The character of Bill Compton belongs to Charliane Harris and Alan Ball - all other characters originate in my warped imagination.

THE WARRIORS OF RA

Bill and I had been back from Amsterdam for a few weeks when he told me one night that he had to go up to London for a meeting with Charles Montague. He would be away for a few days and, to be quite honest, I was glad of the chance to cease my almost nocturnal existence and let my body clock get back to normal for a few days. Since our return from the conference we had been together almost every night and if it were not for the fact that I had to go to work, I would have probably moved in to Bill's house since I spent most of my time there anyway!

Bill, however, had spent a considerable amount of his time on the telephone or on Skype in his study talking with Montague's assistants about his new appointment as Sheriff of the area. I had no idea what this appointment would entail and Bill and I did not talk about it much, but I gathered from general conversation that it was not something that most people would even be aware of. Although it was not a big secret, most humans were entirely unaware of the nuances of vampire society and were happy to remain in ignorance. Humans in positions of authority such as the Police and those involved in both local and national politics were apparently kept informed but the average man in the street had no idea of the complex web of allegiances that held their undead neighbours in check.

I had, so far, had no involvement with Bill's new position other than the fact that I had been in the house on a few occasions when a stream of other vampires had arrived to pay their respects to the new sheriff. I had kept well out of the way, usually curling up on a sofa upstairs with a good book while Bill entertained, only emerging after they had left to provide him with some much needed relaxation. On this particular night though, he appeared far from relaxed.

"What is it sweetheart?" I asked "is something wrong? Is that why you need to go all the way to London?"

"Oh no, not really" he said in a slightly distracted tone of voice "It's just that we need to discuss some rather unpleasant hate groups that have sprung up recently. It's not a particularly pleasant subject, and certainly not one that should be dealt with over the phone or a video link."

"Hate groups?" I said "what kind of hate groups?" Bill seemed reluctant to talk about this with me but I persisted. "You're talking about anti-vampire groups right, people that oppose vampire rights, stuff like that? Look, if I'm going to be with you don't you think I ought to know about this sort of thing?"

Bill sat down on the couch next to me and took my hand. "I'm sorry precious" he said quietly "It's just that some of these groups are very unpleasant, I cannot bear the thought that you might be involved with them in any way."

"Don't they just all hate vampires?" I asked.

"That's basically pretty much it yes, but they are all slightly different. The majority are offshoots of various church groups, their objections to us are religious in nature. That we are not natural, soulless monsters, servants of the devil, that kind of thing." Bill looked at me with an pained expression. "The main group of this type in the US is The Fellowship of the Sun. It's a church group founded by the Rev Newlin and carried on by his son Steve Newlin after his death, which I'm sorry to say was arranged by a nest of vampires in Dallas." Bill sighed "Of course his father's murder only made Rev Steve Newlin even more determined to wipe us out. They sponsor a college known as the Light of Day Institute to train up more young people in their message."

"Don't most churches disapprove of vampires?" I asked.

"Some don't" Bill said "They take the pragmatic view that if we exist then we must be part of God's plan. If he didn't want us to exist, then we wouldn't. Seems a reasonable point of view to me!" He smiled at me. "But you're right in principle, most churches are basically anti-vampire."

"But there are others." I said

"Yes, there are groups which have no religious affiliation. Their hatred of vampires appears to be mainly based on their fear of us, which in some respects is not unreasonable, but they can be very extreme in their views, and they cannot, or will not, accept that at least some of us are no longer a threat to humans. To them, every vampire is a dangerous savage monster who has to be destroyed in order to safeguard humanity. Ironically, their very existence means that many vampires feel the need to behave, on occasion, like the very monsters they fear in order to protect themselves."

"Are there any based locally?" I asked.

"Not specifically, there are numerous groups based in the UK and Europe, mostly churches of some kind. The main secular group has taken a lead from us, in fact. You know that the vampire owned airline is named after Anubis the Egyptian God who was the guardian of the dead? Well, they have named themselves after the Egyptian Sun God "The Warriors of Ra". The sun always seems to be involved somewhere, "The Fellowship of the Sun", "The Army of the Light", The Sons of the Light"...for obvious reasons!"

He slipped his arm around me and pulled me closer. "They also hate and despise anyone who associates with vampires, those who work for them and those who choose to spend time with them for...other purposes" he leaned in and brushed his lips across mine. I slipped my hand behind his head and pulled him to me for a deeper, more satisfying kiss.

"Oh, you are a bad girl," he laughed "you would be a classic target!"

"Exactly" I said seriously "which is why I need to know about them."

Bill sighed "I know" he said "I've been trying to keep you out of this business as much as I can, but your association with me is bound to become known to them sooner or later, these people seem to have very efficient spy systems."

"We'll just have to be careful then won't we" I said pulling him back for another kiss. I slid my tongue between his cool lips and felt his fangs beginning to drop. I licked gently around them, something I knew Bill loved. He growled softly and slipped off the couch onto the rug, pulling me down on top of him.

"That feels so good" he murmured.

"I haven't done anything yet!" I laughed.

"You don't have to" he whispered to me "I love to feel your body against mine, so soft and warm. It feels as though my flesh is soaking up the heat from yours." I snuggled closer to him trying to wrap my body around his. "Come here" he ordered and reached down to the hem of my shirt, pulling it off over my head and burying his face between my breasts. He slid his hands up my back and unhooked my bra releasing my full, heavy breasts, which fell forward onto his face, one nipple perfectly positioned to be engulfed by his open mouth as he ran his hands back down to my bottom and locked me to him.

