Sexual Appetites of Vampires

by Donna Fletcher

  She yanked her hand out of his. “You can see in the dark?”

  “Yes, and I have never seen anything more beautiful then you when I made you come.”

  Her heart skidded for a second and her stomach fluttered. What was this man doing to her? He was making her feel things she had never felt before. And worse, he was making it much too easy to fall in love with him.

  She quickly chased the thought from her head, not wanting him to hear it. Not wanting to think it herself, for it was absurd. Wasn’t it?

  “That’s not fair,” she said playfully. “You saw me and I didn’t get to see you completely naked.

  “I can remedy that,” he said and dropped his towel.

  Lara stared; she couldn’t help it. He was gorgeous from top to bottom and definitely in between. If perfection existed, then he certainly was perfect, except—of course—he was a vampire. How did she ever get around that fact?

  “I am who I am, Lara, nothing will change that,” he said and took a step toward her.

  She didn’t step away from him; she didn’t want to. And that troubled her even more.

  “Vampires aren’t the evil creatures portrayed in books and movies. We’re simply a different species from humans.”

  “Far different,” she added. “You can kill in a single bite.”

  “A useful trait,” he said with a smile.

  “It’s not funny,” she scolded.

  “I would never hurt you,” —his eyes darkened and the tips of his fangs peeked from beneath his upper lip— “though I would kill anyone who did.”

  Lara shivered, his intense tone making it apparent that he would do just that. But why did he feel so compelled to protect her? They had only met. It was nothing more than lust he felt for her. Wasn’t it?

  She felt gentle warmth encircle her, as if wrapped in a loving embrace and she wanted to turn into it and burrow in its overwhelming comfort. Never had she felt so safe and secure in her life.

  “Two choices, Lara,” Michael whispered in her ear, though he had not moved from where he was standing. “Join me in bed now, only if you’re ready for me to make you mine or have a drink with me and we can talk.”

  What did make you mine entail was the question she was afraid to ask, so she chose the easier of the two, or was it?

  “I’ll join you for a drink.”

  He scooped his towel up off the floor, though didn’t wrap it around his waist, and walked to the door. She continued to admire his naked body, while wondering if she would eventually surrender completely to him. It seemed inevitable at this point, but it was the consequences that disturbed her the most.

  He stopped before opening the bedroom door and turned to her. “It is inevitable; you will completely surrender to me. You will be mine.” He turned, opened the door, and walked out, shutting it behind him.

  A quivering thrill raced through her and she scolded herself. “What’s the matter with you? You’re not some helpless damsel who melts at the feet of some mighty warrior. You’re a modern woman who makes wise decisions when it comes to her sex life.”

  Who was she kidding? She hadn’t made a wise decision about her sex life since she had surrendered her virginity to Jason Ketchum when she was eighteen. It had been a big disappointment on both sides and the only reason she had done it was out of sheer stupidity. All her friends had lost their virginity years before, and she had felt left out. Jason had always had a thing for her, though she had thought it was more for the fact that he was obsessed with cemeteries or perhaps it had been death he had been obsessed with. So on a hot summer night she had lost her virginity in a cemetery, though she had drawn the line of doing it on top of a grave. Still she hadn’t been able to shake the thought that all the residents of Blue Creek Cemetery had been watching. She had the feeling Jason must have gotten a similar feeling since he had never bothered with her again after that, though it could have been that it had turned out so bad that neither one of them wanted another go at it.

  Lara jumped, startled out of her musings when the door opened and Michael entered. He wore black sweatpants that hung low on his hips and nothing else. An uncorked bottle of wine was tucked in the crook of his arm and two wine glasses dangled from his fingers.

  She stared at him, wondering how he could appear more handsome each time she laid eyes on him.

  “Slip into something comfortable and easily removable,” he said with a teasing grin.

  She glanced down at herself and though the towel was still wrapped around her, she felt naked. She made a quick job of grabbing her red flannel pajama bottoms and pink thermal top from her suitcase and hurried into the bathroom to slip them on.

  Her chilled toes reminded how long she had been standing half naked, so she was relieved to find her thick pink and white polka dot socks wrapped in her flannel bottoms. She hurriedly pulled them on, ran her comb through her partially damp hair and with trepidation and an ounce of anticipation she returned to the bedroom.

  She froze only a few feet into the room. Michael was staring at her with such intense fervor that she thought he would pounce on her at any moment, and she wondered if she would stop him.

  “Is there anything you wear that doesn’t make you appear ravishingly sexy?”

  Lara gave herself a quick glance, then pointing at herself asked, “This is sexy?”

  “It hugs you in all the right places and best of all I can dispose of both pieces in no time, leaving you in those adorable polka dot socks. This way your feet can stay warm while we make love.”

  The image of her in nothing but her socks while he drove in and out of her sent her entire body crying out to him.

  Michael grew rigid and his eyes snapped shut for a moment. “Careful, Lara, I can resist your body’s cravings for only so long.”

  Lara reacted, reaching out and grabbing the long purple robe draped over the chaise and slipping into it, tying the belt snugly at her waist.

