ELDRA AWOKE WITH an ache throbbing through her head, and a badly bruised body. She struggled to remember the events of the night before, after Vincent had pulled her from the raging river but it was all a blur.
She sat up slowly, letting the furs slip down to her waist before realizing she was naked beneath them.
She quickly clawed them back up over her plump body, tucking them soundly under her chin.
Eldra cradled her head in her hands trying to think through the loud buzzing in her skull.
She could recall scattered bits from the events of the previous evening and embarrassment washed over her.
She could remember Vincent tearing her shift to shreds, like a creature possessed, before covering her unclothed body with the furs.
She recollected shivering uncontrollably upon the mattress under the thick furs, her body half frozen from the icy water of the river.
She half remembered Vincent leaning over her, asking in desperation what he could do to help her, and then Vincent bringing her a hot liquid to drink, but beyond that she could not truly call to mind what had transpired.
Eldra could hear the ferocious sound coming from beneath the bed, as of the growling of a large animal.
Carefully she gathered the furs close around her, shifted her position on the straw filled mattress before leaning cautiously over the side of the bed to investigate what was making the strange noise.
Stretched out on the floor by the bedside Vincent slept deeply, his well-muscled chest bare.
The sight of Vincent lying half clothed upon the floor sent Eldra's heart racing with desire.
Then he snored loudly once more. Eldra could not stop herself.
She fell back onto the bed, holding her injured body tightly in her arms, as she rolled on the bed in a fit of laughter.
She could hear Vincent stirring from the floor, she swiftly covered her mouth with the furs, trying to stifle the sound of her merriment.
Vincent's face slowly rose above the side of the bed, until he could rest his chin upon the edge of the mattress.
His dark hair a mass of tangled curls, that sat like a crown upon his head.
He studied Eldra who sat still giggling on the bed, and a look of relief washed over his face as he gracefully rose to his feet.
"You look like you're feeling better," he stated, as he gazed at Eldra wrapped tightly in the furs, her giggles subsiding rapidly, as the magnificent sight of Vincent standing before her reignited her desire.
"Yes. Much better, thank you." Eldra replied, averting her eyes from his bare flesh, as she lowered the furs from her mouth, that she had used to stiftle her laughter.
Her cheeks colored pink with embarrassment. Eldra felt uncomfortable under Vincent's intense gaze as he continued to study her.
Especially given the vulnerability of her bare flesh hidden beneath the furs.
"The only thing that would make me feel even better would be if I had some clothing to put on," she admonished.
Looking at him with accusing eyes.
Vincent stood scratching his head for a moment, before stepping to the pile containing his garments on the table by the door.
He riffled through them for a some time, holding up piece after piece, trying to find something that would fit her.
In frustration he finally retrieved one of his shirts from the mass of rags, tossing it in the direction of the bed behind him without turning around. "I'm sorry for ruining your shift," He said sheepishly. " but it was soaked through with water, and I had to remove it in order to get you warm."
"I did not look if that is what concerns you." He finished, a ting of regret lay in his voice for the missed opportunity of no looking at her naked body when he had the chance, feeling a strong sense of regret.
He could hear Eldra's movements from behind him as she rose from the mattress, pulling his shirt over her head and letting it unroll down body where it came to rest upon the tops of her feet.
"Alright you can turn around now," she sighed heavily.
Vincent turned, studying Eldra as she stood before him in his over-large shirt that nearly swallowed her buxom body, its tail almost brushing the floor.
He wanted to laugh, but the sour look on Eldra's face stopped him. Eldra gazed down at herself in the oversized garment turning this way, and that.
Then she did something Vincent had not expected, she began to laugh, once more.
Vincent hesitated for a brief moment then his own throaty, laughter mingles with hers.
Once their laughter had subsided, she moved to the chair by the table, lifting the shirt above her ankles so as not accidentally trip over it, sending herself sprawling onto the floor.
Glancing down she noticed the pieces of dried plant that littered its top.
She picked some of it up between her fingers examining it closely.
After a moment she licked a piece of the dried plant from her finger testing its flavor on her tongue, then spat it out abruptly.
"What is this?" she asked Vincent curiosity in her voice.
"Mint," he replied. "I gathered it last night to make your tea, along with the honey." He pointed towards the honey comb sitting in a sticky puddle on the table top.
"Do you not remember?" he asked.
"You made tea from this?" she asked him, holding up the fingers with the dried plant still clinging to them for him to see.
Vincent looked at her with a look of concern.
