Passion After Dark

by J. a Melville

  “Dominick?” I whispered to him but he didn’t respond. His eyes might be open but he wasn’t lucid yet from what I could see. As I watched him his fangs descended and his hands came up, latching onto my wrist. He dragged my arm down to him again and I cried out as he bit into me, right over where I’d cut myself, his teeth puncturing the vein and he began to suck noisily.

  I smiled, he was back, he was going to be ok. On and on he sucked and I began to panic. He was feeding too long, he never fed this long. I had to get him to stop, I needed him to stop now.

  I pulled at my arm to try and make him release me but he just tightened his grip. Fuck but this was bad, I could feel myself starting to get light headed and still Dominick fed with no sign of letting up on me.

  “Dominick…please…stop…Dom..Dom…you’re killing me.” I gasped as grey started to cloud my vision and I knew I was going to pass out but more importantly I was going to die. Dominick was going to kill me and by the time he realised it would be too late.

  Once more but so weakly it made no impression on him anyway, I tried to pull my wrist free but I couldn’t and I could no longer see Dominick for the black closing in around me and with one last whispered sigh of his name, I slipped down into the darkness.

  Dominick.

  God it was so fucking good, the blood, lots and lots of warm, sweet, delicious blood and it just kept coming and he couldn’t stop drinking it. While it flowed, he kept feeding like a starving man and he was starving. He’d denied himself blood for days and he was so weak but he could feel the blood coursing through his body and it was helping, it was making him stronger.

  Vaguely he could feel someone trying to take his blood supply from him and he tried to open his eyes again but he couldn’t. He was still too weak for that. There was a voice too, soft and familiar to him but he couldn’t respond, he tried, but he couldn’t answer the voice, not yet, not right now.

  The blood was starting to come slower and he had to draw harder to get more of it and no one was trying to take it from him anymore. He heard that sweet familiar voice again before it fell silent and he smiled to himself, really enjoying this dream he was having.

  He was still feeding, but slower now, basking in the euphoric glow he was feeling as the blood surged through his body, healing him, making him stronger when suddenly another voice cut through his dreamlike state, yelling at him, frantic and the vein that he still fed from lazily was abruptly torn from his mouth.

  His eyes snapped open and he met the shocked gaze of Francesca. She was staring down at him open mouthed and she shook her head at him. “Oh Nicky, what have you done?”

  “What is it Francesca? What are you doing here? What’s wrong?”

  “Look at what you’ve done Nicky. God, why didn’t she call me and tell me she was coming to see you? I could have stopped this happening. You’ve killed her I think.” Fran said, and Dominick stared up at her, not accustomed to seeing her looking so shaken up.

  What on earth was wrong with her? “What are you talking about Fran? Fuck, I feel so much stronger. You made me feed, I told you I wanted to die but you got me such sweet blood, why did you do it?”

  “I did nothing Nicky but you’ve done something terrible. Look at what you’ve done?” She pointed to something at his side and slowly his head turned towards whatever she was pointing at.

  The first thing he saw was hair, lots and lots of long hair, like Allegra’s hair. God she had hair like his bellezza. Suddenly he felt nausea roll over him tightening his stomach and his body broke out in a cold sweat.

  With shaking hands he pushed the hair back and he gasped. It was his bellezza. Fuck, fuck, what had he done? Why was she here? God she was so pale.

  “No, fuck no, no, no, NO!” He sobbed, dragging himself upright and with hands that shook he turned Allegra’s body over until he could see her face.

  She was deathly pale and he could see a wound on her wrist where a thin trickle of blood still flowed. There were puncture marks on her neck which confused him as he didn’t remember biting her there but then he didn’t remember biting her at all. He remembered the blood and he thought he’d heard a familiar voice but he was convinced it had been a dream.

  As he stared down at her he realised his dream was a nightmare instead. What had he done? What the fuck had he done?

  “Cara, please cara wake up, god I’m so sorry, forgive me, please forgive me.” He sobbed, tears tracking their way down his face and dripping onto her prone body.

