“I will not leave.”
She slept—and dreamed.
It was huge, a many-pillared edifice towering over the surrounding forests, glistening in brilliant moonlight and taking Katherine’s breath away. Mountains rose in the distance, shrouded by wisps of clouds, sentinels standing watch over this fairy-tale palace and the secrets it contained. It looked foreign and yet familiar, an intriguingly sensual assemblage of architectural creativity.
It was silent now, few lights showing from the many windows facing the splendid grounds that sprawled before the massive entrance. It took hardly any imagination for Katherine to see carriages streaming to disgorge their passengers—elegant aristocrats ready to enjoy themselves amidst the luxurious splendor of this place.
“Where are we?” She turned to the man whose hand she held.
Adrian looked somberly down at her. “It is Rogaška.” He glanced at the massive structure once more. “Where I became…what I am. Perhaps this is how I tell you the truth about myself. In a dream. For in truth I have not the courage to speak the words aloud.”
Katherine felt his grip on her fingers tighten. Part of her knew this for an illusion, another part wasn’t so sure. She shivered but drew strength from the man standing next to her.
“Tell me. Tell me all, Adrian. I will not judge nor draw back from whatever it is you must impart. I have no reason to distrust you or what lies between us.” She looked away from him and back at Rogaška. “What happened down there? Does it have anything to do with this…?” She glanced down at their hands. “Our strange ability to be together in the shadowed world of our sleep?”
“Yes. I believe it does.” Adrian sighed. “It is a terrible truth, my Kat. One I never envisioned I could share with a woman. I shall understand if, once you know all, you leave me.”
Katherine’s heart turned over at the pain and desolation she heard beneath Adrian’s words.
“I believe that moment has long passed, Adrian. From the moment we met you held me in thrall. I could not leave you now. Ever.” She lifted her chin slightly to emphasize her avowal.
“Do not promise something you may not be able to fulfill.” Adrian pulled her close and put his arm around her shoulder. “I know not what this dream will show, but remember one thing.” His muscles hardened against her skin. “I will never hurt you. You are light to my darkness and have come to me at a time when I needed you more than I knew. More than I could have imagined. There is much that may lie ahead for us, my Kat. I would hope we will meet it side by side. But here is my promise to you.”
Katherine heard him gulp down some emotion, the traces of it stayed beneath his next words.
“I will never, ever, hurt you.”
Chapter Twelve
If Adrian had possessed a normal human heart he knew it would have been choking his throat right about now.
He’d been to Rogaška in his dreams too many times to view the prospect with eager anticipation. He’d been victimized by Thérèse too often to disregard the gnawing ache of distress just seeing the place again caused in his mind.
Would she be there? Did she know that Adrian and Kat were there? Why now, of all times, should he dream of Rogaška and why was Kat able to accompany him?
So many questions, so few answers.
They drifted towards the building, insubstantial wraiths, coils of mist blending with the miasma of night cradling the elegant façade. A sound distracted them both and their heads turned.
A laugh—lighthearted and sensual—it came from the shadows of the garden, and that was where Adrian found he and Kat were headed.
Adrian’s worst fears reared their ugly faces. He knew that laugh.
It was Thérèse.
She was there, lurking in the darkness, laughing at something—or someone.
The first thing he noticed was a flash of moonlight off her hair, no more than a flicker of fire, but enough to confirm his suspicions.
She was naked, as she so often was, and as they drew nearer, Adrian could clearly see the lines of her body entwined around other limbs. Two sets of limbs.
Two sets of obviously male limbs.
Thérèse had found two willing men for herself this night, and was enjoying their attentions within a small private glade in the forest. Once more the Rogaškan bitch was about to feed.
Adrian sensed Kat draw in a breath beside him, but she remained quiet, as did he.
One man moaned as Thérèse slid down between his legs, finding his cock with her mouth and suckling him ferociously. Prone beneath her, his hips bucked, thrusting her bare back upwards, an invitation to the second man who positioned himself behind her.
