by Vremont, Ann
“No.”
“Why, Lee? What do I have to do to make you feel safe enough to ID this bastard?”
I reached up, put my palm against his cheek. “It's not me I'm worried about.”
He had no idea what these things were like. I'd had whole kills running through my head on the drive back where Oscar had taken down three or four guys at once.
At my touch, Danny turned into the one retreating down the couch. I bit back a laugh.
“What did you think, Danny, that a week of cooling my heels would change the way I feel?”
“You just don't want to answer my questions, Lee. Stop playing.”
I tilted my head and studied his expression for a moment. “Or did you think a week would strengthen your resolve? That was it, wasn't it?”
He tried to circumvent my question with one of his own. “How'd this guy know where all the security cameras were at in the school? His back was to them every single time.”
Another skirmish. I wasn't going to lose this one with him. If Oscar was telling the truth, I was dead without blood soon. I needed Danny's and I wanted everything else that came with it.
“You brought me back here knowing how I feel.”
“I brought you here because it's the only safe place for you and I can't see that you've got anywhere else to go.” He got off the couch and began pacing.
I stood up, blocking the path he'd been wearing across the room.
“Move, Lee.”
“Move me.” I smiled. He didn't know it yet, but his little command had lost him the battle, only his formal surrender remained.
Danny's arms shot out and he grabbed me by the shoulders. Three weeks ago, he may have been able to push me to the side, but, even weakened, my strength matched his when I needed it to.
I stood my ground and watched his gaze widen in surprise as he tried a second time to strong arm me - however carefully - out of the way. I stepped up close to him and reissued my challenge. “Move me.”
He was still holding my shoulders, his arms bent now from my step forward. It was almost an embrace. I took another step into his space and his arms folded around me. Tilting my head back, he stared into my face.
“You can't really think I need protected from these guys,” he said.
I stretched up and tried to soften his mouth with a kiss before I answered. “Yes, I do.”
“The only one I need protected from is you.” He ran his hand down my back and then pulled me tight to his body. His other hand knotted in my hair so that he kept me gazing up at him.
Closing my eyes, I whispered, “Yeah, that, too.”
Bending down, he scooped me up in his arms. His bedroom was at the end of the hall, the door still open from that morning. He placed me on the bed and then stripped his jacket, gun and holster off before he laid down beside me.
I started to roll to him but he pushed gently at my shoulder until I fell back onto the mattress. A few seconds passed and then he rolled toward me. In the dark, he touched my face, his fingertips exploring the contours of my cheeks and nose before he touched my lips. I opened them to him and drew the tips into my mouth.
Groaning, he pushed his face against the mattress, his cheek lightly touching mine. Slowly, his hand left my mouth and traveled down the front of my shirt. He laid his palm flat against my stomach and held it there.
“You're scared,” he said. When I didn't answer, he went on. “You're holding your breath.”
Right, gotta breathe. I inhaled, laughed at myself and then put my hand over his. When he didn't move, I rolled onto my side so that my lips were against his cheek.
“Don't stop now. I want this - I need it, Danny.” Taking his hand, I brought it up to my breast. I still had on the clothes I'd worn to school. The material was nearing thread bare and its thinness made the rigid state of my nipple obvious to his touch.
He rolled onto me then, trapping me beneath his weight. His hand tightened around my breast, his thumb and finger teasing the nipple between them. He kissed me, his lips at my throat, and then his hands moved down to the bottom hem of my shirt. He followed, sliding down my torso until he could press his mouth against the flat of my stomach.
Arching, I threaded my fingers through his hair. Planting soft kisses on my stomach, Danny worked the t-shirt up, inch by slow inch until he was at my bra.
The hook was on the front and he released it, freeing my breasts only to cover them with his strong hands a heart beat later.
The weight of his lower body pressed against mine and I spread my legs, welcoming him into the hollow of my thighs as his tongue closed around one nipple. In the dark, where he couldn't see me, I blushed as I realized that the little moans reverberating in the air around us were mine.
