Vampiric (3 page)

“I need you.” The words, although softly spoken, stopped her in her tracks. Their warmth, sincerity and genuine sadness tugging at her heart.

Closing her eyes tight, Jess took a deep, sustaining breath and carried on walking.

“Good night Hathen.”

Midnight found Jess back in a place that, while not as beautiful or elegant as Nightingale Park, at least qualified as somewhere she knew and understood.

Seated at her desk in the Clearview Police Department, Jess’s head bowed low above a pile of papers that required her attention and signature. The latter of which she struggled to give.

Hours after her eventful evening at Nightingale Park, her senses still brimmed and overran with all things Hathen. His gorgeous face, his muscular body, and his deep, sonorous voice. Most of all though, she thought about what seemed to be a golden heart, and a kind, strong demeanor.

“Yeah, it’s a heart that we’re not even sure is beating,” her pesky subconscious screamed in her ear. “The guy is, after all, a card carrying member of the walking undead.”

“
Pffft,” she whispered in response, “he’s a vampire, not a zombie.”

Vaguely alarmed that a grown woman was indeed carrying on this conversation, especially with herself, Jess tried to focus on her ever growing pile of paperwork. Finally, though, she threw down her pen and rested her head in her hands.

I let this happen once before
, she shuddered at the intrusion of old memories.
I can’t allow it to affect my job, or my life
….

“
You don't honestly think you have a chance with him, do you?”

Jess bolted upright in her seat, alert in keen curiosity.

Since when does my conscious have such an annoying, high-pitched voice?
she pondered.
Not to mention such a pretentious accent?

The sound of cold laughter ran down her spine like shards of ice. Looking upward she caught the dark-eyed gaze of Scarlet, the vampire who crouched like a caged cat in the corner of her cell.

“You honestly think that after Hathen has had this,” she gestured down the length of her slender, busty form, “he’s going to want you?”

Jess chuckled, folding her arms on her desk.

“Now come on Scarlet, is that really the smartest thing for a woman in your position to be saying?” She tilted her head. “You seem to be forgetting the whole ‘What you say can and will be held against you’ thing.”

“
It’s true!” Scarlet snapped, baring her fangs as her eyes flashed. “You won’t be able to keep a hold on him, or me either.”

These words brought Jess out of her chair, and she flew to the side of Scarlet’s cell with her own teeth bared.

“You’re the leader of a bloodsucking den, aren’t you?” She seethed, fists bared. “And someone is going to be coming for you.”

Fixing the police officer with an infuriating smile, Scarlet said nothing. She retreated to the corner of her cell, continuing to stare at Jess with evil eyes that seemed to lack expression.

“I know you’re hot and everything,” Jess shook her head, speaking in a low volume more to herself than to Scarlet. “Still, I just don’t get what he saw in you.”

“
It’s a mystery to me too babe.”

Jess gasped as she was swept most literally off her feet, gathered up in two strong arms and kissed senseless.

Hathen held her closer than close as his lips engaged hers in a wild, frantic kiss. A kiss that stole her breath and made her pulse race.

Even so, she pulled away long enough to shoot a triumphant smile in the direction of a scowling Scarlet.

“I dunno,” she shrugged. “I’d say I have a passing chance with him. Doncha think?”

Soon the couple sat at Jess’s desk, feasting on a sumptuous chocolate cake Hathen had brought from Nightingale Park.

“You raced off before we could have dessert.” Hathen mentioned while slipping a moist chocolaty bite between Jess’s smiling lips. “And it was one I made myself.”

“
Really? I’m impressed!” Jess smacked her lips, nodding approvingly. “I had no idea that vampires cooked.”

Hathen chuckled, wiping some fallen crumbs from her desktop.

“We do all sorts of things other people do, Darling.” He winked. “We, after all, were once humans ourselves. We had homes, jobs, and families.”

“
Do you have a past?” Jess questioned with a curious tone. “I mean you personally, Hathen. Who are you?”

Hathen thought a moment, then shook his head.

“I can’t say that I have a past that I care to remember, or for that matter, to share.” He regarded her with a sad smile.

“
Basically, Jess, my life as a child passed in a haze of yells and screams, trouble and strife. It soon became a revolving door of foster homes and strange faces who claimed to care.” He shrugged.

