My Vampire Lover (3 page)

"Wait ... you're not leaving, are you?" I looked up at him, disappointment all over my stupid face.
"I must. I have an appointment I cannot avoid."
"But, we're just getting started," I protested, getting to my feet. "I want to know you better ... sit and talk ... that kind of thing," I finished lamely. "Another time, Ron."
"When? Tomorrow night? I have the night off."
22
My Vampire Lover
by J. P. Bowie
"Perhaps."
"Perhaps?" I frowned. "Are you giving me the brush off?"
"No, I am not." He touched my face with his fingertips.
"We will be together again—tomorrow night, if you wish it."
"I do wish it. Very much."
He kissed my lips lightly. "Tomorrow night, then. I will call on you at seven, if that is convenient."
"I'll be here," I said, happily. "I'll make us dinner."
"I will have already eaten, but a glass of wine perhaps..."

"Okay." I walked him to the door. He turned and put his arms around me, nuzzling my neck again—and again I shivered with a feeling of something that I couldn't quite understand ... a longing maybe, to feel his teeth pressed into my skin—

Whoa, where did that come from?
He pulled back his head and looked into my eyes. I felt as though I might drown in those blue-black depths as he stared at me. "Goodnight," he whispered, close to my lips.
"G'night," I gulped, unable to move.

Then he moved away, and I heard the door close behind him. I stood in the hall for a long moment, just staring at the closed door. What had happened? I wondered. What had that feeling been? Why had I wanted him to bite me? I hated hickeys!

 

For a moment, I hesitated outside after I had closed the door behind me. The scent of his blood had almost overpowered me. I had heard it coursing through his jugular vein as I had pressed my lips to his neck. It was as though he
23

My Vampire Lover
by J. P. Bowie
sensed my need, for within him, he had anticipated the move I did not allowmyself to make.

The bloodlust—that ever present threat to any mortal I hold in my arms—had never felt as strong as when I had inhaled the sweetness of his blood beneath his skin. I shivered as I walked quickly away from his apartment door, eager to place as much distance between myself and the temptation he had invoked within me.

Strange that I had not drunk from him...
I could have and blotted all memory of it from his mind.

Yet, I had baulked at it. Why? Was it my attraction towards him that had stayed my instincts? Was it that I did not want to steal the precious gift, but to have him bestowit upon me willingly, fully conscious of what he was giving?

I knew, instinctively, that this man was special. I had known that since the first day I had seen him, since I had reached into his mind, felt his loneliness, and the undiscovered depths of love and desire he kept in check I shook my head free of these thoughts—for the hunt, one must have a clear mind at all times.

[Back to Table of Contents]
24
My Vampire Lover
by J. P. Bowie

Chapter Two

The following day, I thought of nothing and no one else but Jean-Claude. I couldn't wait for the moment when he would show up at my door. It was my day off, and after my morning run, I set to making my apartment look as charming as I possibly could.

I'm a bit anal about cleanliness, sometimes to the detriment of cosiness, as my bro's boyfriend, Ted, has told me on more than a couple of occasions.

 

So, I picked up a copy of
Your Apartment
magazine on my way home and, after surfing through its very colourful pages, went out again to buy a couple of houseplants, some flowers and a variety of scatter pillows.

At six o'clock, I spent twenty minutes in the shower, making sure every nook and cranny was exceptionally clean and fragrant. Raking through my limited wardrobe, I finally settled on a white cotton polo and khaki cargo shorts. When the doorbell rang at seven, I had to stop myself from charging to the door and knocking over everything in my path. I flung the door open, my face split in two by the biggest welcoming smile I could muster.

"Well, hi—what a welcome!" My brother, Jonas, beamed back at me before giving me one of his famous bear hugs.
"Hi, Ron." Ted scooted past us, heading for the kitchen with, no doubt, the meal he had prepared for the three of us, back home. 25
My Vampire Lover
by J. P. Bowie
Oh. My. God. I had totally forgotten they were arriving on this night, of all nights.

"My," Ted exclaimed, hand on hip, looking around the place. He was your typical DQ—designer queen. "Did you hire an interior decorator?" He gave me a perfunctory hug. "It looks darling in here."

 

"Thanks," I mumbled, screaming silently inside.

 

"We brought some bubbly," Jonas said, producing a bottle of champagne from a brown paper bag. "And Ted prepared chicken cordon bleu for dinner."

