“I’m coming. Fuck, I’m coming!”

  She longed for his taste in her mouth. Grabbing his buttocks, she devoured him. A hoarse cry escaped his lips as he violently spurted in her mouth, his spunk splashing her throat. She let him soften between her lips before she swallowed his seed, tasting him at last. Without releasing him, she gently licked clean his shrinking cock.

  “Calista!”

  She pulled his trousers up. “Let’s go home.”

  They exited the cemetery hand in hand. Without a single taxi in sight, they walked all the way and she enjoyed it. She felt elated in his company, proud to stand beside the new master, completely safe in his hands. They walked in silence, a drizzle washing the blood from his body. They got to her street an hour later, soaked with rain, happy to be together. When he saw them coming, the vampire standing guard recoiled, the other one fleeing as if he had just seen a walking nightmare.

  “I’m sorry, Master. I was watching her flat. I don’t know how she got out. Please, forgive me,” he begged, kneeling in the middle of the street, “I promise it won’t happen again. Please, Master!”

  “Sod off!” Gabriel said, his face an ice mask.

  The vampire left without further ado, running to the top of the street, disappearing round the corner.

  “It wasn’t their fault,” Calista said. She had no love for bloodsuckers, but she believed in fairness. “I tricked them.”

  “I guessed as much, yet you wouldn’t have tricked me.”

  He spoke in a disdainful voice, much like a conqueror after a merciless fight for his life and his kingdom. When he was tender and caring, she felt satisfied. However, she had also come to love the other side of him, the exciting moments when he showed authority, arrogance, self-complacency and egotism. Picturing a relationship with him, she perceived she was in for trouble, but the attraction was far too compelling.

  “Maybe not, but Spade almost did.” There she was, already stirring up trouble, in need of a straightforward answer, wanting to hear from his lips that he was never going to die, never going to leave her. “It was supposed to be hand-to-hand combat.”

  Gabriel froze in the act of opening the door of her building, a bemused smile budding forth. “Do you mean to say you were afraid for me?”

  “Actually…” she started, suddenly embarrassed, “well, actually…”

  He kissed her then, wrapping her in his iron arms, penetrating her with his tongue, taking the breath out of her.

  “Let’s finish this upstairs,” he said, pulling away from her lips.

  Calista wasn’t sure if he wanted to resume the conversation or the lovemaking. In any case, they were going to have a talk first.

  In her living room, Gabriel plonked himself on the sofa, patting the seat beside him. Hair wet from the rain, drops dripping onto the carpet, Calista crossed her arms. The gesture was meant as much to impose herself upon him as to conceal a shiver of cold.

  “What is it, pet?” he asked, when he saw her stiff stance. “Is there something you want to say to me?”

  “Tell me this is really happening. Tell me you have emotions.”

  “As you well know, I’ve had a rough day. I think you should come to me.” He patted the seat again. “Maybe we could fool around.”

  “Answer me,” she demanded, in the same tone of voice he had used with her several times.

  His smile vanished. “Can we not?”

  “It’s much too late for ‘can we not’,” she replied quickly, “or do you think you can just screw me at leisure? Do you really believe I’ll spend my time giving you fantastic blowjobs and not expect anything in return?”

  He held a hand up. “That’s not what I meant.”

  She stepped forward. “Vampires don’t have emotions. They can’t, it’s not in their nature. I know there’s something different about you. What is it?”

  His eyes narrowed. In a blink, he was standing right behind her, pressed against her back, his left hand brushing her hair aside and tightening around her neck. Although she couldn’t see them, she knew his fangs were out when she felt two pinpricks on her skin.

  “Why do you get yourself into trouble?” he said in a menacing tone, “don’t you know I could simply bite here?”

  He tightened his fingers. Her throat constricted and her breathing became weaker. But for the love of herself, there was no way she was going to surrender.

  “Do it!” she taunted. “Come on, Gabriel, be a vampire and do it!”

  “Aren’t you scared of me?” he whispered in her ear.

  “No. I never will be.”

