Rafaroy

by T. J. Quinn

  It was adorable that Alyese always seemed slightly embarrassed after they made love. He felt it was because she was so uncharacteristically vocal and needy when she was aroused. That strange dichotomy only sealed her deeper into his heart.

  This was all in the world he ever wanted or needed. They lay wrapped in a warm embrace as they spiraled back down to reality. The period of coming back after such a profound shared experience always made him reflective.

  Tonight, she pointed out, “You did it again…became so caught up in the sex, you forgot to feed. Those things are supposed to go hand in hand with your kind, aren’t they?”

  He smiled, pulling her close. “Making love to you is always the better part. You are more distracting than you realize, my sweet.”

  She glanced up at his very serene face. “What are you thinking? You always look so chilled out after we make the beast with two backs.”

  Squeaky laughed at her strange characterization of their love making. He pulled her closer, deciding to follow his new path of being more open and honest. “When I first learned your language, I liked to read human literature. On my world, I might not have had the opportunity to waste my time on literary pursuits so I decided to find the most whimsical unnecessary kind of earth literature and waste a few moments a day simply enjoying it. I elected to read poetry because it touched something deep inside me and helped me heal from my experiences on the ships.”

  She turned to him and propped herself up on one elbow to look at him as he spoke. The look on her face was one of love and admiration. He was slightly embarrassed to have her full attention on something so trivial but continued with his explanation.

  “I have a favorite piece that was written by a pilot. One quote in particular reminds me of making love to you. It goes something like, ‘I have slipped the surly bonds of earth and danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; sunward I've climbed, and hovered there, I've trod the high un-trespassed sanctity of space, I put out my hand, and touched the face of God.’ Only in my case, I feel that I have touched the face of a goddess.”

  The next thing he knew, her arms were around his neck again and she was kissing him as she sifted her fingers through his hair. She ran her hands over his growing manhood. He felt moisture on his face as she kissed him and knew instantly that she was crying. He worried that he had upset her with his stupid talk of being on the ships and poetry that no one else cared about. But if she was unhappy with him, why was she preparing to have sex with him again? She knew he loved having sex twice.

  He pulled Alyese back slightly to check that she was alright.

  “That is the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me. I love you so much more than words can say.”

  He hauled her back into his arms and held her for a few moments before making slow, sweet, sexy love to her all over again. This time, she pulled his face down and he fed as he made love to her. He had to admit that always fueled their sex into something off the charts hot.

  Feeding normally turned his eyes red but feeding and sexing at the same time brought the bloodlust in him so fast, it took his breath away. Turning his face away slightly, he didn’t want her to see his eyes fill with the little lines of bright amber brought on when the bloodlust surged in his kind.

  Alyese tilted his face to look deeply into his amber eyes. Allowing her to see him like that was difficult. He always thought he could just about pass as close to human until his eyes changed. Red eyes were a common sight when vampires fed. However, the amber color his eyes changed to when he was in bloodlust was rarely seen in public because it took both intimacy and feeding to invoke that response from a vampire. He was well aware that it made him appear almost animalistic. It always made him feel vulnerable and exposed. Instead of being put off, his lovely wife looked rather pleased with herself.

  Sharing his innermost thoughts and feelings had always been difficult for him. As he looked in her eyes, he knew she accept him. It reinforced the feeling that she was meant for him…just for him. He didn’t know what the beautiful female saw in him, but he felt for sure he was the luckiest man on this strange alien planet called Earth, to have captured her heart.

  Squeaky lay awake afterward thinking. He sometimes worried that he spent too much time thinking and not enough time doing. There was something about warm and naked in his own bed with a woman who loved him enough to see he was properly fed that made him introspective.

  Squeaky had never told anyone that he read poetry before. He felt it would make him seem weak. However, he was glad he shared that small bit of himself with the woman he loved. Maybe he couldn’t share everything with Alyese, but each additional bit of himself that he shared and she didn’t reject him for, left him feeling hope that she did truly accept him. Truth be told, the more he shared, the more the hauntingly beautiful creature seemed to love him. That kind of acceptance was rare in the universe and he cherished it beyond all measure.

  Chapter 3

  Vampire Brother

  Squeaky awoke the next morning, grabbed a shower, and kissed his lovely wife tenderly on the cheek as she slept. A quick of her neck assured him the wound from his bite had totally healed. Vampire saliva had extremely strong regenerative powers, healing wounds rapidly. Sometimes, when his wife got a cut or a scratch, he would have her wash it and then he would lick the wound and put a bandage on it. It always healed in a few hours, leaving her both grateful and impressed.

  He supposed it was a quality that had slowly evolved in his kind to ease the effects of biting on a vampire’s host. Most humans were accommodating to vampires because the saliva took out the sting of the bite and healed the wound so fast.

  Squeaky thought briefly that if he had to look at his wife’s neck bruised and torn skin all the time it would rip at his heart, making him extremely reluctant to feed from her. When faced with the choice between love and feeding, most Vampires would chose love every single time. Food could be had in the form of synth-blood, blood bags or even animal blood in a pinch. Love was a much more elusive thing for a Vampire to find. Being consistently denied tenderness led most vampires to value love above all things.

