As he continued to hold me in his strong arms, I rested my head against his strong shoulders and snuggled into his neck. I also realized the enormous power of Raphael’s blood. It had spurred my actions. I had never thrown myself at a man like that. With Raphael, I hadn’t considered not assuming control. He captivated me. He ignited my primal sexuality. I didn’t regret it for one second. I’d savor the memories of our first lovemaking as much as the taste of his blood. I also realized the raw complication of Raphael being a vampire in a land of demons. He was a good soul struggling daily with his inner duality, fighting against the darkness that waited to take him if he allowed it. He was at the front lines, keeping the darkness from consuming his honor and humanity. And my mere presence had brought him to life. I shuddered at the notion as I remained in his arms. I’d relive those words of his for eternities. “The minute I laid eyes on you, my heart came to life. It beats now and it beats for you alone.”
I looked into his eyes, unashamed of my nudity and sudden boldness. I met his gaze. His blood had shown me his sadness, his longing, his search for something he thought he could never have. Love. He was no different from me. He wanted the same things I did. In that instance, as our bodies clung to one another, I understood that I could unlock this man’s heart and claim it for my own. The knowledge took my breath away.
Another surge of passion hit me. This one was more intense than before. I couldn’t get enough. I lifted myself up slightly in his arms, moving my hips against his member, hoping to arouse him, hoping to tempt him again beyond all rational thought.
“Again,” I purred. “Raphael, again, please.”
He gazed at me with an expression of dangerous desire and I felt like he was already making love to me with his eyes or he was about to break me in half. I became concerned.
“You tempt me to the brink of insanity. I’ll never be able to say no to you.” His dark expression changed in a blink of an eye and was replaced with one of undying, yet newfound adoration for me. There was a pale blue lighting of amusement behind his eyes. The magnitude of understanding how deadly and yet how gentle he was sent shivers down my spine. He was truly an enigma.
A vampire’s desire knows no bounds.
Out of nowhere, the Wolf’s words shot into my mind.
Do you know what rules you are breaking?
For the second time, I refused to acknowledge the Wolf’s threat. Instead I decided I could make my own future. You, nor my father owns me, I mentally replied.
I took Raphael’s ear lobe in my mouth and gently caressed it with my tongue. The walls of my sex summoned his manhood as I tightened around him, feeling his hot rigid response.
I lowered my body over him as his rod impaled me completely. Quickly I breathed in a soothing gasp of ecstasy. This was glorious. His muscular body merged with my delicate one perfectly. I raised myself to him, while he held me in his arms, locking my legs around his rock-hard hips, letting my body decide the rhythm of our lovemaking as I rode him.
“Yes,” he groaned, his cock pulsating in me. My thrusts were hard, savage against his upper thighs. “This time is for you,” I whispered with a sweet innocence that was quickly leaving me. Under the red moon, I basked in the newly awakened sense of life I felt, the confidence, the assurance that I was indeed on the right path being here in this horrible place in this vampire’s quite exquisite embrace. The delightful smell of his masculinity hit my nostrils again. Nutmeg. Honey. Salt. I still couldn’t define it, but I knew that smell. I knew I’d never forget it, I mused. I breathed the scent of him in fully, hoping to steal some away, hoping I’d have some clinging to my hair, my face, my body so I could remember this moment forever. As if I’d be able to ever forget…
Raphael leaned closer to me and buried his head in my breasts. His hot breath seared my flesh. He swept his moist tongue over my chest. A wave of bliss spread through me. Then he covered my mouth hungrily. His kiss sent the pit of my stomach into a wild swirl.
My nipples delicately grazed against his smooth chest. As I gripped his broad shoulders, I continued my rhythm, lifting myself up and then down on him. Up and down. It was an intoxicating dance of desire and passion. I spread my legs wider in his grasp. I didn't want it to end. The substantial length of his cock gave me every luxury to take in every inch of him. He kissed the pulsing hollow at the base of my throat and let out a guttural growl that almost frightened me.
Then a silence surface in my veins, a dull humming noise that blocked out Raphael’s moans of desire, a voice I had never heard before.
Offer. Offer yourself to this vampire, little wolf.
