Blood Dreams

by Mlyn Hurn

  “Don’t touch me!” She jumped from the sofa, only this time her body was quivering from her pent up thoughts and emotions. Maybe this all really was too much to take in, and all she needed was some time alone. “I’m sorry,” AnnaBelle muttered. Looking in every direction but Iain’s, AnnaBelle explained, “It’s just that I’m really tired. I think all this worrying about my uncle has caught up with me.”

  “That’s not surprising, sweetheart. Let’s go ahead and turn in. We both could use the sleep.” Iain started walking towards the bedroom. At the door, he looked back, surprised that AnnaBelle had not followed him. “What’s wrong, AnnaBelle? Can I get you something?”

  “Would you mind going home tonight?” AnnaBelle finally forced the words past her constricted throat. She swallowed hard as she waited for him to agree.

  “We can do that. Why don’t you pack a bag and we’ll just stay at my house the next few days. I have class tomorrow night.” Iain turned on the light in the bedroom. “I brought a few changes of clothes here, but I haven’t unpacked yet.”

  “I didn’t mean us…I meant for you to go and I will stay here, alone.”

  The stillness in Iain’s body should have alerted her, but AnnaBelle was so channeled into her feelings and dealing with everything she missed the clues. She turned and walked back to the kitchen, assuming Iain would take his bag and go. After all, she rationalized, they were adults. There was no reason not to expect to deal with this problem like intelligent beings. He hadn't really promised her anything, and she hadn't either, right?

  “What’s wrong, AnnaBelle?”

  Chapter 13

  Iain moved across the room silently. When he spoke he was only a few feet away from AnnaBelle. He saw her spine stiffen at his words. The real truth was revealed when she turned around, leaned back against the counter sink and folded her arms across her waist.

  “Nothing’s wrong. I just need a little time alone.”

  Iain studied AnnaBelle’s face, and even though she still wasn’t looking at his eyes, he knew that her words were a lie. Something was always wrong when a woman said nothing was wrong and then folded her arms across her waist. You didn’t have to live centuries to know that women could be hell to live with some days.

  “Are you angry because I wasn’t here earlier?” He watched AnnaBelle become a quarter of an inch taller.

  “Why should I care that you were not here? You don’t live here, after all. Obviously you have a life of your own that doesn’t include me. Just because our lives happened to have crossed momentarily doesn’t mean that we owe anything to the other.”

  Hell fire! This was turning out worse than he had thought it might be. When he had awakened earlier, he had been groggy. Of course, that had been the second time he had awakened. The first time he had felt incredibly intoxicated and aroused. He remembered that he began kissing AnnaBelle, and even though she didn’t awaken, he had entered her body and thrust to his completion.

  Sated, he had fallen back to the bed. Only seconds later, he had drifted to sleep once again. The second time, he had turned the dim light beside the bed on. Turning in bed to awaken AnnaBelle, he had been stunned to see how pale, nearly deathlike, she had appeared. Her skin appeared almost see-through, and there were dark circles under her eyes. Her golden-red hair, draped down over her scarcely moving chest had seemed unreal. Tenderly, he had pushed her hair back, behind her shoulder.

  His eyes had gone immediately to the two wounds in her neck. Her hair had concealed the small dried rivers of blood. Lifting his hand again, he laid it tentatively on AnnaBelle’s breastbone. Soon he felt the beat of her heart. It was slow and definitely not strong beating against her breastbone. She was alive, barely. That had been his greatest fear. For so many years he had controlled his hunger, he feared that if he ever fed again, the hunger would drive him to take too much.

  Sliding from the bed, Iain had gotten a damp cloth in the bathroom, and returned to gently remove the dried blood. He was in control now, but every time he looked at the shadows under her eyes, the paleness of her skin and lastly, the bite wound on her neck, the guilt and fear of losing her swamped in. Iain yanked his clothes on and then left as quickly as possible.

  “AnnaBelle, about earlier…”

  AnnaBelle held her palms up, stopping him. “No excuses necessary. See?” AnnaBelle paused and twirled around in front of him. “I’m fine. I don’t need a nursemaid. It’s fine for you to leave.”

