Urban Vampire The Turning

by Pepper Pace

  My head began to swim. "And what's so bad about that?"

  "Politics, Baby, purely politics. Now..." He stood up and offered me his hand. "Shall we?"

  "Where are we going?" I asked while placing my hand into his. "I'm taking you out for dinner."

  He led me out of the house. This time there was a Jag waiting in the driveway. It was cream and chromed out. Very nice.

  "Tony? How many cars do you have?" And how much money? And where/who did it come from? He just smirked.

  Mei Wah opened the door for us and we drove...to all places, Club Midnight!

  Instead of letting us off in front, Mei Wah let us out in the back of the club. There was a security guard waiting to greet us. I felt like a rock star! Tony led us up to VIP and we were surrounded by local celebrities like ball players and a city council man. I even saw my favorite newscaster. I know Tony wasn't going to let me choose him as a willing donor. He was too close to the public eye!

  Everybody that saw me took a double take. I finally had to ask Tony what was up. I mean, I think I'm cute but not worthy of all the attention.

  Tony leaned in to me to whisper. "You've fed last night and the effects are still present. You haven't learned how to mask it yet. Your eyes are golden rimmed." I exhaled and he reached into his coat pocket and handed me a pair of black sunglasses.

  Once I donned them I felt a little more comfortable schmoozing.

  Tony had said that my willing donor would also be my benefactor...sugar daddy whatever you wanted to call it. I was still unsure of why someone would willingly give up their blood and money.

  When we had a private moment I finally asked him.

  "Humans will spend their last dime searching for the next high. Add the fountain of youth to that and you have the best product money can buy."

  Neal, my ex had seemed to really enjoy it. And Tony had gotten a powerful erection in just a matter of seconds! I shivered with the memory of the feel of him pressed against my body. I exhaled slowly. First things first: It was time for work.

  He whispered into my ear. "Jackson Montague is an ex-ball player. It might not be a bad idea to have him as a willing donor."

  "But isn't he married?"

  "So?"

  "Well, I don't want to take money from his wife and children."

  "Bring the wife in, too."

  "Uggg. That sounds kinda ménage-a-trois."

  Tony threw his head back and laughed. "Kim, I'm not telling you to go out and become the man's mistress."

  "No." I said seriously, "just his drug dealer."

  "Baby, the drug you're pushing is definitely not bad. He will love it."

  I looked at him curiously. "Tell me about your donors."

  He leaned back thoughtfully. "Mei Wah is a donor but I only use him for blood enough to keep him healthy. My real donors are Barb and Nancy. They're two sisters that live together. Their father left them a large Estate and they helped finance many of my business ventures."

  "You're a businessman, Tony?"

  "Yes. I'm a silent partner in several business ventures across the county, including this club. That's how I keep myself in Jags and Benz's." He winked at me. "Then there's Raymond who is a College Professor. Sophie and Bob are my Accountants and they also happen to be married. The last and newest member of my little donor family is Gigi. Her husband divorced her and ran off with the secretary. She made out like a bandit in divorce court. Since knowing me she has only gotten better and he has been trying his damndest to reconcile."

  I was surprised to find that there was a twinge of jealousy.

  "And how do you feel about Gigi reconciling with her husband?"

  He shrugged. "If that happens I'll ask her if she wants me to bring him in. But knowing Gigi she's going to stay single and play the field."

  I flashed him a hot look. "Well instead of buying me a new wardrobe, why don't you just woo Gigi and make her your...partner or mate or whatever you called it?!"

  He looked at me surprised. Suddenly he laughed again. I could have seen myself kicking him right in the face! "Baby, Gigi is sixty-two years old. When I said she was new to my family I meant Vampire new. I've known her eight years compared to others that I've been with for fifty plus."

  I chuckled at myself. "So, you don't have a physical relationship with your donors?" Tony looked amused. "Besides the fact that two of them are men; Raymond is close to three hundred pounds. I've been trying to convince him to lose weight but he knows that he's going to live a long life because of me so he eats, drinks and smokes to excess." He sighed. "I choose my donors a bit older to avoid personal 'entanglements'. No, Baby. I don't need a young human hero worshipping me and begging me to turn them so that I can be stuck with them forever. I don't have a sexual relationship with any of my regulars...although they would if I would." He looked away. And I could sense there was more here.

  "So, what are you not telling me?"

  He ran his tongue over his lips. "Even though I have regular donors it doesn't mean that...I don't take blood from others. When someone appeals to me then it's sexual. Your donors will be with you many many years. I find it best to keep sex out of it."

  "Oh."

  His hooded eyes appraised me. "Our bite gives pleasure. I'm used to taking, but it's been a long time since someone's fed from me. I almost forgot how much pleasure it brings."

  I looked away but Tony reached out and gripped my chin and turned me back to face him.

