Raven Walks (3 page)

She drew in a breath but did not leave. So he
extended his hand to her. She looked at it long and hard, debating
her choices, then finally placed her hand in his.

No words were exchanged all the way through
the hotel, up the elevator and into room. Though it was silent in
the room, she could hear the music from their mental lovemaking.
She did not resist as he pulled her into a dance.

Her hips ground against his as his hands
trailed down her back to cup her hips. She watched his face as his
fangs grew, also feeling his cock grow in unison. They both equally
scared her. “You can leave any time,” he told her. “Go back to
Tennessee, go back to your home, your church and your life.” His
hand trailed lightly back up to her neck and his fingers wound
their way into her hair.

“Or?” she whispered.

“You could give yourself to me, and for one
night experience immortality.”

“Are you going to kill me?” she asked, fear
wide in her eyes.

He chuckled softly as he traced her lovely
face with one finger. “I don’t kill,” he assured her. “And I never
take.”

She nodded. He had made her sin her own
choice.

He pulled away and proceeded to wait, sitting
in a chair while he watched her debate with herself. He could
almost see the devil on one shoulder and the angel on the
other.

She wrestled with her choice. “Will I be the
same?”

“No,” he told her honestly. “You will never
be the same.”

“Will I be evil?” she asked, and he could
sense that was what scared her most.

“Is it evil to go after what you want?” he
answered just as softly. “To hold and be held, to touch and be
touched? To feel your lover deep inside, pulsating with his desire
for you?”

His words seduced her. She wanted to be held,
to be touched, to be filled. She just didn’t want to be damaged.
“Is that all it is, then? Sex? You won’t... feed?”

His eyes darkened. “I will do whatever you
want me to do. I am not your master, Nadine. Say the word and I
will be your slave.”

Like a pendulum, the power shifted back over
to her, which seemed to appease her. She allowed herself to sink
back into his eyes. He called her to him without saying one
word.

Aside from some cheap wine when she was
sixteen, Nadine had never succumbed to any kind of intoxication.
But she was completely drunk on his power as she approached him,
slipping off her top in the process. Then she unhooked her bra and
allowed her breasts to spring free just as she reached where he
sat. His mouth captured a tiny, hard nub, causing her to cry out.
His hands cupped her hips as he drew her closer. With his
encouragement she straddled him where he sat as he worked his mouth
from one nipple to the other. Though he wanted to draw blood, he
did not. She needed to feel she was in control.

She ground herself down against him as she
arched her back, her hand in his hair to guide his urgency. She
bent her head to kiss him, winding her tongue around his. He made
no move to undress her, and finally out of her own frustration she
pulled away to do the job herself. She stood before him, totally
naked, confused he had made no move to undress himself.

So she dropped to her knees before him. She
unfastened his pants and slid them from his hips. His hard cock
jumped free and she gasped when she saw it. She wrapped her tiny
hand around it before reaching out a tongue to trace the sensitive
head.

Raven’s head fell back as he groaned. Her hot
breath was making him crazy. Her whole mouth enveloped him and made
him cry out loud as he disappeared into her throat. He immediately
grabbed a handful of her hair and guided him up and down his
massive erection, a primal growl locked deep in his throat.

His unrestrained passion was too much for her
to handle. She abandoned the blow job to mount him, needing to feel
him inside of her. She lost herself in his eyes as she slid down on
him, taking him all the way inside her tight, waiting pussy until
he was buried completely inside of her.

Again he used his hands on her hips to guide
her up and down on him, crying out to her as she fucked him wildly,
like an animal. Her eyes closed, but that wasn’t enough for Raven.
He grasped her neck in his hand and forced her to look at him.
“Look at me, Nadine,” he commanded softly. “Look at the man who is
fucking you.”

She shuddered again as she complied, losing
herself in those dark eyes. When his finger brushed against her
clit as she bounced on top of him, she shot right into space like a
rocket. She screamed as she came more than once on top of him. He
felt her clench against him, sucking her deeper inside of
herself.

