Vampire U (18 page)

A connection blazed to life between us like a high-voltage power cable, full of energy and life.  Fear stirred deep in my soul as I realized that the flow along that connection was from me and into Mander.  I could feel my life essence leaving me in a rush, draining into Mander like water falling into a bottomless black well.  As it did, I felt Mander stir and grow stronger.  His hand raised and gripped the back of my head, pulling me down against him.

His tongue plunged into my mouth, and I felt the gentle pull of his lips against mine.  The screaming of the vampires around us faded to a dull buzz, replaced by the thunder of my heart and the roar of blood in my ears.  I felt myself weakening, diminished by the hunger in Mander's kiss.  The place on my neck where he had bitten me throbbed, and my skin flushed as blood rushed to the surface as though begging to give itself to him.

Finally, I broke away, gasping for breath, exhausted.  Mander looked up at me, and though he remained pale and aged, he seemed more 
alive
 somehow.  I looked around and saw the other vampires lay scattered like the victims of a bomb strike.  Most still writhed in agony.  Some had stopped moving.  A few crawled toward us, wild hunger shining in their eyes even as their bodies decayed.  They looked like crazed old men.

Mander saw them too.  "You have to go," he said.  With surprising strength, he staggered to his feet, pulling me up with him.  "Get out!"

"Not without you," I said, and as I took a step toward him, my leg wobbled and I felt dizzy.  My words weren't just bravery or devotion; our kiss had drained me, and I didn't think I could walk on my own.  "Help me, Mander."

Reluctantly, he nodded, and we stumbled toward the door, leaning against one another like a pair of drunks heading home at dawn.  Hands grabbed at us, but they were old and feeble.  Twice, Mander lashed out with weak kicks, pushing back grabbing hands and questing mouths, barely enough to keep the hungry, desperate vampires at bay.

The doorway was only yards away, but it seemed we had to push through a sea of bodies.  Finally, we were through them and into a dark hallway, leaving the hellish orgy of dying vampires in the Heart that had become their tomb.

The torchlight and screams of dying vampires faded quickly behind us, and soon only the sounds of Mander's labored breathing echoed in the narrow passage.  By the time we climbed a curving stone staircase that led to heavy oak doors, he was deteriorating again, as though whatever energy he'd taken from our kiss had worn off.  The Elder's death had doomed Mander to the fate of his coven, to die screaming as the dying 
petro loa
 abandoned his body.  Drawing from my life essence had delayed the inevitable, but it had sapped me as well.  If my blood could keep Mander alive, I would give him all I had without hesitation, but we both knew that would kill me, and I doubted it would have any more of an impact than trying to melt a glacier with a hair dryer.

Mander pushed open the door, and we stumbled out into the grand ballroom where I'd first begun to understand that something sinister was at work in Beta House.  Lit only by dim recessed lighting at either end, the ballroom was empty now like the rest of the house; all of Beta House had felt Alex's death and gone to witness the spectacle below.  Mander and I were alone.

Mander staggered to one knee on the carpet, leaning against my hip.  "Don't stop," I said.  I pulled at his arm as though

He looked up at me, his dark eyes filled with warmth and love and sadness, and shook his head.  "It doesn't matter, Danielle.  I can't outrun this.  You're free now.  Leave me."

For one horrible second, I considered doing just that - turning and walking out of Beta House and leaving Baton Rouge forever.  No vampires would pursue me, and I would recover from Mander's bite eventually.

But I would never recover from how I felt about him.

"No," I said, sinking to my knees beside him.  "I'll stay with you.  Until it's over."  I slid my arms beneath his and rested my head on his shoulder, and Mander pulled me close, squeezing my breasts against his chest.  He felt surprisingly warm, as though a fire was slowly consuming him from the inside.  A tear trickled down my cheek; I'd never felt so helpless before.

"I wish there was some way I could..."

"No," Mander whispered in my ear.  "It's alright, Danielle.  I wanted this.  What little time we had together was a gift, but I must pay for all the wrong I've done.  I don't deserve you."  In his words and in his arms, I felt him slipping away, and my anger flared.  I wanted to fight for us.

With a sudden turn of my head, I brushed my lips against his, just a gentle feather's touch, but I felt that connection between us again, a sizzling arc of electric energy.

Mander pulled away with a sudden gasp.  "Danielle, you have to stop.  Whatever else has changed, I still feel the craving to survive.  You need to go before I lose control.  If I hurt you, I don't want to be alive."

"And I'll never forgive myself if I leave you to die," I said.  "Kiss me, and to hell with tomorrow."  I pressed my mouth to his.  Mander tensed, but I held his head in my hands, silently daring him to defy me.  I poured myself into the kiss, poured myself into 
him.
  As my strength ebbed, I felt Mander's vitality return.  The wrinkles in his cheeks seemed to fade, and the new white streaks in his sandy hair faded like melting snow.  At some point, it wasn't my insistence that kept our lips together, but his.

