Will’s usual habit on feeding night was to drive his van to one of the local bars near Lafayette, where his estate was located, and then drive whoever he managed to pick up out to his resort. It was nestled deep in the heart of the Redwood Forest, amid the grandeur of the trees and the peacefulness of birdsong.
Of course, he doubted that his victims thought it was quite as peaceful out there in the end, but he always did his level best to make sure they died with a smile. It was the least that he could do.
Unlike his brothers, who each bought into the whole notion of duty to the Clan, Will preferred to be out on his own. As a vampire descended from the Arimathean himself, he had spent his share of time learning all the Knights Templar nonsense and swearing to protect the Church as penance for their ancestor’s crime, but he’d walked away from all of that about fifty years ago when their family had decided to come to America. Now, he owned about four different little health and nature resorts in the middle of California, and they brought in enough income to allow him to remain alone.
The couple he’d entranced tonight seemed about as different as night and day. The man wasn’t overly handsome, with his hair just beginning to bald and his belly starting to turn from flat to old. He was a lost cause, really, if Will had actually intended to help him become exciting again. The woman, though. She was a completely other matter. There was something about her, whether it was her beauty or her nature, which tugged at his loins like nothing he’d ever known.
It would be a shame to end her life, Will thought with a little sigh. But a vampire had to eat, after all.
As he neared the end of the long stretch of road, he realized that the man’s attitude and interest were souring steadily. He tried to make some small talk just to keep his fish on their hooks. “So, I have told you who I am, but I do not know anything about the two of you. This ride will take more than an hour, so I might as well hear your stories, right?”
“I’m an English professor at Berkeley,” Cameron supplied, his words somewhat clipped but not arrogant. More like he was tired of introducing himself than anything else. “The name is Cameron Foss, by the way.”
“Pleased to make your acquaintance, Professor Foss,” said Will with a little smile. “If you don’t mind, I believe I will call you Cam. It’s much less of a mouthful, and I prefer to use my mouth for other things.”
The woman sucked in a breath, hearing that. Will found her reaction even more amusing than his as she squeaked, “Um, I’m Irene. I guess I’m a bit of a writer. But mostly I just sit home and keep the house clean and the dinners prepared.”
“Well, that’s part of your problem right there,” said Will with a shrug. “How can you find any sort of a spark in life if you don’t have a purpose of your own?”
“Irene doesn’t need to have a job,” Cameron barked then. “Keeping our home in order is plenty of work on its own. Besides, we have two maids to help, so it’s not really all that difficult.”
“Cam, Cam, Cam, you’re missing the whole point,” said Will with a shake of his head. “A pretty young woman like Irene needs some excitement in her day. If she’s not getting it from working, then she needs to get it from play. If you breeze in from work demanding your dinner and then wandering into your study to prepare your lesson for the next day, she’s certainly not getting that excitement from you. Do you two ever go out on dates? Well, other than this evening, of course.”
“Rarely,” Irene complained.
“I’m just so exhausted by the end of the day,” Cameron excused himself. “The only time we can find for fun is weekends or vacations. But I’m sure you know how all of that goes.”
“In my experience, Cam, finding no time for a beautiful woman usually spells the beginning of the end,” Will said with a knowing smile. “However, since the two of you are here with me, that shows a certain willingness to get whatever it was you had back again.”
“Yes, yes,” he agreed. “That is why I’m here.”
“That is good,” said Will. “Because we have finally arrived.”
*****
Irene was feeling introspective as they exited the van and stepped into the line of trees that separated the parking area from a very large, very old building that looked more like a hunting lodge than a resort hotel. Though, she supposed that only made sense, considering where they were. Who built fancy hotels out in the middle of the forest anyway?
“This doesn’t look anything like what I was expecting,” Cameron complained. “I hope at the very least that somewhere in this place is a bottle of champagne.”
“Yes, Cam, I’m sure that can be arranged,” said Will with a dry smile. “You have come all this way to learn about pleasure, have you not? And no expense will be spared in providing it to you. Now, if you’ll just follow me. My rooms are kept somewhat away from those of the paying guests. I do not wish for them to be disturbed by any—noises we might make.”
