A Vampire's Thirst : Markus

by Solease M Barner

  She lay in bed, wondering what to do next about the vampire. Now that she’d told him her name, she had a feeling he’d be back; not because of his name, but because of the way his eyes had roamed her body. He was not telling her the truth about something, though; she was sure of it.

  She finally managed to fall asleep, and dreamed of Markus Black the vampire.

  She was up and in the kitchen before her aunts, and set to work making eggs, sausage gravy and biscuits with hash browns. Her mind kept going back to Markus saying The Directive was looking for them as well. She knew her aunts meant well, but she was not going to let them sacrifice their lives. If it was true that The Directive was searching for them, she would part ways with them.

  “Rachel Lynn, are you in here cooking us breakfast?” Paula walked in and poured herself some coffee.

  “Yes, ma’am! You and Maxine are the best aunts in the world, and cooking you breakfast is the least I can do.”

  Maxine walked in and gave her a kiss on the cheek, then poured herself coffee as well.

  Once breakfast was ready, they all sat at the table together, talking about their home in Mississippi. Though Chicago was not a bad place, it was not home, and they all desperately missed being home.

  “It’s a lot of work using protective spells and cloaking when you are not in your home with all of the supplies,” Maxine complained.

  “We do miss home, but nothing is more important than protecting you, Rachel,” Paula said.

  She couldn’t help wondering what her aunts would be doing if they weren’t on the run with her. Probably living their life, she thought. If only she could solve this issue, she would run, and hope her aunts would go home. Besides, she thought they drew attention to themselves, as they always wanted nice places to stay, eat and have fun. She knew that maybe doing something different could save her, and parting from her aunts could push them home.

  “You know, I’m tired of running. I was thinking, maybe instead of being on the defense we need to be on the offense.” She looked at her aunts, challengingly.

  “Rachel, we have not been idle. Some of the reason the covens are coming after us is because Paula and I made sure to leave a few of the sisters unable to spell or search.” Maxine spoke with pride, as if she were not talking about having harmed coven sisters.

  She looked at both her aunts, surprised that they hadn’t thought to share that information with her. After all, she was the one everyone wanted, including The Directive. But was The Directive really involved? She was taking the word of a vampire who had tried to trick her out of her home. Knowing that he was a predator by nature, she had to consider that he probably wanted to feed from her. But why her?

  “I’m the luckiest person in the world to have two people who love me so much they are risking everything to make sure I have a life. I love you both.” Her words didn’t even go near it, she thought. There were no words to say how much she appreciated these two women.

  “We’d never let down our sister’s only child,” Paula said, with tears in her eyes. “It still pains us that her life was cut short, but we’ll both stand up to anything or anyone who tries to harm you.”

  “Enough of the heavy talk, what are we going to do while we are here?”

  “Are we talking about leaving the house?” asked Rachel, excited. “If we can do that, I say let’s go to the market, get a few things and enjoy being outdoors.” She was full of excitement and anticipation at the thought of not being cooped up. Although she could in theory walk around freely without anyone’s permission, out of respect she’d been following their rules. Now, even the idea of The Directive looking for her didn’t make her want to hide; instead, she wanted to stand up against the powers who were trying to overtake her. She wanted to reclaim the life she’d been putting on hold.

  “Going out in public is always a danger,” Paula said, “but with all three of us together, we could escape if anything happened.” She looked over at Maxine, clearly hoping to convince her stubborn sister.

  Maxine sighed. “Fine. We’ll go to the market, but if shit goes down, remember this was not my idea. I would have been fine just having lunch and watching a couple of movies.”

  “Great, I’ll go and get ready!”

  As she left the room, she caught sight of Paula and Maxine mouthing something to each other. She shrugged it off, sure nothing would happen. After all, it was daylight, and the vampire would be somewhere sleeping. He was the only one who had come close to taking her. There was nothing to worry about.

  They walked out the door, all smiles and excited about going to the market. She couldn’t wait to pick up some things she had been missing.

  “Rachel, it’s best if we stick together at the market,” Paula reminded her, for the fourth time.

  She nodded in agreement.

  They took the elevated train to the market in Greek town. Even though this was a simple thing that everyone did, she reveled in the short train ride, relishing the comfort of the ordinary.

  Rachel was almost twenty-six years old, and most of the time since her twenty-fifth birthday had been spent living in fear. Now, as the sunlit houses and shops flashed past, she decided she was not going to live like that any longer.

  Once they arrived at the market she smiled to herself, enjoying the sight of all the people moving about. The sun was shining brightly, so there was no chance of running into Markus Black.

  They stopped at a basket-weaving stand.

  “Maxine,” said Paula, running her hands over a basket, “these baskets would be great for decoration, and we could use them to store all sorts of items.”

  “Well go ahead and get some, then. I’m looking for the honey stand, and some herbal teas,” Maxine replied, looking around.

  Rachel smiled to see her aunts enjoying the time they had out of the home. Being at the outdoor market reminded her of the time before she and her aunts had had to go on the run.

