“I’m not finished with you,” I told her, my voice a growl over our combined panting.
I stepped out of the tuxedo pants bunched around my ankles, still sheathed in the warmth of Anna’s perfect cunt, and backed us away from the window. She tightened her arms around my neck, legs around my waist, and rested her head against mine. Her silky hair brushed my arm, sending a shiver down my spine. I pulled out to lay her on the bed, and my body rebelled, hardening again, straining to bury itself in her luscious heat.
Her hair splayed in a dark halo around her luminous face, lips swollen from my hungry kisses. Her robe had come undone, and I drank in the beauty of her full breasts, completely bared to me for the first time. The dark rose of her taut nipples begged for my mouth.
“You look like an angel,” I whispered, awed by the blessing laid out before me.
A sly smile claimed her lips. “Are you my devil?” Her chest and neck were already flushed from sex, but her playful taunt added redness to her cheeks. She reached for me.
I peeled off my undershirt and climbed onto the bed, knees on either side of the inviting swell of her hips. I stroked my cock back to its full length and hardness, and her pupils dilated watching me fuck my hand.
I squeezed one of her tits, pinching the nipple till she gasped and arched her back in a wordless plea for more. “Christ, I love your tits. I want to shove my cock between them and fuck them till I come all over your chest.”
She groaned, deep and rough, and squirmed atop the sheets. “Yes, Marco! Please!”
I laughed darkly. There’d be time for dirty fucking later. Right then I needed to take her slowly, enjoy each stroke after the frantic pounding I’d given her against the window.
Rock hard and dripping with need, I pushed her legs open with my knee, pressed my body against hers, and devoured her mouth. I propped myself up enough to feel the firm peaks of her nipples brush my chest. Our tongues danced, and she rocked her hips against my leg, sliding her wetness up and down my thigh.
She broke our kiss and tilted her head back and to the side, inviting me to feed. I wanted nothing more than to press my fangs into the warmth and resistance of her flesh; they ached to experience that pleasure. But it was a step too far, a line I wasn’t ready or willing to cross no matter how fierce the temptation.
I rolled onto my back, pulling her with me till she was on her knees astride my hips. The robe fell from her shoulders, and finally, we were both naked.
I pinched her nipples. She sighed contentedly, and her eyes fluttered closed. She arched into my touch and lifted the hair off her back in a move so sexy I thought I might come just from watching her. I slid my hands over her breasts and the curve of her tapered waist to the flare of her hips. My fingers dug into their soft swell in a punishing grip, holding her still as I struggled to maintain control.
She opened her eyes and rested her hands on my abs. “You want me on top?”
The huskiness in her voice made my cock twitch, and cum dripped from its tip onto my stomach. “Are you kidding? I’ve been waiting to see those tits for weeks. I want to watch them bounce while you ride my cock.”
Her laughter was deep and sensual. I dominated her pleasure, but she was enjoying her moment of control. And it was so fucking hot, I gave biting her a second thought.
She shifted her hips till she found me with the wet lips of her swollen cunt. She slid her folds up and down its length, releasing sighs of pleasure with each stroke. Then she smiled mischievously and took her nipples between her thumbs and forefingers and pinched them till she screamed my name.
I fucking lost it. I lifted her onto her knees, lined myself up with her entrance, and slammed her down.
She cried out. I wasn’t a small man, not by any means, and I was so engorged for a moment I thought I’d hurt her. But then she leaned forward, a wicked smile on her face, and rested her palms on my pecs. She rocked her hips up and down my length, her warm, wet cunt gripping me tight, the slow movements torture. I fought the urge to thrust my hips and force her to move; I sure as shit wasn’t about to interrupt the show.
She was using my cock like a fucking toy, moving to maximize her pleasure, dragging her clit through the hair at its base and working herself into a frenzy. Her body moved like a wave, full breasts swaying with every sultry motion, and each time she stroked her clit against me, she rode me harder and faster.
Her hair fell on either side of her flushed face, a gentle caress against my skin even as she dug her nails into my pecs. The contrast between pleasure and pain drove me wild. I squeezed my fingers into her fleshy hips, forcing her upright so I could fuck her in earnest, and she clawed her nails down my torso so deeply I knew she’d drawn blood.
