CHAPTER 5
For the next several weeks, Von Krolock and Sarah fell into an uneasy routine. He knew that the adjustment to day sleeping was proving difficult for her, and he realized that he had not fully taken into account just how abnormal it was for mortals. Men had lived in the daylight for thousands of years. Once transformed, she would grow accustomed to it easily, but until then...their schedules were at cross purposes.
He allowed her to sleep at night and while away the daylight hours however she wished. Why not give her time in the sun? It was autumn and still warm enough during the day for her to enjoy her time outside on the castle grounds. When the first snow came...he would transform her. Until then, let her run free in the light.
This meant of course that while she was asleep at night in his bed, he was up and about to feed, to go over the accounts of tenants in his study, and to brood over his predicament, as he lay beside her wide awake, cradling her in his arms while she slept.
He would not let her go. That much he knew. If this meant he did not love her enough to release her, so be it. He loved her selfishly. He was no longer mortal nor Christian. This was no self-sacrificing love. But however corrupt his love for her may be, he knew it was eternal and stronger than any mortal man could give her. This thought made him feel justified in what he knew he must do, come winter.
But before then, he resolved to fully consummate their union while Sarah still remained a mortal. Being transformed instantly made one less pure. For her first time, he wanted Sarah exactly as she was now. The physical act of love felt the same for him as a vampire as it did when he was human—this he remembered clearly!—so perhaps he was making too much of it. But he wanted to feel her excited heartbeat at his touch and see the flush of blood on her face as he made love to her. After transformation, this would all vanish. Their passion for each other would be just as strong...but it would be different. It would be unnatural.
His troubled mind had settled somewhat now that his decision was finalized. Sarah stirred in his arms, waking with the daylight. He had spent almost the whole night hunting and feeding after they had parted after dinner and was bone-tired. Less and less did he feed on mortals, for she so hated the idea. For her sake, he sought deer and boars in the forest, drinking their blood instead. It wasn't nearly as nourishing but he could survive on it all the same. Humans were so much easier to capture though.
She was having a temporary moralizing effect on him that he was happy to indulge. Once transformed, however, she would cultivate a taste for human blood and they could hunt and feed as one. His fangs ached with the anticipation. They would feed through the night and then return to Castle Von Krolock to bathe together and make love until daybreak. This to him was eternity. This to him was bliss.
Sarah rose and lit a candle, gazing down at Von Krolock's weary face. His scowl was always lightened when he was on the point of sleep but it never disappeared entirely.
"My lord...I want to beg a favor from you...grant me this and I will let you sleep."
Von Krolock was immediately on guard and he sat up, his hair falling over his shoulders and bare chest. "If you're asking me to let you go—"
Sarah shook her head. "I will never leave you." She put her finger to his lips and he kissed them. "But I have written a letter to my mother and father." She reached inside the bosom of her nightdress and produced an envelope.
"I went into your study yesterday and found writing materials. You did say I had free reign over the castle, no?"
He nodded wordlessly, his scowl deepening.
"I know my parents grieve for me. Let me send them word that I am well."
"Did you mention me?" He snatched the letter from her, and tore open the envelope.
"No, please! " Sarah protested.
Von Krolock ignored her and read the letter quickly, his expression darkening further. He folded it and placed it back in the envelope before tucking it under his pillow.
"I'll deliver it...this week when they're asleep."
She kissed him then and was off to eat breakfast. Von Krolock sank back on the pillows. Of course he would not do what she asked him. Her innocence was touching, but such a letter would condemn him to a long imprisonment at Castle Von Krolock. The moment he ventured outside its walls, Sarah's father and his gathered posse would be waiting to drive a stake through his heart. He could easily overpower one man but not a crowd. Let them assume she had run off with a secret lover from a neighboring town.
He rummaged under the pillow to scan portions of the letter again, now that he was alone:
"Count Von Krolock loves me, Mama. I was so afraid at first but he has shown me every consideration and kindness. He is a gentleman and I am entirely under his protection. I love him, Mama, and I have never been so happy. Please don't grieve for me and be thankful for my new life."
