I was awakened by a faint rustling sound outside of my bedroom window. As I looked out, I noticed that there was nothing out there but a light mist along the ground. I also noticed how hot it was in the room. I was sweating and my silk gown was clinging to my body. I opened the window and welcomed the cool night air. I felt the icy wind touch my heated skin. I returned to my bed and fell into a fevered sleep.

Not an hour had passed when I awoke again. This time I felt as though someone were watching me. I sat up and saw a shadow outside the window. I got up from the bed and again made the trip to the window. Looking out, I saw no one. Again, the icy wind touched my skin. It felt delicious against my feverish skin. “Welcome. Come in and refresh my soul,” I called deliriously to the wind. The mist flowed in around me. I walked to my bed and fell against but no sleep would come to me.

I sensed there was someone in the room with me and I looked up. There, in the shadows, was the figure of a man. A tall, handsome man with stunning bluish-gray eyes stepped from this shadow. I wanted to speak and ask him who he was or what he was doing in my bedroom but the words would not come from my throat. I felt powerless by his eyes. I had a mixture of feelings rising inside of me. Some of fear, some of wanting something I didn’t understand and others were of a passion that I knew all too well. I couldn’t understand how he, a stranger I had never seen before, could spark such feelings in me. I began to tremble but not from fear. He noticed this and smiled. He walked soundlessly toward me and sat on the edge of the bed. I felt his fingers run through my hair, down my face, over my lips and down my neck. His eyes stayed locked with mine. I couldn’t move. My arms were limp at my sides.

He leaned into me and kissed me tenderly. I closed my eyes to take in the pleasure of what he was doing to me. His lips trailed down to my chin. I tilted my head back. It was so hard to breathe. As his lips ventured down to my neck, one of his arms slipped around my waist and the other behind my neck. The strength returned to my arms. I raised them and ran my fingers through his hair. His lips stayed at my neck. I pulled away from him. I didn’t even know who he was. I couldn’t allow him to do this. His eyes again locked with mine. They looked brighter, lighted with passion and hunger. They glowed like those of a cat. His lips were pulled back to reveal two long, sharp teeth. I brought my hand around to touch them. I had to convince myself that they were real. One of them pricked my finger. He caught the finger in his mouth and I felt him gently sucking on it. He pulled the hand away and back to the safety of his shoulder. “Trust me,” he whispered his voice hoarse with passion. The fear that should have been there was absent. I gave himself over to him.

His lips returned to mine. I could taste the faint flavor of my blood still in his mouth. It dawned on me that the small amount from my finger had only ignited his hunger more. He kissed me more earnestly now. He wanted more. His lips trailed down again to my neck. My fingers curled into his back. His hold on my neck tightened as he pulled my hard against him. I could feel his tongue circling a spot and then his teeth pierce my skin. A moan built in my throat and escaped from my lips. I felt no pain. It was a strange pleasure that bubbled up in me like champagne bubbles rippling through my body and floating out my head making my mind delirious with pleasure. My eyes fluttered shut as he leaned into me and lay my head upon a pillow.

After what seemed to me to be an eternity, he pulled back away from me. As I struggled to keep my eyes open, he looked down at me smiling. He took one of my hands and laid it across my stomach. The other, he kissed and placed on the first. He stood and walked to the window. Turning and bowing low, he said in a soft whisper, “Goodbye for now, dear lady.” As I gave up my fight to stay wake, he straightened and backed silently into the shadows. I saw him grow blurry and then he was nothing but a light fog that flowed back through the window. I then fell into a deep, contented sleep and wanted never to awaken.