9. Magnar

Imoved towards consciousness with a heaviness in my soul which I couldn’t quite understand. I took a deep breath that I didn’t really need and my eyes snapped open as the most alluring scent swept towards me.

I was lying on my back on a hard concrete floor and I frowned up at the ceiling above me in confusion, trying to remember how I’d gotten here. The space was empty and echoing, the wind moving between several holes in the brickwork. I was aware of the warmth of a fire which burned beyond my feet but I didn’t need the heat on my cool flesh. It didn’t matter much to me but I guessed it had been built for the sake of Julius and Callie.

I breathed in deeply again and Callie’s hair fluttered against my lips. She was curled up next to me, her arms wrapped around me lovingly and she rested her head on my chest as she slept.

The rawness in my throat pulled at me but I ground my teeth against it until I forced it aside in favour of appreciating the moment in her arms.

Memories of the night before came to me and I frowned as I realised what she must have done. My mother had sometimes wielded her gifts in a similar way and she’d used them against me more than once if she decided I’d had enough ale before I was in agreement with her on the subject.

I remembered bearing down on my brother, aching to satisfy the devil inside me with the taste of his blood on my lips. This girl in my arms had saved me from that. I owed her the world once again.

The thought of his blood made my mouth grow dry and I inhaled slowly as the scent of Callie’s called to me. It was like the movement of the tide, reaching out to me and then drawing away again but with each pulsing movement it called to me more forcefully.

My fangs ached with the desperate desire to pierce her flesh and my grip on her tightened a little as I battled against it.

I won’t hurt her. I’d never hurt her. I want her for everything other than blood and this curse will not force me to see her differently.

I gritted my teeth and held my breath so that her scent wouldn’t call to me so.

I twisted my fingers through her hair, marvelling at the way it caressed my skin like a waterfall of soft feathers. I’d never felt anything so sharply as I did now that I was in this form and even the simplest things drew my attention.

Callie took a deep a breath and pushed herself up suddenly, peering down at me in confusion.

“You’re not supposed to be awake,” she murmured, propping her forearm on my chest as she looked down at me.

“I guess I wasn’t tired anymore. Are you going to trust me to stay awake?” I twisted a lock of her hair around my index finger, watching in fascination as it caught in the daylight which spilled into the room from a hole in the wall to our left. Her hair really was like liquid gold; there were more tones to it than I’d ever been able to see before and I was enraptured by it as I continued to twist it around my finger.

“Are you going to behave?” she countered.

My eyes fell on her lips as I considered what she deemed to be misbehaviour. My mind felt sharper after my sleep, more like my own again but the rawness in my throat was more present than ever.

“I’ll try,” I promised half-heartedly. “Where is everyone else?”

“Scouting for supplies. This town was destroyed in the Final War and it’s almost all rubble so I’m not holding my breath. But we’re almost out of water and we have no food...”

“When was the last time you ate?” I asked harshly, realising I’d forgotten all about food on our journey yesterday. That wasn’t what my body craved for nourishment anymore and the thought hadn’t crossed my mind amongst the battle I’d been waging against the clawing thirst.

“When was the last time you drank?” Callie countered.

I swallowed thickly at her words and she eyed me cautiously as she pushed herself up a little more. She slipped a hand through her hair, pulling it over her shoulder so that her neck was exposed to me on her left side and I couldn’t help but stare at the smooth skin which flickered beneath the pressure of her pulse.

“You can bite me,” she breathed and she shifted a little closer, baring herself to me. “I don’t like watching you suffer.”

I opened my mouth to respond but I couldn’t find the words as the sound of her heartbeat filled my senses instead.

“Don’t tempt me,” I groaned, fighting with everything I had to keep myself still.

“I mean it,” she said, inching closer to me. “I don’t want to force you to do anything you’re uncomfortable with but after yesterday...maybe you should reconsider?”

My throat tightened painfully as I bucked against the idea but the scent of her skin was calling to me and the sight of her neck bared to me like that was the sweetest form of torture.

“Please, Callie,” I begged. “I don’t want to crave you for your blood. I want to crave everything of yours but that. The idea of feeding from you, using you like that...”

“If I was starving and you gave me some food would you think I was using you?” she asked, shifting closer to me so that she could look me in the eye. She was still baring her throat to me and I was filled with more love for this woman than she could possibly know. I lay before her made into a monster and she loved me still, trusted me so much that she was willing to be alone with me. To feed me from her own body. But I didn’t know what partaking in such a thing would do to me. To my soul. To hurt the one I loved so much...

I leaned forward slowly and she tilted her chin as I touched my lips to her neck. I groaned as my mouth met with her silky skin and she released a breath as I kissed the spot she was offering to my teeth.

“I want you like this,” I growled, my mouth trailing higher. I devoured every inch of her flesh, caressing her with my lips, my tongue, even my teeth, but never biting down.

The ache in my throat grew more desperate but I fought against it, concentrating on the desires of the rest of my body instead.

I made it to the corner of her mouth and she pulled back slightly, smiling at me.

