by Maya DeLeina
Eilian let out a sign of relief. Steffan remained kneeling above Anya’s body, his head slumped to his chest. Eilian reached out to comfort him and put his hand on Steffan shoulder. “Her body has turned, Steffan. You didn’t damage her. We’ll just have to await her return.”
12:48 a.m.
Twenty-five minutes after she died, Anya’s eyes flew open.
A wheezing sound pierced the room and she struggled for air. Her eyes rolled back violently in her head as her body jerked brutally in the bed. Her veins protruded under the skin as if an engine had started, sending her blood pumping through her body. Steffan tried to hold the sheets that covered her body in place, but the force of her reflexes exposed her inch by inch.
“Leave us!” Steffan screamed out, and Eilian and Rhys quickly exited the room.
Anya’s body spasms slowed, and her eyes froze open. Steffan leaned in, waiting for the color inversion to take place. He closed his eyes, begging and pleading that the heart of the woman he had grown to love would maintain its purity in her vampire existence.
He opened his eyes and watched the show.
Anya’s eyes remain unchanged. The white retained its brilliance against her seductive brown eyes.
Anya took a deep breath in and blinked. “Steffan?”
“Anya, my love. You’re back! You had me so worried!” Tears of joy and relief streamed down Steffan’s face. He reached for Anya and cradled her close to his chest. “I thought I’d lost you.” He whispered into her ear.
“I was so scared.” Anya was crying, gasping. “Wait! I remember! I remember you, Steffan!” Anya said, sitting up in the bed.
Steffan released Anya and sat next to her. He began firing a series of questions in an effort to test her human retention. “Who is Anya?”
“Me! I remember my name!” Anya exclaimed with a childlike innocence.
“Where is Michelle?”
“She’s resting, down the hall. She won’t wake till tomorrow evening. Chloe is with her father and he won’t drop her off until Sunday afternoon…” Anya stopped short in her explanation, her eyes widening in amazement of her recall.
“Good, Anya! Your memory is so vivid!”
Anya’s smile slowly faded, “My family, Steffan. They’re all dead.”
Steffan shook his head as he focused on Anya’s thoughts. The blaring light was still overpowering, marring his ability to see the vignette of her family members and the tragic events that followed.
“I was all alone,” Anya said, shaking her head. She turned to Steffan as she recalled his past with Arianell and his child. “You lost your family. You were all alone, too!”
“Yes. But we are mates. We are each other’s family now.” Steffan held her hand and placed a delicate kiss on her flesh.
“I’m a vampire,” Anya stated.
“Yes.”
“I died. I’m no longer human.”
“Yes,” Steffan continued to confirm Anya’s statements.
“What color did my eyes turn?”
“White—just as I suspected.”
“Now I will never age, never get sick…Live forever.”
“Yes, that’s the plan, my love.”
“What happened to me? My soul?”
“It’s still with you. It will always be with you.”
“My mind. It is still me in here, too?”
“Anya, you are you. Mind and soul.”
“But my body, it’s not me. It’s different.”
“Of course.”
Steffan waited for another statement of reality, a question of realism from Anya, but she remained quiet in her trance.
“Tell me, what’s the first thing you want to do as a vampire?” asked Steffan.
Anya turned to Steffan, her eyes glowing passionate red. “Make love to you with my vampire body.”
* * * *
She took pleasure in the sensation of the smooth river rocks under the balls of her feet. She tiptoed and bent over slightly, affording Steffan the perfect angle to penetrate her deeply from behind. The inconsistency of the rocks on the floor, their shapes, sizes and height variances, probed at her aches, like a trigger-point massage.
He plunged himself slowly and deeply into her in a rhythmic dance. Warm water surged from the body sprays that circled the walls of the travertine shower. His hands glided up her back and settled in a tight grasp on her shoulders. Anya steadied herself and tested her flexibility and balance, arching her shoulders backward to Steffan’s chest. The curvature of her back pitched her chest outward, putting her wet breasts on full display, brisk in their movements from Steffan’s demand on her body. He kneaded her luscious mounds, driving more intently into her as Anya’s palmed the side of the glass shower door for stability.
