Chapter 4 - “Wanna Bet?”

I don’t know what came over me, why I had attacked the poor woman.  It’s not like I had been dying of thirst, just last night Bruno had given me more than enough blood to keep me sated for the next couple of weeks; but it was like a blackout in my mind and my body went on automatic.

Suddenly, his issues I had bitched so hard about before, made a lot more sense.

I sniffled, wiping the blood tears from coursing down my face as I hugged my knees to my chest, sitting on the floor of the closet.  “Wish I would’ve known it’d be this hard before I got back here.” I whispered to nobody…well, just in case my Angel was listening.

Alone to my thoughts, I began musing about how my life was going to change.  Surely my family had heard the news, and on the flight to Hawaii, Bruno told me that he had already taken care of everything as far as my friends, family, and career were concerned.  Still, I knew my mother, and she was probably burdened with stress at the sheer idea of what had happened to me.

There was no television here, no cell service, so I had no way of knowing how the media was reacting.

Then there was the Elitists and Kenji.

Kenji.

How could he do that to me? To Bruno? I always knew him as a kind, quiet fellow.  He never bothered anybody, and hardly had enemies, if any at all! I really, truly, trusted him.  I defended him in Tokyo when Bruno had become suspicious of him.  Perhaps I had brought this upon myself…had I just shut my mouth for once, I might be sitting in my new home in Phoenix rather than to be sitting in a closet in the fucking Hana Rainforest of Maui.  Skin cold, blood tracked down my face, senses always high definition…

I didn’t even know if I still had my Medium abilities anymore.  I had just begun to get used to them…keeping away from death related memorabilia and the like.  I never said it aloud, but I liked the fact that I could deal out that harsh energy to vampires.  I remember I had done it to the gas station vampire and then to Bruno that time we fought.

I couldn’t evade the Elitists for very long, as I had to register as a vampire and when they see my name, I just know they’ll come around our way, having to approve me and such…lording around their fucking power just to try to pull Bruno into their evil plans.  I didn’t know what they wanted to gain from all of this; but clearly it was important enough to put a target on my back and get me killed.

I knew Bruno.  I knew if I told him that Kenji stabbed me, he would vamp away without a second word or a backwards glance and rip the guy’s heart, still beating, out of his chest.  Normally he wasn’t that rash; but now I see that in becoming a vampire, you have a harder time controlling your anger and violence.  That would do us no good; I wanted to find out why Kenji had betrayed us.  I wanted to find out what exactly the Elitists wanted.  I had to do this on my own, but fooling Bruno wasn’t an easy thing to accomplish.  He was very sharp and intelligent, something people overlooked far too often because of his humorous relaxed nature.  He had street smarts too, and was good at reading people.

This was going to take a lot of work.

But first, I had to accomplish not attacking people so he would trust me enough to let me out of his sight without these stupid commands that my body listened to by force.  I knew he wouldn’t abuse his power, but if it were up to me, we’d be fighting and breaking trees out there….I wouldn’t be sulking in a fucking closet.

The door opened and I squinted my eyes to adjust to the light of the bedroom.  “I wish I didn’t have to do this to you.” Bruno said sadly as I emerged from my ‘time-out’.  “But if you don’t learn anything else, you need to learn to not attack humans.”

I sat on the bed, my hands folded in my lap as I stared down at the floor.  “I didn’t mean to…”

“I know you didn’t, and that’s why I’m not gonna silver you….I don’t think I can bear the idea of silvering you anyway.” He replied.

“I’m sorry.” I whispered quietly.  He approached me gently, causing me to lean back onto the bed as he held his weight atop me.  I saw nothing but love in his eyes and understood that he wanted the best for me.

His voice was soft, fragile, as he spoke. “I’m sorry this happened to you.  I never wanted this life for you; but I couldn’t let you go.”

I slid my hands up his chest, pushing his shirt off of his shoulders as my fingers danced along the straps of his wifebeater.  “I told you the night of our wedding…I wanted you to do this.”  I would tell him just a little, “You know, I went to Heaven.”

“…what?”

I nodded.  “I died and went to Heaven.  Heaven is a replay of your happiest moments in life, but you can change the outcome.  I started at the soundcheck for the Grammys…you were there, coming over to talk to me and I didn’t even know I had died…so I started freakin’ out, telling this alternate version of you that we’re gonna be together and all that.”