“You’re trying to distract me from the point of this conversation,” she murmured.

“Were you put up to this?” I asked, frowning as the idea occurred to me. Had one of the parasites encouraged her to try and tempt me into feeding? My frown deepened as I realised I couldn’t really call them that anymore without insulting myself too.

“No.” She bit her lip like she was hiding something and I reached out to tug it free, my desire for her growing as I focused on her mouth.

“But?” I prompted, sliding my fingers down her neck and eyeing her throat again.

“I may have promised to keep you asleep while they were gone.” Her eyes flashed guiltily but I could tell she didn’t really feel bad about lying to them. They all thought I would hurt her but she knew better and her faith in me stirred feelings in my chest which were almost enough to prompt my heart into beating again.

I chuckled, shifting upright and bringing her with me so that we sat looking at each other.

“You never could do as you were told,” I said.

“And you never could stop bossing me around anyway.”

“Mmm,” I caught her waist and dragged her onto my lap. It was ridiculously easy with my immense strength and I was careful as I moved her, not wanting to hurt her by accident again.

“The offer stands,” she murmured, tipping her chin again.

“Noted.” I dragged my gaze from the hammering of her pulse and captured her mouth with mine instead.

I kissed her gently, losing myself in the feeling of her soft lips against mine. She trailed her fingers down my chest, resting them on my belt and I felt her smiling beneath the pressure of my lips.

“How long until the others come back?” I asked.

“Long enough,” she replied and I couldn’t help but groan as she pushed herself into my lap more firmly, rocking her hips over the hardening length of my cock and moaning softly in appreciation of what she found there.

I kissed her again, slowly, losing myself in the feeling of her mouth on mine. I slid my hands beneath her sweater, tracing the curve of her spine as she arched her back into my touch.

The heat of her blood beneath her flesh whispered promises of ecstasy to me but I refused to listen to the dark desire which was growing alongside my lust. I refused to bow to it. I couldn’t. I wouldn’t.

Our kiss deepened and she moaned as her need for this drew me on.

I didn’t want to rush with her. I wanted hours to memorise each and every detail of her body and explore all the things I hadn’t been able to feel with my mortal senses.

I pushed her sweater over her head and her hair tumbled free of it, falling around her with the faint light from the window glinting off of it.

“I could just look at you all day,” I murmured, taking in the glimmer in her eyes and the flush of her cheeks.

“I hope not,” she teased, leaning closer to kiss me again. She ground herself into my lap, moaning with pleasure as she rocked over my cock where it was bulging against the confines of my jeans.

I hooked my fingers into her bra and she caught my hands quickly, leaning back with amusement in her eyes.

“I don’t want you destroying my underwear,” she warned as she pushed my hands away and unclasped it herself. “Who knows where I’ll find another bra out here.”

I chuckled darkly as she pushed the lacy garment off of her, freeing her breasts for me, her nipples peaked and drawing my focus.

“Women never wore such things in my day,” I reminded her, dipping my head to suck her nipple between my lips.

“Well it’s not my fault you’re so old,” she teased, tugging my chin up so that she could kiss me again.

She pushed her body flush to mine and the feeling of her warm flesh against my cold skin was exquisite. Her hardened nipples grazed against my skin, the difference in our temperatures keener as she pressed them against my chest and I skimmed my hands up her sides. Goosebumps rose along her flesh wherever it met with mine and she moaned hungrily as she pressed her tongue into my mouth.

I lifted her gently, holding her up with one arm while I tugged her leggings and underwear off. She shifted back to kick the last of her clothes aside then crawled over me, pulling at mine.

I watched the desire lighting her eyes as she tugged my jeans free and she took in the hard length of my cock, biting down on her bottom lip.

I caught her wrist, drawing her closer again as I kissed her. I didn’t want to waste time toying with her, I wanted to show her how much more I desired her body than her blood. Though as that thought occurred to me, the burning in my throat drew all of my attention and I stilled as I tried to fight it off again.

The scent of it was intoxicating, overwhelming, blinding-

I gasped as she drove herself down onto me, gasping as my cock pushed into her body and my attention was driven back to her flesh as she rolled her hips to take me deeper inside of her, moaning louder as I filled her.

I kissed her again, pushing my hands into her golden hair as she ground her hips against mine and I was lost to her flesh, moving in a slow and heady rhythm, her pussy tight and wet around my shaft.

I claimed her breast with my mouth, grazing my teeth along her nipple just enough to elicit another moan from her.

I took hold of her hips as I thrust upwards, fucking her harder, making her moans of pleasure rise higher. A groan rolled up the back of my throat at the slickness of her cunt enveloping my flesh.

We began to move faster, fucking harder, her fingers biting into my shoulders and mine gripping her ass hard enough to leave marks on her flesh. Sweat gilded her skin, her tits bouncing, moans echoing off of the walls.

I could feel her body tightening around mine as she continued to move up and down in my lap, sighing my name in a way that set my blood alight.

