by K. Aten
Sarah was nearly delirious with pleasure. She had used toys and even strap-ons many times before, but never with someone as talented as Keller. The blonde knew every spot inside that made her tick. The closer she got, the louder and more frequent her moans became until she was nearly yelling. When her legs began to shake she knew her salvation was near. Both women panted hard and Keller could feel herself tightening with the coming orgasm. She watched the flush move up Sarah’s body and knew she was close too. At the exact moment that she could hold on no longer, Keller reached down and ran her thumb over Sarah’s clit. The orgasm that crashed through both of them made Keller’s hips jerk and her motions ended with a single hard thrust. As a result, Sarah’s hips lifted from the bed as she bent to the tension of her release. Before her orgasm rolled her eyes shut, Sarah caught one last glimpse of her lover. Keller’s head was thrown back and Sarah nearly drowned in her black depthless eyes. However, the one thing that left her mind reeling was the sharp white canines, gleaming brightly in the candlelight.
They both collapsed back to the bed, and when Keller pulled out, Sarah was hit with another round of aftershocks. Once she caught her breath, she turned wide green eyes toward her lover. Quietly she asked, “What the fuck, Keller? What happened to your teeth? Is this some sort of role play?”
Keller sighed and shut her eyes, hoping to delay the truth but knowing it was not possible. She knew the bond was complete and there was no choice left but the truth. Keller slowly removed the harness and set it on the table on the far side of the bed. When she was finished, she lay back down on her side facing Sarah. Sarah mirrored her position waiting for an explanation, more curious than fearful.
Keller responded quietly. “No Sarah, it’s not part of a role play. They are my real teeth.”
The singer looked at her, full of questions and with a mind still reeling. “How?” She reached to touch them but Keller’s hand was too fast, her grip on Sarah’s wrist too strong.
“You don’t really want to do that, trust me.” Keller released her.
Sarah extended her hand slower and cupped the smaller woman’s cheek. Gently she said, “Tell me.” Sarah gasped when Keller’s canines suddenly receded back into her gums. Keller’s body had been steadily cooling and coming down from her orgasmic high so things were returning to normal, as much as that could be. “What…” It was a single word that was filled with a mix of curiosity and awe.
“It’s a long story.”
Sarah put her hand back in front of her, sensing that Keller was sensitive about whatever had just happened. Then unsatisfied with the distance, she reached over to lay that same hand on top of Keller’s forearm. “I’m a good listener. And I watch those medical marvel episodes on YouTube all the time.”
Keller shut her eyes at the Sarah’s gentle touch. “Believe me, you haven’t seen this.”
“Ancient aliens?” Sarah’s tone indicated she wasn’t at all serious.
There was a pause after she spoke, then Keller decided to bite the bullet. “I guess you could say I’m a vampire of sorts.” She heard a snort and when she opened her eyes again she saw Sarah’s look of disbelief and quickly continued. “From all the research I’ve read and done myself, it actually appears to be more of a virus or disease.”
Skeptical, but willing to humor the smaller woman, Sarah prompted, “Go on.”
Keller asked her, “How old do you think I am?”
Sarah took a minute to sweep her gaze over the other woman’s youthful nude body. “My guess would be a few years younger than myself, maybe as old as twenty-nine. Why?”
Keller gave a mirthless laugh. “Try two hundred and fifty-six years old.” She looked at the other woman who was slowly shaking her head back and forth. “As unlikely as it sounds, it’s all too true.” She reached out and grasped Sarah’s hand. “I’m going to answer all your questions and even provide proof if you want, but I need something from you in return.”
Sarah nodded cautiously, completely thrown off kilter at this point and still half thinking it was all a joke. “Okay…”
Keller nodded back, accepting her promise. “First, I ask that you keep what is said between us. Second, I ask that you forgive me for what I’m going to tell you.”
Sarah nodded again. “Of course I won’t say anything. As to the second—” She paused, trying to size up the other woman. “— I can only try.”
