Love Bites

Enjoy installment three of 'Love Bites'! They will get longer as they go on. I had a word limit when they were originally released. <3

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NosferHOT... Two?!

With his long hair tousled and wild, 140ish-year old vampire Raul Madera woke up at six PM and grinned.

Tonight would truly be a beautiful night.

Bounding out of bed, feeling as buoyant as a child, he snagged his phone and made two calls. The first, to his (mortal) girlfriend of a month, Bethany. The two of them would be seen in the immortal public eye that evening, and to 'come out' with a human lover meant, typically, that human would be brought into 'society'. A fact that Raul had

thoroughly

apprised her of.

"Hey," her breathless response came after just a couple of rings, and it made him giddy every single time.

"Evening, cara mia," the man purred into the mic. "I'll be at your apartment in an hour. Are you excited?"

"Yes," she answered, "but I'm also nervous. They're really not gonna... want to eat me? I won't be some kind of forbidden interloper?" Raul had to laugh.

"Many of them may want to eat you, hermosa, but they'll ask first. And as I said- if you're coming to this event with me, there's an understanding in place."

"Yup, I recall," she said dryly. "I'll be your bride of the damned one day." Unable to staunch her mirth, Bethany began to giggle, and Raul sniggered in turn.

"Something like that," he teased. "That's why I wanted to bring you to tonight's soirée." A few weeks ago, Raul had accompanied Bethany to her sister's wedding. Tonight, it was a vampiric bonding they would attend, and all the 'festivities' therein... It was going to be a damn good time.

"So what kind of a dress code are we talking here? Black-tie formal? Cocktail attire?"

Plucking the invite from his desk as he sauntered toward his bathroom, Raul read it over quickly. "Ah- should be up your alley. It says the vibe is 'Victorian evening dress'."

"Ha

ha

! It finally pays off!" She crowed triumphantly. "I have

just

the thing!"

"I can't wait to see it," he replied, amused. "I have to shower, love. I'll see you soon."

"See you in an hour," Bethany cooed, and the call ended. Raul stripped, and before starting his shower, rang up one more contact.

"Raul!" The husky, playful male voice on the other end of the line greeted him. "An actual phone call? So formal, corillo."

"It's becoming a force of habit, I think," Raul told his best friend of the last century (and then some). "I've been so excited I feel like I did when we were boys."

"So you've picked up mortal behaviors?" Roberto Vasquez tutted him sarcastically. "Why go through the extra motions of using a

cell phone

when our minds are bridged already?"

Should I hang up the phone?

Raul joked in his friend's mind, seeing the man distinctly as their souls spoke. The two had been friends since they were young teens on their island homeland. They'd joined the military together. They'd been turned together, by the same man, and had chosen to bond themselves as well. Each bore a blood-tattoo of the other's sanguine essence, and it was the permanent conduit for their mental link.

"No," Roberto chuckled over the phone. "I saw you're standing naked in your bathroom, so this seems like the more private communication." Raul laughed.

"Getting ready for the evening. I hope you will enjoy meeting my lady, and I was thinking she might enjoy keeping us company during the party." At that, the vampire heard his friend's voice rise.

"

Ohhh

... So you weren't planning on keeping her all to yourself?"

"Well it depends on what she wants, of course, but I thought this might be a good way to introduce her to the more rambunctious side of immortal life."

"We are a

hungry

lot," Roberto smirked, and Raul could tell that, even over the phone. "All appetite and nothing but time in which to feed."

"A deep dark truth indeed," his best friend and brother lamented. "At least we're ethical in the modern world."

"

Ethical

vampiros?" Roberto snorted. "Never thought we'd see the day."

"It's almost comical, isn't it? So much turmoil has come from the bloodlines we carry, but these days it's

chic

." No one really 'feared' vampires anymore, and nervous mortals who truly 'believed' in them were both scarce and often brushed aside as madmen. Instead they were pop culture darlings, subject to endless movies and books (Raul scoffed at

Twilight

when that had hit the landscape, but the point stood), and dismissed as a myth. It worked out for the best in the end.

The more humans thought them the stuff of fairy tales, the easier they could integrate. As a result, these days the vampire underworld was slicker and more modern than ever.

They'd always been ahead of the times to begin with.

"We're so

romantic

now," his hermano- brother- of many years purred. The men shared a laugh.

"I'll see you soon," Raul bade him, eager to prepare and actually reach the destination.

