Alpha Men of the Otherworld

by L. M. Mountford

  “All right, that thing is starting to piss me off,” Web turned to the two remaining men. “Del! Jake! Skin the fucker.”

  They both looked at each other, sharing a look like they were about to piss themselves there and then. Then they nodded and turned to the dog. I saw a flash of silver as they pulled flick knives from the depths of their coats.

  I couldn’t look, couldn’t watch them butcher the poor creature. I could hear the dog growling and the men’s footsteps echoing, then silence. No howls or moans of agony from the dog as it was murdered. No grunts and growls from the men as they got off on killing my canine defender. Just an eerie quiet.

  The silence cut deeper than their knives ever could. And it was almost a relief when the two thuds, the unmistakable sound of bodies hitting the ground-

  Wait, two thuds?

  I opened my eyes and could only stare at Del and Jake’s dismembered bodies lying on the ground, pools of blood spreading out around them. But there was no dog.

  Lucian stood over them, his pitiless eyes fixed on the giant.

  And I don’t know if I should laugh or scream.

  “What the fuck?” the big man stuttered, his voice warbling in terror as he moved away from me, releasing his grip on my wrists. Visibly shaking, he turned my father’s Browning on Lucian. “Bastard!”

  My screams mingled with the crack of the shots as bloody mists burst from Lucian’s back. The first should have killed him. It went clean through his heart. The second and third took him in the gut. Yet Lucian remained standing, taking each hit without so much as a grunt. Shot after shot, bullet by bullet.

  “Jesus Christ, what the hell are you?” Eyes bright with panic, the giant stepped forward and cupped the pistol in both hands, raising it up for a finishing shot like they did in the movies.

  It happened almost too quickly for the eye to see. One moment Lucian had been standing there, dark and pale and devastatingly intense and handsome. Out of reach and without a hope of dodging the shot. Then the Browning was arcing through the air, along with one of the hands that grasped it.

  And Lucian stood over the giant.

  Say what you like about undead fiends, no one can accuse me of not being a vampire of my word.

  I didn't bother to pretend I was not enjoying myself. There was something so very satisfying in being the servant of justice.

  Seizing the paretic piece of filth by the scruff of the neck, I heaved him up one handed. Big and brawny, he must have weighed more than 18 stone of pure muscle, but in my grasp, he was little more than a child. His remaining hand fumbled for his knife, but it was of little consequence. That butter knife would have served him no better than it had his dead friends.

  “W-w-what are you?” he choked out the words.

  The stain of blood was thick in the air, and I knew I should feed while there was still some life in his veins, but the thought of feeding on that. It was enough to turn the stomach.

  “I’m hungry.”

  His eyes widening, Web screamed and the metallic scent teasing my fangs was suddenly cut by acid. He’d pissed himself.

  One swipe was all it took. The screams died in a gurgle as I tore out his throat and dumped his carcass to the ground, to rot with the rest of the filth.

  When the last of his life’s blood had bled away, I turned to Kate, but she had slumped to the ground. Head back. Eyes glazed.

  I felt a momentary spark of concern, however a quick check revealed that she had only fainted. Hardly surprising really, given what she had just witnessed. Shredding her bonds, I traced my thumb down her jawline and to her neck, fingering the pulse of her veins pumping hot blood just beneath the surface of her skin.

  I mustn’t leave her here. If the law found her there, they would likely try to pin all the deaths on her. Girl slays three, possible self-defence, made a much better story in the papers than murdering vigilante on the loose, police baffled. If she tried to tell them what she saw, they’d just stick her in a madhouse. And if she didn’t, if by some miracle she got away, she’d probably end up there anyway.

  She’d seen what lurked in the shadows, up close and in vivid gory detail. She might never get another night’s sleep again.

  Or she might not live to see the dawn.

  “Ahhh little rabbit, you’re proving to be a lot more trouble than I bargained for.” Rising to my feet, I scooped Kate into my arms and thought of home. “Typical woman.”

  Together our bodies slipped into mist.

  It was as if I was awakening from a dream.

