ONE BITE

Smashwords eBook Edition

Copyright © 2011 M.K. Elliott

RH Publishing

P.O. BOX 651193, STERLING VA, 20165-1193

License Notes

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please return to Smashwords and purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of these authors.

Publisher’s Note

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

*You can click on the title to be taken to the selection. Additionally, all chapter names will link you back to this table of contents.

One Bite

Deadly Beauty

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

One Bite

As the statuesque redhead stepped out onto London’s streets, the night wrapped its dark cloak around her.

The world was a lonely place. In her four hundred years walking its plains, Adrienne Gellespie had learned that much at least.

Though the street thronged with individuals—couples out on a date, groups of lads or girls, hoping to hook up, business people having after-work drinks—Adrienne always felt alone.

She walked with a brisk stride, all of her senses alert for that night’s prey. She knew what she desired tonight—a couple, young and fresh, out to have a little fun. Anyone too straight-laced wouldn’t bite, so to speak. They needed to be open to suggestion and some experimentation in the bedroom.

She passed the run-down off-licenses, general stores and rubbish piled up on the street. A young man sat huddled up on a piece of cardboard, a mangy-looking dog lying on his feet. Such poverty amidst such wealth.

Over the years, humanity had learned nothing about how to treat each other. Even though they thought themselves civilized and educated, truthfully nothing had changed over Adrienne’s existence. Humans simply hid their cruelty better now.

At least with her own kind, there were clear divides. The elders, like her, were the ones to be feared and revered in equal measures. The newly turned would always be the underlings. Vampires held no illusions about being exactly what they were.

Ahead of her, a woman hurried across the street. Her dark hair flew back from her face and, even from this distance, Adrienne saw the woman’s full breasts bouncing beneath her shirt.

But her haunted eyes caught the vampire’s attention most. As dark as her hair, their depth revealed a tortured yet indomitable soul. The woman’s jaw was set in determination and, as a guy in a car wolf-whistled at her, she shot the man such a look of disdain, Adrienne found herself smiling.

Who was she?

The young woman reached the other side of the road and ducked down a side alley.

Interest piqued, Adrienne followed.

The vampire’s movement appeared to be no more than motion in the air to the human eye, a slight blur in their vision, like catching something in the corner of their eye only to turn and find nothing there.

The brunette hurried down past some industrial waste cans lining the back of a take-out store. Further ahead, a bouncer stood outside a set of double doors. A red neon sign above the entrance read, ‘The Paradise Bar’. A couple of the letters had blown and the remaining ones flickered and buzzed.

The woman glanced back, as if sensing a presence.

Cat-like, Adrienne sprung up and clung to the side of a fire escape, allowing her to watch without being seen.

The bouncer nodded to the woman as she passed, but she didn’t go through the entrance he guarded. Instead, she slipped into another side door, just a little further on.

A stripper?

Was the intense woman a stripper? The thought elicited a tightening clench of her pussy, together with something else, uneasiness, a disappointment?

Adrienne wasn’t sure, but she wanted more of the dark-haired woman and it seemed The Paradise Bar was the place to do just that.

Moving too fast for him to see, she slipped by the black bouncer, his thick forearms folded across the wide expanse of his chest. The big man frowned as she swept by and then jumped when the double doors seemingly burst inwards for no apparent reason.

She knew he’d be trying to convince himself that he’d only felt a sudden, cold gust of wind. The man would think ‘ghost’ before he thought ‘vampire’.

The club’s low ceilings made the place oppressive. Despite the smoking ban, a thin layer of cigarette smoke hovered in the air. A bar ran down one side; a sullen woman in a skimpy gold bikini, chewed gum and polished glasses behind it. Another couple of scantily dressed girls mingled among the customers as they sat at the numerous round tables, nursing drinks and erections in equal measure.

Running down the centre of the club, a small stage took pride of place, a silver pole joining the stage to the ceiling.

A few people noticed Adrienne standing at the back of the club, but they paid her no attention. She produced a sense of danger humans instinctually avoided. Like other animals in the presence of a predator, people often froze when she arrived, hoping not to be noticed.

On stage, a blonde woman with tattoos dipped down, pushing her skinny ass out to the audience. Only a red thong and stiletto shoes graced her body as she shook and shimmied, jiggling her little tits around to music blasting from speakers placed in every corner. A few guys half-heartedly pushed some bills into the woman’s thong and her track ended. The blonde scooped her bra off the stage and sauntered off.

Over the loudspeaker, a male voice announced, “And now, please welcome on stage...Calypso Dreams!”

Adrienne tensed as the woman from the street strutted out on stage.

A pair of gold stilettos displayed her strong thighs and long legs. A jeweled, black lace thong nestled in the cleft of her luscious, round bottom. Her curvy body narrowed at her tight waist and a push-up bra barely covered her full breasts.

The woman walked like a model, with high, jaunty steps. Reaching the front of the stage, she flipped her sheet of hair down, arching her back, gyrating her hips and ass.

Mesmerized, Adrienne stared. Had she ever seen anything so sexy in her life? She longed to touch the woman, feel her soft breasts beneath her fingertips, taste the sweat on her skin.

Around her, a few of the patrons whooped and clapped at the stripper’s arrival, though others met her act with a look of nonchalant disinterest.

The expression on the stripper’s face remained the same, strong but somehow impassive, as if she was somewhere else. But then her eyes locked with Adrienne’s and the woman faltered for the briefest of moments, before regaining her composure.

A jolt raced through Adrienne. No one had ever looked at her like that before—such directness, even in a crowd of people. Normally people didn’t meet her eye; they could tell she was something different.

The beauty reached for the pole positioned centre stage and lifted herself up, wrapping her creamy thighs around the metal before arching her body back, thrusting her chest out toward the crowd.

Every nerve in Adrienne’s body buzzed. She wanted this woman as she had never wanted anyone before, and it was all she could do to stop herself leaping at the stage and devouring her.

Strangely, the usual desire for a feasting of blood did not overtake her. It was the woman herself, Adrienne wanted. The woman, not her blood.

The thought of feeding sent Adrienne’s gaze flicking across the club. The majority of the bar—with the exception of the working girls—were male. Old, young, fat, well-dressed; all walks of life frequented the place. Then Adrienne spotted what she wanted; a couple in their mid-twenties—possibly here to spice up their relationship.

The girl, a svelte blonde, whispered something into her boyfriend’s ear and giggled. The young man spoke back, but his eyes never left the stripper. The pair dressed to impress tonight—the guy in a pair of dress jeans, shirt and a suede jacket and the girl in a tiny flipper skirt and a strappy vest-top. Adrienne wondered if she wore panties under the flimsy material. She’d made an obvious effort to compete with the girls they’d come to watch.

Adrienne didn’t want to leave the brunette on stage, but her hunger called. Besides, the sight of this particular stripper had left her moist in all the right places and with an itch in need of being scratched.

She pressed her thighs together, enjoying the sensations pulsing up through her pussy and tightening in her nipples. The stripper would cross her path again; she’d make sure of it.

Languidly, Adrienne crossed the room to where the young couple sat. The girl’s hand rested on her boyfriend’s crotch, massaging his erect cock through his jeans. The vampire smiled. They were going to make this too easy for her.

Standing behind the man, she leaned down and spoke into his ear, “You know, your girlfriend is sexy as hell.”

At the sound of her voice, he jumped. The girl glanced up to find Adrienne behind them, one long, pale hand placed on the man’s shoulder. A flicker of different emotions and thoughts went through her pretty little head, Adrienne reading each of them as easily as if she’d spoken them aloud: Who is she? Does she work here? Wow, she’s yummy.

Adrienne smiled again. Good, the girl was clearly up for some girl-on-girl action, and the men never turned down the opportunity to get an experience they expected to be jacking off over for years to come. Of course, none of them ever lived long enough to replay their fantasies, but at least they died happy.

“You don’t want any of these whores,” said Adrienne, smiling her sweetest smile. “You’re both way too hot to be paying for it, when I would give you what you wanted for free.”

The couple exchanged a glance: Is she serious? What do you think?

Still bending toward them, she pushed her full breasts, the nipples still hard and poking through her thin shirt, at the couple.

“I am serious,” she said. “Deadly, in fact. All you have to do is follow me and I’ll make your girlfriend come as she never has before.”

“And me,” the man insisted, nodding.

Adrienne shook her head. “I don’t think so, she said. “I don’t do men.”

He shot her a look of annoyance. “So what’s in this for me?”

“Don’t you want to see me eat out your girlfriend’s pussy?” she said, her delicate eyebrows arched. “I thought it was most men’s fantasy, to watch two girls together.”

The blonde stared at her with wide blue eyes, a flush of red creeping up her throat.

Adrienne positioned herself between them and slid a hand down the front of the girl’s top, her fingers finding the gentle weight of her breast and the hardened nub of her nipple. Gently, Adrienne grazed her nails across the sensitive peak and the girl gasped. The aroused boyfriend nodded, words locked in his throat over a bobbing Adam’s apple.

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’ then,” she said, straightening up. “I suggest you follow me. My offer won’t be open much longer.”

The girl got to her feet, quickly grabbing her coat and purse. The man looked from his girlfriend to Adrienne, unable to believe his luck, and then pushed back his chair.

In her boots and jeans, Adrienne looked positively demure compared to the working girls, but with her flame-red hair, she was hard not to notice. Yet still not a single person looked up as she strode through the club, the young couple hot on her tail.

Adrienne pushed out of the double doors and passed the bouncer. He nodded at the couple as they exited, but ignored Adrienne. Her ability to go unnoticed in a crowd allowed her to kill as she pleased. When questioned, people found themselves unable to give any kind of real description, despite being a witness.

She knew of a hotel not far from here, willing to take cash payments with no identification. Her pace quickened as she headed to the location, that night’s entertainment hurrying along behind.

The hotel room housed a double bed, two bedside tables and a desk. A couple of cheap prints had been framed and hung on the wall, an attempt at making the otherwise basic room attractive.

The couple held hands and glanced at each other, suddenly unsure about the situation.

Adrienne took control. Grabbing the blonde’s hand, she pulled the woman against her lush curves. She stood at least three inches taller so she dipped and slowly kissed the edge of her mouth, trailing across her jaw and down her neck.

The girl kissed her back, but only managed a couple of pecks before Adrienne started to work her way down. The man threw himself down on the bed and propped himself up on one elbow, nodding approvingly.

She pressed her lips against the delicate skin of her throat. The girl’s pulse thrummed beneath the surface, the excited beat filling Adrienne’s whole body. She inhaled deeply, drawing in the metallic tang of yet-to-be drawn blood.

Wrenching down the straps of the blonde’s bra and top, she bared her young, firm breasts, dusky pink nipples gracing their peaks. She stood, exposed and Adrienne stepped back surveying her.

“Not as big as I’d normally like,” she said in a playful tone. “But certainly more than a mouthful.”

With that, she bent her head and took one, hardened nipple between her lips, sucking it against the roof her mouth, rolling the nub with her tongue.

“Oh, you’re so cold,” she gasped, as Adrienne slid her tongue over the nipple, teasing it into a bullet.

Removing her lips, Adrienne said, “Wait until you feel my tongue on your pussy, then you’ll know cold.”

“Hell, yeah,” said the guy on the bed, unzipping his pants and freeing his cock. He pulled off his shirt and then wrapped his fingers around the solid length of his dick. His eyes fixed on the two women in front of him; he masturbated with slow firm strokes.

Adrienne reached beneath the girl’s skirt and hid a smile. No panties—she had been right. The musky scent of the girl’s arousal filled her nostrils. Her fingers touched the soft skin of her folds, already slick with cream, and she pushed deep into the hot wet of her cunt.

The blonde moaned, her legs trembling. She tried to reach out to Adrienne for support, but Adrienne grabbed both of her hands with just one of her own and held them above her head. With her fierce strength, the human didn’t stand a chance, helpless in Adrienne’s grasp.

