When Dusk Comes, page 19
“Fuck!” Erin screeched as her eyes snapped open and she scrambled to get free of the sheets tangled around her extremities. “Lucía!” Erin yelled as she willed her body out of the bed. Everything was moving in slow motion like she were trying to sprint along the deep sea floor. It was hard to focus on anything, but she could see the long, angry red marks forming on Lucía’s exposed forearm.
She’ll burst into flames! Erin panicked while her brain struggled to give her body the right commands. “Wake up!” Erin shook Lucía’s body before leaping out of the bed and pulling closed the heavy drapes mounted on either side of three huge windows.
“Lucía, please!” Erin screamed as she tried to rile the other woman awake. Fear split her like a lightning bolt hitting a tree. Am I too late? Erin thought in abject horror when Lucía didn’t respond to her frenzied calls.
She remembered the button the older woman gave her the night before and dashed to her bag to find the jeans she’d arrived in.
“Erin?” Lucía jolted up in bed. Her keen eyesight spotted Erin squatting in the corner pulling clothing out of her bag like a deranged chimpanzee in the pitch-black room.
“Jesus,” Erin said, clutching her chest. She vaulted over the footboard and clamored up the huge king-sized bed. “Are you okay? The sun! And you wouldn’t wake up! And you were going to explode from the exposure!”
Erin’s words trembled on her lips. Her heart beat so fast she could hardly breathe.
“I’m fine,” Lucía promised, her head woozy and her skin awash in painful burns that were healing too slowly. “I will not immolate before your eyes.”
“Oh God,” Erin gasped with both hands over her mouth, her eyes wide with terror. “Are you going to glitter?”
“What?” Lucía pushed the covers back and away from her body so she could sit up with her legs folded beneath her. “Why would I glitter?” She narrowed her eyes. “I have a kind of porphyria. It’s an allergy to the sun, so to speak,” Lucía explained as the last vestiges of pain eased from her body.
“Can you die from it? Do you have an EpiPen or something?” she asked, ready to run out for whatever Lucía needed.
“No,” Lucía said with a small laugh. “It’s already passed.” She leaned over to turn on the lamp on the nightstand. “See?” She held out her unblemished arm for Erin to inspect in the new light. “The exposure would have to be prolonged for quite a while to outlast cell regeneration”
Erin ran her fingertips over the area where the burns had been. Not a sign of them remained. “Does it hurt?” she asked, her brow furrowed with clear concern.
“Yes,” Lucía admitted. “This is why I try to avoid the sun altogether.
Though it is possible for me to venture out if I cover myself completely with the appropriate materials. It’s hardly worth the trouble.”
“But what happens if you stay out?”
“My skin will burn. It will form blisters and become very painful,” she replied. “But as soon as I can find shade, I will heal.” Lucía’s lips formed a tight smile, but her eyes revealed her fear. “Feeding also accelerates the healing process,” she added for the sake of full disclosure.
Erin recalled the way Lucía looked dripping with blood and spitting out the throat of the man she’d killed. She shifted uncomfortably on the bed. “Is it always so…” she swallowed hard, “violent? The feeding, I mean. Is it like what you did to those men?” Her gaze dropped to her own lap. The adrenaline that had dissipated once she knew Lucía was safe was back with a vengeance.
“No.” Lucía took Erin’s hand in hers. “It’s nothing like that. What you saw was a fight, not a feeding.”
A flood of relief swept over Erin. “All right, so what is it like then?”
“Well, for one, feeding will never end in any injury to the human unless something goes wrong, which is rare.”
“Wrong like what?” Erin asked.
“If the person is a hemophiliac, for instance, or has some other physical ailment that would impede the body’s natural ability to heal, then things could become dangerous,” she explained. “An experienced individual would avoid persons with these maladies.”
Erin braced herself for the rest of the story. “So assuming the person is healthy, then what’s it like?”
Lucía’s eyebrow rose suggestively before responding. “Do you remember our last evening in Paris?” she asked, not expecting an answer.
