Time seemed to move sluggishly in the dark, but at last Mai fell into a fitful sleep.
She roused suddenly, not long there after, and held perfectly still. What the...? She strained her eyes in the dark, listening momentarily, hoping to catch the sound that had woken her. After several tense moments, during which she almost fell back to sleep, she rolled over, fumbling toward her night stand for the lamp. Instead, her hand met fabric, warmed by its wearer, and she came fully awake. She drew back with a shock. The realization of where she was hit her suddenly like a blow to the stomach. Her mind tried hard to wrap itself around the fact that everything that had happened had not been some strange dream. She was not at home in her own bed, but in the bed of a man who had taken her captive. A vampire.
“Who’s there?” Mai called into the dark.
“Me.”
“Me who?”
She heard a sigh, the clinking of dishes, then a drawn out silence.
“My name is Xavion. I brought you some food. I trust you’ll find it ... palatable, at least.”
“You’re the vampire who grabbed me, right?” She realized what a silly question it was as soon as it had left her mouth. His voice was that same, deep huskiness that had sent a delicious quiver up her spine the first time she had heard it.
“Yes.”
“Could you turn on a light or something?” she asked before he could decide to leave again.
“We don’t have lights.”
“What? How am I supposed to eat in the dark? And where am I supposed to go to the bathroom? Do you even have one?” Mia calmed herself with an effort, realizing that her tone might piss him off, but it was already too late to start again. She heard the door shut behind him as he left. She didn’t even know where he’d left the food, and the mere mention of food had set her stomach to chewing itself and complaining loudly.
Within moments, Xavion was back. She heard him set something down beside her, gasped as light sprung suddenly and glaringly to life.
"Thank you!" Shielding her eyes, Mai looked around at the room, seeing it at last for the first time. It's beautiful! The room bespoke the elegance and fine taste of its owner. The walls and ceiling were a heavy cream, covered in intricately carved molding. Plush crimson carpet stretched across the floor. It appeared all of the furniture in the room was carved by a masterful hand. In all her life, Mai had never seen so many fine things. She felt more than a little envy, though she knew that she no longer had a place of her own at all by now.
"If you're finished examining my room, perhaps you would like to visit the head?" Mai turned to him. This close, he seemed more handsome than ever. His long raven black hair cascaded down his back and broad shoulders. Though the sleeves of his crisp white shirt were long, Mai could just detect the ripple of the powerful muscles they concealed. Her eyes were drawn to his thin, hard lips and smooth face. His most striking feature, his golden eyes, stared hungrily back at her, sending a thrill through to her core.
When she realized finally how long she had been silently examining him, Mai blushed, trying to remember what he had asked her.
"The what?"
He seemed to think for a moment. "I believe you would call it a 'bath room?"
"Oh! Yes, I do need to go."
Mai was about to throw off the sheet when she realized she was still undressed. Feeling horribly embarrassed now for her failed attempt at seduction, she clutched the sheet to her chest, trying to think of something to say.
"I'll wait outside." The hungry look he gave her seemed to say he wouldn't mind staying and watching, but he retreated just the same.
Standing and stretching, Mai threw on her clothes and walked up to the door. It didn't open. She waved her arms in front of it, thinking perhaps it hadn't detected her because of her height, but that didn’t help either.
"Hello? Ah ... Xavion?"
The door opened with a swish.
"Are you coming?" He looked her over briefly, brushing by her into the room and grabbing the light before leading Mai down the corridor. Her steps faltered as she looked around. Though the walls here were devoid of anything that might seem at all personal, the color and decorating scheme had been continued here. If this were any indication at all, the ship was more like a mansion than any ship Mai had ever imagined. Mai realized more and more that nothing at all was as she had been brought to believe it would be.
A hissed curse and quickly shut door drew her attention.
"What was that?"
"That was Romand."
"Oh. What was the matter with him?"
"The light."
"Hey, that reminds me! I thought light was supposed to really hurt vampires!"
"It does."
"You don't ... seem hurt."
"It hurts my eyes."
"Why?"
Xavion stopped and turned to look at her, considering her question. "I suppose it's because of the world we evolved on. Our star is a small red one, so Vampyra is a cold, dark place. Why wouldn't the light hurt our eyes?"
They continued down the hall in silence, Mai consumed by her own thoughts. For some reason, it had never occurred to her that a humanoid species would evolve on a planet so unlike Earth. So I guess that's where the belief that they can't come out in the light of day came from. They really just don't like to. It was an interesting thought that made perfect sense. She was about to ask another question, when Xavion stopped suddenly. Mai ran into him, plastering her body against and grabbing his arms for support, before she could stop. Drawing in a shuddering breath, she apologized and quickly released him. After a few moments, in which Mai felt tense at his rigid stance, he moved to the side.
"This is it," he said, his back still to her.
"Thanks."
The shock of the room's appearance took Mai's breath away. It looked exactly as she thought a bathroom in a spaceship should look, in stark contrast to what she'd already seen. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all polished metal. There was a stall off to one side and what looked for all the world like one of those tiny toilets she'd seen on her one air-line trip, situated in one corner. She was almost afraid to sit on it, but after she realized that it could not possibly open straight into space, she sat and used it.
