by Folsom, Tina
“Sunrise is in two minutes. The charges were set earlier in the night, and we made sure that the security cameras in the area were obstructed at the time. Nobody will assume foul play. They’ll blame it on PG&E as usual,” Thomas summarized as he typed something on the keyboard he was sitting at.
“All our staff have cleared out of the area?” Samson asked.
“Everybody’s far enough away.”
Samson added, “Any innocent bystanders?”
Thomas shook his head. “We made sure nobody is in the vicinity. We received the “all clear” a few minutes ago.”
Ursula’s eyes were glued to the monitor, when the live feed went black. “What’s happening?”
The monitor flickered, then a video feed from a different angle showed up on the screen. “We’ve switched from the camera at the gas station across the warehouse to our own camera which we’ve installed on a telephone pole. It has its own power source. All power on this block will go out once we give the go-ahead. That way we can assure that there will be no footage on the security cameras.”
They had thought of everything. Nothing would be traced back to them or expose any vampires to humans. Their secret would be safe.
“I think Ursula should give the command,” Oliver suggested. He looked at his colleagues, and one-by-one they all nodded.
Thomas waved Ursula to change seats with him. “Take the mouse and point it to this icon here.”
Oliver watched as the first rays of the sun started illuminating the street in front of the building. More seconds passed. “Sunrise,” he announced.
Ursula glanced back at him, then all that could be heard in the room was the click of the mouse.
“The electricity to the block is being shut off now,” Thomas explained, and simultaneously all streetlamps and other building lights around the warehouse went out.
Oliver watched the screen, when suddenly an explosion rocked the warehouse. Even though he’d been expecting it, it still jolted him.
The fire spread, engulfing the building quickly and fully as expected: according to the blueprints, the building wasn’t equipped with sprinklers.
The few vampires who tried to escape by braving daylight didn’t get far. To assure none escaped, human sharpshooters, trusted Scanguards employees, had been positioned at strategic points, their weapons loaded with silver bullets. But no shots were fired in the end. Instead, the sun took care of the escaping vampires, adding their ashes to the dirt on the pavement.
The blood brothel and its jailors were finally history.
The police would investigate, no doubt, as would other government agencies, but Scanguards had enough connections who would make sure that nothing would come of these investigations.
“Now our real work starts,” Samson said, his voice serious. Everybody nodded.
When Ursula gave Oliver a questioning look, he explained, “We found Corbin’s client list. Each and every one of those clients is a potential risk to the human population of San Francisco. We’ll have to monitor them and lock those up who are most at risk until they’ve gone through all stages of withdrawal.”
It would be an enormous task, but the mayor had offered Scanguards all resources at his disposal. Within a few weeks, the situation would stabilize, and San Francisco would be as safe as before.
39
Two weeks later
Oliver carried the two suitcases into the house and dropped them in the foyer. Behind him, Ursula set a small bag onto the floor. After almost two weeks in Washington DC, visiting Ursula’s parents, he was ready for some major relaxation. He’d never been so tense in his entire life.
While Ursula had stayed with her parents, Oliver had resided in the house of a vampire Gabriel knew and only joined them in the evenings. After discussing it at length, Ursula had agreed to his suggestion to wipe her parents’ memories of the past three years and plant new ones in their minds. All their pain would be forgotten as if it had never happened. They now believed that Ursula had transferred to UC Berkeley to study for her master’s degree, and that she visited her parents at least twice a year. In addition, Oliver made sure that he was part of their new memories too, so that they would easily accept him as their daughter’s boyfriend. Mind control had become easier for him after he’d used it to make Ursula feel his bite. Almost as if he’d simply needed the right motivation for it.
But simply wiping her parents’ memories had not been enough: Oliver had had to enlist the help of Scanguards staff in Washington and New York to do the same with friends and family of Ursula’s parents, staff at the embassy where her father worked, as well as the police detectives and reporters involved in the case. Thomas had hacked into the police computers and deleted all files of Ursula’s disappearance and also erased the records at the newspapers who ran the story. It was a colossal task, but one that was necessary so Ursula could be with him. Had Oliver and his colleagues not erased every memory of her disappearance, her parents would have never let her leave again.
Apart from a few stolen kisses during their stay in Washington DC, Oliver hadn’t touched Ursula until they’d boarded Scanguards’ private jet to return to San Francisco. He’d practically mauled her during the flight home, but since they’d had to share the plane with a few staff members of Scanguards, there had been no occasion to have sex with her, and his cock was still as hard as ever.
“Where is everybody?” Ursula asked.
“Rose? Quinn?” he called out, secretly hoping that they were out for the evening, saving him from having to tell them about their trip when he’d rather lug Ursula over his shoulder to drag her into bed. “Blake?”
“Upstairs,” Quinn’s voice finally sounded from the upper floor.
Frustration howled through him. He had no idea how much longer he could pretend to be civilized before he would fall over Ursula and bury himself deep inside her.