“
Some of them did, I guess, but I was never able to find a place that I called home.” His gaze drew distant, almost dreamy, and his voice softened with his next words. “By the time I was 18 I was back on the streets, attending 'hard knocks university' and living in a youth hostel. It was there I met Alida, the very special lady who gave me the bite of life.”

Jess was shocked.

“You actually believe that the person who did this to you gave you life?” Her forehead wrinkled in keen confusion.

“
Of course!” A proud Hathen straightened in his seat, his full lips set in a firm line. “She introduced me to a family who, to this day, loves and supports me unconditionally. She introduced me to a life of unrivaled pleasure, while also showing me that I could make a difference in my world and community.”

“
And that you do,” Jess said quickly, making sure he knew the extent to which he was valued. “Hathen, I have to say I was amazed by what you and your den have accomplished in and for our city. I had no idea of all the work that you’d done, that you continue to do, for the people of Clearview.” She paused. “The same people who no doubt suspicion and shun you on a regular basis.”

Hathen nodded.

“Ours is not an easy life, sweetheart.” He flashed a sad smile. “Alida got so fed up with the discrimination, in fact, that she left our den a few years ago to start another in Los Angeles. In that city vampires are pretty commonplace.”

“
Shocker,” Jess joked straight faced while devouring the last of her chocolate cake. “So was that when she appointed you the master of the city?”

“
Yep, that’s when I became the King of Clearview.” Hathen pointed a sardonic thumb in his own direction. “Lucky me. Really, though, I do love this city and the people in it. One in particular.” He reached across the desk to kiss Jess’s cheek. “I was so afraid we’d scared you away tonight. I was afraid that, after a beautiful beginning, you’d think me a terrible pervert and abandon me.” His voice cracked beneath the weight of his own emotion. “Abandon the possibilities of us.”

Jess shook her head, reaching forward to tilt her forehead against his.

“Believe me, baby, in my years as a police officer I’ve seen more than my share of perverts. People like rapists and child molesters, who use sex as a weapon and turn it into something ugly and terrible.” She cringed at the thought of those who passed through her jail on a regular basis. “What I saw tonight in the park was far from terrible.” She smiled at the memory. “As a matter of fact, it was one of the most beautiful sights I’ve seen. I guess I just wasn’t quite ready for it.”

She took in her breath as Hathen surged across the desk, searing her lips with a hot, hard kiss.

“Well whenever you’re ready Darling,” he pinned her with a gaze that just dripped seduction. “Come back to the park. I’ll be waiting for you.”

****

Hathen's words echoed in Jess’s mind late that night. She tossed and turned in the warm cotton sheets that lined her basic camp bed.

Never one to deny her mind fantasies, she lost herself in a haze of ecstasy as she dreamed of her golden-haired vampire; a man who stirred her senses and aroused her deepest, most forbidden desires.

Even before surrendering to a restless sleep, Jess’s mind was plagued by visions of Hathen and his vamps running wild in Nightingale Park. Laughing, playing, and making love in a way unknown to the humans of this world.

And the moment she fell into the grip of a light, uneasy slumber, the visions took over; luring her deep into a world of erotic desire without bounds.

She envisioned herself in Hathen’s arms, twisting in passion as he kissed, embraced, and finally joined with her to complete the promise of their undeniable passion.

As an adult woman, this was not the first sensual dream that Jess had ever experienced. It was though definitely the most vivid, as it drenched her mind in a rich and beautiful multisensory experience.

She beheld his golden beauty in all its glory, also feeling his strong but tender touch. She caught wind of his citrus-tinged scent, and heard his deep, sonorous voice resonate in her ear. The dream deliver the same words he’d spoken to her earlier that night:

“
Come back to the park. I’ll be waiting for you.”

“
I’m coming Hathen,” she said aloud, her body blazing with suppressed desire and reaching for a man who wasn’t there.

Suddenly she bolted upright, rising from a layer of sweat that lined her sheets and soaked her modest nightgown.

Her eyes flew wide open, her heart racing and her pussy gushed for want of Hathen.

What has this man done to me?
She pondered, collapsing into the depths of her sheets and shutting her eyes tight.
It's time to surrender these distracting thoughts and get something of a good night’s sleep.

