Helaine“I’ll handle it,” he whispered in my ear, as he slid out of me, stuffing his still-hard cock back into his jeans. “Let me do the talking.”My stomach felt like it had tied itself in knots, remembering the last time those words came out of his mouth.Of course, that wasn’t fair of me.He was in a vulnerable place that night. He’d just been shown evidence that after all these years of nothingness and hunger, he was getting his soul back. I couldn’t begrudge his need for answers.Not when we were currently sticking our necks out to hunt down my dad for any information he had about me.Evan could never have imagined that summoning Lilith would have caused the trouble it did. As far as Evan knew before I took that photo of him, I was perfectly human.And it wasn’t as though living in ignorance would have changed the terrible truth that I was literal the spawn of satan.At least I found out while there still might be time to do something about it.The way he strode toward the absolu
EvanHelaine clung to me with tears streaming down her face and I was suddenly very aware of the blood drying on my hand as I smoothed down her hair.We were a mess, inside and out.No one took their first kill well. Taking another human life wasn’t supposed to be easy, but there were more layers of it for her.Through that one brutal action, it was like the darkness in her was roused from sleep. I saw it in her eyes, and there was no way I could pretend that I didn’t.“It’s going to be alright,” I murmured into her hair, but the words felt hollow even as I said them.How could I even begin to define “alright” for her right now?Whatever happened, whatever path she chose, I knew that I’d follow her. I’d take a thousand lives if it meant getting to twine mine with hers. It wasn’t as though spilling blood was new to me.Lilith called me Helaine’s champion, and she wasn’t wrong.But that wasn’t what Helaine needed to hear right now and as she clung to me, trembling as sobs wracking her s
HelaineI couldn’t help feeling nervous as I stood at the top of the steps leading down into his basement apartment.We had been friends for some time—maybe acquaintances was a better term—but the point is that we’d known each other for a while now, at least through moving in similar circles.He should have been my type. I had always had a problem with the pretentious wannabe rockstar types, but there was always something about him that put me ill at ease, and if I was honest, neither this street nor the hour was helping.His apartment sat below the corner of Cardinal and South Main, and the street signs stood ominously above me like a guillotine.Cardinal was a lovely little street, with its artist alley, street food, and live music . . . if you weren’t privy to the area’s reputation, and ignored the missing persons posters.Speaking of music, I could already hear the haunting melody emanating from the bottom of the stairs. If I could say nothing else for him, he was an excellent gui
HelaineHonestly, if I didn’t already have a weird feeling about Evan, I would have thought that this apartment was the coolest place ever.I mean, his coffee table was a fucking coffin for fuck’s sake.He was looking at me again, and I shifted uncomfortably on the couch, wishing he’d either sit down so we didn’t feel so . . . unmatched, or that he’d just take his clothes off so we could get started already.But, he seemed starved for a little conversation.In all the years we’d hung around the same circles, he’d never really talked about himself. I realized for the first time that I didn’t really know a damn thing about him.Maybe he was just . . . lonely and awkward.The thought made me feel a little bad for the way I’d blatantly avoided him over the years.“You’re staring at me,” he observed—and that’s what he was doing, observing me with the corners of his mouth upturned slightly with amusement.“Oh, sorry.” I quickly looked away, and he laughed at me.“No, no you’re allowed to lo
HelaineOnce I was on my feet, his hand moved smoothly to the small of my back as he guided me around the room, pointing out all kinds of things I had mistaken for decor, but were apparently very much a part of his sex life.“I hope you’re not overwhelmed,” he mused, slipping his fingers somewhat obscenely through a puddle of hot wax that had formed beneath one of his many candles, and I watched transfixed as the wax hardened against his skin.“A little,” I confessed, and he eyed me with something akin to concern. “But not in a bad way, I’ve just never . . . ”“Never been tied up, at someone else’s mercy, while they drip hot wax onto your skin?” He grinned devilishly, most certainly aware of the way my heart raced as he spoke.The way he said the word mercy . . . on his tongue, it sounded like something between prayer and pornography.“I can’t say that I have,” I answered honestly. “I never had a partner that I—”“That you trusted enough?” He finished for me, and I nodded. “Helaine .
