Promise Me Anthology (9 page)

Heather’s body loosened again, lubrication
allowing Devlin’s stiff organ to penetrate deeper. She began moving
in tandem with Devlin’s thrusts, sweat beading on her naked
breasts.

Devlin paused, then rolled onto his back with
practiced ease, his body not leaving Heather’s. His hands cupped
Heather’s buttocks, pressing down forcefully. The last inches of
his penis slid inside, the sharp pain making Heather cry out yet
again.

“I don’t care how many lovers you’ve had
before me,” Devlin said feverishly, working her hips back and
forward on him as he thrust again and again. “I possess every inch
of you. You’re mine.”

Heather panted, her eyes drowning in the
sight of him below her, his golden eyes riveted on her, matching
her body thrust for thrust.
She was his.
All she was had
become one single powerful desire: to climax.

Devlin’s breathing became more ragged, his
thrusts more rapid, each inward motion deep. Heather wavered, the
climax nearing, then ebbing. She chased the teasing sensation, then
pushed hard, feeling the beginnings of release wash over her, the
cry tearing out of her throat with abandon. Devlin pulled her down
into his arms as the orgasm ebbed. Then it blossomed anew as a
second orgasm hit her with the penetration of his fangs into her
skin, each pull of his mouth bringing fresh waves of pleasure. Too
soon it was ending, as Devlin’s lips broke free to scream out his
own release.

He slumped beneath her, panting hard, then
looked up with a lazy smile. “Did I fulfill your expectations?”

“Not yet,” Heather lied, her tone wavering
with post coital bliss. “But you will before I’m done with you,
Devlin.”

Devlin smiled, then pulled her down beside
him, slipping out of her. “I’ll say it again; you’re just what I
needed.” He hugged her. “And call me Dev, please.”

Heather curled up beside him. “Do you mind if
I rest before we do it again?”

Devlin laughed. “You have a few moments.” He
kissed her cheek. “But tonight, that’s all I’ll allow. I’ve got too
much to show you, Bright Eyes. This night will be your
revelation.”

* * * *

That night with Dev...nothing Heather had
shared with her high school boyfriend Carl had come close. It
had
been a revelation, just as her vampire lover had
promised. Devlin knew positions she’d never heard of, and had skill
she’d only seen the like of in steamy erotic novels. Poor Carl had
been bumbling by comparison. But then it really wasn’t fair to
compare a hundred year old man with a sixteen-year-old boy. In
addition, there had also been the blood donation part of their
loveplay, something Heather had worried was going to be icky.
Instead, the experience had turned out to be exhilarating. Devlin
had bitten into Heather’s neck a second time later that same
evening. She’d orgasmed almost immediately, the sensation
surprising Heather as they hadn’t been engaged in sex at the
time.

“Is it always like this?” she’d asked
tentatively afterwards, when she was lying in his arms. “I’d always
thought that a woman swooning when being bitten in the movies was
bunk.”

“No,” Devlin said with a half-smile. He
kissed her cheek. “You’re very sensitive to my bite.”

Heather had raised herself up on one arm.
“You can do better than that,” she chided. “Tell me the real
reason.”

“Apologies, my nurse in training,” Devlin
said contritely. “A better answer would be that you’re sensitive to
the virus that gives me my vampire attributes, specifically to the
numbing component in my saliva.” He hugged her. “Most women enjoy
the embrace and the blood donation doesn’t hurt; there’s a small
pleasure. But some—like you—are very sensitive and feel a heady
rush.”

“And this virus in you also gives you the
ability to heal me after you’re done drinking?”

Devlin nodded. “Yes. You’ll have not a
scratch from our times together.” He laughed. “No turtlenecks
required.”

“But what about exposure?” Heather asked, her
brow furrowing. “You said the magic word: virus. Won’t I be vampire
eventually?”

Devlin shook his head. “No. I’d have to turn
you for that to happen. Small amounts of the virus—such as in my
saliva—are not infective.” He smiled. “Nor is the amount present in
semen.”

Heather was intrigued. “Tell me more. How do
you turn someone?”

“Don’t worry,” Devlin said persuasively,
stroking her hair. “I won’t do it.”

