Cartwright’s eyes flashed. He was a transylvanian, the only one on the Concilium, and it had cost him a lot to get the position despite his age. Under Dione’s icy glare, he looked away rather quickly.
‘Yes, agreed.’ Bella Tivoli was a very pretty black girl, the eldest vampire on the Concilium, and the only other nubian besides Leo. Despite her venerable age and stature in vampire society, she was a humble woman and worked as a dancer in Kitty Has Claws. She also had a fair amount of political experience. ‘Motion to form a team as suggested by Randall, under his authority and responsibility.’
‘I–’ Cartwright began.
‘Seconded,’ Peter Hu said. Peter was the only han, an exile from China.
Leo could see a set-up when one was put before him. ‘All in favour?’ He looked around. ‘Carried, seven to two. Yvonne, would you look into allocating some funds for the operation.’
‘Of course,’ Yvonne Shannon replied in her rather lilting, Irish tones. Over four hundred and fifty years a vampire and she still had the accent.
‘Good. Randall, you’ll keep us informed of your progress. Your team is not authorised to move on any suspect without Concilium clearance. It’s the Hunter’s job to make final determination and end them if required. I assume that’s okay with you, Dione?’
Dione smiled. ‘Of course. If that’s all, I have clean-up on Elizabeth’s mess to continue, and a partner to train.’
Part Three: Vampires Are Real?!
New York, NY, 4th December 2014.
Lisa knelt on the pristine white sheet in the white-walled room and waited. She was nervous. Her heart rate had increased as soon as she had walked into the room and the door closed behind her. It had hiked up another notch once she had removed her clothes and settled into place on the floor. Every sound, though there were few of those through the soundproofing, caused another spike of adrenaline.
Could she actually go through with it? She had decided on the full experience, so to speak, and ticked the boxes on the form for any lineage, any gender, with sex as an option. Had she done the right thing? If some strange man walked in, could she really just do what he wanted? Anything he wanted. She was not even allowed to know his name, or him hers. Anonymity was the name of the game. It was an exchange: he gave her pleasure; she gave him blood. That was it: no names, no phone numbers, and if they saw each other on the street, they would react as though they had never met. She had had her fair share of one-night stands, but… Okay, so how different was it to that? The formality of the whole thing, the rules and regulations, made it seem different, but she was going to get to feed a vampire, to know what that was like. Even if she never came again, she had to know.
The door opened a crack and Lisa looked quickly down at the sheet. She did not want to know what she was getting. Not yet. Not until he spoke or approached. The hinges were well-oiled and made barely a sound, but she heard the door close with a rather solid thunk, and then the locks engaged. Locks. They sounded very final. Lisa swallowed her heart down from where it was hammering in her throat. For a second, she thought she was going to chicken out after all.
And then the warm, sultry voice said, ‘Hello, Lisa.’
Lisa’s head snapped up and her eyes widened. ‘D-Di? But they said… We aren’t supposed to…’
‘Rules are made to be broken when they need to be. You’re a special case so Pat asked me if I would handle your induction. If it makes you feel more comfortable, you can call me “Mistress.”’
‘Oh, I… I could do that anyway.’
Dione’s lips curved. ‘Then I’ll call you “pet.”’
‘Yes, Mistress.’
Now the vampire chuckled. ‘It’s your first time and I need to ask you two questions. If the answer to both is yes, then there’s no turning back. Do you understand?’
‘Yes, Mistress.’
‘Good, that wasn’t the first question. Are you still willing to act as my supplicant and provide me with the blood I need to sustain myself?’
So this was it. If she said she was not, then it was over and Lisa knew that Dione would let her walk away. ‘Yes, Mistress.’
‘Very well. You indicated that you were willing to engage in sexual activity. I need you to indicate, to me, that this is the case.’
‘I get to have sex with you?’
‘Once we start, that is likely to be a forgone conclusion.’
‘Oh, yes. Uh, Mistress.’
