Blood Lust

by L E Royal

  I felt the heavy weight of her in my head, the claiming in her voice as it echoed the word mine.

  She pushed back into me again, this time with more force, and I cried out, a cry she broke from drinking to swallow. She stretched me more than she ever had, four fingers inside.

  Blood was hot down the side of my neck; it soaked the pillow beneath me, my hair, and I vaguely wondered how much I had lost, though any real care was secondary to more carnal things. I trusted Scarlett and I was addicted to the taste of our blood mingling in my mouth, as she forced her tongue into it.

  Her fingers curled inside me and I came again hard, exaltations of “yes, Mistress,” spilling loud from my lips.

  I was sore when she pulled out of me, but not tired. I wanted more.

  Forcing my limp body to sit, I lifted her wrist to my neck. When I pulled it away, my blood had closed the gash on her arm, but my own still bled over my shoulder.

  She smiled wickedly, and I panicked for just a second before she leaned over and took the razor blade from the nightstand and slashed a long vertical cut down the smooth column of her own neck.

  The blade fell to the floor as I tackled her onto the mattress and climbed on top of her, my own bloodied throat forgotten in exchange for hers. The blood in my veins sung as my lips closed on the cut that was bleeding heavily for me.

  “Sweetheart…”

  She tried once to divert me, her pleasure at my reaction, her satisfaction, dark and dirty and depraved at the way I held her down. It overtook her concern for closing the gash on my neck.

  I bit at her throat, sucking, licking, drinking, consumed with having her, devouring her, belonging with her. Wilfred’s words were present yet far away, but I let myself go. Like this I was enough for her; I was as dark and filthy, dried blood streaked down my chest, matted in my hair. I felt her desire for me, her wonder at me. Deep down, as much as she wanted to save me, keep me untainted, she was curious about me as something of the dark.

  “Princess…”

  She groaned, and her hips bucked up to mine, her shoulders lifting from the bed. I shoved her back down, slicking my tongue greedily over her bleeding wound.

  She fumbled beside me, her head turned away. I ignored her, content to rock my hips down hard on hers, already cruising pleasantly toward another high. She pushed me back. Something cold slipped between my legs, pressing at the apex of my open thighs, then it was inside me. I looked down between us and watched her guide the business end of the toy into herself.

  I twisted my fingers in her hair, pulling her head up and stopping the movement.

  I studied her face. She wanted it, she dared me.

  “So needy.” I enunciated each word, letting myself slip back into the place we had both so enjoyed last time.

  Her dark eyes burned up at me, defiance and submission in one smoldering look.

  “Tell me you need me?”

  She did.

  I pushed my hips forward, using one hand to feel the thick toy slide into her.

  “Let me hear you.”

  I felt the command as I gave it but didn’t have time to worry over the ethics of it, already diving back down to her neck.

  She writhed and moaned beneath me, she begged and cursed and told me she loved me, and she was my needy little whore. Everything spilled out, and I tasted and felt it all in tandem, hurtling toward another orgasm.

  I pressed my lips to her ear.

  “You’re mine, Scarlett. Always.”

  She came, agreement on her lips, and I followed close behind. When we finally sagged, spent and sweat-soaked, I was light-headed and tired.

  I heard her sharp intake of breath when she pulled the toy out of her, jolting it inside me and sending aftershocks skittering through my veins. Warm wetness pressed against my neck, the sheets rustled, and I was aware I had stopped bleeding.

  She tugged me closer to her.

  “Look.”

  It was a simple command and I opened my eyes to follow, finding hers in the large mirror that sat on her vanity at the end of her bed.

  The two of us stared back, tangled together, eyes bright, hair mussed, my pale skin and her light tan, both covered in blood. The sight of it matted into my hair was particularly unsettling, but I couldn’t deny, together like that, we were beautiful. I knew she was thinking the same.

