The Vampire Queen's Resurrection

CHAPTER SEVEN: THE HUNTING SPREE

It was a squirrel. An innocent gorgeous medium-sized rodent which looked so cute that Aaliyah’s heart somersaulted in protest at the thought of it being butchered. She’d been given a series of strict instructions during the journey, and she’d been too terrified to say anything.

Don’t make the slightest noise or movement when the prey is near, or I might miss my target and hunt you down instead. Don’t make the smallest movement, and if you can help it, don’t breathe either

That trip was surely wearing down the boredom anyway. This was something not to be repeated again, she told herself sternly. She promised herself never to accompany a vampire in the forest after midnight again. If she survived that one, that is.

You need to understand your prey’s weakness. Once you determine the Achilles heel, the prey is as good as gone.

Aaliyah swallowed in the dark, her eyes having difficulties to adjust to the surroundings due to the lack of light. She kept her eyes on Emir, afraid that he might flashed those narrowed slits at her. Would she stand a chance at outrunning him, considering his fast speed, she wondered crazily.

If you’re scared, I will pick up your fast heartbeats, and you’ll be dead before you can even count to two.

She hadn’t replied, for once her bravado leaving her. He was only trying to scare her off, she convinced herself frantically. Now, as the reality sunk in, she wasn’t so sure anymore. Her heart was beating so fast that she couldn’t hear anything other than the poundings in her ears.

There was a fast movement beside her, accompanied with a savage snarl. Spooked, she closed her eyes in sheer desperation with hands gripping her heart. With a bit of luck, she would die of heart-attack instead of being butchered by a vampire.

Look. The order inside her head made her eyes snap open and she hitched in a breath at the scene which enfolded in front of her. Emir’s mouth was covered with blood as his fangs dug mercilessly in the flesh of the defenseless squirrel.

There was no one percent of remorse as he licked the liquid from the animal’s body, relishing in the taste as his eyes glowed in the dark like he was thoroughly enjoying himself.

This is who I am. A blood sucking monster who kills innocent.

The breath she was about to draw again stuck in her lungs as she figured out the objective behind bringing her to the hunting spree. Emir never had the intention of devouring her – he must have had his hunger fully under control to bring her along. She’d never been in any kind of danger.

The reason behind this eccentric trip was to scare her away. To intimidate her in such a way that she wouldn’t even dare approach him with her demands. Problem was she wasn’t easily intimidated.

Stop, you should be running in the opposite direction right now, he growled furiously, throwing the dead prey away in utter frustration, and Aaliyah started to walk towards him in a slow-motion pace.

His mouth was bathed in blood, and his eyes were still so bright that it hurt to look directly at them.

“Get out of my head!” she commanded in an assertive voice which brooked no argument. She was finally withing touching distance with him, but she still didn’t stop until she was so close that she would literally feel her nose being invaded by the pungent smell of blood which was splattered on his face.

His nostrils were flaring again as though he was making a Herculean effort to keep himself in toes, but she didn’t hear him in her mind again. Blood, which was supposed to make her gag, but instead compelled her. Somehow what her memories couldn’t conjure, her psyche remembered.

She was so tempted.

With a few staggering steps, she turned her back to take to her heels questioning her sanity when his arm snug up so fast that she didn’t even see it. But she didn’t protest either. Her body fell against his hard planes, her back to his front as his hand held her by the waist.

It wasn’t supposed to be erotic, a vampire covered with blood holding her in place wasn’t supposed to turn her on. But she was aroused. Her n*****s strained against her bra, and she was sure he could see them through the deep décolleté of her crimson red dress.

The color of her attire had been a subconscious coincidence, but it was the exact color of the blood tainting his hand. In reaction, she grabbed his head to push him away, but she found her fingers interlacing in his hair. He brought his other hand to her mouth, and her lips parted slightly in breathless anticipation.

One drop of blood smeared her red lips, and she gasped in sensual abandon, her other hand coming to hold his. Again, she felt her intention of pulling him away slip as she held his hand firmly in place. Like a part of her was craving for this particular moment.

Her lip darted out to taste the heavy feeling there, and a salty familiar taste invaded her senses. It intoxicated her as she hitched in a long breath of deep pleasure.

A trail of the dark red liquid smeared on her chest, but she didn’t care. Her body was plastered against him in wild abandon as she licked the taste off his finger. His mouth was so close to hers that he could drink from her anytime.

That should have sent alarm bells rolling through her sodden mind, but she was heedless to that fact. His head dipped further into the crook of her neck which she preened in his direction in anticipation for the bite.

