Look for the flash to post every Monday until the end of the month. Fair warning: there are some scenes of dubious consent. If you've read any of my books, you know I don't do rape, but this *is* a Halloween flash. It *is* going to be a bit on the dark side. I *am* going to push the boundaries. *Evil cackle.* Bawhahahaha, you've been warned.
~Also, I made a some small edits to ch 2 to deal with the lightening showing through the window he'd covered. Ah, the joys of reading a first draft, huh, lol. ;)
Chapter
Three
“Hello,
Caleb.”
Oh
God, it knew his name and, and…. Caleb gulped as the hallway light
sputtered on, but its illumination was much subtler. Dimmer. How can that be? As he strained to see
the figure at the foot of his bed, lightning flashed across the nighttime sky,
brightening his shadowy room.
Unable
to help himself, Caleb darted a quick glance out of the window. Almost
immediately he tore his gaze away and returned it to the end the bed… where
whatever it was that spoke to him no longer stood. Shit!
“Lovely
night, isn’t it?”
Caleb
screeched as the softly spoken words caressed his ear. A body pressed close
against his back. Oh God, oh God. Caleb’s
response was immediate. He tried to lurch across the bed but steely arms
wrapped around him.
Desperately
he strained in the embrace, but whoever held him captured his flailing arms and
pinned his wrists against his chest. A sob lodged in his throat as he struggled
in vain. Whoever—or whatever—held him was strong. Abnormally strong. And male.
“Oh
God, oh God… please.” He wasn’t sure what he pleaded for—release, the ability
to start the day over, to have never bought the damn spell to begin with. Panting,
Caleb stopped his useless struggles. He needed to conserve his energy.
“Your
human God holds no jurisdiction over me.”
Caleb’s
head spun. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Any
doubt he had was banished in a wisp of smoke. Whatever it was, it wasn’t human.
He hadn’t seen the thing that held him—so he didn’t know exactly what he was
dealing with—and after hearing that, he wasn’t sure he wanted to. It was enough
to feel the strength so intimately wrapped around him.
Self-preservation
took over. Thrashing wildly, he fought harder to escape even though it still had
his arms pinned. He threw his head back hoping he’d knock whatever it was
holding him silly. When that didn’t work, he tried slamming his elbows into the
body holding him. He kicked, his body bucking as they grappled on the bed.
His
heart pounded frantically as he continued to struggle, his breath laboring.
Nothing seemed to work. Sweat blossomed across his naked body from his frantic
struggles and chilled his skin. Or was the coolness coming from whatever held
him so tightly?
“Stop
struggling.”
The
soft command veiled in lazy menace left him quivering… and no longer fighting.
In all of his fantasies he never considered this—that he’d become prey. Stupid
of him, really. “Please, oh God, oh God, please don’t hurt me.”
“I
have no intention of hurting you, but you will obey me.”
Caleb
struggled to swallow the stream that threatened to break loose. Obey? Obey it?
Obeying wasn’t exactly a strong suit of his. God, obey it in what?
And
did Caleb really want to know?
Whatever
it was combed cool fingers his sweat-damp hair. Nails—or possibly
claws—lightly scraped against Caleb’s scalp. Soft kisses were pressed against
his shoulder. He clenched his fists, not that it did any good. The creature
still had his hands crossed and pinned against his chest.
“So
lovely,” it breathed softly against Caleb’s chilled flesh. “So delicately made,
yet so resistant. Humans astound me, and you are no different.”
Caleb
swallowed, then swallowed again. His mouth was so dry he wasn’t sure he could
speak. “What… w-what d-d-do you want?”
Whatever
held him chuckled softly. Caleb whined softly in his throat as a warm puff of
air caressed his neck and shoulder.
“Such
a variety of ways to answer that, now, isn’t there?”
Caleb’s
brain switched off as stark fear wiped out coherent thought. One message
flashed through his mind and that was to escape. He surged up, but the thing
held him securely. Easily.
“You
don’t really think you can escape me, do you? I mean, you did summon me, after
all.”
Caleb
froze as the fight abruptly left him again. Heaven help him—that was exactly
what he feared. What the actual fuck did
that spell say? “What… what do you mean?”
“You
know exactly what I mean.” The creature released one of Caleb’s wrists. But
just as quickly, Caleb found both his wrist captured by the other vampire’s
hand. Its strength was shocking. Even one-handed it held him securely.
It
reached around Caleb and gently tapped the pendant around Caleb’s neck.
“Drawing our attention can be serious business. I might even say deadly.”
Caleb
glanced down as lightning flashed again. He caught a quick glimpse of a pale
hand and long dagger-like black fingernails. “What a-are you? Demon?”
The
creature snorted. “Demon? Oh, my lovely little human, I’m no demon. Although,
depending on who you ask, it could be said that I’m much, much worse.”