  “Nicky, Nicky, snap out of it, you have to do something. Is she still alive? Check for a pulse. There might still be time. Come on Nicky, listen to me.” A palm hit him on the cheek, hard and painful snapping him out of his panic briefly as he looked up at Fran.

  “Come on Nicky, check her pulse, is she still alive?” She asked him and he sat up, turning Allegra until he could press his fingers against her neck while he dropped his head to her chest listening for her heartbeat.

  At first he couldn’t hear anything or feel anything and fresh tears began to fall as he faced the enormity of what he’d done. He’d killed the only woman he’d ever loved.

  “Listen Nicky, be quiet, listen, you can just hear it. Can you hear it?” Fran shook him, to get his attention.

  He did as she said and listened and finally, only just, but he could hear it, the faint, slow, dying heartbeat of Allegra. God she was still alive, only just, but there was still hope.

  “You know what you have to do Nicky. She could hate you for this but you have to decide. Turn her while you still can or lose her forever because she’s dying and you will have to live with that. She could still be lost to you forever anyway if she hates you for turning her. Tough decision brother dear but you have to decide and you have to decide now. She’s running out of time. Hurry up and make your decision.”

  At Fran’s words, Dominick’s stomach tightened. He was doomed either way or he could be. He knew Allegra didn’t want to be made vampire, she’d made that perfectly clear to him but if he did nothing she would die. He would spend the rest of his sorry existence knowing he’d killed her. He should have died, he should have died before she came to him and he wouldn’t have hurt her the way he did.

  Why was she here? She’d told him she couldn’t be with him, it had been over between them so why was she here?

  “I don’t understand why she’s here. She told me she couldn’t live my lifestyle and yet she’s here. Why?” He whispered.

  “That was my fault Nicky, I’m sorry but she wasn’t supposed to come here alone. She had my number, she should have rung me first. You have no idea what’s been going on with her, Dominick. I told her you were dying and she’s obviously decided to come to you. She was supposed to call me, she should have called me.” Fran’s eyes rested on Allegra. “Come on Nicky, make your decision. Her heart is slowing, I can hear it. You’re running out of time. She’s going to die.”

  Dominick stared down at his bellezza. Did he turn her? God, but she could hate him for it and he would still lose her and he’d have to live with seeing her and her hating him and not wanting him. She might turn to his brothers or god help him, Fabian instead and that would destroy him. The alternative was to lose her forever and as he pictured a future without her, he suddenly realised that a future of her hating him, but him still having a chance of making her love him was better than to lose her forever, to let her die.

  “She can’t die Fran. Help me. I have to turn her, even if she hates me, I have to turn her.”

  “I’ll hold her mouth open Nicky, you get that blood of yours flowing.” Fran took charge, helping him get Allegra comfortable on his pillows. God but she was so pale, so deathly pale. Would this work? Was it too late? If she couldn’t swallow, it was over. He couldn’t get the blood into her otherwise. He needed to run it straight to her veins through a drip but that was impossible. He just had to hope that this would work.

  Dominick bit down on his wrist, tearing a chunk of flesh away so the blood began to flow heavi
ly and Fran pulled Allegra’s mouth open so he could hold his arm over her, just poised above her lips. Anxiously he watched as the inside of her mouth turned red from his blood and began to fill. Fuck but she wasn’t swallowing, they were too late. He was going to lose her.

  Tears rolled down his cheeks as despair settled like lead over him but still he held his freely bleeding wrist over her, convinced he was too late but unable to allow himself to give up just yet.

  “It’s too late, it’s too late.” He whispered as he struggled to see Allegra through the tears nearly blinding him. “I’m so sorry cara, so sorry. I’ve destroyed you and I’m so sorry that we ever met and that I did this to you.” Nearing defeat he dropped his bleeding wrist over her mouth and began to weep in earnest as the reality of what he’d done began to drag him down into complete and crushing despair.

