“I wasn’t expecting anyone to notice,” he said. “I guess I left a little too much dirt behind.”
He drove around the block once and then parked the car on the corner, out of sight from whoever had been given the job of overseeing the cemetery that night.
“This shouldn’t pose much of a challenge for you,” said Mira. “Cast Shadow Form. It’s dark enough tonight that you’ll have free rein of the lawn, as long as you don’t pass directly in front of the flashlight.”
“Yeah…” Jack tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. “I’m just getting sick of being soaked by this rain.”
Mira let out a laugh that was equal parts mocking and sympathetic. Jack steeled his resolve and slipped out of the car. He winced as the rain instantly soaked through his clothes. It was getting colder out, and he had to clench his jaw to keep from shivering reflexively.
He still had close to half of his blood essence left, and it wasn’t a problem to cast Shadow Form. Jack felt his body losing its physical form as he did, dissipating into an ethereal, smoky substance that blended easily into the dark.
It was an odd sensation, a bit like having an out-of-body experience. Jack could still think, and he could still “see” in a certain sense of the word. He experienced the shapes and contours of the world as he glided through the cemetery, and he could make out the night watchman’s position as he slipped past close behind him. The man shivered and instinctively flicked the flashlight in Jack’s direction, but by then, he’d already moved on.
He let himself reform in front of his grandfather’s grave, the inky smoke that composed his body under the spell coalescing into a human shape as he released it. His body had a slight negative afterglow, a sense of heavy unwieldiness, but it began to subside after a couple of seconds.
The night watchman was looking the other way, and Jack stepped through the rain to pick up his grandfather’s staff. The old wizard’s weapon looked inconspicuous and could have easily passed for a longer than average walking stick. Jack gripped the wood of what had once been just a thick, gnarled tree branch and immediately felt a prickling sensation spread across his fingers and palm.
The weapon held vast amounts of power within it, though it couldn’t be utilized directly. The analogy Katie had once given him was that it was like a magical battery that could no longer be recharged, given that the staff was still attuned to Peter. While it didn’t make for a useful weapon, it could still serve as a powerful focus for a certain kind of spell.
The night watchman was still heading away from him, and Jack didn’t bother to cast Shadow Form again as he made his way back to the car. He passed by his father’s “grave,” which admittedly did show a few obvious signs of tampering. It was hard for him to feel too badly about it, given what he’d found inside the casket.
He was sopping wet by the time he climbed back into the car and had to wipe a sheen of water from his eyebrows and face before starting the engine.
“You poor boy,” said Mira. “You look like a drowned rat.”
“Funny, cause that’s about what I feel like, too,” he said. “Let’s get back to the mansion.”
It wasn’t a long drive, and ten minutes later, they were back inside the mansion and down in the basement. Mira carefully went through all of the items they’d assembled, tapping a finger against her lips and looking pensive.
“Good,” she said. “This should be everything we need.”
She took a deep breath and fidgeted at the neckline of her blouse with her fingers.
“You sound a little unsure,” he said.
“For good reason,” said Mira. “In truth, I wish you would consider another path forward instead of this.”
“I have to know the truth,” said Jack.
“If it’s what you want, I will help you,” said Mira. “I did agree to do as much, after all. But I must implore you to be extremely careful, Jack. Steel yourself against temptation now, while you still can.”
“I will,” he said. “Can we get started now?”
He’d been planning on waiting and giving Ryoko the time she needed to recover, first, but the temptation was almost overwhelming. At the very least, he could start setting up and make the decision whether or not to continue after seeing how rested she was.
“It would be best if you take a shower first,” said Mira. “The cleaner you are, the less likely it is that you will harbor any impurities that might disrupt the ritual.”
“I can get behind that.” Jack pulled the front of his t-shirt forward a little, which was soaked to the point of sticking to his skin.
He made his way upstairs and started the shower, stripping off his wet clothing and tossing it into the hamper, which was already full and spilling over. It had been days since Ryoko had last done the laundry. He frowned and had to shake away a few nagging worries as he considered how strange she’d been acting.
He started the shower, letting the steam build to fill the bathroom before climbing in. The water felt incredible against his face and chest, and for a few minutes, he let it wash away his fatigue and doubts.
The bathroom’s door creaked open, pulling Jack from his reverie. It was hard for him to see who’d entered through the bathroom’s steam until they began speaking.
“You know,” said Mira, “I came to a decision that I thought you might wish for me to share with you, my sweet Jack.”
Jack pulled the curtain aside slightly. Mira had changed into a fluffy white bathrobe, and she walked directly up to him, standing just outside the shower.
“You came to a decision?” asked Jack. “Is this something I’m going to like?”
“Oh, I think you will,” said Mira. “I’ve decided to let you feed off me.”
Mira smiled at him, and then she let the robe fall from her shoulders. She was completely naked underneath.
Jack had seen enough women naked before to have grown accustomed to the different general builds that the female physique could fall into. Ryoko was petite, with small, fun-sized breasts, gentle curves, and a very compact sensuality to her. Katie had been somewhere in the middle, with slightly larger than average breasts and a butt that fit with her girl-next-door aesthetic.
