Raven Walks

RAVEN WALKS

By

Ivy Greene

SMASHWORDS EDITION

*****

PUBLISHED BY:

Ginger Voight on Smashwords

Copyright ©2011

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***

The night air smelled sweet, like magnolia.
It was sensual and warm, quite typical of the Deep South. Though it
was late, no one could stand to be confined to their houses and
walked the street under a bright full moon. Beads of sweat
glistened against exposed skin, desperate for even the slightest
breeze. Hair hung damp under the oppressive humidity, just like a
lover’s would after an enthusiastic tussle on satin sheets.

It was a perfect night for a vampire on the
prowl.

Raven Crowe walked these streets this night,
a stranger alone amidst a crowd. His dark, soulful eyes took
everything in, every exquisite form, every shadow… every movement.
But it was what he heard in his mind that made him especially
dangerous. He heard thoughts and desires no one dared breathe,
ashamed of what echoed deep in their lustful hearts and wicked
minds.

He had centuries of experience feasting on
those thoughts, and no one was safe from his knowing gaze.

Despite the heat, his coat was long, and
fabric from his shirt and scarves billowed behind him in a breeze
he alone seemed to create. The old boots he wore barely made a
sound as he moved into the crowd, between sweaty, warm bodies.
Their musky scent filled the air, making Raven heady with
excitement. He longed to touch, to taste... to feed.

His eyes, rimmed black with eyeliner, scanned
the crowd, searching for the one who might satisfy his insatiable
hunger. As the centuries dragged on, his task became more and more
difficult. After all this time, after all he’d seen and
experienced, Raven was extremely selective. He could have anyone he
wanted, any one of the beautiful people who glided through the
night like star shine. But after hundreds of years of dining on
their egos he found them a bit of a bore.

Likewise those shrinking violets that
crouched along the streets barely making eye contact with their own
shadow were too easy to seduce, too easy to sway.

He missed the challenge of days gone past,
when his victims would cower at his feet, equally frightened and
aroused by what he could do to them, how he could transform them –
how they could taste immortality in his kiss, even if it was the
last thing they ever did.

But where was the one who would seduce
him
? Or were those days of challenge long gone now that he’d
mastered his art of passion?

The thought depressed him. It weighed much
heavier on him than the humidity that tasted of impending rain. He
peered skyward and noted with a bit of anticipation that a storm
was brewing to the west. A smile crossed his face. He loved the
unpredictable nature of the weather. Mother Nature was truly a
cruel vixen who would toss you about her will.

All he needed was to find her in human form
and he would be her slave.

Until then, he was the master of all.

The pulsating sound of music filled the
stillness of the night as he approached his favorite tavern. It was
a club that catered to Gothic youth and those earthbound creatures
of the night. He could be lost there, free to watch humanity
devolve to its baser nature. Sex and frivolity reigned supreme as
people lost their identity in alcohol and drugs.

Talk about your easy pickings.

Raven would go there if he had an itch to
scratch, but it never quite satisfied his true hunger. No one had
in a long, long time. But he did have urges that demanded to be
met. And in this coven he could readily find someone willing to
feed, willing to fuck. He was a rock star and they were his
groupies. They were no longer fearful. They wanted to feel his
teeth sink into their skin. They wanted to be forever branded as
one of his children, even though he hadn’t truly converted anyone
in a long, long time.

He knew it only made him more appealing. All
the little girls wanted to be the one who would rise at his side,
his immortal bride.

Unfortunately for all of them, Raven was
perfectly content to walk alone. Love was for fools, and Raven
Crowe was no fool. He mingled with the crowd undetected as he
assessed who might provide the most excitement for the evening.
Because he’d long since given up the silly notion of long-term
relationships, he indulged his hedonistic nature, enjoying the
chase more than the conquest.

A beautiful blonde in a tightly bound corset
brushed against him as he passed by. With a wry grin he decided
that there was a lot of merit in the conquest as well. But despite
her hungry stare and her bare and willing neck, he pressed on
toward the bar.

The bartender gave him a familiar smile. She
had been a conquest herself in the not too distant past, but she
seemed to understand that was all someone like Raven could offer
and never sought him out again. Perhaps she, better than anyone,
knew the score when it came to establishments such as this. Give
when asked, leave before required.

For some of the patrons it could have been
deadly otherwise.

For that reason, Sonja stayed mostly to the
shadows, keeping glasses filled and flying just under the radar.
Raven, however, had proven much too strong a temptation to deny.
His long, black hair hung smooth and full down his chiseled back,
and his body was hard and toned beneath her hands. She recalled
their night of unrestrained lust and hunger with a tiny shudder.
Sometimes she swore she could still feel his mouth on her skin.

That was especially true when she fell
headlong into those bottomless brown eyes. They had been her true
undoing. She doubted anyone could resist their power.

He gave her a smile as she handed him a
bottle of water. No words were exchanged. They didn’t need to be.
He could read her thoughts, and it pleased him to know she was
still so completely under his spell. He could have called to her
and she would have come to him, allowing him to take her right
there on the bar in the middle of the crowd if he wanted. He said
nothing to encourage or dissuade.

It was exactly how he liked it to be.

The rim of the water bottle touched his full
lips as he silently surveyed the crowd. Dark hair, dark clothes, a
heavy metal beat – it was the same ol’ scene.

He sighed.

And that’s when he saw her.