 

I looked at his smiling face and felt guilty. He is my brother after all.
Jonas is all the family I've got—and Ted has always been so sweet and caring towards you ... don't be an ingrate.

In a daze, I went to get some glasses, hoping Jean-Claude wouldn't show. I just didn't want to have to subject him to my family until I knew him way better—if that was going to happen. Jonas and Ted are sweet, but they can be so darned pushy at times, and I knew they'd be looking at JeanClaude as a prospective husband for me, with no subtlety whatsoever. I was certain if he showed up now, I would never see him again.

The doorbell rang, and my heart lifted and sank, at the same time.
"Expecting company?" Jonas asked, his eyes wide like it was the most unusual thing in the world for me to have
company
. 26
My Vampire Lover
by J. P. Bowie
"Yeah ... uh ... a friend," I muttered, rushing to the door.
As I opened it, I heard Ted say, "Well, we
could
make it work for four."

Jean-Claude stood smiling at me, and I wanted nothing more but to pull him into my arms and smother him with kisses. He looked so darned adorable He wore a dark red shirt, blue jeans and the same cowboy boots from the night before.

I drank it all in, savouring the sight of his slim body, his pale, beautiful face, and those incredible dark blue eyes.
"Hi," I said, taking his hand.

He leaned forward and kissed me on both cheeks—it's that Gallic thing. "Hello," he whispered in my ear. He smelled of something spicy ... nice. "You have company..."

 

"Yeah ... sorry." I drew him inside. "It's my brother and his partner, Ted. I forgot they were staying with me for a couple of nights." "Hi!" Jonas was staring at us both, a glass of champagne in each hand. "You're just in time for the celebration. I'm Jonas, by the way. Ron's big brother."

"Jean-Claude. I am very pleased to meet you." He took the glass Jonas proffered, then shook his hand.
"This is my husband, Ted," Jonas said, all smiles. "Ted, Jean-Claude..."

Well, this was just ducky. All day long I had been looking forward to another evening with Jean-Claude, getting to know him better, getting laid with any luck, and now, here we were, playing guess who's coming to dinner. I was pissed, but I tried not to show it, even though I could tell Jean-Claude 27

My Vampire Lover
by J. P. Bowie

knew exactly how I felt about the whole thing. He kept flashing me small flirty smiles as Jonas and Ted regaled him with stories of fabulous Portland, and questions like, had he ever thought of moving north?

"We've been trying to get Ron to move up near us for so long now," Jonas told him. "Things are way cheaper than LA.
You could both rent a really cute apartment for so much less than here."

Oh now, that was really pushy! I groaned but was relieved to see Jean-Claude wink at me. Thank God, he wasn't taking any of this seriously—or was I sorry he wasn't?

 

"Okay, let's eat," Ted suddenly announced, jumping to his feet. "I hope you like chicken cordon bleu, Jean-Claude. Well, of course you do—it's French!"

I shuddered, but Jean-Claude gave Ted a charming smile.
"I do love it, but I have already dined, thank you."
"Oh ... well..." Ted looked flummoxed that his gourmet cooking was being refused.
"But if I may join you all at the table, I would enjoy a glass of red wine."
It was then I noticed he had not touched his champagne.
Jeez, what a useless host I am, I thought. "Jean-Claude," I muttered. "I'm sorry. I should have offered you that before."

He put his hand on mine, and I came close to falling on my knees in front of him. "Thank you, Ron," he murmured, handing me his untouched champagne glass. I hurried into the kitchen, grabbed a bottle of cabernet and poured him a sizeable amount into one of my best glasses.

28
My Vampire Lover
by J. P. Bowie
"He's nice," Jonas hissed in my ear as he passed me on his way to help Ted. "See you don't piss him off too quickly."
Jean-Claude gave me a conspiratorial smile as I handed him his wine. He patted the couch cushion next to him then took my hand as I sat down. "Not what we planned, exactly?" he murmured, close to my ear.
"They usually go to bed right after dinner," I told him, bringing his hand to my lips. "Please don't leave too early."
"I am a night person," he said. "But don't you have to work tomorrow?"
"Not until late afternoon. The owner likes to manage the lunch hour crowd."

"Ta-da!" Ted sang out, placing his plates of cordon bleu chicken on the dining table with a flourish. "Come eat, children ... and Jean-Claude, I prepared just a
soupcon
for you. I hope you don't mind, but, as you're French, I would love to have your opinion."

