Chatting With Chelsea **Q&A session**

Chelsea: Welcome back everyone for another episode of Chatting With Chelsea. I’m your host, Chelsea Graham. You guys have no idea how excited I am about today’s guests…well if you watch my show regularly, all you all should be, then I guess you do know. I’ve been talking about this for weeks, how another one of my favorite shows was ending. I mean at the rate shows are dropping off, I won’t have anything left to entertain me, or guests to interview. But I’m rambling. Anyway, like I said I’m excited because today we have none other than the cast from the hit drama series Kiss of A Vampire!

So please give a huge round of applause for the woman you all know and love as Amari Smith, Vanessa Hale! **applauding** The man we all loved to hate to love in his role as Mulo Drakul, Thomas Palmer! **applauding** Mr. Licensed to impregnate, seriously his character knew how to make some babies! The one, the only Lamar Harrison! **applauding** Last, but certainly not least, the mastermind behind it all, Ms. Jazen Self!

Chelsea: Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen. Thank you so much for making time to come on my show and Jazen, thank you for coming back.

Jazen: Thank you for having me again.

Vanessa: I’m happy to be here.

Thomas: It’s my pleasure.

Lamar: Been looking forward to it.

Chelsea: Okay, well let’s get right into things shall we? Jazen, we wouldn’t be here if not for you, so we’ll start with you. I love the spin you have with your story. How did you think up the "Cursed love" angle for Kiss?

Jazen: Is that what this was? *laughing* seriously I didn’t think things through when I first started this script and the plot changed so many times that I really questioned who was in charge, me or the characters. Turns out they were. Honestly going in all I knew was I wanted to have a reason why Amari had to have the babies and things all morphed from there. Characters changed, grew, and somehow it all worked out into the show you got to enjoy.

Continue Reading: "Chatting With Chelsea **Q&A session**"

Chapter 132: And They Call Him Temptation

A warm breeze caused a soft whipping sound through the sheer curtains of the cabana. I inhaled deeply, enjoying the relaxing scent of salty sea air. Diego put more warm lemongrass oil on his hands before continuing his attention on my back. I swear he had the hands of an angel. I was a little nervous when he walked into the cabana for my scheduled massage, especially after hearing some of the things said about him. It didn’t help matters to see his uniform. I tried not to stare, but I couldn’t help it. If he moved the wrong way, that little loin cloth was going to fail in its job to hold in all his…manliness, and it looked like he had a lot of it packed in there. I should have been used to it since that had been the basic attire for the staff here, but still it took some getting used to. The downside of traveling with no set plans, you have to take what you can get when you don’t have a reservation.

It’s not to say that Free Spirit Resort and Spa wasn’t a great place, it was a beautiful locale. I’d never even heard of Isla de las Flores, but the escape to this small, semi-private Caribbean island was just what I needed. The resort had excellent amenities, friendly staff, all in all perfect. The only issue, clothing was optional. That freaked me out at first, mostly because I was surrounded by women whose bodies reminded me of the woman taking care of my children and possibly my husband. There were all types of people here, but the first few that I came in contact with were all the type of people others wanted to see naked. Initially I thought about leaving, finding someplace else to go, but I decided to stay anyway and experience something new. It’d been a great week; the time away was just what I’d needed.

Continue Reading: "Chapter 132: And They Call Him Temptation"

Chapter 131: Misery Loves Company

Two days. It’d been two days since Amari had dropped off the kids and gotten upset after seeing Jenelle. She took off and hadn’t returned my calls, hell she wouldn’t even take calls from the kids. She sent some vague ass message to them about needing time for herself, that she was fine, and that one of the kids needed to take care of the dogs. She left no way to reach her in case of an emergency, she just took off.

The ceramic tiles in the shower cracked under the impact of my punch. How could she just take off like that? How could I make her take off like that? Things were to the point that I didn’t even know what I was doing anymore.

