by Cecilia Tan
He lunged, moving faster than she would have believed and grabbed her arm. “Stick around. I haven’t seen you since you were a kid. We can catch up on old times. So you can be out before full dark, huh? Dad must be human.”
“Let go of me and leave my family out of this,” she hissed at him. She was still in hunt mode and his scent was going straight to her pussy. Another few minutes and she’d be all over him and that was a really bad idea. Gotta get a grip. “You must have me confused with someone else. I just like to dress up like this. My boyfriend’s gonna be really pissed if he comes by and sees you holding my arm.”
A wry smile twisted his lips. “Somehow, I don’t think so.”
Who the hell did he think was? Honestly. “Oh yeah? What’re your dating prospects like, oh ancestor of the original Van Helsing? Bet girls just line up to throw themselves at your feet when you tell them you’re a vampire hunter! Or is it boys?” She arched her own eyebrow at him and stomped down hard on his foot. He yelped and she jerked her arm free and took off, running back down the tunnel the way she had come.
He recovered fast. “Stop thief!” A Metro Transit cop popped out of the crowd just in time for her to run smack into him. Two huge hands clamped down on her arms and hung on long enough for him to catch up.
Of course, he was waving a badge when he got there. “Thanks, man. This undercover crap really sucks. The Department owes you one.”
“Pickpocket?”
“Yeah. And occasional soliciting.” He whipped out a pair of cuffs and had them on Mariel in seconds, his hands moving so fast they blurred. “C’mn little lady. Off to the precinct we go. Thanks again, buddy.” He had her towed down to the platform before she recovered her breath.
“Soliciting?! You fucker! You wish!”
“Maybe. But the badge is always right. Didn’t your mother teach you anything?”
She swore at him until she ran out of breath and the train drowned her out. Despite a couple of deft twists of her wrists, the handcuffs weren’t breaking like she expected. This was definitely not good. By the time he could hear her, they were sitting in a corner seat and she had a whole new set of worries. “So what are you going to do with me? I won’t just dissolve into a pile of dust if you stake me, you know. You’ll have to dispose of my body.” Her lip trembled with the words as it sank in that he might just do that.
“A few minutes ago you were suggesting that this was the only way I could get a date. Now I’ll be a murderer if I stake you. Maybe I think you’ll make a hot corpse; ever think of that?” He bared his teeth at her in what passed for a smile. “Don’t bother twisting the cuffs around; they’re an unbreakable alloy. I learned that from your Mom.”
“Like you ever got close enough to Mom to put cuffs on her!”
“Do you really want to know?”
“I do know! Now tell me what you’re going to do to me and leave my parents out of it. I’m not always going on about yours.”
He leaned over and caught her chin in steely fingers. He was too close to look away and she met his dark blue eyes. The resulting shock almost launched her out of the seat, sending a wave of pure lust through her like a bolt. Then he kissed her, catching her by surprise so her lips opened under his. She nearly bit his tongue when it wrapped itself around hers, just barely controlling herself.
The hunt was singing in her veins again, sending its surge of heat down her thighs and up her belly until she trembled with it. His kiss got more insistent, his arm slipping around her waist to pull her closer until his heartbeat was louder than the subway, than the crowds around them.
This was crazy. She made herself pull away, exerting every ounce of self-control. “What was that for? How the hell did we get a seat, anyway?”
“You think anyone in this town wants to get in the way of a badge and a cuffed suspect?” Sure enough, glances were going everywhere but at them. Still, she could see that the kiss had raised some eyebrows. He grinned at her and glared at a few of the other riders who met his eyes. “Come on, we’re here!” She tried to hang on to the pole as he pulled her off the train but he pinched a nerve in her arm and she let go with a gasp.
“Where the hell are you taking me?”
“My vampire hunter lair where I can hide bodies and sweep vast amounts of dust under the carpet, of course. You have to ask?”
“Oh fuck you! What’s your name anyway? Besides Van Helsing?”