“How it felt to have the music run through you and connect to the very fiber of your being?” Her voice dropped an octave and became husky as she spoke. Erin nodded, the heat in her body rising. “And when the music was inside you, and you felt my mouth against your skin and your body ached for me. When you yearn for more than just the touch of my lips? Do you remember that?” Lucía asked, leaning forward, sex dripping out of every pore.
Erin nodded again. Her eyes slipped closed, and she remembered the open-air amphitheater, the string quartet playing furiously, and Lucía whispering in her ear explaining the piece and igniting Erin’s body with painful desire. She found herself on her back with Lucía crawling over her body, her lips coming to rest against Erin’s neck.
“That’s what it’s like,” Lucía purred. “It’s being driven to the edge over and over until you beg for release. And when it comes…” Lucía stopped to flick her tongue over her parted lips. “It’s pleasure like no other. Pure white
heat coursing through your veins.” She took Erin’s bottom lip between her teeth and pulled hard, eliciting a moan and causing Erin’s hips to writhe.
“Does it hurt?” she groaned. Her hands found the soft flesh of Lucía’s back underneath her silky nightgown.
Lucía parted Erin’s thighs and took her place between them. “Only if you want it to.”
Her eyes rolled to the back of her skull when Lucía pressed against her.
Her brain tried to formulate thought, but all she could produce was visceral lust. “Do you want to bite me?” She moaned as Lucía’s tongue passed over her carotid artery. It pulsated harder with each passing second.
“Yes,” Lucía admitted, her eyes darkening as her pupils enlarged.
“Okay. On one condition.” Erin broke through the wanton haze by pulling Lucía’s hair. Lucía waited for the terms she would certainly agree to. “I don’t want you to drink, or whatever, from anyone but me,” she said with a narrowed gaze, unsure what that meant in practical terms but needing the exclusivity.
Amber disappeared into black when Lucía’s eyes completed their change. Her mouth curved into a dangerous grin, and Erin could see the sharp points at the end of her teeth. Lucía lunged forward, and she braced herself for the pain. But instead of a bite, there was the warmth of Lucía’s tongue and the passionate kiss of her lips. Erin untangled her fingers from her hair but was stopped before she could remove her hand. Lucía placed her fingers over hers and curled them once more. Erin made a tighter fist in Lucía’s hair and pulled her in hard against her neck.
Lucía left a dark mark behind Erin’s ear as she continued down her chest. The cotton material of Erin’s camisole fell away easily when Lucía ripped it from her body. She gasped at her sudden nudity. The power Lucía
possessed was nothing short of exhilarating. Erin stared at her with ever heightening desire.
Blunt fingernails ran over Erin’s flesh, goosebumps formed everywhere they passed. She couldn’t stop the guttural sound that exploded from her chest. She sucked in her breath as Lucía descends past her collarbone, fangs bared and terrifying. She only exhaled when Lucía’s tongue made contact with her skin instead of her teeth. The anticipation grew low in Erin’s abdomen as she awaited the bite that had yet to come. Lucía continued her languid assault, as if unaware of her desperation. Her fingers fluttered over Erin’s belly button.
She groaned when Lucía’s hand wedged between their bodies and pressed against her. “Please,” she begged. Lucía’s mouth relented, but not without leaving the most exquisitely painful soreness.
“So eager,” Lucía said, her dark eyes and husky tone giving away her excitement at Erin’s impatience. Erin couldn’t find it in her to respond. She didn’t want to need this as badly as she did. She didn’t even protest when Lucía ripped off her underwear and tossed them across the room.
Lucía moistened her lips before diving into Erin’s mouth once more.
Erin hungrily devoured her kiss, slipping her tongue beyond Lucía’s parted lips. Lucía moaned when Erin ran her tongue over the sharp points of her fangs.
“Please,” she begged again, noticing that her lips and tongue were a little numb. Erin’s fist in Lucía’s hair tightened and pulled to get her attention. “No more teasing,” she growled. She couldn’t stand Lucía’s tepid pace a moment longer.
Lucía’s answer was a wry grin. She left a soulful kiss on her lips before starting her decent down Erin’s tense, trembling body. Lucía capitulated and
eased her pain. Almost immediately, Erin’s body shuddered, forcing Lucía to pull back to prolong the experience. Erin cried at the loss. This is going to kill me.