Shutting off the water, I stepped out of the shower, not feeling any more relaxed than when I got in. Since finding out she’d taken off, there’d only been one thought in my head about where she’d gone. It’s all I could think about and each time that I called her and got voicemail those feelings of jealousy and hatred that I’d been trying to move past took a stronger foothold.  No matter how I’ve tried, based on her past actions, I’d been unable to make myself believe her when she said I was who she wanted. 

Something in the back of my mind kept nagging at me that Amari’s settling, that she was  putting forth this effort out of guilt more than love. That thought had me rethinking my answer to her question last time we talked. While I did love Amari and admittedly a part of me always would, was I hanging on for the wrong reasons? My actions were pushing her away. I was now doing the same thing she’d done, sabotaging things whether it was consciously or unconsciously, it was happening.

I was an ass for not talking to her for weeks, but I didn’t know what to say. I’d used my wife in the worst possible way and to hear she let me because of my past attitude towards her stripped away everything I was trying to reclaim. I was left with feelings of shame, completely embarrassed that I could have stooped so low. Like she’d said, I was supposed to be better than him.

The doorbell rang bringing my thoughts back to the present. I needed to get my day started. Jenelle was already here and I heard her footsteps as she walked across the hardwoods to answer the door. Voices. A male voice. His voice. My mind had to be playing tricks on me because there was no way that he would be at my house. Hell, how would he even know where I lived? As soon as the question popped into my head, the answer followed. He had to have gotten the information from Amari. 

The sight before me was the last thing I expected. That son of a bitch was holding my daughter, giving her a bottle like it was the most natural thing in the world for him.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

The smug bastard smiled at me. “With all the kids you’ve made, I’d have thought this would be fairly obvious. Your very sexy…assistant here had her hands full so I offered to help.”

“I…I’m sorry Marcus, he said he was a friend,” Jenelle stated, clearly picking up on the tension that quickly filled the room.

“Friend? There’s a lot of things I’d call you, but friend wouldn’t be one of them,” I responded keeping my eyes fixed on Mulo. “Jenelle, please take Gwen and Gracie upstairs and stay up there with all of them until he leaves. Which should be shortly,” I added.

She nodded before walking over to gather Gwen from him. Mulo’s eyes followed Jenelle as she walked up the stairs. “I can see why you hired her. The sexy nanny thing, a lot of men have that fantasy. You even have the built in excuse of having actual kids for her to also take care of. A win/win.”

Jenelle cast a quick glance over her shoulder and smiled. I ignored his implication, it was the same one Amari hinted at when she was here. She instantly assumed I was sleeping with Jenelle. It was the excuse she needed to go running back to him guilt free this time and she seemingly wasted no time in doing so. I sent her running straight to him.

Continue Reading: "Chapter 131: Misery Loves Company"

Happy Valentine's Day

Continue Reading: "Happy Valentine's Day"

Chapter 123-Free At Last

“Hello Love.”

Mulo stood in the doorway waiting for me. He was shirtless and the button on his pants was undone. I was temporarily surprised to see him only half-dressed this late in the morning.

“How soon can we leave?” I asked thrusting the paper at him. “She sent a singing telegram! Like this is all some sort of joke! That bitch needs to die!” The anger and frustration I’d felt after that performance had only grown.

I heard movement on the steps and moments later a scantily dressed blonde came walking down. I watched as she walked over and gave Mulo a kiss.

“Call me,” she said before throwing a quick glance at me then walking out the door.

A few moments later a second blonde, dressed in even less clothing, came down the stairs. She frowned at me before also giving him a kiss then waving goodbye. I guess I was interrupting, but they’d have to get over it.

“You sure know how to keep busy,” I said unable to mask the annoyance in my voice.

Mulo gave me his signature smirk. “Now Love, you don’t go to bed alone, why should I? You know,” he said taking a step towards me, “that if you want to be the one warming my bed at night, all you have to do is say so.”

I took a deep breath and swallowed back my retort. I was married. I didn’t care who he slept with. Or at least I shouldn’t. I needed to remember why I was here. I walked into the kitchen and poured myself a glass of juice.

