Raven Wals

Chapter 13: Raven

No one, neither vampire nor human, said much as they escorted Lillith back to her private home, an old Southern plantation secluded by the long arms of willow trees in marshy country outside of the city.

Constantine kept Abigail company as Raven saw the distraught vampire mistress to her private quarters. Her grounds were protected by dedicated servants, all strong men who hovered somewhere between mortal and immortal.

Not that it mattered. The Creature seemed not to care what type of life it took to get what it wanted, and though nobody spoke the words everyone already knew the next person on its agenda to exterminate.

That was why, though she begged him through tears she'd long forgotten how to cry, Raven told Lillith that it would be best if he go.

He'd seriously begun to think that was the solution for everything – to leave them all and draw the Creature away from them.

As Raven caressed Lillith's soft ivory features as she drifted off to sleep, that idea had more and more merit.

He nodded to the strong, muscular man with long blond hair who stood watch by her chamber door and then made his way to the parlor where Constantine and Abi waited.

"She's asleep," he told them. "Let's go."

They followed him without question, something neither of them thought they would do. But the game had decidedly changed. None present could erase the visual of a young man torn asunder on a blood soaked mattress.

It was as if the Creature was letting them know they were no more human than it was.

Abi still felt its claws upon her skin, its hot breath against her face. Had she been barely spared the same fate as Henri?

She shuddered in spite of herself, something both vampires took notice. Constantine and Raven shared a knowing look. Though certainly not their first natural instinct, both felt the sudden need to protect her.

But as she looked into Raven's eyes, he knew that a simple goodbye would not suffice any more than well reasoned logic why she should stay far away from him and from the covens to which she'd become familiar. Her draw to him and to his very lifestyle – such that it was – was entirely too strong. He had not turned her, but she was as much a night walker as any of them. It was in her spirit, if not yet in her blood.

This was his one last chance to set her free, to appeal to that side of her that was human. He couldn't afford to blow it.

As they reached her block he hung back, wanting to make their split as public as possible.

If the Creature was watching him and scoping out his companions for prey – something he had begun to suspect from the eerie sensations he felt within the limits of the city, Raven was ready to put on the act of his life.

As expected, Abi realized he no longer followed and turned to face him. "Raven?"

Constantine also turned, and recognized the look on Raven's face immediately. This was not going to be pretty, and he suddenly didn't want to be a party to any of it.

Yet somehow he knew he had to – if Raven was going to crush Abi's heart he suddenly felt the need to pick up the pieces.

It was the least he could do after introducing her to this life in the first place.

Such compassion was a foreign thing to him – and part of him immediately wanted to run far, far away.

Yet he stayed rooted to the spot anyway.

Raven still hadn't answered her or closed the distance between them, so Abi took it upon herself to do so. She was quite shaken up, and all she wanted to do was go back to her marigold room and have Raven hold her once more. As crazy as it sounded, it was the only time she felt safe. "What's wrong?" she finally asked.

He walked casually toward her, the hard look on his face unwavering. "It occurs to me that all of this unpleasantness began around the time you started coming to the coven," he announced. "And now I think I know why."

He advanced on her until he was merely a breath away. "It's because of you."

Her eyes widened. "What are you talking about?"

He laughed. "You with your human desire and your petty little sexual games. You are a disease that is turning us all into monsters. A poison, that ultimately ends in our death. You think your coming to the coven was a coincidence? That you simply wanted 'research'?" He sneered down his nose at her. "You are inferior in every way. Therefore you must destroy us for your own pathetic survival."

She fought the tears. Why was he being so cruel after he had held her so tenderly? "Raven..."

"Don't waste your tears on me," he warned. "I'm not human. I do not care."

She squared her chin. "I don't believe that."

"No?" he asked as he pulled her to him roughly. His eyes darkened to near black as his mouth crushed down on hers in an angry, possessive kiss. Just as she started to succumb to his raw passion, she felt the skin of is lips erode away to paper, and his teeth elongated to a skeletal state while his bony fingers dug into her soft, supple skin. Abi gasped as she attempted to pull away, but he held her in a vice grip.

