Crimson Hungers

by Alecia Monaco

  He darted around her at vampire speed, too fast for the mortal eye to see. “Are you spoken for?” He leaned against the door, effectively blocking her exit.

  “Spoken for?” She uttered the words as if they were a foreign language. “What a quaint expression.”

  He folded his arms over his chest and looked down at her, enjoying her obviously flustered state. “It’s a simple question. You’re not married…” He reached down to lift her left hand with his. “No ring.” She tried to draw her hand away but he tightened his grasp, relishing the feel of her racing pulse against his palm. “Either you have a boyfriend or you don’t.”

  “You have an incredible amount of…”

  “Balls?” He supplied helpfully.

  “… presumption,” she continued with biting scorn, “to ask an agent here on official business out for a dinner date.”

  “I’ve never lacked big…” he paused for a beat “… presumption.” Stepping away from the door so she could pass through it, he continued, “I still demand to accompany you while you do your reading.”

  She shrugged. “Suit yourself.” She threw him a look over her shoulder. “If you have nothing to hide, we won’t have any trouble here.”

  He grinned, slipping into the hallway behind her. The only thing he had to hide was a massive hard-on, thanks to her.

  * * *

  Katya glanced at her watch. “Your club opens in thirty minutes.” She frowned. “I’ll have to work fast.”

  Rex propped his long form against the hallway wall. “You want to start here and then move out to the main floor?”

  She nodded. “Sounds good.” But before she could back away, he bent low, gazing at the pendant hanging from a chain around her neck. She drew in a sharp breath, reacting to his nearness.

  “I’d have thought someone like you would know the story about vampires being repelled by holy objects for the myth it is.” His gaze wandered up from her neck to meet her eyes, giving her the same jolt it had from the very first.

  “I don’t wear this because it’s a holy item.” She traced her finger over the Star of David suspended from the necklace. “I wear it because it’s silver.”

  He threw his head back with laughter, the first genuine laugh she’d heard out of him. “You’ve got me there, Stern.” He shook his head. “I should’ve known better.”

  She permitted herself a smile. “You walked right into that one.”

  His smile lingered, revealing a dimple in each cheek. She quickly looked away. “I suppose I should get started.”

  He nodded. “I’ll wait right here until you’re ready to move on.”

  Stepping a few feet away, she took a few calming breaths, trying to empty her mind -- not an easy task with a wildly attractive vampire standing nearby. But reading energy patterns required total focus and a lack of interference. She always got the job done, no matter how distracted she was by personal matters.

  Although she had to admit, Rex was a more potent distraction than she normally encountered.

  She felt everything around her falling away, as if matter itself had dissolved, leaving only the currents of human and vampiric energies floating through the room like so many electrical charges. Since she was right handed, she held out her left hand, her receiving hand, and began to feel the energy signatures. If there was one capable of committing such a bloody crime in recent memory, she’d be able to sense it, maybe even identify it -- a skill that had landed her a spot on the Slayer Squad after a lifetime of being merely a weirdo and an outcast.

  She could sense the signatures of several vampires, but nothing out of the ordinary. Many of them had killed in the past, before becoming legal citizens and trying to be law abiding members of society, but a recent killing clouded a person’s energy like steam from a shower fogging up a mirror. She couldn’t sense anything violent in the hallway. If the killer had passed through the club, it was as a customer only.

  But something was off, something she’d never encountered before… a massive surge of Psionic energy equal to her own pulsing nearby. She shook her head, trying to erase her mental screen. What the hell was going on? There wasn’t another living being anywhere in sight, and only living beings could be full-fledged Psions… couldn’t they?

  She opened her eyes and saw Rex watching her intently. “You said your master had Psionic abilities.” When he said nothing, she went on. “But a vampire can’t actually be a Psion.”

  She waited for him to confirm, taking a few steps closer. “Rex, I need to know what’s going on here.” She stepped past the swinging door that led to the employee break room until the tips of her black Doc Martens touched the steel toes of his cowboy boots.

  At that moment, the door to the break room swung open with violent force. The huge security guard came barreling out, shoving Katya straight into Rex.

  Everything happened too fast for her to process it. One minute she was on her feet, then the next she was falling forward. Rex caught her, his right hand grabbing her left wrist and vice versa.

  A surge of energy unlike anything in her experience rushed through her in a flash of blinding white light that brought her to her knees. She cried out, dimly aware of Rex’s cries echoing her own, until nothing remained but silence.

  Chapter 3

  “Agent Stern?” A cultivated British voice repeated her name. “Agent Stern, can you hear me?”

  Katya pried one eye open to see the lined but distinguished face that owned the voice. “I think so…” Her voice sounded thick and far away to her own ears.

  “There was some sort of mishap, I’m afraid.” The silver haired Englishman shook his head, as if someone had merely ruined a perfectly civilized tea, instead of a slayer and a vampire having an energy collision in the hallway of a bar.

  “You can say that again.” Realizing she was on the burgundy velvet fainting couch in Rex’s office, she struggled to sit up. “Where’s Rex?”

  “Right here.” His voice sounded from inside the room. She followed the sound to his desk, where he sat perched on its edge.

