He came into her Penthouse for a drink. He sipped the
wine that Natalie gave him and then added a bit of his
own reserve from a small silver flask he carried in
his pocket.  He was deep in thought and they barely
talked.  When he left he kissed her on the forehead
and said, "Good night,
Natalie."  Then he was gone.

Natalie stood there staring after him.  Had she made
a mistake?  Where had his passion gone, his desire for
her.  Her body had ached for his touch, for his
kisses.

As the week went by Natalie thought a lot about Nick
and LaCroix. She questioned herself at length about
LaCroix.  Was she with him only because he
was a link to Nick?  No, she dismissed that.  She
cared deeply for him.  He was so different from what
Nick had painted him. As for Nick she realized her
feelings for him had changed.  She was no longer "in
love" with him.   She knew she would always care for
him.  She wished he would find what he was looking
for. Was she allowing LaCroix to bring her over
because she knew it would give her time to see Nick
one day?  Yes that was one reason.  Not because she
wanted Nick but she knew if she could give him her
forgiveness it would lighten his load and free him to
look for love again.

She also thought a lot about sex.  Was it different
for vampires?  Was that why LaCroix no longer seemed
to want her physically? He hadn't kissed her
passionately since the Raven.

She lay in her bed and cried at night.  When LaCroix
called several days later to tell her he had returned
and to ask if he could drop by, she feigned
a headache and begged him not to come.  Had she
heard confusion and hurt in
his voice?

"Natalie, what's wrong, have you changed your mind?
You know that's impossible. As long as I am a vampire
you will have this mark on you."

"Lucien, I've not.  I really do have a headache,"
she lied.

He sighed and said "goodnight."

Natalie laid hot tears on her face.  How could she
hide her desire from him? If it were not reciprocated
perhaps being brought across would relieve this
terrible need for him.

The next night was her night off.  In the afternoon
a dozen red roses were delivered. Natalie smiled.  The
phone rang.  It was LaCroix.

"Please let me take you to dinner tonight.  I have
missed you."

"Have you?" she asked.

"Of course, how can you think otherwise? Please.  I
will be there at 8:00. I'll come up to escort you
down."

"No, I'll meet you downstairs." She hung up.
LaCroix stared at the disconnected phone then snarled
at it. "What the hell is wrong with her?  She must
feel she has made a mistake.

Natalie was standing in the lobby when the Limo
pulled up.  LaCroix came out of the Limo and reached
out for her.  She put both hands behind her back.

He stood aside and waved her toward the Limo.  He
didn't want to cause a scene.

They sat stiffly next to each other, not touching.
LaCroix ached to touch her.  But she seemed determined
to keep to herself. "How have you been?"

Natalie lied, "Very busy, I've had no time to even
think."

"Indeed", he said as they settled back into silence.
He drank a fair amount of blood wine to keep his
temper in check.

The evening was long and they barely spoke to each
other.  Both were confused but they were unwilling to
voice their thoughts to one another.  LaCroix,
afraid Natalie had changed her mind; Natalie afraid
that having become his protégé had destroyed his
desire for her.  He insisted on showing her to her
door.  He bent to place a kiss on her forehead and
she ducked away and into the apartment, shutting the
door in his face.  Hot tears ran down her cheeks.

LaCroix snarled.  He'd let her stew tonight but he
was going to find out what was wrong on their next
date.

Unfortunately a very important case came Natalie's
way and she worked non-stop for three days. She slept
at the lab.  She refused to talk to him, telling Grace
to tell him she had no time.

Grace was so curious about this sudden "Sugar Daddy"
in Natalie's life.  She could not fathom how Natalie
had gone from radiant happiness to this sad withdrawn
woman.  Flowers arrived everyday and she saw Natalie
cry each time. When she could stand it no more she
demanded, "What is wrong girlfriend? This man
obviously cares very much for you.  I thought for a
time you cared for him too."

"I do, it's complicated, Grace.  He's withdrawn his
desire," she admitted, touching the velvet petals."

"Are you sure, Natalie? These flowers look like a
man who wants to win you back."

"He only kissed my forehead the last couple times we
were together."
 
