by Claire Marta
In both of her previous rebirths, my love’s visage has remained the same. Beautiful and breath-taking. Long dark hair, body slender, those are the only attributes the hooker shares with the woman staying in the hospital. I’ve always had a particular type. A fondness for females who have a small resemblance to my dead Elizabeth.
It’s not always been convenient or easy. When needs overwhelmed me in the past, I have slaked my thirst on any whore I could find. Now though, through means and money, the bitches come right to my door. Life has never been easier.
“Hi, I’m Sophie,” she purrs, licking her pouty lips. The short white dress she wears shows much more than it hides. Hard and pebbled, her nipples peak from beneath her bra.
Settled in the arm chair beside the mattress of my vast and lavish bedroom, I cradle a glass of wine in my hands as I observe her. “I don’t need your name. You won’t speak again until directed, understand?”
Eyes widening in response, she nods at my instruction.
My rules are simple. Renfield would have told her if she doesn’t obey she won’t get paid. Please me, and her money will be doubled. It’s a pity she won’t get rewarded. Normally I feed and fuck them. Tonight, though my desire is for something more extreme. More brutal.
“Strip, then get on all fours on the bed.”
She complies to my harsh command with a slow sultry strip-tease meant to entice. Tanned, smooth skin comes into sight. No piercings or tattoos adorn her young, toned body. Small tits, her hips are curvy and pleasing. At the apex of her thighs, a triangle of dark curls awaits me.
She’s perfect for tonight. Exactly what I need. An eager, willing hole to lose myself in after the events of the last few hours. Watching her bare herself, I drain my drink before discarding it on a table beside my chair. I’m thirsty now for other things. A hunger that never abates. One that has been known to consume me at times. Dependant on a need to gratify it in every way.
Crawling onto the mattress, she positions herself as requested, long legs spread to give me a view of her pussy. The lips are pink and puffy, the evidence of her arousal wet and glistening.
I can smell her need. Musky, strong. She wants it. The feel of me pounding into her, making her cry and beg. How many other clients has she serviced in her short career? Given them a taste of heaven for a price? She’ll get more than she bargained for with me.
I don’t bother to undress. Laying with them is far too intimate, too personal. They mean nothing to me. Unzipping my fly, I take a hold of my cock. I’m already rock hard. Sex has become intermingled with my appetites. I’ve always been driven. Fucking is just another need to gratify.
Stalking up behind her, I admire the curve of her back and arse, the way she holds herself submissively. I’m going to enjoy her. Take exactly what I want before sucking her dry. This bitch will experience the heights of pleasure as she dies.
I don’t bother with foreplay. Lining myself up with her nether lips, I impale her to the root.
Bucking in surprise, she squeals.
Grasping tightly, her slick walls sheath my shaft. Eyes closed, I relish the sensation. My vices are my own heaven. A taste of paradise.
Holding myself still, I imagine it’s Emma before me. Her body welcoming me, softening, and ready to give me pleasure. Her quiet moans. Seizing her hips, I thrust in and out of her. Slowly at first, teasing out the sensations. The fantasy and the reality collide as my excitement builds. How good she feels. So perfect as I fuck her.
Emotions clamor. The pain of losing my love so long ago. How it destroyed me. Killed the goodness in my soul and condemned me to an existence of death and darkness. Leaning over her, I rub my cheek along her supple spine, placing kisses as I go. “Oh, Elizabeth.”
All my unspoken yearning is clear. Guilt I have harbored since that day. Each and every night since it happened that I have silently mourned her.
“Oh, you feel so good, so big.”
The voice that answers me turns the things I’m feeling to ice.
Eyes snapping open, I catch the gleam of the gold signet ring on my finger. The small red dragon engraved on the surface reminding me of who I am.
This is not my beloved.
Just a cheap whore. She doesn’t deserve this tenderness. It’s not meant for her. It’s a violation that she should even witness it. Forbidden. What do I care of humans? They’re nothing but weak. Food for the predators that stalk this world.
