The scent of oak and earth swam all around Ellie, stirring her senses into a confusing cloud of hypnotic seduction. Raw sheets of masculine power radiated from the vampire, pulsing out through the air like powerful cords of magic, vibrating through her bones, leaving her as a helpless pile of writhing want.

His plump lips kissed at her throat, sending warm tingles across her skin, a sensation that was new to her, but still pleasant. She lay there completely still, her body shaking with nerves, breath trembling as it left her open lips. This is why he’d taken her. This is what he wanted. She needed to stand, she needed to run, but there was something about his presence that magnified her toward him. She didn’t want to stand. She didn’t want to run.

But you should, her mind persisted. He’s a vampire. He’s dangerous. He’d have his fun and then he’d drain her until there was no blood left. Not only was he a vampire, but he was a vampire with obvious mental defections. Amnesia? Talking to himself? Split personality? Whatever it was, he was obviously as unstable as they came. Run Ellie, her inner voice screamed again. Run before it’s too late.

Soft lips pulled up from her throat to the edge of her jaw, shaking all thoughts of protest from her mind. The vampire pulled his eyes back to hers and lay there over her in the dark, his bright reds burning into hers. Ellie swallowed at something, still conscious of the lingering warmth on her skin from where his breath had touched her. The only thing she wanted to do was lean forward and taste that delicious scent, but she couldn’t move a muscle in her body.

“You’re a very special one,” he purred, his voice rumbling over her ears like molten silk. He lowered his lips to the other side of her throat and kissed her there too, more forceful this time. The small of her back lifted from the bed as her body lifted in effort to touch against his. Her head turned back at his delicate touch, a sharp and wanting gasp lifted from her lips. Every physical reaction she made was treachery against her desire to run, but she couldn’t stop. He was too much.

He's perfection, and he’s here with you. He’s wanting you.

Those beautiful lips came to the brief slip of bare flesh above her t-shirt, grazing her collarbone, he bit ever so slightly, forcing another silent gasp from her lips. Red eyes were on her again a second later, looking at her in that knowing way, communicating that he understood her every desire. He lifted a hand and touched a finger against her temple, stroking gently all the way down. The thick pad brushed down her cheek, over her jaw, along the sleek line of her throat, across the taut fabric of her shirt on her breast, just skirting around her hardening nipples.

He was so delicate at first, so light with the touch that the anticipation burned through her mind, making her almost want to scream out for more. “What’s the matter dear?” that dark and rumbling voice whispered. “Don’t you… want it?”

The word acted as a spiraling catalyst, his lips coming back to her throat once again, kissing with more passion and fury this time. Sucking, nibbling, kissing. Every part of it felt divine to her. Her hands lifted from her side, moving through the air on their own accord, acting of their own free will. Before she could realize what was happening she was feeling the rounded muscles in his back, she was cradling her hands around the back of his head and holding him against her as he kissed her throat wildly.

“No!” Ellie pulled her hands from his body, holding them up in the air away from his skin as if he were poison to touch. The vampire pulled away from her in an instant, looking down at her with a confused look.

“No?” the vampire said.

Silence beat for a few moments as Ellie looked up at the vampire, her racing breath the only sound in the dark room. There was a fire purring in the pit of her stomach. There was a slick wet at the top of her legs, which had left her cotton panties soaked to the touch. Her hips longed to lift up from the bed and crush against him, who had still declined to touch his body against hers apart from those teasing kisses on her neck.

Why on earth had she stopped him? Why on earth had she stopped her hands from that delightful tour of his body? Sitting up slightly, she propped her weight on to her elbows and the vampire moved back a little, making sure to keep his body away from hers. A darkness seemed to glimmer in those red eyes. It was a darkness that wasn’t there earlier today. This vampire was different somehow. He was someone else.

“W-Who are you?” she said, the words leaving her mouth as a shaking whisper.

“Wraith,” he answered.

“But, Jack. Where is—”

“He’s taking a rest. I’m at the wheel now. And isn’t it… fun?” His eyes almost seemed to shine as the words came, and his body lowered against hers, his crotch pushing firmly against her own dampness, forcing her legs to open, prompting her hands to curl around him and pull him against her. Lips came against her throat again, her fingers moved across his body wildly, squeezing, groping, scratching. Her mouth rounded, breathing throaty gasps of pleasure. But no.

