Of Thorns and Pearls

By Talyis Ellison

Life is going nowhere for Tabor. She strives to become a successful artist, but hasn’t picked up a paintbrush in months. The only reason to pull herself out of bed is to her temp job that is slowly depleting what is left of her imagination.Tabor is holding on to the strains of her starving artist lifestyle ignoring the crowded subways that make her sick, her boyfriend who never returns her calls and tries to make the best of her loud, paint-chipped studio apartment in New York City.

She’s stubborn prove to she can find her own way in life and not live in the shadow of her famous actress mother.

When Tabor is forced to attend a community college her mundane quickly will become forever out-of-reach. She meets a handsome mysterious man, Shy, who does not embody his namesake. Shy pushes all her wrong buttons and challenges her as if he could read her entire life by just looking into her eyes. Little does she know; he holds the keys to her illness, he has come between her thighs in the middle of night under the guise of a wonderful dream, and he is a vampire.

Will he push his own demons aside to save or use her?

Another steamy romance by Talyis Ellison

• Language: English
• Publisher: Talyis Ellison
• Release date: Nov 10, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301819737

Book preview

Of Thorns and Pearls

By

Talyis Ellison

Published by Talyis Ellison

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2012 Talyis Ellison

Discover other titles by Talyis Ellison at her blog the Imagination of Talyis

Http://talyis.tumblr.com

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Of Thorns and Pearls

Tabor is a sickly artist living in NYC. She meets a handsome mysterious man at her community college who pushes all her wrong buttons and challenges her as if he could read her entire life through her eyes. Little does she know; he holds the keys to her illness, has come between her thighs in the middle of night in the guise of a wonderful dream and is a vampire. Will he save her or use?



Life is going nowhere for Tabor. She strives to become a successful artist, but hasn’t picked up a paintbrush in months. The only reason to pull herself out of bed is to her temp job that is slowly depleting what is left of her imagination. Tabor is holding on to the strains of her starving artist lifestyle ignoring the crowded subways that make her sick, her boyfriend who never returns her calls and tries to make the best of her loud, paint-chipped studio apartment in New York City.

She’s stubborn prove to she can find her own way in life and not live in the shadow of her famous actress mother.

When Tabor is forced to attend a community college; the mundane quickly will become forever out-of-reach. She meets a handsome mysterious man, Shy, who does not embody his namesake. Shy pushes all her wrong buttons and challenges her as if he could read her entire life by just looking into her eyes. Little does she know; he holds the keys to her illness, he has come between her thighs in the middle of night under the guise of a wonderful dream, and he is a vampire.

Will he push his own demons aside to save or use her?

Of Thorns and Pearls is another steamy, plot-twisted romance by Talyis Ellison

Table of Contents

Special Note from the Author

Chapter 1: A New York Minute

Chapter 2: The Halls of Secrecy

Chapter 3: Library Study Date

Chapter 4: I Know what I am; but what are you?

Chapter 5: Morning with a Vampire

Chapter 6: Dangerous Paths of Love are Crossed

Chapter 7: How to Live with a Vampire in a Tight Space

Chapter 8: Vampire, Meet My Mom; Mom, Meet My Vampire

Chapter 9: Hunt for Pearls

Chapter 10: Ignorance is Bliss When Your Vampire is Stubborn

Chapter 11: Trapped in a Cage Away from Your Vampire

Chapter 12: Dragging Love through the Briar

Chapter 13: In the Shadows

Chapter 14: Abiding by the Warmth of Cold Futures

Chapter 15: Last Rites

Chapter 16: Refuge in Thorns

Thank you

Mercurial Ends TeaserTalons of a Dark Heart

Special Note from the Author

Dear Readers,

This year for NaNoWriMo I am going to re-work this novel which was my very first NaNoWriMo novel. This is a work-in-progress and I will be updating this draft throughout the month. This will be the third draft of this story heading towards the final draft which I will officially release in 2013. I hope you enjoy the journey of seeing how this novel transforms. I will be updating this book on a weekly basis until the end of NaNoWriMo 2012.

I thank all those who have read the first and second drafts and have helped it along. And I thank you, dear reader who has purchased this ebook for joining in today. I would love to hear your feedback.

Please feel free to message me on my Tumblr blog or Twitter or write a review on GoodReads. I am very aware of the word choices and grammatical issues that are in this draft – think of it as the cocoon stage morphing into the beautiful butterfly that is ready to be let free --- that is in 2013.