“You don’t even know my name?” He stopped in his tracks, not meeting her eyes. For the first time, he looked hurt. “Your mom didn’t really talk about me much, huh?”
“Hello, I was like fifteen the last time you showed up. What vampire mommy is going to ruin her confused adolescent’s sleep with stories about vampire hunters? Besides, it wasn’t like you were that good at it.”
His lips tightened and he started walking again, towing her along behind him. “Christopher, if you must know. Now I think that’s enough chit chat.” He pulled her up the stairs behind him and she stumbled a little as they reached the top. She couldn’t get another word out of him until they got outside and then it was just, “This way.”
She managed to swing her leg around a bus stop pole as they passed it and hung on, forcing him to stop and turn around. “Okay, Chris. It’s pretty obvious you don’t want to kill me so what is this all about? Revenge on Mom for being the one who got away?” The streetlights were on now and she could see the last of the daylight disappearing behind him. Soon, she only be able to see a little better than him. She needed to make her move quickly.
He was still pissed, she could see that in his eyes. Obviously he didn’t think he was a guy you could forget. She shifted her weight to brace against the pole for what she needed to do next. “You’re going to be in custody for awhile. We’ve got a scientist who thinks she can cure half bloods.” He still wasn’t looking at her so she yanked back on her hands at full strength and speed so the chain on the cuffs hit the pole with a crunch that dented the metal as the links gave out. Then she spun around and took off, the broken cuffs dangling from her wrists.
This time there was no transit cop to stop her and she was running at hunting speed, leaving him behind in seconds. Questions whirled through her head: was home safe? Who was this ‘we’ he’d mentioned? What would his blood taste like? It was the last one that made her slow down and turn around. If she could follow him, she might be able to find out what was going on, maybe see where this prison of his was.
Maybe feel him inside her while she fed, sex and blood linking them until they came in a union no mortal girl could match. No, no way. Just kill this one she thought firmly. Anything more would be nothing but trouble. Still, she ran a speculative tongue carefully over her fangs and smiled, a pleasant ache spreading through her with the thought. That kiss had been... something else.
She loped back the way she had come, hugging the side of the buildings and mingling with pedestrians whenever she could. A couple of guys moving supplies into a restaurant basement provided great cover when she spotted him. He was walking away from the bent pole and even from a block away, she could tell he was still swearing. She gave his back a feline grin and trailed after him, careful to stay nearly a block behind.
It was night now but she could still smell him on the breeze. The ache inside her got sharper and a passing guy made a rude comment about her nipples poking through her T-shirt. She forgot herself enough to snarl a little, just the tiniest suggestion of fang. He got very interested in something else and made himself scarce. She watched him disappear for a moment. A snack would be nice. But there were more important things to worry about. Chris Van Helsing turned a corner about a block ahead.
She jogged swiftly after him, catching up just in time to see him disappear down an alleyway and into an old building with a boarded up storefront. The vampire hunting biz must not pay too well. She smirked at the thought and found a convenient nearby doorway to loiter in. After a few moments, her cellphone vibrated at her hip and she swore softly. She checke
d the number: not one she recognized.
With a cautious shrug, she answered. “Hello?”
“Hello Mariel.” Chris’ voice sounded breathy against her ear, almost like he was right there next to her.
“You’ve got the wrong number!” She disconnected fast and turned the phone off. How the hell had he done that? She poked her nose cautiously out and gave the building he’d gone into a wary stare. He couldn’t see her out here, could he? Just to be on the safe side, she slunk out of her doorway and down the block. She knew where he lived after all. She could always come back. Tomorrow night, for instance.
She made herself run home and sit through dinner with Mom and Dad like everything was perfectly normal. Once she went to bed, however, the memory of Chris’ kiss haunted her until her hands slipped between her legs. She yanked off her underwear impatiently, driving her fingers inside her aching pussy and rubbing her clit until she had to muffle her moans in the pillow.
