Urban Vampire: The bookset 1-3

  ”Let the ceremony begin!” Tony’s voice carried across the large room. He turned to me. “Kim Russell. You may pay homage to the Council.”

  I froze for a moment before Tony’s voice entered my head: ”You must make a small offering of your blood to each of the Council Members. They in turn will make a small offering to you.”

  My brow crinkled in alarm. Did he mention this before?! I did not want to put my mouth on that disgusting craggy man’s neck. And Kaniji?

  “This part is crucial, Kim. This is how the Council will link with you ... and you with them. Come to me first. I will show you.”

  We were already standing next to each other so I turned to Tony. I leaned in to offer my neck but he took my wrist, turning it inward to expose the fine veins there. His teeth dropped, and he pressed his lips to the skin there. I felt the slight nip as more pleasurable then painful.

  ”I am Tony Yates. My command is over the Third Moon house. My Second is Tige Lafayette. As my house guest, as well as my liege ...” He gave a stern look to the crowd. “I offer you my patronage as well as my protection.” A murmur swept through the crowd of onlookers.

  Tony had told me that he had my back before, but announcing it at this initiation held some special significance.

  ”Now say something nice,” Tony said in my head. “Thank you will do.”

  ”Tony,” I said, looking deeply into his eyes. “Thank you.”

  He held out his arm, wrist up. Under much pressure I tried thinking ... food ... food, blood ... drop teeth. But within my mouth were only my normal teeth. Pressure. It was just too much pressure. I began to panic.

  ”Smell the blood beneath my skin ...” Tony’s voice floated in my head.

  This was so embarrassing …

  I placed my lips against his wrist, and the scent of him wrapped around me. I had taken his blood once before, and my body recognized him as food. My teeth lowered sluggishly, but they lowered. Behind me I felt Paul sigh in relief.

  Mimicking Tony’s move, I allowed my teeth to scratch and break his skin lightly. Tony watched me intently as I enclosed the wound with my lips. My tongue briefly lapped at the salty liquid—and I wanted more.

  I felt him brace himself, and that slight move caused me to lower his wrist reluctantly. Tony’s eyes were tinged in gold now. I felt the goose pimples rise on my arms, and to my horror my nipples tightened. In this dress it was as if I was standing there nude.

  Tony swallowed the last traces of my blood. I don’t think there was much blood. I think he was only swallowing.

  I reached behind me and gestured for Paul to follow me. In unison we turned to the Goddess. I offered her my wrist.

  Her lips were pressed tight in disapproval. I had never seen another Vampire feed, but she let me know that I was doing it all wrong by the expression on her face. There was so much happening to me at once, but this was essential—I had to learn to control my teeth and I had to learn to control the bloodlust. Don’t screw the food ... don’t kill the food ...

  Ignoring my offered arm she thrust her wrist at me. Okay, so she wanted me to go first. I took her arm with determination and gently nipped, drawing beads of blood, which I swiped away with my tongue. Yum. She tasted different, delicious, though. I released my hold on her.

  She looked at me with her cold grey eyes. “I am Cyrene Asta. My rule is over the OUO of Hadrians Osunda or sector six as commonly called. My second is Perry Ullman.”

  A muscled bound man standing in the front of the audience took a slight step forward. He was wearing tight leather pants and a silk peasant shirt opened to expose his massive chest. He looked like a Viking or something with his blonde hair and steely eyes like Cyrene’s. He inclined his head slightly in my general direction, not directly meeting my eyes.

  I inclined my head to him.

  Cyrene finished her introduction. “I welcome you to the Council of the Neratomay.”

  I had long since lowered my wrist, but she held it lightly between two fingers. I felt the slightest scratch as she put her lips against my skin. She barely drew any blood, and her tongue barely brushed me. I felt something strange, not just the goose pimples, although she had definitely given me those. I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what it was.

  “Cyrene Asta,” I said. “Thank you.”

  She averted her eyes from mine, but I could see her cheeks were flushed. She looked nice with the added color.

  Paul and I moved to Miss K. D. Lange. Her dark eyes examined my breasts with a lingering thoroughness that left me feeling like taking a shower.

