He wasn't supposed to be there, but she was so afraid that if she moved, he would disappear forever. There he stood at the end of the hall, curtains in the open window blowing in the wind behind him. There was practically no light at all in the mansion. The servants had long since retired to their homes, and she has only just arrived from the charity ball soirée. There she stood with her hand on the top of the banister, heels barely resting on the second floor. She hadn't even had the time to take off her shawl and shoes.
"Markus..." she whispered under her breath. Her eyes widened at the sound of her own voice.
He didn't make a reply, but his breathing was evident in the cold, crisp air. It came in small, short tufts of crystalline smoke from his ever so slightly parted lips.
"Wh-what are you doing here?" she stammered. "If the council gets wind of, or has even the slightest hint that you've been to see me they will-"
"...do nothing." His eyes pierced hers. "They can do nothing of consequence to me. I am not of the Kindred. There is no redemption or damnation they can acquit over my soul. I am not like you..."
His stinging words sounded cold...they were harsh coming from him. Her eyes widened all the more with each syllable that left his mouth.
"You can't mean that...you can't honestly tell me that they don't frighten you in the least! Damnit, Markus they...they frighten ME. Of course..." she turned her head away from him. "...so do you..."
She heard his weight shift and his footsteps begin to echo maddeningly down the corridor. The sound matched her breathing which despite her control, was beginning to quicken. Before she drew the courage to once again look down the black hallway to the pale blue moonlit window, she felt his hand against her cheek. It was warm and full of life...it was so innocent and vulnerable...he was so...fragile. She slowly closed her eyes and took a deep breath. His smell was intoxicating on a bad day. Right now, when she was tired, lax, and hungry...it was almost more than she could control.
"Why...why must you torment me...? Markus I cannot know why you must do-"
"Because I love you."
Her eyes snapped open. "...wha...what did you say?" She slowly turned her head to look him in the eye. "What...did you say?"
"I said...I love you." The hand resting on her cheek slid from her face to her shoulder and moved to her arm. His fingers gripped her arm tightly and she faltered under his steely gaze. "...and I know you love me."
"How DARE you! " she shrieked, causing him to start before resetting his cast iron grip on her shoulder. She tried to push him off and away from her but he was determined to maintain control. " How dare you tell me what I feel for you! You have no idea what you are to me, and I'll tell you. You are a tool Markus..." she sneered.
His face went blank and his grip lapsed just long enough for her to shove him a few feet back down the hall. She took the opportunity to skirt past him to the doorway of the bedroom. He stood against the wall nearest him with a glazed expression.
She went on, "you are nothing more than a vessel from which I would feed, and a foolish little boy whom I would use to gain an end. You meant...mean...nothing to me! I do not care whether you live or die!" She turned and threw open the bedroom door with such force that the mirror on the dresser shattered, throwing tiny shards all over the floor. She took no notice and stormed inside, throwing her shawl on the chair by the armoire.
"You...can't mean that..." she heard the whisper behind her and felt, more than saw, his shadow in the doorway. "You can't possibly...I know...I know you loved...love...me."
She whipped around and flew across the room to stand before him. She closed her eyes, brought her hand up high, and brought it back down again where it landed with a resounding slap. She opened her eyes and gasped to see Markus standing up to his full height, glaring her directly in the eye, her wrist clasped firmly in his powerful hand.
"Let go of me..." the growl from her throat was permeated with fury.
"No." was his cold retort.
"Markus I am warning you...if you don't let go of my wrist this instant-"
"You'll what...kill me? Tear me apart limb from limb will you?" His eyes blazed into hers and she sucked in a breath...she wasn't even supposed to need to breathe. He reached his free hand up and slowly grasped her jawline.
"I am calling your bluff..." He moved closer to her without relinquishing his grip on her wrist or chin. "You...love...me."
She tried to think. She tried to think of an escape. She tried desperately to find a way to trap him in his own words...but he wasn't supplying her with any. She tried once again to slap him with her only free hand, but he was too agile and caught it with the hand that a split second before, had gripped her neck. He glared at her and she thought for a moment that he might strike back.