Mander's hands slid beneath the suit jacket I still wore, gliding around my waist to caress my bare back.  His insatiable hunger pulled at me, and I knew he needed far more than a kiss.  Forcing myself to pull away, I tilted my head to one side and gave him my neck.  The place where he'd bitten me throbbed a gentle ache, each pulse of my heart calling to him like a beacon.  His feverish breath caressed my neck, and I shuddered in anticipation.

"Take what you need," I begged him.  "Please."

Although the backlash of Jacob's death was killing Mander, it hadn't changed what he was.  Driven by survival instincts cultivated over countless years, the vampire fed.  Sharp fangs pierced my skin, and my eyes shot wide open as a torrent of ecstasy roared through my body.  Wild pulses of orgasm and rapture masked the pain of the bite, made me welcome the sweet sting as a heroin addict welcomes the needle.

Even as he drew hot blood from my body, Mander's touch kindled the warm embers of desire between my legs.  He'd refused me once before - to protect me, he'd said.  Now the threat was gone, and we'd run out of both time and excuses.

A wave of dizziness swept over me as Mander withdrew his fangs.  In the gloom, his teeth gleamed with the dark fluid of my blood as he drew in a long, shuddering breath.  Then he closed his lips and tilted his head back, savoring the taste and energy he'd taken from me.

I longed to give myself to him completely, but fear slid across the surface of my mind.  If a kiss could drain me so thoroughly, what might that do?

It might keep him alive,
 a seductive voice of hope whispered.

With trembling hands, I reached up to unbutton his shirt, the rich white cotton mottled by stains and tears from the fight with Jacob.  My fingers traced the hard curves of his smooth chest, the skin not just warm now, but hot.

Mander's hands explored my body beneath the jacket, sending a shiver through me as gooseflesh dappled my skin in the wake of his gentle fingers.  One hand slid over the curve of my hip as the other arm cradled my shoulders, and Mander lowered my gently to the floor.  I lay back on the carpet, staring up into his dark gaze.  The cold light of the demon had gone out of his eyes; only the man was left, but fatigue tightened the corners of his eyes, evidence of the ruthless battle he still fought to stay alive.

"Take me," I told him as my heart hammered in my heaving chest.  He pushed aside the lapels of the jacket, revealing the firm young curves of my small breasts.  He cupped one, rolling the nipple beneath his thumb until it swelled and darkened.  An aching tingle cried for more, and I brought his head down against my bosom.  His lips closed around the ruby tip of my breast, and a shuddering sigh escaped my lungs.  The sharp points of his teeth stung my flesh without breaking the skin, gentle pinpricks that stoked my pleasure.  Mander's tongue rolled over my sensitive flesh while his hand moved lower, swooping down the soft expanse of my belly to the thin triangle of hair where my legs joined.

His fingers delved into that crisp tuft, and I gasped as he spread me apart, sliding two fingertips along the slick, smooth pinkness of my slit.  His fingers found the tender bulb of my clit, gliding around it in swift, smooth arcs, a thrill that arched my back until only my shoulders and feet touched the ballroom's carpet.

Mander's mouth left my breast, and our lips met again, full of lust and passion, both of us striving to keep the end at bay for another minute, an hour, or even a lifetime.  I tore at Mander's belt, loosening it with urgent fingers, then pushed his wool pants down over his lean hips.  My hand found the sculpted curve of his naked bottom, and I pulled him toward me as I spread my legs in invitation.

Mander rose and slid between my thighs, his cock quivering and erect between us.  He propped himself up on arms that looked strong, but when I touched his biceps, his straining muscles trembled beneath my fingers.  I slid my hands down his smooth, hard back and grasped his hips, pulling them forward.

This time, Mander didn't hesitate.  He thrust forward, gentle but firm, and the swollen head of his erection parted my folds and slid into a place where no man had ever been.  Pressure swelled within me as he touched some barrier, and pain flared bright and sudden.  I urged him forward as I clenched my teeth, sucking in a sharp breath.  The pressure grew and grew as Mander pushed harder, its sharp pain bringing tears to my eyes.  Just when I could endure no longer, I felt something break within me.  In a rush of relief, Mander slid home, a sword welcomed to the sheath after a long and intense battle.  My slick passage stretched, forever changing as he opened my most secret places.

I welcomed him, wrapping a hand around his neck and drawing him down to me for a kiss.  Mander's chest pressed against mine, and hard muscle rubbed against my stiff nipples as he began to rock his hips, moving inside me with long, deep strokes.  I'd never done this before, never even imagined how it could feel.  When Mander had touched my mind, it had sometimes felt as though we were one person.  With him in my body, we were one soul.  I knew him in a new way.  Emotion and sensation were laid bare between us.  I understood his worry and pain, his guilt at all he'd done.  That guilt was like a wound so vast and deep that nothing could close it.  But being inside me comforted him, and so I pulled him close, holding him as tight as I dared.  If I couldn't give him life, perhaps I could give him solace for what little of his remained.