Until then,

Cheers and Happy Reading,

Talyis BagleyEllison

Chapter 1: A New York Minute

The metal bullet flashed towards her, rushing, building in speed as if to pass right through her. Then came the rancid sweet-sour smell that tossed her hair back like a haphazard stylist as it came to an abrupt stop in front of her. Many of the commuters shoved their self-important selves through the crowded subway car with their fancy Wall Street business suits, carrying the morning paper in one hand and their neighborhood coffee cups in the other. She waited patiently for the savvy media women to step in front of her before she squished into the car right as the doors clanked shut.

She sighed. She hated being wedged between the tall suits and the people playing their iPods so loudly competing with the other music devices. It was just noise instead of harmony, blaring louder than the train skittering across the subway tracks itself.

She was on her way to another nowhere temp job where the clients treated her like dispensable office rubbish and she never had the certainty that all her hard work amounted to anything. Because with a given boss' whim, she would spend her next day in bed while the savvy media, Wall Street suited, iPod blasters would shove their way onto another train to their upward mobile jobs.

She yawned, already tired from her commute. New York City’s hustle and bustle always wiped her. Even the solemn stares of at least 200 people in a small car with her, zap her energy and it was only 8:30am.

She rushed to the address scribbled on the back of a Chinese food delivery order ticket from the night before. She had two avenues to cross and no matter how early she left her small apartment in her outerborough, she was going to be five minutes late. She waited as patiently as she could as the security guards slowly checked the visitors into the building's security. It always was like this; the guards paid no regard to the fact that the nine o'clock hour had already begun and everyone was already late to their meetings and temporary job assignments. 

After getting through the security desk, she rushed to the elevator and slipped through the doors just as they closed but then opened again suspended in time not caring that it was now 9:07am. She tightened her grip on her bag, debating whether to remove her worn tennis shoes to put on her small generic black heels or if she'd take the chance to put them on when she got to the office, without being seen by her temporary co-workers. The elevator door never closed and the car was quickly filled with more suits, savvy women and iPod blasters. She sighed; this day was already growing on her. She felt as if she could immediately crawl back into bed. She forced herself to ignore any judgments as she slipped her tennis shoes off, hopped into her heels and put her tennis shoes into her oversized purse with withered seams that had large spots where a pen bled onto it and. 

The doors clanked open right into the receptionist lobby for some mid-size investment company she would quote: work for three months with the opportunity to move into a more permanent position, with a salary she should have started earning when she finished college eight years ago.

The receptionist was an older woman with expensive jewelry that announced how well treated and paid she was by the company. The way the old lady looked her up and down forced the girl to shuffle awkwardly trying to be presentable standing before the inspection desk. She stuffed her tennis shoes deeper into her bag. The receptionist said nothing, just picked up the phone to call the woman she would report to and pointed to the small couch for her to wait. 

The woman she would report to came out and shook her hand, but not before giving a slight frown of dissatisfaction that she tried to cover up with her pitched voice. The girl told her new boss her name twice, but the woman gave up on pronouncing it correctly after the first try and took her to a room with five other employees. She later realized they were also sent by the temp agency and had been in the windowless room for more than a month with the promise of if you impress the client you could move into a more permanent position with great pay and responsibilities. She was instructed to sit at a desk already covered with piles of paper, the pink carbon slips withered with age sticking out within the multi-colored pile. 

She groaned silently to herself -- Data Entry. Her temp agency lied to her again.

She began attempting to organize the desk. The white keyboard was sticky with unknown brown stains. Whoever sat at this desk clearly displayed their affection for the job, with gum under the desk, the etchings of boredom on the desktop, the anonymous faces of children staring back at her, and the worn down desk chair where the fibers were hard from use. She half smiled at the black and white photocopied cartoon taped to the cubicle walls of some office humored encouragement to get through the day by looking forward to the weekend. 

Her phone rang, and she quickly shifted through her bag to silence her phone; however seeing the caller id, she leaned forward into the cubicle walls to hide.

Hello, she tiredly whispered.

Salome, dear, how is it going? her mother chirped happily into the phone.

Ok, I guess. She rolled her eyes looking at the pile of papers she had to mindlessly enter into the computer.

Well it's a job, honey. Your classes start tonight, right?