  Her hand journeyed down my body and I whined softly as she went to remove the toy. Sensing my tenderness, she left it in place, her eyes meeting mine again as she licked her lips and then disappeared. I watched in the mirror as she went down on me, her mouth cool against my abused flesh, and overly wet, slicking over my tender parts, lubricating me.

  It was erotic somehow to see myself, my blue eyes dark, nipples hard and straining, legs spread unabashedly as a gorgeous woman worked me closer and closer to coming again.

  I jumped when she slipped the bulb out of me, the pain edging me closer.

  She looked up in question.

  “Don’t stop.”

  She lowered her head again, and I was surprised to feel something enter me. I whimpered lightly, but her tongue lathing over me soothed the temporary burn.

  “Let me have you, Princess?”

  Powerless to deny her, I spread my legs wider. She knelt before me, ushering my back up onto the pillows before she settled over me, taking the bulb into herself.

  “Watch.”

  The word was whispered, dropped with a kiss onto my ear, as she started to touch me. Sore as I was, I was soaked from the attention of her mouth, and I did my best to keep my eyes open, to do as she said. I watched her back muscles move, the bob of her backside, her long tan legs resting inside my open ones as she pushed us both to one last long, slow orgasm.

  Her nose brushed the crook of my neck as she slipped out of me, and I heard the thud of the toy hitting the floor before she was winding herself around me.

  I studied us in the mirror. Scarlett, the most beautiful creature I had ever seen, in this world or mine, and me, still the same plain girl I always was, though I looked healthier now, my figure fuller than before, my skin brighter. The evidence of someone finally caring for me showed in my appearance.

  She pressed her lips just below my ear.

  “You’re exactly right for me.”

  It was everything I hadn’t known I needed to hear.

  “Make me a vampire?”

  The request surprised me, but it didn’t scare me like it once might have. I tried to explain my sudden desire.

  “I can’t lose you. I want this with you, forever. We can work out the rest.”

  She was rigid in my embrace.

  “Scarlett. Just this time, let me save myself?”

  I clung to her tight, and she clung to me, and I wondered exactly what turning me would entail, if it would hurt.

  She leaned up on her elbow.

  “You’ll have me forever, Princess, I promise. I don’t have to end your life to give you that.” She kissed me softly. “You’re mine, and I’m yours, and we’re exactly right for each other, just as we are. I’ll give you the city, and when it’s done, your heart will still beat harder every time I look at you.”

  Chapter Eight

  I FELT A little awkward in Hawthorne Tower. I could tell Jade did too. The atmosphere was lighter than at home, and the human staff were far better dressed, and obviously better treated. I just felt like I didn’t quite fit.

  “Cami has always been a little jealous of April.” Jade leaned over and whispered the words to me quietly as we sat in one of the many grand sitting rooms, waiting for the aforementioned vampire to return with said sister.

  “She laughs it off and Scarlett likes to tease her about it, but I think it’s sort of sad. April always admired her growing up, idolized her. So of course, because all Camilla wants, really, underneath all her pretense is a family and a dozen kids, April wanted it too. She just found the right person sooner.”

  It was sort of sad, but it raised a question that made me uncomfortable,
beyond the fact Jade still seemed like such a child herself at times.

  “Do you want kids, though?”

  She nodded. I wondered what Scarlett would make of that, if she would let them go through the process of having babies together, even though if what Scarlett said were true, and biologically, they could be half siblings. They were so happy it seemed cruel to tell them, though I wondered if it might come up anyway during the process.

  “I know that probably seems crazy. My family life isn’t exactly awesome, but Scarlett raised me well, and the family I chose is great.” She gave my hand a quick squeeze. “The thought of raising kids here terrifies me, but it is my dream someday to have one, maybe two.”

  The admission was shy, and I squeezed her back.

  “You’ll be a great mom, and I’ll be the cool aunt.”

  She smiled, though there was a question in it.

  “You don’t want any kids?”

  I laughed.

  “With Scarlett? I don’t think that’s in our future.”

  She was somber as she looked at me.

  “Why? Do you think she would be a horrible mother? She raised me, and I like to think I came out sort of okay…”

  She trailed off hurt, and I backpedaled.