  "I sense that you have a lot on your mind about last night...and about me."

  "Just...I'm a little confused." I admitted.

  "There's a lot coming at you at once. I understand this." Tony paused seriously. "Just know that I'm going to take care of you until you no longer need me, or want me to. And...if you think you would want me for more than that—then know that I already want you."

  I could see myself leaping into his arms and telling him to carry me home, make love to me, and take care of me so that I could stop being scared. I wanted to be able to just accept all of this. But I couldn't. There was something different about me...and I wasn't accepting any of this until I understood what it was.

  I simply nodded and it seemed that it satisfied him...for now.

  ***

  Tony schooled me on my approach. There were two ways to enter a human; visually and with a bite. I knew that I'd had control of my ex before I'd even bitten him. So all I'd have to do was to look into my donor's eyes and he would be under my influence.

  I overruled the ex-ball player because of the guilt factor. The Council member that Tony suggested didn't appeal to me because of his age. I couldn't think about putting my lips on his wrinkled neck. There was a female business woman there that I almost chose, but I still wasn't convinced that it wouldn't be about sex and I just didn't need that extra issue to deal with. Finally I decided on a man in a nice suit that appeared to be alone.

  I gauged his age to be no more than mid-thirties-if that. He was fit, tanned and good looking with semi messy blonde hair that you could tell he'd paid a stylist a pretty penny to create. Judging by the suit I could tell that he was pulling in the big money.

  "Okay. Here it goes." Before I could rise Tony stopped me with his hand on my arm.

  "You need to do this alone. Take Mei Wah and the car. He'll make sure nothing happens to you. Just remember two things. Don't take too much blood, and he must be able to make the choice to be yours of his own free will. If it's against his beliefs, then he will lose his mind. Do you know what I mean?"

  I nodded even though I didn’t really understand, but I would still do what he asked. I approached the man. He was sipping bourbon on the rocks. I glanced behind me but Tony was already gone. I smoothed my hand down my legs and tried to convince myself that this was not the same as being a pusher.

  Taking off my glasses I sat down next to him. "Hello."

  He smiled and nodded at me. Then he took a double take. I willed him to speak freely and openly with me.

  "What's your na
me?" I asked.

  He offered me his hand. "Paul. Paul Kininsky. And you are?"

  "Kim." I gave him my hand. "Are you here alone Paul?"

  "Yeah. I...I've been trying to meet someone nice." He seemed surprised that he had said that. But then he looked into my eyes and smiled.

  "Really? You don't have a wife or girlfriend?"

  "A girlfriend; Amanda. But she doesn't like this kind of music." Paul looked suddenly shocked that he had admitted that. He gave me an apologetic look. I just willed him to be comfortable and honest.

  "Do you have any children?"

  "No. I don't want...well... maybe one day."

  "Do you love Amanda?" Paul hesitated. I was about to will him to answer when he did it on his own.

  "I do...but. I don't think I'm in love with her. Amanda's a nice girl, don't get me wrong. But she wants a home in the Hamptons and to vacation in Paris. I'm just a down home boy. I mean, even this hairstyle is Amanda. Kim, I'm cool in just a baseball cap and jeans. Sometimes I just think she just wants me for the money. I'm young, I have a nice job." He shrugged. "But I just don't care about all that other stuff."

  I decided right then and there that I would choose Paul. And I understood something else. I was willing Paul to talk, but I wasn't controlling what Paul thought or felt. He was still Paul.

  "Paul, would you like to go some place private and talk?"

  "Talk? We could get a hotel room and fu-"

  "Paul," I interrupted. "I have a proposition for you and you might like it as much as fucking. Would you like to go somewhere to talk about it?"

  He nodded with his mouth opened.

  I looked for Mei Wah after leaving the club and saw him parked on the side of the building. I gestured that I was going to drive with Paul and Mei Wah flashed his lights in acknowledgement.

  I wouldn't let Paul get a hotel for this conversation and he didn't want to just go park somewhere so we ended up at his place.

  Pre Vampire Kim wasn't what you would call wealthy, but I wasn't dirt poor either. I kinda saw myself as fair to middlin’. But after seeing how Tony and now Paul lived...I realized that I hadn't been living anywhere close to large.

  Paul had a loft apartment in an urban brick building in the heart of the city. He led me up a flight of concrete stairs and into the entranceway.

  "Amanda's not home is she?" I said in hesitation.

  "No. Amanda has her own place."

  Good.

  We got into a rickety elevator and he used a key to send the elevator to the very top floor. When the doors opened it was directly into the living space.

  Strangely, I couldn’t force myself out of the elevator. Paul looked at me. “Come I,” he invited without knowing that it was just what I needed him to do. Then I was no longer paralyzed and I followed him inside. That creeped me out. I didn’t like it at all.

