Love, Creativity & Magick

by Kiki Howell

  However, he did show. Just past midnight as she laid falling asleep in front of the fire, tea gone cold beside her, he came again.

  “Emma,” he whispered.

  “James,” she sighed. Relief washed over her, and she rushed to the door to bid him entrance. With a whoosh of night air, he came in like he didn’t need to use his feet, but flew over the threshold, landing in front of her, his lips on hers before she could even think what to say next.

  His tongue plundered her mouth, warring with her own, fighting for a dominance she willing gave. One built her up rather than tore her asunder. She gave up nothing for no one, that is until now, except for this man, this vampire. Goddess save her!

  “I’ve missed you. Pardon my tardiness. I would’ve been here at nightfall, but I found myself engaged in a pressing matter. Please, nothing would ever replace you, it’s just, I have no magick to clean up my messes, and I had clockwork parts stuck in my hair as well as many other places. I didn’t clean up my shop though, was going to come straight to you once I put myself to rights, but then had a confounded incident, a steam-powered mechanism which turns wet hair to dry in minutes, blew up on me, and it was back to the bath a second time. Tomorrow it shall be back to the drawing board. I don’t sleep much. Have no need really other than a few hours during the daylight hours. I have made a room in my basement, a room completely void of the sun where I can work safely during many of the daylight hours.”

  “Can you take me there? I love new gadgets. Would you be willing to share such a place with me?”

  “I would love nothing more. In fact, if I could, I would take you away forever. But, there is enough time for that sort of talk. I will take you now if you wish. However, I warn you the place is a mess.”

  “I don’t mind. To me at least it seems if true work is being done, that it is the way it should be.”

  He kissed her again. This time his hands pulled her body to his, and she could already feel his cock coming to life. It pressed against her belly, insistent it seemed to her about being made known.

  “Ah, I want you so badly. I have insatiable needs when it comes to your body, and none of them at the moment have to do with blood.”

  “You don’t want my blood at all?”

  “I can’t say not at all. It smells so sweet, but I am denying that fiercely. Some day we shall try an experiment though. I have a theory. I know that if I bite you during orgasm, your climax will be more powerful. So, I have to wonder then if it would make the magick stronger.”

  “That would be an interesting experiment. Don’t ask me why, but the whole idea of the bite, just like with you, danger be damned, it excites me when I know in my rational brain I should be scared out of my wits. At the site of your fangs last night I should have been in a swoon. You should have had to pick me up of the floor, Instead, I was captivated by them, in fact, I saw you that way in my head several times today if I am to be honest, But, not here. Take me to your place, have your way with me there, vampire. I need not have to explain blood on the carpets to the servants.”

  “Mmmm, having the witch in my lair,” he hummed the words, rubbing his thumb and forefinger over the stubble on his jaw.

  “You said you had a townhouse,” she put her hands on her hips, teasing him, feeling good to be able to tease a man and get away with it.

  “House. Lair,” he winked at her. “What is the difference?”

  “I’m coming either way.”

  “Well, then hold on to me. Maybe close your eyes. I’ll have us there in no time at all.”

  He scooped her up then, her skirt hoops and all swaying around her legs. She didn’t even blush when in reaching her arms around his neck, her blouse, the neckline plunging, showed more skin of her breast than the lace-edged article was supposed to. What did she care now he had seen all of her. It just might take some time to get used to the whole idea of it still.

  “There is where I want to bite you. While buried deep inside you, thrusting to make you scream, I want to bend just enough to draw a sip from the rise of your breast.”

  “Will be easier to cover the mark than the neck would be. But, what type of magickal mayhem shall we be up to then, another carriage falling over of yet another woman in the aristocracy who cut me direct? It is a long list you know.” She quirked an eyebrow at him, tilted her head for effect, then on second though laid it on his shoulder.

  “My dear, any bit of magick you wish. All you can dream, we can do together. I truly believe that, just as I believe in you. Now, close you eyes, and we are off.”