Adrienne added a second finger to the girl’s snatch and she writhed in the vampire’s grip, her eyes rolling.

If only this was the same woman from the club.

She wished it was the dark-haired beauty she was fingering now and not this little blonde piece of ass.

Wanting to taste her, Adrienne flung the girl onto the bed. She landed beside her boyfriend with an ‘oh’ of surprise.

“Suck his cock,” Adrienne ordered.

Not needing any more encouragement, the man maneuvered himself so he lay beside his girlfriend, his erection parallel with her head. She twisted to meet him, taking the swollen head between her lips. He reached down and grabbed the back of her head, pushing his cock deeper into the back of her throat, making her gag in his enthusiasm.

“Hey! Don’t choke her, asshole,” Adrienne snapped.

Too caught up in the moment to retaliate, the guy mumbled a ‘sorry’, letting go of her head. He lay back to watch, while his girlfriend continued to bob up and down on his dick.

Crouching between her legs, Adrienne pressed the blonde’s thighs wide apart, pushing her pussy out. A little puff of blonde curls nestled just above her slit, the rest of her waxed bare. Her engorged clit popped out at Adrienne; a cherry demanding to be bitten.

She wasn’t going to bite. Not yet.

Her cool mouth encircled the little nub of nerves, her strong tongue licking with deliberate strokes. She pushed a finger back into the young woman’s tight pussy, sliding back and forth in time with the motion of her tongue. The human’s musky tones washed over her taste buds, and she savored them before pushing a second finger into the mix.

Her own cunt throbbed, desperate for some attention. But she’d made a promise she intended on keeping.

Increasing her pace, Adrienne licked with quick flicks of her tongue. Curving her fingers inward, she stroked the secret pad of flesh and the muscles of the blonde’s pussy pulsed around her digits. The girl lost rhythm on her boyfriend’s cock. She cried out as an orgasm overwhelmed her, her fingers digging deep into the cheap sheets. As the last of the waves flooded through her body, she went lose on the bed, all her muscles relaxing.

Adrienne lifted her face, wiping the juices from her mouth with the swipe of a hand. “Now it’s my turn.”

Roughly, she pulled the girl off the bed so she landed on her knees. Adrienne popped her jeans and slid them, together with her panties, down her thighs, before kicking them away.

The man watched them, unsure of his place.

“Go to her,” Adrienne said, nodded at his kneeling girlfriend. He got the idea and dropped onto the floor behind her, lifting her tiny skirt to expose her swollen and sopping wet folds. As he pushed his rock-hard cock deep into her sensitive cunt, she moaned all over again.

Adrienne sat on the edge of the bed, the young woman positioned between her thighs. She laid back, her slit at the girl’s mouth. Eager, a grin on her face, the blonde buried her tongue deep into the vampire’s snatch. Adrienne closed her eyes, focusing on the sensation of the hot tongue sliding in and out of her taut channel. Willing fingers found her clit, rubbing in fast, little circles. The redhead moaned and stretched, her hands laced in the girl’s hair.

The blonde lapped enthusiastically, her tits bouncing as her boyfriend thrust hard from behind, his face contorted with his own orgasm fast approaching.

Adrienne’s release built, tightening deep in her cunt. With her eyes squeezed shut, it wasn’t the blonde she saw in her head, but the brunette from the bar, the woman with the fierce eyes and ‘don’t fuck with me’ attitude. It was her tongue buried inside her, whose fingers played her like an instrument.

The damn broke and pleasure poured through her, over and over, her mind and body reeling. The sounds of the young couple coming filled the room, their grunts and cries of delight pushing the vampire higher.

Adrienne quivered in the aftermath, the little shudders of bliss still sparking.

“Thank you,” she smiled, sitting up. “Now for dessert.”

The vampire moved with the speed of a snake, darting for the girl, pulling her to her feet. The young woman saw only a lightening flash of white fangs and a horrifically gaping maw. Her mouth closed around the girl’s slim throat, her fangs sinking into the sweet, succulent flesh. As the warm blood flowed, the boyfriend screamed.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him, still naked, dart for the door. Without releasing her prey, she shot out an arm and caught him by the neck. He made a strange mewling sound as she lifted him off the floor and held him, suspended, his legs kicking for traction.

Blood flowed down Adrienne’s throat. The girl’s pulse and struggles weakened as Adrienne drained her. The strength raged through her veins, lifting her higher, making her want to laugh and scream and cry all at the same time. There was nothing like this; the rush of the first feed of the night.

Just before the heart stopped, she let the girl drop to the ground and turned her attention on the man still dangling from one hand. His face was as white as if she’d already fed from him, his eyes bulging in terror. His gaze flicked between the vampire and his dead girlfriend, as if unable to distinguish which was the most terrifying sight.

“No, please,” he begged, his voice hoarse and strangled.

Adrienne smiled, exposing the delicate points of her fangs. “I don’t do mercy,” she said and lunged at his throat.

The hunger not as high now, she drained this one more slowly, enjoying the transfer of his life-force to her.

Satisfied, Adrienne pulled her jeans and panties back on and surveyed the destruction.

Not wanting to simply abandon the bodies in the hotel room, she opened the window and picked one corpse up in each hand. The metal steps of the fire escape were positioned against the wall. She stepped from the ledge and dropped down onto them. Though she landed in an almost silent crouch, both bodies clanged against the metal, something breaking inside one of them with a sickening crack.

Adrienne paid it no attention—it wasn’t as though either of them could feel anything now.

Leaping down from the fire escape, she landed beside some industrial waste cans. Easily lifting the lid, she threw both bodies inside and covered them up with black trash bags.

Adrienne stood still and allowed the night to wash over her. How fortunate she was to have such an existence. The only flaw in her life was not having anyone to share the pleasure with. The dark-haired woman’s face flashed into her mind.

The vampire started to walk without consciously thinking about where she was going. Only when she heard the angry voices of two men, did she realize she’d done a full circle and come back to the club.

From the bottom of the alley, voices drifted up to her sensitive ears, “You fucking bitch...”

She paused at the entrance between the buildings. Two men stood in front of a woman, their bodies obscuring Adrienne’s view.

“Just leave it,” the other man said. The woman turned to run and Adrienne immediately recognized her; the busty brunette from the club.

The man lunged for her, knocking the dancer to the ground, and from out of nowhere, the glint of a knife appeared and vanished again, as he plunged the blade beneath the woman’s ribs.

Spurred into action, Adrienne ran, her movement a blur, but not fast enough to stop the man pulling out the knife and stabbing his victim again.

Her hands grabbed the attacker and she wrenched him off, flinging him against a red brick wall. He hit with a crunch and slid, lifeless to the alley floor.

Startled, the other guy turned to run, but Adrienne leaped at him, knocking him to the ground. She lifted back her head and sunk in her fangs, draining him just enough to leave him helpless.

Adrienne crouched near the woman lying in a pool of her own blood, confused and in pain. Dipping into her thoughts, she read her name through the jumble of fear, pain and dying—Nadine.

With the dancer’s blood soaking into her jeans, the vampire reached out and traced a cool finger down Nadine’s cheek. Already, she felt colder than she should, her life’s blood ebbing away.

Adrienne leaned close and whispered in her ear, “I can save you. All you have to do is say ‘yes’.”

The dying woman’s eyes darted across Adrienne face, a mixture of terror and desire.

“All you have to do is say ‘yes’,” the redhead said again.

Nadine struggled to speak. Dipping a finger in the woman’s blood, she traced it like gloss over the dancer’s lips. It wouldn’t take much for her to turn Nadine. Already she was almost at the point of being drained. Adrienne only needed to take her to the very brink of dying and offer her own blood in return, to have the woman forever.

Just one bite.

Deadly Beauty

Chapter One

She prepared to step onto the small stage, adjusting her breasts in the cups of her bra, pulling at the tiny strips of elastic of her black lace panties. The stench of cigarette smoke and stale alcohol drifted up to her, making her sick to her stomach.

“And now please welcome to the stage…Calypso Dreams!”

Like the name of the club she worked in, ‘The Paradise Bar’, her stage name also carried a tinge of irony. The name was fake, of course. Her real name, Nadine Shepard, sounded nowhere near glamorous enough for the dive she danced in.

Nadine stepped onto the stage just as the girl on before her—a tall, small-breasted woman with too many tattoos—stepped off. The other dancer was not to Nadine’s taste; she liked her women to have curves—breasts and an ass—not all straight lines and angular corners.

The other woman, ignorant to Nadine’s thoughts, gave her a brief smile before brushing past.

Nadine strutted out, her long legs looking endless in the gold, strappy three inch stilettos. A haze of smoke drifted up in front of her; the smoking ban laws flouted with both disregard and disrespect. She tried not to squint in the sudden bright light, knowing her eyes would adjust within a few moments. Sometimes she wished they didn’t. It would be easier to pretend she was somewhere else if she didn’t have to see the punters sitting in the front row, all trying to hide their erections beneath long coats or crossed legs.

The Paradise Bar wasn’t a classy joint. Located in London’s East End, in the dark and seedy back streets of Whitechapel, it was never going to attract the best clientele. Instead, the bar attracted London’s finest—older, fat men, with saggy jowls and sad eyes, and skinny young lads sporting sleeves of faded tattoos. Whatever their background, they were all here for one thing; to watch the girls dance.

Taking pride of place, center stage, a silver pole joined the floor to the ceiling. Nadine headed over to it.

A couple of shots of cheap vodka, as she got ready, had been needed to stop her from running, screaming from the club. She knew the other girls did stronger stuff—coke, crack, meth—but she didn’t plan on going down that route. It was an easy trap to fall into. They started the drugs to cope with the job, but then they needed the job to pay for the drugs. A downward spiral.

Nonchalant disinterest met Nadine’s appearance on stage. One guy in the back started to clap, but when he realized no one else joined in, he immediately stopped. She cast her gaze across the room to catch the clapper in her sight, but something else caught her eye.

Her forehead creased; a faint, almost imperceptible movement and her eyes narrowed. Someone sat at the back of the bar, someone sitting alone.

A woman?

Sure, plenty of women liked strip joints. Nadine had watched groups of them giggle and scream from behind their hands, as though watching strippers was the most exciting and dangerous thing they had ever done—as though it somehow made them more interesting. But normally the women were in groups, dragged along by business men in suits, and they always went to classier establishments.

Nadine’s eyes did not leave the lone woman as she reached up with her hands and pulled herself up onto the pole. She wrapped her slender legs around the cool metal and let go. Her head tilted back, her long, dark hair brushing the floor. She stretched her legs out to show off her strong thighs, and arched her back, knowing her breasts appeared round and full in the black lace balcony bra.

Taking hold of the pole again, Nadine opened her legs wide and slid back down, the pole pressed between her thighs.

She twisted herself onto her flat stomach and pushed her round ass into the air, straightening her legs in the high stiletto heels. Her legs were still spread, only a thin piece of black lace covering her pussy.

The music continued to thump. She looked up, swinging her hair out of her face. The solitary woman was still there. Still watching her.

They were all watching her, the sensible part of her mind told her. They paid good money to watch her.

Yet still, there was something about the woman that set off Nadine’s well-honed sense of danger.

That evening, on her way to work, Nadine had been certain she was being followed. She couldn’t help but wonder if the woman had something to do with the feeling. She didn’t start until ten, so night had long since fallen when she started her walk from the flat she shared with two other working girls. London’s East End streets were never safe, but yet she had gotten used to them. Maybe she’d grown too blasé about the dangers they held. Yet that night she’d been certain eyes were on her, had even thought she heard footsteps follow her down the dark alley leading to the club. Each time she spun around, the street had been empty.

Now she had the same impression again; the intense sensation of someone watching her.

Trying to push the feeling away, Nadine continued her routine.

The punters approached her to give her tips. Pushing tens and twenties into the small strips of material she still had covering her. Experience had taught her how to avoid the ones after more, the punters who tried to tweak her nipple or slip a finger along the crotch of her g-string.