I lifted her enough to slam her back down, forcing myself deep and setting the rhythm I needed. She didn’t hesitate; she knew what I wanted to see. She lifted her hair off her body, elbows out to the sides, and rode me, tits bouncing with every thrust.
“Fuck,” I growled. I wasn’t going to last long watching that display. I pressed her clit with two fingers and rubbed furiously. The walls of her cunt squeezed me so hard, the beginnings of my release formed deep in my balls. I pressed my fingers harder and tipped her over the edge.
Her body arched, her tight cunt clenching with each wave of her orgasm, making her cry out with high-pitched sighs.
Her pulsing muscles ripped the orgasm out of me, pulling sensation down my spine. My nuts constricted, and hot cum shot through my cock into her hungry warmth. I held her in place, emptying myself into her, coming so hard I saw stars.
My vision cleared, my cock softened, and Anna’s smiling face stared down at me. Christ, she was beautiful, flushed and happy from sex. And not just need-to-get-my-rocks-off sex. Life-changing sex. Real passion.
“Vieni qui,” I demanded and held my arms open.
She lifted herself off me, and our combined cum dripped onto my stomach and down her leg. She lay on her side next to me, head on my shoulder, thigh draped across my hips, and placed her hand over my heart. It added a warmth there I hadn’t felt in decades. I brushed the hair from her forehead and kissed her, letting my lips linger, and drank in the combined scent of roses and our passion.
She brushed her fingers across my chest and the tracks she’d left when she’d raked her nails down my torso. “That was remarkable,” she breathed.
I ran my fingers up and down her spine. “Remarkable, huh?”
“Two orgasms? I’d call that remarkable.”
I frowned. “Like I said, you’ve been dating the wrong men.”
She laughed. “No kidding.”
She tickled my chest with a light brush of her fingertips. It made me shiver. My body relaxed. My breathing slowed. Peace and contentment were the center of my world.
“You’re so calm,” she said.
She was right. The tension that normally gripped my insides and kept me alert, that maintained the cold calculation I needed to run my empire, it melted in Anna’s arms.
“It’s you,” I whispered. “You do this to me.”
She nuzzled her face into my shoulder, and my fingers continued their soothing journey up and down her back.
“We were irresponsible,” she said quietly.
“How so?”
“We didn’t use protection.”
I looked down at her, surprised. “Do you need to get a morning after pill?”
“No.” She lifted her head, and her lips curved into a sad, resigned smile. “I’m not worried about that.”
“You’re on the pill?”
“No. I—I can’t get pregnant.” The words were quiet, but matter-of-fact.
“I’m sorry,” I said, no idea what I’d walked into. After what my sister went through, I knew the subject of children and pregnancy had the potential to carry a lot of baggage.
“It’s okay. I mean… It wasn’t. For years, it wasn’t. But I came to terms with it a long time ago.”
Her strength never ceased to amaze me. I kissed her forehead. “Then, what are you worried about?”
She widened her eyes and lifted her eyebrows.
I searched her face for an answer. Realization dawned, and I snorted. “I’m immortal, Anna. I don’t get diseases.”
“Ahh,” she sighed, and laid her head back down on my shoulder. She traced the fading scratches on my chest. “I scratched you.”
“You did. It was hot as hell.”
“They’re almost gone. Same thing, I suppose.”
“Yes. Same thing.”
“And aging?”
“Yes. That too.”
“What I wouldn’t give to have my butt and stomach from ten years ago.”
“What’s wrong with your butt and stomach?” I asked, dumbfounded.
“My butt is nowhere near as perky as it used to be. It’s… kinda saggy.” She squirmed with each defeated word. “So is the skin on my stomach. Saggy and crepey.”
I took her chin between my thumb and forefinger and tipped her head up to level her with a stern look. “First of all, don’t you dare say anything bad about your ass. I love your ass. It’s fantastic. It’s plump and ripe. The perfect size for me to grab onto while I’m fucking you.” She laughed, and her eyes sparkled with gratitude and pride. “Second, at what point this morning did I give you any indication I didn’t adore every inch of your body? Hm?”
She craned her neck, straining for a kiss. I obliged, planting one firmly on her lips.
“Charmer,” she said and laid back down, nestling into my shoulder. “I googled you, you know.”
