Earth, page 13
My clit throbbed, and if possible, my pussy got wetter. That might have been Beck’s magic.
Varu’s fingers rubbed over my clit, and that additional attention pushed me over when I reached the edge of another orgasm, which didn’t take long.
When I needed to cry out so loud that anyone in the street might hear me, Beck’s cock fell from my mouth. I simply couldn’t give him attention and suck his cock right then through my orgasm. I wasn’t sure how well soundproofed the underground room was, but I gave it my all, screaming my pleasure like a porn star.
And I collapsed on the bed, burying my head in the sheets that were also being twisted by my hands.
This must have been too much for my new lovers because splashes of warm cum landed across my back. A lot of it, and I wasn’t sure who it produced it.
For a few seconds or minutes, I remained with my face buried in the clean-smelling cotton. At least these sheets smelled freshly laundered after whoever else he’d fucked in the bed.
And I attempted to recover. If I waited too long, I’d be embarrassed about my behavior. God. I’d never behaved like a slutty porn star before. It was fun and sexy, but now, after the fact, well, it might get embarrassing.
A head came down next to mine. Hot breath blew past my ear, and then Beck’s voice. “That was so hot. Thank you.”
“You liked it?” I whispered. Because suddenly, self-doubt rose within me, replacing my libido. I’d been over the top, and those guys might’ve had a better time without me. I saw how they were together.
“Yes. I liked it a lot,” he answered.
“I’ve never done anything quite like it,” I confessed. Now we’d finished, I wanted them both to know. “Never before.”
“Then I need to ask you, Malka, did you enjoy it? I hope you did.”
Without moving from where I lay, I nodded. “Thanks, guys,” I said. Thanking people seemed to be the order of the day. A bit impersonal, but I’d roll with it.
I became vaguely aware of a warm damp cloth wiping the man-juice from my back. They were gentlemen; of course, they weren’t just going to leave me to clean myself up.
“I should go home.”
All right, Beck didn’t want to stay the night.
“I need to see Haydn,” he said.
Why?
“I also have to leave for a while, Malka, but you will be safe sleeping here. I’d be back soon. There are things I’d like to show you before sunrise, so you should rest now.”
And Varu intended to leave too.
“Why?” I didn’t intend to say it aloud.
So, perhaps they were both going to leave me once they’d had their fun.
Oh, wait. I had fun. I initiated it. And I was done with them. The previous threesome guys had spent the night cuddling and sleeping with me. I liked it, but I didn’t need that.
“I imagine you’d like some fresh clothes, and I have nothing to fit you,” Varu said. He had a point. The clothes I’d been wearing had been rolled in cemetery earth, and my spare clothes stored back in King’s Cross were all in need of laundering too.
Exhaustion took me to sleep without allowing time for goodbyes. I didn’t hear the men leave the room.
I woke up a couple of hours later to find myself alone. A small lamp gave some illumination to the room, and on the bedside table I found a small pile of new clothes in my size. They were similar to what I’d been wearing, and with the labels still inside. Thoughtfully, Varu had left a pair of scissors atop along with a new toothbrush, still in the packet. When I got out of bed, I found a choice of two pairs of boots on the floor.
New clothes, a set for now and spare for later, were useful gifts, and made up for them not staying in bed with me.
Once I stirred, after all that had happened since I stepped off the bus in Dalston less than twelve hours earlier, it was impossible to return to sleep. My brain worked overtime thinking things through.
It turned out Uncle Byrne was not my uncle—he was my legal guardian, an asshole, and a witch.
I still had to find out the details of the trust fund that I stood to benefit from after my twenty-first birthday. My future waited for me to pick it up. Still, it seemed it was about to take a dramatically different course to what I ever envisioned, not least because my family wealth seemed far greater than I imagined. The property portfolio wasn’t the only legacy.
Either all the people around Summer House Road were barking mad, or I’d fucked a vampire.
The next conversation I had with Betty, my around-the-world travel-pal, was impossible to imagine. What would we say after we’d compare notes on menages, and I told her I was a witch?
She’d tell me about how her family was doing while, at the same time, deciding I’d lost grip with reality. I’d tell her about vampires and magic, and she’d call the men with white coats to bring a straight jacket. I’d be locked away like my mom before I killed anyone.
Returning to King’s Cross, where I’d left my stuff, and checking back into the same hotel seemed an excellent plan. The thought that I might run into those guys on the third floor did NOT cross my mind. Not too much.
To find out about my trust fund, I’d visit so-called Uncle Byrne in daylight when I had a little more time to process all this. Reflecting on life from a neutral distance was preferable to spending the entire night in a vampire’s basement, no matter how luxurious.
I found myself closing the door quietly behind me in the dark early hours of the morning and walking toward the end of Summer House Road. A bunch of people milled about at the far end of the road. Optimistically, I hoped to find a black cab or a minicab office or a night bus along the main road, which would take me the five or so miles from Stoke Newington to King’s Cross.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The irresistible temptation of blood freshly squeezed from a virgin
Varu Vasile
SHORTLY BEFORE THE shops closed, I made it to Westfield shopping emporium.
