Eternity and a Year (14 page)

He shook his head. “No! I’m… I know I’m a selfish bastard for it, but I’m not sorry. I left to hunt.”

“To hunt?” Carrie repeated.

“Aren’t you thirsty?” Brendan asked.

“Yes. Very.” Her throat felt dry, like ancient paper, and longing burnt in the pit of her stomach, a fierce bloodlust. In her ignorance and panic, she hadn’t recognised it for what it was and had turned to water, which could no longer satisfy her.

“I wanted to have something waiting for you when you woke,” Brendan said, “so I went into the woods, searching for a deer. I took too long.” His shoulders slumped.

Carrie stroked his hair from root to end, feeling the hard protrusion of a vertebra beneath her fingertips at the base of his neck. “It’s okay,” she said.

Brendan shook his head. “Why do you always say that?”

“No real harm was done,” she insisted, trying not to think of the bear’s breath against her neck.

He pulled her into his lap, wrapping his arms beneath her breasts and resting his cheek on top of her head.

“Did you get a deer?” she asked, nearly as eager to change the subject as she was to assuage her thirst.

He shook his head.

“Oh.” She tried unsuccessfully not to sound disappointed. How was it that everything else—the fear she had so recently felt and the exhilaration of knowing she had been changed—faded into insignificance beside her raging thirst? Was this what it meant to be a vampire?

“The bear…” Brendan said.

Carrie wrinkled her nose. It’s fur had been so thick, and that musky smell—Then the memory of the blood she’d scented on it returned to her, strangely enticing. Apparently, she’d been too terrified to lust for it then. But now…

“You mean you’re going to…” Thirsty as she was, she couldn’t quite stomach the idea of pressing her mouth against that sour and hairy beast.

“Of course I am!” Brendan replied indignantly. “I’m a vampire, Carrie, and so are you.”

Carrie looked down, saying nothing.

“This is what I am, Carrie!” Brendan continued. “This is what being a vampire is like! I tried to tell you, but you wouldn’t listen! This is what you asked for!”

Carrie met his gaze levelly. “But that doesn’t really matter, does it?” she asked. “Because you would have changed me anyway.”

Brendan glared back at her. “Yeah, I would have.”

He covered her mouth with his. Carrie leaned into the kiss, spreading her legs so she straddled him, and the stiff form of his erection pressed teasingly against her clitoris through their pants. She thrust her tongue deep into his mouth, and her fangs met his with a
clack
like crossed swords.

“Oh!” She pulled away, startled.

Brendan chuckled. “You asked for that, too.”

“I—I didn’t think…”

“It makes everything a little different,” he said with a grin, “being a vampire. For instance…” He lowered his head and bit Carrie’s breast through a tear in her shirt. His teeth dented her flesh but didn’t break her new vampire skin, despite the fact he applied a moderate amount of pressure. Apparently, it was as resilient against another vampire’s bite as it was against a bear’s claws. He tugged her breast free of her bra, centred her nipple between his fangs and drew it into his mouth.

 
“It makes biting you a lot more fun,” he said after releasing her and leaning back. “I don’t think you ever used to make sounds that loud before.”

“I don’t make loud sounds,” she protested.

“Yes you do.” He bit her again in demonstration.

She suppressed a gasp, digging her fingers deep into the flesh of his shoulders instead.

“Well, I like that, too,” he said.

“I want to try.” Carrie loosened her grip a little and leaned in to brush his neck with her lips. She opened her mouth and pressed it against his flesh, feeling it sink beneath the tips of her fangs. It resisted penetration, and she pressed harder, using all her strength to pierce his skin. He did not try to stop her, but rather brushed a lock of hair out of her way, tilting his head slightly for her convenience.

A strong pressure welled up beneath her gums, surging and insistent, longing to be released. Her whole mouth tingled, and her fangs ached until she thought her mouth would burst with the build-up. She willed it to do just that, and to her surprise, it seemed to. A liquid, sweet yet faintly acidic, surged over her teeth and touched her tongue. She dislodged her fangs from his flesh and gasped.

Brendan smiled, touched a finger to his neck and licked it, consuming a smear of clear, shining liquid. “No, it won’t affect me,” he said, reading Carrie’s surprised expression. “Vampires are immune to venom. We don’t have any blood for it to travel through.”