She rolled her eyes again. She had a BFA in Art History from Brown University, but after a full year of fighting and arguments she bended to her parents and allowed them to have their way. Her parents had sent her money to go to back school because they didn't like that their daughter had been in the big city for so many years and was still going nowhere. She'd enrolled in night classes at a community college in order to find a more lucrative trade career -- in whatever. She really didn't want to do it; it would drain her all the more. 

I am already exhausted. I better go, Mom, she replied.

Are you taking your iron pills? her mom meddled.

Mom, I've got to go. She closed her phone but re-opened it to turn it to silent and dropped it into her bag. 

She began to work on the pile of paper. Whoever worked at her desk before did not finish due to whatever ridiculous reason these business people give themselves for putting a woman, with these cute anonymous faces staring at her with loose tooth smiles, out of work. She got through two dozen entries and everything within her seemed to slow down, her insides turned to cement and outside the clock ticked backwards. This day was going to be treacherous; her mind fought for stimulus, to give a rhyme or reason as to why she took sheets of paper and just entered inconsequential numbers repetitively. 

No one spoke to her other than one woman who said hello and dropped a new large stack of multi-colored papers with pink carbons turn this way and that. Her first day was so excruciatingly long, she hoped that the company wouldn't ask her back. 

At least there is night school to look forward to, she thought to herself sarcastically. 

She wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed, pull the covers over her head and fall back into her dreams. After work, she walked through the buzzing city, wanting to avoid the crowded subways of people rushing to get home to their families and evening TV shows. As she walked past the retail stores with the latest fashions screaming at her inadequacies, she dialed, as she did every day, the man she loved.

Hello, Hi, it's me. Give me a call when you get this will ya. Okay, talk to you soon? She hung up and started to walk with a little more earnest to get to the school without taking the subway. She did not want to miss her love's call because she didn't have reception in the underground. 

He didn't call, but she grabbed some fast food and sat on the hall floor under the fluorescent lights outside her classroom at the community college. Again she had to go through security. The city was full of security and check points. She ate her hamburger and studied the table of contents of the required book until more students showed up. She awkwardly put her sandwich away not wanting to be perceived as a pig, sitting on the cement floor, not dressed as well as they were, eating a very greasy, delicious burger that undoubtedly would go straight to all of her now blocky curves. 

The first day of class was always like walking into a hazy room, only to feel clearer in the future. All the faces looked fuzy without names and personalities were only perceptions now. She sat down at the first available desk closest to the door, not really interested in getting too involved in the course. She sat silently with the rest of the students, all waiting for the professor to show up and begin their semester. She took inventory of the room in front of her, not wanting to look eager by glancing around like a wide-eyed child on an amusement trip. 

The professor entered, plopped his briefcase on his desk and pulled out his chair, scraping the linoleum that had been scratched dozens of times before; it sounded like cement.

Ok, let get started. I am your teacher, Mr. Manuel, and this is Business Ethics. Let's get to know each other, this is a small class. Why don't we start with introductions: tell me your name, where you are from and why you are taking this course of study.

She hated these things, having to get up in front of people. She always felt nervous and all the eyes on her felt so heavy she could feel their heartbeats behind each stare. She was only the sixth and last student in the small classroom with more desks than students.

She cursed, This is pointless. No one is going to remember what everyone shares anyway.

Satisfied that he knew everyone by their short brief introductions, the teacher, with no higher formal credentials than her own, began to scribble notes quickly on the white board. The door opened while everyone was busy trying to copy everything that was written down, and a tall man walked in. He sat down near the her and took out his notebook following suite with the rest of the class. 

The girl had woken up so early, had typed numbers all day from little slips of pastel carbon papers, and now found that her slump was over. A burst of energy came to her. She could focus and work diligently again. She smiled as to herself, thankful to have a second wind for once in her miserable life. 

She kept up nicely with the teacher, but then he turned around and gave the most frightening of homework assignments, a cooperative assignment. He even told everyone to pick the person nearest them. She now wished that she sat further away from everyone else, then she might have gotten the chance to be the odd one out but no such luck. She turned to the man sitting behind her. 

His was definitely tall, and had a sleek look about him, sharp narrow angles and kindness mixed with fierceness in his calm countenance. His brown teasing curls ran down to the nape of his made him look exotic in contrast to his deep, penetrating, bright silver-green flecked eyes. His eyes wanted to put her in a trance. She shook her head and steadied herself with confidence.