With skill, she whipped the notes out of her bra and slipped them into the side of her panties. Then she reached behind her and quickly unhooked her bra, dropping the lingerie to the floor and freeing her breasts.

She cupped her tits in her hands, pushing her already ample cleavage together. She bent over to give the punters in front a closer view of her breasts and the men behind a view of her ass. She knew they would be thinking about standing behind her, fucking her in that position. In front of her, the woman still stood at the back of the bar. Still watching.

A long time had passed since Nadine last had sex with a man. It wasn’t that she didn’t like sleeping with men, more that she didn’t like men. Too much time spent in places like this simply put her off.

She glanced up to see the woman had left. No, she hadn’t gone, she had simply moved to a different position on the other side of the bar. How did she get there so fast? One minute she had been sitting in one spot, the next she was standing across the room. Nadine didn’t think the woman had left her vision long enough to move without her noticing.

The woman stood closer now. Red hair framed her face, but her eyes were dark, strangely dark.

Nadine knew enough about sex. She read the lust in those strange black eyes. But she saw something else as well, a different need, a different desire; one Nadine couldn’t put her finger on.

Something else was strange. Here was a beautiful woman in a bar filled with testosterone pumped, sex crazed men, and yet not a single man had hit on her. No one offered to buy her a drink; no one even tried to talk to her. Even the other girls left her alone. Not one of them approached her, offering a private dance or more.

Nadine looked up again to discover the woman had gone, vanished as though she had never been there. But in the moment just before she disappeared, Nadine recognized the look in the woman’s eyes.

It was hunger.

Nadine did not join the other girls for drinks after work. They hadn’t invited her and she had no wish to go. She didn’t care that she was an outcast among her peers; she had no interest in socializing with them.

At two in the morning, she left the club. She had changed into a sweater, leggings and fake UGG boots; an outfit completely opposite to the slutty clothes she wore for dancing.

Her steps sounded almost silent as she walked down the alley, toward the main road. Ahead of her, the headlights of cars passed across the exit and groups of young people headed home after a night out. Their laughter floated over to her, becoming louder, before drifting down the street. She heard the sound of breaking glass as someone dropped a bottle. The scent of stale urine violated her nostrils and she turned her head to one side, hoping to avoid its source.

Suddenly, the figures of two men—one large and bulky, the other shorter—blocked her view of the road ahead.

Her heart started to pound, her breath caught in her chest. This wasn’t good. Something like this was never good.

The smaller one nudged the larger man with his elbow. “Look what we’ve got here,” he smirked. “It’s one of the whores from the club.”

“You working out of hours, love?” the bigger guy leered. “Fancy a three-way?”

Nadine kept her head down, not making eye contact, hoping they would get bored and go away.

“Oi! Love, I’m talking to you,” the big one continued.

“Look, she thinks she’s too good for us,” said the smaller guy. “Fucking slut.”

They stood only a few feet from her now. She could walk around, try to side step them, but she decided to walk straight through them. Men were like dogs and horses—they could sense your fear.

As she attempted to walk through, the big one grabbed her elbow. She tried to shake him free, but he held her fast.

“I don’t want any trouble,” she said, her voice sounding forced.

“Ha! Your type are all about trouble.” The small one’s voice was full of disgust.

“So you going to do us a special rate then?” said the big one. “Two for the price of one?” He winked at his friend.

“Please…”

The man reached out and grabbed her breast beneath her sweater, his fingers painfully gouging her skin, despite the thick material.

“Hey! Got the fuck off of me!”

But he didn’t stop there. Using his grip on her breast, he pulled her toward him. He shoved his hand beneath the waist band of her leggings, delving down between her thighs.

That was when she knew this was going to end badly.

Just let them do what they want, she told herself. It’s not much past what you do anyway. Lay still and play nice and you will walk out of this alive.

Yet despite the sensible dress down, her body didn’t want to be compliant. She snatched his hand away, and then, when he came in for a second go, she drew back her fist and punched him full in the face.

Pain speared up through her arm and she clutched her fist, but the man backed off, his own face clutched in the palm of his hand, blood pouring between his fingers.

“You fucking bitch…”

Seemingly from out of nowhere, the metallic glint of a blade appeared and all around Nadine the world stopped. This wasn’t kids messing around anymore. Rape was possibly one of the better things that could happen to her.

“Please…” she said again, stepping away.

But he kept walking forward.

“Blake…” the smaller guy warned, knowing his friend had taken things too far. “Leave it.”

Blake was past listening.

Nadine turned to run, but he lunged at her, knocking her to the ground. She hit the ground, her chin slamming painfully on the concrete. Her teeth jarred together, narrowly missing her tongue. The stench of urine poured over her; ammonia combined with her fear and pain, making her eyes tear.

The knife’s cold metal pressed against the skin of her throat. Blake sat astride her, his weight pinning her down.

For a moment, he withdrew the knife and her heart leaped in hope, thinking he might back off. Then he plunged it deep beneath her ribs and her breath exploded from her lungs. Nadine gasped, winded. She felt a strange sucking sensation as he pulled the knife out and stabbed her again.

His erection pressed hard against her leg. Disbelief tinged the dull knowledge that she had been stabbed. The pain hadn’t hit her yet, but she knew it was coming.

Suddenly, Blake lifted off her and flew through the air, hitting the wall. Nadine heard the sickening crunch of neck bones breaking and the thud as he hit the ground. The other man squeaked in fear and turned and ran.

What was happening?

A pair of low heeled boots appeared in front of her face. Nadine found the strength to take her gaze up the curve of brown leather and the voluptuous body above, to see the person they belonged to.

The woman from the bar.

Nadine thought she should be more surprised, yet part of her had been expecting this woman’s reappearance, however strange the circumstances.

But she was dying; the world fading away. Her blood covered the ground beside her and soaked into the front of her sweater.

Was this how her life ended? After all the years trying to come to terms with the rejection of her parents, the fear and loneliness after being bumped from foster home to foster home. All of that pain and effort and sacrifice, only to die in a stinking alley.

The woman kneeled down beside her, seemingly unconcerned by the blood soaking into the blue of her tight jeans. She reached a pale hand out to Nadine. Long and elegant fingers gently touched Nadine’s cheek.

Nadine was cold, but this woman was colder.

With skin as white as bone and those dark eyes, she was frighteningly perfect, as an angel or a demon might look. No rouge tinted her full lips. Her hair framed her face in a mane of fire, its hue so startling against the lack of color in her skin.

She should have been terrified, yet this woman’s presence ebbed calm into Nadine’s tortured and dying soul.

Her face drew closer. Nadine’s breath stuttered in her chest, believing the woman was going to kiss her. Just the idea of having this stunning, strange creature’s mouth against her skin was enough to drown her fears of dying.

But her lips did not touch Nadine’s. Instead, they brushed against the soft velvet of her ear and whispered, “I can save you. All you have to do is say yes.” An accent Nadine couldn’t place touched her voice.

This wasn’t just a simple offer to save her life.

Who was this woman? What was she?

“All you have to do is say yes,” the woman said again.

Her strength faded, soaking into the ground as effortlessly as her blood. She occupied the moment before she dropped into a deep sleep, her limbs heavy, her mind thick. Could she even open her mouth to give her answer? Did she have the strength?

Her lips felt dry. As she opened her mouth to give her answer, the skin stuck together. Using Nadine’s own blood, the woman wet her finger and moistened Nadine’s mouth.

“Yes,” Nadine croaked. “Yes.”

She moved too fast for Nadine’s weary eyes to register. She saw a flash of white fangs elongated and horrifically sharp. Then the woman’s mouth gripped her throat.

Fresh pain speared through her, but the sensation seemed distant and faint, as though happening to someone else.

Nadine sank into the black.

Chapter Two

She woke with a ferocious hunger. Like a baby seeking a nipple, she clawed out of the darkness, looking for something to satisfy her need. Her mouth met cool flesh, but she sensed the flow of warmth beneath.

Something about her had changed. Acting purely out of instinct, she sunk her teeth into the offered skin.

Fluid flowed, its copper warmth somehow familiar.

She fed with a frantic need, drawing the thick liquid over her tongue and down her throat. With each swallow, her strength regained.

Finally she broke free and Nadine looked up.

In front of her sat the strange woman from the bar.

The woman’s beauty stole Nadine’s breath. The red hair misted like a halo around her face. Her dark eyes had a depth to them which was both beautiful, yet terrifying. She smiled at Nadine and from somewhere in the smile came the flash of white.

There was no escaping the woman’s sensuality; her curves, from the bow of her mouth to the swell of her breasts. Nadine only wanted to touch her.

Memories, confused and disjointed, came back to her. She was going to die and this woman had saved her.

“You saved my life,” Nadine said, her voice raw and hoarse.

The woman shook her head. “I gave you a new one.”

Nadine felt different; stronger, sexier, and her body buzzed with life.

She took in her surroundings. Together, they sat on a huge, four poster bed. Rich, sumptuous materials and fabrics were spread out beneath them. Expensive furnishings and dark mahogany wood adorned the room.

“What did you do to me?” she asked. “What are you?”

“I am a legend, a myth. I am something your kind does not believe in.”

“My kind..?”

“Humankind.”

Her heart should have caught in her throat, but Nadine barely felt it beating. All of her seemed different. She could breathe, but she no longer felt the need to, and the blood running through her veins was no longer her own.

“What are you?” she asked again.

“A vampire. And soon, so will you be.”

Her mind swam. This couldn’t be happening. Yet a part of her accepted what this stranger told her.

“I don’t even know your name.”

“You are Nadine.” The way she said her name was like tasting something exotic.

“Yes, I am. But who the hell are you?”

“My name is Adrienne Gellespie. I am more than four-hundred-years-old and I have been searching for you my whole life.”

Nadine shook her head, scared to look at the striking woman sitting in front of her. Yet her eyes were drawn. Her beauty had something magnetic about it and Nadine found herself unable to turn away.

“I don’t know what to believe,” she whispered.

“Believe what is real.”

Adrienne leaned forward, her long fingers tracing the line of Nadine’s lips. Nadine opened her mouth and the cool fingers slipped inside. Her tongue darted, touching Adrienne’s fingertips, her lips closing around them.

All she wanted to do was reach out and touch her pale skin.

“You are so beautiful,” Adrienne said. “The moment I saw you, I had to have you.”

“Have me?”

“In every sense of the word,” her accent rolled. “You are mine now. I created you, so you are forever in my servitude. I am your mistress, but I will also be your protector, your friend, your lover.”

Nadine couldn’t hide the cold thrill of lust racing through her, converging from her pussy, up through her breasts, finally releasing in the fullness of her mouth. She knew she should be fighting this, yet it seemed she was incapable. Whatever this woman wanted, she would do.

Slowly, Adrienne moved toward her, her mouth parted. The lethal slithers of her fangs protruded and they filled Nadine with fear. Was this really happening?

The vampire’s mouth found hers and the kiss was sweet and deep. Their tongues met and Nadine’s tongue tentatively touched the fangs that had so filled her with terror. The sharp tooth nicked her tongue, the few drops of blood causing Adrienne to moan. She kissed her deeper, drawing Nadine’s tongue deep into her mouth, sucking on the blood.

Adrienne’s hand cupped her breast, the cool fingers sliding across the hard nub of her nipple.

Now it was Nadine’s turn to moan and her own hand reached out, pulling this strange and beautiful creature toward her.

Adrienne pulled at her own shirt, ripping the buttons and exposing her flesh. She wore no bra. Her breasts were full and heavy and perfectly round, her nipples dark against the white of her skin. Nadine’s mouth fell to them; first one and then the other, her tongue circling, her teeth grazing.

A gentle push to the top of her head sent Nadine lower, across Adrienne’s flat stomach.

She wriggled out of the tight jeans, revealing a scanty pair of panties. Nadine headed down. The vampire was bare, not a single hair to spoil the soft, willing flesh.