"You see what you make me?" he growled through hundreds of years old skin stretched across long dead bones of his face. "I'm a monster! Do you really want to fuck a monster?"

The remains of his mouth descended towards hers again but she wrenched away. Constantine watched helplessly from the sidelines. As much as he glorified in the god-like power of turning humans into immortals, he never felt the need to show the uglier, scarier side of his nature to a helpless human. He wanted their adoration, not their fear.... even when he fed.

And Raven was horrifying, even to him.

"How close do you want to come to death, Abigail?" Raven demanded as he advanced on her, fangs bared, and she dropped to her knees with a cry, covering her neck with both hands.

He knelt down to her, his long dark hair now stark white, the paper thin skin translucent against the old, yellowed bones – nothing remained of the Raven she desired. Instead he was not far different from the Creature from the coven. And Abi was truly terrified.

"You come back to that club or to me, and I'll assume death is what you want," he warned her, as his claw like hands scraped against her tender flesh drawing blood. His long, snake like tongue slithered over his abnormally long fingernail and his eyes darkened with orgasmic glee at the taste of her blood.

Constantine finally made his move. Now that Raven had given himself over to his darker side, instinct might force him to go through with what Constantine had suspected a hollow threat. Raven merely mocked his uncharacteristically heroic attempt.

"Sloppy seconds, Constantine?" he laughed. "Hardly your style. Especially since you wanted to turn her more than anyone else." Raven reached out and touched Constantine's face, and it turned almost to ash where he touched. Angry, Constantine knocked his hand away. Of all the things Abigail didn't need, it was two monsters to deal with.

Raven glared at Constantine. "It appears you've chosen your side."

"As you have chosen yours," Constantine told him, taking note that Raven had not yet morphed back into his human form.

"Enjoy her," Raven sneered. "I found her a bit banal for my taste."

"Fuck you!" Abi screamed from behind Constantine's protective arm.

Raven gave her a pointed stare. "Never."

With that he flew up into the night like a shot, and disappeared from their sight.

Only when he had gone did Abi collapse to her knees in frustrated, angry tears. Constantine bent to console her but she pushed him away. "Don't pretend you're not like him," she hissed.

He couldn't necessarily argue. But he didn't move away either. "Come on. Let's get you inside. It's too dangerous out here."

She gave him a glare fit to kill. Where had he been five minutes ago?

He said nothing as he offered his hand. She hesitated only momentarily before she accepted is help and stood to her feet.

He took her into his arms and flew up to her second story balcony, into the same room he had interrupted them before.

Just one look at the mussed sheets was enough to make her heart sink to her feet as tears ran freely down her cheeks. When, exactly, had she fallen in love with Raven Crowe?

Raven had to wonder much the same thing as he sailed through the night back to the coven, in as much pain as Abigail. It wrenched him apart to see the look of pure terror in her face as she saw him for what he truly was.

And that was the crux of it, wasn't it? How could she love him any more than he could love anyone else? As much as he had exaggerated it for effect, the fact was he was truly a monster.

When he landed at Sebastian's club he hadn't bothered to transform – and was pleased to see people run from him as she entered the sparsely filled club. Only the die-hard vampire fans had the stomach to visit the club after Sonja's murder, but even those silly humans didn't have the stomach to face the monsters all vampires were just one sunrise away from being.

Raven saw Ginger tending bar, her back to him, he advanced purposely. He figured he'd kill two birds with one stone, figuratively speaking. And when she jumped as she turned to face him, he had to admit he found her fear rewarding.

The problem was, it was far too brief.

"Interesting look," she said as she fetched his bottle of water. "I think I prefer the 80s hair metal band motif, though."

She watched as his skin slowly filled out with muscle and fat, and his white hair darken from the root. His glassy eyes lightened as his pupils went down to their normal size.

"Not the usual response from a human," he murmured as he touched the bottle of water to his now full lips. "Been around vampires before?"

"You could say that," she offered noncommittally.

"Then you should tell your sister to stay far away from us."

She laughed. "You tell my sister that." Then she looked at the ravaged look on his face. "Let me guess. You already did."