  Blinking through the blurriness, I found myself lying on an antique sofa in a large open room that was all leather, stone, and timber. High ceilings. Oil paintings and ancient tapestries upon the walls. Timber furnishings. It was as if someone had built a medieval fortress straight from the pages of history, and it all culminated in the lord’s chair in the centre of the room. A high wingback. A leather-cushioned throne.

  Lucian sat in it like he was born to that chair, eased back with one leg crossed, drinking a tumbler of ruby red, a man completely at ease and in control of his surroundings. The master of all he surveyed.

  Except he was no man.

  He was watching me. He didn’t show it, but I could feel his eyes on me, observing my every move the way a wolf eyed a deer.

  Panic’s cold fingers encircled my heart. Oh God. Where am I?

  There were three doors in sight, but all were too far away. I’d never make it to one before he’d be upon me, and even if I could, I had no way of knowing which led out of this place. The only window was closed and opened out into blackness. How high could we be? Almost certainly too high for me to survive the fall, but would that matter if-

  “Ah!” I screamed and almost fell over the back of the sofa in fright as Lucian seemed to just materialise before my eyes, so close we were almost nose to nose. I’d never seen anyone move so fast. Hell, I hadn’t even seen him moving so fast. It was as if he’d moved faster than light. But that was impossible, wasn’t it?

  He put a calming hand on my shoulder. His expression was impassive, but there was warmth in his eyes. It soothed my panic. “Shhh...You’re safe. You fainted, I brought you here to rest until you recovered.”

  I had to fight to keep my fear from my voice. “And you couldn’t take me to a hospital because-”

  “They ask too many questions.”

  I swallowed. “What are you?” Each word was like a stone in my throat as my belly twisted in dread at the answer.

  “I think you know.”

  “Say it,” I pressed him. “Tell me!”

  “A vampire.”

  And there it was. The answer I had been expecting, dreading, and craving.

  It was ridiculous, of course, and if I hadn’t seen him, I’d have thought he was off his meds. But I had seen him, and I believed it. I believed him. I believed my eyes and what I’d seen.

  “And you killed those men.”

  “Three of them, yes. The fourth ran, but he won’t get far.” He said it like it was something as every day as remarking on the weather.

  “Good.” I made no effort to keep the satisfaction from my voice.

  He arched a brow. He might have taught the move to Roger Moore himself; it was as natural to him as a bird taking to the air. “Good?”

  “They murdered my brother.”

  His lips pressed together and curled in one corner. “You’re welcome.”

  “So, what now? Are you going to...” I trailed off, unsure of how to put the question into words.

  “Feed on you?” he asked. “Yes.”

  I swallowed; my mouth suddenly dry. “You’re going to kill me?”

  He laughed at that. He threw his head back and laughed. It should have pissed me off, but despite myself, I was immediately enthralled by the sound. He laughed like my one question was the funniest thing he’d ever heard, and it was as far from the cackling horror movie stereotype as it was possible to be. It was full and deep and rolled over me like a warm hand brushi
ng down my back; the fingers playing my spine.

  I could have listened to that sound for the rest of my days, but his humour dried up as suddenly as it had come. “Why would I kill you?”

  “But you said-”

  “I’d feed on you, yes.”

  “That makes no sense,” I said, and I felt my face screw up in confusion, my cheeks growing hot with embarrassment. I felt like a child in a difficult class, with a teacher who only spoke in riddles. “How can you feed on me and not kill me?”

  “At any time, there is enough blood in a human body to quench my thirst more than five times over. I don’t need to take your life to survive, just some of your blood.”

  “So, you’ve never...”

  “Killed to feed?” Lucian said before slowly getting up from his chair and walking over to a stone minibar. “On occasion. But they deserved their fate, like our mutual friends tonight.” From a selection of crystals, he picked the brandy decanter and refilled his tumbler with a deep ruby red. “Of course, there are some that make a habit of it, but that runs its own risks. The Vampire Council takes a dim view of drawing unnecessary attention to our kind.”

  “A vampire council? There’s a council made up of vampires out there?”

  “Yes, the elders. The oldest and strongest of us. They rule the vampire nation from its seat of power in London.”

  “Vampire Nation! How many of you are there?”

  “Thousands.”

  “Thousands?” I parroted; not quite sure I had heard him right.