Caleb
gathered what little courage he still retained. “T-then what are you?”
The
creature tugged Caleb impossibly closer, pressing Caleb against its chest, and
whispered in his ear, “Vampire. The very thing you have longed for and sought
after your entire adult life.”
“But—”
Caleb’s breath strangled in his throat as the creature dropped his hand from
the pendant and grasped Caleb’s soft cock.
“I
have waited so long.” The vampire
kissed Caleb’s naked shoulder.
Wait. What?
Caleb tried to focus on what the thing behind him was whispering, but the
thoughts rattled around in his head like loose marbles on an uneven floor.
Caleb couldn’t catch any of them.
“Get
hard for me. I want to see you lost in passion.”
Get
hard? For real? Kind of impossible to do when the thing had inch-long claws on
a part of his anatomy he held dear. Terrified of what he would see, he still
glanced down… to see blunt, black nails instead of the claws he’d been
expecting to see. Whaaaat?
Short
and nicely trimmed nails attached to what look like a human hand—a very human,
masculine hand that was slowly teasing his soft cock to hardness. Trapped in
the creature’s embrace with his arms still crossed and pinned to his chest, he
watched helplessly as his endlessly stupid cock rose to the occasion. What the hell?
Fear
still sang through his body, but now in the unpleasant bubbling brew, arousal
was added. Caleb moaned helplessly as he watched, then shivered—and not
completely from fear—in the vampire’s embrace when he felt what could only be a
fang rubbed against his neck.
Whatever
he was going to say was lost. Even thinking was out of the question. Visions of
porno scenes he’d watched flashed through his mind. His cock hardened further as
he remembered how the bottoms withered in ecstasy as their vampire lover fed.
He wanted that. In the deepest, most secret part of his heart, he wanted to
experience that.
But
he didn’t want to die either.
His
breath tangled in his chest. His cock was painfully hard, and it throbbed in
time to the beat of his heart. Desire built right along with the tension. The
vampire stroked him, his skill obvious in the way he played Caleb’s helpless
body. Caleb’s eyes drifted closed as the vampire spread Caleb’s precome, making
him slick. Lost in the sensation, his mind shut down.
Caleb’s
hips arched off the bed. He wanted—needed—more. Wrapping his long fingers
around the shaft, the vampire squeezed. Caleb lurched in surprise. It hadn’t
hurt. In fact, it felt rather good.
He
widened his legs, giving the vampire room to work, even if his mind shrieked
uselessly at him. He’d lost his mind, there was no doubt about it. Instead of
fighting for his life, he was giving over… letting this thing pleasure him. And
it was doing a damn fine job of it too.
“One
day soon, I’m going to feed from you. Take what is mine. You’re going to give
me what I want—what you’ve voluntarily given me by wearing this pendant. You’re
mine, and I will have you. I’m going
to make you scream.”
Caleb’s
eyes opened in shock, and, unable to do anything else, he watched as a
vampire’s strokes sped up. Caleb strained in its embrace. He drew closer and
closer to the edge until finally his muscles locked.
Oh
God, he was going to come, come at the hands of a very talented vampire. His
abdominal muscles bunched in hard spasms as he came. It was unlike anything
Caleb had ever experienced before. It was possibly the best orgasm he’d ever had.
As
Caleb came he bit his lip, drawing blood. Unable to stand the feeling, Caleb
threw his head back, the cords in his neck bulging, and screamed. His shriek of
pleasure was cut off as the vampire released his trapped wrists.
Using
its freed hand, the vampire tilted Caleb’s head back and pressed his mouth to
Caleb’s, swallowing the sound. The kiss went on as the vampire milked Caleb
through his orgasm. His body relaxed into that steely embrace. As he floated
back down to Earth, the vampire licked his bloody lip.
“Your
taste is magnificent. Truly addicting. I chose well.”
Panting,
and covered in come, Caleb squirmed helplessly as he realized the vampire had
tasted him now, and apparently he liked what he tasted. “What…? Chose well?
Huh? W-who are you?”
The
vampire smiled as he lifted his come-covered finger to Caleb’s mouth. Not
stopping to think, he tasted himself as he cleaned the evidence of his orgasm.
“Brone. Now sleep….”
…
and the loud ominous crack of thunder jerked Caleb up in the bed. Bleary-eyed,
he anxiously looked around. The hall light flickered but stayed on. But hadn’t
it just been much dimmer? But why did he think the electricity had been off?
A
quick look at the alarm clock confirmed it. The lights had not been off. The alarm clock’s glowing numbers were not blinking, which they would’ve been
if the electricity had been out. What the hell was going on?
Caleb
looked down at himself. He was dry, comfortable, and certainly not covered in
come. He jumped again when he saw lightning outside the window. A couple
minutes later there was another big boom of thunder.