“Don’t move,” Lucía warned as her tongue ran the length of Erin’s inner thigh.
Erin nodded hastily, her eyes shut as tightly as possible. Lucía’s oral ministrations slowed when she found what she was looking for: Erin’s pulse through the long vein where her inner thigh began. The beat grew stronger against Lucía’s tongue, luring her in with its melodic rhythm, like a tribal drum chanting her name.
“Shit!” Erin screamed when Lucía’s razor-sharp fangs plunged deep into her flesh, but she was careful not to jerk away. The pain turned to a throbbing heat as Lucía took long draws from her. An inhuman scream ripped from Erin’s chest as her body contorted, unable to keep still a moment longer. Her senses were flooded with pleasure and excitement until she was sure she might really be dead.
“Kiss me,” Lucía demanded of a semi-unconscious Erin. Through hooded green eyes, she looked into Lucía’s soft brown ones and offered her lips up like a prize. Lucía’s mouth was hot and had a metallic taste that was not entirely unpleasant. The kiss reduced Erin to a sleeping puddle in her arms.
* * *
Lucía couldn’t help but laugh at the light snores filling the room. She considered sneaking away to get some work done. She was sure Erin
wouldn’t wake any time soon, but her promise held her back. Instead, she removed her silk nightgown, her body far too hot for clothing. Most of her body was, anyway; the patch over her ribs maintained its icy temperature no matter what she did.
The morning blended into the afternoon as Lucía cradled Erin in her arms and wondered how she could ever deserve such a blessing. How she could ever be so content to just be in Erin’s presence. She thought of the dream she had last night, of the sleep she hadn’t experienced in quite some time. She let the joyous memories play in her mind until Erin rejoined the land of the living.
* * *
“Here.” Lucía strode into the bathroom bearing a small glass jar.
“What’s that?” Erin asked, looking up from the task of shaving her legs.
“For your wounds,” she responded softly, her eyes on the floor as she talked. “It will help you heal faster and is an antiseptic as well, I believe.
Apply it twice a day and allow it to dry before dressing.” Lucía set what looked like a regular jar of face cream on the bathroom counter.
“Oh babe, I bet you say that to all the girls,” Erin said exaggeratedly as if her high school sweetheart had just waltzed in with a heart-shaped box of chocolates. She never envisioned a world where her lady was giving her care instructions for injuries inflicted from drinking her blood.
“I’m serious, Erin,” she replied sternly.
“Fine.” She rolled her eyes before completing the task and rinsing the excess shaving cream off her legs. She took the thick white towel Lucía
offered and wrapped it around her body before stepping out of the tub. “Oh good Lord!” Erin’s face twisted with disgust as a putrid smell exploded from the container when she opened it.
“It’s not that bad.” Lucía stifled a smirk.
“You knew it would stink like that, didn’t you?” Erin shot her an accusatory glare. “Hell no, I’m not using this!” She closed the sulfuric nightmare in a bottle and shoved it back at her.
“I know,” Lucía stepped toward her with the offending substance cradled in her hands. “Let me help you,” she insisted. “Open.” Lucía dropped to her knees before urging Erin to place her foot on the edge of the tub so she could access the two puncture wounds on her inner thigh.
“Okay.” Her words were barely a whisper as her eyes slipped closed and her fingers instinctively found themselves tangled in Lucía’s soft silky hair.
The caustic odor blended into the surrounding air, easing the stench.
The dark green paste stuck to Lucía’s fingers as she pulled a small amount from the jar. “Ready?” Lucía asked before applying the homemade concoction. Erin nodded slowly without looking down. The cool salve hit her skin, numbing the soreness she’d already grown accustomed to.
“That’s not so bad, is it?” Lucía asked, ensuring the salve was packed into the small wounds tightly.
“Not too bad.” Erin grinned, her head light and eyes shining. “How about you come lay in bed with me while it dries?”
Lucía bent forward to take her hand and kiss her knuckles. “Happy to oblige.”
* * *
“Please Charlie. You should be here recovering.” Addy implored her granddaughter to see reason.