Steffan suddenly stopped, a dead silence between them.
Anya, can you hear me? Steffan reached into her mind as he remained behind her, buried deep inside her heat.
Oh my god, I hear you!
Everything tingled as Steffan’s voice resonated through her mind and body. The feeling was inexpressible.
Your voice is vibrating in my head, vibrating everywhere. I’ve never felt anything like this before. Is my voice clear?
Crystal.
Steffan slipped his cock from her warm pussy and nudged himself upward into her crevice, rubbing his cock up her backside, rimming her entry.
My love, can you feel what I am longing for, see what I am craving?
Anya’s body quivered.
She could feel the depth of his desire burning through him. She saw every explicit detail of his fantasy. Whether there was a psychological or physiological reason behind it, she had never pursued such a taboo act with any partner before. She was, by her measurement, a good girl. She was timid really when it came to her sexuality. And this was certainly not an act a woman of her capacity would ever dream about doing.
Until Steffan came into her life, that is.
It was one of those things, either a woman hated it or loved it. All of Anya’s systems seemed to already register a pure fondness for the experience, although she and Steffan had yet to dive into that sexual realm. It was the naughtiness of it all, the ability to elevate their pleasure and deepen their connection to one another that held credence, rousing both of them to explore the depths of sexual variety and experimentation privately.
“I’ve never done this either, cariad. And I too I have had many thoughts about doing this with you. I want to possess all of you, have all of you. I want us to become one in every possible way. ” Steffan whispered.
Anya turned around.
Steffan’s eyes were piercing, full of mad desire and an ache to be sated in the most intimate and delicate exchange with her.
“I want us to be each other’s first time, share each other unconditionally, as we’ve never done with another,” Steffan spoke lovingly.
Amidst the rivulets of water that set their course down his chin, meandering their way through his prominent stubble, he had a striking radiance around him. It sparked a yearning in her to give him every part of her heart and body, absorb his essence entirely.
“I want that, too.”
Steffan’s mouth covered Anya’s in a lustful, unrefined kiss. His hand engaged a lever that halted the pulsating rhythm of the body sprays and replaced it with a delicate sheet of water that cascaded down along the back wall of the shower and over the marble and travertine bench that sat below.
Steffan released Anya’s mouth. He reached for the amber-colored bottle that sat deep in the crevice of the wall and positioned himself on the bench. He looked stately as he sat under the waterfall, its movement sensually framing his body. He poured the contents of the bottle over his chest, the water beading instantly as his skin glowed with an oily, iridescent sheen. He held his hardness, saturating every ridge and contour with the oil. He stroked himself in a confident display, beckoning Anya.
Come to me, Steffan summoned in her mind.
Anya straddled Steffan on the b
ench, tightening her grip on his shoulders as he pulled her against his chest. The oil exchange between their two bodies was stimulating. Steffan positioned the bottle at the top of her crevice, sending a stream of oil to collect deep in the cavern of her backside. He discarded the bottle feverishly, his fingers delving deep into her cleft, rimming the delicate flesh of her entry in a circular motion. The sensation was breathtaking. Her senses were coming alive as he transformed the purity of her landscape into his sexual playground.
Anya moaned at the newness of the experience.
Steffan positioned himself below her sensitive breach. She could feel him rigid and slick as he pressed against her access, longing to feel the sacred heat of a woman he had never felt before.
“You’re in control, Anya. Take me in as you need.”
Anya inched her way down on Steffan, their eyes spellbound on each other. His entry immediately engulfed Anya with an unspeakable sensation of pleasure and pain. She lifted, completely releasing him, and then inched her way back down on him again, this time, a little farther, a little deeper.