"You had told me that your mother said hot, sweetened tea would help you recover from your frozen state, when I asked what I could do to help you last night. Having no tea, I remembered seeing some wild mint growing along the path by the forest. The honey came from a hive in a hollow tree by the meadow, where a colony of bees have made their home. Did I do something wrong?" Vincent asked coming to crouch down beside Eldra where she perched upon the chair.
Eldra gazed into Vincent's face, so close to her own, then down at the remains of the dried plant on her finger tips.
"Oh Vincent this isn't wild mint, this is a plant called pennyroyal." she looked into his silver-blue eyes for longer than she had intended, as if lost in their hypnotizing depths, before forcing her gaze from them.
"They seem very similar in look to the untrained eye, they even smell somewhat alike, but when ingested they have very different effects."
Vincent's face clouded.
"The plant is not poisonous is it?" He inquired, a slight quiver in his voice.
"No Vincent. They are not poisonous," she replied, in a gentle voice, seeing the genuine concern for her on his face.
"However pennyroyal does possess a slight hypnotic affect, making the person who ingests act as if they are intoxicated."
Vincent recalled the way Eldra had behaved after she had drunk the tea made from the plant.
The way she had appeared giddy. Almost drunk.
And her salacious proposition to him.
Vincent felt an immense sense of relief flood through his body, as he slipped to the floor at Eldra's feet.
"Thank the gods! I feared I had poisoned you!" Vincent exclaimed, reaching out for her hands, for the first time.
Vincent lifted them to his lips, and kissed them while gazing into her emerald green eyes.
Eldra shivered as that same lightning like sensation coursed through her once more when Vincent had lifted her hands, moving them gently to his lips.
And the kiss.
The kiss that he had bestowed upon them that had ignited a flame of desire deep in her belly.
The simple gesture should have been nothing. Yet it was not.
Something deep within her shifted, something she had kept guarded for far too long.
She found herself once more lost in the silver-blue depths of his eyes searching for some hidden deception, some reason to doubt what she saw there.
But there was none.
A look so profound that it left her breathless. A love she had never expected to experience.
A feeling she had never believed was meant for her.
And in that moment, something inside Eldra cracked wide open as she saw the unmistakable love reflected in his gaze.
There was only Vincent, and the love shining in his eyes.
Eldra slipped from the chair to sit beside Vincent on the floor, feeling the nearness of his body to hers. She reached out to touch the marble cool feel of his cheek beneath her hand, Vincent brought his hand up to cover hers then shifted his position on the floor before reaching out to draw her lips to his.
The kiss sent goose flesh along his skin.
This was not the desperate kiss from beside the river, where he had pressed his lips to hers to bring back life to her body.
This was a hungry wanting. A sacred mingling of spirit.
They parted, and Vincent pulled her close against him. As much as he wanted her.
Needed her at that moment, he knew there was a truth that needed to be told before he could give himself fully to this dark-haired woman, his Little Raven.
A secret that could break their bond forever.
But he knew in that instant that is was a secret that had to be revealed, no matter what the consequences may be.
* * *
Vincent rose from the floor offering Eldra his hand, he led her to the bed, and asked her to sit, then he returned to the chair by the table, seating himself at a distance from where she perched on the mattress.
Eldra looked at Vincent with longing in her eyes, thinking that when he had led her to the bed that he would join her there.
Instead he now sat stiffly by the table a tired look upon his face. What had she done she wondered?
She had felt Vincent's desire burning as strongly as her own when they had kissed.
She started to rise from the bed to go to him before Vincent stopped her with a gesture of his hand that signaled she should stay where she was.
Eldra's heart almost broke from the look on Vincent's face.
Was it sadness, or something else? She could not tell.
"Before we go any further, I need to tell you something about myself, little raven." Vincent began quietly. "The man you see before you is not who you believe him to be."
Eldra opened her mouth to speak but Vincent stopped her.
"Yesterday you told me your story, now it is time for me to tell you mine." Vincent said, looking directly into her eyes.
" All I ask is that you listen carefully, it will determine our future, or if even a future together is at all possible. Let me preface my tale with a promise. I would never hurt you. If after my story is told you wish to leave this place never to return, I will not move to stop you," he continued.
Eldra held a look of apprehension on her face as he spoke.
"Please, Vincent tell me what you must," she said quietly, before settling herself upon the bed.
She pulled her feet under her body, and waiting for him to begin.
* * *
Vincent drew in a deep breath then exhaled before he started to speak.
"I was born over 250 years ago on an estate owned by my father, far away from this place where I now live," he began.
"It was a happy childhood I suppose, filled with all the privileges that my father's wealth provided."
He smiled, and made a small sound of amusement.