  Iain stared at her face for the longest time. He couldn’t shake the feeling that AnnaBelle had almost added “me” at the end of her pronouncement of fitness and independence. The last thing he had wanted to happen was have her wake up alone. Granted, he never should have left the loft. After that everything had conspired to delay him. He had come here first and discovered the place empty, and had been relieved to discover AnnaBelle was already at Lamenta’s waiting to have dinner.

  The whole evening, his eyes kept returning to her neck, covered by the scarf. She didn’t look as pale, but he also knew that she had used makeup to cover up the darkness below her eyes. It had stunned him how much it hurt to see AnnaBelle this way. He had obviously hurt her, physically and emotionally.

  “I’m not leaving you, AnnaBelle. I shouldn’t have left earlier. You needed me when you first awakened. I could have helped you get through it more easily.” Iain stopped as he saw the fear fill AnnaBelle’s eyes. Damn! It hurt him to see her like this. He lifted his hands but AnnaBelle darted away from him. When he turned, he saw that she was now sitting on the sofa. Iain didn’t think this was better—now her arms and her legs were crossed!

  * * * * *

  Annabelle glared across the room at Iain. It was obvious he wasn’t leaving, or at least not soon. Suddenly she realized that he felt guilty, and must feel that he had to apologize to her and make some kind of atonement.

  “Just say you are sorry, Iain, and then everything will be fine and it will be okay if you leave.”

  As Iain walked towards her, something about the look in his eyes told her it was not going to be okay.

  AnnaBelle rushed to add, “You don’t even have to apologize. I understand perfectly that you had things to do. After all I’ve taken up way too much of your time. I’m sure you have a full life…and I certainly don’t need my so-called ‘sire’ to be nursemaid! I can take care of myself. I live alone, support myself and just because you accidentally bit me…well, none of it means that you owe me anything.”

  “Shut the hell up, AnnaBelle!”

  In silence, AnnaBelle watched as Iain stopped about a foot away from her. She tilted her head back to look at him and then hurriedly turned her face down. She considered trying to move, but doubted it would be successful. A moment later, Iain took her completely by surprise.

  “Take the scarf off, AnnaBelle.”

  AnnaBelle felt her breathing quicken in response to his words. The tone in his voice told her that he was tired of her nonsense. She lifted her hands and unknotted the scarf, grudgingly pulling it off. As she laid the it over the arm of the sofa, Iain kneeled in front of her. AnnaBelle turned to look at him; once again she was shocked at his action, especially when he put his hands on her legs, parting them and then pulling her forward.

  The touch of his hands sent shivers along her nerve pathways. Once he was between her wide spread thighs, he pulled his sports shirt up and over his head. AnnaBelle saw that he pulled something from his pocket, but she didn’t see what it was. His voice, when he spoke a moment later, was husky.

  “Please take off your shirt, AnnaBelle.”

  Nodding her head, AnnaBelle undid the buttons down the front of her shirt and then shrugged it off her shoulders. As she watched though, Iain’s eyes did not lower to her breasts. Instead he was looking at her neck while gently holding back her hair. It didn’t make sense, but AnnaBelle thought that she could feel his fingertips in her hair. As his fingers moved to her neck, a small sob escaped her throat. She was unaware of the tears on her cheeks until Iain
’s fingers trailed through the thin, salty rivers.

  Iain moved his fingers to the wound on her neck. He pressed his fingers around the spot, as if looking for something.

  “Is something wrong?” AnnaBelle asked softly.

  Iain shook his head. “It looks clean, and it should heal without problems. There may be a scar, since you are so pale skinned.”

  “I’ll get used to wearing scarves and shirts with collars.” AnnaBelle smiled, looking into Iain’s guilt-ridden eyes.

  “I should not have ‘awakened’ you. Even though you had asked me, I should have warned you of my plans.”

  AnnaBelle lifted her hands and stroked her fingers down the sides of his face. “I rather got the impression that you had not planned it at all. I felt the hunger that was building inside of you. I did nothing to stop you.”

  “You are assuming that you could have stopped me.”

  AnnaBelle felt her spine stiffen at Iain’s arrogant words. “I am a lot stronger than I look. My job may be mostly research and clerical these days, but I have kicked some vampire butt when the occasion called for it.”

