Which was great when he was stalking me through the woods around his house.
There'd been rain earlier, and the late May night was a little chilly. Clouds obscured the moon, giving me very little light to work with. The homes in Hillside were big and expensive, with lots of thick trees between them. We weren't but a few miles from downtown Portland, but it might as well have been the middle of nowhere.
I moved in pauses, darting from one tree to the next, reaching out with my senses at every bole. The point of this exercise was to see how well I could cloak myself by hiding my aura. The vampire gave me a ten minute head start, then would hunt me down. I got farther and farther each time we played this game, my psychic powers letting me blend into the surroundings better each time.
With all the leaf litter and underbrush, Varick wouldn't be able to move quietly, no matter how much he damped down his aura. I wouldn't be able to pick up his emotions until he was right on top of me, but I counted on hearing him first.
Something rustled nearby, and I stiffened, on high alert. Holding my breath, I pulled my aura as tight as possible, hoping to cover my heartbeat. I couldn't make myself disappear from people's perceptions like Varick could, but I was getting pretty good at hiding.
Animal awareness told me a raccoon family was the source of the noises. It was handy to perceive the life signs of other creatures. Releasing my breath, I darted to the next tree.
Varick's arms wrapped around me from behind before I made my destination.
I gave a brief cry as I tried to escape. In a burst of movement, I stomped on his foot, threw myself forward, and twisted the pressure points in his thumbs. Against a mortal assailant, I'd have been free. My German lover was impossibly strong, and simply held still as I fought.
As he was a vampire, I could play rough. Really rough, so long as my psi blade wasn't involved. Grunting with the effort, I drove my left heel back, trying to break his knee.
Varick lifted me from my feet, taking the force from my kick. My foot rammed into his shin, causing me more pain that it did him. In the next breath, I swung my legs up and threw my head back, hoping to topple us over.
The vampire laid his lips to my neck, and my whole world froze.
No feeling compared to his mouth on my skin. The play of his tongue, the hardness of his teeth, the sharpness of his fangs. From the very first time he bit me, I'd become his wanton victim. Giving the German my blood was an addiction I never wanted to give up.
"Mein liebchen is getting better at this." His voice was low, not quite a purr, and I sighed as his breath washed over my skin. Varick put me back on the ground, but I didn't have the strength to support myself. "She made it almost a mile this time." His tongue flicked across the side of my neck.
I swooned, letting my head fall back to his shoulder. "Shouldn't you take your prize, then?" Every nerve in my body screamed for his bite.
Varick growled faintly. "Nein. You had better try again. Run far, mein Keila. See if you can get away." The vampire shoved me forward.
I reeled and gasped. How did he expect me to hide when I radiated lust this powerfully? Knowing the release would be worth the effort, I stumbled into the darkness.
