Bite Me Here

As the sun sank beneath the horizon, Ethan’s eyes opened. It mattered not that he lived in a place where others like him could walk boldly in the daylight hours. Old habits die hard and Ethan could never shake the feeling that the smog and darkness could simply clear with a strong blow from the sea and he would be reduced to dust after 1500 years. Even during bleak times, it was a sobering thought. Brit was snuggled against him and both of them were practically swaddled with multiple blankets. When he shifted, she whimpered a protest at the breaking the warm seal around them which allowed some of the night’s coolness to touch her skin. At the sound, Ethan froze for a moment to ensure he was not rousing her from her slumber.

While lying as still as a corpse next to her, Ethan’s thoughts raced replaying the previous evening over in his head. He was curious. Inching down her side, he pressed against her soft, healed flesh feeling the indentations beneath her skin. His eyes widened as he remembered her soft whisper, “Bite me here.” Her fingers had directed his hand to her taunt upper tummy. Naturally, he complied. Brit never made such requests. His fingers pressed again and the memory flooded his mind. Her skin had been damp from the rain and slightly sweaty from trudging through the streets. He had bitten her neck as he shielded her from others on the street and the rain that continued to pour from the sky.

After so many years, Ethan prided himself on having a clear mind but on this evening he could not recall the sequence of events that led them to the hidden room. His wife at one point told him, “Drink me slow.” As he pieced the memory together, he grinned slightly as his fingers continued to trail along the bites. That was said as he drank, or started to drink, while in the street. Licking his lips in the memory, they had moved to the taxi to continue, but she indicated that she was seeking more. “Bite me here.” Was it a telepathic thought or were the words said. He could not remember and her sleeping mind did not respond when he gave it his own silent nudge. Brit only yielded another whimper of protest when more cold air slipped beneath the blankets.

Within the hidden room, he built a fire in the fireplace and waited to be sure that the chimney still could produce a draw to let smoke exit the room. Peeling off wet clothing, the fire warmed skin as it dried garments. “Bite me here,” she said again. He wondered whether it was the first bite to the tummy or the second onto the hip. His fingers traced down her sleeping form until he pressed the area also healed where more indentations had made. The caress made her writhe slightly as she mumbled something still deep in sleep. Ethan had never bitten anyone in either location before and neither yielded much blood. The first spot was unusual. He sipped and felt that he should have heard the sound one made when drinking the dregs of a delicious milkshake. The sweetness of the blood was almost a tease. The second yielded a small, thin vein. The blood was so deoxygenated. He could almost feel the cells crying for air. It reminded him of being human and craving water when there was only honey.

Brit had asked him to drink her slow when still outside. The beast within caused his muscles to bunch and shake as he struggled to comply with the request. Feeling the fire warm his back, Ethan wanted to grab tightly and drink deeply. His fingers had dug deeply into her skin as he forced himself to continue to take sips. Another sound of protest was heard from beneath the blankets and Ethan realized that his fingers were again pressing into her flesh. He had not breathed in years and felt a desire to pull in air to stave the intoxicating feelings. Again he froze in place and once again, she snuggled against him continuing to sleep.

Down her body to her thigh, his fingers wandered. Ethan remembered Brit’s lisped whisper as she said, “Bite me here.” His lips parted slightly and his fangs lengthened at the memory of drinking from her there. The feeling of her skin on his cheek as he kissed her softly until he got to the point where her finger lingered and sunk into her flesh was almost burned into his memory like a branding iron had placed it there. The popping feeling of the artery that filled his mouth with blood caused him to blink as he remembered every moment that he drank the oxygen-rich blood from her thigh. There was no drinking slowly and he found that he could not help but drink deeply until he felt her fingers cool on his cheek. He had to stop. The struggle to break something so desired to save someone so treasured was etched into his memory as well.

Ethan had pulled his fangs from her thigh and could feel the beast scream from within. He grappled her and pulled her roughly to him. Breathless was the only feeling that he could think to describe the moment. He held her protectively and focused on his love for her. It was an odd feeling to protect someone loved from oneself. He stared ahead at the wall behind the flames in the fireplace while pulling his wrist to his lips. Opening a vein, he held it to her lips knowing she needed to heal. Even still, he could not help tasting miniscule droplets from her wrist as she sipped from his. Greed, he thought, the greatest deadly sin. He felt confident that he would never succumb to the beast when his beloved was involved. Kissing her hair, Ethan held Brit until she woke.