  “We had some sort of energy related… collision out there.” She shook her foggy head.

  “Dear, would you like someone to escort you home?” The Brit knelt beside the fainting couch, as if her every wish would be his most urgent command. “I don’t believe you’re in any shape to finish your reading today.”

  She scrunched her eyes shut, trying to push back the fog gumming up her thought processes. “I don’t know if I’m in any shape to even stand up yet, much less continue working.”

  “Kadin, please go to the kitchen and get Agent Stern a bottle of water.” The security guard disappeared obediently as the Englishman held out his hand to her. “By the way, dear, I’m Mr. Charles.”

  Her eyes widened. “The legendary Mr. Charles?” She didn’t bother to hide being impressed. “I never expected to meet you under such circumstances.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet such a lovely lady under any circumstances.” He took her hand. “I would hardly call myself legendary, by the way.”

  She managed a weak smile. “You’re the human liaison for the entire Houston vampire community. How could you be anything but a legend?”

  The older gentleman brushed away her compliment with a dismissive gesture. Kadin, the security guard, returned, two bottles of chilled mineral water in hand.

  “Maybe we should leave the two of you alone to discuss the, er… incident.” Mr. Charles shot Rex a meaningful look. Rex responded with a barely perceptible nod.

  “Come, Kadin.” Mr. Charles stood, making his way to the door. “I believe there are some accounts we should look over.”

  Kadin left the bottled water on the end table beside the fainting couch. “You know I suck at math,” he grumbled.

  Mr. Charles scowled and led him out of the room.

  Katya helped herself to a bottle of water. “Why didn’t you tell me you’re a Psion?”

  “Being a Psion isn’t very well thought of in t
he community these days.” He looked her in the eye. “My sire had the ability to feed on energy rather than blood.”

  She kept silent, digesting the new information. “So, theoretically, he could live forever just by taking energy from humans, and never need a drop of blood.”

  Rex gave her a slow nod. “Of course, he took blood from his swans at times, for pleasure.” He took a breath, a rare thing for a vampire to do. “But yes, you’re right. He was so adept at energy feeding that he had no need for blood at all.”

  The pieces of Katya’s mental puzzle slid into place. “And as his progeny, neither do you.”

  His eyes darkened. “I wouldn’t say that.”

  She smiled, and it was not from happiness. “I just did.”

  “I still drink blood.” He gestured to an empty bottle of Vlad’s synthetic Type O on his desk. “I’m not adept at energy feeding the way my sire was. I still need some blood to survive. But it’s not my only means of feeding.” His mouth formed a half smile. “Besides, I enjoy blood. I’d drink it even if I didn’t need it.”

  “What else can you feed on?” She watched his face carefully.

  “Energy… among other things.” He spoke with a finality that let her know he wasn’t going to reveal much more about his feeding abilities.

  “There’s a lot going on that you humans aren’t aware of.” He stood up and paced a few steps, coming to a stop in front of her. “You know that the Sang-vamps are in a blue rage over the threat of a Psi-vamp taking over as our local master.”

  “A Sang-vamp being a pure blood drinker?” She took another swallow of water. The shock of the ‘incident’, as Mr. Charles had called it, was wearing off and being rapidly replaced by anger.

  “Yes, a vamp who cannot or will not feed on energy.” He shoved his hands into his front pockets. “Master Cain believed that any vampire could learn to feed on energy, and therefore reduce our need for blood.”

  “A vampire with a social conscience.” She shook her head. “And the Sang-vamps object to this because they like their blood and don’t want to give it up?”

  “Exactly.” He knelt down in front of her. “The successor Master Cain appointed is an energy feeder, and a young one at that. If she takes over his role as local master, there’s a good chance she could end up with Melaina’s throne under her belt as well.” He took his hat off and smoothed his hand over his sleek black hair in a motion that made Katya’s body tighten. “Hell, we could end up having a full-scale vampire war over this, and you wonder why I didn’t out myself to a slayer?”

  His words registered in some part of her brain that was less given to primal impulses than the part currently in the driver’s seat. She knew, on a rational level, that she should be paying attention, but all she could think about was the suckable fullness of his bottom lip. How would his fangs feel, scraping against skin? She imagined his tongue in her mouth and felt herself getting wet.

  “Rex,” her voice was hazy with desire, “what the hell is going on here?”

  “What do you mean?” He could deny it until sunrise, but his eyes had already changed back to that narrowed pupil she’d seen earlier, the gaze of a vampire who was hungry for blood… or flesh.

  “Don’t you feel it?” She shrugged out of her leather jacket, leaving her bronze silk blouse to cling to her skin in damp patches where sweat had already begun to trickle down her body. “This heat, this…”

  “Need,” he finished for her. “God, Katya, I want you so much right now. I want to…”

  “What?” She reached for the hem of his T-shirt, tugging it free from the waistband of his jeans, desperate to get her hands on his skin. “Tell me what you want to do.”

  He helped her with the shirt, leaving him bare-chested in front of her. She wanted to weep over the beauty and perfection of him, all sculpted muscle and glowing pale skin, with only the finest trail of black hair to bisect his flawless abs.

