Chapter 18

Anais

I stirred, feeling a slight breeze blow across the bed. It blew again, making something flap that also flicked shadows and light across my face. I opened my eyes to see the balcony slightly open and the curtain just beside the open door blowing gently in the sea breeze.

An evening sky filled the rest of the view, the angle I was at from the bed wrong to see any of the ocean beyond the boat. Only sky.

There were few clouds, but what ones there were had shades of orange and red through them. The sun was setting unless I had slept for such a long time that the sun was coming up and I had missed the night all together.

Given I still felt quite stiff and groggy, and only mildly hungry and thirsty I thought it safe to assume it was evening.

I rolled, looking for Leo but he wasn't in the room and I couldn't see any sign of him having been here either.

After everything we had done earlier and the very public setting we had done it in, I had been both a little embarrassed and a lot exhausted. He'd helped me back to the room, and to clean up a little, but I had been very tired by then.

As I thought of everything we had done together my cheeks grew warm. He had promised to put me through my paces and that it wouldn't happen behind closed doors, but it had still been an experience I wasn't quite prepared for.

For the most part, I had enjoyed it, however. There had been a relief to letting go and following not only my own desires but obeying instructions and letting him do what he wanted with my body.

I lifted my hands to my neck to very gingerly touch the two puncture marks he had left. Being fed on had been an experience I would never forget. It had both hurt but given a blissful feeling of its own. After that, I had been high on a combination of whatever venom he gave me and the endorphins and hormones my own body had created in response.

It had been easier to let go and trust him, to follow his lead and let him take control. As I remembered how I had made him moan when I'd first taken him into my mouth, I smiled slightly. He'd quickly grabbed my hair and the back of my head and taken control, but even that had been fun in many ways.

He'd made it very clear what pleased him and how and I had enjoyed bringing him pleasure. Thinking about it now made me more tempted to do some of it again than I'd have expected as well. Whatever he had done to my body, now that I was waking up, I had a lot more energy than I'd thought I would.

Wondering if Leo was somewhere else in the suite, I grabbed the dress I had been wearing and put it back on again. It wasn't ideal to put something back on that I'd just had sex several times in, but I didn't have anything but the dress I'd been wearing in Vegas. And I'd also had to fly in that one.

I slowly searched the entire suite and didn't find Leo at all. He wasn't even out on the balcony. Not that I'd have expected to find him there, but I had to be sure and check anyway.

After a few more minutes of trying to find something to do, I opted to leave the room and either see if I could find him, or explore the ship. Maybe I could work out what was going on and why Ludis had come to this ship in particular. And if nothing else, it gave me something to do.

After making a note for Leo to find I shut the balcony door to make sure the room was secure. Although he hadn't given me any directions, this would hopefully appease him that I was trying to be sensible when I woke up alone.

I also didn't know what dining room I was meant to go to or when, so I thought it best to start there and see if I was maybe missing dinner. If so, I could possibly surprise Leo and fawn all over him again.

Leo had been happy enough with my act and the other vampires had left us alone enough that I hoped I had done a good enough job of appearing enthralled to convince everyone. I had been enthusiastic enough without needing to fake it by the end, that was for sure.

Heading out into the hallway, I tried not to think too much about having sex with Leo. It was obvious why this was such an addictive lifestyle for the enthralled. Being owned by a vampire came with a lot of benefits and a very easy lifestyle. Despite that, so far, I knew I couldn't have lived like this. Not entirely.

I liked Leo and I was attracted to him. It wasn't difficult or much of a stretch to pretend to want to have sex with him, but I wasn't sure about the audience or orgy aspects. Leo was great. His world, not so much.

Still, I had to fit into it for a little longer and I was eager to get the task over and done with. That meant finding where everyone else was and rejoining the group. There weren't a lot of people wandering the halls and it made me sure that at least one dining session was happening now.

There were also several restaurants and I wasn't sure which one I should be going to. This was going to be a puzzle. There was a floor plan on one of the walls near a stairwell and it showed that one of the restaurants was far larger than all of the others so I opted to start there.

It took me a few more minutes to get to it, the ship so large that I had to go up a couple of flights of stairs and make my way to the very back. While I had been looking for Leo, the sun had almost fully set, casting a pale glow through the ship from the corridor.

Within another ten minutes, there would be no sun at all and I suspected I would be more likely to find Leo after that.

Although there was a good chance that the vampires were all in the same room I'd left them in, I didn't go there. Not only was I kinda scared to, but I was also worried about it. I didn't think I wanted to rejoin in any orgy activity, or see if Leo was enjoying anyone else. But on top of that, I didn't remember the way.

I Eventually reached the restaurant and it looked as if a dining session was in full sway. There was a man by the entrance however who came over to me.

"May I help you, ma'am?"

"Yes. I can't find my partner who booked me into the room and wanted to check if he was in here. I'm not sure when we're supposed to be having dinner either. I took a nap and I think he left me to sleep."

"Do you have your cruise card, ma'am?"

"Oh," I replied, frowning as he went over to a small computer attached to a pedestal. "I'm sorry, I don't. I seem to have left that in the room."

He also looked concerned for a moment and I knew why. It would mean that I couldn't get back into the room without finding Leo.

"I'm in room eighteen-oh-two," I added, hoping it would help him find me. "Can you check what dinner sitting I would have been assigned to at least?"