Nadine breathed in her scent through the lace, her tongue probing against it, feeling her moisture beneath. Adrienne moaned and pushed her pussy against Nadine’s tongue, encouraging her.

“I am your mistress now,” she whispered from above. “You will pleasure me and love me, and I will do to you in return.”

Nadine pulled the wet lace to one side. Her tongue slipped inside Adrienne’s moist folds, slowly licking up toward her sensitive nub. She gave it a gentle flick with her tongue and repeated the motion.

Adrienne squirmed with pleasure, her own hands touching her full breasts, squeezing her nipples into hardened peaks. The sight made Nadine’s own body tighten; her cunt convulsing.

She went back to her clit and licked, faster now. She pushed a finger inside Adrienne’s slick pussy, and her tight muscles gripped and relaxed against her digit.

“Wait,” Adrienne gasped. “Together, we need to come together.”

The vampire sat up, her red hair almost burning, her dark eyes flashing with want.

Quickly, she helped Nadine remove the rest of her clothes and then Adrienne climbed between Nadine’s legs, paying back the pleasure.

The coldness of her tongue was a shock on Nadine’s hot skin. Adrienne pushed her tongue deep inside and Nadine gasped. Never before had she experienced such intensity. Whatever Adrienne had done to her had fired her sexuality to another level. Adrienne feasting upon her as no one else had before—as if she were starving. Her whole mouth covered Nadine’s mound. Her lips pulled and sucked at Nadine’s labia, her tongue hardened and thrusting. When her cool finger found Nadine’s clit, rubbing it in firm circles, Nadine’s head swam with pleasure.

Adrienne lifted her mouth, her lips wet with Nadine’s juices. “I want you to taste me again,” she said.

Carefully, she turned her body until her pussy hovered above Nadine’s face. She buried her face back between Nadine’s thighs, intending for them to lick the other to climax.

Nadine took the firm flesh of Adrienne’s peachy bottom in her hands and pulled the vampire’s cunt down toward her mouth.

Adrienne tasted so sweet, unlike any woman Nadine ever had. She took the delicate slips of skin between her teeth, nibbling gently. Adrienne ground down, encouraging Nadine deeper and Nadine hardened her tongue, pushing it deep and curling around to hit the sensitive fleshy spot on the inside of Adrienne’s wall. The vampire groaned in delight, the vibration sending a thrill through Nadine’s clit.

Their orgasms mounted, fierce and strong, building deep inside. Just as she was about to come, Adrienne turned her mouth and sunk her fangs into the inside of Nadine’s thigh.

The orgasm convulsed within her, the waves pummeling her over and over. She screamed out loud with its force and her whole body jerked as the aftershocks came. Adrienne moaned as her own orgasm wrapped around her, holding her in its embrace.

They lay, spent together, wrapped within each other’s arms.

Was it magic Adrienne held over her, something to do with what she had done? Nadine didn’t care. All she knew was that in this woman’s arms, she finally felt peace. She was home.

“Now what?” Nadine asked. “Am I what you say I am? Am I like you?”

Adrienne shook her head. “Not yet. To be like me, first you must kill.”

She didn’t know how she felt. Her brain and conscience told her this was wrong, that she wasn’t born to be a killer, but the excitement and need rising up inside her had a whole other plan.

“I have someone I want you to meet,” Adrienne said, her dark eyes flashing wickedly.

She rose from the bed, and still naked, opened the bedroom door and walked from the room.

Within moments she was back. Held in one hand and carried like a naughty puppy by the scruff of his neck, was the smaller man from the alley. Blake’s friend.

“You won’t be properly turned until you make your first kill,” Adrienne said. “If you want us to stay together, you must kill him.”

She dropped the man and he scrabbled away, staring at the two naked women with a mixture of lust and terror.

“Do you want us to be together?” Adrienne asked again.

She wanted it more than she had ever wanted anything in her life.

Nadine looked down at the man at her feet. Moving faster than she ever thought possible, she fell on the man, pinning him to the floor. He shrieked like a caught rabbit.

Above her, Adrienne let out a gasp of pleasure.

Nadine turned her head to the man beneath her.

And bit.

Blood flowed beneath her tongue, its hot spurt gushing into her mouth. She gulped furiously, trying to keep up with the rush. The blood’s metallic tang was so familiar, only now she tasted it with a new perception. The thunder of the man’s heart beat deep within her as it raced from fear and pain. As she continued to suck, the pace slowed from a gallop to a lazy lope, and Nadine knew the man was dying.

She pulled away, gasping from the shock and the new power raging through her veins. She felt as a first time coke user must, a heady concoction of power and strength and confidence.

But there was a man before her, a man she had just killed. She fell away from him, horrified at her actions. Blood spilled down her chin and dribbled down over her naked breasts.

Adrienne placed a cool hand on her shoulder and calm ebbed through her.

The vampire kneeled before her so her mouth was at her chest. She leaned forward and lapped the blood from her skin. Nadine’s nipples hardened in response to her touch, but suddenly sickness washed over her and the room began to spin. Her heartbeat thumped in her ears, heavy and pounding, and colored blobs floated across her vision.

“Something’s not right,” she gasped.

Adrienne sat at her back, supporting Nadine as her body shook uncontrollably. Carefully, Adrienne lowered her to the ground.

“It’s just the final part of the change,” she said. “The final part of your humanity dying. When you wake you will be an immortal.”

Nadine cried out as pain wracked through her body. The pain was worse than anything she had ever experienced before—far worse than what she had been through in the alleyway—and she curled up into a ball, her eyes squeezed shut against this violation. Somewhere above her, Adrienne’s presence hovered. She wanted to call out to her, to beg her to make it stop, but she was unable to get her brain to connect to her mouth. Her heart beat continued to thump, faster and faster, until suddenly it stopped and she heard nothing more.

Chapter Three

The following night, Nadine woke a new vampire.

She gasped awake, bolting up in bed from the nothingness of an undead sleep to the total clarity of a newborn vampire. The world looked different to her now; the colors more vivid than before, new hues leaping out at her as if everything had a light of its own. Textures seemed more defined, the smooth silk of the bed sheets like rippling water beneath her fingertips.

Beside her, Adrienne too, had woken. She propped herself up on one elbow, watching her companion with a mixture of reverence and desire. As with her senses of sight and touch, Nadine’s sense of smell was also newly defined and she could detect the sweet scent of her maker’s sex.

Only a thin white sheet covered Adrienne’s body, just hiding the opulent swell of her lush, white breasts. Her dark nipples were hard bullets beneath the sheet, poking out at Nadine as if asking to be touched. Adrienne caught Nadine’s gaze and flashed a smile, her dark eyes glinting.

With a swift movement Nadine barely even saw, Adrienne pulled the sheet away, exposing her perfect breasts.

“I’m yours now,” she told Nadine. “You can have me whenever you desire.”

Adrienne slid down the bed until she lay flat on her back, pulling the remaining sheet away. Hungrily, Nadine’s gaze traveled down her body, taking in the rise of her breasts thrust toward the ceiling, the gentle dip of her stomach, the bare skin between her legs. As if sensing where her gaze landed, Adrienne opened her creamy white thighs and reached down, her long fingers seeking her own wet opening.

Nadine gave a moan of desire. She wanted to leap on Adrienne and lose herself in this perfect, ravishing creature, but she did not want to disturb this erotic dream she had woken to. Instead, Nadine followed Adrienne’s lead and reached her hand between her legs, feeling her own wetness, her own desire. With two fingers she rubbed at her clit, slow, tentative circles, feeling her body respond. She squirmed with pleasure and slid down the bed until she lay beside her maker.

Side by side, their bodies level, Adrienne reached out her free hand and ran a finger across Nadine’s lips. Playfully, Nadine nipped at her fingertips. Adrienne smiled, but her eyes were heavy and hooded with sex and she moved toward Nadine and kissed her.

Their lips were soft and gentle, tongues tentative and exploratory. Nadine parted her lips and allowed Adrienne’s tongue to enter her mouth, her own tongue responding with light laps. It was the tender kiss of a woman with all the fierce hunger of a vampire behind it.

Nadine’s own free hand moved to Adrienne’s breast, cupping its soft mound. Her thumb circled the hard nipple and then she squeezed it between her thumb and forefinger, making Adrienne gasp.

Their hands each continued to work themselves, rubbing their sensitive nubs, slipping their fingers into the tightness of their wet sheaths. Every muscle in Nadine’s body tensed, her inner-muscles clenching against her fingers.

Nadine’s hand wrapped around Adrienne’s back, slipping down the smooth line of her spine, down to the luscious curve of her ass. Nadine’s fingers dug into the succulent flesh of Adrienne’s round bottom, pulling her closer. She was caught within the intense feeling of pleasuring herself while touching and kissing this gorgeous, dangerous creature.

Her orgasm came quickly and suddenly, flooding over her like the ocean.

She gasped into Adrienne’s mouth. Just as the spasms of her orgasm wracked through her, dizzying her head, Adrienne bit down on her lower lip, the pain intensifying the power of the orgasm.

Adrienne sucked hungrily on Nadine’s mouth as her own orgasm thundered through her body.

They fell apart, panting and spent. Adrienne quickly recovered and propped herself back up in bed and dropped a kiss on Nadine’s bare shoulder.

“If I get to do that every night for the rest of eternity, I shall be more than happy.”

Nadine raised her hand to the bite on her lower lip. She was surprised to find that not only had the cut healed, but not a single drop of blood had been spilled.

“You heal quickly now,” Adrienne told her, her accent sounding softer than the previous night.

“I still can’t believe it,” Nadine whispered.

Adrienne laughed. “You don’t have to believe. It is the truth. To not believe would be like not believing you were once human.”

Nadine touched her lip with her tongue, feeling the thin, healing skin thicken until the cut was no longer discernable from the rest of her lip. This wasn’t magic; this was real.

“You’ll need to feed again tonight,” said Adrienne. “You’ll need to feed most nights for many years to come. Only when you grow older—in years only, of course—will you need to kill less frequently.”

The buzz from Nadine’s orgasm started to fade and beneath a new want worried her. An itching, gnawing need crept through her like a drug addict’s need for a fix. The sensation felt like the worst hunger and thirst all balled into one.

“You mean I have to kill again?” she said, her voice harsh.

Adrienne nodded. “And every night onward.”

In Nadine’s head she saw the bodies piling up; hundreds and thousands dead so she could live.

She shook her head. “I can’t.”

“You must. You have no choice.”

Despair welled through her, and her eyes filled with tears, blurring her vision. She lifted her hand to wipe the tears away and when she withdrew her fingers, they came away red with blood.

“Oh God,” she gasped.

“If there is a God,” Adrienne said. “He has forsaken us.”

“So now I cry tears of blood and I kill to survive? What have you done to me?”

Adrienne’s eyes darkened with anger and she grabbed the bed sheet and pulled it up around herself, clutching it to her chest. “I saved your life.”

“I know that,” Nadine whispered.

“We are what we are. Either you embrace it, or you die.”

“Maybe I would be better off dead.”

Adrienne snarled, flashing her fangs. “If that’s what you want, it can be arranged.”

Nadine froze, her eyes wide. Suddenly she saw the beautiful woman beside her for what she really was—a fierce killer.

But she didn’t want to die. Even as a human, her survival instinct had been strong. Ever since childhood, her life had been one big struggle to survive, and she wasn’t about to give up now. She’d had a taste of death and she had no desire to repeat the experience.

Adrienne’s eyes softened and she reached out a hand and swept Nadine’s dark hair away from her face.

“I will make the killing easy for you,” she said. “You will be so caught up in the moment that you will barely know what you’re doing. I will make their deaths pleasurable for you, my love.”

“Killing should never be a pleasure.”

“Think of them as cattle now. They exist only to feed us. Would you think any less of a lion for killing an antelope? We are simply higher in the food chain.” She shrugged her smooth shoulders. “It is a matter of nature.”

“We’re not natural.”

“We exist, don’t we? And so do they. That, my love, is nature.”