“So, how soon can we leave?” I asked again, forcing my misplaced feelings of jealousy aside.

Mulo took a look at the paper. “An hour, maybe two, I’ll need to make a call. You don’t have to go. Now that I know where she is, I can handle it.”

“What? No!” I yelled slamming the glass on the counter. “I want to be there. I need to be there. I need to watch that meddling, hateful bitch take her last breath!” I started pacing. How could he even think I wouldn’t see this through to the end after everything Marisol had put me through?

“I know you want to be there, but…”

“No buts Mulo!”

“But,” he said again interrupting me. “What if something goes wrong? You have children that need you.”

Continue Reading: "Chapter 123-Free At Last"

The end is near...

Kiss of a Vampire was my first story. I've been working on it for three years so the idea of it coming to an end is very bitter sweet. This was supposed to be a simple baby challenge but it morphed into so much more over the course of the years.

I appreciate the support you all have given me over the years. Amari has had many ups and downs and hopefully she will find her happy ending.

So as we approach the final chapters, like with Fiendish, I want to open it up for questions. Ask the crew and/or me anything you want to know. The question session will remain open for an undetermined date since I don't have the final chapters written up yet. I will be sure to let you know when the cut off date is.

Thank you for the support!

Continue Reading: "The end is near..."

Chapter 122-The Final Straw

My head rested on the steering wheel as I sat in the garage. I know I couldn’t stay in here long since I was positive Marcus would have heard my arrival. I’d missed Finley and the quads and was eager to see them, but facing Marcus was going to be hard.

Mulo and I had spent the night together going over his plan to rid me of Marisol. It was risky, but could work. I'd be free of her, I just had to hope Ceula was alright. He had everything planned out, apparently he’d been working on this for a while. Afterwards he stayed and we spent the remaining hours just talking. We both knew this thing needed to be over. I couldn't imagine life that didn't include him on some level. He'd told me he planned on permanently relocating to his home in France, he needed the distance as much as I did. It was the only way to make this work.

All night we spent together fighting the desire we both knew was there. All night we spent enjoying what time we had left. I’d stopped by to see Trey before coming home. He was still a wreck, and Ashley wanted her mother. The kids had been doing a good job stopping by and helping out. I couldn’t wait until that bitch was dead for what she was doing to my family. She needed to pay for all the pain and suffering and I was going to be there when she took her final breath.

Realizing I couldn't delay any longer, I climbed out of the car so I could face my husband. Finley and Zana were in the dining room working on home work.

“Hey mom,” she said with a smile getting up to hug me.

She looked different, older somehow. Her hair was dyed an electric blue color with gray streaks. Behind her smile, I could see the same weariness and fear we all had with Ceula still missing. Bynni had even attempted to reach out to Marisol, hoping to reason with her on some level, but she couldn’t find her either. We were all stressed and worried. Angry!

“Hey sweetie, how are you?” She shrugged in response.

“Hi Mrs. Smith.”

“Hello, Zana. What are you girls working on?”

“Calculus,” they both answered with defeat in their voices.

I heard cooing coming from the steps followed by his voice as he talked to one of the babies. My heart rate increased. After Mulo left this morning, I threw away the clothes I’d been in and took a hot shower. I needed to wash away any traces of him because it seemed Marcus had his scent committed to memory and would know the moment I was close. Feelings of guilt settled on me. My actions were that of an unfaithful woman, but I’d not crossed that line, however the lack of sex didn’t make me any less a cheater.

I walked into the hall in time to see Marcus holding Graham. From the way he looked at me, for a moment I thought he knew, but then a smile spread across his face.

“Mommy’s home,” he said to the wiggling bundle in his arms. “How was your trip?” he asked, buckling Graham into the swing.