Yet the moment that her mind slipped the bounds of conscious, sensible thought, Jess returned to the faraway dream that seemed all too near and real.

“I’ve never wanted a man more.” The vague thought penetrated the realm of her sweet dreamland. Her mind’s eye Jess pictured she and her lover rolling naked through the grasses of Nightingale Park; their sweaty bodies merging as one as finally he filled her with love and more by the light of a full moon.

“
Come to me Jess.” His voice sounded so true to life, like he was right there beside her in bed.

Yet when her eyes snapped open moments later, she was alone.

Only she didn’t feel so alone. Somehow she could feel his hands on her skin, she could sniff his scent in the depths of her sheets.

She could hear those words in her ears; his echoing summons that tempted her body and claimed her soul.

The bright rays of a Florida sun were no friend to Jess Green, as they awoke her from the brief amount of sleep she could get.

Finally she’d escaped to the darkened void of a pure, dreamless slumber; and although brief, it had served to refresh and rejuvenate her for the day that was to come.

“
I’m just glad I don’t have the day shift today,” she turned over on her side, running some soothing fingers through her mussy bob of short, dark hair.

As if on cue her phone rang, her caller ID lighting up with the name and number of the Clearview Police Department.

“Perrrr-fect.” She rolled her eyes, hitting the ‘talk’ button on her phone. “This is Chief Green.”

“
Get down to the station Jessany.” It was Sgt. Dan Banyon, her right hand man at the department. “The vamp is driving me batty.”

Jess chuckled, rising from her bed with an internal cry of “Urrrrgh!”

“You’re my best officer Dan, and one hell of a guy,” she praised. “It is for that reason, and only that reason, that I’ll excuse that awful pun.”

Dan sighed.

“Sorry Boss, but this prisoner takes the cake with the file in it,” he commented, apparently deciding to continue his string of criminally bad wordplay. “The vampire Scarlet started off her day by trying to seduce her way out of her cell. Good thing for the department that I’m nice and gay. Then she threatened to drain my blood and suck out my soul. What a fun gal.”

“
Dan,” Jess interrupted, her tone serious as she walked the length of her bedroom. “Are you alone with her right now?”

“
Yep.” Dan’s own voice was lined with a tension that stirred Jess’s concern. “She’s currently crouched in the corner of her cell, no doubt planning my imminent demise... Or perhaps calculating the dimensions of her next spiral perm. With this chick it’s hard to tell.”

“
Hang tight Dan.” Jess said in a reassuring voice. “I’ll be right there.”

An hour later, Jess walked into the Clearview Police Department. But after the sight that now met her disbelieving eyes, she was more than ready to walk right back out again.

The vampire Scarlet, it seemed, no longer sat crouched in the corner of her cell. Instead she hovered far above the floor, her supple body suspended in midair as she scowled down at her arresting officers.

“
Oh Scarlet, stop being such a drama queen.” Jess rolled her eyes, approaching the side of the cell. “You refused your right to an attorney, so we didn’t send one. You refused to wear the orange jump suit, saying it bore a grave offense to your fashion sense. So we let you keep your street clothes,” her gaze scanned Scarlet’s skimpy black dress with judgmental eyes, “which does, incidentally, look very much like street clothes. In the literal sense…”

“
Shut your insolent mouth!” Scarlet roared, baring her fangs at the two police officers who stood outside her cell. “I am the queen of the fiercest vampire den that is known and recognized outside of Romania. I will not be caged!”

Jess had heard enough.

“If you had so much power back at the den, then why come and bother the Clearview vamps?” She planted her hands on her hips.

At the mention of Hathen and his crew, Scarlet let loose with an inhuman roar that shook the walls of her tiny cell.

“It is my goal to destroy every incubi den that populates and pollutes this planet,” she seethed, fists balled. “They soil the name of the vampire, and the blood-soaked legend of the immortal Count Dracula, with their loving and peaceful ways.” She spit out these last words like they were venom.

“
So they’re hippy vampires,” Jess sighed, drawing a chuckle from a rattled Dan. “What’s it to you?”

