Dancing Dragon

by Nicola Claire

  I let a little huff of a laugh out. One of the rules Samson and I devised when he first joined my line, was: what happened before my Light converted him, was the past and stayed firmly in the past. So, Nataliya and Sergei had tried to kill me. That was the old them, the new ones began today. If I harped on about all the Dark deeds vampires who joined my line had performed, we'd never get along. They were always Dark, very Dark before I found them. They had acted accordingly. But no more.

  I'd have a word with Nataliya and Sergei in due course and I was hungry, but for now I just needed some more peace. And Michel. I always needed Michel.

  He sighed against my skin. A happy, contented sound. He'd heard my thoughts. His arms wrapped tighter around me and he started nibbling on my ear.

  “Did you ever think I would come with so much baggage, Michel?” I asked, enjoying his hot breath down my neck. He didn't stop nibbling and kissing, but spoke in between each.

  “I will gladly take you anyway I can get you, ma douce. I have wasted time recently, I intend to make up for it.”

  He was referring to how he had acted, pushing me away. Lashing out at me because of what Erika had done, betraying him. His trust had taken a bashing, but he trusted me now. Michel's Dark was still there, it always would be. He hadn't become a powerful master vampire without a smattering of Dark. But, it was contained in a healthy glow of Light now. I think he had healed his wounds and I think I had helped him. We were good for each other. I couldn't imagine doing what I do without him at my side. Not that I would ever have to face that, the joining would ensure when one of us goes to the afterlife, the other will follow.

  He bit a little more firmly on my shoulder, a move to make me change my train of thought. A slight chastisement for my morose musings. I was betting his vampire was still fairly close to the surface. Or simply hanging around because it liked it here. I hadn't quite got my head around his dragon-vampire, I was betting I was going to see a little more of it than I had ever seen before. His vampire had finally claimed me. Even though we had been through so much, Michel and me, I hadn't realised until now that there was still someone, something, else to win over inside of him. It had been won over now.

  Michel growled a low sound behind me. If I could have seen his eyes, I was betting they were shining a little magenta, if not a lot. I wasn't sure if he was pleased with my recognising I had won his vampire over or not. The sound was threatening, but also possessive. I tried to pull away from him to get a good look in his eyes and that's all it took. The momentary thought of me running and his vampire pounced.

  “Lucinda,” he said in a low, urgent voice, pulling me tightly back against his chest. “Do. Not. Run.”

  His breath was hot on my pulse, feathering against the rapidly increasing beat beneath the skin. I swallowed and told myself this was Michel. Despite his vampire trying to take control lately, Michel loved me. He wouldn't hurt me. Not now. But, then there was that part of me that hadn't forgotten. Hadn't forgotten the pain he had caused.

  The growl grew more sorrowful, his hands started to caress me, to calm me, to try to make me feel safe, but the glow I had spotted in the reflection of the window made it impossible to relax. His eyes were magenta, but more than that, they weren't exactly his.

  “Do not be scared,” he whispered, hugging me to him. His tongue came out and lapped at my vein. “I love you too.” I knew he wasn't speaking as Michel, telling me he loved me too, as I loved him. It was his vampire, telling me he loved too, as Michel loved me. I felt myself relaxing with those words. His vampire loved me, the reminder of that spread warmth throughout my soul.

  Although I did feel that Michel had more time to become accustomed to my independence, his vampire had only just begun to take any notice of me and hadn't quite caught up. When vampires mate, do they choose their partners carefully? Ensure there is only one dominant in the relationship. Making it more cohesive and natural. Two dominants would clash. Vampires clashing is not a good thing. I may not be as dominant as Michel, but I have some authority anger issues that could make a simple dominant/submissive relationship turn on its heels. I can give Michel a run for his money, that's for sure.

