My phone pinged again, and I finally gave up on sleep to check it. Seven texts from Tina. Oh, eight now. I already knew what the texts were about, and I just laid in bed thinking about how to answer her.

Christian had felt like a completely different person after the cemetery. It was the first time he’d looked his age, and now I was just dying of curiosity. Where did vampires come from? What’s going on biologically when they get turned? Was there a way to reverse vampirism? It was a pity he didn’t have all the answers. The things he did have answers to would require some prying. Who had turned him? Who was supposed to have buried him?

“Don’t forget what he’s done, Anna,” I reminded myself. Last night, he’d taken me in a filthy alley to lay me low. He enjoyed humiliating me, making sure I knew I was his to do whatever he wanted with. He’d fed me more of his blood during the car ride home to restore my hymen, because he was a pervert obsessed with virgins. On top of the heinous sexual acts, he was also still living off the women in his past. It was pathetic, and it was… I jabbed at my temple a few times with my finger when the word ‘disloyal’ popped into my mind. “Get your head on right.”

Another text pinged on my phone, and I decided I should answer Tina before she freaked out.

Tina: u doin anything?
Tina: annie
Tina: annieeeee
Tina: ANNA BELMONT
Tina: lol r u with christian?
Tina: txt me back when ur free
Tina: alright ur starting to scare me, txt me back rn
Tina: im coming over ok?
Tina: im @ ur place. coming in

I heard the sound of my spare key unlocking my front door and realized she was literally outside. Scrambling to make myself at least borderline presentable, I barely managed to pull on some clothes when Tina burst into my apartment.

“Annie? Annie! Annie, are you okay? Are you here?!” she hollered, her voice moving around my place.

“Yeah, I’m in here!” I called, doing my best to comb my hair out with my fingers.

She stormed in with a frenzied look in her eyes, which melted into relief when she saw me. “You’re okay!” she sighed, rushing over to throw her arms around me. After a vigorous squeeze, she pulled away and playfully glared at me. “Annie, what the hell! You don’t answer texts anymore? Been texting you since yesterday!”

“Sorry,” I mumbled, looking away in shame. I couldn’t very well tell her that I was busy getting raped in an alley. “Just a lot on my mind.”

“Like what?” she asked, taking my hands in hers. Now that there was no threat of harm, she had reverted back to her usual bubbly demeanor, painfully oblivious of my predicament. “Ooh… Does it have anything to do with your red flag boyfriend?”

“Yeah,” I muttered. Wait ’til she heard I was plotting ways to kill him.

“Uh oh. Is he cheating on you? Does he still live in his mom’s basement? Does he like getting pegged? I mean, that last one I’d be down for trying maybe once, but it doesn’t strike me as your style.” She tapped her lip contemplatively while I gave her a bewildered grimace.

“What are you even saying right now, Tina?”

“Or is he, like, really really toxic because of a troubled, angsty past, and that’s why he LARPs as a vampire now?” she posited, making my stomach roll.

“Yeah. Something like that,” I said faintly.

“Oof. How toxic, though? He’s not beating you, is he?” I shook my head. “Super domineering though? Does he tell you what to do? Omega jealous? Holds you down and fucks you without asking?” It was surreal how spot on her guesses were. Thoughts of how he’d found my sensitive spot and hammered it until I climaxed flew into my head and perched right on my libido, cooing like only an immortal womanizer could. And his fangs… “Oh. My. God.”

My attention snapped back to my best friend grinning widely at me. “What?”

“Are you gonna fix him? You’re giving me such ‘I can fix him’ vibes, it’s crazy.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Tina. Why would I wanna stay with somebody toxic?” I retorted, shifting uncomfortably.

“You should see your face,” she countered, shaking her head with a smug expression. “But hey, I understand. Fixing cute innocent boys who did nothing wrong is a lot of fun.”

“He is not innocent,” I snorted.

