Vampire Kisses

Sure, Darren doesn't think a kiss from a vampire would be all that pleasurable but Steve's prepared to change his mind… In the practical way, if he has to.

Rating: Somewhere in between T and M, because it does get pretty sexual with that heavy petting, thar. If you're not okay with that, don't read this story. It's as simple as that. (:

Pairing and setting:

Darren x Steve, when both are fourteen years old, and it's pre-book setting.

When you had been friends with someone for as long as I had with Steve, it only takes a few words from them for you to know they're up to something.

"Hey, Darren!"

I was almost reluctant to look at my best friend simply because of the mischievous tone he had to his voice. Granted, you could ask anyone and they would tell you that that particular tone was always present but I knew that this was a whole other level. When I did finally raise my dark brown eyes to his bright green, I saw that they were sparkling with interest and internally, I groaned.

"Yeah, Steve?" I wearily responded, wary and on-guard now that he was randomly initiating conversation after our uneventful, mostly silent afternoon together that we had spent flicking through comic books, all cooped up in his bedroom. We hadn't spoken to each other in at least twenty minutes, completely immersed in the fictional worlds we were reading about.

With slow movements, I temporarily closed the book I was reading, making sure to keep a finger between its pages to mark my place. Steve was laying on his stomach on his navy blue carpet, comics haphazardly strewn out around him, scattered in every direction. He was propped up on one elbow and the hand that he wasn't rested on was holding an open comic book, his finger pointing at one of the characters to draw my attention to it.

"Would you?" He asked, getting into a sitting position so that he could push the comic closer to my face. I was sitting on his bed, back resting against the robin's egg blue walls, but I leaned forward to get a better view of what it was that he wanted me to see. If he could be bothered to share it with me, it must have been worth the energy it took to move.

There on the laminated page was a slender vampiress, eyes sharp and red, outlined with thick black lashes in an almost seductive way. She was wearing a black lace-up corset and dramatically swishy knee-length lack skirt. I drank in her appearance but had to fight back a shudder when my eyes picked up on the vicious snarl that was twisting her blood-red lips.

Mind finally remembering that I'd been asked a question, I returned to my original position of being slumped against Steve's bedroom wall and re-opened my comic book, sending my friend a questioning look.

"Would I what?" I asked, confused. Steve rolled his eyes.

"Would you tap that?" He elaborated, slender finger tapping against the page insistently to hurry me into answering.

"Oh, for the love of God, Steve…" I murmured, trying not to sound whiny but also not really caring much for his weird games. "She's a vampire."

A few seconds of silence passed and Steve was still looking at me expectantly, his spiky blonde bangs failing to hide the intensity of his jade eyes as he waited for me to expand upon my answer. When he didn't receive anything more from me, he tutted loudly and disapprovingly, flinging the comic book down on the carpeted floor.

"And?" He demanded, giving me a slightly irritated look of disbelief.

"I don't know…" I trailed off as I re-evaluated my answer, chewing slightly at the inside of my cheek as I thought more deeply. "She's attractive enough, I guess, I just don't think getting with a vampire would be that enjoyable… I mean, kissing someone with those teeth…"

My explanation drew a surprised laugh from Steve and I immediately sent a heated glare his way.

"Shu'up…" I mumbled, returning my focus back to my comic book to avoid showing my embarrassment. Was what I said really that amusing? I didn't think so.

"Sorry, mate," Steve smiled, mirth still twinkling in his eyes as he regained composure. "It was just unexpected."

"Well so was the question." I retaliated, albeit a little grumpily as I tried to re-immerse myself in the world that Thor was living in between the thin pages of my comic book.

"Aw, Darren, don't take offense… It's just, are you really telling me that you're afraid…" Steve paused in his question to push himself to his feet, leaning on one knee on the edge of the bed, pushing his face close to mine. "Of a little bite?"

His sudden closeness sent my senses soaring in surprise and I swallowed audibly, watching him with confused eyes as the smile tugging at the corners of his lips developed into an amused and playful smirk. Something about the way he was looking at me made me feel as if he were presenting me with a silent challenge so of course, I refused to decline. Steadying my gaze, I looked deep into his emerald eyes and met his intense stare evenly.

"I didn't say that." I answered, letting my eyes flicker to my friend's pink lips as a pearly white canine lightly tugged at his full lower lip, distracting me momentarily. No doubt he noticed how I couldn't help but follow the action with my eyes until he stopped, because his smirk grew and I had to try hard not to blush. "I just said I don't think I would enjoy it, not that I was afraid."

My voice was almost shaking, the temperature of my body rising because Steve was moving to be closer to me, leaving nought but a few inches of room between us. I was so busy trying not to let him stare me down that I didn't notice his hand snaking towards my leg until it was laid upon my thigh, the heat of his skin seeping in through the thick black material of my school trousers.

Eyes wide with shock, I looked down at where his hand was rested, his thumb moving in small circles against leg and sending shivers right through me.

"What are you doing?" I almost stammered, heart in my throat.