He nodded and began tapping away.

"Anais Johnson?" He asked a moment later and I exhaled with relief that he had my name. "You and your partner have been put down for the evening sitting. It will begin in about an hour."

"Oh, perfect. Thank you. I'll come back in an hour, then, even if I can't find my partner until then." I smiled as if this was no trouble at all and exactly what I suspected.

The man nodded and I hurried away before he could stop me or try to keep me there or even look for Leo for me. If none of the vampires were meant to dine until later and I hadn't found Leo yet, the best thing for me to do was go back to the room and see if he had gone that way as well.

He had said something about wanting to get me more clothes so I made my way to the shop deck along the way back to the room. I wanted to see what there was and if I might like any of it.

I was sure that the clothes Leo picked out for me would be beautiful, but I wanted to also get an idea of the cost. If this was insanely priced I might suggest some cheaper alternatives. I also didn't want to be stuck in dresses that I didn't feel entirely comfortable in the whole cruise.

This was a bit of a risk, but I also knew there was a good chance that I would find Leo here. And I might have a whole hour to kill, either way.

Many of the shops on board were for other items, perfume, jewelry and basic necessities, but there were a couple of clothing shops. Neither of them carried the sorts of clothes I would have chosen for myself and I quickly passed through.

The price tags were also the sort attached to designer clothing labels, even if I didn't recognize most of them. This was another world entirely and I wasn't sure it was for me.

With no other places to go but back to my room or try to find the lounge we were in earlier, I chose the former and found one of the stairwells again to make my way to the right deck.

I'd gone up and down the full length of the ship and partially back before I ran into anyone I knew. I turned a corner to go down the corridor toward the suites and almost walked straight into Ludis.

"Well, hello." He smiled and grabbed my arm before I could get away.

"Hello," I replied. "Have you seen Drew? He left me sleeping and I woke up without him. I was missing him."

As I'd done earlier, I pouted a little, but Ludis shook his head. "I wouldn't tell you were Drew was even if I knew. I'm still not convinced that you two are for real. You are a lot like a hunter."

I frowned and tried to shake my head, but I looked down all demurely. "I really don't know what I've done to upset you, but I promise I'm not any kind of hunter. I was a waitress, that's all. In Vegas. Drew asked me all sorts of questions I didn't understand. Said he had to be sure."

Although I was sort of making this up on the spot, I lifted my hand to my throat as if I was trying to ease a pain there.

Ludis was staring at me, and I didn't know if he was buying it, but I wasn't about to give up. I couldn't give up.

"What drew you to... Drew?" Ludis asked.

"I... right place at the right time," I said, trying to think of the right way to put it and remember what I had tried to say last time. "My friend told me to come to the casino and I was sitting at the bar with a drink trying to work out how to play all the games and he sat down beside me. It was..."

As I looked up at Ludis again, I paused as if I was struggling to put it into words. "Drew is something I didn't know I needed in my life."

"And you know what he is?"

"I didn't then, but does it matter? Are you not as well?" I asked, acting far more innocent than I was.

"I am." Ludis still had a grip on my arm and he pulled me in closer to him.

I looked up at him and tried not to look frightened. I knew he could easily kill me, however. He reached out with his other hand and placed it on my hip. It took all my control and focus to imagine Leo doing so instead and think of how he had touched and enjoyed me earlier so that I appeared comfortable and not scared or disgusted by this.

"Do you like the strength and power our kind can grant?" Ludis asked, stroking the hip as he held my arm.

"It is definitely an exciting and intoxicating experience," I replied, smiling up at him. I lowered my head just enough that I had to look up at him through my eyelashes and tried to be as coy as possible. Again I thought of Leo and all the moments he had been touching me, trying to imagine how good it had felt.

The desire I had for him began to heat my body, but I knew it wouldn't last if Ludis grew too much more forward.

"You seemed to enjoy pleasing Drew, wrapping that pretty little mouth of ours around his cock. I watched as he enjoyed that. In a couple of days you might want to be on your knees in front of me and get a taste of what a truly powerful vampire is like."

I lifted my eyebrow, but he moved his hand from my arm to my chin, holding my head steady as if he was going to kiss me. I swallowed, unable to help it.

"Please, I believe I am meant to stay true to Drew," I said. "He said I belonged to him and him alone."

Ludis chuckled and pulled my whole body in closer until I could feel his erection pressed against me and my breasts were up against his chest. "Is that so? He didn't tell you that the vampire in charge of a clan can do as he pleases with all the enthralled?"

I tried to shake my head as if I had forgotten he was holding my chin and he laughed again.

"Just two sweet little days and you're going to want to be my toy. My enthralled to fuck when I please. If you're a hunter or not, you'll get down on your knees soon enough and take my cock. You're going to take all our cocks if it pleases me. And it might. Butch lives up to his name. I might like to see your neck bulge as he makes you take that all the way while I'm buried deep in you from the other end."

I bit my lip as if I wanted it and fought the way my skin crawled. This was the hardest part of the act so far and I truly hoped that Drew figured this out before they could do what they were threatening.

"What happens in two days?" I asked, but Ludis shook his head and just let go of my chin to grope my breast. I leaned into his hand, letting him get a grip on my nipple through the fabric.

"That would be telling, little girl."