“I probably thought you were crazy.” He smiled.

“You did.” I agreed, “But I kept going and warned you about the VMAs.  Sure enough I slipped to that memory and you took me around another route.”

Bruno rolled off from atop me and propped himself up on his elbow as he listened and I continued, “So we left, and I slipped into a would-be life.  I had to have been about 30 or so, you were around 35.  And we had children together.  A little boy and a little girl.  Xavier and Anela.”

“Anela, that’s a Hawaiian name.” He noted.

“Really? I had no idea where she got that name, I know I always wanted to name my son Xavier; but I hadn’t heard Anela until then.”

Bruno looked down at the sheets he absentmindedly dragged his fingers across.  “I always wanted to name my daughter Anela, it means ‘Angel’.”

“Ah, that’s where it came from.” I took his snapback off and placed it atop my head.

“Anyway, she was a really good drummer, you taught her ‘The Other Side’; and Xavier decided he wanted to play guitar.”

“Uh oh, the Smiths got competition! Make way for the Hernandez clan!”

“I know right!” We dissolved into laughter, but I think we both realized it wasn’t going to become a reality.  At least…not entirely.  When we quieted, I continued.  “After that…I was sent to Limbo.”

“I fuckin’ hated that place, I didn’t go to Heaven or Hell, I went straight to Limbo when I died.” He groaned at the memory.

“It wasn’t so bad…there was an Angel that came to speak with me and he took your form so he wouldn’t scare me.”

“Me? An Angel? I wish…” He said, trying to brush it off as nonchalant, but I could tell it affected him.

“Hey, don’t throw it out the window…the Angel, he was one of the top ones under God and he said you aren’t judged on being supernatural.  He said only on stuff like your character, your faith, the other stuff.  So we can still get into Heaven.” I said brightly.

“Damn, seriously? I guess there really is a light at the end of the tunnel…you know, if we die.” He added.  I laid down on my side, my gaze drifting upon him in reverence.  “So…” His tone and guise went from hopeful to obliquitous.

“What?”

“You wanna learn how to show your fangs?”

I eyed him suspiciously, “Aren’t we done training for the night?”

“As a newborn vampire, your training never ends.”

Well, I had been wanting to learn anyway so I could sit in front of the mirror and marvel at how badass I looked with fangs.  “Can’t be too hard…what do I do? Move my tongue in the opposite direction or somethin’?” I asked, moving my tongue all around in the roof of my mouth.

“Nope.” He grinned and with a click his teeth popped into place, accentuating his already gorgeous smile.

“C’mon don’t be a tease, what do I have to do? Beg? Plead? Suck your dick? I mean come on.” 

He laughed, “Actually, it’s been a minute since I got some head now that you mention it.  Now you’ve got to watch your teeth.”

“I just gave it to you like a month ago!” I whined.

“That’s a long time…that’s way too long.  I’m gonna have to put you on a schedule.” He affirmed.

“Excuse me, when’s the last time you ate me?”

“Define ‘ate’.”

I pursed my lips at his smartassness, “My pussy, genius.  Not my blood.”

“Three nights ago. Hah!” He countered proudly, slamming his hand down on the bed for emphasis.

“Oh…damn I forgot…” My argument was invalid.

“PFFFFT.” He sat up, “What’re you tryna say?!”

I sniggered, “I’m sayin’ I forgot.”

“Ok see I spoiled you, I’m on pussy eating hiatus until further notice.” He announced with finality.

“Whoa whoa whoa, you can’t do that!”

“Wanna bet?”

“Fine! Then I’m not giving you any more head!” Now I sat up, my feathers genuinely ruffled that he was holding oral sex over me as a punishment!  I didn’t say he was bad! I just said I had forgotten! What was I supposed to be doing?! Keeping a schedule!?

“You can’t do that, I do anything for you when we’re having sex…remember on our Honeymoon when you wanted me to—”

“But it went in my eye! I didn’t tell you to do it there!”

He threw his hands up in the air, “Oh sorry, my bad, I forgot dudes had control over the full direction of where we nut!”

I held my hand up, “You didn’t have to get it in my eye though.”

