Dark Moors (THE TWO VAMPIRES, #4) (9 page)

Sarah turned and spotted a vacant table.  She decided to ignore her stupid possessiveness and leave Daniel to it, so she ambled across the room and took an empty seat.  There was a t-light candle burning in a small glass in the
center of the dark wood table which was scattered with beer mats advertising brands she was unfamiliar with.  Cheesy radio music played in the background, but there was no dance floor.  She surmised it would be hard to get anyone to leave with them without being noticed, it was just not busy enough.  Maybe later she thought, after all; darkness had not fallen long ago.

She fiddled with one of the beer mats until a movement caught her eye.  She looked up and saw
Daniel approaching.  This time it was her who was blushing.  She had not exactly forgotten how good looking he was, yet she was getting used to him.  It was not until they were in public, and she saw him alongside other people, that she realized just how stunning he was; every aspect of his looks was perfect – but he was not too perfect as he still had a sense of ruggedness and his eyes sparkled with life and depth.  She could not look away.

As he sat down opposite her he pushed a large glass of red wine into her hand, and
she automatically raised it to her lips, still captivated by Daniel’s eyes.  The wine was rich and fruity, with a slightly sour tang which brought her back to herself and she realized Daniel was grinning at her in amusement.  She smiled self-consciously and took another sip.

‘Thanks for the drink,’ she muttered
, her cheeks now burning as Daniel continued to smile.

She gave him a sharp kick under the table when he started to
creep her out with his incessant amusement at her expense.  He was looking just a little bit too self-satisfied for her liking.

She drank more of her wine, her mind and body enjoying the sensation of the alcohol in her veins, mixing with her blood.
  She was still feeling shy, and could not think of much to say, so she just kept looking around at her surroundings, shooting glances in Daniel’s direction.  He reached over and took her hand.

‘Let’s drink our drinks and then we could go for the
‘lurking in shadows outside technique’ – we’ll not get to feed without suspicion here,’ he said, his words tumbling silently into her mind.

Sarah nodded.  She brought his hand up to her cheek and held it there, feeling cool tingles warm her skin.  She felt hungry but was still under Daniel’
s control so she could wait for the right opportunity to drink what she really wanted, what she needed to develop the strength that would be required to prevent whatever was going on near this town. 

She picked up her glass and took a long sip
of the dark red liquid that filled it.  It was her blood substitute.  She looked around at the tables of the diners to see if any food tempted her, but it all looked dull and bland, not tempting at all.

She looked back at Daniel
and watched as he drained his glass of wine.  She followed suit and they stood together.  Sarah grinned at Daniel as he took her hand and led her back outside, and at once she began to giggle.

‘Sorry about that -
I guess I felt awkward in there,’ she said, still laughing.

She was in a strange mood, she wanted something but her body felt detached from its desires, she surmised it was the effect of not being fully in control of her vices.

She gasped as Daniel drew her close and kissed her full on the lips, and she felt his influence on her lesson.  She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back, releasing herself to his powers, letting herself become lost.  Daniel started to pull away but she held on, until she felt words in her mind…

‘People coming,’ Daniel said.

Sarah drew her lips back, laughing again, and they darted around the building into a narrow road that led back onto the moor.  They stood in the shadows, Sarah breathing deeply.

‘Did they see us?’ she asked.

‘Yes, I think so, but I don’t think anyone saw them…’ Daniel said.

‘Let me try and coax them this way,’ she said.

Daniel looked thoughtful, then nodded, and Sarah edged to the corner and glanced around.  There were three women, probably in their forties, walking along the street.  They were dressed up for drinks, and looked like they may have already had a couple, as they were laughing and not walking particularly straight.  Sarah felt a moment of doubt – would she manage to influence three people at once?

‘You can do it,’ Daniel whispered in her ear.

She took a deep breath and started doing what she had done with the deer.  She sent out tendrils of power towards the approaching woman, coaxing them to move in her direction.  She felt the tendrils enter their minds, and she saw them exchange glances, and then shrug.  They started to walk her way.

She looked back at Daniel, pleased with
herself, but lost the connection as she did.  She saw them turn and walk away, one of them muttering; ‘That was weird.’

Sarah huffed,
then refocused her mind.  She sent out more tendrils of power, this time infusing it with a calming influence, as Daniel had so often done to her.  The women changed their path again and headed in her direction.  This time Sarah did not look back at Daniel, but continued to focus on what she was doing.  She wanted blood.  Her throat was dry, the anticipation of a feast increasing her hunger.  But she would have to wait for Daniel to feed first.  He needed to be strong in order to control her, to make sure she did not kill, did not get lost to her vampire instincts that she so wanted to fight.

Even as she controlled the women she could tell Daniel still had his grips on her mind.  He was feeding
her
calming and sedating tendrils of power so she would not give into her hunger and pounce before the time was right.

The three women entered the shadows.  Sarah stood back as Daniel stepped forward.  She watched as all the women reacted in exactly the same way; their eyes widened with a mixture of fear and awe at
the sight of Daniel.

‘Do not fear me,’ he said.

Sarah could feel the power that he was projecting, enforcing the influence that she had started. 

Sarah wanted to step forward and sink her teeth into an artery.  A brunette woman had her hair tied back revealing her neck.  Sarah le
t her eyes rest there, waiting.  Daniel was holding her back with his mind.

She heard as Daniel’s teeth pierced skin, and her mouth felt
so dry as she heard him swallowing blood.  Delicious blood.

He stopped and whispered, ‘Forget
,’ to the woman, but Sarah was not concentrating on Daniel. 

