by L. L. Ash
I felt, more then heard him grunt in satisfaction at the reaction he was pulling out of me. I myself was surprised, too. I’d never experienced the feel of a man around me, touching me. My arousal was kind of off the charts, even with the situation in consideration. My mind almost forgot that this man essentially kidnapped me. Because this man also saved my life.
My thoughts stopped ranting as I felt a sharp pang in my neck, then pressure and suction there. My first hickey. My first hickey would be from the man who both ruined me and saved me.
It didn’t take long before my brain started to get foggy and my body felt weak. Moments later Calix left my neck, bit into the pad of his thumb before pressing it between my lips. Salty copper met my tongue but instead of vomiting at the fact that I was ingesting another person’s blood, I sucked on the appendage, wanting more. Craving more.
He removed his thumb, no more blood coming from it and used it to wipe across my cheek, meeting my eyes again, this time the intensity was breathtaking.
Not even a second later his lips were on my lips and he was kissing me. Salt brushed across my tongue as he pressed his into my mouth, invading me in more ways than one. His hands gripped my head and he opened the kiss, causing my lips to follow. I didn’t know what it was, but I wanted this. Suddenly I wanted him more than I wanted anything in my life. I was ravenous for him, and my appetite wouldn’t be satisfied until I had all of him.
Calix continued the kiss as his hands moved, stroking down the thin straps of my gown until they brushed against my arms, limp. The top of my gown still clung to me until his fingers met the zipper, zipping it all the way down. I was naked under the gown. Naked and I didn’t even care. As his hands pushed down the dress, my hips began to move, grinding into his lap like a girl who knew what she was doing. Which I absolutely was not.
Calix moved me off his lap, my feet hitting the ground at the same moment my dress did too, leaving me bare as the day I was born in front of this stranger who made me feel so many, many things. He stood as well, his long, lean fingers flying over each button of his dress shirt until it was spread and off his shoulders. A wide expanse of chest greeted my eyes, a dusting of dark hairs raining down the middle, over belly button and into his slacks that were already on their way off. Last was a black pair of boxer briefs that slid silently along his thighs and legs until they rested in the pile that was quickly collecting at our feet.
Calix came forward, his chest brushing against mine again but it was cool skin to warm. Flesh to flesh. Every inch of my skin broke into goosebumps as his palm found my cheek again, his lips on mine as he backed me up blindly. When my knees hit the back of the bed I fell onto the overly-soft bedding, his lips staying planted to mine as I did, which was a bit of a miracle all on its own. But soon I forgot about the bed, forgot about miracles. All I knew was that his kiss was like a drug. I needed more and more of it.
Feeling a little braver, I tentatively touched my tongue to his, returning his kisses with enthusiasm I didn’t know I had.
He touched my arm, folding it around his neck before doing the same with the other, then his hand brushed down my side and he gripped a thigh just near my ass and lifted me, moving us upward toward the headboard. His strength had me catching my breath again. I gasped into his mouth as my legs found residence around his hips, supporting my weight as he moved me.
God, I must be insane to be doing this, feeling this for a man I didn’t know. Insane or not, I did feel it, and I was going to follow through. Even if it killed me.
I had one chance with him, possibly one chance in my life to know a man’s touch, and I wanted to enjoy every moment.
Calix hiked my leg further up on his waist and curled it around his back until he was locked between my legs. My arms still held onto his neck but his hands didn’t stay put. His fingers traveled every square inch of skin on me, the tips brushing across my nipples so gently they peaked painfully, waiting for him to give them attention. My mind screamed for him to touch me. He must have somehow heard me, because moments later his hands moved again from my hips, back to my breasts, one hand cupping the flesh from underneath and his mouth left mine, dipping to pull one tip between his lips.
My eyes shot open then fluttered closed at the feeling. The word euphoria came to mind, and pleasure and forever. I wanted to feel this forever.
As his mouth gave attention to each of my breasts, his hand dragged slowly down my stomach before his fingers brushed between my thighs, meeting the gathered moisture there. He groaned in what I wanted to imagine was pleasure to find me wet and waiting.
“I want to taste you, Antheia Mou,” he whispered against my lips. “I need to taste all of you.”
“Since when do you ask for what you want?” I breathed back and he grinned, biting down on my bottom lip before moving away from my face.
His tongue lashed out against my thigh and I jumped with a shriek before his lips latched onto the newly bare ‘down there’. His mouth moved like… God I don’t know what it moved like. I just knew it felt so, so good. I threw my head back, my arms flying above my head and curling around to frame it as he sucked on that little nub. He made me feel things I didn’t even know were possible to feel and he set my whole body on fire.
“Oh God...” I groaned as he licked the whole thing in one long, smooth motion.
I felt heat starting to turn into almost painful throbs before his tongue was gone and he was moving again.
“Breathe, Lily. Don’t hold your breath,” he told me, his face back up to mine as my legs curled back around him.
I felt something nudging where his mouth had just been but I was too distracted with remembering to pull air into my lungs. Until the nudging thing pushed inside, stopping at my maiden’s barrier.
“Breathe,” he whispered again as he pushed through in one quick movement, holding for a moment as the intense pain subsided.