  Iain slid his hand to the nape of her neck and pulled her forward. His mouth covered hers in a gentle press of lips. “Of course you have, my sweet.”

  AnnaBelle slid her hands down and caressed his chest. AnnaBelle parted her lips to deepen the kiss when Iain pulled back.

  “Soon,” he whispered.

  AnnaBelle frowned, but nodded her head. Iain lifted his other hand and for the first time AnnaBelle saw a glint of something in his palm. A second later as he slipped it over the tip of his index finger, AnnaBelle recognized what it was. She had seen a picture of one in a book, years ago. It allowed a clean, perfect incision of the flesh. Traditionally, it allowed for the chosen one to drink her sire’s blood. Iain’s words confirmed her thoughts.

  “We should have done this earlier, before we slept. It would have made things easier for you.”

  AnnaBelle shook her head negatively. “It wasn’t that bad, really. In fact, maybe we don’t need to do this part.”

  Iain paused, the sharp blade only a millimeter away from piercing his skin. AnnaBelle saw his eyelids narrow questioningly. “Have you changed your mind? There is no way to undo the awakening so far.”

  “What would happen if we didn’t proceed?” AnnaBelle covered Iain’s hand with her own. She felt the tension in him instantly.

  “I cannot say for sure, AnnaBelle. Such events are rarely recorded. You have changed your mind though, haven’t you?”

  AnnaBelle knew it was mainly fear of the unknown stopping her. How could she leave everything she’d ever known behind? What if Iain was only taking the next step with her because he felt he had to, or that he was honor-bound to complete the turning? What if she could never see her family again? There were too many questions, and she had no answers. She lifted her eyes to find he was watching her.

  As she looked into Iain’s eyes, she remembered their strong attraction to each other. The desire that burned hot enough to sear right to the center of her being. With Iain, AnnaBelle had discovered a passion that she had assumed was for others, but never to be hers. The passion was hot, but so were the tender feelings she had for him. The gentleness in each touch throughout the last day or so had been sweet and intoxicating at the same time. So, in spite of her unanswered questions, one truth remained—she was in love with Iain.

  Sure, the love had happened fast and come out of the blue. And maybe it would turn out to be only lust, and fade over time. But the only question that truly mattered was, could she live her life without him? What would she be like without his love? Granted, she was assuming his feelings were the same for her. She’d seen him around his students, her friends, sort of, and a colleague of sorts as well. The bottom line became obvious to AnnaBelle a moment later. For now, right or wrong, she wanted to be with Iain.

  She lifted one hand again, lightly wrapping it around his hand. With the lightest of pressure, she eased his forward so the sharp blade was touching his skin. Before AnnaBelle could pull back her hand, Iain pierced his skin, quickly and cleanly. Looking up, he spoke.

  “Now, my sweet, you must drink but a few drops. I cannot touch you at this point. You must come to me freely.”

  AnnaBelle watched the tiny river of blood slowly ease down his chest. She moved closer to him, her eyes never closing. She braced her hands on his upper thighs and her mouth came within a few millimeters of his red essence. In that moment, everything around AnnaBelle seemed to stop moving or cease being. The heat from his skin seemed warmer. The manly scent from his body smelled musky and intoxicating. Her tongue moved forward and with just the tip, her tongue lapped at the first drop. She flattened her tongue to his skin, and dragging it upwards, taking all evidence of the river away. Her mouth on his chest wall, over the wound, sucked lightly, and began a light and steady suction.

  AnnaBelle could feel the change in Iain. She felt like she really was drinking is his life’s essence. It seemed like a long time, but was actually only a few seconds when Iain’s hands threaded themselves through her hair. He pulled her away to look into her eyes. Without a word, Iain covered her mouth with his.

  AnnaBelle shoved her body forward in passionate desire, and a second later she felt the heat being generated between their two bodies. With her passion rising rapidly, she stopped thinking and worrying about anything but this moment, kissing Iain, and making love to him. Her hands lowered to unfasten his trousers. A second later, AnnaBelle felt Iain’s hands pulling the snap open on her jeans. Between the two of them shoving and kicking, they were quickly naked and lying on the sofa.

