Toxic

Chapter Five

Sleep proved unattainable as I tossed and turned all day long, my body and mind restless. Just before sunset, I gave up and rose to prepare for the night. A really long shower later, I still felt like the dead. My attempt at humor with myself did nothing to improve my mood.

I breakfasted on Reginald who also doubled as my chauffeur, but as I sucked on his neck, much as I tried not to, I couldn’t help wishing I had a different neck at my mercy.

Disgruntled, I snarled at my staff, who, used to my mood swings, stayed well out of my way. An hour passed, then two, before I went looking for Rafe.

I found him-big surprise-in his lab-A.K.A, his medical torture chamber.

“Ah, there you are,” he said turning and greeting me with an absent smile. “I wondered when you’d show.”

I tried not to gnash my teeth. I’d assumed he’d come looking for me. It galled me that all this time he’d been waiting for me to cave and come to him.

Just like the previous day, he wore shapeless garments covered in a white lab coat. His blond hair was deliciously rumpled though as if he’d run his fingers through it.

“What’s on the agenda today?” I asked, perching myself on the bed.

“Some Q &A first if you don’t mind?” His eyes briefly met mine from behind his lenses.

“Ask away.”

“Garlic? Does it keep vampires away?”

I giggled. “Only if you have a sensitive nose that can’t stand it. Me, I love a little Italian flair in my blood.”

He shifted as he noted my response. “I already know you’re allergic to sunlight. What about crosses and holy water?”

I rolled my eyes and sighed. “No matter what the religious institutions might want people to think, we are not evil, ungodly creatures. I can not only wear a cross without harm and gargle holy water, I can walk into a church, fuck a priest and not even sweat.” My crude claims didn’t even faze him.

“Does your kind believe in God?”

I was surprised at the intentness of his expression as he asked me this. “There is no God, not like the bible claims anyways. Although, I do have reason to believe there is a Satan.”

“How can you believe in one and not the other?”

“Let’s just say I have my sources and I have it on good authority that there is a realm out there that could aptly be named Hell, and it’s ruled by a creature whose title is Satan; I’ve never seen irrefutable proof of Heaven, however. It could exist, but in either case, I do know people’s souls don’t depart this planet for either damnation or eternal fields of sunshine.”

“What do you believe happens to the soul instead then?”

“When you die, your soul, the energy that animates a body is released to be reborn again in a new body.” Or absorbed by someone like me.

“You believe in souls, yet you don’t believe in religion.”

“Souls aren’t religious, they’re proven fact.” I frowned at him. “Why all these questions on religion? Are you like some closet fanatic who’s going to pull out a stake and scream death to the vampires?”

His lips quirked. “Just curious. I’ve noticed most humans have strong beliefs when it comes to the existence of God along with Heaven and Hell.”

Something about the way he said humans struck me as odd. But I ignored it in favor of a question that interested me more. “And what do you believe?”

“I believe in God, the one God, and I know in my heart Heaven exists.”

I laughed. “A man of science who believes in religion? How odd.”

“No odder than discovering vampires exist.”

“Touché,” I replied with a rueful grin. “On to the next question.”

“Can you turn into a bat?”

I almost fell off the bed I laughed so hard. “No,” I gasped.

“And I know you’re not a walking corpse,” he muttered scratching on his notepad.

Gee, I wonder if my having a heart beat gave that one away. I kicked my feet as I waited for him to ask his next myth related query.

“Can you turn into a mist and float through cracks?”

I grinned and shook my head. I didn’t mention I could cloak myself in shadows. Not all vampires could do it, and I reserved the right to keep certain things to myself.

“Levitation?”

“I can float above the ground for a few minutes, but if I try to go too high gravity grabs me with a vengeance.”

“What about hypnotizing people?”

I waggled my fingers at him and rounded my eyes. “Ooh, you will now cluck like a chicken.”

He tapped his pencil on his notebook. “Nice try, but I saw the press conference. I know you have some power to manipulate people.”

“Yes, yes I do. But not all my kind have the same ability. I’m a lot stronger than your average vamp and thus have more powers.”

“Can your mind control be fought?”

“Funny you should ask considering your mind keeps refusing my requests.”

“And what have you tried to get me to do?” Rafe asked with a ghost of a smile.