It was unlike anything else she’d felt before. Steffan was deep inside her, in a part of her body that was unexplored. She could feel him everywhere he was and everywhere he was not, tipping the sensation in an unbalanced mix of undefined fulfillment.
She lifted once again and then slid back down on his shaft, this time, swallowing Steffan completely. They released a deep groan as the sensation enraptured them beyond compare. Anya wrapped around him, snug and warm, and Steffan stretched and filled her to the limit as no man ever had before.
They were one, exploring a realm of intimacy that neither had experienced. Their lovemaking was slow, methodic, and completely consuming.
* * * *
The evening’s thunderstorm transitioned into a light morning rain. Fog suspended in the thick air, varying in its state of a transparent mist to an utter denseness. Anya lay awake in bed, her head resting comfortably on Steffan’s chest. Her hand cupped against the rise of his pectoral muscle. She was mesmerized by the ghostlike fog that seemed to waltz past the floor-to-ceiling windows in time to Steffan’s rhythmic breathing. She closed her eyes and concentrated on her surroundings. Her vampiric body heightened her senses to levels of awareness and sensations she had never known.
Then there was the matter of the blinding light.
When she would engage her memory to recall her human past, the blinding light would ripple through her mind, blaring at points as if a force was intent on blocking out certain phases and details of her human recall. Something lingered there, behind the light, but no matter how much she willed control over it, her ability would not come to execution. Was this a special ability or a defect in her turning?
She and Steffan had much to discuss.
Steffan remained still next to her, deep in a restful slumber. She lifted her head to glance at her mate. She noted the sinful smile plastered on his face as he slept. She made her way into his mind to see what he was dreaming about.
The man was relentless.
Visions of them in the throes of passion on the candy-apple-red Ducati burned vividly in his mind.
She shook her head and smiled. Choosing eternity with a man with his insatiable appetite was surely going to be interesting.
“Morning, my love, my mate. How was your rest?” Steffan stirred slowly under Anya, drifting leisurely from his dream state.
“Restful, but restless.”
“How do you mean?”
“When I can sleep, it’s a very deep and sound sleep. I didn’t toss and turn like I would typically do.”
“When you can sleep?” Steffan questioned.
“Our minds, they never turn off to each other. I can enter yours anytime I want. And since all you do is think about sex, it makes me very restless, wanting to act on your thoughts. Like that incident on the Ducati, for example.”
Steffan laughed and ran his hand down Anya’s silky, black hair. “I’m sorry. Now that we’re mates, we’ll have to work together to adapt and manage our abilities.”
“Is it too early to start with our lesson? I feel like I need to get a better handle on all this. I’m afraid of having sensory overload at any moment, you know?”
“No, I understand. This is all new to me as well.” Steffan sat up in bed, propping the pillows behind his back against the headboard. Anya moved her pillow to lay lengthwise from his waist down to his legs and plopped her head down, looking up at Steffan as he continued. “You and I, well you already know we can communicate without words, but apparently, we don’t even have to be in the same room or within the same vicinity to communicate inwardly. We will have to test how far our bond stretches. It could be just mere inches or miles away.”
“Well, what determines the strength of the bond?”
“We don’t really know. For human-vampire mates, other than the claim ritual, there’s very little documented since each pairing is unique. It’s only been recently that I learned quite a lot about it from Rhys. Up until now, he was the only one in our family to claim a human.” Steffan shook his head as he remembered the claim. “It would do us all good to sit and talk. Rhys and Brynne, their transition to mates wasn’t a smooth one.”
“What happened?”
“Brynne was a diabetic. The insulin she was on altered her blood and tissue cells. Rhys knew Brynne casually, but because of her altered components from the insulin, he didn’t realize he actually had a mate connection to her. He thought their attraction was based purely on looks. Once he discovered their connection, he went through hell trying to convince her he was a vampire and she was his fated mate. ”
“Why? Did she not believe him? Didn’t he show her what he could or couldn’t do?”