I braced my hands on the rug on either side of his head as he suckled on my breast, his tongue curling around the nipple, licking at it gently until it stiffened up in his mouth. "Your skin tastes so sweet" he whispered "like honey."

I pulled back from him and sat up, "So," I asked "what have you got in mind for me this evening?"

Bill lay flat on his back smiling up at me. "Do you remember what you said to me on New Years Eve, on this very rug?" he asked "You told me to use your body for my pleasure. So why don't you do the same thing with mine?"

I stared down at him in surprise. "Really?" I asked "would you like that?"

"Why don't you try it and see?" he suggested.

Hmmm…this could be fun! I began to unfasten the buttons on his shirt and tugged the shirt out of the waistband of his jeans. He sat up a little and pulled the shirt off over his head while I took the opportunity to bury my fingers in the dark hair on his chest. Trailing them down across his flat belly to the button on his jeans and unfastening that as well. I tugged at the waistband and Bill braced his bare feet on the floor and raised his hips obligingly so that I could tug the jeans down far enough for him to wriggle out of them. I stood up, kicked off my shoes and removed my own jeans and panties and then knelt astride his hips and looked down at him. He simply lay passively watching me.

This was a new experience for me, usually Bill took the lead and could even be quite aggressive at times, not that I minded, in fact I found it quite exiting but this was different. I leaned forward slightly and began to stroke the hair on his chest and stomach, dragging my fingertips further and further down his body until they were buried in the thicker hair between his thighs. I bent forward to kiss him and as I did so I felt his sizeable erection rub gently between my legs. "Oooohh….that was nice!" I murmured and, giving his soft lips a final kiss, I sat up again and contemplated my next move. I shifted forward slightly until his stiff shaft was resting against my stomach and began to rub it gently against my warm skin. Suddenly I had a thought. "What did you say my skin tasted of?...Honey?" Now there's an idea. I stood up "You stay right there!" I ordered and headed into the kitchen.

"What the...!" Bill called after me "get back here at once! You can't just leave me like...like this!" I could hear him laughing as I reached into one of the kitchen cupboards for the jar of honey I had brought to put on my toast. I was back in seconds and knelt astride his hips again. "Now then!" I scooped a little honey out of the jar with my finger and put it in my mouth, "mmmm...delicious!"

Bill watched wide-eyed as I sucked the honey from my finger and pulled it slowly out from my mouth. "Right" I said regarding him mischievously "Lets see if I can make my tasty vampire a little tastier shall we?"

"What the devil are you..." I scooped some honey out of the jar and smeared it along Bill's thick shaft before he could stop me. "Hey!" he began to wriggle under me "that tickles!"

"You keep still now!" I told him "otherwise I won't be able to clean you up, now will I?" He froze instantly and lay almost motionless. I could just feel him trembling slightly with anticipation as I bent my head and began to lick off the honey. I watched out of the corner of my eye as his hand which lay on the rug by his hip began to twitch and then grabbed convulsively at the rug, digging his fingers into the fur. By the time I had carefully removed every last trace of the honey he was lying with his head thrown back, his hands clutching at the rug, desperately fighting the urge to grab hold of me.

"That's a good boy!" I said, in a particularly patronising tone of voice.

He opened his eyes and glared at me. "You're playing with fire here girl, you know that?" I put my hand on his chest and I could feel him shaking with laughter. I curled my hand around him and raised myself up on my knees far enough to push the head of his shaft between my lips, which were by now sufficiently wet to make it easy.

"Mmmmm...that feels good" I said pulling myself up off him again. He gave a frustrated little cry and pushed up at me with his hips trying to get back inside me.

"Naughty, naughty! I thought I was supposed to be in charge here?" I said as I began to rub the head of his shaft along my wet lips, "you know", I said conversationally, watching his fingers grasping at the fur "you're going to need a new rug sweetie, this one'll be bald soon at this rate!" At this Bill's iron self control snapped and he reached up for my hips and pulled me down onto him with a gasp. "Oh God, that's better!" he groaned as he pushed up, filling me up completely. I forced my face into a disapproving expression and looked down at him with a frown.

"Okay, okay...I know, you're in charge! Just take it from here...please?" he begged, holding on to my hips firmly to ensure that I didn't escape him again. In response I began to rock myself back and fore on him and discovered that I could, in fact, control the sensations myself by altering the pressure and the angle of my movements. I also discovered that I could sense Bill's increasing arousal and I timed my movements to match. Very soon I had driven us both up to peak of pleasure that I had never reached before, causing Bill to sit up with a cry, clasp my shaking body in his arms and, surprisingly gently, slide his fangs into my throat, driving both of us over the edge.

A few days later I was sitting on the couch in Bill's lounge, reading. Bill had left for his meeting in London the night after what I thought of as "the honey incident" and was due back later that evening.

Suddenly I heard a slight noise. I sat up and put down my book, noises were unusual at Bill's place. He had no immediate neighbours and lived at the end of a long driveway so there was no passing traffic. I got up, went into the kitchen and looked out of the window. There was a black van in the yard outside, I didn't recognise it, or the man who got out of it while I watched. He was about six feet tall with dark curly hair and as I watched three other men got out of the back of the van and began to move around the house. None attempted to come to the front door, they just took a quick look around and headed for the back. This wasn't good!

I noticed a sticker on the rear bumper and peered cautiously out of the window while trying to stay out of sight. It was a picture of a stylized sun with the words "The Warriors of Ra" over it. This was, in fact, very bad!