  Fangs still against her neck, he slid his hands down, reaching the curve of her breasts, grazing her nipples through the thin fabric. She should have been frightened, but she was horny. The touch of his hands on her body—his fangs on her neck, of his cock hard in the small of her back—was turning her on.

  “Look at me!” His voice had never sounded so rough. “I’m not a man, I’m a vampire.”

  She turned round. Long, sharp canines over his mouth, features strained—he looked gorgeous. His eyes oozed hunger, a profound craving that had nothing to do with the blood flowing in her veins. When she passed her fingers over his brow, his cheeks and his full lips, he retracted his fangs.

  “You’re man enough for me,” she murmured, stepping away from him, “and you don’t feel like biting me, do you?”

  That was the question she had held in check until the time was right. He regarded her soberly as if wondering whether to put his trust in her. Running a hand through his damp, dark hair, he committed himself.

  “No, I don’t.”

  “How come?”

  “Because I’ve never drunk a single drop of human blood.”

  Chapter Ten

  She stared at him, dumbfounded.

  “What? How?”

  “It’s a long story, Calista.”

  “Okay. Well, I’m not gelding anyone tonight, so I’ve got all the time in the world. Just hold on a sec.” She ran to the bathroom, and brought back two clean towels. Sitting beside him, she began drying her hair. “I’m all ears.”

  He toyed with the towel, his eyes far away, lost in memories.

  “I was thirty-five when I became an immortal. I was dating a young woman at the time and she was very much…very much like you, actually. Her name was Mary. She was kind, true, and she was in love with me. I couldn’t have been luckier.”

  It had started as a fairy tale, but from the sombre look of him, it wasn’t going to stay that way. Still, she was absorbing his words.

  “One evening, we wished to be alone, and we strayed from our usual places. Near a forest, we were attacked by three bloodsuckers. I tried to protect her. I did all I could to defend her, but they were so much stronger and I was just a man. They held her down. They forced her to watch while they pounded on me. They beat me up until my body was a bloody mush. By then, I was barely hanging on to life, but conscious enough to understand someone had his eye on her.”

  Calista gripped the towel, hugging it like a child cuddles his teddy bear. Engrossed in the sinister tale, she rested her head on the back of the sofa.

  “I begged them. I pleaded for her life. I’ll never forget the vicious, satisfied look the leader gave me. I hated him then, a hatred deeper and more powerful than you can imagine. I swore to haunt him forever. I knew we were as good as dead. I looked at her, and she knew it too. Yet she smiled at me. She looked like a lamb being led to the slaughter, and her gentle smile was unbearable. With my last breath, I cursed the leader, wishing he’d rot in hell.”

  Gabriel fell silent. Then he reached out, wiping a tear from Calista’s cheek. “I’m sorry, my story isn’t very entertaining.”

  “It’s okay, go on.”

  “I can still picture the fury on his face when I cursed him to hell. I think that’s when he decided to inflict on me a punishment far worse than death. Before Mary’s eyes, he drank my blood then forced me to drink his. He sired me. I only have dim memories of what happened afterwards except that he buried me.”

  “Oh, my God! Oh, Jesus!” Calista moaned, contorting her fingers in the towel, breaking out in a cold sweat.

  “When I clawed my way out, Mary was sitting by my grave, waiting for me. Underground, my body had regenerated, but I was too shocked and confused to be hungry yet. She told me the rest of the story. As the leader had been turning me into a vampire, another gang had rounded on them. She’d managed to escape in the mayhem, staying close by to see what was befalling me.”

  “This girl was brave, extremely brave.”

  “I told you.” Gabriel smiled. “She was very much like you. Anyway, she watched my burial and waited it out. When I emerged, she took me away before the vampires had time to come back for me.”

  “Who was it?” Calista asked. “Who was the leader?”

  Gabriel stroked her cheek in such a loving manner that she longed for a lifetime with him. “Don’t you know, my sweet?”

  She stared at him, finally comprehending why he had been so adamant before, why he would have given anything to get him. It had been so much more than wielding power; it had been about setting things right.