  Squeaky pulled up the blanket around his wife in a protective gesture before slipping off to continue his life of crime. He sighed as he began to worry about how to extricate himself from his unsavory day job. The gang of criminals he worked with would not take kindly to him just walking off. Then there was his vampire brother sitting in the warehouse to worry about. Damn, his plate was totally full of worry and it was only nine in the morning.

  Heading out to his vehicle, Jake wandered up with a cup of sim-coffee. Though it smelled wonderful, Squeaky had no taste for its bitterness. Since he’d fed only hours before, he’d grabbed a bottle of water to help himself stay hydrated.

  “You look like a rock star today. What’s up with that?”

  Shrugging, Squeaky replied blandly. “Getting fed properly has that effect.”

  “No, there’s something else going on.”

  “Alyese and I spoke last night. I shared things about my past that I’ve never dared to speak to anyone about. I believe your sister really accepts me.” Unable to keep the smile off his face, Squeaky climbed into the driver’s seat.”

  “You’re honestly the world’s biggest idiot. Alyese has been absolutely crazy about you front the first moment she set eyes on you.”

  Squeaky’s mouth went dry as he realized that his wife could not have possibly loved the real him, as he only recently began to share his true thoughts and feelings with him. Luckily she happened to be accepting of the things he shared. It worried him to lose that acceptance if she discovered his secret life of crime. Realizing his newfound sense of self-respect and the innocent acceptance his wife had for him were both on the line, gave him a newfound sense of purpose.

  Parting ways with his brother-in-law, Squeaky headed for the abandoned warehouse, to check on his vampire brethren. He streamed the news as his hover car made its way through the programed route. News tha
t he was missing was being blasted on every station, along with a hefty reward for information leading to his whereabouts. Squeaky clicked through all the possible ways to alert the authorities without getting his crew arrested. No good options came immediately to mind. He worked different scenarios out in his brain all the way to their remote meeting spot.

  Entering the warehouse, he noticed that his boss had procured fresh blood for their guest. To his mind that was a good sign. It meant they wanted to keep healthy for the time being. Relief surged through him as he realized that fact alone gave him to figure something out. He walked over to the vampire chained to the floor. He was still out cold, but seemed otherwise unharmed.

  Josh and Faran were picking at each other as they played a game of cards. Squeaky sat quietly, and began scrolling through the local news. After a job, he paid close attention to see if any clues leaked out to the press. He could find nothing to indicate they were on the radar of the local authorities.

  The day turned into evening and the large vampire chained to the floor did not move. The fourth member of their crew joined them with food in the late afternoon. Little Joe handed him a small synth-B pouch and dropped two large pizza’s on the table for the rest of his crew.

  Sipping on the pouch of synthetic blood, Squeaky was worried again about why Alex Shardon was not awake. Finishing his dinner, he tossed the pouch in the trash. Just when he was thinking of checking on their guest again, when Faran got up, strolled across the room and gave his chains a good yank. The lethargic man moved to a sitting position.

  Faran boasted, “You owe me sixty large, Little Jo. I told you the animal tranq would have him down for days.”

  “We took him down around noon yesterday. It’s only four pm. That hardly qualifies as days.”

  The Kalian replied, “Over one day is days. Pay up, little man.”

  Josh stood up walked over and looked down at the clearly confused man. Looking over his shoulder, he spoke. “Squeaky, Feed him, the boss wants him kept healthy. That means no toying with him. I don’t want so much as a bruise on his skin.” Turning to Faran, his voice dropped a level. “Are you listening to me, Kalian?”

  “I have a name, use my name. I use your name when I address you, Josh. It is discourteous to…”

  Josh instantaneously stepped forward into the large alien’s personal space. “Fine. Faran, do not hit, punch, slap, scratch, or otherwise injure the hostage until we receive orders to do so. Am I understood?” Standing face-to-face with almost their noses touching, Josh waited for Faran to acknowledge the directive.

  Faran swallowed thickly and for the briefest of seconds, Squeaky though he was going to kiss him, again. Instead Faran held himself in check, giving a slight nod of understanding. When Josh spun on his heel, Faran watched a split second too long as the other man walked back across the room and sat back down at the card table. Squeaky had a hard time deciding if he liked it better when they were sleeping together or when they feigning for each other. Their on again, off again relationship was getting tiresome for the rest of the crew.

  Heating a blood bag under running water, Squeaky tried not to stare at the man who was only just noticing him. When it was properly heated, he went to his vampire brother. Pulling the end off of the tube that came out the bottom of the blood bag, Squeaky put it to the man’s lips like a straw. “Drink, my brother. You have been unconscious for a day and half. Your thirst must be great.”

  Turning his head slightly, he responded quietly. “I’m sorry, but I drink only synthetic blood.” His voice was dry and the poor man almost choked the words out.

  Squeaky felt his brows furrow. “I do not think the others will care about your personal preferences. If you want to feed, this is your chance.”

  As always, Faran was anxious and tightly wound when they had a live one on their hands. Apparently still aggravated from the disagreement with Josh, he noticed them speaking. Jumping to his feet, he yelled. “What are you two talking about? Get away from him, Squeaky.”