They were from that group that Bill had told me about, and they were obviously aware of the fact that a vampire lived in this house. Since it was still daylight I could only assume that they hoped to find Bill asleep...and do what? Kidnap him? Kill him?

So what would they do when they found that Bill wasn't here? What would they do if they found me?

With my mind buzzing with questions I only knew that I had better get out of there, and fast, but how? One of the four had come back to the van and was watching the front door. As I stood wondering what to do I heard a crash as one of the terrace windows was broken and then I heard voices in the lounge.

"Do you think he's here?" asked one.

"No idea, but we'd better search the place and fast...it'll be dark soon."

"What about the girl?" asked a third voice.

"What girl? asked the first voice.

"Jeez... don't you ever listen to the briefings Stan? The sheriff has a human girlfriend, she might be here." hissed the second voice, who appeared to be in charge.

"Well" said number three "what if she is. What do we do with her?"

A good question...I listened carefully for Mr Second's answer.

"Hey, she's all yours lads! Any woman who goes with a vamp is fair game, the bitch has betrayed her own race, you can have her if you want her."

Okay, I was really in trouble now! I pressed myself up against the kitchen wall hoping that the frantic pounding of my heart wouldn't attract unwanted attention and listened to them moving about in the lounge and dining room. I peeped around the wall into the hall and saw a dark shape through the glass of the front door. The fourth man was still there, there was no escape that way.

Then, as I peered out into the hallway, I noticed the closet at the back. Of course! Bill's safe room! why hadn't I thought of that before? I'd been concentrating on how to get out, but now I realised that I could lock myself in instead. I took a quick look around, the three men in the house were concentrating on the dining room but they wouldn't be long in there. I screwed up my courage, dashed across the hall to the closet and jumped in closing the door behind me.

I felt around the back wall for the panel and felt it slide across as I pressed it, but it was very dark with the door closed and I could just barely see the steps. I crept carefully down, sliding the panel back behind me. It was now pitch dark and I wondered how on earth I was going to work a keypad which I couldn't actually see. It was alright for Bill...he could see in the dark! I felt in my jeans pocket...yes! my phone! At last something was going right. I switched it on and examined the keypad in the light from the screen. Offering up a prayer that I could remember the combination, I pressed the six numbers...nothing happened.

I leaned against the door feeling sick with fear for a moment, then I got a grip on myself, took a deep breath and wiped my sweating hands on my jeans. Now don't panic Alex...try again calmly. I carefully entered the six numbers and, this time, I was rewarded by the slight rumble of the steel security door sliding back. I practically fell into the room and slapped my hand on the button inside. The door slid back into place with an audible and very solid "thunk". I slid down onto the floor and sat for a moment feeling relief wash over me, my legs felt as if they had turned to jelly and were quite unable to hold me upright.

After a moment I got up and switched on the light. Now what should I do? Call Bill? He'd be asleep but I could leave a message for him. I looked at my phone...no signal. Damn it! I should have realised that, the room was built into the side of the hill. That meant that my back up plan of calling the Police was no use either. I'd simply have to wait until Bill returned, although I couldn't bear the idea of those thugs trashing Bill's house and I didn't want him to walk in with no warning.

I sighed and sat down on the bed, and as I did so I noticed something I hadn't seen before. There was a phone on the bedside table! A land line! It must be an extension of the house phone. I picked it up and heard a dialling tone. With trembling fingers I called Bill's personal number and heard his familiar cool voice on the line "This is Bill Compton, I'm not available right now but please leave a message and I'll get back to you." Oh I certainly hoped so! "Bill!" I hissed "There are four guys in the house, they broke in through the terrace, they're from those "Warriors of Ra" you told me about. I'm ok, I'm in the safe room but you need to get home as soon as you can, I'm just going to call the Police as well." I hung up and dialled 999, the emergency number, something I'd never had to do in my life before.

"Fire, Police or Ambulance?" asked the operator. "Police!" I said "and quickly!" There was a click and a new voice came on "How can I help you?"

"Four men have just broken into the house" I said frantically "I need you to send help, right now."

"Can I have your name please miss?"

"Alexandra Morgan, what difference does that make! Listen the address is..." I got out the first two lines of the address before I realised that the line had gone dead. I stared at the phone in horror, they must have cut the line upstairs. These guys were really serious. Worse, I had no idea if the police had got the address or not. Well, I'd done all I could. I just had to hope that they wouldn't find the safe room or, if they did, that they wouldn't be able to get in. I was fairly sure that they wouldn't be able to break in, the door was about four inches thick, but I was still terrified anyway. I curled up on the bed and settled down to wait.

Despite my fear I must have dozed off as the next thing I knew I suddenly heard a noise at the door. I scooted back to the far wall in a panic and held my breath as the door slid open to reveal Bill.

"Alex?" he called his voice harsh with shock "are you okay?"

"Bill! Oh thank God!" I leapt off the bed and threw myself at him. He caught me and hugged me so tight I could hardly breathe, but I didn't care, I was safe in his arms at last.

"What happened?" he asked "are you sure you're not hurt?"

I looked up at him. His face was dark with anger and his fangs were extended further than I had ever seen them. He looked absolutely furious and absolutely terrifying.

"How dare they come here and threaten you! Did they know you were here?"

"They knew it was a possibility, I heard them talking about it but I don't think they knew for certain. I don't think they saw me get down here. It was you they were after." I said, my voice slightly muffled as Bill clutched me to his chest and gently stroked my hair.

"What did they say?" he asked "I mean, about you?"

