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Chapter 18:

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Over the next few days there was still no sign of Heidi and I decided to defer our departure from Seattle at least until after my next hunt—with Bella.

Her request to join me had excited me more than anything in recent memory and I was eager enough that I didn't want to wait. It had only been a week or so since my last feeding but this time it would be more than just feeding. It would be a big step for Bella. As such I wanted her to be as involved as possible and on Wednesday morning I took her to a nearby gym so that she could help me select the next lucky stranger to enjoy my appetite. To my disappointment, however, she seemed to have cooled off a little on the idea. She had suggested it in the heat of the moment, just after that magnificent threeway, and now she seemed to have second thoughts, not quite conscience but perhaps awkwardness.

She was on a treadmill, getting a bit of exercise while we were here, and she cast a skeptical gaze over the girls in the gym, most of them young women, some quite bulky, not many of them particularly attractive.

"Is this seriously how you choose your victims?" she asked. "You just go to the gym and pick someone at random?"

I was standing beside her treadmill, leaning on the rail. She was wearing black yoga pants and I couldn't help sneaking peeks at her butt as she powerwalked on one of the faster settings. "Hardly random," I said. "What better place to find fresh meat than a gym? Why, here's some now."

A brunette with a water bottle was going by in front of the treadmills and we both watched her. She was wearing yoga pants as well but her ass just wasn't as bewitching as you'd want it to be. Bella shrugged.

"Eh," she said. "She's nothing special."

I chuckled and shook my head. "I can see you're going to be a very picky eater," I said. "Most children are."

She snorted at that. "I just want someone as hot as you, that's all."

"If you're waiting for someone as hot as me, you're going to be waiting a long time. Why not set your sights a little lower? There's no need to be so discerning."

She heaved a sigh and kept walking on the treadmill. "Yeah, I guess."

I looked at her a moment. Pop music was playing over the gym's speakers and everywhere was the clink and clank of lifting equipment. She was looking down at the control panel of the treadmill and I tried to decipher the look in her face. There was obviously something not quite right but I wasn't sure what. Conscience at last? Or was she only concerned for the calibre of her victim?

I sighed and tried to keep any disappointment from my voice. "Well, if you think the gym is slim pickings, we could always try shopping around on a dating site," I said. "Or are you having second thoughts about the act itself?"

"No, no, nothing like that," she said quickly, shaking her head and giving me a reassuring smile.

I was relieved and I tilted my head gently to inquire a little deeper. "What then?"

She gave a little shrug and again looked out over the gym. "I don't know," she said. "It just seems weird to pick somebody at random without even knowing them."

I nodded. I think I knew how she felt. Murder was much like sex; even in the case of a one night stand, a certain amount of attraction is required. One can't simply force themselves to want someone. I smiled at her.

"I know how you feel," I said. "Usually I prefer to let fate choose my victims for me. Like that veterinarian or that girl in Port Angeles. A chance meeting, a spark or two. It's always so much more satisfying when it's organic. Like sex, murder is something that should bloom slowly and unfold like a flower."

She smirked at me, her face flushed from the exercise or perhaps the sentiment. "That's almost romantic."

"It is romantic. In its own twisted way."

"Leah would've been perfect then, huh?"

I chuckled and shook my head. Poor Leah. She had no idea she was living next door to an aspiring murderess who wanted to kill her as much as fuck her. Bella was smiling at my reaction and I spoke with playful sternness.

"We are not killing poor Leah," I told her. "Good lord. Not only is she a very sweet girl, but as I already explained; far too risky. The victim must be unconnected to us in anyway whatsoever so that no investigation of her disappearance will lead back to us. You understand that, don't you?"

She nodded glumly and kept walking on the treadmill. "Yeah, I get it. Well, fine, you choose then. It doesn't make any difference to me. You're the one that has to eat them, after all."

"Yes, but this time you'll be joining me. I want it to be special for you."

"Well…"

She trailed off in a sigh and looked around the gym once more, as if some supermodel might emerge from the locker room in a sexy black leotard that we could leap on. But there was nothing accept a housewife or two, some bodybuilders who may or may not have been female, and a woman by a vending machine so thin she looked like she might snap if she actually worked out.