“That felt so…strange,” Carrie remarked, wiping a corner of her mouth with her wrist. “Good, but strange.”

“You’ll get used to it.”

She grasped her throat and made a strangled sound.

“Thirsty?” he asked knowingly.

She nodded. Her throat felt as if it had suddenly burst into flame, and for a moment her head spun as a renewed longing gripped her.

“Your body expects to be fed after releasing venom,” Brendan explained. “That’s why it’s so hard to change someone. You have to inject the venom while tasting their blood in your mouth, then stop and turn away.”

No, transforming someone would not be a simple matter. But right now… She grasped his hand, imploring him to help her, to lead her to drink.

“Come on,” he said.

She followed him eagerly into the woods, feeling much more confident with him by her side than she had the last time, when she’d entered the forest alone. He led her by the hand, but she could have walked there with her eyes closed, drawn by the surprisingly alluring, coppery smell of blood.

“Oh,” she said softly when they reached the place where the bear lay fallen, the tempting scent rushing under its skin warring for dominance with the repellent, sour musk of its body. She was suddenly torn between the urge to leap upon it and the urge to vomit.

Brendan squeezed her hand before releasing it and strode confidently forward, stopping when he reached the stilled bear. He pulled its huge head gently backwards by one round ear, exposing the throat. As Carrie watched, he pressed his mouth against it, burying his face in the thick, black hide.

“It’s all right,” he said, pausing after a minute. “You can do it. It’ll feel natural once you start.”

Dubiously, she eyed the blood that streamed down his chin, fighting the urge to lick her lips and losing spectacularly. Her stomach protested feebly while her mouth and her new instincts screamed for her to obey
now
!

“Come here,” he urged, extending a hand.

She drifted forward to kneel beside him, and he folded her hand into his as he bent over his victim’s neck again. He rose without swallowing and leaned towards Carrie as if to kiss her. His lips met hers, which sprang open instinctively at the coppery tang of blood. He pressed hard around her mouth, creating a seal. She quivered as the blood rushed over her tongue and down her parched throat in a warm, delicious torrent.

“How—?” Brendan began when he’d pulled back from her.

She paid no attention. She seized one of the bear’s gigantic paws and held it aloft, pressing her mouth against the flesh just below its wrist, eager to break its skin, no longer caring that she had to take in a mouthful of thick, black fur to do so.

The urge to release venom began to build as soon as she sensed the warm liquid beneath the tough skin. By the time she had swallowed several mouthfuls, it was nearly unbearable. She fought the urge to release for a moment then gave in, moaning as its strange taste mixed with blood.

It was some time later that Carrie finally relaxed, abandoning the beast’s body.

“How do you feel?” Brendan asked.

“A lot better,” she admitted, a bit embarrassed. She had enjoyed the bear’s blood. Immensely. It hadn’t been easy, leaving enough to allow it to live.

“Good.” He took her hand in his again. “Let’s go back and get your dress so we can go home.”

He eyed her body slowly and deliberately, allowing his gaze to cling to her every curve. Desire welled up in her, surprisingly strong.

“Okay,” she said breathlessly, rising as he did and following him towards the clearing where they had wed.

He cast a quick glance in the direction of Carrie’s abandoned gown when they arrived. “There it is,” he said, not sounding as if he cared.

Carrie stepped forward so their hips met and her breasts pressed against his chest. “Are you ready to head home?” she asked.

“No.” Brendan placed a hand on either side of her face, lifted it and bent to kiss her.

She responded with passion, detecting traces of blood in his mouth and probing deeper with her tongue to find more, as he did the same to her.

“You taste good,” she gasped when their lips parted.

He cupped her buttocks through her mud- and grass-stained jeans, pulling her upwards against him until her toes left the ground. “So do you,” he replied, leaning forward to trace the Cupid’s bow curve of her upper lip with the tip of his tongue.

She lifted her dangling legs and wrapped them around his hips while she pressed her hands against the back of his skull, urging him to abandon his teasing and really kiss her.

“Mmmm…” he moaned as his mouth covered hers, moving slowly and thoroughly.

