TITLE: A VAMPIRE'S TALE 4: UNDEAD RULES AUTHOR: Donnilee E-MAIL: Donnilee@snet.net WEBSITE: http://donnilee.tripod.com RATING: NC-17 CATEGORY: MSR - Kr/Other-Slash. SUMMARY: Gareth assumes his role as King of the Vampires, and he and Alex begin training the fledglings to survive in the real world. SPOILERS: S.R. 819 Takes place near the end of Season 7. Mulder was abducted but Requiem didn't happen. DISCLAIMER: I have a list of people to blame for my perversions, so let's not go there. Oh, you mean the characters herein? Nope. Not mine. Used shamelessly and without remorse. They belong to Chris Carter, Ten Thirteen, and Fox Broadcasting. DEDICATION: I think I'm going to dedicate this one to Cybill cause she's been such a good little feedback bunny lately! Hope you like this one as much as the others, girl! THANKS: To my beta reader, Fran Hartman for beta reading even though she had MUCH bigger things to worry about lately. Thanks for all your time and effort. I really appreciate it, darling. WARNING: Here there be M/M slash between Krycek and a secondary character. There M&S horizontal mambo too. If this isn't your cup of tea, you can skip those parts. I've rated each chapter AND marked the beginning of the descriptive sex, so that you can tell which chapter contains the descriptive sex and then skip over that part if you wish. AUTHOR'S NOTE 1: This a sequel to "Steeped in Blood", and "Trail of Blood", and "Blood Red Rose," A Vampire's Tale 1, 2 and 3, respectively. You could read this one on its own, but I would love it if you read the first two beforehand. If you didn't, you need to know that Mulder and Scully are lovers now. There's a new Deputy Director, Kendall Fair whose real name is Gareth and is a vampire. He is also Alex Krycek's lover and maker, as he is a vampire too. AUTHOR'S NOTE 2: The sex between vampires in this story is "supposed" to be fantastic and unrealistic. It is pure fantasy and not meant to be picked apart with tweezers! The "endowments" of the participants are "supposed" to lean toward the ridiculous to give a feel of separating human sex from vampiric sex. AUTHOR'S NOTE 3: When characters speak to each other telepathically, those words are between asteriks **, rather than quotes. Synopsis of VT1: Alex is made a vampire. D.D. Fair manipulates M&S into an investigation that leaves them owing Alex their lives after a narrow escape from a rogue blood drinker. They return to D.C. Alex continues to learn of his abilities and how to control them. When Kersh disappears, Skinner is promoted to Deputy Director. Synopsis of VT2: M&S investigate D.D. Fair and find some disturbing information. They end up witnessing a vampiric battle between Gareth and an old time enemy, Zebrosia, in which Alex again saves Scully's life. Gareth (D.D. Fair) is revealed as the head of the *New* Consortium whose agenda is X-Files friendly and alien colonization unfriendly. Protection is traded for silence. The story ends with a new murder, much like the ones before the Zebrosia battle, which Alex and Gareth claim were not by their hand. Synopsis of VT3: Gareth and Alex catch a rogue blood drinker and find out they have a much bigger problem; a rogue Maker who is building an army and planning to kill world leaders. They travel to Egypt where they find Gareth's family tomb desecrated. Gareth destroys the Maker and agrees to become the leader of some 50 fledglings and train them to survive. xxxxxxxxxxxx PART 1 (PG) ALEXANDRIA POLICE DEPT. ALEXANDRIA, VA I looked at Scully after viewing the cell in which Pierre LeBlanc had been held. He was to be held until his arraignment, which was scheduled for tomorrow. Last night, he'd broken out and was on the run. I'd moved most of my essentials and important papers to Scully's apartment, and I had purchased a small safe with double locks to keep our important papers. Since Gareth had told us UV sunlight was one of the things that could kill them, I'd purchased four UV flood lights and mounted them in the corners of Scully's living room, near the ceiling. It was a long shot, but it was worth a try. We had a feeling Pierre would come after us eventually. The stupid deputy that was left on night watch last night had done exactly what he was told not to do. He was coaxed into opening the cell door after Pierre told him that he had cut himself on a spring from the cot. Stupid. They were told not to look in his eyes, as he was a master hypnotist. They were told not to get within grabbing distance of the man. But like most people, he hadn't believed the danger was real; not for him, anyway. We had the entire episode on tape. Pierre must have bitten his own wrist and had stuck it out of the bars to show the deputy that he was bleeding. The deputy had left, returning with a first aid kit, and had unlocked the cell. Once unlocked, the door had been opened with lightning speed and Pierre had grabbed the man and sunk his fangs into his neck. It was all over. Weak as Pierre was, he was still stronger than the deputy and needed only a few mouthfuls of blood to regain his strength. Watching the video tape that surveyed the hallway outside the cells, it was obvious what had happened. Of course, when we reached the part where the deputy was dragged to Pierre for the attack, there was only a blur on the tape. Even Skinner couldn't believe it. I told them we had to slow the tape down to see what happened. They all looked at me like I was a lunatic. However, sans any better ideas, they'd let me call the Gunmen to bring down an VHS editing machine with flying erase heads that could move a film frame by frame. Once slowed, the action was clearly defined. There were even a few nice shots of Pierre's fangs just before he sank them into the hapless deputy's neck. There was hardly any disturbance in the cell. He must not be able to light fires, as he had left the exsanguinated deputy lying on the floor, stripped naked, and had relocked the cell before leaving. He'd walked out of the holding tank wearing the deputy's uniform and right out the front door. Captain Marshall, who stood next to us now as we examined the cell, looked confused and chagrined. "I swear I told him to call someone for back up if he needed to approach the prisoner." "I believe you, Captain. We run into this sort of thing a lot." His brow scrunched. "What do you mean by that? People not believing you, or weirdness like this?" Scully answered for us. "Both, I'm afraid." The captain shook his head in disgust. "He was a good man, Deputy Farrell." "I'm sure he was," I said, as I lifted the ratty mattress off the cot. I pointed to the metal frame with only a piece of plywood inside. Scully sighed. "There aren't even any springs on this cot." The captain opened his mouth, thought better of what he was going to Say, and shut it again. "Let's go, Scully. We're not going to find any clues here," I said sadly. "Don't blame yourself, Mulder." "I should have stayed, Scully. I should have known better." "You were dead on your feet, Mulder. We did everything we could." I looked at the chalk outline on the floor where the deputy had lain. "Obviously ... it wasn't enough," I replied. She sighed and followed me out of the cell. The captain trailed us up the stairs and back into the squad room. There was a hive of activity here; deputies talking, phones ringing, file cabinet drawers slamming. The captain rapped on the glass window of his office and bellowed, "Everyone listen up!" The sounds all quit and an eerie quiet fell on the room. The captain announced, "This here are Special Agents Mulder and Scully with the FBI. They apprehended our killer. Now we've let him escape." "Deputy Farrell let him escape," one officer interrupted. Captain Marshall frowned at him. "That's enough. He was in the custody of this police department and we lost him. We are all responsible for prisoners here. Now just listen up. We need to be on the lookout for this guy. Afterwards, I'll pass out the photos of him that we took when we booked him. Agent Mulder," he turned the room over to me. "Hello, everyone," I began. "I know most of you didn't see him personally. Frankly, he isn't much to look at, but don't let that fool you. The man is extremely dangerous and extremely strong." "Superman, right, Agent?" one officer cracked. There was a smattering of titters across the squad room. The Captain spoke up again. "I said that's ENOUGH. The next person that makes a joke is suspended for three days without pay!" he threatened. A few gasps were heard across the room. He nodded at me to continue. "I know a lot of this sounds fantastic. I won't bore you with details you probably won't believe anyway. I will say this, though. Deputy Farrell didn't listen to us ... and now he's dead. This man is EXTREMELY dangerous. If you believe nothing else, believe that he has killed nine people and drained them of their blood. It doesn't matter how he did it. The point is that he did, and he is vicious and without remorse. He thinks he needs blood to survive," I lied, knowing they wouldn't buy the vampire story despite the dead deputy. Better to let them think the guy was delusional. "He's a master hypnotist, which is how we believe he got to Officer Farrell. He's a sick man, but a strong and dangerous one. There are very few ways to stop him. Agent Scully, I'll let you take it from here." Scully nodded and stepped forward. "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Special Agent Dana Scully. I'm also a medical doctor. My specialty is forensic science and determining the cause of death. I haven't performed the autopsy on your fellow deputy yet, but I don't have to be a genius to figure out how he died. He has no blood in his body. How this was accomplished ... we're not sure," she lied. She was following the game plan. "He may have actually bitten the deputy's neck open and sucked some of his blood out." "Sick," I heard murmured in several areas of the room. They all went quiet again at a stern look from Captain Marshall. "I do know this about your perpetrator. He has a rare form of Lupus, Discoid Lupus Erythematosus, that causes SEVERE sensitivity to UV light rays and extreme heat." She was borrowing D.D. Fair's excuse to cover his light sensitivity. It would be much more believable to these world weary cops. "This probably adds to his own delusion of vampirism. Therefore, fire can stop him, and sunlight can render him helpless. It is very painful for him. This gives you an advantage in some ways. If you can lure him into the sun, you can render him helpless. Unfortunately, this probably means that he hides during the day. If we can find where he hides, we may be able to capture him near day break when he returns to wherever he sleeps." One female officer raised her hand. "Yes, Officer?" Scully asked. "Does he sleep in a coffin, you think?" There were more chuckles heard around the room. Officer Leavy hung her head. Scully smiled. "He might." She took in the incredulous stares of the deputies. "Look, I know none of you believe in vampires. However, what you do need to believe is that our killer BELIEVES he is a VAMPIRE," she emphasized. "Therefore, he may mimic some of the folklore, which would include sleeping in a coffin. Therefore, that's a good place to start. What was your name, Officer?" "Officer Jennifer Leavy, Ma'am," she answered, her head now held high. Scully nodded. "Jennifer asked a very good question, everyone, and you laughed at her. But she brings up a good point. Whoever is assigned to this case could start with that. Check all the funeral homes. Find out if they have sold any coffins lately that have been removed from the funeral home by someone who has not scheduled a funeral or if any have been stolen. That could give you an area to concentrate your search in. Check the graveyards for any desecrated graves." "Yuck," someone said. Scully nodded again. "Yuck, indeed. However, Officer Leavy is right. You should bone up on your vampire lore and try to figure out things that would appeal to someone who THINKS he is a vampire." I interrupted. "I worked a case before with perpetrators who thought they were vampires. Our killer was found working in a blood bank." More murmurs. "Another good place to look. Blood banks, Red Cross outfits, phlebotomy labs," she offered as suggestions. I spoke up. "This sort of delusion isn't uncommon in UNSUBs, unidentified subjects, although in this case, we know who our perp is, so we can't really call him an UNSUB. Often killers delude themselves into thinking that they are above the rest of you, that they are immortal somehow and indestructible. This is usually a fantasy that they make reality by controlling their victims. It makes them feel powerful. We often find that these killers have some sort of characteristic they are ashamed of; stuttering, perhaps, or a physical disfigurement that makes them have difficulty forming lasting friendships or relationships." People were nodding their heads now, accepting the delusional perpetrator angle as we suspected they would. We needed them to take us seriously. "Finally," I concluded, "if you think you know where he might be, do NOT rush in. Call for back up and please, call us. We'll be leaving our office number and our cell phone numbers with Captain Marshall and your Lieutenant. If you plan on surprising him in a hideout or apartment, have at least six officers on hand." They looked a little skeptical at this. "He can only fight so many," I added. "That's all for now. Call us with any questions you may have. Captain, do you know who is assigned to this case?" Although all officers would be on the lookout, only four officers were being assigned to a team that would actively be trying to find him. The officers went back to work as the captain answered, "No, not yet. That will be up to Lieutenant Cobbs." "When will he be in?" Scully asked. "In about a half an hour. He had a meeting this morning with the mayor." "Ooo, lucky him," I commented and the captain laughed. "You know politicians. They want their crimes solved and wrapped up with a neat, little bow on the package. We lost this guy and have a dead cop to boot. He is not a happy man." "No, I don't imagine he is," I commented. He looked at me and said, "Why? Did you have something to talk to him about?" "Not really," Scully said. "I think he should weed out skeptical deputies. You need people on this team who are going to take this guy seriously. He is no joke." "Oh, they make jokes cause they're nervous. Losing Deputy Farrell has shaken them up. We don't like killers. We like cop killers even less. Whoever is on the team will be taking it very seriously. They all want this guy." "I realize that aspect," Scully replied. "What I mean is ... if there are officers who are open minded, they may have a better chance because they would think ... unconventionally." I glanced two desks down and noticed Officer Leavy shuffling papers. I knew she was eavesdropping. She was definitely interested in this case. "Open minded to the paranormal, you mean?" he asked. Scully examined her shoes. I answered this time. "We don't expect to find officers that believe in vampires, but they should be people who think outside the box, so to speak. They need to be able to think like Pierre. For instance, they need to be able to ask themselves, 'If I believed I were a vampire, what would I do?'" "Oh, I get your drift. Did you have anyone particular in mind?" I didn't, and looked to Scully who had brought this up in the first place. "I think Jennifer Leavy is a good candidate." He looked a little surprised. "She's a rookie, less than a year assisting in homicide. She wants her detective shield, but she hasn't earned her stripes yet, so to speak. We use her for paperwork and back up." Scully nodded. "Yes, but she's the only one in the room that asked a question ... and it was good one. It showed that she doesn't think conventionally." "Because she asked about coffins?" he sounded a little amused. Scully gave him the death stare and he lost his amusement. "Yes," Scully stated firmly. "Because she asked about coffins. That's the kind of thinker you need on this case. She thinks outside the box. This perp isn't your normal everyday killer." "There will probably be two from here and two from D.C. We'll be working together since the last murder was in D.C., so they actually have jurisdiction. Since he was apprehended here, we have jurisdiction. I'll make your recommendations to the Lieutenant." "You do that," I said. "And once the team is picked, we'll want to meet with them." He nodded, not enthusiastic about the interference from the FBI. He had no choice but to deal with us since we'd brought the man in. He muttered, "Us, D.C. cops, now the fibbies. This is going to be a jurisdictional nightmare." "We need to work together on this, Captain," I responded. "Our personal agendas have no place here. People are dead and this guy isn't going to stop. He'll kill until he is caught or destroyed. It's that simple. Let's keep our eye on the ball." He nodded. We walked out and I laid my hand in its usual place on Scully's low back. She smiled at me. "You handled that well, Mulder. I'm proud of you." I smirked. "Why? Because I didn't launch into the myths about vampires?" She smiled then. "Well ... yes." I smiled at her again. "They wouldn't have believed me, Scully." "That's never stopped you before," she teased. "You're right, but we needed them to take us seriously here. We need their cooperation. I don't think they have a chance in hell of spotting him anyway." "Neither do I. I'm afraid we'll have to follow the trail of bodies." "So am I, Scully. So am I," I said sadly. xxxxxxxxxx Scully called D.D. Skinner after we got in the car. I listened to the one-sided conversation. "Yes, Sir. He's gone." Pause. "No, Sir. We didn't go into much. We intimated that he was delusional and THINKS he's a vampire and suggested some starting points." Pause. "Blood banks, Red Cross outlets, phlebotomy labs." Pause. "We don't think they will either. I think we need to ... call our friends." Pause. "I'm sorry, Sir. I can't tell you who they are." I looked at her, figuring he must have asked who these other vampires were that we knew. He still wasn't convinced they existed either. Skinner was no longer the skeptic he used to be. He'd seen too much. He now believed in aliens and he believed the shadow government had existed and he believed us when we told him there was a new consortium. He was a little surprised they hadn't contacted him yet. We'd explained that we thought this one had a different agenda than the last. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. We didn't elaborate and he hadn't asked any more questions, for which we were grateful. He may not believe in vampires, but he trusted Scully's and my judgment. He wasn't going to interfere in the case. Besides, he was running four units with D.D. Fair gone and was too busy to be dealing with individual cases right now. Scully finished, "We'll keep you posted, Sir." She hung up and sighed. "Damn, I hate lying to him." "You weren't lying. You told him the truth. We can't tell him who our vampiric friends are. We're sworn to silence, Scully." "I know. But there are lies of omission too, Mulder." "We don't have a choice right now." "I know that too. Doesn't mean I have to like it." I took her hand and squeezed it. She squeezed back. "It will work out. Maybe in the future we will be able to tell him about Fair, but now isn't that time." "I know. I think we need to call him, though. I don't want another string of murders. And this guy will kill again, and he'll do it soon." "Call him," I agreed. PART 2 (PG) TIY-TETI FAMILY TOMB VALLEY OF THE KINGS SOUTHWESTERN EGYPT We touched down in front of the large sand dune we'd formed over the doorway to the tomb the night before. We used our powers of telekinesis to remove the barrier and watched the sand fly away to form two piles on either side of the door, baring the oaken door that had been put at the entrance. We entered without a problem. We went into the main burial chamber and sat on a bench along one wall beneath the fabulous paintings that depicted Netikerty, Gareth's mother, using her healing arts on Hetshupsut. The other wall contained paintings of Tepemkau, Gareth's stepfather and his scholarly pursuits, reading to Thutmes. We were silent and held hands for a while, waiting for the fledglings to arrive, hoping we wouldn't have to hunt any of them down. We were a bit appalled at the number of fledglings that Roseman had made, but there was nothing to do now but teach them. Gareth could not destroy them. Most were innocents. The fifteen or so that had willingly come into the blood for nefarious purposes and served Roseman loyally had been easily destroyed. Roseman, a bit more difficult but no match for Gareth, had been destroyed as well. That had left 31 unwillingly made fledglings from all around the world. Most were unfortunate tourists from the United States and Europe. We planned to return them as close to their original homes as possible. There were also nineteen that were missing from the previous night and had not shown up for the meeting called by Roseman. If they all showed, that would leave a total of 50 vampires. They could strip an area of human beings if they all stayed in one place. The chance for exposure with such a high concentration of us in one place was a definite danger also. We planned to move them to other parts of the world, but the details of that plan were still in the development stage. Around 8:45 PM, they began to trickle in. The meeting had been called for 9:00. There was a steady stream of them by 8:50 PM. We said nothing as they filed into the chamber and took seats on the floor, waiting patiently. When 9:00 PM finally came, we did a head count. There were only forty-six. That meant four had not come. Gareth finally spoke. "Good evening, everyone. I'm glad you all came." I noticed Sabrina and Christa were in the front row. Gareth looked at Sabrina and asked, "The four that are missing?" A few in the crowd actually seemed surprised that we were aware of the missing four. I guess not much had been said about our knowing of the missing nineteen last night. I spotted them easily, having memorized the other faces the previous night. They were lining the back wall, wary but willing to see what happened. Sabrina swallowed but raised her chin proudly. "We told them to come. They refused. They are afraid you are another Roseman, only older and stronger, and therefore, even more of a threat." "Do you know where they lie by day?" he asked. She hesitated. I added, "I know you don't want to tattle, but we will find out anyway. We don't wish to read you if it isn't necessary. And we have no plans to harm them." Gareth added, "Only if they are foolish enough to try and harm me. Otherwise, they are in no danger from me." She nodded. "They cleared Tomb 64 in the northeast corner." "It was flooded, correct?" "Yes, but they built diversionary ditches for the water and cleaned it up." "Humans have mapped that tomb. Are they aware of that?" "Yes, but they hide the entrance by day." "But the humans know where it is, child. They could revisit at any time." She shrugged. "I don't know how well they thought it out. They didn't want Roseman to know where they were, so they left their previous beds to make new ones there." Gareth nodded solemnly. "I will speak with them later." *Maybe you can reach them now,* I suggested telepathically. He turned to me. *I will try.* "What are their names, Sabrina?" She smiled, surprised that I remembered her name. I think the others were growing a bit envious that we were focusing our attention and questions on her. "Philip, Daniel, Jonathan and Tina," she replied carefully. Gareth nodded. *Begin telling them of the pairings plan and the nightly lessons we are going to schedule.* He took a step back and crossed his arms over his chest, closing his eyes to concentrate on locating the errant fledglings. I turned to the group and said, "I will tell you of our plans first. Not much is going to happen tonight. However, we plan on being here at least another three weeks. During that time, we will meet every night. First order of business is to find an abandoned tomb that is not mapped by humans. Does anyone know of one?" A tentative hand raised in the back. He was dark skinned and one from the missing nineteen last night. "There is a tomb close to here, about a kilometer north and a bit to the west." "What is your name?" I asked gently, sensing his nervousness. "Cameron." "O.K., Cameron, can you tell me how big the main chamber is?" "It's slightly larger than this one." "Is it still occupied?" "No, it seems that it may have been used once, but there are none resting there now." I nodded. "Sounds like a good candidate. We'll check it out tonight after the meeting. You will take us there." He nodded nervously. "We have plans to train you every night. You need to know what your abilities are, how strong you are, and more importantly, what you are NOT capable of. You may be immortal. You may be incredible in many areas, but make no mistake, you can be destroyed. And at your age, it's not that hard to be destroyed. One wrong move and you could be toast." A few giggles were heard but I wasn't joking. "We are going to test you individually on your skills and we also plan to pair you off. No one will be left alone, but you will ALL be relocated." "Why?" someone asked. Another in the back. "Your name?" "Cecil." "Well, Cecil, one of the things that has aided our survival is that people no longer believe in us. In order to keep it that way, we don't want to advertise. What do I mean by that?" I paused. Christa raised her hand. "Yes, Christa?" She smiled, pleased that I remembered her name as well. I wondered if they had eidetic memories like mine. Gareth had said it improved with time and strength. "There are too many of us in one place. If too many bodies are found, it will give us away." "Exactly. One of the first things we are going to teach you is how to hunt and feed." "We know how to hunt and feed," one said in the back. "Your name?" "Kenneth," he replied. I looked him in the eyes. "Do you kill your victims?" "Of course," he stated arrogantly. "Do you dispose of them?" "Sometimes ... usually ... if there's time," he added, less confidently. "Then you do not know how to feed. You are merely a clumsy killer who will make a mistake that will get you exposed, destroyed, or worse, expose us all." Blood rose in his cheeks and he pressed his lips together. He was afraid of me, despite his arrogance. I could read it in his body language. I spoke gently to calm him. "That is not your fault, Kenneth. That is what you were taught. Your leader was a clumsy killer and he taught you what he knew. The point of this is that there is much you don't know. Not because you are ignorant or stupid, but simply because your Maker did not bother to teach you. Perhaps he didn't know himself. "You all need to lose your arrogance. You are not Gods. You can be destroyed. I'm sure Roseman pumped you up to think you were indestructible and could not fail. Take it from me, you can fail. "While I am not here to tear you down, you must not be overconfident. Be cautious. Every one of you holds responsibility for the continuing existence of the rest of us. Please don't take that responsibility lightly." I paused. "I can promise you your King doesn't." The threat was implicit. Gareth wouldn't tolerate carelessness. Kenneth's body language relaxed with this little speech. He would be one to keep an eye on, though. "We will test your running, moving and jumping abilities first. Then we will teach you how to feed without killing. It requires you to hunt more and take more than one victim, but it leaves them alive and thus greatly lessens the chance that our existence will be exposed. You will learn to hide in shadow and be stealthy." "Feed without killing?" one asked, sounding totally confused. "Yes. We call it taking the 'little drink'. It involves hypnotizing your victim, not terrorizing or overpowering them. Because of this, your power of hypnosis will also need to be tested." Seti, one of the speakers from the night before asked, "What about Starting fires and flying?" I smiled. "I'm afraid none of you are capable of that yet." Another incredulous one said, "What the hell are you talking about, Seti?" He turned to face the speaker, "Don, we've seen it. That's how they destroyed the others. Even Roseman couldn't do it, or didn't know he could." I nodded. "Roseman probably had the power to start fires, but he probably didn't know he had it. The power to fly comes much later, with great age. Gareth can fly." "You can, too," Seti said. I remembered our little display for Roseman the night before. Gareth opened his eyes and looked at me. *Should I tell them the truth?* I asked Gareth. *Not yet. I think you may be able to fly soon.* I shot him a glance, surprised, and wondering how he knew that, or what made him think that. He merely smiled and replied, *We'll talk about that later.