Aris Rising: The Court of Vampires: AN INFINITY DIARIES NOVEL by Devin Morgan Page B

The only difference is the alien venom rather than blood in our veins. When Queen Akira realized she could create a societyfrom the human race by exchanging our blood for her venom, she created a whole new species, neither human nor alien. We are creatures not of this earth, yet not of her planet either. It is that venom that makes us what we are.” He laughed. “Other than a few small things, super powers and living eternally, we are very much the same as you are. We’re just made of a sturdier stock.”
    The telephone rang, jolting Sarah upright. Aris lifted the receiver, handing it to her.
    “Happy New Year to you both too.” Sarah listened as Colleen and Bob gave her their rendition of Auld Ang Syne. She couldn’t believe it was midnight. There were no minutes or hours when she was with Aris.
    “Tell Carlos we said Happy New Year to him. See you guys soon.” Colleen giggled as Bob’s kiss cut off her words. “Bye.”
    “C and Bob say Happy New Year.” She placed the phone on the table and as she leaned across him, he reached for her.
    “Happy New Year to you Sarah.” He looked deeply into her eyes as he pressed his full lips gently against her mouth. He didn’t move. His warm breath caressed her cheeks as his dark eyes locked on hers. She felt she was drowning in the tenderness of his kiss.
    He released her, leaning her gently against her pillows. “Now, close your eyes and rest. Nothing can harm you while I’m here to take care of you.”
    Relaxing completely, she knew he told the truth.

CHAPTER 20
    S arah opened the box one more time before she crawled into bed. The gloves DeMarco brought her from Italy were beautiful. Soft and luxurious, they matched her dark brown boots exactly. She realized how much she really did like him when she saw him again. She readily admitted something about him excited her, something so much deeper than his good looks and breeding. “Possibly that you don’t have to kill yourself to make love to him.”
    She snickered at her own joke as she crawled into her bed. Yawning, she opened her drawer to reach for her journal. Tired but behind in her writing, she was determined to catch up. Disappointing Bonnie in doing her journaling homework was low on her list of things she wanted to do.
    As she began to write, she thought of the hypnotic flashbacks she had been having when she wrote. They were not uncommon, but hers were so clear, so intensely visual. “They’re either a great imagination or an amazing subconscious memory. Either way, so far, they’ve been pretty damn interesting ,” she thought.
    She wrote about the physical sensations she experienced in her afternoon session. The tastes and smells were so clear, so alive to her. She closed her eyes remembering the fragrance of the rosemaryand thyme rushes that were spread on the floors of the corridors of the palace. The sweet scent of the pomanders the courtiers wore to mask the smells that were not so nice. She remembered the aroma of the forest floor of the gypsy camp.
    She drifted in and out of sleep until a vivid dream grabbed her and held her. It was night; she had stolen away from her father’s manor. She had just finished dancing with Diego and they stood in the midst of the clearing. Her long blond hair hung loosely about her hips while short damp tendrils of curls lay in soft waves about her face. He watched her, his eyes full of desire, a sensuous smile playing at the corners of his full mouth.
    Without warning, a dark gypsy woman grabbed Elizabeth by the shoulders. Roughly, she threw her to the ground. “He is my man.”
    Elizabeth sat stunned, dust all around her, her borrowed gypsy skirt falling softly about her thighs. “Yours?”
    “Mine.” The dark beauty screeched as she attacked the shocked girl. Slapping her rival hard, she stood over Elizabeth, her hands on her hips and hate in her wild eyes. Firelight bounced off the halo of gold anklets dangling from her pale leg as Elizabeth swept her foot