Just listening to the man speak sent little thrills down Irene’s spine. But the visual that his suggestive words called up really sent her over the edge. She could quite clearly see herself leaning back in a fancy wingback chair while this gorgeous specimen of a man bent down to take his first taste between her legs. His first of many, that was. After all, wasn’t this her fantasy? Reality certainly had no place in it.
Glancing back at her reality, she couldn’t help but find herself annoyed with Cameron’s lack of enthusiasm. Sure, there was no second woman around for him, so he’d have to content himself with pleasing her. But he didn’t have to consider that a chore. She suspected the real trouble between them wasn’t staid sex, but rather that they just didn’t love each other anymore. She certainly didn’t seem to feel any love for him, in any case. If whatever Will had planned for them didn’t work, she really did think that this was the end.
“Such a melancholy expression,” Will whispered in her ear so that Cameron could not hear. “No worries, pet. I’ll have you smiling soon enough.”
Where his lips feathered over her ear and on down her neck, a gentle heat seemed to caress her flesh. She felt her pulse quicken, and when he moved away again, all she could seem to do was wish that he’d come back.
“This way,” he said, leading them down a very long corridor. The walls were lined with deep red velvet, and the carpeting was plush beneath their feet. It was so dark she couldn’t tell if it was white or cream.
She began to suspect they weren’t even in the same building anymore. Her suspicions were confirmed when Will spoke once again.
“Now, we have entered into my private cabin using a hidden hall. Here, we shall remain undisturbed for however long these lessons might require.”
“Lessons?” Cameron scoffed. “I thought you only intended to teach me one?”
Will chuckled as they headed toward another door. It was the door to a dungeon, made of thick oak beams and dressed with leather and metal accents. Irene ran an appreciative finger over it, enjoying the workmanship.
“Cam, you must understand. These bad habits you learned took some time to acquire. It may take more than one lesson to undo all that damage. It is Friday night. I assume you don’t have to work for the weekend, so your presence elsewhere will not be required for at least two days.”
“Well, yes, I suppose that’s true, but--”
“The pleasure room is just beyond this door,” Will said sternly. “I suggest you leave your reservations here, since inside, they won’t be tolerated anymore. Do I make myself clear?”
The tone the man took on as he said this was—masterful. He was in charge, and Cameron would have to obey. Irene was beginning to like the foreplay.
Stammering, Cameron managed to agree, nodding his head vigorously. Will reached out and pushed the door, letting it swing wide open with a long, low creak. Irene looked curiously inside, and she was not surprised to discover the furnishings had a decadent, gothic feel.
“This looks like my kind of place,” she commented dryly as she stepped over to the huge, canopied four-poster bed that dominated the middle of the room. Like the walls throughout this whole place, it was dominated by red velvet and accentuated with gold braid.
On the ceiling nearby, she spotted a cat-o-nine-tails dangling gracefully next to a pair of chains, ready to use for a flogging. “I never thought of trying submission. But you know what I’d really like? I think I’d rather do the dominating.”
“One first must crawl if they wish to walk,” Will said as he closed and locked the door, not just with a lock on the knob but also with a padlock. “Now, enough of the idle chit chat. I want to see the two of you have sex together.”
“What?” Irene gasped, disappointed. “But I thought we came here to be with you!”
“Hush, pet, and do as your master says,” he told her sternly. “I want to find out what the two of you are doing wrong, and also what you are doing right. I can’t very well do that without a peep show, now can I?”
Blushing hotly, Irene couldn’t understand why the very thought of this man watching her have sex with Cameron made her blood boil. The heat suffused her being and pooled deliciously in her sex, making her desire to strip return in full measure.
When she looked at him, she realized that Cameron was feeling heated too. His eyes glowed in a way she hadn’t seen in a long time, and she began to wonder if she might be able to enjoy him after all.
“You heard the man,” said Cameron with a dry smile. He stepped over and deftly tugged her shirt up and over her head, tossing it aside. Irene had worn her push-up bra, and she enjoyed watching the appreciative acknowledgement in both of the men’s eyes. She shed the rest of her clothes willingly, and allowed Cameron to guide her back and onto the bed.