I loved that I could make her feel like that. That I could draw that much pleasure from her body and make her ache with longing for me just as I did for her.

I gripped her hips, guiding her movements on me and she gasped as I shifted my thumb to her clit and pushed her body harder, my cock striking deep inside her.

I drove her closer and closer to her climax, kissing her deeply before moving my mouth down the curve of her neck.

My fangs brushed her skin and the thirst pulled at me, begging me to take even more satisfaction from her body. I growled as I fought against it, driving my thumb down more firmly, slamming my cock in deeper so that she cried my name.

“Do it,” she urged, pulling her hair aside again as my mouth moved against her throat.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” I protested though the scent of her blood was calling to me in a way that rivalled the pleasure she was drawing from my body. I ached for it as I ached for her and the idea of taking both at once was more than a little tempting.

I shook my head against that thought as it occurred to me. I couldn’t do it to her. I refused to let the curse control me like that. But despite the arguments thrumming through my skull, my fangs grazed her flesh and I could feel a well of pleasure awaiting me if I would only give in...

“I can handle it,” she argued, catching the back of my neck in her hand and driving me down against her throat as if she wanted it too.

Her hips moved faster, and I growled as I fucked her harder, my teeth grazing her flesh, almost drawing blood.

I fought it for another second before my resistance buckled and I groaned as I thrust into her firmly at the same moment my teeth pierced her flesh.

Callie cried out in utter bliss, fisting my hair and pulling me closer as she came around my cock and the delicious sweetness of her blood rolled over my tongue.

Her hand tightened into my hair as she held me against her neck and I drank deeply as she came apart in my arms. She kept moving on me, forcing me closer to my own climax as I swallowed mouthfuls of her blood and my fingers dug into her ass so hard I had to be bruising her.

My body rocked with the combination of the two sensations overwhelming me and my arms tightened around her as I tumbled into an explosion of ecstasy, coming hard inside her, filling her with my seed and marking her as my own.

The burning in my throat receded and I forced my fangs from her neck even though the desire to drink more still tugged at me. I pulled back, looking up at this beautiful creature who had claimed me as hers while she panted in my arms, contentment lining her features.

She kissed me again, not caring that my lips were coated with her blood as she pushed me backwards and I gave in to her command, falling onto my back and bringing her down with me.

“Are you okay?” she breathed, trailing her fingers along my jaw as I looked up at her.

“Me? Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” I raised an eyebrow at her as my body tried to recover from the dual pleasure she’d just delivered to me, my entire being buzzing with the rush of it, of her.

In the back of my mind I knew that I should be feeling worse about what I’d just done to her but the feeling of her blood in my system was more than anything I ever could have expected. I was alive with it, every inch of my skin tingling with energy and satisfaction. I wanted more of it and I was tempted to push her down beside me and bite her again. I shook my head to clear it of the idea as the bloodlust pulled at me and it slowly started to recede.

“So it wasn’t as bad as you thought it would be?” Callie teased.

I couldn’t help but laugh a little at the thought of what she’d just done to me. She’d seduced me into drinking from her. I wasn’t sure if I should be pleased or angry but I couldn’t bring myself to be the latter.

Her blood had cleared my mind, energised my body and sent endless pleasure racing through my limbs.

“Does it hurt?” I asked, my pleasure dimming a little as I brushed my fingers against the puncture marks on her neck.

“It doesn’t actually,” she said with a frown.

“You don’t have to lie to me,” I said. If I was going to do this to her then I wanted her to be honest about the way it felt. “I don’t want to do something to you which causes you pain-”

“It didn’t,” she said earnestly and I hesitated as I looked into her eyes, sensing she was telling the truth. “I actually kinda...liked it.” She bit her lip as her cheeks coloured and I smiled widely as I thought of the way she’d come right as my teeth drove into her flesh.

“You liked it?” I asked, wondering how such a thing could be the case but the blush in her cheeks told me she meant it and the memory of her pussy locking tight around my dick confirmed it.

“It doesn’t burn. There’s no venom.” She shrugged and I tilted her chin up so that I could inspect the wound and I frowned in confusion as I realised she was right. No silver venom marked the puncture wounds I’d delivered to her.

Callie leaned down to kiss me again and I ran my hand along her naked flesh with a smile.

“You could definitely do that again,” she breathed and a deep warmth spread through my chest. Perhaps being a vampire for a while wouldn’t have to be all bad after all. And as she’d assured me, we still had plenty of time until the others returned, I didn’t see why we shouldn’t have another round of that now.

I flipped Callie onto her back in a jolt of movement so sudden that she gasped in surprise. My fingers trailed between her thighs, smearing through my cum which marked her there before sinking into her sweet cunt.

I took her leg and draped it over my shoulder, looking down at her as she moaned softly beneath the ministrations of my fingers inside her. My cock was rock hard already and she bit her lip as her eyes fell to it - a single word falling from her lips which was absolutely impossible to deny.

“More,” she demanded. And with a dark grin, I took my fingers out of her and drove my cock into their place, the sound of her cry of pleasure only making me want more too.