“He had himself to blame for all of that,” Steffan remarked as he rolled his eyes. “Rhys was a member of Vampyre Noir. This woman in town was obsessed with vampires and started this ultraexclusive club here for other enthusiasts. She even made everyone refer to her as Madame Noir. Rhys heard about the club a couple years after moving here and joined, thinking it would be entertaining and educational. You know, hear what humans talk about, what they believed when it came to vampires. Madame Noir made potential members go through a profile evaluation to test their vampiric qualities before accepting them as members. Go figure, Rhys passed the test. If they only knew what they really had among them.” Steffan chuckled at the thought. “Anyway, Brynne ran the local vampire book club in town. One day, Madame Noir extended an invitation to Brynne to spend an evening with her and her noir clan since the two clubs had similar interests in vampires. Madame Noir selected Rhys to be Brynne’s escort for the evening.”
“A vampire book club, I can see. But a vampire club? I had no idea there was actually a club like that in town!”
“Oh yeah. Now, after taking Brynne to a club with vampire role-players, can you imagine what Rhys went through to convince her that vampires actually existed, not to mention trying to teach her about the mate match they had to one another.”
Anya shook her head. “Yeah. I see what you mean. Well, they’re together now, so I guess he finally convinced her.”
“Oh, of course they eventually made it through. And not a moment too soon as far as the family was concerned. He was driving us absolutely insane the entire time. When we all met Brynne after the claim, we thought we could breathe a sigh of relief, but really, the drama had just begun.”
“Why? What happened?”
“Some of the Blood Honey dealers in town found out that Brynne was a diabetic and that she had been turned. They took her from Rhys one night, while they were working at the club.”
“She was kidnapped?”
“Yeah. But we got her back unharmed, and we took care of all of the Blood Honey dealers out there.” Steffan paused and looked down. A look of distress overcame him. “Well, all except for one.”
“One got away? How? You’re a vampire!”
“And so was he,” Steffan whispered.<
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“A vampire was involved? Someone from this family? Who?”
“He was not from our family, and I really don’t want to spend any more breath on him than I already have.”
“Okay,” Anya responded. She adjusted, sitting straight up in bed. “Can you at least tell me what the hell is Blood Honey?”
Steffan eyes widened with excitement as Anya’s bare chest was displayed before him. He reached out to touch her, but she pulled back and covered herself with the sheet, fully intending to hear the answer to her question.
“Blood Honey is pure liquid THC, where the solvent used for the cannabis extraction is vampire blood. Some of the metaphysical shops here deal in this. For those who can afford it, it’s the most sought after drug out there.”
“Metaphysical shops? Does Michelle know about this Blood Honey?”
“She did, once. One of the dealers came into her shop, trying to strike up a deal with her and got a little rough in the process when she wanted no part in it. Rhys took care of him and had to enthrall Michelle since the dealer revealed too much of our kind. Plus, Rhys didn’t want her to remember that experience. It was better for everyone just to enthrall her.”
“But why target metaphysical shops to sell drugs? I don’t get it.”
“Blood Honey is a thick, amber colored resin. It is sold by the vial. Dealers use the shops since they hide the vials in pieces of hollowed out amber. It basically camouflages the oil, and they can be sold right out in the open.”
Anya was stunned. “I’ve helped Michelle run the shop and I’ve never heard of this! What is so great about Blood Honey? Is it all about getting high?”
“It’s not just getting high. Consuming the Blood Honey is like drinking from the fountain of youth for humans. The Blood Honey releases a pleasurable mind and body experience, allowing the cell regeneration process to take place without pain or discomfort.”
“Humans actually stop aging by using this?”
Steffan shook his head. “It doesn’t stop aging altogether, but it does dramatically slow the aging process. Hollywood swears by it and pays top dollar for a single drop. So you can imagine with that kind of profit, there are dealers all over the world.”