*
Cameron played with her nipples, kissed her a bit, and then dove right in to the main event, just as he usually did. Irene couldn’t exactly complain, since all the mechanics of the thing had been observed, but she still felt vaguely cheated, like something was missing as he moved against her. It was always how she felt with him these days, and she just wanted to get past this part and move on to something new.
Her prerequisite moans were a bit louder than usual, but that was mostly for show. She even writhed and clutched at the sheets for good measure. The man who watched them might have thought she was uninvolved in the whole process otherwise, and she didn’t want to give him the wrong impression. She wouldn’t want him to think that sex, in and of itself, had no appeal for her. That simply wasn’t true. She just didn’t particularly want it with Cameron.
The realization of that fact flooded Irene with guilt as they finished, but she thought she managed to hide it well. It wasn’t the first time she’d felt like this. Now, she viewed Cameron like an old, worn pair of shoes that were too comfortable to get rid of, but mostly never got much use. They were just good to have around.
It wasn’t like Cameron had been trying to impress anyone, though. He had pretty much just been going through the motions too.
Will stepped up to the side of the bed with his hands on his hips. He had a disgusted look on his face as he shook his head and asked, “What was that? Was there actually any type of lovemaking going on in there? Because if there was, I believe I must have missed it. Do it again. With feeling!”
“Are you serious?” Cameron gasped as he wiped some sweat off of his brow.
“Of course, I’m serious,” he replied with a scowl. “This woman is starving for some actual affection, Cam. By the look of things, you could just as easily have been watching the evening news while she was off polishing her nails. It looks like I’ve really got my work cut out for me. Go on, I said. Do it again.”
The request seemed somewhat odd, in Irene’s opinion, but she found herself unaccountably willing to please the man, so she suddenly reared up, grabbed Cameron around his middle, and threw him down onto the center of the bed, impaling herself on his half-hard cock and pretending he was Will. Cameron made more of an effort than usual to twist her nipples as she did most of the work.
“Stop,” Will finally said in disgust. “That is not making love. I can see I’m wasting my time here. Your trouble is that you are no longer in love, if you ever were. There is no way to return that spark.”
“Then we’ve wasted our time coming here?” Cameron complained.
“Oh, no, your time won’t be wasted, Cam,” Will smirked with a predatory glint in his eyes. “I still intend to take Irene, and you will still get the pleasure of watching me. It’s just that now, since there’s no reason, I don’t intend to hold back like I might have done before.”
Finally, Cameron’s eyes took on the light of interest. In fact, Irene was pretty sure she’d never seen him look more interested in all the time she’d known him. This was something new, a change—the thing that they had been craving. Sure, it came in the wake of Will having spelled out what Irene herself had already just admitted. She did not love Cameron anymore. And it should have been obvious to her that Cameron didn’t love her either, if he ever had.
So, that meant that now, free from the complication of trying to please Cameron, she could go ahead and please herself. And Cameron seemed more than willing to let her. At last, she could find out what real, honest lust felt like.
Her eyes met Will’s, the two of them exchanging a wordless promise. This is going to be good! Her nipples ached for his touch, and her whole body began to tremble just from the powerful desire she found in his eyes.
“Irene, come here,” he said sternly. He was standing near the chains that dangled down. She had no doubt in her mind that he intended to cuff her to them. She moved slowly, but she did not hesitate to do as he asked. “What do you say to me?” he added, tapping his foot.
“Yes, Master,” she said, and her voice was husky. He noticed, and his smile turned sly. She liked it—that devious little twinkle playing about in his emerald eyes, and the fierce sensuality on his heart-shaped lips. She wanted to taste them—taste him.
“Cam? Why don’t you make yourself useful?”
“How?” he wanted to know.
Will gently extended Irene’s arms, clamping a leather cuff around each wrist. She gasped softly as his body brushed hers, leaving heat in its wake. “You kind of like this, don’t you?” he teased in her ear.
“Yes, sir,” she admitted as their eyes met and held.
“Cam, get behind her,” Will ordered. “Keep her nipples hard for me. Do it now.”
“Yes, Master,” he agreed eagerly.
Naked and hard, Cameron pressed his body to Irene’s from behind. She could feel his erect cock pressing against her buttocks. His hands came around to the front of her, each one grasping one of her nipples and squeezing them to life. With Will standing in front of her, it didn’t take much effort to keep them that way.
