Hunger

Never underestimate a hungry vampire

It'd been three nights...three long nights with no blood. To label what she felt as mere hunger could not perfectly illustrate the raw ache in her gut, the dry agony of her throat or the numbness of her fangs. She needed a vein, and she needed one now. Prowling the usual haunts had yielded nothing. It was as if a bulletin had been sent out, warning prospective victims away, but surely nothing of the sort had happened. This dry spell would end, and God willing, it would end sooner rather than later.
Around the very next corner, she saw him.
Her heels scraped against the wet pavement as she suddenly froze in her tracks to stare. He stood with his profile to her, head down, one hand shoved in his front pocket while the other held his hair back from his face. Even running low on blood, she could summon the power necessary to detect his deepest thoughts.
Someone had hurt him, and very recently. And by hurt, she did not mean physical pain. This pain ran deeper, and it weakened him, leaving him the perfect victim to give her what she craved.
Letting her heels ring out on the pavement, she approached. He looked up, his face partially illuminated by the glaring EXIT sign hanging above a nearby door. She knew that door led to a ritzy nightclub, a favorite hang-out for bored, wealthy socialites. Had he just come from there? There was nothing ostentatious about his jeans or nondescript button-down shirt to suggest he had, but why else linger outside the exit door? She'd bet her last dollar, whoever had wounded him was still inside.
He released his hair, and tucked some strands behind his ear, while studying her with a steady gaze.
"Can I help you?" His tone made it clear that she was intruding where she was not welcome.
"Yes," she purred, letting all the hunger she felt seep into that one word. "You most certainly can help me." Stopping before him, she drank in the loveliness of his features. Her intent was to get some good blood in her veins, and taking it from this beauty would certainly make the experience all the more enjoyable. Once she took the edge off her hunger, maybe she'd take a few sips from his glorious mouth.
"Look," he began, pulling her gaze from his mouth up to his eyes. "If you don't mind, I'd like to be alone."
She knew those words were a lie. The last thing he wanted was to be alone. In fact, he very much wanted to be with the bitch responsible for stomping on his hopes and dreams. What the hell kind of woman could possess such a man, and then toss him aside for another?
And people believed vampires were monsters. Ha!
"What is her name?" It was rude to ask, but he'd never surrender to her while another woman preyed on his thoughts.
"Excuse me?" Clearly agitated, he jammed his hand back into his hair and turned his face toward the door. "Look, I don't know who you are or what you want, but go find it from someone else."
"But you are exactly who I want it from." She moved closer, stepping between him and the door. His gaze dropped to her face and she gasped at the extraordinary wealth of emotion in his eyes. Suddenly, it seemed as though the tables had been turned and she was no longer the predator.
It was his turn to move closer, backing her up until the door and his body trapped her.
"Are you after a good time? Is that it?" He leaned closer and braced both hands against the steel door. "You know, maybe a good, quick, meaningless fuck is exactly what I need."
Heat shot through her body in response to the crude, angry words. He'd been hurt, used and disposed of, and now the need to do the same drove him just as her hunger drove her. If not for what she was, she'd be a little bit afraid. Hell, she'd be a lot afraid.
A little laugh worked its way up her throat. "You know, you don't strike me as the abusive type, but you certainly have my permission to do your worst."
He squeezed his eyes shut and cursed under his breath before lowering his arms and stepping back. "What the fuck?" Shaking his head, he stared at her for a moment and then turned his back. "Just get out of here, okay?"
But she couldn't.
She caught him as he started to stalk away. Wrapping her arms around him from behind, she rested her cheek against his back and absorbed the rigid energy of his body. As gently as possible, she eased into his mind. His pain was like a impenetrable wall, but somehow she got around it to touch the part of him that other woman had no idea even existed.
"What are you doing?" The edge was gone from his tone.
"Shhh. Let me just hold you for a moment." But the moment could not go on forever, not when the smell of him taunted and the heat of his skin radiated through the thin cotton of his shirt. The hunger, which had propelled her into the night, returned in all its insatiable glory. The desire to ease his suffering might be strong, but her bloodlust was much more powerful.
First things first, and then perhaps...
"Look at me, my darling." She released him so he could do so, and he obeyed. Holding his gaze, she silently told him exactly what she needed, wanted, and above all else, craved.
His eyes widened, but after a brief moment, he undid the buttons of his shirt and slipped the garment off his arms. The body he revealed matched the beauty of his face, and she nearly turned away at the thought of marring him with her fangs.
"How could she not treasure you?" The words weren't meant to be spoken out loud, and she did not possess the power to take them back, once they had been.
He chuckled, but the sound held only pain. "You'll have to ask her that, once she's done sucking face with her new boyfriend, that is."
She shifted her attention from his chest to his face, and settled on the sensual line of his lips. "I cannot imagine he'll leave her satisfied." The urge to touch him lifted her arm and placed the tips of her fingers against his lips. "No, I cannot imagine at all."
"Yeah thanks, but obviously I'm not good enough for her." He spoke against her fingers then captured her wrist to move her hand down to his heart. "I gave her this, you know?"
Oh God...she did not want to hear this.
"Not sure, after the number she did on it, what I possibly have to offer you."
The pain in his voice scared her gaze away from his eyes, and she focused on his neck instead. "You have everything I need, and then some, I assure you."
"Yeah, right." His doubt was like a knife in her gut, and anger suddenly danced hand in hand with hunger.
Finally she looked into his eyes again. "Dammit, I'll prove it to you." She curled her hands over his bare shoulders while he watched her face. Pulling him closer, she once more dropped her attention to his mouth.
"A little physical pain might ease the emotional pain you're feeling, or I can give you only pleasure." She looked in his eyes. "It is your choice to make."
He studied her for a moment, his eyes narrowing. "What are you?"
To any other man, on any other night, she might have answered "your ultimate fantasy" or even "your worst nightmare."
But to this man, she merely leaned into the warmth of his body, wrapped her arms around his neck, lowered her face to the sweet promise of his throat and whispered, "Let me be your salvation."

L. Rosario ~ 7/13/07