Mira had the kind of body that men dreamed about and subsequently turned off their alarm clocks for. Her breasts were large and full, with a buoyant firmness to them that Jack suspected had been preserved by her time as a slow-aging vampire. Her nipples were like buttons of lewd sensuality, each one big enough to answer, at a glance, the question of whether her endowments were real or not.
She had that impossible hourglass figure, with a taut waist and hips with just the right amount of thick. Her butt swayed from side to side with delicious movements with each step she took forward, betraying the slightest hint of a jiggle. She had a tiny, forbidden strip of faint blond hair on her crotch, and Jack couldn’t help but wonder how it would feel against… certain parts of his own anatomy.
“It seems so much more convenient for it to happen in here,” said Mira. “I need to take a shower, anyway. And this way, we won’t have to worry about making a mess.”
The combination of her words and her nudity had Jack at full mast as Mira stepped through the curtain and into the shower. She’d tried to stop him from doing anything with her before, back when he’d still been holding out on giving her the Embrace. He didn’t think he could stop himself now even if he tried.
“I like the way you think.” Jack reached out with a finger, touching her neck and letting the tension build to an aching degree. “This will be your first time in a while… won’t it?”
“Mmm,” hummed Mira. “My first time. Yes, I suppose it will be. You’ll have to be gentle with me.”
“That’s a hard ask,” said Jack. “But I can promise that if I’m rough, you’ll still enjoy it.”
He stayed where he was as Mira moved to position herself more directly under the shower’s stream, which left their bodies mere inches apart. Jack reached a hand out and ran his thum
b across Mira’s lips. She opened her mouth and gave the tip the tiniest of bites, keeping her eyes locked on his throughout.
“Turn around,” said Jack.
Mira slowly turned around, only breaking eye contact with him when she absolutely had to. She ran her fingers through her hair, which was now wet from the water and hanging in dampened locks.
“Like this?” she asked. She pushed her butt out, briefly letting it grind into Jack’s shaft. It felt really, really good, and he had to take a quick breath to focus his thoughts on what he needed to be doing.
“Perfect.” Jack stepped forward. He set one hand on Mira’s waist and the other on her shoulder, feeling her immediately arch her back in response. He started to move into position and smiled a little as his breath drew in range of the apparently very sensitive nape of Mira’s neck. She shuddered and leaned her head to the side.
“Ticklish?” asked Jack. He was smirking, and he wanted nothing more than to turn her around to see the expression on her face.
“It’s… a little different,” she said. “Being on the receiving end.”
Jack slid in closer to her, letting his lips brush her neck. She wiggled again, which made the contact between her butt and his crotch feel absolutely wonderful.
“Is it too much for you to take?” asked Jack.
“Just go slow,” said Mira, the confidence returning to her voice.
Jack kissed her neck, and she shivered in a way usually reserved for women deep in the throes of pleasure. There was no point in putting it off for any longer.
He sank his fangs into Mira’s neck. She let out a cry of passion which caught partially in her throat, leaning her head as far back as she could with Jack still biting her and steadying herself against one of his legs with her hand.
Her blood tasted like candy. Like bubblegum, but with an expensive, nuanced quality to it that kept the sweetness from being overpowering. She tasted so good, and the fresh blood made Jack’s arousal surge as he continued to drink. He ran one hand over her breasts and let his other explore between her legs.
He kept drinking, knowing that he’d need a significant amount of blood essence to pull off the spell if what Mira had told him was accurate. He took more than he probably should have, and when he finally pulled his mouth back, Mira fell forward into the wall of the shower.
“Mira,” said Jack, frowning. “Are you alright? Maybe you should…”
She turned to face him, shivering with the afterglow of his bite, and caressing her crotch with one hand. She bit her lower lip, and then threw herself forward onto him, pulling Jack into one of the most intense embraces of his life.
She gave him a kiss with full tongue and literally hopped onto him, draping her arms over his shoulders and wrapping her legs around his waist. Mira wasn’t a petite woman, but Jack, aided by his vampirically enhanced physique, had no issue lifting her weight.
He squeezed one of her buttocks with his hand, and then slowly lowered her down onto his shaft. The angle was so perfect that he couldn’t have missed, and they both let out gasps of realized anticipation as he entered her.
“My… sweet Jack,” whispered Mira, in a pleasured voice. She let one of her hands intertwine through his hair, and briefly pulled his face forward to bury it in the expansive cleavage of her breasts.
Jack gripped her with all his strength and began to bounce her up and down. Their bodies were slick with water, and the method would have likely been ill-advised if not for Jack’s strength. He felt the pleasure pulsing through him as he used Mira’s body like a living, breathing sex toy. It was dominant, and it was fitting, given how their relationship had changed in the past month.
Mira let out confident cries of pleasure, each one wavering slightly, like excited shouts on a bumpy rollercoaster. She shifted her arms and legs, but it didn’t matter much what she did with them. Jack was the one holding her, the one taking her, and he was being very deliberate about it.
