by Various
Before she could reply, she heard a tinkling of metal against metal. As if someone was pulling keys from their pocket to unlock the car. Or their house. Seth stood up fast. Gillian could feel the waves of hunger and caution radiating from him, but she smiled. She was ready for this. Stepping into the shadows, she pulled him against her. Instantly, his arms went around her waist, and she tipped her mouth up to his. They kissed in the shadow of the flickering streetlamp as Jackson approached. Gillian watched him from the corner of her eye as Jax paused, regarding them. She could see the smug grin on his face, and again the rage she felt boiled up inside of her. But she would keep it at bay for now. Just long enough. It would not do to lose her control now.
“This isn’t the Red Light District, you know,” Jax shouted to them as he approached the steps leading from the stoop. “Get a fucking room.”
Gillian laughed. It seemed to echo all around them, bouncing off the brick facades. She spoke from the shadows, her voice coming from everywhere and nowhere all at once. Jackson shuddered visibly, taking a step backward and holding his hand out in front of him in a protective stance. “You were never opposed to public displays of affection,” Gillian purred. Her voice was like a bitter wind whistling around the eaves.
“Who is that?” Jackson called out, squinting into the shadow to try and make out her face.
Gillian pushed away from Seth, her fingertips brushing his as she turned toward her prey. “Just a pathetic plaything lying in the gutter.” Her hearing was acute and she heard Jackson’s sharp inhalation. Again she giggled, a candy-coated taunt. Emerging from the darkness, she walked slowly toward her former lover. His face was fixed in a terrified rigor. He could tell there was something different about her tonight. Something sinister and dangerous. Opening her mouth, Gillian caught the taste of his fear on her tongue as she approached. He stood his ground, not wanting to appear frightened when her once blue-green eyes flashed a catty gold in the moonlight.
“Gillian…what are you doing here?” he asked, his voice almost choking.
“I was in the neighborhood,” she said, the steady cadence of her footfalls acting as a metronome, counting out the remaining minutes of Jackson’s life. “I was hoping to catch you at home.”
“Look, Gilly… I thought we covered this last night. I asked you not to come here again.”
Again she laughed. “It’s a public thoroughfare,” she replied, gesturing to the street. “I can walk where I like.”
Jackson looked nervous, his eyes darting here and there. He could feel that Seth was waiting in the shadows. “Where is your friend?” he asked, nearly losing his footing on the step as she reached him.
“Who?”
“The man you were kissing…”
“Where?” She stepped up to him, their bodies so close that she could feel the heat of his and the erratic staccato of his heartbeat.
“Under the s...ss…streetlamp,” Jackson stuttered as she nuzzled under his chin, sniffing his skin with a catlike purring. There it was, the scent of his blood, fresh and fleeting as it rushed through his veins. Her mouth watered, and the fangs behind her lips seemed to grow. For a moment, there was a look of lust that flickered in Jackson’s eyes. He seemed hypnotized by the movements of her body, the heady perfume of her desire, the way her hand slid from his breast, moving slowly down his front to rest at the edge of his belt. “What are you playing at, Gillian?” he rasped.
“You still want me,” she purred. “I can taste it. I feel it with every breath you take.”
“Gillian…” She silenced him with a kiss, leaning in and covering his mouth with hers. Forcefully, she pushed her tongue between his lips, tracing his teeth with the tip. For a moment he was frozen, afraid to respond, but soon his arms were around her waist, pulling her into his embrace. His hands slid down, cupping her ass and pressing her tightly against him so that she could feel his cock, hard and ready, nudging against her center. His skin tasted just as she remembered, almost too sweet with the bitter hint of tobacco. She groaned against his mouth, her kiss becoming more insistent as she became intoxicated with the persistence of old memories. Every kiss they’d shared came flooding back, replaying with stunning clarity in her mind’s eye. Words they’d whispered in the dark, the moment she’d told him of her pregnancy, their first Christmas together… every memory flashed before her like an old film strip as they kissed. It felt so good in his arms again, yet so cold. He’d cast her out before, and he would again. There was nothing left but the hollow corpse of their love. She had given herself to Seth now. Seth who, in his darkness and death, had given her life. Her savior, baptized in blood.
