by Renea Mason
My body, still drunk on his bite, felt a resurgence of ecstasy with each swallow of the metallic liquid.
He moaned. His body leaned harder against mine. “Lillie, I wish I could… I’m sorry… I…” He collapsed; his body slumped to the ground, dragging me with him.
“There he is,” a man yelled from the street. Several tall men, similarly dressed in long coats, headed toward us.
I tried to make sense of everything in my intoxicated state, to commit faces and voices to memory, but I barely had the strength to stay awake.
A man with a dark goatee and crooked nose loomed above us. “Allister, did you really think it would be that easy? You’re pathetic. You couldn’t even finish. Now she’ll die. Fitting, isn’t it?”
A second man called out, “Should we take the girl?”
“Nah. I only need him for the bounty. Let her rot. It’ll be a little reminder to Baron from my employer. The order shouldn’t be crossed.”
I tried to move my arms, but they were too weak from blood loss. A compulsion to plead for the dying man’s life overcame me, though it made no sense to do so. He was my murderer. My compassion for him angered me. I tried to scream, but thick sticky blood clung to my throat, collapsing my airway. Only a rasp escaped. Vampire. The word flooded my mind. It couldn’t be. But it was the only explanation. How was it possible?
The men lifted the wounded man’s body with ease and retreated from the alleyway.
I lay on the asphalt, covered in blood, unable to move, waiting for death to take me.
Heavy footsteps echoed off the building. A gasp and then arms wrapped around me from behind, making it impossible to see if I were held by friend or foe.
A deep, velvety smooth male voice whispered in my ear, “Lillie, what happened? How could he? No. No. No. He promised.” His hand brushed the matted hair from my face. Lips pressed against my neck in soft kisses. “I’m so sorry. Please, forgive me.”
The strangers’ pleas for forgiveness didn’t make sense. I didn’t know either of the men. Forgive them for what? Killing me? I wanted to protest, to demand answers, but soft gasps were all I could manage.
His hands smoothed my hair in an almost loving gesture. Cradling me against him, murmured apologies and reassurances continued to flow from him. “I’ll fix this. I promise.” A sharp inhalation sounded before he squeezed me tighter against him. His hot breath tickled my ear. “Drink.”
Like the man before, he pressed his bleeding wrist to my mouth. The tangy liquid spilled over my tongue and teeth. The desire to swallow overwhelmed me. I licked and sucked his flesh, trying to coax more of his essence into me.
He moaned. “That’s it, love. Let me help you until he can come back for you.” His fingers trailed from my ear to the base of my throat. “Relax.” The melodic timbre of his voice quieted my fears, like being wrapped in a warm blanket on a cold winter night.
His lips caressed the soft spot below my ear, then the sharp stab of teeth jolted me from my peaceful state. Within seconds, the rhythmic building began from within, like with the last stranger, and came in waves, but instead of an erotic climax, blackness crept in from the corners of my vision.
There was a loud knock on the door. “Lillie, get up.” Another loud rap sounded. “Are you standing me up for breakfast?”
I rubbed my eyes, cleared my throat, stretched my arms, and then sat up on the edge of the bed. “One second.” I staggered to the door and opened it.
“Lillie, come…” Colin’s eyes grew wide. “What the hell happened to you?”
I blinked a few times. “I don’t know. Nightmares, I think.” I squinted and tried to focus on making sense of how I felt and the strange dream. “Come in. Let me get ready. Sorry, I must have overslept.”
“Lillie, what did you do last night? I thought you said you were coming back to the hotel to rest.”
I ran my hand through my hair. “I was. I did. I…” The events of what happened were so vivid, but yet nothing made sense.
He tilted his head, examining my features. “Did something happen?”
Looking down at my rumpled clothes, I tried to remember last night’s events, but what came to mind couldn’t be possible. I couldn’t remember actually arriving at the hotel.
He ran a hand through his hair. “Were you with someone?”
