Hiliads Special Gift Ch 08

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is probably a long overdue thank you for the reviews because I posted several chapters today, and it could take a week before it's approved. But I just wanted to say I appreciate the reviews and comments!

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Connee's POV:

I heard the birds chirping outside the window before I even opened my eyes, although the bright sunshine made me cover them because it really hurt. I groaned, covered my eyes and slowly opened them. A woman was sitting in a chair by the bed but I didn't know her. Looking around the bedroom I knew I hadn't been in the room before.

"Hi. You're finally awake," she said as she leaned forward.

"Who are you?" I growled but only because my throat was so dry. "Where am I?"

She frowned. "In your apartment."

Ah, the apartment Hiliad had for me.

"My name's Wilma, Connee. Hiliad asked me to stay with you."

I grinned. "You mean Hiliad has friends?"

She laughed. "Yes, sort of. How are you feeling?"

I had to think about it for a minute. "Surprisingly better than I should be." And it was true. Remembering the pain I was in earlier, I would have thought I'd be screaming and crying. "What time is it?"

"It's about 5:30. Wanna try and sit up?"

"Not really," I snickered but did manage to. My head spun, though and I had to put my forehead in my hand to keep it from going through the mattress. "Uggh."

"You must have been in bad shape. When I was hurt I went right back to work."

I had no idea what she was talking about. She spent a minute explaining when she was attacked and Hugh, her boyfriend, who rescued and saved her life. Her boyfriend is a vampire? Hmm. "Uh, I have to go to the bathroom."

"Oh, right, sure," Wilma said as she stood. "Let me help you."

And I did need help down off the bed. It was at least four feet high yet I slid off easily. The furniture was dark wood and beautiful. The oil paintings on the wall were all nature scenes and they looked antique. Lavender—how did Hiliad know it was my favorite color? After I went to the bathroom she asked if I wanted to lie back down but I didn't. I needed something to drink.

"Okay, come on," she said, leading me down a hall to the kitchen.

It was a big kitchen, bigger than I expected it to be. And it was decorated nicely, too, just as I would have done myself.

As I sat down, Wilma said, "Hiliad stocked it really well with lots of food and drink."

"I should start with water," I said as I stood back up.

"No, no. Let me get it for you."

I started to protest but my body thought it was a good idea if I sat. She got a glass, filled it with ice and water then set it on the kitchenette table before she sat down across from me. I thanked her and drank the whole glass in one shot.

"You must be hungry, too. You want some soup?"

"Wilma, please," I barked and immediately regretted it. "I'm sorry, really. Soup sounds great."

"It's okay. It shook me up too after Hugh gave me his blood."

I watched her as she warmed the soup up and found myself staring at the floor thinking about what had happened. It was all still a blur, though. I remembered the look of concern and fear on Hiliad's face when I woke up earlier in the morning and ... I drank his blood. Shit! The first time I did it made me feel ... what I didn't want to feel for Hiliad.

"Here ya go," Wilma said and placed the bowl and spoon in front of me then sat down.

"Thanks." I dug into the bowl and finished it quickly. "Geez, I was hungrier than I thought."

"I'm not surprised. I pigged out for days. It's amazing I didn't gain any weight." She brought the pitcher of water, refilled my glass and set it on the table.

"Wilma, how did you ... feel after you had so much of Hugh's blood?" I didn't want to but I had to ask.

"Like ... more alive than I'd ever felt before in my life. Every sense I had was so much sharper and I was incredibly strong. And my—"

"What, Wilma?"

She told me that some humans would drain vampires for their blood for the increase in their sexual drive.

Oh, shit! No way! I thought. A corner of her mouth rose just enough, as if she were remembering her and Hugh. "For how long?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "It depends. The effects only faded after a few weeks."

Oh, God. Again she smiled. What is up with that?

"Hiliad must really care about you to have done so much for you."

"Why would you say that?" I asked shocked.

"Sorry. It's none of my business."

"Wilma, you stayed with me all day. You're pretty involved now."

"That's true. Well, I've never seen Hiliad this ... protective over another human, or vampire for that matter."

"Why me?"

She shook her head. "I have no idea. But it's safe to say you're definitely in good hands."

Ha! If she only knew.

She frowned and stood up. "Connee, I live quite far from here. I told Hiliad I had to leave at six for work and I've got to go change. He said someone is watching your apartment from nearby. You'll be okay by yourself?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Here's my cell phone number and work number." She handed me a piece of paper. "I'll tell Sam you might call if I don't hear the cell. Hiliad will be by around nine."

"Thanks, Wilma, for staying with me."

She smiled warmly. "You're welcome. Give me a call anytime."

I walked her to the door then turned around in 'my' living room. Again, I loved the furniture and the decorations and the color of the walls. I'd have to compliment Hiliad on his choice of decorators. After I locked the front door I sat on the couch and tried to remember again what had happened.

Hiliad's POV:

"So, how is Connee? Did she eat? Is she still in pain?" I knew my voice sounded anxious but I called Wilma first thing right after I woke up.

"She's doing well, Hiliad. She woke up at 5:30. I made her some soup."

"Did you catch any of her thoughts?"

"Yeah but not much. She's scared. Can't say I blame her," she snickered. "Take it slow with her, Hiliad. She's confused and fragile."

Connee is far from fragile.

I immediately hung up and rushed over to the apartment.

Connee's POV:

"Connee?"

I screamed and jumped three feet off of the couch, practically falling to the floor. Hiliad grinned curiously and sat down beside me. "Shit, Hiliad," I gasped, holding my hand over my heart. "You aren't supposed to come in without an invitation, or so Daniel told me."

"Well, technically the apartment is in my name, and I have the spare key."

"Ah, just what I thought. Strings."

