Chapter 10

"Light it up, Kitty Kat," Bo said happily, handing Katrina the lighter.

They had tied her father up and tossed him unceremoniously into the tent before zipping the door up on him. The wood Katrina and Vincent had placed around the tent had been soaked in kerosene.

Katrina grinned and lit the wood, watching as it exploded into a blaze of flame. "Anyone want some?" she asked, opening the bottle of Jack Daniels.

"You know it, darlin'." Bo said, leaning back on the grass.

Katrina sat down next to him, dragging the ice chest along with her. "Come sit by me, Vince," she ordered, pressing the play button on the boombox. The sounds of Rob Zombie's Dragula song began to play loudly.

"That's what I'm talkin' about," Bo said, grinning.

Vincent lowered himself to sit beside Katrina, carefully not looking at her. She had taken off her dirty clothes and changed into something she said belonged to Vera. It was a white lace slip dress, and she looked amazing in it, even though it was a little baggy on her.

She took a long swig of the whiskey and passed it to him. He drank sparingly and passed it on to Bo. Katrina pulled out the marijuana and placed a large chunk into the pipe. She lit it up and took a long hit, sighing with happiness.

"Here you go, Vince," she said, passing the pipe to him.

He shook his head no.

Bo began to laugh. "He's not a smoker," he said, taking the pipe and lighter.

Katrina smiled. "Maybe he will be after I'm done with him." She took the pipe after Bo had taken his hit. Drawing in a long breath of smoke, Katrina straddled Vincent and kissed him, pushing all the smoke into his lungs.

Vincent's eyes widened.

Bo watched in amusement as his brother began to choke so hard Katrina fell off his lap.

She watched, laughing, as he fell backwards onto the grass. "Vincent?" she asked, crawling up to him. "Babe, are you all right?"

He grinned up at her.

The three of them finished off the remains of the pipe and the Jack Daniels before starting on the beer. By that time, the fire had faded down to a pale light.

Katrina, who had been staring up at the stars, sat up to see that Bo was passed out and Vincent was sitting alone, watching the fire. "Vincent?" she asked.

He turned and smiled.

"What are you doing?" she asked quietly, not wanting to wake up Bo.

"Thinking."

"Of what?"

Vincent looked down at his hands. "Just . . . about what you said. Artist's hands."

"You do have them."

"How can you tell?"

She smiled, taking his hands in hers. "They're soft and strong, but they have callouses on them. And not just any callouses. They're not all over, but they've been building up in the same place."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well, look at these callouses here," Katrina said, pointing towards a callous that ran along his palm, right underneath his fingers. "This one is from holding tools. Not wooden ones, but metal. And this one here . . ." she pointed to another on his fingertips, "this one is from holding delicate paintbrushes."

He watched her soft fingers trace the callouses, unable to keep a moan from escaping his lips.

She looked at him knowingly. "Vincent . . ." she whispered, sliding onto his lap. "Do you want me as much as I want you?"

Vincent gasped. For a terrible moment, he thought she was teasing him. Then her hands buried themselves in his hair and her lips met his . . . softly at first and then they pressed on them harder and her tongue entered his mouth. His body took over his hesitant mind and his arms snaked around her, pulling her as tightly to his as he could. His hands grasped handfuls of her sweet smelling hair, making her moan in both pain and pleasure. She pulled away from his mouth, trailing butterfly-like kisses down his neck. He reveled in the pleasure of her mouth and decided to do the same for her.

His kisses were hard and painful, more like bites along her jawline down her neck to her jugular vein, which was throbbing in time with her heart. Vincent pulled her head to the side and bit it firmly, so hard he tasted her metallic blood in his mouth. Fearful that he had hurt or disgusted her, Vincent lifted his head to see her expression.

Katrina's eyes were closed, her face tilted up towards the moonlit sky. Her mouth was open, she was sighing softly. "For fuck's sake, Vincent, don't stop," she whispered, her lips barely moving. "Do it harder. Do whatever you want. However you want. Just please don't stop."

Driven by an urge he had never felt before, Vincent yanked her hair out of the way with one hand, clawing at her shoulder with his other. He bit her again, this time exulting in the taste of her skin and blood. She shifted her weight as she moaned softly, her milk white arms dangling at her side as if she were in a trance. His heated kisses trailed back up her neck to her lips, which she opened to admit him access. He took her lip between his teeth and tugged on it gently, not wanting to harm what gave him such pleasure.

Vincent heard Bo shifting around on the ground beside them. It brought him out of his reverie and he noticed that the first rays of the sun were peeking out over the horizon. Katrina noticed as well and kissed him once more before sliding off of him.

"That was some damn fucking good weed," Bo said sleepily as he sat up.

Vincent and Katrina exchanged glances and began to laugh.