  “Yes, thousands.” I could feel myself getting warm from the amusement in his tone, like he was humouring an inquisitive child, full of endless questions. “I dare say you’ve seen some, maybe even spoken to a few of my kind before. Once vampires had to be cunning to survive, but it is so easy to blend in now. We need only a set of fangs. And a little charm.”

  “But what about sunlight? You’ll die if you go out in broad daylight!”

  “Just a myth.” He sat down beside me on the sofa, and I didn’t recoil. I don’t know what it was about him, but he seemed to exert a pull that made me want to be closer to him the longer I spent in his company. It was strange, but also kind of nice. “Vampires are extremely sensitive to ultraviolet light. It will weaken us, even burn if one doesn’t feed regularly. But fatal, no.” He grimaced as he took his first drink from the glass. “Err, cloned blood has its uses, but it tastes like shit.”

  It was meant as a joke, I knew, a poor attempt at humour to ease the tension that had amassed between us, but I was beyond such things now.

  “Can I see them- y-your fangs? I mean, can I see them, please?” My voice faltered, but I stayed firm, desperate for something, anything, to focus my attention on.

  If my request surprised him, Lucian gave no sign. He watched me over his tumbler for a moment, and I knew he was thinking the proposition over. That pissed me off. What did he think I was? A silly little girl who couldn’t take it? If I could stand the thought of him drinking my blood, I could take this.

  He must have come to the same conclusion because he eventually put the tumbler down on the coffee table, looked at me, grinned a wide grin, and – there they were.

  They came down slowly, his canines lengthening, sharpening. I watched, entranced, my heart quickening until they were fully unsheathed, deadly sharp and pearly white. And I couldn’t resist. Before he could draw them back, I reached out and brushed my thumb over the white. It was sharper than it looked, like running my finger down a steak knife, and I didn’t even notice I’d been cut till I saw the blood.

  It rolled down my finger in fat beads and left a thick red smear. The sight had my mouth running dry, but before I could pull my arm back, Lucian had seized my wrist. His grip was firm, his fingers like iron tentacles as they wrapped around me, holding me where I was as he kissed my cut. I shuddered in pleasure, his decadent mouth working its magic, stirring me to into a fervour as he sucked my thumb, his eyes burning into mine.

  Panting, my voice trembling and heart pounding, I asked, “H-how will you do it?”

  “However you desire,” he purred and released my finger. The cut had healed. “I’ll bite you, of course, but the rest is up to you.” Slowly, delicately, he touched his thumb to my neck and stroked back and forth, his touch cool but stirring. “The carotid artery works well but any of the major blood vessels will suffice.” He stroked that single digit down my arm, the pad of his thumb raising goosebumps wherever it touched. Then, taking my wrist in hand, he brought it up to his lips. He kissed the skin, and I bit back a gasp of pain at the sudden sting as a fang punctured deep and ruby blood welled around his lips.

  This time I could actually feel him drinking me in, tasting every bit of me, but then something soft and silky brushed over the wound and sent a rush of tingles through my nerves straight down to the pit of my tummy. It made me hot, hot enough to push my thighs together, desperate to quench the needy ache massing there.

  When he lifted his head, my skin was unblemished. “The ulnar artery is best for a quick snack, but I prefer the femoral artery. The food there is so much sweeter, and just the act of feeding there can give the strongest orgasms...”

  Suddenly, I was in his lap. I should have been outraged, but I could only moan in sweet ecstasy as his mouth dropped to my neck, kissing, licking, ravishing me with his vampiric hunger.

  He was done talking. He had tasted my blood and now he wanted more. But I needed to ask him one last thing, so I forced the words out. “Mmm... will I – oh God- will I, will I turn?”

  He didn’t even bother to raise his mouth from me. “Only if you want to.”

  And then we were done talking. His mouth took mine with a hunger, stealing all logic and reason from my mind. His kiss was rougher than what I had expected, but when he tugged at my bottom lip with his teeth, I knew I would learn to like it. I felt hot and needy, and I yielded to him as he pulled me to him, his tongue coaxing my mouth open with lush creases across my bottom lip that had the embers of my desire blazing into a wildfire.