Von Krolock smiled softly and kissed the letter, shoving it once more under the pillow. He knew he would have to destroy it when he awakened, but he could keep it close to him for now. Sleep came immediately, filled with euphoric dreams.
At dinner, Sarah was in high spirits. She was pink from lying in the sun and brimming with good health. It struck him suddenly that he would miss her rosy complexion. But a small price to pay for the gift of eternity.
They conversed easily during her meal. Von Krolock steered the topics to pleasant ones and it pleased him when he was able to make her laugh. For this night at least, her impending transformation was far from her mind and he would have it so. She was at ease, more than on any other occasion he had been in her presence. He sighed as she sucked the juice from a strawberry. This was how he wanted her. Supremely relaxed and under his spell.
So then, it would be tonight. She would be his, at last. He would not feed, love would give him the strength to pass the the entire night in her arms. A sudden rapture filled his entire being. He had never felt so buoyant, so hopeful. It was as if he were human again.
He refused to think of the future, and what winter would bring. Tonight she was still mortal and he felt nearly mortal himself. He had even captured the scent of her strawberries and it was delightful.
What was happening to him? When was the last time mortal food held any attraction? He hadn't eaten a morsel in four hundred years. He closed his eyes and sniffed again. It was gone now. But that brief instance had been exhilarating. He wondered if it would happen again. He had no desire to eat a strawberry, but all the same...The experience was intriguing and unsettling all at once.
Sarah had set down her fork and leaned back in her chair, smiling at him like a satisfied cat. She stretched her arms and her breasts swelled under her gown. Oh, how he wanted her. He could delay no further.
"Sarah...my beloved..." He rose from the table and slowly, very slowly, crossed to the other side. Sarah shot to her feet as if suddenly understanding the significance of this night. When he was within a few feet of her, he extended his hand in a romantic and aristocratic gesture. She hesitated, why, she could not say. He would brook no refusal. After a moment, she placed her hand in his.
In a flash, he whirled her body around so that he was embracing her tightly, bending her back with a powerful grip on her head. Oh God, he was going to bite her! With no promised warning! She struggled in his arms. She could not free herself. She tried to meet his eyes and he read the imploring fear in them. He smiled faintly down at her and shook his head.
His kiss, when it came, was a surprise and so hard on her mouth, that for a moment she wondered if he was sinking his fangs into her lips. It was a kiss so brutal that it could scarcely be called a kiss. When he finally released her, she was gasping for air. With a growl, he lifted her into his arms. She let her head loll back as he carried her upstairs to his bed, his bed that was made two years ago, in anticipation of this night.
Von Krolock lowered her onto his bed, face down. He lit several candles for he wanted to see clearly every part of her body and every reaction on her face. She remained obediently still. He straddled her and began to unlace her gown, slowly and methodically. Halfway through he paused to nibble the back of her neck. Sarah felt chills shoot up her spine. She was so excited she couldn't speak. He finished unlacing her gown and her corset, then turned her around to face him. Her face was already flushed with desire. She was making it too easy for him. He wanted more resistance.
With no warning, he savagely shoved her back onto the bed, so that her head hit the pillows, her curls spreading abundantly. He rose and began to undress. She would see his full nakedness tonight for the first time, and that would doubtless bring the resistance he craved. Sarah sat up, her gown and corset drooping to expose her breasts. By now Von Krolock was bare-chested and he paused in undressing to take in the sight of her. Her hair was a tousled mess, her lips were red and bruised from his kiss, her breasts heaved with every breath she took.
He fell onto her with a groan and kissed her over and over. It went on for what seemed like hours. The hair on his chest brushed against her soft breasts and the friction took her breath away. He bent down and took her nipple into his mouth, sucking with such force, she yelped. He ignored her and moved to the other one, increasing the pressure, if that was even possible. He was so strong, she could do nothing but lie beneath him and feel. He had pinned her arms above her head with one hand and ground his erection against her. It was so hard against her thigh even through his trousers and her skirts, it felt like a huge rock.
