DARK CALLINGS: BLOODLINES

From Changeling Press

Chapter One

It was dark in the back rooms at Gomorrah. It was always dark there. Riordan didn’t understand that. You came here because you’d found somebody you wanted to fuck, supposedly somebody attractive, with a nice face and a big dick. So why head into the dark to do the deed? He liked to see who he was fucking. But maybe that was just him.

In the long run, it didn’t matter anyway. Riordan could see in the dark almost as well as he could see in broad daylight. He rubbed the scar on his neck, staring through the dim light, looking for subtle, telltale signs that one or more of the room’s occupants might not be human. The scar tingled -- there was a vamp here somewhere.

He squinted into the corners. Fucking, fucking everywhere. Where was the biting and bloodletting? Had to be here somewhere. The damn scar was starting to burn.

There -- in the corner. Movement against the wall. A big man, dark hair, a wide face. No outward indication he was anything other than human.

Vamp. No question about it. A younger, slighter man knelt in front of him, sucking the vamp’s dick enthusiastically.The vamp had his hand in the other man’s hair, shifting his head as he worked, varying the angles.

Riordan moved closer. The vamp’s attention shifted a little, focusing on him. Riordan gave him a look, a small smile.
The vamp smiled back. It always worked. Vamps were insatiable as a rule; Riordan would get his turn.

Looking away from Riordan again, the vamp closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the wall. His hips bucked and his body went taut, then released. Through the dim light, Riordan could see the other man swallowing frantically. Riordan’s own cock rose hard against his zipper as he watched. The scar on his neck fairly burned, but the sensation aroused as much as it hurt.

After a few seconds, the vamp pushed the man away from him. The man looked up at him and grinned, then stood up and moved on. The vamp looked at Riordan. Riordan smiled.

“You game?” the vamp asked.

“Damn straight.”Riordan closed the short distance between them. “You got a name?”

“What the hell do you want to know my name for?”

Riordan shrugged. “Change of pace.”

“It’s Roarke.”

“Riordan.” He shoved the vamp into the wall and kissed him. The inside of his mouth was cool, and tasted of blood, but not of a fresh feed. Riordan knew the difference.

The vamp gave no protest. They rarely did, unless they’d just fed. If Riordan’s instincts were correct, this one hadn’t fed for a day or two. Which probably meant Riordan wouldn’t have to kill him.

“Roarke, huh?” he said, drawing back. “Lame name.”

“Yeah, and Riordan is so non-pretentious.” Roarke clasped Riordan’s crotch, fingers outlining his cock. Riordan resisted the temptation to close his eyes at the sensation. “What are you looking for?”

“Vampires.”

Roarke quickly withdrew his hand. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Riordan smiled. “I know what you are.”

Roarke studied his face, then his gaze fell to the scar on Riordan’s neck. “What are you?”

“Horny.”

He grabbed Roarke’s shoulder and turned him around, pushing him into the wall. The vampire gasped, in surprise, no doubt. Riordan was strong, and not afraid to demonstrate that fact.

“Shit…” Roarke let Riordan move him, shifting to allow Riordan access as he reached around and unbuckled Roarke’s pants.

“You want it?” Riordan asked, sliding Roarke’s zipper down.

“Shit, yes.” He hesitated. “You gonna kill me?”

“Maybe not. Depends.”

“On what?”

“On you.”

Riordan stripped Roarke’s jeans down and grabbed his ass, the full, solid, rounded muscles filling his hands nicely.
He wondered what the human who’d just blown Roarke had made of the slightly cool temperature of Roarke’s body. Probably too drugged to notice. He reached forward, curling his fingers around Roarke’s cock. It was erect again, in spite of the recently completed blowjob, fired by natural vampiric hunger, with which Riordan was all too familiar.

Roarke’s cock was thick, long, and uncut. Riordan wondered how old he was. Sometimes he could guess, from the intensity of the tingling in his neck, but not this time. A century, maybe more. It was hard to say. Old, though. Older than the one he’d killed last night.

He dug a small tube out of his pants pocket -- enough lube for one application. He carried them whenever he was out cruising vamps, because six times out of ten he ended up fucking them before he killed them, or instead of killing them. Hazard of the job -- pushing them into an intimate situation, where their natural instinct was to feed, was one of the most efficient ways to determine which side of the line they were on. He’d done it with female vamps, too. Didn’t matter much.

It had occurred to him, though, that it might be unflattering to go down in history as the vampire hunter who always carried lube.

None of that mattered at the moment. He ripped the small tube open with his teeth and squeezed the clear gel out onto his fingers. There was no reason to use a condom -- vamps couldn’t carry STDs and, as far as he’d been able to tell so far, neither could he. He pushed his fingers between the cheeks of Roarke’s ass, finding the taut opening and sliding a slick finger inside.

“You can do better than that.” Roarke’s voice was already a little ragged.

The obvious arousal in Roarke’s voice made Riordan that much harder. His cock ached -- it had been nearly twelve hours, and he needed release at this point about as badly as he needed air.

“Yeah, I can do a lot better.” Riordan shoved his finger all the way in, then slid it back out. When he went in the next time, he used two fingers. While he worked Roarke open, not too gently, he held the vamp’s shoulder against the wall with his free hand, just to remind Roarke of his strength. He wasn’t anything this vamp had encountered before, and had no intention of being overpowered.

Roarke didn’t seem inclined to ask questions at the moment. Riordan shoved a third finger inside him and pushed against his back, pinning him against the wall.

“You want it?” He’d killed plenty of vamps, but he’d never raped one and didn’t intend to start now.

“Yes.”