  Michael laughed. “Not much of a defense, sweetheart.” He handed her a glass of red wine and nodded at the chaise. “Sit and we’ll talk.”

  “Here in the bedroom?” she asked, taking the glass, though making sure not to let their fingers touch as she did.

  “Bedroom, living room, library, kitchen, I intend to make love to you in as many rooms as possible before our time together is done.”

  Our time together is done. The consequences... have a sex fest with a vampire, enjoy it beyond belief and never see him again? Or become like him? Or find yourself caring for him more than you thought possible? She quickly shifted her thoughts, not wanting him privy to her musings.

  “As I have told you, though perhaps you’ve already surmised... vampires have ravenous sexual appetites. But then your body tells me that you do as well.”

  Only with you. The thought hit her like a dousing of ice cold water.

  “Oh hell,” Lara said and deposited herself on the chaise and downed more than a sip of wine. “What’s the point of fighting it when you can hear my thoughts as clearly as my words? So tell me why my libido is constantly on overdrive around you. Do you manipulate me and make me want you with such intensity that I think I’ll go mad if I don’t have you?” Holy crap, where had that come from?

  Michael took the chair that sat next to the chest of drawers and positioned it opposite the chaise and sat. “It came from you as do your feelings, your desires. I do not manipulate you.”

  “Before you left this room, I felt as if I was wrapped in a loving embrace. Did I imagine that or was that you?”

  “It was me. I could feel you needed comforting, but I also sensed your reluctance. I, however, could not resist giving you what you needed. As I’ve told you, I will always satisfy you, whether sexually or emotionally.”

  “It’s not possible to always satisfy another and not fair to expect someone to do so.”

  “Perhaps not for a human, but you forget I’m a vampire.”

  “Tell me more about vampires,” she said still finding it difficult to acce
pt that such creatures truly existed and wondering if she would wake up and find that none of this was real.

  “Our sexual appetites?” he asked with a grin.

  “I think I have a pretty good idea about that.”

  “Oh, darling, you haven’t even touched the surface of it yet.”

  Damn if her clitoris didn’t quiver, her body run hot, and an aching need settle uncomfortably between her legs.

  “I can smell your need for me, almost taste it.” He licked his lips slowly, his eyes drifting closed for a moment. “I love the taste of you, and I quite fear I will never get enough of it.”

  Think of something else, Lara, think of something else, she silently warned herself.

  “Yes, Lara, it would be wise to think of something else.”

  “Tell me of your grandfather and the curse.”

  Michael nodded, then smiled. “My grandfather claims I am much more like him than my father, but my grandmother and mother insist that all Valaine men are alike—stubborn. My grandfather refers to it as determined. Whatever way you look at it, it is the reason my grandfather was cursed.”

  Chapter 8

  “My grandfather lived when there was great turmoil in the area that is now known today as Romania. As he often told me, it wasn’t a pleasant era. Wars raged, people were persecuted for their beliefs, and survival was difficult, but it didn’t stop him from falling in love. Unfortunately, he fell in love with the wrong young woman. She was a gypsy and one of the free ones, since most gypsies, at that time, were slaves. Her family or troupe had managed to remain free and they intended to keep it that way. Outsiders were forbidden.”

  “But your grandfather was stubborn,” Lara said with a smile. She was a sucker for a love story, though she preferred the ones with happy endings.

  “Determined,” Michael corrected. “And as my grandfather has explained time and again, my grandmother was too much of a spirited beauty to simply walk away and forget. He told me that he knew from when he first laid eyes on her that he loved her, and there was no way he would ever live life without her.”

  “I guess the gypsies had other ideas.” Lara’s eyes turned wide. “Wait. I think I found the spell that was used on him.” She left her wine glass on the small table beside the chaise and hurried to the nightstand, snatching up the old battered spell book. She sat on the chaise and carefully thumbed through the worn pages. “I recall reading a few words before I dozed off. I curse his soul. Here it is—” she shook her head. “Parts of the curse are in another language. Here you must know it. Read it.”

  Michael took the book from her hand. “Not now.”

  The distress in his eyes had her offering an apology. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

  He turned and placed the book on the side table. When he turned back around, he asked her a question she had to stop and think about.

  “What would you do if the person you loved from the depths of your soul was forbidden to you?”

  After some contemplation, she said, “I wonder about love in today’s world. I sometimes think that love has become a word that is thrown around so easily that it has lost the sacred power it once held. I think sacred love has become rare and if I found someone I loved from the depths of my soul I would fight with all I had, so I would never lose such a blessed love.”

  “You would be determined.”

  “Not only determined, but committed to such a rare love.” She laughed softly. “And patient, since, no doubt, a love so strong would have its challenges.”

  “Yes, it would, but I am confident that you would be up to the task.”

  Her brow knitted and she tilted her head in question. “You barely know me and yet you have confidence in me?”

  “You are like an open book to me that I have spent the last several hours reading and thoroughly enjoying, and I am eager to read more.”

  She couldn’t help but wonder if the ending of the book would be a happy read for either of them, for what could the end possibly bring?

  “It is after seven. I suggest we continue our talk while having supper,” he said, holding his hand out to her.