“Then there was that time you wanted me to pull some acrobatic shit and hold you on my shoulders…I did that, didn’t I?”

I crossed my arms, “And you almost dropped me.”

“It’s a little hard to balance when you’re thrusting against my face and I’m holding you in the air.” He combatted.  “You have no argument, I should be getting more head.”

“What if I said no?” I challenged, lifting my brow.  “I mean, you’re withholding eating me, so I can withhold that.”

“Ok, cool, and I can withhold this dick too.”

My jaw dropped, “You wouldn’t…”

He shrugged, “And you wanna know the best part?”

“What?”

He vamped over to me and collided his lips against mine, pushing me roughly onto the bed as his hands coursed over my body and up between my legs.  When my teeth ejected into place, he pulled away, wiping his lower lip with his thumb.

“In order to drop your fangs on your own, you have to focus your thoughts on something that turns you on the most.  Good luck.” He walked backwards and pulled his shirt off, followed by his beater, throwing it to the floor as he went into the bathroom and I heard the shower water start.

“Fuck my life.” I muttered aloud, dropping back onto the bed.  I lightly touched my left lateral and felt that same shiver.  “Fuck….my….life.”
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“Fuck my life.” I groaned, leaning my head back against the shower wall as the warm water cascaded over my body.

I knew Roxanne, I just knew she hated to show any signs of weakness and she was going to hold out on our bet for a long time, unless I found some miracle way to push her to her limits.  How I was going to accomplish that, I had no idea…and it didn’t help that she was my progeny now, so I felt this need to be as close to her as possible…inside of her as deeply as possible, feeling every inch of her brand new body.

Man, I never really let her know when she was a human because I knew she would feel inadequate, but I held back so much when we began getting intimate upon my return to her.  Little shit that was light for me, she thought was her limit of roughness…which was already high.  Now we could go so much harder…do so much more…we were back on the same wavelength and…

I banged my head against the shower wall harder.

Come on Bruno, get it together, if you don’t back your shit up, she’ll know that she has the real power in your relationship, and you’re the man, so that can’t happen.  So act like one.

Right.  I got this.

Plus…I’m alone so…

I wrapped my fingers around the base of my dick, hard and aching at this point, despite my numerous attempts to ignore it.  But fuck…it felt good to acknowledge my needs, and I trembled as I slowly stroked back and forth…
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I flung my compact mirror to the side after lying on my back for the past three minutes, trying to retract my damned teeth; but no matter how I implicated Bruno’s methods, they wouldn’t go away, and I had a feeling I knew why.

They were auto-piloting me.

I turned over and hugged the nearby pillow to my chest, letting out an unnecessary sigh.  I should’ve stopped arguing and just agreed to my plea deal he was giving…I mean I didn’t have a problem with giving him head, I actually really…really liked it; because I felt in control, which I liked to do sometimes.

But it just took so much effort; especially now that he was a vampire and he had this ridiculous stamina.  I would stay down there forever, and let’s be real, I don’t have jaws of steel, okay? So maybe I was slacking just a teeny, tinybit…but now that I was a vampire, I was ready to go…you know? Ready to explore feelings I never even knew existed.

I mean, I don’t think he had any idea as to how much the little things he did would turn me on.  Of course I would never tell him, and blow his head up? Yeah right.

But oh…the way he brings his lower lip between his teeth when he’s listening so intently to something I’m saying…

The way he sounds when he gets tired right at the crack of dawn…

The way he walks around the room when he’s halfway dressed.  His jeans sitting perfectly on his hips, just a sliver of the top of his boxers showing, belt undone, shirt off, hair wet and dripping all over the place…down between his shoulder blades…

I couldn’t help but to trace my tongue along the length of each fang separately, this time bathing in the feeling of arousal that hit me.  I did it again, and again, glancing over my shoulder at the closed bathroom door, water still running, before I slipped my hand into my sweats, between my legs…
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I didn’t want her to hear me, and bein’ that her hearing is more superior than before, that meant I had to make next to no noise.  I pumped myself harder, my lower stomach tightening as I closed my eyes and pushed my hips forward.