  In what seemed like seconds, they were in a basement, a subterranean level, mostly below the street, but beyond that, each window had been filled in. He actually had gas lighting in this part of the house, giving the cool room, as no fire was going, an eerie feel. There was a box to one end, sitting alone. The rest was shelves and tables, each covered with tools and gears and other various mechanical items, most she couldn’t make heads or tails of. Stuff really was everywhere, including the floor. But, she found herself looking back to the box.

  “It is a modern-day coffin of sorts. I sleep here too. The rest of the house is really now just for show. The neighbors think I am a rogue, always keeping to gentleman’s hours. Long ago though, they gave up on asking me into polite society. I do attend the occasional dinner party if the hours are suitable. No one tries to find me a lady either anymore. They think I’m the mad inventor down here, and I’m sure they only pray that I don’t blow up the place.”

  “So, I have no ladies in competition?”

  “No, you do not, Miss Emma.” He kissed her hand then like a gentleman would only dare in private if he was to be married to the woman. The idea of it weighed on her mind. Though she had only met him last night, and after letting him in what a meeting it had been, she knew if she was truthful with herself, it had been in the last months of feeling him, sometime in there, that she’d fallen in love with him.

  “So, you really sleep in that box? I mean rather than a coffin?”

  “I have tinkered with the box. I no longer have to raise up my hand and close the lid, or even push it open in the morning. The gears on the back do that for me at the touch of a button inside. I’m not lazy mind you, only bored. I tinker by trade. Can’t help myself. This one of course, the one I couldn’t share, the one I make after I’m dead this one works!”

  “So, what are all of these things?”

  “Oh, most, I daresay, failed ideas. I’m not very good at what I do, a problem I cursed at when I was alive, well a bit, as I had my families wealth, was able to spend a great deal of time doing as I wished. However, the failures were made even more trivial by death. I was not into being the next great inventor, just liked to work with gadgets. Always curious about what will happen if I attach this to that. Of course, that would explain the marks on the walls, floors and tables, but I’m still alive and the house is still here.”

  He got quiet then, looked down at his shoes, and Emma gave him the time he seemed to need to put together what else he wanted to tell her. He cleared his throat, and spoke in a rough, low voice, “This was my parents house, that I came back to claim when they tragically passed on. The accident, well the story was questionable. I went to the worst parts of England tracking down every lead, from gambling hells, to back alleys…it was there that I was attacked. I wasn’t really dressed the part I guess, or maybe I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, but either way they stole what I had and beat me near death.”

  He sighed heavily, fingering the edge the gold chain, which hung near the bottom of his vest. Two bob shaped charms that hung off the light chain clinked together, seeming to rouse him from whatever memory he’d been viewing.

  “A man came out of the shadows that night. In fact, he was nothing but an unclear shadow to my swollen eyes. I could taste my own blood, though the irony of it now is in that moment, I didn’t like the metallic taste of it. This man, he spoke to me, asked me if I wanted to live or die, and at what price. H
ow else was I to answer that question? I said live. But by the next fall of the sun, I was a killer, knowing only to kill. I saw one woman killed to find I had more humanity than I thought. I started that night fighting my lust for blood, finding other means of satisfying my needs, though none really appeal.”

  She put her hand on his arm. When he didn’t flinch, she ran her hand down to his, interlaced their fingers together.

  “It is okay James. You’ve done the best you could with what life handed you. There is nothing to be ashamed of here, not failed inventions or failed missions, or the way you are now forced to live. You were with me last night, and I witnessed you overcome your thirst for my blood at the height of passion no less.”

  She didn’t know what to say really to this fierce monster, this strong man, who suddenly seemed so broken by a memory, his man’s ardor all up in arms.

  “What I wouldn’t give to be a man, live a life with you. It is all I have though of since first seeing you. I am a monster though, in many ways. While I will not hurt you, can you forgive what I have done to others, or have witnessed done to others by my kind?”