"I fear I was a willful child, who grew into a reckless man, prone to fits of drunkenness, gambling... and whoring." Here he paused searching Eldra's face for signs of disapproval, but finding none.
"In my twentieth summer my recklessness led to my downfall. After a long night of drinking, some of my childhood friends wagered that I would not enter an abandoned estate not too far from my father's. The estate had sat abandoned for many years, and was thought to be haunted. Being the drunken fool that I was, I accepted my friends wager without a second thought."
He steeled himself for the rest of his tale.
"All looked unremarkable as I entered the Villa through the weather worn doorway. The air inside smelled of mold from the damp of many years of rain, and snow blowing in through the broken windows, and falling through the collapsed roof. I took my time wandering through the downstairs rooms picking my way carefully across the floor, avoiding the few rotted places that were evident in every room I explored. I studied the peeling paint on the walls, illuminated in the moonlight that shone brightly through the broken floor to ceiling windows. I even pulling some of the loosened chips from the walls myself." He confessed.
Vincent held a far away look in his eyes recalling the things he had seen in that Villa.
Though it was hundreds of years ago now, to him it felt like only yesterday.
As he described the rooms to Eldra she could almost see them through his eyes.
"It felt like hours had passed since I had entered the crumbling house, though it had been mere moments," he explained.
"When finally I made my way up the Intricately carved wooden staircase, noticing the weathered sculptures of woodland animals. A squirrel hiding here, a rabbit hidden over there. Small birds, that looked like crows, of perhaps ravens nesting in mysterious places. Their carved figures guiding me up the stairs ever closer to the warped, wooden landing that lay at the top."
Vincent drew in a ragged breath, knowing he was drawing closer to the part of his story that may send Eldra fleeing from this place never to return. "I thought I had heard a small noise coming from the room off to my right, off the landing, at the top of the stairs. A slight mewling sound. Thinking it may be a stray cat which had made its way into the chamber, and now found itself unable to escape, I made my way through the door. Its ancient hinges protesting loudly as I pushed them open. I glanced around the empty room, and finding no trapped animal, cat or otherwise, I was about to leave when I felt two strong hand on my shoulders, as I was lifted off my feet, then thrown with such force against the wall, that for a moment the breath was knocked from my lungs. The creature was upon me before I could rise from the floor where I had landed with pieces of the ancient plaster, broken when my body had slammed into it surrounding me." Vincent glanced at Eldra before he continued, but her eyes remained unreadable.
"The Vampire sank his teeth into my neck, and began to feed greedily. The pain was unbearable, at first. Then as he drained me further, a pleasant floating sensation began to settle over my body. I drowsed in his arms, recalling all that had happened during my pathetic wasted life. The memories that the passage of time had pushed to the farthest reaches of my mind returned, until I saw myself opening the doors into that very room. For some reason, I do not know why, the creature stopped feeding from me before my mortal heart stopped beating. Then biting deeply into his wrist, he forced the open wound against my lips. At first I was repulsed, but as more of his blood flowed into my mouth I grasped his wrist tightly, and sucked hungrily. Feeling the strength he had drained from my body returning, increasing even, beyond that which I had possessed before. After a while he pried his wrist from my mouth, moving a short distance away. Much later I learned that I had almost drained him entirely of his life's blood"
Vincent hesitated only a moment before continuing his tale.
"That night I became a Vampire. My maker, Aurelius, and his other children had claimed the abandoned estate as their own, hiding in the shadows of the rotting rooms, until I had drunkenly, blundered into the midst of their nest." He paused.
Vincent looked at Eldra, who, to her credit, remained where she sat. Out of fear, or curiosity he could not tell.
"Needless to say, once Aurelius had turned me, I became a creature filled with an unhinged bloodlust which, to my shame, I unleashed upon my companions who waited in the darkness for me to depart from the estate that night," he stated flatly.
"I am the last of my kind." Vincent continued, with a look of sadness.
"My Maker, and his other children are long dead. Hunted down by men who have made it their mission to rid the world of my kind. Hunted down, and slaughtered before my eyes. After their deaths I wandered the world alone for many years, avoiding largely populated villages, and towns until I found this place deep in the shadows of the mountains where I resolved to start my life again. I no longer drink the blood of mortals, I feed only on the animals that populate the forest. They provide me with all the sustenance that I require. And as a Vampire ages they require less blood to survive on than when they are newly turned, and the bloodlust is strong within them." He finished.
Vincent studied Eldra's countenance for any sign of revulsion, but instead Eldra rose from the bed, a look of pity on her face, as she moved to sand before him gazing into his haunted eyes as blood tears began to slip down his cheeks.