“Oh yeah? What did you find?” I already knew the answer. My cybersecurity was rock solid courtesy of Cambridge Management Group.
“A couple of pictures. Only one where I could see your face.”
I knew the picture. I approved every picture I wanted to remain on the internet.
“I suppose that’s important in your position,” she continued.
I trailed my fingers down her arm, and she shivered. “And what’s my position?”
“An immortal with connections that…” She scrunched her face the way she did when she was searching for the right words. “That have a tendency to make the news.”
I chuckled and shook my head. The way she put things.
She laid her head back down and resumed stroking my chest. “I did find more pictures. At the library.”
“Hmm.” Running my fingertips up and down her arm soothed me. I could do it for eternity.
“Microfiche.”
Clever woman. In all my years covering up my immortality, no one else had managed to piece together the trail of evidence I couldn’t eliminate.
“How do you do it? People must recognize you. I can’t be the only one who’s figured it out.”
“My little researcher,” I said with a smile and kissed her hair. “So brilliant. I should have known you’d figure it out.” I bent my arm behind my head and stared up at the ceiling. “You’d think more people would figure it out, but I—we—have been doing this for a long time, and the reality is people don’t want to believe.”
“I get that. I didn’t. I made up every excuse I could. Until I couldn’t.”
“It became harder with the internet.”
We’d scrambled in those early years figuring out how to maintain our anonymity. The technology and personnel and skills we needed were all so new and changed so rapidly.
“I started spending a small fortune on cybersecurity. More than I ever spent paying off reporters and newspapers. They scrub the internet, news outlets, and paparazzi channels for pictures and information. I’ll never be able to get rid of those old print articles, but”—I shrugged—“these days if it’s not online, the chances of someone making the effort to find anything is pretty slim.”
“What about your employees? Acquaintances?”
“We move. My parents live in Italy right now for that very reason. Local memory is short. Every thirty years or so, I change my primary residence. The locals don’t recognize me, and if anyone does, they think I’m my own son. I can run my business from anywhere. Especially now. Like I said, it’s not as difficult as you’d think.”
“Aren’t you scared I’ll say something?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because if you tell someone I’m a century-old blood demon…”
“They’ll think I’m crazy.”
“Exactly.”
“There have to be downsides.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. Like being burned by holy water or not being able to see yourself in the mirror or—”
I laughed out loud, and my shaking chest jostled her head.
“What?” she asked.
“I already told you. I’m not a vampire. Vampires don’t exist. You’ve seen me walk outside during the day, right?” She nodded against my shoulder. “I was raised Roman Catholic. Went to church every Sunday with my family. Never once spontaneously combusted. Not to mention, I’m Italian. If garlic was going to kill me, I’d be dead a million times over.”
She buried her face in my shoulder, and her body shook with laughter. “I’m sorry!”
I laughed with her and hugged her close. “Don’t be sorry. I wouldn’t expect you to know what makes blood demons different. Especially with all the vampire nonsense in books and in the movies. It’s been going on for centuries.
“Thing is, we’re not that different from humans. Yes, we’re immortal and our blood has restorative properties. It heals us and prevents us from aging. And yes, we need to feed on blood. It strengthens our bodies and abilities. But other than that…”
“What about—what about being bit?”
“What about it?”
“Does it turn a human into a blood demon?”
“No.” I shook my head. “Total bullshit.”
“I figured, given Luca’s date didn’t—”
“Die outside a bathroom in my hotel only to come back with red eyes and fangs?” I finished for her with no small amount of sarcasm.
She chuckled. “It does sound ridiculous when you say it that way. Although yesterday I would have said the existence of blood demons sounded ridiculous.”
“Fair.”
“How do you become a blood demon?”
“We’re a different species, Anna. I was born a blood demon.”
“Oh,” she said softly.
I detected confusion behind her short response and suspected I knew why. “You’re wondering what happens when a human and a blood demon get together.”
She nodded and buried her face deeper into my shoulder.
I wasn’t ready to talk about this, but she needed to know. “Humans can’t turn into blood demons. You’re either born a blood demon or you’re not. But we can prolong a human’s life. When a blood demon bonds with a human, they feed from the human, injecting them with their venom, and the human regularly consumes their mate’s blood. That’s where the vampire myth came from. Humans weren’t being turned. The combination of venom and blood from the same Source just made it seem that way.