  She took it and the familiar spark his touch ignited sent a sensual quiver through her body. She tempered it as best she could, but she realized that it was getting more difficult to do so. Her body was demanding what her mind was fighting and, most unexpectedly, her heart was joining in.

  “I should change,” she said, stepping away from him, needing a bit of distance.

  “Nonsense. Stay as you are... comfortable. Tonight is not for formality. We’ll enjoy our meal in the room off the kitchen.”

  Lara couldn’t stop a smile from surfacing and admitting, “I’d like that.”

  “Let me slip on a shirt and socks, though I fear I have no polka dot ones.”

  Lara laughed and stuck out her foot. “I have dozens.”

  They left the room together, though Lara waited in the hall. Michael didn’t take long. He returned wearing a black knit shirt that, of course, had to cling to his every muscle and curve.

  They hurried off to the kitchen. Lara selected one of the pre-prepared suppers in the freezer and popped it in the microwave while Michael fixed a plate of raw veggies and fruit. He also chose a Pinot Noir from the wine rack and they soon were ensconced in the comfortable room off the kitchen, sitting across from each other as they enjoyed supper together.

  Lara couldn’t recall the last time she had felt so relaxed with a man. She found it hard to believe that it had been only this morning that they had met. They talked and laughed more like old friends than new acquaintances. He was easy and interesting to talk with and seemed so... human.

  “You were never frightened growing up amid all those gravestones?” he asked, settling back in his chair with his wine glass in hand.

  “No, never. I was so young when my father got the position as the caretaker. I didn’t understand what a cemetery was. My father would take me with him on the riding mower when he cut the grass.” Lara smiled. “At first I thought the headstones were doors and I would knock on them and asked to come in. Then I began talking to the deceased, calling them by name. Then one day my dad found me at one of the burial ceremonies talking to the widow of a man who had just been buried. He apologized to the elderly woman, but she told him it wasn’t necessary that I had made it easier for her to leave her husband’s graveside since I had promised her that he would not be alone that I would keep him company and talk to him every day.

  “The woman always made sure to find me when she paid her husband’s grave a visit, and I would tell her what I talked to him about. She asked me if I would promise to do the same for her when her time came.”

  “And you did.”

  Lara nodded and wiped at tears lingering in her eyes. “She loved flowers, so I planted daisies, her favorite, and talked with her often until the day came that I had to say good-bye to them all.”

  “That must have been difficult for you, since no doubt they felt like family.”

  Lara stared at him. She had stopped sharing that story a long time ago because of the way people reacted. Most thought she was crazy or weird, not one person understood the cemetery had been home to her and the residents, though deceased, family she talked and shared her hopes, dreams, fears, and sorrows with... no one that was until Michael.

  “You’re such an interesting woman, Lara, I could talk with you forever and never get bored.”

  Lara had to laugh. “I think eventually you would grow tired of hearing the same old stories.”

  “You will have new stories to tell, especially with your travels and the interesting subjects you write about.”

  “I do enjoy traveling, seeing new places, meeting new people, and investigating strange phenomenon.”

  “Have you traveled outside the U.S.?”

  “No, but I would love to someday. And you?” she asked.

  “I’ve been all over the world, but then I’ve had the time to travel.”

&nbs
p; Lara grinned. “I forget your advanced age, though you look to be only in your mid-thirties.”

  “We age, but much slower than humans.”

  “What of the woman you fall in love with and marry or do you go through several wives in your extended lifetime?” she asked curious, though she felt a twinge of sadness. She couldn’t imagine falling in love with him, knowing he would live well beyond her years.

  Right, Lara, you’re more concerned with him living longer than you rather than the fact that you’d fall in love with a vampire. And why was she even thinking about falling in love with him? Because he appealed to her in more ways than just his good looks.

  Stop thinking about it, he’ll hear you, she silently warned herself.

  “We can marry our own kind, but if we choose to marry a human there is a way for her life to be extended.”

  “A bite on the neck?”

  “There are advantages to a bite on the neck for the woman I marry, but having children is what gives her the ability to live longer.”

  “How and what advantages are there to a bite on the neck for the woman you marry?”

  “The child’s blood mingles with the mother’s and slows the aging process.”

  “So the more children she has the longer she lives?”

  Michael laughed. “We’ve found that two children will usually give a human the same life span as a vampire, though my grandmother had six children and she’s definitely retaining her age better than my grandfather.”

  Lara grinned. “I’d say it was the opposite for humans. The more children we have the faster we age, mostly from worry and anxiousness over being a good parent. I will admit, though, being an only child makes me want to have a bunch of kids. It was great having my father’s undivided attention, but there were times I missed having a sibling to share things with.”

  “At least you missed the fights. My brothers and I were at one another’s throats at times.”

  “Literally?” she asked with a laugh.

  Michael laughed as well. “No, my father had bigger fangs than us and that kept us from going too far, though my sister suffered the most since we were always trying to keep her safe and protected. She wanted nothing to do with us and complained to my father endlessly. It did little good since vampires have this overpowering need to protect those they love.”