by Eden Bradley
But she was human.
How? When it wasn’t even her he played. When he wasn’t even touching her.
And human.
Human!
But he couldn’t stop, his cock like a hammer between his legs, pulsing and heavy. He felt Calam weakening, knew he’d had enough. Had to fight the raging desire to keep drinking, drinking, until the man was empty.
No.
Meeraj was breathless, weightless. She could feel the vampire, could almost see his thoughts. A lovely female face that was hers, yet not hers. Who was she? She could feel his desire, like some primal thing he kept barely caged. Frightening. Irresistible. And beneath it, a great sadness that threatened to overwhelm her.
Tears streamed down her cheeks, and her pussy throbbed with heat as she watched the vampire, the human’s cock in his fisted hand as he continued to pump. The man was thrusting his hips, his body glistening with sweat. And the vampire’s mouth latched onto his wrist, sucking, sucking.
I want you…unbearable…
Were those her unspoken words, or his?
The redheaded man’s muscled body went rigid, he cried out, and came, spurting between the vampire’s fingers. Her body, her sex, clenched. Her mouth opened in shock as a climax rippled through her, pleasure shimmering over her skin, trembling in her belly.
She clutched the edges of the stool, her head spinning. The vampire pulled his mouth from the man’s wrist, a few droplets of blood lingering on his lips. He licked them away then licked the man’s wrist, his tongue as delicate as a cat’s. She felt it as though he was licking at her damp slit. That cool, lapping tongue.
She moaned, her sex still pulsing.
The vampire turned to look at her. His blue eyes were blazing, almost entirely black now, his pupils enormous. As she watched, his cheeks went pink, his lips red, as the blood filled him.
He was beautiful. So beautiful it nearly hurt to look at him.
She had never wanted anything—or anyone—so much in her life.
She was shaking.
He smiled, a brief, crooked lift at one corner of his lush mouth, his sharp eyeteeth gleaming in the dim light. Another wave of need swept through her. She couldn’t even begin to understand what had just happened.
She drew in a deep breath, then another, forcing herself to calm while the vampire let the man out of the handcuffs, half-carried him to the velvet settee she’d been sitting on earlier.
Two human female attendants dressed in red leather corsets and short black leather skirts, heavy chrome collars around their pale, graceful necks, were there immediately, wrapping the man in blankets, giving him a glass of water to drink. The vampire stepped back, watched for several minutes, then he turned to her.
His gaze was just as startling from several feet away, just as intense, as though magnified, somehow. Her sex gave one more squeeze, still full and aching. She took in another long breath, stilling herself as she’d trained herself to do.
Control.
Yes, always. Until she chose to give it up, to give it over to another.
She was going to give it over to this vampire. Tonight. Tomorrow. Whenever he demanded it of her. She’d done it already, coming for him with nothing more than that window into his mind, his play partner’s sensations. She’d heard about such things. Had wondered if the rumors were true. Came to the Midnight Playground anyway, because it didn’t matter. She was here. He wanted her. She didn’t need to know anything else.
Chapter Two
Aleron stood, looking at her. She was stunning, this woman. This mortal woman who had somehow managed to get inside his head without him inviting her. Who had managed, in all her mortal simplicity, to make his blood sing.
It shouldn’t be possible. The Bloodsong that was the vampiric response to pain play only ever happened between vampires. Never in his three hundred years had this happened to him. Not with a human. And he knew it was her, not Calam, who had caused it. It was her response, the intensity of their mental connection, made the instant he’d seen her, that had his blood humming in his veins.
He looked over his shoulder, making certain the two young slave girls were caring for Calam properly. They were pretty enough. They would never be here if they weren’t. But he only had eyes for her.
She watched him, her lovely face wary now. He liked that, that she was a bit off balance, this strong woman. He liked the scent of her nerves skittering over her sweet skin.
He didn’t like that she made him feel the same way. Yet it intrigued him. He hadn’t felt like this over a woman, over anyone, in a long, long time.
Not since…but no, he wouldn’t think of that now.
Emeline.
No.
He focused on her once more, on those shining eyes that were a glowing, metallic bronze, the luster of her golden skin, the high, rounded curve of her cheekbones. Her blood beating at her temples, at that tender spot at the base of her long throat. He drew in her scent. Flowers again. Desire. Female come between her hot thighs.
Yes…
He stepped closer, held out his hand. “I am Aleron.”
She took it in hers, her mortal warmth seeping into his hard, cool flesh.
“Meeraj.”
“A beautiful name.”
She simply nodded her head, as if his compliment were her due. So calm in the face of all that had happened already. On the outside, anyway. He knew better.
“Your first time at Midnight Playground?” he asked.
“Yes. I only received my invitation a few nights ago.”
“And who is your sponsor?”
“Her name is Nissa.”
“Ah, I know her well. Quite well. I’m surprised she didn’t mention you to me.”
“Why would she have?” Meeraj asked, again, coolly. As if being in the presence of a vampire didn’t intimidate her at all.
“Nissa would know you would appeal to me.”
“And?”
“And you do.”
