by B. J. McCall
“I like you, Jak. More than I should.”
“I know I’m not a great catch, but I’m hoping to improve my prospects. I finally won a slot in the government employment lottery. My scores were good. Monday morning, I’m meeting with a personnel placement officer. If I get a good job, I’ll move out of this dump.”
“Jak, your financial situation is the least of my concern. I like you too much. I want to be with you, but the scent of your blood drives me crazy. Spending time with you and being unable to feed is a test of will.”
“You’re afraid you’ll bite me?”
“You compared me to ice cream. You’re steak, the finest rare cut. I loved steak.”
Jak had read about steak, but he’d never eaten it. The starving masses slaughtered most of the cattle before he was born. “You’ve eaten steak?”
“In human years, I’m fifty-four. A hiccup in vampire time.”
“You don’t look it.”
“I was twenty-four when I was turned. I’ll stay this way for centuries.”
“You experienced the big crash?”
“I was fourteen. By the time I was twenty-one the country was in crisis. Things were different when I was a kid. Life was good. People were happy.”
“You make my life good. We can’t change the past. It’s now that counts.” He took her slender hand in his. Jak grabbed a beer and sat down on the sofa. “Come sit with me while I have my beer.”
When Azza sat next to him, Jak put his arm around her and pulled her against his chest. He liked the skin-to-skin contact, the way her long, silky hair tickled his chest. “Yesterday, I was thinking about you,” he said. “I realized I didn’t know your last name.”
“It was Landon.”
“Was?”
“Vampires don’t use last names unless your name is the same as an older vampire. Only then does the younger vampire go by first and last name.”
“I’m pleased to meet you, Azza Landon. I’m Jak Ellis Walker.”
“Were you named after your father?”
Jak downed half of the beer. “Never met the man. My mother died when I was five. I don’t remember much about her.” Except the scent of lavender. Whenever Jak smelled lavender a vague image rose from the recesses of his mind, a fuzzy childhood memory of soft laughter, dark curly hair and gentle hands.
“I’m sorry, Jak.”
He squeezed her shoulder. “It was a long time ago.”
“Who raised you?”
“I grew up in a foster home. Life wasn’t easy, but my foster parents treated me okay.”
“Okay?”
Jak kissed her on the head. “I wasn’t loved, but I wasn’t mistreated. I was good for a monthly food ration ticket until I was sixteen, then I was on my own.”
“What did you do?”
“I lived with friends. Four of us shared an apartment, working every odd job we could find to survive.” He took a drink of beer. “We did okay, but never found permanent employment. It was ten years before I won a slot in the government job lottery, but I had to move to the city. There are no jobs in the small town where I was raised.”
“What kind of job did you get?”
“I don’t know yet, but it’s a full time government job. I don’t care if they want me to clean toilets, I need the work. I packed everything I had into my old car and moved here a couple of months ago.” Jak finished the beer. “I’ve been finding part-time work, enough to pay the rent while waiting for my placement interview.”
“You’re twenty-six?”
“Until next Friday. I want you to spend my birthday with me.” He leaned down and pressed his lips to Azza’s. “I hope you like the taste of beer?”
“I like the taste of it on your lips.”
“You’ll spend next Friday night with me? We’ll have cake.”
She gave him an incredulous look.
Jak grinned. “I’ll smear frosting on your breasts and lick it off. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate my birthday.”
“I’ll try. For years the streets around the Cemetery have been deserted, but lately there’s been a lot of activity. If I can’t get out, it’s not because I don’t want to see you.”
“You can come any night, any time. I had an extra key made for you.”
“Jak, you’re very trusting. You invited me inside your home last night.”
“So?”
“Vampires can’t enter a human home without an invitation. Be careful, Jak. You don’t know much about vampires and you don’t know me.”
“I know you here,” he said, touching his fingertips to his heart.
“Some vampires want sex, others are seeking a hearty meal. You’d supply both.”