The staff were attempting to usher dawdling browsers out of my chosen store and stared coldly at the people outside to deter any intending to enter when there were only minutes until closing.
Paying no heed, I zoomed past, moving faster than their eyes could track and coming to a halt within the heart of women’s clothing.
Glancing at my watch, I approached the nearest female sales assistant, a middle-aged woman—Lucy, according to her name badge. “I only have a minute, and I need a complete new outfit for my friend. In fact, two sets. Including underwear, socks, and boots.” Which was why this task needed a female perspective.
At the same time as whipping out my phone to show her the pictures I’d taken, I pulled out my wallet to demonstrate the serious nature of this shopping expedition. “I’d like two more sets of clothes, just like these. The closest match.” The photographs showed the labels, so the sales lady had product codes, brands, and sizes.
“We have an enormous range of jeans to choose from.” Lucy frowned. “Color, cut, detailing.”
“You choose just the closest things to those that I’m showing you. Exactly the same will be fine if you have it, Lucy. And she needs underwear too.” I hadn’t taken a photograph of her smalls. “Undergarments that are practical for everyday situations. Whatever you’d wear if you were a kick-ass vampire slayer and zombie hunter.”
The assistant giggled. “I know the very knickers you’re looking for. I’ll be right back.”
“Should I be worried?” I said to her back as I followed her toward ladies’ lingerie.
“Only if you are a zombie or a vampire.” She clearly had a sense of humor. The woman knew her job. She picked up items on hangers at an impressive speed, for a human, gathering jeans and tops before we reached panties and socks.
While Lucy gathered clothing, a beautiful red dress caught my eye. It wasn’t practical for fighting vampires and demons or for everyday wear, but the shade would look lovely against her skin. I picked up what I guessed to be the correct size and asked Lucy to find shoes, underwear, and a jacket to go with it.
Finally, the entire wardrobe came together. Laden down with bags, I deposited them at home before checking on the Turkish vampires and possibly securing another drop of human blood before sunrise.
After dropping the items in Malka’s room whilst she slept soundly, I went out again. I passed through the cemetery, but this time I doubled back along Stoke Newington Church Street to approach Summer House Road from the other side of the divide.
Most of the crowd that had been there earlier had dispersed. There were just a few vampires lingering near the end of my road, presumably stationed there to pick up Malka if she tried to leave. They ignored me as if they hadn’t sensed me. Maybe they hadn’t. I had nothing about me to draw their attention.
Three vampires loitered on the street, ready to take Malka off my hands if I brought her to them, but there was plenty of time for that. They wouldn’t expect me to hand her over anytime soon when they’d allowed me forty-eight hours with the young witch.
No vampire would part from elemental blood sooner than they had to.
Of greater interest to me right then: the scent of the virgins still lingered in the air. They were near, or had only departed very recently. Their odor captivated me, and it would distract all the vampires in the area.
If I were among this Turkish group and wanted to persuade a resident vampire to capture and surrender a local naïve witch, I’d keep the prized virgin blood within close range as a constant reminder of the prize.
It was temptation indeed, and one I was unlikely to resist.
Any vampires forced to endure the scent continuously would struggle to maintain rational judgment unless they had a ready supply of superior quality blood to feed upon.
I did.
Beck wasn’t only a virgin, but an elemental and a powerful witch of the fifth order. More powerful elementals were few and far between. Not that I ever told him this. It wouldn’t do to volunteer too much information to other people regardless of my relationship with them. Beck had to discover his power in his own good time as he learned how to use and control it.
Richer blood than his would be a rare find indeed. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t say no to drinking from these humans as well. I could practically taste them via their scent, and that wasn’t enough.
Curiosity had me wondering about the humans’ accessibility and how the Turkish vampires resisted taking the prize for themselves.
My senses gave me the answers as I neared. Either the Supreme High Priestess had lured the Turks to do her dirty work by offering blood of such quality to them, or they were taking it, anyway.
The human virgins had left the street recently and not gone far. I turned my attention to the surrounding buildings. The delicious scent oozed out of a house opposite.
A ground floor sash window stood open, inviting attention from opportunist burglars. They had intentionally left the window open to lure me in. They wanted me to know about the delicacies within. I had no doubt the humans were just on the other side of the curtain.
Ignoring the vampires on the street, I made my way toward the scent of virgin blood exposed to air and drying on naked, human skin.
My head passed through the opening in an instant. The room was in darkness. Like all the vampires already present, I had unhindered vision in the room. Not that I needed my eyes to confirm what my other senses had told me.
Anyone of the vampires could have drained all three people, but the six vampires in the room held back. None of them wanted to pay the penalty for killing valuable assets. From their restraint, I’d wager they didn’t have permission to drink much, if any, of the virgin blood.
However, their vampire senses and natural urges triumphed over any rules to abstain fully. They had the three humans tethered to chairs, paper-sharp gashes cut into their exposed thighs and upper arms. Blood bubbled to the surface of the thighs, mostly dried, contributing to the perfume in the air.