"Well..." I was reluctant to tell Bill what I'd heard, he was quite angry enough already.

"Don't bother to tell me" he said shortly "I can imagine, I've read their pamphlets and that vile filth they publish on their websites."

Suddenly he stiffened and raised his head, listening. A moment later I heard it too, sirens coming up the hill. "You called the Police?" he asked.

"Well, yes...I...I didn't know what else to do, but they cut the phone line while I was talking to the operator and I wasn't sure they got the address. I'm sorry, was that wrong? Oh no...you haven't...?"

Bill hugged me closer to him. "Oh my poor darling" he said "you must have been terrified. It's all right, they're alive...just." He held me in one arm and drew me towards the stairs. "Come on, you're safe now."

He escorted me up the stairs and into the hallway. The front door was hanging open, broken off the hinges and I could see that the black van was still outside. The man who had been guarding the front door was now lying sprawled across the far end of the hallway, unconscious. He appeared to have been flung through the door with sufficient force to slam him against the far wall.

I looked through the archway into the lounge and saw the other three "warriors" lying up against the wall. One appeared to be unconscious and the other two were evidently too terrified of Bill to make a move. One was holding what was obviously a broken arm and the other's right ankle was twisted at an alarming angle.

At that moment there was a squeal of brakes, tyres and gravel and three policemen burst in through the broken front door. Bill spun round instinctively and snarled at them, fangs bared and they all stopped dead in their tracks. For a moment we just stared at each other and then I suddenly realised what this must look like to them. A young woman who had called the police for help, being held in the arms of a viciously snarling vampire.

"Hold it everyone, Bill would you let me go please?" I said quickly before the police could react. I could feel his reluctance, but he let go of me and stepped back, retracting his fangs with an audible "click".

At this everyone appeared to relax a little. One of the policemen tore his eyes away from Bill with an effort and turned to me. "Are you Miss Morgan?" he asked.

"Yes, that's right" I said.

"You made an emergency call, saying that someone had broken into the house and you needed help?" he glanced back at Bill.

"No, not him!" I said in an exasperated tone "these four" I gestured at the four warriors lying in various positions around us.

"Right" he said doubtfully "well, it doesn't look as if they'll be going anywhere for a while." He turned back to Bill. "Would you mind explaining who you are sir, and what you're doing here?"

Bill sighed, I guess he was used to the constant suspicion but I was getting seriously annoyed by it. "My name is Bill Compton" he said patiently, "and this is my house."

I watched as the other two policemen moved over to check the injured warriors, one using his radio to call for an ambulance.

"Miss Morgan was here when they broke in" explained Bill "and she called me immediately before contacting the Police. As soon as I got her message I came straight here, I would have expected you to be here first actually" he said in a slightly accusing tone of voice. "What took you so long? She could have been seriously hurt!"

"Well..." said the first Policeman.

"Could I have your name?" asked Bill politely.

"Anderson sir, Inspector Anderson. We didn't quite get the full address before the call was cut off."

"The call was cut off because the intruders cut the line!" said Bill, clearly struggling to keep his temper. "So how did you get here?"

"One of your neighbours called us in sir," said Anderson, now seriously flustered. "He was walking his dog and thought he heard glass breaking. May I ask what happened to the intruders?"

Bill glared at the Inspector, now clearly annoyed. "I arrived to find a strange van in my driveway and this gentleman" he gestured at the man lying in the hallway "outside my front door. As I approached he attacked me with this" Bill walked over to the fallen warrior, reached behind him and pulled out a piece of wood about three feet long with a jagged point which appeared to have been broken off from the fence outside. "I took it off him and threw him through the front door!"

He took a deep breath "You have to understand, Inspector, that these people not only hate my kind, but any who associate with us. I was seriously concerned for Miss Morgan's safety."

"And who exactly are "these people" sir?"

Bill looked surprised "Didn't you see the bumper sticker on the van?" he asked. "The Warriors of Ra."

One of the other officers looked up at this. "Oh, I've heard of them Sir!" he said "There's some seriously nasty stuff on their websites. Very anti-vampire and anti...well, anyone who disagrees with them basically. Some horrible stuff about what they would do to anyone who assists vampires, particularly women who ... oh..." his voice tailed off as his eyes slid over to me.

"Quite!" said Bill sharply "So you can understand why I would be concerned Inspector? That these men had broken into my home, where my girlfriend was staying, alone!"

"I see sir" said the Inspector.

At this point the man with the broken arm staggered to his feet and approached the policemen. "Why are there only three of you?" he asked angrily "You'll need more than that to take him down, he's a monster, look what he did to us!"

"And what would that be sir?" Anderson asked.

"He attacked us!" said the warrior indignantly.

"And how exactly did you get into his house sir?" asked the Inspector stepping into the lounge for a moment and regarding the damage with a practiced eye.

The warrior paused for a moment, "That whore of his let us in!" he said with a smirk. "She said she fancied a real man for a change!"

I could hear Bill's furious snarl from the other side of the hallway and I stepped in front of him and put my hand on his chest. "You know that's not true." I said quietly.

"I know." Bill said. I could feel the tension in his muscles as he held himself tightly in check, his instinct to rip the man to pieces fighting with his knowledge that he had to let the Police deal with this.

"Miss?" asked Anderson politely.

"I certainly did not let them in. I don't think they even knew I was here" I said.

"Of course we knew!" scoffed the warrior, getting more confident by the minute.

"Then where was I?" I asked him. "Where was I when Bill arrived?" He paused, and looked around him but it was obvious that he had no idea.