Keller sighed. “That’s all I can ask then, thank you.” They made themselves comfortable and Keller began her story. The power of the memories took her back hundreds of years.
“When I was in my late teens, my parents forced me into marriage with a man nearly twenty years my senior. It wasn’t entirely their fault, back then you needed to do whatever you could to survive. There were no other men of my generation available and a two-year drought had left the family wealth dwindled to nearly nothing. My marriage to a wealthy landowner was the key to our survival. I was already older than most brides of the time, the lack of eligible young men had put off marriage for a few years. I was grateful for the delay because even then I knew I was different. I had always felt something for women that I never felt for men. To me, the idea of marriage was a horror. Only after the deed was done and I was sleeping in the same bed did I realize what horror truly was.” Keller shuddered, the remembered abuse by her husband still left her full of equal parts rage and shame. Sarah reached for her hand in silent comfort, urging her on. Keller continued. “I didn’t have to wait long to see the measure of my new husband. His idea of foreplay on our wedding night was to beat me until I couldn’t move. He took me while I lay in our bed crying. I lost my innocence to a monster.”
She drew in a shaky breath and continued. “The servants all
knew how he was but they didn’t dare say anything for fear of losing their place. To make matters worse, he wanted an heir and was determined that I would provide one. Every night was the same thing until eventually I woke each morning wanting to die. He wanted a son to pass on his name but ironically enough it was he that prevented that possibility. I was pregnant a total of four times but his beatings never stopped. Each time, I would miscarry, which would drive him further into his rage. We were married ten miserable years.”
Running on instinct alone, Sarah pulled Keller closer to give comfort. “What happened?”
A single tear ran down Keller’s cheek. “There was a widow, Lady Catherine Montgomery, who owned the land adjacent to my husband’s. It was very uncommon for a woman to hold property but she had ties to the crown and was under special favor. My husband was a greedy bastard and wanted a portion of her land, which she was not willing to part with. You see, they made no secrets of their dislike for each other. Then my husband had the idea to invite her to our manor. Thinking her a feeble-minded woman, he planned to use sweet words and duplicity once she was there to get her to give him the land.”
Keller cocked her head to the side, thinking. “She was unlike anyone I’d ever met. Her eyes were the deepest brown and when she looked at me, it was as if she was looking right through. We had a feast on the first night. On the outside, my husband was very polite, but I knew it was all an act. That night he was up very late reveling and as a result, he slept in the next day. I could never stand being in bed with him and near dawn I went out into the garden. There was no one around that time of morning, so when she stepped out of the shadows I practically fell off my bench. Without a sound, she came to me and for the first time in my life I knew what passion really was. I was in such a daze for the rest of the morning. That afternoon they sat down to negotiate. We had a well renowned stable and my husband was making an offer that involved some of the least expensive purebred mares. They talked for hours and in the end, Lady Montgomery said she would need to think it over. Of course, my husband thought he had the woman convinced to trade the very valuable land and decided to celebrate. We had another feast that night and when I retired, Lady Montgomery followed and slipped into my room. Thi
ngs were quickly escalating when we heard my husband’s heavy tread outside the door. Catherine managed to hide in the wardrobe just before he entered.”
Despite the improbableness of it all, Sarah had become completely engrossed in the story. The further Keller got into her tale, the more Sarah detected an accent. She still didn’t quite know what to think, it seemed so far-fetched. Something inside, a feeling, was telling her to believe though so she didn’t want to interrupt. She sat quietly until Keller continued.
“He took one look at my disheveled state and flew into one of his rages. He demanded to know who the man was. I protested of course. I knew what he was like and I refused to give up Catherine to his rage. He started beating me, worse than ever before. He beat me to the stone below our feet and when I was down, began kicking me in the ribs. I felt something give and the pain made me vomit at his feet. He kept calling me a whore and said he was going to kill me. I believed him because I could feel everything slip away. I knew I was dying and I welcomed it as an end to my life of misery. He was so focused on me that he never heard her leave the wardrobe. The look of surprise on his face as she snapped his neck was one I’ll never forget.”