“Mm, good,” she moaned. “And don’t think I didn’t notice that that’s the only thing you took issue with. You think he’s cute, and you’re trying to fix him.” I tried to protest but she hushed me and stood to do a slow twirl. “Maybe you can fix each other. You could do with a little more confidence. Maybe he rubs off on you. Or rubs you off, either way,” she added mischievously.

I groaned and dropped my face into my hands. She was incorrigible as ever, but I supposed that was part of her charm. She plopped down next to me, playfully nudging my shoulder with hers. I looked over at her wearily, then smiled. “Thanks for checking up on me.”

With a cheeky giggle, she nudged me again. “Just be careful, okay? And try to have some fun along the way.” She pouted a bit, looking away almost shyly. “Kinda envy you, actually.”

“No, I’m not sharing him,” I said firmly, giving her a sardonic smirk.

“Annie…” she begged, accentuating her pout and giving me big pleading eyes, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“No.”

“He’s the only one I’ve seen who can pull off old man drip without looking cringe!”

“It’s ‘cringey,’” I corrected. “And the answer’s still no. Am I gonna have to keep an eye on you?”

“You wouldn’t have to if you’d just say yes,” she pointed out, sticking her tongue out at me before standing again. “You seeing him again today?”

“I… think so. Prolly not until tonight.”

“Oh boy, he takes that vampire shit seriously, huh?” she laughed. “What a waste of a Sunday. Only having evening dates only works if you go real late. Doesn’t he have work tomorrow? What does he even do?”

Unable to come up with a lie fast enough, I was only left with, “I’m not sure.”

“That hasn’t come up yet?” she asked skeptically, before chuckling. “Too busy getting freaky to talk about that stuff. Got it.”

“It’s not like that,” I stammered, feeling my face heat up.

“Sure, sure, sure…” She folded her arms and chuckled to herself, shaking her head in admonishment. “Well c’mon. If he’s taking you out every evening, we only have until tonight to get you a new dress. Let’s grab some lunch first.”

—

The doorbell rang, and Tina almost teleported to answer the door. I was really gonna have to figure out a way to get her off of Christian at this rate. I’d given myself to him specifically to pull her out of harm’s way, yet here she was, serving herself up on a silver platter. Well, maybe not silver, I mused with a wry smile.

“Hey handsome,” Tina purred to our visitor. “What brings you here?” She was leaning up against the side of the door, putting on full display her favorite silver dress, adorned with an almost gaudy amount of sequins. She liked being flashy, but using that dress was taking it a bit too seriously.

“Good evening, Tina,” the vampire replied, his voice like silk. “You’re looking absolutely ravishing tonight.” Another black suit jacket, another dark red button down, but this one had delicate gold designs and trim on it, reminding me a bit of brocade. The shirt was untucked this time, lending a noticeably more casual look to his dashing figure. Can’t go one day without drooling over him, huh?

“Who doesn’t like a good ravishing every now and then?” she said with a wink. I had decided that Tina had been captivated by his supernatural charm. She was never this thirsty for somebody who was interested in me. Even when I was dating Nick and being hit on by other good-looking guys, she wouldn’t seize the opportunity even though I was spoken for. She was an amazing friend, not the type to be chasing after my boyfriend. I was so sure of it that I had bet my freedom on it.

“Couldn’t agree more.” He grinned and turned to me as I did a final check in the mirror before walking out of my bedroom. Eyeing my new white halter top dress and matching heels, his voice dropped into a low growl of approval. If Tina liked his smooth playboy voice, just wait until she heard his feral growls during sex.

Almost grimacing at the mental image of Christian being with her, I gave him a twirl, allowing him a view of my hair done up in a neat bun. “You like?” I asked sweetly.

He approached slowly, his eyes fondling every inch of me before letting his hands slip onto my waist. The dress hugged my figure quite well without being restrictive, and his fingers clasping my body felt like the fabric was barely there. “Color me impressed,” he admitted, before lowering his voice so that only I could hear. “And surprised. You got all dolled up without me having to ask. Such a good girl.”

