Esmerelda Ch. 03

Esmerelda stared up into the icy blue depths of the vampire's cruel, glittering eyes. She was pinned to the floor, completely unable to move. He looked down at her and grinned in satisfaction as the tears swam in her eyes.

He shifted his weight to pin her legs and then pinned her arms above her head in one of his hands. Slowly he ran his finger over her satiny skin and smiled further as she shivered and tried to move away from his touch unsuccessfully.

He traced the shape of her breast and watched as it bounced slightly when she wiggled away from his fingertip. Then he traced the shape of her nipple, watching her squirm more. Then he pinched it cruelly and laughed when she shrieked in shock and pain.

Growing bored he trailed his finger lower. She was as dry as a bone. Perfect, he would get some nice sound effects. He rammed himself inside her. Her screams echoed off the walls and filled him with power.

Then he watched as her face changed. It softened and developed a sensuous smile. She moved beneath him. Not to escape, but to help him get deeper. Her insides wetted themselves to ease his passage.

She looked up at him from beneath her eyelashes and moaned softly. He'd not heard such a sexy sound for ages.

He leaned down and moved her hair away from her ear, leaned down and, as he buried himself even deeper inside her, he whispered into her ear.

"It won't save you."

He was astonished when she leaned back up and whispered back into his own ear. "And it won't save you either."

Before he could react to the statement with derision a mind blowing orgasm shook him from head to toe, and he felt her suck his life out of him.

He had time only for a single gasp of disbelief before he died. His weight dropped onto her and she struggled to throw him off her. Then the weight of what she'd done sunk in.

She expelled all his energy, and sent out what Adrian had given her as well. Feeling weak, and miserable that Adrian had not answered her call for help, she crawled onto the bed and curled up. She shivered from the cold, and horror at herself.

Then gave a bitter laugh. She was an adult now. Her virginity gone to a stranger, who now lay sprawled on Adrian's floor. How ironic, she had bound herself to one vampire, giving up all chances of freedom; a mere few hours before she could have struck a deal that would have been temporary at best.

Now the said bonded vampire was going to be furious with her. He might even kill her in a fit of rage over her disobedience. Life was just not designed to go right for her.

***

Adrian arrived home to find Esmerelda curled up on the bed, shivering. Her hair was damp, her face streaked with tears. She looked thin as a bone and had a deathly paler to her skin.

She looked at him with anguished eyes, shivered even more, flinched and dropped her gaze.

He stared at her, unable to comprehend how, in such a short space of time she had gone from a deep trust to a shivering ball of fear. He approached her and watched as her face went through a whirl of emotions.

She seemed to be stuck between throwing herself at him and throwing herself as far away as possible. As he slowly settled on the bed the warmth of his arms seemed to hold more allure and she threw herself into them. Sobbing anew and soaking his shirt.

"Pet, what on earth is wrong?" he asked gently.

She looked up at him, made an effort to respond, but merely shivered more violently and buried her face in his chest, seeking to hide from the shape on the floor.

Adrian glanced down at where she was avoiding and cursed loudly. Then regretted the action when she stiffened in his arms, expecting him to hit her.

Softly, he disentangled himself from her and wrapped her in the bed linen before turning back to the body on the floor. It was a vampire. Couldn't have been dead more than an hour yet. A satisfied grin etched permanently on his face. A grin of satisfaction, and an eyebrow raised in astonishment.

As he turned back to Esmerelda he began to understand. She had killed him, and then her human half had rebelled at the idea of taking another's life, leaving her to fight herself, her revulsion, and as he felt it sweeping through him, he knew she was justly afraid of the anger swelling through himself.

""Get overzealous with a playmate, pet?" he asked, in a dangerously calm voice.

He watched with a weird sort of detachment as she vigorously shook her head. Of course she must be lying, how else could the vampire have died looking like that. She had killed him.

"Forget your succubus strength?" he whispered, "Did you conveniently overlook that you no longer decide upon your bedmates? That you belong to me?"

"I..." Esmerelda started, but he cut her off with a furious swipe of his hand.

"You belong to me, body and soul! Mine."

Esmerelda opened her mouth again, but at his furious look she closed it, swallowing hard.

"Who is he?" Adrian demanded. "Tell me what happened."

Esmerelda found that her throat was restricted. She closed her eyes and wished.

An image flickered against the wall, as she projected her memories at it. It grew stronger and Adrian could hear her gasp of shock when the stranger arrived, watched the smile she had been wearing vanish.