"Pete" said Anderson to the policeman who had said he had heard of the Warriors, "take him in the lounge with the other two and keep an eye on them until the ambulance arrives. Meanwhile, perhaps you'll tell me where you were Miss?"

Bill reluctantly waved a hand towards the hall closet.

"You were hiding in the closet?" he asked.

"No, not exactly" I said.

The third policeman came over and opened the closet door. He peered inside for a moment and then pulled a torch from his belt and shone it down the steps. "There's a whole suite of rooms down here sir" he said "with a pretty impressive security door!"

"Just as well, under the circumstances, wouldn't you say?" said Bill coldly.

"It would appear so" said Anderson with a sigh as, with a further crunching of gravel, an ambulance pulled up outside and two paramedics got out. "Right" he said to them as they stepped over the broken front door "I've got two men unconscious, one with a broken arm and another with a broken ankle. They will all shortly be under arrest, but in the meantime do what you can for them."

A chorus of complaints broke out from the lounge but Inspector Anderson ignored them and turned to Bill. "I'm afraid I'll have to ask you and Miss Morgan to come down to the station to make a statement."

Bill nodded "Of course."

Fortunately Inspector Anderson was not so harsh as to demand that we make a statement immediately, so we had the rest of the night to recover. The next evening we headed to the station in the company of a solicitor provided by Charles Montague. Bill had called him and explained what had happened, since the incident related, in a way, to his position as sheriff. He had professed extreme shock and assured us that he would do all he could to help and, sure enough, the next evening a car drew up in Bill's drive containing the extremely efficient Mr Stanwick. He asked us to go over all that had happened that night and listened carefully, without interrupting.

"What happened to the wooden stake the first man attacked you with Mr Compton?" he asked.

"It was hardly a stake" said Bill. "Just a piece of wood he had torn from the fence. The police took it with them, as evidence I assumed."

"If he had stabbed you with it, would it have killed you?" asked Stanwick.

"Well yes...I suppose so" said Bill.

"Then it's a stake. You'd be surprised at how much terminology can shape peoples' opinions! The other three, they came at you all at once?" he asked.

"Yes, that's right." said Bill.

"So, you did as little damage to them as you could, whilst defending yourself? I understand that there were no bite marks?" he asked delicately.

"No...I certainly did not bite anyone!" Bill sounded quite offended by the suggestion.

"Fine." Mr Stanwick snapped his briefcase shut and stood up. "Let's get this statement out of the way then shall we." he said cheerfully.

And it was, in fact, as simple as that. We arrived at the station and were introduced by Mr Stanwick, whose stress on Bill's title and position in the vampire hierarchy appeared to have a slightly intimidating effect on the counter staff. We were escorted into an interview room where we repeated our statements, they were recorded, typed up and we signed them and that was that. Obviously after viewing the information provided by Mr Stanwick from the website of "The Warriors of Ra" it had rapidly become obvious to the Police that Bill had had very good reason to be concerned for my welfare.

Unfortunately the vile rubbish they published had also managed to stir up the local press and when Bill and I eventually left the Station after several hours we found a group of photographers hanging around outside. To my intense embarrassment we were photographed numerous times and two or three reporters made a spirited attempt to interview Bill, but he simply swept me into the car saying "no comment" as Mr Stanwick fended off the keenest of the photographers.

Later that night Bill and I lay curled up together in his bed.

"We need to talk sweetheart, seriously" said Bill.

"Talk about what?" I asked.

"You remember what we discussed that night in the Hotel in Amsterdam? About the blood bond?" he asked, pulling me closer into his arms. "That if you had my blood, I would be able to feel you, sense your emotions?"

"Yes" I whispered "I remember."

"If I had not been such a coward, if we had exchanged blood that night, there would have been no need for you to call me, no need for you to worry about a cellphone signal, or someone cutting the line. I would have known that you needed me, I would have felt your fear and reached you sooner."

I smiled up at him "You couldn't have reached me any sooner Bill, it was daylight when they arrived, you got here as soon as it was possible, before the Police arrived." Bill sighed and looked away. "Don't you go beating yourself up over this!" I said sternly "this was not your fault and you did everything you could."

"How can you say that?" he asked turning to me with a pained expression "you know they would never have had any interest in you if it weren't for your association with me. You wouldn't even have been here at all….."

"You can stop that right now!" I said reaching up and taking his face between my hands. "You didn't force me to come here, I came of my own accord. "You might think of me as young, but I'm a grown woman Bill, I make my own decisions and I decided that I wanted to be with you." Bill blinked at me in surprise. "Did you think I didn't realise that being with you could be dangerous? that you could be dangerous?"

Bill lifted me up and held me in his lap "I swear I would never be a danger to you!" he said, he took my face between his hands and kissed me deeply and passionately. "I promise I would never knowingly harm you, or allow any harm to come to you through me!" He paused and gazed at me for a moment then appeared to make up his mind. "However there may be…..situations, in which I could be a danger to you." I opened my mouth to speak and he placed two long fingers across my lips. "No, wait a moment." He said "Let me try and explain. This is information you need to remember, seriously!"

I could see from his expression that he was very serious about this and so I sat back a little.

"There may be occasions when it would not be safe for you to be near me" he said.

"What? No you can't mean that!"