"Have you asked him why?"
 
"No."

"Why the hell not.  These flowers are plea for your
affection."

Natalie looked at her friend, "It's complicated
Grace, I can't explain it.  He's older.  Maybe he's
just looking for a daughter."

"You love this older man?" she asked.

"Yes, very much."

"Well good grief girl, tell him! This is only making
you miserable.  Talk to him.

"Its com..."

"Complicated, I know but you're miserable."

"I can't..." Natalie protested turning away.

Grace took her by the shoulders and turned her
around drawing her friend to her large bosom.  "You
can, Natalie, otherwise your chance will be lost.  Men

find it almost impossible to talk about feelings.
Women have to break the ice.  This could go on
forever."

That word hit Natalie between the eyes.  She could
never live like this with LaCroix forever.  Despair
wrapped itself around her. She held her friend
tightly for a while longer, then pulled away. "I'm
going home Grace."

"Talk to him," her friend pleaded as she went out
the door.

As she crawled into bed that early morning she cried
out his name with her heart.  Almost in answer to her
summons she heard the doors to the balcony slide open.
A burning scorched smell touched her nose.  The sun
had risen.  A dark caped figure appeared in the door
of her bedroom.  LaCroix stood there, his face was
full of rage.  He strode to the bed, grabbed her by
the arm and pulled her up against him pinning her
painfully against his chest.

He saw her white pale face and the tears and red
eyes.

"Do you detest the idea of being with me so much
that you hide in your work or this room?  He pulled
her face up and bent to kiss her bruising her lips
and cutting them with his fangs.

The blood ignited the vampire and he sucked the
blood hungrily from her lips.
 
Natalie was afraid and thrilled, surprised to see
his desire again.  Would it take only her blood to
ignite his passion now?

She pushed against his chest, "Please let me go,"
she cried.

LaCroix anger blazed. He threw her back onto the bed.
She bounced and then stared at him.  He turned to
leave and realized the sun was up.  He closed
his eyes and fought the demon.  Squashing its desire
for the blood.  He mastered the vampire and opened his
blue eyes to look at her, "I do not understand this
Natalie.  Why have you withdrawn from me since I
marked you.  Do you already regret your choice?"

"Do you?" she said ignoring her tears. "I don't want
a Master, Lucien.  I thought you realized that."

"A Master?"  He asked confused.

"Ever since you tasted my blood you've withdrawn
your physical desire."
 
She saw him glaze over as if replaying his memories
on the back of his own eyes.  His anger seemed to
dissipate. "You think I do not desire you?"

"I've seen no evidence of it." Suddenly the air seemed
to be knocked out of him as he sat heavily on the
bed.  "Forgive me."  He started to take off his
jacket.

Natalie watched him as he took off his shoes and
then crawled into the bed pulling her close.  She
clung to him crying.  He let her cry and then he
kissed her wet face.

Natalie wanted to feel his bare skin against hers.
She searched for his buttons on his shirt and undid
them.  LaCroix sighed when her warm hands touched his
bare chest.  It felt so wonderful. "Natalie." He
covered her breast with his hand, gently teasing her
nipple into a tight hard tip.  Natalie moaned with
pleasure.
 
"Please make love to me, Lucien."

He drew her closer, his hands becoming still on her
body, "I can't, Natalie."

"What!" she cried.  She tried to pull away but he
held her fast.

"Natalie! Listen to me." he demanded.  "I want to
make love to you.  I really do.  More than you can
imagine, but I can't."
 
She was so embarrassed and angry she wasn't hearing
him, "You should have told me when you tasted my blood
that night.  You should have told me it would make me
like a daughter and not a wife."

LaCroix looked at her, the confusion suddenly
disappearing and understanding took its place. "Wife!"

Natalie turned her face away.

"Please look at me," he forced her face back to his,
"In 2000 years I have never had a wife."  He held her
close and sat back on the bed pulling her
into his lap.  "Is that what you think happened when
I tasted your blood?"
 
She nodded, not looking at him, tears ran down her
face.  He raised her chin with his finger and made her
look into his face."Why do you think you would
only be a daughter?"