Nadine stared down at her hands. It was all too much to comprehend.

“Come.” Adrienne placed a hand on her knee, breaking her from her thoughts. “Let’s dress and go out into the night. Once you experience your new life to the full, you will not doubt your reason to live.”

Nadine dared not disobey.

Adrienne rose from the bed and stretched her long, lean body, pushing her breasts upward, arching her back. Her red hair fell in a mane down her back, almost brushing the tops of her buttocks, and Nadine was once again filled with a surge of lust.

Not to kill was one thing, but never to place her mouth on Adrienne’s luscious body again was unthinkable.

Adrienne crossed the room and pulled open the top drawer of a dark mahogany dresser. She took out a couple of items and then dropped them at the foot of the bed.

“Here,” she said. “Your old things were ruined.”

“Thank you.”

Nadine picked up a black lace bra, matching panties, a low cut black top and tight jeans. The outfit was simple, but undeniably sexy. Adrienne herself pulled on similar jeans and a halter-top.

“We need to fit in,” Adrienne said, seeing Nadine eyeing up the clothes. “The more we look like them, the easier it is for us to seduce them.”

“Seduce them?”

“In every way.”

Nadine swung her legs over the side of the bed and tugged the panties and jeans up over her strong thighs. She clipped the bra together, adjusted her breasts in the lace cups, and pulled the top over her head. She glanced up to find Adrienne watching her.

“What?” she said.

Adrienne smiled. “You’re beautiful.”

Nadine turned away, embarrassed. “I thought you were taking me out?”

“Of course.”

Together, they walked out of the bedroom door and into the rest of the apartment. Nadine stared around in awe.

She stood in a luxurious penthouse. Floor to ceiling windows offered views over the city. Ahead of them, London’s Gerkin rose from the city’s skyline.

“We’re still in the East End?” she said, surprised.

“Of course. How do you think I found you? I’ve been watching you for a while now; going to and from work, doing your laundry and shopping. You lived such a mundane existence.”

“I was only living.”

“You were surviving. You had no life.”

For some reason, Nadine felt a surge of protectiveness toward her old life, despite Adrienne’s words being the truth.

Two plush brown leather couches and a glass coffee table sat opposite the floor to ceiling windows.

“I used to have cream couches,” Adrienne laughed, “but the blood was a nightmare to get out. I had to keep buying more covers. At least these will wipe clean.”

Nadine peered into the kitchen. Immaculate granite countertops and the slick hard lines of stainless steel made up the units. Of course the kitchen was perfect—Adrienne never cooked.

“I have coffee and champagne for our guests, to make them more at ease.”

“Do you often have guests?”

Nadine flashed that wicked smile. “You will see.”

The opulence of the flat was extreme to most people’s standards, but coming from the poverty Nadine had lived in her whole life, the place was luxurious to the point of being offensive.

"How can you afford all this stuff?" Nadine asked. "It's not like you have a job—do you?"

Adrienne laughed again, the sound deep and throaty."A job? No, but I have a certain ability to make people give me things and money is easy to come by.""For you, maybe," said Nadine, her thoughts still in her poverty ridden past."I think you too, had a way of getting people to give you money, did you not? You stood on stage and danced. You removed your clothing and touched your breasts. You bent over and exposed that beautiful ass and pussy for all to admire."

Nadine's eyes turned cold. "That was different."

"Really? How so?"

"They were paying for a service and I gave it to them. I didn't take their money for nothing."

"Where did it stop? Did you give them private dances?"

Nadine looked away, blinking angrily. Of course she had—it was part of the job.

"And when you danced privately, did the men expose themselves to you? Did they touch their cocks? Did you let them touch your breasts?"

"Yes," she whispered.

"And did you ever let them slip a finger inside of you? Did you ever suck their cocks? Did you ever fuck them?"

"No!" she said, furious now. "I'm a dancer, not a whore. Sometimes the guy would get a bit carried away and take things too far, but I've never slept with a man for money."

Adrienne's gaze softened. "Okay, but you must not judge me for how I choose to live, if you do not expect to be judged yourself."

She was right. Nadine was the last person who should judge.

Adrienne leaned in and kissed her gently. Her soft lips ignited a fire within Nadine and she trembled with want.

"Ignore me," Adrienne said. "I am only jealous. I hate the thought of you with a man. They are such uncouth creatures."

Nadine had slept with plenty of men in the past; it was only recently that she had turned her attention to the gentler sex. But she hadn't sworn off men completely and Adrienne saw her regret in her face.

"So you think you would miss having a hard cock inside of you?" she sighed. "Never mind, I guess I would be happy to watch a man fuck you, as long as I was there to kill him afterward. In fact…" she trailed her fingers down to Nadine's breast, her nipple hardening beneath the thin material. "Maybe it would be fun."

Nadine knew she should protest, but the idea of being fucked by a man while Adrienne watched made her shiver with desire.

"Come," said the other vampire. "We must feed. There will be plenty of time for sex later. I promise."

Adrienne took Nadine’s hand in her long, slim fingers and led her from the flat out into the hallway. A private lift took them to the ground floor and they spilled out into the foyer, then through the glass front doors and out onto the street.

The night was busy. At almost one in the morning, plenty of people were still around. Young women in short skirts tottered and giggled their way down the street, clearly inebriated. A group of young men walked by in the opposite direction, cat-calling and wolf-whistling at the girls. They turned around, calling something back to them, but they didn’t stop walking.

The men saw Adrienne and Nadine walking, still hand in hand, down the opposite side of the street. Their cool, statuesque presence was intimidating and the men fell into an uncomfortable silence, not looking directly at the women as they passed.

Even from the other side of the street, Nadine could smell the copper warmth of their blood. Something similar to adrenaline pumped through her and every muscle in her body tensed and tightened. The muscles in her jaw thickened and lengthened and her fangs protruded. Her intake of breath came out as a snarl.

Adrienne shot her a look. “Calm down,” she hissed. “You’ll get us too much attention.”

Nadine shivered, tearing her gaze from the two men. Slowly, her fangs started to retract and the surge of power and strength subsided.

“Sorry,” she said. “I couldn’t help it.”

Another group of men passed them by, on their side of the street this time. None of them looked at the two women, as if they sensed the danger and knew to avoid it. Nadine deliberately stared straight ahead, trying not to be drawn into the heady rush of blood or the pulse of their arteries. She forced herself not to leap at them and sink her teeth into their throats.

“It gets easier,” Adrienne said. “You can tune them out after a while. Try to concentrate on something else. Tell me about yourself.”

Nadine sighed and took her mind to the one thing of importance in her life.

“I only ever wanted to dance,” she said. “As a child I saw the ballet on television and the sight captivated me. The dancers had such beauty and grace and just the sight took me away from the misery of my life.”

Adrienne touched her hand. “I’m sorry you didn’t have a happy childhood.”

Nadine shook her head, but withdrew her hand. “It doesn’t matter. My life’s gone now, but life wasn’t all bad. At the age of ten, I found a youth group and they did dance lessons for kids like me. The class was huge—about forty of us, all dreaming of being someone else, of having different lives. I loved to dance and I was good. The teachers started to talk about me and they even tried to contact my parents to see if they could enter me in competitions, but my mother didn’t care.”

“Within a couple of years I developed these,” she put her hands against her generous chest, “and my chances of being a ballet dancer disappeared, even if I’d been able to get the right training.” Nadine sighed again. “I’d started my training too late anyway. Professionals start so young.”

“But you’re really good,” Adrienne said, full of enthusiasm.

“Not good enough. I didn’t stand a chance of making something of myself. My mother hated my dancing. She hated that it took me away from her and said I should be doing something useful with my time, like getting a job. I was thirteen at this point, so I got a job in a hair salon; washing hair, making coffee, sweeping up hair. Whatever money I made, my mother took from me and then slapped me around a bit for some entertainment. By the time I hit fifteen, I figured I was better working and keeping my own money than going home and having it beaten out of me, so I ran away. Of course the strip clubs were an easy option. I lied about my age, pinched another girl’s I.D. and told them it was me. The club owners didn’t care the card wasn’t mine. If they got caught, they would be able to say they had seen my identification.”

“So you’ve been dancing ever since?”

“Yeah. Of course the money was important, but being on stage and dancing kept me there. I lost myself when I danced, simply focused on the music and the movement of my limbs. For this short space of time I could be entirely within myself, no worries or concerns; just me and the music and the feeling of exhilaration.”

“And now you’re no longer dancing,” said Adrienne, her eyes sad. “I took you away from that. I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought you would have hated being up on stage, putting yourself on display.”

“I would rather have been dancing for people who simply wanted to watch me dance, rather than men who only imagined what it would be like to fuck me. But I was still dancing. I was still doing what I loved.”

“You can always dance for me.” her voice was soft.

Nadine smiled. “I will, I promise. But it’s not the same.”

“I’m sorry. Maybe you’ll be back on stage one day, but because people will be admiring your skill and beauty, instead of your tits and ass.”

“I hope so,” Nadine said, her voice hoarse. She changed the subject. “Where are we going anyway?”

“Where’s the best place to pick up girls?”

“I don’t know. A bar?”

“Exactly. We’re going clubbing.”

Chapter Four

London’s Old Street was a thriving mass of people, even at one in the morning. The bright lights of the entrances to bars and clubs flooded both sides of the street. Big bouncers, wearing the smart black and whites of tuxedos, stood with their arms folded, occasionally checking the identifications of punters who looked too young to be drinking.

The Scarla Club was located at the far end of the road. The two vampires walked side by side in silence. They no longer held hands, but Adrienne’s fingers lightly touched Nadine’s wrist, keeping the instincts of her much younger companion in check.

Staying in control didn’t come easily for Nadine. The scent of blood in every type, male and female, flooded through her. With her newly heightened senses, she found herself caught in a whirlpool of sensory overload. Sounds blared against her ear drums, laughter piercing through her like shrieks, all different types of music layered on top of each other, intermingling in a distorted racket. In the distance, she heard lovers whispering, the sound of frantic kissing, even the reverberation of a slap and a cry. Lights flashed. The strobe on a dance floor with brightly colored blobs made Nadine wince.

The scents and sounds of this busy, overwhelming place almost caused her to lose control. She wanted to snarl and lash out, to let the monster inside of her run free and leap on the nearest person to feed. She knew once she had her teeth sunk into the throat of a luscious woman or strong man, all she would know was the feel and taste of the blood rushing into her mouth and down her throat. All the rest of the world would disappear.

Adrienne’s hand touched her arm once more. “Just focus on me,” she said.

Nadine did as she was told and stared into Adrienne’s dark eyes. All at once, the rest of the world fell away, the sights and sounds blurring around her. Only the tantalizing scent of blood stayed with her.

And to think, Nadine had wondered if she had it in her to kill.

Together, the women walked into the club, the bouncers giving them a small nod as they passed. Adrienne did not bother to pay the entrance fee, but no one stopped or questioned them.

They walked up to the bar and Adrienne leaned across the wood, catching the bartender’s attention. He was young and he grinned at Adrienne, checking her out. She ordered two shots of vodka and he pushed them across the bar toward them.

“On the house,” he said.

Nadine picked one of them up and sniffed it.

“Just pretend to drink,” Adrienne said. “It’ll help you fit in.”

Nadine had never fit in less. She could feel people deliberately not looking at her. The two women were undeniably sexy and though they drew attention, no one made eye contact. When she worked as a stripper, all people did was stare. The men wanted to look her in the eye while she bent over, pushing her breasts together, pouting her mouth. On the odd occasion, when she had been desperate for cash and given a guy a blow job, it had been the same deal. The men loved when she stared up at them with their cock in her mouth. Something about the eye contact turned them on.

Only now things were different. No one wanted to look at her. They sensed both she and her companion were dangerous.

Adrienne leaned in, her mouth against Nadine’s ear. “We just have to pick one,” she said. “Whoever you desire.”