"I do mean it Alex, I am very serious about this, please listen." He looked extremely uncomfortable but carried on. "If I were to be injured, seriously injured, I know that you would wish to give me your blood to heal me but in those circumstances you would need to be very, very careful." He reached up to stroke my hair "You know that I would never knowingly harm you but if I was not fully conscious, then instinct would take over. My body would do whatever was necessary to heal itself. I could drain you…... even kill you, without ever knowing what I was doing. I could not live with myself if any harm came to you through me"

This was not something which had ever occurred to me or which I had ever even considered. I began to realise that Bill was right, there were so many things about him which I did not understand. "All right" I said quietly. "I promise to be careful." I shivered for a moment as I realised that I was sitting in the arms of a creature who really did have the potential to become a dangerous monster. Then Bill smiled gently at me and I knew that he meant what he had said, he would never knowingly harm me. I had always known he could be dangerous, I would just have to be careful, that was all. Hopefully the situation would never arise.

I reached for his hand and pulled it towards me. "So?" I asked. "Do you want to go ahead with this? I know you've not been sure about it before." I kissed the palm of his hand tenderly and waited for his decision.

"Yes" he said finally "I do. I know it can cause problems and it can be dangerous, but I can't bear the thought that you might need me and I wouldn't know." He sighed "Ideally I'd like to keep you out of the political sphere completely, but I know that's not going to be possible. Others will bring you in even if I don't." He leaned over and kissed me, then he lay down on his back and put his head back across the pillow baring the soft skin of his throat. "Go ahead." he said.

"What...you mean..."

"Yes," he turned his head and smiled at me "you can do this, believe me. Come on, kiss me" he instructed. Ok, I could do that. I leaned over his still form and kissed him my tongue sliding in between his cool lips. "There," he said "you see, you can take orders like a good little girl!"

"If you're trying to annoy me into biting you, you're going the right way about it!" I said. I felt his chest moving as he tried to suppress the laughter. "Come on...please!"

As I lay alongside him I suddenly realised that he wanted this...badly. His head was thrown back on the pillow and his jaw clenched in anticipation. For some reason it had never occurred to me that he would find being bitten, arousing. But he obviously did. Boy, I still had a lot to learn about vampires!

I screwed up my courage and began to plant little kisses down his neck and across his throat. He reached around me and pulled me closer pressing my body against him until I could feel that my earlier assumption about his intense arousal had been quite correct. I licked at the little hollow at the base of his throat and he groaned. "Oh, Alex...please!" I took a deep breath, sucked a piece of his cool, alabaster flesh into my mouth and bit down hard. He let out a gasp and I backed off at once, fearful that I had hurt him.

"No, no...please don't stop!" he moaned grasping me by the hair with his free hand and pulling my mouth back to his throat. I leaned in again and sucked hard on the little wound, feeling the thick sweet blood flow down my throat and as I did so my vision began to grow dark.

"Bill!" I cried, pulling back "I can't...I can't see...!"

Trust me" he murmured "it'll be alright."

I took another mouthful and then I was swimming in darkness, frightened and alone, but unable to pull away this time. I felt Bill's lips brush my neck and his fangs sank into my flesh and suddenly he was there, somehow. With me in the darkness, comforting me. I clung to him and drank deeper, the blood seeming to be the most delicious thing I had ever tasted. I began to rub my body up against Bill's like a cat, my breath coming in short gasps, feeling as though I was being controlled by some force, outside of myself and I realised that I was feeling Bill's increasing arousal. The taste of my blood had sparked a powerful, almost savage lust for me which overwhelmed my senses and threatened to short out my brain.

I wanted him, so badly... needed him, I felt that if I didn't feel him inside me I would simply die. "Oh Bill...!" I moaned, "please...now!"

He rolled over on the bed so that I was underneath him, with his fangs still buried in my throat, and drove himself into me, hard and deep. I took another mouthful of his sweet blood and felt my body writhing against him, drawing up my knees and flinging my legs around his hips. It was as if I was standing outside myself in the darkness, watching this happening to someone else. Bill was normally such a gentle and considerate lover but now he appeared to have been overtaken by an almost feral lust and I somehow understood that he was feeling my own enhanced arousal feeding back through the blood and increasing his own in a circle of passion which threatened to set us both on fire. We clung together, Bill thrusting powerfully into me driving my pleasure higher and higher with each long stroke until, with a snarl he reached an explosive climax, shattering my awareness into tiny pieces which seemed to float away into the darkness.

We lay for a while, locked together, dazed by our mutual passion. Bill's gradually softening shaft was still buried inside me and I wound my legs around him, holding him in place, never wanting to let him go. After a moment he rolled off me and held me against him, lying on his side.

"Are you all right?" he asked softly "did I hurt you?"

"Well yes, a little" I whispered, unable to raise my voice any louder.

"Oh no...oh my darling...!"

"I didn't care, I wanted you to" I gasped "I felt that if you stopped I would just die!" I ran my fingers through his hair and smiled at him. "I've never felt anything like that before...that was caused by the blood?"

"I did try to warn you" he smiled back at me and took me in his arms, laying me down carefully on my back. "Are you in pain?" he asked gently.

"Just a little sore," I said "I think I'll live!" I looked around the room in a slightly dazed manner. "Have you put some more lights in here?" I asked.

Bill smiled at me "No" he answered "You are just able to see better in the dark now.

The blood has other effects you know, its not entirely sex!" he laughed. "You will be healthier, stronger, faster, heal quicker and your senses will be enhanced somewhat as well."

"Wow!" I struggled to sit up and Bill lifted me gently and propped me up against a pile of pillows. "Well, I hope you enjoyed that half as much as I did." I said.

"It was wonderful!...your body felt as if it was on fire for me." he whispered, snuggling up against me. "And the taste of your blood was like a waterfall of sparks flowing through my dead veins."