  Her aunts were so happy that they didn’t notice her slipping away to visit a stall selling silk scarves. She enjoyed the feel of them on her hand, but decided against buying any. She was enjoying just being out of the house; it was not about buying anything.

  “You know you want to get one, go on, Rach, I’ll get you one,” Paula coaxed.

  “I’m okay,” she replied, sliding her arm through her aunt’s. “Thanks, but I want to walk around a bit more before I start spending.”

  After walking around and browsing for about an hour, they stopped in the coffee area and took a seat.

  “My damn feet,” Maxine said, pulling off her shoe and crossing her leg to rub her foot. “I should have worn my other shoes.”

  “Aunt Max, we can sit here as long as you want,” Rachel said.

  After coffee, they stopped at a few more tables. Rachel’s mind couldn’t help returning to the vampire.

  For once relaxed, she walked over to a fruit stand. They had passionfruit; it was one of her favorites.

  “How much for the passionfruit, sir?” she asked the young vendor. She looked round for her aunts, but they were only at the next stand. She turned back to the vendor, expecting a reply, but he was just standing there grinning at her.

  “Let’s keep looking like we’re talking about the fruit,” he said. “I’m here as a favor to Markus Black.”

  Her first inclination was to run, but then she remembered that she had decided to stop running and let the chips fall wherever they landed. Her gaze darted to her aunts, who were engrossed in a conversation about grapefruit.

  “What do you want?” she whispered to the man.

  “I’m here to pass you a phone. Nothing more.” He was looking everywhere but at her, his eyes roaming over the crowded market.

  “I don’t want it,” she whispered back. As she turned away, he spoke again.

  “He’s on the phone right now, Miss. If I don’t get this phone to you I’m going to be in trouble.” Against her better judgment, she took a deep breath and accepted the phone.

&nb
sp; “Okay, can I get two passionfruits, Sir,” she said loudly, hoping her aunts hadn’t noticed the weird exchange she was having with the strange boy.

  “Of course,” he replied.

  The young man bagged up the passionfruit and slipped a flip phone into the bag as well.

  She took the bag, wishing she could put the phone to her ear right away, but she couldn’t; her aunts were waiting for her to go to another stand. She smiled, and walked with them until they found a stand with cheese nachos.

  “I’m going to sit on the bench right behind you and eat my fruit,” she said. Her aunts hesitated, but then nodded okay.

  Once she was seated, she connected the phone to her ear buds and dropped it into her pocket.

  “Hello, are you there?” she asked.

  “I’m glad you’re out getting some fresh air, Rachel.” The sound of his voice sent chills down her back, but in a good way. She smiled, loving the feeling of walking on the edge.

  “You know this is considered stalking, Mr. Black.” She waved at her aunts, who had turned around to check on her.

  “Rachel, I know your aunts mean well, but I’ve been doing some research, and no one will be able to protect you like I can.”

  “I think you’re full of yourself,” she snapped. “Let’s be clear on this: I’m more powerful than you think. I can protect myself.”

  “Rachel, I’ll protect you, but I need you to agree to meet me tonight, do you think you can?”

  She stared at her aunts, thinking. She knew it was not smart to meet with a vampire at night, or any time, for that matter. Then she thought about all the trouble he was going through to get her attention. It had to be about more than just blood. Besides, if he tried anything, she could protect herself, just like she had when the coven tried to grab her.

  “Markus, why do you want to meet with me? I think talking over the phone is much safer.”

  “I know you have no reason to trust me, but I need to show you something, and once I do, you’ll understand the importance of our being together.”

  She took a deep breath and remembered that, regardless of how much she was enjoying the attention, vampires always had their bloodlust. The Directive might’ve forbidden them to kill, but some vampires did step out of line, like that Von guy that time. She couldn’t be sure that Markus wouldn’t attack her. So she did what her aunts had taught her to do. She lied.

  “I’ll meet you, but only for a few minutes, then I’m going back home, and if you try anything I’ll rip your heart out.” She meant what she was saying, and hoped he believed it too.

  She was not sure if she would go, but he needed to know that she was no weak witch. Her aunts started walking toward her and she ended the call, not wanting them to become suspicious.

  “We should get going, Rachel. Did you have a good time?” Paula asked.

  “Yes, I did! This was a great market, there was a lot more here than I expected.”

  All the way home on the train, she thought about what she would do about tonight.

  Chapter Six

  Markus was delighted Rachel had accepted the phone and spoken with him. He had got an instant hard-on when she agreed to meet him later. The first part of his plan successfully executed, he closed his eyes to take some rest.

  When he received the first call, she had been leaving the house, and though he knew he should be resting, he just had to speak with her. Now that he’d gotten the wheels going, he could focus on getting his thirst under control for when he met her.

  Then he remembered he hadn’t given her a location for their meeting. Even though he needed to rest, he couldn’t sleep without taking care of that. He quickly dialed the number to reach her.

  “Hello?” Her voice was soft and sexy.

  He automatically wrapped his hand around his cock, and began stroking it slowly.

  “I forgot to give you the meet-up location,” he said as his voice got deeper. His eyes were closed, his mouth slightly open; he was enjoying the sound of her voice as a cat savors a scent.