Anger rises. I cannot let myself forget. This female means nothing to me. She’s nourishment. They all are.
Fisting her hair, I draw her head back, exposing the long graceful column of her neck. Her pulse leaps in response with eagerness.
Foolish female. She has no idea what comes next, but she soon will.
I unleash myself. No holding back.
Tonight, I want it all.
Fangs elongating, I savage her throat, driving the sharp points in deep. Blood fills my mouth.
Her moans morph into a startled scream. It only excites me more. Capturing her wrists, I keep them pinned at the base of her spine, easily subduing her. My claws dig into her flesh. Her shock and agony is a delicious combination. It mingles through her veins, enhancing her flavor. Feeding hungrily, I draw in gulp after gulp of her life force through my mouth. All the while, I continue to fuck her as the fight in her body grows weaker.
It’s a futile battle.
I sense the moment she accepts her fate. Prey giving in to the predator. A subtle relaxing of her muscles as she hovers on the edge between life and death.
Thrusting two more times, my cock pulses as I fill her with my cum. Roar rumbling from my throat, I rip my fangs from her neck, not caring of the damage they leave.
The faint thready thump of her heart finally ceases. Vanishes into silence.
Panting hard, I let go of the corpse, observing her milky white skin as her hair spills out over the blood-stained sheets. Already it’s sullied and dirty.
Renfield will remove her.
He’s had the task before. Knows where to get rid of the bodies without fear of discovery. Another carcass for the police to find.
The mattress and bedding will have to be destroyed. Nothing will remain that can be traced back to her presence ever being here.
Climbing from the bed, I lick the blood from my fingers smearing it through my beard.
The whore was a welcome distraction. Just what I needed after the events of tonight.
Chapter 17
Emma is a treasure I never thought I would set eyes on for a third time.
Something precious in this cruel world.
A light in the gloom.
Three days since I saw her last, and she still obsesses me. I know every detail of her life. Every grain of happiness and heart ache.
Curling my fingers tighter around the shabby locket in my hand, my anticipation intensifies. The strands of fine ebony hair within are worn and old. Each year they deteriorate a little more. All I have left of her incarnation as Mina, but now that is no longer so.
The Earth has been my oyster. An existence devoid of love. Yet one chance meeting and I have a ray of hope once more. I may be a monster, but why should I be denied what everyone else has? I wear a mask of sophistication and refinement. Never revealing my true nature until I’m ready to strike. The blood I have spilt could run the oceans red.
Slipping the piece of jewelry away into a drawer in my desk, I move to stand.
If I can gain Emma’s trust, then things will be easier. First, I need an irritating obstacle removed from my path.
A soft knock interrupts my thoughts.
“Enter.”
“Sir, your appointment is here,” Renfield announces from the door.
I nod my approval, a rare smile inching up my lips. “Show him in.”
Smartly dressed, the familiar young man he ushers into my office looks nervously around. “Mr. Alucard.”
“Vladimir, please,” I greet him, holding out my hand as I move to meet him half wa
y.
He takes it with the same sure force he exhibited at the hospital. “Then you must call me Charles. I’ve never had an appointment so late at night before.”
“Insomnia,” I lie. “I’ve never been one for much sleep and find this time more convenient.”
I wonder if he’s told Emma of this visit? That I requested to see him with talk of business.
“I would like to offer you a job,” I tell him, getting straight down to business.
His surprise is clear. “A job?”
“I find myself in need of an accountant, and I have heard excellent things regarding you.”
The pulse beating swiftly in his neck distracts me. I want nothing more than to savage this boy. Rip him apart until there’s nothing left but an unrecognizable mess. Centuries of perfecting my talent for torture, I could have him begging for death.
A vision of Emma fills my head.
No. I need to be subtler when it comes to her suitor. Last time, I was sloppy. It led to her untimely death when her soul resided in the body of Mina. I will not allow that to happen again.
Persuasion comes easily. People with weak wills are simple to overcome.