I wasn’t sure if I should revel in his condemning tone or be offended since he had no right to expect me to be celibate, but either way, his question set me on edge, because I had no good way of answering it. “Do I look like I have that freshly fucked feeling? You of all people should be able to tell.” I regretted my words as soon as they left my mouth. Colin was only trying to help, and under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t have been so foolish as to let my deeply buried jealousy show. “I’m sorry, that wasn’t fair.”
Resting his hand on my shoulder, he gave a slight squeeze. “I’m just trying to help.”
I mumbled, “I know,” before glancing over at the nightstand. My room key wasn’t in a place I’d normally leave it. I rubbed the collar of my pajama shirt. I didn’t remember changing into the outfit. I walked into the bathroom and spotted the water droplets from a fresh shower sliding down the walls, but had no memory of the event. My hair was still damp. When I faced the mirror, there were small marks on either side of my neck. Like week-old wounds. I called out to Colin. “Can you come here?”
He stepped into the bathroom with me. The worry behind his eyes was unmistakable.
“What do you think these are?” I pointed to the puncture marks.
Running his fingers over the marred skin, his eyes met mine in the mirror, what was once worry, was now distress. “I have no idea.”
“Colin, I don’t remember coming here last night, and I had this horrible dream… Maybe someone drugged me?”
He grasped my upper arms and smoothed his hands up and down my biceps. “Get ready. Let’s go have breakfast and then we’ll retrace your steps from last night. Maybe that will help you remember. I’m sure there’s an easy explanation.”
It was his optimism that endeared me most to him. “OK. Let me get changed.” I pushed past him and retrieved my suitcase. My clothes from the night before lay on top. I paused eyeing them suspiciously.
Colin stepped out of the bathroom and watched me with interest.
I lifted the gauzy material to my nose. It had been freshly laundered. I might have changed into pajamas in an altered state, but do laundry? “Colin, something isn’t right.”
He strode to the window and opened the curtains.
The blinding light stung my eyes. My head throbbed. “Close them, please. The light hurts my eyes. God, if I didn’t know better, I’d think I was on a bender last night, but I don’t remember drinking anything. What the hell happened to me?”
“I don’t know.” He crossed the room to me and wrapped me in his arms, placing a soft kiss to the top of my head. “Get dressed. We’ll figure it out. Let’s go downstairs and get some fluids in you to get whatever it is out of your system.”
I nodded. “Yeah… OK.”
I pushed the eggs around my plate. They were anything but appetizing. Still squinting to avoid the light filtering in from the curtains, I could feel the anxiety growing within me.
Colin shoveled large bites of his ham and cheese omelet into his mouth. As he chewed, he fixed me with his stare. He raised the napkin and dabbed at the corner of his mouth. “Aren’t you hungry?”
Setting the fork on my plate, I shook my head. “No. None of it looks appealing.”
He quirked an eyebrow. “You’ve eaten the same breakfast every morning at this hotel chain since we’ve been on tour.”
“I know. I’m just not… Something’s wrong, Colin. Maybe I’m getting sick.”
He reached across the table and clutched my hand. “Let’s postpone the gig tonight. Get you to a doctor.”
“That’s not necessary. I’m sure I’ll be fine. I probably accidentally took something.” The taste of blood cros
sed my mind. With the thought saliva pooled in my mouth. Had it been a dream or a hallucination? What the hell had happened to me?
“He was right here.” I pointed to where the vampire had collapsed. “And then the other men… They took him. Then there was someone else—another man.” I adjust the sunglasses and sun hat we had purchased at the hotel gift shop before leaving to begin our investigation. The accessories made the sun bearable, but my newfound photophobia was concerning. I really needed to find out what had left me in this state, so I could make sure to avoid it at all costs, but that required figuring out what the hell happened.
Colin bent at the waist, trying to get a closer look at the pavement. “You said the first man was tall and blond, what did the other guy look like?”
I stared at the brick wall. “I don’t know. He gathered me in his arms. I think he bit me too. I don’t remember anything after that. Just you knocking on my door this morning.”
Colin was unusually quiet as he surveyed the alcove.