Riordan tightened his fingers around Roarke’s cock. He liked the way it filled his fist. The soft membrane of the foreskin moved slickly under his palm and he pumped it, at the same time sliding his fingers out of Roarke, undoing his trousers to free his own hungry erection.

He shifted again, feeling Roarke move to allow him better access. He butted the head of his cock against Roarke’s open and well-lubricated ass, then thrust inside.

Roarke gasped, fingers clenching against the wall. Riordan took him hard, using only a few thrusts to sheathe himself in Roarke’s deep, open channel. The vamp wasn’t hot inside like a human, but he was deep and ready and tight. Riordan pumped heavily into him, his hand snaking around in front, working the vampire’s heavy cock.

He felt Roarke’s body tighten, arching back toward him. His own body was filling with fire, growing in intensity as he fucked Roarke harder. He wasn’t going to let go, though, not yet. Just that last bit of control, until he got the answers he needed, then he could let himself release.

Attending to Roarke, he drove the vampire to the edge. He felt Roarke’s body clenching his cock, felt his balls drawing up.

He lifted his other arm, reached around the vamp, and offered him his wrist.

Roarke’s teeth pressed hard into Riordan’s wrist. No fangs, though, Riordan noted, then the vampire pulled back, twisting his face away from the offered vein.

“No.” Instead, he shoved his cock through Riordan’s curled fist and came. The cool semen spilled over Riordan’s fingers, the feel of it sending him over the edge as well, and he thrust harshly into Roarke’s body, coming deep inside him.

They hung there a moment together, both wrapped in orgasm, then Riordan drew his arm back and closed his hand on Roarke’s shoulder. His breathing was heavy and ragged.

“All right,” Riordan said, “you don’t die.”

“I don’t take blood unless I have to,” Roarke countered. “It’s been three days. You don’t know how close you came to dying.”

Riordan gave an edgy laugh. “It would have taken more than a wrist bite.” He pulled back, drawing his cock out of Roarke’s ass. He was still hard -- he’d likely be hard most of the night. Not much to be done about that other than keep trying to fuck the damn thing into submission. He grabbed his jeans and jerked his zipper up.

Roarke turned around, yanked his pants into place and looked at Riordan questioningly. “What the hell are you?”

“An accident.” He maneuvered his button back into place. “Why are you here?”

Roarke cleared his throat. “I was looking for a vamp. There’s been one killing boys here, and in a club across town.”

Riordan nodded. “Yeah. I thought it might be you.”

“It wasn’t.”

“I get that.”

“I think he’s here tonight,” Roarke added. “I thought I saw him earlier.”

“Think he’s still here?”

“You’re the one with the vampire radar.” Roarke’s tone was sarcastic. “You tell me.”

Riordan turned, scanning the room. It was dark and full of undulating bodies, moaning voices. There could easily be a vamp among the masses, taking advantage of the confusion of anonymous sex.

“Doesn’t work that way. I can tell if there’s a vamp close, but not who it is, and if there’s more than one, I don’t get separate signals.”

Roarke studied him. “I think I want to hear more about that.”

“Maybe another time.” He frowned, then pointed. “There.”

Somebody being blown, was his first thought, but looking closer, he saw the man on his knees had his teeth sunk into the other man’s thigh. Riordan eased his way toward them, trying not to draw attention to himself.

A shadow passed in front of him, large, wide and dark. A sudden movement, too fast for purely human eyes, damn near too fast for Riordan’s, and suddenly the vamp was gone. Just -- gone, in a little whoosh and a vague flash of barely detectable light, the way they did when you shoved a piece of wood through them the right way.
Riordan’s neck still tingled.

Roarke -- for it was Roarke, of course, cutting in front of Riordan and stealing his kill -- leaned toward the victim, catching him as he slid down the wall. “You’re okay.”

Roarke went to his knees, holding the other man, keeping him from collapsing. A few of the others moved away, giving them room, but most of the room’s occupants were too drugged to respond to anything but their sex partners.

Riordan took a step forward. “He all right?”

Roarke looked over his shoulder. “Could be worse. I think he’ll make it.”

“How much blood loss?”

Roarke gave the victim a cursory look. “Enough that he should go to the hospital.” He hauled the man up from the floor. “You got a cell phone?”

“Yeah.” Riordan dug in his coat pocket and pulled out his miniscule Motorola. He dialed 911 and reported their location. It wouldn’t be the first time an ambulance had been summoned here.

Finishing the call, he helped carry the unconscious man toward the front door. He and Roarke were both big men, which helped separate the crowd.

They met the paramedics at the front door, received the usual reprimand for moving the victim, then let him go into their capable care. Only then did Riordan turn to Roarke and say, “What gives?”

The vamp shrugged. “Nothing.”

“You’re a vamp. You just killed a vamp.”

Roarke studied Riordan’s face a moment, apparently judging his sincerity. “I do that sometimes.”

Roarke started to head back into the crowd. Riordan grabbed his shoulder. “Wait,” he said.

Roarke waited, an eyebrow cocked. “What?”

“Why’d you kill him?”

“I had a right to.” Roarke started again to walk away. “I made him.”

Riordan was taken aback, and quickly followed Roarke, trying to catch up with him. “Wait. I want to talk to you.”

“Don’t always get what you want.”

Riordan grabbed Roarke’s arm, turning him harshly around, blatantly demonstrating his preternatural strength, which was nearly on a par with Roarke’s own. “I do.”

Roarke looked down at Riordan’s hand closed on his arm, then back at the other man’s face. “Okay. But I want answers, too.”

Roarke nodded. “Fair enough.”

END EXCERPT