  ”O-kay then,” Paul was thinking.

  K. D. thrust her arm at me. I took her hand and lightly pressed my teeth against her wrist. When blood beaded there I allowed my tongue to swiftly swipe it away. Mmm. Sweet ... very sweet.

  She stared at me with her dark, dark eyes but I would not squirm under her gaze. I expected her to make her introduction and then take blood as Cyrene had done, but she reached out and grasped my arm. She watched me as she raised my wrist to her lips. She flicked out her tongue, one long enough to make Gene Simmons proud, then let it glide along the raw wounds left by Tony and Cyrene.

  It felt fucking creepy, and I couldn’t control the shiver that ran up my spine. Her teeth were already dropped, and she sank them firmly into my wrist.

  I gasped, and Paul leaned forward but I stayed him with my free hand, out of sight of the crowd. Miss K.D. Lange didn’t miss the motion, though, and she eyed Paul over my wrist as she sucked on me firmly. It was so sick the way she kept trying to draw the blood out of the bite, as if she was sucking a thick shake through a straw!

  ”Damnit, what is she trying to do?” Paul thought. “Suck your pussy out of your wrist?”

  I couldn’t help it. A burst of laughter slipped from my lips.

  K. D.’s eyes fell back on me and her face grew dark. She dropped my arm unceremoniously and scowled at me with bloody teeth and lips. She had bitten me hard enough to start the blood flowing so that it trailed into the palm of my hand. It was such a waste of Paul’s blood, and it kinda pissed me off.

  We stared at each other so long that I didn’t think she would ever introduce herself, but she spoke with a slight Russian accent:

  ”I am Keada Borejka. My reign is over the Dynasty of the Kipchaks, and my bloodline runs directly from Peter the Great.” She raised her head proudly. Keada didn’t like being laughed at, apparently. “My second in command is Jo-Jo Seck.” She stared at my breasts again. “I offer you ... succor in your time of transition.”

  ”What the hell does succor mean?” I thought, resisting the urge to cross my arms over my chest.

  ”Aid, support,” Paul thought.

  I think she was offering me more than that.

  A slight man had stepped out of the group, and I took that opportunity to look away from Keada.

  Oh hell! That wasn’t a man. It was a jacked-up female! She looked straight up like a man with flat chest and rippling muscles. She was spray-tanned and blonde with long hair that was completely out of place on her man’s body.

  ”Thank you Keada Borejka,” I said, preferring to look at her rather than Jo-Jo. I walked past her still feeling a creepy shiver down my back.

  Next was Craggy Face. He was smiling at me, but somehow I didn’t think he was offering me a greeting. His smile was more on the leering side. Oh please, let this end ...

  My wrist throbbed after Keada was through, and I didn’t even want to know what the guy in the Hellraiser outfit was going to do to me.

  He politely offered me his arm, wrist turned out. Ugh. I didn’t think he’d washed with soap in a long time. He still had that smirk on his face. These damned council members sure had a lot to learn about hospitality. No matter how unpleasant they were trying to be, I wasn’t allowing them to intimidate me. I was a Council member, too.

  I nipped him sharply and felt him blow out a breath. It took a moment for the blood to bead up, but when it did, I barely tasted it. It could have be
en Cristal and I wouldn’t have enjoyed the taste because he creeped me out so much.

  Now I was confused about the order of things. Did I offer the wrist or wait for the introduction?

  I gave him the wrist. He leaped on it. My eyes about jumped out of my head, and I’m surprised that I didn’t flash myself out the door. Paul put his hand on my waist in response to the movement.

  Craggy Face lapped at the spilled blood on my palm and fingers. I held back a gag. When it came, his bite was uncomfortable but evidently bites from Vampires weren’t the same as bites from animals or humans. To be bitten by a Vampire brought euphoria. I had felt that with each bite, but with this man there was also pain. I think there was pain because he wanted there to be.

  I felt his tongue worm its way into the wound in a vaguely sexual way that made me want to squirm. I didn’t dare pull away, though. He was making grunting noises that reminded me of a rutting animal.

  ”Hang in there ...” Tony thought.