"Yes, my friend. Until then." They hung up the call, and the slightly older of the two turned to his ablutions. After his shower, he dressed in an old-fashioned men's three-piece suit, complete with bowtie, that he'd actually

had

since the Victorian era. It was a deep burgundy color, specially made, and absolutely looked incredible against his light bronze skin and dark hair. Bethany would love it.

Once turned out and dapper, Raul took himself to the woman's flat and was buzzed in. He found her dressed in a full-skirted black gown, a high open collar around the back of her neck, overbust corset in burgundy to match him, and even petticoats. Not vintage, and the corset was an ahistorical decorative touch, but she looked damn good- good enough to eat. As always.

"Shall we, beauty?" The vampire asked of his date.

"I'm ready," she smiled. They left, Bethany locking up, steady on her bootheels as she twirled back toward Raul, feeling drop-dead-gorgeous. If nothing else, the vamps got her aesthetic and that was a major point in their favor. The couple got into his car and off they went, to one of the most exclusive private clubs in town. Being the local 'haunt' for the night-walkers, to even know about it you had to be a vampire. Or, the guest of one.

Once they arrived, Raul offered his date his arm and gave his name at the door. The bouncer found him in the list and held up the clipboard to show them, which Bethany found strange- until her lover pricked his finger on a small knife and smeared the blood across his own printed name.

The woman couldn't help a gasp as the blood glinted on the page for a second, then seemingly absorbed or evaporated. A crystalized red check mark appeared next to "Madera" instead.

"Whoa," Bethany breathed.

"And your guest?" Said the doorman.

"Give me your finger, hermosa," he said gently. By then used to the odd ways his kind snuck blood-magic into everything, she did. Her name, along with the same check mark, appeared next to his. "Now show him your throat."

Arching an eyebrow, Bethany pulled back her collar. The doorman nodded, satisfied upon seeing the marks of Raul's fangs. They were a free pass into the world of night, apparently, and as the pair walked into the door, the buxom woman got her first peek.

Their world was crimson and sensual, a feast for the senses...

"

Wow

." Raul had to smile while Bethany took in the décor. The place was called

Carmilla's Boudoir

- perhaps a little on-the-nose, but the average American did not remember the 1872 novella by Sheridan Le Fanu (preceding the more-famous

Dracula

). Most of the time, the place was merely a specialty bar and club space, with dancing and drinks just like the place they'd met. Weekly they hosted theme nights, and it was also available to rent.

Tonight, the large "event space" had been turned into a sumptuous den of hedonism. Bondings were special to the community, and Raul was good friends with the couple celebrating, so lucky enough to be invited. Once they passed the bar area into the main room, the pair could see there were numerous large, soft lounging 'beds' of a sort set up instead of typical tables, though small, low side-tables for drinks were in play. Around the room, walls dripped with flowers and decorations. The dance floor was followed by a modest stage, hung with crimson curtains. It too would yield a 'bed' of some kind, though the truth was hidden by the velvet fabric.

"I thought you said this was like a wedding," Bethany remarked, catching her date's attention. Raul smirked.

"Oh, it is," he said amusedly, "of a sort. But like everything else, my sweet, vampires do things very differently than humans." They proceeded deeper in, and began to greet some of the guests who had already arrived. Only about a dozen so far- most of whom Raul knew- but they had staked out their spots among the inviting nests. The immortal spotted the one he wanted and steered his date toward it.

As Bethany looked over these odd piles of soft blankets, pillows, cushions and perhaps mattresses, a shiver went up her spine. Each one of these were meant for reclining, and distinctly resembled the illusion Raul had created for her in the gazebo at her sister's wedding. Logically, she realized, the guests would be watching this bonding thing with the possibility of

sex

, right there out in the open alongside everyone else.

The woman's face went redder than the drapes cloaking the stage.

"This is an orgy, isn't it?" She ultimately deadpanned, her body heating up with her cheeks. Raul laughed, high and clear.

"Si, hermosa," he copped playfully. "My kind are ravenous in all appetites, and frequently mix sex with celebration and feasting. Now, of course, we do not have to participate. After the bonding is completed, if you wish to leave, or simply repair to a private room, we can do that. As with everything else I would never force you into anything you are not comfortable with. Still... This is my world." He swept his hand across the room.

He'd told Bethany that attending this event with him would expose her to the "culture" of the underworld- that it was intensely passionate and erotic, and she'd thought

Of course!