Heather lay in his arms, blissful.
But
what if I want you to?

* * * *

Weeks had passed, then months. Heather came
to Devlin regularly, always meeting him in the Hilton. The
lovemaking was mind-blowing, especially the moment when Devlin took
her blood. But Heather was growing more and more obsessed with
Devlin. She hated waiting for the two weeks to pass between visits,
hated that she never talked to him except on the nights she saw
him, hated that she couldn’t be with him all the time. She withdrew
from her friends, spending more and more of her time alone,
fantasizing about Devlin, about what she and he could have if he
would turn her.

She was lying on the grass daydreaming about
Devlin one late July afternoon when she felt a nudge with a shoe.
Startled, her eyes flew open to see a pair of sparking green ones
looking down into hers.

“You’d better sleep inside if you’re going to
moan aloud like that.”

“Ulysses!” She pulled her brother down next
to her, then shoved him. “Jerk! You scared me.”

Ulysses caught her hands in his. “I’m here
because you’ve scared me. What’s going on with you? You got an
incomplete in one of your classes last semester, and a C in
another.”

“They were hard,” Heather mumbled.
“Especially Cell Biology.”
And the night before the final was
one of Devlin’s nights.

“But you always used to come home over the
summer,” her brother said, worried.

“I planned to take a summer course to make up
the incomplete.”
But I couldn’t concentrate on it, so I dropped
it after the first week.

“What are you into,” Ulysses asked gently.
“You can tell your older brother. I only want to help. Is it drugs?
Drinking?”

Heather shook her head emphatically. “I’m
fine.”

Ulysses’s eyes narrowed. “You’re not fine.
Even mom and dad are worried about you—”

Her guilt intensified. “Will you lay off me,”
Heather said angrily. “I worked my ass off for the last five years.
Hell, before that, in high school! I got high honors and did
everything I was supposed to! I want to have some fun for a change!
Everyone else gets to. It’s my turn!”

Ulysses drew back in shock, his expression
apologetic. “I’m sorry. I know you’ve been working hard. I just
know how much this meant to you.”

Meant was the right word.
Heather kept
silent, unwilling to share her new doubts about her proposed
nursing career.

“I want you to know that there’s nothing I
wouldn’t do for you,” Ulysses murmured, laying his hand on her
shoulder. “I’m always here if you want to talk, sis. And so is
Diana.”

Diana, her little sister.
“How she
doing?”

“Taking the high school drama club by storm.
In fact, that’s another reason I’m here. She’s giving a performance
this weekend as Juliet, and she wanted both of us to see her.”

Saturday was Devlin’s next night.
But
Heather hadn’t seen Diana since she’d left to return to school
after Christmas. “I’ll come,” she said slowly.

* * * *

Heather shifted in the plastic auditorium
seat. Only a few more minutes to intermission. Not that Diana
hadn’t been excellent as Juliet. But she’d also been the only teen
with talent in the play; Romeo was sadly lacking in looks as well
as talent. Heather was eager to escape her parents’ and brother’s
company to check her messages. Dev had never replied about her
cancelling their appointment for later tonight.

Heather made her way outside, then checked.
To her delight, there was a new voice message from Devlin. But it
was disappointingly short. “Call me when you get this.”

Heather clicked to her contacts, calling his
cell. Devlin answered right away. “Are you all right?” he said
immediately.

The concern in his tone made her warm all
over. “I’m fine,” she said. “I just had to attend a play.”

“When will it be done?” Devlin pressed. “I
can send someone for you after, if you like.”

There was no question that she wanted to see
him. But Heather also liked that he was so eager to see her, and
wanted it to last. “I’m not sure. Do you want to come to the
theater and wait for me?”

“That’s not wise,” Devlin said gently. “For
either of us. Go back to your dorm, and I’ll send a car like
usual.”

Heather was torn. “I might not be back until
dawn,” she said. “I’m with my family, and they mentioned something
about a late dinner out, then my brother talked about taking Diana
out for her first drink—”

“Call,” Devlin interrupted, his tone making
it an order. “I don’t care if it is noon. I do not have to sleep in
the daytime, and can afford to face tomorrow night a little
sleepy.” He laughed, the seductive sound giving Heather a delicious
shiver. “We can put those hours to better use, my Bright Eyes. I
want to see you.” He paused, then sang seductively, “I need you
now, tonight.”