* "I am not as adept as Gareth is, and I am still learning myself," I said finally. "So I won't do it unattended." Gareth looked over the assembled crowd. "Your friends are coming. They are only a quarter mile away. They should be here soon." There were surprised looks around the room. I heard whispers, "How does he know? What did he do, ET phone home?" There were a few disbelieving stares. Gareth smiled. "I located them and called to them. They were nearby, hoping to eavesdrop," he said casually. When there was no response, he said, "We will wait for them. In the meantime, does anyone have any questions?" One of the new attendees in the back raised his hand. Catching on, he introduced himself first. "I am Roger. What if ... one of us, no longer wants to be ... who we are?" he asked quietly. Gareth stared at him for almost a full minute and then said. "I understand what you are asking, Roger. Many of you were taken unwillingly. You never asked for immortality and it is a burden in many ways. But you can have a joyful life. I would ask that you stay and train with everyone else. If, at the end, you still do not want to remain ... I will relieve you of this life. This would bring me no joy, though. I think despair has found you because you do not know how to live this way. I ask that you wait and not make any hasty decisions." He didn't even try to pretend that Roger might be talking about someone other than himself. Roger nodded, swallowing heavily. Gareth continued, "Your Maker did wrong by you in many ways. First, he should not have made this many of you. Each fledgling becomes increasingly weaker than the last if there is not at least a year between them. Therefore, the last of you made will be the weakest. You are in the most danger, as it will take time for your powers to increase. You will need to be the most clever and the most careful." As he finished speaking, we heard the other four enter the tomb and begin walking down the hall. None of the fledglings moved but Gareth and I turned to face the hallway that emptied into this chamber. The fledglings followed our gaze and a minute later the four entered. The crowd realized we had known they were here long before they did. This spooked some of them a bit. Others it made more wary. They stopped near the front of the crowd. Gareth greeted them, "Philip, Daniel, Jonathan and Tina, please take a seat with the others. Thank you for coming." The moved to the side and sat on the edge of the crowd in a tight knot. These four were obviously close. Gareth spoke again. "For those of you who were not here last night ... I'm sure you know that I had to destroy your Maker." There were solemn nods. "I did not want to do this. I merely wanted him to stop his plans. However, he refused and he attacked me, leaving me no choice. Some of your number attacked as well at his command. I had to destroy them and for that I am sorry, but he left me no choice." More murmurs of agreement. One said, "I'm not sorry he's gone." "Perhaps. But a life is a life. It is no easy thing to destroy one of our own. We are few. I gave him a chance to redeem himself and give up his plans. He chose not to take it." He switched gears quickly. "I am not sure what your friends told you or how much, so for those who might not know, this is Alex." He gestured to me and I smiled. "Alex is my partner and companion in all things. I ask that you listen to him as you would listen to me. I am your King. This is not a role I wished to play, but one that was made necessary by your Maker. For all intents and purposes, Alex is your Prince. We will be splitting you up into pairs and relocating you." Philip spoke up. "We don't get to choose our companion?" he asked, already spoiling for an argument. Gareth regarded him for a few moments. "You will get to choose your companion. In fact, if you feel strongly, we may put three or four of you together. No more than four, though. We need to spread out. As most of you learned last night, I am very wealthy and I will help you all get started in a new home. Tell me your preferences as to where you would like to live and I will do my best to accommodate you. I have many properties around the world and I will place you there with proper credentials. If I do not own a property in your location, I will purchase one for you." They all seemed stunned by this kind of generosity and most were wondering just how rich he was. I could tell by the looks of burning curiosity on their faces. He didn't have to probe them. It was plain on their faces. He chuckled and said, "More wealthy than you can imagine. Money is not an issue here. You will live many years and acquire your own wealth. Before you knew of me, there was one called Zebrosia." Again, we could tell there was plenty of name recognition there too. "She had some rules that were ridiculous. She was like your Maker, puffed up with her own power, arrogant and angry. She was also infinitely more dangerous than your Maker because of her age. She was the oldest living blood drinker in the world. I knew her to be nearly 4000 years old. She was older in the blood than me by at least fifty years, probably more." A few gasps. "To my knowledge, and hers, I am now the oldest living Blood drinker in the world." He let that sink in to the nineteen that weren't here last night to hear that he had killed Zebrosia. He let the silence expand for a moment and then said, "I had to destroy her." More than a few gasps this time from the new nineteen members. "I did not kill her out of malice. I killed her in self defense. She wanted to kill Alex and I couldn't allow it. Zebrosia's fault was arrogance. She demanded that people ask her for permission to create a fledgling. Her reasoning was sound. We must control our numbers. I will have the same request, that anyone who wants to steep someone in the blood must ask permission first. The problem was that Zebrosia hid herself away and didn't make herself available for the asking. That won't be the case with me. I will always be available to you. "However, for now, there are enough of us here already and you will all have companions so there should be no need to make any more blood drinkers for many years to come. Basically, you'd have to have a good reason. The only one I can think of right now would be that your companion is destroyed somehow. Other than that ... no one is to steep anyone in the blood. Is that understood?" Everyone nodded. I didn't think this was something that they were thinking of doing anyway. The ones that may have considered it had been destroyed. All here had been attacked and taken unwillingly. Therefore, they knew the pain of having their lives ripped away from them. "It is a difficult process, as you all know. Candidates should be chosen carefully, and should be groomed for the change and willing. Bringing an unwilling victim into this life is the worst sin we can commit." They all realized this sin had been committed upon them. Everyone was paying attention now. "We will meet every evening at 9:00 PM sharp." A few wary glances around the room indicated some nervousness. Gareth answered their unasked question. "No one will be punished for being late, but I encourage you to be on time. The more time we have, the more you can learn before we have to leave." Sighs of relief. I was beginning to realize that this Roseman must have really been a tyrant in more ways than one. Gareth continued, "Tonight, I wish to learn all your names. You have an eidetic memory. It does improve with time and take less effort. However, at this time, it does take a small effort. When someone gives you a name, repeat it to yourself three times. After that, you will never forget. Meet someone, stare into their eyes for five full seconds and you will never forget their face. This is one of the fundamental gifts of being a blood drinker. All your senses are enhanced; hearing, touch, sight, smell, taste. They are acute. You've probably already noticed that you hear things from far away and crowds can deafen you." "Is there a way to prevent that?" someone asked. "Yes, and we will teach you that too. You can also speak telepathically, which most of you have probably realized. At your age, it probably takes a little more concentration. Take your time and your skill will increase fairly rapidly. Within a few years, you will not have to see the person in order to do this. Right now, though, you probably have to have your target in sight in order to convey words into their mind." Tina asked, "Is that how you called to us?" "Yes, I am aware of all of you. I can feel each one of you in here." he tapped his chest. "I will always know how many of us there are. And so I will know if you make another and I will come after you." He paused. "And it won't be pretty. I can also call to you from far away once I locate you. "Speaking telepathically, mind reading and hypnotizing are three different skills. We will give exercises to help you develop those skills. Mind probing is only to be used for certain things. We'll get to that in depth later." I said, "Gareth is not a tyrant. But there are rules and there are reasons for them. If you need more explanation, just ask." Gareth sighed, "O.K., let's go around the room. Give your name." They began, "Sally, Mark, Joe, Michael, Tom, Laurie, Ashtel, Shamus, Robert, Katrina ..." The names went on for several minutes, until we had made our way through everyone. Gareth then said, "Now I'm going to ask you to do something. I don't want you to be afraid. This is simply so that I can determine your age and the order in which you were made." They nodded. Most of them had lost count somewhere along the way. They knew who was made immediately before them and who was made after, but they didn't know the others. Roseman had assigned the last one made to guide the one made after him or her. "I want you, as I come around, to prick your wrist with your fang. Don't tear it open, just puncture it enough to produce a small drop of blood. I will take it. This will serve to let me know who is strongest down the scale to the weakest. It will also make me form a closer connection to you and make it easier for me to find you and to talk to you across the miles should I need to." There were no arguments to his request. I almost expected some. But everyone agreed. "A drop, no more," Gareth repeated as he slowly went from finger to finger, dipping his fang in the drop of blood on the fledglings' wrists, sucking it up and moving on to the next. When he was finished, he returned to the front of the room. "All right, that's it for tonight. Let me process this and make a few more plans. We'll meet here again tomorrow night. We may be traveling to a new place once all of you are gathered. See you tomorrow." They followed each other out of the chamber and up the entryway to the door. I stopped Cameron as he walked by with a gentle hand on his shoulder. He shivered under my touch and I said, "Stay behind for a few minutes." He did and once everyone was gone, he said, "You want me to take you to this other tomb now?" I nodded. "Let's check it out." We followed him out into the night air. Gareth turned to him. "I want you to lead the way. And I want you to run as fast as you possibly can." We turned and covered the door with sand again as he stared in awe. He looked confused by Gareth's request. Gareth simply said, "I want to see how fast you move. Don't worry, we'll keep up," he teased. Cameron chuckled then, the tension leaving his body. "Here goes," he said and sped off across the sands. We followed easily. He could move pretty fast. He could be a big blur, but not much faster. Not good. He should be able to move past the speed of the human eye. He was one that would need to be careful. The good news was that he was one of the last ones made. That meant that most of them would be faster than he. We arrived in a few short minutes and entered the abandoned tomb. It was cavernous, the size of a football field. I gaped a bit as we entered. It was utterly deserted, without even coffins in the center. Gareth turned to me and Cameron and smiled. "I think we've just found our new training facility." PART 3 (NC-17) DANA SCULLY'S APARTMENT GEORGETOWN, D.C. We'd called Kelli and gotten Gareth's emergency phone number at a hotel in West Thebes, Egypt. We'd left a message at the desk that he was to call us as soon as possible. We had no idea what time it was in Egypt and didn't bother to figure it out. Mulder said they were probably sleeping if it was daytime and out hunting others if it was nighttime. We hoped they were being successful in Egypt. We called the City of Alexandria and asked if they could trim the trees in the park across the street. We explained our strange request by telling them we had a loose serial killer that liked to hide in trees and drop down on his victims. They took us seriously and knew that we were talking about the 'Vampire Killer,' as the media had dubbed him. It made them mighty nervous that he had been apprehended the first time in Alexandria. They complied without an argument, assigning extra men to overtime to get the job done in one night. Mulder set up UV lights in my apartment foyer as well with motion sensors on them, courtesy of The Lone Gunmen. We returned to the Hoover building, forwarded our office calls to my apartment, and went back to Georgetown. We ordered pizza and tried to decide on our next course of action. "I don't know what to do now," Mulder admitted. "I don't think there is much we can do. We need to talk to the assembled investigative team once they know who to use. Otherwise, I think we need to wait. Either he's going to come after us again, or we hear from Gareth and Alex first and get some advice." "Should we be checking funeral homes and such?" he suggested. "I think we should wait and see what's on the plate for the investigative team. We don't want to screw up their investigation. It pisses proprietors off when they have to answer questions twice. Plus it makes law enforcement look bad that we're doubling up on work and not talking to each other, when it's supposed to be a multi- jurisdictional task force." "Frankly, I don't give a damn if proprietors are pissed off. This guy is a cold blooded killer ... uh, no pun intended ... and the police force has absolutely no idea what the fuck they are dealing with. They don't believe it. That makes him ten times as dangerous to them as he is to us. At least we know what we're facing." "You trying to remind me denial is deadly, Agent Mulder?" I teased lightly. He smiled sadly at me. "That's exactly what I'm saying." "Well, I'm not in denial on this one. I really do believe, Mulder. I wouldn't have thought it possible, but ... I believe in these creatures. But I'm learning something else." "What's that, Scully?" he asked, genuinely curious. He was always interested when I was believing or learning about anything paranormal, or considering extreme possibilities. "It's rather mundane, actually. I'm learning that they are just like us." "What do you mean?" "Vampires ... some are good, some are bad, some are wise, some are stupid. I don't think they lose their human personalities when they become blood drinkers. It's just that their perspective on survival changes. I mean, think about it. This guy Pierre, he kills because he believes he has to. No one ever taught him any different." "Meaning he's simply like an ignorant child, and that's why he doesn't have any remorse?" "We don't really know if he has remorse or not, do we, Mulder?" I stared at her for several moments. "I suppose not. He didn't sound too remorseful when I talked to him in that cell. I told him there was a way not to kill people and still survive. He countered with a statement that Gareth and Alex and Zebrosia were so old they didn't need as much blood as he did, so it was easier for them." "Alex isn't old. He's probably younger than Pierre in vampire years." "Vampire years, Scully?" he grinned, just because I was using terms like that. "You know what I mean. When they say old, they mean old as a vampire, not as a human being." "I know, and Alex may not be an old vampire, but because an old vampire made him, he is exceedingly strong." "Unlike Pierre." "Right, and so he doesn't need as much blood as Pierre, either." "Mulder, I don't know if that's true or not." "It could be. Until we talk to Gareth or Alex, we really have no way to know. We just don't know. He also mentioned the erotic nature of a vampire kill. The look on his face gave me the creeps, like a junkie jonesing for a fix." I nodded. "So what now? Hang out until Captain Marshall calls us with the team members' names and then call a meeting?" "I don't see what else we can do. We want to hear from Gareth and Alex, too. So we have some time to kill," he stated waggling his eyebrows. "Mulder! We're on duty!" "I'd say our hours are a bit subjective, Scully, since catching this perp is going to require us to most probably be up all night." "I get nervous when you go logical on me, Mulder." He laughed and leaned forward on the couch, capturing my face in both hands and planting a soft, coaxing kiss on my lips. "Let's make love, Scully," he whispered to me, sending shivers down my spine. It was so hard to resist him when he went all amorous on me, especially if he wasn't being pushy and instead seemed a little needy, like he did now. I kissed him back softly and then broke the kiss and sighed. He raised his eyebrows in question and then he said, "I need you, Scully. I need to feel close to you right now." I knew how he was when he felt like he was losing the reins on a case. And now, this one made him feel helpless. I understood what he needed and was more than willing to give it to him. He was restless and snappy. It used to manifest itself in 2:00 AM phone calls or impromptu visits at all hours of the night. Once together, he admitted that he'd needed to see me or hear my voice at those times. He said I grounded him and reminded him that he still had something to fight for. Comfort. He'd simply needed comfort. As if he'd read my mind, he'd said, "It's not just about comfort sex, Scully." "It's not?" I asked, a small tease in my voice. He smiled. "That's only part of it." "What's the other part?" "I'm madly in love with you." I chuckled. "I know. I'm in love with you too." "Hmmm, yes, but are you addicted like I am?" "Addicted?" I asked, not sure what he meant. He pushed me back on the couch and towered over me. "Yes, Scully, addicted like Pierre. I need my fix, only you're my drug of choice. Once I touched you, there was no turning back. I was hooked like a dope fiend to a pipe. I need to have my fix every day or I get really cranky." "Well, we can't have that now, can we?" I replied. He smiled and descended on me to kiss me. His hard body pressed mine into the soft sofa cushions and I moaned gently when I felt his granite erection press into my belly. I pushed gently on his chest and he grunted in protest, but lifted his weight off of me. I could still feel the ghost impression of him all along my body. "We're overdressed, Mulder." He smiled and leaped to his feet, kicking off his shoes and ripping off his tie, pulling his shirt over his head without unbuttoning it and reaching for his belt. I stood and followed his lead, dropping my clothes to the floor. I sighed when the Donna Karan fitted skirt slid off my hips and piled to the floor next to my three inch heels. When we were both naked, he glanced at the bedroom, but I steered him backwards and directed him to sit on the couch. He didn't protest. He was so easy sometimes. He hadn't taken his eyes off me. "So beautiful, Scully." XXXXXXXXXX THIS PORTION NC-17 I smiled at him and watched him swallow harshly, his Adam's apple bobbing in his throat. He moaned as I knelt and leaned forward, his face awash with anticipation as I lowered my mouth toward his towering erection. My lips slid over just the head as my hands lay on his thighs. His legs spread to give me better access. He groaned, "Oh fuck, I love it when you do this." I sucked gently, moving up and down, taking a little more of his shaft each time. I felt my nipples pull up into hard points of desire, my body tensing with arousal as I listened to the sounds of his pleasure. Soon, I had all of him pushing gently past the back of my mouth and into my throat. My lips grazed the curly nest of pubic hair as I slid down to the base. I felt him vibrating beneath me as his hands gently cupped my head, running his fingers through my hair and then holding it out of the way so he could have a good view of the proceedings. I smiled as much as I could with my mouth full of him and slid down to the base, rolling my eyes upwards to catch his gaze. He groaned at the look of mischief in my eyes and I began speeding up my movements. He flexed his hips and bucked gently into my face, watching himself disappear time after time. I felt him throb hot and hard on my tongue and then he was gently lifting my head off of his shaft. I whimpered in protest, sticking my tongue out and lapping the end of his shaft. Mulder hissed air in between clenched teeth and hooked his arms under my armpits, easily lifting me off my knees and onto my feet. Wasting no time, I slid into his lap, straddling his thighs. Our mouths met, hungry and frantic as I pressed his heavy erection between us and ground my juncture against it. He cupped my warm breasts in his hands and teased both nipples with his thumbs, making them throb and ache. When he pinched gently, I moaned with pleasure, feeling wetness bloom in my loins. xxxxxxxxx She was so beautiful, straddling my lap in utter abandon, putting herself in my hands and waiting to see what I would do next. She placed her pleasure in my hands, sure that I wouldn't fail her. I had no intention of doing so. She raised up on her knees as I felt the foamy wetness between her thighs and spread it out and over her clit. She trembled slightly and tensed when she felt my erection, ramrod hard, brush against the satin of her thigh. I sighed at this small contact. I lifted her up a little higher, lined her up and slid my aching cock all the way into her slender, tight body as she sat down into my lap. We both moaned and sat still, adjusting to the wonderful feeling of being joined again. I flexed my cock inside her, testing my sensitivity, and she moaned again. I could feel the walls of her tunnel quivering and realized she was very close to orgasm, even though we'd hardly begun. I was still amazed that giving me pleasure brought her to such a state of arousal, but it was always this way. I grasped her waist and lifted her slowly, feeling her walls tug on me as I slid out, the wetness shining on my cock as it came into view, looking so big between her slender thighs. I let her drop down quickly, letting her own weight carry her down, and groaned as her inner muscles clamped tightly, enveloping me in soft, wet hotness. I ground into her as she moaned. I leaned forward to capture a turgid nipple and suckled gently, increasing the pressure as her moans grew more intense. She began rising and falling, her hands gripping my shoulders. She rammed me inside her hard as she began to quiver and gyrate her hips. She shouted, "Oh Christ, Mulder!" Her walls began to ripple along my shaft, clamping and releasing as she rode out her orgasm. I couldn't take it any longer, feeling my balls pull up tight and the backs of my thighs tingle. I erupted deep inside her, holding her down as I bucked helplessly in reaction to the strong ejaculations that made my cock jerk and twitch inside her. "Scully! Jesus, oh ffuucckk yyeess!" XXXXXXXXXX END NC-17 PORTION She collapsed onto my chest and I wrapped my arms around her back, pressing our sweaty chests together. We panted as we waited for our breathing to return to normal. I could feel her heart beating rapidly against my chest. We calmed finally and I whispered, "I love you so much, Scully." "I love you too, Mulder. I'm scared," she said out of the blue. I lifted her face from my shoulder and kissed her gently. "I'm scared too, Scully. We'll do our best, as we always do." I flexed my hips inside her, feeling myself deflate totally and slip free. "I'm not ready to give this up by a long shot." She smiled then, appreciating that I was having a little levity about the situation. "That was nice, Mulder." "Thank you." "Thank me? For what?" "Letting me be with you." "Mulder, honestly. The door swings both ways." "I meant that I realize it's not always the most appropriate time. But when I'm scared and insecure, nothing brings me back to earth like connecting with you. It grounds me, helps me to start fresh." She cuddled closer into my chest, putting her head back on my shoulder. "Nothing wrong with comfort sex, Mulder." "You know that's not the only reason, right?" "Of course I do. We love each other, Mulder. It's part of being there for one another." "You're an amazing woman, Scully." Her chest shook but I heard no laughter. "You're pretty amazing yourself." "Want to clean up in the shower?" "Sounds good. I'd rather not stain the couch cushions." I chuckled and stood up with her in my arms. Her legs wrapped around my waist and I carried her easily down the hall into the bathroom. XXXXXXXXXX As we stepped out of the shower, the phone rang. Scully hastily wrapped a towel around herself and raced into the living room. She picked up the phone. "Scully," she answered. "Yes, Lieutenant. What time?" She glanced at the clock on the living room wall. "Can you give us an hour? We're in Georgetown." "Sure thing," she said, ending the conversation and placing the phone back in the cradle. "What's going on, Scully?" "That was Lieutenant Cobbs. They are assembling the team in an hour at Precinct 13." "In D.C.?" "Yes, he said a half an hour, but we need to get dressed and the traffic's going to suck at this time of day, so I asked for an hour. He said all right. Let's get going." "You got it G-woman." I turned around and skipped into the bedroom as she unraveled her towel and snapped it at my ass. We dried off and dressed quickly after retrieving our clothes from the living room. I decided my suit was too wrinkled, so I picked another one from the closet. I was inordinately pleased with small things like the fact that half of Scully's closet held my work suits. We were really becoming a couple in every sense of the word. I wanted this case over with so that we could turn our attention to more private things. I wanted to get married, but we hadn't really talked about it yet. With our usual efficiency, we were dressed and out the door in the fifteen minutes. It was another thing I liked about Scully. She didn't dawdle over primping or getting dressed. I set the motion sensors on the lights in Scully's living room and carefully locked the door as we left. We still had a long night ahead of us. xxxxxxxxxxx OVER THE ATLANTIC OCEAN AA AIRLINES FLIGHT 205 I needed sleep, but I couldn't afford any. I'd left Alex behind to begin training. I hated to do it, but I didn't want him traveling alone. There were too many risks, and I could stay up longer hours. We'd gotten the message at the front desk from Mulder and Scully and I'd immediately made plans to fly home. Pierre obviously had to be stopped. I felt stupid. I should have known better than to let them take him into custody. I didn't think he could hypnotize so weakened. Apparently, I'd been wrong. I'd told Mulder that. Mulder was furious with the dead deputy for not following his instructions. It was more anger that he was dead now, I knew. I was sure that Pierre had hypnotized the guard, so I'd said they shouldn't be unduly hard on him. He probably hadn't stood a chance. It hadn't stopped Mulder from blaming himself. This time, when I found him, I would kill him. There was no other way, unless he agreed to go back to Egypt with me and be trained with the others. I had no idea what frame of mind he was in. I would find that out when I caught him. I had no doubt that I would. I was sure that he would go after Mulder and Scully again. Mulder had told me about the UV lights installed in their apartments. I thought that was a clever idea, although I wasn't sure they would be strong enough to ignite him. There would be only one way to find that out and I really didn't want to have to test them. This whole thing was careening out of control. By steeping Alex in the blood, I had started a chain of events that I was helpless to put a halt to. Now it was my responsibility to restore order to the world of the undead. It was my turn, in Zebrosia's wake, to take up the mantle of leader and establish a set of 'Undead Rules' for our race to live by. Frankly, I didn't want the responsibility. On the other hand, I was much too arrogant to trust it to anyone else. So here I was, winging my way over the Atlantic ocean in the dead of night. I hoped to find Pierre quickly and return to Egypt within a few days. I knew Alex was more than capable of testing the fledglings, but I still worried that they could overwhelm him should they decide to revolt. I didn't sense that this was a danger, but you never know. I couldn't read the minds of fifty fledglings all at once. Even I had limitations. Alex had been quite taken with Sabrina. She was one of the first made, and therefore one of the strongest. I'd told him to use her to help him if he needed it. His job was primarily to test them and wait for my return to begin serious training. I didn't want them hunting en masse. That could be a disaster. So I'd told him to take them out in groups of threes and teach them to take the little drink. This was to be his first order of business. If the bodies started piling up in Egypt, we would be exposed in no time. They were already tracking our illustrious Pierre in the United States. All we needed was for the media to advertise similar killings in Egypt and we would have a real mess on our hands. Interpol would get involved. It would be a nightmare. I simply had to find this little bastard quickly and return as fast as I could. I perked up as the plane was landing at Bradley International Airport in Connecticut. I planned on flying myself the rest of the way back to D.C. I didn't have time to wait for the connecting flight. I just wasn't sure if I could have carried myself over the Atlantic. Without testing myself overland, I was in no position to be doing anything risky at this point. If I were to die, ... there was no telling what would become of all those under my tutelage. I deplaned and grabbed my luggage, one overnight bag I'd packed. I smiled at the surreptitious glances of people as I strode through the airport at 3:00 AM. I was dressed all in black. My turtleneck, belt, jeans and boots, along with my trench coat, were all black. I walked out into the night air, looking up at the stars and began to walk down the sidewalk, looking