“Well, for one, I keep trying to convince you to take off your damned coat and shirt so I can have a peek at your bod.”

“Whatever for?” he asked his forehead creased in puzzlement.

I grinned toothily at him. “To see if you’re hiding a six pack or a margarine tub.”

He blushed and pushed at his glasses on his face. “Okay, on to the next question.”

I chuckled at his discomfort.

“Teeth? They retract into your gums I’ve noticed. Is it painful?”

I shook my head. “Only the first few times. And just so you know, they aren’t like regular enamel teeth. They’re more porous and exude a relaxing agent when we use them to feed.”

“Fascinating,” he murmured as he scribbled madly. “Will you allow me to take a sample?”

“Sure,” I replied benignly. “And I’ll even allow you to try it out; just say when… and where.”

He didn’t rise to my challenge; although, I’m sure I caught him smiling before he turned away. He fiddled with some dials on one of his machines as he spoke to me over his shoulder. “Okay, I already got measurements for your body the first night. Today, we’re going to take a look at your internal parts. I’m going to start out with the ultrasound and then we’ll move onto x-rays.”

“Okay, let’s get this over with,” I grumbled. I lay on the bed only to sit up again when he turned and handed me a paper gown. I arched a brow. “Seriously? You want me to wear this oversized Kleenex?”

“I don’t want your clothes to get slimy with the gel I use for the ultrasound probe.”

“Ooh, probing. I’m in.” I chuckled as I tugged my shirt off in front of him. He quickly averted his face, then his whole body. I smirked at his back as I finished disrobing. I returned to the table and stretched out, naked as the day I was born. “Ready,” I sang.

He turned around and did a double take. “Um, where’s the gown?” he asked in a thick voice.

“Oh, that thing? Too scratchy. Besides, I’m perfectly comfortable in the buff. Feel free to join me if you feel overdressed.”

He blushed and I thought he was cuter than ever. He took my blood with shaking hands and I thanked my high tolerance for pain as the trembling needle didn’t exactly feel great. But once the pain was gone, I had nothing to take my focus away from him. Oh dear.

I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the tantalizing scent of his skin just barely covering the network of veins that I longed to plunge my teeth into. I tried to deafen myself to the steady thumping of his heartbeat, music like no other. But with his hands palpating me and checking my musculature among other things, my body, despite my clenched teeth, grew aroused. My cleft soaked the skin of my thighs and my nipples hardened into points.

Lost in my own misery I didn’t notice at first that my calm and cool doctor wasn’t so blasé. My ears eventually heard the increase in his heart rate, the way his breath caught and his hands kept inadvertently stroking me.

Aha! I knew he was hiding his attraction to me.

I opened my eyes to see his face flushed and his eyes out of focus behind his lenses. Finally, I had his attention and it had only required me getting naked. I sat up and faced him. For once, he didn’t turn away. His fingers brushed at my cheek, and I leaned into his touch, like a cat looking for a petting except my brand of purring was deadly.

He moved in closer and I knew I should walk away. The rational part of me screamed to put a stop to this even as I acknowledged the fact I’d intentionally maneuvered him into this position. But since when had I ever done the right thing?

I met his questing lips. The touch of his mouth on mine sent an erotic shiver through me, one that tightened my nipples even further and started a throbbing in my cleft. I didn’t stop him when his hands came to rest on my hips, bigger and rougher than I would have expected of a man of science. He pulled me closer to him, the hardness of his cock, even through his bulky layers of clothing, pressing against my lower tummy and spiraling my desire. His kiss deepened and I parted my lips for him, I even allowed him to slip his tongue into my mouth. I couldn’t stop myself from enjoying the arousal he incited, a sexual excitement like I’d never imagined and one which unfortunately couldn’t go any further. Not if I wanted him to live.

I bit down on his tongue, gentle enough so as to not break skin, but hard enough to grab his attention. The idiot man groaned, and for a moment his grip on me tightened. Why, oh why, did I suddenly have to acquire morals? I pushed at him and he stepped back. His eyes burned with arousal, but all too quickly, his usual placid expression slid back into place. I wish I knew how he does that because I am anything but calm right now.

“That was interesting,” he said breaking the silence.

I scowled. “You shouldn’t have done that.” I lied. I wanted him to kiss me again, naked while fucking me.

