Thirty-four
Michael Morpheus, Jean Horla, and Peter Vardalack checked into the Fairmont Hotel in Calgary, reserving a total of four rooms all under assumed names and paying the bill for one night’s stay in cash. Morpheus had decided to have everyone meet in Calgary and then proceed as a group to Banff rather than show up at different times there. He didn’t want to arrive in Banff at the airport in case Nachtman, or whatever name he was now using, had someone watching for his arrival.
Morpheus had a large suite to himself, while Peter and Jean shared a double on the same floor. By four o’clock in the afternoon, the others had all arrived and were meeting in Morpheus’s room.
In addition to Morpheus, Vardalack, and Horla, five other vampyres who were committed to stopping the production of a vaccine had come: Christina Alario, Theo Thantos, Gerald Enyo, and Louis Frene were there, and they’d brought along another female from the old New Orleans council who called herself Marya Zaleska, the name of Dracula’s daughter in one of Bram Stoker’s books.
Marya was very beautiful, with long, flowing blood-red hair fixed in a single braid that hung down her back almost to her well-rounded hips. Her skin was as pale as new drawn milk and her cheeks were covered with a light dusting of freckles that accented her brilliant green eyes. Morpheus was having a hard time keeping his eyes off her, realizing she could almost pass as Sam’s sister. He’d seen her a couple of times years ago in New Orleans, but she wasn’t a regular attendee at the council meetings so he’d never really gotten to know her, a lapse he now intended to rectify.
Christina, who’d enjoyed Morpheus’s attentions on several occasions and had a mild crush on him, noticed his attraction to the newcomer with some jealousy, and the fact that Marya strongly resembled the Normal Morpheus had chosen as his mate only made it worse. For years, Christina had secretly hoped she and Morpheus would eventually hook up and form a steady relationship. She’d been upset when he’d chosen a mere Normal to be his mate, but had felt better when it hadn’t worked out. Now, it looked like she was going to have to contend with another rival for his affections, if the way he was staring at the red-headed bitch was any indication.
Morpheus went to the bar he’d fixed in the corner of the room and looked over at Marya. “Would you care for some wine?” he asked, ignoring the others.
“I never drink . . . wine,” Marya answered in a thick accent, mimicking one of Dracula’s most famous quotes. Then, her eyes sparkling, she laughed and added, “But a couple of fingers of straight bourbon will do nicely, thank you.”
Christina got up and moved toward the bar. “Yes, I’d like a drink, too—thank you for asking,” she said sarcastically.
Morpheus frowned at her as he carried Marya’s drink to her. “Don’t be childish, Christina,” he said. “You can see the bar, so if you want a drink, fix yourself one.”
Christina bit back an angry retort and filled a tall glass almost to the brim with scotch.
Theo Thantos moved up beside her and whispered, “Don’t let him get to you, Christina, there are others here who appreciate your beauty far more than he does.” He stroked the back of her neck with a long fingernail, causing goose bumps to rise on her skin.
She turned and looked at him as she took a deep swallow. Thantos was tall, a couple of inches over six feet, had broad shoulders, dark brown hair cut to hang down over his ears, and deep hazel eyes that were boring into hers.
She smiled slowly. “Yes, Theo, I think you’ll do nicely,” she said, moving her leg so her thigh was against his crotch, where she felt a definite stirring. With any luck, she thought, Morpheus would see them and it might make him jealous, for a change.
Once everyone had gotten drinks from the bar, Morpheus took a seat on the couch next to Marya, staking his claim for all the other men to see, and raised his glass. “A toast, ladies and gentlemen, to our success in foiling the rogue’s attempt to make a vaccine to destroy our race.”
As they all drank, Thantos whispered to Christina, “I believe our friend Michael is more interested in punishing his mate for abandoning him than in preventing any old vaccine.”
Christina nodded slightly, her lips on her glass and her eyes blazing hatred as she whispered back, “It appears to me the bitch showed good judgment.”
Theo’s lips curled in a small smile as he eyed Christina. He would have a good time tonight, playing on the woman’s jealousy of Michael. He could feel his groin grow heavy as he stared at her, with her long, shiny black hair, pert, high breasts, and dusky complexion. She looked like one of the gypsies from the old country, and Theo planned to see if she tasted as good as she looked.
“But enough of business for now,” Morpheus said, jovially, his eyes flicking to Marya as he talked. “We’ve time enough for that later. For tonight, we are all strangers in a strange land, so I suggest we go out on the town and see if we can find some people to party with us.”
Everyone raised their glasses and laughed agreeably at this suggestion, except Christina, who had a feeling it would be Marya who Morpheus partied with and not her.
“I’ve reserved rooms for you all here in the hotel, but unfortunately, you’ll have to share a room with one of the others. Peter and Jean have one, and,” he glanced at Marya, who dropped her eyes and nodded, “Marya and I will share this one. So, the rest of you can pair up and we’ll all meet back here at noon tomorrow.”