“No!” she panted, finding it harder to say the words now that his hot body was pressed against hers. She couldn’t focus her thoughts on anything other than the pleasure. She couldn’t ignore the long hot marble of flesh burning against her damp panties. God, she wanted him. She’d never wanted anything more than this. Oak and earth, warmth and muscle. Pleasure. Pleasure. She’d never let herself have pleasure.

His lips tore away from her throat only to hover over her mouth a moment later. Their eyes exchanged silent burning glances. Her hand traced up the back of the neck and pulled him down against her, crushing his lips against her own.

Their lips finally touched.

Warmth. Softness. Hot breath entwined with her own. Why had she ever wanted to fight this?

Ellie opened herself up to the sensation and let go of time, allowing herself to spiral into a confusing tangle of hot and unbridled passion. His lips against her lips, his lips against her throat. Kissing at her breasts through the fabric of her t-shirt, nibbling at her hard nipples playfully, prompting her to sit up quickly to strip her shirt from her head. She only wore panties now, which were absolutely soaked through with her want at this point. They paused for a brief moment to look into each other’s eyes, and then his body was back against hers. She opened her legs, pushing back and grinding her hips against that throbbing oak which was only two layers of fabric away.

“We shouldn’t—” she breathed between hot kisses. His hands squeezed her breasts. They brushed down her waist and over her hips, circled around and pushed under the fabric of her panties, squeezing her bare ass, making her hips grind against him even harder. “We can’t—” she panted again, pushing her lips against his and interrupting her own protests to taste him once more. She wanted to push him back, roll those panties down her legs and ride that thick oak standing up between his legs until she passed out. Her lungs found the air again to try and voice those proclamations that felt more pointless as each minute past. “We need to stop—”

A throaty growl met this last protest and the vampire pulled his lips from hers, sitting back over her on the bed once more, chest panting, eyes flushed with a black so primal that it scared her. “You need to stop. Your lips say one thing and your body says another. What is this!?”

Her breath raced as she looked up at the sizzling specimen of a man. Handsome face, broad shoulders and chest, muscular abs and narrow waist. Her eyes flicked to those powerful legs which were straddled on either side of the body, lingering momentarily on the small scrap of fabric that was struggling to contain the vastness hidden inside. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” she said through an unsure whisper. “I want you, but I don’t… I don’t know what I want.”

A smile curled at his lips. “You’ve spent your whole life denying yourself. It’s only natural that you’d try to do the same thing now.”

“I have?” she asked, but she didn’t need to. She had. Discipline, fear, virtue, chastity. These were all values the Order had instilled in her. These were all values her father had instilled in her. She lay there looking up at the vampire with enquiring eyes, wondering how he could know such a thing about her, finding that it scared her a little, the prospect that someone could look at her like that and just know such a thing. If he could see that, then what else could he see?

“You need to forget about that for now,” he said. “It’s just me and you now.”

It was, but what the fuck where they doing here? He was a vampire. She was a vampire hunter. She’d never even touched a man before tonight, and now here she was, lost in this confusing passion, embroiled with a creature that didn’t even seem to know his own name.

“I can’t—” she said, finally succumbing to the doubts and fears inside of her.

“You can,” he said, his voice low and sure, burning through the air like fire. “You’re just scared because you’ve never tried before. You don’t know what you’re missing. So… let me show you.”

“Show me?” she said, unsure of what he meant. Before Ellie could process, the vampire crouched down once more, smoothing his palms down the insides of her legs and pushing them apart. His lips pursed against her soaked cotton panties and he kissed her there.

Her entire body arced back in response, pushing her head and shoulders back down to the bed, forcing the soaked cotton up to his mouth to push against his firm lips. Breath raced from her, her wide black eyes staring up at the ceiling as she felt his fingers curl around the waistband of her panties.

Show me? Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

* * *

The vampire straightened Ellie’s legs out, rolled the wet cotton down her white thighs and off her ankles. Cool air kissed the heat between her legs, and then he was back down between her thighs, smoothing his hands over her soft skin.

Thoughts dared to race through her mind all the while, but there was nothing inside of her but silence and anticipation. Every brush of his fingertips made her breath choke, every stray breath of air made her skin tingle. He started at her left knee, kissing at the inside of her thigh and working his way up slowly until he found the crease at the top of her leg.

