Raven Walks (17 page)

He could have easily mastered her, and a mere
month ago he likely would have. That she longed for Raven would
have been icing on the cake – an additional feather in his cap.
He’d turned far more people than Raven, and with each one his
powers grew stronger – his immortality more secure.

But even he knew that didn’t matter anymore.
He understood that the Creature was far more powerful than he could
ever hope to be as he still clung to the last remnants of his
humanity.

Constantine turned to face the night sky.
That was what tortured him most. He knew that was where his blood
lust would take him.

Like any other type of junkie, his addiction
to human blood would ultimately lead to his destruction. Eventually
his good looks would give way to the desolation of his skin and
bones, his hair would thin and gray, his lips would disappear
against fangs that would never stop growing. His muscle would
deteriorate and even his treasured manhood would erode away.

Then there would be no erections, no sex, no
orgasms – and worse than that, no seduction.

He’d be a monster always searching for his
next meal in the form of helpless humans who, while willing to be
seduced by a sexy vampire, would fight against and learn to destroy
the animal they all threatened to become.

That’s when the hunters would come. And
merciless they would, and should, be.

He sighed as he stepped out into the night
air. The days of pitchforks and mobs of angry villagers had long
since given way to seedy parlors and willing donors who usually
were content to get their rocks off even if it meant spilling some
blood along the way. The need for hunters eventually ceased, and
vampires were able to live a somewhat peaceful existence in every
city and every town in the world.

They were able to live the best of both
worlds – to hunt without the kill and therefore be tolerated by a
general public that was mostly satisfied to ignore their existence
entirely.

But there were those, like Constantine, who
spread the disease without apology. Who lived their life, such as
it was, on the edge – constantly walking the line between danger
and safety. He was the adrenaline junkie of the vampire world, and
humans were his extreme sport. With each conquest it was always a
shot off a cliff on a bungee rope he never knew would hold his
weight. If they could resist him, he’d allow them to live.

The challenge, then, was to make them beg him
to crash into the ground and take them with him. More often than
not, they would willingly give over to the other side. Such was his
power.

He thought back to Abi as she screamed for
him in the throes of a passion she’d never before experienced,
wanting nothing more than to surrender to him in every way
possible. He could have had her, but the bungee ripped him back and
saved her life.

For now.

He leaped up on the railing in a flash, and
then off into the night he took flight. He cut through the air like
a bullet, the wind rushing against his face and through his hair.
He could never give this up, he thought to himself as he rocketed
through the sky. He never wanted to lose his youth, his beauty, his
sex appeal or his seductive prowess.

But Constantine knew better than anyone that
he’d forget the freedom and the excitement the minute human blood
spilled into his mouth, and he felt it transform in his saliva –
defenseless against the plague of his disease as it sought to
destroy anything pure and mortal.

He even felt himself stir at the thought.
There was no drug more potent or no high more intense than that
last pure drop of blood that turned from water to wine in his
mouth.

He shook it off as he barreled through the
night toward the one person who could ease his troubled mind and
restore his sense of balance. If vampires had AA she’d be his
sponsor, and he needed her now more than ever.

He accelerated through the night and headed
from the dark recesses of Louisiana to the bright lights of New
York City, a city he loved like no other. There he could walk the
streets and no one would bat an eye, even if his fangs were in
plain sight. He did some time on Broadway, living out his own
dreams of a rock star, and that was where he met Felicia von Hart
for the first time.

A tall blond beauty with dark eyes and a
sparkling smile, he thought for sure she’d be a fun conquest, but
he had no idea that she was a vampire mistress herself – and one
who would teach him way more than he ever thought he’d learn.

She had a good heart for a predator. She
rarely ever turned anyone, and he attributed her kindness to that.
She was still more human than monster, and it showed in the way she
treated her servants and her lovers (who were usually one in the
same.)

Their tryst lasted for the duration of their
musical’s run, and by the end they both were itching to move on.
She to another vampire, and he to a host of human groupies who were
only too happy to welcome him into their beds even if it meant
they’d never see morning as a mortal again.

Some, especially so.

She had gently warned him the consequences of
his actions, but he simply kissed her and smiled. Like every other
addict in the world, he had it under control.

Even though Abi still lived, Constantine was
no longer sure the monkey on his back was at his mercy rather than
the other way around. He needed Felicia. Her arms, her bed, her
kind and loving heart.

He landed on her rooftop on silent feet, and
eased through the balcony doors like a breeze. He was not surprised
to see the two men who shared her bed. They were beautiful, and as
in love with each other as they were with her. Legs and arms were
tangled in sheets as they all slept off their last exhausting
orgy.

He touched her in his mind, and her eyes
fluttered open. She smiled when she saw his familiar silhouette.
She eased up out of bed, careful not to rouse her lovers.
“Constantine,” she whispered happily as she led him into another
room.

He took her into his arms and she kissed him
readily and passionately. “I have missed you,” she told him with
her dazzling smile.

“And I you,” he said, his eyes dark and
troubled.

Instantly she understood. She guided him over
to a sofa with a fabulous view of the city.

“Who are your friends?” he asked, attempting
to be cavalier.

“My two Jacks,” she said with a satisfied and
happy smile. She was in love and he recognized it immediately. “But
somehow I don’t think you’re here to discuss my love life.”

He smiled. She knew him so well. He wondered
again why they weren’t together still.

“Are you in trouble?” she asked.

He shook his head. “Not yet. But I think it’s
coming.” She listened attentively as he told her what was going on
in Louisiana, and with Raven, whom she also knew, only their
relationship had been that of a friend more than a lover. She
nodded every once and a while, and the news of the Creature
obviously unsettled her.