“
They are a disgrace!” Scarlet roared, scuffling about like an oversized fly in the confines of her holding space. “I intend to feed from their lust stricken bodies, just as I did with Hathen. Then I will rip them from limb to limb, as I almost did with Clotilde. This time, however, they will not survive the night!”

“
Yeah, well, good luck with that.” Refusing to be moved by Scarlet’s theatrics, Jess turned her back on her enraged prisoner and sat down at her corner desk. “You’re being charged with attempted murder.”

She froze as her words were met with a chilling round of cool, sinister laughter.

“You’ll have to catch me first.” Scarlet sneered.

Jess turned with a smirk toward the cell, almost in disbelief at her prisoner's cockiness.

“Hate to break it to ya toots,” she gestured toward the cell. “But you can’t fly too far in that cell. Well, at least before your lovely face makes unwelcome contact with a cast iron bar. But you're welcome to try.”

Landing on the cell floor with a casual shrug, the vampire stared at Jess with a deadly glare worth a thousand daggers.

“Someone is coming for me,” she announced with a smile. “In fact, they may already be here.”

Bolting from her seat, Jess charged the cell with teeth bared and fists balled.

She pointed an authoritative finger right in Scarlet’s face. “Tell me who! Is it someone in Hathen’s den?”

Scarlet shrugged, infuriating Jess with her lack of cooperation.

“You’re the big investigator,” she mocked, waving a carefree hand in Jess’s direction. “You tell me.”

Scarlet retreated to a corner of her lowly cell as her arresting officer roared her anger.

“No, how about you tell me before I come in there and slug that annoying smile right off your irritating little face!” A wild-eyed Jess screamed outright as she pressed her face against the bars. “Spill it, Demon Barbie!”

“
Chief, Chief.”

Racing to her side, Sgt. Dan Banyon clutched her shoulders and lead her back to her desk.

“You know, even when you’ve lost it you’re funny and dead cute.” He settled her back in the leathery confines of her soft desk chair; kneeling before her in a fatherly manner. “Still, you really need to calm yourself. Even vampires can claim police brutality these days.”

Scarlet let of another cackle from her cage.

“No worries, Sgt. Sissy.” The insults aimed at Dan made Jess’s blood boil. “You two don’t know the meaning of the word brutality.” Her voice rang out with a chilling promise as is she knew what was going to come. “Not yet, anyway.”

****

These words echoed through Jess’s mind the duration of the day, as she struggled to focus on precinct paperwork and other everyday duties.

“
Only there’s nothing every day about my life anymore,” she sighed, finally setting aside her pen and papers and resting her head in her hands.

The passion and euphoria that the vampire Hathen had brought into her life, feelings that warmed and aroused her in equal measure, were balanced by the terror and uncertainty introduced by her former lover; a woman who threatened the peace and sanctity of her city. Even from behind bars.

“Who knows how many nasty bloodsucking vamps are on their way to Clearview,” she sighed. “Who knows? One or two might already be here, putting both my people and Hathen’s in terrible danger.”

“
Chief?” Her troubled meditation was disrupted by a familiar and very friendly voice, one currently lined with a hint of concern. “Listen, you weren’t even supposed to come in so early.” Dan placed his hands on her shoulders. “Why don’t you go home and get some rest? Good ol’ Sgt. Sissy will hold down the fort here.”

A laughing Jess enveloped her friend in a grateful hug as she rose from her chair.

“Sounds good.” She nodded.

As per Dan’s instruction, the Clearview police chief took immediate and hasty leave of her post. Yet instead of heading home as he recommended, she drove her compact car hard and fast in the direction of Nightingale Park.

Her mind reasoned that this trip was nothing more than a matter of official business, and a needed one at that.

I have to warn Hathen about the danger to his den,
she told herself, pushing her accelerator to break the speed limit she worked so hard to enforce.
I just hope they’re OK. Even now they might have a traitor among them.

Yet even as her head throbbed with the weight of her own worry, her body also throbbed for want of the same man her mind sought to warn.

Although exhausted, her entire being pounded with a strong, intense desire that threatened to overwhelm her. Her heart beat the rhythm of a saucy song, and her clit answered the call; throbbing with an insane need that demanded immediate assistance.

She not only wanted Hathen, she needed him.

And now.