for an alleyway that would take me to the back of the building. A few blocks down, I found it and turned in. Once in the shadows, I moved speedily to the rear of the building and out onto a black tarmac that was an old airfield no longer in use. Completely hidden from prying eyes, I slung the long strap of my overnight bag over my shoulder diagonally. I sighed and lifted myself into the air. Within seconds I was flying toward home, feeling the wind whip my hair back from my face. Like a skydiver, I rolled myself from a standing position to face down so that I could see the landscape roll beneath me. I could fly in any position and generally flew standing up when I had to hang onto Alex. It was just easier. But now, I wanted to see the landscape disappear beneath me. And without the wind resistance on my big body, I could fly quite a bit faster this way. I hadn't really paid attention to how much carrying Alex had slowed me down. I couldn't wait for him to be able to fly. I know I'd surprised him with that pronouncement. I'd sensed some fundamental change in him. I couldn't even explain it. I worried that he had received too much power too quickly. But he seemed to be taking it in stride. Had I been making fledglings all along, he wouldn't be this strong. But I'd only made two others in my entire life as a blood drinker, and the last one before Alex had been a century ago. Discovering that drinking from my breast and imbibing the 'steeped' blood from my body that kept my skin alive made him grow in strength about ten times faster than normal had been a stroke of luck. Had we not discovered it, I honestly don't know if we would have beaten Zebrosia, arrogance and anger notwithstanding. Even her mere fifty to a hundred more of existence in the blood than I had made her quite a bit stronger than I. But Alex was much more powerful than she had counted on. If I really thought about it, luck had everything to do it. Yes, I was powerful and so was Alex, but we'd taken a beating nonetheless. We had prevailed, though, and that was all that mattered now. I still missed her sometimes, wishing for things that could never be. It was time to let her go, though. And with Alex by my side now, I finally thought I could really let go of her for good and put our feud behind us. No point in letting it eat me up anymore. She was gone. It was done and I couldn't undo it. The landscape of West Virginia flew beneath me as I approached my goal. I was almost home. xxxxxxxxxx DANA SCULLY'S APARTMENT GEORGETOWN, D.C. I hung up the phone and sighed in relief. "He's on his way, Scully." "You mean he's coming back?" "Yup, he was calling from the airport in Cairo. He was just about to board a plane." "Isn't that risky?" "I guess not. That's how they got there. He just has to time it right so he has enough time to be indoors by daylight." "I'm relieved." I sighed again. "I hate to admit it, but I am too." She looked at me with understanding. "Mulder, you really have to stop this." "What?" I asked innocently. "Being upset over the fact that we need help with this." "I know. It's just that ..." "I know, Mulder. We're used to doing things on our own. Us against the world. But we all need help sometimes. It's not a crime or a sin to ask for help. And lord knows, we're out of our league here. We simply don't have to the tools to fight these things." "I know, Scully. I'm being an idiot. I guess it's just hard because ... I don't like having to trust someone else with our welfare." "I know. I don't trust easily either, Mulder. And I'm not even saying I trust Kendall Fair or Alex Krycek one hundred percent. But we need their help. I want to live to have this baby, Mulder." I went to her side immediately and sat next to her on the couch. "I know, Scully. I'm sorry I'm being such an ass." "You're not. I just don't want you dwelling on it, is all. There's nothing we can do." "Are you tired?" "Not really." "How about a movie?" "Let me make some hot chocolate. We'll cuddle." "You're on, Agent Scully." XXXXXXXXXXX They were in there now. I could take them. I knew I could. The question was should I? Was it worth the risk? Obviously Heruben held them in high regard. He had come to their rescue before. He'd told me before they took me away never to harm them, speaking into my mind like a phantom. But he was half a world away now. Who the hell did he think he was? That perfect body, lording it over me like I was dirt. Fuck him. I was tired of being pushed around, first by my buddies, then by Roseman after I was made, then Zebrosia and now him. I was tired of everyone telling me what I could and couldn't do. They could expose me. I didn't know why Heruben wasn't afraid of that himself. I'd entered their minds while they slept. I'd been chagrined to find out that Heruben and that lucky bastard, Alex, could do so without detection. I couldn't even imagine that kind of power. If only I could drink from one of them, just a little. It was then I learned many things. Heruben and Alex were in Egypt. I had no doubt they would kill Roseman. That solved one of my problems. I also knew that I would never have a better chance than right now to get rid of the threat these two humans presented. They both believed in us. This was a rare thing among humans. Plus, they were hunting me. Didn't that give me the right to remove them as a threat? Time for the hunted to become the hunter. I didn't understand Heruben's assertion that we shouldn't kill unless we had to. We were vampires after all. What the fuck were we supposed to do? It was in our nature to kill. It was a heady feeling as well. I'd always been a rather pathetic human. All that had changed when Roseman made me a vampire. I thought my fortunes were changing for even better things when Zebrosia had taken me with her. I missed her dreadfully. I missed her companionship. I missed the heady nights of plotting revenge on Heruben. Excuse me, he called himself Gareth now. Most of all, I missed slipping my cock between her marble white thighs and banging the shit out of her. She'd liked it rough ... my kind of woman. Mon dieu, she was ma douce amie. It'd been weeks now and my hunger was growing. Bon Dieu avoir pitie, my hunger for blood, my hunger for sex increased by the minute. I wanted the redhead's petite fleur, little flower, that was between her legs. Just the thought of tearing her up on the end of my raging pine was enough to make me moan. She was an innocent and her blood would be so sweet, like nectar. I felt my gums throb and ache as I thought about it. I was a vampire, damn it, and I wasn't going to deny my nature, pas de betises, no joking. Heruben and his lackey were half way around the world. The saucy 'tite ange, little angel, would be mine before the night was over. I jerked my head around as I detected another presence from my hideout in the tree across from her apartment. It couldn't be, could it? I reached out with my senses and felt nothing. Must have been my imagination. Oh! There was another. But it was not a blood drinker. It was another human, their boss I think. Bonjour, big man. What did they call him? D.D. Skinner. I wondered what the D.D. stood for. I must be jumpy, mistaking a human for another vampire. He was a big man. I wished I'd been that big when I was made. I was still stronger than any human, but I wished for the impressive size of others. The intimidation factor alone must be heady. I'd been beaten up as a kid. I loved having the strength and speed of a vampire. Pierre LeBlanc had been taken advantage of for the last time. I tuned my ears toward the apartment and picked up the conversation. "Sir, what are you doing here?" the redhead asked. Her name was Dana, that's right. He called her Scully ... weird. Must be an American thing to call people by their last names. "I thought I'd stop by and talk to you a little about the case." "After hours, Sir?" she asked. "I'm pretty busy lately handling four units. I haven't had time to meet with you. I'm sorry. But I want an update on this case. With all the other cases going, I still want this one to take priority. The media is having a field day." "Is the public beginning to panic?" the one called Mulder asked. "Beginning to?" D.D. Skinner shot back. "Too late. Jesus, I hate those media vultures. They make our job so much more difficult." "Nothing we can do." "I know. So give me a quick update." "We talked to the assembled team this afternoon. They chose two D.C. detectives, plus one detective from Alexandria and one homicide officer from Alexandria. Then the Bureau surprised us. Dorothy Creole was there." "I know, I sent her," Skinner replied. "You sent her?" Mulder asked, clearly surprised. "Yes. They need a profiler on this one. Someone that can help direct the search. I wanted her to give them more leads on where to look for this guy during the day. He has to be sleeping somewhere." There was amusement in Mulder's voice. "Are you telling me that you believe us now? You believe in what we are dealing with?" There was a small stretch of silence. Then Skinner responded, "I don't know what I believe. But regardless, I believe our killer THINKS he's a vampire. And therefore, we have to think like him if we are going to catch him." They'll never catch me, I thought. Arrogant fools. I liked that the people here were afraid of me. Made me feel I was finally good at something. I may have been a failure as a human being, but I was going to be one hell of a vampire. Christ, I could take all three of them right now. Three ... yeah, I thought. All that blood, all from innocents. Dead men can't hunt. My pine throbbed between my legs and grew rigid with excitement. I was sooo hungry. Fuck it. I would take them now. Kill the men and have my way with the woman before I drained her dry too. I would gorge like a pig at a feast. I dropped to the ground from the tree I was hiding in and rubbed my erect phallus through my trousers. I moaned. "Time's up, kiddies," I whispered. "Come to Poppa." I sped across the street and easily pulled the door out of its locked jamb. I slipped inside and raced up the stairs to the second floor. Two doors down. Almost there. "Ready or not, ma cherie, here I come," I whispered. I stood outside her door and listened. "Well, what did you tell the investigative team?" I could take out the bald one right now. Knock him out of the game first thing. Fuck subtlety, I thought. Time to make an entrance. I'd show these weaklings what Pierre LeBlanc could do. I couldn't wait to see the fear in their eyes. With that I jumped into the air and kicked in the door with a mighty crash. PART 4 (R) DANA SCULLY'S APARTMENT GEORGETOWN, D.C. One second I was asking questions and getting up to date on the search for this killer ... the next, I was hurtling to the floor as Scully's door imploded and caught me square in the back. I barely had time to put my arms out to arrest my fall. "Ooofff," I grunted as my body hit the floor. "Owwwww," I howled as my wrist bent at a precarious position. I heard Scully shout, "Sir, are you all right? Shit!" Thank God she had pile carpet, or I'm sure I would have broken my wrist in the fall. I shook my head and began to roll over. Was it a bomb? I heard Mulder shout, "Scully, get the lights!" The lights? I heard a snarl and felt a heavy body land on my back. "Bonjour!" I heard hissed in my ear. I knew instinctively who it was and I begin to panic. No bomb. It was our killer. A surge of adrenaline got my knees and arms under me and I surged to my feet with this creature clinging to my back. Oddly, I noted that he had an erection as it poked me in the low back. I felt his legs come around my hips and squeeze. I screamed in pain from the pressure, "Aaaaaaahhhhhhh, fuuuccckkk." I thrashed wildly trying to dislodge him with my elbows. He tried to pull my head back and for once, I was glad I didn't have any hair to hang onto. But I knew this maniac, vampire or not, was seconds away from biting my neck from behind. Even if he was human, there was nothing worse than a human bite. I spun and hurled myself back into the wall near Scully's coat closet, causing an end table with a lamp on it to crash to the floor. "Especes de tete dure ... you hardheaded thing ..." he snarled. The room suddenly lit up like mid-day in the desert. The creature hissed but continued to maintain his hold. Jesus, he was strong. I smashed my back into the wall again, hoping to dislodge him. I saw Scully in my peripheral vision and lurched forward, feeling his weight suddenly leave my back. He was heavy for a skinny guy as well. I spun around to face him and saw that Scully was squirting a can of lighter fluid toward him and igniting it with a grill lighter, causing a jet of flame to arch into the air toward him. He hissed and raised his hands over his eyes, obviously in pain, as he dodged Scully's home-made flame thrower. Jesus, the woman could teach McGyver a thing or two about improvising. I now noticed the huge spot lamps in the corners near the ceiling and realize they were UV lamps. Clever. Leave it to Mulder. Through this whole struggle, he had never gone for my weapon. I drew it now and noticed Mulder had his weapon also trained on the intruder. It was definitely Pierre LeBlanc, cleaned up a bit since the last time we saw him. He patted out the flame on the arm that had been caught by Scully's impromptu flame thrower. She was out of fluid and her flame died. His skin was tanning and turning brown before our eyes. It looked like time lapse photography as the UV lamps did their work. It was affecting him, but didn't seem to be stopping him. He glanced at her, but lunged toward Mulder and Mulder fired his Sig, hitting him below the heart. He lurched but kept coming and plowed into Mulder's chest, head down. Mulder's arms flew to the side and his weapon spun out of his hand as he hit the wall near the door. Pierre reared back, and back handed him on the side of his head. Mulder crumpled like a marionette, sliding down the wall. "Nnnnooooo!" Scully screamed in near panic. He turned and I fired, straight into his heart. He staggered, but it didn't put him down. Holy Mother of Christ. What was this thing? He raised his arms, hissing again as blood blossomed on the chest of his blue dress shirt. I knew he leaped, but it appeared as though he flew at Scully and she tossed her empty lighter fluid can at him. It bounced off him like a gnat and he grabbed her, one hand in her hair, the other on her arm and forced her face to his. He stared at her and I saw her body spasm. Oh my God! He was trying to hypnotize her. I saw her go limp in his arms and knew I was in big trouble. He loosened his grip and she slid to the carpet. He was curiously gentle with her. He slowly turned toward me and smiled, looking down at his bloody shirt as though it were a mere annoyance. He was a light chocolate brown color now on his face and hands. I began pulling the trigger on my Sig as he advanced on me slowly. He would lurch and more blood would stream from him, but he kept coming. I emptied my clip into his chest. I heard Mulder moan and Pierre spared him a glance, but then he moved so fast it was as though he disappeared. Unfortunately, the next thing I knew, my weapon was gone and I was flat on my back, staring up into his ugly face as he straddled my hips and held my arms down to the floor with a painful grip on my wrists. "Get off me, you bastard," I bellowed. He chuckled and opened his mouth, hissing and for the first time, I saw his fangs ... up close and personal. "Laissez le bon temps rouler!" he howled. I panicked and began screaming, "Ahhhh, noooooo, Ahhh, nnnnnnoooooo!" He was enjoying playing with me. I tried to thrash around but he was too heavy and too strong. I refused to look him in the eye. I didn't figure I had much of a chance left now anyway, but if he hypnotized me, I was all done. To my surprise, Mulder shouted a name I'd never heard before, "Gggaaarrreeettthhh. Oh God, help us!" The next few moments were like a dream. I saw a ripple in the air that flew at me from the door. The next thing I knew, the weight was lifted off me and I watched Pierre fly backwards, ass over tea kettle, and slam into the wall right near where I had earlier been trying to dislodge him. He hit the wall and sank to floor, amazingly, landing on his feet. But he had a different expression now. Sheer, stark, terror. His skin was now nearing coal black and I thought I could smell singed hair. His attacker growled, "Bon a rien, 'tit souris. Good for nothing, little mouse." Oh good, two Frenchman. I moaned and rolled onto all fours, lifting my head. I was staring at the back of an enormous man wearing black jeans, black turtleneck and black boots with a thick heel. Christ, in those boots he was easily seven feet tall. He had unbound, long, lush black hair that hung to his waistline like a mane. I could see his caramel colored arms and something like recognition stirred in me but I couldn't see his face. He was between me and Pierre. Mulder was to my left near the broken door. Scully was lying on her back on the floor between the man and her kitchen on my right. Mulder clicked off the UV lamps and the room was suddenly much dimmer, although the regular living room light fixture was still burning. Mulder croaked, "Sorry." The man waved a negligent hand at Mulder as if to say it was all right. I didn't dare say anything and take the man's attention off Pierre. My God, he was an enormous man. Not just tall, but bulging with muscle. His legs were like tree trunks and his shoulders flared out into the breadth of a body builder's physique. He took a step toward Pierre and the blonde creature cringed. "You're supposed to be on the other side of the world." "I was twelve hours ago," the giant said softly. I gasped as I recognized the voice. But no, it couldn't be. "I need to feed," Pierre whined pathetically. The giant advanced another step and said, "Not here, you didn't. Did you think I wouldn't find you again?" "They will expose us," he cried, making an excuse. The giant chuckled. "C'est assez ... that is enough. No, Pierre, YOU are going to expose us with your recklessness. I told you before they took you into custody." "Told me what?" "That you were not to come near these people. They are mon amis, my friends." He was apparently trying to speak to Pierre in half French, while letting us know what was going on in English. "You thought I was going to die anyway. Who are you to tell me anything? You're nothing but a big etalon waving son pine, stallion waving his penis." Now Pierre was making sure we at least knew what he was saying when he hurled an insult, repeating himself in English. Pierre couldn't be too smart. I didn't think insulting this guy was a great idea. "Sa c'est de la couyonade. That is foolishness. I gave you a second chance by not letting Alex kill you when he had the chance," the giant growled. Alex Krycek? The name shot through my brain. Was Alex the vampire Mulder and Scully said had befriended them? Jesus, this was getting weirder and weirder. It must be another Alex. I stood, but otherwise held my ground. The giant continued, "You escaped and survived. You could have left and this would have been over. But NO. You had to come here and try to kill mon amis." "Mon ami? They're fucking humans!" "Yes, just like we were once. Oui, mon amis." "You're crazy, Heruben. Sa c'est honteau, that's a shame. You're as crazy as Zebrosia said you were." "No, I'm very sane. Were you ever stupid enough to defy Zebrosia?" "No, of course not," Pierre answered. "I'd be dead." "Exactly. And who killed Zebrosia?" "Tu menti, you lie!" "No, ce'st vrai, that is true." This giant killed someone? This was going to get sticky. I inched to the side toward Mulder, wanting to get a look at his face. Why was this creature so afraid of him? And why had he called him Heruben? Mulder had called him Gareth. I took another step to the side bringing myself within ten feet of Mulder. The giant heard me even though I'd made no sound on the carpet and turned his face to me. "Holy Christ!" I shouted, physically taking a step back. Kendall Fair. It was fucking Kendall Fair. Where did he get all that hair? Wasn't he supposed to be in Egypt? Why was he here now? Why had Mulder called him Gareth? Pierre called him Heruben? My mind was spinning with unanswered questions. One corner of his mouth turned up in a show of amusement. "Not who you were expecting, Deputy Director Skinner?" I shook my head and backed away some more, standing next to Mulder who was leaning feebly on the wall. "What kind of a vampire are you? You should kill them yourself. You're spineless, you have 'tit boule, little balls!" Pierre snarled the insult. No time for explanations, apparently, because just then, Pierre bolted for the door. Both men disappeared in the blink of an eye and I cried out, "What the fuck?" Mulder grasped my arm. "Check on Scully, please." I took a deep breath and tried to get myself under control. My insides were quivering as I made my way over to Scully. Kendall Fair walked in a moment later, dragging Pierre by the scruff of his neck. Where did all that HAIR come from? I knelt by Scully, keeping a wary eye on them and shook her gently. Mulder slid down the wall onto his haunches, ready to collapse. I could see an ugly bruise developing on his temple. Kendall surprised me when he picked up the splintered edged, fallen door with one hand and set it in the door jamb, blocking the view of any nosey neighbors. He looked at me and said, "She's all right. I'll bring her around in a minute." He turned to Mulder. "I'll take care of you, too. Where can I take him?" Mulder lifted his head with effort and said, "The bathroom." Kendall nodded and dragged the scrawny creature down the hall and disappeared into Scully's bathroom. I went to Mulder, helped him to his feet and we staggered to the couch, where I deposited him in the corner. I then went back to Scully and carefully picked her up. "Bedroom?" I asked. Mulder's voice was tormented, "Here, bring her here." I walked over to him and he raised his arms, spreading his legs. I deposited her gently into his arms sideways. Her head fell onto his shoulder. It was creepy since her eyes were still open, but she was limp and breathing. Mulder jostled a bit, moaning in pain but settled her against him with his arms around her, kissing the top of her head. I sank into an overstuffed chair facing the couch. I looked at Mulder and said, "What's going on here, Mulder?" "We called him. We knew Pierre would come and we knew he could probably kill us. Unfortunately, you were here too." "You couldn't fight him, but Fair could? Why?" Mulder gave me his, 'you can figure this out' look, and I raised my eyebrows incredulously. I stared at him for a moment. "I saw his fangs," I whispered. Mulder nodded. "Not pretty, huh?" I pressed my lips tightly together, trying to think of something to say. "I couldn't throw him off, Mulder. He's strong as an ox. What's Fair doing with him in there?" "He's killing him," he said in a monotone. "What?" I shrieked, coming to my feet and taking a step toward the bathroom. Mulder's voice cracked like a whip, "DON'T. Stay out of it." I turned to him. "He's a murderer, Mulder." "Only of his own kind, and only when they go rogue ... like this one." "You mean to tell me he's a vampire?" I already knew the answer, but was having trouble wrapping my brain around it. "Yes." "And you're telling me that he's going to kill someone in Scully's bathroom and you're letting him?" "Yes. Pierre wouldn't stop until he killed us. There is no other solution. I wouldn't risk taking him into custody again anyway." "Fair is a murderer too. What makes him any better than this guy?" I cried out. Mulder smiled softly now, irritating the hell out of me as I saw in his face that he believed me ignorant. "He's a good man, Sir." "A good man? He must kill people just like this Pierre does. He admitted it. He said he killed someone named Zebrosia." Mulder cleared his throat. "She was another vampire too. She almost killed me. She ... bit me. If it wasn't for Fair, I'd be dead now. Look, I can't explain it all right now. But he rarely kills humans." I looked at him incredulously, wondering at the calm way he'd said that. "Rarely," I spat, clearly indicating that I didn't think the frequency of his hobby was terribly significant. "Only if he has to, Walter, and only if they are evil. Most times he just takes a little ... enough to survive, is all, and leaves them alive." "Alive? Don't you turn into a vampire if you're bitten by one?" I paused. "I can't believe I just asked that," I stated, as I realized how ludicrous this entire situation was. I sat heavily back down in the chair. "Lot to take in, isn't it?" "I sound like a bad sci-fi film." I jerked as I heard Kendall chuckle as he entered the room. His cheeks were flushed but other than that, he didn't look like he'd just killed someone. I wondered if the body was sitting in the bathtub or something. That was a creepy thought. He answered my question, rather than letting Mulder do it. "No, you won't turn into a blood drinker because you are bitten. That's a myth ... an untrue one. You have to be given blood from a blood drinker to turn." I stared at him in shock, still disconcerted by all that hair. It swung around his gigantic body like a cape. He walked up to Mulder and stood next to the couch. I flinched as he reached for Scully but Mulder didn't. I was surprised when he easily let her go into his arms. Kendall lifted her like she was a cotton ball and sat on the other end of the couch with her. He was very gentle with her, I noticed, and settled her into his lap. One arm was banded around her shoulders. His other hand cupped her head and turned it to face him. He closed his eyes briefly but then they popped back open and he stared into her milky blue gaze for a few seconds. She coughed, sputtered and then sucked in a deep breath, blinking rapidly as if he'd brought her back to life, simply by staring at her. I was frozen in shock. She said, "Whoa, what happened?" Kendall said, "He hypnotized you, told you to sleep." "Mulder," she said suddenly and her eyes flew around the room and then landed on him on the other end of the couch. "You're hurt," she exclaimed and leaped off Kendall's lap and moved quickly to Mulder's side. Kendall said casually, "I'll heal him." "Heal him?" I asked. "What bullshit is this? What the fuck are you?" He looked at me and held my gaze. He actually looked hurt and sad. "WHAT am I? You know who I am." After a moment he sighed and added, "And you know what I am," he said finally. "I'm sorry you were here to see Pierre. I'm even more sorry you know about me, but I had no choice but to reveal myself. I couldn't wait or you would have been dead. We'll discuss that in a moment." He stood and touched Scully gently on the shoulder. "Let me help him." She looked up at him. "He needs a CT scan ... we need to know if he's hemorrhaging under the skin ... we need ..." "You need to let me help him," Gareth said calmly. He stared into her eyes and I wondered if he was hypnotizing her now. She moved docilely out of the way and that wasn't like Scully at all. Kendall sat one butt cheek on the edge of the couch, which was all that would fit with Mulder now laying sideways, his head on the armrest. He cupped both his cheeks and carefully lifted Mulder's head. His head tipped to the side and he examined the lump on his temple that was becoming a nasty black and blue color and was now nearly the size of an egg. He turned to Scully. "I could do it myself, but it would be better if you could give me a needle." "A needle?" "I need to prick through the skin." Scully looked afraid now. "What are you going to do?" "I need to be able to put my fluids inside." Her mouth hung open. "No. You can't turn him." He smiled at her. "I'm not going to, Agent Scully." She stared at him. "But you said your fluids are what starts someone changing, rather than being bitten," she argued. He gave her an indulgent look. "My BLOOD will change him. My saliva won't, but it will heal him." She looked back and forth between them. Mulder moaned and went limp, slipping into unconsciousness. "I ..." she began. "Trust me, please. This hematoma is growing. It will push on his brain in a few minutes. I need to stop the internal bleeding." He paused. "Get me a needle or I'll have to do it with my teeth." "Christ, are you a monster?" I asked, unable to keep quiet anymore. He turned to me. "Some might say that, but no, I am not a monster." I turned to look at Scully but she was gone. A moment later she returned to the living room and handed him a needle. He nodded solemnly and took it from her. It nearly disappeared in his hand. He shielded Mulder's head from view with his body by shifting on the couch and presenting his back to us. Two seconds later, he handed the needle back to Scully and moved so we could see. There was a fairly large drop of blood on his forehead right in the center of the lump. He asked us, "Are you sure you want to watch this?" We both quietly said, "Yes." Scully stood, I sat and we watched as he leaned forward and opened his mouth. I wasn't sure but I thought I saw his tongue brush the roof of his mouth. I gasped as I saw his canine teeth extend about an inch below the rest of his teeth. I tensed as he tipped his head forward, but he didn't bite him, merely touched his left fang to the drop of blood and sucked. The drop disappeared and he gently pushed forward, nudging just the tip of his fang into the small hole he'd made with the needle. Mulder grunted but remained unconscious. I could hear a slight hissing noise as he sucked with his one fang. The lump began to diminish before our eyes as he sucked the blood out of the hematoma that had formed near his temple. In about thirty seconds, the lump was gone. There was still a nasty black bruise there. He gently pulled his fang out, and I swear I saw him shiver. I watched