“If you need blood, I can spare a bit.” Jak understood hunger. Over the years he’d been so broke he’d sold blood to a hospital to buy food.
“Don’t say that, Jak. Never speak of it. Didn’t I just tell you not to invite vampires?”
“No one should go hungry, human or vampire.”
“The government provides for my kind.”
“When’s the last time you fed?”
“Right before I left the Cemetery,” she said, lying through her fangs. The Cemetery vampires received blood shipments every other day to keep them from storing supplies. It was the government’s way of keeping control of the vampires. Each vampire received a packet a day, enough to keep them alive. She’d miss her daily packet. “I’ll feed again when I return.”
He kissed her on the temple. “If you ever need me, I’m here for you.”
“You’re sweet and sexy.”
“You think I’m sexy?”
“Your body is perfectly proportioned, your muscles sculpted and you have strength and character in your face. What’s not to like?”
“You talk like an artist.”
“I used to paint. I wanted to be a famous artist and have my work hang in museums.”
“Vampires can’t be artists?”
Azza pressed her forehead against his chest. “You need a soul to create.”
Jak cupped her chin and lifted her face to his. “If you were a vicious creature ripping out the necks of humans with your fangs, I’d believe you. You picked me out of a crowd of men and you’ve changed my view of vampires forever.”
She inhaled. “I thought you were good looking, with nice fat veins. Once I caught your scent I knew you were the one for me. The combination of your pheromones and blood is irresistible.”
Jak cupped one perfect breast and raked his thumb over her nipple. “Irresistible enough to fuck my brains out again?”
“Absolutely.”
Jak kissed her and ran his tongue over the points of her fangs. “You are so beautiful.”
She suckled his tongue and moaned.
Jak lay back on the sofa and pulled Azza on top of him. He wanted to look at her while they made love. He wanted to caress her, make her feel cherished. They kissed until Jak was breathless and so damn hard he hurt. “Fuck my brains out before I burst.”
Azza smiled, then kissed a slow path down his chest to his belly.
Jak’s cock was straining. “I ache for you.”
Azza grasped him, her cool hand wrapping around his cock. “You’re so hot. I love your heat.” Then she swallowed him, taking him all the way to the root. Her mouth was so wonderfully cool.
His blood pounding, Jak lifted his hips. “Sweet Azza, suck me, hard.”
Her mouth and lips encircled him in a tight, sensual vice of lusty suction of tongue and fangs. The sensation of her fangs sliding against his cock was an unbelievable turn on. He was burning, ready to explode.
Azza cupped his balls and tugged gently.
He groaned and grabbed a hank of her hair, winding it around his palm. “I love your mouth on me.”
She pulled and tugged, sucking him and fondling him until his balls hummed. She was giving him the blow job of a lifetime. Jak wanted it to go on forever, but he was on the precipice. Every muscle tensed. Every syn
apse fired. He swore and came in lusty spurts.
She suckled him gently, not seeming to mind that he’d come in her mouth.
Jak fell back, the hot sexual tension melting into a satisfied haze. “I want to fuck you forever.”
* * *
Azza released him, licked his cum from her lower lip and smiled. Jak had no idea what forever really meant, but she appreciated his sentiment. She stretched out on top of him, seeking the warmth coming off his body in heavy waves.
His eyes fluttered open and his gaze met hers. “I’m going to have to recover from that one. Wow.”
Azza tucked her face in the crook of his neck and inhaled. The musk of sex mingled with lusty blood and hot skin. Pure olfactory heaven.
Jak wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight. His legs tangled with hers. “You feel so good.”
She rubbed her breasts against his chest. “So do you.”
He stroked her back, his fingers moving lazily down the curve of her spine. “You are amazing, your lips, your mouth, the way you touch me. I think I’m in love.”
He was saying things humans said in the afterglow of sex. She hadn’t heard love-sex words in three decades, but Azza liked hearing Jak say them. She closed her eyes. Azza wished she were alive, free to stay with Jak and love him. Love him like he deserved to be loved.