Bending slightly she lifted a corner of the shirt he had given her, and tenderly began to wipe the tears from his face. A dark crimson stain forming on the tail of the shirt where it came into contact with his tears. "Do you know what I see when I look at you?" she asked him, taking Vincent's face in her hands, and tilting it upwards until he was staring into her earnest eyes.
"I see not a monster, but a man who has lived for a very long time alone. A man who risked his life to rescue a stranger because he knew in his heart it was the right thing to do. I see a man who is not a killer, but a fighter who did what he had to do to survive. I see a man, that against all reason I love."
She ended by pressing her lips to his, the passion rising between them like an all-consuming fire.
Vincent rose from the chair lifting her into his arms, then he carried her to the bed, laying her upon and this time joining her on the mattress.
Slowly he removed the shirt from her body, looking upon her glorious nakedness.
He could see the bruises, and scrapes that covered her body from her time in the raging waters of the river.
He gently kissed them, lingering over her battered flesh with the softness of his lips.
Vincent's hunger suddenly ignited within him from the scent of the blood on her flesh from the small cuts that she had suffered.
He pulled away so violently that he fell onto the floor with a loud thud. Startled Eldra sat up moving to look over the side of the bed at him. "What is it?" she asked gazing down at Vincent as he lay prone upon the floor.
"The hunger," he answered her through gritted teeth.
The strain of trying to control his voice was proof of his growing need to feed.
He turned, and Eldra saw his eyes flash crimson.
She scrambled backwards on the bed away from Vincent looking frightened, before taking control over her own fear.
"Go!" she commanded.
Pointing her finger to the open doorway.
She could Feel the danger radiating off him in waves like the heat from a raging inferno.
"Go! Feed! Then come back to me," she commanded him again, her voice sounding braver than she felt.
"I will be here waiting for you when you return," she said tenderly.
Vincent looked vexed at being commanded to go by a mere mortal woman, like a dog being sent to do her bidding.
Then he softened remembering what she had said.
"I will be here waiting for you when you return."
He could feel the Beast within rising, taking over his will, so he rose hastily to his feet, and sprinted out into the darkness of the forest to feed.
* * *
Eldra sat in the darkness of the small room thinking about Vincent's lips on her bruised flesh, sending a shiver coursing through her body.
She wondered what he would do to her body when he returned from his hunt?
And she shivered again in anticipation.
Then she remembered the fear she had experienced when his eyes had flashed crimson, and the danger radiating off of him as he fought to control the blood lust.
He had promised he would never hurt her, yet she wondered if he could really keep that promise after what she had just witnessed?
Eldra rose from the bed retrieving the shirt from the floor where Vincent had dropped it, and pulled it over her head as she went the hearth to light a fire. The room was growing cold without Vincent's body to warm it.
She added kindling to the cold hearth with practiced ease, she began to blow the embers to life adding larger logs as the fire began to grow. When the fire had begun to blaze, she walked to the table picking up the honeycomb between her fingers, and raised it to her mouth tasting it tentatively with her tongue.
She bit into the comb its sweet nectar caused her own hunger to bloom deep within her belly.
She had not eaten for two days she realized.
She greedily sucked the honey from her fingers stuffed the rest of the comb into her mouth and then greedily began to chew.
She sat in one of the wooden chairs, tucking her feet beneath herself.
As the room started to warm from the radiating heat from the fire, Eldra's mind turned to Vincent's tale.
Was he really that old?
How many of those years had he lived alone?
Tears came unbidden to her eyes thinking of how much he must have suffered.
Could an immortal being such as a Vampire truly feel loss the way a human could?
She pondered thinking of her mother.
More tears began to flow down her cheeks as she sat curled in the chair, hugging herself tightly, as she grieved for the loss of her mother, and grieved for all the pain, and loneliness that Vincent must have endured when he had realized he was the last of his kind.
Slowly Eldra's eyes began to close as she drifted off into a fitful sleep while waited for Vincent to return to her.
* * *
When Vincent did return from the hunt to the dwelling he now shared with Eldra he found her curled up like a cat, dozing in a chair near the table.
He walked over to the, grate placing another log onto the low burning embers, instantly bringing them back to life.
Vincent stood over Eldra as she slept dreamlessly. He smiled and scooped her into his arms, placing her on the bed while lowering himself carefully down beside her.
He reached down pulled the furs up from the end of the bed, placing them over their bodies, and gently pulled Eldra close to his body, taking in her scent.
Eldra's eyes fluttered open, she snuggled closer to Vincent bringing her backside nearer to the place between his thighs, where she could feel his arousal.