  “No, Jade, of course that’s not it. You’re amazing, and I know she has a big heart, I just… Do you think she would want that?”

  Honestly, it was hard for me to really, truly imagine it, Scarlett and diapers and spit up, but Jade’s face lit up.

  “She loves kids! She’s great with them. She’s never actually said she wants her own, but she never thought it would be on the cards for her. But now who knows?”

  The thought made me uncomfortable, because I certainly didn’t. I had always imagined I might have a family one day, but then I’d always imagined it would never actually happen either. Before Scarlett I was just the invisible girl, and with her, she was the sun, so big and bright that she bleached out everything else, and I hadn’t thought much beyond just hoping for a life with her, forever.

  “Who knows.”

  I echoed Jade’s sentiment and was still playing with the idea shyly in my mind when, finally, Camilla reappeared.

  “Here’s my nephew!”

  She was carrying a bundle of blue, adoration shining in her eyes as she sat beside Jade and me on the sofa, taking a tiny hand between two fingers carefully.

  “Isn’t he precious?”

  April appeared behind her, towing along a little girl who looked to be about five, a toddler on her hip.

  “Jade! Oh my God, it’s been forever, and now you’re dating my sister!”

  Jade laughed and got up to hug her, the children greeting her with choruses of “Auntie.”

  “And you brought Scarlett’s pet. This one’s the hybrid, right?”

  “Actually, A, she and Scarlett are together. More girlfriend, less pet kind of together.”

  April’s only response was, “Wow.”

  “Nice to meet you.” I forced myself to find my voice, eager to fulfill my role as more girlfriend, less pet.

  April smiled. She was dark-haired where Camilla was a lighter brunette, but they shared the same tall stature and large, dark eyes.

  “Nice to meet you…?”

  “Rayne,” Jade supplied helpfully, fussing over the older child.

  “Where’s Scarlett today?”

  “She had an errand to run. She said she’d join us soon.”

  April nodded, tugging the younger girl off her hip and putting her down on unsteady legs.

  “Mia, who’s your favorite Auntie?” Cami asked her, already beaming with pride as the girl wobbled her way toward her. She shrieked something that sounded like “Auntie Cami,” and Cami cheered. It was strange to watch her like this, all her perfect pretense gone, baby spit up on her designer dress and a smile that didn’t just reach her eyes, it illuminated them. Jade sat beside her and they cooed over the baby, sharing a look that made me worry we may have to address the possible genetic situation sooner than I previously thought.

  A woman slipped quietly into the room. She wore dark jeans and a loose blouse, but her demeanor told me she was human.

  “April, it’s so distasteful to have the help around when company is here,” Cami chided.

  April huffed.

  “Excuse me for caring more about my baby than your social etiquette, Cam. Breastfeeding is good for him.”

  She took the baby from her sister’s arms. The tension between them was palpable. Cami watched with longing as the baby was passed to the human woman, who seated herself on a chair furthest from us all and lifted her shirt to feed him.

  The love in her eyes when she looked down at the baby told me she had been the one to carry him, the fullness in her figure becoming apparent now. Sadness clawed at my chest as I remembered what Scarlett had told me; once she was no longer useful, she would be killed to avoid any confusion in feelings later. I noticed Jade was oddly stiff beside me, and I was sure the empathetic younger Pearce was thinking about the same thing.

  “What did I miss?”

  Scarlett appeared in the doorway, and I noted she’d been home to change, most likely meaning her work day was a messy one. Her cheeks were as colored as I’d ever seen them, probably from a combination of the cold outside and our intense blood sharing the previous day.

  The toddler wriggled away from Cami and started bumbling toward her. The older girl was already there, babbling up at her with big, adoring eyes.

  Taking pity on Cami, Jade struck up a conversation with April, and some of the tension in the room cleared. I only half paid attention, busy watching Scarlett with the children. They clung to her as if she was the last piece of candy in the world.