There was a slight delay in Steve's answer because he had his face not millimetres from mine, his breath – sweet from the mints we'd shared a bag of half an hour before – was ghosting over my lips and I could tell from the darkening in his eyes that he wanted to relish playing with me before putting me out of my misery. Like I said, when you've known someone for as long as I've known Steve, it becomes easy to read them.

"I'm going to persuade you." He finally answered but it was more like he purred in my ear, his hand starting to move upwards on my leg.

"Persuading me of what?" I somehow managed to ask, despite the fact that my heart was pounding so hard that I could barely think straight anymore. The only thought spinning through my mind was that his hand was sliding further and further upwards and the ability to breathe was about to abandon me completely.

"That vampire kisses are the best ones."

The hand that wasn't driving me crazy by moving slowly up my leg grabbed at the collar of my hoody and yanked me towards him as he crashed his lips down against my own. I was too shocked to even react at first but it seemed that Steve could care less about that. His fingers relaxed their hold on my hoody and that same hand found its way to the back of my neck, squeezing firmly before his fingers tangled themselves in the gelled spikes of my raven black hair.

Part of my brain was screaming at me to stop this but the rest of it was urging me on, encouraging me to respond and let my body, which currently felt like it had been lit on fire, receive the touches and the responses it was now craving from Steve's.

My own shaking hand found its way to in between our bodies and I pressed hard at Steve's chest, not to push him away but to let me prise my lips away from his for a second just to allow myself a shuddering intake of breath before I dove in for another intense, mind-blowing kiss. Each harsh and insistent parting and meeting of our lips sent my heart-rate up another notch, my skin tingling and my body longing for more. A warm tongue lightly swiped at my lower lip and that was all the warning I got before it pushed its way into my mouth to lick at my own, coaxing me to react.

With shy, inexperienced movements, I slid my tongue alongside his, curling my fingers around Steve's arms as I tried to hold him close to me, unwilling to break this connection just yet. As if this heated pace wasn't enough for him, Steve withdrew his tongue from my mouth before I knew what was happening and for some reason, he left me aching for more, my body automatically trying to follow his lips to deepen the kiss. He didn't pull back far, though, because a jolt of pain was suddenly crashing through my body as he nipped at my lip, not holding back.

I let out a gasp into his mouth, surprised not only by the action but also at how much I liked it. The small sting just added to the sensations spinning through my blood and heightened my desire. Not wasting any time, Steve delighted in the tiny noise I let out into his hungry mouth and quickly bit at my lip again, eliciting the same reaction.

"There we go…" He murmured and I felt his lips curl up into a smirk against mine once more as his hand slid down my chest at a maddeningly slow pace.

It was difficult to focus on the kiss when I was started to want him this badly but I managed to give into my instincts and relax a little, though this all went to pieces as I felt blunt nails lightly trace over my stomach, moving downwards to scratch the dip of muscle near my hip a little.

"Steve!" I gasped against his lips, my fingers digging into his arm as he swung a leg over my hips, effectively straddling me.

Choosing not to waste any words on giving me a verbal answer, Steve instead chose to respond with a warning nip to my lips, ending the kiss with a sharp taste of pain.

I barely had any time to recover, my breath coming in short, shallow pants, before Steve's hot, teasing lips were attached to my neck, sucking hard on a spot that sent shivers all through me, heat pooling in the pit of my stomach at the sensation. A quiet, surprised moan escaped my lips and this clearly encouraged Steve to take things a step further as, without warning, his sharp white teeth clamped down on the sensitive skin of my neck and my whole body bucked up into his.

At this point, rational thought abandoned ship and I was left with a whirlwind of hot, intense feelings of lust and desire, lacking the ability to question how this made me feel emotionally; if I liked Steve or even boys in this way or if I should be worried by how much this pain he was causing me was turning me on. Instead, all I could do was slide my hands up under his school shirt and drag my nails down his back, urging him to continue and breathy moans begging him not to stop.

A series of smaller bites succeeded the first, some breaking the skin, some just enough to leave bitemarks and bruises and others just being given for the purpose of teasing me and getting me to breathe his name pleadingly. By the time he pulled away from my highly-abused neck, leaving it wet and covered with darkening lovebites, I was a quivering, needy mess. His lips were once again curled into a smirk as they pressed a soft, teasing kiss to mine but he failed to distract me from the daring hand that was sliding down my body to brush against the hardness between my legs.

I had been too busy focusing on wanting Steve to realise that there was now physical evidence of this straining against my pants but it was a little too late to lie to my best friend about it.

Before I had a chance to even feel embarrassed about getting turned on by Steve's skilled lips and teeth, his equally skilled hand was rubbing firmly against my hard length, leaving me clutching at him and whispering his name like a mantra into his mouth.

It wasn't hard for me to lose myself in the onslaught of feelings, Steve's warm hand had found its way into my boxers and had wrapped itself around me, bringing me closer and closer as his lips massaged my own promisingly. My mind was spinning as I dug my fingernails into my friend's back, pulling him as close to me as I could as I felt my orgasm approaching. With my heart pounding, thoughts tripping over themselves and Steve biting down as hard as he could on my sensitive lower lip, I came hard, falling over the edge and into oblivion with my best friend bringing me into an immense state of pleasure.

