Beneath the Changing Moon

by Marie Carlson

  He grips my wrist with one hand and places the other on my stomach, his arm wrapped around me. Clothes rustle as the crowd moves forward and I can feel them watching still, the heavy scent of their curiosity filling each breath I take.

  I bump against his arm and try to nudge his hand lower. I want him to stroke my clit. I want to twist against him, to thrash and scream and come while the crowd stares, entranced by the passion between us.

  When he pulls away, he kisses the curve of my shoulder then moves to stand next to me, facing the gathered crowd. Facing his mother. He has blood—my blood—in the corner of his mouth and I wipe it off with my thumb. He smiles and flicks his tongue against the pad of my finger, cleaning away the stain.

  “I love you,” he breathes into my ear, then says, loud enough the whole room can hear, “I bind myself to you, Amalia Vallen.”

  I put all my strength into my words. “I bind myself to you, Darren Lin.”

  Rachel stares at us and Darren’s fingers tighten painfully on my wrist. She stands two steps below us and I can see the tightness at the corners of her mouth which belies her smile.

  “What ever are you doing, son?” Her voice is the softest whisper imaginable and her lips barely move. Does she think someone is eavesdropping? Of course she does, I realise, and my stomach clenches. She’s right. Everyone in the room is eavesdropping, the cream of our society.

  “Thanks for you congratulations, Ma.” Darren’s voice rings throughout the room. I can hear the laughter threading through it, but his fingers shake where he holds me and his scent goes slightly bitter, fear under everything else he feels.

  “Darling boy, you are welcome. You deserve more words than I can ever say.” Her voice carries too; she knows how to dominate a room. In her generation, Rachel had been the favourite, the queen of our city. She’d been poor before the Blood-Seer pronounced her one of the few Fertile vampires. Her popularity exploded then and she started having children right away, but she cemented her place in society when she had bound the richest vampire in the country. He wasn’t Darren’s father, but Darren still benefited from his wealth. I’d once thought her background would make her sympathetic to our love, but she was more judgmental than anyone else. I simply wasn’t good enough unless I could give her grandbabies.

  “Rachel.” One of her friends steps out of the crowd and comes near the steps. “Who is this girl who finally bound your delightful, wild boy?”

  Rachel takes a deep breath and turns to her friend, to the room, gesturing broadly. “I am pleased to present the binding of my last son, a surprise for all our gathered friends. Darren, please say a few words.”

  Darren winks at me so quickly I almost miss it then guides me to stand next to his mother. “Thanks for being a part of this. I wanted to share my joy with all of you, those closest to my family.”

  Because all five hundred people are close family friends. I stifle my snort of laughter and focus instead on the feel of his hand on my wrist. In seconds, we can be out the door and alone, naked in the night and the starlight, coming together as a bonded pair.

  Pretty young men and women slip closer through the crowd. I can’t read minds, but I can guess at their thoughts. Who is she? Where did she come from? How did she do it? Darren is a father a few times over and yet no one has ever bound him before.

  Because I bound his heart when we were kids and never let go, he claims.

  Now that I’ve formally bound Darren and am bound to him in return, I don’t know if I’m expected to hate being Infertile. I won—we won. We don’t have to hide our love. Isn’t that enough for me?

  Or will the sight of his children in our city fill me with envy?

  “Thank you for witnessing the binding,” Darren says. He leans down and kisses my cheek. His voice is a whisper of breath against my skin. “We’ll leave soon.” Then, louder, for the crowd, “You all know I hate to be formal, but sometimes it’s necessary.”

  We prepared for this, too.

  He straightens his shoulders. “I am Darren Lin.” His voice rings out with pride and joy and my worry disappears. No matter what else happens—no matter what else was true—our happiness was the most important thing. “I am bound to Amalia Vallen.”

  I twist my arm until my wrist slips free then hold his hand properly. I raise it to my mouth and kiss his knuckles, letting my fangs linger against his skin. When I’m done, not that I will ever be done with him, I smile at the audience, at his mother and at all the other vampires staring at us.

  “I am Amalia Vallen,” I say, and am pleased by how confident and calm I sound. This is what I wanted and I am a lucky woman. “I am bound to Darren Lin.”

  Jessie starts the applause. I pick her out from the crowd, standing with two of her roommates. She claps for me and smiles brightly when I meet her eyes, then she very deliberately turns to the woman on her right and presses a kiss to the side of her throat. She repeats the move with the woman on her left. We’re all being brave tonight.

  The bite on my neck throbs and my throat goes dry. I can’t stay in public any longer. I can’t. I need peace and privacy and the opportunity to leave bruising bites all along Darren’s body.

  “I hope you’re enjoying the party and our surprise for you. Now, if you’ll excuse us, there are far more fun formalities to finish.” He smiles and waves at the crowd, every inch a respectable member of society, the much adored playboy finally brought to heel.

  I squeeze his hand and hurry him up the stairs and out of the building. I know without looking that his mother watches us leave. There will be hell to pay later, when she is free to fight with us. I hope my family reacts better. I think they will.

  “I love you,” he says when we are free.

  The stars are bright overhead, a blanket of light, and all my cares fall away. This is our moment, our first night bound together, and I’m not about to let anyone ruin it for me.