HelaineI bit my lip as I stood, savoring the odd metallic taste of him that still lingered as I watched him fiddle with the old record player—it looked antique, but kept in great condition.He seemed almost frozen when the music started to play, and my heart ached. “We can listen to something else,” I offered.I didn’t know how close he’d been with the band—he couldn’t have been much older than me, so they would have already gone missing well before he was born, but it really seemed to affect him nonetheless.“No,” he sighed, running his hands through his hair as he took a moment to catch his breath, before turning back to face me. “No, I need to hear it.”Before I could say anything else, he closed the distance between us, and pulled me close so he could kiss me again, weaving a hand into my hair.I clung to him, trying to keep up, damn near breathless by the time he finally let me go.I wanted more.“I want you to strip,” he breathed against my lips, still holding my head in his ha
HelaineHe held my jaw in his hand as he pulled me into a deep and hungry kiss that made me whine as he pulled away.His husky laughter resonated through my ears, and I could tell by the tension in his voice that he was every bit as turned on as I was in this moment.He stalked out of my line of sight, and I was left staring down at the coffin. From my vantage point, I could see all of the gorgeous details carved into the black stained wood—hundreds if not thousands of small skulls and bats were hidden among the intricate brambles of roses.Evan had said he worked in many different mediums, and I wondered if he’d carved it himself.My line of thinking was cut off by the sudden
HelaineI let out a pathetic little whimper when I felt the sting of the first cut, but I also heard the sharp rasp to his breath. It was like he was struggling to control himself, and however much the blade stung, it was worth it to hear him so thoroughly wrecked.I didn’t hold back my cries as he continued to slice my skin in what felt as though he was probably cutting intricate patterns into my flesh, and it seemed to spur him on.I had gone dumb with pleasure—more than anything physical, I was getting off on the fact that he had made me his canvas.I let out a loud wail when I came, my pussy clenching helplessly around nothing, and soon after I was startled by the metallic clatter of the knife hitting
EvanHelaine clung to me with tears streaming down her face and I was suddenly very aware of the blood drying on my hand as I smoothed down her hair.We were a mess, inside and out.No one took their first kill well. Taking another human life wasn’t supposed to be easy, but there were more layers of it for her.Through that one brutal action, it was like the darkness in her was roused from sleep. I saw it in her eyes, and there was no way I could pretend that I didn’t.“It’s going to be alright,” I murmured into her hair, but the words felt hollow even as I said them.How could I even begin to define “alright” for her right now?Whatever happened, whatever path she chose, I knew that I’d follow her. I’d take a thousand lives if it meant getting to twine mine with hers. It wasn’t as though spilling blood was new to me.Lilith called me Helaine’s champion, and she wasn’t wrong.But that wasn’t what Helaine needed to hear right now and as she clung to me, trembling as sobs wracking her s
Helaine“I’ll handle it,” he whispered in my ear, as he slid out of me, stuffing his still-hard cock back into his jeans. “Let me do the talking.”My stomach felt like it had tied itself in knots, remembering the last time those words came out of his mouth.Of course, that wasn’t fair of me.He was in a vulnerable place that night. He’d just been shown evidence that after all these years of nothingness and hunger, he was getting his soul back. I couldn’t begrudge his need for answers.Not when we were currently sticking our necks out to hunt down my dad for any information he had about me.Evan could never have imagined that summoning Lilith would have caused the trouble it did. As far as Evan knew before I took that photo of him, I was perfectly human.And it wasn’t as though living in ignorance would have changed the terrible truth that I was literal the spawn of satan.At least I found out while there still might be time to do something about it.The way he strode toward the absolu
HelaineThe man let out a gurgle as I pulled the rope more tightly around his neck, and I didn’t let go until his body fell completely limp. His face hit the floor hard with a terrible thwack as his nose broke against the ground.My breathing was labored as I stood over him, amidst the carnage. I almost couldn’t believe what I was seeing, what I’d just done.But he would have killed Evan if he had the chance, and I couldn’t let that happen. He was the only one I had who could ever understand what I was going through, and I . . . I cared for him.Deeply.My hands trembled and my head ached as the world seemed to spin around me.I killed a man today. I took a life. A soul.“Helaine, you should’ve stayed in the room,” Evan scolded me, but I could see the gratitude in his eyes as he approached, holding me in his arms. “They wouldn’t have even hesitated to kill you.”“Which is why we killed them,” I retorted, clinging to Evan as I stared down at the still-warm corpse of the man I strangled