Nadine looked around the club. They were all so young, not many above the age of twenty-five. Young and care-free and sexy. All out to have a good time and find someone they would hook up with, someone they could spend the night having wild, uncomplicated sex with.

“What about her?” Adrienne nodded in the direction of a blonde whose large breasts bulged out of her crop top. Her short skirt showed off her strong thighs and the tiny clothing exposed her flat belly. She laughed with friends and danced to the music, her hands held above her head, stretching out her body. The girl was undeniably sexy and she knew it. A surge of lust swept over Nadine, her fangs lengthening in her mouth.

Adrienne smiled her mischievous half-smile. “Watch and learn,” she said.

The red-haired vampire slunk onto the dance floor, winding her body around the other dancers. Adrienne moved as if she was fluid, her body supple and lithe. She raised her hands above her head, lifting her hair as she danced. The chosen outfit of hipster jeans and halter top hugged her perfect body, accentuating her curves. She was hypnotising, mesmerising, and before long every person in the place stared at her. But Adrienne only had one person she was interested in—the blonde.

Adrienne danced up against her, pressing her breasts against the blonde’s own generous chest. The girl seemed confused, but her eyes locked on Adrienne’s and her body reacted, matching Adrienne’s movements as she gyrated and swayed. Adrienne slipped her hands down the blonde’s back, her palms resting on the curve of her ass. They danced together, their bodies moving as one.

Nadine stared, unsure if she should be overwhelmed with lust or jealousy. Adrienne leaned into the blonde and whispered something into her ear. Through the fine strands of her hair, she caught Nadine’s eye and gave her a cheeky wink.

With her hand still on the girl’s ass, Adrienne steered the blonde off the dance floor and toward Nadine, waiting at the bar. The girl’s friends watched her go, but no one said anything. As soon as Adrienne left the dance floor, everyone went back to their dancing, the moment forgotten.

“This is Nadine,” Adrienne told the girl. “We would like to take you home with us.”

The girl still seemed to be in a daze and she had clearly been drinking. She took in the sight of the two beautiful women and something in her eyes lit up. “Are you having a party?”

“Yes,” Adrienne smiled. “A private one.”

She grinned. “Great. I love parties.”

“My friend here has never been to this kind of party,” Adrienne said. “I want to make her first time special for her.”

The blonde peered up at Nadine from beneath thick eyelashes, blackened with mascara. She swayed slightly, alcohol affecting her coordination.

“I can make the night special.”

Nadine stayed quiet. This girl didn’t know what she was offering herself up for. If she did, she would be sure to run from the bar. Part of Nadine wanted to warn her, the part that still remembered how it felt to be human. But above everything else was the desire to kill.

Together, the three of them left the club, leaving the drinks untouched on the bar. They stepped back onto the street.

“Goodnight, ladies,” one of the bouncers said as they passed, but none of the women even acknowledged him.

The street was still busy; people queuing to get into bars and clubs, groups standing on street corners, laughing—a typical London night. Adrienne linked her arm through the blonde’s, indicating to Nadine to do the same. Before long, they had their arms looped together like old friends.

“So are you guys, like, best friends?” the girl giggled.

Adrienne shot Nadine a look. “Sure. We’re about as close as two girlfriends can get.”

Nadine pressed her lips together. A part of her didn’t want to be doing this. It was murder, no doubt about it. Yet her underlying hunger overrode any sense of duty. All she wanted to do was sink her teeth into the throat of this sexy woman and feed until she forgot everything else. She struggled to think of her as a person, that she might have had friends and family who loved her. All Nadine could think about was the blood pulsating through her veins and the tanned swell of her breasts, just begging to have her face buried in them.

A combination of a vampire’s speed and hypnotism whisking them along the streets, meant they reached home in no time. Before Nadine realized it, they were back at the apartment, the blonde still in their arms.

“Wow,” the girl said, breaking away from them, turning in a circle as she admired the flat. “This place is fucking amazing.”

“I’m glad you like it,” Adrienne said, crossing the floor, heading for the kitchen. “I must get you something to drink. Champagne?”

The girl’s eyes lit up. “Mmm, yummy. I’d love some.”

Adrienne turned to look at Nadine, who was still standing by the door. “Make our new friend comfortable, Nadine.”

Nadine struggled to control herself. Her fangs had already lengthened, her eyes burned with desire. It was strange how the desire for blood and that of sex seemed to go so perfectly hand in hand. She thought if she got any closer to the young woman she may lose it completely.

The blonde tossed her hair over her shoulder and smiled at Nadine. “Are you shy?”

Nadine didn’t dare open her mouth, the fangs would have been obvious, so she just shook her head.

Adrienne reappeared and handed the blonde a tall glass of champagne. She reached over and stroked the blonde’s long hair back over her shoulder, trailing her fingers down the girl’s spine.

“Come, sit,” she said, taking hold of her hand, pulling her onto the couch with her.

She took a long drink from her glass and giggled nervously. “I don’t think I’ve ever done this before,” she said.

“Done what?”

“Picked up two women.”

“So you think you picked us up? I would have said it was the other way around.”

Adrienne stared into her eyes. The girl’s lips went slack. Her eyes took on a drugged look; her lids heavy, her gaze vacant.

Adrienne’s fingertips touched her jaw and ran her fingers down her throat, across her décolletage and down to the swell of her breast. The girl shivered.

“Your hands are cold,” she said, her voice a hoarse whisper.

Adrienne leaned in. “I’m sure you’re going to warm me up.”

The blonde turned her head a fraction, but enough for their mouths to meet. Adrienne kissed hungrily. The girl was more tentative, uncertain at first. Adrienne’s tongue sneaked out, lightly tracing her lips, seeking permission to enter. She opened her mouth in response, her own tongue flicking, touching Adrienne’s.

This time the girl increased the force of the kiss. In one hand, the champagne tilted.

Nadine stood beside her, moving at a speed that surprised herself, and she carefully removed the glass from the blonde’s hand, setting the champagne on the coffee table.

She slid onto the couch behind her and pulled the silky mane of hair away from her neck, kissing the delicate skin of her throat. The girl moaned and reached a hand behind her, touching Nadine’s waist, pulling her closer.

Still kissing the blonde, Adrienne glanced up at Nadine, locking eyes. She narrowed her eyes, telling Nadine to go for it.

Through her top, Nadine cupped the heavy weight of the girl’s breast in one hand, her palm feeling the hard nub of her nipple. Her lips nibbled at the skin of her throat, pulling the blood to the surface. Without another thought, she bit, the blood flowing beneath her tongue, sucking at her flesh. The girl moaned.

Adrienne’s mouth left hers and she headed down, using her hands to part the girl’s creamy thighs. The vampire kissed and licked up the inside of her thigh.

Nadine only focused on feeding.

Adrienne nipped the inside of her thigh, her cheek pressed against the woman’s sex, and a fresh hit of blood assaulted Nadine’s nostrils. The blonde moaned again and pressed down, too caught up in the pleasure the two vampires gave, to realize what was actually happening to her.

Nadine tore the flimsy material of the girl’s top away, exposing her large, heavy breasts. She pinched the large nipples, her palm roughly squeezing. And still she fed, sucking the girl dry.

The blonde grew weaker beneath them, but as she realized something was wrong and started to struggle, she was too weak to do anything. Not that she would ever have been able to fight off the two vampires.

Nadine burst from her neck, gasping. The blood rushed through her veins, her head spinning. The girl lay still in her arms and Nadine leaped away, horrified.

The blonde dropped to the couch, all life drained from her. Her eyes were still open, staring at the ceiling. Her skin was as pale as that of the vampires’.

Now, filled with blood and her hunger stated, Nadine’s senses came back to her. Even as the girl’s blood thrummed through her veins, the reality of what she had done hit home.

“Oh, God. She’s dead isn’t she? We killed her!”

Adrienne had lifted her face from the girl’s thighs, long before she had died. “You killed her,” she said. “I simply helped you along.”

She spun away, her face in her hands. “I can’t do this!”

“You just did.”

Adrienne picked up the girl’s wrist and then let go. Her arm fell off the side of the couch and dangled down to the floor. “Shame. I’m sure she was sweet, really.”

“Don’t do that,” Nadine said. “Don’t touch her.”

Adrienne laughed. “Oh, don’t be such a prude. She’s gone. This is nothing but a shell. Unlike us, she had a soul and now she will be sitting in heaven, staring down at us, wondering what the hell happened.”

Nadine’s head jerked up, the body on the couch suddenly forgotten.

“What do you mean ‘unlike us’? Are you saying we have no souls?”

Adrienne’s eyes widened with surprise. “We’re part of the un-dead. Our souls left us when we were brought back again. We’re no longer part of the cycle, Nadine. We have bodies that will not die. We are strong, and beautiful, and powerful. You can’t expect us to be part of the spiritual world as well.”

“So I’ve given up my immortal soul for beauty and power?”

“No. You gave up your immortal soul for an immortal life.”

Nadine glanced down at the girl’s face. She had done that. A normal, happy young woman who had been out for a good time was now dead, and it was all her fault. But it wasn’t completely her fault; Adrienne had turned her.

“I can’t be around you right now,” she said. Moving with a surprising burst of speed, she ran for the door.

“Nadine!”

But Adrienne didn’t try to chase her. She must have known Nadine would take no calming down.

Frantically, she punched at the button to call the elevator. The doors opened, but they were frustratingly slow, and Nadine put her hand in the gap and wrenched them open. They buckled under her strength and jammed, refusing to open any further.

Nadine gave a cry of frustration and leaped for the fire escape doors, to the stairs leading down to the back door of the apartment building. She flew down them, her feet barely touching the ground, her fingers skimming the banister.

Adrienne spoke the truth; she was strong and fast and beautiful. Her confidence was at an all time high, as if she had just taken a good long snort of cocaine and was now ready to take on the world. The strength burned through her muscles, desperate for a release. She could have ripped up trees by their roots if she had tried, torn metal from its casting, turned over cars. Instead, she ran.

She flew down the street. She brushed past a young couple walking hand in hand. Both looked around as she passed, shivering as if a ghost had walked through them. A group of young men, laughing and joking, fell silent as she ran. Each of them noticed something had happened, something had passed them, but they couldn’t have explained who or what it was.

Nadine had no idea where she was going. Her only home was the meagre shared flat, and she couldn’t even call the girls she lived with friends. Would they have even noticed her disappearance? Did anyone miss her at all?

The club would have. Probably not in the right way, but they would have noticed that she had not shown up for work. Suddenly she needed to be there. She needed to see a familiar face and place, needed to have a normal conversation.

Nadine headed to the Paradise Bar.

Chapter Five

Her feet seemed to find their own way, her head not needing to direct them. The front door to the club was on the main strip, in a row of cheap off-licences, grocery stores and dingy pubs. The sign over the door glowed with a red neon light. The ‘dise’ from ‘The Paradise Club’ had burned out.

Nadine banged in through the front door. Roland, the big black bouncer, started back in surprise. Staff weren’t supposed to use the main doors.

“Hey, Nadine,” he said. “Where you been? You’re sure in a lot of shit.”

She gave him a grim smile. He didn’t know the half of it.

“You can say that again.”

On stage Liana, stage name Mystery Nights, strutted her stuff. She was a curvaceous black girl who had an ass any man, or woman, would love to grab. The phrase ‘junk in the trunk’ should have been invented for her. Though she was a little small on top, her breasts had a perky, jaunty look to them, her nipples large and pointy. But Liana knew her ass was her best asset and she worked it well. She had this special jiggle she did as she danced which drove the men wild.

As Nadine crossed the floor, weaving her way between tables, Liana took hold of the pole and pushed her fine, round ass out, gyrating her way down to the floor.

Even Nadine found it hard to take her eyes off her. For a moment, the thought of what her blood would taste like ran through her head.

A hand on her arm dragged Nadine from her thoughts and she turned to see Tony, her boss and the owner of the club, staring at her, red-faced and furious.

“Where the hell have you been?” he demanded. “I’ve been worried sick.”

She gave a wry smile. “Nice of you to care.”