"Is the effect permanent?" I asked.

"No, it will wear off gradually...unless you have more of my blood." he laughed "And I have to say that any time you want to bite me again, you are very, very welcome!"

Some weeks later we were heading into town to attend the initial hearing for the four "warriors". It was not a major case, they were charged simply with breaking and entering, but due to the involvement of the new Vampire Sheriff and his girlfriend it was likely to cause a stir in the local press and Charles Montague, not satisfied with simply providing a solicitor, had decided to attend himself with some of his retinue.

The previous evening he had held a kind of "council of war" at Bill's house, accompanied by Gerry, Bill's old friend who I had met in Amsterdam, and two other vampires who had also attended the conference.

"Now, my sources tell me that there is to be a demonstration tomorrow outside the courtroom, by these "Warriors of Ra" he said, standing with his back to Bill's fireplace and addressing us sternly. "I want to make it clear that, whatever happens, there is not to be any reaction by us. You understand? Nothing at all, no matter what the provocation!"

"Of course" said Bill mildly "I've already made it clear to everyone in the district that, although they may attend if they wish, they are not to make any move against them."

"We will need to be very careful but, with luck, this could work out well for us. We have done nothing wrong, remember that. We should be able to hold on to the moral high ground for a change."

The next evening we set off in a convoy of vehicles into town. Since the Revelation most businesses had begun to stay open later to try to take advantage of our newest citizens and it appeared that even the Courts had to open later to accommodate cases where vampires were either the accused, the victims or even just witnesses.

When we arrived the demonstration was in full swing. There were the usual "rent-a-mob" types who always turned up when there was a possibility of trouble. But there were also representatives of genuine anti-vampire groups, complete with placards proclaiming the usual rhetoric. I saw several "God Hates Fangs" and "Vamps Kill" placards, looking very professional. I wondered if you could order them online or something. There was also, I was glad to see, a large contingent of Police.

Charles got out of his car and made a beeline for the small group of press who were being herded into a corner by the Police. As soon as we had arrived they had stopped taking photographs of the protesters and started on us. I noticed that there were even a couple of television cameras. I looked over to where Charles was holding court with a group of reporters. He appeared to be in the middle of a conversation and was laughing at something the reporter had just said to him. "You do understand that my friend Mr Compton is the victim here?" he asked "These four men broke into his house where Miss Morgan here" he gestured for me to step forward "was staying, alone, while Mr Compton was away." He pointed into the crowd of protesters. "As you can see from their placards they do not approve of humans who have anything to do with us and Mr Compton was, understandably, concerned for her safety. Besides, on his return they attacked him!"

Charles had placed his arm companionably around my shoulders and I looked around to see where Bill was when a movement in the crowd caught my eye. Two men were edging towards the front of the crowd, not chanting or shouting slogans, just moving purposefully forward. I slipped away from Charles and turned towards Bill, just in time to see one of the men pull a pistol from under his jacket and aim it at the vampire bodyguard standing next to Charles.

Before I could even think of doing anything he pulled the trigger and the vampire simply exploded in a fountain of blood. For a moment there was a stunned silence and then all hell broke loose. I turned towards Bill and saw the other man also pull out a gun and, to my horror, he was right in front of me!

He raised his arm and everything seemed to slow down. I heard the crack of the pistol shot and at the same time felt myself snatched backwards by the arm. I fell to my hands and knees in the road and looked up to see Bill right in front of me. His body was jolted backwards as the first bullet took him high in the shoulder. There was a series of sharp cracks and five more sprays of blood appeared down Bill's right side as the bullets spun him around and drove him to his knees before me. I had time only to see a glimpse of the pain in his eyes before he collapsed in the road and lay still. I flung myself on top of him, hoping to protect him from whatever else was out there in the crowd and listened to the panicked screams of the protesters and the yelling of the Police.

After what seemed like several hours, but was probably only a few minutes I felt hands lifting me up and I looked up at two burly policemen. "Are you hurt Miss?" asked one. "You're covered in blood!"

"It's not mine" I said numbly "It's his!"

"That looked deliberate to me" said the other policemen. "He stepped in front of you just as the guy began firing."

"Yes" I whispered.

"Will he be all right?" he asked. I stared at him blankly. "Well, I mean, he didn't just dissolve like the other one."

The policeman's words slowly penetrated my shocked brain. He was right! Bill wasn't dead, he was just injured! Badly, but he wasn't dead!

I staggered to my feet and looked around. The area before the courtroom was a mess of leaflets and broken placards. Two more policemen were holding the press photographers back behind a line of tape and Charles was standing beside a large pool of blood on the tarmac looking shocked, his expensive suit splashed with the blood of his ex-bodyguard.

I went over to him and took his arm. "Bill's not dead!" I said "We have to help him!"

He looked down at me and held out his hand. He was holding the gun from the man who had shot his bodyguard and there were a few bullets lying in his hand. "Look at these." He said. "Wooden, with silver cores. Those bastards meant to do as much damage as possible. If Bill had been hit in the heart he'd have ended up like Marcus here" he gestured at the pool of blood at his feet. "As it is the silver will be in his blood by now, he's as good as dead. It would be kinder to stake him now."

I glared at Charles furiously. "He just saved my life and now I'm going to save his, and you're going to help me."

"Now why would I do that?" he asked. "You, my dear are a nuisance and a distraction. He wouldn't have been hit at all if it wasn't for you!"

I took a deep breath and tried to remain calm, did he think I didn't know that! "Because you need him as your sheriff." I said.

