by Joshua King
“Then we better start looking for her,” I said.
“I’ll text your phone if I see her, or if she tries to pass through the portal,” Ty offered.
“Thanks,” Ashe said. She looked at me. “Come on.”
“Happy searching,” Ty said to me with a dark glint in his eye.
Ashe and I started back through the basement toward the stairs up into Solomon’s.
“You know,” I said. “I don’t think that dude likes me.”
“Tybalt doesn’t like anyone new,” she said. “Let’s just hope we find Aurora in enough time that you’ll get a chance to change his mind.”
6
Ashe didn’t hesitate as we made our way into the bar. She made a beeline for the front door, but I hesitated slightly. I still didn’t know exactly what time it was, but I was vaguely aware it was daytime. Every piece of vampire lore I’d ever heard told me that sunlight was lethal.
I assumed Ashe was aware of the time, but I didn’t relish the idea of following her out on to the sidewalk and watching her burst into flames in front of me. I was also shaky on just how much of a vampire I was at the moment. I knew a large part of me was still human, but how much? How would the part of me that had already changed react to the sun?
Ashe was almost at the door when she noticed I wasn’t following her anymore. She stopped and turned to look at me. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s still daytime, right?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she said. “Like I said, you slept most of the day, but it’s still afternoon. Why?”
“Is it sunny?”
“I guess,” she said. “Why? Do you have a thing for sunscreen? Need to protect yourself from the UV rays?”
“I mean… shouldn’t I?” I asked.
“Oh,” she said, seeming to realize what I was getting at. “You think we’re going to go crispy if we go out in the sunlight, don’t you?”
I shrugged. “At least you, anyway. I don’t know if still having some human in me provides a guard against that or not.”
Ashe laughed. It wasn’t a taunting laugh but something genuine. The sound made me want her even more. She definitely hadn’t been kidding when she said my desire for sex was going to get stronger.
“That’s all fiction, Hayden,” she said. “Just stories. The sunlight isn’t going to bother you, I promise. I’m even known to do a little sunbathing every now and then.” Her long lashes lowered as she gave me another smoldering look. “I’m particularly fond of the nude beaches.”
That was enough to get me following her again. She slipped out of the building, and I went right after her. The sunlight was a stark contrast to the dim environment of the bar, but I was relieved when it just felt warm and comforting, rather than violent and burning. Ashe smiled at me from a few feet away. The sun made her red hair even brighter and brought out the creaminess of her skin even more. She had decidedly not burst into flames. I took that as a victory.
“Nice day,” I said.
Ashe nodded. “You don’t have to be afraid of wooden stakes, either, by the way.”
“Really?” I asked.
“Getting stabbed in the heart by one is enough to piss you off, but it’s not going to kill you.”
“Has that happened to you?” I asked.
She shuddered. “A few more times than I find amusing,” she said. “People will try all kinds of ridiculous things when they think they’re going to kill a vampire.”
“Let me guess. Those encounters didn’t end well for them?” She just flashed me a look, and I knew the answer. “So, what do we do now? Where do we start looking for Aurora?”
“The first thing we need to do is not look for Aurora,” Ashe said.
“Isn’t that kind of counterproductive to finding her?” I asked.
“Yes, we need to find her, but what I’m saying is you aren’t in any condition right now to be looking for her. You need to get freshened up. And aren’t you hungry?”
My stomach grumbled, answering for me. “Maybe. Wait. What am I going to eat?”
I was thinking about the row of various vaguely ethnic fast food restaurants a few blocks over in a much different way than I usually did, and I was feeling a bit queasy.
“Whatever you want, I guess,” Ashe said. “The part of you that’s still human needs food, and it will for a while. Didn’t you wonder why there’s a menu at a vampire bar?”
“You said it yourself. That bar exists in both the real world and the Underworld. I figured it was probably for the patrons who don’t end the night with puncture holes in their thigh as a souvenir of being picked up buy a ravenous woman.”
“Well, yes. Them. But also for those in the process. Makes it easier on them. But it’s really only convenient if the person knows where to find the one who bit them. Where do you live?”
“Not too far from here,” I said.
“Good,” Ashe said. “Let’s go to your place. You can order some delivery, take a shower, and get into a change of clothes. I promise you’ll feel better after.”
I nodded, and I led her in the direction of my apartment. We could probably have grabbed a cab or waited for a bus, but I didn’t want to deal with it. I looked better than I had in years, and even with the brain fog still lingering, I felt good. I told myself I just wanted to be able to talk to Ashe without a nosey cab driver or fellow passenger listening in. In the back of my mind, though, I knew I really just wanted to strut.
We’d only gone a few blocks when that idea kicked me right in the ass. I started feeling weaker, and the drugged feeling got worse until I felt like I could barely process what was going on around me. Needing a break, I stepped into an alley and leaned back against the cool brick of the wall.
“You okay?” Ashe asked.
I shook my head. “I feel awful. This sucks.”
“I know,” she said, leaning against the wall beside me.
“You do?” I asked.
Ashe looked at me sideways. “Do you think I was born a vampire?” she asked, then laughed. “No. Not even close. I was changed just like you were.” She paused. “Well, maybe not just like you were.”