  I can also play the submissive when need be. It's an act. At least, I tell myself that and I am actually pretty sure it is. My mother, my aunt in fact, always told me that you had to pick your fights with your husband. She and dad, my uncle, had some serious doozies when I was growing up, but sometimes she would give in when I knew she hadn't really meant it. I'd ask her later why. She'd always say, you pick your fights, Lucinda, you choose what you can live with and what you can't. That's how you work at a relationship. It can't all be one way.

  I liked to think I fought Michel for the things I truly believed in, the things I couldn't compromise myself on. And if I'm honest, he usually met me halfway. But when it comes to his vampire, I know I am out matched. He is stronger, more vicious, more calculating and more capable of doing harm than I am.

  His low chuckle reached my ears. I couldn't tell if it was Michel's or his vampire's. But he had heard my thoughts. A flush crept up my cheeks. He turned me to face him, taking my head in one of his hands. His other hand traced down my neck sending a shockwave of heat through my body. Punching right into my stomach and making me catch my breath. I forgot sometimes, just how easily he could fan that flame that never seemed to go out when I was around him. Just settled to embers and then instantly roared to life at the simplest of his touches.

  “I like your fight, ma douce. I like that you can bite back at any given moment. I like that you are never afraid, that you are not a vampyre and inherently know the rules. I like that despite your fragility - that human part of you that makes you like glass - you never give an inch.” His head lowered and he inhaled deeply with his nose in my hair. “My vampyre likes it too. Do not fear him. I have him on a leash. He may surface now and then, but never give in to him, ma belle. I could not stand to see you meek.”

  My head slowly raised up to meet his eyes. The magenta was still there, but they were Michel's eyes. The eyes I had grown to love. We stared at each other for a moment and then for some inexplicable reason, my gaze drifted to his neck and the steady beat of his pulse. I hadn't even been thinking about the taste of his blood, but now I couldn't get it out of my head.

  Michel growled, grabbed the back of my head, sucked in a breath and pulled me towards his neck.

  “Yes,” he said in a rough, guttural voice. Him or his vampire? I didn't know, but he wasn't going to let me pull back. His hold was so firm, so rigid. I had no hope of getting out of his embrace. I did hesitate though and then his Sanguis Vitam slammed into me as he commanded, “Bite!”

  I don't think the command worked, I was sure my shields were all intact, but the force of his will had an immediate effect on my body and my body took over. My teeth sunk into his flesh, not as smoothly as a vampire's fangs, my teeth aren't as sharp, they are blunt and not designed for this. But, he didn't care, neither did I. The first taste of that coppery liquid jolted through my body making me groan, making Michel growl louder in appreciation and then I was climbing his body, straddling his legs and sucking back on vintage fourteen hundred and something and floating away on a drug induced high.

  Michel rocked my body slowly as I drank him down, a soft purr coming from the back of his throat that only added to the trip I was on. Nothing else mattered but tasting his sweet blood. The more I had, the more I had to have. It was more than just addictive, it was mind altering, body numbing, sensation overloading. My skin tingled, my belly tightened, my toes began to curl. The room became a hazy background and faint music began to hum in my mind. As I felt my body separate from my consciousness, the point of final release achieved, Michel pulled me back from his neck, lifted me up and turned me around, so my upper body lay over the chaise longue and smoothly slid away my tights and underwear.

  With one hard firm thrust he plunged deep inside me from behind and was instantly met with the wet velvet of my core wrapping
around his hard sex. He groaned out in bliss and said with a rasping voice, “You are mine.” Forcing himself in as deeply as he would go. He pumped me hard and fast, making the already spinning room take on a blur. The spin increasing, the effect on my body doubling, tripling, until I was lost in a hazy weightless place, floating away into space.

  He reached round in front of me and began caressing the moist folds between my thighs, never slowing his speed as he continued to pound into me from behind with force. But, it only took a second, maybe two, before I screamed out as an orgasm robbed me of all cognitive thought and he thrust one last time deep inside me finding his own release and shuddering against my back. I collapsed against the chaise with his body still wrapped around me, his heartbeat pounding into my back, his ragged breath hot against my neck.