Pushing a hand between us, Danny started at my zipper and snap. I squirmed, trying to ease his way and ready to rip the denim from my body so that I could press my flesh against his at last.
I pulled at his shirt, freed him from it and placed my palms flat against the broad shoulders as he worked his way lower again. Easing the jeans and panties over my hips, he paused midway, his bottom lip teasing the plump rise of my mound. He pressed his face against it and breathed in deeply as he pulled the jeans from my legs.
“Danny?”
Splitting the folds of my sex with his tongue, he didn't answer, just wrapped his arms around my hips and waist and squeezed me in a hug. He pushed his tongue deep into me, then trailed it through my lower lips, licking up the moisture his touch had caused. Trembling and locked in his arms, I clawed at the bedspread as he took another long, satisfying lick.
I moved against him, arching and rotating my hips in the small measure he allowed me. He slid his hand between my legs, his fingers joining his tongue to tease me. With his tongue working only the button of my sex, he slid a finger tip into me, massaging the band of muscle that rimmed the entrance to my pussy.
My back curved, my body arching high. I wrapped my hand around the back of his head to hold him still as an explosive heat erupted across my body.
I fell back onto the mattress, melting into it in slow, quivering jerks as my climax rippled through me.
His finger still in me, Danny moved back up my body. He kissed me, my flavor on his lips, and then he slid a second finger into me. The strokes stayed shallow, but I could feel him flexing, taking me more widely.
Groaning, he stopped and stripped his jeans and underwear off. “Give me a second.”
His words coming out in a breathless tumble, he staggered away from the bed to the dresser against the opposite wall. He pulled open the top drawer and I heard the rip of cellophane.
Danny turned back to me, my eyes picking out the motion of his hand running a condom down his length before he climbed back onto the bed and filled the space between my legs.
He ran his tongue over my nipple, circling the hard tip as his fingers found me once again. He moved up, his mouth at my neck, the tip of his erection warring with his fingers for entrance inside me. Spreading his palm flat against my mound, he held me still. He pushed into me, his lips against my ear as he shushed my quiet moans.
Crying out his name, I opened more fully to him, spreading my legs and then wrapping them around his hips. The smell of blood sharply filled my new senses as he sank all the way into me.
My arms tangled around his neck as I rocked my hips to meet his thrusts. Hunger blossomed in me like a rose opening to the sun. I moved, moaned and grunted with him, took him fast or slow, hard or soft, according to his pace.
His thrusts grew deeper, more demanding. The headboard beat against the wall, punctuating the end slide of his cock into me until heat, unrelenting, spread over my skin once more. I dug my nails into his arms, held myself tight to him as the hard pound of his body against mine threatened to push me away.
“Danny, yes.” My hands flew up to clutch at the top of the headboard. “Yes…now.”
He grabbed my thighs, pushing and spreading them until my knees were almost up to
my shoulders and my sex was completely unguarded. I could feel the muscles deep inside me grabbing at his cock, holding and squeezing it, rippling over its unyielding length.
Danny drew a long breath and held it, his body freezing above me. He tensed, then thrust again, his hands releasing my thighs to curl around where I gripped the headboard. Calling my name, he lengthened his thrusts, pulling out to the tip of his erection and then slowly burying himself inside me once again.
A final shudder wracked his body and then he collapsed, pulling me with him so that we were molded into one shape.
“I dreamed about you every night,” he confessed. “Not just after we went to the house…but from that first night after the hospital.”
He pushed back a strand of hair that had fallen across my face. “I couldn't get you out of my head - awake or asleep.”
“Thank you.”
He laughed, the sound muted and disbelieving. “For what?”
“For wanting me, for caring if it was the right thing to do.”
Chapter Thirteen
I fell asleep in Danny's arms. I woke to find my lips open against his throat, my tongue tracing the outline of a vein. He stirred, his grip on me tightening. Stretching, he cinched me closer, one of his hands lowering to cup my bottom and squeeze.
