Love Bites Ch. 01

Biting her lip, she finally went inside.

"Uh, hi. I'm here to meet someone. Reservation under 'Madera'?"

"Yes, your party is already seated. Right this way!" The host led Bethany to a nice booth situated near a gorgeous mural painted over brick, featuring what appeared to be an Old West saloon girl performing a high kick with her ruffled skirt held up. The pin-up vixen only had a moment to study the painting before his voice caught her ear.

"Bethany! Darling, you look magnificent." Like a true noble, Raul stood to greet his date, and waited until she was seated to resume his place. The wine stood waiting, and a menu was laid before her.

"Thanks!" The young woman blushed, feeling her heart skip a beat, and she actually looked him over. His dark, gleaming hair was loose around his shoulders, and he'd changed from leather to charcoal slacks and a blood-red silk button-down shirt. Relaxed but elegant. This deepened her blush. "You look incredible too."

"Thank you, my beauty. Why don't we order, and then we can get down to enjoying our evening?" Bethany agreed, and the two of them took some time to peruse. The entrées and sides were all a la carte, and after weighing her options, she chose a marinated porterhouse, and Raul a top sirloin. Rare. Bethany opted for medium-rare. He encouraged her to order whatever sides she wanted, and she kept it simple with garlic mash and asparagus. The curvy woman also ordered an iced tea.

When the server departed, Raul lifted his glass.

"To new bonds," he stated softly, and Bethany took up her wine to meet his. There was just enough ruby liquid for a sip or two in the round bowl of the glass, as though Raul were acknowledging she may not be much of a wine drinker.

She tasted it as he did. The wine clung to her palate and carried notes of sourness, sweetness, and spice. She swallowed delicately and shuddered at the strength of the flavor. Her date's mouth turned up wryly.

"Not much of a red wine drinker?" He asked as an icebreaker.

"Only in sangria," she chuckled, shaking her head. Bethany still finished what he'd poured for her out of politeness, and ordered a cocktail afterward.

Conversation continued well, with the two of them laughing together, learning a lot about each other. Standard "getting-to-know-you" info, including jobs, hobbies, pet peeves, and funny anecdotes. They were comfortable with each other and quite enjoying their meal (though it seemed that Raul barely touched his potatoes or asparagus!) by the time Bethany brought up their meeting in the club.

"So, what brought you to Hexed?" And what was all that vampire stuff about? Her date set down his drink, and swallowed anything left in his mouth. When he looked up at her, his gaze was serious, and she felt a certain kind of tension between them. Not bad tension per se, but something big.

"I was there to see if I could take home some delicious young thing," he told her with no qualms. "As it was, I met a rather luscious morsel... but she slipped right through my fingers." The heady power in his words and desire wrapped lazily around her, and he saw the rise of color in her cheeks again. "Still, I knew no one else could satisfy my craving, and so here we sit."

Unsure how to respond, Bethany sat there, staring, face burning so hot it was a wonder she didn't explode into flame. Despite the small amount of alcohol she'd actually drunk, she felt fuzzy and inebriated. He affected her like no other. Eventually she managed to reply:

"You know, that sounds like such a line." The goth beauty gave an awkward chuckle to ease her nervousness. "I'd probably have rolled my eyes if you'd been one of the guys I normally meet. Still, you said that with absolutely no guile, no performative attempt to convince me you're some romantic maestro, and not just trying to get into my panties."

"Even though I fully desired to bed you last night, and still do this very minute?" He countered boldly, pumping himself up for the bigger reveal.

"Yeah, even so. Because I have this wild feeling that for you, sex would just be an uninhibited expression of something more between us." She caught his eye as she said that, and the heat in his gaze was scorching. "That kiss, last night... And all that stuff you said..."

"I know I asked you some unusual questions and didn't explain myself," he stated, nodding to the elephant as he continued on. "But I'm afraid- well- that you'll think I'm a little 'crazy'."

Okay, that was concerning. Bethany took a hasty pull on her drink.

"I promise to keep an open mind," she managed. "And just remember, I'm already a goth in a world of normal, sun-loving people who never use the word 'macabre' in everyday conversation." At that moment, Bethany was expecting to hear almost anything. Lots of guys in the scene claimed to be warlocks, or to have been a serial killer in a past life, or even abducted by extraterrestrials. You didn't make it in nocturnal subcultures without being 'weird'.