Instead, he walked her backward into the room and closed the door with his foot before turning on his heel and slamming her back into it. She let out a gasp and groan at the short burst of pain in her back. Markus took both her wrists and pinned them against the door, above her head. She looked up at him, true fear in her eyes for the first time.
"Please...don't...don't do this..." she whimpered.
"Why don't you fight back then?" His tie was coming loose as he shouted in her face. "You could kill me in an instant! I've seen you tear limbs from a tree, and snap men's necks with one hand! If you don't give a damn whether I live or die, fight back! Kill me now!"
Her face was pale and her eyes wide. He panted heavily from his yelling but did not loosen his hold on her. His eyes were aflame and a thin sheen of sweat glistened on his brow.
She was frozen. Her body was quickly abandoning itself to his control and she began to tremble beneath his fiery leer.
"I...I..." she quivered.
"You what?" he roared.
She closed her eyes as he shouted and turned her head from him.
"I...can't..." she whispered.
He froze where he held her. "...what...?"
Suddenly, with a burst of blinding speed, her hands shot to his neck. She picked him up by his collar and spun him around and slammed him forcefully into the door, one hand on his throat.
He coughed...choked...and breathed heavily before slumping against the oak frame.
He paused and looked at her. Her head was hanging so low and her hair had fallen from it's wrap into her face so he couldn't see her eyes. She had one hand back behind her as though she was ready to drive it forward and through his chest. He closed his eyes and let his head fall back and hit the door.
"...do it...just do it Bella." he breathed. "Get it over with..."
Bella slowly lifted her hand above her head and poised it to strike. As it tensed, and she readied herself to snuff the man's life like a candlewick, he tightened his already closed eyes and breathed,
"I love you..."
"AAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaah!" she screamed at the top of her lungs and brought her hand down with all of it's might. The following crack echoed throughout the hallway and downstairs into the abandoned foyer.
She fell to her knees and grasped her faced with her hands.
Markus slowly opened his eyes, and looked down on her small, shaking frame. He heard the faintest sounds of weeping emanating from behind her hands.
"...why...?" he looked bewildered. " Why couldn't you-"
"I love you..." came her sudden muddled whisper.
He stiffened. "What?"
She jumped up from the floor and quickly moved within inches of his face. He reeled backward a bit and hit the door again.
"I said...I LOVE you! Are you happy? I love you and I can't help it! I can't stop! No matter how hard I try I can't stop myself from thinking about your damned-perfect face and how I want you to..." she broke off and jumped backward with her hand on her mouth, horrified at what she was saying.
Markus erected himself from what was left of the oak door which was now split into roughly two pieces, and walked toward her. She backed even further away and shook her head frantically, gasping for air each time. He kept moving forward until she had moved all the way into the middle of the room and into the large sleigh bed with a thump. Her eyes widened in terror as she realized his closing proximity to her. She tried to slip around the side of the bed, but he caught her by the wrist and pulled her to him in a forceful rush. Before she could protest or pull her away, he pulled her over to the nearest wall, forced her up against it, and pressed himself into her. She barely had time to gasp before he grasped her face firmly with both hands, pushed his mouth into hers and began sucking, licking and kissing her lips with all the passion he possessed.
Her eyes were wide with shock and horror at his sudden attack. However, his hands quickly moved from her face to her neck, and then her waist to pull her into him, and her breath caught in her throat while her eyes rolled closed and she let herself be drawn into the depths of his assault.
He devoured her mouth and frantically toyed with the buttons on the back of her dress. She gasped and moaned at his daring and soon her tongue was dancing across his lips just as hungrily. He managed to undo one, two, three buttons now, but was having trouble with the fourth. She pushed him away long enough for him to take a necessary breath. He gasped and his eyes glared at her with a desire that even she, who was not unused to such looks from men; even she was startled at the ferocity behind it. She ripped his suit coat off and tore off his tie in one rapid motion. He let her throw the clothing to the floor before grabbing her by the thighs and hoisting her up against the wall. She shoved her fingers through her hair and pulled his face back to her starving mouth. She didn't know how much more of this she could take...love him or not...the thirst would become too much for her to handle...and he smelled decadent.
