~ Alek ~
Exactly two days later he visited her in her office at the academy. She was alone and clearing out her personal possessions. He brought lunch from a posh café.
He stood beside her awkwardly making small talk. He was interested in seeing her again and looking for a good place to work that into the conversation. He about how nice it was to have the couples massage with her. Then he asked her what kind of food she liked to eat.
She smiled slightly. “If you want to know all about me I would be happy to discuss that with you over dinner, perhaps my place, tonight…say around six?”
“You do like to cut to the chase don’t you? I’d love to dine with you.”
He never quite knew what to say to human women, they were a bit of a mystery to him. Throughout the course of his life he had rarely been able to successfully pair bond. The sexing he was good at, the social aspect not so much. He was awkward and just chose to focus his time and energy elsewhere to avoid all the chronic disappointment.
He had always liked Dakota because she was beautiful, intelligent, interesting, dedicated to training young people for public service and a rather strong advocate for vampire rights. He hated to admit it but he was also infatuated with the fact that she had been one of the few people who continued to search for him. He would not have lasted much longer if she hadn’t found him.
Watching her fight for him had been actively stressful. He was worried that the beautiful female was going to get hurt trying to rescue him. But once she fell onto his lap and fed him the relief washed over him like a warm wave. Also having her in his lap forcing her blood into his mouth was such a pleasure he had been at a loss for words.
The time she spent nursing him had cemented his feelings for her. She was such a considerate feeding partner. He loved that she like to be held and that she gently ran her hands over him when he fed. She had a way of making him feel very welcome and comfortable feeding from her. He thought it strange but she seemed almost to crave it and enjoy it. He shook his head thinking about just how crazy that sounded.
He knew Charles said not to fall in love with her but she was extremely beautiful and she seemed attracted to him so that was exactly what he intended to do. Hell, he was half in love with her already and one thing was for certain, he would never forget the taste of her blood if he lived to be a full 500 years old. He was extremely concerned about taking a human mate and having to watch her age away from him. That would slowly tear his heart out over about a sixty or seventy year period of time but all he could think of, was having her in the here and now.
Alek thought about her dinner invitation. He really had no idea why humans loved to have dinner together. Feeding for him was private and he did not prefer to do it in front of anyone much less females he was attracted to. He knew humans were different. They were much more social creatures and he guessed if one weren’t forced to drink blood to exist dining would be much less stressful and more social. He sometimes envied the humans.
He had an extremely difficult time transitioning himself back to synthetic blood after feeding from Dakota. She was such a good person and it was evident in the taste of her blood. It was pure, sweet and seemed to be chocked full of intensified…something he could not quite place but determined was highly addictive.
He was careful to spend time preparing for his evening with Dakota. It was their first formal date together and he wanted to be presentable. He showered, picked clothing that was classy but casual. He noticed that the trendy thing males did these days to be classy but casual seemed to be pairing a nice button up shirt with a blazer but wearing it with jeans and no tie. It was a very retro look that he felt comfortable in. He brought a bottle of vintage wine. Humans loved wine and if he was expected to feed, then both of them drinking red liquid from a glass blurred the line a little and made things less socially awkward. Besides he was aware that she did enjoy nice red wine.
Alek arrived at her place promptly at six. Her home was a huge beautiful house in an old money neighborhood. Much more home than any one person needed. He rang her bell and she answered her own door which he found a little strange but to each their own.
As he entered her home he noticed it smelled like leather and furniture polish. The walls were deep jewel tones, the floors were dark stained hardwoods with expensive Persian rugs and crystal chandeliers.
He frowned, somehow he always imagined her in an ultra-modern home with lots of glass walls looking out onto a Japanese style garden. She was a bit of a surprise this one.
He also thought it strange that he did not smell human food cooking. This he noticed immediately. The smell of human food was one of the things he disliked most about this human world. None the less a dinner date with a human usually indicated that food was somehow involved.
She led him through her foyer and into a small posh sitting room. There was a fire burning in the fireplace. He noticed that she had sat out a small carafe of synthetic blood and two wine glasses. She had a bottle of red wine and a corkscrew off to the side.
He handed her his gift. “Brilliant minds think alike.”
She smiled that he started the evening with a cliché. “Nice vintage. I think I will go with your choice this evening.” She handed him the wine bottle and the corkscrew.
He immediately opened the bottle and sat it down on the table in front of them to air out.
She poured him a glass of blood and handed it to him. He began to take a drink and she placed her hand over the top of the glass. “It’s not synthetic.”
He sighed and sat back in his seat a bit.
Her voice hitched slightly when she spoke “It’s Vampine made from my blood. I think you will really like the vintage.” He smiled that she had been considerate enough to provide fresh blood vampire wine for him. He was especially pleased that she used her own blood. He wondered if she realized exactly how sweet the taste of her blood was to him. He doubted she thought of such things at all being human.
“I know you had to feed me when I was ill but just so you know I don’t feed for pleasure.”