Sarah stiffened, suddenly afraid. It was one thing to feel him outside of you, but inside? She didn't see how he would fit. Von Krolock unpinned her arms, the better to complete her disrobing. He pulled every garment off of her one by one, in a manner that seemed tortuously slow: her gown, petticoats, and undergarments (Von Krolock couldn't help but notice how damp they were).
And there she lay, his Sarah, fully naked for the first time in his bed, no, her bed, that had been made especially for this night. This was the culmination of years of careful planning and he thought that a chorus of angels at this moment would be entirely appropriate.
He began to unfasten his trousers, his eyes never leaving hers, his scowl never more apparent, but Sarah knew it signified passion and not anger. All the same, he unnerved her, and she could no longer meet his gaze. He allowed her this and finished undressing. When Sarah felt his knee pressing down on the bed, she began to panic. Her body wasn't ready to receive him. She wasn't certain if it ever could be. He gently turned her head so she was forced to face him. His eyes were smoldering black once more. His intense ardor terrified her. Against her will, her eyes traveled from his broad shoulders and chest, the strong arms, past his stomach to his enormous erection. Mother of God.
Von Krolock knelt on the bed and straddled her again, taking one of her hands and placing it on his member. She tried to break free but he wouldn't permit it.
"Put your fingers around me, beloved." She grasped him between her fingers and tugged.
"Ahhh! Sarah..." She pulled back and tugged again.
Von Krolock's eyes almost rolled back into his head. "Stop, stop." His voice was shaking.
She let go of him. He mounted her and took his erection in his hand, pressing it hard against her nub. She couldn't make a sound, the feeling was so unexpected, but her hips rose of their own accord.
Von Krolock smiled as he gazed down at her. "If my member can give you this much pleasure outside of you, imagine what it will feel like inside of you."
"I've been told that it's painful for women...My lord, I am afraid..." She bit her lip as if bracing herself for his entry.
This wouldn't do. It would be much worse for her if she was this nervous. He wanted nothing more than to thrust as hard as he could inside her right now, heedless of her pain.
But he knew he could never do this. This was his love, his Sarah, and he was no uncouth peasant like one she might have married. He had rescued her from that fate. Despite his erection becoming more unbearable by the second, he would slow down for her sake. His hand gripped her soft inner thigh and trailed up, up to her wetness. He touched her expertly, knowing exactly how much pressure to exert and when to hold off. He kissed her as he fondled her, and she arched her back. She was so wet and open to him, that he easily fit all five fingers inside of her.
"This is why I will fit inside you like a glove, beloved. You have nothing to fear."
"Then it won't hurt?" Sarah sounded hopeful.
Von Krolock hesitated. Of course it would hurt. He was far above the average size as he been told by thousands of women. And he could already tell that her hymen was thicker than usual, his fingers had ascertained this.
"It will, my dearest love. There is no avoiding it. But I want you to hold tight to me and trust me. You must relax into the pain and after it dissipates, I will make you scream with pleasure."
Sarah's fingers dug into his shoulders for dear life. He began to penetrate her. Still, Sarah resisted. "I'm not ready!"
"You're ready..." And with these words, Von Krolock moved his hips back and then forward to ensure a hard thrust that would shatter her hymen in one go. Besides the culmination, the first thrust inside was his favorite moment of lovemaking when taking a virgin to bed. His keen sense of smell always detected the blood caused by his deflowering and it intoxicated him.
Sarah cried out at his entry. He could read on her face that it felt like an invasion. He waited before thrusting again and bent down to whisper in her ear.
"My bite will hurt you even worse," he whispered, and grazed her breast with his teeth. Even in this aroused state he still had control of his fangs. But the sadistic, vampiric side was taking over and he thrust again, as hard as he could. She whimpered. He couldn't stop, he must not stop, but he had to distract her. He kissed her deeply, and thrust more gently, even though he didn't want to. It was agony to hold back. This slower pace allowed Sarah to grow more accustomed to how he felt inside of her.
