by amy o'connor
A bolt of lightning speared across the sky, casting his living room into brilliant light. For an instant they were reflected in the uncurtained windows — the muscular hunter with his prey slung over his shoulder. What the predator wanted, the predator simply took.
With a muffled oath, he dumped her on the sofa, watching in satisfaction as she landed with a breathless gasp of surprise, limbs akimbo. For a moment, he attempted to leash the beast. He would stay in control, dammit!
Why? She was just prey…
His eyes narrowed, and he stared down at her, at the way her chest rose and fell so enticingly. Her heart thudded out an erratic rhythm, calling to him. Tipped over his shoulder as she’d been, her blood had raced to her face. She was pink… and delicious.
Fully aware the predator was taking over, content to let it take charge for once, Todd bent over the sofa and caught eye contact, wrenching away her control of her mind, whisking her out of her senses. She slumped bonelessly into the cushions, peering vaguely up at him from heavy-lidded eyes. At his silent command, she turned her head obediently to the side.
Todd let his fangs slide into place. He crawled over her, pinning her securely beneath him, and nuzzled at her neck. She smelled so sweet.
So… his.
* * * *
Gwen struggled against the sudden lethargy, barely able to hold her eyes open. There was definitely something wrong with her. She smiled sleepily, wondering if she looked as dreamy as she felt. The silly thing though, was that if there was something wrong with her, she kinda liked it…
She couldn’t lift her head, her arms and legs lay haphazardly where they’d fallen. Yet her body was thrumming, expectantly. A gentle buzzing seemed to fill her ears, her vision was almost blurry. Todd’s bare torso filled her eyes and she forced herself to move. She wanted to touch him so badly, to feel if the same vibrations searing her skin were rattling through him as well.
Her muscles flexed; she felt the movement, yet her arm wouldn’t respond. It was too heavy, weighted down. Movement was just too much effort. She forced her eyes to focus, blinking groggily. His chest was closer, pressing into her face. She could smell him, could practically taste his arousal as his heat and scent surrounded her, seeped into her pores.
Her vision grayed and she blinked again, trying to clear it. It was him, she realized, blocking out what little light crept into the room through the picture windows. His body was on top of hers, pushing her deeper into the cushions, trapping her, holding her in place. She giggled, wrinkling her nose. If only he knew. She couldn’t have moved if she’d tried. He didn’t need to hold her in place.
But it felt… good. She felt wanted. For an instant her eyes narrowed, then the glimpse of reason disappeared as swiftly as it had appeared. Wrapped in a shadowy dream world, she didn’t care about his motives. She didn’t want to know. She just wanted to feel the way his skin scraped over her, the way his heat radiated through her, sent her spinning off into a whole different world. She let her eyes drift closed, content to follow where he led.
His chest hairs tickled her nose, and she grumbled, thoughtlessly reaching up to push him away. She thought she did anyway, but wasn’t really sure whether she actually managed to move or not. Then his naked chest was rubbing on her nipples, the fabric of her blouse seeming to have evaporated when she wasn’t paying attention. Who cared? She was stark naked under him, and that was what she wanted, needed. His weight pressing into her, his caressing hands shaping and molding her breasts and buttocks.
She felt her nipples harden, tried to press them into his chest. She thought he chuckled, but the drone in her ears was louder, an entire beehive alive with movement. The same buzzing flowed through her veins, her every fine hair was standing to attention, quivering with need.
A flash of lightening lit the room in stark monochrome and, for an instant, she was aware of where she was. As the light faded, the dream world crept back, her senses again overwhelmed by the man above her.
Desire. Lust. She wanted him so badly.
His tongue curled around her ear. He licked a wet rim around its curve, blowing softly as he went. Chills raced through her, fighting with the volcanic heat that was threatening to explode. Then his tongue plunged deep in her ear canal. She shuddered helplessly, unable to move as he continued the gentle assault on her senses. Ripples spread outwards from her ear, through her body, finally pooling between her legs. She heard herself moan, a plaintive little cry in the otherwise silent room. Outside, thunder rumbled.
