the air caress my bare skin. One more look at the charm and I decided it was time to take it to Corbin and let him tell me if it was in fact enchanted. I hadn’t questioned myself like this since I kicked Cillian out; why would I start now?
“Damn him,” I whispered before I dropped the charm on the dresser top again, walking away from it and into the bathroom to get cleaned up before I went to see Corbin.
July in the city was nearly unbearable, but when the sun set and the buildings’ shadows stretched long through the street, the world became cool and inviting. I pulled my long blond locks into a high ponytail and wore a lightweight, black, off the shoulder sweater with a pair of skinny jeans and sandals.
I paused in front of the mirror and gazed at my exposed shoulder. There were still two faint half-moon scars along the muscle of my shoulder where it curved into my neck. They had faded to a light pink, but were still shiny against my fair skin. I touched the scars, brushing my fingertips over them, and felt the phantom pulse of the bite’s power. Every once in a while, one of my lovers would do something to awaken it, setting the scar aflame and making my body tremble with need, though it was nothing compared to what it was before Corbin’s potion.
But if Daniel pounded me against the wall too hard or Andre fed from that side of my neck, it would be a couple of days before it quieted again, and until then, my carnal appetite was nearly insatiable. Daniel was careful about stimulating it, but sometimes Andre would set it off just for fun, insisting the magic still contained therein did something to my blood, which in turn gave him more power. I think he just liked to keep me for a few days in his bed, waking only for food and sex until even his body was weak. I never had to worry about Corbin reawakening my bite though; I could carve my desire for him in the skin of his back with my nails, but he would never reciprocate the pain. He wouldn’t even kiss my neck there.
Sometimes I felt his hesitation so acutely I would almost ask him to kiss me there, bite me there, bury his nails into the scars, but I didn’t. Corbin had such control, it drove me crazy, and I wanted to rip his control apart. I didn’t need him to pay any attention to my bite for that; it only ripped my control apart, not his. I closed my eyes and shook my head, blowing out a breath to clear my mind. I pulled the charm out of my pocket and slipped it on around my neck. As soon as the charm lay against my chest, even with the fabric of the sweater between me and it, I immediately felt settled. I laid my hand over the charm, hiding it from the reflection in the mirror, but I could still feel the magic of it, like a tiny heart beat finding the rhythm of my heart beat, the magic slipping and sliding around me until it melded with my magic.
“Yeah,” I whispered to my reflection, “I don’t think that’s right.” After tucking the charm under the neck of my sweater, I grabbed my bag and my keys and headed out the door to go see Corbin.
Corbin’s building was a reconverted hotel from the 1920s. The lobby was still decorated in that Art Deco style with stained glass and gold everywhere. But the residents or the landlord didn’t really care about keeping it up to its former glory; the carpet was in tatters, every surface had a thick coat of dust, and even the mirrors lining the walls had tarnished years ago. The thick glass in the windows of the front door was coated in grime from the nearby sewage drain and the names next to the apartment buzzers were nearly gone, not that anyone bothered to keep them up to date anyway.
I had never seen any of Corbin’s neighbors, but I could feel them behind the walls, albeit faintly, like they weren’t fully alive. I assumed they were all vampires and ghouls, Corbin being the only warm body in the building. And what a body it was.
The first time I set foot in this building, I hadn’t trusted the
“Damn him,” I whispered before I dropped the charm on the dresser top again, walking away from it and into the bathroom to get cleaned up before I went to see Corbin.
July in the city was nearly unbearable, but when the sun set and the buildings’ shadows stretched long through the street, the world became cool and inviting. I pulled my long blond locks into a high ponytail and wore a lightweight, black, off the shoulder sweater with a pair of skinny jeans and sandals.
I paused in front of the mirror and gazed at my exposed shoulder. There were still two faint half-moon scars along the muscle of my shoulder where it curved into my neck. They had faded to a light pink, but were still shiny against my fair skin. I touched the scars, brushing my fingertips over them, and felt the phantom pulse of the bite’s power. Every once in a while, one of my lovers would do something to awaken it, setting the scar aflame and making my body tremble with need, though it was nothing compared to what it was before Corbin’s potion.
But if Daniel pounded me against the wall too hard or Andre fed from that side of my neck, it would be a couple of days before it quieted again, and until then, my carnal appetite was nearly insatiable. Daniel was careful about stimulating it, but sometimes Andre would set it off just for fun, insisting the magic still contained therein did something to my blood, which in turn gave him more power. I think he just liked to keep me for a few days in his bed, waking only for food and sex until even his body was weak. I never had to worry about Corbin reawakening my bite though; I could carve my desire for him in the skin of his back with my nails, but he would never reciprocate the pain. He wouldn’t even kiss my neck there.
Sometimes I felt his hesitation so acutely I would almost ask him to kiss me there, bite me there, bury his nails into the scars, but I didn’t. Corbin had such control, it drove me crazy, and I wanted to rip his control apart. I didn’t need him to pay any attention to my bite for that; it only ripped my control apart, not his. I closed my eyes and shook my head, blowing out a breath to clear my mind. I pulled the charm out of my pocket and slipped it on around my neck. As soon as the charm lay against my chest, even with the fabric of the sweater between me and it, I immediately felt settled. I laid my hand over the charm, hiding it from the reflection in the mirror, but I could still feel the magic of it, like a tiny heart beat finding the rhythm of my heart beat, the magic slipping and sliding around me until it melded with my magic.
“Yeah,” I whispered to my reflection, “I don’t think that’s right.” After tucking the charm under the neck of my sweater, I grabbed my bag and my keys and headed out the door to go see Corbin.
Corbin’s building was a reconverted hotel from the 1920s. The lobby was still decorated in that Art Deco style with stained glass and gold everywhere. But the residents or the landlord didn’t really care about keeping it up to its former glory; the carpet was in tatters, every surface had a thick coat of dust, and even the mirrors lining the walls had tarnished years ago. The thick glass in the windows of the front door was coated in grime from the nearby sewage drain and the names next to the apartment buzzers were nearly gone, not that anyone bothered to keep them up to date anyway.
I had never seen any of Corbin’s neighbors, but I could feel them behind the walls, albeit faintly, like they weren’t fully alive. I assumed they were all vampires and ghouls, Corbin being the only warm body in the building. And what a body it was.
The first time I set foot in this building, I hadn’t trusted the
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