“What happened to you?” I asked.
She shook her head. “The details don’t matter. But I do remember what you’re going through. The process isn’t easy. But it gets better when it’s over.”
“Is that the only option?” I asked.
Her eyes narrowed slightly. “What do you mean?”
“It getting better when it’s over,” I said. “Is the only option going through the whole change? There’s no way I can just stay like I am and not go all the way through the turn?”
Ashe looked around, then glanced at her phone before shoving it into the pocket of her tight jeans. “Come on,” she said. “We need to keep moving. We can get a ride if you don’t think you can keep walking.”
I nodded, and we walked out onto the sidewalk again. It could be difficult to get a cab in the middle of the day, but all Ashe had to do was throw a hand up, and a cab skidded to a stop beside us. To be honest, she probably didn’t have to wave at all. Her ass in those jeans and the cleavage spilling out of her shirt could have hailed the ride all by themselves. I gave the driver my address, and we started across town.
“Yes,” she said after a few blocks.
“Yes?” I asked, barely remembering the question.
“Going through the process is the only option,” she said. “Other than dying, of course. If you don’t want to go that route, the only thing you can do is finish the turn.”
I looked at the back of the driver’s head in front of us. He had barely paid any attention to us since we got into the back of the car, not even glancing into the rearview mirror at us. I’d lived in New York long enough to know that didn’t mean he wasn’t listening. In fact, him putting so much effort into keeping his eyes in front of him gave it away that he was probably taking note of every word we said.
As a test, I stayed quiet for a few seconds while watc
hing him. There it was. He leaned back slightly, his ear almost twitching as he strained to hear the rest of the conversation.
Ashe and I made eye contact. She didn’t seem bothered by the idea of this man listening to us. She probably just assumed he’d think we were crazy if he did hear us. It was a safe assumption. I would have been the same way less than two days before. Even so, I didn’t want to keep talking. I wasn’t ready to let my vamp flag fly just yet.
I stayed silent for the rest of the ride. As we rode the elevator up to my apartment, I looked at Ashe again. “What’s it like?”
“What’s what like?” she asked.
“Being a vampire,” I said.
Ashe seemed to think about my question for a moment. “It’s not all that different.” She laughed. “Except for not having to worry about dying anymore and never being able to get enough sex.”
She laughed again and then grabbed my face with both hands, pulling me in for a kiss. The taste of her was electrifying, and I instantly wanted more. I reached for her, but Ashe flattened her hands on my chest and pushed me back.
“Not yet,” she said. “You need to get cleaned up and get something to eat. We’ve still got a lot of work to do, and I’m not using up the last of your strength.”
I unlocked my apartment door and ushered her in. Walking into the kitchen, I grabbed the handful of delivery menus from the drawer under the microwave.
“Want anything?” I asked.
“Not unless you’re going to hold down the delivery person for me,” Ashe said.
I wanted to laugh, but I knew that she wasn’t joking. “I’ll just get a pizza,” I said.
“Well, that isn’t predictable at all,” she said.
I knew she was right. Truth was, I didn’t really have a craving for pizza. I was just hoping one of the guys I used to work with would show up and see how good I looked. Maybe catch a glimpse of Ashe. I didn’t know what being a vampire entailed, but something told me I wasn’t going to be slinging pies anymore.
I knew I was hungry, but I hadn’t realized how completely ravenous I was until the pizza got there. I downed almost the whole thing within minutes after it arrived, barely even tasting it. Eating made me feel stronger, but it also made me aware of how grimy I felt.
“I’m going to grab a shower,” I said. Ashe nodded. “Make yourself at home.” I took a few steps toward the bedroom, then looked back at her. “Unless you want to join me.”
“Persistent, aren’t you?” she asked.
I shrugged and shuffled into the bedroom. Tossing my clothes aside, I went into the bathroom and turned on the shower full blast. When the room filled with steam, I stepped into the searing water. It immediately hit the punctures in my thigh, and I hissed with the pain. Turning my bite mark away from the water, I did my best to get clean without getting anything else into the wound.
I’d gotten a good chance to check myself out when I was in the room when I first woke up, but this was a better opportunity. As I washed, I admired the muscles that had reappeared and the tautness of my skin in places I hadn’t even noticed had gone slack. Seeing myself virile and youthful again just made the tightness in my belly stronger, and I couldn’t stop thinking about Ashe. She’d been teasing me since I had come down the stairs earlier, and I was feeling like I wouldn’t be able to control myself around her much longer.
Not that I wanted to.
When I got out of the shower, I grabbed a towel to dry off with as I made my way back into my bedroom. I hadn’t gotten any clothes before I got into the shower, which meant I was completely naked when I walked into the room and found Ashe sprawled out across my bed. She was flipping through a book I’d had on my nightstand, but it didn’t take long for her to look up and notice me standing there. Her eyes locked on my body and roamed over me the way they had earlier. Only this time, there wasn’t anything to stop her from seeing every inch of me.
“Mmm,” she murmured, her lips curving up in a smile. “Aurora definitely did you good.”