Sharp teeth nipped at her lobe.
“Ow.”
His voice was a seductive whisper in her ear, half imagined. “Mine.”
She felt him sucking her earlobe into his mouth, teasing with his tongue until she tried to squirm away. Her body remained leaden beneath him. Maddening flames flickered through her, the heat almost unbearable. She couldn’t escape him. Couldn’t escape what he was doing to her body. Again, he stopped just before she could tumble into oblivion.
“Please…”
His mouth moved lower, his lips brushing a gentle kiss over her eyelids as he passed. “Mine.”
She didn’t care. She’d be his. Whatever. Just so long as he finished what he was doing. The teasing was driving her mad. Even through the sensual fog she was slipping more deeply into, she was aware he was teasing her, arousing her beyond measure. Beyond sanity.
His mouth touched a breast. She gasped. He drew an already swollen nipple deep into his mouth and suckled hotly. An unmistakable groan of contentment vibrated through him. Again she tried to push her breasts closer to him, still her body stayed limp under his confining weight. Everywhere his skin touched hers, flames licked. She was aware of every ounce of his weight pressing into her, reminding her she was helpless under him. Now, she couldn’t even open her eyes.
His weight shifted. She attempted to squirm away from the fire that was his mouth. Unperturbed by her fruitless struggle, Todd continued with his leisurely journey, his teeth scraping over her tummy, his tongue soothing the tiny nips.
Close overhead, a bolt of thunder cracked. For an instant, the room was filled with white light. Suddenly, Gwen was aware of the cooler air flowing over her breasts, freed now of his confining weight as his tongue moved lower. The drone of the air conditioner drowned the imaginary bees that were still buzzing in her bloodstream. Then she felt large hands slide between her thighs. Her legs spread wide. Vulnerable. She couldn’t move. Didn’t want to move. His mouth latched over her pussy, his tongue swirled around her clit, and the room exploded. For a few blessed moments, her mind went blank.
It didn’t last though. Thoughts crept back, and with them, awareness. Awareness of the way he was still nibbling and licking between her thighs. Her body was alive, writhing uncontrollably under him. Her hips bucked up, pressing them closer to his mouth. Obligingly, his tongue delved deep, probing her entrance. Through the roaring in her ears, she heard herself scream.
He moved within the space of a single heartbeat, his muscular body again wholly covering hers, pressing her into the sofa. His legs were wedged between hers his mouth was at her breast. His heat surrounded her. The tip of his cock pushed at her entrance. His teeth nipped her breast. Finally, he was about to take her.
She felt the way his cock glided through her juices, trembled in helpless anticipation as he drew fractionally away. She tried to thrust her body upwards, to impale herself. Her muscles were lead, her eyelids too heavy to open.
His tongue traced a line from her breast to her neck, playing for an instant in the soft skin at her collarbone. His weight pinned her, he shifted higher pressing her nose into his chest. The roaring in her head intensified. Vaguely, the needy mewling sounds coming from her own mouth penetrated the fog in her mind. Todd’s scent filled her senses. She shuddered, and willingly breathed it in.
Then he was buried deep inside her, filling her, the sound of his balls slapping wetly against her thighs as he surged into her incredibly erotic. Her back arched, her hips lif
ting of their own accord to meet every thrust. Each thrust drove her closer to the edge. The sensual fog was thicker than ever, swirling around her in a giddy dance. The world was spiraling out of her reach.
“Mine.” His ragged whisper echoed through her head.
He nuzzled at her neck, once, twice… then bit down. Piercing white light exploded behind her eyes. Her womb clenched around his cock, and the electrical firestorm ebbed and surged in her blood. The pleasure overtook her, ripping her mind from her body. Her whole world shattered.