  After what felt like an eternity and when Dominick has soaked the blouse Allegra wore, with his tears, Fran’s voice began to penetrate the misery that was consuming him. “Nicky, snap out of it, look, can’t you feel it?”

  Slowly he raised his head and turned to Francesca but she was watching Allegra. “Look at her Nicky, look.”

  He turned his head back to Allegra and he frowned, he couldn’t see anything but then suddenly, there it was, the tiniest of movements, a swallow, fuck but she had swallowed and then he felt the slight suction on his wrist. She was sucking on him, she was drinking from him.

  They both watched as she fed, slowly but she was feeding and Dominick let her feed until he thought she’d had enough to bring her back without her accidently emptying him completely.

  Gently he pulled his arm from her mouth and a frown marred her features before she settled again and her body went still. Now they waited, they waited to see if it was going to work, whether she had received enough of his blood to save her and that could take hours. It would take hours for her body to complete the change from human to vampire and for her struggling heart which sounded slightly better now to give up the fight and stop beating. His blood gave her heart a false moment of rejuvenation but it wouldn’t be enough. The process of draining her to near death then her feeding from him would bring on the change, but how long it would take was unclear to either him or Fran since they’d never actually turned anyone themselves.

  “Fabian needs to be here.” Fran said quietly. “He’s done this several times obviously, we haven’t. I know you aren’t happy with him and if you knew what he’d done earlier this evening, you definitely won’t be happy with him, but that doesn’t mean we don’t need his help now.”

  Reluctantly Dominick had to concede that Fran was right. They’d never done this. They knew the process, but whether it was right, they weren’t sure.

  “Call him then Fran then please, help me clean her up and prepare her for the change. She can’t lie there in all my blood stained sheets like that.”

  “Have you healed now Nicky?” Her eyes shifted to his hand and down to his cock although he was blocked from her gaze by the sheet.

  He held up his hand that had been damaged before but the skin was smooth and blemish free again and when he raised the sheet to look underneath, his cock lay there, healed, the skin returned to normal and the tattoo of the cobra undamaged too which surprised him that it had survived his brutal self mutilation.

  “I’ve healed but look at the cost.” He gently brushed the tangled strands of Allegra’s hair back from her face. “We don’t know if this is going to work.”

  “I’ll call Fabian now and get him to come here.” Fran stood, pulling her phone from her bag and moved away from the bed, her voice quiet as she explained what had happened to their sire. God was he going to be pissed at them for what they’d done, trying to turn a human into a vampire? Fabian might kill him for what he’d done, nearly killing Allegra and then trying to turn her. Dominick wasn’t a complete fool, he knew his sire wanted her. His guess was the puncture marks on her neck were from Fabian. Fran said something had happened that he wasn’t going to like but there had been no time to find out exactly what had taken place tonight.

  “Help me clean up Fran, please. I hate to see her lying in all my mess.” He climbed off the bed and hastily pulled on jeans from the chair by his bed.

  He ripped the blood stained sheets off his bed and threw them into the corner of the room. While he went to get more sheets, Fran brushed out Allegra’s hair until it lay around her.

  Gently they removed her shoes and then covered her with the clean sheets and Dominick stood staring down at her, captivated by her beauty. She looked so still, so serene lying there and he hoped to hell that she would be alright, that she would wake from this and be ok.

  His gaze was drawn from her when Fabian strode into the room and brushed past him to go straight to Allegra.

  “Can someone please explain to me why she is here now Dominick only a few hours after she had been at my home?” He turned to look between the two of them.

  She had been with Fabian? Why? What had she been doing in his home? “I don’t know why she came here. I wasn’t…well.” Dominick said.

  “I heard about your crusade to kill yourself Nick but that doesn’t explain why Allegra is here.”

  “That’s my fault.” Fran spoke up. “I told her that she had to do something to save Nicky. He might be a fool sometimes but I didn’t want him giving up his life for a human. She was supposed to call me if she was coming here, not just turn up alone. She came alone and she’s obviously tried to save Nicky from himself and he’s got carried away and drained her. We were trying to save her.”