As the others began to choose partners to share rooms with, Morpheus stood up and clinked his ring against his glass to get their attention. “Please remember, we are in a public place and the walls are not as thick as I’d like, so try to keep your guests from making too much noise as you . . . entertain them.”
Louis Frene, somewhat more cautious than the rest of the group, stood up. “Michael, what about the . . . uh . . . remains of our dinners tonight? Won’t leaving a number of bodies lying around for the maids to discover cause quite a stir?”
Morpheus laughed. “I’ve already thought of that, Louis. Peter and Jean have equipped each room with a large steamer trunk and plastic sheets for the beds. When you’re done, just wrap the bodies in the sheets and deposit them in the trunks. I’m told there are numerous places along the road to Banff where we can leave them so that they won’t be found until long after our business up here is concluded.”
* * *
After the others had left, Morpheus fixed himself and Marya another drink and sat close to her on the couch. As she drank, he leaned over and kissed her softly on the neck.
“Would you like to freshen up before we go hunting tonight?” he asked, his voice thick with desire.
“A shower would be nice,” she murmured, turning her face to look directly at him. Morpheus was considered quite a prize among her female friends. Good looking, powerful and ambitious, and said to be quite a dynamo in bed. Yes, she thought, a girl could do worse than having Michael Morpheus as a friend. She leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. “That is, if you’ll join me.”
“Of course I will,” he answered back against her lips. “In fact,” he said, caressing her right breast with his hand. He realized she wasn’t wearing a bra, and he enjoyed the feel of her nipple as it hardened under the thin cloth. “I can hardly wait.”
He watched with hungry eyes as she downed the last of her bourbon, stood up, and began walking toward the bathroom, shedding her clothes as she walked. By the time she reached the door, she was completely naked. Morpheus noticed that her face was not the only place she had freckles as he quickly swallowed his drink and rose to join her.
* * *
By the time Morpheus was undressed, Marya had the water piping hot and steam was billowing from the shower. He eased in behind her and put his hands on her shoulders, pressing his erect penis between the cheeks of her buttocks.
She moaned softly and pressed herself back against him as he nuzzled her neck, licking water from her skin as he slid inside her.
“Oh,” she groaned, moving with him, “Does that mean you’re happy to see me?”
“Very happy,” he answered, wrapping his arms around her and taking a breast in each hand, kneading them gently as he took her from behind.
When his breathing became quicker and he started to pant with desire, she eased herself off him and turned to face him, pressing her large, pink-tipped nipples against his chest as she kissed him deeply, tongues dancing together.
“Why’d you stop?” he complained softly, pulling her tight against him and trying to enter her again from the front.
“Uh-uh,” she cautioned, pulling back just enough to deny him entrance. “I don’t want you to finish yet. Let’s wait until we’ve had our dinner, before we continue.”
He sighed, disappointed, but thinking the anticipation would make the final joining even more special. “All right, if you insist.”
He took a washcloth from the side of the shower and began to soap her heavy breasts, pleased when the nipples hardened even more under his hands. “What would you prefer for our meal tonight—male or female?” he asked.
“I think female,” she answered, groaning a little and pressing her breasts harder into his hands. “After all, I’ve already got a male for the night, haven’t I?”
“Damn right!” Morpheus said huskily, his hips moving involuntarily as she took him in both her hands and soaped him. “But if you don’t stop that, I won’t be able to wait until later,” he said, his voice thick with lust.
* * *
Later, as they lay on his plastic-covered bed with the cooling body of a young, high-school girl between them, Morpheus pulled his bloodstained fangs from the girl’s neck and looked over her flacid breasts at Marya, who was still sucking on the other side.
“Have you ever considered taking a mate?” he asked, enthralled by her loveliness as she fed. Her milk white skin was now flushed a rosy pink and her freckles were dark red against her skin. Her breasts were swollen and her nipples tight with the desire feeding always brought.
She lifted her head and licked the last few drops of blood off her lips as she eyed him across the young woman. “No, not until tonight,” she answered, causing his penis to grow even larger and harder as she stared into his eyes with a hunger that had nothing to do with food.
He moved over the dead girl to Marya’s side of the bed and began to lick her breasts and her neck clean of the blood that had splattered on her, while she cupped his penis in her claws and stroked the hard skin with her nails, making him groan in pleasure until he could stand it no longer.
He pushed her shoulders back and got between her legs, which she raised and wrapped around his back. He kissed her open mouth, inserting his tongue as he plunged himself into her, almost screaming as her claws raked his back and she thrust her pelvis back at him, impaling him to the hilt in her steamy hot wetness.
They grunted and moaned and cried as they copulated with wild abandon, raking each other with claws and biting each other until they drew blood, which they greedily swallowed until they exploded together and collapsed in total fulfillment in each other’s arms.