  “Markus, where is it?” she asked, frustration in her voice.

  He sucked in as much air as he could, trying to hold his moan inside. He couldn’t help but imagine her lips going up and down his shaft. He clenched his teeth while the thirst drove his desire for her a higher level.

  “Lincoln Park is the place, baby, meet me by the Lincoln statue, it’s on West La Salle Drive. I can’t wait to see you.”

  He could feel his climax coming; all he needed was to hear her voice again.

  “I’ll be there, Markus,” she whispered, “but it better not be a trap.” He heard her sigh, and his hand moved faster, up and down, flicking a finger over the slickness of his glans, squeezing with voluptuous abandon.

  It was only seconds before he was coming all over himself, loudly breathing out his total satisfaction.

  “It’s no trap, I promise,” he panted. “I’m going to protect you, not harm you.”

  She disconnected the call. He wiped his hand and leg with the edge of the sheet, closed his eyes and sank into a grateful sleep.

  It was the perfect night, and nothing was going to stand in his way. He was dressed in his sharpest tailored suit for his meeting with Rachel. He had thought of everything, including the possibility that she might not show.

  “Are you going to tell her about the blood-mate thing, or do you think it will be better to lead her on?” Floyd asked.

  He and Floyd had been doing research almost around the clock, even having Ida Grace find them books that dealt with this rare situation. Once he was convinced about blood-mates, after reading up on the thirst and how it related to finding one’s blood-mate, he had been sure Rachel could stop the thirst. Even though he would have liked to take her to bed, would have liked it very, very much, being mated was not something he would be excited about.

  “All I know is, when I was at her home, my body bowed to her scent. The Thirst wants her and my cock stays hard near her. Rachel is leaving with me tonight.”

  “Your body bowed, damn! That’s never happened to me. Sooo… have you thought how good the sex is going to be?

  “Not really. My focus has been on the thirst, and how it’s driving me insane.”

  “The thirst subsides when you get laid and drink your mate’s scarlet liquor. That’s what it said in the book. I can’t believe you’ve not thought about how good it will feel when you fuck her.”

  “Speak of her like that again, and I’ll cut your tongue into tiny pieces.” His words were cold and his tone colder. Floyd never had any respect for anyone or anything, and it was part of his charm, but he didn’t like hearing him talk about Rachel this way, as if she were only there to provide sex and blood for him. He didn’t want it to be like that between them.

  “Really? Now you want to hurt the only one helping you? Shit! I know I, for one, can’t wait for you to bed that witch. You might get your sense of humor back.”

  “FLOYD!”

  “Yeah, yeah, I know, you’re going to rip my tongue off.”

  Floyd had stocked the fridge with human food for Rachel. He needed to keep her safe, and though she’d only be here a day, it was important. He couldn’t keep her in his place for long; Vivien had been lurking around, and he knew she would have reported back to Clarence.

  Lincoln Park was quiet now, its midnight trees still and silent. Without the daytime crowds of office workers and children it was cool and dim, and Markus felt a little of his tension ease as he breathed its green-scented air. He walked slowly down the avenue to the monument where Rachel was to meet him. It was a little past midnight, and he stood still, listening for sounds and smells that would alert him to her presence.

  It was not Rachel he heard, though, but Vivien. She had sneaked up on him!

  “Mr. Black, I’m surprised to find you in the park, but it’s most opportune.”

  He looked at her, wishing she would go away at that moment. If she smelled Rachel coming into the park, he would have no choic
e but to fight for her. He was not going to let a ruthless bitch like Vivien have one drop of her blood.

  “What’s so great about it?”

  He hadn’t expected her to appear in the same park where he had told Rachel to meet him, and this made him wonder if there was some kind of link he wasn’t aware of.

  “Now, Markus, if I wasn’t in such a good mood I might take offense at your rude question, but I’ll overlook it.” Despite the sweetness of her words and tone, she was glaring at him.

  He couldn’t bring himself to apologize, so he just stood there, waiting to be told why she was there. He laced his hands together behind his back, to restrain his impulse to attack her.

  “Let’s go sit down. Clarence should be arriving in a few minutes.” She walked to a bench a few feet away. She looked over her shoulder to make sure he was following her, and he reluctantly obeyed, wishing he were anywhere else.

  “Markus, I’m here to help you. A few things have come to our attention.” She was not making any sense right now.

  Then the Motherfucking Asshole came walking down the path. Clarence Collins was a badass vampire who was the lead operative on The Directive’s investigations. He investigated all supers: vampires, wolf-shifters, dragons and more. He was an old vampire, who knew how to dish out justice. He enjoyed being the fucker supers hated to see coming, and that, more than anything, pissed Markus off about him. He was nothing to get excited about, in Markus’ view - tall, slim build, brown hair and eyes. Meh. Markus didn’t like being around him, and in fact, if he never had to encounter him again he would have been overjoyed. And he was quite sure the feeling went both ways; Clarence was definitely no fan of his. If he was here, it was more than just the covens looking for a witch. He knew Vivien could have handled that without a mishap, and without assistance from the Motherfucker.