Something between my legs twitched at that, but I ignored it and pressed on. “Hope you have something planned that can make use of my efforts.”

His gaze swept over my form once more before turning to appraise Tina. “With you two all dressed up, it’d be a waste not to hit the club. Are you amenable, Ms. Stanley?”

She nibbled her lip, eyes heavily lidded with lust. His charisma was getting to her. I had to end this soon. “A-men-able, you say? How many men? I’m feeling very men-able tonight.”

He grinned the grin of a shark, astute to the scent of blood in the water. “Excellent. Then shall we, ladies?”

—

Music blasted across the dance floor, and Tina cheered and dragged me to go join the other bodies, leaving Christian while he headed for the bar. The bass pounded our ears as we moved among the crowd, flashing LED lights softened by the fog machines as they spewed mystique into the air. Despite it being a Sunday night, the place was pretty packed. Full of people who didn’t have work tomorrow, in Tina’s words, or simply people who intended to show up to the office hungover.

I tried my best to keep track of Christian, but it was impossible with the people and distractions in the way. I lost sight of him during the second song, scouring the bar for where he could have gone. Some guy was dancing with Tina, but she wouldn’t let me leave to go look for my bloodsucking date. And suddenly an arm was around my waist while another arm reached out to Tina with a small plastic cup of jello.

“Shots!” Tina screamed elatedly, her voice drowned out by the music. She downed the jello shot expertly and handed the cup back to Christian before grinding up against her guy.

Christian pulled me closer, exchanging the empty cup with the one in the hand against my waist. Holding the shot up to me, he swatted my hand away when I went to take it from him, then lowered it to my lips. Maintaining eye contact with me even as I tipped my head back, he squeezed the shot into my mouth and watched me swallow. It was on the sweeter side, just how I liked it, and he grinned when I licked my lips. Stacking the cups up, he handed them to some guy who was dumb enough to accept them before he could argue.

Pulling me against his front, Christian wrapped his arms around me, taking full advantage of the fact that my hair was up by touching his lips to my neck as he grinded against me. I was never one for the party life, but being here with him… Maybe I was enjoying it just a little bit. This was that ‘loosening up’ Tina always talked about, I supposed. Maybe I should’ve done it more before I was stuck with a vampire for the rest of my life. Though technically this is what said vampire lived for. I could see many more nights like this in my future.

He was whispering things to me, words I couldn’t hear over the music, but I could tell he was speaking by the way his breath was brushing against my neck. He would say a few words, then kiss my skin, then say something else, then kiss again. It didn’t matter that I couldn’t hear him, it felt… intimate, sensual, mesmerizing. I reached back to hold his head against me, tilting my chin up to give him better access. Would he bite me, right here in the middle of the dance floor, in front of all these people? I hoped so.

I jerked myself out of the reverie, stepping away before taking his hand and leading him through the crowd to the restrooms. Entering the ladies’ room, I dipped my head down to check that all the stalls were empty before locking the door behind us. I could see myself in the mirror, standing in the restroom alone, watching in mild fascination as invisible hands clutched my breasts, squeezing and caressing and being the only evidence that a vampire was with me.

As if overcome with lust, I turned and pushed him against the outside of the stalls before pressing my body against his, leaning up and kissing his neck like he had. He rumbled with satisfaction, standing there and letting me show how much I wanted him. One of my legs kicked up, and I briefly reached down to pull the strap off my ankle. I put my hands to his chest and gave him a couple of licks, even nipping at him as my palms traveled up to his shoulders to hold him steady. His hands were on the small of my back, playing at the fabric of my dress as if threatening to rip it off.

“Anna…” he breathed.