“Why not? Sexuality seems to be a large part of your persona, a fact you’ve made blatantly obvious.” He brushed a knuckle across my bare nipple and I shuddered, for a moment fervently wishing he’d follow with his mouth.

I mentally shook myself. “Fine. I made you kiss me because I’m a vampire slut. Now write it down in your little notebook and don’t do it again.” I hopped off the bed, afraid to look back and see the puddle of my desire soaking the sheet.

Raphael, though, wasn’t ready to let me go and he caught my arm as I went to flee his presence-and to find something I could fuck without killing.

“Why are you so upset? Are you involved with someone?”

I peered back at him incredulously. “No.”

“Then where’s the harm in a kiss?” he asked, trying to reel me back into his arms. I just braced my feet and let my superior strength keep me away from temptation. To my surprise, he was stronger than I’d given him credit for and I almost went stumbling back against him.

I scowled at him. “A kiss is fine. It’s the rest that’s dangerous.”

He grinned at me, a masculine smile that seemed out of place on his scholarly face, or had I misjudged my sexy scientist? “I think I can handle some hot sex.”

“Not with me you can’t,” I replied shaking my head even as my hormones cried for me to give in. “I’m toxic.”

He frowned. “What do you mean toxic?”

“Sex with me is toxic to humans,” I replied with a shrug. “Or more accurately, my orgasms kill your kind.”

The jerk laughed. “If that’s a boast of your prowess, then I’ll admit I’m intrigued.”

I growled. “Idiot. While my saliva causes euphoria and my blood given in a certain sequence can turn a human, my pussy juices, especially the fluids released during climax, have something in them, some deadly ingredient. If it comes in contact with the skin of a human, it kills them. There is no cure. So while you can kiss me, you’ll never fuck me, not unless you want to die.” He gaped at my announcement.

Upset with myself and him for having the nerve to be born human, I whirled on my heel and left, hitting my room for a change of clothes. I stomped down to my office, my annoyance simmering the further I went without him chasing me down. I don’t care how petty it is of me. A part of me kind of wishes he’d overlook the whole death by pussy thing just for a chance to get with me. Jerk.

In order to stifle my aroused libido, I buried myself in some printed reports of daemon sightings. They were arriving more frequently as the barrier between our world and the demonic dimension thinned.

So far, with the help of the dark faeries, we were keeping ahead of the invasion. But I knew it was only a matter of time before a large wave broke through. I knew our queen was working on bringing the humans and their armies into the knowledge loop, but I wondered if we shouldn’t speed things up. We needed the human scientists to start work on weapons that would prove effective against the repulsively strong daemons. And on that same note, I also wished more special beings would step forth to join the fight.

The merpeople had yet to respond to our request to patrol the seas, but I couldn’t imagine them not defending their territory, so I wasn’t truly worried about them. The dwarves refused to involve themselves, claiming the affairs of man did not concern them. They further claimed that if the horde poured into the world bent on destruction, they would wall off their surface accesses. So helpful. It also made me send a note to the gardener to buy some more garden gnomes. They looked enough like the troublesome dwarves that I’d have fun venting some frustration in my next training session. The pixies and faeries of light stubbornly refused to listen to our warnings. They tilted their stubborn chins, claimed we were evil and thus not to be trusted.

I gnashed my teeth as I imagined showing them how evil I could be if they kept pissing me off. I’d gladly pluck their little wings off until they agreed to join the coming fight.

Negotiations with the shifters were progressing well, but given their divisiveness among the varied animal clans, it was slow moving. But if we could get them on our side they’d provide an invaluable source of strength. I’d also heard tantalizing rumors that they were capable of withstanding sex with a vampire. An intriguing idea which, if true, would increase the pool of available lovers.

But back to the primary problem. Daemons and the difficulties we’d encountered killing them.

What I really needed to do was capture one of the pesky creatures and bring it back for testing-the deadly kind. In order to fight the enemy we needed to know more about it. Find its weaknesses. So far we weren’t faring well in our battle with them. For every daemon we took down, we lost at least one or more of our kind. The humans, without our inborn weapons, wouldn’t stand a chance unless they were forewarned and armed themselves. Therein lay the reason for the whole coming out fiasco. Get to know your friendly neighborhood monster so you can team up when the bully comes to town. I still thought we should have just glamored those in charge to do our bidding. But, many of my kind were eager to escape the shadows and join society. Idiots. They could live in the spotlight and make targets of themselves. I intended to return to hiding in the shadows as soon as my roles as spokes-vampire and guinea pig were over with.