I gasped a few times, sucking in air and breathing through the pain.
“Only the once, and never again,” he promised before he started moving again, a stinging pain accompanying each motion.
The pain didn’t last long though. Soon I had loosened up or something and all I felt was full and tight and with every thrust and withdrawal the burning in my body got hotter, burned brighter until it all built up to its peak and my entire abdomen clenched around him before throbbing crawled through me in a sluggish, pleasant intoxication. I panted and mewled and made every sound I had always promised I’d never make as I clutched to his arms, finally collapsing back onto the bed as every muscle in my body relaxed.
Calix growled and grunted as his hips jerked erratically for a moment. Then he stilled. His head dipped down to his chest, heaving while our hips stayed pressed together as one.
My eyelids grew heavy and they closed, my head light and my body relaxed. I didn’t move a muscle. Calix did move, but only a little. He pulled out of me, moved a leg over mine before lowering himself to his side, one arm over my body while the other strung its way under my head. We lay there, twisted in each other until we fell asleep.
When my eyes opened up again the room was dark. There were no windows and I didn’t know if it was night or day or even the middle of the night. Calix was gone and I realized that it was over. That was all I would get, even though at the pit of my stomach my body demanded his again.
I got out of bed and found my dress before going to the bathroom to clean up. By the time I was done, I went back out to the bedroom Calix was standing there, arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the wall in deep thought.
“To Korítsi Mou,” he murmured when he saw me, taking a step toward me before pressing his lips to mine one last time.
“Did you come to take me away?” I asked him in the bravest voice I could muster.
“Take you away to where?” He looked puzzled.
“To the servant’s area. That’s what you said I would be. Did you change your mind?”
“Nothing has changed,” he said carefully
. “But you will not be a servant. That is not your calling here.”
“What? What do you mean?”
His ice eyes stared back at me for a moment before he kissed me again.
“Go back to sleep. I’ll discuss it with you later.”
He nudged me toward the huge bed again before turning and going out the door.
“Cal—” I started calling his name but the door closed with a final click before I had the chance to finish it.
Instead of going back to sleep I prowled the bedroom, my feet tracing trails around every inch of walking space as I made circle after circle, waiting for him.
Something that felt like an eternity later, the door opened again. It wasn’t Calix though, it was a young woman carrying a fancy silver tray like we were in the 1700’s or something.
“Hello,” I greeted her, not sure how I was supposed to act.
“Hi!” She grinned at me. “Master sent breakfast for you. Said you were probably hungry.”
I was starving.
“I am. Thank you!”
She set the tray down and looked around the room.
“Geez it’s been a while since I’ve been in here. There are some other girls that come in to clean. I’m just a general servant.”
“What’s it like?” I asked quickly. “I want to know what I’m getting into.”
She gave me a soft smile.
“You know, I’ve only been here a few months but I’m pretty happy. I was one of the first on Master’s search. Not lucky enough to be his mate though. But there are lots of servants to explore the wonders of life with here. We have homes of our own, families. They let us be in relationships or married as long as it doesn’t affect our work. Just don’t fall in love with Master. So many of our sisters are hopelessly in love with him.”
The girl rolled her eyes and stuck her finger tip between her teeth.
“I’m not interested in Master that way. I’ve got a boyfriend,” she said smiling around her finger.
“A boyfriend?” I asked, my eyes widening without my permission.
Her finger flew back out of her mouth with her grin.
“Oh yeah! And boy is he sexy...” She sighed a happy sort of sigh. “Not as handsome as Master, but he’s up there.”
“Well, what happens from here?” I asked her, motioning around the room. “When do I leave here? When can I put something other than this white dress on?”
“You’ll always wear the white dress.” She shrugged. “But I don’t know why you’re here. Afterwards...Master sends the girls away. I’ve never heard of him staying the morning with one. We’ve never brought breakfast to his room. Not a human’s breakfast, anyway.”
I looked over at the tray.
“What’s your name?” I asked her, plopping down on the end of the bed.
“Janey. Jane, really. My friends call me Janey.”
“I’m Lily,” I told her, already making some semblance of a friend on my first morning. “What was it like? Do you mind if I ask that?”
Janey shrugged.
“It was fine. Well, I was scared and confused. I mean, who’s going to believe in vampires unless they see them with their own eyes, right? But he was gentle with me. He took my blood and gave me a drop of his. After he took what he needed, he kissed me on the forehead and he sent me to the servant’s area. I was given a bed and my dresses before they told me what my new role would be.”
“Don’t you want to go home?”
She shrugged.
“I was a foster kid. I didn’t really have a family and I feel like I’m at home here more than I ever did before. A lot of the girls are the same way. I heard some of the others speaking about how he only took girls from bad or absent families so nobody would miss them. Makes sense to me.”
“But I have a family.” I sighed. “My siblings need me. I have to get out of here.”
“You can’t!” She looked surprised at me. “You don’t leave here unless you’re with your master, and Master doesn’t let us humans go out.”
“So he just...owns you all?”
“All of us.” She nodded and sifted her skirt between her fingers. “I’ll see if I can find you something else to dress in when I leave. Master told me to have you fed and ready by eleven.”
