Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

“Just a little appetiser for now,” he whispered. “To take the edge off the craving.”

I didn’t care where he bit me. It didn’t matter. I was so desperate it was driving me insane. Teeth. That’s all I could think about. I need his teeth.

“Shh, little one,” he said, even though I wasn’t speaking a word.

He slipped my coat from my shoulders and unbuttoned my blouse so slowly, my chest was prickling and my nipples tightening. He opened my blouse and checked out my bite marks and bruises with a smile.

“They suit you so perfectly.”

“Please…” I whispered. “I need you to bite me.”

His warm fingers slid into the cups of my bra and tugged them down, freeing my tits. The cold of the air gave me goosebumps.

“Wonderful,” he said, admiring the wounds and bruising around my nipples. Just his stare had my pussy tingling.

Please bite me…

“Soon,” he said with a fanged smile. “Is it hurting yet?” he added. “The need? The craving?”

I shook my head with a rush of fear.

“Is that what happens? Am I an addict now? Addicted to bites?”

“No.” His voice was a breath. “You’re addicted to me.”

Somehow that thought was even more scary, but even more beautiful.

“Brace yourself,” he told me, but I was ready for whatever was coming.

I held on to his shoulders as he leaned in, moaned when he licked around a nipple and ran his hot tongue all the way up to my shoulder.

I shuddered, and braced myself as his teeth grazed my collarbone, gripped his shoulders hard as he sank his fangs straight into tender flesh, just around the bone. It was purposefully painful, and I knew it. He was testing me. Pushing me. Seeking out just how much I wanted him.

I cried out loudly, but it didn’t matter, not to him and not to me, either. He had me pinned and kept on sucking, so I closed my eyes and took it, grateful when the emptiness of craving began to subside. Then came the relief. The relief and the pleasure. Such gorgeous pleasure it rippled through me and ate me alive.

It was me who shifted myself so his thigh was between my legs. Me who started to grind against him like a dirty little whore.

He hitched my leg up higher and tore my new pair of tights apart at the crotch, and then his thumb brushed me. Oh God, his thumb brushed and played me so well I could hardly breathe, and still he kept on sucking.

Bliss and pain. Grinding and sucking, and I was moaning. Whimpering. Lost.

My mouth was hungry for his when he pulled his teeth out of me. I tasted my blood on his lips and then he gave me his tongue, so wet with my blood it made me shiver. Blood-red kisses, hot and deep.

He lifted me up so my feet were off the floor and I wrapped my legs around his waist. He positioned himself so he could rub his cock against my pussy, and I felt him, hard through his trousers. Fuck. He was so big. Way bigger than I’d expected a cock to be, not that I’d ever seen one in the flesh.

He smiled against my mouth.

“The more I drink, the bigger I get, but don’t worry. You’ll be able to take it. I’ll make sure you’re begging wet before I claim you for the first time.”

The first time…

My tummy fluttered and my pussy clenched at the thought of his huge cock inside me.

“When will that be?” I asked him, and he kept on smiling, kept on grinding.

“Patience, little one. It’ll be time when it’s time.”

I was a slut as I rubbed myself against him as best I could. I knew my clit was swollen and I’d be dripping in my panties, and I wished, prayed, he’d fuck me right there on the spot.

Please. PLEASE. I need it.

“Patience,” he repeated.

“But I can’t… I can’t wait.”

“You don’t have a choice.”

I got the impression that would be true about a lot of things from here on in. A lot of choices would belong to him now – but I’d given him that invitation.

It didn’t feel all that bad.

He dropped me to the floor as I contemplated my new reality. He pulled my bra back into place and buttoned up my blouse for me, then picked up my coat from the floor and held it for me to put my arms in the sleeves – as though I was a little girl.

A little girl who’d never got the same care from her own father, since he’d disappeared before she was even old enough to know his name.

He took hold of my hand. His fingers were so long, they felt so comforting in mine.