Hi, I am Tabor, not Talyor, just Tabor.

Hi, Tabor not Talyor, I'm Shy. I guess we are partners.

Tabor shuffled uneasily in Shy's presence. He made her feel awkward, like her was inspecting her for the problems she always saw in the mirror. He looked like the models that wore their underwear at the world's crossroads in bright lights. Sleek, tall and strong features, as if Michelangelo himself molded David after him.

She tugged a tuff of her brown pixie hair behind her ears and shrugged. So, I am not good a class presentations. I'll do the research and you present. I'll even tell you what to say.

She lied; the fact of the matter was that she was terrified of being in front of people. Ever since she was young, she couldn't handle being in crowds let alone in front of one. Memories of science fair presentations flashed through her mind. She would first feel flush, immediately she would feel weak, the room would tilt-a-whirl and a few times she actually lost her stomach in front of heckling students. 

Shy huffed and smirked, his smile pulling to the corner in a devilishly cute curl. I think that can be done, but I have to tell you one thing. Tabor shifted on her feet nervously. I don't do class presentations. So, we will have to do it together. Seems fair, don't you say?

Tabor frowned deeply, already feeling the rush of anxiety that would overcome her. No. She stated and sat back down in her seat, turning away from him.

Shy leaned forward, she could feel his warm sweet breath close to her ear. Well, aren't you going to give me your number and your schedule for working on the project?

Tabor groaned. Rolling her eyes she scribbled quickly in her notebook, tore the sheet a paper and handed it to him over her shoulder. 

Despite having another great disappointment of the day, she was able to keep up with the professor. She was surprised she was able to keep pace with the face moving professor. Everything about New York City was fast; and the Professor lectured in a sprint from the overhead sheets to pages of notes in the text book until a mad dash at the end of the class hour. Everyone sighed with relief once he finished and quickly gathered their belongings.

Without fail, as if telepathically, as soon the class concluded her cell phone rang. She arched her eyebrow and answered the phone, Salome, how was class? 

It was okay, Mom. She answered while packing her bag, but as she walked out she ran right into Shy standing in the door. I've got to go. I'll call you back.

Salome? I thought your name was Tabor?

What?! Are you listening to my conversations? Tabor hissed.

No, it's just that you had your phone on speaker. He laughed, she burned a blushed and looked at her phone, of course, it was on speaker. The whole class heard her mom checking in on her. Don't worry, no one was paying too close attention. So who is Salome?

It's my middle name. My mom wanted to name me Salome, but my father wanted me to be Tabor. Tabor won.

Ah, I see. He smirked again with that grin that made her jealous, who was the girlfriend on the receiving end of that face she asked herself. Hmm... interesting - Salome. It means chaste girl, like a spinster.

She frowned and looked at the ground avoiding admitting the coincidence. Yeah, my mom was an actress.

"Ah the Oscar Wilde play Salome."

Yeah.... She shuffled, she always felt inadequate that her mother was a beautiful actress, but she looked more like her hermit father. She smoothed her hair back again. Well I better go. I guess we can meet over the weekend to research together. 

She quickly scurried out of the room and felt as if she would fall flat on the ground in exhaustion as soon as she reached the street, still filled with New Yorkers. She pulled out the class syllabus to study on her long train ride to her borough; at least she wouldn't have to fight for breathing room on the train until tomorrow morning.

The mind-numbing ride home on the steamy, sweaty subway was thankfully almost empty. Tabor sat in the corner seat and pulled out her class assignment. She reread the syllabus over and over again. Her mind often drifted to the strange tall man she was assigned to work with. She was furious. Why would he pass up the chance to have to do so little work or any at all? It was as if he knew she loathed getting in front of people and wanted to put her through the pain. She sighed to herself trying to find the light at the end of the tunnel. She couldn't find one, other than to stumble along incoherently while they studied together at the library. Shy was amazing looking and with that same thought came mysteriously dangerous premonition. It didn't make sense that she would feel so charged by being near one person for three hours and yet feel like he would cause the death of her. She forced the thoughts aside and accounted it to her being annoyed with him for not taking the easy route. 

She berated herself for not completing little work she had left to do when the train announced that it was one stop away from her station. She would have to scramble to finish the monotonous assignment at home before work in the morning or during her 30 minute lunch break. 