Sarah looked down at the woman in her arms. “But wait, how did you end up with this—disease?”
Keller saw the curiosity as a good sign of Sarah’s acceptance of her truth and tapped the end of her nose. “I knew you were impatient! Despite my grievous state I sensed it as Lady Montgomery bent down to look at me, after she’d killed him. I was indeed dying. He had broken my ribs and one must have punctured a lung so I was slowly drowning in my own blood. At first I thought it was the pain causing me to hallucinate but I learned later what I saw was very real. She told me to hush, that she would take care of me. I looked into those deep brown eyes and everything started to blur. Her teeth were very sharp so I barely felt a thing when they pierced my neck. When she was finished, she pierced her wrist and forced some of her own blood into my mouth. The coppery tang mixed with what I had been coughing up. She urged me to swallow and afterward everything went dark. But it didn’t end there. The widow was a very canny woman. She broke the latch and opened the window, making it look like we had an intruder. I was unconscious for about half an hour, but miraculously my body had already re-knit itself. I was fully healed and feeling very strange. Somehow, I made it through the whole ordeal. Everyone was convinced that one of the many people my husband had wronged in the past had killed him. After all, there was no way a small woman, such as myself, could ever break that hulking man’s neck.”
Forgetting her earlier disbelief, Sarah was amazed that Keller could survive such a terrible ordeal. “Wow! So it was Lady Montgomery that gave it to you? And you—became lovers?”
“We were lovers off and on throughout the years. But that ended nearly a century ago. And yes, she did it to save my life. In fact, the only way it can be contracted is if the person is near death. It has something to do with the body’s weakened state. It is a very rare disease and that is the main reason that not many people have it, simple biology. It takes a lot to meet the biological requirements to keep functioning. It changes the body’s immune system. It also causes genetic physical alterations. Strong emotions or pain will cause tears in normal people, but with this disease, they will cause other physical changes as well. These changes are produced at need, such as canine pushing out from the gums and adrenaline-induced strength. I am an empath, which means I can read and project emotions. This helps me cloud memory sometimes, when I need to. Another side effect is that I’m very sensitive to ultraviolet light.”
Sarah interrupted. “Wait, I’ve seen you out during the day! Aren’t vampires supposed to be killed by the sunlight? I mean, you have a great tan.”
Keller laughed. “Well, that is part of the myth that was highly exaggerated. I’m very sensitive, but it has a curious effect on me. It doesn’t take much exposure at all to darken my skin. As a matter of fact, the tan I get is from the black lights at the bar. Most of the time I cover up as much as possible if I’m out. It helps that I’m a night owl and have a job that is primarily at night.”
“Ah, I get it. I’ve seen you in that hooded sweatshirt and sunglasses pretty often.”
Keller nodded. “Yeah, it is my favorite.”
They moved apart a little so Sarah could see her better. “So, is that it? You have a great tan, you’re strong as an ox and you get fangs when you’re horny?”
Keller gave her lover a little poke in the ribs, eliciting a squeak. “No, that’s not it. I actually knew a man years ago who also had the disease. He was a scientist who did a lot of research on the subject. Sadly, it does not make us immortal and he was killed in a terrible car accident. Some injuries are too extreme and happen too fast for us to heal. As near as he could tell, it gives us incredible healing abilities, which also means we are immune to disease and other illness.” She tried to explain it in a way that was a little easier to relate. “When you cut your finger, it heals and your fingerprint remains the same. Your body has a genetic blueprint that automatically knows the way things belong. With this disease, the body heals extremely fast and it heals continuously. Because of this continuous healing and cell rejuvenation, it also lengthens the lifespan. However, there is a price to pay. I’m sterile, which is probably for the best anyway. I also have to take in an enormous amount of protein, and the whole biological process is stimulated by massive amounts of endorphins.” At Sarah’s confused look, she explained. “Sex produces endorphins.”