  We walked into a large room that was breathtaking. Again with the floor to ceiling windows. Paul's style was a hodge podge of many different styles. He had vintage sports posters on his brick walls, a rickety bookshelf shoved to bursting with everything from trophies to books and magazines. But then he had a chromed out desk with state of the art computer system and fax machine. An entertainment center took up the far wall. It made me think of something that NASA would have invented.

  Paul's home made you want to kick off your shoes and get comfortable. He had an oversized linen sofa that didn't match the reclining chair next to it....and I loved it!

  "Would you like something to drink?" He asked loosening his tie and tossing his jacket over the reclining chair.

  "No. Maybe later," if you go along with the program...

  He turned on the component system and the local retro radio channel could be heard.

  "You have a nice home."

  "Thank you." I had been wondering how to approach the subject on the ride over. I hadn't wanted to talk about it while driving so I asked him to tell me about himself. He told me that he was an only child. His parent's were retired in Vegas. He was an investment banker that worked from home most days.

  I decided to just come right out and ask him. "Paul. I want to do something right now...and if you like it I wanted to ask you if you'd like to do it on a regular basis-"

  "Yeah, I'll do it! Yeah, I'd do it on a regular basis-"

  "You don't even know what it is yet." He just stared at me wide eyed. Was I making him say yes even before I had asked him? Tony had warned against that. This had to be his choice.

  "You're pretty; your eyes."

  "Shush!" I was getting annoyed but felt bad about being sharp with him. "Just be quiet. If you like what I do, you can tell me afterward. And Paul, keep your hands to yourself."

  I put my hand on Paul's shoulders. He looked at me expectantly. I turned his head gently away. He smelled like soap and shampoo, and some nice cologne. I put my lips on his neck. My teeth hadn't distended. I could hear Paul catch his breath in his chest.

  I thought about it and willed my teeth to spring from my gums, but apparently wanting them to drop wasn't the trigger to make it happen. I wasn't hungry, I wasn't in fear for my life. Here Paul was, all ready to be bitten...and I couldn't perform.

  Tony had brought my teeth out, but that was with pain. He had also made my teeth retract...and that was with a kiss.

  I concentrated on Paul, on the food. Maybe that would do it. Even with how attractive Paul was, I just wasn't ready to start kissing strange men.

  I inhaled deeply. I caught the scent of his blood beneath his skin. It made my stomach twist. My mouth began to water and I could feel the teeth slowly lower. I nuzzled the food. It was beginning to smell delicious.

  Distantly I could feel Paul transfer his weight from one foot to the next. I let my tongue glide along his salty skin and groaned deep down. Paul echoed the sound. I nibbled and Paul's hands sprung up but fell back down to his side.

  Gently, I broke the skin at his neck but Paul didn't draw away from me. I buried my teeth in to the quickening pulse at his throat and the blood gushed into my mouth causing me to shudder in pleasure. Paul's hands stroked down between us and I smacked them lightly. But I could understand his desire. I too felt myself tingling down low. I pulled back then. It hadn't been a complete feeding but just enough to make Paul understand.

  His head was lolled back, his eyes were closed in ecstasy.

  "Paul." I purred. "Did you like that?"

  "Oh. Yes." He opened his eyes. "It's not over is it?"

  "For now."

  "But you said that we could do it again."

  "If you want."

  "God, yes." I waited to feel a zap of pain. Nothing happened.

  "Paul. You mustn't say that word around my kind. Do you know why?"

  "No. Why?"

  "Because I'm a Vampire."

  "Oh. Kim?" He frowned at me. "I don't believe in Vampires."

  "I can't make you believe in what you don't believe in. But I believe that I am one. Is that good enough for you?"

  He nodded. "When can I see you again?"

  I thought about it. "Maybe tomorrow night. But Paul...what I do for you isn't free-” He waved my words away as if they were inconsequential.

  "You tell me what you want and I'll get it for you; money, whatever. Don't ever worry about money. But...will you kiss me?"

  "No. Paul, Amanda's your girlfriend, not me-"

  "But you could be my girlfriend-"

  "No!"

  His shoulders sank. "Okay."

  I patted his hand. "I'm sorry Paul. I don't need a boyfriend. What I need is blood...and for you to never discuss this with anybody."

  He didn't respond. It worried me. Which part was he rejecting? Giving the blood or keeping the secret?

  Paul finally looked at me again. "I think I understand. You need my blood, plus I'll give you money." He paused. "You feel good...but..."

  I was worried. I wanted Paul now that I had tasted his blood. Still, I waited patiently.

  "It doesn't seem right that
you would make me feel so good but not...you know." I didn't respond because that was not negotiable. We stood there for another minute or two while Paul really thought about it. Finally he turned to me.

  "Kim. I simply cannot experience the feeling you give me without touching you. Do you think I could hold you...you know, during?"