Freed by Love: A Nine Story Paranormal Romance Collection

The Vampire’s Throne-4

Christopher sipped from his crystal glass of blood and leaned back against his long Chesterfield couch, the rounded back cushioning his head as he let out a long breath. He'd chosen blood donated by a yoga master to try and drink up a little calm, but it wasn't working.

He set his glass down before his grip threatened to shatter the antique and closed his eyes, willing himself to think about anything but Alice. Or the way the light hit her hair. Or the way the smell of her intense longing had so perfectly mirrored his own that it had taken centuries of self-control to not pull her to him and kiss her until her knees shook.

The world will benefit from her as a vampire, he told his c**k, which was already half-hard at the mere memory of her. That growing part of him was hoping she'd turn down his offer, that she'd decide to stay human. It would mean only a few brief decades with her before he and the world lost that light in her eyes, but he'd be able to carry the memory of her touch, the feeling of her lips, with him through all the long years to come.

"It's her choice," he told his empty living room. He'd decorated his home in the 1920s during what Margot laughingly referred to as his Gatsby phase, and never bothered to change anything beyond the crucial updates for electricity, plumbing, and Wi-Fi. All the chairs and sofas were wide and cushioned, grand Oriental rugs covered bold black and white-checkered tiles, and paintings from forgotten masters took up most of the walls. Tiffany lamps blazed color along the Art Deco lines up the wall to the tall ceiling dripping with chandeliers.

Christopher picked up his glass, took a long gulp of the blood, and waited for the yogi's serenity to wash through him. He propped his slippered feet up on the couch and closed his eyes.

Rhys was growing bolder. Christopher's brother was beginning to make public claims that he was going to "clean up" the vampire community and "deal with dissenters", whatever that meant. Christopher had come home to a note scrawled on his fridge from his sireling, Danny, that Christopher's lieutenants-- the four vampires Christopher had turned directly--were going to be gathering the next day to discuss Rhys’s hateful rhetoric and what they were going to do about it. It wasn't as if the king would ever do anything. Christopher took a long sip of blood. His sire's leadership style of using hortari on his sirelings when needed and then apathetic neglect the rest of the time meant Rhys could get away with actual murder so long as his actions didn't impact the king's immediate comfort. Christopher would just have to be careful. As the eldest of the king's turned, Christopher was his sire’s heir apparent, but vampire tradition allowed for a challenge.

Perhaps now isn't the right time for siring a new vampire.

Christopher pushed down the selfish thought before he began to believe it. There was always trouble, in one form or another; if Alice wanted to become a vampire, his own wish for romance shouldn't hold her back.

The sound of his doorbell startled him so badly he spilled a splatter of blood down his shirt.

"Damn." He tried to brush it away, smearing the drops into gruesome finger painting across his chest.

The doorbell rang again and he called out, "Coming!" as he grabbed a jacket hanging by the door to hide the stains.

He checked the view-hole in the door, and his hand shook slightly as he opened the door.

"Alice," he said.

She looked amazing. Her eyes sparkled in the moonlight, and she'd changed into the green dress she'd worn at the gallery which hugged her lean curves. Excitement and fear came off of her skin in waves. He knew what she was going to say before she opened her mouth.

“I’m in. I want to be like you.” As soon as she said the words, the smell of excitement in her blood spiked, and she shifted her weight to her toes like a little dance. She was so lovely it hurt.

A small, petty voice in his head reminded him that Alice’s choice meant that she wanted to be a vampire more than she wanted to be with him. He pushed down the feeling.

“That’s wonderful news! Come on in.” Christopher stepped back to allow Alice inside, savoring the sweet scent of her as she walked by. The excitement rolling off her still warred with her fear, but under those, he could smell a thrilled arousal in Alice’s blood that gave him pause.

“You have such a beautiful home!” Alice twirled in the foyer, a wide, circular room lined with alternating panels of cherrywood and floor-to-ceiling windows. The moonlight spilled in, bathing Alice in a warm glow. She pointed to the windows. “I thought daylight was a no-no for your kind.” She stopped short. “Our kind?”