I watched the gentleness of his actions as he cared for our son. He was a good man, no matter how much I pushed his limits with my actions, he stays and keeps trying to make things work. He’d lost so much. We’d lost so much. I loved him. I’d married him three times. I could be happy with him. I would be happy with him, I just needed to make sure he was happy with me. I needed to uphold my wedding vows. Forsake all others.

When he turned to face me, I wrapped my arms around his neck and held on tightly. Marcus wrapped his arms around my waist in response. “Baby did something happen in Riverview?”

Keeping my face buried in his chest, I nodded slightly.

“Are you going to tell me what?”

“Just hold me for a minute please.”

“I can do that.”

His strong arms tightened around me, this was my safe place. When he held me, I just felt like things would be okay, like everything was alright with the world. I wished I could stay here forever and never have to think about the outside world, but the cries that came from upstairs was one of the many reasons that wasn’t possible.

“I’ll get her.”

Marcus reached for my arm as I pulled away. “Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”

I gave him a weak smile, and a quick kiss on the lips. My hand caressed his cheek, “Not right now.”

Marcus didn’t push and let me walk off. I held my baby close, breathing in her soft baby powder scent. First the change, then this thing with Marisol had kept me from really bonding with them. I was missing out on so much, time I wouldn’t be able to get back. When Marcus and I had talked on the phone, he’d told me Gwen had rolled over for the first time. He was so excited and I’d not been here to see it. Her little fingers wrapped around mine and we just stared at each other. The sweet innocence they all possessed was comforting. They were too young to know what was going on and although Marisol’s games were keeping me from spending as much time as I liked, this was the most she’d affect their lives.

“Your daddy loves you,” I said keeping my voice low. “He’s a good man and a great father. You and your siblings are really lucky to have him and no matter what happens he will always be there for you and love you.”

She gave me a toothless grin in response.

“She might be hungry.” His voice made me jump. “I’m not supposed to be able to sneak up on you,” Marcus said handing me the bottle.

“I guess I just tuned out the world as I spent some much needed bonding time with my babies.”

Marcus just smiled before checking on the other two who were starting to wake. We easily worked as a team getting the girls changed and fed. Marcus had asked me again about Riverview, but I told him I wanted to talk about it later. I knew I was going to tell him, but I just wanted to wait. I wanted to enjoy the time with them without the tension and frustration that would seep in once I told him about my trip. I hated this position I found myself in and I felt like I was sinking into a bigger hole. I just wanted this to be over. I wanted my life to be uncomplicated.

Finley was trying her best to maintain as normal a routine as possible given the circumstances. She tried to keep her grades up, and do things that high schoolers should be doing. It was hard to believe she was a senior, set to graduate in a few short months. Over dinner she excitedly told me she’d been accepted to the Bridgeport Art Academy.

“Wow…Fin, um Bridgeport? When did you decide to go there? I didn’t realize you were even applying for colleges yet.”

“Well, yeah Mom. We talked about it remember. I was applying to there and two others...” She looked disappointment that I wasn't able to recall the conversation.

Continue Reading: "Chapter 122-The Final Straw"

Chapter 121-The Hands of Time

Mulo stood propped up in the doorway wearing his signature smug grin.

“What are you doing here?”

“Come now Love, you already know why I’m here,” he smiled and strolled past me into my hotel room.

Seeing him again after the last few weeks, left me conflicted. I had told myself I wasn’t going to go to him. I had to handle this on my own for the sake of my marriage, I had to, but he was here. He came to me…but I couldn’t let him…I couldn’t accept his help.

“You can’t stay. You…I…you have to go.”

“You seem nervous, Love,” Mulo said crossing the room to stand in front of me. “Why are you so nervous?” His voice dropped down as he let his fingers trace the contour of my jaw.

“Mulo, don’t.”

He ran his thumb across my bottom lip and inhaled deeply. “I know that scent well,” he said with a smirk.

I shifted my weight from leg to leg, ignoring his comment. “How did you know I was here?”

“We may not be bonded like before, Love, but I always know where you are.”

I narrowed my eyes and frowned at him. “You do know that stalking someone is against the law.”