She decided to get a better look at the stall, surprised to find that in spite of her turning the knob, no water came out. A fresh smelling breeze blew down over her head and through her hair. Mai turned the knob the other way, shutting it off before knocking on the door to let Xavion know she wanted out.
Before leaving, she pointed to the stall. "What's that? All it does is blow air."
"That's an ionizer."
"Oh.... I see." She had heard so many Trekies talk about such things that she felt she had some grasp of what he meant. Something like a shower, but not. It didn't seem like something you could really get clean with, but it must have worked for Xavion. He was immaculate.
They returned to the room in silence. No other vampires came out to meet them along the way, and Mai was surprised at just how quickly they reached their destination.
"Why didn't you bring the light sooner?" she asked as she moved past him into the room.
"I didn't know I would have you so long." His voice was cool and oddly detached. "Eat." He gestured at her food before sitting in a seat by the door. "Surely you're hungry by now?"
The truth was, she was famished, though more than a little uneasy at what he had just said. So he does intend to eat me then. It suddenly didn't seem like such a grand thing--maybe because she hadn’t expected him to, because she’d been so certain he wanted her and meant to turn her? Then again, he hadn’t yet and it seemed to her that that meant he’d changed his mind if that was what he’d intended before.
She was just going to try harder to convince him that it would be a total waste to just eat her when he could keep her as his mistress.
With an effort, she put those anxieties from her mind.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Mai lifted the shiny metal cov
er Xavion had placed over her food. She almost choked on her saliva, flinching at the painful spasms as the rich aroma hit her. What looked like roasted duck, covered in a thick, creamy orange sauce, lay surrounded by potatoes and baby carrots. There was no cutlery.
"Umm. Where are the knife and fork?"
"The what?"
"Never mind." Everything but the duck was already bite sized, so she figured she could manage. Her mother would have been appalled.
"You should have some of this."
"No thank you. I already ate."
"Really?" She wondered fleetingly what it was he had eaten and asked before she could think better of it.
He waved at her platter. "Whatever that is. It was ... different. I'm sure you'll find that Vasili is an excellent chef."
"It looks fantastic! I'd like to thank him." Mai picked up one of the cut potatoes and popped it into her mouth, delighted that the food tasted even better than it looked. She was glad, too, that he had not said 'blood.' I don't think I could stomach hearing about that while I'm eating.... It seemed odd, though, that he should eat real food at all--which, in retrospect she supposed sounded purely idiotic. Of course he ate real food. Real beings had to to live.
Xavion lifted a shoulder in a light shrug. "I'll pass on your regards. I'm quite sure he watched the monitor to learn how to make it. We all have a lot of extra time on our hands. Fortunately, we recorded all of the information your people broadcast out on the way here, and will continue as we leave this system. It should keep the crew occupied ... for a few years, at least."
"Mm. It's T.V." At his blank look, she elaborated. "That's T.V. Television. It's just entertainment. Hey! Is that how you learned English?"
Xavion nodded. "As I said, we have a lot of time on our hands."
"Thank you. For the food, I mean."
He nodded, leaning back in his chair.
Mai pulled on the end of one of the duck's legs, which came apart at the movement. She bit off a mouthful, enjoying it's slightly sweet taste. Never in her life had she had such succulent meat. She had already stuck one of her fingers in her mouth to suck off the juice before she remembered her manners. Looking up sharply at Xavion, she noticed how his eyes were riveted to her mouth and finger.
A shiver went through her at the look in his eyes. Her belly clenched, but from a different sort of hunger.
So ... he likes that, huh? She thought with a touch of mischievous satisfaction.
Focusing on her meal once more, Mai slowly licked her index finger, slipping it into her mouth and sucking on it, pulling it almost out before sucking it back inside. Xavion's breathing became heavier and she could tell it was turning him on, which turned her on. Pulling the finger from her mouth, she replaced it with the next, continuing slowly down the line until she'd sucked them all.
"You really should try this...."
"I--" Xavion rose.
The movement caught her attention, drawing her gaze, but it was his erection that riveted it.
Beautiful and hung like horse. Dreams do come true! Thank you fairy godmother!
"I've got to go,” he muttered, departing abruptly, as if he had the devil in behind him.
Stunned, Mai merely gaped at the closed door for several moments. Finally, she sighed, leaning her arms on the table. The food didn't taste nearly as good now as it had, and she was left with a very strong feeling of disappointment. Where the hell did I go wrong this time? Isn't he interested in me at all?
None of it made any sense. He had gone well out of his way to take her. Her specifically. Why? Every time she gave him the green light, he acted interested, but then took off. If he wanted a mistress, why not take what she offered? Was it only a turn on for them if the women they screwed fought back or screamed? Were the other captives having this much trouble?
If he was not interested in a mistress, if he only wanted a snack, why keep her alive this long? He could have eaten her at any time, could have left her in another room and only come when he wanted blood to drink, but he had not. She could not believe that he had kidnapped her just for shits and giggles, and she would not believe it was only for a snack. She fought hard against the unease that last thought brought her. It really doesn't make sense to abduct a woman and keep her in your own bedroom unless you want her around, right?