I sighed as well.

"Perhaps we ought to come back a different day," I suggested. "It's pretty clear sparks aren't going to fly this morning."

She nodded and turned off the treadmill, stepping down and taking a deep breath. I passed her a towel that she used to blot her forehead and then I unscrewed a bottle of water and handed that to her as well. She drank from it and wiped her mouth with the back of her wrist, still looking around.

"It just sucks it has to be a complete stranger," she said. "I mean, it wouldn't even have to be someone I liked. Back in Forks there's plenty of bitches at school I wouldn't mind stabbing."

She drank again and her words gave me a stirring of excitement.

"Hmm," I murmured.

She lowered the bottle again and looked at me. The towel was over her shoulder and she used the corner of it to dab her mouth. "What? What's wrong?"

I touched my chin and stroked it deviously like an old fashioned villain. "Just thinking," I said. "Did you have any particular girl in mind? A girl from school?"

She snorted a chuckle. "Sure. Any of them. Although Jessica was always an annoying bitch. I would've carved her up even before I met you."

I smiled as my excitement grew, stirred by her own. "Is this Jessica attractive?"

She screwed up her face a bit. "No way. Eww. She's disgusting. Fucking rat-faced little whore."

Her viciousness made me laugh. "You misunderstand me. What I mean is…would you have fun experimenting on her body?"

My words took her off guard slightly. "Oh," she said. "Um…"

She stopped and thought about it while the pop music and the clank of weightlifting continued in the background, odd environs for such a discussion. You'd think murders would be more commonly plotted in dark rooms and low voices. I was watching her face and her eyes shifted absently as she pictured doing ghastly and evil things to this girl she disliked. The corner of her mouth lifted in a smile and evidently the pictures were pleasing ones. Her eyes refocused on mine and she gave a little shrug.

"Um, yeah," she said. "I guess that could be fun. Sure."

My own lips curved in a smile. "And this is the girl you want?

"Yeah, but…"

"But what?"

She glanced left and right and lowered her voice under the music, as if finally worried about being overheard. "I thought it has to be someone completely unconnected to us?"

That was true but I smiled and gave a sort of shrug. "Well, perhaps it doesn't absolutely have to be. It should be, but this time maybe we'll make an exception. It's going to be your first time. I want you to remember it fondly."

She didn't reply but I could see the excitement growing in her dark and beautiful eyes. I watched her for a minute and then smiled.

"Are you sure this girl Jessica is the one you want?"

She nodded slowly, thinking it over one more time. But there was something inside her that clearly responded to the idea and there wasn't much to think about.

"Yeah," she said.

I nodded as well and smiled. "Very well. We'll drive down there tonight and see if we can figure something out for tomorrow or the day after. Okay?"

"Okay," she said, and then she surprised me by placing a sweet little kiss on the corner of my mouth. "Thanks, Victoria. I know this is a big step in our relationship. Doing this together is very important. I'll make you proud, I promise."

Then she giggled and picked up her gymbag and started toward the locker room, her buttocks rolling in her yoga pants, the towel slung over one shoulder. I watched her go, my heart throbbing in my chest, and I knew she would never get as lucky with her victims as I got with her. She really was the most incredible partner I could've ever hoped for. And she was right. Joined as we were with rings and hearts, there was still one final barrier between us. One final affinity that needed to be shared in order to truly become mates.

Blood.

We spent the rest of the afternoon preparing and packing a couple bags. Mostly with things anybody would take for a few days out of town but a couple of extra items as well. A set of kitchen knives. Some duct tape. Vibrators and strapons and anal beads as well. She kept asking how we were going to do it but I only said we'd have to see. The only thing certain is that she would have to be abducted and transported somewhere we could take our time. She nodded and lifted one of the knives in her hand. It was a long stainless steel meatknife. Perfect for cutting away fat from a steak or hacking up an old frenemy from school. I asked her if she was alright and she smiled and said yes and wrapped the knife in a dishtowel to pack away.