“Never?”
He smiled slightly remembering his track record since being with her. “Hardly, ever.”
“Hardly ever is not quite the same as never. By the way I did not ‘have’ to feed you when you were ill. I chose to feed you. There is a difference.”
He sat the glass down on the table and quietly poured her a glass of wine. He handed her the glass and picked up his own. He held out his glass and toasted, “To a deeper understanding between us.”
She gently touched her glass to his and they both drank. His eyes immediately changed color slightly.
She smiled and murmured, “You have beautiful eyes.”
He felt his face color with embarrasment and tried to steer the conversation into a different direction. “So why does an invitation to dinner involve no dinner for you?”
“I had a heavy lunch. Most of my vampire friends do not generally like the smell of human food. The smell of blood, fine wine and incents seems to be more to their liking.”
Alek glanced around the room. It was dimly lit and there was classical music playing softly in the background. He had no difficulty placing the piece. It was Pachelbel’s Canon in D, Perhaps the most over played piece of romantic music in earth history. He had to wonder at her choice. Still it was an outstanding piece and very easy on his ears.
He smiled that the human seemed to really get vampires. That was a rarity in this world. He was really enjoying his time with her.
It could not be denied that the pretty human was considerate of his needs and seemed very attracted to him. He had not tasted human blood in years before she nursed him back to health. Her blood had tasted so very sweet, like nothing he could have imagined and he missed it still.
They chatted on and on for hours about absolutely nothing. She seemed well versed in music, politics, science…whatever subject he landed on she held her own. He realized they had many similar interests. Alex could tell she was becoming quite enamored with him. The more she drank the less inhibited she became and the more of her blood he drank the more intensely attracted to her he became.
Dakota showed him her sketches of their intimate time. He moved closer as they looked at her sketch book. She was a very good artist. Her pictures were warm and it almost felt like she caressed the images into being with the nub of her charcoal. He loved the way she drew the two of them together. The poses were very detailed and depicted their interactions together in a very intimate and caring manner. The images were a fair reflection of what he was feeling during those moments and he hoped she was feeling the same emotions when they were together.
The shower picture was interesting because of the way she depicted the droplets of water. They were drawn in tiny detail lending a soft sensual element to their bodies. Looking at that image in particular immediately made him hard for her. He crossed his legs and commented. “I think you draw me slightly better looking than I actually am, however you draw yourself less attractive than you actually are.”
Dakota smiled over her wine glass and picked up the sketch pad again.
She mused aloud. “We both look just like ourselves. You always underestimate your own attractiveness and overestimate mine.”
He laughed and thought she might be on to something. He found her so easy to be with. He brought his hands up covering her smaller softer hands as she held the sketch book and teased. “Looking at your drawings was a bad idea. It just makes me want to be naked with you again.”
She glanced up at him and the look on his face was very sensual. She tore off the sketch of them kissing while in the shower and handed it to him. “Consider this a gift from me to you for the sole purpose of making you want more naked time with me.”
He took the sketch from her and held it in his hands looking at it for a moment. He caught her eye and couldn’t help but to inquire. “The drawings are very sensual. Are your images an accurate representation of your feeling at being with me?”
She shook her head. “I am an amateur artist not a magician. Trust me when I say what I feel for you is that image to the 10th power. I think you are perhaps the sexiest man I have ever met.”
He laid the sketch across her coffee table. His hand immediately came out to her and he brushed his palm across the side of her face. She responded by pulling the black band out of the end of his hair and pulling his hair forward around his face. He reached out and ran his fingers through her beautiful dark hair and before either of them could think he had his lips upon her. She realized their movements were like a perfectly choreographed dance between two lovers with a singular purpose.
She was shocked that they were both so eager to touch and kiss each other. The feelings he provoked in her were so very intense. She slid her hands up his chest and around his neck before sifting her fingers through his hair again. She melted into his arms and could taste her own blood on his lips. Her body was suddenly on fire for him.
The combination of drinking her blood and the sexual excitement of having her in his arms was too much and finally brought out the blood lust in him. She sensed it coming on and moved into his lap as his eyes changed color fully and his fangs dropped down. She could feel him growing hard beneath her. He pulled her to him and began to run his hands over her body.
She whispered his name, told him how sexy he was using his native tongue. He had always found her speaking vampier extremely erotic. She made small sounds of pleasure at being in his powerful arms.
He was vaguely aware that he was slowly losing the ability to make decisions as his animal instincts took over. He had his hands all over her. His lips were on her throat and he was kissing, licking and sucking the large vein throbbing there. He could feel that he was fully aroused and didn’t know quite how he had gone from zero to full throttle in such a short space of time.
He definitely felt he was losing control and he would not allow that, not with her. He immediately stood up and let her slide from his lap. He walked to her front door and slipped out.