in fascination as his fangs pulled back up into his gums, becoming perfectly formed canines. I could see the hole in the skin was slightly larger now from being pried a bit wider by his fang and it was leaking a small trickle of blood. Then he surprised again me by leaning forward once more and beginning to languidly lick Mulder's temple in slow, even strokes. Scully moved to the end of the couch and ran her fingers gently across the back of his scalp, watching carefully. I leaned forward to see better. After a minute or so of licking the skin, he sat back. The hole was gone, there was no blood, and only a faint yellow bruise remained. I stared at him, then at Mulder and back at him. He smiled at me and said, "My saliva is very healing; enough got inside, even through that tiny hole, to heal his ruptured blood vessel." "He's still unconscious," I said, not quite ready to believe that he had just worked this magic. PART 5 (PG-13) DANA SCULLY'S APARTMENT GEORGETOWN, D.C. He nodded and his hands slid up to cradle Mulder's head higher. His thumbs reached in and gently lifted Mulder's eyelids. He repeated what he'd done with Scully; closing his eyes, then popping them open to stare into the dull hazel orbs in front of him. Mulder sucked in a noisy breath and shook his head a little as he came to. He immediately reached for his head and gingerly probed the area. He looked up, wide-eyed and said, "Thank you, Gareth." Gareth again. I had to get this name thing straight. "You're welcome." Mulder tipped his head back to see Scully standing over him. She smiled gently at him and said, "Welcome back, partner." He reached up and took her hand in his, squeezing it in acknowledgement. Kendall stood and said. "I'll leave you guys now. Get some sleep. I have to leave again soon, but I'll have to wait until tomorrow night now." They nodded and turned to me. "Do you want to stay here, Sir?" Scully asked. "I have a pull out couch in the bedroom that I use for an office." I shook my head. "No, I need to sleep in my own bed. I've seen too many unfamiliar things tonight." Kendall actually laughed and said, "Are you all right? Did he hurt you?" "Bruised me a little, scared the shit out of me, but ... I'm fine. I'm wide awake now, anyhow." "Why don't you come with me? We can talk. I can ... explain a lot of this to you." I nodded, not sure I wanted to be alone with him, but not wanting to appear afraid. He must have read my mind because he said, "If I was going to hurt you, I would have done it already, Walter. You don't need to be afraid of me." I stood up. "Not as long as you're on my side," I joked, trying to put some levity into the situation and seize back my control. He smiled, "I am. I'll convince you." "No hocus pocus. You try that hypnotizing shit on me and I'll run like a rabbit," I said, only half joking. He laughed now, his deep baritone amusement and big smile softening all his features. "Let's go. I'll buy you some coffee." I turned to Scully. "I need to use your bathroom." I felt my own eyes go wide as I realized what had just taken place in her bathroom. I'd forgotten all about the body! We couldn't just leave it there. I wondered why neither Mulder or Scully had brought it up. "Go ahead," she said calmly. "But he's in there. You said he ... we can't leave him there ..." I trailed off pitifully. Scully smiled now. "Oh," she said quickly, realizing what I was implying. "No, there's no body in there, Sir." "There isn't? What happened to it?" I turned to Kendall ... Gareth ... Heruben ... whoever the fuck he was. I really needed to straighten that out. "I'll explain later. You're safe. You don't have to take a leak next to a dead body. Go ahead. I'll wait." I nodded with uncertainty, but made my way down the hall. I pushed the door open cautiously, still not believing that there would be Pierre's ashen, lifeless body in there. I peered in and opened the door all the way. I stepped in, looking around. I noticed that Scully's shower curtain had been taken down and was folded neatly and laying next to the sink. I glanced into the shower stall and saw there was water beaded on the ceramic, as though someone had showered recently. A small dark gray smudge about an inch square was on the floor of the tub several inches from the drain. Did I really want to know what happened in here? I sighed, closed the door and unzipped my pants. I leaned my hand on the wall as I let loose and emptied my bladder, sighing in relief. I didn't realize how badly I had to go until I'd stood up again. I tucked myself back in and zipped up my jeans, washed my hands and went back out. Scully was helping Mulder down the hall. She was already putting him to bed. I realized it was only 11:00 PM. It seemed like it should be a lot later than that. "Goodnight," I said to their retreating backs. Scully waved absently over her shoulder, her other arm around Mulder's waist. Mulder stopped and brought them both to a halt. "Sir?" "Yes?" "Thank you. You may not realize it, but because he went after you, it gave me time to get my gun, turn on the lights and for Scully to get some lighter fluid." "Not much help in the long run, I'm afraid," I said. "Yes, it was," Kendall said. "You slowed him down long enough for me to get here." "How did you know?" Mulder asked. "I felt him as soon as I hit Georgetown. I was going to go to my townhouse, but something told me to check on you first. When I got closer, I heard Walter screaming. I knew you were in trouble already." "Thanks for coming," Scully said. "No problem. Not a moment too soon, apparently. The good news is, I don't feel any others here." "What do you mean?" I asked. He turned to me. "I can ... sense the presence of others." "Others ..." "Other blood drinkers. If they are close, I can feel them." "What's your range?" Mulder asked, his natural curiosity getting the better of him. "I'm not sure yet. I haven't tested it. I have a lot of things to test out. I need to know the extent of my abilities and my limitations. But I'd guess about twenty miles away, I can start sensing them. As I get closer, I can tell how many, and when I get within a couple miles, I can zero in on them." I stood shaking my head. "How's it going in Egypt?" Mulder asked. Kendall sighed deeply. "Good and bad." "Meaning?" "I'll tell you the details later. Suffice it to say, I now have fifty leaderless fledglings on my hands. Roseman didn't teach them anything." "Roseman?" Scully asked. "Fifty?" I exclaimed. I was getting a headache. I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Roseman was their leader. He was ambitious and foolhardy. He had some wild plan to kill leaders all over the world. It would have been a disaster." "Good lord," Scully said. "Yeah. He never would have gotten away with it." "I'm not so sure," Mulder answered. "People don't believe in you. It's amazing what can happen when nobody wants to see." I wasn't sure, but it seemed he looked directly at me when he said that. It was a look he usually reserved for Scully and her skepticism. Kendall nodded. "Well, I'll teach them." "Great," I sputtered. "A fucking army of killers." "No," Kendall said firmly. "That's part of their training ... how to feed without killing." I looked at him solemnly and he held my gaze. "I'm not a cold blooded murderer." He smiled. "I'm just a cold blooded blood drinker," he added, trying to be funny. Mulder laughed. Scully and I didn't. He lost his mirth. "Let me take Walter and get out of here. You two rest. You too, Scully. Don't exhaust yourself. You have to think for two now." She nodded. "Thanks again, Gareth. I thought it was curtains there for a minute." He smiled. "I'm always here if you need me." Mulder looked up suddenly as if something had just occurred to him. "Where's Krycek?" Alex again. "What is this about Alex?" Kendall didn't look at me, he merely answered Mulder. "I left him with the fledglings. He was going to be testing them while I'm gone. The real training will begin when I get back. I don't want to leave him alone for too long." "Alex is helping them?" Scully asked. "Isn't that dangerous to leave him alone with all of them?" Kendall smiled. "No, they are all weak. There were sixty-five when we got there, plus Roseman." "What happened to them?" Mulder asked. Kendall frowned. "We had to kill them. They attacked us. Roseman had them totally brainwashed. We had no choice. He commanded them to attack. About fifteen of them did and we had no choice but to kill them." "Plus Roseman. Sixteen against two, not very good odds," Scully postulated. He smiled sadly now. "We torched them." Her mouth dropped open and Mulder merely nodded solemnly. "Torched them?" I asked, realizing fire was their enemy. "How? I mean, you were still outnumbered eight to one." He turned and looked at Scully's fireplace. It was cold, but sitting there with paper, kindling and one log set up and ready to go. He pointed and I moved my gaze to dark fireplace. His eyes closed again in that odd expression that made you think he could see you anyway and suddenly the paper, kindling and log burst into flames all at once. "Oh shit," I exclaimed and jumped back, despite my resolve to stay calm around him. He smiled at me. "It's a trick." He frowned. "No tricks. You're just not ready to believe yet." I swallowed. "I believe ... I just can't get my mind around it. I saw ... I saw his fangs .. I saw yours, for Christ's sake." He looked at me calmly. "Come on, my townhouse is only twelve blocks away. We can relax there. Come." I nodded and we headed for the door. "Thanks again," Mulder said. Kendall replied, "You're welcome. Call anytime. But I don't think there are others about. I'm not even sure there are others in the United States. I'm going to find them all, though. I have to know how many of us there are. Weed out any rogues that don't want to play by the rules." "Why you?" I asked. Without even cracking a smile, he said, "Because I'm the oldest. I'm the leader now." "The leader of ..." Mulder chimed in. "What do they call you?" He frowned harder. "I don't like the title." "So what is it?" Mulder nudged, undaunted by his reluctance to share. "Whether I want it or not, they have chosen me as their King." Mulder whistled. "Wow. King of the Vampires. Glad you're my friend," he said lightly. They all chuckled at that. I was having trouble finding the humor in any of this. "Let's go," Kendall said gruffly, steering me out the door with his hand on my elbow. He towered over me even though I'm six foot, two. He was easily a head taller. Mulder said, "He crashed through a perfectly good door, Gareth." Kendall laughed. Must be an inside joke, I thought. Scully waved and as we left, he said, "I'll get you a door tomorrow." He lifted the door out of the way. I passed over the threshold and he followed, carefully wedging the door back into the jamb. I followed him silently and when we emerged on the street, I asked, "Where's your car?" He smiled. "I don't have one on me; I'll ride with you." "How'd you get here?" I asked. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you," he answered and followed me to my car. PART 6 (PG-13) KENDALL FAIR'S TOWNHOUSE GEORGETOWN, D.C. We arrived at his plush townhouse in no time. He unlocked the door and showed me inside. I was surprised to see sheets on the furniture, but then remembered he was on a leave of absence, at least a month. I was curious how he got here so fast. Before we were so rudely interrupted, Mulder and Scully had said they had called their 'friends' for help. Seemed those friends were D.D. Fair and Alex Krycek. I was still having trouble with this whole thing. For one thing, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, there was no way I would believe this. Even with that, I was having trouble. I was also having trouble believing Alex Krycek was tied up in all this and apparently ... one of the good guys now, if I was reading everyone right. I didn't trust my own intuition right now, though. Like when I'd let go of my denial over aliens, my whole paradigm was turned upside down. I stood quietly while he whipped the sheets off the couch and chairs and piled them in a corner. He retreated to the kitchen saying, "I'll start some coffee for you." I sat gingerly on the sofa's edge, ready to spring up, still not comfortable being alone with him. If Pierre was strong as an ox, how strong must Kendall be? I shuddered. I didn't even want to think about it. I was no small fry. I was used to feeling like a powerful man. I was hugging fifty, but I hit the gym three times a week to keep myself in shape. I knew how deadly becoming a desk jockey was to the waist line. I felt good for my age and I ate healthy. I was used to being considered a big man. I felt like a shrimp next to Kendall. I couldn't even imagine how small Scully felt, yet she didn't seem to fear him at all. She seemed relieved by his presence. Despite her small hesitation over handing over a needle, she didn't seem concerned when he leaned into Mulder with his fangs extended. Even I'd flinched, but she'd shown that she trusted him not to hurt Mulder. There was more there than I knew. Something must have happened for him to gain their trust like that. They didn't give trust easily. They took care of their own, and rarely let outsiders in. I wanted to know everything and yet I was afraid of what the truth might be. I was so used to being wary that it was hard to accept anything at face value, even what I'd seen with my own two eyes. He returned shortly, took in my 'ready for flight' posture and folded his bulk gracefully into a huge wingback chair opposite this enormous couch. I suspected the chair and couch had been custom made to accommodate his bulk. For a big man, he was unusually graceful. I remembered noting how quiet he was when he walked. Now I knew why. Although being a vampire must add body weight, judging by the weight of Pierre, it didn't seem to hinder coordination. He was almost comically graceful for his size. He crossed an ankle over his knee, resting his arms on the armrests of the chair and slouching negligently in the cushions. He was purposely adopting a casual pose, trying to put me at ease. He grinned. "Yes, I am." "What?" "Trying to put you at ease." I startled. "How did you know I was thinking that?" He continued to grin, not answering me. He turned to his own fireplace and it erupted in flames. I jumped again, in spite of having seen this trick once before. Oh yeah, he said it wasn't a trick. I had no idea what to think. He'd implied that he'd killed those vampires by 'torching' them, and I guess this was what he'd meant. He could set things on fire. I found that unusual since fire was supposed to destroy them. None of this made sense. "The fire starting ability is much like telekinesis," he said, obviously reading me again. "Only we move molecules rather than entire objects." "That's spooking me out. If you want to put me at ease, stop answering questions I haven't asked." He nodded. "Very well. What would you like to know?" "You'll tell me anything I want to know? Just like that?" "I don't see where I have a choice. I'd hoped to find Pierre before he got near Agents Mulder and Scully. Unfortunately, I arrived a little too late for that. I heard you scream so I knew you were there. I couldn't see any way to stop him without you seeing me for what I was." "You could have waited." "Until he destroyed you?" I shrugged. "Then Mulder and Scully would still be the only ones that knew your secret." He made a tsk, tsk, sound with his tongue. "No, Walter. I wouldn't have let him destroy you under any circumstances. Not if I was there and able to prevent it." "Why?" I asked. He looked at me strangely. "My, my. You must think I'm really evil." "Well, vampires are not known for their generous natures." "No? And how many vampires do you know?" he asked, looking at me pointedly. I swallowed. "I guess I mean ... my perception of vampires." "From movies." I nodded, feeling foolish now. "I feel like ... I'm out of my league here. I mean, I've seen some shit on the X-Files that would curl your hair ..." I stopped abruptly, my attention drawn back to his full head of long hair that was draped over each shoulder now and hanging down the front of his shirt. He looked so different, and yet the same. He laughed as I stared. "Weird, huh? I cut it every morning before I go into work." "Every morning?" "It grows back at night." "You're kidding me." "No, I'm not. The Bureau frowns on long haired hippies in their midst unless they're undercover. Not allowed for the brass, I'm afraid." I chuckled. "Not a worry I have." We laughed together then and it eased the tension. "So you are seeing me as I really am now. When we are made, we retain the features we had as a mortal. This is how I looked when I was made. It is how I will look for eternity." "Lucky you," I muttered. He smiled. "I was blessed." I nodded. "How old were you?" "Twenty-five, which in those times was nearly middle age." "What times?" He paused. "1500's BC Egypt." "What?" I nearly shouted. He sat serenely with a blank expression, not volunteering but not holding back. I'd said I would ask the questions and now I found that my tongue was tied. "Are you sure you don't want me to just explain what happened tonight?" "No, I ... give me a minute." "Certainly. The coffee should be ready. I'll get you a cup. How do you take it?" "One sugar and cream please." He nodded, stood up to his majestic height of six foot, eight plus boot heels, and walked out of the room with barely a whisper. His heavy black boots made no noise on the carpet or the wooden floor of the hallway. He was certainly a mysterious man. I gazed around the living room. It was huge, even for a townhouse. And I knew he didn't rent. This must have cost him a fortune. I'd seen pictures of his mansion in Falls Church when Mulder and Scully had taken a few for the file after his place had been broken into. I knew they'd been lying to me about that incident. Well, maybe they just withheld the truth, but I'd known there was something more going on there. Now I knew why'd they'd said nothing. Kendall Fair was definitely a man you wanted on your side. Jesus, the man was a Deputy Director with the FBI. I couldn't even imagine the damage he could do as an insider. When I thought about it, though, he'd done nothing to harm the Bureau that I knew of. He seemed to do his job, not shirk his duties and his staff certainly liked him. After running his units for only a few days, that came across loud and clear. They all loved working for him. They'd been wary that I would be supervising, and I realized right off that I would have to work hard to win their confidence. I followed Kendall's case plans and assignments to the letter. Everyone had seemed happy. It had only been a few days and no new cases except Pierre had come up. His assignment and delegation of duties had been fair and equal among his agents. He seemed to know what he was doing. He returned and handed me the cup. "None for you?" I asked, then realized what a dumb question that was. He grinned again as he let me realize my error. "I like the smell though." I sipped it and it was made just right. It was good coffee, smooth and rich. "Hmmm," I hummed and took another sip. He said, "So, what do you want to know, Walter Skinner?" "What's your real name?" "That a tough one, actually. My birth name is Heruben. Many blood drinkers know me by that name. But it's an ancient Egyptian name meaning, 'Resplendent Sky'. I had to change it for the modern world. Today, among my friends, I use the name Gareth. I have for centuries. I took the name Kendall Fair for my move into the Bureau. That is the name on all my visible property. I wanted my real identity ... I think of myself as Gareth ... to be separate from my career." Well, that cleared that up ... like mud. "Just call me Kendall. That's what you came to know me by, what you are most comfortable with. Let's keep it simple, shall we?" "Is there any reason why you would kill me?" He looked startled, then sad, then contemplative. "I'd like to say I wouldn't harm you under any circumstances, but that wouldn't be truthful." I nodded, swallowing hard. He continued, "However, unless you threatened to expose me or harm me in any way, I can't think of any reason I would want to. Let me see if I can explain." "Please do." "There really aren't that many of us in existence anymore." "You said there were fifty just in Egypt." "Yes, but ... we'll get to that later. Other than them, I think there are only a handful, maybe ten or twelve of us. Most have destroyed themselves because they become depressed with the passage of time. You have to keep busy and some periods in history it's hard to find things that are interesting enough to keep you from just wanting to end it and be at peace." I was silent, nodding for him to continue. "Our greatest defense is that there aren't many of us and that people simply don't believe we exist anymore. It allows us to walk among you undetected. If people knew, they would find a way to destroy us." "Stake through the heart while you sleep by day in a coffin?" I suggested. He gave me the weary smile again. "You've definitely watched too many bad sci-fi flicks." "Continue." "I want to go on existing, Walter. I've worked very hard to keep busy, to always be learning and exploring new things. It keeps the despair at bay. For me, loneliness is my biggest enemy." I felt an unwelcome rush of sympathy for him and tried to tamp it down. I had no reason to feel sorry for him. "I've been without a companion for over a century, until fairly recently." We were quiet for a few moments and then I questioned, "Krycek?" He smiled and the features of his face softened as he stared off into space. His caramel skin flushed as though he were blushing, but that couldn't be right. He turned to meet my gaze again. "Yes. Alex is a treasure to me. My prince." "Your prince," I stated dully. He smiled again. "I don't expect you to understand. But a century is a long time to be alone." "I'm supposed to believe you are ... hundreds of years old?" "Yes. I'm 3,500 years old now." "You're looking good for 3,500." He laughed fully now and looked at his lap, bringing his ankle up again to rest on his knee and adopting that casual pose again. "One of the benefits of immortality," he said blithely. "Why Alex?" I asked suddenly. "I mean, isn't it hard to have your friends grow old and die?" He looked at me. "Yes, it is. I've done that more times than I can count. That's why I confide in so few. But Alex ... is different ... it happens much less than you would think. Barring the situation in Egypt, very few of us are made. Our previous ... leader ... Queen ... kept a tight control on the numbers. She was right to do so." "Who was that?" "Zebrosia." "Are you telling me Alex isn't just a friend like Mulder and Scully?" "I brought him over to me," he said quietly. "The first one in over a hundred years." "Brought him over to you?" "I steeped him in the blood." I crinkled my brow at his cryptic statements. "I don't get it ..." "He is a blood drinker, Walter, like me. And because I am the oldest, I am also the strongest." "What significance does that have?" "My fledglings are also the strongest by virtue of my strong blood." "Ah ... so you're saying that Alex is very strong." "Yes. To my knowledge, he is second in abilities and strength only to me. I will find the ten or twelve others in the world, but I doubt any of them are nearly as old as I am. Zebrosia and I were the last of the ancients, I'm afraid." "Now there's just you." "Of the ancients, yes, now there's just me." "So Scully asking about Alex with all the fledglings; she was asking about danger to him?" "Yes. There is always danger, but for Alex, it is minimal." "Still not good odds." "Those fifteen that attacked us ..." "Yes?" "Alex killed at least eight of them." "What? Why are you telling me this?" "I'm frightening you," he said calmly, his voice a sharp contrast of calm against the words he was saying that evoked images of violence in my mind. "A little. I don't have any trouble believing Alex is a killer, if that's what you mean." He detected the animosity in my voice. "I was trying to demonstrate to you that Alex is strong, and not without plenty of defenses should any of the fledglings turn on him." He paused, "You don't like Alex much, do you?" "No ... in fact, we've never danced to the same drummer." He nodded. "He will not hurt you. He admires you." "How do you know that? I doubt I've ever come up in conversation." "You'd be surprised. And I've drunk from him." "So what?" "I see images of people's lives when I drink from them. I know their loves, hates, fears, their weaknesses and strengths ... even their health problems." "So you're telling me that you know Krycek very well." "Intimately," he said, and the way he said it made me look at him closer. "How intimately?" I asked, knowing it was none of my business. "As intimate as intimate gets," was his cryptic answer. But I had mine. Holy shit. "You're lovers?" I squeaked. "Yes," he said calmly as if it were no big deal. Kendall and Alex. Fair and Krycek. That evoked disturbing images for me and I blinked and shook my head. "I didn't know that Krycek ..." "Was gay?" he asked calmly, flaunting my inability to spit out the word. I nodded. "Or you, for that matter." "It's not that simple. Sexuality bends to the circumstances, if you know what I mean." "Not really." "Maybe someday you will." "I doubt it," I said, my mind closing on the images of those two men naked together. I suppressed a shiver and was surprised to feel my groin tingle. I coughed and took another sip of my coffee, setting the mug carefully on the glass coffee table just for something to do. I looked up to find him looking at me with a grin on his face, barely stopping himself from laughing at me. I flushed and realized ... he knew! Oh God, he knew the thought of them together had just ... touched me somehow. Without warning, more images of them together flitted across my mind. I stared at his sculpted chest tapering into proportionally lean waist line. This time I did more than tingle. I started to harden and gritted my teeth, feeling my nipples pull up into hard knots of arousal. "Jesus," I gasped and the images stopped as I clamped my mind shut. I didn't want to look at him again, ashamed of my reaction. Did he put those images in my mind? My head snapped up, looking angrily at him. "Did you feed me those pictures?" I growled. He tipped his head to one side. "What pictures?" "Don't play dumb with me!" Calmly, he said, "I was not in your mind, Walter. I told you I wouldn't do it, and I keep my word. Since you asked, I haven't read your mind ... or fed you any images." "Then why were you almost laughing at me?" I accused. "I didn't need to read your mind, Walter." "What's that supposed to mean?" He nodded negligently at my crotch. "Body language." I hung my head, turning my legs to side as I felt myself deflate, never having gotten completely hard. "Do you routinely look at men's crotches?" I asked. "No." "Yeah, right. I'll bet," I snapped, and regretted it immediately. He was frowning at me. "You flushed, Walter. I don't have to be a genius or a mind reader." "I'm sorry," I blurted out. "That was uncalled for." "Yes, it was." "I'm sorry. I'm just ... surprised ... and overwhelmed ... and ..." "Embarrassed," he finished for me. I nodded. "Yes," I whispered. "Nothing to be embarrassed about. I shouldn't have found it amusing. I'm sorry for that. I added to the embarrassment." "No, you ..." "Forget it, Walter. Let's move on. Our sexuality isn't important here. But you should know that I ... I love Alex and I won't react well to ... anything that casts aspersions on our relationship." He paused, abruptly changing the subject. "What else do you want to know?" PART 7 (PG-13) KENDALL FAIR'S TOWNHOUSE GEORGETOWN, D.C. What else did I want to know? Gee, only about a million things. "Can you really *feed* without killing someone?" "Absolutely, although it is a learned skill and does take some discipline." "Why discipline?" "It's easy to get ... lost in the feeling." "What feeling?" He didn't answer right away. "It's euphoric," he said finally. "You see things from that person's life, but at the same time, the blood sweeps your mind with a sense of well being. It's almost like being high on cocaine, but even more intense. It's very arousing, sexually. Like climaxing for several minutes straight without ejaculating. And it can cause a weak blood drinker to lose control and drink until there is no more." Climaxing for several minutes straight? Holy Christ. I felt myself begin to stiffen again. "How do you stop yourself?" I asked, cursing my breathy voice, still wondering what that would feel like. "You only drink a little at a time. The more you drink, the more euphoric it gets. You take what we call the 'little drink'. One mouthful, that's it. This way there isn't enough time for the pleasure to build to an unmanageable level." "Anybody ever die of a heart attack from fright while you were at this?" I asked, unable to keep the note of sarcasm out of my voice. It seemed absurd to be sitting here talking like this. Outwardly I might have appeared calm. Inside, I was veering dangerously close to hysteria. He smiled. "No, you hypnotize them first, take your drink, snap them out of it and they don't remember a thing." "Really?" I asked, finding that hard to believe. "Don't you leave a ... mark on their neck or something?" "You've definitely watched too many movies." I shrugged. "What can I say?" "Did you see a mark on Agent Mulder's head?" "No ... no, I didn't. In fact, you healed him." "Yes. Without going into details, all my bodily fluids are very healing. Any puncture wound I make, I can close up with my saliva quite easily as if it never existed. I don't even bruise the skin." "How do you not bruise the skin?" "My fangs are razor sharp." This time I shivered visibly, but