  AnnaBelle had one thigh lifted, with her calf resting along the sofa’s back. Iain was snuggled between her thighs, poised, and trying to resist the seductive wiggles and encouraging rubs AnnaBelle was giving him. He lifted his mouth from her long, wet nipple to gaze down at her face.

  “Insistent lady tonight, aren’t you?”

  AnnaBelle nodded and gave another seductive wiggle of her hips. “Call me demanding because I don’t think I’ve acted anything like the lady my mom tried to nurture and bring to adulthood.”

  Iain chuckled and nodded his head. “Very demanding, it seems. Are you in a race?” he asked quietly and then he pressed forward and pushed his cock only an inch or so into her eager body.

  “Maybe later I’ll race you to the bed. Right now, I want all of you inside me. Please don’t tease me, Iain. When you are deep inside of me, and there is that moment of waiting—“

  AnnaBelle’s eyes closed as she waited. She felt the stirring inside of her body. She pushed her hips upwards and Iain could resist her no more. He thrust the rest of the way into her body.

  “Yes… Iain!” AnnaBelle cried out a moment later. Seconds later her climax rushed through her body.

  Iain started thrusting himself quickly in and out of AnnaBelle’s body. AnnaBelle felt the stirring of an even deeper response from within her abdomen. As her second orgasmic release shot through her, even her toes curled. Her muscles contracted and began squeezing Iain’s cock. Hazily, as if on another plane, she realized that this was stronger and more potent than the previous times together. It was as if their blood joining, combined with the sexual joining, now linked them more deeply than ever possible.

  AnnaBelle watched Iain’s face, so intent and focused, that she lifted her head to kiss him. The movement, though small, tightened into the perfect muscular combination. A third climax started another deep convulsing of her muscles. AnnaBelle forced her eyes to stay open and watch Iain. She could see the moment Iain felt the new quivers and spasms around his cock. His control fell away and he groaned loudly. Over and over, AnnaBelle felt Iain thrusting deeply into her body.

  AnnaBelle closed her eyes as she felt his hot seed filling her womb. If this was going to be the rest of her life, even if it didn’t last long, she accepted it with open arms. She wrapped her arms and legs more tightly around him. Breathing in deeply, AnnaBelle sa
vored the sense and feelings that her womb was sucking him into her body. Suddenly a thought bubbled to the top of her consciousness.

  “Condoms?” Her voice came out as a squeak.

  Iain groaned and lowered his mouth to kiss AnnaBelle. “It’s safe, my love. Vampires don’t carry diseases, and the last woman I was intimate with was longer than my manliness wants to admit. And just to be safe, I did get tested when all this AIDS stuff hit the news.”

  “There is still the other thing…a baby.” AnnaBelle saw the sad look drift across his face.

  “It is very rare for a vampire to reproduce, even a dhampir.”

  He started to shift off her body when she suddenly tightened her inner muscles around his softening cock. He saw AnnaBelle was grinning at him.

  “Am I your donor now?”

  Iain shook his head. “I believe that I’ve been the one making the most donations lately. Let’s see—if we count this one, and work backwards…”

  AnnaBelle lightly slapped his shoulder. “Very funny, but that is not what I meant.”

  “I know what you meant, and once we find your uncle, sweetheart, I’ll begin explaining all of the intricacies.” Iain straightened his forearms, lifting himself free of her body. “I think we should adjourn to the bedroom, honey. Rolling off this sofa in the middle of the night wouldn’t be much fun.”

  AnnaBelle accepted the hand Iain held out to her. Standing, AnnaBelle started for the bedroom. Purposely swinging her naked bottom, she looked back over her shoulder. “I should imagine at your age, something might break.” She giggled at the glare Iain shot towards her.

  Iain’s eyes moved down her back and then up. “If you twitch that hot little butt at me one more time—“

  AnnaBelle jumped, shrieked loudly. “Eek! You wouldn’t dare!” She didn’t wait though, and a second later she ran into the bedroom. Crawling across the bed, she jumped under the covers. There was barely time to pull the blankets up over her head before Iain entered the room. A moment later the bed shifted, obviously from Iain. Still under the covers, AnnaBelle shrieked again when Iain appeared under the covers as well.