“Raphael, something is wrong,” I said, not being able to hear my voice.
I saw Raphael’s lips moving as he sat me down on the ground and situated his clothes. He reached for me, but I tripped over his coat and fell forward up against the rock. I blacked out.
The voice returned. A sea of red piercing lights invaded my eyes. I had lost sight of Raphael or where I was. I saw nothing, but red and heard nothing but a sinister voice.
Small wolf. Small disgusting, dirty little whore of a wolf. You will worship this vampire. You will give him your blood or I will destroy you. Do as I say. Do you hear me? Do as I say.
“Raphael, Raphael!” I screamed. I cried out Raphael’s name over and over, praying I could break the hold this creature had on me. Was this his blood talking to me? Raphael!
***
When I came to, Raphael had wrapped me up in his coat. The red moon’s light shown on his face and I was so happy to see him. I buried my body in his embrace. “Thanks be to the Moon Goddess, it’s you.”
“What happened?” he snapped.
His intense anger scared me and I flinched. “I don’t know,” I mumbled and moved away from me as I realized my head was hurting.
He sighed loudly. “I apologize. Tell me what happened,” he said more calmly. He situated me up against the rock like I was a china doll, fussing over his coat I wore as he struggled to cover me completely in it.
“Someone started talking to me, telling me to offer myself to you. It called me a dirty little whore of a wolf.” I held my head in my hands. I couldn’t stop the rising pain.
“What’s wrong?” Raphael asked.
“My head. Did I hit something?”
“The rock when you fell. Let me look.” He crouched near me and examined my forehead. “You’re bleeding.” He paused for a moment, and then added, “That’s a bad gash.”
“I think I’m going to pass out now.” My vision became to swim and images of Raphael before me multiplied.
“Wait, hold on. Don’t do that.” He flashed his fangs suddenly at me and sank his teeth into the palm of his hand.
My eyes widened and it was probably the only thing keeping me alert, seeing the severity of the bite. Blood shot forth and spilled over his hand.
“Hold still and breathe please.”
I let Raphael put his bloody hand to my temple. My eyesight danced before me and played tricks on me. I saw two rocks, then four, three red moons, then a few more. Passing out would be a good idea, I thought to myself. Passing smooth out.
“Caroline, you’re going to feel this rush, this insanely rapid rush. Hold onto me. Here, grab my arm.”
The minute Raphael said ‘arm,’ I felt my body zoom to the top of the moon and then fly back down again. My head didn’t hurt anymore and a feeling of euphoria took me over, divine, lovely bliss.
“Wow.” I paused as another wave of energy hit me. “Wow!”
“Keep breathing. Caroline, listen to me. Channel that energy. Channel it into defending yourself. The hellhounds aren’t far now. Remember. I’m on your side. Rein those hormones in now, my sweet. We must move!”
He picked me up and dusted me off.
I watched as he buttoned his overcoat around me. Another feeling was surfacing. I twitched my nose disapprovingly. “Phooey.” Playfully I smiled up at him as he wrapped his overcoat around me. “I’m not a mare, Raphael. I�
�m a tiger and I wanna roar. Roar.”
“We’ll play circus later, Tiger lady.” Raphael scratched his head as he stared at me.
I whispered the word again. “Roar.” I held up my hands like I was showing off a set of claws.
“Oh damn it,” I heard Raphael say.
“What’s going on?” I screamed. My eyes widened when I witnessed that I did have claws, long ivory Wolfen claws, claws that I was showing off to the red moon above.
“You drank too much I suspect. I told you just a few drops. Or maybe my healing that bump on your head.” His voice was laced with a tone of alarm as he wrung his fingers a time or two through his hair. “This is not good.”
A second overwhelming jolt of electricity slammed into me again, more intense than before. I screamed again. I ripped Raphael’s coat from my body and this time fell into a heap at Raphael’s feet. My back arched into a high forward bend. My muscles flexed and expanded. I felt the soreness from my shifting into a wolf earlier tear past any point I thought possible. My arms, legs, calves, all my extremities increased to a well-proportioned size.
“I’m not a werewolf,” I yelled. “The Wolf comes to me. He says when and where. But I’m not a werewolf!”