Every once and a while, news filtered through
their community about a rogue vampire who had completely turned and
no longer preyed just upon humans. Usually they were originally
psychotic humans that some unsuspecting (or uncaring) vampire had
given immortality to, and now the community itself had to come
together to fight one of their own.

They had to, now that the hunters were
obsolete.

“And so Raven tried to scare her away?”
Felicia said.

He nodded. “But I couldn’t let her go.” He
stood up and began to pace. “What’s wrong with me?”

She stood also and took his shoulders in both
of her hands. “Why do you always beat yourself up for things beyond
your control?”

“But it is in my control,” he insisted. “Look
at you. Look at Raven. Plenty of vampires are satisfied with
voluntary donors. You don’t need that final fix.”

She chuckled. “We need it,” she clarified.
“That’s survival of our species, honey. We don’t procreate, after
all.”

He nodded. Intellectually he knew that. But
he also knew what he felt went beyond a simple desire to
survive.

“I don’t want to end up that Creature,” he
finally admitted – for the first time out loud.

She took him into her arms and held him
tight. It was a tight rope they all walked.

“No more humans,” he swore against her hair.
Again she chuckled. He might as well pledge not to breathe.

She took his face gently in her hands. “You
can stay here as long as you like. But eventually, you know you
have to go back to New Orleans. Raven needs you.”

It was Constantine’s turn to laugh. “That
will be the day.”

“He needs you to protect Abi. Whatever
happens, he cannot be with her. You know that.” He nodded. “And she
cannot stay away from him. She wants this, with or without you. She
always did.”

He nodded again. He knew that too.

He touched her face. She was so wise, which
is why he had come to her. “Thank you, Felicia,” he murmured as his
lips bent towards hers. She allowed the kiss, but when his hand
slid up her side to cup her breast she pushed him away.

She knew the fact he hadn’t claimed Abi left
him frustrated in a way sex with her simply wouldn’t satisfy. And
even as exciting as she knew it would be, there were two very
important reasons she wouldn’t allow him to take out his impotent
frustration on her.

He had to smile. She may not have kept her
lovers for very long, but she was very loyal when she had them. He
knew that her heart belonged to her two Jacks in the other
room.

“Maybe another time,” he said with his sexy
pout.

She grinned. “Maybe.”

And then she slipped back into the other
room.

He sunk into her sofa, suddenly very tired.
This would be so much easier if he didn’t have the metallic taste
of Abi’s blood in his mouth. His cock jumped at the memory of her
wrapped all around him, her expression of pure ecstasy as she
begged him to suck her dry. His hand slid down his body to grasp
his growing erection in his hand while he relived their regrettable
moment of passion.

Through his partially closed eyes he spied
the neighbor in the building across the street. It was her red hair
that caught his attention, but it was her full, naked body that
made him sit up and lick his lips with contemplation.

He floated toward the big picture window and
watched as she prepared for bed. She slipped a whisper thin
nightgown over her voluptuous curves and then turned out the lamp
right beside her bed.

She slid in between cool satin sheets, never
knowing a vampire now hovered just outside her closed window. She
reached into her nightstand and grabbed her favorite adult toy, a
red jelly vibrator , that would help her relax and go to sleep.

It had been at least five months since she’d
last had sex, and it was really starting to grate on her nerves.
Therefore these sessions with her battery-operated boyfriend had
become an essential part of her routine.

She ran the buzzing instrument of pleasure
along her sensitive skin, over each hardened nipple and across her
quivering stomach. Tonight she needed it more than ever, and didn’t
want to bother with prolonged foreplay.

That was the benefit of solo entertainment –
she knew right where to go to get where she needed to be. No pesky
lovemaking required.

Out of impulse she kicked off the top sheet
and spread her legs wide, giving an unintentional show to the
hungry, horny vampire who watched her from outside her five story
window. She slipped the vibrator along the slick folds of her cunt,
toying with herself and making Constantine crazy from where he
watched.

The toy buzzed against her hard clit until
she ground against it with a whimper, then shoved the shaft up
inside her for the exciting finale.

That was when she heard the knock against the
window, and she shot up in her bed with a scream in her throat.

The terror inspired by the sight of a man
hovering in the air outside her window slowly gave way to something
primal inside her inspired by the look in his eyes. What she so
desperately needed he wanted to give her, and suddenly she wanted
nothing more.

She gave an imperceptive nod as she wriggled
the vibrator inside of her, grinding against it and hoping he’d
take it as the invitation it was. Incredulously she watched as he
morphed through the glass and floated right to her bed. She wasn’t
sure what she wanted more – to scream or to beg him to fuck
her.

Since it was obviously a dream, she chose the
latter.

He tore his shirt from his body as he landed
on her bed, and then crawled up her body.

His eyes began to burn amber and his fangs
slowly protruded from his mouth, which made her crawl backwards up
the bed.

His hard body was very real.

“Who are you?” she whispered.

“A monster,” he told her with a smile. “Are
you scared?”

She nodded, but as his eyes consumed her, she
found herself shaking her head. He needed no further invitation as
his mouth crushed down on hers in a savage kiss that drew blood
from the soft inside of her mouth.

As he sucked the droplets away, she rocketed
off into a mind-blowing orgasm – and he had barely even touched
her. He grabbed her toy and urged her climax on while she bucked
under him. She was breathless as she begged for his cock, needing
to feel his body inside hers. Constantine discarded the vibrator
quickly while she tore at his pants. Within moments he was naked,
his large, throbbing member aimed right for her quivering pussy.
With a growl he shoved himself inside of her and she thrashed
against him in a continuous climax that had her head lolling on her
shoulders like a doll.

Her fingernails dug into his shoulders while
he thrust into her, wild like the animal he was. But she did not
complain, in fact she begged for more. He balanced her body against
the headboard with his hands under each of her knees and banged her
against the wall with each thrust. “Yes!” she cried out again and
again.