“Go ahead and say it. I’m crazy. Just telling you about last night makes me feel crazy. God, what if I’m having some kind of psychotic break or something?”
He gathered me in his arms. “You’re not. There’s a walk-in clinic a few blocks from here. Let’s see what they say about those marks are your neck. But I need to ask you a question. It’s not an easy one to ask…” He closed his eyes.
“Go ahead.”
He swallowed hard and stared at the ground. “You weren’t… I mean…do you think it’s possible someone may have violated you? If there’s any chance, you’ll need to tell the doctor. It will need to be investigated, and you’ll need to take precautions.”
I paused and searched my mind. “I don’t think so. I mean… I don’t remember anything like that. There isn’t any… I mean, I don’t feel… I don’t think so.”
He pressed his lips to my forehead. “I’m so sorry.”
I pulled back and stared into his eyes.” What are you sorry for? None of this is your fault.”
“Yes, it is.” His stern features brought me up short.
“Exactly how do you figure that?”
He stroked his thumb over my cheek. “If I hadn’t been so worried about getting a piece of ass, I would have been there to protect you.”
“First, my safety isn’t your responsibility, and you should never feel bad about living your life.”
A smirk crossed his lips. “You don’t get it, do you?” He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “You are my life. Everything else is a distraction. Come on, we need to get you to the doctor.”
It took a moment for me to process what he had said, causing me to linger behind his long strides.
He paused and glanced back at me.
“I’m coming.” I increased my pace to catch up to him, so I could feel the heat of his palm on the small of my back. There had to be a simple explanation.
I stared at the information on the page. Blood work—normal. Rape Kit—inconclusive. Skin swab and biopsy of what they deemed skin discoloration—normal. The police report was still clutched in my hand. The last voice mail… No evidence of a crime. I didn’t know what I had expected. I had to fabricate most of the report. Vampires. I couldn’t exactly tell them the truth. It all brought me back to my first conclusion. I’d been drugged by the dark-haired man they caught on surveillance carrying me to my room. No one remembered seeing him. Even when he left and returned with my laundry, not one frame of the video captured an image of his face.
It had been two days since the incident and the only time it wasn’t the focus of my every thought was when I was on stage. The only time I truly felt like me.
Colin placed the plate of eggs topped with a spoon full of salsa in front of me, but I still hadn’t regained my appetite.
I mixed the salsa into the eggs, hoping that would make it less apparent that I had no intention of eating. The idea of swirling the spongy yellow morsel in my mouth made my stomach heave.
“You need to eat.” His voice was stern and commanding. “I’m worried about you.”
Not looking up, I mumbled, “Me too.”
He reached across the table and squeezed my hand. “We’ll figure it out.” His brows knitted together as he chewed his piece of waffle. “Are you sure you’ll be OK to do the show tonight?”
I rubbed my thumb along the back of his hand. “Yeah… I’ll make it work. It actually helps me forget… well…everything.”
Several minutes later, we’d packed the last of the luggage into the van. I’d agreed to drive the first leg of the journey on our way to Charlotte. I slid into the driver's seat while Colin rearranged the equipment in the back. I turned and leaned over the console, calling back to him in the rear of the van. “Tony and the guys said they might be an hour or so behind us. He said they’ll head straight to the venue and set up the rest of the equipment.” Colin and I usually traveled separate from the rest of the band. Today was no exception.
“Sounds good,” he replied with a grunt before hefting the large case into the van. Clanging and a loud thud preceded his curse. “Son of a bitch.”
Leaning further over the console looking back, I inquired, “Are you OK?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” A slam of the van’s rear doors shook the vehicle. A moment later the passenger door opened and Colin grumbled and climbed into the passenger seat. “We really need to invest in some tie downs for back there. All the shit just fell off the rack again.”
“We can hit that hardware store we went to last time in Charlotte.” I typed in the address of the tavern we were playing later that night and pressed go on the GPS. Saliva pooled in my mouth. My stomach clenched and rumbled. The most delicious scent filled the air. A tickling sensation in my throat forced me to swallow. “Do you smell that?”