Scrubbing
his hands across his face, he wiped the sleep from his eyes. Then his eyes
widened as he remembered something else. His hands flew to his face… but his
lip felt perfectly fine. Certainly not like he’d bitten it.
Hadn’t
he bitten it when…. Scrambling out of bed, he nearly fell to the floor since
the sheets were wrapped around his body. Untangling himself, he stumbled to the
bathroom and flipped on the light. Immediately he squinted and swore softly.
Good Lord, did they put floodlights in there instead of regular everyday
lightbulbs? Once he was able to open his eyes without burning his corneas, he
checked his neck.
There
was nothing.
No
holes. Not even a scratch. Nothing. He looked like the same old Caleb. He
could’ve sworn he felt a fang… This was just nuts. He ran a hand through his
hair then turned on the bathroom faucet and cupped his hands. The water filled
his palms, and he gulped it. Once his thirst was quenched, he splashed his face
then patted it dry with a hand towel.
Caleb
peered at himself in the mirror. “Okay, the electricity didn’t go out and no
vampire jerked me off in my sleep. It was a dream. Nothing more than a dream.
And what a hell of a dream it was.”
He
frowned at his reflection as something tease the edge of his consciousness. But
no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t remember. But whatever it was, it was
odd—something he didn’t normally hear in everyday conversations. A name? A word
maybe? There was something right there
on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t quite grasp it.
He
shrugged. The more he tried to think of it, the more it eluded him. He used the
bathroom, washed his hands, and walked back into the bedroom. Not a thing was
out of place. Yeah, he really needed to get a grip on his overactive
imagination. Annoyed with himself, he returned to bed and tried his best go
back to sleep… hopefully this time without any freaky dreams.
* * * *
The
next morning sunlight streaming through the window woke him. He showered,
dressed, and, still toweling his hair dry, walked into the tiny kitchen. He
opened a soda and drank that as he munched on the cold pizza from last night.
The
microwave clock showed he had several hours before he had to check out, but he
was more than ready to go. After breakfast he cleaned the kitchen, bagged his
trash to drop off on his way out, and got ready to leave.
On
the way out to his car, he remembered the message from the night before. After
he put his suitcase in the trunk, he opened the driver’s door, got in, and
started to the car. While it warmed up, he opened his cell and checked his
messages. Not only was there a strongly-worded message from Raleigh, there was
also an even more strongly-worded voicemail.
He
listened to it and only cringed a little, even as he mentally gave Raleigh
points for his creativity. What he threatened to do if Caleb didn’t call soon
was rather inventive and possibly anatomically impossible.
Caleb
sighed as he deleted the voicemail. “Guess this calls for more than a text.”
Then he remembered how early it was and grinned evilly. Raleigh was likely
still dead asleep. He hit the button and called.
He
drummed his fingers on the steering well as he waited for Raleigh to pick up.
“Leave me a nasty voicemail, will you? Fine.”
Of
course he got Raleigh’s voicemail.
Caleb
sighed. He’d really been hoping to wake Raleigh up. Oh well, a voicemail would
have to suffice. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I rented a cabin, went off on my own, and
did the spell. Seeing how it’s early in the morning, and I’m sitting in my car
in the blazing sunlight on my way home, I’d have to say it was a complete flop.
I’m fine. You can bitch me out when I get home. And FYI, that means I’m heading
that way. Talk to you later.”
Caleb
disconnected and shoved his cell back into his front jean pocket. Since that
unpleasant chore was finished, it was time to get on his way. It was a
beautiful morning, he had to admit, even though his mood didn’t match.
After
he dropped off his key at the rental agency and disposed of his trash, he
started the long drive home. As usual the drive back home took longer, or so it
seemed. Why was that? Anyway, Caleb listened to the radio and tried to remember
if he had any clean uniforms for work tomorrow. He loved driving for FedEx and
made pretty good money at it. Thank
God in his insanity he hadn’t quit his job. He had one more day off, then it
was back to the daily grind. Oh well, at least he had the Halloween party
coming up at The Edge to forward to.
He
passed the city limits sign and continued on his way toward his apartment
complex. There weren’t many people on the road, which he was glad to see. Once
he got home and unpacked—and possibly received an ass chewing from Raleigh—he
planned to take a nap. He hadn’t slept well last night with that crazy ass
dream and all.
Speaking
of that dream…. He fished the pendant from underneath his shirt. Odd how the
damn thing had shown up in his dream—now he wished he could remember why it had. He was tempted to take it
off, but hell. He might as well get something out of the money he spent on that
stupid spell.
He
parked in front of his apartment, popped the trunk, and got his suitcase.
Raleigh’s truck was parked next to him. He wondered how Raleigh’s night out
went last night. Caleb unlocked the apartment door and quietly let himself in.