She immediately felt guilty because she had provoked him but she was also thrilled that she got to see him in his blood lust. He was a beautiful creature when he was wild and uninhibited. He exercised a level of control in blood lust that she had never seen before. Her body ached for his lovemaking but that’s what she got for pushing him so hard and fast. She wondered if he would forgive her for that. She somehow doubted it and that kind of broke her heart. She didn’t like blowing it with him.
She had known better than to do that but her overpowering need to see him cast aside his inhibitions won out. Now that her body was cooling from his touch she did very slightly regret what she had done…well kind of. She thought about it and realized that not feeling real regret about this situation was something that probably made her a bad person.
He was driving home nursing his blood lust as well as a raging hard on. How could he have let himself get so out of control so fast? He must have scared the hell out of the poor woman. He was embarrassed and angry with himself for alienating the only female he had been interested in for years. He had been crushing on her for close to two years and felt stupid and juvenile for not being able to control his emotions when it really mattered. He realized she would be avoiding him from now on.
He thought about how it felt to have her in his arms. She was warm and compliant with his touch. In fact she melted into him when he ran his hands over her. He loved the way she ran her fingers through his hair and over his chest when he kissed her. He loved the taste of expensive wine on her lips.
As he played the whole scene back in mind he realized she had not seemed very turned off by his blood lust. The look on her face when he looked into her eyes told him that in fact she seemed to be thoroughly enjoying it. He remembered that she had never tried to pull back from him even once and she had evidenced some subtle signs of sexual arousal when he moved on her. He smiled slightly and realized that maybe she was not upset with his behavior. He grabbed his cell phone and dialed her number.
She picked up immediately. “Are you calling to apologize to me?” Her voice was light and playful and a wide smile overtook his face.
“What exactly is it you think I should apologize for…being a vampire…being a male…being attracted to a beautiful woman…those are things I cannot control.”
“You looked pretty controlled when you walked out on me just now. It’s the walking out that I think you should apologize for by the way.”
There was an extremely brief pause before he spoke. “Dakota, I think you know I regret that already.”
His voice was deep and sensual even to his own ears. Anyone listening to his articulation would be able to tell that his fangs were still out. He asked, “So, how about my apology?”
She pretended she did not have any idea what he was talking about. “I’m not sure I know what you mean. I thought I was a very considerate and accommodating host.”
“A little too accommodating I think. You invited to me to your house for dinner with no dinner, dimed the lights, lit incents and played romantic background music. Then you fed me your blood mixed with wine, showed me sexy sketches of us, kissed me, whispered erotic words to me in vampier and flirted with me until I was thoroughly aroused. Then you came easily into my arms. I almost get the feeling you were trying to provoke my blood lust. That is not a nice thing to do to a vampire Dakota.”
There was a brief pause. “Do you have any idea how incredibly beautiful you are when you let your guard down that way?”
He could tell by the tone of her voice that she was totally turned on by seeing him that way. It made him feel very vulnerable but also very masculine and extremely desirable. His voice dropped an octave and he whispered, “No, why don’t you tell me.”
Her voice was soft and sensual as she broke it down for him, “You’re strong and powerful when your blood lust takes you but you also have a dark primal beauty that makes you extremely irresistible. When you held me in your arms I could feel your breath on my skin, your hands caressing my body and your sexy tongue on my neck. I could feel you gently sucking my vein to the surface and the anticipation of feeling your fangs in my neck was the most erotic experience I have ever known. I wanted to be warm and naked in your arms so much it hurt. I wanted you to make love to me while you drank my blood more than I have ever wanted anything in my life.”
Her words affected him to the point that he could no longer speak. No woman had ever said things like that to him before. His erection returned full force and his eyes shone in the night. He didn’t hardly think her words could be true. He rang off without saying a word.
Alex was thrilled when she had called him back right away. He wanted to hear her voice more than he wanted to drink blood and at the moment that was a lot. He answered her call. “Dakota if you calling me you must have something interesting to add to your last comment.”
Her voice was low and soft. “I don’t think it’s very fair that I spent so long looking for you and now you keep running from me. The times you took me into your arms when I was at your house led me to believe that spending time with me was pleasurable for you.”
He was totally at a loss. No woman had ever pursued him before he didn’t know what to do or say so he just tried being honest. “Dakota I have not spent intimate time with many women in my long life and none in the last several years. I am not sure how it is that I am so intensely attracted to you in such a short period of time. I have never been in a situation where I literally could not keep my hands off a woman. I left your home tonight because you were so beautiful, sexy and accommodating that I worried about losing control and doing things with you that you were not ready for. I don’t want to hurt you and I don’t want to over step with you. Do you understand?”
He could tell by the very sensual tone of her voice that she did understand him. “Maybe we should meet only in public places until we get to know each other a little better.”
“I would love that, as long as you understand that from this moment on you belong to me.”
“I think we both know that is true.”
“Good. I have season tickets for the opera if you would like to come with me on Thursday.”
“I would love that.”
Alex drove home still in wonder at laying claim to the beautiful hunter. Now that she had agreed to be his, he’d move heaven and earth to keep her at his side.