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III

Angel froze in place, suddenly uncertain of what she should do. He was far more imposing than she had expected. Though he was sitting down, she could see, from several safe yards away, that he was muscular and powerful. He was dressed entirely in black, from his open silk shirt to his pants to his knee-high boots. His chest was lined with strength, a thick silver chain with a pointed, dagger-like black pendant on the end, glowing against his pale skin. He wore an immense black cloak, dark as night, and a hood, that was covering the upper half of his face. Angel was afraid to move towards him, afraid that he'd eat her alive.

"I was beginning to think you wouldn't come," his voice, low, alluring, and filled with romance and the desire to give her everything she wanted, nearly stilled her heart.

"You weren't easy to find," she countered, not moving an inch closer.

"You're cold," he said deeply. "Come here."

"No. I'm no fool, Ghost."

"And yet you came here alone," he smirked. "How wise of you."

Angel growled and then wrapped her arms around her chest, trying to warm herself.

"I said come here. Don't make me force you," Ghost said coolly.

"You can't force me to do anything," Angel said defiantly.

Ghost stood up then and walked towards her, his steps more like stalks, his whole form whispering the fulfillment of dreams and undying pleasure. Angel stepped back as he stepped forward, but he was too fast, too strong, and before she knew what had happened, he had pressed himself against her, so close, she was forced to move towards the bench. She felt the back of her legs hit the bench and then sat down with a plop, her wide eyes watching every move he made.

"Now then," Ghost spoke, silkily sitting down next to her, putting an arm behind her. "You wished to see me. Here I am."

"I…I want to bargain…with you," Angel stuttered, feeling a peculiar warmth radiating from his arm behind her. "How can you be so warm when you haven't a heart?"

"You always begin conversations this way?" Ghost asked, his pointed teeth shining in the faint moonlight.

"I did come here to bargain with you," Angel said, trying to scoot back as he moved closer. "And I know you're purposefully intimidating me to see how powerful my defenses are, and I can assure you, I'm strong enough, so please back off."

"You're gorgeous," Ghost murmured.

"As I was saying," Angel frowned as he put an icy finger to the corner of her lips and stroked her skin. "I'd like to provide food for your men in exchange for the lives of everyone you keep trying to kill. And stop that!"

She swatted at his hand and yelped when her fingernails scratched her skin. The air was so cold and her skin so dry from it, that it immediately began to bleed. She gasped and hurriedly tried to wipe the blood away, all the while staring at Ghost with wide, worried eyes.

He didn't move. He simply watched her, with amusement, as she tried to cover up the scent of her blood.

"You'll feed my men if we don't kill more people, you're saying?" he asked, watching as more blood trickled from her mouth, a brilliant scarlet against her fair skin.

"Yes," she nodded, rummaging in her pocket for a tissue. "I'll buy you all enough meat to last you a day. Every morning or every night, you pick, your men and you can come, get something to eat, and then be good for the next twenty-four hours."

"Would you like a little help?" Ghost asked, watching her struggle with her cut.

"No!" she snapped immediately. "Your help would be taking all the pain away by just killing me."

"We came here on a trust basis," Ghost snarled, standing up as she did. "Yet you aren't showing any trust. I trusted you not to bring that infernal light with you, and you didn't. You can trust me not to kill you."

"Look, I gave you my offer. Let me know your decision. Obviously, you already know where I live," she said, trying to move away, but he imitated her every step.

"You're nervous," Ghost smiled, his voice deep and inviting, his teeth shining mercilessly. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you're terrified of me, afraid that just a little bloodshed will turn me into a monster."

"Maybe it will," she said, looking up at him bravely.

"Let me inform you of something," Ghost said, stepping closer to her, his cloak billowing out and wrapping around her back, pulling her closer to him. "We don't hunt down most of the women we kill. They come to us, Miss Angel."

"If you're insinuating that I'm going to come to you…" Angel began and then gasped as her body crashed against his. He smirked, sliding one hand into her trench coat and moving it across her body to her back, and putting his other hand to the back of her neck, cradling her and making it impossible for her to move.

"You're such a fighter," he smiled, moving his nose close to hers. "Sometimes even the strongest of us need a little help."

"You touch me and I'll…"

She let out a squeal when he pressed his lips to her chin, his mouth moving against the stream of blood that was there. She found, quite suddenly, that she couldn't breathe. She was pressed firmly against him, and heat from his body was pouring over her, making her warm and cozy. And his mouth moving against her blood…it was almost more than she could bear. She couldn't say a word as he traced his lips up the scratch, drawing away the blood, drinking of her without even having to inflict harm on her. She heard satisfied sounds coming from the back of his throat, and it made her shudder.

"You're so sick," she struggled to speak.

"And you're so warm and flushed suddenly," he murmured, his voice raspy and deep in his throat as he cleaned her cut with his lips and mouth. "You're very powerful, very resistant, darling."

"What are you doing?" she murmured, his touch somehow intoxicating her, the feel of his cold mouth on her skin making her close her eyes with…longing? No wait, he was getting the upper hand! Stop! Stop! Stop!

"Stop!" Angel exclaimed, trying to pull back as he drew more of her blood into his mouth.

He ignored her, but continued making his way up the scratch, towards the blood on the corner of her lips.

"Ghost!" she cried, struggling against him as he neared her lips, those lips that had never been kissed. "Don't!"

He growled, tightening his hold on her and pulling her even closer. He continued cleaning her scratch, the blood disappearing from her skin, as he tasted her, moving his mouth ever closer to hers. He didn't mind her struggling, it seemed, and finally his lips touched the corner of her mouth.