* * * *
Gwen drew in a deep, shuddering gulp of air. Todd was slumped over her, breathing heavily, his head still buried somewhere in her neck. Sated to the bone, she tried to push some of his dead-weight off her. He didn’t budge, but at least her arms responded to her commands this time. She slumped back onto the sofa, aware of a prickle of discomfort. The bastard must have bitten her again, on the neck this time. She shrugged it off. Whatever he’d done had worked, so who was she to quibble over his methods?
Oh man…
Sex was good. She smiled at her thoughts. Sex was good? She sounded like some kind of sex-starved nymphomaniac. She shifted slightly, enjoying the feeling of being trapped under him. Her eyes widened. His cock was still buried in her pussy, and the tiny movement seemed to have given it a whole new lease of life. She could feel him swelling, filling her more thoroughly.
Casting her mind back over some of the books she’d read, she tried to grip him with her inner muscles. He mumbled into her neck, his fingers clutched convulsively at her breast.
He may have just fucked her senseless — there was no other word for it — but that didn’t mean she didn’t have any power over him at all. She just needed to… practice. She grinned to herself, and squeezed him again. Todd groaned and grabbed her hips, his fingers digging in to her skin as he dragged her off him.
Before she could protest, he’d slammed her hips back down, impaling her more firmly on his swollen cock. She was sure she screamed, but the sound seemed to drift off into the distance. The warm haze enveloped her again, her body dropped away from her control and fell limply back into the cushions. She could actually feel the room spinning away into the distance. How the hell did he do that to her?
A flash of lightening lit the sky, and for a second his face was clear. His eyes were huge, swallowed by an implacable black fire that burned into her soul. Her mouth opened on a silent scream as she saw his mouth. Saw the fangs, saw the single drop of blood balanced precariously on the end of one. He held her eyes, staring intently, and she sensed the way his mind probed at hers, searching. Another spear of lightning forked through the sky. She saw it from the corner of her eye, but she couldn’t draw away from his predatory stare.
His lips twisted in a triumphant smile. In that instant she understood the fog that surrounded her. Self-preservation kicked in and she slammed up her natural barriers, denying him access to her mind. Seemingly unperturbed, his mouth hovered, came closer.
A delicate flick of his tongue and the droplet of blood was gone. His eyes glazed. She stared in fascination as the black flames receded, only to return in a rush. She could hear his heartbeat, feel his hot breath on her face. Every muscle was taut, uncomfortably so.
It wasn’t Todd.
It was.
The flames returned to his eyes, his features hardened. Face implacable, he leaned closer, his weight again pinning her helplessly beneath him. Gwen balled a fist, hesitated, then swung it sharply upwards, smashing it into his face.
Sharp teeth scraped over her knuckles. She ignored the pain, ignored the fresh blood dripping down her wrist, and did it again. This time, she aimed for his nose. Her punch connected solidly, bone meeting bone with a nauseating crunch. He reeled backwards, and she scrambled out from under him, shoving him hard, then vaulted the sofa so its solid back lay between them. Her heart beat in her chest, her blood pounding. He was so much larger than she was, so much stronger. A minute ago, she’d reveled in that fact. Now…
Gwen clenched her fists and waited, trying to steady her breathing. She may have been hopelessly outclassed but she wouldn’t let him take her without a fight. For the minute, she simply didn’t want to know who — what — he was. All that was important was getting away.
* * * *
Todd stared at her in horror, his heart racing. Not only had he let the beast slip its chains, but he’d not had control of her when he’d let it loose. He’d scared her before. This time… He couldn’t think. His blood pounded in time with hers. He could hear her heart racing, smell her fear.
The beast howled for freedom, but he held it ruthlessly, sickly aware of what he’d just done. He hadn’t hurt her, wouldn’t have harmed her — even the elemental predator in him recognized that you didn’t kill the food source — but she wasn’t to know that. She probably thought him some kind of monster, standing there with blood dripping from his fangs.
The scent of fresh blood rose from her scraped knuckles, taunting him. He hadn’t bitten her when she’d hit him. It had been an accident.
She thought he’d done it on purpose.