“Eleven? Is it that late? I must have slept right through breakfast...”
“Oh, no. It’s eleven PM. We keep night hours here and sleep through the day.”
“I didn’t realize...” I nodded, pushing my spaghetti strap back up for the umteenth time.
Calix had torn it just a little the night—day?—before.
“But don’t make Master wait. I’ll be back soon. Remember, obedient slaves are well treated here. Disobedient ones become food.”
Noted.
“Thank you, Janey. I hope we get to see each other often. And I’d like to meet your boyfriend sometime.”
Janey nodded and went to the door.
“Me too, Lily. See you in a little while.”
She slipped back out of the door and I was alone again. Would this place always be so lonely?
I sat at the little table in the corner where Janey had set down the tray and took a couple bites of the simple cold meat and bread, then I ate some more, and some more. I didn’t stop until I’d eaten everything, cold boiled vegetables, too.
As I was licking every morsel from my fingers, the door opened again and a figure glided into the center of the room. They circled around and only stopped when they spotted me. I almost didn’t recognize her.
“Lily! Darling! You’re positively glowing my dear.” Nyx grinned at me and approached, taking my hands.
“That lunch was awesome” I giggled uncomfortably.
“Right, lunch.” She gave me a sarcastic look before grasping my hand and helping me up. “Janey is bringing your dress in a minute, so you need to get cleaned up before you dress and meet everyone.”
I nodded and headed to the bathroom, grateful to finally be doing something. There had been far too many moments of nothing to think about my fate.
Nyx drew me a bath and held my hair up as I dunked into the rose-scented water, then Janey arrived and the two of them started with my hair and worked down. My wavy dark locks were styled into intricate braids and layers, wrapped and twisted up on my head. Nyx wove delicate gold chain through it and topped my head with a golden wreath tiara.
“Are you sure this is what I’m supposed to wear?” I asked for the thousandth time.
The gold in my hair and the fancy, white gauzy gown laid out on the bed looked a little high class to be wasted on a servant.
“This is exactly what you should wear sweetums! I promise you. Cali will be so pleased!”
Next, sitting in just white panties, Nyx swept makeup onto my eyes, dark and seductive and gritty as I held my hands over my breasts, feeling ridiculously uncomfortable.
Finally, finally I was dressed, though the thin gauzy thing didn’t leave much to the imagination either, but at least it covered the important bits.
“Now, follow me, Lily. Prepare yourself. You may not get the warmest reception, but Cali will protect you, and so will I. You’ve got nothing to worry about. Ok? Just let words glide off you like wind over a dove’s wing.”
I nodded hesitantly. What an ominous thing to say.
Nyx took my hand, folding it around her elbow and led me out of Calix’s room and down a long stone hallway.
“I’m so excited for you, honey! This is a once in a millennium opportunity and you just happen to be so lucky.”
“What do you mean?”
I’d thought slaves were commonplace.
“All will be revealed in time.” She smiled at me, her own makeup perfect and meticulous.
My bare feet brushed across the floors, the dress over me softly whispering around my silky smooth legs. Gauzy fabric covered my shoulders and trailed behind me as I walked.
I almost felt like a bride.
Voices drifted down the hall before I
actually saw faces. And one of those voices was Calix’s. I knew that voice. Somehow it was imprinted into my brain and there was no mistaking it.
“Deep breath,” Nyx whispered into my ear with a wink before we entered into what looked like a private sitting room.
Calix lounged back in a luxurious chair, his lean muscles covered in a black suit again and a white shirt peeking through his open jacket. Shiny dress shoes reflected the dim light in the room and I stuck my sight there, an easy, neutral subject.
“Is this her?” a thickly accented voice asked.
Some invisible string pulled at my heart and I lifted my eyes, finding Calix looking at me, his lips tweaking into a slight but pleased smile as our eyes met.
“This is her,” Calix said, not letting up on the eye contact.
I tried to look away but I couldn’t.
“You are fortunate son. You found a beautiful one. Your poor brother...”
Calix grinned and looked away toward the owner of the other voice.
“Bion is an unlucky bastard, that is for sure. Though I can’t say I feel sorry for him. He deserves her.”
The man chuckled again and I swallowed, looking up at the visitor. He was young, in his thirties, maybe a year or two older than Calix himself. They shared dark hair and the ice eyes, his skin was just as glowing as Calix’s and his sisters.
“My darling daughter, come to me,” the man said, a warm smile on his face.
Nyx squeezed my arm reassuringly before she went to her father, her black dress trailing behind her.
“Bampás, I missed you. It has been too long.”
The man smiled and patted his knee. Nyx perched delicately there, her father putting his arm around her and squeezing like she were a child.
“I miss you all as children,” he smiled at her then Calix. “You have all grown severe in your old age.”
“Bampás, if we are old, what does that make you?”
He smiled.
“Old and weary, my daughter. 'Tis why your brothers are searching for their mates.”
“And you leave us ladies with the hardest decision.” Nyx rolled her eyes. “Mamá trained us for this. Though I do not relish the idea of you away on permanent vacation.”