Thinking of my current role made me think of Raphael. I scowled. Blasted man. Why couldn’t they have sent me some old, grizzled scientist instead of Mr. Hottie?

A lightbulb-a dim, none-UV kind-went off in my mind. The best way to get his focus off me and, in return, me away from him was to give him something new to play with. Say, like, a daemon. Not only could I vent some frustration hunting down one of the beasts, Rafe could prove useful dissecting it. Besides, at this point, I’d cooperated as much as I intended. He knew enough about my kind to compile a report. So why not send him away?

I shushed that voice in favor of the one that said Rafe could help us in our fight against the Legion coming. Tearing daemons limb from limb was well and good, but against the horde we’d face, not too practical, not given our current kill ratio. As general to the queen-and in a sense, all of humanity-I needed to know their weak spots. Where to ram my fist through their flesh and pull out their beating heart-or if they didn’t have a heart, whatever passed for one.

I also needed to find out more about their powers. Like other than their nasty stench and extremely bad breath, did they have the power of beguilement we enjoyed? Or the ability to cloak themselves in shadows? So much I need to know, and yet, I was stuck in the mansion with Dr. Temptation.

Although technically, I wasn’t restricted to the house. In order to keep my promise to the queen, I just needed to keep myself available to the doctor. The fact I didn’t plan to allow any more testing didn’t enter the equation. Much as he made me want to ride him like a cowgirl while I sucked on his jugular didn’t erase the fact that his knowledge and skills were needed. He’s an invaluable tool, and I would be doing my queen a disservice if I were to send him away just because he makes me hornier than a rabbit in heat.

Illogical or not, I liked my decision. Now, the next question was did I bring him with me as I hunted down the daemon? Or should I leave him at home and bring back the unconscious carcass for him to play with?

Of course, either way, first I’d have to tell him what the real motive in our declaring ourselves was. How did you tell a human that the Mayans were right? The end was coming. We’d just translated the date wrong. And it wasn’t outer space we needed to fear, but another dimension, the Hell realm.

It made me wonder if maybe Heaven also existed. After all, Hell ended up being a real place, just blocked off a long time ago from accessing our world due to planetary rotations and whatnot. Thinking of Heaven, though, led to the question of were angels real? And of even more interest, what would they taste like?

A knock on my study door had me calling out a sharp, “Come in.”

I expected Annabelle, my late night snack, instead I smelt the delicious aftershave of one not-on-the-menu doctor. I hid behind my reports, not wanting to face him yet, not with the memory of his kiss-his achingly hot touch-still fresh in my mind.

“I’m sorry,” he said his low timbered voice shooting shivers down my spine.

“Apology accepted. Good night.” I wasn’t sure what he was sorry for. Sorry for kissing me? Sorry for not being able to fuck me without dying? Did it matter?

He sighed. “You’re really not like human women are you?”

It was a rhetorical question so I didn’t bother answering. Besides, even among my own kind I was considered different.

“I’ll see you tomorrow evening then.” I heard him turn and move towards the door.

“Wait.” I really hated the way my mouth had a tendency of talking before I knew what I was going to say. “How about we go on a fieldtrip tomorrow?”

“Sure. Where to?”

“Somewhere possibly dirty, so wear dark clothes. Oh, and skip the aftershave.”

“Why?” he queried.

I lowered my reports and looked him in the face. His blue eyes met mine and I smiled the toothy grin of a hunter. “Because where I’m taking you, you don’t want to smell too edible.”

He didn’t blanch, just nodded his head and, with a ghost of a smile hovering on his lips, turned on his heel to leave.

As for me, I flattened the last report I’d perused.

I’d found a daemon, or so I thought given the sketchy details. Humans missing. Strange sounds and lights. And the most telling tidbit, blood splatters. All kinds of clues that made me think I’d found a beast, and not too far from the house either. Excellent.

Tomorrow, I’d catch the foul one and bring him back to Rafe. My version of candy and flowers for a human I couldn’t have.