I sank my teeth into his flesh as deep as they would go, and he grunted in pain before seizing me by the hair, unraveling my bun when he tried to stop me. I grabbed him by the head and bit down harder, tasting the familiar sweetness of his blood. Putting a hand on my chest, he shoved me away, and I used the force to rip his throat open as I stumbled back. Scarlet essence sprayed everywhere, splattering my new dress with a macabre dye. I went in for another bite and he shoved his hand into my mouth to block me, thumb pushing up under my chin. When we both hesitated, I bit down, almost severing his fingers.

He yelled in pain and shook me off, sending me careening into the counter. As he reached up to hold the gaping hole in his neck closed with his other hand, sanguine rivulets running down his arm and chest, I whipped off the high heel I’d unstrapped and charged forward, yanking his arm away with my other hand before plunging the heel right into the open wound. Using leverage of the shoe for more purchase, I tried to widen the injury as much as possible until he picked me up and literally threw me away from him, sending me smashing into the mirror before falling onto the counter.

“What the fuck!” he spat, his voice gurgling with blood as he staggered and slowly pulled the heel out of his neck. The mirror had shattered into large pieces, and I tugged my other shoe off before grabbing a shard and charging at him again. He was still too shocked to react fast enough, and I sank the makeshift dagger straight into the wound, stabbing it deeper until it pierced his esophagus. Mirrors were made with silver.

Blood was beginning to pool on the floor as it gushed out of him, and I did my best to use the glass to cut across his throat. It started slicing my hand open, and I instead opted to break it off inside him. He roared in pain and grabbed my wrist, throwing me to the floor. By the time I recovered, my window of opportunity had closed. He was back on his feet, his neck already quickly recovering from my attack. Too quickly, in fact. He was pawing at the healing flesh with his fingers, the shards of mirror evidently still inside. After healing completely, he huffed in rage and shot a murderous glare my way, blood still dripping from his mouth.

“Fucking bitch,” he hissed, then grimaced in pain as the mirror shards inside him continued to cut. Sighing angrily, he used his nails to slice himself back open, then began digging around inside and methodically removing all the tiny slivers the mirror had fractured into. With my back to the restroom door, I watched in despair, nursing my elbows, body aching from both times he’d thrown me. I’d been so close. I’d hurt him, actually hurt him. I could have ended it right there.

As he dropped the last fragment into the pool of his blood on the floor, his legs buckled a bit and he leaned against the wall, the two of us watching each other carefully as we caught our breaths. He was going to kill me now, as soon as he regained his strength. At least… At least it would be over. My torment at his hands would finally come to an end. Hopefully he made it quick.

His panting had leveled out, and suddenly he started chuckling. I watched in dumbfounded horror as he laughed at my murder attempt, straightening and walking over to wash his hands. “Not bad, pet,” he sighed. “Not bad at all. You almost had me there. That might’ve actually worked.” He touched his neck again to make sure he was healed up before shutting the water off and drying his hands, then walking over to me. “God, you’re so much fun.” He crouched in front of me, fixing me with a less forgiving stare. “I could’ve killed you, y’know. When my hand was in your mouth. Just ripped your jaw right off your face and let you bleed out in this fucking piss hole.”

“Why didn’t you?” I muttered, defeat sinking into my bones. “Why aren’t you?”

He held eye contact for a long moment, then tittered to himself once and got back to his feet, turning to the mirror and fixing his hair as if he could see himself in the cracked glass. “You ever go into the restroom in school and try to summon Bloody Mary?” He glanced at me, his eyes sweeping down my form. Following his gaze, I noted how much of my new white dress was soaked with his blood.

When I looked back up, he was stood before me and unzipping his pants. I was brought face-to-face with his giant cock, throbbing and ready for duty. “I’m not making the same mistake twice,” he uttered slowly. “If you bite me again, I will hunt down every single person you’ve ever loved, and I will drain them in front of you one by one… starting with your friend out there.”

I clenched my jaw, my breath shaky. He hadn’t even used compulsion; the threat was enough. He wanted me to choose to obey him. He liked to win.