She imagined what would have happened if she mounted him on the train, her teeth finding one of the juicy veins in his neck while he thrust himself inside her. She could almost feel the rush hour crowds watching them, a current of lust and desire spreading through them until she and Chris were the central points in a subway sex party. She hardly noticed as she pictured the sweet taste of his blood in her mouth, the fierce thrusts of his dick. His eyes would be half-closed but he’d look into her eyes and she’d know he was hers when she came up for air. She would claim him, maybe even turn him. Her fingers stroked hard on her clit and she came, back arched and legs shaking, biting down on her pillow until a few feathers fluttered in the air.
College the next day was endless and no amount of coffee could keep her awake through biology. The humiliation of being called on when the prof noticed her sleeping helped though, giving her enough of an adrenaline boost to make it into the afternoon. That and a snack from one of her more annoying classmates. She smiled, carefully licking her fangs clean. Bethany wouldn’t remember a thing but she probably wouldn’t rat Mariel out to any more professors. There was a lot to be said for a sense of foreboding.
Speaking of which, it was time to go Van Helsing hunting. After last night, she’d prepared a little better. There were wire cutters and a couple of surprises hidden in her long black skirt and leggings. She headed toward Chris’ hideout, one eye on the sun in the west. If she timed it right, she’d get there a bit before sunset. Then we’ll see who’s hunting who. Whom. She wrinkled her nose.
Her cell phone vibrated and she pulled it cautiously out of her pocket. It was the same number that she’d seen last night. Chris. She swallowed hard, basking for a moment in the gradual spread of heat down her thighs. Then she answered it. “Hello Chris. What can I do for you?” She purred the words, letting all the desire she was feeling out in her voice.
There was a short pause and she could almost hear his pulse quicken. “Hello Mariel. I gather I can expect you over here pretty soon.”
Looking forward to that, are ye laddie? Mariel grinned for an instant, then remembered that he had mentioned a ‘we.’ “That depends on what’s waiting for me, vampire hunter. Do you have your own band of Slayerettes at your beck and call?”
“And to think yesterday I couldn’t even get a date. Today I’ve got groupies. I must’ve made quite the impression.” She could almost feel his grin.
“Answer the question, wannabe.”
“And what makes you think I haven’t managed to slay a few vamps yet, hmm? Actually I’m all by myself, lying around in front of the open window with my shirt unbuttoned and my throat exposed. That what you want to know before you come flitting through the window on little bat wings?”
Mariel hissed and clicked off the phone. He probably knew full well she couldn’t transform herself into animal shapes. Her eyes narrowed in annoyance. Sure, there were some other things she could try but going all foggy and misty so she could slip under the door meant she’d show up naked and weaponless. Of course, she could just walk away, go searching for easier prey. Then she remembered his lips against hers, the beat of his heart under her hands. The longing to taste his blood and feel him inside her was too much. She had to try or she’d always wonder, but at least she’d try and be careful.
Instead of going to the door on the alleyway, this time she headed around to the back of the building. She moved quickly now, just fast enough that most ordinary humans wouldn’t even see her. Not invisibility but close enough. She scowled at the back of the building: no obvious security, just a big creaky wooden fence that ran the length of the place, sealing it off from the building next door. She crouched and sprang, momentum carrying her over to land with a roll on the other side. Then she flattened herself against the building wall to look around. A couple of pigeons scattered but nothing else seemed to have spotted her. Maybe he didn’t have groupies after all.
Just as she suspected, the fire escape was a pretty easy jump, at least this time of the day. The sun sank below the horizon in a riot of color behind her as she scaled the rickety metal framework more quietly than any human could. At each floor, she paused to sniff the air around her, the hunt coursing through her veins until she could smell Chris’ scent on every floor that he had ever passed through.
He was on the top floor. She knew it as soon as she landed and she paused to savor everything the air could tell her about him: lust, fear and something else, something she was less sure of. She bared her fangs, barely restraining herself from misting under the cracked window into the seemingly empty room beyond. It felt safe but... trusting her instincts, she reached out, her hands grown clawlike and clutching at the uneven bricks. Kicking her shoes off, she scuttled quietly over the wall, darting above one window, then under the next.
