Claiming the Night

by Kathryn Vegas

  Adam grabbed her hand and put it in his hot hard lap.

  “It might be worth it.”

  “You devil.” Sara gasped.

  She couldn’t help but stroke him before removing her hand and reaffirming her own good behavior.

  “I’m a good girl, take me to work. We’ll have New Year’s Eve tomorrow night. I can wait… maybe.”

  “You’re such a good adult.” Adam attempted to hide his disappointment, but failed.

  “So… to get my mind off sex, can I ask you a few questions I thought of today?” Sara asked tentatively.

  “Yes. Now that you know. I’m an open book. It’s kind of a relief, really. I hate you found out the way you did, but now we can move forward.” He offered her a sweet grin.

  Sara didn’t want to think about last night.

  “What do you do during the day? What would happen if you went outside in the sun? Would you sparkle?” Sara teased.

  “No, I would not sparkle.” Adam rolled his eyes like the very idea was ludicrous. “Don’t I wish. Actually, it hurts like hell. They put your hand in the sun when you are first turned to show you how important it is to have a routine and a safe place. To never be caught by the light. It’s the most excruciating pain I’ve ever felt. Within seconds the UV rays burn our skin. Blinds us within minutes and kills us soon after. Once you’re blind it’s pretty hard to find cover. You’re fucked at that point. You have a few minutes to try to save yourself before that happens. You can heal even after you’re blinded, but ten minutes is about all you get before you’re dead. There’s no coming back.”

  Sara contemplated this information.

  Adam continued, “They make you do it once every year for your first five years. They really like to get the point across.”

  “They?” Sara asked.

  “It’s quite sophisticated. I was basically assigned a social worker that moved into the neighborhood to hold my hand.” Adam laughed at Sara’s puzzled expression. “Yeah, it’s organized.”

  “Wow,” Sara whispered.

  “I’m not supposed to be telling you this, but Rebecca pulled the curtain back on what we are with her little stunt and it feels good to talk to you. It was a shit show what happened, but I can’t say I’m not relieved you know.” Adam sighed.

  “It’s incredible.” Sara’s mind conjured images of this vampire society. Social workers for new recruits. How strange.

  “Collette said you weren’t feeding enough. Why? She said you’d never drank from the source. How do you feed yourself?” Sara asked.

  “There is a system in place that donor blood is collected. You know just like the Red Cross, but specifically for us. They call the humans who donate, Volunteers. They know about us, but have a vested interest in keeping our secret. They either have an inherited lineage of service to a vampire or are being recruited. Of course, they are not being held captive and drained. They donate no more than a pint and you can be pushing the health of a human if they even donated that much every two weeks. So it’s easy to understand with that type of slow production of a donated product, a month’s supply is ten thousand dollars.”

  “Ten thousand dollars?! How in the hell does anyone afford that?” Sara asked.

  “Unfortunately, I can’t. I’m still fairly new. I haven’t had years of compound interest on my side, like my older friends and ex-girlfriend. I might be the poorest vampire in the world.” Adam laughed. “I was able to save enough to buy one month’s supply and I stretched it out for three months. Now, I’m going to have to ask a friend. I’m not too worried about it though, he’s accumulated quite a lot of that compound interest over the last two hundred years. I was just being stubborn before. I wanted to make it on my own and not ask anyone for help. I can’t afford to do that anymore. I need to be strong. I need to be ready.” Adam finished on a resolute note, as he exited the highway.

  Sara mulled over the new information for several minutes. His words, ‘I need to be ready,’ echoed in her head. She remembered his transformation last night after he fed from her. His power filled the room as he turned the tables on Collette. The memory caused her to shiver. He looked like a vengeful god vibrating with otherworldly strength.

  “What about drinking from animals?” Sara asked.

  “That’s not as easy as it sounds. Could I hold an animal down, bite them and suck their blood while they struggle in pain, scared to death? Would you really want to be with me if I was cool with killing someone’s dog?” Adam asked. “Yeah, I’ll eat cooked meat sure, but eating flesh from a crying animal that I have to bite into myself? Would you?”