Suddenly, everything grew dark.
“Why do you have to be so fucking pathetic?”
“I can’t love you anymore.”
“Our baby is dead because of you!”
His words were like a dagger, stabbing into her cold, still heart. Jackson moaned, deepening their kiss, holding on to Gillian desperately. Sucking gently, she pulled his lower lip between hers. At first, a gentle caress and then, just a light prick with her new fangs. A small bead of blood rose to the surface of his skin and her tongue swept over it. The metallic flavor made her mouth water, the corners of her mouth aching. She nipped again, opening the wound further. The venom dripped over it, making the blood run like water over his mouth and down his chin. Jax tensed. He tried to pull away, but he was no match for Gillian’s new strength. She pulled him tighter, so tight that he couldn’t catch his breath. He moaned again, but this time there was no pleasure. The wound in his mouth was throbbing, pulsing with every beat of his heart. But still she suckled. Licking and lapping at the precious, sanguine fluid.
“Stop, Gillian,” Jax whined, his voice muffled. She held tighter until he began to panic, pushing her body away in a desperate attempt to get free. “Stop!” he shouted, balling his fist and bringing it down across the bridge of her nose. She hissed, stumbling backward before he punched her again. “Crazy bitch! What the fuck is wrong with you?” Jax screamed, wiping the blood from his mouth.
Gillian crumpled to the sidewalk, covering her face with her hands and trying to stop the flow of blood from her nose and eyes. “Jax…” she whimpered, hiding herself behind the loose tendrils of her hair to cover the wicked grin. She could taste his blood, bittersweet, on her lips. She licked them, savoring the flavor. “Jax… I thought you still loved me,” she said tearfully. Looking out of the corner of her eye, Gillian could see Seth, still standing in the shadows. His eyes glowed red, and she could smell the rage and thirst rolling off of him in waves like heat on asphalt. He was weak, but the will to feed was stronger.
“Gillian…what we had is over. It’s over!” Jax took a step toward her. “You’re fucking crazy!” She tried to rise, but he shoved her to her knees again. “Torturing yourself and me like this. Get out of here!” he roared. “And don’t ever come back!”
“How could you, Jax?” she sobbed, crawling toward him, playing the pathetic role she’d learned so well.
“I told you to get out of here, Gillian!” Reaching down, he grasped her arm in an attempt to pull her up on her feet.
Gillian looked down at his hand, smeared with her blood and his own. The blood had begun to dry in the creases and lines of his hand. “Don’t you ever touch me again,” she growled. Her voice was low, barely audible. Before he could reply, she got to her feet, her movements a mere blink of the eye.
Jax gasped and stumbled backward toward the stoop. A drop of blood slid down her cheek and she captured it with her tongue, licking her lips and feeling that familiar tightening in the corners of her mouth. “You dare to treat me like your whore,” she said and snarled, stepping into the light. The moon was at the peak of its journey across the sky, bathing the two of them in a silvery light. “When YOU’RE the whore!” she screamed, slashing at his chest with her nails, now fully elongated and razor sharp. They cut through his shirt and scraped over his skin just enough to open three thin gashes over his heart.
“Gillian… Gilly…” Jax stammered. “Calm down…” He slid his hand over his chest and discovered the blossoming wound on his tee-shirt. He held his hand up, looking at the blood in disbelief.
Gillian threw her head back and laughed. “Calm down. He wants me to calm down, Seth!” she called into the darkness. Her eyes darted around, not seeing him. But he was close. She could smell his scent.
“Who is Seth?” Jax asked, his voice quivering. His eyes were wide, scanning the street for a sign of the other man. There was none. Where could he have gone?
“Who is Seth?” Gillian mocked. She struck at him again with another swipe of her claw-like hand. This time, her nails went deeper, opening another wound under the corner of his jaw. The blood glistened, looking black in the near-darkness. She wanted it, but was enjoying this game.