with trepidation, not arousal. "What else can you do?" "I can move faster than the human eye can track." I nodded. "I thought I saw a ... ripple in the air when Pierre had me pinned." "Yes, that was me." "I barely saw it, but I knew I saw something." "I was only moving about half as fast as I can move if I need to." I just stared at him. I believed him. Damn it all to hell. I believed him. I suddenly remembered my shock when he and Pierre had suddenly vanished from the room at Scully's apartment after Pierre bolted for the door. I realized now that they hadn't really vanished. They had just moved so fast that it appeared they had disappeared into thin air. "So you can hypnotize people, you can heal them, you can kill them, you can move so fast you're invisible for all intents and purposes. I assume you're as strong as that Pierre creature," I added. He regarded me for a moment and said, "Pierre was a weakling." "A weakling?" I nearly squeaked. He smiled a close lipped smile again. He did that a lot. "I'm much stronger ... and faster than Pierre." "You're bigger, that's for sure." "I'm old, Walter. Older than you can imagine. Our abilities, strengths, everything increases the older we get." "And you are the oldest, or think you are. So that makes you the strongest." "In essence, yes. This does not mean I'm invulnerable. Sunlight can kill me if I'm out in it too long. Pierre, young as he is ... he would have gone up like a torch if he was exposed to the sun." "The UV lights," I said. "Yes, that was a clever idea, but they weren't strong enough to hurt me." "They didn't seem to stop him." "Stop him, no. But they hurt him. You saw his skin beginning to burn. That was very painful for him ... you just couldn't read his pain. They slowed him a little, enough for you to fend him off for a minute or so. Under normal circumstances, you wouldn't have been able to battle him that long. I think he counted on taking you all so quickly and by force that you wouldn't know what hit you." "That door almost knocked me out all by itself." "He probably meant to knock you out with it." "He didn't know I was in there, or standing in front of the door." "Oh yes, he did. He knew there were three of you in there and exactly where you were standing." "What? Now you can see through walls?" I asked, clearly disbelieving. "No, Walter, but like we can sense other blood drinkers, it's even easier to sense human beings. We can feel their heat, hear the blood in their veins if we listen. Our hearing and eyesight are acute." "Damn, this is a lot to take in." "I know it is. I have to ask for your pledge of secrecy, Walter," he said all of a sudden. "Meaning I have to keep the secret of what you are?" He swallowed. "Yes. And WHO I am." "What's the difference?" I asked. He frowned and looked away and into the fire. The flames cast an orange glow on his skin. He looked regal sitting there, with the flames reflecting on his face, his long hair surrounding his body. He turned to face me again. His expression hit me like a blow. He was hurt. He was actually hurt by what I'd said. What had I said? "I've hurt you," I said softly, clearly surprised. He looked me, his face a mask of sadness. "You know, just because ... we become blood drinkers ... does not mean that we no longer have a conscience ... or feelings for that matter. In fact, we feel things more acutely than you can imagine. All our senses are involved. And our senses provoke emotions, do they not?" "I guess so." "You know so. I may be a blood drinker, Walter, but I am still a creature with a brain. I may no longer be human, but I once was, and I haven't forgotten that. I have feelings, Walter. Don't ever think that I don't. I love, I hate, I get angry; just like you. I may be a creature to you. But to me, I'm just a man who gets to live forever and has to hide his means of survival, or have no one in his life besides a few others of his kind. Very few friends. If I were exposed, I could have no peace, no career. I would either be destroyed or experimented on like some fucking curiosity. I'm still a man, Walter." I hung my head, feeling like a chastised school boy that had missed the obvious. He continued to talk. "But that doesn't mean that I can always act on my feelings. I have even less leeway than you in many ways. By walking among you, I risk exposure every day. For years, I confided in no one. Now, in less than six months, I've confided in three people, steeped one in the blood and made him my companion ... and now you. A fourth person that knows WHAT I am." He nearly spat the word 'what'. "Why are you telling me this?" I asked carefully. "Maybe because I want to count you as one of my few friends in this world. I want you to understand that it's a risk for me to trust you. You are not the only one with fear. I worry about it all the time; the wrong person finding out about me. You seem to have this idea that I'm invulnerable. I'm not. I can be hurt and destroyed physically. Emotionally, I'm probably more fragile than any of you. My position is always precarious. I know that at any time, I may have to pull up stakes and take off or risk exposing myself and others of my race. It's a big responsibility and one I don't take lightly." "Then why get a day job?" "Because it's less obvious. If someone did believe in us, would they suspect someone that works during the daytime?" "No, I guess not. Which brings up another point. How do you work during the day? Obviously the myths about that are wrong too." "Not entirely. I can do it only because I am so old and strong. It wasn't always an option for me. I worked night jobs for many years, centuries in fact. It's only been the last, oh, hundred and fifty years I could take being awake all day. The older I get, the less sleep I need. I only need about two hours of sleep in any twenty- four hour period. So I can be up all night, sleep a few hours before dawn, get up and function as long as I stay out of the sun." "But not everyone can," I surmised. "No, very few of us can. Pierre couldn't do it. He was only a few decades old in the blood. Another few minutes under those UV lights and he would have started to burn for real. Unfortunately, I don't think you could have held him off that long. As soon as he got your blood, he would have begun to heal." "God, what an awful way to die." "Yes. It would be even more awful for me." "How so?" "Because it wouldn't be quick. Exposed to bright sunlight, Pierre would go up in smoke and be toast in about fifteen seconds. He would die instantly. It might take me hours to die from the sun. It would be agony." I swallowed. "Guess you don't ever want to find out how long it would take." "No, I don't. I avoid it with half-truths and sometimes outright lies. Mind you, I don't like to lie, but to survive, I do what I have to do." "Hence the hours you keep. We've joked about how you never see daylight." He chuckled. "I blame it on the Lupus ... coming in before dawn, leaving after dark." "I know. You don't really have Lupus, obviously ..." "No, but I am light sensitive," he joked. "Sensitive is putting it mildly." He smiled again, this one with teeth and it warmed me for no good reason. "Very mildly. But being amongst you ... it's what keeps my spirit alive, Walter. It's what keeps me from despair. Especially before Alex came along ... I was so lonely. If it wasn't for the job, I would have just given up. But being around people ... helping them ... it made my life worth living. It gives me a life, rather than an existence. We need that lest we fall into despair and destroy ourselves. That what happened to most of the ancients." "I see." "Do you? I doubt you can fully comprehend it." "But Alex can?" "Yes, more than most of you. He was the loneliest creature I'd ever encountered." "Really? He seems so ... self-contained." "All a facade. Alex did what he had to in order to survive. Don't ever think that he did things out of inherent viciousness or a lack of conscience. He agonized over many of the things he was forced to do by others." "We all have choices," I replied, not ready to concede that Alex was a saint. "True. He could have refused to do some things. Of course, that would have meant forfeiting his own life. It would have been a choice, certainly." I sighed. "Not one most of us could make." "No, most of us are not THAT noble, human or blood drinker. It's different now. He doesn't have to compromise his morals for survival. Alex doesn't answer to anyone." "Except you?" "Not even me, really. I gave him freedom from that. He is my partner, not my lap dog. He does defer to me because he respects me and knows that I have much more experience in living as a blood drinker than he does. He is an apt pupil. He learns quickly and he retains everything. Another benefit. We have eidetic and photographic memories." "Handy." "Yes, in more ways than one." I smiled now, finally relaxing. I sat back into the couch, suddenly weary. "I'm tired," I admitted. He said, "You may sleep here. I have a guest room." "I'll be fine." "I'd rather you stayed. I don't want you falling asleep behind the wheel." I stared at him. "I can make it." He looked at me. "I won't hurt you. No harm will come to you here. In fact, there probably isn't a safer place in the world for you to be than right here." "As long as I keep your secret." "As long as you keep my secret," he confirmed, nodding slightly. PART 8 (R) ABANDONED TOMB VALLEY OF THE KINGS SOUTHWESTERN EGYPT Thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty, forty-one. I counted as they ran across the vast floor of the abandoned tomb, reaching the midway point and leaping as high into the air as they could go and then coming down to rest on the marble floor. This tomb was magnificent now that we had cleaned it up and swept away the cobwebs and years of dirt and grime. With all of us working, we had it shining in one night. Forty-two, forty-three, forty-four. I'd wondered if they would balk at being told to clean the place up, but none of them seemed to mind. It think they were just happy to have something to do that didn't involve intrigue and worry, as had been the case with Roseman. Forty-five, forty-six, forty-seven. They were hesitant but eager to learn, even the ones that had needed to be coaxed here by Gareth. Personally, I think the fact that he had been able to find and communicate with them remotely and summon them here had so impressed them, and maybe even frightened them a little, that they had to come see their new King for themselves. Once here, Gareth had mostly allayed their fears in person. Forty-eight, forty-nine, ... fifty. "O.K., everyone. You're doing well." They were standing in a knot in the middle of the room. I was standing with my back to the farthest wall away from the entrance to the tomb. I raced out between two pillars, running straight for them. I could see some of them stiffen, but before they could panic I was front of them, leaping into the air and sailing over their heads. I heard a few gasps of surprise, but most just stood there with their mouths open. I landed on the far side of their little gathering and touched down lightly, bending my knees and crouching, only to pop back up as Gareth had taught me. I'd made no sound as I landed or when I stood back up. I turned back to face them and surveyed the crowd. I gently probed, one to the next. They never knew I'd slipped into their minds. They'd felt nothing and I was in and out so fast, they would have been hard pressed to catch me even if they had felt something. A few thought I was showing off. "I'm not showing off," I stated firmly and saw a few faces blanch even whiter than normal. There was silence and I said, "I was trying to show you something. What about my jump was different from yours?" I asked. Someone said, "Well, it was about three times as high." Scattered chuckles circulated the group. I smiled. "Nope," telling them that wasn't the answer I was looking for. Tina raised her hand. "Yes, Tina?" I acknowledged her. Even though they each had their own eidetic memories now, they still seemed surprised that I always knew their names. "Your landing," she said simply. "Yes," I said enthusiastically, and she smiled, pleased with herself. "What about my landing, Tina?" She hesitated but then said. "It was certainly more graceful than mine. I know that," she said with self-deprecating humor. I smiled at her. "What else? Anyone?" Seti stepped forward. "You were silent as a cat." "Yes," I said again. "It may have looked graceful, but if you land silently, it will be graceful. They go hand in hand. A clumsy landing could give you away someday." "So what's the secret?" Patrick asked, his disdain and jealousy of me barely veiled. I would have to keep an eye on this one. Maybe I could use him here and knock some of his dislike away. "It's quite simple, actually, once you know how to do it. Come up here a minute." "Me?" he asked, caught off-guard. "Yes, you. You were one of the highest jumpers here." That wasn't a lie. Only two had jumped higher. He smiled tentatively and came forward until he was in front of me. I pointed to the entrance. "Let's go over there." He followed me and we turned to face the crowd. "Everyone back up about ten feet, would you?" They moved en masse, backing up to give us some more room. "O.K. I want you to take three steps and jump up as high as you can." "I won't get very high with only three steps for momentum," he said, already worried about looking stupid in front of his friends. "This jump is not about height. I want to guide your landing. Don't worry about height. Yes, jump as high as you can, but that's not the purpose here." "Oh, all right," he muttered. "On the count of three. Ready?" He nodded. "One ... two ... three ... GO." He took three long strides and leapt into the air. I was right behind him. I molded my body to his as he soared to about fifteen feet in the air. I grasped his wrists and pulled his arms out farther and up higher. We began to descend, a little quicker than we needed to but it was all right. I pressed my knees to the back of his legs, bending his legs slightly. Just before we landed, I hooked my left ankle around the front of his calf and bent his leg backwards, so he would have to land on the balls of his feet. As we touched down my arm slid around his waist, pulling him tight against me as I bent slightly at the waist, leaning forward just a bit. I pressed both legs into his and we crouched, landing on the balls of our feet, left leg back slightly. Our legs bobbed and we stood back up straight. He disengaged from me and turned, beaming a huge smile. "That was awesome, dude," he said. I laughed at his surfer boy terminology and so did a few others. But we were laughing with him and he knew it. I felt his animosity draining away. "Could you all see what I did?" Christa raised her hand and when I nodded, she said, "You bent his knees and sort of bounced on the landing." "Yes, it's also important to have one leg out in front of the other. This helps you maintain balance. If you land with your legs together or even spread but parallel, it's easier to get knocked off balance and the momentum of your jump can tip you over." I slid my left boot back, raising up on the balls of my feet, showing the position of my legs. I raised my arms. "It's important also to keep your arms up and out. This isn't like running track or jogging where you want your arms close to the body and pumping back and forth. You can do that for the run, but once in the air, you want to spread out your body. This builds a little wind resistance and slows you down so your momentum doesn't tip you over. You DON'T want to lose your upright position while you're in the air." They all smiled and nodding, easily determining the outcome of that mistake. "O.K., now, one by one, I'm going to do this with you and adjust your position in the air. Keep in mind that you need to land on the balls of your feet, dominant leg forward and with your arms out. Let's go in the same order as before." They lined up around the perimeter of the room in the order in which they were made. We had decided that this was the easiest way to keep things uniform, so we weren't skipping all over the place. It also helped me to learn their names and their position faster. Position was only important in that it determined how strong they were. The high jumpers with the most strength would go first. I didn't tire easily, but this training was harder work than I'd anticipated. I was tired when we were done. Not physically, but in the sense that I felt worn out and wanted to sleep. It was only night two and I already missed Gareth dreadfully. "O.K., Sabrina first." She stepped forward and stood in front of me. She was so tiny, a mere five foot, one, even more petite than Scully. When did I start comparing all women to Scully? I couldn't imagine how small she'd been as a mortal. She must have been less than five feet tall. She was slender, but had broad shoulders for one so small. Her blonde hair fell in full waves to her waist. She was wearing a tank top and worn blue jeans. They had all shed the robes Roseman had given them and we had retrieved their clothes from the stash in the tomb where he had hidden all his loot. She looked like a teenager in the throes of budding sexuality, although I knew her to be at least 10 years older than she looked. I'd taken some money and bought them each a new outfit the following evening, having time since I was up a few hours before they were. She glanced over her shoulder and flashed me an impish smile, showing dimples and I felt the blood sing in my veins. I kept my face carefully neutral but felt my heart rate accelerate slightly. God, she was gorgeous. She frowned at my expression and I smiled to reassure her. "All right, on the count of three. One ... two ... three ... GO." She moved quickly, stretching out her little legs and leapt into the air. I jumped from where I stood and reached her easily as her light body soared to twenty-five feet. As my body bumped her back she shuddered slightly in flight but quickly compensated and caught her balance. I slid my hands down her arms and grasped her wrists, adjusting slightly. Her tiny ass was cradled easily in my pelvis and I felt my dick begin to harden. I clamped down on my arousal and bent my knees, putting her legs in position and removing my dick from direct contact with her ass. Since she was so small, I had to bend almost into a crouch to position her body. We sailed easily through the air and touched down. She did exactly as instructed, landing on the balls of her feet, one leg back slightly and bouncing up before putting her heels on the ground. Her friends whistled and clapped. She smiled broadly at them, flashed me another saucy smile over her shoulder and trotted to the end of the line. I smiled at her impertinence, and walked back to take the next in line. "Christa." Another beauty. Damn, I hoped Gareth came back soon. I needed to get laid in the worst way or I was going to end up ravishing one of these poor little things. And so it went, long into the night. We practiced jumping some more, landing some more. Then I sat some things on the floor. A disposable razor, a candle, and a pair of gloves was laid out. I tried to explain the focus and concentration of telekinesis and what was required to move objects with your mind. Some could do it, some couldn't. Those that couldn't were frustrated. I reassured them it would come with time and not to push themselves, just to keep trying. Those who were calm and could concentrate didn't seem to have any problem. It was those that were still nervous or apprehensive or worried about how they looked to the others that were having problems. "Look," I said finally. "You all need to realize that this is not a contest. The idea here is to tell you what you can do, or what you will be able to do in the future with a little more strength and age. You will all be able to do these things. But you need to be patient with yourselves. It's not all going to come at once. And I can't really tell you how long it will take. Maybe Gareth can answer those questions for you, but I can't." This actually seemed to calm some of them. A few were surprised I admitted to not knowing something. That made them actually like me more than before. I could understand their fear. Goodness knows, I'd been more than a little apprehensive about what my life would bring. And I'd done this willingly, been told ahead of time what to expect. These poor saps had all been snatched unwillingly and led into this life. It wasn't fair. Life wasn't fair. I knew that all too well. Apparently, being undead wasn't fucking fair either. I sighed and glanced at my watch. "It's 4:00 AM. Why don't we knock off for the night? I'm worn out. I don't know about anyone else." They all nodded. We had stopped at 5:00 AM the night before. "Let's go home and sleep and start fresh tomorrow night. We went over a lot tonight and everyone did well. Remember, this isn't a competition and you're not being graded. Hopefully, Gareth will be back soon and can answer more questions than I can. He's a better teacher as well." Daniel said, "You're doing pretty well. I think you're a good teacher." Most of them nodded. I'd never admit to needing the reassurance, but it felt good to have it anyway. "Thanks, everyone. I appreciate that. Now go home and sleep. Think about who you are going to partner with. That's one of the first things Gareth is going to want to do when he gets back; partner you off." They began to file out toward the entrance, muttering, "Good night, see you tomorrow," etcetera. I closed my eyes and leaned on a pillar, closing my eyes and sighing deeply. I listened to the quiet of the empty tomb and then realized it wasn't quite empty. My eyes popped open and I spun around toward the entrance. Sabrina stood there alone, the others having gone on ahead. "You miss him, don't you? Even though it's only been two nights." "Yes, I do. I'm surprised how much I miss him." She smiled. "He's a good man, isn't he?" "I think so. He's a wise man. That's for sure." "Is he really as kind as he seems?" "Yes. He wants the best for you all. He didn't want to be the King of you all. Roseman forced his hand. He couldn't allow those plans to come to fruition." "I'm glad he came. I was beginning to despair." She came toward me. "I didn't want to go along, but I literally didn't know what else to do." Her voice was musical but soft and it whispered over my skin, making it tingle with awareness. She used some kind of shampoo that smelled like raspberries and I inhaled deeply of her scent, feeling my groin stir again. I didn't allow myself to get hard. She stared at me in silence for a few moments. "Are you going home now or are you going to stay here for a while?" "I hadn't decided. I think I'm going home . . . well, back to the hotel," I said, shrugging. I wasn't looking forward to another lonely night under cold sheets. I turned and motioned to her. She followed me as I made my way to the entrance and through the entryway. We emerged into the night. The moon was bright tonight and the sand sparkled with a silver cast. I turned and carefully closed the door and bolted it shut. It was well hidden behind an outcropping of dirt and sand, so I didn't bother covering the door. Nobody came this far out anyway. I turned to her and she was looking at me curiously. She whispered so softly, I could barely hear her. "I could go back with you tonight." The offer was implicit in her tone and despite my efforts to resist her, my cock surged erect in my jeans, punishing itself on my zipper. My eyes slipped closed and I grunted at the sudden surge as I clamped my teeth together. I opened my eyes to look at her. She was absolutely exquisite. It had been so long since I'd been with a woman. Suddenly, my cell phone rang, the chirping obscenely loud in the stillness of the night. I jumped and so did she and then we chuckled. "Damn," I muttered, pulling out the phone. She smirked at my curse, knowing she had affected me. "Yes?" I said into the phone after hitting the button to answer. I never said my name until I knew for sure who it was. "Alex," his voice drifted into my ear like silky chocolate and I shivered. "Gareth," I acknowledged, also letting Sabrina know who it was. She seemed to tense a little. I touched her arm with my fingers to let her know it was all right and she relaxed. I leaned back against the closed door and sighed as her fingers slipped into my hand. "How's it going?" "Good, we just broke for the night." "Early." "Yeah, but they worked hard last night and tonight. They needed a break. Tempers were going to start flaring if they didn't get away from each other." "What happened?" he asked, sounding concerned. "Nothing for you to be concerned about. Just some friendly competition. Our late arrivals are warming up. We cleaned up the tomb last night before we started." "What have you gone over?" "Running, jumping, landing, telekinesis." "Covering a lot of territory, are we?" he asked rhetorically. "Just the basics. I'll save the psych stuff for you. I decided to mention and gloss over a lot of things just to give them an idea of how much there was to learn. But I left most of it to go back and do in depth when you get here. I'm still trying to get some of them to relax. I'll go over the same stuff again tomorrow. Maybe mention some more things." "I should be there by tomorrow night." "What time?" "My plane comes into Cairo about 2:00 AM. I'll fly out to meet you at the tomb from there." "Can you make it that far before daybreak?" "I think so. If not, I'll stop and call you if I have to hole up in a hotel somewhere between Cairo and there." "All right," I said tightly as I felt Sabrina step into me and press her lithe tiny body against mine. Her perky breasts were boasting erect nipples and I could feel them poking at me right through my shirt. Gareth picked up on my changed tone immediately. "You're not alone, are you?" "No, one of the students is here with me." "Just one?" he inquired suspiciously. "Yes, Sabrina," I said. I wouldn't lie to him. "You like her, don't you?" I swallowed noisily. "Yes." Her arms went around my waist and she leaned her face on my turtleneck, rubbing gently and making shivers run down my spine. I was alarmed at how husky my voice was when I said, "I miss you, Gareth." "I miss you too, Pet. Are you going to bring her back to the hotel with you?" How did he DO that? I knew he couldn't read my mind from this distance. "I was thinking about it, but I didn't want to ..." "What?" "I didn't want to upset you so I was going to send her home." She lifted her face from my shirt and frowned up at me. I petted her hair gently. "If you need her, take her, just don't give her your blood, Alex." "Use the glove of love, huh?" "Yes. There are some Magnums in the suitcase. I always carry them just in case." "No worry of spreading disease." "No, but we need to be very careful who we give our blood to, Alex. And you know better than anyone else, our sperm is a fun way to give it." I chuckled now. "I know. I understand." "You'll have to take her quickly or you'll get too big." "She's not a mortal, Gareth." "I know, but she's fucking tiny, Alex. I know who you are talking about." I looked down at her and realized she could hear what Gareth was saying. She was smiling again, pure mischief winking out from her dimples. "I hear you." "Promise me, no blood, Alex." "I promise. I wouldn't think of it." "Don't let her drink either. It's too easy to get carried away. You have to keep your head about you. It's not safe otherwise. You can't take her like you do me. She won't handle it. Don't drink from her, whatever you do. And just as a precaution, don't let the others know." "Will do," I said flippantly, a little rankled that he felt a need to tell me all this like I was going off half cocked. "I'm serious, Alex. The last thing we need is an outbreak of wild jealousy. There's more than one in that group that lusts after her." I raised my eyebrows and found her still grinning at me. This one could be trouble. "I'll talk to her, make sure she understands." "Might want to test her cloaking ability too." "We haven't gotten to mind reading yet." "Yeah, well, I'm sure some of them have discovered it on their own. Just be careful." I chuckled. "I will. Don't worry. We'll talk on the way back." "No understanding from her, Alex, no go. You got it? I'm only saying this to protect you both. They are too young in mind and blood to have your power. I don't want to have to destroy any more of them." I sighed, knowing all this was necessary and forgiving him his caution. This was the first time either of us was actually acting on our discussions of taking other lovers. "I understand." I paused. "I love you, Gareth. Don't think I'm doing this because ..." "I know you do, Pet. I understand perfectly. You need this. I love you too. Go have fun." "Thanks," I said suddenly, just now realizing that I hadn't really believed him when he'd told me I could be with a woman if I wanted to be. "No problem. I might do the same. Are you all right with that?" I felt a small dart of jealousy but tamped it down, knowing he loved me. I was a little surprised he was checking with me first. It made me feel good, like his equal. I was glad he'd called. I don't know if I would have asked otherwise. He'd kept his end of the bargain regarding honesty and not keeping things from me. I needed to be as forthright. I was suddenly glad that he knew about my plans with Sabrina and we had his blessing. I had found out quite quickly that we blood drinkers had a lust that was beyond mortal understanding. We were nearly insatiable. There was no such thing as too much sex. We could have sex every day without blinking an eye. I realized Gareth and I made love almost daily. This was the first time in a long time we'd gone more than a day without touching each other. Eventually you had to satisfy