Her pain lasts only a moment, and as her body softens, I pull her tight to me. I failed to mention to her that the initial pain would subside quickly, as the saliva from a vampire paralyzes the nerve endings around a bite. She begins to moan loudly, rocking into me, as I’m latched onto her, the warm blood coating my throat as I drink. Her nails dig deeper, and she begins to climax under me. Her sounds become louder, and when she screams my name out, I let go as well, finishing with her and watching a small drop of blood stream down her neck from each of the holes I’ve caused.
Still panting, she comes down from the high and meets my gaze. “That only hurt for a second,” she says, sounding surprised.
“I know, baby,” I reply, smiling. I lean down to lick up the blood that’s escaped my bite mark and savor the sweetness. I’ve said to her several times that feeding isn’t erotic, but that’s not entirely true. With someone you have an emotional attachment, it’s the most sensual and intense connection possible.
I roll to the side and inspect where I bit her closely, before taking her hand in mine and bringing it to my lips. With her other hand, she touches the bite and inspects her fingertips. “I’m not bleeding?” she asks.
“No, sweetheart. You won’t bleed afterward.” I wait for more questions, but she remains silent. “Are you all right?” I ask.
Letting out a slight laugh, she turns on her side to face me. “I’m fucking great. How about you?”
I can’t help but to laugh; that isn’t the response I was expecting. Somehow I thought she’d have more questions, or would want to talk about mechanics of the moment or something. She continues to be full of surprises.
“I’m good, Fiona. That was amazing.” Not only was the sex incredible, we fit together so incredibly well, in sync with each other’s needs, but her blood is magnificent. I could taste the slightest bit of the alcohol she’d had tonight, but it was all I had hoped it would be. I wasn’t quite ready for a feeding. I typically wait until I have to feed, but drinking from her was like having an extravagant dessert.
“Was it? Am I delicious?” she asks, completely serious.
I want to laugh. I’ve never been asked a more hilarious question in all my life, but she means it with such innocence, I don’t dare mock it. Instead, I bring her face to mine and plant a small kiss on her lips. “I could never get enough of you, Fiona. You’re the most exquisite thing I have ever tasted in my life.”
Seemingly pleased with my answer, she smiles and rests her head on my chest. While I stroke her hair, I think about what’s next. I want to enjoy the moment, relish in it. But I know we’ve got many hurdles to overcome, and the sooner we handle them, the better. I know it’s not the time to discuss it, so I lie there, holding the woman I’m definitely in love with, listening to her breathe.
“Roman, how often can we do that?” she asks, still resting on me.
“Do what, sweetheart?”
“How often can you bite me without killing me?”
I don’t want her to think I could ever kill her, but it’s actually a good question. There have been accidents in the past, where a vampire and his or her consort didn’t manage the vampire’s thirst properly, and things got out of hand. “We wouldn’t want to do it every day. It would make you too weak. I don’t need to feed every day anyway,” I explain.
“I don’t want you to feed on anyone else anymore,” she says quietly.
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” I squeeze her, brimming with satisfaction. She’s mine now. She wants to be mine.
“I don’t think this is going to be easy for us, Roman.”
“No, I don’t suppose that it is,” I reply with as little emotion as possible. I know she’s referring to her father, who I’d just as soon kill after our initial introduction than work with at this point, but I’m aware of human relationships and their importance.
Silence falls between us, and as I wait for her to fall asleep, she squeezes me. “That was really fucking good.” She chuckles.
Unable to help myself, and happy that our conversation had lightened up a bit, for now, I reply. “There’s a lot more where that came from, babe. You’re mine now, and I’m going to worship you.”
She lets out a sigh, and I can feel that sleep is taking over her body. I wait patiently, enjoying the moment, satisfied with the end of an incredibly rocky day.
18
Fiona
Growing up, I spent my summers with my grandparents, working at their campground. My job was to run the general store under the watchful eye of my grandma. I used to love checking the campers in and helping them with their inner tubes and kayak rentals. There was one family in particular who I waited for every year. They had a son two years older than me, but sometimes we’d hang out on the swing set together or get some ice cream when the ding dong cart would drive by.
The year I turned thirteen, I swore I was going to kiss him. I was determined to be carefree and enjoy my first summer as a teenager. His name was Charlie, he was so cute, and by the end of the summer, he had this fantastic tan. I remember waiting for his family to show up, and when they didn’t, I checked the books to see if they had a reservation and nothing. My grandma didn’t know why they chose not to come back. It indeed wasn’t the first time this had happened.
Still, the next year I waited and the year after that. It wasn’t until I was eighteen and spending my last summer working at the camp that Charlie showed up, this time with a wife and a baby. I feigned recognition of him, even though I knew who he was as soon as he stepped out of his car. I wanted to ask him what happened, find out why they stopped coming, but it wasn’t my place. Any feelings I had for him were long gone, plus he had a wife.
It was as if things hadn’t changed. At night, Charlie was on the swing set all by himself, and when I sat down, he started telling me what had happened. A vampire had killed his mother, and his father was jailed for crimes against inhumanity. He had to go live with his aunt, which meant the end of his trips here. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing because surely the laws were in place to protect humans. We had vampires staying at the campground and never had any issues. None of this made sense to me.
When I went back home at the end of summer, I told my father, who detailed horror stories of vampires and how they kill humans for fun. Little did I know, Charlie’s parents were friends of my dad’s, and my father took the death and subsequent imprisonment of his friend rather hard. He told me I was never ever to associate with the undead, under any circumstances.
My circumstances have changed. Sure, I could’ve told Roman to leave me alone, to stay away or find some voodoo bullshit to banish him from my life, but I didn’t. Not because I’m in the business of pissing off my father, but because I like Roman. I like him a lot. The only downfall is he’s a vampire, and while I don’t mind it, others in my circle do and will. Being with him is going to cost me.