“I’ll be fine, I promise.” Charlie’s wavering tone made her sound much weaker than she was. She knew her grandmother wasn’t going to be easy to convince.
“You nearly died Charlie. Is that fact lost on you?” Adelaide fidgeted with her apron.
“I know, but I swear that I’ll be recovered in less than a week. There’s no sense making the trip there and all the way back to New York,” she added, hoping her grams would see it her way.
“Back to New York?” Adelaide shouted before she remembered herself and brought her voice down. “What business do you have in New York?”
“Grams, someone tried to kidnap me. You don’t think we should find out who and for what purpose?” Charlie seethed. “We’re all in danger until we figure this out.”
“But the Queen has not—”
“Given the order?” Charlie interjected. She was waiting for her grandmother to bring up the chain of command. “I know, but she’s not going to. Not soon enough. I don’t know if she’s too distracted or overconfident or what, but we can’t just wait around for her to do something. Plus, I’m not breaking any rules. I’m just going to find out who’s at the bottom of this. Once I know, I’ll bring the information to her, okay? I promise I won’t get into any trouble I can’t get myself out of,”
Charlie said, hoping she’d persuaded her risk averse grandmother.
Adelaide sighed after a long pause. “Fine, but you listen here, Charlotte Anne. If you so much as jaywalk, I’m coming to get you and you will not
leave my side ever again. Do you understand? If you fail to check in every day, I’ll alert the Queen at once of your activities. Do I make myself clear?”
Addy’s tone made her sincerity unquestionable.
“I promise to be safe,” Charlie vowed. She knew her grandmother wasn’t one to make empty threats.
“Then you have my blessing. Please call for help at the first sign of danger. And use your head, not just your gut,” she added.
“I will,” she promised before the line went dead.
Chapter Sixteen
Lucía’s hand was cool against Erin’s hot skin. The thin layer of sweat on her chest vanished into the Egyptian cotton sheets after Lucía pushed her face down on the bed. The strong muscles of Erin’s thighs twitched and trembled in relief. Supporting the weight of two was a challenge even for her athletic build. Maybe if it were someone other than Lucía she was banging against a wall, she would give in, but her sex ego was too strong to show weakness in her presence.
“Tired?” Lucía asked as she ran her hand casually over the back of Erin’s thigh.
“Are you?” She glanced over her shoulder wearing a devilish grin. It was a challenge she knew Lucía would accept. Without missing a beat, Lucía climbed atop her and straddled her naked backside.
“Me?” Lucía’s grin was murderous. “Why, I’m just getting started dearest,” she said, her smudged red smile curling at one end.
Erin groaned, burying her face in the mattress. Lucía started grinding slowly and purposefully against Erin’s body, leaving the area above her coccyx slick with her arousal.
Each unhurried swing of Lucía’s hips made Erin’s heart stop beating for a moment and then forced it to pound double time to catch up. Her breath quickened as she struggled to decide whether to moan or scream or maybe
cry. The mattress filled Erin’s mouth as she bit down on the edge to keep herself hinged. Lucía’s manicured nails dug into the soft flesh of Erin’s lower back to allow her core to produce even more pressure at the end of Erin’s spine.
The heat rocketed through Lucía’s body. She let the hunger rise, too, despite already having fed yesterday. She knew it was too much, yet her fangs sharpened to deadly points nonetheless.
Lucía’s dark hair spilled over her shoulder blades as she threw her head back and closed her eyes. She loved the way the energy built in Erin’s body.
It was almost as exciting as its release.
“Turn over,” Lucía demanded in the low-pitched voice that let Erin know she had changed. The realization sent a pulse of desire coursing through her body, even if the two wounds on her thigh were still healing.
“I thought you only needed to feed once a month?” Erin asked halfheartedly, her body and mind consumed by the moment.
Instead of straddling Erin’s hips, Lucía lifted her leg, roughly bringing her calf to rest on her shoulder. The oxygen was ripped from Erin’s lungs when the heat of Lucía’s center pressed into her own. Lucía leaned back, her strong abdominal muscles contracting with each quick thrust of her hips.