“Are we going to my place?” I asked him.

You could fuck me there.

“No. We’re going to mine.”

That gave me tingles.

“Where is it?”

“Holland Road. A little way from here. The air will do you some good.”

I felt better now he’d bitten me, still riding the waves of sated bliss.

I soaked in the cool breeze as we walked.

“Are you going to tell me about George?” I asked.

“No. Not yet.”

“Is he going to die?”

“All mortals die, Katherine.”

I stared up at him. “You know what I’m talking about, Hans. Don’t pretend you don’t.”

“Yes, I do. So maybe you should start asking proper questions.”

I was nervous as I voiced the unspoken.

“Is George going to die tonight because of what happened in the bar? What did he do wrong?”

“George is indeed going to die tonight, yes. But it’s his time to go. We’re saving him pain in the long run, despite the fact he may not realise it.”

I had so many questions spinning through my brain.

Dying? Pain? Him not realising? Who the hell are ‘we’? And why?! So many whys.

“Calm down,” Hans said. “You’ll get the answers to your questions. Slowly, one step at a time.”

I tried to calm myself down, but my mind was still whirring. Hans’ pace was slow and steady, in a lovely rhythm under the streetlights, and he was unfazed, in such contrast to me.

“Breathe along with your footsteps,” he told me. “Feel the energy and trust it.”

I didn’t know what he was talking about, but turned my senses to how we were walking. My breaths went in and out to the pace.

“Do you feel that?” he asked. “The night?”

I felt the cool of the air.

“No,” he said. “Deeper than that. Close your eyes and trust me to guide you.”

It felt weird closing my eyes and walking, with no idea of what was in front of me, but the feeling was exhilarating. Alive.

I began to feel the power of his pace, his presence beside me and the strong grip of his hand in mine. I felt the flow of energy between us, merging as one. I felt my pulse beating, already craving his teeth again.

And then the rest of the world came into play.

I felt the glow of the streetlights, even though my eyes were closed. I heard the silence in the night, underneath the hum of London city. I felt the silver of the moon, even though it was hidden behind the clouds.

The questions stopped fizzing, and my mind stopped whirring and there was only footsteps, heightened senses and the rhythm of life.

It was a hymn I’d loved as a girl in the school choir.

The rhythm of life.

“I told you, didn’t I?” Hans said. “You can open your eyes now.”

I did what I was told, and my vision only added to the cold, beautiful intensity. I found I was smiling, like a child exploring the world through fresh eyes.

“Gorgeous,” Hans said, looking down at me, smiling too.

We were stopping at a tall, grand townhouse before I knew it. The place had iron railings outside, and steep stone steps climbing up to the heavy black wooden door. The door knocker was solid brass.

“This is yours?” I asked him.

“Yes. It’s one of my houses.”

“Do you have many?” I asked as he took his key from his inside pocket and opened the door.

“Yes,” he said. “I do.”

It was time for me to cross his threshold, and I felt like I was about to step into a curiosity shop, filled with treasures. I wasn’t going to be disappointed. That much was clear as soon as I walked into the hallway.

Beautiful ebonised antique furniture. Paintings of gold on the walls, abstract and stunning. A black and white Victorian style tiled floor, in perfect checks.

A home that would live up to the most dramatic gothic vampire novel I’d ever read.

“I’m glad you like it,” he told me. “I hope you’ll be spending a lot of time here.”

I gave him my coat when he held out his hand for it. Proud at the way my nipples poked through my blouse. Proud that I was starting to understand his world – my new world. Proud that he’d chosen me. He was going to take me with his huge cock, make me beg, make me so wet…

“Earth to Katherine! Be still those filthy thoughts and listen to me, please. It’s important.”

“What? Sorry. What did you say?”

“I said, your days at Regency are over from now on,” he told me. “And so are your days in the soulless room you’ve been trying to call home.”

I struggled to digest it, all thoughts of rampant sex gone.

“Really? What? Just like that?”