Chapter Four
As hard as it was to keep up with passing time in space, especially in her situation, Mai knew by the meals he brought to feed her that she’d been living in Xavion’s cabin for almost a week. That realization should have comforted her. It didn’t because she couldn’t convince herself that she wasn’t just a meal as far as Xavion was concerned. And the reason she couldn’t convince herself was because he mostly left her completely alone. She often found him studying her hungrily when he was with her. If he’d been an Earth man instead of a vampire it would’ve been enough to convince her he did want her that way, but something was holding him back. Since he was a vampire, though, she was well aware that hungry look might mean something unpleasant.
Under other circumstances, she would’ve long since given up on the guy. As gorgeous as he was, she didn’t make a habit of throwing herself at guys--they were either interested or not and rejection was a lowering thing, and embarrassing.
The situation called for drastic measures, however. Sooner or later--and she was afraid it was going to be sooner--he was going to get tired of amusing himself with his food and that was going to be that. The way she saw it, seducing him was her best shot at eternity.
He liked her body--she was pretty sure. Most men--Earth men--seemed to anyway, and since that was the only thing she had to go by she had no choice but to trust the same to be the case with vampires. If she teased him enough, sooner or later she was going to break through that iron will of his, make him forget whatever reason he had for not fucking her senseless at every opportunity and then she had a chance of convincing him she was worth keeping.
She spent half her time strolling around the room buck naked since she never knew when he was going to pop in. It occurred to her after the first time he’d popped in and found her that way that she was going to have to be a little more subtle than that or he was going to just avoid temptation by avoiding the cabin.
A shipboard routine had been established. All she had to do was try to time clothes changing--or getting ready for bed--with meal time.
Easier said than done. Without a clock, she only managed to get ‘caught’ a couple of times after days and days of trying. Finally, she took to listening at the door when she thought it was close to time for him to come to the cabin.
That particular plan, she discovered, was fraught with potential disaster. The first time she tried it, he was right outside and she fell into his arms when the door opened abruptly. She was more careful after that, but as often as not, she found herself stripping and then whoever she’d heard outside just kept on walking because it wasn’t Xavion or he hadn’t been coming to the cabin at all.
She didn’t give up, but she did take to walking around naked most of the time--with her shirt in her hands. That way she could at least pretend she’d just taken it off when he came in.
The finger sucking thing seemed to work almost as well, but he developed a habit of leaving her tray and vanishing.
She tried posing her bare ass to the door--in case he was an ass man. She tried posing on her hands and knees facing the door, in case he was a tit man and was turned on by the jigglies. She tried jumping jacks in the buff, toe touches, and scissors--everything in short except for rubbing her cunt in his face and she would’ve tried that too except she couldn’t figure out a way to do it.
After weeks, she was ready to just give up altogether and accept that it hopeless. Whatever he had in mind for her, fucking her was no part of it, which meant convincing him to turn her was a lost cause.
She was almost sorry he hadn’t just eaten her right away. Dying was terrifying, but waiting for it was so much worse!
Chapter Five
>
Xavion felt ridiculous, sitting outside his own room keeping watch over ... what? The whole purpose of taking a captive of his own was to draw out Kadira and put a stop to his thievery once and for all, but that was simply not possible if he continued to stay so close to the bait. It had already been three weeks since they had left Earth behind, a week longer than he had originally intended to wait before springing his trap.
It was nothing unusual to do without fresh blood for weeks or even months when they were in space--they did it all the time, having to rely on preserved and sometimes even synthetic food. But having fresh blood close at hand and not being able to get it was another matter entirely and he’d known it wouldn’t take long at all for Kadira to reach a point of desperation that would make him incautious.
While this meant Kadira would almost assuredly fall into his hands once he did spring the trap, it also posed a number of unforeseeable problems for him.
For one, he had not had a single good day's rest since she had been here. He had slept on the floor, the chair, with his back against the wall. He had tried staying up late to see if that made it any easier to sleep without a bed, all to no avail. There simply was no place in the room he could sleep that would not keep him up half the day.
Her mere presence alone would have been distraction enough, but on top of that she was always trying to draw him out--he supposed more because she was bored more than from an interest in getting to know him. Somehow though, he’d become comfortable talking to her, being with her, something he had not felt since his childhood. Despite his doubts about her motives, she seemed genuinely interested in him, and he found, more and more, that he liked that, even knowing how dangerous it would be to become attached.
That wasn’t the problem though. If he had just felt comfortable in her presence, he would’ve been able to sleep when he was near her. The problem was that he was inexplicably drawn to her. Without even trying, she tempted him to distraction until he could think of very little besides grabbing her and assuaging his needs upon her. She was always in the process of either dressing or undressing whenever he entered the room. She always seemed surprised, but he could tell by the maddening scent of her arousal that it had been done on purpose. He had no idea how long she waited for him to come in, but he half suspected that she simply dressed and undressed the entire time she was left alone, just to make sure he saw her naked.
Raiders of Vampyra Page 3