I rolled my eyes at Jonas, who just shrugged.
"Ted, Jean-Claude has already had dinner," I said.
"Oh, it's just a tiny piece," Ted pouted.
"Thank you, Ted," Jean-Claude said, sitting at the table. "It looks delicious."

I have to admit, Ted is a good cook, and his dinner was great, but I couldn't help noticing my new friend took only the smallest bite, before patting his flat stomach, and declaring it was very nice, but he was just too full to truly relish it. Ted had lots of French culinary questions for Jean-Claude, which kept the conversation rolling over dinner, but I longed for the 29

My Vampire Lover

by J. P. Bowie
moment when Jonas would yawn and say, "Wow, but this has been a long day. What say we hit the sack, Ted..."

Only he didn't say that. As we cleared the table, Jonas seemed to have gotten himself a second wind, chattering away to Jean-Claude about the last time they had visited me, and how lonely I seemed, and how happy he was to finally meet one of my many elusive boyfriends. After about an hour of this, I was ready to commit fratricide with any kitchen knife I could lay my hands on. And then it happened—Jonas yawned and so did Ted, at exactly the same time. Was it my imagination, or had I seen Jean-Claude make some small movement with his hand just before they both showed us all their cosmetic dental work? Whatever. They were both on their feet, mumbling about how tired they had just become ...

praise the Lord. Hugs all around then they made for the guest room, but not before Jonas had cast me a lewd wink. Oh, boy. "They are charming," Jean-Claude murmured, sitting back down on the couch. "Your brother looks like you."
"They're giant pains in the ass," I said, plopping down next to him. "But they're family, and I love them. Can I get you something?" "Just a kiss—a proper kiss this time."

I was up for that. I leaned in, brushing his lips with mine, lingering for a moment before pushing the point of my tongue against his teeth, running the tip along the edge of his gums.

 

He made a sound like,
Mmf
, and parted his lips, letting me slide right in. His arms encircled my neck, pulling me down on top of him as he lay back on the couch. I was instantly hard, 30

My Vampire Lover
by J. P. Bowie
and so it seemed was he, for I could feel his erection pushing against my crotch through both layers of denim.
"There's more room on the bed," I whispered into his open mouth.
"That sounds nice."

I jumped up and took his hand, leading him into my bedroom, where, for a moment, we stood quite still just gazing at one another as if we were seeing each other for the very first time. Then he moved into my eager arms, his hands reaching under my shirt, fingers caressing my sides, my back, my chest, pausing over each nipple and squeezing gently, causing me to gasp with pleasure. His lips were on mine, his tongue laving the inside of my mouth with an intensity that threatened, once more, to bring me to the brink way too fast.

"Wait," I croaked.
He stepped back, peeled off his shirt then tugged at mine.

I threw my arms up as he pulled it over my head. He nuzzled my armpit, almost rendering me incapable of further movement—almost. Our naked chests slapped together as we embraced. His skin, pale as marble, was smooth to my touch.

He rubbed his fingers over my chest hair then bent to suck on my left nipple. I fumbled with his belt buckle, pulling it open, tugging at his jeans until they fell about his ankles. I pulled down my cargo shorts. Neither of us wore briefs, and it was an erotically charged moment when our cocks rubbed together, his precum mingling with mine.

We fell on top of the bed, our bodies and mouths clamped together. "Jesus," I muttered, pressing my mouth harder against his. His lips parted, letting my tongue slip in. As our 31

My Vampire Lover
by J. P. Bowie

kiss deepened, he clung to me with an urgency I had never before experienced, then suddenly he was all over me. His tongue, his lips, his hands were everywhere at once, caressing, licking, probing. For a time I lay there as if helpless, letting myself be devoured by his need, content just to gaze into those incredible eyes each time he raised his head to look at me. My cock was now so hard it ached. I rolled him onto his back, grasping his hard, throbbing dick. I fell on it like a hungry animal. I seemed to have lost all vestiges of self-control. I wanted all of him, every part of him in my mouth.

"I want to fuck you," I breathed.
"I want you to."

"You are fucking fantastic," I gasped, reaching for the lube and condom I had thought to leave handy—just in case. He threw his legs up over my shoulders and, as I penetrated him, he smiled up at me with a huge, almost pagan-like smile. I nearly came right there and then. What a turn on! I closed my eyes as my dick hammered him, driving deeper and deeper until it was all the way in, and my thighs slapped against his butt cheeks with every downward plunge. He began to moan. He carried me with him, his hands clutching me, urging me on.