  “Hmmm now that you put it that way… It seemed like a good choice in the movies,” Sara said.

  “I mean, I guess if I was starving to death… Maybe if I was going to die if I didn’t drink Rover’s blood. I would grab the pooch, but I’ve never been that desperate,” Adam replied.

  Adam turned into the parking lot at the sleep clinic. He pulled into a spot near the door and shut off the car before looking at her. His green eyes blazed with determination.

  “I will make the call tonight and stay fed. It’s the only way to ensure your safety.”

  “I know,” Sara whispered. She didn’t know why she was so convinced of this fact but she was.

  He caressed her cheek and rubbed his thumb across her bottom lip.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to quit your job and come home with me?”

  Sara glanced around the parking lot, spotting several co-workers in various stages of leaving their cars and entering the building.

  “I’ve probably been spotted,” sighed Sara.

  “New Year’s, then?” Adam asked.

  “Yes.”

  It was all Sara could say before his mouth reached hers. Her body lit up. Desire sparked through her. The urge to pull him into the backseat nearly overwhelmed her. His firm hot lips pressed against hers. She opened her mouth for his velvet tongue. Sara explored his sculpted chest. Her fingertips lightly skimming his beaded nipple. She circled it before pinching his flesh between her fingers. Adam growled into her mouth in response. She sighed into his.

  Adam kissed his way to her ear. With a voice deep and gruff he whispered, “Now that you know what I am. You have nothing to protect yourself from. I just have one word for you...”

  While he spoke, his hand caressed her heavy breast and his fingers found the hardened tip. He rolled the aching nipple between his fingers. She cursed her shirt and bra blocking him from fully grasping her.

  “What word?” Sara breathed in a hitched breath when he didn’t continue.

  “Bareback,” he said nipping her earlobe.

  Sara gasped at the thought. Her clit throbbed. The idea of skin to skin with Adam made her tremble.

  Sara leaned back and looked him in the eyes, “I’ve quit my job. Take me to your place.”

  Adam laughed.

  “Oh no. I want you to think about that all night and all day tomorrow. I’ll see you New Year’s Eve.”

  Sara, although thoroughly disappointed, loved prolonging their pleasure. Having something like this to think about was going to ignite her passion to a fever pitch by the time she got her reward. She gave him a devious look and a firm kiss on the mouth with her hug goodbye. She opened the door. The freezing night air bit at her exposed skin and she sprinted toward the office to escape it.

  Kelly reached the entrance door a few seconds before Sara and opened it ceremoniously with a smirk.

  “That good dicking has put some color in your cheeks.”

  Chapter Two

  Rebecca sat in an overstuffed leather chair and stared out of a large bay window. The world beyond was black and white. Snow drifted steadily through the darkness onto the Swiss mountaintop. The large hearth to her left was ablaze, the warm glow softening the edges of her clenched jaw.

  Collette was due to arrive at any moment.

  How could I have been so sure of our plan?

  Rebecca reprimanded herself for the
hundredth time.

  Rebecca was not accustomed to defeat. Because of Adam, it was all she was experiencing as of late. She was actively resisting one hellacious hissy fit.

  “That son of a bitch,” she whispered.

  This was Adam’s fault. He found her lacking, left her and now she was nagged by self-doubt.

  How did Collette fuck this up so badly?

  Collette was lethal. Rebecca had no doubt about that before now. They had killed hundreds, if not thousands, of humans throughout the centuries together. They had battled vampires and triumphed in the age before their kind became so civilized.

  She was angry that Collette had failed. If only she had gone with her. Together they would have left corpses in their wake. She could have seen the life drain from that bitch Sara’s eyes and feasted on her fear-filled blood. Adam’s inability to save her would have filled him with despair. But she would not have gotten away with Adam’s death without a rock-solid alibi. She had to leave town and be seen out of the country by her friends.