Her ass was a white glow in the moonlight for a moment, then it was obscured by the hard planes of the second man’s body. He grasped her hips and thrust forward, bringing a cry of pleasure to her lips and another moan from the third playmate.
It was an erotically sensual tableau that aroused Adrian in spite of himself. Kat too seemed spellbound, her eyes wide and her pulse thudding rapidly at the base of her neck.
Leaves rustled, the air shifted to and fro—it was too real to be a dream and yet it had to be. In spite of himself, Adrian shivered, afraid for the first time in so long the emotion caught him by surprise.
Something about his movements or his thoughts must have escaped the illusion, because Thérèse suddenly froze, an immobile flash of white between the hard and darker male bodies.
She straightened slowly, leaning back into the man behind her, sliding her mouth from the one beneath her and letting her hands caress his gleaming cock instead.
Her head turned as she rested it on a broad shoulder and for the first time she looked at Adrian. After a moment or two her ink black gaze passed on to Kit, standing motionless beside him.
A grimace of anger flickered across her face, gone so quickly Adrian wondered for a moment if he’d imagined it. He did not relax when her lips curved into that cruel smile he knew too well.
Freeing her body of the cocks that would claim it, she stepped away from the men. “Stay, my sweetlings. I will have need of you.” A movement of her hands and the two victims lay side by side, reaching for each other, stroking each other’s cock with smiles of joy on their faces.
Kat gulped, a raspingly harsh sound that reminded Adrian he was not the only target for Thérèse on this night. It wasn’t a comforting thought.
But for the moment, the flame-haired vampire ignored Kat. She moved to confront Adrian. “’Tis good to see you again, my love.” Her hand curved around the air near his cheek. “’T’would be even better were you to join my friends and I.”
She nodded at the two men playing with each other on the grass. “They never knew what pleasures each could offer. Men are so narrow minded when it comes to desire.” Her black eyes speared into Adrian once again. “One more man, one with a fine and hard cock…mmm. Such fun.”
She licked her lips and the moonlight shone from two sharp little points emerging within her mouth.
Adrian felt Kat shudder, and to his surprise found himself unresponsive to Thérèse’s lures. Tonight there would be no agonizing erection to contain, no lust-filled fantasy denied him once more.
For the first time in so long he found Thérèse unappealing. Her magic had paled, her attraction withered, and Adrian knew in that moment that his redemption—if there was to be one—lay within the woman at his side. His Kat.
Thanks to her, the ugliness that was within Thérèse now overshadowed the mental link existing between them. Sexual arousal had been replaced by disgust—what had seemed attractive in the past no longer interested him.
Adrian felt the bonds of his slavery to this creature loosen, slipping away and leaving a sense of unfettered freedom in their place.
Unfortunately, Thérèse sensed it too.
Her basilisk stare turned to Kat. “You have a little friend, I see.” One delicate eyebrow rose in inquiry. “Such a pretty creature, and with red hair too. A weakness of yours, isn
’t it?”
Thérèse stepped back a little, heedless of her nudity, and studied Kat. “How does she taste, Jadranko?” She smiled. “Have you fed from her yet or merely sucked the honey from her pussy?”
A sound from the men writhing in the shadows made them all look across the glade, and Thérèse narrowed her eyes. “Hmm. It would seem my friends are lonely. They need another playmate.” She glanced once more at Adrian, the fire of a thousand demons burning in her black gaze. “Does your little friend like to play?”
Adrian sucked in a breath to lungs suddenly colder than ice.
“Shall we find out?” Thérèse spoke before he could respond.
She moved, an odd gesture of fingers and a twitch that made muscles slither beneath her skin.
Suddenly, Kat was gone from Adrian’s side, the clasp of her fingers merely a warm memory.
“Nooo…” His cry came too late.
Kat was now naked and lying on top of one of the men, her mouth devouring his cock, her legs splayed wide and her juices being sucked by the other man who lay on his back with his head beneath her pussy.