EvanThe look of pure concern in her eyes stabbed into me like a knife to the chest. The wound closed as I dragged my thumb across my hand, but she had already seen.The damage had been done.“I never meant for you to see me like this.” I gazed at her with pleading eyes, quietly begging her to understand.Before now, she’d seen me as a domineering presence—always careful, and always in control, but by the very nature of the vampiric curse, there was an inherent weakness.One that made me look and feel truly pathetic.“What—what’s happening?” She asked with a furrowed brow as she extended a gentle hand to touch me, only for me to flinch away. “Evan?”“I should have known this would happen, sleeping away from my coffin.” Shaking my head, I moved as far away from her as I could in the bath, water sloshing around us. “But I haven’t needed nearly as much blood since I met you, so I thought I’d manage until you recovered enough.”“Your coffin? What does that have to do with—”“Sleeping in a
EvanHelaine was still asleep when I awoke, our limbs woven together on the comfortable bed. It had been a long time since I’d slept without the walls of my coffin to protect me, and sleeping in the open like this unnerved me.It had been a too long since I worried about slayers—Cardinal and Main was such a crime ridden street that a careful vampire could go entirely undetected. I had for decades.But being out on the open road again was a risk. I knew that when I suggested it, but there wasn’t much choice.Helaine’s father was the only person who might be able to shed some light on her true origins, and there was no way in hell she’d be able to let it go until she got some answers.I couldn’t let her keep on suffering like that.Unwinding myself from the warmth of her embrace, I sat up to stretch. The corner of my lip tugged into a smirk when she groaned in her sleep, inching her body closer to where mine had been.She was so filled with life that I couldn’t help but admire her.Anti
Helaine“How does it feel?” He took me by the hand, inviting me to stand on trembling legs, still wobbly from my orgasm.“It’s . . . ” I struggled to put it into words. Even with the intense burst of pleasure dissipating, the plug in my ass kept my body on edge, desperate for more. “It’s almost like I could come again if you touch me at all.”He must’ve liked that, because his lips curled into a cat-like grin as he backed me against the bed, sliding his hand up my thigh before cupping my sex. “We’ll have to get you one for home . . . maybe one that vibrates.”My bottom lip disappeared between my teeth and I squirmed against his body. Just the idea of having that much stimulation on top of our usual sessions was almost enough to undo me all over again.“Evan,” I whimpered, bucking my hips against his hand like a bitch in heat. Mercifully, he slipped two fingers into my dripping cunt, situating his thumb against my clit as he slowly pushed me toward that edge.“I’ve never liked my name
HelaineEvan’s fingers curled against that sweet spot inside of me again, and tears rolled down my cheeks as I tried so hard not to come undone.“That’s a good girl,” he purred as he withdrew his fingers, bringing them to his lips with a hum of approval before that sinful tongue of his lapped up my juices. “There, it’s just up ahead.”My eyes watered as I squirmed in my seat, left frustrated by the ruined orgasm.But I knew Evan. Whatever he had in store for us would more than make up for it.“What is?” I asked, squinting to try and get a better look at the unassuming building on the side of the road, nothing around it for miles. “A motel?”“The Rose Garden,” he explained, and sure enough when we pulled into the parking lot, an old neon rose glowed above the entryway. “This place has catered to kink since it opened back in the seventies. It’s where I had some of my first real experiences with BDSM, back when I was . . . ”Back when he was alive.“Do we have time?” I looked up at the m
EvanHelaine almost dropped the brown paper bag of takeout from The Night Shift when I opened the garage door to reveal what was once my pride and joy, a shiny red 1959 el camino I bought with my paycheck from the band’s first big American tour.The damn thing brought back memories—fond memories I didn’t deserve after what I’d done all those years ago. That was why I kept it in here. I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of it, but I also couldn’t stomach looking at it.Even seeing it now, I could almost hear the laughter of my old friends—could almost feel the sun on my skin as we raised hell from Vegas to Reno . . . it was a whole other life.A life I didn’t deserve to daydream about.Now though, the el camino had a new purpose, and the look on Helaine’s face made all the discomfort I was feeling about seeing it again worth it.Her lips parted in a quiet gasp as she looked back at me. “Is this . . . ?”“The very same.” I nodded, the corner of my lips tugging into a smirk in spite of my
Helaine“Just wanted to know if you were planning on coming by for Thanksgiving. I love you.”Sucking in a hissing breath, I whipped my phone across Evan’s apartment, where its fall was luckily broken by his plush red couch before clattering to the floor. Evan looked at me like I’d lost my mind, but I was beyond caring.If the fact that I was the anti-christ wasn’t enough to scare him off, I highly doubted that pacing around his apartment like a caged tiger was going to be the final straw.“How fucking dare he,” I snarled through gritted teeth. “What right does he have to sound so god damned normal after everything that’s happened?”Evan only watched me, having the curtesy to give me my space when I needed it. If he tried to hold me right now, I’d probably combust. I couldn’t stay still, not when I had this much furious energy burning through my veins like acid. “I take it he doesn’t call often.”“He calls on the same day every year.” I grimaced, looking at the phone in his grasp as t