Through gritted teeth I inhaled air sharply when I felt the chills from running my hand over my tip, going back down the bottom before I really seized myself and advanced my tempo, unable to stop my hips from pushing forward.  Unable to rid my mind of these images of slamming Rox against this shower wall and thrusting into her the way I was doing my hand.  Watching as she arches her back and says my name like it’s the only thing she knows…
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“Bruno…” I whispered, lost in the pleasure I was giving myself.  I furiously rubbed my clit, wishing I could go even faster, my legs spreading as I felt those little sparks start up, those little teasing jolts that told you ‘hey, if you go a little faster, I’ll give you what you really want’.

“Mmmmfff.” I grabbed the nearby pillow and covered my face as I raised my hips.  Once I knew I was just seconds from teetering off the edge, I quickly moved my other hand down to push two fingers inside myself, stroking my swollen spot at the same time.

The burst was sudden…
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And I lost track of my plan as soon as I came, gripping the hot water knob, my mouth dropping open involuntarily and a hoarse groan emerging from my throat as I siphoned out every fuckin’ drop of cum I could until I finished.

I lazily leaned against the wall and took the nozzle, rinsing down the mess I had made on the shower door.

Suddenly, I heard a noise…like a squeak or something from the other room.
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I covered my mouth before anything else could slip out, slowly lowering my body back down to the bed.  I heard the shower stop running, so I hurriedly jumped off the bed and ran into the closet, changing my pants and wiping my hands off on my dirty clothes.

I heard the door open and Bruno came casually strolling out with a towel around his waist.  He went around the room, shutting all of the light blocking shades.  I knelt down in the closet and continuously did the movements to retract my fangs, until finally on the fourth try, they sunk back into hidden view.

“Why…does my pillow…have bite marks in it?”

If I had a working heart, it would’ve dropped.

I turned around, trying to look as normal as possible…shrugging as I attempted to look annoyed with him as I was earlier.  He cut his eyes at me in that way he always did when he didn’t believe what someone was saying.

“Right.” He stood up and pulled on a pair of baggy sweatpants.  “You’re mad, that’s alright, but what did my pillow ever do to you?” He leaped into the bed and hugged his pillow close, “He never even had a chance.”

I bit my lip to hide my smile.

“C’mere babygirl.” He held out his arm and I ran and jumped into the bed and he pulled me close to him, wrapping his arms around me.  “Just because I’m spooning you, that doesn’t mean our strike is revoked.”

“You’ll be revoking it real soon.”

“I know I will, because you’ll be giving in.”

“Ok Bruno, sure.  You’re not that sexy, relax.” I lied, snuggling into my pillow more as I laid my hands atop his.

“Mmm, you sure about that Rox?”

He purposefully made his tone stridulous and low.

So I purposefully pushed my ass back into him, partially glancing over my shoulder. “Yes, I’m sure, Bru.”

He chuckled and embraced me again and my lips curled into a small smile as I slipped into my daytime death.
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“Go!” I clicked the stopwatch and waited.

Seconds later, Roxy had spanned three miles and stood in front of me proudly.  “11.4 seconds, that’s your best time yet.”

“Cause I’m a boss!” She declared.

Though I was impressed by her incredibly fast improvement, we had been doing nearly nonstop training for two weeks straight, I shook my head. “You’re not a boss until you can beat me.”

“Let’s go then.” She pulled her hair up into a high ponytail, clapping her hands together.

“Yeah right, you’ll embarrass yourself kid.” I tried to save her the humiliation, but as always, she wanted to make an attempt to prove me wrong.

“I’m willing to take that chance.”

I tucked the stopwatch away in my pocket and decided to remind her who her Creator was.  “Alright then, we’ll start here, then head through the eastern part of the forest to the waterfall, up the climbing path, leap to the coconut tree and use that to hit the hiking trail to the highway, come back around through the northern part of the forest and then to the bungalow.”

“Easy enough; but only under one condition…” She smiled, “If I win, we visit a salsa club in actual civilization.”

I wasn’t ready to take it that far yet.  “You’re not ready to be around people yet.”

“Yes I am! Look, I’m not giving up my music career just because of what I am, and I’m gonna have to be around real people at some point! I’d rather learn now than mess up at a meet-and-greet later.” She explained, and I could tell she had been already thinking of a way to bring this up.  I just unfortunately walked into that trap.

“You’re two weeks old.  Two weeks! I didn’t get to go out in public until I was a month old, and I killed eight people that night.”