"What if I told you..." he began, tracing the rim of the wineglass with his finger, "not only do vampires exist, but that you're on a date with one who wants to sink his fangs into your throat and drink your blood?" There was a beat of silence.

Ah, so, he thinks he's a vampire. LARP gone too far huh? "Trust me, you wouldn't be the first man I've met who believed he was a nocturnal bloodsucker," she deadpanned. "I'm pretty kinky, so that's not a dealbreaker."

"No, Bethany," he replied evenly. "It's not a game, not a delusion." He smiled, and she did see a gleam and sharpened tips in it. "If you'll permit me, I can prove it,"

A startled shock of breath through the lips, and he knew he had her.

"P-prove it?" She asked falteringly. "How?"

Reaching to his protruding upper-left fang, Raul touched the pad of his thumb to the point and stuck himself. A bead of blood formed as he drew back, and he tipped just one drop over the rim of her empty wineglass. The wound healed nearly instantly and he poured another mouthful of wine into the vessel. Then he set the bottle down and watched her.

"The choice is yours, Bethany," he told her gravely. "Vampire blood in larger, repeated doses can be addictive and will begin to alter your physiology. This drop won't do much more than establish a brief mental link between us, but it will be enough to prove myself to you."

What. The. Hell. He'd really pricked himself with his own... tooth, and dropped the blood in the glass. He literally intended for her to drink his blood, and there was no way that was safe in this world. She really ought to just stand up, throw some money on the table, and just go.

The only thing that stayed her was the thought of Mary Shelley carrying her dead husband's heart wrapped in silk, and losing her virginity on her mother's grave. Strange things had been done in the name of love before.

"This is the worst idea ever," she said aloud, reaching for the wine. "I just saw you bleed in my glass; why the hell am I doing this?" She raised the aromatic vintage to her nose and mouth, taking in the bouquet, detecting no trace of the unsavory addition.

"As you call to me, so do I call to you," he replied enigmatically. "I could push myself into your thoughts easily, but I don't want to do that. I want you to choose me, Bethany, please. Trust me."

Appalled at herself, but too damn curious to not know, not try, she tilted the glass, and the liquid rolled down her throat. Gasping, she swallowed.

Raul smiled brightly, and purred inside her mind, so graciously allowed within.

And now let me offer you just a taste of what I will give you...

She heard the voice, and it made her gasp. He was actually there, chuckling as his being filled every crack of her soul. Suddenly she knew that vampires were not undead or truly constrained by existing mythoses; they were demons, very much alive, and practitioners of blood-magic carried by inherent psychic ability. That was about all she gathered mentally before a tingling mounted in her breasts, belly and cunt, serving as her only warning.

The most intense, toe-curling, brain-frying orgasm she'd ever had pounded through her body like lightning, and it was all Bethany could do to keep from screaming out loud in the restaurant.

Her head fell back, mouth parting on a choked breath. Raul watched every second of her physical reaction (and fight to keep it quiet) while he rode along in her mind. He knew every single wave of pleasure that wracked her body. He felt every spasm of her quivering pussy as though her body was his, and he sighed in delight.

When it finally rolled to a stop, Bethany panted, her eyelids cracking open to see her date fully grinning- his teeth showing two sets of fangs, longer on top, shorter on the bottom.

Oh shit. It was real. And the aftershocks of pleasure in her core couldn't be denied.

"You- you're..." How to even discuss this?

"I can bend your body and mind with a thought, yes. The power in that drop of my blood will fade quickly, but it was enough to show you I'm serious, I hope." Now dying for more bodily, but still understandably apprehensive, Bethany shifted in her seat.

"So, do you like, want to eat me?" She asked. Catching the unintended innuendo, she quickly blurted out "Where do we go from here?"

"For the record, yes, I do want to eat you," he chuckled, "and I do want to taste your blood. I'll only take as much as you let me, Bethany, and there's plenty more to talk about moving forward." Like whether or not she'd join him in eternity. He'd been around for more than a hundred years at that point, and never before had met someone he'd considered making his fledgling for the long centuries ahead. "As to where we go from here... I was thinking my flat?"