As he drew closer to his own orgasm his fangs
grew frighteningly long. Her whole body was singing with pleasure
unlike anything she’d ever known, but something inside her wanted
more. In her mind she could see those fangs pierce her delicate
flesh. Much to her amazement, the thought had her coming again.
Hard. “Do it,” she whimpered.

He leaned up and brushed away the hair from
her neck. She writhed on top of him, lost in her own pleasure, made
crazy by the proximity of his teeth against her neck. Yet he
waited. The anticipation was more than she could bear.
“Please!”

He sunk his teeth into the satiny smooth
flesh of her neck, piercing her and feeling her blood rush into his
mouth. It was all it took and he shoved her hips down on top of him
while he shot his massive load into her quivering pussy.

His fangs retracted as she slumped toward
him, weak and drained.

Dawn would find them in the same chair, in
the same position. She was weak from his relentless feeding, but
felt rejuvenated from the energy his passion had restored to
her.

He laid her on the bed, touching the soft
halo of blond hair. She was fading into a sleep he knew would last
quite a while. When she came to she would think of these events as
some sort of hallucination.

With one final peck on the puncture wounds
from her neck, he disappeared from the room and from her life. He
would never reappear unless it was in her dreams.

Because when it was all said and done, that
is where Raven walks.

Las Vegas had been a nice diversion, but
Raven was relieved to return home to New Orleans. It felt like
home, as much as any place could feel like home to a vampire. He
was a true vagabond, and reveled in his ability to adapt to new
surroundings. But NOLA was just as much his mistress as the
playmates that shared his relentless sexual appetite.

Besides, he thought with a slight rush, it
was at his favorite club he had seen her: that redheaded temptress
he’d lost to the night.

Raven was no fool. He understood her appeal
was largely dependent upon the fact he hadn’t had her yet. He was
certain that once he claimed her and made her his, his fascination
with her would dim just like all the others who came before
her.

Until then she would linger in his mind like
an apparition, and it was that ghostly image that drove him to
return to the bar once more.

The heavy metal beat assaulted him before he
even opened the door. It was a stormy Saturday night and a full
moon; like the very first night he saw her. Perhaps this was fate
guiding his path right to her, rewarding his patience.

A patient man he had never pretended to
be.

He suspected she would pay the price for his
having to wait; he just hoped it would not be her life.

Raven was a lot of things, but a murderer was
not one of them. He had only turned one other person and that was
at the victim’s request. Instead he had always managed to find
those to feed off of, people; those he could return to if need be,
even though thus far the need had never materialized.

But to condemn them to an eternity of blood
lust? He decided long ago that was left to vampires with stronger
constitutions than he. Instead, his appetite for blood rode shotgun
with his libido. And the long line of satisfied lovers left in his
wake validated his decision.

That he wasn’t traditionally dangerous
attracted lovers to him like flies. Perhaps that was the reason for
his recent jag of dissatisfaction.

Sonja greeted him at the bar with a bottle of
water, just as he liked it. A prior donor, she had always given him
the space he required after their encounter together. Seeing as how
she worked at a “haven” for others such as him, he knew she’d use
the utmost discretion. Otherwise he never would have relented to
feeding on one so familiar.

It was an intimacy he couldn’t afford.

Because she had so dutifully followed his
unspoken code, he knew he could trust her, which was why he decided
to ask her about the redheaded mystery woman.

“I know of a redhead, but I’m pretty sure
she’s not the one you’re talking about.”

Raven didn’t care. If there was even the
slightest chance it could be the same woman, he had to know. “Where
can I find her?”

Sonja glanced around before leaning in
towards him. She provided a name and a location, both were
unfamiliar. But he nodded, tipped her well and was on his way.

The coven Sonja had directed him to was
unfamiliar to him, which was odd. He thought he’d seen them all.
But this one was pretty far underground, and if you weren’t aware
it was there you’d have probably missed it all together. Unlike his
normal haunt, this place was secretive and selective.