By dark we were on the road, coasting down the highway in our red convertible. The car was rather ostentatious and it hadn't been replaced since that original killing spree but I wasn't too worried about it. I'd been keeping track of the media and the case had mostly died down by now. We had to remain careful, of course, but there was no real danger as long as we avoided direct contact with the authorities.

It was still well before midnight when we passed through Port Angeles of recent memory. We even drove by the motel we had stayed at, the Uptown Inn, still as charming as ever with its array of potted plants outside the numbered doors. Bella smiled out the windows and laughed as we recalled certain memories and I laughed as well. She said it felt like a million years ago since I had first snatched her out of her room and handcuffed her in a closet and I had to agree. She had changed so much. Become so beautiful. She smiled at these compliments and soon she was leaning over the gearshift to tongue my ear and rub the crotch of my jeans between my legs as I drove. I chuckled and let her unzip them and by the time we had cleared the small town she had stroked me to a nice little orgasm.

We continued driving and chatting but after a while she grew silent. Outside the windows was nothing but night and an endless tandem of trees racing beyond the glass. Her expression had gone thoughtful, almost the same as the first time I had taken down this road, and after a while I thought I figured out what was on her mind. Her father had been buried somewhere along this road. She was probably wondering where or maybe just thinking about him. I wasn't sure how I was supposed to feel about that. It was rather impossible for me to feel genuine guilt or remorse but I did feel bad to have cast any shadow on her mood at all. I wondered if I should say something, or at least ask if she was alright, but she spoke before I could.

"Do you think my dad's body is still where we buried it?" she asked quietly.

Her tone was relatively mild. No anger or sadness. I glanced at her and kept driving. "No," I said. "I think they would've found it."

She nodded, gazing out the window. We fell silent until I wondered again if I should say something and again she spoke first. A chuckle came out of her and her tone was as mild as it was before.

"Sometimes I still can't believe it was you who killed him," she said. "It's weird. The thought occurs to me in odd moments. Like in bed or whatever. You'd be holding me and telling me how much you love me and then out of the blue I would remember that you're the same person who killed my father."

I glanced at her, wishing with all my heart I could take it back. My most earliest mistake. It hadn't destroyed our relationship but it would always be a blemish and always be my fault.

I didn't know what to say and she chuckled again and turned to face me.

"It doesn't matter, though," she said. "Truth is, I hardly knew him. I'd only been living with him for about a year. Before that I used to make all kinds of excuses to avoid seeing him during the summer holidays. I did love him, though. Kinda. I remember thinking he deserved a much better daughter than me. A daughter that actually loved him."

She chuckled again, although this one was more of a bitter snort. I glanced at her sadly and then reached over to touch her knee.

"I'm sorry, baby," she said. "It pains me to have permanently marred our relationship."

But she lifted her head and smiled and shook it. "It's alright," she said. "It's no big deal. What's done is done, huh? Besides, I'm pretty much over it by now. I'm just happy to be with you."

With that she leaned over and kissed my cheek.

I smiled at her with gratitude overflowing in my heart and kept driving.

It was past midnight by the time we reached a motel on the outskirts of Forks. The place was mostly empty, the parking lot barren and dark. The room was at the end of the row and one of the gold numbers on the door was hanging askew against the flaked paint. We entered and flipped the light on. Inside smelled of dust and little else. The bedspread was brown, the carpets a darker shade of brown. A less pleasing premises than our first stay at a motel but clean enough and suitable for our purposes.

The first thing we did was shower. We left our hair damp and I held the girl from behind as she brushed her teeth at the sink. I was smiling at her in the mirror, my chin resting on her shoulder, my arms around her waist, my breasts pressing against her shoulderblades, and she smiled back with the toothbrush in her mouth before spitting and rinsing and turning to give me a minty kiss.

Without putting on any towels or any clothes at all we came back into the room and the girl turned on the bedside lamp while I flipped off the overhead light. I looked at her over there by the bed, naked and turning down the bed covers, and I couldn't help smiling. It had only been such a short time since we were shacked up in such a similar motel room and yet everything was changed. Her most of all. Back then she required to be handcuffed and raped. Now here she was turning down the bed for us to make love as a couple. The sentiment filled my heart with radiance and I heaved a happy sigh.