Trembling she gasped for breath and stammered, "You
stopped kissing me like a starving man.  You barely
touched me.  A kiss on the forehead is what a
father gives a daughter.  I want you, Lucien.  I
want to lose myself in your body.  I want to touch and
taste every part of you. Feel you inside of me."
She was so upset she was sobbing.
 
She saw laughter fill Lucien's eyes.

"Damn you, LaCroix, is this a game to you, like the
games you played with Nick.  No wonder he wanted to
get away from you."

LaCroix unused to dealing with human emotions
unleashed the vampire. His visage changed and she drew
back afraid.

"Never, never judge me by Nicholas' standards."
 
Natalie drew further back in horror; raising her
hands to cross her arms as if to ward off a blow and
cowered down.

An anguished cry escaped the vampire and he moved
away letting her fall back onto the bed. He was so
quiet that Natalie finally lowered her arms.  He stood
a few feet away and his body was shaking.  His eyes
were closed.  He was battling for control of the
vampire and when he opened his eyes they were
blue again.  He had won. "How can Nicholas live like
this?  I allowed myself to love for a brief time 800
years ago and the pain of that failed relationship is
still with me.  Nicholas has fallen in love many times
and each died in his arms. "

He came closer, "Forgive me for my sins.  I did not
realize it would give you so many false impressions."
He held out his hands to her and after a few moments
of hesitation she reached out for him.  He drew her
close again. "Natalie, when I took your blood, I saw
your love. It was impossible that it should be there
so quickly, and yet it was.  You love me.  Not as a
father or a mentor but as a woman loves a man.  The
emotion of desire was overwhelming. I had to withdraw.
 If I hadn't I would have devoured you. I might have
killed you."

"Natalie, I do want you.  More than you can ever
know, but control is very important to your survival.
I will not yet risk your life, Natalie.  In time
I will have to bring you across, but I want to enjoy
your warmth first."

She let her body relax against him, "Is it possible
for us to make love?"  She asked through her drying
tears.

He stroked her hair and ran a thumb over her cheek.
"Yes, it's possible but I must have absolute control."

"I want you so much Lucien.  What happens after I am
brought across?  Can we still make love?"  She glanced
bashfully into his face.

Humor touched his eyes, "Most definitely."

She eyed him suspiciously, "What does a vampire
define as making love?"

"Define?"  He teased her now, seeing the hope and
gleam return to her eyes. "The blood is so
overpowering we sometimes forgo the physical
pleasures.  Yet if it's the plumbing you're asking
about, it works fine."

Natalie giggled and snuggled against him, "I'm so
glad."
 
The mood in her room changed from anger and pain to
excited happiness.  They curled up in each other arms
and talked.
 
LaCroix explained that if they were to make love he
would have to overfeed for a period of time until he
had totally pacified the vampire into a stupor.
The knowledge that he did want her seemed to ease
her desperate need for him.  She relaxed and just
listened to his voice.

Finally she asked, "Vampires don't have wives do
they?"

"You're wondering what it's like to live like we do?
You will know if you decide to make that kind of
commitment with me."
 
"Would you desire that from me?"

He kissed her again.  They settled back against the
pillows. "Shhhhh," he said holding her close, He
thought, "Fleur is the past, she is dust.  I have
released Nicholas.  It's done."  They drifted off to
sleep.
 
Natalie rose in the late afternoon, climbed out from
around LaCroix and went to feed Sidney.  The doorbell
rang and she found a delivery boy laden with a
box of Raven's finest.  She took the box and sat it on
the copunter in the kitchen. She then showered and
dressed.

About an hour before sundown LaCroix stirred and sat
up.  He smiled when he realized Natalie was watching
him.  She came over and silently kissed him then went
to open a bottle of blood wine to warm a cup for him.
She came and sat on the bed and watched as he drank it
down.  She returned to fill it again and he was
sitting on the edge of the bed.  She reached up
suddenly and ruffled his short white hair.

He laughed at her and reached to catch her fingers
kissing them before letting her go.  "I always
wondered what that would feel like."

"And..."he waited for his answer.

End Part 4