“I’m sure you’re not gonna let me kill anyone, look at how you handled me with that couple, easy right?”

“It’s different in public places, ‘cause when we’re out in front of people, especially, especially in Hawaii, we gotta watch what we do.  Can you imagine the video that’ll be on TMZ if I gotta check you in public? My image doesn’t allow for that, I’ll lose everything.” There was no way that Icouldn’t manhandle Roxy if she lost control; as a vampire, that’s just what you had to do…gentle coaxing was useless.  Maybe the vampire community, or the supernatural community in general would understand…but the world was still trying to figure out what the hell was going on, and most people didn’t even want to try to understand how our lifestyles worked.

“Bruno, I’m gonna die if I have to spend another day in isolation.  Just one break, please? A little one? Only if I win the race…you can bring silver and I’m sure that’ll keep me straight.” She clasped her hands together, interlocking her fingers as she begged.

I rubbed my face with a sigh, giving in, “Alr-“

“Woo!”

Before I could finish she darted off into the distance.

“YOU CAN’T DO THAT, THAT’S CHEATING!” I yelled, sprinting after her.  I caught up alongside her, relishing the shock on her face.  It felt like we were simply jogging through the forestry; but to the human eye, we were nothing but a blur of motion.

“How’d you get here so fast?” She asked.

I shrugged and raced off ahead of her, focusing on the upcoming climbing path…when suddenly a tree came crashing down in front of me, throwing off my balance and I tripped, falling to the ground.  I looked up to see Roxy standing where the trunk of the tree had previously been anchored, she waved her fingers at me and winked before racing up the climbing path.

Okay, if she wanted to play dirty, I could play dirty.  I could play filthy, she didn’t know what I was capable of.

I ran off course, catching the scent of a boar.  Following it, I came upon the wild animal who had already heard me and started to run; but I cut it off, grabbing the large tusks and twisting it’s head to break the neck, killing him instantly.

Animals. I hated drinking from them; and I only did it in case of emergencies…but Roxanne was in the phase of her vampirism that would ravage anything with a pulse and drain it dry, no matter how full she felt.

Taking advantage of this knowledge, I released my fangs and pierced the thick skin of the boar.  I spat out the bitter tasting blood, but covered my hands with the liquid life source and dashed back on course.
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After arriving at the top of the waterfall, I realized I hadn’t seen Bruno for a while.  I looked around, using my senses to listen; but he was nowhere to be heard.

“Hah.” I laughed, perhaps arrogantly, but I didn’t care.  He probably gave up already.  I hurtled forward, taking a bounding leap off of the top of the waterfall and clinging to the coconut tree.  I dug my nails into the bark as I pushed myself up to the top and vaulted myself a beautiful fifty or so feet through the air until I landed, crouched on the ground at the fence that separated the forest from the Hana Highway.

I turned to hit the northern part of the forest, nearing the end of our challenge, when my nose twitched, picking up an addictive aroma.  Someone, something was bleeding.  There was blood somewhere.

There was…

Bl…

Blood.

WHERE.

I sped after the scent trail that had enveloped my senses, urging my feet to plow through the forest floor quicker, forcing my teeth into place, switching my sight into tunnel vision detection mode.  As I got closer and closer, I got further and further from the course; but who cares? Who gave a fuck? There was blood somewhere!

I came to a disappointing halt, skipping to a standstill as I saw the source of my desire simply smeared all over the trunk of a tree.

Realizing what had happened, I curled my fists tightly as I growled, “Bruno…”

I was gonna kill him.

I bolted back throughout the rainforest, soon coming close enough to hear him running somewhere nearby.  I pushed myself to go faster, digging into every power source in my body.  Thank God I didn’t have to breathe, or I would have died by now.

Seeing the bungalow in the distance, I noticed Bruno ahead of me and I climbed up the nearby tree, catapulting myself off of it.

If I couldn’t win this shit, then he couldn’t either.

I landed on his back, tackling him to the ground and we both slid a good twenty feet, etching a long impact trail in the dirt from our slide that was so deep, tree roots were sticking up in various places.

He groaned, lifting his head to survey the damage we had done before looking up at me.  “Really?”

“Ever seen The Lion King?” I asked, beaming down at him.

“Yeah?”

“Pinned ya.”