Strong hands curled around the outsides of her thighs, resting his thick fingers on her hips. He tugged her down the bed slightly, moving her closer toward him. So strong. Strength that simultaneously felt intimidating and intensely arousing. Quick images flashed through her mind of seduction and fantasy. What would those hands feel like, moving her across the bed and putting her into all sorts of positions?

She tensed at the idea, clenching and whimpering quietly to herself as his lips kissed between her sex and her belly button in a wide arc, spanning from hip to hip.

He’s teasing you, she thought to herself, writhing her hips against the soft bed as he moved back across her again, his kisses arcing nearer to her center now. He wants you to beg for it. He wants you to let him take control. She wouldn’t let him win that easily. The vampire thought he had complete control over her, well she would show him who—

“Ah!”

All thoughts of control vanished as his lips kissed her bud. He fastened his mouth around her clit, pursing his beautiful red lips down on her folds and sucking gently, flicking the tip of his tongue against her in the most maddening way. Her body trembled, her breath grew sharp and hot. Every exhale was a wordless pant of affirmation. Hands scrunched at bedding, her back arced further up and into the air. Her eyes stared up ahead at the ceiling, but they focused on nothing. Vision lost out to the sensation between her thighs.

His hands squeezed her hips gently and his lips moved down, heading down her dripping line, planting short kisses on either side of her, carrying on until he was at her base. Was this what she’d been missing? Is this what denial had cost her? Had she really spent all these years denying herself for—

He pushed his tongue between her folds and moved all the way up, gliding from her base to the very top, moving with such controlled slowness that it sent her mad. Her hands moved about frantically, trying to anchor themselves with a distraction, trying to keep themselves from grabbing his head and clamping down tight. He moved up her over and over like that, driving the pressure inside of her to a new height each time. He paused, brought his lips back to her bud and sucked, while circling his finger around the base of her pussy, gathering her juices on his thick digit.

Ellie suppressed a throaty groan as her pussy opened around him, clenching hard against his finger which curled around now and pressed against a spot that felt electric. With his lips still pursed against her clit his finger drew hot circles on the inside of her, smoothing and dancing around, building a fire inside of her that she had never felt before.

Her wordless gasps of pleasure formed coherence, whispering his name as breathless gasps. “Wraith, Wraith, Wraith!” She looked down at the vampire between her legs, gasping loudly as his red eyes flicked up briefly to see her enjoyment. Her hands surrendered their break from him, and shot down to smooth over his head lovingly, holding it tight against her as the orgasm broke.

His throat purred a sound of deep enjoyment as her whimpering danced into full fledge moaning, making his lips vibrate softly over her clit.

This is it, she thought. I can’t hold it anymore. I’m coming.

Stars burst across her vision as the fire exploded inside of her. Pleasure leapt from her mouth in long and unbridled moans, calling his name into the dark room, shouting over and over again, clutching against the darkness as she came hard.

“Wraith! Yes. Fuck! Wraith!”

His finger slicked inside of her rapidly, his tongue flicked against her clit, his every move was perfection. Every sensation was heaven.

Her body relaxed again and returned to her after those few brief moments of ecstasy. Her muscles softened, her hips dropped back down to the bed and her hands released him. She melted into the bed, satisfied, breathless, not sure if she even remembered her own name.

* * *

The vampire sat back on his knees, resting a hand against her foot as he looked across the bed at her naked form. For a few minutes she simply lay like that, arm stretched across her forehead as she looked up at nothing, re-catching her breath and all semblance of what it meant to be human. After a few moments she sat half-up, looking at the vampire, her hair messed, eyes still drunk from lust. She was beautiful in that moment, just as she was in all moments. The softness in her expression fizzled away after a few seconds, her eyes glazing over with something colder.

“That wasn’t fair,” she said, her breath still panting. Sweat coated her sweet flesh. She sucked at her bottom lip for a second, squeezing her teeth against it. Wraith’s cock stiffened at the sight, though he wasn’t sure he could get much harder. It ached for some sort of release. It wanted nothing more than to bury deep in that lovely warm wetness of hers.

“Fair?” He chuckled, smoothed a hand over his head and brushed his tongue across his teeth. “Seems like you got a pretty good deal to me.”

Ellie pulled herself together, sat up on the bed and redressed herself, taking a second to try and straighten out her disheveled hair. “That’s… that’s not what I meant.” She looked up at him, her eyes seeming to glare with distrust now. Wraith sat back and studied the girl momentarily. Before he could say anything back she spoke again. “You… controlled me.”