The music was darker, the lights were dimmer.
From the moment he walked into the place he knew he was on someone
else’s turf. Just who that was he wasn’t sure.

Intense eyes followed him as he crossed
through the sparse crowd – the stranger they’d never before seen.
Fortunately Raven was used to that sort of scrutiny. He headed
toward the bar where a young man only clad in silk trousers poured
drinks. His eyes sparkled as he inspected this new patron.

“Can I help you?” he asked hopefully.

Raven simply smiled. “I’m here to see
Lillith.”

Lillith Winter, the name provided by Sonja.
He couldn’t imagine his dream lover with such a cold sounding name,
but he was willing to take the shot. And what better way than to
assume this Ice Queen would agree to see him even though they’d
never before met? It was a risky move in their secretive
community.

The boy’s face fell, but he nodded. “Wait
here.”

He disappeared behind a beaded curtain,
leaving Raven to survey the scene. This coven was unlike the other.
People were feeding in booths and out on the dance floor. And he
thought he could clearly make out one couple actually fucking in a
back booth.

The boy returned. “She says she will not see
you now.”

Raven just smiled. He leveled his powerful
gaze on the vulnerable man-child. “I believe you’re mistaken.”

The young man shrank back visibly. “I could
try again.”

“No need, Henri,” a female voice purred.

Raven glanced up to see a redhead, but not
his redhead. Instead of copper tresses her locks were strawberry
blond. Instead of being tall, she was quite petite in stature. Her
face was lovely, her eyes intense and her breasts inviting. Perhaps
the trip wasn’t a total waste after all, he decided.

“Lillith?” he asked in his own husky
tone.

Though diminutive in size, her command of the
room was undeniable. She nodded her head slightly as she rounded
the bar and came to stand beside him. “And you are Raven Crowe,”
she announced.

He seemed surprised that she knew who he was.
“Have we met?” he asked, although he knew the answer was no.

“In a manner of speaking,” she said as she
hooked her arm with his and led him away from the bar. “I know
Constantine.”

This was not necessarily good news for Raven.
Constantine La Rouche was the man whom he turned, only because of
his insistence. He had been ill and feared he would die and leave
his beloved behind, so Raven took mercy on his situation and spared
him from mortality.

The next day, fearing that his lover was a
witch, the town burned her at the stake before he’d even risen.

Through the hundred or so years since, he
would hear of Constantine’s lust for revenge. He made humans pay
for his loss by taking what they loved most and corrupting it the
only way he knew how. It made Raven sick to know he’d created this
monster, but there was nothing he could do.

It was because of Constantine that he would
never turn anyone ever again, no matter how much they begged. He’d
rather drive a stake through his own heart.

It was hard being a vampire with a
conscience.

Lillith guided Raven to an upstairs hidden
room that was draped in black velvet and illuminated by candles.
She dropped her silk cloak to reveal her tight corset that showed
off her proud breasts.

“How is Constantine?” Raven asked as he stood
beside a chair but did not sit.

“Heartless as always,” she commented with a
wry smile. “From what I understand, you know that better than
anyone.”

He said nothing, just watched her approach.
She gave him a wanton grin as her hand slid up his chiseled arms.
“So what exactly can I do for the legendary Raven Crowe?”

“I was looking for someone.”

“Aren’t we all?”

“A redhead.”

She grinned. “How convenient.”

Coldly Raven retorted, “But since she’s not
here, I suppose I should go.”

Her face hardened but her voice remained
unaffected. “Then go.”

But he didn’t turn away and he didn’t leave.
By showing she didn’t care if he stayed or went, he suddenly wanted
to stay. She must have done this before, he decided.

“How do you know Constantine?” he asked.

“I thought you were going,” she snapped and
attempted to stalk away. Only he snaked out a hand to grab her
elbow and pulled her roughly toward him.