After dessert, Raul drove. Apparently alcohol couldn't really intoxicate a vampire unless they allowed it. Despite the whirlwind of questions and disbelief flooding her brain, Bethany knew she couldn't parse the whole thing out until a burning need had been satisfied in her soul.

So, once they entered the door of his apartment, she quickly found herself grabbing his shirt and finding his mouth with her own. Nothing held back. Bethany slid her tongue against his and locked her arms around his neck. He responded by threading his fingers through her hair and returning the kiss with heat. Hands went everywhere, both of them exploring through touch the plains, hills, and valleys of the other's territory.

Raul worked from her tresses to the back of her neck and shoulders; following down over her ample breasts to settle on her hips as he tasted deeper, nibbling her lips, swallowing her moans. In tandem, Bethany ran down the firm flesh of his chest and belly, settling her arms around his waist and pressing her thighs to his groin. She dripped for him, dying to be filled. Satisfaction now, explanations later. She decided (as she hooked one leg around him) that there was no way to embrace what he was without experiencing it in full.

"I have so many questions," she panted in his ear, breaking their kiss, "but before we hash this all out, just show me. Show me what it'll be like..." She quivered as he lightly bit her throat- not taking blood yet- and clutched his body. "Bite me. Fuck, I've been secretly wondering for years what it would be like. Before I freak out, just do it."

"Alright," he hissed, tearing open his shirt. "Bethany," he rasped. Moving quicker than a human could, he stripped her dress and shredded her panties, then unclasped her bra with a thought. His pants just evaporated after that, and suddenly power covered her body, like dozens of hands, caressing and probing her everywhere. Raul pressed his desire into his will, and made his most fervent wish at that moment to be rocking this woman's world. "I'm going to drink from you, but I'm going to do it right." She was so wet, her rich scent greeting him deliciously as he lifted her body and parted her thighs around his hips. Invisible fingers worked her clit and tweaked her nipples as he pressed his erection to her core.

Bethany moaned in bliss, another climax brewing low in her body. She burned and ached, needing him to breach.

"Do it, Raul!" She begged, rolling her hips against his. He was so strong, lifting her up and notching them together exactly where she needed him...

He surged, his cock finding her slick entrance with ease. Overcome, the woman surrendered to her need and urged him inside. As he pressed deep into her channel, his mouth moved to her throat- securing lips and teeth at just the right spot, where her blood cried out to flow for him. Raul allowed his fangs to bloom, and with perfect placement, he pierced.

His cock met the back of her pussy, and his teeth needled into her throat in exact time. Bethany shrieked, her body convulsing helplessly as she was penetrated in many senses of the word. The thick, hot length of him filled her spasming passage eagerly, and he began to thrust with slow, powerful strokes. His teeth had felt painful at first, but once he began to pull on the stream of her life, pleasure exploded through every nerve ending, sending her into an immediate and overwhelming orgasm. Closing her eyes, Bethany felt herself melting and pounding all at once- and a high keen broke her lips. Their minds were joined again, this time showing her his secrets. A young warrior, fighting for his life and pride as a Puerto Rican soldier- living to see his island home become a US territory. The vampire who turned him during the conflict, beginning his new life as an immortal being.

She learned through the blood-gift that he still worked toward the betterment of his people in social spheres as well as legal protections. He'd not 'eaten' in a few days and hadn't desired to feed after Bethany left him behind at Hexed.

All that, plus how taken with her he was.

As Raul surged into her body over and over, claiming her pleasure and finding his own in her molten heat, he took just enough blood to satisfy his thirst and loosened his bite. A swipe of his tongue closed her marks, but with her soul in his mind now, he could show her anything she wanted to see and know.

Bethany held on, screaming out his name as he rode her to the brink of a simultaneous orgasm. Her back was supported by a wall as he plunged into her shuddering depths wildly, not sparing her an ounce of his talent. Everything was roaring, her body mounting again by his fingers on her clit this time; his thrusts getting more erratic as he fucked her. She began to peak just as he couldn't hold back, and they erupted, his seed spurting deep inside her body.

Raul held her tight, kissing her, until they sank to the floor together. He offered a mouthful of blood, enchanted to prevent pregnancy. Panting, they lay in afterglow, understanding each other from the inside out. A while later, she dazedly asked:

"So... want to be my date to a wedding?"