“Yes,” he answered simply.

“But what about–”

He smirked. “What about what?”

“What about my notice period?”

“You don’t need to work your notice period. There are other staff waiting in the wings, don’t worry.”

“Ok, so what about the tenancy agreement on my rented room?”

“You don’t need to worry about that, either. It’ll be paid until the end of the agreement.”

“By you?”

He took off his jacket and hung it on the ornate coat rack.

“Yes.”

Another simple answer.

I was stunned.

“Is that not what you want?” he asked me. “You invited me over your threshold, remember?”

“Yes, but I… I didn’t expect this.”

“I’ll repeat my question.” He smiled a beautiful smile. “Is this not what you want?”

I listened to my heart, dancing under my surprise. I was soaring high.

“Yes, it’s what I want,” I said. “I’m just… shocked.”

He laughed. “There are plenty of things that will shock you. This is only the beginning. Call it a nice surprise.”

He led me through to the drawing room, off to the right from the hall. It was definitely a nice surprise. The ceiling was beautifully high, and the fireplace was grand in deep, dark marble.

“It’s a little cold in here, isn’t it?” he said and I jumped when the fire suddenly lit up in huge flames.

“What other things can you do?” I asked him. “You start up fires, and read my mind. What else can you add to the collection?”

“Not as many as one of the mages can,” he replied. “They are another league altogether.”

“Mages? What? Like wizards?!”

“Yes, and a lot of witches.”

I was taken aback at the craziness, even though I was standing in front of a vampire.

“There are witches and wizards, too? Are you being serious?”

He laughed a rich laugh, and his green eyes were so full of affection.

Love.

“Oh, little one. You truly have no idea, do you? Your mother and grandmother have crippled you even more than I gave them credit for.”

He gestured to one of the sofas, in deep blush burgundy brocade. I took a seat awkwardly as he paced back and forth in front of the fire. I felt so out of my depth in this space.

“Have you ever heard the tale of the nine witches between Garway and Orcop?” Hans asked me.

I remembered something vaguely from my memory.

“Kind of.”

“Kind of?”

“Yes. I heard there are a group of them or something. It’s a myth, right?”

“It’s more than a myth. Your family line is inherent in it. Unfortunately, your mother and grandmother turned their back on their own heritage, and took yours from you, too.”

“Stop,” I said, trying to catch up with him. “I just… I can’t.”

My thoughts felt uneasy, like something was buried deep. Something I didn’t want to surface yet, like a dark trapdoor deep down below.

He read me. Of course he did.

“We’ll save this for another day,” he told me, and I didn’t argue.

I had other questions to ask him. Ones that didn’t give me so many instant triggers.

“So, what about George? What’s going to happen to him tonight?”

Hans took a seat beside me. His skin looked so stunning in the glow of the fire.

“Would you like the full truth?”

“Yes, please. Why wouldn’t I?”

“A lot of people shy away from the truth on all levels. That’s what culture has become now, a facade over the deeper meaning. Myths and legends have become little more than dusty fairytales. Everyone is now focused on the surface, racing around, looking for meaning where none can be found.”

I looked over at the fire, taking in the height of the flames. Reaching, consuming. Part of my soul felt like that. Reaching, searching, wanting to consume and – to be consumed.

Just so long as that searching didn’t include the trapdoor in my own subconscious.

“Shall I tell you what you want to know?” Hans asked me. “Call it another invitation on your part. You tell me you’d like answers, and I’ll answer your questions. But once you start knowing those answers, you’ll never be able return to ignorance again.”

I weighed it up. It felt like I was on the edge of some kind of abyss, ready to jump and fall, or stay, forever wavering on the edge, wondering.

Considering I’d had a vampire suck my blood and was already an addict for more, it felt quite a strange thing to be wary of. I was already in way too deep to back out.

“Yes, I’d like answers,” I told Hans, the creature who now owned my soul. “So, how about we start with George?”