Dione nodded and, as she slipped her coat from her shoulders, allowed her scent to expand around her. Winthrop called it a ‘pheromone analogue,’ but whatever it was, it helped soften up her ‘victims.’ Beneath the coat, Dione was wearing a simple, white shift. Dropping the coat into the box beside the door, Dione took up the hem of the dress and pulled it up over her head.
Lisa let out a whimper and shifted forward, up onto her knees as though she wanted to reach out for the muscular, yet lush, body in front of her.
Dione turned her head and looked down at the blonde. ‘Not yet, pet. Sit down and wait.’
‘Yes, Mistress,’ Lisa mumbled, sitting back on her heels.
Dione nodded and slipped off her pumps, dropping them into the box with the shift and coat. She closed the lid, turned, and reached up, stretching her back. Lisa let out a whining, keening sort of sound. ‘That’s my girl,’ Dione said, her voice soft. She knew that the sudden, more or less uncontrollable lust which was afflicting Lisa was down to the chemicals now swarming through her body. Partially at least.
Slowly, smoothly, Dione closed the distance to Lisa, stepping onto the sheet and then reaching down to trail a finger over the blonde girl’s cheek. Lisa whimpered. Dione reached further down and ran a finger slowly around Lisa’s left nipple, which was now standing out like a thimble. Lisa moaned. Dione tilted Lisa’s head back, bent forward, and their lips met. There was no tender brush; it was an onslaught. Their tongues met, probing, slipping over each other, battling for sensation. Dione saw Lisa’s eyes glaze over as the virus worked into her system.
To Lisa, it felt as though her whole body had just raised in temperature by a degree. Her skin tingled as though someone was playing a very light electric current over every square inch of it. Her mind, so focused on a desire to fuck it was almost painful, became fuzzy. She did not notice that Dione had laid her out on the sheet until she was already on her back. Dione’s large breasts were pressed against hers, skin sliding over skin. Their lips parted and Dione moved down, tongue stroking over Lisa’s throat, moving lower, flicking over nipples which felt harder than they had ever felt before. Lisa thought she was whimpering, or maybe the sounds were too incoherent for that. She thought she knew what was coming next and she could not wait.
But Dione skipped down and the next thing Lisa felt was Dione’s finger stroking over her stomach, Dione’s tongue, hot and wet, on her left thigh. She heard Dione’s voice then. ‘This will hurt a little, pet, but not for long.’ Lisa did not care.
There was a sharp pain that lanced through her thigh and straight into her groin. Lisa gasped, but the pain subsided rapidly, amazingly rapidly. There was a dull feeling of pressure where Dione’s fangs had gone in, but that was rapidly vanishing into a delirium of warm, throbbing, mindless pleasure. Dione’s fingers strayed down, finding Lisa’s mound, her labia. Fingers pressed and stroked and Lisa came, her back arching as orgasm flooded through her body like a wave, a tsunami. She had never come so fast in her life, and it was not over.
Dione turned, her tongue slipping between Lisa’s labia to the nub of flesh hidden in the folds. Every lick was another flare of white light in Lisa’s mind. She was nothing but a conduit for the pleasure washing through her. After a minute, she could do nothing but lie there, her head rolling as her body tensed and relaxed, small whimpers escaping her lips. Dione reached down between her own legs and began to stroke herself. A silent prayer began to circle in Dione’s mind as her fingers worked at her clit. As Lisa’s body finally relaxed, as the primary effect of the bite wore off, Di
one lifted her head and moaned in release before crawling up to lie beside Lisa, pulling her in and spooning against her back to wait for her to regain her senses.
~~~
‘This place is beautiful,’ Lisa said as she walked into Dione’s lounge.
‘Thank you,’ Dione replied.
‘I think I should be the one to thank you. That was the most intense experience I’ve ever had. If you don’t mind me asking, though, why am I here?’
‘For a chat. You have time for a chat?’
‘If you can give me a lift to the hospital in that sex machine of yours.’
Dione chuckled and waved Lisa to a seat. She sat down herself, selecting the corner of the sofa beside the table, near to Lisa. ‘All right. There are some aspects to you being a supplicant which need to be addressed.’