“We don’t share our blood lightly, though. It’s only done as part of our sacred vow to bond. It requires understanding and agreement from both parties because it’s a commitment that lasts eternity. Anything less than full consent is a violation of a person’s body and autonomy. It’s an egregious sin. Same with our venom. It’s why Sources are so important.”
“I understand,” she said and nuzzled my shoulder.
Our combined breath and heartbeats filled the silence. I stroked her back and let her digest all the truths I’d just dropped while trying to figure out what the hell I was going to do with this woman. She’d managed the impossible and crumbled the walls I’d erected around my heart, but was I ready for what came next?
Her energy shifted, and she squirmed. Something else was bothering her. “What?”
Her hand stilled atop my chest, and she tilted her face up. I turned mine down to meet the curious look in her eyes. “Are you in the Mafia?”
A bark of laughter escaped me, and I wrapped both arms around her, squeezing her tight. “That’s what you’re worried about? You just had sex with a blood demon, and you’re worried I’m in the Mafia?”
“Well, are you?”
I laughed again and released her, relaxing back onto my forearm. “No. I’m not in the Mafia.”
The statement didn’t taste right on my tongue. It tasted like a lie. There was a difference between wanting something to be true and it being true. I’d wanted it to be true for so long, I’d started believing my own bullshit. Fact was, my situation warranted far more nuance than a firm denial, and I couldn’t lie to this woman any more than I could lie to myself. Not anymore.
“Okay,” I sighed. “Not true. Look, I want to be honest with you, but it’s not a pretty story.”
“Life isn’t always pretty. Even I know that.”
I snorted.
“And I want the truth.”
She might regret that decision after this conversation.
“I was in the Mafia. For a long time. Then, I got out. Or, at least, I told myself I got out. But you never really leave. Not when you’re made, and not when it’s all you’ve ever known. So…” I looked down at her, and she shifted to meet my eyes. “The real answer? It’s complicated.”
“I want to understand.” Her words didn’t hold any judgment or fear, and I believed her. “You were part of Big Frankie Valenzano’s crew with Luca’s father, weren’t you?”
“He was my best friend.”
“And a blood demon?”
“Mm-hm.”
Memories surfaced, highlights I cherished and those I wished to forget. She was quiet, wanting a story, but didn’t know the questions to ask. Nostalgia and my need for a connection with her got the better of me. I stared at the ceiling, and my lips parted before I could stop them.
“Big Frankie was Don when me and Tony joined. We were lucky; he knew us for what we were. He’d fallen in love with a blood demon—Vinnie’s mother. Spotted the signs right away. Welcomed us into the family. Said he needed a couple reliable runners, ones he could use with his outfit of blood demons.”
“Are there a lot of blood demons in Boston?”
“More than anywhere else in North America. We emigrated from Italy around the same time as the other European immigrants looking for a better life. Classic tale… Someone moves to a city, you follow, knowing there will be at least one other person who speaks your language and understands your struggles. Then more people follow…”
“You or your parents?”
“My parents. They had nothing. Decided life couldn’t be any worse in America. Especially with all the stories making their way back to the villages from those who’d made it, who’d found work, or so my papà tells me. Turns out, there were only so many jobs to go around. Papà struggled with English. At first, he couldn’t find work for more than one, two days at a time.”
“So, you became a runner for Big Frankie,” she whispered.
“It was better than the alternative. Watching my parents and little sister go hungry. Living in a rat-infested basement.” Walking in on Mamma selling herself. I swallowed the words. “We needed the money.”
I’d never shared those memories with anyone, never even had the inclination to try. But Anna understood me. She saw me. And the partnership I was missing, the partnership I’d grown to crave, deepened with every word.
“How old were you?”
“I was twelve.”
“Twelve?!” She sprang off my shoulder and sat upright, a horrified expression on her face. She gripped the sheet covering her chest like a life vest, like if she held on tightly enough it would save her from my truth. It wouldn’t.
I reached for the spare smoke I kept stashed in the drawer of the nightstand. I lit the cigar and held it between my teeth, puffing it to life as I shifted myself back against the headboard. “Vieni qui,” I commanded around the cigar and urged her toward me with the curl of my fingers.
