April’s heart gave one lurch, as if trying to leap out of her mouth, and began a loud, thundering rhythm to rival the band’s. Now was the time to do what she did best -- run away.
Turn your back, don’t look. Don’t spoil this night. Go on to the bar, drink, dance, forget…
For a moment, she stood quite still among the heaving throngs, allowing herself to be nudged to one side or the other as the dancers buffeted her. She licked her suddenly dry lips and swallowed convulsively. The beat of her heart was deafening, yet so erratic it interfered with her breathing.
Slowly, she made her way toward the pillar.
Chapter Four
Flaring light from the braziers, which hung on chains from the high ceiling, cast grotesque shadows across the faces of the dancers she brushed past. April barely noticed them.
Beyond the pillar was an empty space. It was too much in the shadows and you couldn’t see the band from this side of the huge room. And it was directly under the mezzanine catwalk from where the more predatory types eyed up their prospective partners. As privacy went in the club, behind that particular pillar was probably as good as it got.
April squeezed out of the crowd into the dark space beyond. Now she stood outside the comfort zone of the dancers, she felt curiously aloof from them. Even the music seemed to be coming from another place.
Max held a woman in his arms, a tall, gorgeous brunette, whose head was thrown back against Max’s leather clad arm, her eyes closed, her mouth wide open in ecstasy. Or pain. Max’s face was lost in her neck. But April knew him, and not by the coat, or even by his non-scent. By the shape of his tall, lithe body, by his posture, by the way his hips pressed the girl back into the pillar as he fed from her. April recognized all of that because she had known it herself.
It came to April slowly that the powerful rush of emotion overwhelming her was not fear or anger or outrage. It was jealousy.
How had it come to this? One brief knee trembler -- albeit a staggeringly good one -- and she actually wanted this depraved creature to bite her? To kill her?
Now she wished she’d run away. And now she fully intended to -- only the vampire lifted his handsome head and looked directly at her. His eyes blazed with the passion she remembered. April felt sick. What had she imagined? That she was somehow different for him? That he had actually regarded her as more than a meal? And a means of annoying Will.
The vampire licked a spot of blood off his upper lip and smiled. She hated that smile because it made her heart lurch again and set off butterfly dances in her stomach. In spite of everything, she felt herself grow wet for him.
Slowly, he released his latest victim and let her slither to the floor. Numbly watching her fall, April’s eye came to rest instead on the vampire’s crotch. His jeans were still fastened.
“Don’t you fuck all your food?” she enquired.
“Only the most enticing morsels.”
Unhurriedly, he came toward her. April pushed past him and knelt by the woman on the floor. Her pulse fluttered a little erratically, but she was still alive. With unsteady hands, April turned the girl’s head and saw the tiny marks in her neck. It wasn’t exactly ripping the throat from his victims.
“Just the way she likes it,” the vampire observed.
“What? She asked for this?” April said sarcastically.
“Actually, yes. Haven’t you been here before?”
She had heard that this sort of thing went on here, yet somehow she had cocooned herself from it. There were even people whose job it was to match up partners. She herself had been approached once because a man wanted a pretty bed-partner with the stamina of a werewolf. She had laughed it off.
“She paid you to bite her neck?”
“If you like. I get her blood, she gets to live -- along with the gratification, the thrill, whatever it does for her. A lot of people like it.”
“A lot of people are sick,” April said firmly, rising to her feet.
Max stayed where he was, though his eyes devoured her. He said, “That’s funny. I had the impression you rather liked it too.”
April laughed deliberately, and waited until his gaze came back to her eyes before she said, “No, Max, it was the fucking I liked.”
Something leapt in his eye that made her fiercely glad. He said, “Would you care for some more?”
It was hard, but she held his gaze, keeping her own cool and amused. “With you, Max? Hardly. You don’t have the sexual stamina I need. I’m a lupi.” And turning her back, she walked away from him, back into the soothing, anonymous sea of weaving bodies.
* * *
An hour and two untouched drinks later -- the smell made her feel sick -- she had almost forgotten about him. There was a certain desperation in her dancing, a hectic determination in her enjoyment of the club, but it worked. In a constant state of semi-arousal -- helped, it must be admitted by her sighting of the vampire -- she danced like a demon, drifting from man to man, happy to wrap her body around theirs, to feel their hard erections through her clothes, let them run their hands over her body as she danced, and then to move on to the next. If she still searched for a bed-partner, she had forgotten. The aim now was only to obliterate Max, whom she had just deliberately offended to the point of no return. Men forgave any insult, she had discovered, except those aimed at their sexual prowess.
Her current partner had a grip on her hips and seemed more concerned with grinding his erection into them than with the music. Bored by this, April covered his hands with hers and removed them. He seemed startled by her strength. April laughed, lifted her arms high and danced away from him in search of a new partner. The man ahead with the tattoos -- he moved like a sexy cat…
Before she got there, arms slid around her from behind, hands closed lightly over her breasts. A man’s erection nudged against her bottom. Smiling, April turned her head to see who her new partner was -- and looked into the dark, gleaming eyes of the vampire.