  I felt Paul’s fingertips digging into my hips. I don’t think he knew he was doing it. I didn’t know how much he would be able to take before he blew up.

  ”We get through this, Paul, and you’re going to get a big ... French kiss.” I thought to him. I could feel him turn his attention to me and that was a weird sensation. I didn’t only sense thoughts, but actions, too.

  ”A kiss ... And you’ll need to feed again.”

  ”Stand closer to me. I want to feel you against me.” I felt, more than heard Paul’s gasp.

  He took the half a step that brought him flush against me. I could feel his breathing. I could feel his blood rushing through his veins.

  ”Tonight ...” he was thinking, more to himself than to me.

  Craggy Face knew he no longer had my attention. I gave him an apologetic half smile as if to say, “Oh, I’m sorry. Weren’t you finished yet?”

  Craggy Face looked at me in disgust that his attempts to disturb me had been thwarted. He pushed my wrist away from him. I resisted the urge to rub it.

  ”Frank Kaplan,” he said in a surprisingly normal voice. All-American name, and he sounded as if he was from Jersey! “Nice to meet you. I’m the big boss of Casa del Sensational ... or sector eight.” He gave me a bored look. “My second is the beautiful, sensational, Boom-Boom Goldberg. Welcome to the Council of Bourgeoisie Bullshit Artists.” He bowed low and peeked at my breasts.

  ”Thanks,” I said, and I walked away from him. Thank goodness Paul was at my back, or I think Frank would have pinched my ass. If Miss Boom-Boom Goldberg stepped forward from the crowd, I missed her because next was Kaniji.

  I faced her. This is what I feared. She looked at me for what might have been the first time that night. Her face was calm.

  She held out the stub. How did I know she was going to do that? It was ugly and raw and I truly didn’t want to look at it, touch it, and especially not put my mouth on it. I hid a grimace and gripped her elbow to bring what was left of her wrist to me. But she was being uncooperative and made sure the stump was pointing straight at my face so that I would be forced touch it in order to position her properly.

  Bitch! I was thinking as I bit the tender skin. The blood came faster than I had expected, and we both gasped. I’m sure there had been pain since I had not used my tongue to soothe it. I couldn’t let my tongue touch her, I just couldn’t. I formed a seal with my lips and allowed her hot liquid to flood my mouth on its own.

  I sighed again. Not so bad when I could concentrate on the taste of her. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the sensation her blood caused within my body. I was getting really warm. I stopped when I realized I had been sucking on her stump. Still, I respectfully lowered her arm instead of dropping it distastefully.

  Kaniji watched me blankly, but I thought I could see a slight tremor about her lips.

  I offered her my wrist. It was punctured and bloody, and I refused to look at it because it brought the pain back to life.

  Kaniji turned her head away from my wrist.

  Okay. What now?

  ”I would prefer your neck,” she said.

  ”Tony!” I thought frantically.

  ”Damnit! She can request your neck. Most don’t because it is more personal, between close friends or lovers. But she is within her rights to request it. Thing is, you don’t have to let her. But it’s about politics right now, baby. If you don’t offer her your neck then it can be construed as a weakness, like you’re afraid. And if you do, it means that you are stronger than her. If she hurts you at this point she comes out looking bad, opportunistic as if the only way that she could get you is to take a cheap shot. Still … she can hurt you at this point.”

  ”Fucking politics, Paul,” I explained to Paul because I could feel his question. “I’m going to give her my neck.”

  ”Oh shit...” was Paul’s response.

  I let my head fall back and to the side.

  Kaniji’s eyes popped. She was smaller than me, so she had to stretch to get into position. I braced myself.

  What she did was quite delicate. Her lips were light on my neck. The bite was swift and painless. I couldn’t remember how the actual bite had felt with Tige, but what I did remember is the emotion that came with being bitten. I almost swooned. The pleasure that washed over me was instantaneous. I felt Kaniji suckling gently, and the sensation made me tighten down low in a way that I had never experienced with a woman. Behind this wave of pleasure, though, was a wave of panic far back in my mind.

  Kaniji placed her hand gently on my waist, the other on my shoulder, and she pressed her body against me.

  My body reacted to the touch. I wanted her to bite harder ...

