CHARLIE
Iawoke to ecstasy. My eyes were closed, but it only made every sensation that much more electric.
Essa’s silken skin quaking into gooseflesh as I ran my fingers over it.
The sound of her moan as she writhed against me.
The taste on my lips—a wine I’d never had before.
It was thick, dry, almost metallic, but incredibly delicious as it slicked my lips and gulped warm down my throat.
I felt like every cell of my body was awakened, enflamed, engorged, glowing with the light of a hundred suns.
I reached out with my hands, fingers brushing over a taut nipple, eliciting a sound like a purr.
I fought to open my eyes, but as awakened as all my senses were, my eyelids felt leaden. When I slitted them, they burned. Keeping them shut felt so much better.
I felt Essa’s fingertips then, tracing down my belly to my manhood.
She gripped the shaft, and I felt myself throbbing hard against her palm, more aroused than I’d been in my life.
I felt her lips on my neck. Kissing. Licking.
Then biting me. It hurt for an instant, but then it felt amazing, warm and tingly, and—and—
“Drink,” she whispered, and I parted my lips again. The hot wine splashed across my tongue, and with it came another wave of euphoria. I felt I could open my arms and fly without an airplane. I could fight an army barehanded. I could fuck for ten hours with a cock like an iron rail spike. I could—
As I gulped another mouthful of wine, my stomach turned over.
Something about it… tasted like…
Blood.
And something about Essa. Her scent. The waifish slightness of her frame…
With effort, I forced my eyes open—and screamed.
“Kitty?” I gasped.
It was her, alright. My former fiancée. A liar and a sneak.
But it was Kitty out of a nightmare. She had fangs. Blood ran down her chin as she gazed at me, her eyes half-lidded with desire.
I scrambled out of the bed, yanking the sheet with me to cover my nakedness.
“What the hell?” I demanded, breathless.
Kitty knelt on the mattress, a bloodstained nighty hiked up to her hips, one hand rubbing her bare, shaved pussy.
The other hand dripped with blood from what I saw was a cut in her wrist. I felt something dripping down my chin, too, and reached up to touch my own lips.
My fingers came away sticky and crimson.
“What’s happening?” I demanded. “Where’s Essa?”
“Essa?” Kitty laughed scornfully. “You weren’t thinking about her a second ago.”
She couldn’t have been more wrong. But when I tried to tell her so, I broke into a coughing fit so intense that it brought me to my knees.
“Easy, Charlie,” Kitty soothed. “You’ve come a long way, but you’re not all the way healed yet.”
“Healed from… what?” I coughed.
“Come back to bed, honey,” Kitty said. “It’s the blood that’s going to heal you. And it’ll be fun, too. I promise.”
Wiping the tears from my coughing fit out of my eyes, I saw her push two fingers inside herself. She squealed, her eyelids fluttering.
“Quit that, goddammit!” I shouted.
She crossed her arms and flopped back on the bed, pouting.
“You’re no fun,” she groused.
Now that she’d closed her legs and stopped assaulting me, I could focus on other things. My eyes snapped to her mouth.
“You’ve got fangs,” I said. “Like a…”
She arched an eyebrow, grabbing a pack of cigarettes off the bedside table.
“What are you?” I breathed.
“The same thing you are, champ,” she said, gesturing to a mirror on the wall. “Take a look.”
I rushed to the mirror and almost recoiled.
First of all, the reflection was strange.
It wasn’t like I didn’t have a reflection, but I looked almost translucent, ethereal compared to everything in the background.
And I didn’t look like my usual self. This person in the mirror was thinner.
Paler. Bearded. Blood smeared my mouth like a clown’s lipstick.
And when I grimaced, I saw my teeth. My fangs…
“I’m a vampyre,” I whispered.
“We’re vampyres,” Kitty corrected, lighting her cigarette.
I wheeled on her. “You did this to me.”
“Are you angry? You wanna take it out on me?” She opened her legs, revealing her glistening, moist pussy once more. Even though my member still ached with arousal, I turned my head away with a snarl.
“I’m going to ask you one more time,” I grated out. “Where. Is. Essa?”
“You really don’t remember,” Kitty said with pity. “She left you to die.”
“Bullshit!” I snarled.
Kitty whipped a robe off the bedpost and wrapped herself in it. “Well, look around, wise guy. Do you see her anywhere?”
I shook my head, trying to remember, to piece together what happened. “I was calling for her,” I said slowly. “She wouldn’t have just… not come.”
“Oh, she came,” Kitty said, taking another drag of her cigarette, then blowing out a long stream of smoke. “She came, took one look at your dead body, and flew off again. I, on the other hand, stayed right by your side. I waited, and when everyone left, I bit you. And I brought you back to life.”
I studied Kitty. I saw cunningness in those pale blue eyes of hers. And bitterness. Seduction. Cruelty. But I detected no lies.