So was the literature. So were the films!

Unearthly faces met them from every corner, and as Bethany was introduced to Raul's friends, her mind whirred. She answered politely if a little shyly when called for, and everyone was nice enough. The lovely goth mortal just had to figure out if this was something she wanted, and what the experience might be like. Sex in front of strangers? An

orgy

? Would that mean having sex with someone besides Raul, or were couplings of all kinds just kind of fair game, no pressure? Would she enjoy the voyeurism? What about the exhibitionism? It was all so...

kinky

, and Bethany had never thought of herself as anything less than that before.

Behind the contemplative mortal, Raul spied the entrance of the person he most wished to see.

"Roberto!" He called gaily. "Over here, corillo!" The bond between the two men flared to life with excitement, and they were quickly joined in a hug. "This is Bethany," Raul continued. "Hermosa, this is my dearest friend, Roberto Vasquez. We were boys together many many years ago."

Roberto smiled as he shook Bethany's hand, and she took in the differences between them. Where Raul was sleek, taller, and prettier, with his hair long and flowing, his friend was stockier, lacking a few of Raul's inches in height, hair cut shorter but slicked fashionably back. Their suits matched well. Roberto was also apparently a fan of piercings, bearing multiple gleaming metal adornments in his ears and his eyebrows. The two men shared a shade of bronze skin and gleaming ebony hair, but their facial features were built differently. Brothers by choice and circumstance instead of parentage.

"A pleasure, miss Bethany." She saw a mischievous twinkle in this new vampire's eyes as he kissed her hand, an old-world custom the human was getting quite used to. "Raul's spoken so much about you."

"He's told me some things about you as well," she replied cordially. "I found the story of your tattoos so

beautiful

."

The men each grazed the marks upon their wrists. Each bore a flower on their inner right wrist- a hibiscus, which they called flor de maga. They were dark crimson, and appeared crystallized because the only way to permanently tattoo a vampire was to use bespelled blood mixed with ink, otherwise they'd heal the needle-wounds and lose the image.

"Our brotherhood is eternal," Roberto said, nodding. "I'm glad you're so comfortable already with the eccentricities of our demonic lifestyle." His irreverent tone made Bethany laugh, and the group began to chat, learning a little bit about each other. They carried on for a few minutes until Raul ultimately wrapped an arm around his friend and grinned cheekily at his date.

"I am so happy you've have had a chance to meet," Raul began, breaking the ice of the moment. "Roberto knows how long I have hoped to find a verdadera ama, Bethany. He's bound to me, and because of that..." He drew a breath, his date waiting tensely, eyes round. "Because we are brothers in blood and years, hermosa, it would be an honor if you consider indulging us both tonight."

His smoky purr made her shiver. Her head whipped back and forth between her hot vampire boyfriend and his hot vampire best friend. Bethany felt her jaw drop open. Something low in her belly ignited furiously. "

Both

? Both. Of you." She paused and took a

deep

breath. "Indulge... how, exactly?" The woman squirmed in place, not unpleasantly. Dark-headed men traded a look.

"However you like," Raul fielded. "Of course I wanted you to meet my best friend of a century, at least, but we've shared many things, cara mia. Years, strife, blood, women." As he spoke, flashes of these truths played in her mind. All things she'd seen of his life.

"

Oh-ho

, my," she breathed, once again examining both men. Dressed in matching vintage suits, Raul's burgundy and Roberto's dusky purple, they were both handsome as sin. "Okay, so. I know we didn't really say we were exclusive-" she said, pointing between herself and her lover. "But I have to be honest, I'm a little surprised. I had no idea vampires were so... open." And daring, the thought popped up. There came another chuckle in her mind.

"Let us say that- historically speaking- our species has never been shy, and never really gave up some of the famous excesses of the Romans," Roberto dryly quipped.

"Monogamy is unusual for us, hermosa," Raul added. "It would delight us both if you chose to let us share you, body and blood, tonight. In turn, we'll make this evening incredibly pleasurable for you, too." He winked, and Bethany found herself nodding.

After dating Raul for a month, Bethany had experienced a lot of toe-curling, mind-blowing sex- and damn, but she wasn't satisfied yet. The world around her was proving weirder and weirder every day, and wasn't that what she wanted? Something beyond mundanity? Bethany looked into her mind, body, and heart and searched for objections, doubts, or fears. She came up with nothing serious; nothing beyond normal nerves! So finally:

"I really don't doubt it," she answered him only a little sardonically. "In fact, I would think you just might show me a wild time I'd never forget."