Oh yes, we are, Caroline. Breathe. Just breathe. And prepare for battle.
A rush of energy and overwhelming emotions collided and I howled at the top of my lungs. I couldn’t stop it. I huffed over and over, trying to catch my breath.
You will give yourself to the vampire.
“Raphael, the voices. Make them stop,” I yelled, and then I felt my jaw break and a massive amount of sharp teeth fill my mouth. I reached for him, seeing the length of my hands elongated and bony. My claws were five inches long if they were an inch.
Wolf, what have you done?
Caroline, what have YOU done?
Welcome to the Fanged army, little wolf. I’ll be with you forever.
Finally Raphael’s voice came to me. “I’m here. I’m here. It’s okay,” he announced. He was immediately by my side.
My heart flip-flopped and I clung to him. The Wolf’s words sent me into a panic. The unfamiliar voice frightened me to pieces. Hearing Raphael’s explanation only furthered my mania, but having him near me helped to calm me some.
“The magical elements in my blood, from my mother. That may be what you are experiencing. Or did my blood talk to you? Could you hear my dark side? What do you mean you’re not a werewolf, Caroline?” Raphael asked.
I shook my head. I didn’t speak for fear of lashing my tongue or worst. I didn’t want to try. Raphael saw my hesitation. I groveled at his feet, undeniably nude except for a thin layer of blonde fur now covering my body. I felt like I was wearing a transparent suit of fabric, a mouth of teeth and gloves with razors attached to the end of every finger. My hair whipped around my body. It appeared it had grown several feet in length during this transformation. I debated using it to cover my body, but feared I’d only cut myself in the process.
This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening. This can’t…
“Riesci a capirmi?”
My eyes locked with Raphael’s. I heard his words without seeing his lips move.
“Sì, posso capire.” I responded telepathically, telling him I could understand his question in Fanged before I realized he had spoken another language. Yes, I can understand you.
“Dimmi di nuovo nella tua lingua. Sei un lupo mannaro o no?”
Hearing his words, ‘Tell me again in your language. Are you a werewolf or not?’ exasperated any reason I had left. I extended my mouth and breathed outwardly. Gritting my teeth, as I wanted to do, would surely slice apart my tongue. Mentally I threw a response to him. “I’m called a Werewolf Princess because my father is a werewolf. Zeus cursed him. However, the curse wasn’t passed down to me. I don’t shift unless the Wolf comes to me and then it’s just into a wolf. No, I’m not a werewolf. Or I wasn’t. I didn’t think I was until now. I’ve never howled at the moon before. I just howled at that moon.” I pointed an unbelievably long claw at the sky. “That red moon right there.”
“This is my fault. I should have consulted Orlando first,” he exclaimed. He left my side and stomped around the ground, clearly upset with himself as he voiced his concerns. “I didn’t realize that. I didn’t know that. By the moon and stars, what have I done?”
The movement of his black boots vibrating the dirt fascinated me. As I listened, I watched each foot slam into the earth, sending a cloud of dust upwards, I immediately realized the ground was baked and without any nourishment. A wasteland indeed. I also became aware that I could see Raphael’s movements. Before they were blurred. Now they weren’t. Another realization made me want to howl at the red moon again because if I had access to this form when I found the demon that killed my brother and aunt, I wouldn’t need to call the Wolf. I could kill him myself.
“My blood unlocked your destiny, I’m afraid. The elements of your Lunar ancestors. You have werewolf in you. Somewhere,” Raphael stated matter-of-factly. “This wolf you keep referring to. Does he have a name?”
I shook my head and sent a response telepathically since I didn’t trust myself to speak out loud, and since I didn’t understand what he meant. “I’m sorry. What?”
“What is the Wolf’s name?”
I shook my head again. “He won’t tell me his name.” When I got a whiff of the first hellhound, I growled. Raphael heard me and dropped his fangs in response.
I saw three or four hellhounds come into view and I knew we were probably surrounded. Because Raphael had pushed his back to mine to protect me, I couldn’t see how many there were. A circle of two headed black dogs with red eyes and fangs was enough for me to see. Eight. Maybe more.