"Well," I said, glancing about the dingy motel room. "This brings back memories, doesn't it?"

She chuckled and turned to me with her hands on her naked hips. "Sure does. I still kind of miss those days. When I think back, I could kick myself for being so resistant. God, it was amazing."

I chuckled fondly. "It was the resistance that made it so amazing, my dear."

"Yeah, I guess," she said, nodding but still kind of wistful. "It's just a shame there's no way to really capture all that again, you know? I mean, we could pretend, but…"

Her bare shoulder gave a small shrug. I went over to her, smiling, and put my arms around her.

"Relationships evolve," I told her. "No particular phase lasts forever. Which is a good thing. You remember only the excitement but you forget about the pain and the tears and the emotional suffering that had to be endured before you could even arrive at these happy recollections in the first place. Our relationship back then was fragile and could've snapped as easily as your bones any time I put my hands on you. But now we are together. And we're always going to be together. And if the price we have to pay is the boredom of mutual love and respect, well, I suppose we'll just have to put up with it. Won't we?

She smiled and gazed into my eyes and whispered gently as if mesmerized. "Yeah."

I giggled once and gave her a kiss on the nose. "But don't lose heart. From now on we'll simply have to recapture the dark magic of our early days with our victims. Only this time we'll be doing it together, not on each other. See? Always evolving."

She chuckled in agreement and watched me move over to the dresser where the dufflebag was. It was already unzipped and inside was cash and a few tools we'd bought along including a roll of silver duct tape.

"Besides," I said, lifting out the duct tape and unspooling a long strip of it. "Like you said; We can always pretend."

She giggled and watched me come over with the tape. "What are you going to—"

I pressed the strip of tape to her mouth, cutting her off midsentence. Her dark eyes began sparkling and I smiled at her and leaned to kiss the plastic across her silenced lips.

"This tape was supposed to be for your friend Jessica," I told her softly. "But I'm sure we can spare a little for you too."

She murmured an agreement and I turned her around to tape her wrists as well. She already had them crossed, like a woman waiting to be arrested. It made me smile, her willingness. Unlike her I didn't miss our early days at all. I much preferred this. It was so much more titillating when she actually wanted it.

She giggled as I wrapped the tape around her wrists and then she turned back to me obediently. I smiled at her and wove my hand into her hair affectionately. She knew it was only a matter of time before that hand clenched and threw her around roughly and her eyes sparkled as she waited for it.

I sighed at her lovingly and took her chin in my other hand. The bones there felt so soft in my palm, the skin so warm and smooth. My eyes passed over the ring on my finger and back to her own dark and trembling orbs.

"Oh, Ms Swan," I breathed in a soft whisper. "I love you. I do so much."

Her eyes crinkled as if she was smiling into the gag. I smiled as well.

Then I clenched my hand in her hair and threw her into the wall.

She yelped loudly at the collision and bounced off the plaster and fell over. Groaning. Naked. Her dark hair aflutter around her head. The thrill that went through me was immense. Relationships evolve but some things never change. I would never get tired of dominating her. Consent or not.

She made a little sound as she struggled in the carpet—perhaps a giggle—and I grabbed her hair again and wrenched her up and threw her onto the bed. She bounced again, this time on the softer surface of the mattress, and I used the duct tape to lash her ankles together as well.

This seemed to surprise her, since I was effectively taping her legs shut, but she giggled and waited to see what would come next. She was completely bound now, both her wrists and her ankles lashed together along with a firm strip of tape across her mouth. Just a helpless and squirming naked thing in the bed.

I stood there and smiled at her for a moment.

"You look so beautiful like that," I said. "Helpless."

She had little way to communicate but the way she fluttered her eyelids at me attractively spoke volumes. Once again I was reminded that I was the luckiest woman in the world to have found her and with a smile I climbed into the bed and crawled on top of her.

"I love you, Ms Swan," I told her again, bending to kiss the duct tape. "I do. I really do. You have no idea. I love you. I love you. I love you so much. Mmm…"

I was kissing her face now, her cheeks and her eyelids and her nose. Kissing everywhere all over her beauty. No makeup. No taste of perfume. Just the tape.

