Blood and Darkness

The bar hit me like a fist—bass-heavy music, cheap perfume, spilled beer, and underneath it all, the thing I'd come for: heartbeats. Dozens of them, layered and racing, thrumming through my heightened senses like drums.

I ordered vodka at the bar, a prop I didn't need, and retreated to the shadows in the back corner. From there, I could hunt properly.

She caught my attention mid-laugh, head thrown back, throat exposed. Dark hair, curves in a clinging dress, maybe twenty-four. The pulse in her neck was visible even from here. My mouth watered.

I caught her eye and pushed—a gentle invasion that slipped past her defenses and nested in the primitive part of her brain. She wouldn't recognize it as compulsion. Just sudden, inexplicable attraction.

Her pupils dilated. She said something to her friend and started toward me, hips swaying with confidence the compulsion fed her. By the time she reached my corner, I could smell her: vanilla lotion, wine-sweetness, and the unmistakable musk of arousal blooming.

"You're looking awful lonesome over here, sir," she said, voice smoky. "I hope you don't mind me joining you."

I let my gaze travel over her slowly. "The darkness is better enjoyed by two. Glad to meet someone who isn't afraid of strangers."

She leaned against the wall beside me, radiating heat. Clinked her glass against mine. "Cheers to that. What are you drinking?"

"Vodka now." I paused. "Hopefully by the end of the night, you."

My eyes bled to crimson in the shadows. My canines descended with a familiar ache. My cock thickened—hunger and desire braided together into something transcendent.

She laughed nervously. "I'm a lot to take in, but you seem up for the challenge."

Her hand found my thigh, fingers tracing upward dangerously close to my erection. Every instinct screamed to take her against this wall right now. Instead, I turned into her, pressing my hips forward so she could feel exactly what she was doing to me.

I took the glass from her hand and set it aside. Caught her wrists and raised them above her head, pinning them to the wall. Her breath hitched.

I tugged her neckline down, exposing her breast, and traced my tongue around her nipple. She arched into me with a whimper. I kissed up the curve of her breast to her collarbone, to where her pulse hammered against delicate skin. My tongue traced the rhythm. My mouth opened, fangs grazing her throat—

In my mind, I saw it: penetration, hot blood across my tongue, her body going rigid then liquid as venom turned pain to pleasure. I pushed the vision into her mind through our connection, let her experience just enough to confuse and arouse without understanding why.

"Still with us?" I asked, pulling back.

She blinked rapidly, dazed. "Um, yeah. Sorry. Weird out of body moment..." Her hand trembled retrieving her drink. Her mind was trying to reconcile standing beside me making small talk when she'd just felt herself pinned against a wall with my mouth on her skin.

"Care to take a moment to gather yourself?" The seed was planted deep now. Curiosity. Arousal. Magnetic pull toward something dangerous.

"Yeah, probably not a bad idea. I'm going to grab a water." She paused, fighting the compulsion even as it tightened. "Where can I meet you?"

I smiled, letting her see a flash of fang in the darkness. "I'll text you the address. Somewhere quieter. Somewhere we can explore that out of body experience properly."

Her pupils were blown wide, breathing shallow. The arousal coming off her was intoxicating.

She handed me her phone without asking. I entered my contact and pushed one more time—gentle reinforcement of everything she was already feeling. The want. The certainty that leaving with me was the best decision she'd ever make.

"One hour," I said. "That'll give you time to tell your friend, drink some water, convince yourself this is a good idea."

"Is it?" Something plaintive in her voice. Last gasp of self-preservation.

I leaned close, lips brushing her ear. "That depends. If you want safe and forgettable, stay here. Find some boy who'll fumble through mediocre sex and forget your name by morning." I caught her eyes. "But if you want to feel something real, something that'll mark you down to your bones... come find me."

She shuddered. "One hour."

I released her and watched her stumble back into the crowd, hand pressed to her racing heart. She'd spend sixty minutes talking herself into and out of meeting me a dozen times.

But she'd come. The seed had taken root too deep for anything else.

I sipped my vodka while my body hummed with anticipation. Around me, the bar continued its **** dance. None of them knew they were sharing space with a predator.

But in one hour, she would learn exactly what it meant to be prey for something that had perfected the hunt over centuries.