the lust or it would consume you. I didn't have to do this tonight and I would be all right. It had only been a couple of days, after all. But it would certainly take the edge off. If I didn't do it, it would become increasingly more distracting the longer I held off. "Yes, I'm all right with that," I answered after a short pause. "Are you sure? I won't do it if you're not comfortable with it yet." "I'm sure. Thanks for asking, though. I appreciate that." "Of course, and you're welcome. I meant what I said, Alex. No secrets ever again. You're the most important person in my life. Good night, Love." "Good night. Same here, Gareth." He disconnected the call and I closed my digital phone, tucking it into my pants pocket. "Were we approved by the King?" she asked teasingly. I smiled. "Indeed, we were. You know it, too. You heard every word." "Not every word, but enough." "Let's go." I bent down and motioned behind me. "Climb on." She gave me a look like I had two heads. "Why?" she asked. "Because it will be faster. I can move faster than you can. And we only have a couple hours before you'll need to sleep." She nodded and moved around behind me as I crouched low. She climbed gingerly onto my back, molding her hard, little body against mine. Her legs wrapped around my waist, and her arms came around my torso and I marveled at how small her hands were. "Hold on tight," I said. "All systems, Go," she teased. I laughed and took off at top speed. "Whooooo," she whooped in my ear and found myself smiling. We were silent for the rest of the trip, which took about fifteen minutes. I slowed neared the rear of the hotel and took her hand as she dismounted from my back, leading her sedately into the hotel. I nodded at the night clerk and he beamed at me, giving Sabrina the once over. He smiled but then looked confused. PART 9 (NC-17) WEST THEBES HOTEL ROOM 332 SOUTHERN EGYPT I'm sure he'd surmised Gareth and I were a couple. He was probably wondering what I was doing with a woman now. I didn't care what he thought. We entered the elevator and I hit the button for the third floor. We rose steadily. Her slightly increased breathing was the only sign of her excitement. I unlocked the door and ushered her inside. She gazed at our preparations; the blankets on the windows, the taped shades drawn in the bedroom of the suite. She eyed the enormous bed and grinned at me over her shoulder. "We need to talk first, Sabrina." "We don't have much time." "I know, but we still need to talk." She nodded. "I heard him. I agree." "You can't say anything to anyone." "I know. Believe me, I don't want to start anything. I want them to like you." "You're a beautiful girl, Sabrina. It's no wonder many of them want you." "I don't want them," she stated. "Why not?" "They are too ... petty, immature ... I don't know." "Why me? Authority figure?" I asked. "No, although I'm impressed with your abilities." "Hmmm, not the teacher/student syndrome. Then why?" She walked to me and put her hands on my chest. "Because you're the hottest fucking thing I've seen in ages." I burst out laughing and caught her up against me. Her hands slid over my waist and around my back. Her head barely reached the bottom of my pecs. My God, she was tiny, and I was already hard. Gareth was right, I was going to need to take her quickly. At a certain point in our arousal, we would stop growing, but that point was never reached until we were inside for quite a few minutes at the very least. I groaned and tipped her head up. "You're going to have to prepare yourself, Sabrina." She waggled her eyebrows, and her tiny hand cupped me through my jeans. I moaned and let my mouth fall over hers. I kissed her hard, my tongue ravaging her mouth. Her lips were cool, but soft and dry, her skin silky smooth where my hand cupped her neck. I broke the kiss. "I mean it, Sabrina, it would suck if we couldn't finish." She barked a huff of laughter and said, "That's an understatement." I walked to my suitcase in the room we'd set up as an office, knowing what was inside. I pulled out a vibrator and handed it to her. It was six inches long and two inches wide, not too big, but big enough to get her going if she turned on the vibrator. Despite her boldness, now she blushed. "Go in the bedroom and start without me. I'll find the condoms." She nodded and took a deep breath, clutching the ivory colored dildo. She turned and practically ran across the common room and into the bedroom. I smiled. Fuck, I needed this and it was going to be so good. I pulled Gareth's suitcase from the corner. All of our clothes were in the dressers now and the toiletries in the bathroom. Like me though, he had a few extras still packed away. I opened the inside zipper pocked and found a box of Magnum condoms. I hoped they would be big enough. I ripped the box open and took one out. After thinking for about two seconds, I took three and threw the box back into the pocket and zipped it up. I went into the bathroom and rinsed the dust off my face. I removed my turtleneck and splashed water on my chest to rinse off the sand that had sneaked into my shirt. My erection was going down now that I couldn't smell her hair. There was something about that smell that drove me absolutely fucking wild. I peered at myself in the mirror. My color was high, blood staining my cheeks. "Get a grip," I whispered. XXXXXXXXXX THIS PORTION NC-17 From where I stood in the common room of the suite, I could hear the soft buzz of the vibrator and knew she was preparing herself for me. I didn't seem to have to explain it to her. She knew our size difference might present a problem. If we were mortal, it wouldn't be an issue. If you were slow and careful, you could always make a woman ready for you, even if you have to make her orgasm first. Our situation was different. Although she was a vampire as well, and her muscles had elasticity not known to mortals, and she had a muscle control also unknown to them, it would be a tight fit. My prick throbbed and hardened between my thighs just at the thought of how tight she was going to be. I gave her a few minutes and then walked to the bedroom door, watching her gloriously nude body splayed out on the bed. Her honey blonde hair cascaded around her shoulders. A curly lock was resting between her breasts as if to call attention there. One hand's fingers were holding her pinkish white labia open as the other worked the vibrator in and out of her little quim. She was moaning softly, her head thrown back to expose her milky white throat. She was only about ten years old in the blood. Already her skin was milky white. I could see the delicate veins in her breasts. She must have been fair-skinned to begin with. I knew that she'd been only 16 years old when she was taken. She was Roseman's first and therefore, the strongest of the fledglings. Even so, I needed to control myself. I couldn't take her like I took Gareth, whose strength was even greater than mine. I walked in and slipped off my boots and jeans. She eyed me as I undressed, but didn't stop her ministrations. When I was naked, I looked down to follow her line of sight and saw that my already eight inch cock was jutting obscenely out from my body as though reaching for her. She licked her lips and I watched my shaft rise up, nearly straight up and harden to the fullest. I knelt on the bed next to her and gently removed the vibrator from between her legs, switching it off and grabbing a tissue to wrap around the wet plastic. I tossed it to the far side of the big king size bed. She watched me with half hooded eyelids. I moved to kneel between her legs and bent over, taking my weight on my hands. I kissed her gently and then deeper as she responded with enthusiasm. I slid my hands over her arms, stretching them above her head. Her arm muscles were tense and I rubbed them gently until I felt them relax. She was five foot, one and I was six foot, three. I looked like a giant as I towered over her. Her tits were small, high and firm, about the size of grapefruits. I palmed one and suckled the other, making her moan with pleasure. My voice was hoarse when I said, "Sabrina, you'll have to forgive me. I won't be able to do much in the way of foreplay or I'll get too big. You're so tiny." She reached down and wrapped her tiny hand around my shaft. I groaned. Already her fingers didn't touch around the girth. "I understand," she said softly. "I'm ready." "Remember, no blood exchange of any kind ... King's orders," I teased. She giggled. I reached down to find her clit poking out of its little hood and I rubbed down the side, making the hood tug on it gently. She moaned as I felt it shiver next to my finger, and I felt wetness pour out of her into my hand. I pulled it up and licked it off. She tasted sweet. My groin throbbed, expanding a bit in both directions, reminding me that I needed to get going here. I grabbed the condom and rolled it quickly onto my cock. Even my precum could have a profound effect on her body. I found and spread her plump labia, surprised to feel my body trembling with excitement. I gently probed her opening and she raised her legs, wrapping them around my hips to give me a better angle. I pushed gently, feeling the walls expand and stretch taut as I spread her open. She was wet, her juices cool. I jerked my hips and the head popped inside. I felt her walls close tightly around the metal hard helmet of my cock. Her breasts were heaving as he breathing increased. "More," she hissed out with a sibilant whisper. She reached up and pinched both my nipples and I roared, pulling up on my knees and slamming into her all the way to my balls. She screamed and her body arched against me, rigid with pain at my forced invasion. So much for going slow. I held perfectly still and waited until she relaxed, murmuring, "I'm sorry, oh Sabrina, I'm so sorry. I'm too on edge, baby, you don't even need to touch me." I felt my eyes sting with tears. I'd never intentionally harmed a woman during sex in my life. And I hadn't done it intentionally now. Hurting them and harming them were two different things. I could feel the warm trickle of blood on my shaft from her torn tissues. Her breath exploded from her lungs and she collapsed. Her eyes were level with my pecs and she tipped her head up to see my face. "Guess I shouldn't have done that, huh?" We both chuckled and the tension broke. "I'm so sorry," I whispered, plucking strands of her hair away from her forehead. Her hands tentatively ran up and down my back, making my muscles twitch and tingle from her light touch. "It's all right. It's been a long time since anyone shoved a cock into my body. And you're so much bigger than Roseman ... all over. I'll heal quickly." I cringed, knowing that bastard had probably taken her more than for just her Making. She'd been only 16. I wondered how many lovers she'd had in the last ten years. She couldn't have done much living by the age of 16. She squeezed her muscles tightly and released them. I groaned and felt my cock grow a bit, punching deeper into her sheath. She moaned, "Holy shit." I said, "I'm sorry, but I have to move, Sabrina, or we're not going to be able to finish this." She nodded. "Do it, I like a little hurt." My breath whooshed out of my lungs and I began stroking into her. "You feel so good, like a little doll. Oh fuck, you're so tight, baby." She hummed and lifted her hips, gyrating against me with every stroke and creating a delicious friction between us. I felt her walls loosen a tiny bit and she hollered, "Faster!" I continued punching into her tiny, torn pussy, feeling her muscles gripping me as I retreated. I hissed with pleasure and felt my fangs extend. She cried out, "Aaaahhhh, yes, take me! Oh you're so sexy. Tear me up, Alex." I began really pounding her, abusing her soft, bruised walls over and over. I couldn't stop myself. I looked down and saw her head back, mouth open, her fangs extended. They were as dainty as the rest of her. I sat up on my knees, gripped her waist, my fingers nearly touching around her slender frame and snapped my hips, driving into her relentlessly, using her like a common whore to relieve my lust. That wasn't entirely true. Ninety percent of this was pure raging lust. She was beautiful and I was horny. But another small part of me felt affection for her, for her easy acceptance of me when the others had been suspicious, for her kind words when everyone else left, never wondering if I was in need. Her muscles tightened and she cried out with a sharp, quick orgasm that made it feel like I was being gripped by a fist. I felt my balls swell, and the fullness of the receptacle at the end of the condom just from my precum. I'd be lucky if it didn't burst. The backs of my thighs tingled and I leaned over to lick her breast, not daring to suckle lest I prick her with my fangs. I throbbed hard and my sex grew again, swelling past nine inches and she was still taking it all. A mortal woman her size would be bleeding to death by now. I lifted my weight onto my hands and looked down. She was watching too. My stomach muscles crunched as I drove into her, slapping my swollen nuts into her ass. She was so small, her hips narrow and boyish like the pubescent teen she'd been ten years ago. My prick was so big around now that it was brushing the silky skin of her inner thighs as I retreated. I groaned as I pulled back, seeing my shaft streaked with her blood from her ripped insides. The smell of it made me thirst. Gareth was right. It would be easy to lose control. My whole body throbbed with want for her blood and I felt myself lengthen again, punching deep into her china doll body. I collapsed over her, sliding my hands under her shoulder blades, my hands easily cupping the tops of her shoulders. I growled ferociously, hunching over and driving into her as I yanked down on her shoulders. I was fucking her brutally and it was as euphoric as it could be without drinking from her. Even torn to shreds, she was so tight I had to force my way in with every heaving thrust that humped me deep into her core, battering her cervix. Even torn apart, I knew she was clenching her muscles as tightly as she could, enduring the pain to bring me the most pleasure. She cried out, "Oh yess, Allleeexxx! You're splitting me in two. Feels so good. Here I come again! Ah, awwww, fuck. It hurts, hurts so good." I guess it felt good to her too, though, because I felt her walls spasm more quickly and even more tightly around my shaft and I let go, feeling my sperm rocket up my shaft, stinging as I ejaculated into the condom. If I'd held off any more, I could have really harmed her. She continued to convulse on my spraying shaft that pumped into her. She groaned and squealed as she continued to orgasm. "Oh shit. You're hard as a fucking pipe. So big. Fuck me, Alex. Fuucckk me." I felt the condom begin to slip as it filled and I grabbed the end of it, pulling out of her. The end was blown up as it filled and it continued to expand, looking like a balloon. I hadn't made a plan for this, forgetting how much fluid I created. I should have known a condom couldn't hold it. She wiggled out from between my legs, flipped onto her stomach and dove between my legs. She began licking my engorged balls and I howled, "Ssaabbrriinnnaa!" I tapped her shoulder with my free hand and she backed off. I grabbed the plastic garbage can, next to the bed, aiming inside. I let go of the condom, aimed my dick and watched overtaxed latex fire off the end of my cock, splatting into the bottom of the can. My free hand reached over to tweak her nipples and she shuddered with another quick orgasm. I finally finished, bleary-eyed and feeling sated at last. I set the garbage down and grabbed some tissues to clean myself up. I was going to wipe between her legs but then decided she'd gotten the short end of this deal. I went down on my stomach, lifted her slender legs over my shoulder. I slid my hands under her, gripping her tiny ass cheeks. My hands covered each cheek almost completely and I pulled them apart. She moaned. I leaned in and began licking up her juices, gently soothing her wounded little snatch. Her hips began rocking in rhythm to my licking. She hummed in her throat and fisted the bed covers. I tasted a drop or two of blood from her torn tissues and stuck my tongue inside, licking saliva over the walls. I shivered at the taste of her and purposely retracted my fangs with effort. It would be too easy to bite her. I needed to heal her. I didn't think Gareth would consider this drinking from her. My lust was sated now and I did need to heal her up. She would heal on her own, but would proceed faster with my saliva to help her along. She gasped as she felt her tissues begin to heal as soon as my saliva dipped into them. She sighed and then began grinding her her little muff into my face. I continued to lick, making sure my nose rubbed incessantly against her tiny bundle of nerves. In no time she was crying out, "Ohhhh, yeah, Alex, oh yes!" Her hips rose off the bed, her back arching till only her head touched the bed, her heels dug into my shoulder blades as my shoulders held her legs up. She pushed her pink, little nipples to the sky as she shook with the force of the orgasm. I lapped at her a final time, rose and finally dried her with tissues. "Oh shit," she stuttered. "I needed that Alex. Thank you." "Me too. You sure you're O.K.?" "I'll heal. Don't worry. It won't even be as bad as I thought since you licked me. I like it rough since I was made. I don't know why. Nobody's ever fucked me so good." "Were you a virgin when you were made?" "No, but I'd only been with one guy, my boyfriend, a couple of times." XXXXXXXXXX END NC-17 PORTION XXXXXXXXXX I got up and went into the bathroom, getting a warm washcloth to finish the job. I came back out and she was lying on her side on the very edge of the bed. I realized she was staring straight into the garbage can that I'd left next to the bed. About a half inch of bloody jism was floating in the bottom. Geez, I had to be careful! Gareth's words came back to me, 'Promise me, no blood, Alex.' I took two purposeful strides, snatched up the can, watching her eyes widen and her head begin to shake in denial. I mind probed her gently and knew she'd been craving the taste of it, wanted it ... but at the same time I heard her internal admonishment. 'Can't break his trust. Never break his trust.' I relaxed and retreated from her mind. I strode into the bathroom without a word and tipped the can into the toilet. I ran some water in a cup, dumped it in and swished it around, tipping in the toilet again, making sure it was all gone. I flushed the toilet and returned with the wash cloth, setting the can on the floor again and handing her the cloth silently. She swallowed and wiped herself gingerly, seeming relieved, as though she'd expected more pain. She handed it back to me with a soft, "Thank you." I walked back to the bathroom, tossed the washcloth in the sink and returned, pulling the covers up and tucking her underneath them. An hour had gone by since we started and I could see her eyelids drooping. She was exhausted and dawn would come in less than a half an hour. It was pulling heavily on her. I rolled her onto her side and spooned up behind her. She breathed a sigh that sounded curiously like relief and snuggled against me. I kissed her hair and enjoyed the feel of it against my chest. She whispered, so quietly it was barely audible, "I wouldn't have done it, Alex." She had tears in her voice. I squeezed her tighter. "I know, but just sitting there it was an awful temptation. That's my fault. I shouldn't have left it there. I used the can because I didn't want to soil the sheets to the point where we couldn't sleep in them tonight." As it was we had scooted to the far side of the bed to avoid the gigantic wet spot we'd created. "I don't want you to ... not trust me now. I wouldn't have done it. I swear! I couldn't help but look at it, so thick ... but I wouldn't have done it." I probed her gently again. She was afraid, even now; afraid of my anger ... and Gareth's. She was so lonely and scared. Our arrival was the first glimmer of hope she'd had for a decent existence since she'd been made. Now she was afraid she'd blown our good will simply by staring and craving the blood. She was thirsting too. "Shhh, it's all right. It's my responsibility, not yours. But I'm glad to know you won't break my trust." "You believe me?" "Yes." "How come?" I swallowed, debating whether to tell her. "I can tell when you are sincere. I know you need to feed. We'll do that as soon as you wake tomorrow evening before we join the others." She accepted this without asking how I knew. She probably suspected that I had read her mind, but couldn't prove it. I was too adept and left no trail. They felt nothing when I entered or left. "I'm ... honored to be here, Alex." Uh oh. I didn't want to hurt her, but I couldn't let her believe something that wasn't true. "We took care of each other, Sabrina. It was good. I enjoyed it." She sighed. "You could have taken anyone ... but you took me ..." She trailed off, her tone asking if that meant anything to me. "I find you very attractive, Sabrina and you offered. I appreciate the extended hand of friendship as well. You're by far the prettiest one there and the kindest but ... you must understand ... my heart ... it belongs to ..." She cut me off. "King Gareth, I know." I sighed sadly, hoping I hadn't made a mistake here. But then I changed the subject. "If you had any idea how much he hates that title . . ." I felt her smile even though I couldn't see it. "He'll have to get used to it." "I suppose so." "And you're Prince Alex." "Yuck," I said petulantly. She giggled now. "Get used to it." And she fell asleep two seconds later, just like that, the dawn throwing a veil over her body and sinking her into the deep slumber of day. I hoped I hadn't made a mistake here. I hoped she wouldn't give us away out of some misplaced jealousy. I sighed. What was done was done, and my lust was sated ... for tonight anyway. I knew it would return with a vengeance by tomorrow night. Hopefully, though, Gareth would be here by then. God, I hoped so. Since he was returning, I assumed he'd found and dispatched Pierre. My enemies didn't know how much I'd agonized over some of the things I'd been made to do. There were more benefits to becoming a blood drinker for me than getting my arm back and gaining a lover. I was finally free of the old Consortium. The few remaining men that held power over me were dead. They could no longer blackmail me into doing things I despised. I'd hated myself for those things but I'd been too much of a coward to die. I had a beautiful woman in my arms and all I could think about was seeing Gareth again. I loved him. It was an odd turn of events for me in more ways than one. I wished I could have gone with him. I hated this separation ... and didn't like the feeling of neediness that had descended on me as he left. He must have made out all right if he would be back tomorrow night. I would know the whole story soon. No more secrets. PART 10 (NC-17) KENDALL FAIR'S MANSION FALLS CHURCH, VA THE FOLLOWING EVENING 8:00 PM I ushered Kelli into the house with a hand on the small of her back. She had gushed over my Cadillac with all the extras and enjoyed her ride back to the house. I'd called her and picked her up from her apartment at 6:00 PM, shortly after sundown. I explained that I'd had to return to take care of some personal business but was leaving again in the morning. I told her she was the first person I thought of and I wanted to see her. I didn't think I could wait until I returned from my leave of absence. She was so easy and believed every word. Her blonde hair was perfectly coiffed without a hair out of place from the Gibson she'd put it into. That would change before the night was over. My flight wasn't until 2:00 AM from Dulles, so I had five hours to kill before I needed to leave for the airport. That was more than enough time. I truly didn't mind that Alex was taking a lover amongst the fledglings. I knew it was just to appease his lust. I wasn't surprised at his choice, either. Despite his contentment with our relationship, I knew he occasionally chafed at the fact that I would always be bigger than him. He liked to feel his power and assert it. The tiny blonde, Sabrina, would make him feel like Zeus. I just hoped he didn't tear her to shreds. I trusted him to take precautions, but still worried that he would forget his promises in the heat of passion. That would be a shame because it might mean I would have to destroy her if she was too strong. We couldn't allow these inexperienced fledglings to have that much power, not yet. It was too dangerous. I suppose that made me a hypocrite since I'd done exactly that with Alex. But Alex was no child as most of these fledglings were when taken. He was thirty-five years old, world weary and experienced in the ways of intrigue. He was intimately acquainted with sacrifice and used to having to give up something to gain something. These young ones knew nothing of that yet, and the potential for disaster should their pride or hurt feelings take over was enormous. I had to trust that he realized how important it was that he not give her any blood, not even a drop. The same would be true for me this evening. Unlike Sabrina, Kelli was tall, almost five foot, ten and although slender, she was grown woman. I also knew that she was something of a tramp in her twenties and had more men than she could count. It was easy to find out that her chief complaint to all her girlfriends was that she couldn't find a man big enough to satisfy her. She lamented the loss of the virginity only because it meant that her 'used merchandise,' as she referred to it, was stretched out and would never be the same again. She often complained that she couldn't find a man that could fill her. A quick mind probe while she was thinking of sex, excited by my nearness, had revealed all this. She was not burdened by religious morals and frequently used sex to get what she wanted. At the same time, if she did get what she wanted, she had no respect for them and lost interest quickly. But she loved being in control. That would change tonight. She wanted me and she was going to get me, but not on her terms. I was quite sure I could accommodate her needs. Of course, I would hypnotize her first and explore the territory so I knew exactly what I was dealing with. Unlike most mortal woman, I might not have to worry about hurting her as much as I usually did when I was with a human. I could still tear her up, no doubt about that, but I could probably allow myself to prolong my pleasure longer than I usually could with a woman. I was almost surprised at how much I was looking forward to it. I also knew from reading her that what she really wanted was to find a man she couldn't control. She had some latent submissive desires that she wouldn't admit to, even to herself. I planned to show her tonight just how much she craved it. I felt my loins fill with warmth and tingle as I watched her wander around the living room with her mouth hanging open. I was going to have fun tonight, a break from all my responsibility. And she wouldn't remember if I tore her to shreds, as I would heal her. What she would remember would be mind blowing orgasms the likes of which she'd never experienced. When Alex and I were both back in the States for good, I would have to see about sharing her bounty. It would depend on how things went tonight. It would be nice to have a 'regular' woman that we could call upon when either of us needed to. I was fairly certain the pleasure we could give her would outweigh any misgivings she would have about having two lovers, or me 'sharing' her with someone else. I knew the way to hold her, besides the pleasure. She basically had credit cards for brains. Since money wasn't a problem, I could buy her gifts regularly and keep her on an easy string. She wasn't the smartest cookie in the jar, but she knew her merchandise. I smiled as she turned to look at me. "My God, Sir, it's gorgeous." "Thank you. Did you eat?" "Yes, I eat early, about 5:30 so I'm fully digested by the time I'm ready for bed. Keeps the weight down. You shouldn't eat after 8:00 PM anyway." "Very true." I walked up to her and slid my arms around her. I stepped back and leaned on the rear of the sofa, pulling her between my legs and putting our faces more level. I still looked down on her. "What happens, though, if I want to eat now?" I said, the flirt implicit in my voice. She smiled so hard, I thought her face might crack. "What did you have in mind? I mean, I could rustle something up in the kitchen," she said, purposely misunderstanding me. I pulled her tight against my chest and she breathed out, her breath shuddering from her lungs. I could smell her already. One touch and she was creaming her panties in anticipation. Her tight wool skirt didn't leave a lot to the imagination, nor did her spandex top. I lowered my head and let my breath waft over her neck, seeing her vein pulse in her neck. I inhaled and breathed on her skin again and she shivered. "Oh God," she whimpered. I slipped my lips up to her ear and nibbled around the shell. "Sir?" "How about you call me Kendall when we're not at work, Kelli?" "Oh, O ... kay," she stuttered as I nipped at her earlobe and then flicked my tongue against it. She shivered again. "What if I want to eat you, Kelli? I think you're on the menu tonight." I slid my hands to her ass and squeezed firmly. "Oh Jesus," she whimpered. "It's a little fast ... only our first date." "Hmmm, but it's not like we haven't known each other a while, right?" She wanted this, she just needed to be coaxed so that if it went bad, she could say it wasn't her idea. I stared at her, not putting her completely under, but rendering her very prone to suggestion. "That's true." "We're friends already, right?" "Yeah," she said weakly. She was mine now. I could control her bodily reactions as easily as her mind. "You knew I wanted this when you agreed to come home with me tonight, didn't you?" "Well, I wasn't sure." "Yes, you were." I slid my hand down to the back of her leg and slid it up until I slipped under her mini skirt. I felt no panties and I raised an eyebrow. She whispered, "They're there." I smiled, taking this as an invitation and slid my hand over her taut buttock, squeezing gently. Instead of reaching higher where I knew I would find the cloth, I slid my fingers sideways right into the crack of her ass. She gasped as my forefinger curled around the thong strap and snapped it slightly. I grinned, enjoying her discomfort. She wanted me, but she was used to being in control. She was used to having the reins and manipulating men with her sexuality. *Just my touch is arousing you.