His hand stilled, resting on the small of her back. His breathing deepened and Azza realized he’d fallen asleep. She didn’t mind. For a vampire the steady thumping of a real human heart was beautiful music. She laid her cheek against his chest, closed her eyes and listened.
When Jak finally stirred beneath her, Azza lifted her head and looked at him. His hair was tousled and dark stubble shadowed his jaw. He looked sexy as sin.
His eyes opened. “What time is it?”
“Almost noon.” Dawn had broken several hours ago and the sun was high. Although the windows were covered, Azza sensed its intense light. She climbed off Jak.
He stood and stretched. “I feel great. How long was I asleep?”
“Hours.”
He cupped her chin and brushed his lips to hers. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep, but the sex was great.”
“I’ll probably fall asleep on you. Vampires have to sleep during the day.” Especially when one hasn’t fed.
“You don’t hang by your toes, do you?”
“I can, but I don’t.” She ran her hand over his chest and glanced at his morning hard-on. “A hard muscled male body makes for a great mattress.”
Jak brushed his lips against hers then hustled off to the bathroom. When he returned his morning hard-on had vanished and his breath smelled like mint. “Mind if I make a cup of coffee?”
“Not at all. I like the aroma. Mind if I take a hot shower?”
“Be my guest. There’s a new toothbrush on the counter.”
While Jak worked in the kitchen, Azza brushed her teeth. She turned on the hot water and stepped beneath the spray. Hot water wasn’t a luxury provided to the residents of the Cemetery.
Jak entered the bathroom. “Mind if I join you?”
Azza pulled back the curtain. “Sure.”
Jak’s gaze raked over her. “Fuck, you’re gorgeous.”
Azza dropped her gaze to his cock. He was long and fully erect with thick veins lacing his length. “So are you.”
He stepped into the shower and drew her into his arms. “You look good wet.” His cock rested against her skin, searing hot and ready. She licked her lips. He palmed her ass and lifted her, placing her back against the slick tile. “You feel good wet.”
Azza placed her hands on his shoulders and wrapped her legs around his lean hips. One thrust and he was sliding inside. Hot and long, he filled her. He thrust hard and fast, giving Azza what she needed without the rough edge common to vampire sex. Jak made her feel human while satisfying her sexual needs.
Her fangs extended, she buried her face in the crook of his neck. She’d missed her feeding and his throbbing veins tempted her. Her senses were overwhelmed with the scent of his blood, the thundering of his heart and the heat of his cock pounding into her pussy.
She clenched her teeth, resisting the lure of blood.
Jak shuddered. Azza tightened down on him, joining him as he came in sweet, heated waves. Jak groaned and leaned against her. For several minutes, he let the spray pour over them. Then he raised his head and smiled. “I think I’m going to need that coffee.”
A few minutes later, they were sitting at his tiny kitchen table. Jak was wearing a pair of sweats, sipping his coffee from a mug and Azza was wearing one of his T-shirts. She felt almost human.
“Tell me what you’re thinking.”
“I feel good when I’m with you. You make me warm.”
His eyebrows knitted.
“We’re always cold. Dead things are, but you make me feel warm. I know it’s an illusion of my imagination, a fantasy, but I like the feeling.”
“What if it’s real?”
“Real?”
“Maybe what you feel is love.”
“Don’t go there, Jak. Humans don’t fall in love with vampires.”
“Do vampires fall in love with humans?”
“We’re infatuated with you. You’re alive. The sustenance that keeps us alive flows in your veins. We crave you.”
He reached over the table and caressed her face. His hand was hot from holding the coffee mug, and she leaned into the heat.
“I’ve never felt this way.” He stood and rounded the table. “Never with anyone have I felt what I feel for you.” He leaned down and kissed her, slowly, teasing her tongue with his. Then he lifted his head and looked her in the eye. “Maybe I don’t know what love is, but what we have between us is good.”
“Finish your coffee before it gets cold. And eat something. You’re going to need your strength.”
