Embracing the Night

Chapter 6

 

Smooth, cool hands caressed his overheated flesh. Rhythmic strokes pulling and coaxing low moans from his parched throat. What little blood was left in his body pooled in his groin as a warm wetness engulfed his aching need. Firm hands gripped his hips as he bucked and arched trying to embed himself in that luscious warmth. Steel fingers buried themselves in his taut flesh, wrenching a shaky cry from his soul and a white explosion from his loins, his body convulsing from the aftershocks. His skin cooled considerably and he shuddered from the cold. The hands brushed dampened hair from his forehead and he stuck his tongue out trying to lick them with gratitude. But they withdrew and warm sheets and a blanket were pulled up over his shivering, nude form, a chaste kiss planted on his forehead.

 

Warm cotton sheets and honeysuckle coaxed his eyes open. Candlelight soft in the darkened room. He squinted and rubbed his eyes to clear them.

Where was he?

Blinking, he rolled over onto his back and propped himself up on his elbows. A large, wooden four-poster bed cradled him in its embrace, the ornate carvings chiseled into its wooden flesh dancing in the flickering candlelight. The fluffed down comforter caressed his body, teasing his naked skin into tingling goosebumps. He tugged it back up under his chin.

The rest of the room lay in shadow. The gentle candlelight only reaching so far into the gloom. He could make out a few pieces of the larger furniture, but nothing was readily discernible to his weary eyes.

"You're awake now."

Startled, Kiol clutched at the sheets. "Who… Who's there? Who are you?"

He watched with wide eyes as a figure detached itself from the darkness and softly glided over to the bed. It didn't make a sound as it approached.

"I am Alexandre Etienne du Maurier." The pale figure stepped into the candlelight. "You may call me Alexander."

Kiol sucked in a heart-shuddering gasp.

A vision with silken, golden hair that tumbled below a thin waist stood before him. Golden eyes glittered with the faint glow of the candles. Pale skin shimmered with the figure's movement as it sank onto the bed and a graceful hand reached to brush ebon strands of night from an overheated brow. "Did you sleep well?"

Dumbfounded and captured by those golden eyes, Kiol nodded.

"Good," the man stated as he raised one of Kiol's hands to his lips and kissed it lightly. "I had hoped that I might be able to relax you enough so you'd sleep soundly. You needed it after your turmoil last evening."

Turmoil? Kiol's brow wrinkled. He seemed to remember something. Pain. Blood. Betrayal. Scratch. His eyes widened. He had been stabbed. Angry red blood seeping from a gaping hole in his abdomen. Running. Frightened. Then darkness.

"You remember?" the silken voice chimed.

"Yes. But I- I don't remember you. Who- who are you?"

Long, elegant fingers danced across Kiol's bare chest and he flinched. When had he dropped the covers? He hastily snatched them up again. He could still feel the ghosting of the touch.

"I found you and brought you here. I am your salvation, Kiol. Your savior."

Those words caused Kiol's fluttering heart to pound, the blood roaring in his ears.

But it wasn't his blood he could hear. It was the man's blood. He could hear the life-giving substance flowing through arteries and veins. Could feel the warming liquid as it coursed. His eyes were glued on the pulsing heartbeat at the throat.

"You called to me, Kiol, and I answered. Come to me now. Come taste what I have to offer."

A pleasant warmth encased Kiol's limbs and threatened to drown him with sleep, but his desire - no, need - for that pulsing, burgundy liquid heating those pale, porcelain limbs pried him awake.

A ruby red nail slit an inch size cut into alabaster skin just above the throbbing pulse. As the blood pooled and began to drip, Kiol forgot about his state of undress and the impropriety of the situation, fighting his way free of the comforter. He pressed his lips to the cut and began to suckle like a newborn babe.

"Yes, dear one. Drink. Drink and I shall not only be your savior, but also your master. And you will be mine."