“Care? Of course I care. I had five open slots last night because of your no-show. I hope you’re planning to make up for it tonight.”

“Sure thing, Tony.”

Unsure of what she was playing at, she slipped across the front of the stage and into the large dressing room back stage. The girls looked up at her and smiled, but their smiles were tinged with insincerity and uncertainty. She knew what they were thinking; they all wondered what had happened to her. Had she been with a punter? Got too wasted to show? She would have thought exactly the same thing had the situation been reversed.

Nadine grabbed an outfit out of one of the costume boxes—kept for emergencies such as this—just choosing some heels and stockings. She stripped off the jeans and vest top, but kept her black underwear on. Slipping her feet into the shoes, Nadine’s whole demeanour changed, enjoying the height, posture and sexuality they gave her. Whatever else happened, she would always know the key to being sexy was in a good pair of stilettos.

The girl’s blood still rushed through her, her body buzzing with its power. She felt sexy, predatory.

The music in the bar ended and Liana made her way off stage. Nadine brushed past her, her hand giving a quick, light slap to the other woman’s exposed ass cheek. Liana jumped and stared at Nadine.

“What the fuck, bitch?”

“Just had to touch it,” Nadine smirked. “Everyone else has.”

The woman scowled and walked off; more sense than to fight her.

Tony’s familiar voice came over the PA. “And now the one you’ve all been waiting for… Calypso Dreams!”

A half-hearted round of applause started and Nadine walked out.

What the hell was she thinking?

All she had ever wanted to do was escape the place, yet here she was. Perhaps she was just desperate to get back to some kind of normality, to get back to some kind of routine. She wanted to have a normal conversation about something—at least as normal as her life got.

With her heightened senses, she heard the restrained moan and frantic movement of a guy jacking off under a table near the back. The club smelled of cigarette smoke, stale alcohol and old semen. Nadine narrowed her eyes against the bright lights of the stage spotlights, blaring in her face. But she strode out with a confidence she had never before possessed, a knowledge that she had chosen to be here tonight; that this show was now running by her rules.

On stage, she stood directly in front of the pole and reached back, the pole pressed between the round curves of her ass cheeks. The position pulled her shoulders back and thrust her breasts outward and she slowly leaned forward, swinging her hair down and around, flicking it back up again. She shimmied down so her ass almost touched the ground, then opened her thighs, wide.

“Yeah, baby!” A guy called out from the crowd.

Nadine’s head snapped up, focusing on the young man who shouted to her, her eyes dark and intense. In his early twenties, the man was cute, with short brown curly hair and a square jaw. He started back, as if shocked by the fierce look in her eyes.

Nadine smiled, a salacious smile, her fangs running out a little. All of a sudden the lust and hunger was back on her again with equal force. She would fuck this guy until he wept and then suck him dry.

But she wasn’t done yet.

Reaching behind her back, her fingers unclipped the bra and it dropped to the floor. Her hands found her breasts and she pushed them together, squeezing her nipples, forcing them into hard points. She reached her head down, her tongue lapping out, as if about to lick her own nipple. Somewhere in the front, a different man moaned.

She twisted around and pulled herself up on the pole, her legs wrapped around it, her head tilted back. She spun her whole body so fast, it was almost a blur. Nadine lifted herself up, so her whole body jutted out at a right angle, showing her incredible strength.

A nervous murmur went up through the crowd.

Nadine let go of the pole and dropped to the floor. She crawled across the stage, purposefully pushing her ass out, arching her back, focusing on the young man who had called out to her. He held a bill, eagerly awaiting her. Others too, were ready to hand her tips. As she reached the front of the stage, she pushed her hip out toward him and he slid the bill into the black lace of her panties.

Nadine leaned in closer to him and whispered in his ear, “You reach down a bit further and you could slip a finger into my pussy. Would you like that?”

He nodded frantically. “You mean like a private dance?”

She smiled and twisted around. “Sure. You can call it that.”

Other punters converged upon her. One guy reached out to grab her breast, but her hand shot out, grabbing his wrist in mid air.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

His eyes widened in surprise at her strength and he let go. The air of tension increased around her, crackling with its force, and others backed away, their tips still clutching in their hands. But the young man was too full of cum and testosterone to notice.

Her song came to an end and she slipped back stage. She pulled on a sexy corset, keeping on the panties and heels. Heading back out to the bar, the guy waited for her, as eager as a bitch on heat.

Nadine walked up to him, and stood with only inches between their bodies. His heat washed over her and she knew if she stepped forward another inch, she would also feel the hard bulge of his erection.

“So you want that dance?” she asked him, her eyelids lowered, looking up at him from beneath her lashes. He was tall, at least six-feet, and had a strong set of shoulders and a broad chest for one so young. She wondered what he was doing here. He wouldn’t have any problem picking up a regular girl to screw. Some men just had a thing for paying for it, knowing that strippers and whores would do the dirty things they would never have the balls to ask a regular girl to do.

His eyes were wide, taking in her body as he nodded.

Nadine smiled. “Great,” she said, hooking a finger into the button hole of his shirt. “Come right this way.”

He followed her compliantly. This was too easy.

Nadine led him around back, to the private dance rooms. In truth the rooms were little more than boxes, just a velvet curtain separating them from the bar.

He sat down on the narrow couch, cushions scattered behind him. A telling bulge pushed against the crotch of his jeans, running down one side of the leg. This guy might be young, but he was certainly packing the goods.

“Do I need to pay first?” he said, fishing his wallet out of his back pocket. “I’ve got money.”

“Shush,” she said, placing a hand on his, pausing his movements. “I decided I like the look of you, so this one is on the house.”

His eyebrows arched, his face open. “Really? No shit?”

Nadine bent forward, pushing the swell of her breasts into his face. She nuzzled her face into the smooth line of his neck. Hot blood pumped beneath his skin and she inhaled deeply, savoring the scent.

She spoke against his ear. “No shit.”

Her hand reached down, fingers finding the hard length beneath his jeans. The young man moaned as she rubbed him with a strong, expert touch.

“Turn around,” he said. “I want to see your ass.”

She did as he said, grinding her ass into the seat of his jeans, pushing her pussy against the hard bulge. There was no denying she was turned on; that seemingly insatiable hunger for both blood and sex going hand in hand. Between the flimsy material of her panties and the roughness of his jeans, she felt herself getting wet.

He reached out, his fingers gripping the firm flesh of her buttocks.

“So you’re an ass-man, huh?” she said, flicking her hair back, peering over one shoulder at him. He didn’t even look up, just continued to stare at her heart shaped bottom as she ground against his cock. “I guess you enjoyed the girl who was on before me then?” she continued.

His eyes flicked up. “What, the black girl? Hell, yeah.”

“Bet you’d like to see me and her together,” she said. “Watch me touching that amazing ass of hers, watch me lick her pussy, and suck on those cute titties.”

The man’s breathing got faster and he nodded frantically. When he spoke, his voice was higher. “You could do that? You could get her in here?”

“We’ll see. It depends on how well you perform. But I like girls too, so I want you to think of me with her while you’re fucking me.”

“Oh fuck,” the guy moaned. He reached down and quickly unzipped himself, freeing his cock. He was as big as the shape had alluded to and he pushed it against her, pressing her ass cheeks together so they hugged his cock tight.

Nadine let him stroke his cock a couple of times between her buttocks, bouncing up and down to his rhythm, then she turned around. She slid her panties down her thighs, stepping out of them, and climbed onto his lap, straddling him. Nadine pushed her wet folds against his hard length and he groaned again.

“We should use a condom,” he said, obviously worried about the chances of catching something.

“Don’t worry,” she whispered, as she lifted herself up, steadying his dick with one hand, ready to impale herself on him. “You won’t be alive long enough to be concerned about it.”

He had enough time to say, ‘huh’, before Nadine was wrenched off him. She flew across the room and hit the wall before dropping to the floor. Pain burst through her right shoulder where she hit, but it was fleeting. As shocked as the man was, she looked up.

Adrienne stood with her hands on her hips, her hair in tight red curls, springing around her face. Her pale face seemed even whiter, eyes glinting like pieces of granite in her head.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” she demanded.

“Holy shit!” said the guy, scrambling away, trying to stuff his still hugely erect dick back into his jeans.

“Fuck off, Adrienne,” Nadine spat. “I’m doing what you told me to do.”

“What, and exposing us at the same time? Didn’t you even think about what it would mean if people knew who you were?”

“Hey, if you girls want to both do me, I promise I won’t tell.”

Adrienne shot him a cold glare. “Shut up. You need to be thankful you’re making it out of here alive.”

His face deflated, his penis wilted. He stared from one woman to the next and decided they weren’t screwing around. Managing to zip up his jeans, he scrambled around the edge of the room and fled out of the doorway, the velvet of the curtain flapping behind him.

“Come on,” Adrienne said, exhaling air through her nose in a huff. “We need to get out of here. There’s a good chance that guy is going to complain about the interruption and we don’t need people coming back here and asking questions.”

Nadine folded her arms across her chest. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Oh, yes, you are, Adrienne said, grabbing her by the arm, pulling her to her feet. “And for God’s sake, put your panties back on.” She rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe you were going to fuck that guy.”

Now it was Nadine’s turn to look hard. “Well, he has something you’ll never have.”

“Yeah, yeah. If you want cock, you can have it. All I ask is that you don’t shit on your own doorstep.”

“I wasn’t!”

“No? Don’t you think people would have remembered you taking that guy back for a private dance? Don’t you think they would have put two and two together when they found him dead—drained of blood?”

Nadine stared at the ground, feeling like a child being scolded for bad behavior.

“They would never have found me,” she said, defiant.

“London is not such a big place.”

Nadine pressed her lips together. Maybe she had wanted to be caught. If she were locked up, away from society, her uncontrollable behavior would no longer be a danger to others. This desire to kill would be under lock and key.

Adrienne spoke as if she had read her thoughts.

“Do not be ridiculous, Nadine. You would kill everyone in prison and simply wrench open the metal of the bars so you could escape. The hunger is stronger than you. It will always win.”

Movement came from outside, feet rushing toward the room. Both vampires’ heads turned in the direction of the sound.

“Hurry,” said Adrienne. “We must go.”

Using their speed, they whipped out of the doorway just as an aggravated and pissed Tony rounded the corner. The vampires banged out of the back door and into the alley where Nadine had first been killed.

Nadine took a sharp intake of breath. The memories of that night flooded back, overwhelming her. She felt the stab of the knife, how it had seemed someone had punched the breath right out of her. She remembered how cold she had been, how she watched the blood drain from her body, her life ebbing away with it.

But mainly she remembered the fear. How she had been so terrified to die. She would never feel that way again. Adrienne had given her that much. Now she was the harbinger of fear; death was her gift to give to others.

Chapter Six

Hand in hand, they ran through the city, their inhuman speed tearing their hair back from their faces. People looked up as they fled by, sensing their passing like a cold wind. Drivers in their cars saw only a flash of movement through their windshields. The numerous security cameras dotted over the city picked up only a blur of movement, causing security officers to lean in with squinting eyes and a frown, wondering what they had seen.

Adrienne took the lead, pulling Nadine across the city, toward Primrose Hill.

Their nostrils were filled with the scent of sweet fresh grass and open air as they climbed higher up over the city and plonked themselves down on the soft grass. They looked down over London, at the huge curve of the London Eye, blue lights in the night sky, at the strange shape of the Gherkin protruding like a phallus from the city skyline. All across London, the illumination winked and blinked, like an ocean of colored lights.

From the distance, the sounds of London filtered through to their sensitive hearing; horns blaring, an alarm sounding, the rise and fall of the wail of a police siren.

Adrienne reached out and took Nadine’s hand.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” she said.

Nadine nodded. She could not deny the beauty of the night, how it seemed to wrap itself around her, holding her tight within its folds. She found a peace in its stillness, even with the commotion of the city not far below. For the time being at least, the gnawing hunger fell silent and her body settled into a kind of zoned out, peaceful state.