“Dance with me now,” he whispered in her ear.
“What’s the matter, Max? Run out of willing victims?” And yet she made no effort to remove his hands. Her pebbly nipples grew even harder under his touch. They actually ached for his caress.
“How much blood do you think one vampire can take?”
“Lots. Lots and lots.” She was babbling. For behind her, his hips had begun to sway, moving her body with them in a slow, sensual dance. His hands moved too, softly skimming his palms across her nipples, caressing around them in beguiling, maddening circles through the thin fabric of her dress. Without meaning to, she let her head fall back against his shoulder. She danced with him, gyrating her body in the leisurely rhythm he’d begun, pressing back with her hips to feel the full length and breadth of his hard cock on her buttocks.
His lips kissed her ear. His teeth nibbled her lobe. Her eyes closed as she began to lose herself in this sensual world. The movement of his clothed body was intoxicating, his tender, clever fingers wickedly arousing. One of his hands swept down from her breast, across her waist and taut flat stomach, coming to rest over her pubic bone. Instinctively, she pressed upward into his hand, emitting a small, grateful moan.
He whispered, “Come with me. Let’s do it slowly this time.”
“Are we talking feeding or fucking?” she managed.
“You can choose. We have the whole night.”
“I thought I wasn’t good enough prey for you to take to your lair for pleasure.” Annoyingly, she couldn’t keep the pique out of her voice, but Max swiftly distracted her by gliding his hand downward between her parted legs and dragging it slowly back up to its previous position. April gasped aloud.
“I don’t want to take you. I want you to come. And then I want you to come.”
A breathless laugh escaped her. “Do you think I’m mad?”
“Only for this. As I am.”
“For what?”
“This.” The hand still on her breast moved aside and slipped between their bodies. His coat fell for
ward around her sides. She felt his knuckles on her back, on the softness of her bottom as he unbuttoned his trousers. Understanding what he intended, she gasped out. She meant to object, to point out that she wouldn’t do this here, even with his long, enveloping coat to hide the mechanics of the act… and yet no words came out, only a weak moan of desire as the back of her dress rucked up and she felt the heat of his hard, ribbed cock against her flesh.
“Here?” she got out. She shouldn’t do this, not again…
“Here,” he agreed. “First. After all, it’s why you come to this place. For the thrill. Sexual thrill.”
She couldn’t deny it. There was freedom here. No one cared what you did on the dance floor. She had seen couples screwing here before and wondered vaguely what it would be like. Although, of course, it wasn’t what she did… was it? Only the preliminaries should be gone through here…
Except Max didn’t appear to agree. His cock nuzzled between her legs, seeking her entrance, and she was too weak with desire to stop him. In fact, as it rubbed against her clitoris and she gasped aloud again, she thought she’d probably punch anyone who tried to stop him.
Standing on tiptoe, she parted her legs further. His hand tightened on her pubic bone, lifting her. His other hand returned to her breast, fully closing, and his huge cock slid home, sheathing itself in her hot, soaking pussy.
April moaned aloud, reaching behind her, winding her arm around his neck while she watched his fingers fondle her breast through the white dress, the prominent outline of her nipple peaked for his delectation. She wanted his touch on her naked skin… later, oh yes later, but this now, this was… incredible!
“You’re forgetting to dance,” he whispered, swaying his hips and making her gasp with fresh sensation. April danced. Every small movement brought blinding pleasure from his cock within her while his hands continued to work their magic on her breast and between her legs, subtly teasing and sliding over the fabric of her dress. And all the time, the music blared on, its heavy, thumping rhythm vibrating through the floors adding to the wild, glorious experience.
The vampire’s lips kissed her cheek. His mouth slid down to her neck and closed over the beating vein he had invaded before. If preventing him biting her would stop him fucking her too, she couldn’t do it. His mouth on her throat was delicious. Her head didn’t want this, but her body did. She wanted to feel again that terrible push and pull of his feeding and fucking, while the pleasure tore her apart. But he didn’t bite her. His mouth clung, she felt his tongue and teeth. But he didn’t bite.
Inside her, his cock stroked, and his hips, his hard abdomen thrust into the yielding flesh of her buttocks. April came slowly, shuddering and trembling with bliss, completely helpless in the throes of an orgasm that went on and on while they danced.
As the world began slowly to right itself, April realized he hadn’t come. She felt his cock withdraw and heard her own tiny mewling sound of displeasure. He smiled into her neck and lifted his head a little. She twisted around until their eyes met and the blazing heat in his overwhelmed her.
She managed to say, “Is this the bit where you run away?”
The vampire kissed her mouth long and thoroughly, reaching into every tiny corner with his tongue, caressing with his teeth. “No,” he said hoarsely, when the suction broke. “This is the bit where you come with me, and I take this sexy, maddening little dress off your tantalizing body and make love to you. For a long, long time.”
* * *
The bouncer at first looked disappointed when he saw her leaving with another man. He handed her back her knife and sling in a resigned sort of a way, while his hostile gaze switched to the vampire.
Startled, he glanced straight back at April. Unexpectedly, he caught her arm, vehemently shaking his head.