That smile on her face had made his heart flip in his chest for a moment, and then he watched her face close off, become guarded and then blank. He heard the stranger threaten her and his fists clenched in anger.

He couldn't stop himself from imagining coming back and finding her dead on the floor. A calling card that indeed could not be ignored.

He watched her wince as the two of them crashed to the floor and saw red when it tore her clothes from her body to expose her to its gaze. Possessiveness swelled to a crescendo inside him, making his head pound.

When the vampire asked her for last words he watched her close her eyes and knew she was wishing. With a jolt of shock he realised that must have been when he heard her calling his name inside his head.

He felt guilty over ignoring it, having assumed that he was just horny and wanting to assuage his lust. He watched her scream out as the vampire first mauled her. Then the tears in her eyes as he tore her open.

Then, quite suddenly, she stopped fighting, and he watched as her face changed. It hardened and he could see the succubus in her take over. The vampire couldn't believe his luck.

"It won't save you." It whispered in her ear.

Adrian watched as she leaned up and whispered back, "And it won't save you either."

It took her mere seconds to drain the vampire dry, and then he watched as she looked horrified, threw the body off her and drained off all the energy she had stolen from him, before curling up on the bed where he had found her.

Slowly, he walked back to the bed, and watched as she flinched. Sighing he turned from the bed and stood facing the wall. He took a breath and said softly, "I understand that it wasn't your fault."

He heard her draw in a shaky breath and whisper, "You do?"

"I understand, but I never want it to happen again. Next time, I want you to just incapacitate them until I arrive. I can't question a dead man."

"There will be a next time?" she faltered, terrified.

"Highly likely, until I find the vampire who is sending these cronies to see me."

She looked so shaken by this news that he had to wonder how safe she had thought he could keep her. Surely she knew that, as a vampire, he would have just as many, if not more, enemies than her father. Judging by her face, this thought had not occurred to her.

He sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at her wrapped up in the linen bedspread, looking so small and defenceless. He gently tucked a curl back behind her ear and watched as she slowly raised her eyes to meet his gaze.

"You're not mad?" she whispered hopefully.

"As long as you understand you are mine, I will not be angry." He said carefully.

He watched as she crawled across the distance between them and placed her head in his lap, gazing up into his eyes, searching for something. She smiled faintly and then said, "Then I am yours to command, my lord."

"You were always mine to command." He said dryly.

She flushed slightly and then said, "Yes, my lord, I belong only to you."

His eyes glittered for a moment before he whispered, "I'm going to claim every inch of you."

Esmerelda felt her insides turn to liquid as his gaze slowly heated and travelled up and down her body.

His hand cupped the back of her head and brought it up for his kiss. A moan escaped her as he gently explored her lips, before tugging on her lower lip with his teeth and exploring the inside of her mouth.

He massaged her breasts through the sheet before she impatiently pushed it down off her, freeing herself for his gaze and touch.

Her hands reached down and cupped him gently, lifting the weight in her hand and softly caressing the tip.

He groaned and moved her hands up and pinned them gently to the pillow. "Keep those there, or this will be over before it starts." He ordered.

She nodded and then moaned as he suckled on her neck. He slowly trailed down her body, literally caressing and kissing every inch of her, until she smelled of his scent as well as hers.

When he latched onto her breast for a moment she cried out and moved her hands down to cup his head to keep him there.

He raised his gaze and growled at her softly, "Do I have to tie your hands pet?" he whispered.

She shivered in response, but he wasn't sure whether it was a mild fear, or anticipation.

He trailed lower and lashed her clit with his tongue, swallowing her juices as if it was the sweetest nectar.

Her whole body was quivering in response to his lightest touch, her nerve endings strung out, waiting, in anticipation, for every little contact with his skin.

"Please," she whimpered, lifting her hips.

"Ah, you even beg sweetly," he whispered.

Any answer she may have given was muffled by her moan of pure joy as he finally filled her, driving her to instant climax and feeding her the energy she needed to survive.

The fluttering of her muscles drove him over the edge and he gave a hoarse shout as he came and filled her with his seed.

Unbelievably sated they collapsed into a tangle of limbs onto the sheets gasping for breath.

'I love you'. The words came into his head as he lay there with her, it was only by sheer force of will that he kept them inside his head and not let them tumble out of his mouth. The words shocked him, almost as if they weren't his own. But of course they could belong to no other. He couldn't fathom why he should feel so strongly about her, not unless she was his Fated Chosen.

Esmerelda felt him stiffen above her and pull away and wanted to cry. She felt so complete when with him, but he only wanted her for food and sex. She had to remember that, and try to repress and forget these foolish notions of love. She was nothing but a convenience to him, and the attack on her should prove that she was merely a source of manipulation.