  My tummy flipped excitedly as he stood up, his fingers biting deliciously into my rump as he supported my weight, crushing me to him. My hands lost themselves in his hair as his tongue ravished my mouth, swirling round and round my own in a dance that had my toes curling. Then we were moving...

  No, not moving. Floating!

  The feeling lasted for a moment. I caught only a glimpse of our surroundings, swirling by, pale and ethereal, as if we were enveloped in a cloud, passing through walls and rooms alike. Then I was on my back, on the largest bed I’ve ever seen, with Lucian poised above me. He looked so smug; like he had me just where he wanted.

  I switched our positions with a hard shove. He didn’t resist and as I pushed him over, I rolled with him, swinging a leg across his hips to straddle him.

  “Now then, Mr Lucian. Just lie back. This won’t hurt a bit.”

  He watched my movements and his smile turned positively amused. “Mmm... a little bit of pain isn’t necessarily a bad thing...”

  A shiver ran down my spine as I noted how his eyes glittered in the low light, their onyx depths a rich ruby black. Leaning down, I lightly kissed each of his eyelids in turn. “You have beautiful eyes.” I sighed, grinning as I felt the way he shivered as my breath licked across his cool skin.

  I kissed his nose, then his cheeks, then his chin, maintaining as much contact as possible. My hair brushed his bare neck, and he groaned softly as it tickled him. I sighed again, hardly daring to believe that it was all real, that it was happening. It was all so sudden, yet felt so right. He was a vampire, but he’d saved my life. He’d murdered to protect me. Our chemistry was undeniable, and I couldn’t help that feeling, the feeling of being drawn to another person. Irresistibly, overwhelmingly, beguilingly, and seductively drawn, like a helpless moth to a sexy vampiric flame.

  I dropped a kiss on his jaw before sweeping my tongue up the curve of it, lightly teasing the spot beneath his ear. Slightly salty and sweet, th
e taste of him spread across my tongue and I shuddered. I needed more, so I began to kiss and nibble his neck. I barely noticed as his hands reached up and buried themselves in my hair.

  With a fiery passion, I explored Lucian with my mouth. My tongue mapped the curve of his collarbone as my fingers urgently worked to divest him of his shirt. My lips trailed the slope of his shoulder and the hard contours of his chest. His wounds were gone, the gunshots he’d received healed and vanished. There were no scars, no blemishes. He was perfect, a block of ice, chiselled and sculpted and wrapped in skin. I licked along each ridge, using my teeth to tug gently at his flat nipples as I travelled his body.

  I was lost in the taste and feel of him, in the sounds of his soft panting breaths and groans.

  A gentle tug of my hair suddenly brought me back to reality, and I lifted my head obediently to meet Lucian’s glazed eyes.

  “I watched Troy burn, heard Pompei’s screams swallowed up, walked the plagued streets of London and battled werewolves and fairies and elves alike, but keep doing that, and that wicked little mouth of yours might just be what finishes me for good.” The vampire’s voice was low and strained, and I couldn’t help a smile of satisfaction as a feeling of immense pride filled me at the knowledge that I could elicit such a reaction.

  “I won’t let it kill you.” My smile grew as I dragged my hands down his chest, letting my nails scrape over his delicious pale skin. He hissed a long, sharp sound that made a shiver run down my spine as my nail drew over his nipple.

  Taken by an idea, I bent down and blew against the scratched area. The sound deepened and turned into a low groan. I continued to blow against his nipple until his eyes fluttered shut, then I dropped my mouth down and slid my tongue over his flesh. His eyes flew open, and he bucked up against me. Keeping our eyes locked together, I bit down and then pulled back to blow, making Lucian growl as he bucked his hips up against mine again. We both moaned as our bodies ground together.

  Pulling back from his chest, I worked my way down the quivering flesh of his stomach to his abdomen, stopping only to gently kiss his navel before I dipped my tongue into his belly button. I felt brazen. His hips jerked at the contact and his erection brushed the full swell of my breasts as he dropped his head back against the pillow. Curious, I looked down and contemplated the very impressive bulge in his jeans for a moment. Admiring its already remarkable girth, I took a deep breath as I slid further down his legs.