  He was still fully clothed, I hadn't realised, he still wore his trousers, he'd simply unzipped his pants and pulled his erection out. They hadn't even fallen below his hips. His urgency to claim me had been too great. The room was still spinning and a small part of my mind was informing me I was drunk, while another part was just laughing uncontrollably in the background enjoying its high.

  “Mon dieu, ma douce,” Michel breathed heavily, letting me know his vampire had fully retreated. I was sure only Michel spoke in French. His vampire somehow didn't come across that way to me. “You are simply too hard to resist.”

  I wasn't so sure about that, it had been his neck, his blood, that had been too hard for me to resist. Not the other way around.

  He laughed against me. “It was you drinking from me that was too much to resist. I have told you already, you drinking my blood turns me on. I wanted my blood in you so much and then when you began to drink, I wanted my seed inside you too.” He took a deep breath. “Can we do that again? Soon?”

  My turn to laugh as pictures of him grinding into me at the same time as I drank down his blood flitted through my mind. I don't know if they were his or mine, but he hardened inside me as they took on full form in my head, accompanied by colour and sound.

  “Michel,” I chastised gently, as he started to roll his hips behind me.

  “What, ma douce?” he asked, leaning forward and nibbling my ear. “Do you want me to stop?” He didn't stop. “Or would you prefer me to turn you over so you have access to the other side of my neck?”

  And without warning he did just that. Pulling out, flipping me over so my back lay across the edge of the chaise longue and then entering me again in a slow, languid thrust. The angle of my back wasn't right so he picked me up and stood in one swift, smooth motion and then backed me into the wall beside the bed. My legs wrapped around him automatically and he started up a rhythm, thrusting into me and rocking me slowly back against the wall.

  “Now, shall we do this properly?” He ground out in a growl, rolling his hips into me again. He pulled his upper body back slightly and ripped off his shirt, supporting my body with his own and the wall at my back. Then when the offending article had been removed, he grabbed my head and pushed my face into the curve of his neck. The side I hadn't already bitten. I wasn't sure if I was up to drinking more of his intoxicating blood. Being slightly smashed on his blood was one thing, being totally hammered was completely another. But, he wasn't going to take no for an answer, because when I didn't bite immediately, he reached up and with a slight flick of his nail opened up his blood vessel right beneath my hovering mouth.

  I couldn't fight it. I think I groaned and said, “fuck” at the same time and he just pushed my face and mouth over the cut. Blood welled into my mouth, filling it up in a second. His pounding into me had raised his heartbeat and blood pressure to such a point that his blood was spurting out of him with force. I would have choked on the mouthful I already had if I hadn't have swallowed. And that one swallow led to another and another and another until I was so far gone I didn't even register the orgasm until it crashed into me and I heard Michel's cry of release as he rocked me one final time into the wall.

  It was several minutes later that I realised he had both of us in the shower and was washing all of the blood and other evidence of our frantic love making off. I kept losing time, because the next thing I knew I was under the covers, Michel's hot body curled into mine and the smell of an enticing aroma of food wafting from beside the bed. My stomach rumbled and then my head spun as I tried to sit up to see what smelt so divine.

  Michel helped me get upright, propping pillows behind me and then settling the tray with Nataliya's Ukha on it on my lap. I nibbled on some flat bread she had placed to the side and let the room slowly stop revolving.

  “How long was out for?” I asked, trying to focus on the bowl of soup before me.

  “Just a few minutes, ma douce. I am afraid you may have a hangover this time.” He didn't seem too upset by that fact, if anything, he sounded smug.

  He lifted a spoonful of soup towards my mouth and instructed me to eat. After a dozen of those and several more bites of bread, I felt marginally better. Definitely drunk still, but no longer about to keel over in an alcoholic, or should that be vampire-blood, induced stupor.