‘It’s not a problem is it?’ Lisa’s brows furrowed; she had not considered it might cause trouble.
‘It’s a manageable problem. You know me, you know Mike, and you know Leanne. I’ve already seen that you can keep the secret around Leanne, but I would ask you to be extra vigilant about slips there. I know she’ll find out eventually, but I’d rather it was… controlled, for her sake and Mike’s.’
‘Of course.’
‘Good. Then there are the security implications. Someone may discover that you know us and use that.’
‘Oh.’
‘So, management. I’ve spoken to Pat and we would like to take you out of the pool at the Candle.’
‘Oh,’ Lisa said, her heart sinking.
‘And I can tell you’ve taken that the way I expected. There are supplicants who gift privately, not quite what we call a “straight” relationship, but serving a limited group of vampires. The ones we trust also go on a list for emergencies, and we believe you would be a valuable addition to that list.’
‘So, I’d be gifting to a small group and others if they needed blood in a hurry?’
‘Yes. The group is very small, me and Pat. She’s one of the few vampires I trust under the circumstances. We would not allow you to gift quite as often. In the pool, it’s every week, sometimes more often. You would get me once a month, and Pat once a month, plus emergencies which are not frequent.’
‘Okay… Is it the same with Pat as with you?’
‘She’s a valentine, not a succubus. The effect of her bite is not quite so intense, but it is very pleasant and she has other talents which more than make up for it. Frankly, so do I, but when I’m feeding, there’s little point in all the techniques I learned.’
‘M-maybe we could… You know? Um, try some of them out without the gift. Sometime. If you wanted.’
Dione smiled. ‘Have you ever been with a woman before today?’
‘Once. My roommate at university. We were both curious and there was wine.’
‘I see. I’d be happy to oblige, but if you’re more interested in men–’
‘The curiosity was never entirely satisfied,’ Lisa said quickly, ‘and after what just happened… Even if it’s just once, I’d like to say I had great sex with a woman.’
‘If you’re going to be supplicant to Pat and me, I think you’ll find your knowledge of same-sex intercourse is going to become extensive, but we’ll do something about that when we have more time. Any questions?’
‘Oh, God. You know how you go to interviews and things, and you know you’re going to get asked that, and you plan a few clever ones out beforehand, and then they ask and your mind goes blank?’
Dione laughed. ‘No, but I believe I can grasp the concept.’
‘Well, I could ask the one I forgot when Pat said it. There’s no chance of me turning from gifting someone, is there?’
‘There’s a chance. While the virus we carry is active in your system, if you die somehow, you might convert. We say “convert,” not “turn.” It’s rare, but it can happen. For maybe thirty minutes after the bite, there’s a danger. That’s one of the reasons we insist you stay in the Candle for a while after coming up.’
‘So, extra care crossing roads immediately after.’
‘Precisely.’
Lisa nodded and settled back into the sofa. ‘It really was incredible. The bite was healed before we left. There’s not even a mark. And what you did to me…’ She closed her eyes and let out a little moan at the memory. ‘How long was I coming?’
‘Hmm… four, maybe five minutes.’
‘It felt like four or five hours.’
Unaccountably, Dione felt a little thrill of satisfaction at the words. ‘Well, we aim to please.’
15th December.
‘Okay,’ Leanne said having cornered Lisa in the break room, ‘spill. What’s going on?’
Lisa blinked at her. ‘What do you mean, “what’s going on?”’
‘Every time you come back off a break day, you’re acting like the sun is shining just for you. You’ve got this ridiculous grin on your face all the time. What gives?’
Lisa frowned. ‘It’s kind of a secret… Oh, I don’t think she’ll mind. It’s Diana.’
‘Diana Hunter, Mike’s partner, the woman voted least likely to need a life preserver in the open ocean?’
‘With the long, long legs and the slim waist, and you wouldn’t believe how tight her body is. I swear the only fat on her body is in her boobs.’
‘Wait… You’re banging Diana?’
