his eyes, but it was a losing battle. He needed to get away from this
    woman whoever the hell she was.
    He stepped back the same time a young woman, he guessed since he certainly couldn’t tell by the way she was dressed,
    stepped out from behind the front of the car and looked first at the little girl than at him while she was holding her wrist tightly.
    The sight of the “Ow,” Ephraim guessed.
    She rolled her eyes in the direction of the little girl. “Jill, go on inside please and help Grandma with dinner.”
    “But-“
    “Go,” the woman said firmly. Ephraim studied the woman. He couldn’t discern her age, but he was sure that she was not a
    child. She wore an old baseball cap backwards and her face was smudged and dirty. He couldn’t really make out any features.
    The only thing he could make out on her face was her eyes. They were brown, but not normal brown. They were rather bright.
    His eyes roamed down her body. She was figureless. She was probably also flat-chested by the looks of it and fat. He
    confirmed his opinion by her baggy pants. In his experience women wore large clothes to cover extra weight. The only thing
    attractive about this woman was her blood. If he didn’t get out of here soon he would find out if her blood tasted as good as it
    smelled.
    “Are you a policeman?” the boy asked.
    “Joshua, you’re being rude,” she chastised the boy. She turned to look at him and smiled. “I’m sorry. This is Joshua and I’m
    Madison.”
    He nodded. His fangs were throbbing painfully in his mouth for a taste of her. “We just arrived today,” she said when he didn’t
    make any attempt to introduce himself.
    Again he nodded.
    “Well, who are you?” Joshua asked.
    He only turned and walked away. If he didn’t go into the house now he would regret it.
    “What’s your name?” Joshua yelled.
    “Ephraim,” he answered without looking back.
    He made his way to the back of the house and up the backstairs. It wasn’t until he dropped the small bag on his desk that he
    remembered that he was supposed to have a new neighbor.
    “Shit.”
    It was Madison. She would be close by to tempt him day and night.
    He ran his hands through his short black hair. He could do this. He could live here with this woman. They only shared a
    bathroom. She would keep both doors locked. Any woman with sense would lock the door when she lived in a boarding house
    even if it was run by her grandmother.
    Not that a locked door would stop him. He could push the door down with a pinky finger, but it would serve as a useful
    reminder to him that she was off limits. He didn’t want to leave. He