* She whimpered quietly and I knew she'd gotten wet. I could smell her. She reached down between my legs and I studiously kept myself limp. She cupped me and frowned and although I knew she could feel the length of me, even flaccid, and she was impressed. "I thought you said you wanted me?" she pouted. "I do," and I willed my cock to surge up under her hand, expanding quickly to the point where it spread her fingers apart. "Oh Christ!" she cried out. "Let's go upstairs, Kelli." She hesitated and I cupped her face, looking deeply into her eyes. I entered her mind easily and subtly, giving her the first of her directed desires for the evening. *You want to find out how big I am so badly. Your curiosity is driving you wild.* She moaned softly and stroked me. "O.K." I smiled and hoisted her legs up over my hips. Her long legs wrapped around my waist, her little skirt riding up to reveal her black lace thong panties, a mere triangle of cloth covering her mound. I glanced down, but then pulled her tight against my chest and stood up. I carried her easily and I knew she liked that too. She was a tall woman and few men could carry her or make her feel small and feminine. I climbed the stairs and entered the master bedroom. She turned to look at the light coming from the bathroom and I looked at the candles on the dressers and they lit up. She turned back and gasped, "Oh! I didn't even hear you strike a match." I smiled, and turned from her, closing the heavy steel door, ensuring that she wouldn't be leaving without my help. I didn't have any fear she would run anyway, but I did want the sound proof walls to absorb her screams. I didn't have any neighbors too close, but you can't be too careful. And she was going to scream. It was one thing I did miss being in a relationship with a man. He screamed for me too, but there was just something about a mortal woman's screams that sent me into orbit. XXXXXXXXXX THIS PORTION NC-17 After he stripped me naked and laid me in the middle of his enormous bed, he stepped back. I watched in fascination as his shirt was pulled over his head, revealing the most magnificent chest I had ever seen. His biceps bulged, as big around as my waistline, but they didn't seem to hinder his agility any. They didn't hang sticking out from his body like an ape's, the way some body builder's arms did. His abdomen was a sculpted six pack with a wide ridge down the middle. I wanted to touch him there. He toed off his boots and began lowering his pants. I'd felt him through those worn jeans and even flaccid he had seemed large. I'd had no idea. Oh my God. He was an Adonis. I'd never seen a body so perfect. I squealed an inarticulate sound as his pants dropped to the floor, puddling around his feet. His cock was enormous. It was easily eight inches long and big around as a soda can. I felt my mouth water and noticed that it stuck straight out, tipping down at the end. Was he not completely hard yet? Oh my God. I'd been looking for a weapon like that for years. How many years had it been since someone had reached the back of my cunt? I couldn't remember. It had been a long time. I was sure he would, though. And he was thick. I watched it pulse, the end straightening as he grew harder. He climbed onto the bed and loomed over me, his cock hanging between us. He lowered its heavy mass to rest on my pelvis and ground into me a little. Shit, he was hard, very hard. *Hardest you've ever felt but doesn't feel unnatural.* He licked his fingers and reached forward, circling my nipples which were already drawn up into hard points of desire. I arched my back, pushing them into his hands, begging for more contact. He leaned down and suckled one into his mouth, the teeth grazing lightly. I groaned, "Awww, Kendall." *Every suck on your nipple makes your clit throb and vibrate and you grow wetter.* He sucked harder and I felt a dart of pain whip through my torso from my breast to my juncture. Then the wetness flooded my nether lips and I moaned at the warmth of it spreading through my groin. "How big are you when you're fully erect?" I whispered. I couldn't help asking. "You're magnificent." He chuckled and looked down. "We'll have to wait and see, won't we?" he answered cryptically. "It'll be my surprise." "I want to taste," I said boldly. He smiled and knee walked over me until the plump head was brushing my lips. Holy shit, it was nearly as big as a MacIntosh apple. I opened my mouth wide and tongued the tip. It throbbed hard, but there was no precum. I'd thought he was more excited than that. I continued to lick him, sliding just the head inside my mouth. My lips were stretched so wide, I couldn't breathe. So I pulled back, lapping him again. He reached down and captured my wrists, pulling my arms over my head. I suddenly felt restrained and felt a stab of panic. I threw my head back to look up just in time to see him snap furry cuffs on my wrists. "What the hell are you doing?" I shouted. He just smiled an arrogant, lazy smile and easily overcame my struggle, snapping the cuffs to eye hooks on the headboard. Why hadn't I seen them before? He backed down my torso and said in a husky voice, "I'm giving you what you want, Kelli." "Uncuff me! I don't want this!" He chuckled insolently and looked into my eyes. "Yes, you do. You've wanted me to ball you for months." I swear I heard a soft voice say inside my head, *You want to be dominated and tied up. You want to surrender and have no control. You want me to fuck you stupid.* Ball me. Jesus, the words were so crude but they made me quiver. I moaned as though the words were suddenly true. They must have come from my subconscious. I tested the strength of my bindings and found them secure. This realization, that this was real, caused my whole body to shake as arousal stole over me, making every hair on my body stand on end. God, he was a fucking giant. "Please don't hurt me," I whispered. He ran his hands over my legs, spreading my thighs wide. *You will get off on pain. It will be erotic pain to you, however bad it is.* "I won't harm you, Kelli. But I might hurt you a little, you know, that little hurt that is so erotic. Sets you off, doesn't it?" I moaned. How did he know this about me? That I liked it rough. That I liked to be manhandled and find bruises on my body the next day. *Dirty talk turns you on. Even a little humiliation turns you on.* He reached down to test my readiness, finding me drenched. "You like it rough, don't you? I'm gonna stretch that cunt of yours like it's never been stretched." I was offended by his crude talk but shivered with arousal at the same time. God, I was sicker than I had realized. To my surprise, he leaned over to the bedside table and pulled a condom out of a box. Magnums, I should have known. Had I ever been with a man that needed a Magnum? I couldn't remember. At least he was practicing safe sex. I watched as he rolled the rubber over his engorged cock, fully erect now, nearly ten inches and looming between my spread thighs. I wanted it and was afraid of it at the same time. He leaned down and captured my lips, kissing me thoroughly. His chest rubbed against my 40D breasts and felt curiously cool. Must be because my skin was so hot right now. He pressed his cock to my opening, pulling my legs up by the knees, and spreading me so wide it was a strain on my hips. I lifted my head and watched as he pressed himself into me slowly, watching as that gigantic helmet pushed me open. I felt my labia stretching tightly around his thick mushroomed glans as it begged for entrance. He suckled my nipple harshly and rhythmically. I was getting wetter and wetter by the minute. Every hard suck brought a fresh gush of juices from my juncture, lubricating his efforts. Finally, the rock hard head broke through and slipped past my resisting muscle with a small shock of pain and he was inside. Good lord, only the head was inside and I already felt more stretched than ever before. He was going to ruin me for other men. I just knew it. I'd wanted him for so long. And although I tried not to fuck on the first date anymore, I hadn't been able to resist. He had resisted my charms longer than any man I'd ever known, and I couldn't pass up this opportunity if he was willing, just in case it was my last chance. He rocked his hips, pushing about an inch of himself inside. "So thick," I muttered, feeling sweat break out on my upper lip. My subconscious kept talking to me as I stared into his bright blue eyes that seemed to glow in the dimness of the room. *You want me to stuff you full. You want to feel the pain like you're going to tear. When you do, it's going to make you come ... hard.* He began to rock his hips, pushing a little deeper with every stroke. *Every inch deeper, you'll come. Every time you tear, you'll come. The pain is pleasure. The more pain, the more powerful the orgasm you'll have.* I heard a long, extended guttural noise and realized it was coming from me as he rocked, shoving himself deeper. I orgasmed hard and quick. I tensed in anticipation knowing he was going to literally ravage me and there was nothing I could do. He steadily pressed another inch or so inside. I felt myself tremble and my clit vibrated as the pleasure washed through me on the heels of the pain. He kissed me and then knelt back up, grasping my waist and watching what he was doing. He began to thrust harder and I cried out, "Oh fuck, that hurts!" In spite of that, I felt my nipples throb and my walls gush wetness, allowing him to punch deeper into my hungry cunt. I orgasmed again, a little longer this time. I would take him. He was going to be the one. He would reach the door to my womb, I knew he would. I forced my eyes open realizing they were closed. I heard him hiss and the voice in my head sounded again, 'all you see are perfect, shining, white teeth.' I thought this was an odd thought to have but upon inspection I decided his teeth were the most beautiful, perfect teeth I had ever seen. He pushed hard, and my body began to convulse in climax. He was only half way in. Holy fuck. He slammed into me, rocking my torso as I twisted my arms in my bindings. He stopped suddenly and pulled out. I felt bereft and empty, my stretched hole gaping open wide. "No, please, put it back," I cried out. He hummed, "Hmmm, not to worry, angel." He grasped my hips and flipped me over my hands flipping easily in the eye hooks and not tangling me up. Nice invention, I thought inanely. Then I felt his cock rubbing between my ass cheeks, pushing them to the side with his girth. He was talking and I struggled to pay attention and hear him over the roar of blood in my ears. "Beautiful ass, Kelli. A tight, little, heart-shaped ass. Next time I'll fuck your ass." My ass. Oh no. There would be a next time. God was smiling on me. Next time. Best get through this time first. He spread my cheeks and put pressure on my ass, but didn't try to enter there and I was relieved. He slid down and teased my slit, then pulled back and punched into me, burying more than half of his thick tool inside my aching sheath. "Oh fuuucccckkkk," I shouted. He began to pump again, lifting my hips off the bed. His hands slid up my stomach, cupped my breasts and squeezed. His thrusting sped up. "Take more, you horny bitch," he muttered. "Yes!" "You've been teasing me for months. Now I'm gonna take what you've offered. You still think you can handle me?" "Oh shit, Kendall. You're gonna make come aaggaaiinn." "Yeah, Kelli, come on my cock. You're a hot, little slut, aren't you?" he growled. "You've got a body that was made for fucking. And I'm gonna fuck you like you've never been fucked," he growled. "Oh yeah. You're a hot tramp. But you're my hot tramp. You're going to be my beautiful fuck toy. You're a slut, aren't you, Kelli? Say it, tell me you're a slut." *Talk dirty to me. I love it.* "Yes, oh God, yes. I'm a slut." "My slut." "Your slut. Only your slut." I couldn't deny it. He was shoving about seven inches of his ten inch cock up into me. He hadn't reached the back of my tunnel yet and I'd already come about ten times. The only reason he wasn't in was that his thickness was proving a hindrance, stretching me beyond endurance. I felt spaces inside me fill that had never been filled. His fingers found my nipples, pinched and squeezed. "Oh GOD," I shouted as I started to cum again. "Look at you coming on my pole like a $10 whore." He was thrusting so hard, it lifted my knees off the bed. He was holding my hips and I realized we'd slid back so my arms were out completely straight, swaying in their cuffs. He was holding nearly my entire body weight up as he thrust violently. I had no leverage, no control at all. I was scared. I was nauseous. I was thrilled. I was having back to back orgasms. That had never happened before. Each time he punched deeper, I exploded in a hard climax. He slapped my ass and the WHACK echoed in the room as I felt my skin sting. His balls were swinging and slapping against my swollen clit, sending electric shocks through my body as he tried to get even deeper. If he was just a bit thinner he could ram all of himself inside. He smacked me again and I cried out, "Oh God. Aaggaaiin." "Awww, you love the pain, don't you, baby?" He still wasn't all the way in. He yanked up hard on my hips and I felt him slide deeper, the inner walls of my cunt stinging with the pressure. Pain. Knifing pain ripped through my abdomen as something tore inside me. I shuddered, peaked again and groaned like I was dying. What else could I do? How many was that? I'd lost count now. I began to scream, feeling my labia pulled wide with every retreat and then folded in with every thrust. "Ahhhhh, Kendall. Jesus, baby, oh God, no more, it hurts, oh fuck it hurts." "Oh, I know it hurts. There's more, baby. I'm not done using your fuckable body yet." He slammed into me and stopped. I felt a mighty throb in his shaft and though I knew it was impossible, it felt like he grew at least an inch longer and widened, stretching my entrance even more. Oh fuck. I was going to tear again. I could feel his enormous cock putting pressure on the bones of my pelvis. I screamed as my body convulsed in the hardest orgasm yet. "Aaaaaawwwwwwwww, Gaaaaaaaaaaaa, Nooooooooooooooo!" He was deaf to my pleas as he continued punching into me, jarring my body. I swear I felt his cock expand again, knowing it was impossible. He roared, "FFUUCCKK, oh yeah, Kelli. No woman's ever taken more of me!" I felt pride and arousal shoot through me knowing I was giving him something most women probably couldn't ... a big juicy cunt that could take most of that monster cock he was sporting. I didn't think I'd ever felt one so hard. I felt so violated as he ignored my screams to not go any deeper. At the same time, I was more aroused than I had ever been in my life. He began to talk again, keeping my arousal at an unbelievable height, making me feel dirty and more wanton than I ever had in my life. "I'm gonna make you take all of me, Kelli. Oh yeah. You're gonna take me balls deep, you gorgeous whore." Thrust, thrust, thrust. "You thought I was fully grown before, didn't you? No, baby, I wasn't. Surprise!" Oh shit. Thrust, thrust, thrust. "I am now. You're going to take it. Wanna know how much?" "Oh, fuck, no. No more." "My big, wide foot long is going inside, Kelli." A foot long? God have mercy. My hands were suddenly free, pain shooting up my arms as the blood returned to them. He was lifting me bodily, sitting back, his ass on his heels and dragging me upright with him. His massive arms wrapped around my rib cage. His hips pulled back and rammed forward as he slammed me down onto his rigid pole. I screamed at the top of my lungs as he plunged inside, slamming to the end of my cunt and bruising my cervix. Would I survive this? "Oh yeah, Kelli. Your greedy cunt is taking it all, baby. You're my slut now." What was it with him and dirty talk? He was so refined and gentlemanly in the office. You never would have known he was such an animal in bed. I held onto his arms where they wrapped around me, my upper body flopping around like a rag doll as he lifted me up nearly to the top of his shaft, just the head holding my tunnel open, and then yanking me down as he thrust up, cramming his six inch wide, foot long cock inside. I screamed looking down, seeing blood running down my inner thighs. I could feel him pushing deep into my cavernous cunt and filling it like it had never been filled. I nearly passed out from the pain that mingled with the pleasure. His cool arms stayed around my waist and he lifted me bodily, growling as he thrust, his engorged nuts pressing against my mound as he bent me forward slightly. My lord, his nuts were HUGE. "This big enough for you?" In a flash, the pain was transformed into a vibrating tingle in my clit. "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH," I screamed as I was taken over by another round of rapid orgasms. They raced through my body, one on the heels of the others. I knew I was bleeding and I couldn't stop him. I felt his iron hard cock head plow into my cervix, something I hadn't felt in years. I must be hallucinating. It looked as though my stomach bulged out below my navel with every thrust. "You're a sexy piece of ass." My body went rigid, the skin stinging where I was torn inside. For first time in years, I had no control, and yet, I couldn't stop coming. I wondered if he would ever reach the end of his endurance. I absently noted that his skin was still cool. I was drenched in fluids; cunt juice, drool, my body slick with sweat. He still felt cool and dry against my back as he leaned forward, my legs spread obscenely wide over his tree trunk sized thighs as he slammed me into the mattress. I fell flat onto my face, my mouth pushed into the pillow below me and restricting my oxygen. I screamed again and he shouted, "Oh yeah, Kelli. Feels good, doesn't it? You love being torn apart, don't you? So sexy, taking my monster like a pro. You could've been a porn queen, baby. Oh shit, you're a great lay." His insulting words had the opposite effect from what they should have and I groaned as my orgasm's strength increased. Without warning, he roared, "Here it comes!" He growled and hissed, an unnatural sound and I felt a jet of his sperm slam into my cervix at the speed of a freight train. His condom trapped it but that did nothing to take away from the feeling of his gigantic cock throbbing with each ejaculation and slamming into my cervix as he emptied his balls into my deep cunt. I'd never known a man to come this long. Those balls must hold such a load. He withdrew and I was screamed at the bereft feeling of my suddenly empty body. I heard the tearing of foil and managed to look over my shoulder. He ripped off his bulging condom that was dangling off the end of his cock, holding on by barely an inch and ballooned with his load. He tossed it with perfect aim into the wastebasket. A long rope of jism hit my back. It was bloody! It must be my blood on his cock mixing with his cum. He quickly deployed a second condom on the end of his monster and dove back into me, making me shudder in pain. I put my face down and bit the pillow as I wailed, hard shuddering convulsions rocking my body as we headed into what I hoped was the home stretch. He grunted, thrusted. He was still coming. It didn't make sense. How could any man climax this long? I didn't stop coming until he was spent and lying on top of me over a full minute later, flexing his hips and grinding his still hard cock into me, making my torn flesh sting and my nipples throb with every dart of pain. I truly was a whore. What was wrong with me? The rougher he'd gotten, the harder I'd come. The more he talked to me like a cheap slut, the wetter I'd gotten. Right at that moment, I honestly didn't care, or want to examine it. I was going pay for this tomorrow. Pay dearly. Then I smiled weakly, whispering, "You did it." "Did what?" his groggy baritone vibrated in my ear. "Filled me up." "Is that unusual?" he asked. Somehow I had the feeling he knew already but wanted to hear me say it. "Tell you a secret," I said sleepily. "Tell me," he rumbled. "I have a cunt the size of Texas." He began to laugh against my back, bouncing my body on the mattress. It was a great sound, that deep voice laughing. "Good thing for me. You're a treat, Kelli. That was wonderful." I swallowed, feeling warmth steal over me that he was satisfied. "I think we were made for each other." "Why's that?" he asked, licking my neck and making me shiver. "Cause that pole of yours can actually fill me up." "I think I hurt you," he said, sounding unrepentant. "I think you did too, but it's all right. I'll heal." "Yes, you will," he said, a note of mystery in his voice. He reached over, rubbing my wrists and massaging my arms as the blood raced back into them. Then he flipped me over and moved between my legs. I couldn't be sure, but his hair looked longer, but that couldn't be right. It must be because he was naked and the heat of our coupling had made it go a little limp. I noticed it wasn't as curly as usual and figured that must be why it looked longer. It would be longer if it lost his curl. Interesting. I wouldn't have figured him for a guy that primped or curled his hair on purpose. But I guess you never really knew someone when it came right down to it. Then I couldn't think as I felt his tongue lapping me between my legs. I hissed as I felt that agile tongue penetrate me. I grabbed the sheets and tossed my head as I felt another orgasm approach. How many had I had? I'd lost count. He was by far and away the best lover I'd ever had. I felt my pelvis tremble and another orgasm like a hard slap ripped through me as his tongue found my G-spot. How long was that fucking tongue? I wondered. Holy shit. He moved it around a bit and I felt a cooling sensation drift through my tired and bruised muscles. Even his tongue was cool. That was odd. I'd have to ask him about that, I thought. *Sleep now.* My eyes drooped closed. XXXXXXXXXXX END NC-17 PORTION No doubt about it. I needed some sleep. He'd fucked me stupid. Not that that was a long trip for me. Hey, I knew my IQ wasn't ever going to get me into Yale or Princeton, but I had my assets. And a girl had to work with what she was given. I shuddered when the sensations became too much and he finally lifted his head. I stared into his eyes sleepily and wondered how sore I was going to be tomorrow. However sore, it would be worth it. I just hoped I could walk without limping. He laid on his back and pulled me close so that I lay next to him. "Kendall, don't you ever sweat?" I asked. He kissed me and suddenly my mind was blank. There was something else I was going to ask him. I was sure of it, but it escaped me at the moment. Oh well, if it was important, I would remember it tomorrow. Time enough for questions later. xxxxxxxxxx The next morning, I woke in my own bed, not knowing how I got there. He was gone. Had it all been a dream? The sex was fantastic enough to be a dream. I moved my legs and felt a delicious twinge of soreness between my legs. Nope. No dream. Funny, I wasn't nearly as sore as I thought I'd be. I sighed. Such pleasure. I had a feeling I thought it was bad at the time but now that I thought about it ... all I could remember was the mind numbing pleasure. It hadn't really hurt that much at all. PART 11 (PG-13) DANA SCULLY'S APARTMENT THE NEXT DAY - 8:00 AM "Who are you?" I asked after struggling to remove the door from the jamb where it was wedged in the night before. I found a man standing there wearing a tool belt and a flannel shirt with his jeans and work boots. Scully was still asleep and I didn't want to wake her. He grinned at my rudeness and said, "I was asked to come over here and replace this door. Bobby Kramer." "Oh! Uh ..." I stuck out my hand and he shook it. "Guy named Kendall Fair sent me. He's paying so you might as well enjoy it." I smiled and said, "Sure, do what you need to do. Do you need anything from me?" "No, not unless you want a different door than the one you have here. I have it's twin in my truck." "No, that will be fine." I retreated to the bedroom, deciding he was probably going to wake her anyway with his hammering. I knew some of the door jamb needed to be replaced. I shook her gently and she mumbled, "Muulddderr," and turned her face into the pillow. She was adorable when she was sleepy. "Honey, you have to get up." Her head popped up at that. "Honey?" she asked in an incredulous voice. I chuckled at her mussed hair, sleepy eyes and scrunched brow. She looked like a harried gopher, with just her head emerging from the covers. "Thought that would get you," I teased. "What is it?" "There's a contractor here to replace the door." "Are you sure of who he is?" she asked as she threw the covers off and scrambled to the edge of the bed in an amusing crab walk. "He said the magic passwords." "What are those?" she asked, curling her fist into her eye and wiping the sleep from them. "Kendall Fair sent me." "Ah," she said, wiping the other eye. "I figured his hammering would wake you, so I thought you'd want to get decent, just in case." "Shower," she mumbled as she staggered toward the bathroom, swimming in her oversized blue silk mens' pajamas. I loved seeing her like this, rumpled and waif-like. It was such a contrast to the buttoned down, large and in charge, Special Agent Dana Scully, M.D. There was something warming about the fact that I was one of the very few people that she allowed to see her like this, with her guard down. She trusted me enough and it made me proud one minute and panicky the next, wondering if some day I would let her down. I heard the shower come on and padded out into the kitchen wearing just my sweat pants. It was warm and I hadn't bothered with a shirt or socks. The linoleum in the kitchen was cold against my feet, but I ignored it as I made my way to the cupboards and pulled down the fixings for a pot of coffee. Once I had that started, I wandered back into the living room. The man was back measuring the trim on the door jamb. "Not looking good, huh?" I asked. He glanced up. "Somebody did a number on this door. Must have been a big guy." I shrugged, letting him wonder. He took the hint and didn't ask any more questions. "I'm going to have to rip this side of the jamb off and replace it. That means replacing this chipped molding strip too. I can dovetail a piece at the top and fit it together. You'll never know it was broken." "I'll leave it in your capable hands. I know you're good or Kendall wouldn't have hired you." He was speaking a language I didn't understand. I guess every profession had its own terminology. And I knew as much about carpentry as I knew about brain surgery. He beamed me a full smile with teeth. "I am good. I've done lots of work for him. He has good taste. What a spread out there in Falls Church, huh? The guy is rolling in it. Even so, I charge him fair prices like everyone else. I don't gouge him just 'cause I know he has it. That's one reason he likes me. The other is I do good work." "Lot of hacks out there, huh?" I asked, not really interested but making small talk to be polite while I waited for Scully to emerge. I was hungry and was thinking of asking her if she wanted to go out for breakfast. "You have no idea. Any idiot with a few bucks can get a contractor's license. If they have the money and can afford the liability insurance, they're good to go whether they know shit about carpentry or not." He worked steadily as he talked, scribbling some measurements on a stray piece of plywood he had on top of his tool box. "It's an art," I offered. He looked at me briefly. "It is. I'm a craftsman. I pride myself on doing quality work. I've been accused of overbuilding, using more lumber than I need to, like wider floor joist than required by code, but then again, no building inspectors ever come back to haunt me. My work stands and speaks for itself. I have no tolerance for shoddy work ... man ... ship," he finished as he yanked the molding off the wall making a high pitched squeak of nail coming out of wood that made me wince. "Heh, sorry about that," he apologized. "No problem. I'm just not quite awake yet." "I see that," he said casually, eyeing my rumpled hair which was probably doing a stellar impression of woody woodpecker right now. I chuckled. "So do you do mostly do finish work, or do you do other stuff?" He answered with pride. "Foundation to finish, buddy. I'm your man." "You busy?" "Yup. Get a few clients like Kendall Fair throwing your name around and they come calling, you know what I mean?" "Yeah, I would think so." "Hey, he's been good to me, so I wasn't bothered at all when he called late last night and said he needed me to do an emergency job for you folks. I take care of my paying customers, you know?" I stood watching him work, his hands steady, his measurements precise. I wondered what it would be like to work with my hands, to see a product at the end of the day and be proud of what I'd done. It had been a long time since I'd felt that sort of accomplishment. It was simple in some ways, but not in others. There was gratification in helping others, or building things for them that made them happy, or like now, fixing something when people were in a jam and had an emergency. "Built any houses this year? The market's not that good, I hear." He said, "Just one. Mostly renovating and additions these days. Even people with money don't always want to spend it nowadays, you know?" "The economy sucks more every day," I ventured. "Yup, but then again, there's always someone out there with too much time and money that needs a tax shelter." I chuckled again. I had a lot of money. I wondered if I should consider building a house for Scully and I rather than buying. I could do that, let her design it, have everything she wanted in it. I said tentatively, "Be sure to leave me your number." "Sure. You got other work?" "I might, in the near future." "Will do, buddy." "Mulder," I finally offered my name. "Mulder, O.K." He stopped and laid down his level that he'd been holding against the wall to be sure it was straight. He extracted his wallet from his back pocket and pulled out a couple of cards, holding them out. I took them and set them on the coffee table, not having my wallet on me at the moment. Scully emerged to see me put them on the table. She smiled and winked and continued right into the kitchen. Bobby raised his eyebrows at me and whistled a little, "Wheeewww, that the little lady?" I grinned at Scully being called the little lady. "Yes." Soon I'd be able to call her my fiance. I hoped. "Lucky man." I grinned. "I think so. Don't let her hear you call her a little lady though. She's sensitive about her height." He chuckled, "I get you. Women can be feisty, even little ones." "What's this about little women?" Scully asked as she came into the living room wearing soft, worn jeans and a blue sweater that hugged her torso, showing off her plump breasts and tiny waist, and bringing out the brilliant blue of her eyes. I actually saw the guy swallow hard as he got a good look at her. "Sorry, ma'am. Just guy talk." She grinned. "What's your name?" "Bobby Kramer," he offered, sticking out his hand, then looking at his greasy finger nails and pulling it back to wipe it on his jeans. We both laughed as Scully took his hand, not at all intimidated by the dirt. He seemed relieved. "Nice to meet you." "You too. Watch those little lady comments though. Fair warning, I'm armed and dangerous." On that note, she turned and left the room saying, "I'm going to throw in some laundry, Mulder. You have anything that needs to go in?" "Just some whites," I answered. She disappeared down the hallway. I loved this domestic shit. "Armed and dangerous, huh? What'd she mean by that?" "Just what she said." He scrunched his brow. I said, "We're FBI agents." "Holy shit!" he exclaimed. "Day-aamm, I should have known. You being Kendall's friends and all." "I'm sure he has friends that aren't FBI," I said casually. "Makes me feel like a hick, I'll tell you. I wouldn't want to do you guys' jobs." "No, you probably wouldn't. It's not for everyone," I said, thinking he didn't know the half of it. "So the little lady can shoot, huh?" Little lady again. This guy just didn't learn. I smirked. "Put a bullet up a rabbit's ass at two hundred yards," I joked. He burst out laughing. "I won't mess with her then," he replied. "Better not," I said. "She's got you to protect her, too. I'll bet you're no slouch with a pistol. Ever hunt with a rifle?" "No, can't say that I have. Never had any desire, although I do know how to use a rifle. But Scully doesn't need me to protect her." "No, she doesn't," Scully chimed in as she entered the living room. "What is this, Mulder? 