His skin was salty, the flesh warm. He swallowed, his throat bobbing once. Pressing my lips together, I felt a sharp prick and tasted blood - my own.
“You're shaking like a leaf.” Danny reached for the bedside lamp but I stopped him.
“No lights, please.”
Gingerly, I ran my tongue over my top row of teeth. Sharp. Oscar had told me I wouldn't live long enough to earn my blood fangs. I wondered what else he didn't get right during our conversation.
“Lee.” Danny wrapped his arms around me again, hugged me close. “C'mon, talk to me. What's wrong?”
I was shaking like an addict and I buried my face against his chest.
“Did you have a nightmare?” He still spoke with a cop's composure but something was buried beneath it, though I couldn't tell what. Guilt maybe, or a slowly building panic.
I squeaked out a shaky “Yes.”
He squeezed me tight, a ragged breath rattling in his chest. “Fuck, it's my fault.”
I forced my arms up around his neck and clasped them behind his head. I could offer him at least one truth. “No. You're the only one I feel safe with. I just need...”
I pulled my hands back to my body, hugging myself. He wouldn't let me withdraw. He threaded his hands through mine and pulled them up to his mouth. He kissed my fingers, pressed his lips against my palm.
“What do you need?”
Shaking my head, I twisted my hands free from his grip. “I can't tell you.”
“You can.”
When I refused to say anything, he pushed me onto my back and put his hands over my eyes. “What do you see right now, Lee?”
His heart was racing. I could hear his pulse pounding, feel the spike in this body temperature.
A lie formed effortlessly in my mind, shaming me with its speed. I was no better than Elliot or Sandy. Shame couldn't stop me. The need was too great.
“I see teeth,” I answered at last. “Mouths opening, teeth breaking my skin...I want...”
He drew back, tensing. “Lee, please don't ask me to...I can't hurt you.”
“Not me.” My whole body flushed. I ran my hands down over his chest and stomach. I pressed my thumbs against the jut of his hips bones, my palms flat against his hips.
His breathing changed, slowing and deepening. “Lee?”
I let my fingers answer. I traced them gently across his skin until I came to his cock. Despite his concern, he was already hardening, lengthening beneath my touch.
I stretched up until my lips were against his ear. “Could you put another one on?”
He covered my hands with his - his hands on mine, my hands on his cock. I squeezed, gently.
“Please, Danny.”
He got up, stumbling and banging his way to the dresser. I watched him fumble with the condom in the dark and then make his way back, arms in front of him. I reached out to him as he approached the bed and guided him onto his back.
Straddling Danny, I wrapped my hands around his shaft, stroking him until he was rock hard again. It made me wet, feeling him grow in my hand, sensing the other changes in his body as his excitement mushroomed.
When I was wet enough, I rose up, one palm planted against his chest, the other hand around his erection, holding it in place as I slowly lowered myself onto him.
He moaned, calling my name. I leaned forward, pushing my breasts hard against his chest. I drew my legs up, pressed them against his sides. Holding him tight within me, I licked a line up his throat.
I rolled my hips, flexing inside. He arched, exposing his neck and I lowered my mouth to it, kissing him first and then pinching the flesh between my lips. He jerked, and then wrapped his hands around my calves. I ran my lips over his throat, licking the salty flesh while I searched for the pulse of his neck vein.
He was breathing hard, like a runner - heavy in, heavy out as I teased his cock with subtle rolls and squeezes, tightening and relaxing against him.
“Fuck, Lee.”
Yes, fuck. Fuck me. Feed me. I wanted to whisper those words to him, my breath hot against his cheek. I wanted him to know he was giving me life. I couldn't tell him. Not yet. He would only think I was crazy.
Maybe I was. But I couldn't fight it. Finding where the vein was close to the surface, I pressed my lips to it and gently sucked the flesh into my mouth.