  “It is not mine to judge or to forgive. Hush about this now. Where is that savage vampire who made me tremble and obey last night?”

  “He is right here. I just…I feel I need to confess.”

  “No you don’t need to explain anything to me. What you need to do is undress me, show me the man that you are. How about since it is still dark, we go upstairs and make the neighbors wonder.” She laughed, pushing up onto her tiptoes to kiss the side of his cool cheek. Then she blew in his ear, as she had heard the girls go on about one night.

  It seemed to work, as his whole stance changed in an instant. He was back to being feral, with an impetuous manner about him, from the way his hands trailed down the buttons at the front of her blouse, to the way he licked over half of his bottom lip.

  As he lead her by her hand slowly up several flights of stairs, her heart beat in an erratic fashion, pumping her blood fast until she could hear the noise of it in her ears. By the look in his face, he could hear it too. The feeling all met in a volatile flutter in the pit of her stomach by the time he opened a door to a dark room, only the gaslights and what there was of a moon lighting the deep burgundy of the bedclothes, the dark wood of the walls and bed.

  Even though they had already been together, as he led her to the bed, his eyes darkened. Though, a whispered warning in her mind was soon shrouded by her desires. She may have never been a sensible and pure maiden, but neither had she ever been so adventurous, putting her mere life in danger on a whim of the flesh. Yet, in this moment, all she wanted was to be possessed by this vampire, maybe even bitten. As it would be, only time, only passion would most probably be the magistrate.

  Her hands went to his broad shoulders, lifting her to his height to lay a light kiss on his lips. His kiss in return was gentle, loving at first until his hand fisted a portion of her hair, pulling out the pins. They clinked on the floor as her curls tumbled down her back. His tongue demanded entrance into her mouth, swept across hers like the man had across her heart. She was lost in his touch, wanting for the first time to be wholly possessed by another, sanity be damned. Whatever happened, with her behavior, one could not just hold him to blame.

  Hands, none too gentle swept down her back. That fire started to burn more in her stomach as her nipples, hard inside her corset, were pressed against his chest of steel. A shiver ran down her spine followed by a rising of warmth up her back, over her shoulders until she felt it like a fire across her neck. To her delight, his fingers started to fiddle with her buttons, undoing them slowly until the blouse fell to the ground. Her skirt, her undergarments, all of the layers she wore he stripped from her, carefully tonight, taking turns between looking in her eyes and kissing her mouth. This supposed to be ‘care for naught’ wastrel was being too close to a gentleman for her heated liking at the moment.

  He gave a feral growl though when her fingers found the front of his trousers. Once they were both free of their clothing, he pushed her back at arms length, smiling as he looked her over, her skin glimmering in the light coming through the windows. Under only the moon, he looked a vampire more so than before, pale with dark hair and eyes.

  Next thing she knew, he was tossing her onto the mattress. She caught herself quickly, unfurling her body like a cat before him, stretching, opening her legs, so he got the best view. With him, she didn’t feel the need to hold anything back. Rather, she wanted to push forward, to new levels already, beyond even last night, which had seemed perfection. Cock sure, climbing over her, his mouth crushed down on hers, making her skin ache for his touch. Wetness built between her legs. His fluent movements left her skin tingling as a surge of longing pushed her body toward his.

  James’ fingers moved, large and heavy, through the curls at the apex of her thighs. Letting her legs fall open even more, he bent to place a feather light kiss on her mound. She cried out when he raised his head, her hips shamelessly moving up, begging him for more attention. The laugh that followed from him was a bit evil, and her body thrilled in the sound of it bringing up gooseflesh on her arms. Tonight his tongue was gentle but persistent, moving between her folds, his fingers applying just the right amount of pressure when opening her to his every whim. Laying back, writhing on the bed, her vision turned hazy, pin pricks of light like stars blinded her though due to her eyes being so tightly closed.