He pressed forward, pinning Mira against the wall of the shower and continuing his sexual onslaught. She bit her lower lip; her moans shifted to silent, erotic gasps. Jack could feel the tension of the pleasure inside of her, and knew that she was about to reach her climax even before she did.
“Oh!” she cried. “Oh… Jack!”
She pulled forward, squeezing him tightly, and Jack let himself be tender with her, despite his own throbbing need for release. He ran a hand through her wet hair and kissed her forehead.
“That… was wonderful,” whispered Mira. “I am so very, very proud of you.”
“Uh-huh.” Jack cleared his throat.
She looked him in the eyes, blinked a couple of times, and then glanced down at the elephant in the room.
“Where are my manners?” whispered Mira. She set her feet back down on the floor of the shower, and then slowly slid her hands down Jack’s body, falling to her knees. “You still need some attention, my dear, sweet Jack.”
She smirked up at him as she gripped his shaft in her hand, holding his gaze and making it clear that she was about to take some of her power back. Jack watched as she licked her lips, then licked him. He groaned as he felt her push her mouth forward and take in most of his length.
Mira could do amazing things with her lips and mouth. Amazing things. Jack was the one on the defensive as she bobbed her head back and forth, sucking and swirling her tongue. Suddenly, she’d stop and do nothing at all, or maybe just press a finger against the tip, teasing and edging Jack in a manner that bordered on sadistic.
When she finally returned to using her full mouth, Jack was already past the point of no return. He gripped Mira’s head and unloaded, and she proved to him that blood wasn’t the only thing she knew how to suck down.
CHAPTER 15
They stayed in the shower for several minutes more. Mira instructed Jack on scrubbing himself as clean as humanly possible, mainly as a way to eliminate all potential impurities for the spell.
She climbed out first, and when Jack finally finished and dried himself off, he found that she’d left clothes out for him in his room: a white t-shirt and comfy black sweatpants. It sent a pang of worry through him as he thought of Ryoko, who was usually the one doing that. Ryoko was usually the one doing a lot of the things that Mira had done that night.
Jack slowly made his way down into the cellar and found that Mira was already in the process of preparing the space for the spell. She’d somehow drawn a perfect circle on the floor, as wide across as Jack was tall. Within it was a five-pointed star, creating a workable pentagram in chalk to serve as the base for the summoning.
“How is this going to work, exactly?” asked Jack. “What am I actually going to be doing?”
“It’s not as complicated as it might seem to you currently,” said Mira. “First, you’ll need to center yourself. The incense will help with that, but you’ll also need to do some deep breathing and minor meditation.”
She was wearing black yoga pants and a grey, tunic-style sweater, an outfit that Jack was pretty sure had once been Katie’s and been left behind at the mansion at some time or another. She moved about the pentagram, placing and lighting a candle on each of the points. As soon as she was finished, she went over to the stairs and flicked off the cellar’s main light, leaving it illuminated by only the orange, wavering candle flames.
“Okay,” said Jack. “I can do that. What happens then?”
“From a comfortable position, with one hand in contact with the summoning circle, you’ll reach out to Adana,” said Mira. “Your grandfather’s staff will help you recognize the traces she leaves behind, so you’ll need to be touching that, too.”
“Reach out to her?” asked Jack. “What does that mean, though?”
“Do you remember how to use your Blood Sight spell?” asked Mira.
Jack nodded.
“It’s very similar to that, except the drain will be greater on your blood essence reserves,” said Mira.
“But how is that going to open a portal to th
e Other Realms?”
Mira smiled at him and let out a patient sigh.
“I forget sometimes just how little you know about the supernatural world,” she said. “You will not be opening the portal. All you’ll be doing is making an appeal to Adana. Offering her a share of your essence, along with the magical energy remaining in your grandfather’s staff, as a source for her to draw from. It should be enough to allow her to come through to the Mortal Realm for a small amount of time.”
Jack swallowed.
“Okay,” he said. “How safe is this, exactly?”
Mira licked her lips, and gave a small shrug. She looked uncertain, which wasn’t an expression common to her pale, pretty face.
“I do not know Adana personally,” said Mira. “From what I’ve heard of her, she is more devious than dangerous, in a traditional sense. She might… offer you things. Or try to make a deal with you. I would be lying if I said that there was no risk involved.”
“Right,” he said. “Well, it’s a risk I’m willing to take. I need to know the truth.”
Even in the cellar, Jack could hear the rhythm of the rain pattering down on the roof overhead. He sat down on his knees next to the pentagram, trying to calm down his heart as it threatened to race out of his control.
Mira lit some of the incense she’d brought, positioning it in strategic places around the cellar to maximize its scent throughout the room. Jack started the preliminary process of focusing his thoughts and preparing to attempt the spell.
“Are you ready?” asked Mira.
“Yeah,” he said. “I’ll start meditating and then reach out to Adana once I’m centered.”
Mira came up behind him and squeezed his shoulders.
“You don’t have to do this, Jack,” she said. “I feel I should point that out to you.”
“No, I do,” he said. “But don’t worry. Even if it goes badly, I’ll still keep my end of our bargain.”
Mira kissed him on the top of his head and squeezed his shoulders again.
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