He gripped her firmly so as not to drop her, but she felt him begin to move against her in slow rhythmic motions forcing her to slide up and down the wall two or three inches at a time. The movement was enough to drive her past her breaking point. She threw her head back and moaned out loud signaling her approval of his actions, and he acknowledged her by taking her and throwing on the edge of the bed. She fell, hair in her face, legs splayed, and before she could right herself, he had already grasped her by the ankles and pulled her to himself with her legs about his middle.
He stood next to the mattress, hands on her waist and began to repeat he previous motions. She writhed in agonizing pleasure before him and grasped blindly at the comforter beneath her. The motions she was making were taking their toll on him as well, and a look of obvious strain stretched his handsome face. He panted and ran his hands from her waist, over her thighs and under her buttocks, grasping it firmly, which sent a wracking wave of pleasure throughout his entire body. She felt the static build in his fingers and moaned aloud once again to encourage her lover. He didn't need but the slightest hint, and soon had pulled her long red dress from her waist, and was fumbling with his belt. She sat up and looped a finger through one of his belt loops and hoisted his entire weight up and onto the bed in a fluid albeit sudden move.
His eyes were wide with confusion, that was soon replaced with disorientation as she removed his shoes, socks, belt and pants in a matter of superhuman seconds. She removed his shorts last and threw them across the room in a flash.
She paused for a moment and looked him up and down. There lay, in her opinion, the most beautiful man she had ever seen, completely naked, unprotected, and vulnerable, in her bed. He lay there heaving with passion and thirsty desire, fully erect and pulsing with a loud booming bloodstream...one that sounded like music to her ears. He quivered a bit with a feigned self control, and opened his mouth to speak. Before a single word could issue forth from his mouth, she was on him licking, sucking, kissing, and nipping every piece of his warm and delicious flesh could reach. He slammed his head back into the bed and gasped for breath at this sudden deluge of pleasure whilst his hands found the back of her head to guide her mouth where he needed it. She allowed herself to be led over his stomach and below his belt line. She paused to hover over his genitals, and looked up at him. He was staring at her face with a pathetic and pleading look... She grinned at him spitefully for a full moment before looking back down at his full erection, and taking it whole into her mouth.
Markus lurched forward and groaned loudly to the ceiling, while thrusting his loins into Bella's waiting throat. She smiled to herself..she was of course, very, very good at this. This was certainly not the first man to have fallen into her bed, and she had become quite skilled in the art of seduction. She rolled her tongue around the tip of Markus' erection and flicked it repeatedly over the small slit in the end. With each flick, the man would lurch and throw another shove of his pelvis into her throat. Soon he began to issue forth small whimperings that took the form of "damnit Bella" and "please".
Finally, right when he thought he was about to lose himself, she stopped and pulled his length from her mouth. It was wet and dripping in blood. He yelled out in frustration and punched the bed to show it.
She laughed aloud and whispered "can't be patient can you...you haven't even gotten to the pleasurable part yet..." With that, she smiled and the tiniest moonlight glinted off her now visible canines which were shining with the crimson liquid.
Markus' eyes widened, and he sat upright on the bed. "Are you...are you going to..."
"Turn you? No." she stated clearly. Markus' posture softened, and Bella moved to his cheek, pressing soft kisses on his jawline. Breathing heavily, Markus closed his eyes.
"...please...please take me...I want you to..." he whispered in her ear.
The animal inside her gave a roar, and it was all she could do to keep it in check.
"What...do you want...?" she breathed. As she did, she lifted a hand to his throat and put a gentle, but strong grip on his chin. He took in a deep breath, and tried to look her in the eye, but she held him fast.
"I...I want to be yours...I want you to have me...I want you to..." he swallowed and she closed her eyes as she felt the movement in his neck. "I want you...to...drink...from me..." he sighed and sealed his eyes with a solemn resolve. "I love you..." His hands grasped her waist tightly and he pulled himself into her once again, this time, in an embrace. This threw her off guard. This was not something she had ever experienced before, or knew how to react to, and yet it felt so...natural.