“Curtains.” Christopher pressed a code into his cell phone and reams of dark fabric lowered over the windows. Without the moonlight, the space felt darker, more intimate.

“This I like even more.” Alice’s voice was low. She stepped forward, her fingertips tracing the lines of his jacket. The slight brush of her touch made him bite back a groan. Everything about her called to him. She was so close, he could feel the heat radiating off her body, hear the blood coursing through her veins, and smell her desire. He tensed up, balling his fists, desperately trying to stop himself from leaning forward and capturing her lips. He couldn’t bring himself to move away, but he managed to not move any closer either.

She opened his jacket, her eyes widening at the splatter of blood across his shirt. She laughed, the sound so light and enchanting Christopher's fists clenched white.

"I'm glad I'm not the only one who has trouble keeping your shirt clean."

He laughed too, then cut himself off. I'm toast, we already have inside jokes. He shifted his weight so he stood infinitesimally closer and the beaded top of her dress brushed against his shirt.

“You know I can smell your emotions, Alice.” Christopher spoke, regretting each word as he formed it. He reached up to brush a fingertip along her face, her skin smooth and perfect. “We cannot be together, not in that way.”

“Actually,” Alice reached up to hold his hand against her face, leaning her cheek into his palm. “You said we couldn’t be together after I’ve been turned." She turned her head, placing a kiss on his skin that sent lines of fire down his arm and through his torso.

Yessss! Every cell in his body demanded.

Alice ran her other hand down his chest, her fingers tracing the pattern of red, making little circles. "Right now, I’m still human. And I want to have one, last, purely human experience before I’m changed forever. And I want it to be with you, Christopher.”

Her blood smelled of a primal desire boiling deeper than just saying farewell to her humanity. Christopher couldn't resist running his hands through her hair, caressing the back of her neck and watching the goosebumps rise along the trail of his fingers. This is such a bad idea. He was already half in love with her. Knowing what it would be like to really be with her, and then denying himself her touch for the rest of eternity, would be excruciating. Is a lifetime of pain worth it for just one night?

“I can see you thinking it over, weighing the pros and cons.” Alice smiled. “You may have vampire senses, but sometimes I can tell what you’re thinking.”

Alice stared up at him, questioning. She raised a hand to mirror his touch on her face, her nimble fingers tracing along the sharp edge of Christopher’s jawline, then dancing down to the sensitive surface of his mouth, and teasing across his bottom lip. He groaned, biting down gently on her fingertips.

But-- He was a man at war with himself, and each side was losing.

Alice pushed onto her tiptoes to align her mouth with his. “Don’t you want this?” She asked, before capturing his lips with her own.

All resistance, all composure fled Christopher’s being as he responded to Alice’s kiss, his passion flaring up to match hers. His hands roamed her body, discovering new territory, mapping the hills and valleys of her form.

"Gods, I want you so much," he groaned.

"Good, because if this is only going to be the one night..." Her voice hitched slightly. "Then we need to make it count."

Alice unbuttoned Christopher’s shirt, her mouth following her hands in a sensuous trail down his torso. He leaned his head back, reveling in the sensations from her lips, her tongue, her teeth. She lightly traced her tongue along the grooves of his six-pack, pleasure tickling down along every nerve ending.

In a sudden movement, Alice loosened Christopher's belt and swept Christopher’s pants and boxers to the ground. She raked her nails up his calves, winding her way up to where he needed her most.

"You don't need to do this." He was panting now, the sight of her sultry smile the most gorgeous thing he'd seen in five hundred years.

"Oh yes, I do." She licked her lips. "I'm going to bring you, my handsome vampire, to your knees."

He let out a groan of pleasure as she licked a line up his swollen shaft, teasing him with her mouth as her hands wound around to grasp his a*s.