Grinning, Jak picked up his mug. “So tell me about the Cemetery.”
“It’s a place to live, but it’s crowded. Reeni and I share a tiny apartment. We don’t sleep hanging by our toes, but many of the old ones do.”
Jak opened a jar of peanut butter and made a couple of sandwiches. “Old ones?”
“The old ones have survived for several centuries. They live in the levels below the ground. They like it dark and they require the richest blood.”
Leaning against the kitchen counter, Jak polished off a sandwich in a few bites. “Why?”
“They drank from humans for decades. Animal blood doesn’t satisfy them. Some are very ill tempered and into rough sex. They mistreat the inexperienced vampires.”
Jak went very still. “Do you have sex with the old ones?”
“I have. I try to stay off their radar, but it isn’t easy, especially for Reeni. She hasn’t been a vampire for long and she’s favored by Duke. He’s over five hundred years old.”
“How old was he when he became a vampire?”
“About thirty-five. Back then he was the Duke of Bainbridge. He doesn’t like living underground. He lives on the top floor in a large apartment called the penthouse.”
“Have you ever fucked Duke?”
Azza pushed out of the chair and met his gaze. “Thirty years ago I sold him my blood. He paid me double if I let him fuck and feed.”
“Was Duke the one who turned you?”
“Yes.” In the beginning it was about the money, for food and rent for her family. She hadn’t understood then what she knew now. A dangerous blood-sex bond formed between human and vampire. The sex was amazing and one-night things went too far. “I wasn’t a sweet girl, Jak. I sold myself for money.”
He grasped her by her shoulders. “I don’t want you fucking Duke. I don’t want you fucking anyone but me.” He kissed her, his lips demanding, his mouth possessive. Her fang caught his lip. She tasted blood, sweet blood.
She sucked his cut lip into her mouth, drawing sustenance. Jak’s hot blood slid over her tongue and down her throat. Azza shuddered. He tasted rich and sweet, deliciou
sly male. A surge of need whipped through her, burning in her dead heart. Blood desire shot through Azza. Her fangs ached and the pointed nails on her fingers grew. She hungered for more, craving his life essence, both blood and sperm.
Azza pushed his sweats off his hips and fisted his blood-swollen cock.
Jak responded to her need. He pushed her back onto the table and climbed between her thighs, thrusting hard. Azza grabbed him by the hair, pulled his face down to hers and licked more blood off his lip. Sweet and salty, his taste blanketed her tongue.
He pistoned his hips, driving his cock deep.
She squeezed down on him, holding him in a tight, sensual vice and sucked on his lip, taking his blood. Her insides shivered and burned. His blood heat filled her heart.
He climaxed.
The combination of his sperm and blood sent another flash of heat rocketing through her. Her climax consumed her, the cold vanquished for a few amazing seconds.
Swimming out of the fog of pleasure, Azza released Jak’s lip. “I’ve hurt you.”
“Lip’s swelling.”
He pushed away from her and walked over to the sink.
Azza rose from the table and watched Jak apply a towel to his lip. He pulled the towel away. The white fabric was spotted with blood. “Put ice on it.”
Jak opened the freezer and grabbed a few ice cubes. He applied the cold compress to his lip.
“I’m sorry, Jak.”
He pulled the towel away. The bleeding was slowed, but his lower lip was swollen. He gave her a lopsided grin. “How did I taste?”
A bead of blood appeared on his lip. He was looking like dinner, the sun was shining and leaving was impossible. “Delicious.”
“How was the sex?”
She hadn’t the words to describe the surge of heat in her heart and pussy after thirty years of cold. In that moment, she’d felt alive. “Hot. It’s better with the blood. More intense.”
Intense didn’t come close to describing what it was for a vampire. Before her kind had been forced into the Cemetery, she’d sought the blood-sex rush with humans. It had only happened twice, three decades ago.
He pulled the ice compress away from his lip. The bleeding had stopped. “I came too fast,” he said. “Next time we’ve got to make it last longer.”