She smiled then, her teeth a row of flawless white. He could see in his head those teeth bared in ecstasy, her head thrown back, her eyes closed. He could see his own teeth bared to drink from her…offering her The Seeking Kiss…
She waited, watching him. A small ripple of nerves ran up his spine.
Unusual.
Yes, but he wouldn’t allow that to throw him. Perhaps it had simply been too long since he’d had a woman. It had been months since he had given Hex over to Nissa, and she was the last woman he had taken. Men were always easier, in every way. Easier to obtain. Easier to dispose of when he was finished with them, without any drama on either part. Women were emotional creatures and he was…not. It had been a very long time since he had allowed himself to be anything more than fond of his female partners.
A hundred years.
Why was he thinking of this now? With this superb creature before him.
He reached out, stroked one finger down her bare arm. Skin as silky smooth as it looked, and a small, lovely shiver from her.
Perfect.
“Meeraj, would you like a drink?”
“No, thank you. I don’t drink.”
“Tell me what you are here for.”
“I am here for the unique experience of sex with a vampire. Isn’t that what we’re all looking for, we humans who come here?”
“Yes, of course. What else?”
He had to know if there was more to it for her. Other than her scent, she was difficult to read. She was strong, so strong he had no idea of the extent of her submissive tendencies. And submission was something he would never force or trick anyone into.
“I am here to see if any of your kind finds me fit for The Seeking Kiss. I want that, to experience that bliss. To experience all that I can. To become closer to your kind.”
“And the Turning Kiss?” He was challenging her. The Turning Kiss, that long, long drink which would transform a human into one of his kind, was not a requirement of those who came to Midnight Playground, and was rarely offe
red. He was testing her, perhaps.
“I understand that for many it’s the ultimate desire. But it’s not as important for me. Maybe I don’t know what I might be missing.”
“You don’t seem at all afraid, of any of it.”
Meeraj lowered her long, black lashes. They brushed against the faint pink flush on her cheeks, the first outward sign that she was truly affected by being there.
“I’ve been accused before of being…contained.”
He laughed. “So have I.”
She raised her eyes to his once more, the gold burning through him.
“Which is one reason why I hoped to be invited to play in the dungeons here. It helps me to let go.” He saw her jaw tighten, her fingers unconsciously clench. “It’s the only time I can.”
He watched her closely, saw the pulse beating in her throat. Yes, she was more worked up than he’d originally thought. Why hadn’t he noticed? He was too distracted by her beauty. Her rigid strength.
If this woman were a vampire, she would be one to rival my own power…
But he was getting ahead of himself.
And she was talking about the dungeons, about his favorite sexual arena—BDSM. That exchange of power, of pain, soaring sensation that opened the doorway into a person’s soul. Intense when played between humans and vampires. An almost dangerous force when played between vampire and vampire. The Bloodsong overwhelming…and why had it happened with this woman watching? He had to find out. He had to find out how much more intense it would be when he played her. And he intended to.
“Have you done this before? Bondage? Pain play?”
She nodded. “Yes. It’s something I’ve been interested in for several years. I’ve only ever played with other humans, of course. But I’ve experienced it from both sides, top and bottom. I’m a performer, and my specialty is fetish performance. So the leather and the exhibitionism, the ropes and the whips, are nothing new to me. Only this is new. Being here. With someone like you.”
“Do you understand what this sort of play means with a vampire?”
“I’ve heard about the intensity of it. About the bloodlust that often comes with it.”
“The bloodlust is dangerous,” he warned her, watching her carefully. She still wasn’t afraid. “It’s the one thing that can wrench control from one of my kind. You understand that you could be risking death?”
She nodded once more. “All of that was in the papers I signed before coming. I have no family left. I have nothing to lose but a life which has become too ordinary for someone like me.”
“I don’t know what you might mean by that—someone like you. But you can tell me later. I find I am eager for play.”
He realized then he’d been holding onto her hand the entire time, his grip probably crushing her fingers a bit, yet she had never even winced.
Oh yes, a worthy opponent. A worthy partner. And so damn lovely he couldn’t wait to get started. To get his hands on her. To contain the power of who she was. To elicit a response from this cool, cool human female.
Enticing. Irresistible.
“I’m ready for the dungeons,” she told him. “I’m ready for anything.”
He smiled at her, and the tips of his sharp eyeteeth caught the light, glinted. Meeraj shivered, trying not to let it show.
To be with one of them. To give herself over to a being of such strength and power…she may even, for the first time, be able to let go completely. In a way she had never allowed herself before. Maybe this would allow her to feel, deeply, truly, in a way she hadn’t since she’d lost the last of her family.
Jai. Her mother. And Dev, finally. But she couldn’t think of them now. Not here.
She steeled herself, shook off the moment of sentimentality.
Aleron tipped her chin with his fingertips, gazed into her eyes. His were a startling blue, icy, flawless. She was surprised to see pain buried there, deep in the wide, black pupils. Was even more surprised at the answering twinge in her chest.
Stop it. Calm down.