"No, no. I was ... wor ... thought you would have still been sleeping. You look much better."

"I do feel better. Thanks." I stared out the window. "Did you kill those men?" I asked stoically.

"Yes," he replied coldly, giving me chills.

"Why?"

"Because they would have killed us."

"Oh, right," I snickered. "I'm ready to go back to work. Will you drive me?" I didn't wait for an answer. I stood to go change but I got a little light-headed; must have gotten up too fast.

He grabbed my wrist and gently pulled me back down. "I'm afraid you aren't going back until tomorrow night."

"Why? I feel fine, Hiliad." Well, I sort of did. I was just being argumentative.

"Because I'm your boss."

Sighing, I laid my head on the pillow and looked at him. He was wearing the same style tank top except this one was a lighter blue as opposed to the normal black he wore. Damn, he looked good, too. I thought of the dream of us in the bathroom.

"Well?" I heard him say. I hadn't realized he'd asked me a question. "What's your life story?"

"I don't have one, Hiliad."

"Everyone has a story." He really did seem interested.

"You wouldn't want to hear it." I really, really didn't want to tell him.

"Try me," he challenged.

Ah, he just hit one of my buttons. Never, ever challenge me. "You want something to drink?" I asked as I walked to the kitchen.

"Yeah, you'll know what I want when you open the ice box."

I was not in the mood for games. I opened the fridge and almost gagged. It was something I would have to get used to. I grabbed a bottle of Sheep's blood, an empty glass, refilled my glass with water and went back to the living room, handed him the items and sat down.

"I may as well get this out of the way: I really love the apartment. If you are still offering I'd like to stay here."

"I'm glad you like it," he answered with a warm smile that warmed my heart.

"I do. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

We stared at the other for several seconds before I finally gave in to his demand and started talking to him. "Mum died when I was three and my father raised me, if that's what you want to call it. Every morning by the time I was eight I got up at 4:30, fed the chickens, gathered the eggs from the hen house, fed and let the horses out to the fields then cleaned their stalls, made breakfast for Daddy then went to school. I came home, did the chores and homework then made dinner, cleaned up and was in bed by eight."

"Your father did nothing around the house?"

"No. The fat ass sat around watching T.V. and drinking the rest of the nights, if he didn't go to the bar. One morning right after I turned sixteen I'd done the morning chores but I'd forgotten to lock the hen house; we'd had wild dogs before. I come home from school that day and found Daddy sitting in the kitchen, drinking a Scotch and ... and—I knew I had done something wrong. He was home before me—that was never good."

I had to fight my body from shaking and keep the tears back. It was extremely difficult. Curling my body into a ball I continued. "He was furious to find wild dogs had gotten in the hen house and killed most of them. He ... beat me ... with ..." I looked back out the window, "with one of the ... half-eaten hens."

Hiliad let out the slightest bit of air, a gasp for a vampire, I thought.

"I left the next day and came to live with my Aunt that lives around here." There. I'd opened up to a monster and there was no going back.

"What happened to him?" His voice was so soft and gentle that I couldn't help but look at him. His face was just the same.

"He drank himself to death five years later."

Hiliad leaned forward, his elbows on his knees and looked at me intently. "If all that happened to you how in the hell did you end up in a D/s relationship with Daniel?"

"Met him at a bar. He was so attentive to me and treated me like a queen." I chortled. "That sounded dumb. No one had ever made me feel like I was something ... special. He gave such positive reinforcement and support after ... my childhood. It was just so natural to me, to be submissive."

"That sounds messed up, actually. But it explains your Domme side."

"Yeah, it does, doesn't it? I never really thought about it." I suddenly felt tired but there was one thing I wanted—needed to know. "Hiliad, what happened after I passed out at the club?"

His face changed and I could have sworn I saw regret. "I should have been there to prevent Matthew from ... I was so enraged I lost focus of what I was doing. Only when I heard you scream did I attack Matthew. You had already lost consciousness so I had to take you somewhere until you woke up so I could heal you. Liza took care of the men."

"I ... I could have died?" Hiliad nodded slowly. "But you vampires are so fast and have such great hearing why didn't Liza or another come to help?"

"Apparently another man caused a distraction in the bar and they didn't know what was going on."

"Right," I said disbelieving. "Tell me something else." It wasn't a question. "How did you come to meet Daniel, and do you know the truth why he ended it?"

There was a flicker of surprise in his eyes that he quickly got control of. "I told you. He did come into Naluchra and offered you to me. The two scenes were to prove to him that you could indeed take orders from another Dominant. After that, he explained to me that he saw something in you, your dominant side that he wanted you to explore."

"Bullshit, Hiliad!" I exclaimed a little too loudly. How could Daniel to that to me?

"It's the truth." For some reason I believed him then.

I swallowed hard. "Did he ... does he plan on taking me back?"

"That, Connee, is up to you."

"And if I don't go back to Daniel?" After that bit of news, why would I even go back to Daniel?

"You are welcome to become my submissive."

"Of all the ..." I jumped off the couch and paced back and forth in front of the fireplace. "You both are sons of bitches!"

He sat there and grinned smugly at me. "Might I remind you that you were Daniel's slave?"

"That's not the point!" I huffed, stopped and stared at him. God, he really did look delicious.

"Then what is the point?" he huffed. I could tell he was losing his patience with me.

But I really didn't have a point. I was just angry. I did sit down. "It was months before Daniel and I began our D/s relationship and a year before I agreed to be his slave. How can you expect me to just turn around and—"

"Connee, sit down and calm yourself."

Putting my hands on my hips defiantly I screamed, "I will NOT listen to you!"

"You need to relax."

"I need you to leave."

Hiliad laughed. "What, my dear, will it take for you to agree to be mine?"

"I will not—" Okay, the door was opened. "Give me your story, then."