He laughed. “Are you going to turn me in?”

He stood in front of me, smiling. Something was off, different. Mulo had always been serious, but he seemed relaxed, almost playful. He leaned forward, his clean spicy scent swirled around me. Our time on the island came barreling back, all the feelings, emotions and primal urges threatening to take over. I moved away needing to distance myself. Wrapping my arms around my body, I thought about Marcus. I’d told him this was done. We were married, we took vows. Mulo couldn’t be a part of my life anymore. When I looked up, Mulo was studying me intently.

“That look tells me you’re worried about the husband.”

“You said you respected my choice. You said you’d stop this pursuit of me and let me live in peace with the man that I love.”

“One of the men you love,” he corrected, “and I did when I thought he was worthy of you. However, any man that would make you choose between his frail ego and your child gets no respect!”

I opened my mouth to refute his claims but came up empty. How could Mulo know that’s how I’d felt? “He’s…that’s not what he’s doing. He wouldn’t.”

“He may not have said it out right, but that’s exactly what is happening. Our son came to me. Our son! The boy that has all but disowned me, came on your behalf because you are scared to because of how he would ‘feel’.” Mulo’s tone was harsh and awash with sarcasm and contempt.

“That’s not…that’s not why. It wasn’t about him.”

“No?” he asked cocking his head to the side. Challenging my lie.

“No. It’s me. I…I need to not always use you as my crutch. I can’t always depend on you. I can’t always come to you when there’s an issue. I need to stand on my own two feet.” I hoped my words sounded more convincing than I felt. It was true; I needed to not always run to Mulo. Marcus was right in that statement.

“That’s great, Love, and I would respect that if it wasn’t total bullshit.” He crossed the room, pulling me into his arms. “Tell me that when you got that first call your first thought wasn’t about me. Tell me you didn’t want me instantly to come and save Ceula, save you from whatever Marisol is doing. Tell me that and I’ll walk out of here right now and leave you to it.” His voice was gruff, his words harsh, but truthful. And he knew it.

I pushed him away. “It doesn’t matter Mulo! You…you are just as guilty of bringing her into my life as my father. Now you both want to scramble to clean up the mess you made!”

“He threw you to the wolves. I’m just trying to keep you from being eaten.”

“Keep me from being eaten? What?! No Mulo that’s not what you’ve done to me. You…you know what you’ve done to me. You’ve felt the pain you’ve caused me.”

“And I’ve apologized for that. You felt my remorse! You’ve forgiven me.”

I let out a heavy sigh. “You’re right, I have, but…this trip down memory lane her game has lead me on has made me reflect on a lot. I’m left with so many what-ifs it kills me!”

“Like what, Love?”

“Like what if my father had made a different choice? What if I’d never left Riverview? What if you…” I stopped myself on the last one. This would get me no-where. Questioning the past couldn’t change my current situation. What was done, was done and I just had to find a way to survive it like everything else.

“What if I what?” Mulo pressed. He stood closer to me, those feelings from earlier worming their way back into my consciousness.

Our eyes locked, his features were soft; caring. There was something between us that Marcus didn’t understand and hated. If I wanted to be honest with myself, I didn’t fully understand it either. Mulo had hurt me in many ways, yet I was pulled to him. The connection we had was one of the great mysteries of the world. Even now as he stood in front of me part of me was happy to see him.

“Have you ever thought about what our lives could have been like if you weren’t such an ass?”

He smirked. “I suspect we would have traveled a lot and spent quite a bit of time in bed,” he answered.

I rolled my eyes. “Always comes back to sex with you doesn’t it? I’m being serious, Mulo.”

“I am too.”

“So the only reason you wanted me was for your personal concubine?”

His arms wrapped around my waist. His presence was overwhelming like always. “That is a divine idea,” he whispered into my ear, “but you know you mean more than that to me.”