She leaned her head forward to lick the nape of his neck and he shuddered. She thought for a moment whether or not he knew what he was doing to her. She was so confused and so hungry that it was quickly becoming a matter of sheer will rather than self control that she stay her inner animal. She was now shaking slightly, and she closed her eyes and whispered into his ear, "...and I want something as well..." She faltered with her words and he opened his eyes curiously. "I...I want...I want you to drink of me...as well..." her voice faded off as she spoke so that he barely caught the words.
He sat for a moment, then his eyes widened and comprehension dawned on his face. She was asking him to be with her...possibly forever...
"You don't have to agree..." she looked away quickly, an automatic blush reaching her cheeks. She was so used to putting on the performance in public that the human reactions came as easily as if they were real, and often without her knowledge. "I...I want..." she stammered. She stopped herself, resolved her courage, and looked him in the eye, turning his head with her hand to return the gaze.
"I want you to become my retainer. I want you to be my bodyguard and to serve as my personal aid from now on. The Kindred council will not tolerate...this...between us." She looked at him seriously and with a stern melancholy on her face. "I...I am sorry...it would mean an end to the existence you know, but this is the only-"
"I will." he stated suddenly.
She was so taken aback at his sudden agreement, that she thought she must misunderstood. "You will...what?"
He pulled his chin from her grip and sat up to look at her. "I will stay with you as long as I live...and possibly thereafter if I have my way." His eyes were steadfast and his jaw was set. He looked into her eyes and she saw tears begin to well up in his.
"Don't you understand? You are everything...you are my motivation now. Why would I have come back here; to my certain doom if you had rejected me? Why would I risk my life when I had a chance of losing it...unless the driving purpose in my life was here...?"
Bella backed away from him at these statements and shook her head at his foolishness. He had no idea what he was saying. To fall in love with a vampire was to fall in love with death itself. He was forsaking the very gift that she fought so hard to hold onto...and he was doing it so willingly...so rashly...for her.
"You can't possibly know what you're saying..." she breathed. "but, I don't want to...I can't...lose you..."
She moved her hand back to his chin and tilted his head at an angle to expose his bare neck. His breathing quickened as did his pulse, which danced before her eyes in the vein of his throat. With tender care, she leaned forward and kissed the vein that quivered with his flowing life-force. The animal inside her roared it's disdain and screeched to be released but she quieted it with one tight swallow. "I love you..." she whispered.
With a smooth and quick motion she opened her mouth to expose her canines and pierced the flesh of the man she embraced. He stiffened with the momentary pain, and let out a small groan of discomfort. Be still, she thought to herself, lest I lose control and douse your life for eternity my love. With a swift intake of breath, she began to draw out his sweet essence. It flowed over her tongue and the animal inside her howled its approval. The nectar of her lover was unlike anything she had experienced before. She had fed from Markus in the past, but it had never been so precious as now. Each drop was a piece of him merging with her; their life-forces connecting and mixing into one that would replenish and strengthen her. Even now as the warm lid flowed into her, she could feel new life streaming to the very tips of her fingers and toes. The tingling sensation sent a crashing cascade of pleasure over her and she began to moan hungrily into the wound.
Markus was grasping her back desperately trying to hold onto his sanity. The initial pain was long gone now, and the only thing that remained was a feeling of complete rapture and ecstasy. Each draw of her mouth was like he was making love to her with strong, deep thrusts. His hands ran up and down her thighs and over her buttocks where they would hover for an instant before returning to the lower of her back.
Each swallow she made, sent him dangerously close to the edge of ecstasy and insanity. Every ounce of pressure from her mouth was a thousand kisses and yet a thousand stings all at once. Her moaning was deafening to him in his current state, and he tried unsuccessfully to ignore it.
Bella was beginning to draw deeper and deeper droughts, which sent Markus into fits of growling lust. The movement distracted her just long enough to remove her mouth from his bleeding neck. The sudden stop made him slump in exhaustion against her, and quake with heavy, racking breaths. She smiled and wiped her mouth on her wrist, and held him tightly to her.