It was the shock of red hair he noticed
first, so bright and intense against the dark, Gothic backdrop. It
flowed like molten lava down across creamy white flesh. For a
moment, as if she sensed his stare, her eyes met his. Their
electric green fire seared him all the way down to his feet, and he
couldn’t help but notice how shaken she was as well. He could
almost hear her gasp across the crowded room.

That was when she quickly turned and
disappeared into the writhing bodies on the dance floor.

His water forgotten, Raven moved like air
through the crowd, desperate for one more glance, to chisel that
face into his memory so he could never forget how he felt in that
one brief moment. It was like a drop of water after days lost in
the desert. Instantly he knew he had to have more. It never would
have occurred to him that he would be unable to get it.

Perhaps that was why the more she evaded him,
the more desperate he grew. There, just ahead, he saw her bright
mane of hair covered by a black hood and she escaped from the bar
out into the night.

His senses were on overload. He couldn’t even
make out her scent, so many sights and sounds and smells assaulted
him at once. He burst from the bar out into the hot night. He
looked one way, then another. She had gone.

Almost with a growl of frustration he turned
back toward the bar when he saw a similar black hooded female
figure disappear into the shadows of the alley.

Quickly he followed where she had gone. The
storm he had predicted lit up the night with intermittent flashes
of lightning, and thunder underscored the sound of his boots as
they pounded against the pavement. Wind flew down the alley, and he
watched as she held her hood over her head and ducked down another
street.

Like a bullet he followed. He turned and then
realized that she had boxed herself into a corner. The cloak
covered her as she shrunk back into the shadows.

He approached her slowly, saying nothing. He
could feel her tremble as he drew closer. He could smell her
trepidation on the air. He smiled and the lightning glinted from
the fangs that protruded predominantly from his mouth. She
whimpered and it was his turn to shudder.

When he came close enough to touch her, he
didn’t. Instead he just stood there and allowed his aura to envelop
her. She seemed to sway under its power. Clouds moved across the
moon and cast a shadow on the only visible part of her face, her
delicate chin, shining white and luminous in the night. He groaned
as he thought about her neck, her breasts, her thighs, all likely
just as luscious and creamy and enticing.

He could tell she was determined not to look
at him. Slowly he reached out a hand to tip that chin upward. He
couldn’t see when her eyes met his but he could hear the gasp to
confirm that they had. She stopped whimpering, stopped shaking, and
for a brief moment even ceased to breathe.

His body burned with desire, his body alive
with the imminent conquest. Slowly, hypnotically he pulled the
cloak and expected to see her fiery hair tumble over those amazing
green eyes.

It was his turn to gasp. Instead of long red
hair, his victim had short blonde hair. Instead of green eyes, they
burned blue. His hand fell away from her face, and even his fangs
retracted as his lust cooled. “My apologies,” he stated softly and
very uncharacteristically before he turned to leave.

“Wait,” she called out despite herself. He
turned back. In her eyes he saw a spark of interest mixed with a
fear he knew only fueled her excitement. She had no idea what his
staying meant. If he had any morals at all he’d have turned and
left her there.

Instead, his fangs began to grow.

“You’re afraid,” he said softly, capturing
her in his hypnotic gaze. She shook her head in denial, but her
eyes betrayed her. “Liar,” he whispered with a smile.

“The storm,” she offered weakly.

He laughed softly. “What is your name?”

“Aubry,” she whispered.

He placed a hand on either side of her head,
leaning close. “Do you like vampires, Aubry?” he asked as his
shadow engulfed her. He ran his tongue along his fangs, purposely
drawing her attention to both.

She started to shake her head, but ended up
in a weak nod as her eyes fixed on his glistening fangs.

He pressed her warm body against the cool
brick wall behind her. He felt every curve mold to him. “You should
run away, Aubry,” he whispered, the evidence of his sexual desire
undeniably pressed against her.

Her shudder returned. He felt her fear rise
up from her soul. She struggled against him ever so briefly before
she glanced back up into his eyes. Like a flower he watched her
open up to him – mind, body and spirit.

He bent to cover her mouth with his own. It
was warm and wet and his long, snake-like tongue tore between her
lips to conquer her mouth in a savage kiss. She struggled again,
but a lot more half-heartedly. Inside her body she wrestled with
fear and desire, and he knew the desire was winning. With a deep
guttural groan she collapsed against him as her own tongue meshed
with his.

His hand pushed the material of her top aside
to cup her breast, her erect nipple responded to his touch. He
wrenched his mouth away to kiss his way down her chest to capture
the nipple in between his teeth. She cried out as his teeth
penetrated the skin and bright red drops of blood dripped across
her ivory flesh.

She glanced down to see her blood smeared
across his mouth as he suckled her. His eyes, cloudy with his own
overwhelming desire, met hers. It was more intimate than any act of
intercourse. She shuddered as she cried out into the empty
alley.

He lifted up her skirt as he rose to a
standing position. With one decisive tug, he tore her panties aside
and cupped her with his hand, his finger dancing over the sensitive
nub. He stared, unblinking, into her eyes as his fingertip brushed
across it again and again until she was coming hard, a scream
locked in her throat as she stared at those long, sharp fangs. “Do
you want to be fucked by a vampire, Aubry?” he asked as he slipped
a finger inside her. She grabbed the wall so that she wouldn’t lose
her footing.