by Fawn Lowery
Selena screamed and scrambled to get out of the way of the fighting vampires. Her hand was on her throat, blood oozing between her fingers. Her eyes were wild staring points of anger and fright.
Jarharis bounded to his feet, raising his fists, he charged Aston, catching him around the waist and driving his body back. The locked pair careened into the corner, upsetting several metal flower stands. A clamorous noise rent the air as the duo fought on the floor, rolling and snarling, lashing out with fisted hands and gnashing teeth.
Aston rolled atop Jarharis and for a second appeared to have the upper hand, but Jarharis gathered his strength and thrust his legs forward, upsetting Aston’s hold on him. He leapt to his feet and caught Aston around the neck. He spread his legs, bracing his body, and gripped the vampire in a tight hold. Aston railed and thrashed his legs, flailing his arms and trying to get free.
Jarharis held him fast, pinning his body to the floor and holding his throat in both fists. He began to squeeze, digging his fingers into the skinny appendage in his grip. Hate intensified inside his body.
Aston spat and kicked the air, raising his legs up and spiraling around to break free. Jarharis held on, determined to destroy the evil vampire once and for all. He had sought him to no avail and now that he had finally caught him, he was adamant about killing him.
“You…will never…destroy me…Jarharis!”
Aston spoke in forced whispers, his clawing nails raking at Jarharis’s hands as the mighty vampire held on to him tightly. He had the strength of ten, but Jarharis was determined. He would be the victor.
“Kill him, Jarharis! Kill him!”
Jarharis jerked his eyes around the room, finding Selena cowering beneath an overturned table in one corner. Blood soaked her clothes and she looked weakened. She clutched her neck and sank against the wall, her strength flagging.
Jarharis snarled and applied pressure to Aston’s throat, forcing the vampire flat on the floor. He stepped one foot on his chest, listening to the sound of ribs breaking beneath his heavy boot. He dug his fingers into his throat then gave a mighty jerk, severing Aston’s head from his body.
Selena screamed.
Black blood squirted from the decapitated body. Aston’s limbs jerked convulsively. The severed head rolled to the wall and teetered for a second before coming to rest, the eyes open and staring wildly. Jarharis reached for a wooden stake in his jacket pocket. He straddled the flailing corpse and thrust the stake into the chest, driving it through the cavity with a blow from his fist. He snarled his contempt as he landed a second blow to the stake for good measure.
The corpse jerked one more time, the legs straightened, the arms fell to the floor. Blood gushed from the open wound around the wooden stake standing upright in the thin chest. Movement ceased. Aston was dead.
The vampire at his end, Jarharis got to his feet. He brushed his hair from his face, ran one palm across his eyes and sought out Selena. His rage engulfed him still. He pulled in great calming breaths, trying to regain his composure before he went to Selena. His eyes still glowed and his blood lust was fierce. He snarled again and glanced down at Aston’s dead body. The end had come. His vampire flesh was rapidly succumbing to the rigors of death. The corpse shrank within the black garb he wore, a wisp of black smoke appeared, grew, consumed, engulfed the whole form then burst into flame. The flesh on the head dried up, revealing the bony skull. The dried matter flaked off the bone, landing on the floor in piles of ash.
Jarharis turned his eyes away. His senses were returning. He looked at Selena and felt his insides lurch. She was on the brink of death. Quickly he rushed to her.
Selena reached out one hand to Jarharis. Her eyes rolled back in her head. She opened her mouth, but was too weak to speak. She fell forward, sprawling onto the floor, unconscious.
Jarharis snarled his rage and scooped Selena’s limp body into his arms. Her muscles flexed, moving just enough to let him know that she couldn’t last much longer. He held her to his chest and exited the storage room in long strides, his mind refusing to believe that she would leave him.
He hurried from the funeral parlor onto the street and quickly took to the air, Selena clutched to his chest. As he turned his path to his sanctuary, he refused to acknowledge that he had seen the vision of Selena turned into a vampire in the amulet he wore around his neck. Could he possibly have prevented Aston from forcing himself on her? He vented his rage in a loud yowl that echoed through the darkness.
He pushed through the entrance of his sanctuary with Selena clutched in his arms. One look at her pale face and he feared the worse. He laid her on the sofa and kneeled beside her. Taking her hand in his, he brought her palm to his mouth. Her body was cooling. Death was near. He felt remorse well up inside him.
“Give her your blood, Jarharis.”
He knew Mi’s voice without looking for her in the room. He felt her presence, a mixture of reassurance and dread. His brows furrowed. The Pixie had fought by his side the past two nights, destroyed more vampires than he himself had. She was a friend. He raised his eyes and found her perched near the ceiling of the room. A thought suddenly occurred to him. “Why do you keep your distance from me, Mi? Are we not friends?”