“What?” April asked, as if amused. But she knew. He was warning her about Max. For the first time, she wondered if he knew what she was, and if it would make any difference to him. Usually, it made a difference.
Max preceded her down the rickety steps. In a detached sort of a way, April realized she could probably damage him from this position, if not kill him. Stab him from behind…
Was it really possible to kill vampires? Right now, she neither knew nor cared. Bemused with sexual pleasure and the excited anticipation of even more to come, she could no more attack him than herself.
A shadowy woman glided up the steps toward them. In the flaring light of a nearby fire, April caught a glimpse of very long, dark hair and a gaunt yet strikingly beautiful face, long, shapely legs encased in some dark, clinging all-in-one garment.
Her eyes flickered over both of them without much interest.
“Max,” she murmured on the way past.
“Katia,” he returned.
In an upsurge of stupid jealousy, April tried to catch the woman’s scent and met -- nothing, except some faint echo of the tingling sensation she associated with Max. Understanding prickled.
“Is she…?”
“Yes,” said Max, turning at the foot of the stairs and reaching for her. “She is.”
In the city, especially at night, you kept both arms free to deal with attack. Max put one arm around her inside the shawl, thus hampering both of them. But then, who would attack a vampire? Except through an ignorance that was liable to be fatal.
Picking her way through the churned up stones and rubbish, April said, “So why are you doing this, Max? Did my jibe rankle that much?”
Max’s lips twisted. “Vampires are not known for sexual stamina,” he confessed.
“Why not?” she asked curiously. Somehow, she couldn’t imagine being disappointed in him. His very presence was deeply sexual.
Max shrugged. “Too interested in the blood. It’s a handicap, though hardly an insurmountable one in the right circumstances.”
“And what are those?”
“Wanting it enough.”
She flicked a glance up at him, but it was too dark to make out his expression. “Do you?” she blurted. She stopped, reaching up to seize him by the shoulders. “Do you want it enough, Max? Without the blood?”
Grasping her buttocks, he pulled her hard against his rigid cock. “With and without. All ways, any way,” he growled and delved into her mouth. Everything in April leapt to meet him. With new excitement, she found his incisors with her tongue, and licked them experimentally. Sucking on one and then the other, she felt ready to explode again. The vampire began to walk forward, still kissing her.
She didn’t notice the way he took. She had become totally absorbed in him and it made no difference that she knew it was the most foolish thing she’d ever done in her life. Right now, it was worth the risk, worth even death.
The vampire lived in one of the rare tall buildings still standing. It had no windows left that she could see, and some of its walls were completely open to the elements, but somewhere in here, he had made his lair. Through the outer door, the building was a mess. The walls had been hacked and burned and painted on. From the first floor, there seemed to be no more stairs, though some dangled precariously over the open stairwell, banister and all.
April shivered. Somehow, she had imagined Max would live in more comfort. More like her father than like Will.
Max didn’t speak, just caught her in one arm and ran with her up the first flight of stairs, after which he didn’t seem to stop, just leapt upwards through the air to the dangling step in the middle, which he used as a springboard for another jump. Numb with surprise, April lay passive in his arm. There was a bump as he found some sort of foothold in the wall, and then they were soaring again, coming in to land, finally, on the very top floor. Here, there was a closed door. Releasing her, Max opened it, and ironically bowed April inside.
Chapter Five
It wasn’t a big flat, but she had been right about the comfort. There were old, soft carpets on the floor, better ones than her father possessed, and paintings on the wall -- dark, rather beautiful paintings that she needed time to
look at.
He appeared to live in one room, a spacious apartment with windows all along one wall -- glazed windows.
“Too high up to get broken?” she hazarded as he moved around the room lighting candles against the gloom.
“No. I replaced them twenty years ago when I discovered this glass.”
Startled, her gaze flew back to him. In appearance, he looked no more than thirty. He stood very still, watching her take in his person and his home. “Twenty years? How old are you, Max?”
He shrugged. “How long is a piece of string?”
She caught her breath. “Do you remember the war, Max?”
“Yes,” he said indifferently.
“So you weren’t born a vampire? Your parents weren’t vampires? You just -- changed?”
“As you say. Though there didn’t seem much ‘just’ about it at the time -- a lot of illness and rage and unquenchable hunger. Some die during the change.” Abruptly, he began to walk across to the window, his back to her.
“Is it -- is it the blood that keeps you young like this?”
“I have to suppose so. It’s all I can stomach, and if I don’t take it, I weaken fast.”
April sank down onto the big, soft sofa. For the first time, she caught a glimpse of his self-hate, a contempt for what he had become, and yet she herself felt no loathing, only compassion -- and curiosity. He’d lived a long life already, a full and painful one. There were massive, hidden depths to him, depths she had unconsciously sensed on their first meeting without understanding.
Questions bombarded her so fast she didn’t know which to ask first. What came out was: “What did you do in the war?”
Turning back to her, his lips twisted. “Do you mean, was I a brave warrior in the service of my country? Yes, there’s an alien concept for you -- country. It’s where we all used to live.”
Loving the Vampire Page 4