“I wish you’d take off your clothes,” she said when it ended, longing to feel his erection pressing against her bare skin instead of through so much fabric. The desire that raged within her was not unlike the longing that had driven her to drink the bear’s blood.

“Well, you’re going to have to get down, then,” he replied.

She slid off him reluctantly then removed her own clothing with haste, sinking to her knees afterwards to watch in impatient expectation as he stripped. When his pants plunged over his leanly muscular hips, she reached up to cup his testicles, squeezing lightly as the head of his penis parted her lips. She grasped his buttocks and pulled his cock all the way into her mouth, feeling her fangs drag down its sides.

She quickly released him. “Sorry! I forgot. Are you okay?”

He had screwed his eyes shut and stood trembling slightly. “I’m fine,” he breathed. “I think you’ll find you can be a bit rougher with me than you could when I was human.”

Her eyes widened in surprised understanding. “Oh,” she said softly.

She allowed the long shaft of his penis to fill her mouth again, letting her fangs stroke its sides while her tongue pressed against it from below. He moaned, aiding her task by moving his hips gently as she continued. His stiff flesh pressed against her teeth, and the urge to release venom began to build. Suddenly, her mouth was filled with its bittersweetness. She released him reluctantly, before the urge to sink her fangs into something became overwhelming. The entire length of his cock gleamed wetly in the moonlight, as if it had been dipped in translucent silver. She looked away, abashed, even as the sight of it fuelled her lust.

Brendan placed a finger under her chin and forced her to meet his gaze. “That was wonderful,” he said.

Carrie was grateful she could no longer blush. She closed her eyes as he lowered himself to the ground beside her, and he massaged her skull with his fingertips as he buried them in her hair. “I guess you can be rougher with me, too,” she said as he settled himself between her thighs. “No holding back.”

He entered her swiftly, gripping her shoulders and driving himself into her so hard he might have hurt her, had she been human. As it was, it felt wonderful.
    

* * * *

Carrie and Brendan spent the next day in the apartment, tangled in each other’s arms—as much out of necessity as a desire to cuddle—in the bathtub.

“That was definitely a one-time act of desperation,” Brendan remarked when they rose early that evening.

Carrie nodded her agreement. Her muscles ached, and she knew if she had spent the whole day with him in the bathtub as a human, they would have absolutely throbbed. “Remember when we used to complain that our bed was too small for the both of us?” She giggled.

He grinned. “We were spoilt,” he said.

“We’ll go to the store tonight and find something to hang over the bedroom window for tomorrow,” she replied.

“All right,” Brendan agreed, “but…”

“But what?” Carrie eyed him as she stretched from where she perched on the edge of the tub.

“Well, we can’t stay here forever,” he said, making a gesture with his arm to indicate the entire apartment, not just the bathroom.

She frowned. “We could stay here for a while, couldn’t we?”

“You can’t work anymore,” he replied, “and neither can I. There are bills to pay.”

“Well,” she said thoughtfully, “you were going to be helping me out with money anyway. Maybe if we both…”

Brendan cast an incredulous glance in Carrie’s direction. “So your plan is to live as vampires in an apartment complex full of humans, venturing out at night to rob the criminals that prowl the streets of Charlotte?”

“Well, yeah.”

“Supposing anyone sees us leaving at night?” he asked.

“I’ll tell them I changed jobs, took the night shift at some factory for the pay differential,” she replied.

“Supposing they notice I’m with you?”

“They’ll assume I’ve finally taken a lover.” She grinned, revealing her new fangs.

“You don’t think any of our neighbours will recognise me?” he asked, cocking an eyebrow.

She shrugged. “You look different with long hair and pale skin, and it’ll be dark.”

He chuckled. “What about when your family or friends come around? You know they will, eventually.”

She sighed. “Okay, so it’s not a perfect plan. We’ll have to move, but…it wouldn’t hurt to stick around for another week or two, would it?”

“I guess not,” he replied.

Carrie traced the pattern on the floor tiles with a toe.

“Are you okay?” Brendan asked from where he curled ludicrously under the shower head. He covered her hand with his.

“Yeah,” she said. “I was just…thinking of my parents and my sister. What will they think if I just disappear?”