  He reached out and caught her wrists in his hands, bringing them up until her palms were pressed against his chest. “I’ll tell you what I want.” His eyes seared hers. “I want to fuck you until dawn.”

  Chapter 4

  Katya reached for Rex’s platinum western-style belt buckle, trying to unfasten it with fumbling fingers. If she didn’t get him naked soon, she’d scream her way straight to an orgasm right there on his couch.

  “Then do it,” she answered him. “Fuck me. Right here, right now.”

  “You’re going to have to lose the necklace first,” he said.

  She unfastened the silver chain and slipped it into her pocket, then removed the holster containing her tranquilizer gun and set it carefully on the end table.

  “Now, where were we?” She reached for him.

  “Right here.” He went for the buttons on her silk blouse, unfastening them faster than the speed of light.

  Being with a vampire, she noted, was good for something after all.

  “What’s happening here?” She arched her back, helping him to remove her blouse. “This has never happened to me before. I feel like…” She shook her head, at a loss for words to describe the sexual heat that threatened to blot out every other thought or impulse. “Like I’m burning from the inside.”

  “Something to do with sharing energy,” he answered, tossing her blouse aside and pausing for a minute to stare at her chest.

  She followed his gaze. “I know I’m not likely to give Dolly Parton a run for her money.” She looked down at her perky but not overly large B cups.

  “It’s not that.” He traced a fingertip inside the top edge of her bra cup, drawing a hissing breath from her. “It’s this bra.” He met her gaze. “Tiger print?” He cupped her breast through the bra, letting out a low whistle of appreciation. “I knew you were a wild one underneath that frosty attitude.”

  Enough small talk. “Do you want to see just how wild I can be?” She wiggled the straps of her bra down her shoulders. “Get me out of these clothes and find out.” The sooner the better, because if she didn’t get his cock inside her soon, she was going to draw blood.

  He reached around to unhook her bra in back, sliding it off of her in one movement. “Show me, little tiger.” He lifted her breasts, testing their weight against the palms of his hands. “Show me how wild you can be.”

  She needed no further invitation. Threading her hands through the silken strands of his black hair, she pulled his face closer to hers, and pressed her lips against his.

  He responded with equal intensity, tracing the tip of his tongue along the seam of her lips. She opened for him, eager to feel his tongue against hers. She wanted every inch of him touching her, between her legs, inside her… it didn’t matter, as long as he got closer to her. The entire world had narrowed to his body and her craving for it. There was nothing but his skin on hers, her need for an orgasm and his ability to give her one.

  His tongue swirled around hers, sliding and twisting against hers while his fangs grazed her lips. The pain of those almost-bites mixed with the pleasurable sensation of his fingers rolling her nipples to tight peaks.

  “We’ve got to get you out of these jeans.” She tugged at the button fly, almost whimpering when she felt his hardness beneath her hands.

  “Allow me.” He stood up and divested himself of the rest of his clothing, from boots to jeans, until he stood naked before her.

  Katya stared up at him from her seat on the fainting couch, looking him over from head to toe. He was pale perfection, from his incredible eyes to his long legs. She let her gaze drift until it came to rest on his erection. He was not only long, but thick. She hadn’t had sex in a regrettably long time, and her only boyfriend had been a little small in the dick department. She wondered briefly if she’d be able to take every magnificent inch of Rex’s cock, and snaked her tongue across her bottom lip in anticipation of trying.

  His cock jerked. “God, Tiger, don’t do that.” He winced.

  “Don’t do what?” She untied her Doc Martens and kicked them off.r />
  “Don’t stare at my cock and lick your lips like that.” He raked his hands through his long hair. “You make me think you’re going to…”

  “What?” She shed her black pants, leaving herself undressed except for her tiger print panties, and dropped to her knees in front of him. Looking up at him, she ran the tip of her tongue over her lips again. “This?” She wrapped her hand around the base of his cock.

  He made an unintelligible sound. She guided the head of his cock to her lips, and took him into her mouth.

  He closed his eyes, a series of moans tearing themselves from his throat. She flicked her tongue over the tip of his cock, savoring the salty taste of him, the feel of his erection, like satin over steel. He fisted his hands in her hair, bringing himself deeper into her mouth, until the head of his cock touched the back of her throat.

  She groaned, letting the vibrations play against his shaft. He cursed, pulling out slowly, revealing every slick inch of his cock, until only the head remained. She gave it a vigorous suck, and he slid it back in until it could go no further.

  Having his cock in her mouth gave her some measure of relief from the overwhelming craving for him, but she had a suspicion that only having him inside her dripping core would bring total release from the sweet torture of needing him.

  She drew hard on his cock, scraping her teeth ever so gently against the tip on the outstroke, ready to bring him to completion. He surprised her by backing away.

  “Get down on all fours.” His breath came in pants and gasps, something she’d never seen a vampire do, not even in the heat of being chased by a squad of slayers.

  She complied, dropping to her hands and knees, watching over her shoulder as he dropped onto his knees behind her, ripping off her tiger print panties.

  “Sorry,” he gasped, throwing the panties aside.