He walked through the kitchen and made his way to the living area, which was
vacant.
Just
as he thought, Raleigh was still asleep. Good. The promise ass chewing he had
coming could wait. He jotted a quick note and left it on the kitchen table
telling Raleigh he was here and taking a nap. He slipped into his room and
dropped his suitcase at the end of the bed. Yawning, he stripped and crawled
back into bed.
Hopefully
this time there wouldn’t be any weird dreams.
* * * *
“Caleb!”
Caleb
jerked awake and glared at the door. Another rounder brutal knocking commenced.
“Caleb,
get your ass up. I have a bone to pick with you.”
“Damn
man, stop that shit. I hear you.” Well, hell. Well, apparently naptime was
over, and Raleigh was in the mood to chew some ass. “Keep your shirt on! I’ll
be there in a minute.” Grumbling, Caleb climbed out of the bed, grabbed his
jeans, and slipped them back on.
He
stomped down the hallway and into the living area where Raleigh sat on the
couch, sipping his morning coffee.
“If
you weren’t my best friend I’d strangle your ass right here and now,” Raleigh
snapped.
So
apparently they were going to get right down to it. “Didn’t you get the
voicemail I left you this morning?”
“Yes,
let’s talk about voicemails, why don’t we? Let’s talk about the one that said what you were doing but didn’t leave a
clue as to where you were doing it.
What were you thinking, man? And where the hell were you?” Raleigh demanded.
“I
was at Moon Lake. They have cabin rentals.” Caleb shrugged.
“And
you stayed there because…?”
“Because
I needed privacy. I needed to be alone just in case….” As he listened to
himself state his reasons why, he noticed how incredibly stupid the whole thing
sounded. His face heated.
“Just
in case what? Just in case you turned into a vampire?”
Caleb
looked down. God, he felt like a moron, but honestly, it sounded good in his
head. It made perfect sense then. “Um… yeah.”
Raleigh
sighed. He pulled a hair tie off his wrist and yanked his hair out of his face.
“On second thought, strangling might be too good. I was worried about you. Do
you hear me? I was sincerely, honest to God, worried about you.”
“I’m
sorry. I didn’t mean any harm.”
“I
love you like a brother, but I swear if you pull another stunt like this, I will strangle you. Then kick your ass.
Caleb, man, what if something happened? You have family. I know you’re not
especially close to them, but you guys do talk. What if you’d had a wreck on
the way down there? I didn’t even know where you were. Did anyone?”
“Ah…
no. That was kind the point.”
“Well,
here’s my point. No one knew where
you were. Even if something hadn’t
happened to you, what if something happened here? What if I got a wreck? What if the apartment burned down? Any number of bad
things could’ve happened. I would’ve needed to get in touch with you, only I
wouldn’t have been able to because no one
knew where you were!”
Caleb
cringed. “I’m sorry. I just didn’t think.”
“I
know. You never do. You get these grand ideas and off you go… and you never
stop to think about the consequences.” Raleigh set his coffee down and scrubbed
his hands over his face. “Please don’t disappear on me again, okay? I don’t
mind the harebrained ideas you get. Sometimes they’re even great fun.”
Caleb
slowly grinned. “Some have been kind of fun, haven’t they?”
“Yes,
they have. It’s one of the reasons why I like you so much. You see things
differently than the rest of us, and you have a sense of adventure I admire.
But you also jump in the middle of things, and you never stop to consider your
actions. That’s what scares me.”
Caleb
nodded. “I really am sorry. I never stopped to think of it from your point of
view, and shame on me for that. Still friends?”
Raleigh
picked up his coffee. “Still friends. Just throttled back on some the antics,
will you? I’m too young to have gray hair.”
Caleb
snorted. “Gotcha. So, I see you’re drinking coffee. Hopefully you made a whole
pot?”
Raleigh
rolled his eyes. “You honestly think I’d just make myself a cup? I know you,
remember? There’s no way in hell I’d just make one cup, especially not with you
in the house. You probably strangle me
then.”
Caleb
laughed off Raleigh’s remark, but it told him plainly Raleigh had expected him
home. He walked into the kitchen to get his much-desired cup of coffee. He’d
debated adding a shot of whiskey to it, because after the night he had, he
certainly deserved it.
Taking
his coffee, he wandered into the laundry room. Yup, good thing he got home
early because it was looking like laundry was going to be an all-day ordeal. He
set about the chores he’d neglected thanks to his latest obsession. And
speaking of which, he stopped sorting long enough to pull the pendant out from
underneath his shirt.
He really should take the thing off, but every
time he tried, he just didn’t seem to have the will to remove it. Oh well, it
wasn’t hurting anything, and it was kinda cool. It was just a pendant.
Besides,
what was the worst that could happen?