As I rode out my orgasm with Steve's hand giving me a few more languid strokes, he pushed his tongue into my mouth and brought the taste of blood with him. My hazy, dilated eyes had slipped closed but opened a little in confusion when the metallic tang of blood filled my mouth but as my slow brain made the connection between the stinging bite-induced cut in my lip and the taste, I relaxed a little. That didn't make the taste any less unpleasant, though.

My breathing had somehow returned to normal and my body was tingling but still regaining its strength, so I made a tiny noise of protest into Steve's mouth and as he removed his hand from my boxers, he withdrew his tongue from my mouth simultaneously, being sure to lick at the cut as he did so.

"Your blood tastes good, Darren." He smirked almost darkly, licking his lips slowly as if he were relishing the taste. "And I told you I was going to persuade you to change your mind."

"W-what?" I breathed, still trying to piece together my thoughts in my head.

"Vampire kisses are the best ones, agreed?" Steve chuckled, casually wiping his hand clean on his bedsheets before rearranging the wild blonde spikes of his hair. "You can hardly argue after that hot little performance."

The flush already spread over my cheeks darkened a few shades. Remembering how to use my tongue for something other than kissing, I tried to scold Steve for his… awkward words.

"Shut up, Steve… Don't embarrass me." I mumbled, moving shaky hands downwards to rebutton my trousers.

Ignoring my discomfort, Steve shifted slightly atop me, fixing me with a quizzical look as he changed the subject to something more embarrassing.

"You were being pretty loud, moron, I must say…" He drifted off as if he were finished but then added something with made me hide my head in my hands with shame. "Even my stupid mother probably heard you."

As I groaned into my hands, I felt Steve's fingertips trailing over the still-burning skin of my neck.

"That said," he continued, pressing lightly against a certain patch of skin, "judging by all these hickeys and lovebites, I'd say it's damn obvious what we were doing up here."

Leaning down with a satisfied and proud smirk on his lips, Steve gave me another teasing nip.

"What's the point in hiding it, eh?" Enjoying my embarrassed lack of response and confusion-induced lack of words, Steve leaned back and a crafty look appeared in his eyes.

"Oh God…" I sighed, wondering how this awkward situation could possibly get any worse.

"Wait 'til I tell the boys at school that Darren Shan has a vampire fetish!" My best friend cried, laughing at the look of intense horror that appeared on my face.

"You're impossible…" I accused, turning my face away from his and willing my embarrassment to disappear. Behind my slight annoyance at Steve's teasing was a more serious worry about what came next.

Was I supposed to believe that this meant something or were we just two teenage boys fooling around? I was just so confused, now that the lust was no longer clouding my brain or impairing my judgement.

While these paranoid thoughts and fears were circling my mind, it was Steve's turn to point out that he could read me pretty easily too.

"Hey," he interrupted my hectic thought pattern, voice surprisingly serious. "Stop worrying about this."

With slow movements, he clambered off me and slumped down next to me, propping his head up on his hand and staring deeply into my eyes.

"I'm not worried." I lied, giving a little shrug to support my untruth.

"Bull, Darren. I've known you for years, I know you're sat there over-analysing the situation and wondering what comes next."

Silence followed as I mulled his words over, a little surprised, as I always was, by how well he knew me. When he realised that I wasn't going to reply, Steve took it upon himself to further the conversation.

"We're still best friends, weirdo, but I like you and I like doing stuff like this with you so we'll just see how it goes, okay? There's nothing wrong with just letting what happens happen, right?"

His voice was so calm and sure that it actually soothed my nerves and I allowed myself a small smile.

"Yeah…" I agreed, testing the idea out in my head to see how it felt. "Yeah, let's go with that."

Returning my smile but with more relief than calm shining in his eyes, Steve jokily punched my arm.

"You still have some weird vampire kink that I just hope you know I'll be telling the lads at school about." He teased, sending me a sly wink.

Rolling my eyes, I fisted my hand in his jumper and pulled him on top of me again.

"Like you can talk." I retorted, wrapping an arm around his neck to pull him down so my lips could brush against his as I spoke. "Now shut up and kiss me again, you blood-sucking bastard."

Ah, Darren Shan – the series that was quite possibly my first literary love. Having re-read the books as a teenager rather than a child, I realised the potential for Steve x Darren awesomeness that this amazing series harbours. THIS pairing is my new love and aaah, I can't wait to write more for it.

Unfortunately, there's just not enough fanwork out there for Steve x Darren! It's all Darren x Crepsley – which, to be as frank but inoffensive as possible – I just find creepy. XD I don't like it one bit.

We just need more fan-art and fan-fics out there for these sexy guys, come on people! :)

So I just had to write this (and then re-write it to correct the horrible standard of writing that I used to use) to express my love for this amazingness and hope to spread the looooove!

Please let me know what you thought of it, you amazingly brilliant readers, you, and I'll hopefully repay/thank you with another Steve x Darren fic that I currently have in the works.

Much love, you gorgeous lot.