  Josh shot Faran an exasperated look, walked over to the two of them, and gave him a questioning look. “It’s been a long day, Squeaky. If we could just cut to the chase that would be great. What’s the problem?”

  “The gentleman says he does not drink human blood. He will only drink synthetic blood.”

  Josh stooped down and looked Alek in the face for a brief moment, then slowly pulled a $20.00 bill out of his pocket and gave it to the small vampire, saying, “Just get him synthetic, Squeaky. They have by-one-get-one at the gas station across the street.”

  As Squeaky tried to ask the man what kind of Synth-B he preferred, their conversation was drowned out by Faran.

  “So you are purchasing the food of choice for our hostages now? You’re getting soft, Joshua. And you’re even more of a fool than I ever imagined possible.”

  Josh stood up, walked back to the table, and picked up his cards. He glanced over at their hostage a brief moment before speaking. “You know something, Faran? You and the vampire are both aliens to be sure but there are only a couple of real differences between you. The most obvious difference is that you’re a criminal and he’s not. You and I do some pretty awful things to other people all the time. He didn’t do anything to anyone.”

  Faran nodded his agreement so far and Josh continued, “The less obvious difference is that you don’t seem to be the least bit selective about what goes between your lips. There are no standards there, whatsoever, that I can see. The vampire refuses to drink our blood. That is called having and sticking to a principle, which is hard to do, particularly in a situation like this. If you really want to know, that’s why I would buy him dinner and not you.”

  Shit, Josh did not just say that to the already out of control Faran. Squeaky was certain the human was referencing the fact that his onetime lover wasn’t sucking the correct rod in Josh’s opinion. Since the moment they’d separated after their last tryst turned heated, Josh seemed intent on treating Faran like the world’s biggest man whore. Faran was far too thick to realize Josh’s insults were driven my jealousy rather than generalized disrespect.

  Before anyone could respond, Furan’s eyes flashed black. It was the way with his kind when their temper flared. He promptly picked up the card table and threw it against the wall. The other two men did not seem perturbed at all, they just stood staring at him, until he stalked out of the room, cursing.

  Little Jo, burst out laughing, righted the table, and began gathering the cards back up. Though they had long since become used to Faran blowing his top every now and then, this felt different. He murmured to Josh as he passed, “Beware that you don’t push the Kalian too far.”

  “He’ll be fine. Steer clear of him out there, yam hear?”

  “I will do my best.”

  Upon exiting the building, he found Faran was nowhere to be found. Climbing into his hover car, he headed down the long isolated road to the gas station Josh had described as across the street. It was more like seven miles down a long lonely secondary road and across the street. He snagged a couple of bags of regular Synth-B and headed back to the warehouse.

  On his way from the vehicle to the door, he was blindsided by Faran. Giving him a shove against the hard exterior of the building, he snarled angrily. What’s so gods damned special about vampires?”

  “Nothing, leave me alone.”

  Grabbing him around the neck, Faran leaned in so close that Squeaky could feel the man’s hot breath against his cool skin. “Human’s love their vampires above all the other aliens who landed in those ships. The part I can’t figure out is why?”

  “They don’t. You’re letting your emotions get the better of you again.”

  Squeezing tighter around his neck, Faran pulled him forward and hurled him to the ground. Since the Kalian was almost twice his size and had hands the size of his head, there wasn’t a good chance Squeaky would come out unscathed in a physical altercation with his longtime friend.

  “Humans are all different
and no all of them prefer vampires. Josh is pissed about you tossing him aside. Making you jealous is his way of getting even.” Coming to his feet, Squeaky tried to dust his clothing off. He could feel a trickle of blood ooze from his bottom lip. “The real question is why do keep letting him get to you?”

  “I don’t…I…shouldn’t. I’m sorry.”

  Shaking his head, Squeaky looked at his still seething friend. “You are forgiven. Why don’t you go burn off some steam, before you go another round with our smart mouthed leader?”

  Sighing, Faran slapped at an overhanging sign, jutting out from the side of the building. “I suppose you’re right. Thanks for not going off on me.”

  “You two are going to need to work your shit out, before one of gets mangled in the middle.”

  Snatching up his bag of blood, Squeaky headed into the warehouse.

  Taking one look at him, Josh threw his cards down on the table and cursed under his breath. “I swear that dumb ass Kalian is going to be the fucking death of me.” Turning to him, Josh spoke up in a frustrated voice. “Just stay the hell away from Faran when he’s pissed. God, you should know that by now, Squeaky.”

  Shaking his head, Squeaky waved away the attention. “Faran is harmless. He just likes to shout it out when he is angry. You know, for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction. If you make him angry, he is going to show it. What exactly did you think was going to happen when pushed him too far, Joshua?”

  Josh stared at his hand like it had suddenly grown another finger, making it the most fascinating appendage in the entire world.

  Squeaky opinioned quietly. “The humans have a saying about flies and honey. Perhaps you have heard of it.”

  Storming out the door, Josh appeared a slightly panicked. Little John followed him.

  Squeaky murmured, “Yes, do go that before our impulsive friend is balls deep in his next conquest.