“It’s normal to feel the way you are,” Adrienne said. “So many years have passed for me, I can hardly remember my turning, but I’m sure I went through all of these compulsions and anxieties.”

“Don’t try to make me feel better, Adrienne. Nothing you tell me will make things better. I’m not in control of myself. I would have killed that guy. I don’t know what I was thinking. It was as if someone else had taken over my body and I just went along with it. That’s the worst thing; no part of me wanted to stop.”

Adrienne smiled. “Isn’t that what life’s about?” she said. “You must learn to enjoy it, to appreciate the gift you have been given, and relish in your new power.”

“I can’t,” she cried, her face in her hands. “Why can’t you understand? I can’t accept murdering people the way you do.”

“It’s not murder. We are a different species now. Do you tell the crocodile killing the gazelle it is a murderer? No, you just accept its actions because it is doing what it needs to survive.”

“Stop comparing us to fucking animals!”

She threw back her head and laughed, her throaty laugh. “We are animals, Nadine. At least animals are the closest thing we can compare ourselves to.”

“And you think that is supposed to make me feel better? I want to be with you, Adrienne. I want us to be together, to go to sleep together, to wake up in each other’s arms, but you can’t expect me to accept we are killers.”

“Forgive me, my love,” said Adrienne, placing her hand over the top of Nadine’s. “I forget what it is like to be newly vampire, to have all of your body fighting one way and your emotions another. Don’t worry. At the moment, the memory of being human is so strong, but in time you will forget.”

“I don’t want to forget.”

“But you are no longer human. In time you will stop thinking, and feeling, like one.”

“Then I’ll be completely a monster,” she said, turning her face away. “I’ll kill myself first.”

Adrienne laughed, but the sound was cold. “And how do you intend to do that?”

“I don’t know…stake through the heart? Walk out into the sun? Aren’t those things supposed to kill us?”

“Death for us really isn’t that easy, Nadine. Our bodies fight against exposure and it would take more strength than you will ever have to stake yourself. Unless someone was to physically tie you down with something strong enough to stop you from breaking the bonds, and wait for the sun to rise…”

“Like what?” she asked, eagerly drinking every small piece of information.

“The bonds would need to be metal—silver is best.”

“Doesn’t sound so hard.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Nadine. We are called the immortals for a reason. We have eternal life—we are undead. Killing one of our kind isn’t easy and killing ourselves is damn near impossible. If you were to go outside in the sunlight, your body would disobey. It would seek shelter, whatever you consciously wanted.”

“So I don’t even have control over my own body anymore?”

“Of course you do. As long as what you chose to do doesn’t hinder your own survival.” She sighed. “Enough! All vampires experience difficulties with the adjustment at first, but you need to trust me. You do trust me, don’t you?”

She looked in Adrienne’s dark eyes. “I don’t want to fight with you.”

Adrienne cupped her face in both hands. “I don’t want to fight either. I can’t stand you doing this to yourself. You are what you are.”

Nadine stared off into the distance, taking in the beauty of the city at night.

“So who turned you?” she asked. “Who was your maker?”

Adrienne’s face darkened. “She was an impulsive and vain vampire. She turned me and swore we’d be together, but within a few years she tired of me. She grew bored and so she went out and found another young, beautiful thing to play with.” Adrienne sighed. “That evening she came home with a man and turned him the very same night. She had discarded me and now ignored me, and so one night I left. I walked away from her and headed to a new country, and London became my home. I’ve never been back and I never saw her again.”

“Do you hear of her? Is she even still alive?”

Adrienne shrugged. “From time to time, rumors of her reach me, but it’s been awhile now—almost fifty years. I wouldn’t be surprised if she got herself into trouble. She was too compulsive. She wanted the world and thought nothing could stand in her way.”

“She wasn’t a very nice vampire then?”

“I don’t think she was a very nice human either.”

Nadine settled into Adrienne’s arms. To know something of her past and know she had been hurt herself, somehow made her feel closer to her maker.

“I want to be with you,” she said. To be without Adrienne now would be like being without a part of herself, like being asked to walk around with her heart missing.

Adrienne smiled. “Our being together is the most important thing in the world. The rest of it means nothing.”

She leaned in, kissed her lips softly and wrapped her arms around her shoulders, grabbing her in a fierce hug.

“We’re bonded in a way two humans can never be,” Adrienne whispered into her ear. “Our bodies are bound together for eternity, for as long as this world should exist.”

“All I want is for us to be together. I can hardly believe we only met a matter of days ago.”

“It’s different than with humans. I made you, just as God made humanity. How many other couples could say such a thing?”

“You can’t possibly believe in a God, after the things you do.”

“How can you say this? Have you not been listening to what I’ve been saying to you? Our existence doesn’t mean there is no God, or that we are somehow against Him.”

Nadine grabbed Adrienne’s hand and held it above the swell of her breast.

“Feel this,” she demanded. “No heartbeat. I died and then I came back again. How can you possibly think this is natural?”

She smiled, looking at the ground, shook her head before looking back up again.

“Don’t you believe in angels? In the resurrection of Jesus Christ? Haven’t you ever wondered about the reason He made His disciples drink His blood?”

“Shut up. There’s no connection. They’re just stories…”

“Really? Eternal life? Life after death? Drinking of the blood, eating of the body? You think that is all just a coincidence? God killed from vengeance, God killed out of wrath. All we do is kill to survive and yet you think that is unthinkable. Maybe you should take the time to consider what you believe.”

“I believe murder is a sin.”

Adrienne visibly gritted her teeth. “It’s not murder if it is a different species. Do humans talk about murdering chickens or fish?”

Nadine snorted vaguely hysterical laughter. “Vegetarians do!”

“I can tell you nothing more,” Adrienne said. “You have no choice in the matter. If you don’t want to go through the unthinkable torture of slowly starving to death over several decades, you must kill. And to be frank, the chances of you starving to death before your body took over and killed is near on impossible.”

“So you’re saying I’m going to murder people and I have no control over it.”

Adrienne sighed, exasperated. “Yes, that is exactly what I am saying.”

Silence descended as Nadine allowed her destiny to settle over her.

“I don’t want to be here anymore,” said Nadine. “Can we go home?”

Adrienne stood up and put out her hand to Nadine. Nadine looked up and reluctantly placed her palm into Adrienne’s. The vampire pulled her to her feet.

“You’ll get used to it,” said Adrienne. “In time you’ll even begin to enjoy what you are.”

Together they started the walk back down the hill, toward Camden Town. They moved at human pace, taking in the tranquility of the night.

Suddenly, Adrienne froze; her lean body statuesque in the half-light. Her hand tightened around Nadine’s, crushing her fingers in her grasp.

“What’s wrong?” Nadine hissed. “What’s the matter?”

Adrienne put out her other hand, lightly touching her arm, silencing her. They stood for a moment, Adrienne listening for something Nadine could not hear. After a few minutes Adrienne relaxed.

“Other vampires are near,” she said. “I thought for a minute they had sensed us.”

Nadine caught her breath in a rush of anticipation.

“There are other vampires?” she asked, unable to hide the excitement in her voice.

Adrienne turned to look at her, a scowl on her face. “You have an annoying way of repeating what I say as a question. It really is quite irritating.”

“Sorry,” Nadine said, downcast. “So much of what you say is surprising. It’s kind of a reflex.”

Adrienne tossed her head. “Well stop it.”

Nadine hesitated and said, “But you didn’t answer my question.”

“Of course other vampires exist. You didn’t think we were the only ones?”

“I hadn’t given the subject much thought.”

“Don’t. Other vampires can be dangerous. We are, by nature, a competitive species. We always want what the other has, and groups any larger than two or three generally don’t do so well. Some kind of argument will always start, and once a fight starts, it will not end until one or the other is dead.”

A prickle of unease raced over her; the same one that had been with her since she’d been turned. The sharp stab of fear.

“But smaller groups don’t fight?” she asked.

“They do, but not so often. When we choose a companion, we do so carefully. One will always be more submissive than the other. Like us for example; I am the elder vampire and without me you are nothing.”

She said it so matter-of-fact, clearly not even considering if her words would upset Nadine. Yet Nadine bristled with anger, not liking the ‘submissive’ role she had suddenly found herself in. Having anyone try to control her was something she had spent her life fighting against.

“I would rather we were equals,” Nadine said, trying not to look like she was sulking.

Adrienne laughed. “Don’t be ridiculous. I am over four hundred years older than you. We will never be equals.”

Nadine pressed her lips together, suppressing the anger bubbling beneath. This wasn’t Adrienne’s fault.

The doubt about her new existence was back with renewed force. Was this how she had to spend the rest of eternity—as someone else’s ‘pet’? It certainly wasn’t how she had ever wanted her life to be. She had to be a tough bitch her whole life and no one had ever told her what to do. Nadine wondered just how carefully Adrienne had chosen her partner this time.

But Nadine couldn’t fight Adrienne. The older vampire would tear her to shreds within moments.

“So what about these other vampires?” she asked. “Do they live close by?”

“Close enough. They won’t come near us unless something happens to provoke them. As long as we stay in our own territory and do nothing to stir up trouble for each other, they will leave us alone.”

A sudden craving to meet these strange vampires filled Nadine. What would they be like? Were they men or women? Were they as beautiful and strong and dangerous as Adrienne, or different?

The unknown had her gripped, tantalizing and calling to her. Though she wanted to be with Adrienne, she couldn’t help wanting to learn about the others.

She opened her mouth, more questions on the tip of her tongue, but her senses halted her words. Adrienne wouldn’t want to talk about them. Her defences came up as soon as she sensed them.

Had Adrienne met with them before? Nadine wondered. Did she have some kind of past joining her to them?

She went to speak again, but silenced her tongue once again.

The last thing she wanted to do was upset Adrienne any more than she already had. Truth was, Adrienne’s reaction scared her.

“We need to hurry,” said Adrienne. “Dawn will be here soon and we don’t want to be out here when that happens.”

Nadine winced. “Why? Do we burn up, or burst into flames, or something?”

“Both of those things. We blister and burn, like third degree burns, before combusting until all there is left is a pile of ash.”

“Does it hurt?”

“It’s agonizing.”

“Jesus. This whole thing just gets better and better, doesn’t it?”

She shrugged. “I don’t make the rules.”

Above them, the black of the night’s sky gradually faded to a dark indigo. The streets were as empty as London ever got; late enough that the majority of clubbers had gone home, but still too early for the commuters to be out. They raced across the city, heading to Adrienne’s apartment.

A desperation pushed them forward, a need within their bodies, driving them to seek shelter.

Just as the sun began to rise, the two vampires slunk into the apartment.

“What about the windows?” asked Nadine, her whole body wracked with fear at the coming light.

“They’re backed with a lining that stops the UV rays penetrating. But it’s only for emergencies. We have to sleep now, our bodies force us to. The only time we can stay awake in the daytime is if our immortal lives are in danger.”

There was no time for sex or passion, they simply slunk into the bedroom and dove beneath the sheets. The room’s windows were blacked out; no light penetrated, so there were no fears of the rising sun.

Wrapped in each other’s arms, they fell into their deep and dreamless sleep.

~*~

Thank you for reading. If you would like to read the remainder of Deadly Beauty, the eBook is available to buy from your favourite eBook retailer.

About the Author:

M.K. Elliott was born in Devon, England, where she now lives with her husband and two young daughters. Though she has a degree in Zoology, her true love has always been writing and she now works as a full time author. M.K. writes everything from contemporary romance to steaming hot erotica, and her love of travel and adventure is her main influence in her stories.

Also by M.K. Elliott:

Some Love it Hot! – Girls who know what they like and know how to get it.

Rescued II – Sexy stories of women in danger.

Rescued: Volumes I & II – The combined collection of the ‘Rescued’ series.

Escape – A troubled young doctor runs away to Thailand hoping to find herself, but ends up in the arms of a dive instructor (please note, this novel is not erotica).