“How delightful.” Thérèse crowed with happiness. “Shall we join them, sweet Jadranko?” She reached downwards, her icy grasp finding his cock even though it was all an illusion.
It had to be illusion. The pain he felt at seeing his Kat about to fuck two other men could not be real.
“Shall we find ourselves a convenient cock? A warm and willing bitch running with welcoming juices? Necks that pound with hot blood just ready for spilling over our tongues and into our bodies?” She neared him, her breath stirring the air around his chest in cool whispers. “Shall we fuck, my sweetness? Feed and fuck and feed again? It can last for hours, you know. This height of passion. Imagine it…” Her fangs were fully extended, slivers of ice-bright enamel lying across her full lower lip. “To come and come and never stop coming. To feel hot inside as you fuck, to have that moment last an eternity…”
She smiled. “Come, Jadranko. Come fuck me. Fuck her if you want to. But let me drink from her. You may have the other two. You can even let them fuck you or take your pleasure with them. It matters not who fucks whom—or where. ‘Tis only about that moment, isn’t it? That moment when we—live.”
A small cry pierced the spell that Thérèse was trying to weave. A sound of distress, a weak mewling whimper, but it was enough to drag Adrian free of the dark magic.
It came from his Kat.
*~*~*~*
Katherine fought several battles within herself.
She knew in her heart, that this was all quite unreal. But nevertheless, the feeling of being naked and touched by two equally naked men was no dream. And she was a little appalled to find it arousing.
Barely had she had chance to get a good look at the strangely compelling woman when she found herself thrust into bare intimacy, skin to skin, mouth to cock and pussy to second mouth.
These were not dream images—these were real sensations. There was most definitely a male organ thrusting past her tongue and just as definitely a male tongue probing her pussy lips.
She whimpered and knew Adrian had heard her.
Suddenly she was free, lifted off the men by an unseen force, pulled away from the sprawled and aroused nakedness and held close to the one man she wanted—Adrian.
It appeared the woman was not pleased. She hissed past long teeth, shocking Katherine with the venom in her expression. “How dare you?”
The words were flung at Adrian, but he simply tightened his hold on Katherine and stared back at this furious naked virago.
“She is mine.” The words were spat from sneering lips. “She cannot be anything to you other than food. You know that and I know that. I hold you, Jadranko. I made you what you are. I can destroy you as easily.”
Adrian squared his shoulders but refused to let Katherine move from his side.
”Then why haven’t you?” His voice was calm, almost too calm, as if he too was fighting an internal and private battle of his own.
“Why should I? When you come to me at my bidding? When it’s such a pleasure to watch you suffer at my command? I am no fool, Jadranko. I like my toys. I do not discard them.”
Katherine’s guts chilled as she stared at this vicious apparition. The two teeth were now totally elongated, lying like knives across her chin. They were not unlike those she’d seen in Adrian’s mouth, felt against her own neck.
She began to understand—to grasp the deep horror of Adrian’s existence. She’d heard rumors, legends, tales of mystical terrors guaranteed to keep a child in bed at night. Monsters of the darkness, denizens of Hell come back to earth to find and feed on the innocent and unwary.
Local lore was full of such tales, and she’d paid little attention to most of them. Now, however, she was confronted with something that might be a great deal more real than some distant fairy tale.
And a great deal more dangerous.
She clung to Adrian and her movements attracted the woman’s attention.
“Your little pet is scared.” The words were a sneer. “Shall I make her like us? Shall I drink her blood then leave her to an eternity of damnation? Or shall I drain her dry and toss her carcass into some ditch?” She tapped long fingers against her fangs. “So many choices. It is good to have so many choices.”
Her smile was wickedness and sensuality made flesh, and even Katherine found herself attracted sexually by this repellant creature. There was a magic about her, an aura that warmed the body and the senses. A fragrance that aroused, an air of repressed hunger—it was not hard to see how she could seduce any and all men who glanced her way.