Heat shuddered down Irene’s spine, pooling in her limbs and in her sex. Her pussy throbbed deliciously with need as she and Will continued to gaze into each other’s eyes. Finally, finally, he put his hands onto her shoulders, smoothing them down her arms and then grasping her around the hips, pulling her to him.
As some point, he had apparently removed his top and his shoes. He stood there now in just his jeans, looking so hot Irene could hardly breathe. “Master, please, please kiss me,” she pleaded softly.
“I’ll kiss you when I wish to, not when you do,” he told her sternly, but there was a twinkle in his eye, and he couldn’t quite hold back his mirth.
“But you do wish to,” she answered him slyly, the pink tip of her tongue running temptingly over her upper lip.
“Maybe I do,” he said, dragging his lips over her chin, “or maybe I don’t.”
She groaned softly at just how close he’d come to giving her the taste of him she craved.
“You’re a cruel man, Will,” she told him.
“Uh, uh, uh, remember your promise,” he admonished her. “You know what you’re meant to call me, pet.”
Irene giggled, making the word into a caress. “Master.”
Will bent in again, briefly claiming her lips with a playful kiss, but one that was too brief for her lips to get a good taste of him; all she got was a hint. It was driving her insane. The look in his eyes told her plainly enough that he was well aware of it.
Cameron’s hands continued to play at her breasts. He’d started to place feather kisses along her shoulder blades. He’d never done that to her before, and neither had anyone else for that matter. She was surprised to find that she liked it.
Will’s lips came down on hers again, crushing them with the force of his next kisses. Her mouth opened as she flexed forward, drinking him in hungrily. Their tongues twined, clinging, parting, dancing around each other. It was the sweetest, most erotic sensation she’d ever felt, and Irene wanted more.
“You really are something, aren’t you?” he whispered into her ear. “I wonder how I’ll ever let you go.”
Irene gasped and wondered if she’d heard him correctly. The words had been so soft, just the hint of air brushing lightly across her lobe. Her heart hammered in her chest as her own mind echoed the same sentiment. She had forgotten that this was not forever. That this heat had to end sometime. But that time was not now.
“Cam, hand me that flogger,” said Will then, and Irene’s attention was completely captured for a different reason. She wondered if it would hurt, if it would feel good—if it would do both of those things when the leather sliced across her anatomy. Whichever one it was, at least she would get to feel alive.
The first snap sounded, and she felt the strap impact with the fronts of her thighs. Opening her eyes, she looked up and saw playful expectation in Will’s eyes. He had moved back a bit, and he seemed to be poised, waiting a moment before he flicked again. The strap landed just below her breasts this time, and it stung just a little bit.
“Cam, lift up her nipples for me.”
Irene’s eyes went wide, hearing those words. Knowing exactly where the man intended to flick next had her belly doing somersaults in expectation and dread.
Cam did exactly what Will asked, and Will did exactly what she thought he was going to do. The slice of the strap over her sensitive, erect nipples send a shockwave of pain and pleasure right through her. Will gave her just enough time to process this and realize she wanted more, then he flicked again.
“Oh!” Irene moaned.
Will dropped the whip. Eyes hooded, she could see that his cock had become hard as a rock, and it was obvious exactly what he wanted to do next. Well, at least the most obvious part was—but she certainly didn’t expect the embellishment he chose as his body moved closer to hers.
He was holding a small metal ring in his hands, and she couldn’t figure out what he intended to do with the thing. But then, he slipped it over the head and pressed it down until it was encircling his cock, making it even harder than it had been before.
“What are you doing?” she asked curiously as she shook her head.
“Don’t worry, pet,” he told her with a satisfied smile. “It’s time for me to fuck you now.”
*
Will couldn’t believe he had kissed her. His usual policy on such matters clearly included keeping his emotions separate from his pre-meal adventures. And he was hard, too. So damned hard he hadn’t even needed the extra stimulation of his favorite little toy.
As his fingers wandered down Irene’s smooth, creamy flesh, he felt his pulse skipping along at a much quicker pace than usual, too. He leaned in and kissed her again as his fingers found the wetness between her thighs. She was more than ready to receive him, but still he couldn’t seem to stop touching her there, giving her the pleasure of his attention first.