“Ohh, that’s where the long list of conquests comes in.”
Keller blushed. “Well, mostly.” Sarah raised an eyebrow in question. “There is another part of the myth that is based on truth. I do take in human blood on occasion. Sometimes the uh— act itself is not completely satisfying. Or sometimes I have waited too long and the mere act is not enough for the amount of energy I need. You see, my canines are extremely sensitive, and the slightest touch while they are elongated is very pleasurable. Perhaps this is to help facilitate endorphin production and make the taking of blood such a rush.”
At her explanation Sarah reach up and lightly touched the side of her own neck. “So have you—”
Keller rushed to explain. “No! I have never done it to you. As long as I do not use excessive amounts of energy, I don’t need to take blood. But, while I don’t need to do it all the time…” Her voice trailed off.
Sarah finished for her. “You still do.”
Keller looked pained. “I still do. I’m incredibly drawn to the blood, it’s difficult to explain. For me, adding that extra stimulus is better than putting the cherry on top when I’m having sex. It’s not so much about feeding as it is about feeling. But I have never tasted yours.”
The singer gave her a piercing look. “You wanted to though, didn’t you?”
Keller looked down at her hands and whispered, “Yes.”
Sarah gently turned the other woman’s face so their eyes met. “Why didn’t you? After all, you’ve done it to others before. From what I understand, it’s not like I would have known, right?”
Keller caressed her cheek and tried to explain. “Yes I’ve done it before and of course I wanted to but—” She sighed. “—you are different from the others.”
A very jaded Sarah snorted disbelievingly and mumbled, “I’ve heard that before.”
“No, listen to me. Do you think I would have come to you again? Do you think you would be in my home right now if you weren’t inside my head every day?” Keller flinched, not intending to say that last part.
Sarah looked at her intently. “I, um—” She took a deep breath and went on. “I’ve been having the same problem.”
Keller felt braver with Sarah’s words. She needed to tell her everything, to make her understand. “Sarah, there is a lot more you need to know.”
Sarah, almost at her limit of revelation for the night, needed a break. The discussion was straying dangerously far from a casual enco
unter she thought Keller was looking for. She got off the bed and stood uncomfortably. “Do you have a robe or something I can use? I think I need a little space if I’m going to hear any more tonight.”
A little worried at Sarah’s abrupt shift in attitude, Keller got up and went to the walk-in closet to retrieve two robes. She could read the other woman’s unease and made an effort to back off on the intensity to get Sarah in a more comfortable emotional place. “Come on, I bet you could use some coffee too, huh?”
After making coffee and shutting off the music, both women settled into the deep leather cushions of the couch. Once there Keller seemed reluctant to continue and it was making Sarah very nervous. She wondered how much worse it could be. Wanting a little proof to ease her own state of mind and to stall before any more revelations, she asked, “Could you show me something, you know, so I can convince myself later that I’m not a complete nut case for believing you?” Keller gave her a penetrating look before going back into the kitchen. She returned a minute later with a sharp knife and some paper towels. She held the knife against the skin of her forearm and Sarah grabbed her hand to stop her. “Wait, you don’t need to do anything so drastic!”
Keller moved her hand away and said quietly, “This is the best way.” She gave Sarah a look that pleaded trust. “It’s okay.”
Sarah nodded then watched in disbelief as Keller cut deeply into her own arm. Blood welled up seconds after her hiss of pain. She dabbed at the cut to prevent the blood from running all over and making a mess, then waited for Sarah’s reaction. Sarah watched as the wound began to seal up almost immediately. It was completely healed after only a minute. A thin, quickly darkening, pink line was the only evidence of the injury. Sarah’s jaw dropped open. “Holy fuck! That’s—I don’t even know what to say right now. Give me a sec, please.”
Keller waited with the bloody paper towel wrapped around the knife blade and let Sarah think on what she’d just done. “Take all the time you need.” Opening one’s mind to the possibility of unbelievable things was not the same as staring at the proof.