But it appeared that tonight Adrian was immune to those charms. “You will not touch her, Thérèse.” His voice was unyielding and for a brief moment, Katherine could have sworn she saw confusion cross Thérèse’s face. “You will not touch her, have her, drink from her or do anything else to her.” He was stern, cold and definitive. There was no room for negotiation with this man.
“I shall do as I please.” Thérèse blinked at Adrian, totally ignoring Katherine.
“Not this time.”
Katherine risked a glance at Adrian and noticed that his fangs had emerged. She was neither surprised nor horrified. On him, they seemed to be a part of his essence. They were not to be feared, nor welcomed—they just were. She should have been shocked, she supposed, but this entire experience was so unreal, there was little left inside her to be scared.
The duel of words continued.
“And you think you could stop me?” Thérèse tipped her chin upwards, challengingly.
“Yes.” Adrian tensed even more. “You are nothing but an evil bitch with a malevolent power you use for your own ends. Whatever devil inhabits you will eventually tire of your lustful ways. You will end up that carcass in the ditch and I shall be happy to crush what’s left of you under my boot.”
Incredibly, Thérèse laughed. “Such bravado, dear one. Let’s see if your words change after I’ve fed from this creature…”
Adrian linked his hand with Katherine’s and lifted them both to his lips. “Never, Thérèse. It will never happen.”
She sneered back at him and reached toward Katherine. Who jumped. She simply could not help herself. The slight movement pushed her hand into Adrian’s mouth and his fangs pierced her skin. It might all be a dream, but the wound felt real enough.
Adrian’s tongue licked at the tiny puncture, soothing it and wiping away the blood.
A fire spread into Katherine’s body at his touch, a warmth that had everything to do with Adrian, his fangs and her blood. She shuddered.
Adrian shuddered too, an arrested expression in his eyes.
Thérèse frowned and reached for Katherine once more, but before she could move more than a few inches, Adrian lifted his hand in a gesture of protection.
Thérèse gasped and fell back, staggering a little as she caught her feet on the tumbled limbs of her male victims.
Kath
erine blinked and Adrian—Adrian licked her hand once more, his tongue soft and loving as it roamed over her knuckles. He finished with a quick kiss. “Apparently we have a magic that is ours alone, my Kat.”
His whisper made no sense. “I don’t understand…” Her gaze was fixed on the furious face of Thérèse who now made no pretense of hiding her anger.
“Neither do I.” Adrian held himself still.
“Can we leave, Adrian? Can we awaken? I would like to go back to St. Chesswell now, please.” Katherine trembled, chilled and afraid of what she saw in the other woman’s eyes.
“I don’t know.” He moved a little. “Stand behind me, Kat. Let me protect you.”
“Let me protect you…” Thérèse sneered the words in a high-pitched voice. “Impossible. She will be mine every bit as completely as you are mine, Jadranko.” She threw herself back down onto the two men waiting eagerly on the grass.
Katherine watched, tucked in back of Adrian, just peeping around his arm to see—to see Thérèse as she began fucking them.
With deliberate movements, she grabbed a cock and straddled the man, making sure her audience could see every fleshy fold and glistening curve of her body. She smiled wickedly as she slid her silky sheath down over the hard length, moaning in delight as she was filled. “So good. You don’t know what you’re missing.”
Adrian shifted. “I can’t move, dammit.”
Katherine tried too, although she had no idea how to accomplish something as definitive as movement when she existed solely in a dream state. “Neither can I.”
A laugh followed her words. “You are mine. As are you…” Thérèse reached for the second man and to Katherine’s horror, she pulled his chest to the fangs that gleamed so sharply. “Jadranko. Do you remember? Why do you not come to me in the—dare I say it—flesh?” She chuckled.
“That’s it. She cannot harm us, Kat. We are not real. She wants us, but does not know how to find us. She attempts to lure me, she always has.” Adrian’s whisper was firm and his body a barrier between Katherine and the evil in front of them.
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