He smiled "There are plenty of others I could appoint in his place."

"You think so?" I asked angrily "Take a look over there" I nodded towards the line of Police tape behind which stood the crowd of reporters and television cameras. "They just watched him take half a dozen bullets for me, any one of which would have killed me. They may even have it on video. Your sheriff is a hero! How do you think they'll react if you just let him die?"

"I'll just explain to them that he couldn't be saved."

"But I'll tell them he could!" Charles' eyes narrowed at this. "Don't think you can stop me…not in front of all these cameras."

"How do you know you can save him?" he asked.

"I've done it before." I said quietly. His eyes widened a little at this, but he showed no other reaction.

"What do you need me to do?" He asked.

"If I give him my blood while he's not fully conscious he may lose control, be unable to stop. I need you to control him."

"And why shouldn't I simply let him drain you my dear?" he asked with an evil little smile. "That way I'd get my sheriff back and you'd be out of the way. A win, win situation!"

"Because you need him as sheriff" I said coldly "and if you do that, you'll never have him. If he comes round and finds that he has killed me and you could have prevented it…..he will never, ever forgive you!"

Charles stared at me, his cold, flat eyes reminded me of those of a snake, "Careful now dear" he said "forever is a very long time for us."

"But you need him right now."

"Hmmm….." He regarded me thoughtfully for a moment. "He does seem to love you, doesn't he, and everyone loves a happy ending." He glanced over at the press behind the barriers, "an example of good human/vampire relations…useful publicity…..yes, that would work."

"You're a cold, calculating bastard aren't you?" I said.

He turned to me and gave me the most genuine smile I had ever seen from him. "Of course my dear, how do you think I have managed to survive this long? Come on, I'll help you."

We walked over to where Bill lay, pale and motionless. "Are you sure about this?" he asked. "We'll both look a bit foolish if it doesn't work or if you get seriously hurt."

"I'm counting on you to see that I don't!" I said "I can't be sure that it'll work, but I have to try."

"Very well." I held my arm out to him and he smiled and opened his mouth. When his fangs extended the press photographers suddenly noticed us and flashes began to go off as he raised my wrist to his mouth and bit down. As soon as his fangs had penetrated my wrist I tugged my arm away and he stood staring at me and licking his lips in the full glare of the press photographers. "My!" he said "you really are delicious aren't you! I'm beginning to understand what he sees in you. Charming, strong minded, intelligent…and tasty too!"

I sat down on the cold ground and pulled Bill's head into my lap. "Never mind the compliments" I said "just keep an eye on him!"

I positioned my arm so that my blood trickled over Bill's cold lips. At first there was no reaction, but then I felt him move and his lips parted slightly. I moved my arm so that the blood ran into his mouth and was rewarded by his tongue licking weakly at my wrist. "That's it" I murmured "good boy". Suddenly one hand grasped mine, hard, and the other grabbed my arm at the elbow, holding my wrist in place. He opened his mouth wider and bit down savagely into my arm. I gritted my teeth against the pain and looked up into Charles' eyes. "Never mind me" I grated "watch him."

"No," he replied "I'm watching you." He reached over and placed two fingers on my throat, feeling for my pulse, waiting for it to weaken. Bill's eyes were still closed but as I watched they began to flicker slightly.

"It's working!" breathed Charles. I looked up and saw Gerry running over to us.

"What on earth's going on here?"

"Shut up and get hold of him!" said Charles abruptly.

I was starting to feel faint when Charles took his hand away from my pulse, said "Right, that's enough" and took hold of Bill's shoulders, Gerry took his arms and between them, they began to pull him away from me.

I noticed, in a somewhat dazed fashion, that Charles moved his body slightly to block the photographers' view while he and Gerry struggled to prise Bill's fangs from my wrist. They pulled him off me and Charles stood up lifting me in his arms like a child.

There was an ambulance by the kerb where a couple of paramedics were tending to some of the protesters who had been injured in the panic and he walked over towards it. "Open your eyes dear" he said "we don't want the public thinking you're dead now do we? That would ruin my public relations efforts!" He went up to the two paramedics by the ambulance and gave them a big smile. The effect was somewhat spoiled by the fact that his long fangs were still stained with my blood. "Could I perhaps have a blanket?" he asked, setting me down carefully on the back of the ambulance.

The two paramedics, who had been standing and gaping at us with their mouths open, jumped into action and brought out a blanket which Charles wrapped around me tenderly, as though he actually cared. Damn he was good!

"How do you feel" he asked, looking carefully at the whites of my eyes.

"Oh, great" I said shakily "a couple of nice juicy steaks and I'll be just fine." He burst out laughing. "Oh yes, he's right about you!" he said.

I looked over to where Bill had staggered to his feet, helped by Gerry, and watched as he tried to make his way over to where I sat. Gerry called over another vampire who I didn't recognise and together they helped Bill over to the ambulance. He sat down next to me and put his arm around my shoulders. I leaned sideways and rested my head on his shoulder. "Are you okay?" I whispered.

"I will be" he answered, "thanks to you."

"What were you thinking of?" I said, as crossly as I could manage. "You could have been killed…...permanently!"

He laughed weakly. "You would certainly have been killed, and I could not allow that to happen. I promised you that no harm would come to you through me. And I meant it!"

"Oh Bill, honey…." I moved over into his open arms and he leaned down to kiss my forehead gently…there was a flash…..damn photographers!

Bill looked down at me "Please don't mention honey" he said weakly "somehow I'm just not in the mood."