She could have fainted. Whether it was from the intoxicating way he was making her feel or because he had just touched a part of her that she didn't want him to, she didn't know. She tried to speak, opening her mouth to verbally fight, but her voice came out as a gasp and a whoosh of air. So this was what it was like to be so near to a vampire! They really did have a strange power over women! She groaned in the back of her throat as he let his lips linger near hers, cleaning the blood off her flesh. He growled, letting his mouth slow down, enjoying the power that he was manifesting towards her. He had her right where he wanted her, trapped, and perfectly blissful because of it.

Ghost smiled, finding the actual cut itself and pressing his lips to that spot in almost a kiss to get the blood.

"Ghost," Angel pleaded, feeling drugged. "We came here on a trust basis…"

"And you thought you could trust a vampire," he chuckled, his mouth against her ear, making her shudder. "You poor woman."

"Remove your body before I hurt you," Angel struggled, fighting her flamboyant emotions and the marvelous feelings that were trying to consume her.

"How would you do that?" Ghost asked, moving his mouth mere centimeters away from hers, so that, were she to move forward just a tiny smidgen more, they would be touching.

"Kiss me, mess with my cut anymore, and you'll wish you hadn't," she said, finding her courage again.

"I'm terrified," Ghost said, and then wrapped both arms around her back, holding her as closely as he possibly could.

Angel moved her hand to her shirt quickly; her eyes dark and angry, and then drew her diamond. Light suddenly flowed about her, engulfing her and Ghost, and he let out a howl of fury and pain. He took a long step back, his hand to his eyes, trying to find shelter in the darkness.

"It would be best, Ghost, if you kept a safe distance from me," Angel said, holding her head high. "I have a power you can't stand before."

"You're a woman," Ghost growled. "There will come a day when you succumb to me."

"The knowledge that my succumbing would bring about my death somewhat deters me from that threat," Angel said powerfully. "I will be expecting your men tomorrow night, around 7:00. Don't threaten me, Ghost, and stop stalking me, or I'll have to do you some serious damage."

She turned then with a flourish and made her way through the darkness. She turned just in time, for her lips began trembling from the fear and rush of adrenaline she had just experienced. She had been trapped in his hold, in a terribly dangerous situation, and for a few split seconds, she hadn't done anything!

"Angel! Angel what happened?" Forrest's voice came over her headset.

"Everything is arranged for tomorrow night. They're coming to dinner," Angel said, her voice quivering.

"What happened to you? What did he do?" Forrest demanded.

"Nothing," Angel said quickly. "Just…took care of a cut, that's all."

"Angel…"

"Forrest, I'm not going to talk about it now. I'm headed back to my house. I'll meet you there."

Forrest and a whole crew of police officers were waiting in the studio building when Angel arrived. They immediately saw the cut on her lip, and Forrest nearly panicked when she told him how Ghost had stopped the bleeding. She explained, tactfully, some of the feelings that had flowed through her at that moment, trying to inform them more on how the vampires' victims must have felt before they were killed, but the men only looked at her with arched eyebrows and aloof grins.

It took forty-five minutes for Angel to explain everything before the police left. As soon as they were gone, Angel wearily made her way to the elevator and then unlocked her studio door when it reached her floor. She let out a screech when she saw a man already waiting in her living area, and then let out a sigh of relief when she saw that it was Jaden, seated comfortably on her couch, reading a book by lamplight.

"Angel! You're back!" he exclaimed, leaping off the couch and running to her. "And you were hurt!" he said, studying her lip.

"I'm fine, really," Angel yawned. "It was quite a night."

"You saw Ghost?"

"More closely than I would have liked," Angel nodded, and she turned to go into her room, but Jaden grabbed her wrist, stopping her.

"What did he do?" he demanded, a firm, harsh look in his eyes.

"Cleaned up my scratch," she said, indicating the cut on her lip.

"And probably took a whole bunch of blood along with it," Jaden said worriedly.

"I'm still alive and well, Jaden. The vampires are coming over tomorrow night for dinner. I'd like you to be here," she said, smiling up at him reassuringly.

"They're all coming here?" he asked with a frown.

"Yes. Some of the police are going to be here as well. We're going to serve them steaks. I'm going to need your help, since I don't do a good job cooking steaks," Angel nodded. "And I want you to be here, so I can feel a little more comfortable. Would you please help me with this?"

"If you think I'm just going to stay next door at my apartment while you serve and play hostess to a flock of vampires, you've got to be joking. Of course I'll be here," Jaden nodded, folding his arms across his chest.

"I knew I could count on you. Thanks," Angel smiled. "I'll see you later, at classes. I have to get to bed. I'm exhausted."

"Can I leave Crimson with you again?" Jaden asked.

"I think I'll be safe tonight, Jaden. I really told Ghost off. But if you'd feel more comfortable leaving him here, then sure."

Jaden nodded and then left to get Crimson.

While he was gone, Angel took a quick shower, got changed into warm pajamas, and then went into her kitchen to make a mug of hot chocolate. She was cold, and she knew it wasn't just from the temperature of the room. The room was very warm with the heater on high. Ghost had chilled her, had unnerved her, and had certainly allured her. His touch had been cold, but so full of heat, Angel just couldn't understand it. And his voice, that deep, seductive voice…

Crimson suddenly bounded into the room, Jaden right behind him.

"I'm leaving now," Jaden said, watching Crimson bound into Angel's bedroom, which was artfully closed off from the rest of the studio by a few short walls. He could see over the walls from here, catching sight of Crimson jumping up onto Angel's bed. "If you need anything, call me."

"I will," Angel smiled and then reached out and gave his hand a squeeze. "Thank you for everything, Jay."

He smiled weakly and then left, locking the door and then closing it behind him.

Angel drank her cocoa and then moved to her bed and snuggled beneath her blankets, trying to warm her cold body. She prayed fervently, as she fell asleep, that the next night wouldn't be the nightmare she was expecting.