What I have planned is depraved, immoral. Yet none of that matters to me. I’m not human. I play by my own rules.
“I don’t know what to say, Mr…Vladimir.”
“Say yes.” I move back toward my desk. “The package I’m offering is very generous. The hours are long, but I’m willing to pay triple what you already make.”
I see the second I have him.
Money.
He’s materialistic like the rest of his generation. Grasping for things beyond his means, yet here I am, waving everything he could ever desire before him.
Charles sinks down into a chair with a dazed expression. “That’s very…I mean…”
“Extravagant?” Lowering myself into my own, I enjoy the feeling of expensive leather cradling my body. “I like fine things and the best of everything. Your résumé speaks for itself, and I want you on my team.”
He laps up my words. Sitting a little straighter, the confidence I witnessed in the hospital re-emerges. “Then how can I say no?”
How easily he walks into my grasp. Has no idea of the things in store for him, that I already have set in motion.
“Then you start tomorrow.” Pressing a button on my desk, I summon Renfield and my secretary. “My assistant will help you with the contract now. Make sure everything is signed and sealed. Go through every detail with you.”
I want to be rid of him now.
He’s not worth idle chatter, and my mind lingers elsewhere.
The men bustle into the room. Renfield wears a bland expression on his face. He’s well aware of my plans for this boy. Loyal to a fault, I know he would never betray me with some misguided sense of pity. Mercy is for the weak.
“If you would come this way, Mr. Barker, I’ll get you started.” My secretary murmurs politely.
Charles rises in a fluster. “Yes…sure. Thank you for your time, Vladimir. I promise not to let you down.”
The smile I give him doesn’t reach my eyes. “I know you won’t.” Fingers steepled in front of me, I watch him leave. The second he’s through the door the pleasant look slips from my face. “Keep the boy buried under work starting tomorrow. I want him toiling until he drops.”
Renfield bows low, a smirk on his lips. “Yes, Master.”
Chapter 18
A powerful restlessness drives me out into the night.
The meeting with the boy went exactly as I expected, but it leaves me with a desire to set eyes on what I covet.
Hovering outside the window of the sixth floor flat, I listen to the steady beat of the human heart that resides within. Tonight, I only wish to gaze upon Emma. Three torturous days keeping my distance and I can no longer take the time apart. How is it possible to need another being with all that’s in your heart?
Exhaling, I concentrate. Tingles ripple over my limbs and clothes; I observe as they turn to a fine misty vapor. Intangible in this form, I still retain conscious thought. An ability gained, along with the forms of a bat and wolf, when I lost my soul. Creeping forward in a vast blanket of white, I veil the window. Seeping through the cracks I find. I have one goal for my focus.
Find my beloved.
Solidifying just as quickly, I inspect my surroundings. I have no problem seeing in the darkness of the room. The sitting room is neat and tidy. Books line the bookshelves. Emma’s scent permeates the pretty flowery cushions on a sofa. An empty mug has been left discarded beside a romance book.
Silently stalking through the apartment, I take in the rest of her personal space. Her walls are painted a delicate yellow that reminds me of sunflowers. Trinkets and ornaments are dotted on shelves here and there. Keepsakes from this life?
It is a harsh reminder that although she is my Elizabeth in this reincarnation, fate has had her path set out for her from the day she was born. Without the chance meeting, I might never have found her. She would have lived and died without knowledge of who I am.
Not one trace of a masculine presence can be seen. Although I already know Charles doesn’t live with her, the evidence of this is still a relief.
A photo frame of a woman smiling hangs on the wall in the kitchen. The resemblance is strong. Her mother perhaps?
Slow and strong, the rhythm of the heartbeat that’s been teasing my awareness finally draws me to another open door.
My sensitive eyesight seeks Emma out immediately. Hand tucked under her cheek, she is laying on her side on the bed. The outline of her body is clear beneath the sheet that covers her. Hair tumbling over the pillow she rests on, the swell of her breasts peek alluringly from the low-cut neckline of her demure night dress.