When he said, ‘Go ahead,’ she was already stepping forward, the woman under her sway. 

Finally she let her teeth extend and stroked the brunette’s neck before letting her teeth find the artery beneath.  As they entered warm fluid she felt them extend still further, widening her access point.  She sucked hard and blood flowed down her throat and into her veins.  She felt the instant hit of power as it infused into her cells and made her feel vibrant.  She drank deeply, as fast as she could, taking it all in, ready to take the woman’s life and make it her own.

‘Sarah STOP,’ she heard s
trongly in her mind, the words enforced with strength that she could not fight.

She stopped drinking
, breathing deeply, and let the woman go.  The brunette swayed as she walked back, and Daniel stepped forward to make sure she too would forget.  The woman moved into the shadows next to her friend.

There was one more woman left
, and Sarah eyed her hungrily.  What did the blood do to her?  She felt she could not stop – it just made her want more.  Animal blood did not have the same effect at all, it did not make her lose herself in the same way, and in some way she preferred that.  But human blood; it was so good.

‘Go on,’ Daniel whispered in her ear.

She eyed the brown haired woman before her, she was older but looked healthy and she had a mute vacant expression due to the strong layers of influence that were emanating from Daniel’s direction.

Sarah gave into her passions;
she ripped the woman’s neck aside and sank in her teeth, and started to gulp the ever so intoxicating liquid.  She had no desire to stop, she wanted to feed and kill.  Kill.  No!  What was she thinking? She forced her body to obey the part of her that was still good and retracted her teeth at once.  She
had
had enough.  She did
not
need more, she told herself as she used her power and fed it into her will, strengthening it and enforcing her own control.

She let the woman go.

A big smile broke out on her face, she had done it – she had stopped before Daniel had had time to interfere.

‘Forget you ever saw us or that this happened, and make sure you all eat before drinking
– ok?’ Sarah influenced as she wiped a trace of blood and lipstick off the woman’s neck.

She watched as all three woman walked back towards the main road, chatting away, seemingly back to
themselves, and turned towards the front door of the pub.

Sarah felt arms around her waist from behind, then her feet wer
e off the floor as Daniel span her around once as she laughed.  As he let her down she turned to face him.

‘I did it Daniel, I stopped,’ she said.

‘You were amazing,’ he said, his lips moving closer to hers.

She was just about to kiss him when his head snapped to the side, ‘My turn this time,’ he teased.

Sarah felt as Daniel once more projected power and a young man joined them in the shadows.  He was young, with spiky dark hair, and he smelt heavily of beer.

Sarah watched, free, not under Daniel’s control at all, as Daniel drank the blood of the young man.  She was tempted to jump
in and feed too, but the power she had fed into her strength of will was doing its job.  She did not want to hurt anyone, and that thought was stronger than her desire for more blood.  She held back, and stood there waiting, until Daniel told the man to go.

Daniel was back by her side in an instant, his eyes glinting in the dark and
this time his lips did meet hers.  She ran her hands through his hair and kissed him back, pushing her tongue into his mouth, tasting the hint of blood that remained; rich and alcoholic.  She felt giddy from the rush of the two humans in her system, and sexy.  Hot.  She ran her hands down Daniel’s body and pushed them in under his t-shirt, as he grasped her bum and pulled it firmly against him.  Then she was off the ground and Daniel was whizzing around to the back of the pub into the garden which was deserted, but lightly lit as light shone out from the surrounding buildings.  Daniel sat her on the edge of a table and kissed with passion, his hands sliding into her pants and doing things that made her crazy.  She clutched onto him, her breathing getting even faster as his kisses moved to her neck and his fingers continued their work.  She ripped open his buttons and she felt him push her pants aside and thrust inside her, she tightened her grip on him and tried not to gasp, tried not to make any sound as Daniel assaulted her senses with pleasure.  She wanted to scream out but instead focused on kisses, kisses and sensations and movement and Daniel, everything Daniel.  She moaned softly and clawed at his back as she climaxed, and he continued his exquisite motion until she felt him spasm and relax, and his arms pressed her into his chest, holding her tight while breathing hard, their essence combined and their love flowing between them in a rich cascade of energy and heat.

‘God I love you Sarah,’ Daniel whispered into her hair.

Sarah smiled so hard her cheeks hurt.

Daniel
awoke the next day and lay looking at Sarah’s still sleeping form.  Her eyes were resting so still she looked like a statue, but he could hear her heart thrumming slowly and steadily in her chest.  The black lines around her eyes were heavily smudged, and that ridiculously red lipstick that she had been wearing, which made her look both hot and kind of like a whore at the same time, was now gone, leaving her delicately pink lips in its place.  Her skin looked perfect and it glowed softly in the dimly lit room, not enough for a human to see, but to Daniel’s blood feast enhanced senses he could see the power that radiated off Sarah and it added to her innocent beauty.  Her long hair was in disarray by her side, now loose and tangled.

It was morning, but from the lack of sunshine radiating through their curtains Daniel guessed the
day was bleak and grey, which would be perfect for checking out the stone circle.  They would not need to put up with the way that the sun could make them feel uncomfortable in their own skin.  They could also visit the graveyard and look for any clues that may remain, if the witch who raised those dead had left any traces behind.

Daniel still could no
t quite believe that whoever had conducted that attack was now leaving them alone, and he still felt a weary sense that something bad was bound to happen at some point.  That person, whoever it was, was likely to have a plan, and Daniel wanted to know what it was.  As he thought that Sarah’s eyelids began to flicker.  A dream!  Daniel touched her hand lightly and let his mind mingle with hers.