I rolled my hips up, lifting my legs so that Mander could penetrate even deeper.  He thrust down against me, and I moaned as his hips pressed against the inside of my thighs.  My ankles locked at the small of his back, pulling him closer still.  Now when we kissed, each knew the other with such deep intimacy that our tongues moved against one another in an intricate ballet.  My breath came hard and fast, and I urged him on.

A low growl escaped Mander's throat, a primal lust that lent speed and power to his thrusts, pushing my body on the carpet.  Drained of energy and blood by Mander's insatiable need, my head swam, and I thought I had nothing more to give him.  I was wrong.

Mander moved atop me with an energy and passion unlike anything I'd ever known.  Each thrust seemed a plea for redemption and a hope for the future.  For endless years, Mander had lived in darkness, surrounded by death and misery.  Our act was one of love and life.  I embraced him, whispered forgiveness in his ear as my body surrendered to his need.

With each thrust, Mander pulled my life force into him like a sponge drinking in spilt wine.  I could feel myself diminishing, and my skin felt cool and pale.  Droplets of blood trickled down the side of my neck where Mander had bitten me; this fresh bite hadn't healed like before.  I was waning, and soon there would be nothing left.  Yet Mander was still an endless void, soaking in all he could with no discernible effect.  His face, just inches from my own, had aged twenty years even as we made love, but his eyes were wild, out of control.  His desperation drove him now as he sought to outpace the sure death that awaited him in the aftermath of his Elder's destruction.  I didn't think I could stop him now even if I wanted to.

But neither of us would survive this.  Sadness swept over me at that realization, and I withdrew into the quiet of my mind.  In the turmoil of our lovemaking, my thoughts were blessedly quiet.  I felt at peace with myself; whatever happened to me, I'd destroyed a great evil.  As a child I'd dreamed of making the world a better place, and despite what I'd helped do to Le Moyne and his coven, that dream called to me, a vague sense that there was more to do, and I knew I couldn't die here.  Not even to save the man I loved.

A darkness tinged my mind where the 
petro loa
 had touched my consciousness with its last temptation .  The vanquished demon had left its mark like an oil slick floating atop clear water.  Hungry for life, I sought that dark place and felt the coldness of an empty grave.  But I touched something hot and red that ran through the darkness, a torrent of energy rushing out into the void to evaporate in a fine crimson mist.

I knew that torrent's source at once.  It wasn't the focused evil of the Baton Rouge demon, but the wild, unharnessed energy it had left behind, the life force of a thousand souls escaping into the ether.  Soon that energy would dissipate, but for a moment, it was mine to harness.

Acting on instinct, I plunged my mind into that black void and let the coldness claim me as I seized on that fiery vein.  It rushed into me, exhilarating, yet laced with sickly sweet corruption.  Awareness blossomed, and I could see the raging river of energy rushing out of Beta House, a huge and unknowable flood that pulled the very essence from Mander and his kin.  But I was no longer a watcher.  Now I was the river.

Possessed by that otherworldly energy, a dark hunger overcame me.  I tilted my head upward and opened my mouth.  A hiss escaped my lungs like air escaping a corpse, a sound that would haunt my dreams forever.  Mander froze, startled by the change he sensed in me, but before he could shift his body away, I sunk my teeth into the soft skin of his neck.

Mander let out a shocked cry and threw his head back, but I tightened my jaw and refused to let him escape, even as he thrashed against me.  Hot blood rushed into my mouth, a thick, coppery taste that I swallowed greedily.  It flowed into me like liquid fire, scouring my fatigue and infusing my limbs with a sudden strength.  Feeling powerful beyond measure, I tightened my legs around Mander's hips, locking our bodies together.

Mander stopped struggling when he felt my strength.  When he looked into my eyes, I saw the fear in his.  Fear of what I'd let inside me.  "Danielle, you can't..."

With a gasp, I released him, licking every drop from my lips.  "I already have," I said, my voice a hoarse growl.  "I'm everything you need, Mander.  Take all you can."

I could almost hear the drumbeat of his heart accelerate to a wild, urgent tempo, and he began to fuck me with wild urgency, pounding my body with wild lunges that made his heavy balls smack against the inner curve of my buttocks.  We rolled over each other, fighting and fucking like wild animals, and I found myself atop him.  Crazed with lust, I pumped my hips back and forth, tightening myself around him.

As his shaft slid in and out of me in a blur, white-hot pleasure rose inside me like some tremendous leviathan, too big and powerful to be contained by the depths of my body.  Mander's ecstasy was no less, but lust alone couldn't quench his endless thirst.  Fangs flashed as he rose up, and once more, his mouth found my throat.  My blood flooded into his mouth as he drank deeply of the dark power I'd taken into my body.

I raked my fingernails through his hair and held his head against me.  His manhood swelled inside me, hard as stone and hot as fire.  Still drinking from my neck, he plunged deeper than ever, and his seed erupted inside me as his cock throbbed its release, setting off an avalanche of sensation.  Orgasm exploded through my body in violent shockwaves, and my wordless screams filled the ballroom.