  She sat on the floor with them, talking and listening carefully. The younger girl, Amy, played with the crimson fingernails on one of Scarlett’s hands, while Mia stood beside her, arms around her neck, telling a very long story with their faces ridiculously close together. I couldn’t help but smile as Scarlett crossed her eyes and added a line.

  She was good at this. She was happy like this. Jade’s words earlier made sense, and I wondered how this person could live inside the same shell, the same soul, as the woman who dominated the punishment center, who treated extreme displays of violence like an art form, and destruction like a divine experience.

  I loved both parts of her, for better or worse, but I couldn’t deny that part of me, a larger part than I was brave enough to admit, wanted her like this. Soft kisses and long days spent together at home, that big genuine smile on her face with little arms around her neck. It sounded like a fantasy, like a fairytale, where the darkness we delved into together in bed might actually be enough to sate her, and beyond that, we could have normal lives.

  Someone tapped me on the knee and I jumped, glancing down to find Mia looking up at me, a determined frown on her face.

  “My aunt says…you falled from heaven and did it hurt?”

  I gave Scarlett a look over the little girl’s head. She winked at me and turned on the godforsaken smolder that melted me every time.

  “Your aunt is very cheesy. Can you tell her that?”

  Her eyes lit up, and we seemed to have struck on a common interest.

  “I likes cheese. Who you?”

  “I like cheese too. I’m Rayne. Who are you?”

  “I’m Mia.”

  She considered me for a moment them stuck out her hand.

  “You play with us, Ray?”

  Jade “aww”-ed beside me.

  I took the sticky little hand and followed her dutifully back to Scarlett, who watched the entire thing, looking me up and down as I walked across the room in a way that made my cheeks flame.

  “Best wingwoman ever!”

  She gave Mia a high five they had to redo twice because the girl kept missing and pulled me down beside her.

  “Dis you wife?” Mia asked, and Scarlett turned to look at me, long and hard, as she answered.

&n
bsp; “No…not yet, but she is mine.”

  I think my heart stopped beating, and I know I stopped breathing because Scarlett’s voice was soft in my head. Breathe, Princess.

  Mia was prattling still, Amy had Scarlett’s fingers in her mouth, gnawing them like a bone, but time was frozen for us, and all I heard, saw, felt was her shy desire, her endless longing for me. It was mutual, and it consumed me completely.

  Cami yelling maturely for us to get a room broke the moment, and my cheeks flamed red as I finally took a breath. Jade was smiling in a way that told me she had heard some or all of the exchange, and it only made me more embarrassed. I studied my shoes and let Mia tug on what she called my pretty hair.

  Despite the woman in the corner who disappeared once the baby was fed and didn’t return, the outing turned pleasant with Scarlett by my side. I discovered it wasn’t just Hawthorne Tower’s opulent décor that made me feel out of place; it was the sheer normalcy, the illusion of regular society, that seemed to live here. We talked and laughed, and played with the kids, and for a while, I could forget I was in Vires, I could forget the love of my life was a sadistic, power-hungry vampire. For a while we were just Scarlett and Rayne, in a world where Scarlett had implied she intended to marry me one day, and maybe we could have a child of our own and live happily ever after. It was too clean, the path was too straightforward, it was too light, and it just didn’t feel like my life.

  “Come for a walk with me?”

  She pressed a kiss beneath my ear, and I swore she sensed my need to take a breath. I nodded and let her haul me up from under a disgruntled Mia as she detached Amy.

  “Go give Auntie Cami a big kiss!”

  The girls scampered off to do it, and we slipped away.

  Scarlett led me through Hawthorne Tower with a familiarity I tried not to dissect the origin of. Thinking of her and Cami together now was so strange, but I knew it was a part of their complicated history, long done.

  We stepped out onto the roof. It was twilight, the sun dying behind heavy gray clouds. The white tint of snow still kissed the tops of the towers around us, the roofs of the buildings in the Midlands and beyond. Despite all my feelings about Vires, the city was beautiful.