  ”Careful,” Tony thought. “She is using the bite to seduce you.”

  ”I know, but it feels so good ...”

  Paul was thinking at me. “You like the way it feels, don’t you?”

  ”Oh yes.” My thoughts were becoming more distant. I could feel the pulse beating between my thighs …

  ”Then remind her how we humans do it,” Paul thought. “Tell God.”

  My eyes opened and I blinked, bringing me back to awareness. “Yesss ...” came my whispered hiss. “Oh my God, yes!”

  Kaniji screeched out painfully and jerked away from me. Her eyes turned red. She glared at me. “Bitch!”

  I put my hand on my neck. When she pulled away she had also pulled out a good chunk of my flesh. I think that Bitch killed me. Blood sprayed through my fingers.

  Paul spun me around to him and placed his hands over mine to stop the blood. My eyes were wide with surprise.

  I kept thinking stupid thoughts like I’m spilling all of Paul’s hard-earned blood ...

  But when I looked again it was no longer Paul standing before me, but the pale face of the Elder.

  He had a slight smile on his face. He was taller than me, and with my heels I didn’t see how that could be possible. It dawned on me that his feet were not touching the ground. Why wasn’t my neck hurting? This should really be hurting. Oh, then it was. The pain became sharp and blinding.

  The Elder gripped my wrist and moved my hand away from my neck. He put his other hand behind my neck and drew me to him. I resisted because I had just gotten my neck ripped out and didn’t need this Elder to finish the job.

  Somehow calm enveloped me as my eyes met his.

  His lips parted, and I saw his sharp teeth seconds before I felt his lips on my neck.

  Ohhh. Something was happening. I could feel his tongue lapping at the painful tear in my neck. Something strange was definitely happening there. I could hear him swallowing the blood from my body in great gulps. Then his tongue alternated between gently probing and licking. It was really pleasurable—even with the pain—and I wanted to come. More than anything in the world I wanted to come.

  Without thinking about right, wrong, or consequences, I blindly reached up and gripped his head in my hands. My teeth lowered further than they ever had, and I struck him in the neck while he was healing me.
br />   The Elder grunted and paused in his drinking.

  I was going crazy with the taste of him. Paul tasted so good, and Tony had been a concentration of what Paul had offered, but the Elder was like a glass of ice water in the desert. The pulse that had begun earlier in the core of me was now a rapid fluttering. I was going to come … orgasm ... climax ... fuck! I could hear the animal sounds issuing from my throat as I slurped and lapped at the Elder’s throat.

  Then my feet came away from the floor. We were floating together. The Elder pulled away from me, which forced me to pull away from him. I was panting and blinking, wanting more ... so close, but not quite. Please let me come, I thought.

  He held my face away from him and watched me. His eyes swam in the color gold. His lips were still parted, and I thought he was going to kiss me. I wanted him to. Then I could suck the blood from his lips. Instead he turned away from me and lowered me to the floor.

  Paul’s mouth hung open. He massaged his wrist. I could see red marks on his wrist shaped like fingerprints though I didn’t remember the Elder ever touching him.

  ”Your neck is repaired,” the Elder said over his shoulder.

  I brought my hand up to my throat. It was smooth and unmarked but still wet with blood.

  He glided to the end of the table, his neck streaming a slow river of blood.

  ”Master,” Kaniji said. “You are injured. Let me—“Kaniji tried to put her mouth on his neck, but he pushed her away.

  ”Enough!” he said sharply. “Finish this!”

  Kaniji fumbled with her good hand and stump.

  ”I am ... Neco Kaniji San.” She bowed slightly. “My land in English is called Cherry Blossom Village.” She bowed again. “My second is Sewidge Akoube. Welcome to our Council.” She backed away from me.

  I was out of it enough not to acknowledge the small Asian man that stepped out briefly from the rest of the group. All of my attention was on the Elder. He watched me, too, and so were the other hundred or so people in the room.

  I turned to Tony. “What’s going on?” I asked with my mind. “Why is everyone staring at me?”

  ”We have never heard of any Vampire ever drinking from an Elder,” Tony thought at me. “You have to finish this.”