It took her a moment to realize that it wasn’t coming. There was no scrape of vampire teeth against her skin, no gratifying release from the tension which had gripped her body ever since she’d tasted blood.

Something flashed in her mind then, unexpectedly, and so sudden that she would have staggered had she not been leaning against his large frame. The memory consisted of herself burying her mouth deep inside someone’s neck, with blood oozing like a fountain. She remembered herself gorging on it, loving the taste and craving for more. Always craving for more.

It was gone as suddenly as it had flashed in her mind. She blinked the nebulous images away, focusing better in the dark than before. Emir stood in front of her, his beautiful golden eyes flashing with a knowing intensity.

“Is that why you brought me here?” she challenged daringly.

“Is it working?” he asked without preamble, not even beating around the bush this time. “Have you remembered anything? Anything at all?”

It was only when her chest deflated drastically that she realized that she’d been holding her breath. That was why he’d been willing to bring her out on his hunting spree. He’d been trying to jog her memory back.

For some reason, she was disappointed in that revelation. Her heart sunk to her toes as she realized that he wasn’t really interested in her as a person. He just wanted his precious vampire queen back. For all she knew, all he was interested in was to get his throne back.

“Sorry to disappoint,” she croaked and hated the dark undertone she could not suppress. “But no, I don’t remember much. Anything that would help you anyway. I just had a flash of me drinking blood in the past and..,” she swallowed as the eerie memory still spooked her. “… I enjoyed it.”

He sighed heavily. “Alright, never mind. Let’s get you back then,” he took her by the arm and led her into the woods. She didn’t say anything, didn’t even protest when he took her further into the forest, not even knowing where she was going.

It was only when they were out in the forest that she snatched her hand away in anger. “I’m sorry I am not useful to you. I’m sorry that I am just a burden, and you feel you have to hide me away.”

“What the hell are you saying?” he snapped in utter confusion, scowling at her in animosity. “When have I made you feel like a burden?”

“You keep me captive in that apartment of yours, for daaaays, and expect me to fall in line whenever it suits you. I already told you. if you don’t like having me around, let me just go to another place where nobody will recognize me.”

“I told you it’s no bother having you around. I told you I like having you around. If you want to go, don’t use me as an excuse. Just tell me that you don’t want us to live together. I am still trying to find a safe place for you.”

Incandescent rage engulfed her, and she found stars exploding inside her head at his provocative words. So, he wasn’t protesting much over keeping her, right? It seemed that he was using her as an excuse to be rid of her.

“Fine! Find a place for me. And let me be in peace!” she cried walking away from him in miffed angry reaction. His hand shot up to grab her elbow to halt her progress. Her eyes watered, and she finally acknowledged to herself why she was reacting so strangely.

For some unexplained reason, that moment of blood sharing had awakened a deep desire inside her which she couldn’t fathom. Was it a hunger for blood or for him? The thoughts were so jumbled that she was having difficulties wrapping her mind around it. Did she have feelings for him?

What had happened between them in the past? Why was he so secretive about their relationship? Why did he hate her so much? After so many days of silence, she could not endure it anymore.

Her eyes were fixed downwards as she fought to withhold the tears, jaw clenching tightly as she struggled to gain a semblance of composure.

A finger dipped at the base of her chin to raise her face, but she still refused to look him in the eye. He held her face firmly in place and finally she didn’t have any other option of clashing her gaze with his. When he sucked in a breath, she understood that she hadn’t managed to hide her emotions from him.

His thumb brushed slowly against her cheek as he wiped away the tear which was streaming. The gesture was so tender that Aaliyah shivered despite the warmth of the night.

Without warning, his lips descended on hers in an abrupt possession. Her lips opened immediately, drinking greedily from him, her tongue meshing with his in a proprietorial gesture. That was exactly what she had been hankering for.

A deep moan escaped her, which resonated in the silent night. He cradled her face more firmly in his grasp, both hands cupping her face lovingly as he angled his head sideways to deepen the kiss.

She sighed with pleasure, as his lips continued to probe inside her mouth. She opened to him like a blooming flower, and then sucked. Once again, they both opened their mouths together, licking and enjoying each other’s taste, then decreased the tempo with some sucking.

It felt heavenly, like she had landed back in paradise. When he groped inside her lush décolleté, his hand moving over the lush mounds which had propped up against her tight bra. She felt her dress loosen at her back and swooned in relief when his touch made her skin boil with tantalizing anticipation.

“Yes, oh yes!” she moaned huskily.