‘No,’ Lisa replied, waving the question away. ‘Banging is so totally the wrong term for it. I’m having the most awesome sex of my life with Diana.’
‘You’re dating my boyfriend’s partner?’
‘Not really. It’s more like… fuck buddies. She is incredible.’ Lisa reached out and grasped Leanne’s hands, staring into her eyes with a mix of glee and sincerity. ‘She’s kinky as Hell, but she’s so tender with it. Yesterday evening, at sunset, she had me chained up in this little window thing she’s got, hung by my wrists, stark naked, and she got down and–’
‘I am really not sure I want to hear this,’ Leanne stated warily. ‘I thought you were straight.’
‘I am, but I wouldn’t miss this for the world. Men are all about themselves. Especially when you look like me. Diana’s all about mutual satisfaction.’ Her voice dropped an octave. ‘God am I mutually satisfied.’
‘Okay. Well, thanks for clearing up that conundrum. I’m… happy for you.’
‘Thank you.’ Lisa watched Leanne leave the room and then took out her phone, pulled up the SMS app, and typed. Told her. She looked a bit jealous. Then she hit send.
In the SCU offices, Dione twitched as her phone vibrated against her hip. She pulled it out, prodded at it, and read.
‘Problem,’ Mike asked, since Winthrop had stopped talking when Dione had taken out her phone.
‘Nothing work related. Exactly,’ Dione replied. ‘I think we’re going to have to cut down on social engagements involving me and Leanne. I think she’s getting curious and, frankly, I don’t want that kind of complication in our relationship.’
‘Oh. Uh… Not sure what to say, exactly. Oh, except that it’s going to be more difficult than you think. When we were over at Mom’s place yesterday, she asked me to invite you over for Christmas dinner.’
Dione looked at him for a second. ‘Oh. I don’t really celebrate Christmas. Not a feast day for Aphrodite. I get presents for friends–’
‘When she remembers,’ Winthrop put in.
‘Hey! It’s been quiet and I’ve got all of that sorted out already.’
‘So there are miracles at Christmas.’
‘Less of your lip. Compared to me, you’re not too old to spank.’
‘The chance, my glorious goddess, would be a fine thing.’
‘Will you come?’ Mike said, trying to get the conversation back on track. ‘I know there are issues, but I’d like you to meet her and I think she can handle knowing… Well, knowing about you and her father, and that you’re a vampire.’
‘I suspect she can,’ Dione replied. ‘I take it Leanne will
be there.’
‘She’s spent every Christmas with us since her parents died.’
‘That may be more of an issue, but I don’t think she’ll get too… curious at Christmas dinner. All right, assuming that nothing comes up, I’ll go. I’ll be a little late, around one?’
‘We don’t eat before two, usually. And then we spend the rest of the day recovering.’
‘Oh… Well, that sounds… interesting. I’ll be there.’
Winthrop smirked. ‘This is what you get for picking a partner with family.’
Dione glowered at him. ‘You were telling Mike about necros,’ she said.
‘Indeed I was. A fascinating lineage, quite unlike any other…’
18th December.
‘I guess it’s a good thing Winthrop told me about them then,’ Mike said. They were down in Sutton Place, walking alongside the East River under the bridge. Cars hummed past on FDR Drive, but no one paid much attention to a couple walking along the river at ten in the evening on a cold December night.
‘Learning about them and meeting them are not at all the same thing,’ Dione replied. ‘Just keep yourself together and try to ignore the smell.’ Her eyes cast around in the dim light. ‘Where is he? He said he’d be here tonight. He called us so he’ll be here. I see people, but not Caliban.’
‘I see shadows and a few lumps.’
‘I have good night vision. Some of the lumps are humans. Possibly supplicants. Caliban moves around with his entourage, which usually includes a few homeless people willing to give them blood for a high.’ Her head lifted and she sniffed at the air. ‘Ah, there he is.’ She pointed to a building, which looked like it needed a lot of renovation doing to it, and started off at a brisk walk. ‘Now, they aren’t dangerous, no matter what they look like. Just remember that.’
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