  “I love you too,” I tell him and pull him in for a kiss.

  The street is empty except for the long line of cars parked along one side. Darren’s is in the driveway, but mine is a couple blocks away. He takes my hand and squeezes it.

  “Let’s get out of here.” He kisses my temple and I smell my blood on his breath.

  On the wind comes the smell of metal and water. We’re near the park and the water jets are running. My skin prickles in the heat. Summer still clings to the air, even so late at night, and the humidity is high.

  Just the thought of cool water on my skin gives me chills.

  “Come on,” I say and pull him after me. Darren takes one step to catch up but has no more difficulty matching my every movement. He doesn’t ask where we’re going. He trusts me to lead. This is us, good together, and my heart swells.

  We reach the water jets during a pause and the air is quiet and still. The park is surprisingly empty; off in the bushes where the shadows are the darkest, I hear the sounds of bodies coming together, couples taking advantage of the slight breeze and the privacy.

  Darren presses his mouth to the curve of my shoulder and ladders sharp kisses down the soft flesh along the back of my arm.

  “Play with me,” I say and gather his hands in mine again. I step backwards into the jets and he obediently follows.

  The sky is clear and the moon and stars bright. In their light, his skin is burnished and his eyes shining.

  Water shoots up around us as the jets go off in rapid-changing geometric shapes and closing in on us. Drops of water spatter down on us and slick our skins.

  “You tasted delicious.” His voice is a rumble and things low in my stomach tighten. “Hot and sweet on my tongue.”

  “Bite me,” I order. I beg. I drop his hands and open my arms to him. He sweeps into me, pushing my soggy hair out of the way. My shirt clings to my skin and the seams are rough and uncomfortable, but when he grips my upper arms and drags me closer, I forget the discomfort.

  He kisses the side of my throat reverently then bites down hard, sinking fangs into my f
lesh.

  For a moment it hurts, a quick flash of agony, until his venom rushes into me and warmth radiates away from the spot. My nipples harden and I thrust forward against him, eager for more contact.

  I open my mouth to cry out and his throat is right there beneath my lips and his skin opens around my fangs and his blood swirls across my tongue, lighting me on fire. I can feel the groan shake his throat and he grinds his dick against my thigh.

  When I pull my fangs out, he whimpers against my neck, and I bite again, harder, deeper, carving into him with my teeth. I twist my hands until I can grip his forearms and dig in my nails.

  A jet shoots up next to us and I laugh into the bite until we’re both shaking with amusement.

  He ends the bite carefully and licks the wound, smearing more venom into it to help it heal. I return the favour, but part of me wants it to heal crooked, a raised scar to show all the world he belongs to me.

  “We should go eat,” he says.

  Thirst blooms at the back of my throat.

  “I want to fuck you.” I draw blood on his arms and my eyes lock on it. I can barely think around my thirst.

  Darren leans closer and breathes in, scenting my desire. I release his arms and make short work of the fasteners of his trousers. I shove them down his thighs and he toes off his shoes and lets his pants fall all the way to the ground despite the puddle of water around our feet.

  I wrap my hand around his dick, stroking him lightly. He’s already hard and the tip damp. When I circle it with my thumb, he tilts back his head and shudders. I press down on his shoulder with my free hand and we both sink to our knees. It’s an easy thing to shove him back until he’s lying on the ground. I jerk my underwear off so fast it tears, but all that matters is getting him inside me.

  The jets pause in their cycle then start again, big patterns swirling one shape to another, circling around so water splashes down on me. I straddle him and squeeze the insides of my thighs against him. My need for him makes me slick and his dick slides into me easily.

  He rests the back of his head on his hands and stares at me. Water droplets cling to his eyelashes and the tip of his nose. I roll my hips in figure eights, pressing his dick into all the right spots inside. He’s thick and fills me up.

  Darren lifts his hips to meet my thrusts. He has my blood in the corner of his mouth and his blood smeared in the hollow of his throat and bloody bruises on his arms, all the ways I’ve marked him as mine.

  He groans and shuts his eyes. His hips stutter and he’s coming hard, thrusting up into me. I shove a hand between my legs and press my finger to my clit. My nail scratches the side of it and even that slight irritation is enough to make me cry out.

  His name is on my tongue when I come and it tastes like blood.

  After, we lay together, the air steamy around us. He strokes my wet hair out of my face and kisses the side of my mouth.

  “You made a bloody mess,” he teases and despite the terrible pun, I laugh.

  “We still need to eat,” he says a bit later. I bite his shoulder hard enough to leave a mark, because the others I’ve put on him tonight are already healing. My throat burns again and I know he’s right.

  In just a moment more, we’ll make our way to my car and go drink the best blood the city can offer. It won’t taste as good as his. For the moment, I’m content to listen to the fall of water all around us and bask with him beneath the nearly full moon.

  About the Author

  Marie Carlson lives in the middle of America and spends her nights writing paranormal romance, watching the movement of the constellations, and searching the world for werewolf stories. She performs live erotic storytelling to order for those she loves best. Her short story “Like a Thousand Miles of Fire” was published in Torquere Press’s Bite Me anthology August 2009.

  Email: seeksadventure@gmail.com

  Marie Carlson loves to hear from readers. You can find her contact information, website and author biography at http://www.total-e-bound.com.

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