"Love...my love...shhh it's alright." She stroked his hair lovingly and nuzzled her face into his collar. The bleeding had slowed but she pressed her fingers to it nonetheless to squelch it entirely. It was still a little distracting even though her hunger had now been satiated.
To her surprise, Markus suddenly sat up and pushed her an arm's length away from
him and stared at her ferociously.
"My turn."
That was all she heard before her threw her down beside him and wrenched off what little clothing she still had on. He pressed his mouth to hers and drove his tongue in past her lips bringing with it his breath. She choked on it and nearly tried to pull away, but he held her fast with one powerful hand on her neck. He hefted his body onto hers and laid his weight so she could not escape. Her eyes were wide as he compressed her beneath himself...she was never the one to be dominated like this.
She trembled a bit with a sense of anxiety and thrill and allowed his hands to explore her body as they would. His left hand started at her waste and slid up to her abdomen where it danced around her navel before skirting even higher. She sucked in even more of his breath as the fingers traced a lazy line between her bosom and slid along the line of her collar bone. The right hand still had her neck in it's grasp, but the tips of the fingers were playing with her hair and earlobe, creating a thrilling itch that she could not reach.
She lurched a bit into his chest and he pulled his head back momentarily to glance down. His breath caught in his throat as he took in her flawless nudity, and pearl white flesh. She suddenly felt very shy and wanted desperately for him to cease his staring. He glanced back up at her face and whispered "You are...beautiful."
The words caught her off guard. She had heard the exact same words before from many other men, and many of them in the exact same position they were in now. However, these words were different. The words were clearer. They were stronger. They had a completely new meaning, and she had the sudden sensation of falling as they coursed through her mind.
"Im...I'm beautiful..." she breathed. It wasn't a sexual statement. He was admiring her as though he were viewing the most exquisite piece of art that had ever been created. He gazed into her eyes and she felt...adored. The uncontrollable blush returned to her face and she tried to hide it in his hand. He instead took her jaw and forced her to kiss him once again.
He flitted his tongue over her lips, begin for reentry, and she complied almost automatically. Their tongues raged a warm, sensuous war on each other, each vying for control over the other. His hands moved from her neck to her chest and his fingers began tracing warm circles over and around her nipples. She whimpered into his mouth and felt him smile back into hers. His fingers stopped tracing and directly took hold of her flesh lightly between his index fingers and thumbs. Her rubbed slightly in small concise circles, each directing its own orchestra of passion.
With every small and delicate movement of his fingers, Bella moaned and twisted beneath him. He touched, pinched, teased, and pressed her until she begged him to devour her or cease his torment. With a smirk, he kissed her cheek. Then he kissed her neck, followed by her collar bone, and slowly progressed lower. Each inch he traveled, she thought she was slipping into unconsciousness. His movements were so slow, so agonizing, she thought surely she was dying again.
Finally, his lips reached her bosom, but he toyed around the warm mounds of flesh so long and cruelly that she finally grasped him by the temples and forced his mouth to her peaks. He obeyed the command and willingly took up the point of her right breast into his mouth. She gasped and jerked at the sudden sensation, but could not move far. His hands had replaced themselves upon her waist and ribs, holding her tightly where she lay.
His tongue flitted and dancing lightly across the skin of her breast, making her eyes roll into the back of her head with pleasure. He sealed his lips about her nipple and sucked deeply, pulling the skin deeper into his warm, wet, mouth. Bella was so overcome with ecstasy that she began to mimic his earlier motions, thrusting her hips into his waiting pelvis, which he seemed to enjoy.
With each pressing motion, he would suck a little harder one her chest which would invoke a stronger reaction from her, and in turn would repeat his ferocity. Before long he was ravishingly consuming her entire bosom, moving from the right to the left and back again, while she drove her hips into his, grinding his loins against her pelvis. Suddenly it was too much for him to take.
Markus grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her onto her knees. She obeyed his gestures and willingly fell forward, exposing her backside to him fully. Grasping his erection in one hand and placing his other on her waist, he lined himself up for entry while she panted and moaned for him to speed his actions. She whimpered as she felt his tip graze her flesh and toy between her open legs, but not long after a white light crashed behind her eyelids as he finally found his mark.