Gulping back my despair, I parted my lips for him and let him slide his hardness into my mouth. He thrusted forward suddenly, knocking my head against the door. Pushing him back a step, I gasped for air as soon as my mouth was clear. “Wait wait wait,” I pleaded, stalling just long enough so that I could get on my knees instead and have enough leverage to keep my head steady. Satisfied that I was in a better stance, he prodded my lips with his tip, coaxing me to get to work.

This was… my first blowjob. On my knees, in a restroom, with a guy who didn’t give a shit about me. Probably not all that different from other girls’ first experiences, sadly. As I looked down his length, I realized it never occurred to me just how huge he was until it was right in my face. I’d been taking this monster the whole time? My loins clenched involuntarily, moistening a bit at all the good times I’d had with this thing. What the fuck, ‘good times’? I was still delirious from our scuffle earlier, and his hypnotic presence. Even if he’d made me feel good, describing it as ‘good times’ was absurd.

“Stop playing around with it like you give a shit about me, and just suck,” he snarled. I’d been gently kissing and licking his tip, and suddenly my mouth was pressed up against his pelvis. My eyes crossed and rolled back as I gagged, saliva bubbling in my throat as he stretched the narrow passage. His fingers were in my hair, holding me in place even when I slapped at his thighs, on the cusp of throwing up. He released me, and I pulled myself off of him, doubling over to the side and retching hard. Thick and foamy saliva oozed out of my mouth while my eyes watered and destroyed my makeup.

“I can’t…” I gasped when I could finally form words. “Please, I… I can’t…”

He’d let me recover, but now he gripped my face, fingers pushing into my cheeks to force my mouth open. His expression was uncaring with a tinge of impatience, the scarlet of his eyes melting into liquid gold. “You will. Worship my cock, slut.”

He let go of me, straightening so that his hardness was once again presented before me. I eyed it wearily, spirit breaking as the soreness in my throat miraculously recovered in seconds. It was long, girthy, a delicious color, with flawless smoothness accented with a couple of thick veins that I wanted to run my tongue across. Compared to some of the dicks Tina had described to me, sometimes referred to as lumpy, this phallus was a masterpiece. Who else could be so lucky to have such a magnificent cock as their first? I need it, more than air.

Screaming at myself internally to resist, I took hold of his majesty at the base and slowly sank it into my waiting mouth. He groaned in approval, then a second time when I let go of it and forced the rest down my throat. It wasn’t nearly as difficult as before. Was it because I was getting used to it, or because of his compulsion? Please be the latter.

He patted my head, stroking my hair while I began gagging on his cock. Thankfully, he pulled out enough where I could breathe, switching instead to a regular blowjob so that I could take a more active role of pleasing him. My lips puckered around his shaft while my tongue wagged back and forth on the underside. “Good girl,” he crooned, making me even wetter than before. My hand was halfway to my groin before I even realized, and I caught myself in horror. I’d just tried and failed to slay him; if I pleasured myself now while swallowing his cock, I could never live with myself. Resisting touching myself was frustratingly difficult, but I set them on his thighs to ensure I wouldn’t succumb to the temptation.

His cock just felt so good in my mouth. Such a beautiful cock deserved to be worshipped. Like hell I was ever sharing this with Tina. This was mine, all mine. I needed to do a good job here or I’d lose it to some other woman. I pushed it in deep, letting it poke back into my throat once more, blowing spit past my lips as I struggled for breath.

“I love that you’re moaning, pet,” he sneered, and my eyes popped open. My eyes had been shut as if I was savoring the taste of him. The worst part… is that I was. His damn order had me begging to make him feel good, and I was being fed bliss for doing so. If he could trick me into wanting him, in deriving pleasure by providing it to him, I was doomed. How much longer could I keep up my resistance? He’d supposedly broken my will with the bet, but now he was slowly – and surely – washing it away bit by bit. He was going to win… but so what, if it felt this good to let him?