“Come on up, we want to show you something,” Rose called down.
Oliver grimaced and took Ursula’s hand. “Let’s go then.”
When they reached the third floor, Rose and Quinn were standing in front of his bedroom.
“Welcome home!” they both said.
Hugs were exchanged before Quinn opened the door to Oliver’s bedroom and motioned him and Ursula to enter.
Quinn rocked back on his heels. “We thought with Ursula here, you both needed a little more space, so we knocked out the wall to Blake’s room and moved him onto the second floor instead. That way, you’ll have a little sitting area for yourselves.”
Oliver let his eyes roam, taking in his newly decorated room. Not only was it almost twice as large as before, it had also been updated. An extra closet had been added to accommodate Ursula’s clothes, and a cozy sitting area had been created.
“And if you don’t like the decor, we can change that,” Rose added.
Ursula turned to them, smiling. “It’s beautiful. Thank you. I love it.”
Oliver put his arm around her and pulled her close, then looked at Quinn and Rose. “It’s perfect. Thank you!”
“You’re welcome,” Quinn said.
Rose tugged at his shirtsleeve. “We should leave.”
Quinn nodded. “We’re spending the evening with Zane and Portia, so the house is all yours tonight. Blake went patrolling with Cain.”
“Patrolling?”
Quinn rolled his eyes. “Don’t ask. He kept on nagging us to let him go on patrol.”
Rose smiled mischievously, winking at Oliver. “Quinn caved.”
But her husband merely shrugged. “Can’t protect him forever.” Then he reached into this back pocket and pulled out an envelope. “Before I forget it, Maya gave me this for you.”
Excitement made Oliver’s heart beat faster. He knew what was inside: the results of Ursula’s blood test. Before leaving for Washington, Ursula had provided Maya with two blood samples: one before having sex, and one after Oliver and she had enjoyed their last night in each other’s arms before leaving for the East
Coast.
His hand trembled when he took the envelope from Quinn’s hands. When he looked up, their gazes collided. Quinn was smiling as if he knew what this letter meant. Then he and Rose turned and closed the door behind them. He listened to their footsteps as they walked downstairs.
Slowly, he released Ursula. She stared at the envelope in his hands.
“The results,” she whispered.
With shaking fingers, he opened the letter and pulled out a single sheet of paper. His eyes took several seconds to focus, before he was able to read what was written in neat handwriting.
“Dear Oliver,” he read aloud. “All tests I performed on Ursula’s blood samples came back with the same result.”
Oliver sensed how Ursula held her breath.
“It’s confirmed: her blood is safe once she’s had an orgasm.” Relief poured through him. “However, I cannot say how long her blood needs in order to return to its former potency after sex. More tests will be necessary to determine that. But for now, as long as you only drink her blood right after she has climaxed, you’ll be safe. Love, Maya.”
He dropped the letter and pulled her against him. “You have to make a decision now.”
She lifted her eyes. Mesmerized by what he saw in them, he stopped breathing.
“I think my decision was clear from the moment you kissed me there in the hallway the first day I stayed in this house. I was just too afraid to admit it to myself. Too scared that I could want something that had been forced on me by others for such a long time. But I’m not scared anymore.”
He swallowed hard, having trouble containing the lust that coursed through his veins at the knowledge of what would happen tonight. Speech eluded him, so he did the only thing he could: he slid his mouth over hers and kissed her. Her lips yielded to him, parting for him when he licked his tongue against their seam.
There would be no holding back tonight, no trying to keep the beast in check. Finally, Ursula would be truly his.
There was no rush when he undressed her as she did the same to him. When he laid her onto the crisp sheets and pressed her body against his heated skin, a shudder went through him. How he had survived the last two weeks without touching her, he couldn’t remember.
“It was torture not to make love to you while we were back east,” he murmured against her lips.
She sighed. “I was hoping every night that you would climb through the window in my bedroom and stay with me.” Ursula’s hands caressed the sensitive skin on his nape, sending a shiver racing down his spine.
“It was too risky. I would never have been able to leave your bed before sunrise if I had done that.”
“I missed you.”
In response, Oliver sank his lips back on hers, while his hands roamed her body. He palmed her breasts, teasing her sensitive nipples so they turned into hard peaks. When he ripped his mouth from hers, it was only so he could suck one hard peak into his mouth while kneading her warm flesh.
Farther south, his cock, fully erect and as hard as an iron bar, pressed against her thigh, eager to connect with her body. But he knew he couldn’t allow himself to drive into her so soon. He wouldn’t last long enough to make her climax.
He slid down her body, spreading her legs wide on his descent and settled between them. Her fingers dug into his shoulders in anticipation: she knew what was coming.
A strangled moan left her lips the moment he blew a hot breath against her sex. A lap of his tongue followed. When he tasted the dew that had already built on her plump nether lips, his entire body went rigid.
“Fuck, baby!”
It was better than he remembered. Her scent was a mixture of sweet and tangy flavors as it spread over the back of his tongue and down his throat. His nostrils flared, and the beast in him roared.