She flew closer, hovered just in front of his eyes. “Indeed, yes. We are friends, Jarharis. But the Master commands us both and therefore, I must do as he wishes.”
He dropped his gaze, returning his sight to Selena and her near death state. The fang marks on her throat were gaping holes that still oozed blood. He pressed one hand upon it, stemming the flow. He knew her fate, as well as he knew his own. He sighed.
“Press your vein to her mouth, else she will surely die.”
He hesitated, as he had when he found her lying unconscious by the side of the road. Did he dare to take matters into his own hands? Or was he letting her pass by choice? Was her life his to toy with? His temples throbbed with the agony of decision.
“Aston has taken too much of her blood, Jarharis. You must choose whether to help her through the change—or bring death upon her.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Selena lay in the crook of Jarharis’s arm, her head cradled on his shoulder. He held her hand and felt the cushion of her body as it pressed against his side. At the eleventh hour, he opened his vein, pressed it against Selena’s ashen lips, and forced her to drink. He had turned her into a vampire. He wrestled with remorse over the act, but finally, he knew happiness for the first time in thousands of years. She would be his always. He rolled his head to the side and looked at her placid face. She slept, her breathing even and deep.
He closed his eyes and let the sleep of the undead consume him.
* * * *
“If you hate me, I’ll understand.” He heaved a long sigh and looked at the woman lying against his side.
Selena stirred. She tightened her hand inside his and rolled her head to stare at him. “I feel different, Jarharis.” She raised one hand and placed it on her neck. “I remember Aston catching me off guard at the funeral home. He attacked me.”
Jarharis covered her hand with his. “He intended to kill you, but his plan failed.”
“Am I a vampire now? Did he make me a vampire?” Fright laced her voice. She jerked upright, shaking off Jarharis’s hand from her body.
“No, Aston didn’t make you a vampire, though he nearly drained your body of blood. I arrived before he could finish the act.” He drew in a long breath. “I made you a vampire—I forced my blood into your mouth. I turned you, Selena.”
She jerked her head around, staring at him with wide eyes. “You! But why?”
He levered his body up out of the crypt then turned to offer her his hand. A sudden thought brought a smile to his lips. “Don’t you remember begging me to make you a vampire so we could hunt the others together?”
She nodded her head and allowed him to help her out of the crypt. Brushing the dirt from her jeans and shirt, she followed him out of the bedchamber and into the bright interior of
the sanctuary. “I didn’t mean it, Jarharis.” Her knees buckled suddenly and she almost fell.
Jarharis caught her under the arms and helped her to the sofa in the room. He pushed her down and placed a pillow behind her back. Her admission slammed into his heart, making him wince with pain. “I thought as much.”
She placed her hand on his cheek. “Dear Jarharis, I love you, I truly do. But we don’t even know each other.”
“That’s got little to do with your situation now, Selena. You’re a vampire whether you want to be or not. The other alternative was death.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I had a decision to make and so I chose vampirism for you.” He stopped short of saying that they could be together forever. “Would you rather I’d let you die?”
She shook her head. “I feel dreadful. Why do I feel so horrid?”
“You need to feed.” He rolled the cuff of his shirtsleeve back and raked a sharp fingernail across his wrist, opening his vein. He offered his blood to her. “Here, drink. You will feel stronger instantly.”
She didn’t hesitate, but reached quickly for his arm and placed her mouth over the oozing vein, sucking the red blood into her mouth.
He watched as she took his blood, relishing the feel of her lips against his skin. She drank with a mighty thirst. The new ones usually did. He suffered a terrible memory of his brother, Duella when he was first turned. He had a ravenous appetite. And then there was Chandler, the youngest of the Southerland boys. He drank from his two brothers then hurried out to find other veins to pierce.
He dashed the thoughts. That was so long ago. Centuries. He was destined to live in the present for now. And Selena was his to tend. He allowed a smile to pull at his full lips. He loved her with all his heart. If only he could believe her words of love to him.
She pulled away finally, licking her bottom lip with her tongue to capture every last trace of his blood. She smiled up at him, her face flushed with new life. She leaned into his chest and snaked her arms around his waist. “What happens to us now? Do we just go out and bite people for the hell of it?”
He chuckled. “Vampirism is a way of existing. For me it’s meant being alone, until I met you. You made my senses come alive, Selena.” He tightened his arms around her shoulders, hugging her close. “You made me want you in a way that I hadn’t felt in a long time. You made me feel mortal—though I am not.” He kissed her temple.
