"Syd, are you absolutely sure about this? I mean . . . You've never had a vampire feed on you before, especially not one like me. What if I end up losing control again and hurting you?" 25-year-old Nefertiti Fuentes asked to her childhood best friend who was sitting across from her.
Hearing the question asked and the childhood nickname she used for him, 21-year-old Sydney Jackson merely shook his head, a comforting smile spreading across the warm deep sepia brown complexion of his face as he took her hand in hers.
Even though he'd held it many times before, the fact that Nefertiti's hand felt almost impossibly soft and delicate still surprised him although this time, he noticed a slight density that she could tell was her immense hidden strength.
"Like you Nef? You're just the same now as you were when we first met so I trust you. You're also the strongest woman I've ever met so I know you won't. Remember what we always say to each other;
tu proteges mi alma
" he replied, the warm soft dulcet almost feminine yet still distinctly masculine tone of his voice calm and reassuring.
"Even though I lost control of my thirst earlier tonight and became the reason why I had to interrupt your performance, cut our night out on the town short and be escorted here out of all places? By the Sanguine Guard nonetheless? This is freaking embarrassing! I should be stronger than losing control when I smell blood more than a mile away!
Yo soy avergonzada!
" Nefertiti exclaimed, lapsing into her native Spanish as she held her head down, embarrassment creeping up on the mixed-race half-Dominican/half-Equatoguinean facial features of her warm caramel brown complexioned face.
"Hey relax! Take a deep breath girl! You were turned less than six months ago, the fact you can walk out in the daylight without killing the first human you see is a miracle in of itself! Losing control is something that happens!" Sydney said in a low soothing voice as he reached out to affectionately stroke her cheek, hoping the gesture would calm her.
All around the Japanese style lounge in which the two of them were sitting, other vampires were sitting with their respective feeding partners; a veritable sea of black and brown faces punctured by the glow of scarlet, yellow, black and orange eyes brightened with the euphoria that only drinking from a living human could bring.
The vast space of the lounge was separated into rooms lined with oriental style screen doors all surrounding a single garden-like space, a heated traditional wooden floor covered by various pillows and tatami mats along with traditional bamboo walls added to the ambiance of being in the middle of Tokyo or Yokohama rather than the de-facto Sanguine capital of Alexandria, Virginia.
Taking a moment to compose herself, Nefertiti inhaled a deep breath and then relaxed before speaking.
"I guess you're right and if you're absolutely sure I can feed off you, I will . . . But first, I think we should get a little more comfortable" Nefertiti half-way asked and half-way stated.
Before Sydney could react, she had casually reached for the bottom of the orange and black cashmere sweater which she wore and pulled it off, the sight of her toned slim torso and prominent bust concealed by a white lace push up bra utterly stunning him into silence.
In an instant, she had also slipped out of the blue jeans that she wore and the lace panties between her lithe legs caused him to immediately swallow to avoid blushing.
"What's the matter Syd? Afraid of seeing something you've already seen before?" Nefertiti playfully asked as she cupped her chest.
What little sense of composure that he had went out the window as his mouth dropped open.
He'd long known that Nefertiti was one of the most beautiful vampires in the world even by vampire standards but to see her scantily clad torso in her underwear and the casual disregard she'd have towards stripping in a public place would have stunned him into silence.
Taking his lack of response as an answer, Nefertiti rolled her eyes and smiled.
"Now come on Syd, there are plenty of vampires out here far more attractive than me. Don't act like I'm the most beautiful vampire in the world. Now lean back and try to relax." She said with a smile before she motioned for him to lay back.
Closing his mouth, Sydney felt his heart beginning to race as he did what she had instructed, laying back on the cushions they'd been sitting on. Before he could blink, she had moved like a panther stalking its prey, moving to a position where she hovered directly over him, her open hands just besides his face perching her up.
"Yeah I call bullshit, Nefertiti, you may think that's the case but to me and just about every other being with a pulse, you're eas-" Sydney began to say only to stop as Nefertiti held a finger to her lips.