The restroom door rattled and then banged, causing Christian to look up, though not stopping him from fucking my mouth. “Heh, looks like she needs to relieve herself,” he snickered. “But if she busts in here, she’s gonna find you swallowing my cock, on your knees like a dirty slut. Do you think she’d want a turn?” Something twisted in my gut, something I’d felt back at the restaurant with the waitress. Like before, I refused to examine it, focusing on sucking him off instead.

He held the back of my head and shoved his perfection down to the base once more, and I felt it pulse ominously before feeding ambrosial cum directly into my stomach. I gulped it down obediently, getting a taste of it when he slowly pulled out of my throat. My first taste of cum. The texture was disgusting, but the flavor was… not terrible. Part of me wished he hadn’t just shot it down past my tongue so that I could have some more time to taste it before it got diluted by my saliva. Not to worry, there were plenty more chances in the future… Wait, what?

With the blowjob over, I snapped back to my senses, my nose filled with his musk. I wrapped my arms around myself, feeling vulnerable and used. He’d made me like it, and I was trembling with fear that he could make me do anything, absolutely anything. He could erase who I was at any moment, replace it with a subservient, obedient, sex-crazed doll. It was only by his mercy that Anna Belmont still existed.

The woman at the door was knocking hard now, her fist desperately pounded on the wood. Before I could stop him, Christian strode over and unlocked it, and a stunningly beautiful woman in what could barely constitute as a dress stumbled in, her knees bent inward.

“Omigod, what is your fucking problem?” she snapped, combing her bleached hair away from her face. “I’ve been knocking for almost five minutes, you b–” She saw me on my knees, drenched in blood with semen on my lips. She saw the giant pool of blood in the center of the restroom and broken shards of mirror littering the floor. And she saw the vampire grin and seize her by the head, sinking his fangs into her throat.

“No!” I shouted, hastily climbing to my feet. It was too late. She’d yelped when her skin was pierced, but had quickly fallen into a daze as Christian drank. He walked her away from the door, smug and at ease. “Let her go! Drink from me, nobody else has to get hurt.”

He shook his head slightly before turning his attention back on the woman. She was moaning now, lost in the euphoria of being fed upon. Rivulets of yellow liquid trickled down her quivering legs and began puddling at their feet, filling the room with a pungent odor. Her eyes rolled back as her hand reached up to hold Christian’s head to her neck. “More…” she whispered lustfully.

“Stop!” I yelled.

Annoyed, Christian actually obliged, at least long enough to address me. “You can go now, pet. I’ve found my prey for the evening. I’ll just say it: I’m not in the mood to drink from you tonight after the stunt you pulled, but I need to replenish all that blood you bled from me. So fuck off, maybe tell your friend that you spilled a Bloody Mary on yourself, and call it a night. I’ll deal with you tomorrow. Consider the jealousy you’re feeling your punishment.”

I froze, finding it hard to swallow the fact that he’d finally put a name to the emotion I was feeling. I couldn’t be jealous. I hated him. I’d tried to kill him not even an hour ago. But seeing this woman cupping his cheek and coaxing him to drink more… I didn’t want him to stop in order to save her. I wanted him to stop because…

“Will you sleep with her?” I rasped, my nails digging into my palms.

He eyed me closely, then grew a dark smirk. “Not gonna lie, I don’t think I have the blood to have full-on sex. That’s why I stopped at a blowjob with you. So not tonight. Does that put your mind at ease?” It did. Damn it. Damn him. Damn me. “Now go.”

I was hurting from the fight. I felt disgusting from his blood and cum. And I was a maelstrom of emotions. Once again, he didn’t need to compel me. I just wanted to go home and sleep. “Don’t kill her,” I said dully. He grunted, looking mildly amused as I turned away and stepped out of the restroom.

I felt sick. I felt defeated. And I hated myself. He was in there drinking from another woman and there was nothing I could do. I had to kill him before I developed feelings for him. Next time, for sure.

Taking a shaky breath, I walked back to the dance floor, planning my next move.