Her lover’s scent is all over her. It saturates the linen.
Jealousy ravages my good intentions. The thought of him fucking her sends violence coursing through my veins. Had he been with her before our meeting? Curling my fingernails into my palms, I feel the bite of claws.
She belongs to me.
Pacing closer, my angry gaze traces her relaxed face.
She sleeps so peacefully. In this vulnerable state, she is far more susceptible to my influence. It’s easy to push my power into her mind.
“Emma,” I whisper her name.
She murmurs quietly in response. Still asleep, she rolls onto her back, my presence disturbing her slumber. Does she dream of me? Has she kept me in her thoughts as I have her? Does she feel our connection? Even beyond death, we are tethered. Whatever turn of fate has brought her back to me, I do not intend to waste it.
Mounting the mattress, I crawl to lay beside her.
I want to fuck her. Brand her as mine. Wipe away the boy’s touch, along with any other male who has also taken her to bed in the past.
“Charles?” The sleep filled question brings a jolt of red-hot rage. Reining in the urge to find the boy and end his life, I brush a lock of silky hair from her cheek.
“Lover. I’m your lover.”
I capture her mouth in a passionate kiss. Insidious and seducing, I fill her dreams with images of a sinfully handsome stranger. A warrior and prince. A dark lover.
Emma moans against my lips. Tongues entwining lazily, I revel in her sleepy surrender.
With one thought, our clothes melt away, leaving us naked.
Impulse takes over.
I want her. Every part.
I’ve spent centuries mourning her. Immortality is a lonely stretch of endless empty ashes in an undead life.
Parting her creamy thighs, I hook them over my hips. I drive into her deeply with no thought of gentleness. Her body yields to me. Wet and ready, her slickness aids my movements.
Emma cries out drowsily. The sensual spell I’ve woven around her won’t allow her to wake fully.
“I have missed you so much,” I mutter fervently in Romanian. “Existence has meant nothing without you, Elizabeth.”
Pulli
ng almost out, I thrust into her again and again. It’s just as I’ve imagined. She feels like home.
Twisting beneath me, Emma’s delicate hands fist the sheets. “Yes, oh yes. You feel so good inside me. Don’t stop. Please don’t stop.”
She’s soft and yielding. Her luscious curves are like silk under my questing touch. The thick dark lashes of her eyes flutter against her cheeks like a butterfly’s wings, but never open.
Still fucking her slowly, I build a tempo.
I trace a silky path along the column of her throat with my tongue. The sound of her racing blood is sweet music to my ears.
She’s drowning in my arms. Sweet innocence. It calls to me. The beat of her heart. I want to devour her. Absorb her inside me and keep her forever locked within, where she can’t escape. It would be so easy to take her now. Snatch her away. I’ve done it to women I’ve wanted in the past. Taken what I’ve wanted.
Emma is different than the others.
My heart’s desire reborn a third time, and I will not make any mistakes.
My fangs scrape her neck. I can sense the pumping of her precious blood just beneath her fragile skin. It ignites my dark thirst and brings with it such longing. A yearning to have what I once had. But I’m no longer the man I was. I will not pretend to be something I’m not this time. Nobleness is for fools.
I’m cursed.
Forsaken by God.
If I bring Emma over, she will be forever damned.
My hesitation is only brief.
Monsters can’t be tamed. Not real ones. Our urges rise and consume us. We are the things of nightmares, so foul even the truest of heart shudder in our presence.
Piercing her skin, I sink my fangs deep, savoring the thick life-giving liquid as it fills my mouth. Emma’s gasp of pain swiftly turns to a groan of pleasure as her body tightens around my cock.
She will be mine no matter the cost. There will be no indecision in this lifetime.
No choice.
Chapter 19
Inhaling a deep breath of the London night air, it has never smelt sweeter strolling along the river Thames a few hours before dawn. Emma’s blood warms me, bringing renewed energy to my limbs. Although I resisted taking her blood in her last reincarnation, I will not this time. It leaves me hungry for more of her.