Vampire 01 - Daughter of Darkness

seems far less so when you’re in love. When I met you, as quick as all this seems to be, I felt as if my eyes were opened wider, my ears could hear more. All my senses were unclogged, sharper. Suddenly, everything I did was… not exciting, exactly, but more joyful, and that keeps you young. Does that make any sense?”
    “Yes,” I said.
    “It was the same for you?” he asked hopefully.
    “Yes.”
    “Then you won’t laugh if I tell you I love you and want to be with you forever and ever.”
    “I won’t laugh,” I said.
    He lowered his glass to the tile and leaned over to kiss me. This time, I kissed him back. He took the glass from my hand and put it down gently. We kissed again.
    “I can’t imagine ever being happier than I am at this moment. If I died tomorrow, I wouldn’t feel cheated.”
    “But how can you be with me forever and ever if you die, Buddy?”
    “You’re here,” he said, pressing his hand to his heart. “Locked in forever and always with me. If we never saw each other again after today, I’d see you everywhere in every woman’s face and hear you in every woman’s voice. You’ve possessed me.”
    “That sounds like—”
    “Delicious torment. Don’t stop.”
    He kissed me again. Half of me wanted to drive him away and save him, but the half of me that wanted him was stronger. His hands moved over me, tugging at my clothes. I felt myself tighten in anticipation. Ava’s orders were to make love as much as possible before I brought him home. “His blood should be hot with passion and desire,” she had said.
    It’s all going the way it should
, I thought. Guilt, however, mixed in with my pleasure. I couldn’t help being tentative, a little reluctant. He felt it and stopped.
    “Want to go inside?” he asked.
    “Yes,” I said, and we reentered the house.
    He led me to the bedroom in which we had made love. In moments, we were at each other, the hesitation quickly washed away by my own heat and passion. The intensity of it surprised me. He was surprised, too, but welcomed it as an indication of how much I wanted and loved him.
    This time, however, I hardened faster in the places I had hardened before and became more aggressive. He started to laugh and then pretended to cry out for mercy.
Maybe he’s not pretending
, I thought, but I couldn’t stop. I kissed him more demandingly than he kissed me, rushed him to undress, and became impatient with how long he was taking to undress me. When we were naked, I rolled him over and mounted him.
    “Wait!” he cried. “I’m not prepared.”
    “It’s all right. We’ll be fine,” I said, too impatient to wait.
    My hunger made him ravenous. With all abandon gone, we made love until he begged for mercy, laughing but astonished.
    “I don’t know if you were loving me or trying to kill me,” he said, half joking. He paused, studying me a moment. “Do you work out or something? You have real muscle definition.”
    “I work out,” I said, reaching for the blanket to cover my nudity.
    “I’d better start working out harder myself to keep up with you.”
    He rose and put on one of his uncle’s robes that was hanging on a closet door. He looked at his watch.
    “Our food should be here any moment,” he said. “I need some nourishment after that.” He sat on the bed and took my hand, gently playing with my fingers. “Why should I be so lucky? I keep asking myself that.”
    “Maybe you’re not.”
    “I love it when you’re modest.” He sighed and looked around. “My uncle’s returning next week. We’ll lose our love nest for a while.”
    Longer than a while, I thought.
    “I’ll figure something out,” he quickly added. “Don’t worry.”
    “I’m sure you would,” I said.
    “Will, not would.”
    We heard the doorbell.
    “That’s the food. Don’t move. I’ll bring it all in here. We’ll spend all our time in bed until we have to leave. Consider this our honeymoon.”
    I said nothing. It was all going the way it was supposed to go.
    “What do you want to drink now?”
    “Just some water again,” I said.
    “Coming right up. Whew,” he said, laughing. He dug his wallet out of his pants, smiled, and then went out to get our food.
    “You want any help?” I called.
    “Don’t you move!” he shouted back. “I know a good thing when I see it.”
    I looked around. My body felt as if it was cooling down, the madness of my lovemaking dissipating. Outside, a cloud moved over the sun, and an ominous shadow