The Jackal's Kiss

Waaah! Okay I know this took forever and there's not much there but I promise the next one is going to be reeee-aaaalllly long. So...don't hurt me, 'kay?

Mibella: Thanks so much! I should have the next chapter up a little sooner than this one took. I hope you continue to like it!

Kitty cat ate my ramen: I hope you still like where this is going...even though it hasn't gotten much further yet, ehehe *sheepish grin...but you know in the next chapter the "reeaal" action is gonna start ;)

Icarus_Complex: I'm glad you like my descriptions. I agonized over each and every one. Haha. I can only hope that this chapter lives up to the previous standard, even in its puny-ness.

Kitty: Here you go!

Papaya4: Wah! I feel your love for me! Haha. It's people like you who keep me going!

Thanks so much for reviewing!


Chapter 5: Sing

The thin cotton he pulled over my head was not enough. The wrist I had temporarily forgotten was still bleeding, hot red lines of pain were slipping through my fingers as I held the fabric over it.

I glanced to my right, where he sat. The crazy man. My blood decorated his chin as he lazily trailed his fingers over one of the velvet cushions. I watched as his tongue darted out, touching the darkening stains.

My stomach quivered, sending a sickening jolt up to my throat. I fought the convulsion behind my tongue as bile burned there.

His lips twitched into a smile and those colorless eyes slid over to me. The food.

“That will never work, little bird,” he drawled, flicking his gaze down to his handy work. The little smile he wore spread. Even in the dim light I could see the dark stains between his teeth. More of me.

“My saliva contains a natural anticoagulant,” he rolled the words around in his mouth and let out a little laugh as if he found the syllables funny.

“Come here.”

He flicked his fingers at me. Oh no. I didn’t want to go over there. What would he do next? Slice me open? Wear my guts as jewelry? The leer in his gaze didn’t make it hard to imagine.

But what would happen if I just stayed here? Wouldn’t that just make him angry? Or would he find it amusing like fighting against him?

I took too long thinking.

I didn’t even see him move.

Suddenly my arm was in his grip and I was face to face with him, half pulled over the arm of his throne.

“Don’t upset me, little one,” his grip tightened and a whimper of pain escaped me. There were crunching sounds coming from beneath his fingers, each one sending a wave of anguish through me.

“What did I tell you?”

Tears stung my eyes as his fingertips slid, almost tenderly up to my wrist. His other hand, unnoticed, had clutched at the back of my neck, tangling painfully in my hair. He tugged hard, his face only inches from mine.

“When I tell you to do something…” his fingers closed around my wrist. “You do it—*snap*!”

I screamed, hot sweat prickling over my body as my nerves burned with the fire. Pressure added on to the pain and I trembled, emitting sounds I didn’t even know I had in me.

He was moving me, tucking me into his arms like a small child.

“There, there. I knew my little bird would sing,” he chuckled. “Now you know,” he said, pressing his lips into my hair. Then his voice dropped a scale and those awful fingers were digging into my flesh once more. “Never defy me.”

I breathed, and nodded, not able to look at him. But that didn’t satisfy.

“Look at me when you answer…Marie,” he breathed it, my name. It was the first time he said it. And I looked at him.

His eyes were hooded and there was a flush to his cheeks. He had enjoyed hurting me. He would enjoy hurting me again. Maybe in more vulnerable places.

“Say it,” he whispered, never blinking. My blood was cracking on his lips.

“I—“ my voice broke. He waited. “I will not defy you,” I finished.

For a long time he said nothing, his face immobile. Then he smiled. He did that a lot.

“You’re very pretty, aren’t you little bird?” he cupped my face, angling it towards the light. He ran his fingers down my cheek to the corner of my mouth…and stopped, staring. “Very pretty.”

“Look at me, Marie.”

I held my breath for the briefest instant, and then pushed my gaze upward. Very diligently I stared at a speck of blood under his right eye. I wondered how it had gotten there, so far away from the rest.

“No. Not there,” he breathed.

He leaned in; so close I wanted to edge away. My eyelids slid down, so that I watched him from under my lashes.


I wanted to say something, anything to break the tension, to curl in a corner and lick my wounds, but I didn’t get a chance before his mouth sealed over mine. I froze. Realizing that somewhere deep inside I had wondered what this would feel like.

It was hot, so hot. He was burning over me. I thought…weren’t vampires supposed to be cold? He had to be just a man. But he snapped my wrist like a toothpick. He tore through my skin like tissue paper. He kissed like a demon.

I could taste my blood as he bore down over me, crushing me. There was pain. He was all about pain. My pain. His pleasure.

He was enjoying this. Devouring me.

I couldn’t breathe, but he just kept pressing closer. It was a bruising, biting kiss. My first kiss. The only one I could remember…it hurt.

Bang!

I jumped, as much as I could in his restrictive grip.

He stopped as if someone had flipped a switch. I was panting, but he—he wasn’t breathing at all…