He took another sip. "More than that."

She nodded. That explained the creep fest appearance from before. She wondered how long it would work on someone as head strong – and self destructive – as her sister. Ginger leaned against the bar. "So where is she now?"

Raven's eyes met hers. From the jealous depth of those dark brown eyes, Ginger knew that not only was Abi with another man – but she was with another vampire.

It wasn't over.

"Here," she said as she handed him a second bottle of water. "Have a double."

Across town Constantine stood in the balcony doorway and watched as Abi straightened the sheets. Then, in a fit of frustration, she tore them right off the bed and into a heap on the floor with a choked cry.

He walked over to where she stood, her shoulders shaking from the force of her sobs. Silently he took both of her shoulders in his hands. She turned around on him with a swing. "Get the fuck away from me!" she screamed as she wailed on him. All she could see was the face of the Creature and Raven's skeletal face morphed into one. She knew just under the surface, Constantine was like that too – and the last thing she wanted to feel were more claws against her body, an old body forcing its way into hers.

Or was it, something deep inside her whispered in her ear. It only made her madder, and punch Constantine even more... to punish someone for her lascivious thoughts.

He took her blows. As tall and broad as he was, her tiny fists flailed against him like mosquitoes. He allowed her to exhaust herself until she collapsed against him in uncontrollable sobs that wracked her entire body.

He kissed the top of her head as he rubbed her arms with both of his large, warm hands. Her fingers pressed against his strong chest, tickled by some of the course, sparse hair that grew there. With hiccuping breaths she glanced up into his warm, dark eyes – so similar to Raven's before...

She shook her head to rid herself the image of what Raven had revealed himself to be. Instead she looked back into Constantine's intense brown eyed stare. His hands slid up her arms to either side of her neck as he bent to kiss her.

His full mouth covered hers, warm and moist, and his tongue probed gently between her lips. She melted against him. After the night she'd had, his tenderness was just what she needed. She didn't want to think about Henri or Lillith, the Creature or Raven or the very fact that Constantine was no different than any of them. She didn't want to think, period.

She wanted to feel.

She ran her fingers over his hard, warm flesh. So decidedly male underneath her feminine touch. He groaned slightly as his head bent back, and his long brown hair reached down his back in gentle waves. She opened each button of his white shirt, revealing his cool skin taunt under her fingers. His eyes locked with hers as she pushed his shirt from his shoulders.

"Abi," he started but she silenced him with a kiss. She didn't want to hear any more admonishments about sleeping with vampires. She just wanted to feel this man in her arms in her bed and in her body. She didn't want to think about death – she wanted to enjoy life by fucking this hot guy's brains out.

She could tell by his hardness pressing against her he would be open to the possibility.

Her tongue drove into his mouth as she pushed him toward the bare bed. He needed no further encouragement as he lifted her up effortlessly into his arms and deposited her onto the mattress. His hair fell over his shoulders and she felt herself disappear into his eyes as he followed her down onto the bed.

She planted kisses along his bare chest as he pulled her shirt up to cup her full breasts through her lacy bra. His tongue trailed along her lips and across her neck up toward her ear while each thumb circled each of her hardening nipples. She ground against him as her fingernails trailed up his back and into the skin of his shoulders as his mouth lowered to dance across her full chest. She tossed her shirt away impatiently and guided him down to each breast.

Deftly he unhooked her bra and slipped it from her shoulders, then tossed it across the room. He pulled her into his arms, bare chest to bare chest, soft to hard, cool to warm. His eyes nearly swallowed her whole as he stared into her face while easing down her pants.

She groaned as cupped his hard erection through his pants. He responded by kissing his way down her body, across her quivering stomach and lower between her legs. When his mouth found its target she gasped and grabbed a handful of his hair.

His tongue teased her gentle but firm and fast and within minutes she was bucking against his masterful mouth. He took her from orgasm to orgasm with nothing more than his mouth, his breath and his tongue – and once he took her over the edge he kept her dangled there until she thought she might pass out from sheer, pure pleasure.