Fight.
The Wolf’s voice ordered me. Demanding me to engage in a fight I knew I’d lose. If I was in mid-werewolf-transformation, my shift was not complete and I couldn’t begin to fight off these fiends. They growled and hissed, slowly closing the circle around us.
Fight.
Feed, little wolf. Feed.
The unfamiliar voice surfaced again. That had to be Raphael’s blood speaking to me. His dark side. It wanted me to kill and take the nourishment I needed.
You can do anything you put your mind to.
Raphael’s deep voice flowed into my mind and drowned out the Wolf’s and the Blood’s commands. Raphael spoke to me in Fanged and I immediately understood his words. If the hellhounds were dead, they couldn’t report back to the demon. It would give us more time.
When I heard him unsheathed his swords, I jumped into action.
I ran as fast as I could and dove at two of the dogs. I slid underneath the first animal and sliced his stomach open with my claws, from top to bottom. His guts spilled out all over the baked earth and steam rose to the sky. The second one I impaled with my claws as he looked on in horror. Seeing a naked wolf-woman racing around the night likely was not a normal sight for him, I assumed.
By the time I had a chance to look up, Raphael had killed three hounds and was going for two more. “Count your kills! They travel in packs of nine,” he called out telepathically.
I flew into action, making a circle around Raphael and the remaining dogs. My two. His three. Two more for him. Seven total. That leaves two. Two more. I had two more to kill. After about four or five strides, my body completed its transformation and I felt the heaviness of being changed into werewolf form. My female form vanished and I realized I was a large mass of fur, claws, teeth, and muscles. Each movement I made as I stalked the remaining two hounds, now wide-eyed and frozen in their place, sent waves of electricity down my spine. The feeling of power and strength was orgasmic. I’d never felt anything like it. I gnashed my jaws a few times, getting Raphael’s attention.
His sword slammed down into the skull of the second hound as he glanced my way. His smile deepened into laughter. “You want the last two, mia bella lupo?”
I responded by shaking my fully furred
body as I ran. The sensation again sent a surge of energy through every limb. My vision went red and I bounded over to the remaining hellhounds. I could already tell being a werewolf was going to be extremely enjoyable. “Hi guys, how are we doing tonight?” I asked mentally as I sliced open their throats with my claws.
***
As I finished tidying up and hiding any evidence, I realized hellhounds tasted a lot like chicken and their blood reminded me of huckleberry wine. I didn’t want to tell Raphael that because he’d probably think I was crazy. I searched around the large rock where we had been, expecting to see him. Suddenly I realized he had disappeared. A twinge of panic hit me. Where was he? Had I?
Out of nowhere, a black leopard nudged me hard in my shoulder. I heard a low, rich purr. “Caroline, I’m right here.”
“You’re kidding me,” I replied telepathically, realizing the leopard was Raphael.
The cat raced away, starting to cover ground.
I remained frozen. Vampires couldn’t shift. But this vampire had already shifted into a cloud of smoke and now a black leopard. What could he not do? I wondered.
Raphael returned quickly. I heard the low purring sound again as he leaned his forehead into mine and spoke telepathically. “We have to move now. Jump in the first river you get to.”
“You can shift too, Ralph?” I mentally asked him.
He blinked his dark eyelids over gleaming blue eyes. His blue eyes instantly went icy cold and he glared at me. He shook his panther head, showing me a row of razor sharp feline teeth. “Don’t call me Ralph. My father calls me Ralph and I hate it.”
“Understood. I’m sorry.”
Another smell of rotting corpses and burnt onions distracted us. We both raised our heads in unison and growled at the dark sky.
“Come on.”
I flew into action, running alongside Raphael at breakneck speed on my all fours.
***
Once I saw the river come into view, I thought about stopping because I wasn’t sure where Raphael was. When I heard a growl at my left side, I hastened my pace and dove into the water. I thought for a moment that the water may be too shallow and I’d break my neck or that the width of the river wouldn’t be wide enough for me in my werewolf form to maneuver through safely.
Redemption: My Vampire Lover Part #2 (A Dark Realm Novella Series) Page 5