“Meeraj.” He said her name as though he were experimenting with the way it rolled off his tongue, lyrically, with his French accent. “Tonight will be different from anything you have experienced before. No matter how many times you have played at the dungeons with other mortals. With me, you will only ever be the bottom.”
“Of course.”
Yes, that was exactly what she wanted. Impossible to see it any other way with him, with a being of his power. The ultimate in domination.
“And once you hand yourself over to me, you are entirely under my command, my control. There are no safe words. We play by pure instinct. By agreeing to come with me now, you are agreeing to The Seeking Kiss, to my drinking your blood. And at my whim, offering your body, your blood, to others.”
“I understand, Aleron. I understand, and I am here for exactly this.”
The excitement was building within her at his words. The desire flowing like molten heat through her body. Her mind was beginning to spin.
I am really here. This is truly about to happen.
Perhaps she was in a slight state of shock. She wasn’t sure what was happening to her. She’d thought nothing could shock her. Not after the lean, hard life she’d led, living in one of the toughest neighborhoods in London, working her way up as an exotic dancer. She’d started in the lowest of clubs, those that had chain-link fences protecting the girls from their audience. The better clubs had bulletproof glass. The best clubs, where she worked now, had no barriers of any sort.
That’s where she’d seen the vampires. They came on occasion, slumming it, she supposed, in the human quarter. They could certainly afford the fees. She had never been touched by one. But the moment she’d seen her first vampire up close, she had craved that stone-cold touch. Had wanted to brush up against that power.
And now, here she was.
“Come to me then, Meeraj.”
It wasn’t a question.
Aleron looped an arm around her waist as she stood. Though his hand had been cool to the touch, his body was surprisingly warm. Hard as the marble-paneled walls, still, but almost warmer than any human’s, as though he burned with fever.
“You are mine for tonight. We will be very good together, you and I,” he whispered to her.
His breath was like a cooling breeze in her hair, making her shudder with heat and need and the tiniest edge of fear. But she wasn’t about to stop. This was it, her darkest fantasy come to life. On shaking legs, she let him lead her to the large wooden cross. It seemed enormous to her now, towering over her, even over him.
Aleron.
Had she ever imagined the vampires would be this utterly beautiful up close? Had she ever imagined the way her blood ran hot, nearly steaming through her veins, along with an exquisite anticipation she could hardly bear?
He pulled her in close to his side, and she melted into him, her mind emptying out already. He smelled like stone, clean and hard and solid. Pure, somehow.
“I am going to strip you. And then I will chain you to this cross, just as I did the handsome Calam. And you will love it, won’t you, my beauty?”
He caressed her cheek, his cool touch making her shiver.
“Yes,” she whispered.
Oh, she would enjoy it. Lose herself in it.
She was lost already. And at this moment, she didn’t care if she never found her way back.
Aleron stepped away from her, turned his head and nodded his chin. Out of the shadows came the two young women who had been attending to Calam earlier. They came up, one on either side of her, and undressed her so quickly she didn’t have time to think about it. Their quick little hands were like tiny caresses on her skin, lighting her up with need, making her feel oddly cherished. They took off her dress, her bra, her panties, which were soaking wet already. They took her silk stockings, her high black boots. She was left in nothing but her earrings, a pair of delicate silver hoops that had been her mother’s, and her long black hair falling ar
ound her shoulders.
Aleron stood, watching her closely, and a slow smile spread over his face. She was shivering, but not with cold. No, it was a need so fierce she could barely contain it. She wanted to sink to her knees before him. To kiss his hands. To be allowed to touch him.
God.
God had nothing to do with this.
Aleron reached out, laid his hand on her cheek, swept it down until he cupped her chin, raising it a few inches.
“You are so elegant,” he told her, his voice low. “So very beautiful. But the women here are all beautiful. You are…something special.”
A small shiver at his words.
She had never in her life wanted to please anyone the way she did him. She had never been that truly submissive with anyone, male or female.
His hand slipped down, over her collarbone, and she thought she might die happily right then, simply from his touch. Except that she needed to really feel him too badly.
He leaned in, his lips only inches from hers. His breath a sweet whisper against her mouth.
“I can feel your excitement, Meeraj. I can hear the gasping edge to your breath. I can sense the racing of your heart, the heat in your body. In your lovely pussy.”
He stroked her breasts, and she surged into him.
“Ah, your nipples are hard for me. Perfect.”
He bent his head, and she felt the hot lash of his tongue on one distended nipple.
“Oh…”
He drew it into his mouth, his tongue sweeping across it. She was flooded with heat—her breasts, her pussy. Her legs were weak.
Aleron pulled away. “You are shaking, my darling. We can’t have that. Best to steady you now.”
He took her wrists and held them over her head, backing her into the cross until she felt the smooth wood pressed against her spine. As he fastened the leather cuffs about her wrists, she felt strangely safe, cared for.
The sound of the chains sliding across wood as Aleron adjusted them was like some primal music in her ears. She loved the idea of chains, the heaviness of them. The medieval feel to them. They seemed so tough, for want of a better word. So hard. As hard as the vampire’s skin.