Her red hair spilled over her green dress in a sensuous wave, and he knew he wouldn’t be able to resist unwrapping her for much longer. She looked up, and her shockingly blue eyes pierced him as she finally took him into her mouth. She moaned around his hard length, sending waves of pleasure through Christopher’s body as he reveled in the feel of her lips and tongue dancing along his c**k. He twined his fingers through her hair and watched, entranced, as she bobbed along his length.

Alice smiled as she released him with a pop, and Christopher struggled against his release. He wanted their first time together--their only time--to last.

Christopher pulled Alice to her feet, spinning her so her back was flat against his chest. He looked around the stark foyer. They'd barely moved four feet from the door since she arrived. He grabbed her under her knees and swung her up into his arms.

"We need the proper setting for this," he said.

She squealed and hugged his neck as he ran up the stairs two at a time, not caring about his crumpled pants lying in the middle of the foyer. The roaring desire in her veins smelled glorious.

"Christo--" He ran so fast, he kicked his bedroom door open and deposited Alice on the bed before she could finish the word. Her voice changed to a cooing, "ooo" when she saw the room. The ceiling was draped with hanging silk, the enormous four-poster bed piled high with pillows, and the crystal chandelier sparkled the light into rainbow prisms.

"This is amazing," she said, her hands still around his neck.

Christopher slid his hands around the contours of her dress, finding a single, long zipper that ran from her neck to her a*s.

"This is far more so." With a low growl, he slowly unzipped her, following the zipper with a long trail of nips and kisses down her back. The dress slid easily off her body, and Christopher’s arousal grew when he realized she wasn't wearing anything underneath her dress.

He stood back in awe of her. Her breasts were everything he'd dreamed they would be, round and pert, her n*****s already pebbled in arousal, and the slight indentations of her muscled core lean and perfect.

Alice raised an eyebrow at him, her stance confident in her nudity, and kissed him gently on the lips. She stroked his erect c**k, her touch feeling so good a drop of pre-c*m beaded at his tip.

Christopher scooped Alice up with one arm, and deposited the giggling temptress onto the bed. He peppered the sensitive skin of her inner thighs with kisses, moving closer and closer to her core. Alice sighed happily and bucked her hips, every emotion he could smell off her skin begging him for more. His fingers played with the sensitive skin along her stomach and sides, stroking under her knees and along her arms.

“Don’t be a tease.” Alice’s hands roamed her own body, grasping at the n*****s of her exposed breasts.

“How can I not? You look so beautiful when I keep you waiting.” Christopher winked.

Christopher’s skilled tongue moved to Alice’s soaked core, gently running laps around her sensitive flesh. He flicked the very tip of his tongue at her clit, and bit back a smile as she melted underneath him. He covered her mound with his mouth, sucking and kissing her as Alice moaned.

“Holy f**k, that feels good,” Alice whimpered. “Christopher, I’m so close.”

The scent of her arousal intoxicated him. The emotions flowing from her: excitement, trust, and something more, something deeper, called to him. Christopher latched onto Alice’s clit with his mouth and pounded two fingers into her sopping core, moving inside her with a merciless rhythm. Alice shouted out in pleasure as she pulsed around his fingers. He kept moving inside of her until he felt a second o****m rip through her body, and she shuddered around him once more. Her pleasure overwhelmed him until he felt like he was drowning in it.

Alice pulled Christopher onto the bed and he was helpless to resist. She pushed him onto his back and pulled off his shirt so he was n***d before her. Her admiration of his hard muscles, well-defined pecs, and abs flowed off her in waves, her pulse increasing with the strong scent of anticipation.

He felt exposed for the first time, every want and dream for her, for them, laid bare. She licked her lips as she moved over him. Her hair was wild with red strands stuck with sweat to her face and neck. She was absolutely stunning.

"I want you," he said, with me forever, he didn't finish.

"Then come take me." With a wicked grin, Alice positioned her core over Christopher’s length, her face tensing up and then relaxing as she took his entire length inside of her. She fit so perfectly tight around him, Christopher had to actively resist thrusting inside of her, letting her set the pace.

