The Kin

by Elsye Harwood

  Chapter Four

  Junius stood at the opening in the wall and looked out onto the silvery landscape. The moon filled the sky before him and he was struck once again by how beautiful and hypnotic she was. Sometimes when he lay on his back, he was convinced that she was smiling at him and approving of what he and Belinda did together in this room. It was strange, as a soldier he’d often used her light to lead night-time raids, yet until now he’d never really noticed how glorious she was. Tonight though, she seemed to be calling to him. He could feel her rays playing on his skin and he liked the sensation, it was if she gave him energy and fuelled his desire.

  Belinda come up to stand behind him and lifted her arms to wrap him in her embrace. Already he was responding to her presence, and again the moon seemed to be encouraging him. He felt a shudder of anticipation run through his body and he took a deep breath to steady himself.

  Belinda slipped around and came to stand before him. She gazed up smiling whilst her hands trailed their way down his skin. He lowered his head and kissed her deeply, holding her tightly to him so that her cool lithe body was pressed against his. She was divine, a goddess come to earth. A child of the moon, he called her and he wanted her like he’d never wanted anyone before. It was an ache, deep in the pit of his stomach, and a craving that was never sated for long. Nothing mattered except being here with her and the delicious effect they had upon each other. As one creature they fell down onto the bed and Junius surrendered himself into her expert hands.

  The moon was still filling the opening on the wall when she pulled him to his knees. She knelt before him, licking her lips in anticipation. He watched her, sated for the moment, but knowing that it wouldn’t be long before he would yield to her again. She smiled, slowly taking deep breaths, and already he knew that her hunger was raging like a torrent; he could see it in the way her eyes had gone black. Completely dark in a way that should horrify him, but aroused him instead. He could feel the stirrings of a similar longing inside him that mirrored her own. He met her gaze and challenged her to take the thing she craved and which he desperately wanted her to have.

  She smiled again, teasing and taunting, building his desire so that he was consumed in his own yearning. He knew the moment when it happened. He reached out for her, and felt an energy lurch through his body. The pain of it was exquisite and every nerve and fibre of his being sang with the strange sensation. His head dropped and his breathing became jagged as the feeling coursed through him. Suddenly he was sure, certain in fact. He looked up and smiled at her.

  She moved like a blur and fastened herself around him with her mouth at his neck. For a moment he felt the pain of penetration, then he surrendered to her and felt the waves of pleasure wash over him. When he opened his eyes the moon was smiling her approval at him, he flung his head back and opened his arms to soak up as many of her rays as possible. When he became tired, he wrapped his arms tightly around Belinda’s body and dropped his head to let it rest on her hair.

  Eventually she pulled away. He was weary, she’d taken more than before, but he didn’t mind. The sense of well-being it induced in him was worth it. Her eyes were still dark, she hadn’t changed them back yet and somehow he didn’t think she would bother to. This was her, this was what she was and he’d accepted that. Gently she caressed his face and her cool fingers traced the outline of his lips. His eyes were dropping, he was falling asleep. He wanted to fall back onto the bed and sink into oblivion. She seemed to sense it and gently she laid him down so that he was staring up into the night. The moon was close, closer than before; in fact she seemed to be in the room with them.

  Belinda knelt next him, careful not to block his view of his celestial love in the sky. She smiled encouragingly and held her wrist above his face, then put her slit vein onto his mouth. His lips tingled and his tongue fluttered against the wound, causing a drop of her blood to leak out. The taste was shocking, and his eyes widened as his body began to react to the black ichor that was seeping inside him. His lips parted and instinctively he began to pull and suck at the cut, encouraging as much to flow into his eager mouth as possible. He moaned with pleasure as the fluid seared down his gullet and started a fire in his belly. It was like nothing on earth that he’d ever tasted before, and he couldn’t get enough of it. He was gulping it down now, taking huge mouthfuls which seemed to flow to every nerve and fibre of his being, making every part of him sing with renewed energy. With his hands he pressed her wrist closer to his mouth fearing that all too soon she’d remove it and the pleasure would be over. So he took as much as he could, revelling in the taste and how it made him feel.

  Something different was building inside him, a hunger that was completely new and exquisite. She’d never let him take so much before, and this time she was stroking his hair, and whispering encouragement to him, urging him to satisfy his craving for this richness pouring into his mouth. So he did. The more he took, the more he wanted and the burning sensation in his belly spread to every limb, nerve and sinew.

  Briefly he opened his eyes and saw her beautiful but dangerous face. She smiled and told him he was doing well. He didn’t care, what he wanted was in his mouth and he needed more of it. Much more. He glanced away to look for his other love and sure enough she was there, still smiling at him. But she was even nearer now, so close that he was sure that if he reached up he would touch her. But if he did that, then he’d lose the momentum of the blood. And yet he couldn’t help himself, his hand stretched out to the silver orb that filled his mind and the flow increased. He shuddered and writhed in ecstasy as the blood coursed through his veins and the moon’s rays bathed his body in her silver light.