Feeling alone all of a sudden she reached for him, needing the circle of his arms, but he turned from her with a frown and she dropped her hand, trying to bite back the tears that welled.

She turned and buried her face into the pillow, and felt him abruptly leave the bed. When she glanced up she found herself alone. He had been angry with her, forgiven her, warned her and had sex with her. He had practically banded her as his own, making her smell of him. But not his own woman, just his own slave.

His scent was a tantalising spicy aroma that made her think of hot nights in the Caribbean of love making on a beach under an orange sunset. The thought amused her; here she was, bonded and trapped as a slave, and she was picturing sunsets and hot sex.

He appeared before her again and she jumped, having failed to detect the snapping in the air that signalled the arrival of a vampire.

When she looked up at his face the light in his eyes only served to make her feel more used. It was a light of hunger. Turning her face from him she tilted her head back and moved her hair to give him access to her neck.

He trailed his fingers through her hair before fisting it in his hand to tilt her to exactly the right angle, and then gently sank his fangs into her throat. He quickly released the hormone in his fangs to ease he pain of the penetration.

She moaned as it sped around her body and her hand unconsciously went to is shaft and freed it. Then she began a tantalising caress that was very hard to ignore. He groaned into her neck and as the hormones reached their peak, he pushed into her warm heat and felt her slick walls grip him in welcome.

Once he finished feeding he licked the wound on her neck closed and was pulling out of her when she suddenly leaned up and suckled on his neck. The effect on his body was instantaneous and he came with a shout loud enough to shatter the glass of water she kept by the bed.

They lay panted together in a tangle of limbs until they gradually drifted off to sleep. After that night an uneasy truce seemed to have been struck between the two of them, she was willing to give blood and sex, any time he asked, and he in turn gave her the comfort of his arms to sleep in and the luxury of being well fed.

A month passed by so quietly it took them both by surprise, when two had passed the truce was slowly evolving into a friendship, although of course, Esmerelda always caved in the arguments as he still held the higher rank.

She had been with him for about four months when she first noticed the slight curve her stomach was gaining. Thinking initially she was probably just eating too much, she cut back on food, but the slight curve only grew slightly.

She was fixing herself dinner one evening while he was out with friends when the first wave of nausea hit her stomach. She ran for the bathroom and only just made it before being violently sick into the basin.

In between bouts of retching she tried to work out when her last monthly cycle had been but days had long since begun to fade into one another. When leaving the bathroom brought the aroma of food and another wave of sickness, she was forced to admit to herself the possibility that she may be pregnant.

When Adrian returned she asked for, and was granted permission to go out to shop for food. She picked up some ice cream and a few other things she had sudden cravings for, before grabbing hold of two self-test pregnancy kits, just to be sure. She paid for it all and then went to the ladies room and took the test, praying it would come up negative.

Her luck was out. The stick turned a definite solid blue colour, as did the second test. Now what should she do? Adrian was the only possible father of the baby, and she had no idea how he would react. Her hand came to rest protectively on her stomach, in an age old habit of mothers.

But she had delayed long enough, and the bond tugged at her, urging her to go back quickly.

She was quiet all evening, not even protesting when he playfully swatted her ass with the dish towel. Sleep was slow in coming and when she did sleep it was uneasy and disturbed. Every time she closed her eyes she pictured him reacting in different scenarios.

**

Adrian was annoyed, he couldn't sleep. He knew something was wrong with Esmerelda and he was miffed that she wouldn't tell him what it was. When she began tossing around in her sleep he tried to wake her but her hand shot out and punched him in the nose.

Clutching his nose and growling he shook her until she woke. As soon as she did wake she shot out of bed like a bullet and ran for the bathroom. He heard her being violently ill and was disturbed to find himself concerned.

He knew he had to face up to what was happening between the two of them.

"We need to talk." He said when she finally emerged.

She nodded solemnly, "Yes, I have something to tell you."

"Alright, you first." He said.

"I... erm, I..." she seemed to be unsure of how to phrase whatever she was trying to tell him.

Unable to stand the tension he grabbed her and pulled her close, so he could inhale her sweet scent.

He heard her swallow before she finally whispered. "I'm pregnant." She looked up at him. "Congratulations. You're going to be a father."

His arms gripped her so tightly she thought he might crack her ribs, but before he could even utter a single syllable they were interrupted.

"Well, well, this was a good time to break in." an amused voice smirked from across the room.