Whatever resistance remained evaporated. “I
will.” Heather assured him.

* * * *

Heather didn’t get to the Hilton until
daybreak. Instead of Devlin opening the door as he usually did, a
small man dressed in black answered the door after Heather knocked.
His expression was cold, but he opened the door, gesturing for her
to come in.

“Come in,” Devlin called from inside.

The man in black nodded to her, then closed
the door after she was inside. “I’ll be outside,” he said gruffly,
then left, shutting the door behind him.

“
I’m in the tub,” Devlin called. “Come
in and join me, Bright Eyes.”

God, all she had to do is hear his
voice.
Heather moved as if a moth to a flame to the bathroom.
Devlin was sitting in the Jacuzzi, smiling wickedly.
And his
voice is nothing next to the way he looks at me with those
eyes.
She quickly undressed and slipped into the tub. “Who was
that?”

“A guard, as its day,” Devlin answered,
kissing her hand. “It’s normal procedure for me in daylight.”

“I could have waited till tonight to come,”
Heather said teasingly, her double meaning clear. “What was so
urgent?”

“The truth? That I enjoy our times together,”
Devlin said easily. “I enjoy your desire for me, Heather. I wasn’t
going to wait, given a choice.” He pulled her close, hugging her on
his naked lap. “And I confess to being a little worried, too.” He
kissed her forehead. “You’d never cancelled before.”

“Family stuff,” Heather said vaguely, not
wanting to tell him about her family’s concern for her, or their
repeated urging for her to come home for the remainder of the
summer to rest. “I hoped you could meet them.”

“I think they would frown on our
arrangement,” Devlin said with a chuckle. “Even if they thought I
was mortal and that it was only sex.”

Heather didn’t answer.
How did Devlin view
their relationship? He’d just admitted it was more than sex to him,
too.

“Do you want any breakfast?” Devlin offered.
“I can have something sent up from room service.”

“I want to go somewhere with you,” Heather
said softly. “I love being with you, Dev. I want to see you more. I
know you said we can’t be like this more than every two weeks. But
we could do other things—”

“No,” Devlin said gently. He kissed her
cheek. “You’re my favorite donor, Bright Eyes. I’m risking enough
by seeing you this much. Most donors I see only once a month at
most.”

“Why?” Heather asked boldly. “You’ve never
really said why that is.”

“You are mortal and I’m vampire,” Devlin said
patiently. “That will change if I’m not very careful.”

Heather sat up and looked at him angrily.
“Don’t keep me in the dark. Tell me the truth!”

Devlin looked momentarily irritated, then his
patient expression resumed. “The vampire virus—for lack of a better
label—will eventually cause a sickness in donors who donate too
much blood too often. You’ve heard the vampire legends in stories,
such as the death of maidens from repeated nightly vampire visits?
They are based on that fact.”

Heather moved to get out of bed, but Devlin
grabbed her. “No, you wanted to hear it. Hear the ugly truth. Being
with me too much will kill you, Heather. You have a good future
mapped out, one I don’t want to screw with.” He leaned in close,
lips within a hair’s breadth of hers. “Take what I have to give and
don’t ask for more.”

“I’m not afraid of turning into what you
are,” she said, reaching out for him.

“You should be,” Devlin said darkly, getting
out of bed. “I think we need to take a break for a while, Heather.”
He began getting dressed. “I’ll walk you downstairs.”

Heather gathered her clothes, wiping back
tears.

* * * *

Heather shut the door of the car, then
stepped back as it pulled away from the curb. Unlike other times,
Devlin hadn’t kissed her goodbye at his hotel door, or said he’d
call.

I should have told him I was in love with
him. That it didn’t matter what he was or what I would need to
become to share his life. Now it was too late.

Heather went to her room, turned her ITunes
onto Total Eclipse of the Heart, hit endless repeat, and dissolved
into tears.

* * * *

“Wake up.”

Heather sat up groggily. “Who?”

“Your brother,” Ulysses said angrily. “And I
don’t want any more lies. Who was that guy you went to see at that
hotel?”