Over and over again he thrust into her, each progressive harder and faster than the last. She moaned and gasped, panted and called out his name.
"Markus! …...oh god! ...oh yes, Markus!"
Her voice was like a slave driver urging him on with his labor, each pulsing thrust like a step in the hot sun with a heavy load. He was quickly losing his grip of control over himself, and her voice was speeding him steadily along the edge of rapture.
"Oh my god Markus! Oh god Markus...don't stop!" she wailed at the top of her lungs. "Oh god yes! Thrust into me love! Pierce my very soul!"
Her voice carried throughout the entire mansion, and rang down the dark and empty halls. He tried to keep up his rapid tempo but his pace was quickly careening for the edge of a chasm of exhaustion. Before too long he had to slow, to catch his breath, and she mewled her disdain and frustration.
"Ha, ha. Who's...who's impatient...now?" he croaked between gasps.
Bella would not be denied. She pulled away from him, causing him to gasp and frown in disappointment, and pushed him hard in the chest, which threw him onto his back. No sooner had he hit the blankets, than she had pounced onto him, legs straddling his waist, his eyes wide in shock.
"I am going to break you like a young stallion..." she purred into his chest. His eyes widened all the more and he didn't have time to speak a word of protest before she had slid his erection up between her legs and inside of her. He gasped for breath as her muscles tightened around him, and she began to sway forward and backward on his pelvis. Her bucked beneath her trying hungrily to feel her move faster, but she pressed him down with her hands on his chest.
"No, no, my love...you must wait." She smiled a wicked smile and dug her nails into his abdomen.
He hissed in pain and pleasure, and sat up to place one hand on the small of her back. He quickly entwined the other in her long, red hair. He coiled it around and curled his fingers so she could not escape his grip. She squinted her eyes from the tight pain on her scalp, and retaliated with a sharp powerful thrust of her hips. The motion forced him to jolt, and gasp for another breath, but did not cause him to release her.
He regained his composure and pulled her head to his face. The sudden change in proximity forced her to consider what he was planning to do. He surprised her.
With a sudden twist of his wrist, he exposed the nape of her neck, and before she knew what he was doing, he had taken her hand in his and used her nails to cut the vein on her throat wide open. She yelled out in terror at the sudden pain, but was quickly silenced by his hand on her mouth. In one fluid motion, he hoisted her up into his lap, wrapped one strong arm around her waist, thrust himself deep inside her, and sealed his lips over the wound.
On his first draw she thought she was dying all over again. He sucked at the vein hungrily and growled with each passing flow of her succulent animus. With each swallow he thrust himself into her again, with strong and powerful lurches. He was ravishing her body and it was driving her to her brink. He thrust his erection into her over and over again, each time drawing with it a long drought of her blood.
Her moans grew in volume until they matched his raging growls, which he attempted to smother in her flesh. He finally broke away from her neck to gasp for air and she screeched in ecstatic fury. Bella's furious howling only fueled the fire that was driving Markus and he roared wildly and quickened the pace of his untamed thrusts. He forced himself into her and grasped fiercely at her thighs, waist, and buttocks, using her own body to drive himself deeper and deeper inside her.
She was losing her mind with each passing second, and each passing wave of body racking pleasure. Markus' flesh was hot and his breathing was erratic and she was rapidly approaching her physical limit. Markus' muscles were straining and wouldn't last much longer. With a raging white flame in his eyes he plunged into Bella one last time and roared so loud it was only matched by her screaming his name as she came hard and pulsing around his length.
With heaving chests, and sweat gleaming on their bodies, Bella collapsed into Markus' waiting arms. He caressed her face with the palm of his hand, and brushed the hair from her eyes, before quietly brushing his lips against hers.
"I love you...Miss Bella." he whispered against her cheek.
She closed her eyes and breathed a sigh of contentment.
"I know..." he breathed. "You won't say it again...but I knew before."
She stifled a smile and rested her hand on her chest. Yes, she loved him, and yes she conceded; he had known before.