  Suddenly he pulled away. He’d had enough. For a moment it had felt as if the light from the moon had seeped into his skin, penetrating his pores and was spreading its grey chill into the tissue of his body. Junius sat up. The trancelike delight he’d enjoyed earlier was already receding from his mind. He had to pull himself together, he was a senior officer in the Roman army and a member of the ancient aristocracy. It might be all right for Emperors to behave in this debauched way, but not for their nobles or soldiers.

  “I have to get back to Rome,” he said, fighting the panic and confusion he felt at the strange sensations that tingled and throbbed inside him.

  “No, Junius, not yet. Soon, you’ll take us to Rome. But you have to stay a while longer with us. Don’t worry, it’s not painful. The hard part is over, the rest’s very pleasurable. I know you’ll enjoy it.” Belinda reached for him, wrapping him in her arms to comfort and reassure him.

  She laid him down on the bed and stroked the side of his face, whispering and soothing, until gradually his panic subsided. The weird sensations were becoming more pronounced, but also more pleasurable and at times exquisite. She’d been right, he should have trusted her. As Belinda continued to comfort him, his gaze rested upon the moon, which was still watching and waiting for him. After a while he stretched his hand out again and called to the silver orb to come closer. He gasped when he felt the same icy chill rest upon his body. Belinda continued to relax and calm him, until gradually his fear subsided and he began to like the coldness that was descending upon him.

  He lay still as Belinda showed her approval by running her now warm fingers over his chest. The heat of her skin felt strange after its previous coolness, but it was inducing a yearning and powerful appetite inside him which ached to be sated. She smiled in recognition and lowered herself down and began to move against him. Junius’s response was instantaneous. He used both hands to hold her in place and pushed up to meet her. She grabbed his shoulders and locked his gaze, as they moved together in unison. As his desire grew Junius felt another need that demanded to be satisfied. He threw his head back inviting her to take his blood. With a snarl of delight, she fastened onto his neck and he gasped with pleasure.

  When he opened his eyes, Belinda was gone; instead, a shrunken creature was riding him and taking him to the heights of ecstasy.
The long black hair had become a tangled mess of white locks, which swirled like a nest of vipers around a desiccated body that was completely transparent, showing all the tendons and muscles including the black veins which oozed with dark blood.

  In his mind Junius struggled to throw off this appalling creature, but in reality he held the hag closer, encouraging her to take her fill. He tried again, but still his body betrayed him, and though he gasped, it wasn’t in horror. With revulsion he felt his fingers clutch at her bony frame and realised that another stronger part was revelling in seeing the true Belinda, the real child of the moon. The feeling was growing, taking over his consciousness and blocking him out until he was just a pinprick of existence, who could only watch as his body worked against him and a new cold alien part of his brain gave itself up to the sensations that coursed freely within him and embraced these strange new appetites.

  He regained consciousness only a few moments later to find himself lying on his back, his breathing still heavy with exertion. The Belinda hag was smiling and lifting her arm to complete the blood exchange. He knew that she wasn’t expecting resistance from him, as far as she was concerned he was hers, he’d willingly given himself to her. He sat up slowly to gauge his strength and to avoid rousing suspicion. He had to get to the door, once there he would go and find Marius and insist that they leave at once.

  He stood; his legs were shaky but still had some strength in them. Gathering all his will power and resilience he stumbled for the door, but collapsed after only two steps. He heard her laugh then. It was hearing Belinda’s gentle voice coming from that foul body that sent him over the edge and scrabbling across the floor to the door. Desperately he reached up to pull the handle, but despite using all his strength, the lever wouldn’t budge and he realised that they were locked in together. He slumped against the wood, then pulled himself into a ball as she crouched down beside him. She held out her wrist, which was ready, with the slow black blood gathering at the cut.

  “Drink,” the hag commanded in Belinda’s soft voice. Junius shook his head and twisted himself away, facing the door to keep his mouth as far from her as possible.

  “No, please,” he begged. He could feel hot tears welling up in his eyes. “Please let me be. I’ll promise I won’t tell anyone. I don’t…”

  He felt her claws grip his head and twist his face around. “Yes, Junius, you’ll enjoy it. You know you will. And then you’ll take me to Rome and we’ll drink some more there.”

  She held in him in a vicelike grip and thrust her wrist against his mouth. He forced his lips to remain shut even though he felt the familiar tickle and compulsion to pull and suck down the rich and glorious fluid, but he refused to give in to it, using all his remaining strength of will to resist.

  She was patient, but his resolve was stronger and he even began to hope that maybe she would give in and let him go.

  He thought he’d won when she released her hold, but his joy was short lived, when delicately she gripped his nose to stop his breathing and held him against the door so that he was unable to move.

  He held out as long as he could, but inevitably he had no choice but to open his mouth to draw in new air. Immediately the black blood settled on his lips and seeped onto his tongue. Instantly fires went off inside his mind and his body sprang into action. Automatically his lips clasped her skin and he pulled at the wound encouraging the fluid to spill into his eager mouth. His hands came up and held her wrist to his face as he gulped down her blood like a man denied water. He was whimpering, desperate for as much as he could get. After a moment he opened his eyes and looked into her skeletal face and knew that he was looking into his future, but he didn’t care, this was what he wanted. She smiled encouragingly and he grinned back at her as he feverishly swallowed mouthful after delicious mouthful of the sluggish black substance.