  Collette was the only other being in the world that understood Rebecca. Even though she was furious with the turn of events she knew Collette would be just as angry.

  The rumbling and crunching sound of an all-terrain vehicle with studded tires approached the chalet. The roads were plowed during the day and had not been completely covered with fresh powdery snow. Rebecca sent her personal driver to pick up Collette from the private landing strip used by local residents. If you owned a chalet on this mountaintop, your choices to reach the nearest town was to travel by private helicopter or jet.

  Rebecca stood and walked toward the behemoth fireplace. The bonfire of flames licked violently at the wood causing it to crackle and pop. The fireplace divided the room. If there wasn’t a fire burning, Rebecca could duck her head and walk through it into the kitchen. She touched the smooth concrete slab mantel that wrapped around the entire structure. She kept her hand against it as she circled the massive stone fireplace. The ruggedness of the stone and log chalet counterbalanced with the clean lines of Swiss modernism.

  Rebecca heard the car turn off. Her driver Joe and Collette’s footsteps lightly treaded through the snow. She waited. There was nothing left to think over. She would hear the full story from Collette. Time would continue to move forward and as with most events that seem insurmountable, time would shrink their importance. Nothing could come between their friendship.

  But it’s definitely about to have an awkward moment. Rebecca mused.

  Rebecca’s loyal manservant, for lack of a better word, but what would you call someone that’s life was devoted to tending another’s every desire, Joe opened the oversized front door. A bluster of snow and frigid wind whirled around them. As if carried by the wind itself, Collette’s delicate form flitted into the room landing gracefully into Rebecca’s open arms. Joe closed the door and stood like a sentinel awaiting further instruction.

  Rebecca kissed Collette’s cheeks lovingly before pulling away. Disappointment radiated from the depths of her being. Rebecca kissed her forehead in consolation. As mad as she was with their foiled plan, she loved Collette all the more for trying. Who else would do something like that for her?

  “That son of a bitch.” Collette spat.

  “Joe, can you open us a bottle of wine. Find a Montrachet-”

  “Montrachet?” Collette interrupted angrily. “Really? This is a nightmare, not a celebration.”

  Rebecca waved Joe away confirming her original request. He dutifully left the room in search of the wine. Next to Collette, Joe was her most trusted ally and could always be counted on. They were all Rebecca had left.

  Joe came from a lineage of caretakers. Rebecca had been cared for by his father, his grandfather and so on for three hundred years. Joe was proud of his heritage of service to such a beautiful and powerful vampire. Since childhood, Joe’s father had trained him to be everything Rebecca could need him to be. He took his allegiance to her more than seriously. He felt that fidelity to Rebecca was a part of his very DNA. He anticipated her every need. Rebecca was never more grateful for his blind loyalty than now.

  Rebecca stroked Collette’s face and said, “We still came out on top. You tried. I am grateful. Of course, we are disappointed. We’ve never liked to lose. It stings, but time will continue to flow through our hands and nothing has changed. Adam wouldn’t dare tell a soul what happened. We also have time to spare. Maybe not this week or even this year, but someday, when they least expect it, we will take turns feasting on that bitch while we force Adam to watch.”

  “You should have smelled her fear. Her blood spiked with hot panic. It was magnificent. It was going to be mine.” Collette’s frustration was almost palpable. The last sentence strung out like a toddler’s whine.

  “Patience and it may still.” Rebecca soothed her even though she was reeling inside at the thought of that hot panicked blood. The idea of waiting and partaking made her almost grateful that the first attack failed. The ecstasy of such a moment played out in her mind and made her mouth water. She licked her lips.

  “You painted a picture for me that’s got my blood heating up with the old bloodlust and now I want nothing more than to have her together.” Rebecca’s eyes were lit with desire.

  Collette smiled at Rebecca imagining the same scene. Together like the old days, gluttons on blood and sex. Rebecca put an arm around Collette and led her to the overstuffed chairs by the bay window.