She was moaning happily and after a while I rose up and dismounted from her body. I wanted to look at her again, all bound and helpless. Smiling, I let my eyes roam over her breasts, two soft mounds utterly unprotected, and lower further to her legs and lower some more to the silver tape lashed around her slim white ankles. I caressed one of her breasts briefly, petting it like a kitten, and then stroked my hand down to her thighs.

There was warmth between them and I smiled at her as I began fondling her entrance. Stroking it. Rubbing it. She gave me a slow and lusty blink and already her face was filling with heat and redness. I leaned and kissed her glowing cheeks and I continued to stroke her netherlips until they began to moisten.

"Take notes from what I'm doing to you, Ms Swan," I whispered to her as I kissed her. "This is what you'll be doing to your old friend when we go to see her. You may not want to be so gentle, of course, but there's few ways of dominating a body so completely as to make it orgasm against the owner's will."

She moaned and stared up at me with her glazed eyes. I smiled at her and took my hand from between her legs and popped my fingers into my mouth.

Then I climbed off the bed and back to the dufflebag.

"Let's see, what shall we use on you tonight?"

I lifted out one of the knives and turned to the bed inquiringly. A moan of want came out of her and she gave an attractive squirm. But I only chuckled and put the knife back in the bag.

"No, no, no," I said, rummaging for something else. "If I tasted your blood tonight I wouldn't be interested in anyone else's tomorrow. Ah ha!"

I took out a nice long vibrator and spun back to the bed.

"Perhaps this would be more appropriate, hm?"

She smiled behind her gag, laying there naked with her chest heaving from horniness. I climbed back into the bed, grinning.

"Of course, when you do your old friend, perhaps you'd prefer to use the knife," I said. "I generally do as well, but…"

I switched on the vibrator.

It began to hum.

"…tonight is just for fun," I told her with a smile.

She gave a muffled chuckle behind the tape, her eyes half-sleepy, half-sparkling. I took her shoulder and flipped her over onto her stomach.

"Okay, now, be a good girl and lift your ass a little," I told her. "We need access to those holes, don't we? Come on, up, up, up."

She lifted her ass into the air, her wrists taped behind her back and her face mashed into the mattress. She moaned something into her gag but I only patted her butt affectionately.

"Good girl," I said. "Now. Which hole shall we stick this in, hm?"

I had already decided but anticipation was half the fun. She moaned some kind of suggestion behind the gag and I smiled and pretended not to hear.

"Hm?" I asked her. "What was that? I'm sorry, I can't understand what you're saying. I know, perhaps your body will speak more clearly. Let's find out, shall we?"

She moaned again but this time it was because I was tracing the vibrator along the cleft of her buttocks, from top to bottom. I did that a couple times, letting the tip of it hum into the tight pink space of her asshole, and then I bought it lower and slipped it between her thighs and let the shaft of it vibrate against her wet netherlips. She shivered and moaned and I laughed.

"I know, it's so tough to decide, isn't it? Tell you what, why don't you waggle your behind when I touch the hole you like?"

I lifted the vibrator from between her thighs and poked it at her asshole again and—

Waggle, waggle.

I giggled at how cute it was. She was exactly like a bitch in heat, although dogs didn't really do bondage as far as I knew. Perhaps they were too civilized. Only humans—or vampires—were this depraved.

"I should've known," I said. "We really have turned you into a total butt slut, haven't we?"

She moaned and nodded into the mattress. I laughed again and then I leaned to her buttocks. So soft and warm. I rubbed my cheek against one of them, closing my eyes, and then I flicked my tongue at the cleft between them.

She shivered and moaned. I smiled and continued licking at her between her buttocks, dog-like myself. Perhaps it was me who was the real bitch here. The animal with this obscene hunger.

"Mmm," I murmured, spreading her cheeks and licking directly at her asshole, kissing it, poking my tongue into it, whispering to her the while. "But that's okay. I do adore your beautiful ass. There's nothing I enjoy more than making it feel good. Let's make it feel good, shall we?"

A begging moan came out of her and she waggled her hips again. I smiled at her ass and kissed it a little more and then finally I began pushing the tip of the vibrator into it.