She moaned softly into his mouth, and his tongue tangled with hers yet again. The feel of it swelled somewhere deep in his soul, swelling larger than his cock ever could. He realized that minutes had gone by, and he was still just kissing her, his fingers buried deep inside her sweet hole.
“Cam?” he said as he finally pulled away. “I want you to lift her legs up off the floor. Spread her out, and hold her up for me.”
“Yes, Master,” he agreed, clearly still under his full control. The man deftly lifted Irene up as he had requested, and her sweet pussy came into full view. Will wasted no time in burying himself into it, groaning appreciatively as the moist heat encased him.
“Isn’t she perfect, Master?” asked Cam with a little smile.
“Move her for me,” Will ordered as he grasped her hips.
“Yes, please!” Irene wholeheartedly agreed. She twisted her wrists slightly so that she held onto the chains, taking some of her weight off of the cuffs.
Cam moved her, somewhat awkwardly at first, but then with greater accuracy as Will burrowed into her with relentless intensity. He had to admit, even though he’d been doing this for many, many years, he had never reacted so strongly to a woman before. There was just something about Irene that made his body beg for more. The heady intensity made it difficult to remember his true agenda.
But then Cam’s face came around as he leaned in to kiss the side of Irene’s neck. And the side of his own neck was exposed as a consequence. Irene was far too distracted by her oncoming orgasm to realize what was happening, and Will took full advantage of the fact to sink his teeth into Cam’s neck and begin to drain, making him moan almost as loud as her.
His vitality tasted bland, just as Will had thought it would. He drank enough from him to satisfy his thirst, but not enough to harm him, or even to make him go unconscious. He released him just as the walls of Irene’s sweet, hot pussy began to pulse around him, milking out an orgasm of his own. Will was amazed by the desperate groan coming from his own throat as he let himself go.
It felt as if every wall he’d erected around himself came tumbling down around him, and he slumped forward against Irene, exhausted but well sated. He hadn’t intended to bite her too, but he felt his fangs slide out once again as he fell upon her sweet neck. Unlike Cameron, her blood was sweet, and he felt a hunger unlike any he had ever known overtake him.
When he realized he had taken too much, Will groaned for an entirely different reason. He knew that she was going to die, and that meant he needed to ensure that her partner would die, too. He couldn’t drain Cameron completely dry now that he was full, but still he fell upon him and took enough to put him out, so that he would never wake again.
Feeling a profound sense of loss for the woman he had hoped to enjoy again, Will unshackled Irene and gently laid her on the bed, then dragged Cameron over so that they laid there side by side. He actually felt hot tears welling up in his eyes as he bent to kiss Irene one last time.
What was he thinking, kissing her? Now, his heart was aching as he moved away, realizing he would never get to kiss her again. It was feelings like these that made him refrain from becoming too intimate in the first place. It had been a foolish thing to do.
He left the bodies in the room for his cleaning woman, Hilda, to find. It was his usual behavior, once he had finished with a kill, to leave enough blood in them so that she also could feed, and this time would be no different. He stepped over to the door, removed the padlock, and unbolted it, stepping back out into the main area of the cabin and shutting the door again. He hung the little ‘finished’ sign on the knob so that Hilda would know to clean the room, and then he headed back to the main hotel, where he kept a private suite for occasions when he intended to remain at the resort during the day.
Unlike some of the vampires—most notably, the ones written of in modern books—Will and his entire clan were able to walk for short periods of time in the sunlight, but usually no more than fifteen minutes, before they began to burn. Also, they were not undead, but rather living beings who thrived on blood as a means to sustain their good health and extend their longevity.
Thanks to his recent meal, Will had probably gained at least another ten years of life, as long as he did not die from sustaining an injury or illness instead. And, as he fed like this at least once a month, that meant he’d been adding on a whole lot of years during the ninety-four he’d already been around.
Still, never in all of those ninety-four years had he been affected so much by a woman that she remained in his mind as he laid in his own bedroom and tried desperately to get some sleep. The taste of her, the feel of her, her gentle teasing, her sparkling eyes. Everything about Irene continued to haunt him as he laid under the velvet covers, and the feel of the satin sheets slid against his skin.