"That we would," the men said together.

Bethany took a

deeeeeeeep

breath, relaxing herself. She could do this... negotiate a threesome. With two incredibly attractive vampires. No big deal.

"Then... both of you can stay with me, and just... show me what it would be like. Seduce me." Feeling bold, she took Raul's hand, followed by Roberto's. "I took your blood, Raul, and saw your whole life. So much of it I couldn't hold onto, but I saw Roberto in your memories, and I remember how much you love each other. The women you shared... I couldn't see into

their

heads, because they were phantoms in your mind, but

fuck

." A husky note was in her voice. "It sure looked like they were in

ecstasy

." She could have that. She could live every minute of her life, mortal or immortal, experiencing her wildest dreams.

The alt babe wouldn't dare claim she hadn't heated at the mere idea of finding herself in an orgy. Looking around, numerous people were gathered and dressed to the Victorian nines, and they were comprised of all colors, shapes, and sizes. The only true unifying factor was the couture, and that most of them were vampires.

Soon, they'd shed their clothes and begin to writhe in rapturous harmony with no shame, no reservations, and that thought catapulted Bethany to true arousal.

"Do you scent her blood rushing, hermano?" Raul nudged his friend. "She

yearns

for a taste of the taboo and forbidden."

"It will be our honor and pleasure to gift her that taste," the other replied. "Welcome to the night, Bethany."

"If I can date a vampire, I can do anything," she snarked, and they took her between them. Raul had her drop her purse and their coats into their chosen love-nest before wandering the room.

For twenty or so minutes, the two hunks introduced her to their friends. There were several Ancients (as they called the very eldest vampires) in attendance, and Bethany was told that the bonding this evening was to be done by a woman born and turned in Greece, well before even the founding of

Rome

! That interesting tidbit dazzled the human woman's mind. Most of the other vamps were younger, comparatively- about Raul and Roberto's age, or younger by a few decades.

A scant handful of guests were mortals in relationships with vampires like Bethany was, and they were proud to show off their fang-marks and gush about the thrill of dating a 'drinker'. All of them were enamored, and after a few minutes' conversation, it became apparent that you had to be a bold person to even fathom letting your lover drink your blood. Sitting there, it was almost as though Bethany was learning how bold she was for the first time.

The lights dimmed, and everyone gleefully hurried to their nests. Candles flared to life around the room, as if by magic, and the two men at her sides helped remove her corset so she could lie more comfortably. They settled.

The curtains began to draw back on the stage. A large, raised bed was indeed waiting there.

Raul, Bethany, and Roberto cuddled together, one man on each side of the human woman's generous figure, still clothed but beginning to touch. The draperies onstage pulled fully back to hearty applause, revealing a stunning figure garbed in silver and blue, the style Grecian. Bethany's breath caught. The woman had incredibly light skin and her hair was stark white. It cascaded to her hips and glittered with stones, making her look bedewed. She was a rare jewel- albino, Greek, and vampire.

"That is Selene, once a temple priestess to Artemis, the maiden goddess of the hunt," Raul's velvety voice whispered into Bethany's ear. "She's one of the oldest vampires still living." His hand slid up her thigh and teased her through the gown she wore.

"Tonight she turns her lover Viv," Roberto added, playing with the lace on Bethany's neckline. The three of them were supported by cushions, the bedding big enough to cradle them all. "She takes only women, and has brought many mortals into the fold in her years."

"She's so lovely," the sweet woman breathed. "Like the moon herself." Instinctively, Bethany's hands found each of the men, holding their shirts. They pressed tighter and laid hands on her body, watching as the ethereal Selene raised her hands to draw all eyes.

"Welcome, friends-" Her voice was rich and sensuous, accented with the Mediterranean. "Mortal and immortal, young and old alike. I am pleased to be able to share this blessed event with all of you, and am proud to bring the wonderful Vivian LaFleur into my bloodline." With a dramatic flourish, she held her right palm upward, indicating stage left. A train of women, all dressed on theme and breathtaking, threw petals as they danced with and led another woman onto the stage. She was wearing cream colors, almost akin to a wedding gown, albeit an old-fashioned one. The audience applauded, and the blushing figure waved nervously.