  “Spade?”

  “Spade was my sire.”

  Calista inhaled deeply. “Darn, I’m so glad I gelded that bastard!”

  “And I can’t thank you enough. Without your intervention, I’d never have had the opportunity to kill him.”

  “Where did you go when Mary took you away?”

  “Not far. I didn’t have much time left before the need to feed would control my mind, so we hid in the forest. She warned me about what was about to come, telling me all sorts of things I wasn’t able to take in on such short notice. Since then, I’ve had time to ponder them. What I clearly recall is her desperate attempt to twist fate, her frantic face when she said she could alter my future.”

  “What was she talking about?”

  “Gelding me.”

  Eyes wide open, gaping, and with anticipation warming her skin, Calista stared into Gabriel’s heart. “She was a gelder?”

  He nodded. “One of the first.”

  “Wait a minute! Gelders have been around hundreds of years, almost as long as vampires. Mary couldn’t have been one of the first unless you…” Calista slapped her forehead. “Bloody hell, how old are you?”

  “Too old for you, my pet,” Gabriel replied with a sad smile. “I’ve seen and done things you wouldn’t care for.”

  “So, what happened?”

  “We made love for the last time. She gelded me in that forest.”

  “You’re gelded? Hang on, that’s impossible. Once incapacitated, a vampire can’t touch a human. If she had done it, you’d have been repelled when we met.”

  Gabriel smiled knowingly. “It seems to me you don’t know much about your ability, do you?”

  “I know how to unleash it.”

  “This mighty power is ancient, and lies in intention. Through your lifeblood, you’re able to geld a creature of the night because such is your intention. But it works both ways. As long as a vampire means no harm, he can touch a mortal without being repelled.”

  Eyes wide open, Calista couldn’t stop staring at him. “Are you sure? I’ve never heard about that.”

  “You wouldn’t. Have you ever met another gelder who instructed you in your power? For that matter, have you ever met a vampire who meant you no harm?”

  “I guess I have now,” she said, smiling as she took hold of his hand. “But that doesn’t explain why you have emotions.”

  “As all things do, the power of gelding evolved. At that time, bearers still had the potential to…” Gabriel seemed to be looking for an adequate term. “How should I say this? To morph its effect as they saw fit. Some gelders used it in extremely rare circumstances. But vampires with feelings soon proved worthless, and the potential to morph ceased to exist. Whatever they are, earthly creatures are bound to nature.”

  “Did Mary use it on you?”

  “She gelded the vampire in me, but she spared my emotions. My human emotions. She loved me. It was her gift to me.”

  Calista couldn’t hide her surprise. “God, that’s amazing!”

  “In a way. From that moment, I became an immortal. A vampire without a soul, but with his feelings untouched.”

  Reflecting on what he had just told her, Calista began to perceive his dilemma. Half-man, half-vampire, he didn’t belong anywhere. “How can you live like this? I mean, how can you stand being surrounded by vampires when you aren’t one of them? How do you do it?”

  “Just like anyone whose life has also become a prison. Day by day.”

  “How do you feed?”

  “I still need blood, but I drink from animals. It keeps my strength up and, thanks to Mary, I don’t feel attracted to human blood.”

  Calista needed to hear the rest of the tale. “What happened to Mary?”

  “Spade tracked her. He wasn’t aware she was a gelder. He had no way of knowing what she had done to me, but he wanted her because she was mine. He caught her the night following my gelding and he sired her. Out of spite, or revenge, or to get back at me, I don’t know. I don’t care now.”

  “Is she…?” Calista faltered, afraid to hear the truth, afraid to learn about a gelder’s eventual fate. “Is she a vampire?”

  “She had loved me, and saved me. I couldn’t possibly let her turn into a bloodsucking fiend. No, that would have been too much for me to endure. As soon as she got out of her grave, I staked her. She was my first kill.”

