Of Warmth and Blood

Gabrielle entered the dimly lit chamber. Soft music played in the background, light notes cadencing into sweet swirls. She saw the candles, all light up like magic, and her shadow danced lightly on the wall. She had been here before.
This was all a dream, and yet everytime it felt so real. Where was the music coming from? How long had she been here? She felt him watching her, then. Just like all the times before, he emerged from the shadows, this time, a dark velvet cloak over his broad shoulders. His hair, a thin wisp over his left eye, was stark black. His eyes were like icy balls of glass, and the light of the candles reflected in them. Though he was paces across the room, he took her in at just one glance. She suppressed a small shiver, up her spine. She opened her mouth to speak, yet the words would not come.
\"How lovely to see you again, dear one.\" He intoned. His voice was mellodious yet stoic, deep and sensual. She felt her mouth begin to turn to cotton. It wasn\'t the fact that he was all dressed in black that did it, no not that. And it wasn\'t the fact that his eyes, stark and beautiful as they were hid deep and silent rage. It wasn\'t even his long white fingers that gave her the creeps. There was just something....ominous about him. And this time, she knew it was a dream.
She would tell him so.
\"You cannot taunt me now, Craven.\" She knew that was not his real name, yet when she\'d insisted he give her a name, he had given her that.
\"Oh?\" He raised an eyebrow.
The tone of his voice was coquetish and sarcastic at once. He descended the stairs. Had there been stairs there before? No matter. This time she had to get out.
But he was by her side in less than a second. How had he done that?
Gently, his hand caressed her strawberry colored hair. The golden blond highlights danced to the beat of the gentle sway of the candle light. She took in her breath. She didn\'t know what to say, or do.
\"Child.\" He said in that meticulous tone of command. How dare he call her that? Yet, her body was beginning to yeild. She slid onto his shoulder, her legs wanting to give way. Withouth another word, he gently lifted her from the ground, then laid her on the red velvet four poster bed. A small rope was in his hands, he fastened her hands to the headboard. She opened her mouth to protest, but then thought better of it. This was a DREAM. She knew she could will herself to wake up at any moment, yet she didn\'t dare. She wore a mint green ballgown, the front showing her pale decoulage, the dress complete with a bustle in the back. Though she was dressed this way, and around her neck hung a silver clasp with emeralds, she felt comfortable tied to the bed.
\"Craven\" she whispered. Hearing his name on her lips, or a name for that matter, she felt herself slipping away. Her head became light, her body more yeilding and when she opened her eyes, she was staring straight into his. The icy blue pools commanded her. They harkened to her. They beckoned to her. She could feel herself responding, to some silent call beyond the dead of the night, in that dim chamber. She hoped she didn\'t wake up.

She felt herself surrendering, but to what she did not know. All she knew was that he was leaning in, his electric eyes locked with hers. \"You...\" she breathed. \"You have me under some spell!\" He laughed then, a mocking sound. Dreadful...yet enticing. Why was it that she felt like giving in with him?
\"I want you to know,\" he began, with a flair of his robes and cape, \"That tonight is going to be special for you, child.\" She closed her eyes again. Better not to look at him. Better not to think too much. She had a question though. Dare she ask him?
\"I want to know if this is real or not.\" she voiced her thought. She\'d said it.
\"Reality, is in the mind of the beholder\" He breathed into her ear. His surprisingly warm hands (a shock really, what with the pale complexian) caressed her left cheek. He gently brushed a strand of hair aside. He softly blew the nape of her neck. \"What is real, is not what you seek to Know.\" He continued. She felt her breath catch at the back of her throat again. One part of her wanted freedom from this bondage, yet another part of her, the deep and primal part felt something burning, a hunger, inside of her. He burried his face into her neck and she shuddered. Shuddered with delight, in spite of herself. \"No...\" she said in a small , meek voice. Was that really her own voice talking? Did she really sound so small and....unconvincing to him? He pulled back and smiled at her, the corners of his mouth giving way to show a stunning set of teeth and lush full red lips. He ran those lips down her neck, and shivers coursed through her body. She held her breath. On the verge, she was of asking yet another question, when he opened his mouth. At first, she felt no pain, only a gentle suction. He was pulling a part of her neck skin into his mouth, and she felt herself heat up. The warmth teased her body, commanded her arousal. She felt the moisture build between her thighs, as it dripped slowly through her undergarmets. She moved his mouth slowly at first, then more rapidly across her neck, and lower, lower, so haltingly lower that his face was inches from her breast. Instead of saying No this time, she willed herself to say yes. The arousal and passion within her was almost more than she could stand. How was he getting her this hot this fast? He gently cupped a breast and slowly revealed a pink tounge, that gently formed tiny swirls around her breast. Wet, in the candlelight he then ran his bare hands across it, she felt those familiar electric chills run through her body as her nipple stood erect. She moaned, as he tilted her head farther back and began to suck, hotly, wetly on her pale neck. His free hand roamed across her chest, cupping her other breast, slowly pulling it from her falling down. She felt her knees go weak, and then, just a tiny pinch of pain. One pinprick, and there was warmth, running down her...neck! She felt something else, basic and primal stir within her, and realized it was her own body fluid leaking from a small hole in her neck. Yet, Craven was still sucking on her, the warmth from his mouth hot and tingly and spell binding all at once. No more pain now, just utter bliss, as he lapped the bits of her blood. Then, an especially strong suck and it was over, no more bleeding and no pain at all, her neck was numb. But the rest of her body was afire and needed to be fufilled. She longed to feel his hardness beneath her, longed to feel him fill her up, just as he drank her out, so many nights before.