It was more than she could stand, and though she wanted to beg him to finally fuck her she was incapable of speech. He himself had to pull away because he could feel his fangs begin to protrude and he didn't think she wanted any reminder he was a vampire. So lifted her up and turned her around onto her knees.

She grabbed hold of the headboard as he slid his pants down from his hips and brushed his stiff cock against the curve of her ass. "Yes," she finally managed, and Constantine's eyes glowed amber as his long fangs pressed into his cheeks as he obliged her.

His thick dick slid easily inside of her slippery pussy, still quivering from the massive, multiple orgasms his mouth had wrought. She sucked him in, tight inside of her – a place that he couldn't ignore Raven had never been. And here he was fucking her, making her scream, making her his own.

There was only one thing left to do.

He stared down at her naked body underneath him, and almost through her skin he could see the veins pump precious blood in a rhythm that thundered in his ears like a drumline.

He fucked her harder, lost in a blood red haze of desire, wanting to taste her – truly taste her – as he rode her to his explosive orgasm. He could brand her, he thought, and she'd truly be his.

He bent down over her, his breath hot against her neck. He drank her essence in through his nostrils, feeling her explode around him in another massive climax as she screamed out into the night. Then, though she never thought she'd do so, she was begging him to suck her blood. She knew that it would take her over the edge in a way that she'd never experienced before.

This was the raw lust of it – to have him be close enough to kill her in the moment she felt his truest, most primal desire. To have the ultimate life and the ultimate death in the very same exquisite moment. She wanted to feel his sharp teeth pierce her soft skin the way his dick impaled her tight pussy. "Do it!" she demanded – though she might not have if she could see the look on his face.

His fangs grew long and sharp from his mouth and his eyes glowed as he pinpointed the spot on her neck where he could taste her blood. Everything that had made her desire him was now secondary to the very monster Raven tried to warn her against.

His tongue snaked out to circle the flesh of her neck, and it sent her over the edge yet again until she was writhing against him in another mind bending orgasm.

But he knew if she was going to give herself to him, truly, he wanted her to know exactly what she was getting into.

So he flipped her around until he was holding her up in his arms against the headboard. She finally saw him for what he really was and she screamed again – this time from fear.

But it was too late to stop – Constantine continued to ride her, harder and deeper with each and every scream. And despite herself she felt herself cum again, her eyes transfixed on his fangs as he leaned closer toward her neck. He grunted as he fucked her, his glowing eyes nearly rolling back into his head.

When she stared into those amber eyes she finally quit screaming from fear. Suddenly she felt none. All she felt was the overwhelming desire to have him claim her completely. His fangs no longer scared her, instead she felt her pussy respond to how it would feel if those same teeth sank into her virgin skin.

Slowly but deliberately she bared her neck.

With a growl he dove in. A hundred years ago he'd tear into her flesh and drink from her until she was limp and dead in his arms.

But today it made him harder and more excited to lick the area until she begged for his teeth the way she begged for his cock. His breath warmed her skin but his teeth merely grazed over her until she thought she might die from the anticipation. "Do it," she whimpered finally, limp from her many orgasms.

"Say my name," he demanded softly against her skin.

"Constantine," she managed, and her soft voice sent a chill through his entire body. His eyes rolled back into his head as his teeth pierced her sweet smelling skin and dove into the soft rivers of red ecstasy that pumped through her veins.

She cried out with the initial pain of his penetration; a virgin in the truest sense. But soon his sucking against her neck, feeling her blood flow into his mouth, sent her off into outer space with the most pure pleasure she'd ever experienced.

With a final thrust Constantine alternately filled her and emptied her. She lay under him, barely conscious when he drug his mouth away from her neck.

She glanced up at him with sleepy eyes as he laid her down onto the bed. "Am I going to die?"

He shook his head, his fangs now sated and retracted, his eyes back to the deep, gentle brown. "Not tonight," he assured her, but with a fair warning that might not be the case in the future.

It was his nature after all.

She nodded and accepted the covers he retrieved from the floor and slid over her body, each nerve ending electric and aware. As close as she'd come to death, she'd never felt more alive. Though she never knew it, this is exactly what she had been searching for.