The thought shimmered through the air between them, clear and irrevocable. There was stark terror in her eyes. The fear she was trying to hide was killing him. He swallowed an oath, turned, and shoved the balcony door open. Rain blew in, stinging in his eyes. It cleared his head too. He had to get away. Away from her. Todd took two running steps and leapt from the balcony, flying directly into the raging storm.
“No — “
Her agonized cry tore at his heart. He halted mid-flight, every muscle tense.
For a moment he hovered, a large black shadow in the night sky. Her fist was at her mouth, her eyes wider than ever as she stared out into the darkness. He cursed himself, his appetite, his lack of control. Then he turned away and raced through the skies, over the marina and out to sea.
Rain slashed into him, icy fingers on his bare skin. With a thought, he clothed himself. He barreled through the wind, ignoring the gusts that tried to fling him off-course. He barely even looked where he was going. Away. That was all that was important. Nothing would interrupt his flight.
The storm had moved inland, but he was well out over the ocean before he broke free of the last drizzles of rain. Occasional gusts of wind still wrapped themselves around him, but he shook them off, spearing across the sky with javelin-like precision.
Finally, he slowed. The coast was well out of sight, there was no sign of human life. Any fishing boats would have run for cover at the first hint of the violent front converging on them, and no halfway-sane sailor would have risked their vessel in the ferocious summer storm. He could afford to stop, to take the time to think.
And what he thought wasn’t pleasant. He’d been caught by his own damned arrogance. So sure of his innate superiority that he hadn’t even bothered to test his hold over her. The possibility that she hadn’t been wholly in his thrall hadn’t even crossed his mind.
What was worse, though, was that he was slowly coming to understand why he was so fascinated by an otherwise-ordinary human woman. It was the difference in her mind, the strength of spirit she didn’t even recognize in herself. Without trying — probably unaware of it herself — she was spinning a web, a web that bound him securely to her side.
Floating high above the endlessly surging ocean, drifting idly with the air currents, Todd had his very own ‘ah ha’ moment. In a single flash of clarity he finally understood his grandfather’s eccentricity. Pop had been in the grip of passion, something a vampire rarely felt.
Todd stretched, restless, and dove abruptly towards the waves, hurtling through the sky. He pulled up gracefully, for the first time in centuries aware of the fluidity of his movements. Elegance was second nature to him now. For a moment he hovered, staring down at the roiling waves. In the aftermath of the storm they seemed somehow oily, smoothly hiding the powerful currents that flowed directly underneath. They reflected the night sky too; a dull, iron-grey.
<
br /> Feeling totally silly, he glanced at the horizons. No one. Muscles rippled across his back as he shrugged. In all the years of boredom, he’d forgotten to appreciate what he had. Things like his physical strength and his power. More importantly, what he was.
He grimaced and leapt upwards, breaking off his upward flight to turn a joyous somersault over a startled seagull. He soared upwards, streaking through the damp grey clouds, finally appreciating the cool moisture that beaded on his skin. She’d torn away the ennui he’d been drowning in for so long, leaving him free to enjoy his existence.
Without her?
She thought he was a monster.
And she was almost right. He slowed, stopped, then let himself drop slowly through a soft cloud. A gust of wind blew him back into the open sky. He ignored the stars that were attempting to cast their feeble light onto the surface of the ocean, didn’t look at the pinpoints of light that suddenly sparkled across the water. Damn!
There was nothing else for it. He was going to have to apologize. Explain. He rubbed his nose thoughtfully, thinking of her probable reaction. Persuading her to see things his way could be fun. He smiled grimly. He wanted her, therefore he was going to have her. It was as simple as that. She’d just have to get used to the fact she belonged to him. In time, she would.
* * * *
Gwen crammed her fist into her mouth, oblivious to the stinging of her abraded knuckles. She wanted to scream, to have hysterics. Actually, what she really wanted was for the last few minutes to disappear from her mind. Forever.
But her mind kept replaying the vision of Todd staring at her with horror-filled eyes, dripping fangs where his mouth should have been. Oblivious to the cold, barely aware of her nudity, she shuddered.