“I think you need to leave, Gillian,” Jax said, still trying to maintain his composure and slapping his hand over the wound. He stared at her in the same way one would a rabid dog. Afraid to stand still, but knowing if he ran, she’d only give chase.
Gillian smiled, bringing her fingers to her mouth and licking each one slowly. The coppery taste was almost blissful. “Just as I remember, Jax,” she said. “So sweet…but cold.”
“We’re finished here!” Jax screamed, turning to run up the stairs to his townhouse and coming face to face with Seth.
“No, friend. We’ve only just begun.” Seth growled, grabbing Jax’s shirt collar and jerking him off the ground.
Jax struggled as Seth pulled him in, sinking his fangs into the space above the pulsing jugular vein. He drank deeply, taking it fast to silence the screams of the man who writhed in his grasp. Gillian grinned, her eyes flashing in the dark as she watched her lover feed on Jackson. Within seconds, she could see the strength returning to his hands and the color returning to his features. She walked toward them, noticing how Jackson’s eyes had grown dark and glazed over. They seemed to plead with her. He reached toward her, begging her to spare his life.
“Poor Jax…” she purred, taking his hand and kneeling before him. The blood from Seth’s bite ran down his chest, collecting in a small puddle in the center of his chest. She leaned forward, licking it up and shivering again. “The predator now becomes the prey.” Sliding her hands down, she pulled at the button on his jeans until it popped. Jackson’s eyes grew wide and he struggled weakly. Pulling the heavy fabric aside, she exposed the skin of his hip. With a growl, she bared her fangs and bit down into the sensitive flesh. This time Jackson did scream and raised up, but Seth pulled him back.
Gillian kissed the corner of his pelvis, following the subtle slant toward his cock. She was surprised to see that in his panic and dying that it stood at attention, hard and ready as if waiting for a lover. How fitting that the betraying member should be his undoing. She purred again, making sure that both men were watching as she found the pulsing vein at his groin and sank her teeth in deeply. She remembered what Seth had told her. The killing bite must be deep.
The two vampires tore and bit at his flesh, opening a new gash when one went dry. After what must have seemed an eternity, Seth pulled back. “Stop, Gillian. Stop now before you take his death!”
“I want to see him die.” She growled. “I want to see the light leave his eyes. To kill him as he killed me.”
Seth rose, shoving Jackson’s limp body aside. The man was still alive but just barely. “To drink the last drop is to drink you own death, you stupid girl! Let him go!” He stumbled down the steps, reaching for her, but she hissed and slapped his hand away.
“Leave me be, Seth!”
“You’ll die!”
She looked down at Jackson. His eyes were still open and staring. He was dying, nearly dead, and he knew it. For a moment, she felt sorry for him, but not much. He had killed her that night, days ago. God, had it only been days? But fortunately Seth had been there to resurrect her. There would be no such mercy for her former lover. Leaning over, she brushed her lips across Jax’s. They were cold and still like the lips of a marble angel. Pulling back, she felt him exhale, relieved that he would be left in peace to die. “You stole my heart, Jax.” She sighed tearfully.
Gillian turned back quick and slashed once more at his chest with her razor sharp nails. This time she pushed them through layers of skin, sinew and bone until the palm of her hand could feel the pulsating muscle of his heart. The beat was shallow, but still there. Jackson’s eyes, wide with pain and shock, watched as she gripped the organ tight in her fist and pulled it out through the crude hole in his chest. Then they faded, the last thing they saw being a beautiful vision of a goddess, bathed in blood. Taking back that which was lost.
“It’s only fair that I should steal yours.”
****
Seth watched in morbid fascination as Gillian rose to her feet, still holding the bleeding heart clutched in the palm of her hand. She stared at it, a slight grin twisting her features. The shadows danced and played around the wide pools of her eyes, making them look sunken and hollow. She turned, walking toward him. Her heels clicked against the cobblestone street, pounding out a measured adagio. As she passed him by, he reached for her, taking her wrist and pulling her against his chest. The smell of the blood was overwhelming, and he was still so hungry.