She eyed me like she might eye a wounded puppy. I needed to disavow her of that notion entirely. If anything, I’d been the one wounding the puppies.
I grabbed her around the waist, spun her back to my front, and pulled her between my legs, settling her against my chest. I wrapped a forefinger around my cigar and took a deep pull before removing it from between my teeth. “That was a long time ago,” I said. “Multiple lifetimes ago. The world was a different place back then. My family needed help. I had an opportunity to help them. I took it.”
“But you were so young.”
I shrugged and dragged on my cigar. “Maybe by today’s standards, but back then?” I blew smoke rings, and she followed them as they expanded upward and disappeared into the darkness. “Big Frankie was good to us. Treated me and Tony like part of the family. From his perspective we were. We were Italians and we were blood demons. We ran messages between his made guys. We were their eyes and ears on the streets. Most of them used restaurants and bakeries as fronts. We got paid in bread and pasta and a little cash. Back then, that’s all we needed. That and Sources.”
I took another drag. She wouldn’t want to hear the next part of the story. The part where Tony and I grew up and realized we could have more than the bare minimum we needed to survive. The part where we became two of the most ruthless men in Boston. The part where we pulled ourselves out of poverty with other men’s blood.
“Sources.” She rested her head on my chest and turned her face up. “That’s what Luca’s date called herself. She asked me if I was your Source.”
“I’m not surprised. Luca uses his Sources like escorts. If she’s only ever sourced for Luca, she might think that’s par for the course, but it’s not.”
“It’s not?”
“No. Not for me. Blood is a necessity. Like air or water. I can live without sex—not that I’d want to—but I can’t live without blood. And anytime you add sex to the equation, shit gets complicated.”
“I’m confused. What I saw looked and sounded sexual.”
“It is, to an extent. Our fangs inject venom when we bite, and it hits the bloodstream like a drug. The Source relaxes, starts feeling the same sensations they feel during sex. The more venom, the stronger the sensation. It’s one of the reasons humans agree to become Sources. But they do get paid for their blood, and most Sources leave it at that. Some don’t. Some want more.”
“Then why use a Source at all? Why not go to a blood bank or something and avoid all the complications?”
I chuckled. “So logical,” I teased and kissed her head. “Blood demons weren’t meant to drink blood through a straw. We’re predators even if we’ve evolved past victimizing our prey. My fangs ache when I don’t feed. They need to press into flesh to release venom. A blood bank works in a pinch, but it’s not a long-term solution.”
“Luca looked like he was enjoying himself almost as much as his date.”
I shrugged and dragged on my cigar. “It feels good.”
“Like sex?”
I considered the question while blowing out another trail of smoke. “Similar, but different.”
She ran a fingernail along my forearm, tracing the outline of the tattoo I’d gotten with Tony over a half-century ago when we got made.
“You didn’t bite me.”
Her disappointment made me flinch. I really didn’t want to have that conversation. “I didn’t.”
“Why?”
“I don’t mix feeding and fucking.”
“But you could.”
“I could.”
“Have you?”
“No.”
“Not ever?”
“Not ever.”
“Hmm.” She outlined its scales as if that was her focus and her line of questioning an afterthought. “What about girlfriends?”
“What about them?”
“Don’t they—” She swallowed. “Don’t they get jealous of your—your Sources?”
Nervous Anna resurfaced with that question, the hesitation in her voice telling me everything I needed to know. This had meant more to her than a simple fuck, and she was worried I didn’t share the sentiment.
I stubbed out my cigar. I lifted her up enough to move her out from between my legs, rolled on top of her, and slid us down the mattress till her head rested on the pillow. I covered her with my body and kissed the tip of her nose. “Jealous already?” I kissed her collarbone from her shoulder to the hollow of her neck.
“I—I thought you were going to bite me.”
I continued the kisses till I reached her ear. “You didn’t seem to mind when I was fucking you.” I dragged her earlobe between my teeth. She gasped and turned her face, tempting my mouth away from her ear with an invitation of parted lips. I kissed her, passionately, and pressed my hardening cock into her mound, distracting her from questions about my bite and a future together I wasn’t ready to answer.