  When he saw big tears running down Calista’s cheeks, Gabriel took her in his arms. Was he also feeling her sadness? Rocking her like a child, he whispered, “Hey, it’s all right, it was a long time ago.” Still she cried. He just held her until her tears dried, until she felt strong enough to ask for the end of his tale.

  “What about your reputation? How on earth did you build it without killing anyone? I’ve always heard talk of your cruelty and ruthlessness. I mean, it doesn’t sound conceivable to create a legend out of lies.”

  “You’re young, Calista. You haven’t had enough years to study the world around you. Actually, it’s rather easy when you understand people. All you have to do is act, and give them a good show from time to time.”

  In her mind, Calista saw him tearing Spade’s flesh off and ripping him apart, blood gushing from his wounds. She saw the legend named Gabriel roaring himself hoarse, his bloodied face bathing in the moonlight. She remembered the vampires kneeling before the master, staring at him with a feeling of awe. She had felt it herself, a mixed emotion of reverence, respect and admiration.

  “Like you did tonight.”

  “Precisely. I could have killed Spade right from the start, but I held back. I didn’t know about the daggers, yet I thought he had an ace up his sleeve. I bided my time to excite the crowd. I wanted to lure all of them into recognising my sole authority. As you saw for yourself, it’s only about entertainment.”

  “You make it sound so simple.”

  “Well, I’ve had centuries to hone my skills as an impersonator. I’ve come to be an expert in deceiving vampires. Today, they all believe I’m someone I’ll never be. It’s been my goal from the start, and I attained it.”

  Calista frowned. “Why? What’s in it for you?”

  “It gives me power and freedom. Over the centuries, it’s allowed me to destroy as many bloodsuckers as I could. They’re terrified of me. They know I’ll kill them without blinking if they betray me. Trust me when I say that’s a fact.”

  “Do you hate them?”

  A heavy shadow flitted in his eyes as he spoke. “I am one of them. Hate is too strong a word, but I despise them as I despise a part of me.”

  “I’m sorry, Gabriel.” Showing her compassion, she stroked his hand. “I’m sorry you had to go through all that.”

  “I admit it was hard, but I sought retribution and I lived off it. Destroying Spade was an obsession and, in a way, it sustained me for centuries. I think I spent all that time looking for a gelder.”

  “You found one.”

  “I’ve found more than a gelder.”

  His arms tightened around her. Once more, Calista felt safe and at peace. She kept silent, sensing he hadn’t yet talked it out.

  “Although I knew I had the ability to feel, I believed my heart dead. Nothing and nobody ever moved me. It was like walking in an endless maze. I was looking for something, anything, but I was forever alone. Then, our paths crossed. Yours and mine. I felt a force stirring in me when I laid eyes on you. A deep emotion I hadn’t experienced since I was a human. It was so strong, almost suffocating.”

  Calista remembered their first encounter all too well. If Gabriel hadn’t actually told her how he’d been feeling, she’d never have imagined it. “You certainly concealed it well!”

  “I know. Didn’t I tell you I was skilled at deceiving? Anyway, your mere presence boosted me. With you, I had in my grip the means to kill Spade.”

  “The first night we made love, you asked me if I had gelded you,” Calista reminded him, “but you already were gelded. So, why?”

  “I wanted to make sure I could trust you and also…” his voice softened, a light breeze on a summer field, “see if you cared for me.”

  “I do.”

  She raised her face to his, gazing into the darkness of his eyes. He kissed her lips, and stroked her hair, his hushed words akin to a melody.

  “I know you do. I never thought I’d meet someone like you, someone willing to accept me for who and what I am. You’re beautiful, Calista. Your heart is true and your body…” He slid his hand down, caressing her skin under her T-shirt. “You’re just so bloody hot!”

  She felt his erection on her side, his need of her. Getting up gracefully, she undressed him and held him down. Naked, sitting on the sofa, his shaft asking to be fondled, he had never looked so enticing. Her clothes removed, she stood before him, pointing a finger at him.

  “Do not move. I forbid you to move a single muscle.”

  She saw plain desire in his eyes. Straddling him, she rested her pussy on his dick, barely touching it.