With a sigh, I sat down heavily on the bed. I wiped the blood from my chin and looked at my red fingers. With my tongue, I touched the sharp point of my left incisor. It felt a little smaller than it had been a moment ago, but it was still sharp as a steak knife.
“God... I’m really a vampyre…”
“I’m afraid so, babe,” Kitty said, putting a hand on my shoulder.
I put out a hand. “Cigarette?”
She snorted. “Are you kidding? You died of smoke inhalation a month ago.”
I turned fast to look at her.
“A month? I’ve been passed out for a goddamn month?”
“And I’ve been feeding you. Like a baby bird. With my own blood. You’re welcome.”
I cradled my face in my hands. “Oh my God…” I groaned again. “How many times did you take advantage of me during that time? You know what, I don’t want to know. Just tell me where my goddamned clothes are so I can get out of here.”
Kitty angrily flicked her ashes into an ashtray on the bedside table. “Really? Just like that? I save your life, and you’re going to just hop on your motorcycle and blaze on off into the sunset?”
“I didn’t exactly ask you to rescue me,” I reminded her.
“Great, I’ll just leave your ass dead next time.”
“Great,” I snapped. “My clothes, please?”
“I threw them away!” she shouted.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” I grumbled, rising to my feet again and going to the closet.
“They were burned full of holes and stunk of smoke, Charlie. What did you want me to do?”
I yanked the closet doors open and found a paltry collection of business-lady suits and sparkly gowns—Kitty’s clothes. But wait...
I turned a circle, taking in the room. Kitty had been my fiancée; I knew her apartment well. This wasn’t it.
“Where are we?” I demanded.
“We’re at Auggie’s place. Suzanne’s brother, remember?
He’s off visiting his boyfriend out West, so he said I could sublet for a month.
I couldn’t exactly bring you to my apartment.
Edward and the other agents know where I live.
And as far as they know, you’re dead. And I don’t think they would be very happy I saved you. ”
I crossed my arms. When I did, the sheet wrapped around my hips started to fall and Kitty’s eyes raked over me hungrily.
I grabbed the sheet again and pulled it tight.
“So. In summary, Essa’s back in Maethalia. As far as everyone knows, I’m dead. And you’ve been hiding out here with me…” There were quite a few colorful words I could use to describe what was happening here, but I felt I ought to be diplomatic. “…nursing me back to health.”
“That about sums it up.” Kitty shrugged, lighting another cigarette. As she did, she glanced up at me. “So… what should we do?” she asked, flirting again.
But I was already headed out the door.
“Where are you going?” she demanded.
“Auggie’s room. To borrow some clothes. Then to Maethalia.”
“Maethalia? Are you kidding?” she called after me.
I emerged into the living room of the apartment.
It was a modest bachelor’s flat, with a wall-mounted sink and a hot plate for a kitchen, a loveseat, and a tiny table for furnishings.
But each wall was painted a different bright color, and modern artwork adorned the walls.
I strode into the second bedroom, threw open the closet, and started trying to stuff myself into a pair of trousers that were at least a size too small.
I winced, trying to zip them up without catching my dick in the zipper’s teeth.
Kitty stormed into the room. She’d pulled on a pink floral dress and washed the blood off her face.
“You cannot be serious about going back to her, Charlie. She left you for dead.”
“I was dead,” I corrected. “You said so yourself. If I wasn’t, there’s no way in hell she’d have left me.”
Kitty quirked her lips, skeptical. “Wow. Are you really that na?ve? She’s a princess, Charlie.
Her kingdom is always going to come first. To her, you’ll always be second fiddle.
I mean, God, did you think you were going to be Charlie Inman, King of Maethalia?
” she laughed. “She was probably relieved when she saw you were dead.”
I shot Kitty a glare and pulled a shirt on over my head. The damn thing was so tight, I had to leave the top three buttons open like some fisherman from the Under Isles.
“But to me… Charlie…” Kitty went on, gentle now. “To me, you’re very important.”
Reluctantly, I tore my attention from the shirt buttons and fixed it on Kitty again. Her big blue eyes were filled with empathy now—empathy, bordering on pity. And her fangs had gone down again. She resembled the girl I’d first met in the jazz club two years ago—it seemed like a lifetime ago, now.
“I love her, Kitty,” I said.
“I can tell,” she said softly. “But listen, Charlie. You can’t go find her now. You’re too weak. And there are things about being a vampyre… things you need to know.”
I shook my head. “I have to get to her. You don’t understand what it’s like in Maethalia. It’s a war zone. She’s in danger.”
Kitty ran a hand through her hair, clearly frustrated with me.
“Fine. At least let me take you to a diner first. You haven’t had solid food in weeks.”
I was about to say no. Then I looked down at my hands. They were trembling. And my stomach gurgled, as if to second Kitty’s motion. I patted my pockets, but of course, there was no wallet there.
“Okay. Sure. Fine,” I relented.
She tossed me a washcloth. “Great. Now clean yourself up,” she said. “You look like a lion who just gobbled a gazelle.”