At each, she paused to inhale, tasting the air for any sign of Chris. When she found the room at last, the window was open and it was as though he was on the bricks beside her, his hands running themselves over her body, his blood in her mouth. She closed her eyes, trying to force her head clear.
“Hello. I was hoping you’d turn up.” Mariel flinched at the sound of his voice, nearly losing her hold on the bricks. He caught the back of her shirt and pulled her inside before she could fall. She landed on a wooden floor, standing just in front of him and reached out without thinking. Her hands were still claws and he jerked away, catching her wrists in each of his hands.
“Sorry. I take it I’m more appealing when I look human.” She lifted the edge of one lip to display a fang but let her hands relax until her fingers looked normal.
“I don’t have a thing for blood-sucking monsters.” Chris was still holding her wrists but she could feel his body close to hers now and she just smiled.
“Don’t you? Maybe you just haven’t met the right one yet.” She twisted out of his grip and stood back to look over the room. It was nearly empty, just a bed and a few pieces of furniture and a bookcase. And a crossbow, some stakes and a cross that lay tumbled out of a gymbag on the floor. She walked over and picked up the cross before she met his eyes. “Wouldn’t have done you any good anyway. You were right about Dad.” She smiled at him, letting her fangs show, and tossed it back in the bag.
Chris looked stricken and the little veins at the base of his neck pulsed invitingly. Mariel began to pace toward him, nostrils flaring. He wanted her too, she could feel it and she reached up to unbutton her blouse, drunk on his scent. He opened his mouth to say something more but she was already there. She kissed him with everything she had, pressing her body up against him until she could feel him harden.
After a moment of hesitation, his arms slid around her and his lips parted before her tongue. She reached down and ran one nail down the front of his shirt. The fabric parted like butter and he gasped as she pulled her lips from his and kissed the light hair on his chest. She pushed him gently backward, herding him until he fell onto the bed. Then she straddled him, reveling in the feeling of his hands as they caressed the skin under her shirt. She finished unbuttoning it an
d tossed it away as he sat up to suck one of her nipples through the lace cup of her bra.
Then she reached into her pocket and pulled out one of the surprises that she’d brought with her. With a blur of speed, she caught Chris’ hands and yanked his arms over his head, clamping them to the head of the bed. He glared up at her. “What the hell are you doing? I thought you....”
“Wanted you? Oh honey, but I do. I just don’t trust you. You know too much about me and I’m not really interested in becoming another notch in your crossbow. Besides this’ll be fun. You’ll see.” She ran a finger over his bulging crotch and he groaned, hips heaving a little when she pulled away.
She was tugging her long black skirt down when he choked out something that made her stop in surprise. “Then I want a safe word.”
“Do I look like a dominatrix to you?”
“From here, hell yes!”
A quick glance at him cuffed to the bed, then back to her own minimally clad self stripping down to have her way with him and she had to agree. “All right. Pick one, other than ‘No’.”
He paused for a moment and she had to force herself not to jump on the bed. His body was as beautiful as she had hoped and the blood in his veins sang a siren song that lapped at her thighs, caressed her clit. Her vision went red as he finally responded, “Harker.”
Even through the bloodlust she laughed. Of course, he’d pick a character from Stoker’s fictionalized account of his great grandsire’s adventures. “Mina or Jonathon?” She was on the bed now, her thighs straddling his. She ran her fingers up his bare chest, smiling at the way his heart raced, the sharp intake of his breath. She reached out with her other hand and began sliding the zipper of his jeans downward.
His hardened flesh rose under her hand as he gasped, “Does it matter?”
She leaned down to lick the fine line of hair that ran from his chest downward, pausing only when she reached the top of his open jeans. Then she lapped slowly back up the way she had come until she could meet his eyes. “Jonathon’s too boring.” She kissed him until his lips parted, twining their tongues together between her fangs. Her nipples caressed the bare skin of his chest until she moaned, just a little. She reached between her legs, then ran her moist fingers over his torso, marking him with her scent.