Bite her, now! the devil inside him demanded.
With difficulty, he pushed back the overwhelming desire to taste her blood and concentrated on licking her warm flesh. He spread her wider with his fingers, exposing her clit, then pressed his tongue onto it before sucking the tiny organ into his mouth.
Under his grip, he felt her jolt, but his hands held her down so she couldn’t escape him. In long and languid strokes, he continued licking her clit and exploring her moist folds, while she twisted underneath him, her moans and sighs filling the room.
Her fingernails dug deeper into his shoulders, but he welcomed the pain. Had he been human, she would have drawn blood, but his vampire skin was too tough for her fingernails to pierce it.
Oliver listened to her heartbeat and the sound of her blood as it rushed through her veins, trying to pump more oxygen to her cells. Her body heated with every second that he continued to tease her tender flesh. He’d never been so attuned to the body of another being and had no trouble reading Ursula’s body and understanding what she needed from him.
Her hips moved against his mouth in an unmistakable rhythm, asking for more. He was only too happy to comply with her demands. Gently, he drove a finger into her moist slit and intensified the pressure on her clit, licking her harder and faster. When she tensed, her body half lifting off the bed, he drove a second finger into her tight sheath and pulled her clit into his mouth, pressing his lips together.
She came, panting uncontrollably, her interior muscles gripping his fingers tightly, her body shivering.
If he were less impatient, he would allow her to rest for a moment, but patience was a foreign word to him now. He couldn’t wait any longer. He pulled himself up and covered her with his body. His cock lined up with her still-quivering pussy, and with one thrust he seated himself in her.
On a moan, Ursula’s eyes flew open. Then her hand came up, and one finger stroked over his lips.
“Show them to me.”
His fangs had already descended. Slowly, he parted his lips and allowed them to emerge while he watched Ursula’s reaction. She showed no fear.
“Touch them,” he demanded.
Hesitantly, her finger slid against the outer side of one fang. He growled involuntarily, the sensation of Ursula touching him sending a bolt of electricity through him.
Her eyes widened, but instead of pulling her finger back, she stroked his fang once more. “Sink them into me. I want to feel you.”
Ursula tilted her head to the side, exposing her pale neck. Breathing heavily, Oliver lowered his head to her neck, feeling her tremble when his lips touched her skin.
“Easy, baby, I won’t hurt you.”
He licked over her skin, then scraped his fangs against the spot where her plump vein beat against his lips. The contact made his cock jerk inside her, and he pulled his hips back, withdrawing almost completely. On his next thrust into her welcoming body, he drove his fangs into her neck, piercing her vein.
Her hot blood rushed into his mouth, overwhelming his taste buds. His mouth flooded with it. When the liquid ran over the back of his tongue and down his throat, his heart pumped faster. He’d never tasted anything as amazing. She tasted rich and pure, appeasing the beast inside him. With every drop he took, he felt himself grow stronger and more invincible. This was what he’d been searching for ever since he’d become a vampire. Ursula’s blood.
He drove harder into her, his cock moving faster in and out of her clenching sheath. With every thrust he felt his excitement build and drive him closer toward ecstasy until he could hold back no longer. His orgasm broke, the sensation so powerful that he felt as if his body were shattering into a thousand pieces. As it ebbed, waves originating from Ursula’s body crashed against him like a giant ocean wave.
Slowly, he pulled his fangs from her neck and licked over the incisions.
When he looked at her, he noticed her eyes covered in a wet sheen. Panicked, he pulled back. “Did I hurt you?”
She shook her head and sniffed. “I’ve never felt anything so beautiful.”
He pressed a gentle kiss on her lips. “Me neither.”
Then he rolled off her and pulled her into the curve of his body, he
r back connecting to his front, his arms holding her to him. For a long moment neither of them spoke. Only their heavy breathing could be heard in the room.
“Do you remember when the guard mentioned the code word at that truck stop?” Ursula suddenly asked.
“He said emperors’ blood,” Oliver answered, surprised that she would bring up this particular event at a time like this.
“My mother told me that we descend from the emperors’ line. We’re many generations removed from it, but I think if we checked on the ancestry of the other girls who were imprisoned with me, we’d find the same. It must be the emperors’ blood that has the drugging effect.”
Surprised at the revelation, he pressed a kiss to her shoulder. “Then it looks like I’ve fallen in love with a princess.”
She turned her face to gaze at him, warmth and affection radiating from her eyes. “And it looks like I’ve fallen in love with a vampire.”
He chuckled. “It would make a great movie. The princess and the vampire. I can see the movie posters already.”
She turned in his arms and ran her hands down his body. “How about we work on the script a little more? I think this movie needs more steamy scenes.”
Oliver rolled onto his back, pulling her on top of him. “I fully agree.”
Then he drew Ursula’s head down to him and captured her lips. He had no intention of releasing them any time soon.
THE END
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