  Her fingers grappled with the cover on the bed, and she screamed as she came, the waves of passion an almost brutal rush, beating her until she laid lax on the bed, splayed out, chest heaving as it struggled for air. He cut up her peace in the most glorious of ways.

  “Next time babe,” James said coming up beside her. She could see the faint moonlight sparkle off his elongated fangs. “We should try another experiment, see what else we can do. Got any ideas?”

  “Were those out when you were…” she left off, her fingers tracing one of his fangs making his body tremor on the bed.

  “No, they were not. I didn’t bite you. You would know.” He gave her a light kiss on the forehead. The feel of his long teeth on her skin made her shudder, as well as made her long for things maybe she shouldn’t. Maybe she shouldn’t push him so, so soon. She did wish to come through this safely, to be a witness to such moments with him again and again. Foolish, perhaps, but her calm with his fangs, or her want of his bite, neither was a display of sang froid.

  “I want you to bite me. This time while you are inside me, I want to feel you take from me, my blood, not my energy. And we can try a double experiment, see how strong the magick is, how far it’s range. Do you know how much more a witch like me could do if it was from a distance. Why, I could use herbs and oils and stones, candles and water,” she left off breathless.

  “Yes, I guess you could,” he laughed. “Are you sure you’re ready for a bite though. It will hurt for a moment, then the pleasure will kick in.”

  “No. I want it. I want that connection with you. I am feeling daring, greedy. But, truer words I’ve never spoken. I want you to bite me. Yet, wait, what should we try to do?”

  He seemed to sit silent for a moment, in deep concentration. His eyes moved back and forth, and he moved his fangs over his bottom lip, piercing it slightly then licking at the tiny drop of blood.

  “How about we make an invention in the basement work, come to life. Something I couldn’t do on my own. Did you see the robot in the corner by the first table, the one with too many gears to mention let alone work together in any kind of synchronized way as to move the confounded thing?”

  “Of course I did. We were just saying how sick we were of a duchess who has one bragging upon what the thing can do. I would love to have one wreak havoc on a party or ball. So, what do we do?”

  “Well, when I bite you, your climax will come swift, hard. You need to focus through it, enjoy it, but also focus, on seeing the robot move across the floor. Picture it in your mind, even if vague, and
make it move, walk. It should have been able to.”

  As he moved his body over hers, she watched the interplay of light and shadows over his taunt muscles. His chest brushing against her erect nipples, his erection pushing into her opening, sent streaks of lightening down through her. Electricity, the joining of two meant to be, she thought, seared her from the inside out.

  The weight of him, the feeling of being invaded, stretched, made her feel brazen. She pushed her hips up, taking him in, feeling her core contract around him as a ferocious growl tore from deep in his chest. His teeth, his eyes, he was scary and handsome at the same time, of this dichotomy she was absolutely clear.

  She relaxed and tensed, a bundle of nerves and need, breathless and wanting, she begged him to bite her.

  “Please, James...”

  “I will love. A little more. I need to feel your body closer to that precipice from which there is no return. Then my love, I will taste you.”

  With determination, she wrapped her legs tightly around his middle, grabbed his ass with her hands, and moved him at her body’s whims. Each sensation, each ripple of a delightful contraction, she moved him further inside her, pressing his cock at just the right spot. Soon, she found herself panting, screaming, out of control, bygaged and besotted, in the best of all possible manners. It was then that she felt his head lower, his soft and silky hair, brush against her face and neck. She squealed a giggle. Then, her insides squeezed him tightly when she felt the tiny pin pricks of pain on the upper portion of her breast.

  An animalistic growl came from him as she felt him draw from her. Next thing she knew, she had her hands in his hair, holding him to her breast to drink as she shattered around him. This time she was too breathless to scream, and tiny whimpers came from her instead as her entire body trembled, and soared.