  “She made it clear she had no wish to be a part of our lifestyle so you should have let her die. She may very well hate you for eternity son, are you prepared for that should it happen?” Fabian asked.

  Dominick nodded. He wasn’t really ready but what choice did he have? He couldn’t sit back and watch the last of her life slip away. He had to try and turn her and hope that she wouldn’t hate him too much.

  “I couldn’t let her go Fabian, I’m sorry but I love her and I’d sooner have her hate me for all eternity than live eternity without her in my life in some small way at least.”

  “We don’t know if we’ve done it right though Fabian.” Fran spoke up again. “Nicky had nearly completely drained her, her heart was barely beating anymore and he’s given her about half of his blood but is that enough?”

  “No it’s not. You have weakened yourself with your foolish quest to take your own life Nick so you can’t give her more blood. I shall have to give her some of mine. I fed from her earlier, it was part of a deal we made.”

  Dominick felt rage surge through him. Fabian had tasted her, what else had he done with her? Why had she gone running to him? Did she want him for herself? God he hoped not. He loved Allegra but it would kill him to watch her throw herself at his sire. Fabian would just use her and toy with her. He never wanted any woman, vampire or human for more than a night and as a vampire Allegra could not be mind controlled so she would have to live with being nothing more than a play thing for Fabian. Maybe as vampire that would suit her?

  “Get me a towel Nick so I don’t bleed all over her.” Dominick rushed to do as he requested.

  He tucked the towel in around her face and bit into his wrist and once the blood was flowing, he held his arm over Allegra’s face and they all watched as the blood flowed into her.

  She began to swallow and then to draw on him, sucking at his blood supply. When Fabian thought she’d had enough, he pulled his arm free and they cleaned her up then left her.

  Dominick stood staring down at her as she lay peacefully, her skin pale and so smooth, like porcelain. She was so beautiful and soon she would be vampire. Fabian and Fran left the room and Dominick bent to kiss her soft cheek. “Ti amo Cara.” He whispered and followed the others from the room.

  There was nothing more they could do now but wait. When he joined the others Fabian turned to him. “I should punish you for doing what you have done Nick but from w
hat your sister has told me, you were unconscious and therefore unaccountable for what you have done. Still, I have punished you already although none of us will know yet if I have truly punished you or not.”

  Dominick frowned at Fabian. What did he mean he’d punished him already?

  Fabian smiled, his pale eyes fixed on Dominick. “It was not necessary to feed more blood to Allegra. You had given her enough for the change to take place but this way when she wakes, now she has both my blood and yours in her, we won’t know if she will want one of us. She could have reason to hate both of us, but the blood ties us Nick, you should know that and now she has both yours and my blood in her. Who will she choose if either? Who will she love? Who will she want to fuck?” He smiled and when the seriousness of what his sire was telling him started to sink in, the pain registered on Dominick’s face at the deception and Fabian threw back his head and laughed.

  Chapter Eighteen.

  Allegra.

  God but I just wanted to sleep. I liked it down deep in my dreams where it was nice and quiet. I had seen something briefly, a light, a big bright light that beckoned to me and it was beautiful. It felt calm and peaceful and loving but it was gone, suddenly it was gone and everything was black again, dark and a little scary to me.

  My body ached, god it hurt and I didn’t know why, I didn’t know where I was but I couldn’t open my eyes, no matter how hard I tried.

  I could feel something happening to me, my body felt like it was changing and as I struggled to rise up out of this dark place I was in, I could hear voices. I think I could anyway. They were softly spoken voices and I strained to hear what they were saying but I couldn’t. It sounded like a man and woman? Or was it two men? I wasn’t sure.

  As I listened, the voices became clearer and I could tell it was two men. They sounded angry, they were shouting at one another. God, but did they have to yell? They were starting to hurt my ears and the woman, there was a woman too, she was trying to get them to calm down. Too much noise, I wanted the quiet back, I wanted the bright light that represented love and peace back but it was gone.