“Can I fly like you now?”
“Yes.”
“Can I change into a bird or a bat?”
“Yes.”
“Do I have incredible strength?”
“Yes.” He chuckled at her questioning.
“Do we have to sleep in that dirt bed every night?” She wrinkled up her nose.
“I’ve never slept anywhere else. The soil is healing to my vampire body. Its fragrance is reassuring to my mind.”
“Bologna!”
“Beg pardon?”
“Do you have a lot of money? Are you rich?”
His brows drew together. “I wish for nothing.”
“Then I say let’s go buy a real bed.” She grinned at him, her new fangs poking slightly over her bottom lip. She raised her hand suddenly and pressed her fingers to her mouth. “Are my fangs showing?”
Jarharis laughed aloud and hugged her against his chest. Life—or existence as he knew it—would never be the same again. True, there would be some adjustments—probably more than he cared to think about—
“Tell me about yourself, since we’re going to be spending eternity together.”
He drew in a deep breath and tried to decide where to start. “I was once a medieval knight who lived in a fortress in Morganford, England.”
“Whoa! Are you shitting me?”
He laughed and shook his head.
Selena pushed out of his arms and crawled onto his lap, her knees on either side of his hips. She leaned her breasts into his chest and wrapped her arms around his neck. She kissed him, tasting his lips with the tip of her tongue. She wiggled her hips atop his crotch then settled heavily atop his lap.
Jarharis groaned and moved his hands to her buttocks. He took command of the kiss and sucked her bottom lip between his own. He raised one hand and released the buttons on her blouse, freeing her skin for his touch. His fingers found her bare nipple and stroked it, bringing it rapidly to a firm knot.
Selena groaned and pressed her breast into his hand, urging him to play further. She wiggled her hips atop his lap, teasing his cock.
His cock grew hammer hard beneath the covering of jeans. He reached one hand to Selena’s crotch and tugged the denim covering open along the seam then he thrust his hand inside to feel her moist passage. He stroked her pussy, pushing one finger inside her cave and thrusting it about. She giggled softly in her throat and deepened their kiss.
All at once she leapt from his lap into the floor and shed her clothes. Giggling, she stood before him naked. She raised one hand to her hip and posed for him, a smile on her face. “Do you want me, Jarharis?”
He looked at her, her breasts were high and firm topped with pert nipples, rosy from his playing. Her hips were round and curved, the blonde bush at her crotch, dense and curly. Her legs were long and shapely. His eyes traveled the length of her body then skimmed slowly back up to her smiling face. Her fall of yellow hair lay on her naked shoulders enhancing her beauty. He sighed. He was a mighty vampire with enormous strength and numerous powers—yet he was brought to his knees by this vision of loveliness.
And very fiber in his body wanted to possess her.
He nodded his head and held out his arms.
She leapt across the room and landed on his lap. With one hand, she sought out his zipper and freed his cock. Sighing, she sank onto it and began to move, her arms encircling his neck and her mouth sealed with his.
Jarharis felt happiness flow through his veins. He held Selena’s naked body against his crotch and lunged upward, filling her passage with his hard cock, as his mouth pressed lovingly against hers.
“I love you.” She pulled her mouth from his and stared down at him. “I love you.”
He stroked her cheek with one finger. Identified the true love in her eyes. “And I love you, Selena. Forever, my sweet.”
“Forever, Jarharis.”
He closed his eyes and reveled in the array of orgasmic sensations as they began traveling through his body, his arms holding tightly the woman he loved. Finally he had found happiness in his drab existence.
He felt fulfilled as a man—vampire or not. He was in love with a beautiful woman and she loved him. She was his to command. And he would command her. She would look to him for guidance. Together they would make love and share intimacies. They would be happy. He would make certain of that.
On a whim, he opened one eye and looked about the room in search of Mi. She was nowhere in sight—at least for now. He felt a measure of relief—glad she wasn’t hovering somewhere watching them. She was a mystery—appearing suddenly and telling him things.
He thought about the amulet hanging around his neck—and the fact that he couldn’t remove it. And the Master—have I really been serving the Master of the dark?
A sudden jolt of awareness shook his mind.
You have only begun to serve me, Jarharis.
THE END
About the Author
I began writing freelance almost twenty years ago and eventually my short stories became longer. The characters seemed to take over and draw their stories out. I first submitted a novella length story to Extasy Books in 2003 and it was accepted. That was Captive Heart, the historical romance now on the site. I have eight titles with Extasy Books. New ideas come to mind every day and some of them find their way on the computer screen. When I’m not writing, I enjoy traveling with my husband Dave.
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