Colin rooted for something in the glove compartment. “Smell what?” He pushed papers and leftover fast food condiments to the side.
I inhaled. “God…it smells wonderful.”
“Maybe you’re finally getting your appetite back.” He groaned as contents from the compartment spilled onto the floor. “Do you know where the first aid kit is?”
“I thought it was in…” It was then I saw blood dripping down Colin’s arm and between his fingers. I pulled the scent into my lungs. It was him. He was the source.
A loud horn sounded outside. “Shit… I just ran that stop sign.” My eyes drifted from the road to the crimson river streaming down Colin’s arm. I needed to taste him, my tongue aching to lap the liquid from his skin. That night, the metallic flavor of the strange men’s blood elicited a craving stronger than any I had ever experienced. I needed to savor it again, to taste Colin. “Let me pull into this parking lot and see if I can help.” I needed to get closer to him.
I managed to maneuver the van into the lot of a vacant pub. Still hiding from the morning light from behind the brim of my hat and the now ever-necessary sunglasses, I undid my seatbelt and faced Colin. “Let me see your arm, Colin.”
Bewilderment lined his features as he brought his hand up for inspection. Starting at the tip of his elbow I ran my tongue along the line of red until I encountered the wound. I moaned and pulled him closer, clutching his arm to me.
Continuing, I licked a path between his fingers and back until I settled at the source once more. Back and forth my tongue bathed his wound.
“Lillie… Lillie, please. This has got to be the craziest fucking thing you’ve ever done, but God… I’m so hard.”
After lapping at the wound, I needed more. I was starving for him. I ran my nose along his pulse point, tracing my tongue along the bluish vessel below the surface. My lips sucked at his skin, pooling the blood near the surface.
Colin’s other hand settled over his crotch, his eyes never leaving my face. “Lillie, if we’re… I mean… I’d love to look into your eyes for the first time. Take off your glasses.”
I heard his words but didn’t care. Lust and hunger overwhelmed my senses, tighteni
ng my stomach and wetting my thighs. An ache in my sinuses registered just before the paralyzing desire to penetrate him overcame me. I moaned.
“Lillie, what are you doing?”
His pulse beat against the flat of my tongue, and I crushed his wrist against my mouth, my teeth piercing his skin. His hot, wet blood flowed over my lips.
The word “fuck” left his mouth, but a moan followed, echoing through the vehicle. He slumped in his seat, his palm rubbing his cock through his jeans.
Intoxicating, the sensation of satisfying hunger, thirst, and lust with one act. More. I needed more of him. I wanted to fuck him, drink him, devour him in every way, but given our position in the van, it wouldn’t be possible. I focused on what was available to me—his blood.
“Oh, Lillie…God…you gotta stop… I’m going to embarrass myself. Fuck. So good. But I want to touch you. Fuck.”
When he came, his flavor changed, and I tumbled with him. My muscles tightened, thighs quivered. The throbbing between my legs crested then eased. My mind was clouded with euphoria. I pulled my teeth from his arm and tried to catch my breath. I closed my eyes and licked my lips. That was the closest to sex we had ever come, and I had never felt so sated.
After several minutes the drunken haze lifted and the gravity of the situation began to take hold. Oh, my God, Colin. Adrenaline hit my system.
“Fuck. Colin! What did I do? Oh, my God.”
Blood poured from the wound at his wrist. His arms hung loosely at his side and his head nodded, eyes closed.
“Please, no…” I grabbed his wrist, putting pressure on the wounds. “No. No. No.” Desperate for some way to make it stop, I glanced around the car. Calling for help would take too long. A tourniquet maybe? I spied Coilin’s belt and then my attention focused on his hand. The wound responsible for my bloodlust was almost healed, just like my neck had been. Raising his bleeding wrist to my mouth I coated it with my salvia, running my tongue back and forth over the wounds. I worked the hard muscle over his marred skin, savoring the taste of him. Reaching up I pressed two fingers to his neck to feel for a pulse. The thunderous beating that usually followed climax wasn’t evident; his pulse was weak. He was still alive, but for how long?