The frown on her face faded. He gripped her hips and demonstrated that she should follow his rhythm and move with him. His thrusts slowly intensified until they were every bit as hard as the first ones, but this time there was no longer any pain for Sarah, just a growing pressure that she recognized from his first visit to her bedroom and their encounter on the battlements.
"Will it be...like...before...when you made me feel so..."
Von Krolock could barely speak. "Yes, beloved, yes...Just like that...only better..." He gasped when she arched her back and squeezed around his member instinctively.
Her climax surprised them both. Usually, Von Krolock knew when a woman was close but he had been so distracted with his own mounting pleasure, that he was in his own world.
He was aware that her panting had turned to gasps and then screams of ecstasy, just as he had promised her. He gazed down at her and almost wept at her enraptured face, her cheeks and breasts flushed with the intensity of it.
He sped up, his thrusts becoming more frantic, and this caused Sarah to climax once again, trembling and vulnerable and so exposed, her soul laid bare to him.
If he didn't explode inside of her in the next second he would die, he was sure of it, and thus disprove the theory that vampires were immortal. Mercifully his body took over and he howled his release, his eyes blacker than they had ever appeared to Sarah, as she watched his face, transfixed. It seemed to go on and on. His howl subsided to low groans, and then she realized she was weeping with the joy of their first union.
Von Krolock collapsed with a blissful sigh onto her breast. He could hear and feel the hammering of her heart. He did not deserve this moment. He did not deserve her. He no longer had a soul, but how could he love her so deeply and not...
It was better not to think about it.
This he knew though: never in his mortal life or afterlife had he ever made love to a woman with such fervor. Before Sarah, he made love with his body and the aristocrat in him saw to it that all women felt pleasure.
But with his beloved it was more than his body, he made love with his soul, the soul that he knew he no longer possessed. Well, the memory of his soul, then. He could still conjure it up.
When he thought of his last encounter with Johanna he felt disgusted. Compared to what he just experienced with Sarah, his time with Johanna was a meaningless coupling, like two wild animals. He would never touch her again. He would never touch any other woman again.
He could feel himself growing heavy on Sarah. He slid down her body to her inner thighs. There was some blood beginning to dry on them. He gently licked them clean. His first taste of Sarah's blood! It made him start to grow hard again. His fangs ached and bared themselves.
His linens were also marked with her virginal blood. He devoured this spot, his fangs puncturing the fabric.
"My lord...come hold me again..."
Von Krolock glanced up guiltily, his fangs retracting. He gathered Sarah in his arms, more than ready to enter her once more. She understood and nodded assent. The pain was much less this time and she remembered how he had taught her to match his rhythm. He was gentler than before as if he had all the time in the world to reach their inevitable conclusion, which they eventually did, at the exact same time.
After a while, he rose, donned a robe, and poured her a glass of wine. She was sore, dreadfully sore, she teased him, but so very happy. He said nothing. He was too moved to speak.
Sarah sipped her wine and regarded him with concern. "My lord...Are you thirsty too? You will not feed?"
He lowered his head. "I will feed tomorrow. Do not trouble yourself."
She finished her glass and lay back down. "I know what that cabinet contains," she murmured. "Please, my love. Take what nourishment you need."
He glanced at her sharply, astonished. She smiled. "I hate to see you suffer."
He downed the contents of one bottle in the farthest corner of the room with his back to her. Once sated, he hid the empty bottle and washed his mouth and face thoroughly using water from a pitcher.
It wasn't even midnight yet, but Von Krolock felt perfectly capable of sleep. He knew that sleeping at night would disrupt his schedule in the worst way, but he didn't care. He wanted to sleep with Sarah, as a man and wife did. In the end, if loving her meant sleeping less, and feeding less, he would do so and to Hell with the consequences.