His manhood grew harder as she pressed closer still.
"I told you I would be here when you returned," she murmured sleepily. Turning her body, and reaching with her hands to caress his bare chest, then began to explore his body with her fingers, skimming them across his muscles, his broad shoulders, and then moving her hand lower to the place between his thighs where his desire rose.
She tore at the fabric of his trousers, pulling them lower down his hips, releasing his manhood from its prison.
Vincent moaned deeply in his throat.
He rose from her body just far enough to free his legs from the restricting garment, then lowered his body beside hers again.
He turned Eldra's body on the mattress, while pushing back the furs so that he could look once more upon her gloriously naked flesh.
He moved his mouth to her neck, causing Eldra to stiffen for a moment as his mouth softly kissed her on the place where he could sense the blood rushing beneath the skin, then moving his lips to her collar bone.
"Tell me if you want me to stop?" he whispered, his breath warm against her skin.
Eldra felt intense desire wash over her body as her heart quickened its beat.
"Don't stop, make me yours." She moaned, her head tilting back as she braced herself for the pain of his sharp teeth, that she could feel against her neck beneath his lips.
To her dismay Vincent began to trace his mouth down her body, teasing at her breast with gentle bites, and kisses, his tongue moving in soft circles along her skin.
She moaned louder as heat began to rise between her legs while Vincent moved farther down her body, tracing along it with his lips.
She gasped when he grasped her hips in his hands lifting them lightly, until he reached her center teasing the softness he found there with his probing tongue. Eldra arched her back with pleasure on the furs that lay around them.
He could scent her desire rising from the secret space between her legs, his own desire rising to match hers.
Vincent was relentless with his mouth, bringer her closer to release until she moaned loudly, and he could feel her whole body begin to shudder in his hands.
He slid up her body tracing the curves of her with his hands as he moved. She was breathless, lost in the sensations of pleasure that Vincent had wrung from her, the intensity of which she had not felt before, but had left her hungry for more.
"More." She begged, grasping him by his dark hair, pulling his lips to hers, and kissing him deeply.
She parted her legs reaching to guide him over her.
"Not yet my little raven. There are greater pleasures to come" Vincent whispered in her ear, as his lips met hers once more parting them with his tongue, his hand slipped between her legs, entering her wetness with his fingers.
Eldra closed her legs around his arm, urging him to continue his movements, as her hips rose, forcing his fingers deeper inside her.
The pleasure came quicker this time, rushing, leaving Eldra gasping as her body shuddered against his.
Vincent freed his arm from Eldra's legs where she still held it tightly, he moved to position himself above her.
"Eldra" He asked "am I the first man you have lain with?"
She nodded in silent reply, turning her emerald green eyes up to meet his.
He could feel the fear of what they were about to do, as her body quivered beneath him.
"Then I will go gently." He assured her softly.
Eldra could hear the urgent need in his voice, and it frightened her.
She gasped as the rigidness of his member pressing briefly against her leg, then his wild heat as he entered her, moving slowly at first.
She felt a sharp pain at first, but then it passed as Vincent's passion rose higher and his thrusts quickened.
Eldra wrapped her legs around him, urging him deeper.
She moaned loudly, breathing heavily, as she began to move rhythmically in time with his thrusts, increasing her pace to match his.
Each urgent movement brought them closer to the edge of the cliff edge and they both cried out when the lightning bolt stuck again, sending sizzling waves of ecstasy through their bodies as they found their release. Vincent collapsed onto Eldra's body, holding her tenderly against his own, feeling her warmth competing with the heat from the dying fire, as the chill from the room kissed their bodies.
He shifted his weight from atop her, moving to her side in the darkness, and reaching down to retrieve the furs from the end floor beside the bed where they had fallen during their love making, and drawing them over their cooling flesh.
Eldra moved snuggled closer to Vincent's side, laying her head upon his chest where she could hear the steady beating of his heart.
"Your heart is beating!" she exclaimed, a surprised look on her face. Vincent snorted.
"Don't believe every fairy story you hear my little raven. A Vampires heart beats just as yours does, our hearts only beat at a slower pace. Perhaps that is why we age at a slower rate than mortals do?" he queried, having never really thought about it before.
"I have much to learn about your kind," she whispered, feeling the grasping hands of sleep pulling at her as she pressed closer to Vincent for warmth.
They lay, curled in each other's arms for a long time, Vincent listening to Eldra's breathing slow as she finally surrendered to sleep.
Then he rose, pulling on his trousers in the predawn hours, to go hunt once more.