  Joe returned with glasses and an opened bottle of ridiculously expensive wine. He poured each woman a glass and put the bottle on the table between them.

  “Thank you, Joe. You are heaven-sent.” Rebecca knew she would need him tonight. She was thirsty and frustrated. For the past year, Joe had been more than willing to fill in where Adam left off.

  Collette gazed at him with the desire filled eyes as well. Joe spent his off time in the gym and was enhanced by a little human growth hormone. He had that yoked look you’d find in the more dedicated weight lifting enthusiast. His chest and arms were thick with dense muscles.

  Joe might be the luckiest manservant in the world tonight. He looked at them, both as beautiful as they were deadly. His cock stiffened and a smile grew across his face.

  “I’m here to serve,” he said and bowed before leaving them to their discussion.

  “Tell me everything,” Rebecca said as she picked up her glass and savored the opulent robust flavor of the Chardonnay.

  “He was weak as a kitten, but I underestimated him.” Collette paused while sipping her wine. A faraway look settled in her eye as she recounted the events. “I was having too much fun. I should have killed them immediately. You know how it is when you’re having a blast and you’re about to do something that will feel spectacular. You want to draw out the moment and really enjoy yourself?”

  Rebecca nodded and waited for Collette to continue.

  “Well, I savored the moment too long and Adam took a chance. He surprised me by feeding on her. His strength returned to him instantly. I managed to break his arm, but by that point, he was fully blooded. I calculated my odds and knew the risk was too great.” Regret laced her voice.

  Rebecca silently contemplated her story, imagining the scene. The thought of Adam feeding off a human, made her heart clench in her chest. Especially, a woman he was romantically involved with. He had never fed while he was with her.

  They lived the life that modern vampires were supposed to be living. He was brought into the life according to all the new protocols and feeding directly was not part of the training. Keeping new vampires as human as possible seemed to be the goal. Rebecca thought it was ridiculous, but Adam thought it was all so logical and it kept him the good guy he believed himself to be.

  “Did she know?” Rebecca asked the burning question.

  “No, it was a complete surprise.” Rebecca answered.

  “So, that was his first feeding,” Rebecca whispered.

  She almost doubled over the pain of knowing how much h
e now was bonded with that woman. Rage poured through her ancient veins. Why had she let him remain a virgin in that way? If she had made him explore that with her it could have deepened their connection. Things could have been different. Why had she bothered with the charade the Elders now forced on newly created vampires?

  Rebecca knew why she had played by the rules, but couldn’t believe she had let Adam live so much like a human for fifteen years. He never truly knew what it was to be a bloodthirsty Vampire. She’d tortured herself with these thoughts for the last year, but she knew Adam would never have chosen to live any other way.

  He would never have been able to live with hurting or killing anyone. He would have rather died than become like Rebecca. That tore an even deeper hole into her gut to know Adam thought her a monster. He would never have chosen to be anything like her. Trying to be something she wasn’t for him was a huge mistake. She was riddled with self-doubt and loathing unlike anything she had ever experienced before. These emotions were a dangerous combination for a vampire.

  “I’m sorry.” Collette consoled.

  “I was a fool.” Rebecca scoffed. “Times were changing. The Elders were creating a new world. When I found Adam, I knew he was exactly what the Elders were looking for. They practically congratulated me on providing them the poster boy for the societal shift they were trying to accomplish and I reveled in how perfect he was. I was the mate to the future of our new civilized culture.”

  Rebecca gave a fake salute with her glass before she continued.

  “Exactly what they were striving to create. How easily he transitioned and became what they wanted. So well adjusted, he’d never hurt a soul. He had nothing to rage about. He had no reason to rampage. He had no emotional issues. Completely mentally stable. No constant morose brooding over any past injustice or mistakes. Not a single dangerous thing about him. What kind of fucking vampire is that?” Rebecca ended with a smirk.

  Collette matched her evil grin and they finished their glasses of wine. Joe, ever-present, refilled them and returned to the background.