I turned my head to look at him. Our lips were mere centimeters apart. If either of us moved, they would connect, and if that happened all hell would break loose. The desire pulsated around us thick and hot. The warm heat of his slow exhales tickled my face. We stood close, the arm around my waist held our bodies pressed together. My body temperature rose and there was a tingling of excitement between my legs as my arousal grew. He waited; waited for me to make the first move, to let him know that it was okay. I closed my eyes, inhaling deeply.

“Do I know that?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

Mulo’s free hand caressed my cheek, his thumb slowly ran across my lips. “Yes, Love.”

“Then why? Why make me suffer? Why cause me pain and heartache? Why not stand beside me through this crazy thing Marisol inflicted upon me instead of making it worse? All you had to do was love me Mulo. Was that too much to ask?”

I was alone. The heat of his body taken away as he pulled from our embrace.

“I do, but I’m not a traditional man, Love, therefore what you get from me won’t fall into the same category as the everyday man. Would you want me any other way?” 

There was anger in his voice. Mulo was never a man that liked his faults being pointed out, but I needed closure. I couldn’t keep living in this state of limbo. I loved him. I desired him, but something had to give. He couldn’t keep toying with my emotions and I couldn’t let him.

“No Mulo, you are who you are and I do love you for that.”

“But?”

“When things changed for you, when you started to care about me, to love me, your actions didn’t reflect that. Instead you acted like that kid on the playground pulling my pigtails because he liked me. You chose to be angry, and make things harder on me instead of just stepping up and admitting how you felt and acting accordingly.”

“We’ve been over this!” he yelled.

“Yes, we have but that doesn’t change how I feel Mulo! I am tired, and angry, and confused, and conflicted on a daily basis. I am married to a man that has had his life so fucked over simply because he loves me. Anyone in their right mind would have run away screaming given the chance but he hasn’t! He is so angry with me and when this is all over I don’t know if he’s going to stay. I sure as hell don’t make it worthwhile for him to do so.”

“His fragile ego is not my problem!”

I dropped down onto the bed, burying my face in my hand. “You’re right, it’s not. It’s mine. This thing with us…it’s a betrayal to him. Marcus doesn’t deserve this and I’m starting to think I don’t deserve him.”

“You have put that man up on some sort of pedestal and in doing so you are beating yourself up with misplaced guilt,” he said coming to kneel in front of me.

“Misplaced? Mulo a few minutes ago I was ready to kiss you. I wanted to kiss you and more…how can I not feel guilty over that? And you don’t make it easy. You said you would back off, that you would give me the space I needed to make this work with Marcus, yet at every turn you’re here. You prey on my weakness, on the feelings I have for you. You’re still causing me heartache, Mulo.”

He moved to sit beside me on the bed. “That is not intentional. I want you; I have no shame in saying that. What would you have me do, Love?”

“Walk away. Stay away.”

“What’s the saying…absence makes the heart grow fonder. I have gone away, that didn’t make you love me any less or I you.”

I let out a heavy sigh. He was right, we’d been apart before and my feelings for him were always there, but I could hope this time things would be different. I could hope that with him out of my life, I could prove myself worthy of Marcus’ love.

“You’re right. If my marriage fails, I’m sure you’d be the first one to help me pick up the pieces and at that point I wouldn’t fight it anymore, but…”

“You want the chance to find out?”

I nodded. “I love Marcus. He’s a good man and a great father and he deserves to be happy. To have a wife dedicated to him and only him. I will probably always love you Mulo, but our time has passed. I need to move on. You need to move on.”

We sat quiet for a while digesting the fact that this was the end of an era. If I could turn back the hands of time and do things over, I'm not sure if I would or not. The suffering I've endured hasn't been without its high points. My children, each of them I was blessed to have. Had things turned out differently with Mulo and I they wouldn't be here. I could no longer live in the land of what-if. My life was with Marcus now, he was my future. Mulo needed to be my past.

“You never said why you were here.”

His hand covered mine and he pressed his lips to my forehead. “To tell you how we're going to kill Marisol.”

Continue Reading: "Chapter 121-The Hands of Time"