“Gillian…” he whispered, kissing the drops of coagulated gore that had splattered across her cheek. She sighed, relaxing into the embrace. “Are you alright?”
She thought about his answer for a moment, her thoughts racing so quickly that he couldn’t follow. “I’m free,” she replied. She held the glistening organ up to the light so he could see. “This is all that’s left of him.”
Seth held out his hand, and she placed it in his palm. It was warm, the blood still encased in its walls lending a heaviness. “Funny…not as fragile as we might think,” he said. “What do you want to do with it?” he asked, carefully placing it back in her hand.
“Exactly what he did with mine.” She turned her palm over, dropping the heart on to the ground beneath their feet. Taking one last look, she stomped down with the chunked heel of her boot until the last of Jackson’s black blood ran into the cracks. Then, linking her arm through Seth’s, they walked away. “Let’s go home.”
The End
About the Author
Alexandra Christian is an author of erotic and paranormal romance and horror. In case you don't know what that means, she writes about not-so-nice girls getting it on with out-of-this-world heroes. Vampires, werewolves, selkies, angels and demons--and that's just recently! Her first novel, Hellsong, was published with Sugar and Spice Press and ever since, she's been working her sweet Southern ass off to churn out as much sin and debauchery as possible.
She lives in a small town in South Carolina, the same town she's lived in her whole life. The rich Southern culture, fried foods and a healthy dose of superstition have colored her personality and writing style. She lives with her extremely tolerant husband, author Tally Johnson, and their epileptic wiener dog, Murphy.
Since Hellsong, Lexxx has written several other pieces of erotic paranormal romance and horror that include five short stories and another novel. Sanguine Kiss is her first book with Purple Sword.
Visit her online at:
www.lexxxchristian.wordpress.com
Masquerade
Crymsyn Hart
Part One
The Hermit
Chapter One
My name is Brenna.
The heaviness of the atmosphere rolled around my tongue, lingering in my nose like a fine vintage of wine. It was a hot, humid day. Clothes stuck to every inch of skin, and a sane person hungered for a shower after the slightest exertion. Traces of spices and sweat clung to the fragrance of the day as exotic food was prepared on every corner. Even a hint of magic wafted on the day’s aroma. Spells had been cast to bar intruders and ignite passionate love affairs.
As these scents carried me into consciousness, a slight breeze blew through the Quart
er, pulling the bouquets of the day with it. My nostrils flared at the odor on the back of the wind: the wet, dark, musty smell of death and an oncoming storm. Death was part of the culture here, always lingering like the ghosts in the city. Rain came often, but never lasted more than an hour or so, making this place more like a tropical paradise than a bustling city. Even the downpours couldn’t keep the sightseers from exploring the small shops, as well as admiring the balconied apartments in the Quarter. Many were small oases, housing lush plants, which allowed the inhabitants to escape from the cameras and voyeurs. I inhabited one of these sought-after lodgings, but kept the windows shuttered so the sun couldn’t creep in and disrupt my slumber.
I rose, yawning as the heaviness of sleep had not yet left me. Darkness caressed my naked form while the whirling fan cooled my bare skin. Stretching, I urged my body to rise and face the night. I opened the shutters to see the sun painting hues of purple and pink in the hazy air, signaling the fast approaching blue-greens of twilight. I smiled. This was the scene that had greeted me for years. I flicked on the light. I shielded my eyes from the sudden illumination until my pupils adjusted.
I admired my body in the bureau mirror. The overhead lamp gave my milky skin a jaundiced tint that contrasted against the pink of my nipples. My appearance attracted both sexes; it was something in the pheromones. The sex of my partners didn’t matter. I only wanted the ones who could fulfill my desire.
The jasmine-touched breeze danced through my apartment as the coolness of full night blossomed like a moonflower inside my chest. I stretched, now entirely awake as the sluggishness of the day fell away like a misty shroud. The moon’s silvery light already warmed my skin. Its blaze had replaced the sun in my memories and the power of it ignited my heart, night after glorious night.