Holding him like that, I could feel every beat of his heart - in my mouth and in my cunt. I groaned, wanting to bite down, to feel the first jet of warm blood squirt into my mouth.
Danny wrapped his arms around me, one hand cradling the back of my head, the other hard against the small of my back, keeping my thrusts short.
I squeezed back, holding him hard in me, my cunt rippling over his shaft.
“God...Lee.”
He was close. I could feel it in the pulse beneath my lips, feel it in the tightening of his stomach muscles against mine. He dug his fingers into me, locking me in place.
I sank my teeth into him.
Danny froze.
His mouth against my ear, I felt his lips part, heard him exhale. Blood coated my tongue. I swallowed and my body ignited with a new level of awareness. I could feel the fine hairs on his skin, smell a dozen different scents - the sheets, his hair, his skin, the sharp copper of his blood, the mix of salt and semen from the first time we'd fucked.
I could feel him coming inside me, feel the jerk of his cock, the pulse of cum. I sucked harder, drawing more of him into me.
I rode him, drinking until the last of his climax rolled through him.
“Stay here.” I got up and found my way to the bathroom. I rinsed my mouth out and then ran hot water over a wash cloth. Back in the bedroom, I pressed the cloth to the wound. My heart was going crazy in my chest, waiting for him to say something - anything.
When the bleeding stopped, he took the cloth from me and tossed it on the night stand before he rolled me onto my back.
He ran his fingertips over my temples, lightly stroking until I grew heavy lidded.
“Lee?” He said my name so quietly, barely managing a whisper.
“Hmmm?”
“Is that...I mean...will you need to do that again?”
I came fully awake at the question. I couldn't read him, not his tone, not the careful way he held his body.
I touched my hand to his chest, held it over his heart. “Sometimes, maybe. It feels like I'm taking back some of what I lost that night.”
He touched my chin, only a fingertip against it with just enough pressure so that I turned my face to him.
One word, and then he kissed me.
“Good."
Part Two
Whether by evolutionary intent or by chance, a vampire's basic surv
ival needs are finely tuned to the production schedule of its favorite prey - mankind. The average human body contains ten pints of blood. A loss of up to 15% in volume - a Class I Hemorrhage - typically produces no change in the victim's vital signs. Other physiological responses, however, are present. Blood vessels constrict, the skin pales and a slight anxiety may infect the victim (more so when a vampire is the cause of the Class I loss). Fluid resuscitation generally is not necessary and plasma is replaced within 24 hours. The wait is longest for replacement of the red blood cells. This usually takes four weeks - after which, a vampire may safely feed from the same victim or, in my case, lover.
The more blood a vampire drinks beyond its basic survival requirements, the stronger it is. A newly turned or wounded vampire rapidly consumes its body's blood reserves, and a vampire low on reserves is exceptionally vulnerable to attack by other vampires on both a physical and psychological level. Unfortunately, there is no survival handbook for n00b vampires and it took time for me to learn these truths.
While the blood I had received from Army and Oscar had been filled with memories, it hardly amounted to the how-to manual I needed. So, for over four weeks I coped, not yet knowing how much or how often I could safely drink from my lover.
Not that I didn't have other options. Chris, despite a very uncharacteristic series of absences from school, was broadcasting his interest whenever he was present. He met me between classes, tucked notes (a lot) inside my locker and, more amazingly, came to the tutoring class with all of his work already done so that the time we spent together was purely personal.
In addition to Chris, I had started to collect - through no efforts of my own - a following of classmates with fetishes I didn't want to know anything about. I am not sure if the details of my attack were finally getting out despite the police gag order during the ongoing investigation or if vampires are magnets for the weird.
I suspect it's the latter, but weird is way down the list of what I want to snack on.
Chris, on the other hand, was hard to resist. Looking at him in seventh hour, I knew that, if I had never met Danny, I could melt into Chris. He was smarter than his grades indicated, hilarious when he wanted to be, cute, protective in a way that reminded me of Danny...