He didn’t find sleep for a very long time.
*****
Irene awakened with a hunger unlike anything she’d ever felt before. She rolled shakily onto her side, facing the cool body that she should remember but didn’t. All she could think of was moving closer to the man, of tasting him. Slowly, she managed to angle herself so that her head fell against his shoulder, her lips pressed to the flesh.
But kissing him didn’t seem to be exactly what she needed. This heat couldn’t possibly be sexual, since her body was far too weak to engage in sex. Her mouth opened, and suddenly it seemed as though it had sprouted an extra row of teeth. With a little squeal, she plunged these new teeth—these fangs—into the soft flesh and began to suck, swallowing every last drop of the blood as it drained from her prey. She did not stop until she could get no more.
Breathing deeply, she realized that her weakness was now gone, yet her memory still did not quite return. She knew only that she was sated, and that staying here placed her in danger. She had no idea why, only that she needed to leave right away.
Her heart pounded in desperation as she grabbed a dress she found lying on the floor, only certain it was her own when she saw that it fit her perfectly. She cast her eyes around until she found the heels, but immediately knew that she couldn’t wear them out in the middle of nowhere. She didn’t know why she was aware of her location, since her memory was gone, but she shrugged and grabbed the men’s dress shoes lying next to them instead.
Though these shoes were far too big, at least they would make running through the woods easier to accomplish. She stepped toward the window and pulled back the heavy, full-length drapes, not the least bit surprised to see heavy forest beyond the glass. However, she also saw a padlock attached to the latch.
Biting at her bottom lip, Irene could tell that her fangs had receded once again. She couldn’t resist a look in the mirror despite her desperation to be out of there. A pale face, framed by soft waves of golden hair, stared back at her. Her lips had blood all over them, and she looked for something to wipe it away.
Hurrying over to the bed, she used one of the velvet curtains, catching another glimpse of Cameron as she did so. Yes, that was the man’s name. They had been lovers, but they were not in love. But the man she did love probably did not love her at all. He had simply left her there to die.
Tears streaming down her face at this thought, Irene turned toward the window again, thinking that she may not be able to remove the padlock, but she could certainly find her way outside. She grabbed a nearby chair and flung it at the glass. The resounding smash was almost as satisfying as the fresh air that rushed in afterwards.
Shoving the remains of the shattered glass and wood framing aside, Irene climbed out and dropped lithely to her feet. She did not pause even for a moment before she broke into a run, burying herself into the deep underbrush. The trees scratched and pulled at her, slowing her progress immensely, but she ignored all of that. She ignored everything but the wild, desperate need to flee.
Only time, and some distance from this place, would ensure that she lived to see another day.
*****
Hilda was noticeably upset when Will ran into her that evening. He cast her a quizzical look as he asked, “Hey, Hilda, what’s eatin’ you?”
“Master, I’ve known you since the day you were born, and in all that time, I have never once seen you only bring home a man,” she grumbled. “And you have never drained a body completely dry like his either. Are you feeling well?”
Will’s face fell. He’d been thinking about Irene again since he woke up, and he had told himself that, by now, Hilda had certainly drained and disposed of her, so there could be no possibility that he would ever see her face again. Now, his heart began to thunder even before his brain fully comprehended what the woman just said.
“What are you talking about, Hilda?” he asked softly. “Of course there were two.”
“No, sir, there were not,” she reassured him. “I know how to count, and all I found was a man. There was no woman in that room,”
Will’s eyes widened in full realization. “If she’s turned, and she is gone, she might be found by the others. The Truvian Clan is not likely to let a feral survive.”
“And they’re going to want to know who made her too,” Hilda added worriedly. “That’s far more urgent than whether or not she dies. If they figure out it was your bite that turned her, they are sure to come for you, Master. At best, for a reprimand.”
“At worst, to take my life,” he added. “I do not wish to die. We must find that woman before they do. Rally the servants quickly. We’ve got to hunt Irene down. And tell them they must not harm her either. She has not left my mind since the first time I saw her eyes.”
“You mean—” Hilda began.
“—yes, it would seem so,” Will said, cutting off her words before she spoke them aloud. “I think I have found my bride.”