The vibrator had no lubrication at all so I did it very slowly and carefully. The dryness of the plastic made it all the more sharper and she groaned even as she was only shallowly penetrated. I smiled and pushed it a little more and our connection was so deep I could almost feel my own ass humming. Part of me envied her. One day I hoped she might do this kind of thing to me as well. As much as I love to dominate sometimes being dominated could be just as nice.

She moaned again and I held it there, leaning to her kiss her some more, to lick around the base of it. It had penetrated perhaps three inches into her ass but to her it probably felt like a whole yard.

"Mmm," I moaned, licking her, my stomach churning with hunger. "You like that, don't you? Yes, I can tell. Such a horny slut. Such an adorable horny little slut."

My lips lowered and pressed against her vagina. It had gotten so wet it was dripping down her thighs. I moaned from the taste coating my mouth and she moaned loudly as well. I pushed the vibrator a little deeper into her asshole and then I focused my mouth on her vagina, licking her, kissing her, eating her out.

Her moans became louder and her whole body was heaving. As if it was about to burst. I grinned into her soaked folds and pushed my tongue into them, gripping her hips like a gigantic apple. The moans became even louder, turning into muffled screams, and then finally her body shuddered and gushed and orgasmed even more hot wetness into my mouth.

My face was slathered and I continued to lick it up as her moans trailed off. As lovely as her ass was there was nothing better than her wet juicy pussy. I licked some more and kissed it and licked it again and then I kissed her buttocks, smiling, before removing the humming vibrator from her ass.

She moaned again from that and after I switched it off the only sound in the motel room was her panting. She slumped over onto her side and laid there with her wrists and her ankles lashed together with duct tape, her eyes closed, her chest swelling and subsiding with each breath. I watched her for a moment, smiling, then I gathered her up in my arms. Her eyes fluttered open and I carefully peeled the tape away from her mouth.

As soon as it came loose she gasped for an extra breath. Poor thing had come so hard. She was exhausted. I stroked back her damp hair and finally she smiled at me.

"Wow," she said, still half-breathless. "That was incredible. That was—"

"—my pleasure," I finished for her.

Then I pressed my lips to hers.

She moaned from the contact and I held my lips there for a moment before pulling back to smile at her. I was cupping her face, her cheek so warm and smooth under my hand, and for a long time I just gazed at her and marvelled at her amazingness. She smiled at me and giggled and then she tilted her head.

"Are you going to untie me?" she asked.

I smirked at her. "Nope."

Then I took her by the hair and guided her face between my legs. She giggled and settled on her stomach and began licking as soon as her tongue could reach. I was very wet by now and very in need of her. Shivers of love and pleasure rippled over my body and I moaned and leaned back in the bed.

"Yes," I said in a hiss. "Yes. Good girl. Keep going. Tonight you belong to me the way you used to. Just a helpless little fuck-thing. Just a tied up slut."

She moaned and spoke into my vagina.

"I'll always belong to you, Victoria," she whispered between licks. "Tied up or not."

"I know," I breathed. "I know.

She moaned again and licked and licked and moaned some more. "I love you, Victoria," she said urgently. "I love you so much."

Her words made me smile and heave my hips at her mouth. "I love you too, baby," I told her breathlessly. "Keep licking. More. Tomorrow we'll see about your first victim. But tonight… Tonight my victim is you. As you always were."

She moaned and kept licking and I moaned as well. Already the orgasm was fast approaching and it was filled with love and dominance and every desire in the world for the girl between my legs. I wove a hand into her hair and watched her. Laying there on her stomach with her wrists and ankles taped up, utterly immobile like a creature who's only purpose was to do this. To lick me and be mine. But the opposite was true as well because even with all my limbs unfettered I was bound to her just as surely as she was bound to me and there was no other purpose to my existence at all but to keep this girl and love her and treasure her forever. The orgasm was coming and my chest was heaving and finally I arched up and climaxed and whimpered from how much I loved her.

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AN: This chapter was mostly transitional, just to get the ball rolling on the hunt and indulge a little more fluff/development. New chapter soon. :)