Free Blood Harvest by Michael Weinberger Page B

lips were puffed and her Asian eyelids had been widened to give them a slightly more Caucasian appearance while still retaining their exotic “Far East” look. In fact, her face and body had that “too perfect” look, enhanced to a point just before exaggeration by the world’s best cosmetic surgeons.
    Steve knew some people would argue she had been altered too far, to the extent she was no longer beautiful. However, this was not an attempt at beauty, but a huge success at becoming “ultra-alluring” with the specific intention of conquering those who would otherwise resist her sexual overtures. Her long hair was typical “oriental-style” straight, jet-black, flowing down to her waistline. As if this weren’t enough, another striking add-on feature included colored contact lenses which tinted her eyes a radiant and completely unnatural shade of royal blue.

    As the woman approached she tilted her head down slightly while raising those incredible blue eyes upward. The look appeared innocent and extraordinarily conniving at the same time. She put her arms behind her back, forcing her jacket to open. Steve gasped, without being subtle, as he caught full sight of her breasts. She ran her hands through her hair on both sides of her head and gave her lips a half smile, half pout as she closed the final distance between them.
    Steve breathed in the smell of her perfume which increased his sense of vertigo. His eyes crudely scanned her whole body, which was absolutely flawless. He was ashamed of his gawking even as he did it, but he couldn’t stop himself, especially since he knew her.
    “What the hell are you doing her Lei?”
    Steve could now feel the heat coming off her body. Lei held out her arms and walked into him, embracing him tightly. Steve returned the embrace but kept it to a gentle pat on her back instead of crushing her into himself as he really wanted to do. When she finally released him she reached out to hold and caress his face with her soft hands; it took every ounce of Steve’s concentration not to roll his eyes back into his head and succumb to her touch. He had been longing for this every night since he’d left home so many years ago. The fact that she was here, now, couldn’t be coincidental, nor without ulterior motives. Steve knew that was how she and the rest of his “family” operated, which was ultimately why he had left home. Memory of the betrayal came crashing back into his mind, rudely stirring him out of the momentary bliss that seeing her had given him.
    Lei felt his hesitation; it was enough to stop her seduction in its tracks as her face melted into an expression of regret. “Still haven’t forgotten that terrible day I see.”
    “How could I?” His words smacked of malice and more so than he had intended.
    Lei shook her head in disappointment. “You don’t understand what it was you saw, you never did and, until you face that day and talk to him, you never will.” Lei reached out to lay a hand against his face again, but Steve brought his own hand up and lightly gripped her wrist before she could touch him again.
    “Enough with the seduction—it won’t work on someone who knows what you are doing and doesn’t want to be taken in.”
    “Of course, I know that. Maybe I hoped you wouldn’t want to stop me.”
    She was right. Steve couldn’t believe how difficult it was to make himself stop her, but he continued to gently push her hand away from his body.
    He released his grip and Lei let her hand fall to her side. “You should talk to him Steve, patch things up and come home where you belong.” Now Lei spoke with the authority and control Steve knew she possessed. “He’s here in Los Angeles.”
    “What?!?” The shock of that final statement caused Steve to take a step back.
    “I said…”
    “I know what you said! What do you mean he’s here? Is he responsible for what happened tonight at The Inferno ?!?”
    “You know better than that. He’s nothing if not