.
.
He wondered when he took her whether the having would be as good as the wanting.
It was better.
He wondered whether the sex would become stale after screwing her once or twice, the way it always did with his freshies.
It didn't.
He was crazy for her; he couldn't focus, make decisions, do anything that required sustained concentration. He was beginning to lose it, make choices that were costing him money on the stock market. He didn't recognise himself, several times wondering whether he had indeed gone mad.
She was his best friend's woman for Christ's sake.
He was so far gone it didn't matter. There was no solution but that he had to have her, and the more of her he had, the more he wanted. Initially, he'd been satisfied just by coming to her room in the dark of night, ravishing her with savage assurance as if he were a vampire of old and she a village maiden, but too soon he wanted her all the time, when he woke at dusk, in the middle of his working day, the early hours of the morning.
It took some months, but he persuaded her to quit her job with the District Attorney's office, use her journalism degree in an executive position in the Public Relations Department of Kostan Industries.
It provided a plausible excuse as to why she smelled of him.
He couldn't go for long periods without hearing her voice, seeing her, touching her. During meetings he'd stroke the skin underneath her skirt, his eyes glued to her face as she tried to remain professional before her colleagues, hide the arousal he was so deliberately provoking.
Evenings when he socialised with Mick were the hardest. He cringed every time Mick touched her in passing, felt a slow burn of anger as his friend ran a proprietary hand over the curve of her shoulder. He knew the revealing clothing Beth had begun to wear was for him, knew she enjoyed his discomfiture just a little as he watched them together.
When he came to her at night he could smell his friend on her breath.
He was so far gone, for the first time in over a century he began to plan time away from the office, a holiday. His quick mind spent hours plotting ways to pry her from Mick's side for a whole week. That should give him enough time to satisfy himself on her willing body, that ought to burn the madness out.
If it didn't burn out soon it might kill them both.
She was becoming pale, too pale. He could never resist the bite, needing to come and come again each time they lay together. She never resisted, begged for it even, pressing her throat against his fangs and urging him to drink from her, as if she was the one who needed it.
Their desire was making them reckless.
.
*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*
.
Beth was working late these days, so Mick had let himself into her office, a bouquet of flowers in his hand. They'd agreed she'd see him tomorrow night, she thought he'd be safely asleep in his freezer by now, but he wanted to surprise her. He looked around, curious about her absence. Her handbag was still sitting on the cabinet by her desk.
He heard the sound of running water. Every office at the executive level of the Kostan Corp Building had private bathrooms. Beth must have done a workout in the basement gym, needed to clean up. He smiled at the thought of watching her shower unannounced and walked softly to the half open bathroom door.
He pressed a finger against the wood. The door swung open.
Beth's back was pressed against the shower wall, her head thrown back, her eyes squeezed tightly shut. For a second he felt a thrill of forbidden pleasure – he loved to watch her touch herself - but then she moaned and he saw the man kneeling between her legs, one hand on her buttock, the other pumping at his hard-on. His face was pushed tight against her pussy, and as Mick watched, the man drew back a little, parting her lips with two fingers and thrusting his tongue inside of her. Beth groaned and pulled his head into her groin with both hands.
Mick felt sick, enraged. The two of them were so engrossed, the steam so thick, that neither Beth nor the man had registered his presence. He watched as the man lifted Beth's thigh and lay it across his shoulder. For a second his face was in profile.
Josef. The bouquet of flowers dropped to the floor.
Beth nodded, her eyes glued to his best friend's face. Fangs bit deeply into her femoral artery.
"I'm coming, oh God, oh God, I'm coming," Beth breathed, her body shaking violently.
As she began to climax, her eyes opened and she looked directly into Mick's stricken face.
.
*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*
.
"How long?"
Beth's eyes were wide with fear.
"How fucking long?" Mick shouted.
Josef stepped in front of Beth.
"What does it matter, Mick?," he said, "What's done is done."
Mick stepped around Josef and looked at Beth. His eyes softened. "Just tell me it wasn't going on before we talked about moving in together."
"Oh, no, Mick," she lied, and took a step forward as if to put her arms around him.
"Don't," he said turning away.
"I know it won't help, but I acknowledge that Beth is yours. You have the right to Compensation, Mick," Josef said, referring to an ancient vampire law of reparation, meant to smooth the waters when one vampire had stolen the possessions of another. "Name your penalty. What do you want?"
"A stake through your heart," Mick said without turning his head to look at his former best friend. "You, dead," he said warming to his subject, "Your head on a stick, your companies, every one of them, burned to the ground."
Josef paused and an eyebrow rose. "For a second I was worried that you were going to overreact," he said.
Mick's hand was around Josef's throat and then the enraged P.I. was flying through the air, landing with a hard thump against the other wall.
"Josef, no!" Beth screamed.
"Don't mistake my offer of Compensation as an admission of weakness, Mick," Josef grated.
Mick picked himself up. "Screw you, Josef. I will invoke Compensation. I want you out of L.A. today."
Josef's mind ticked over. "All right. Anything else?"
"Sarah."
Josef stiffened. "What about her?"
"Her machines, all of them, switched off."
Josef's face twitched. "I take yours, you take mine, is that how it works?"
"Damn right", Mick said bitterly.
Beth gasped. She didn't understand what was happening. Mick couldn't have just said that. He wouldn't make Josef…
"Let that be on your own head, Mick." Josef was saying, and flipped open his phone and hit the speed dial.
"Wait," said Beth, looking desperately from man to man. This was all going too fast. Mick wasn't in his right mind, he couldn't be. "Mick, no. Josef, wait, don't do anything stupid."
Josef ignored her, saying just one word the moment the call was answered. He snapped the phone shut, his face tight. "I never thought you had it in you, Mick."
"If you were hanging around you'd see a whole new me. But you're not." Mick looked at Beth properly for the first time. "You and I have a lot to discuss. Come along, dear."
He started for the door, hesitating when he realised that neither Beth nor Josef had moved.
"What do you want, Beth?" Josef was asking her.
Mick looked at them both in disbelief. "You had an affair with my woman and now you think you can stop us discussing this?"
"Beth?" Josef asked again.
It was undeniable, the wordless communication that passed between the guilty pair, the looks in their eyes, the words they were speaking just to one another. Mick felt a pain deep inside his gut.
"He has a right to answers," he heard her say, "Apologies."
A muscle spasmed in Josef's jaw and he turned to Mick and said, "If you lay a finger on her, just one, and I'll kill you."
Mick was in Josef's face in an instant. As if he would ever hurt Beth. "I ought to rip your fucking heart out."
Then the men were gone, replaced by a pair of hissing vampires circling one another, their fists clenching, unclenching. They were both insane; they'd kill each other if she didn't do something. Beth grabbed her handbag and walked quickly to the door.
"It's okay, Mick, just stop this. I'm coming, I'm coming," she said then gasped, her face flaming as she realised the context in which Mick had heard her say those exact two words only moments ago.
Mick gave her a bitter smile and watched as a tear slid slowly down her cheek. "Go. Wait in the car."
He turned to Josef as Beth left. "My right to Compensation? There's just one more thing I want…."
The drive home was in complete and icy silence.
.
*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*