'Tell a stranger about our lives day?'" "Uh oh," Bobby said under his breath. I smiled and pulled her into my side, careful not to spill her coffee. "Just making small talk. I want to go to breakfast, but I won't leave until the door's on the hinges and we can lock up." She nodded. "Sounds good to me. Now why don't you leave the poor man alone so he can work." "I better be getting dressed," I said. He nodded and I headed for the bedroom, watching Scully retreat to the kitchen, probably for a second cup of coffee. xxxxxxxxxxx We never made it to breakfast, but ended up running out and bringing it back as Skinner appeared on our doorstep just as the carpenter was leaving. I shook his hand and watched him retreat with his tool box and then ushered Skinner inside. "Sorry to interrupt," he said. "No problem. Come on in." Scully got him coffee, while I called and ordered egg sandwiches for all of us. I left to go down the block and get them. xxxxxxxxxx Skinner sat at the kitchen table and sighed as I handed him a mug of coffee, one sugar and cream, the way he liked it. He looked up. "Thanks, Scully. I'm sorry to barge in unannounced, but I need to talk to you guys." "Not a problem. We didn't want to leave until we could lock the door anyway. Not a big deal." He nodded. "He's gone already." I didn't have to ask who he was talking about. "I figured. He said he would leave the following night. Late. I think he said his flight was at 2:00 AM." "Flying at night ..." he said, drifting off. "Lot to take in, huh?" "That's an understatement. I spent the night at his house the other night, though." "You did?" "Yeah, we decided it would be better to go to his place. We couldn't talk in public anyway." "No, I guess not. What did he say?" "Lots of things. He scared the shit out of me." "Us too, at first. But I think he really is one of the good guys." "Are you sure about that?" he asked. I sighed. "Am I ever really one hundred percent sure about anything?" I paused. "No, but I'm as sure as I get about this sort of thing." "What about Mulder?" "He likes him. He trusts him." "Mulder doesn't trust easily." "No, he doesn't. And despite our differences of opinion, I trust his instincts." "Me too, but ... God, Scully." I sat down with my second cup of coffee and cradled it in my hands, letting the warmth seep into my palms. "What did he tell you?" "You don't know?" "I don't know how much," I answered. He stared at me for a moment and then said, "You're protecting him." I swallowed and licked my lips. "Not really. We've been sworn to secrecy. If we betray him ... it could mean our lives. We like him, but we're not stupid. He'll do what he has to in order to survive and if that meant killing us to avoid exposure ... I think he would do that." "With no remorse?" "No, I think he would have remorse, but he's a realist. He'll do what he has to do." "So you're afraid of telling me something that you shouldn't." "Maybe something he's not ready for you to know yet. I need to know what he told you and then we can talk about it. I'm protecting Mulder and I, not him." "I don't like it." "I don't either, but it's the way it has to be for now. I can't take any chances, Sir." "Walter. Call me Walter when we're not at work." I looked up at him, surprised. Was he proffering a greater friendship? "I'll try," I said finally. He nodded. "He mostly told me about himself ... and Alex. That blew my fucking mind." I laughed, rarely having heard him curse like that. "It took a while for us to believe it too. But you haven't seen Alex lately." "And you have?" "Yes, he came to visit us when these murders started." "He came here?" "Nope, walked right into the Hoover Building like he owned the place. At the time, we wondered how he'd managed that without I.D. or guest pass. He'd said, 'friends in high places'. We just didn't know how high at the time. Plus, he could have whizzed right by the front entrance so fast no one could see him." "It's hard for me to believe they can move that fast." "You saw them the other night." "Yeah, but I wanted to think it was a trick." "I didn't want to believe my eyes, either." "It's true then. Krycek is a vampire." "Yes." "Good God. That's even more frightening than finding out Kendall is. Oh, excuse me, Gareth." I smiled. "Confusing sometimes, but yeah. I think Alex defers to him, though, which is good and Fair seems to have our best interests at heart." "Let's hope so." "Were you sworn to secrecy?" "Of course. He basically said that as long as I kept his secret and didn't expose him, I had nothing to worry about. If I revealed him, he would kill me." "He said that?" "Pretty much. He didn't threaten though, it was more like ... these are the facts of my life. It was strange." "I don't think he likes to kill." "How did he kill Pierre?" PART 12 (NC-17) DANA SCULLY'S APARTMENT GEORGETOWN, D.C. I was silent for several moments and then Mulder came through the door. He opened the bag and the smell wafted out, making my mouth water. I was ravenous lately. He grabbed some paper plates and we all sat eating for a few moments. Finally, Skinner asked again, "How did he kill Pierre?" "He ... did what vampires do," I said. "But there was no body." I was silent a moment. "You saw him light the fire in the fireplace." "Yeah? So?" Mulder just stared at him and waited for it to sink in. Skinner's eyes went wide suddenly and he said, "He burned him?" "Like a Roman candle," Mulder added. "Jesus Christ!" Mulder said, "They don't leave remains like we do. When they burn, all that's left is a pile of ash." Skinner swallowed and said, "I see." Had he noticed the dark smudge of ashes in my bathtub when he'd used the facilities the other night? Mulder said, "It will be all right, Walter. We just have to let him do his job and not tell anybody and we'll be fine." "What about Krycek?" Mulder peered at him curiously. "Alex bothers you more than Kendall, doesn't it?" "Yes," he admitted. "He's always had a ... hold over me." We were all silent for a few moments and Mulder said, "Are you talking about the nanotechnology?" Skinner gulped. "Yes. He didn't need any more advantages. I live in fear of the day he's going to decide I'm in his way." "He hasn't mentioned it in a long time, has he?" I asked. "No," Skinner admitted. "But I don't for one minute think he's forgotten." "Maybe I can talk to him," Mulder offered. "No! I don't think he's forgotten, but I don't need to remind him either. He may not know that I know what he is now, and if that's the case, I won't be a threat." "He'll know," I said with certainty. "Kendall will tell him that you know. They need to know where the risk of exposure is for both of them ... all of them." He gulped again and lowered his face into his hands. Otherwise he appeared composed but I knew a storm was brewing inside him. I placed a hand gently on his shoulder and he actually flinched. I spoke softly, "I don't think you have to worry, Walter. I really don't." Mulder raised his eyebrows at me for calling him Walter. I gave him my 'I'll explain later' look and turned back to our frightened Deputy Director. He'd been a friend to us on more occasions than I could count. Now it was our turn to be a friend to him. I wanted to allay his fears. "I don't think Alex or any of them has the same agenda they used to." He raised his head. "Are you talking about the new Consortium?" "Yes. They want to thwart colonization, not join it or just save their own asses. They are working hard on vaccines to use to inoculate the population." I was taking a risk telling him that. The Consortium's agenda was one of the things we'd been told to keep to ourselves. But the cat was out of the bag now. "I can't say more," I continued. "But you need to trust us. Alex has a lot bigger things to worry about than you these days." He nodded. "I hope so," he said, his voice slightly ragged. Mulder patted him on the shoulder. "It will be all right. If they wanted us dead, we'd already be dead. As a matter of fact ..." He hesitated and then plunged in. "Alex has saved Scully's life twice since we knew what he was ... and Kendall saved mine. Before tonight, that is." Skinner looked at Mulder, at me and back at Mulder. "I've never understood him. He's always been so ... ambiguous. I never knew which side he was on." "Both, I think," I ventured. "I think he was a survivor. But now, he has the advantage and doesn't need to play a game of chess in order to prevent getting himself killed. Everything is different now." "You said I hadn't seen him. Why would that make a difference in helping me to believe all this?" Mulder answered, "He's different now ... physically ... and his attitude is different." "You mean he's not an arrogant shit anymore?" he said with a little venom. Mulder chuckled. "I didn't say that." Then he smiled. "What I meant is that he's ... taller for one thing." "Taller?" he asked, looking like he didn't believe a word of it. "He went from five foot, ten to six foot, three," Mulder said. "He's taller than me now," Mulder said. "Holy shit." "He's beefed up to, like he's worked out, but I know he hasn't. I think when they are made, the ... blood, just enhances their attributes to their finest." "But that's not the strangest thing," I added. Skinner looked at me. "There's more?" "Oh yeah." "Like what?" I hesitated, still having trouble with this one myself. "His arm ... I don't how, but he has his arm again." "It's fake," he said immediately. "Has to be." Mulder piped up. "It grew back, as hard as that is to believe. Scully doesn't want to admit it. Hell, neither do I. It sounds crazy saying it out loud, but we've both seen it for ourselves. Scully touched it, examined him. He's got an honest to goodness real arm again. He's whole as whole can be. In fact, I can't find one flaw." He paused. "Bastard." I raised my eyebrows, knowing this was always going to be sore point for him. He'd never admit but it was simple and plain as day to me. He was jealous of Alex. Intellectually, that didn't make sense and he knew it. So on top of his jealousy, he had to feel like there was something wrong with him because he was jealous. I think he knew that he didn't have to worry where I was concerned, but as a man, he wanted what Alex had. It rankled that Alex had anything he didn't. And who wouldn't want physical perfection. Kendall was damn near perfect as well. I hadn't seen any scars or imperfections on him either. Then again, I'd never seen them naked. I flushed at the thought and tamped down heavily on my thoughts, lest they show on my face. Mulder saw it, though, and scowled. I gave him my best 'get real' look and he slumped in his chair. Skinner looked at me. "If I wasn't hearing this from you, Scully, I wouldn't even consider believing it." I nodded, knowing how incredible it sounded. "I don't know how it happened ... I can't explain it. I won't even try. There was a time when I could deny what my eyes told me. But I can't deny what my eyes and hands tell me. I looked for a trick ... I didn't find one. His limb was regenerated somehow." "I'm tired of living with this fear. Now it's even worse. This is taking it out of my hide. I need an ... end." "We'll talk to him," I promised. xxxxxxxxxx ABANDONED TOMB VALLEY OF THE KINGS SOUTHWESTERN EGYPT I flew back to West Thebes as quickly as I could. I caught up to Alex and the fledglings for the last hour of training. I'd stood watching him direct them in an orderly fashion for a while before anyone noticed me. I was very impressed with the way he instructed them. He was firm, but he wasn't condescending. He gave them praise when they did well and gentle correction when they messed up. Sabrina never took her eyes off him. He focused on whichever student was in front of him at the moment. Fortunately, they were all staring at him, so her undue regard went unnoticed. I would have to talk to her about that. Outside of this forum, her staring would be noticed. Tonight though, all I wanted was Alex. I couldn't believe how much I missed him after only two nights. If I'd had to go this third night without him, I think I would have gone half mad. Kelli had slaked my lust, but only temporarily. I had no real affection for her, as cruel as that sounded. She was little more than a lust dumpster. She was good at it, though. I smiled. I'd enjoyed myself. *Hi,* I said silently to him as motioned for the next student. His head turned abruptly to the entryway, where I stood, negligently leaning on the pillar that framed the door leading into the hallway behind me. His smile was huge and genuine showing his teeth. His green eyes sparkled. I smiled back, feeling something catch in my chest. He was so gorgeous. Everyone now noticed the direction of his gaze and turned to find me there. A few gasped, and most looked surprised for a second but then hid it quickly. I think they were disconcerted by the fact that none of them had detected me standing here in the shadows. I could feel every one of them but they couldn't feel me. I was a master at cloaking my presence. I'd had years of experience when I was on the run from Zebrosia. And I was simply so much older and stronger than they were. Alex said, *Welcome back.* I pushed my body away from the pillar, standing up straight and walking toward him. The crowd of fledglings parted as I walked straight for him. I stopped in front of him, cupped his face and bent down to kiss him, softly, a kiss of hello. He sighed and blinked rapidly. I smiled softly at him and turned my attention to the fledglings. "Sorry to interrupt," I said, with a teasing lilt in my voice. There were some nervous giggles. "Honey, I'm home," I joked again and there were more titters and chuckles. "Glad to have you back," Alex said. "Mmmm, good to be back. I see you're doing a great job here." "I'm trying. They're doing really well. I mean, we've only been at this for three nights and already they are improving." I grinned at the pride that sounded in his voice. He was truly taking responsibility for their progress as though they were his children. I was glad. I had been slightly worried that he would resent having to do this. "Well, keep going. I'll watch. Tomorrow, after you've briefed me, I'll decide what we're doing next." He nodded. "Jump in any time," he offered. I watched for another hour as they lined up again and took more jumping and landing lessons. Alex leaped into the air effortlessly time and time again, never tiring. I wondered if any of them recognized what incredible strength that took. For every time each of them jumped, Alex jumped fifty times. I wasn't about to go mind surfing to find out something so trivial. However, I did wonder if they knew how magnificent he was. I needed to tell him about Pierre and Walter Skinner. That could have been sticky. I didn't like that the circle of people who knew of me was widening. There was nothing I could do about it now. I intended to keep a close watch on Walter after I returned. I also planned on talking to him again to try and ease his misgivings. I wished he hadn't seen, but I couldn't turn back the clock. I was going to be really careful from now on. Other than a life-threatening emergency like the one in Agent Scully's apartment, I wasn't going to risk exposing us to anyone else. Hopefully, I wouldn't have to make that choice again. I'd actually hesitated when I realized he was there, but then realized how dire the situation was and went in anyway. Another few moments of hesitation on my part could have cost Walter Skinner his life. I was feeling a tad guilty about that. I really liked the man. They finally finished and Alex dismissed them. xxxxxxxxxx WEST THEBES HOTEL SOUTHERN EGYPT I didn't think we'd ever get here, but finally I had him all to myself. I was starved for him. He knew it too. Neither of us had to say a word. He walked straight to the bedroom after securing the door and checking the windows. I followed and we stripped quickly. He came into my arms and I took his mouth under mine, hungry for the taste of him. His soft, cool, dry lips slid over mine and I moaned at the feeling of his taut skin beneath my hands. XXXXXXXXXX THIS PORTION NC-17 I cupped his buttocks and pressed into his belly as pure lust began to take over. He stepped back and took me in hand. A couple of strokes from his hand had me stiff as a pike. I pinched his nipples and he groaned, "Oh, fuck, Gareth, that's good." His powerful hands grabbed my flanks and pulled me into him again as I pinched a little harder with my fingers mashed between our hard chests. "Couldn't wait to get here, Alex. I missed you. I can't believe how much I missed you." I was almost delirious with need at this point. He licked my neck and I spun him around roughly, throwing him onto the bed. His eyes lit up with mischief. He knew exactly what he did to me and he delighted in it. I couldn't blame him. "You're just begging to be fucked, Alex," I warned him. "Yes, I am," he said impudently. I leaped onto the bed, rocking the mattress in its box spring as I landed, straddling him on all fours. I grabbed his steely cock and squeezed hard, stroking him roughly. He made a grunting sound that came from deep within and reached for me, returning the favor. I loved this. We could only be this rough with each other and it was a peculiar brand of pleasure. His hands pulled my head down and he mashed his mouth against mine, his tongue invading my mouth and dancing over my back teeth. I kissed him back just as ferociously as we jerked each other. "Come on, Love," he growled. "Enough of this. You know you need it. Just ram me with that giant cock. You know you want to. I'm your whore tonight." Fuck, he was going to be the death of me. I was already on the edge and now he was talking dirty to me. I reared back and grasped his hips, flipping him onto his stomach. I kissed my way down his back as he squirmed underneath me. I laid my cock between his ass cheeks and sawed back and forth, bumping his sphincter with every thrust. I was leaking precum already and spread some on his rosette. He moaned. "That feels good," he crooned. "You feel good," I growled. "Hhhhhhhaaaaaaaaa," I hissed and felt my fangs extend. "Arch your back for me, Pet. Stick that pretty ass in the air." He sprung up onto his arms and knees and arched his back like a bow, saucily wiggling his compact buns in my face. "Oh, you're asking for it," I growled. I let my cock head slip down and push on his sack. He moaned and I raised it up a little and slipped it over his balls, and then parted his ass cheeks with it as I hitched forward, placing the bulbous head against his ass. I nearly clawed at his hips and tipped my body forward, driving my cock, already nine inches, straight up his ass till I could grind my pubic hair into his anus and feel our balls rub together. He screamed. Holy shit, he was TIGHT. Two nights of not being stretched and his ass felt virgin again. xxxxxxxxxx His hands gripped my hip bones. His cock head rested on my quivering hole. Without much warning, he mounted me, and plunged right in, his balls slapping mine with his powerful thrust. He lifted me with his hands under my hips and ground me onto the base of his cock, tearing my tissues and boring deep. I couldn't help the cry of pain and pleasure that erupted from my throat. "Ahhhhhhgaaaaaaaaaa, Gareth." He began swaying his hips side to side and punching into me, retreating only an inch or so, swaying and driving in again, widening me even more. The pain was intense and I bit my tongue to keep from screaming again. He kept this up for a while until he was shoving eleven inches up my ass. I was amazed we hadn't gotten management up here since we'd moved in. I felt my body shudder as my fang pricked my tongue and a drop of blood inadvertently slid down my throat. He muttered, "Feels so good. Want to be even deeper. I'm gonna hold off till I'm big. I wanna tear your ass up, just because I CAN." He was definitely crazed tonight, and I loved that I could drive him to these extremes. He was in to the hilt. It felt tremendous. Just then, his hand slid down the back of my thigh, hooking my knee and sliding it forward. He hitched up over my back and pressed into me heavily. It felt like he'd pressed at least an inch deeper. I moaned, "Feels like I have a telephone pole up my ass." The pressure on my prostate was brutal and made my own shaft throb and expand again. Every thrust was hitting that hot spot deep inside me. He grunted and began slicing into me with long, deep strokes. He seemed to widen and lengthen with nearly every one. He kept his pace slow at first, but began to speed up in no time. "I'm on fire for you, Pet," he groaned. "Did you take her?" I asked. "Who?" "Kelli. Did you take her?" "Yes." "Tell me." "Oh shit." "Tell me. Was it good?" I ground out. He held my hips and slammed into me. "Yes." "Did you make her squeal?" I taunted. "Uh, uh, uh," he grunted as he drove home, jerking me roughly up onto his shaft as he descended. "She screamed. I tore her pussy apart." "Oh yeah? Was she tight?" "Not at first. She took so much." "Did she take THIS much?" I hissed, clenching my ass muscles with enhanced strength tightly around his invading length, causing pain to shoot through my body. My balls swelled and my cock throbbed hard and grew longer as he negotiated my ass. I felt it get longer, growing past my navel, bouncing wildly between my legs. "NO! Nothing's like taking you." He leaned forward, his broad, smooth chest and belly rubbing against me with every stroke. His hands came down on the bed next to my shoulder. My ass made rude plopping sounds of suction as he humped because my anal ring was so tight, yet greased with his precum. He groaned, smacked into me and halted. I felt his thighs tremble against the back of mine and then he roared, slamming every monstrous inch up into my body. I was rocked with a shock wave of pain that segued into near agonizing pleasure. My cock burned with the force of my ejaculations. He ragged voice cried out as he fucked himself deep into my ass, "Oh yeah, Alex. Take it like a man, take it like a man." He yanked out suddenly, flipped me onto my back, hooking his elbows under my knees and leaning over me, bending me in half. He wasted no time slamming back into my shattered ass and pumping for all he was worth. His powerful thrusts rocked my hips up off the bed. I tipped my head back, wanting to watch his face. My anal muscles were burning, aching and clenching with aftershocks and he continued to pummel me, ravaging my body mercilessly. I felt him grow steadily. Twelve inches, then thirteen. He held off somehow, despite his lust, punching a fourteenth inch into my guts. "Tell me about Sabrina," he requested suddenly. "Like sticking my dick in a vice. Like fucking a little doll," I moaned. "Uh, shit. Did you ball her hard?" he asked. "Oh yeah. Fucked her till she bled." "Oh, Alex, you feel so good." "Fuck my ass like you fucked Kelli's pussy. Make me scream." His face screwed up, his lips curled back above his fangs in an expression of utter ecstasy. His orgasmic cry was so loud it echoed in my ears as I felt my rectum flood with his cum. He put his head on my shoulder, slid his hands down to cup my ass and continued to hump into me awkwardly as he cock shot rope after rope of jism into my bowels. I screamed, "Oh fuck, here it comes again." He surprised me when he lifted his torso and came back onto his knees, snatched up my foot long cock, lifted it straight into the air and slipped the bloated head between his fangs, closing his lips tightly around my glans. And then he sucked. Sucked so hard I thought the top of my cock was going to blow off. My thighs vibrated from the incredible suction and cum filled my shaft to the bursting point, my swollen balls convulsing and firing my second round of ejaculations into his mouth. I screamed in erotic agony and pleasure, pouring my seed down his throat in gushing torrents. I sprayed the back of his throat time and time again and he pumped his hips more slowly, short quick strokes as he finished emptying his balls. Men having multiple orgasms. It was stuff of myths, despite what Masters & Johnson might say. But I had them now. They were long, satisfying and utter bliss. Did life get any better than this? XXXXXXXXXX END OF NC-17 PORTION He slowly moved his arms in and up, taking his weight on his elbows and letting my legs lower to mattress. I set my feet flat on the mattress and closed my eyes, concentrating on my breathing. My fangs retracted shortly after his as we came down from our post-coital buzz. "I'm sorry I was so out of control," he murmured. "I love it when you're needy," I teased, running my fingers gently through his lush mane. He chuckled and let his head fall next to mine on the pillow, I felt his lips on my neck, nuzzling and I shivered when I felt his fang pierce my skin. He took a drop, shuddered against me and then licked my neck, the hole sealing up as if it had never been. "We really can't be separated for long, Alex. I'll go mad," he mumbled. He rolled over me again, pressing his still deflating cock into my hole and kissed me slowly and gently. Our tongues danced languidly in the air between us, curling around each other like lovers. He moaned softly and covered my mouth, his lips sealing my mouth. We kissed affectionately for long minutes and then he said, "We need to sleep." "We need to talk." "We'll catch each other up tomorrow." "There's a lot of work to be done here." He nodded, "And someone else knows about us." I startled and looked at him. "Who?" "Tomorrow, Pet. We'll go over everything. Sleep now. I'm so sated I can't even think." I smiled and let my head flop back into relaxation as he curled up around my side, sliding his arm under me so I could pillow my head on his bicep. "I'm glad you're back," I whispered. "I missed you so," he whispered back, his fingers trailing over my cheek and tracing the outline of my lips. "I love you ... so much it scares me sometimes." "The feeling's mutual. You know that." "Tell me so I can hear it before I fall asleep." "I love you, Gareth." "Mmmm, love you too," he uttered and then snuggled into me and fell asleep. I followed shortly thereafter, unable to resist the pull of the breaking another dawn for another minute. THE END.