  The soup, though, was divine. Fish and root vegetables and I could also taste saffron and nutmeg and something else. I was surprised I could taste anything at all. Usually when I get drunk, all senses are dulled and I did feel a little shell shocked right now, but the flavours were intense. Fennel. That was it, the mystery herb in amongst the fishy broth.

  “Some of your senses will be heightened by drinking my blood, but the main effect will always be a slight intoxication. A feeling of euphoria. Maybe an increased libido. The whole idea of sharing blood between two mated vampyre is for enjoyment purposes. It is simply a harmless indulgence. A moment to gain something only for ourselves.”

  I wasn't so sure about the harmless part. If a vampire tried to attack me right now, I wouldn't really know what end of the stake was sharp. Michel laughed and added, “That is why I won't leave you until you are more yourself.” He settled himself on top of the covers on his side and watched me continue to eat.

  “Your blood intoxicates me too, ma douce. I have just had longer to be able to control the effects. A new vampyre would indeed be drunk drinking from your vein. You are a rich wine; powerful, luxurious, divine.”

  “Will I get used to yours and control the effects too?” I couldn't believe I was asking such a question. Hell, drinking from a vampire was just not right.

  “I intend to give you ample opportunity to learn control, ma douce and then fuck your brains out afterwards.” Michel wasn't usually so crude, but I was guessing right now, he was horny and maybe a little drunk on me drinking his blood too.

  “Will it only be your blood I am attracted to?” I had horrible images of eyeing up every vampire's neck that I passed. Homing in on their beating pulse underneath their flesh.

  Michel smiled indulgently at me. “It will only be my blood you crave.”

  “But you crave more than just my blood,” I said, a little miffed at that fact.

  “I require blood to survive. I desire only yours for pleasure. Feeding to a vampyre can be sexual at any time, but craving it, like I crave yours, can only be achieved with a vampyre mate.” He paused, thinking something through, then added, “I have always been attracted to your blood, ma douce, even before we were joined. And as my kindred, I would chose your blood over all others. But now, it is a deep seated desire. I crave it. I long for it. I would do anything to continue to taste it. To taste you.”

  OK. So, that was actually a little creepy. Just what would he do to ensure he continued to taste only my blood?

  “Well,” he said running a finger down the length of my body provocatively, “I will do my level best to keep you close to me. I will use every power I possess to ensure you are attracted to me and only me. I will shower you with everything I think you would desire. I will tempt you with anything I think may intrigue you. I will make you as addicted to me as I am to you, if it is the last thing I do on this Earth.”


  Too late, I thought numbly, unable to take my eyes off his. He laughed, that delightfully manly chuckle of his and lay back down on the bed on his back, looking up at the ceiling with an obvious curve to his lips.

  “Je t'aime, ma douce,” he said simply and placed his hands behind his head in a relaxed pose.

  I didn't say anything for a little while. Just played his words over in my mind and took in the length of his naked, glorious body. But, finally duty called. This moment out of time with my kindred, my vampire mate, was precious and I didn't want it to ever end. But, Alastair was still at large. More humans were going to die if I didn't stop him. Viktor would want retribution for his stolen vampires. And Lutin lurked in the shadows. Not to mention my unease at Citysider's absence. I couldn't help feeling that he may have information we needed.

  There was still so many unanswered questions and I felt that we were running out of time.

  “We need to get downstairs and talk to the others,” I said, not altogether happy about the idea.

  “Yes,” Michel answered, not moving. “Avery is champing at the bit to discuss a plan. He has confirmed that the amulet Alastair wears is indeed the taufr and more importantly, that Alastair is Amicus.”

  My head shot around to look at Michel, still lying there so calm and at ease. “You didn't think this was something you should have mentioned as soon as you walked in this room tonight?” I asked, incredulous that they had all been swapping intel' and none of it had made it my way.

  Michel turned his head slowly to look at me and let his gaze travel languidly over the length of my sheet-wrapped naked body.

  “It wasn't the first thing on my mind,” he purred.

  Vampires. Can't live with them... can't stake 'em all when they make you mad.

  Chapter 35