Slowly, Alice began moving, sliding along his length as she braced herself by leaning back onto his thighs. Christopher clasped her firm a*s with both hands as she writhed on top of him. Alice rotated her hips in small circles, shooting pleasure up his body. He closed his eyes, his head falling back, a moan of delight escaping his lips.

Alice’s legs shook as she continued pumping on him, and Christopher leaned forward to rub her swollen clit. She moaned at his touch, now moving faster on top of him. Christopher was enchanted, almost mesmerized at the sight of her on the brink. Alice’s breath came quickly, and her entire body pulsed with anticipation.

With a scream, Alice came shuddering around him, pulsing against his hard c**k with her inner walls. It took everything Christopher had not to follow her over the edge.

Alice laid her head on Christopher’s chest, panting. “It may be a stupid question but...” she turned away. “Don’t vampires, when they have sex...” She trailed off.

“It’s okay, you can ask me anything.” Christopher cradled Alice’s head in his hands.

“Isn’t there biting involved?” Alice turned bright red, a blush that trailed all the way down to her chest.

“Sometimes.” Christopher grinned. “It’s a way for us to connect, for a vampire to feel their partner’s emotions with more intensity.” He gently kissed Alice’s neck. He could hear her pulse roaring at such a close distance and could smell her wanting. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

She shook her head. "I know, I trust you."

She lifted off of his c**k to sit beside him on the bed. Before he could respond, her hand encircled his length, playing with the underside of the shaft and making a ring with her fingers around the tip, squeezing just enough for his back to arch and he fought with centuries of self-control to hold onto this release.

"Woman, you're going to kill me." He moaned.

"Well, I did promise you I was going to bring you to your knees."

Alice grinned at him, lying down and pulling Christopher so he crouched on his knees on top of her. She bucked her hips, raising her legs to hook over his shoulders, her core lifting to make brief contact with Christopher’s length.

“I want this,” she said. "All of this."

With a low growl, Christopher thrust into Alice, reveling in each sweet inch of her passage. She gasped as he moved within her, harder and faster than before. He could smell her blood as it ran excited laps around her body. Christopher’s hands roamed her skin, and his canines elongated from his gums into their fully primal state. He looked Alice in the eye and she spoke a single word.

“Yes.”

Christopher bit down into the flesh of Alice’s shoulder, feeling her tense beneath him at the brief moment of pain. He drank deep and Alice’s essence streamed into him as he continued moving inside of her. Her compassion tasted like sunlight, her enchanting view of the world, her joy, her excitement, her arousal all flowed through him. He tasted her past loneliness, her longing for a community which she couldn't quite articulate. Her dreams of endless time to learn, to explore, to see wonders washed over him. Everything about his world fascinated her, and the glimpse she'd seen into the larger supernatural community beckoned with a promise of fun, excitement, and something new.

He broke away quickly, but he had drank enough to know that he'd fallen head over heels in love with Alice. With a few stuttered thrusts he spilled his seed in her, calling out her name as she came once more in a screaming, writhing surge of humanity. He collapsed back against the pillows.

They held each other in silence for a few long heartbeats, grinning as they each caught their breath. Christopher tasted the words on the tip of his tongue. I love you, I want us to be together. Please stay human.

Alice spoke first.

“This would be the perfect time for you to turn me.” She snuggled into his arms a little further.

Christopher pushed down his selfish disappointment before it showed on his face. This is her choice. Christopher used his teeth to cut a small gash in his forearm and offered it to Alice.

“Only if you’re sure.”

Without hesitation, Alice’s lips found Christopher’s arm, and she drank, the crimson liquid dripping over her lips and down her chin. Christopher felt his power passing into her, his past, his future, all irrevocably connecting him to this incredible woman. At least now the world will have her preserved for the ages, even if I can never be with her.

Alice looked up and delicately wiped away the blood trailing down from her mouth. “Is that enough? I’m beginning to feel a little woozy.”

“Yes. It's done. You should rest now.” Christopher wrapped Alice in his arms, savoring the memory of the first and last time they would ever be together.