She climbed up the six flights to her apartment. The super had not fixed the elevator as usual due to other pending repairs in the building. The yellowish, pea green paint of her hallway greeted her with the same disgust and even the cracked paint chips that had newly fallen in front of her apartment door, smugly welcomed her home. The salsa and reggaeton music reverberated from her neighbors' metal doors into the hallways. Tabor hated the throw-up smell of marijuana which wafted in a cloud heading towards her door. She rolled her eyes and quickly opened the grey metal door to her personal squalor and slammed it shut. She had enough of this day and only wanted to fall asleep.

She readied for bed in the same unimaginative order; brushed and flossed her teeth, washed her feet, removed her makeup with the oily remover that made her face break out, lathered overnight acne cream onto her face, set out her clothes for the morning and lay in bed trying to drone out the sounds of the beating music late into the night. She reached over, set her alarm and made one last phone call.

It rang, it always rang. Sometimes for a long time, others, the tone seemed to be cut off to go straight to voicemail.

Hi, she said sheepishly, It's me. Umm...? Class was great.... I'm going to bed now. I miss you. I love you.

Tabor sighed heavily, her mind became restless; immediately wondering, wishing, and hoping. She turned on the TV. The rerun episodes of GlobeTrekker played in the background, adding company to room. The host's funny banter, the ability to humbly laugh at himself, and his accent reminded her of him. She took a deep breath and pictured him behind her lids as she drifted off to sleep.

In a deep sleep, Tabor felt the light cotton sheet peel from her body. Her fan rumbled beyond her hearing. Her sore legs seemed to spread apart from each other as cool hands rubbed up and down her calves massaging the tension out. She could feel the breeze of the fan gently cool her body and tickle her growing damp panties. The massaging hands became more urgent and moved her legs further apart from each other. The bed squeaked as the body attached to the magnificent hands crawled onto the bed below her. She wondered if he had come home and was treating her to a wonderful apology. 

Tabor caught her breath as the hand slid up her gown and rolled her breasts in his strong hands. Her back arched off of the bed slightly, offering herself to this wonderful entrapment. Every nerve was charged and ran straight to her center. His strong hands worshipped her breasts and tweaked her nipples sharply between his fingers. Her breath hitched and she heard him chuckle, imagining his wicked smile curling as she was to the mercy of his hands. 

Then it happened. She should have opened her eyes but to black out the world behind closed eyes made her senses more acute and hungry for more. A long wet lick up her slit and the hand squeezing her breast made her sex vibrate. She wanted to clench her thighs together, but his hands kept her firmly in place to maintain his possessive control of her body. The head between her legs continued his assault licking and sucking, delving deeper, driving her on and awaking the nerves on her pussy lips, swelling them. She moaned loudly as little sharp nips attacked her clit causing her to drip but not release; she was so close. Suddenly, he stopped. The hand moved away from her breast and the room was still, the only sound was her own breathing and the whirling fan plucking goose bumps to rise on her skin. 

She moved her legs about but nothing was there. It was indeed a dream. However, she was begging for more her hips still undulated and her legs moved side to side trying to add friction to the bundle of nerves at the top of her sex. She exhaled heavily with frustration, and forced her body to still but her center was still oozing wet and ready. Her sex smelled in the air.

Her ankles were pulled apart, suddenly, she meant to scream as the phantom reappeared, but a hand muffled her cry as flesh filled her sex fully. Deeper and stronger, he drove into her. Her slicked pussy beckoned his cock as the bed rocked and squeaked with his strong thrusts. Tabor relished the power within the muscles of his arms taunt at her sides and in the sweet smelling breath over her. 

He snuck his hand between them, fingers danced at her flesh forcing her little clit to come out with each thrust; he brushed against her clit, and her pussy squeezed him harder. Barely hearing his breath of exertion as he sought after her soul, her cries stopped and gave way to animalistic grunts of approval. He could tell she was nearing her climax and pulled out. He latched his mouth on to her puss again and began to suck hard drawing everything deep into his mouth. She felt as every drop of sex and her climaxing muscles suction into his devilishly hot mouth and yet she dripped for more. 

Tabor screamed as her climax hit her, and he bit hard into her flesh. She cried out in pain that dissolved into exquisite ecstasy. Her mind felt like exploding fireworks and her body waved into another climax when he did