He laughed. “Controlled you?”

Her gaze faltered. “Yes. You controlled me. I know what vampires are like. I know what you’re capable of. You can make people do things.”

He had to laugh again. It was true to an extent, but the girl was trying to find excuses where none existed. “That might be so, but what makes you so sure I was controlling you in anyway just now?”

“Are you kidding?” Ellie held her hands out over the bed where she had been naked and writhing only a few minutes ago. “Because of this! Do you think I just drop my panties and open my legs for anyone? You controlled me. You made me into some sort of sex slave with your Intent.”

“Intention,” he corrected her. Ellie turned her head.

“What?”

“It’s called Intention. That’s what vampires call it. The power we have to make humans do our bidding.”

Her eyes darted, and she flipped her hands as if it were beside the point. “Okay, whatever you call it. You took advantage of me, and it wasn’t fair.”

Wraith could only laugh again, which prompted further anger from the girl. “You’re delusional if you think what happened just now was because of mind control. That was all you my pretty butterfly.”

Ellie’s eyes hardened at the accusation. She sat up straight, pushed herself back, twisting her face into a picture of comical disbelief. “There’s no way, there’s absolutely no way I would voluntarily—”

“Silence,” Wraith growled, pushing the word from the depth of this throat as an iron clad command. The girl quietened immediately, looking surprised as she felt the true power of his control for the first time. The vampire pushed himself up from the bed and stood at the foot of it. He turned back to face her, his eyes glimmering with malice.

“I can show you what it feels like to be under the spell of a vampire’s control if you like,” he said, waving his hand through the air slowly, beckoning for her to crawl forward off the bed to follow his command. Her body answered, and she crawled, eyes widening with terror as her body followed his every instruction. He narrated as he demonstrated. Her body following his words like a robot.

“I could tell you to crawl onto your knees. I could tell you to place your hands on the hips of your master and suck me dry.”

She crawled to a stop in front of him and knelt before him, lifting her hands up to his side. Her eyes looked up at him, glazed over in the way that obedient eyes did. Her fingers curled around the waistband of his boxers, tugged down slowly and then he snapped his fingers.

“Stop.”

The spell broke, and Ellie shook her head, looking up at the vampire in confusion as she found herself in the room once more. Her mouth stammered open, trying to find the words as she attempted to process what had just happened. Wraith held out a hand and helped her up to her feet.

“Unusual isn’t it?” he said and took a step closer, leaving just an inch between their bodies, he took both of her hands in his. “It’s strange, how a voice can be so powerful, feel so irresistible. Tell me… how did it feel?”

“Like iron,” she whispered, staring into his bright red eyes. An undercurrent of fear swam through her as she fully realized for the first time what kind of strength he possessed.

“Like vines,” he suggested.

She nodded, realizing that was the perfect word. “Dark vines. Wrapping around my body, moving me and posing me. Unlike anything…”

“Anything you’ve felt before?” Wraith let go of her hands and stepped away, happy that his point had been proven. He stalked across the room to the bed on the opposite side and paused there. “Everything that happened between us just now was between us. I have no desire for a mindless sex slave, girl. I’ve lived a long enough life to already waste time on pursuits like that.”

“It was me…” she said to herself in realization. She’d had the power to say no, but she didn’t want to. She’d made the choice to be with him. She’d found the prospect of being under his control terrifying enough, but there was something even more intimidating in the fact that she’d acted on her own accord.

“That’s right,” the vampire said without looking back. “So, take your accusations and put them in the same box you keep your prejudices in. One day you’ll have to face the prospect of being honest with yourself. You lay with a vampire… and you loved it.”

A myriad of confusing emotions swirled inside of Ellie. Anger, confusion, rejection, shame. She stepped forward, her eyes locked down on the ground in front of her. “Jack… I mean… Wraith, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

Deep thunder echoed somewhere in the distance outside the window, breaking Ellie from her sentence. They both glanced over at the window, which rattled in its frame from the force of the sound. “What was that?” Ellie asked.

“I don’t know,” Wraith said as he marched over to the window. “But it didn’t sound good.” He threw the curtains back just as the second blast shook across the building. A huge ball of yellow fire filled the black sky, churning up through the night from the town below. Wraith turned back to face Ellie, his face now deadly serious. “Get dressed. We’re under attack.”