My cock had been throbbing all day, but now, it sprang all the way to life. Ashe climbed to her knees in the middle of the bed. Her intense eyes were securely on my dick, as unabashed in her staring as I had been earlier. I could see the hunger wasn’t just limited to people new to the clan, or to the men. She was looking at me with the same desire as Aurora had, and I was happy to oblige her.
I walked up to the side of the bed, keeping my body on full display for her.
Ashe smiled, licking her lips. “I love men who are just getting started,” she said, low in her throat. “So much delicious, pent-up lust. So much tension.”
She took hold of the hem of her shirt and pulled it off over her head. Her heavy tits bounced out, her nipples taut. I reached forward and rested my hands over them, kneading their soft flesh. She moaned a little, and I leaned down to kiss her, wanting more of the taste I’d gotten before we had come into the apartment. Before I could get my lips to hers though, Ashe moved her face out of the way and brought her mouth to my neck.
Her breath was hot as it trailed down my skin. The tip of her tongue ran along my neck as she moved down, then brushed over my collarbones. I could feel my heart pounding at the base of my throat, and she flicked her tongue there. I wondered how long it had been since she’d been with a man who still had a heartbeat.
Ashe crawled forward slightly so she could continue her progress down my chest and onto the muscles of my belly. They twitched at the touch of her lips, and my cock jumped in anticipation of more attention. The tip bounced against one of her breasts, and she wrapped her hand around it. Her skin felt soft and smooth as she tightened her grip around the base of my engorged dick and gave a slight squeeze.
She licked along my stomach and nipped at the trail of hair leading down from my navel as her hand started stroking my shaft. I wasn’t looking forward to the idea of her fangs, but she kept them up, and by the time her sweet little mouth closed around the head, I didn’t care anymore.
Ashe drew her mouth off the tip before going down all the way. Then she ran her tongue along the slit at the tip of my cock. I watched her tongue gather up some of the clear fluid she pulled out of me, and she made another of her sexy moans. I leaned my head back for a few seconds, my mouth opening and my eyes closing. But then I lifted it again to look back down at her.
Ash had been so much in control from the first second I saw her. I was enjoying that I had managed to take away some of that control. A renewed flicker of excitement moved through me, and I pushed my hips forward to urge her on. Her mouth opened, and she welcomed all of my length in and cradled it against her tongue. The feeling was completely dizzying. The delectable sensation of my engorged cock filling her mouth was almost too much for me to handle. The hot, wet feeling brought to mind the image of sinking inside her, and I felt my erection grow even harder.
Ashe’s hand tightened around the base of my cock, and she held it still as she increased the speed of her mouth. Each of the fast, intense glides sent a shiver of sensation through me, and the occasional deep suck was enough to drag groans out of my chest. She was bringing the tip far into her mouth, and I felt it dip just into her throat.
I reached forward to dig my fingers into her hair, and I pulled her head forward slightly. I didn’t have to say a word. That suggestion was enough. Ashe moved back slightly to get into a better position, and she twisted her hand around as she dipped her head deeper. Finally, she pulled me all the way in so my cock sank into her throat. Letting out a grunt, I grabbed onto her shoulders to give myself leverage.
Ashe murmured, sending a slight vibration through me, and I pushed my hips forward in response. I started thrusting into her mouth, and Ashe accepted it eagerly. I was about to come. I could feel it rushing toward me, and I didn’t want to fight it.
I let out a deep groan and felt Ashe’s hands come to my hips. Her fingertips dug into my skin to hold me in place as she took back complete control. Her mouth met each of my thrusts, sucking and drawing
on me until I felt myself on the very brink of control. With one final hard draw, she pushed me over the edge.
I cried out as my orgasm crashed over me, and I felt my cock tighten even more in her mouth. Ashe didn’t move. Instead, she continued to milk me, licking me clean as I shook and trembled with the waves of pleasure.
“Feel better?” she asked as I crawled up onto the bed beside her and dropped down face first onto the pillows.
“Yes,” I groaned.
At least, I think I did. It was possible I just made a primal sound.
“Good,” she answered. I felt her lean down and suck my earlobe into her mouth briefly. “You tasted delicious, too.”
With that, I let myself fall asleep again.
7
I woke up to Ashe shaking me. I’d been having a dream about going over a rope bridge in the middle of a jungle, and I briefly couldn’t tell the difference between hanging on for dear life over the open mouths of the swarm of alligators beneath me and the sexy bartender pushing on my shoulder. It took a few seconds of her shaking me before I groaned and opened my eyes. I felt groggy again, and when I lifted my head off the pillows, I felt the world spin.
“Am I ever going to get used to that?” I asked, squeezing my eyes closed again.
“I don’t care,” she said. “You need to get up.”
I opened my eyes again and looked at her questioningly. “Did you just say you don’t care?”
“Yeah, right now, I really don’t. How you feel when you wake up isn’t really my issue right now. It shouldn’t be yours, either. You need to get up and get dressed.”
I finally felt like I was coming into consciousness, and I realized she was dressed again. Her hair was pulled up into a ponytail behind her head, and all hints of the slumbering, lusty expression that had been on her face were gone. It was replaced by seriousness that got me to my feet.