Gravity drew droplets of blood down from the vertical slices in the arms. Vampires sat close by, enthralled. My entering the room through the window didn’t distract them from their focus on the blood. They acted as if I wasn’t there, but they were aware of me.
They drew mere drops of red liquid from the flesh, and the vampires watched as hungrily as humans captivated by TV cooking shows. The vampires kept their eyes on the humans. Out of their minds with longing, the six vampires took turns to lap at the trickling blood that dribbled down the arms. Not a drop spilled from the elbows to the floor.
As a whole, the display was wasteful and decadent. It wasn’t about nourishment but about savoring everything sensual about the very best blood. Given permission, I’d no doubt the vampires would have reverted to instinct, ripped the humans to shreds, and basked in the vital fluid.
I was no different from my fellow vampires.
I assessed how I might get a part of this action and whether I had any chance of taking a person entirely for myself.
The sound of a door opening and closing followed by footsteps in the street outside didn’t warrant my attention. They were common enough sounds. The scent and the aura, however, were distinctive.
For a second or two, I assumed her scent was in my nose because I wore it. It lingered on my skin and clothes. The force of her aura, however, bore down on us like a change in air pressure. It was unmissable. All the vampires in the area would know the young witch was outside again.
As fast as I could move, which was faster than anything I could think of, I was out of the window.
If I stayed here at the end of the road, I’d watch Malka proceed toward me to meet her fate as she walked into the waiting arms of the vampires.
I couldn’t cross that line of salt to prevent her from coming closer.
From this side of the line, I could only help the Turks, and the Supreme High Priestess, by implication.
I had no choice but to race at full speed along Church Street. I went through the cemetery at top speed, sinking through the earth adjacent to my home, and resurfacing in my back garden. I opened my back door and ran through the house. Leaving my front door gaping open, I dashed onto Summer House Road, at the same time, calling out her name at the top of my voice and hoping it was enough.
“Malka!”
I wasn’t too late.
She still stood there at the end of the road, and she’d be over the line if she took just one more step. The vampires hid out of sight so as not to deter her, but they’d be waiting to pounce the instant she crossed the magical line of safety.
“Malka, wait!”
She stopped, but before she could turn, one of the young female vampires came into view. “Excuse me, miss,” she politely addressed the witch. “I’m a little lost. Do you know which direction Islington is from here?” She held her phone, presumably with a map on the screen—an appeal to the helpful nature of the prey.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The great escape from the vampire’s lair
Malka Selby
VARU RAN OUT OF HIS front door, calling my name. I’d just left from there, and I had no idea he was in the house. Half a second later, he was by my side and giving a lady directions to Islington.
I wanted to help, but I’d be no good looking at directions or a map on the screen of a mobile phone. I used paper maps, much to the amazement of most people my age.
Half a second? I didn’t time it; that was just an estimation based on him being a mind-bogglingly fast runner, like, a speed of light blur. As if he didn’t move but materialized instantly in the place he wanted to be. And yet, the lost woman didn’t seem surprised that a man appeared out of nowhere. She must’ve been drunk or on drugs.
“Shall we walk with her? Make sure she’s okay?” I asked Varu. I wasn’t sure how safe this street was for a woman on her own even though I’d just set off by myself. At least I was compos mentis.
“No. She’ll be fine.” He put a firm hand on my shoulder and turned me to face him. “I don’t mind if you want to leave. You’re free to go. But before you do, I have something back at the house that I want to show you.”
Despite the words, I had a strong sense he didn’t want me going anywhere. I barely knew Varu, but I had the impression there was a whole hidden subtext behind everything he said and did.
I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but the impression that he had things to hide made me uneasy.
Of course, I understood why he didn’t reveal his true vampire identity when we first met, but why would he want to keep me in at his place now? In addition, I suspected there was more to the love tangle between him and Beck and Haydn than he’d told me.
We set off back to his home.
My stomach rumbled. I hadn’t eaten anything in a long while. “I was coming back. I just wanted go get some food,” I lied, feeling guilty at leaving without saying goodbye after the way he’d bought new clothes for me and chased after me. “I thought I’d find a late-night takeaway place around here.”
“Maria has prepared food for you.”
“She has?” I had no idea when that happened. I blushed at the thought of Maria cooking while we had group sex in the sub-basement.
We were halfway back to the house when the heavens opened and drenched us in a sudden torrential downpour. I ran the rest of the way, just a hundred yards or so, but far enough for my footfalls to splash in the rapidly forming puddles. Varu kept pace next to me rather than running ahead.
When I neared the end of the street, Maria held open the front door. I walked in and removed my dirty new boots, leaving them next to the front door. I didn’t want to walk wet, muddy footprints through the house. I wasn’t raised that way.
Without removing his footwear, Varu took me into the front room where we’d sat earlier. Someone had tidied the room. Beck’s chair had been returned to the table, the drinking glasses were gone, replaced by a place set with cutlery at the table for one person to dine. Varu invited me to sit there. He sat opposite. From that position, I looked at the old wooden display cabinets that were over-filled with little ornaments. It all looked dated, worn, and kitsch, as distinct from ancient and antique.