"Shhhhh . . . Right now, I'm thirsty and you're looking fucking delicious." She said in a voice that dropped from the natural low soprano range which she spoke into a bare raspy whisper reminiscent of a hiss.
The change in her voice was jarring but as he gazed into her eyes, he saw the color changing to a brilliant crimson red.
At the same time, her lips curled back, revealing sharpened canine incisors on her upper jaws that, before his very eyes, extended into near 1/2 inch long fangs.
As they extended, he also saw them drip a black substance that didn't resemble saliva; something that he knew to be the neurotoxic venom that vampires naturally produced to sedate their prey.
He swallowed the urge that he suddenly had to run or get up as somehow, even though she looked and sounded like a predator and had him pinned down nonetheless, a part of him felt safe and reassured.
It was as if he knew that she would never intentionally hurt him.
Nefertiti placed her hand on his face before she then leaned down, softly rubbing her cheek against his before turning his head so that he was now facing the opposite direction.
"Are you ready?" She asked.
"I am Nef. Drink until you are satisfied, my friend." He answered.
Nefertiti leaned into him and he felt goosebumps rise over his skin.
Her soft lips pressed against the groove of his neck in the spot just beneath his left ear and the sound of her inhaling his scent caused him to close his eyes with anticipation.
"This is gonna hurt for just a moment but I promise it'll feel wonderful afterwards"
The whisper of her now purring contralto voice was the last thing he heard before he felt wetness along his skin as her tongue licked a trail along him, leaving saliva that quickly became a soothing numbness like a shot of numbing gel.
As he inhaled, two sudden sharp stabs of white-hot pain caused him to let out a loud pain-filled gasp.
His heart rate suddenly skyrocketed, and adrenaline shot through him as panic momentarily erupted in his mind.
However, Sydney forced himself to take a deep breath and relax, rather than allow the panic to consume him.
At the same time, Nefertiti let out a long slow moan as she began to drink in his essence; her senses immediately set alight as the liquid that flowed within her lifelong friend's body was a thousand times better than she expected.
It called to her like a fire alarm called to a firefighter.
Her predatory instinct took over and she instead bit down harder, releasing potent venom from her fangs into his bloodstream.
Like all vampires with their enhanced senses being more than a thousand times greater than an ordinary human's, Nefertiti was able to distinguish a distinct taste from every person whom she had fed from.
In Sydney's case, she noticed his blood to have a floral almost aromatic sweet vanilla taste combined with spicy smooth undertone like that of cinnamon.
That in turn was combined with a wonderful almost milk caramel flavor.
The resulting multi-layered taste that Nefertiti found herself utterly lost in was only comparable to that of a cinnamon roll topped with a spiced caramelized sugar topping.
As she unintentionally bit down even harder, the scream that Sydney would have let out died on his vocal cords as after a few short seconds of agony, the effect of Nefertiti's venom became apparent; the pain from her now much stronger bite was sharp and immense but slowly, it proceeded to melt into a dull ache laced with a soothing relaxing warmth.
After several more seconds, the pain faded away completely and all he could feel was Nefertiti's mouth on his skin, the sound of her moaning passing through her mouth and into him directly, causing goosebumps to raise over his skin.
Relaxing into her, he felt his eyes slowly open as a subtle wave of calming bliss began to settle through his entire body.
The lights around the room appeared to get dimmer but then grow brighter again whilst the sounds of the other vampires and their feeding mates seemed to fade away.
The only thing he could now hear was the sound of his own heart beating and, for the first time in his life, the sound of Nefertiti's heart nearly in sync with his.
Beneath him, the cushions he was laying on began to feel as though they were soft white clouds floating miles in the sky.
His body felt weightless whilst at the same time, the warmth like that of being submerged in a perfectly hot bath fell over his insides from her steadily drinking of him.
The seconds were becoming longer as if time itself was slowing and the alertness he felt began to quickly give way to a pressure that flooded through his limbs, like they were going to sleep but without the uncomfortable sensation he knew accompanied that process.
His eyes were starting to feel heavy, and he noticed that his conscious alert state was slipping away.
