Everyone in Bitten usually acquired nicknames. Sparkles was a pretty girl who liked to wear medieval corsets. Not Victorian ones – you couldn’t breathe in them. No, medieval ones were tight enough to bring up the breasts to make them perfect little ivory mounds.
She wasn’t in that right now. She stood in a ratty t-shirt and jeans, being assigned as one of the cleaning crew. She knocked on the rear door, but no one answered. Then she heard a motorcycle.
It came up the back of the alley and parked at the base of the dumpster. The bald man in leather dismounted, and took off his glasses. She realized it was the new boss. “Oh, hi,” he said, a little surprised. “Anilia isn’t in there?”
“I dunno, I knocked, but nobody’s answerin’.”
He went over and unlocked the door. Some of the lights were on, but the ones down the hallway to the club weren’t. “Where’s the cleaning crew?” she asked.
“I’m taking down that schedule,” he said quietly. “I don’t really need it.”
Sparkles looked at him. “Are we cleaning your office?”
He looked toward Anilia’s office; the lights were on. He smiled a little and then looked at her. “Actually, it was something I asked to do. Anilia asked that I see each one of the Bitten one at a time, personally.”
She’d heard about this from a couple of the other Bitten who had been around when Jacques was there. “You want to see him alone,” said one of the guys. “It’s the best thing in your whole life.”
Sparkles smiled at him. “Okay.” She followed him into his office, and he shut the door. He turned slowly to her. “How old are you, sweets?”
“Twenty –two.”
She walked up to him, knowing what he wanted. She had to stand on her tiptoes to kiss him. He responded gently, pulling her close to his muscular chest, pressing her breasts against his lower pecs. That kiss was beautiful, but it was nothing compared to what happened next.
The next thing she knew she was lying on the couch, and he was standing over her. He didn’t look like he had just had sex with her. In fact, she could see his outline through his leather pants. She immediately looked up at his eyes.
“I didn’t rape you,” he said.
“If you did, it was wonderful,” she said with a lazy grin.
He rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. “I’m taking down that schedule now.” He kissed her gently. “You can stay here.”
“Mmmmhmmm. Come back when you’re done, sugar.”
Shaking his head, he went to the time clock and took down the schedule. He didn’t need the nightly feedings by relatively perfect strangers. Lorenco had offered, saying he could handle him drinking his fill every night upon rising. He only hoped so. He took the schedule and headed to Anilia’s office.
Anilia was doing something on the computer. “Oh, hello, Bruce. I’m just ordering some liquor now that we have the license.”
“The bartenders have gone through their certifications?”
“Yes. We have two who need to renew. I’ve set them up for the early shift.”
Bomber set down the schedule. “I don’t need this.”
She looked up at him. “Why?”
“I have someone at home to satisfy my needs.”
“Oh,” she said quietly. “They’re going to be disappointed.”
“That doesn’t mean I won’t take a couple a night.”
“I was hoping…” She smiled demurely.
He went around her desk. He stood behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. He could hear her breathing pick up, heard the quickness of her heart. She tilted her neck. That tattoo turned him on immensely, and he bent his head, biting her. She sighed and he fed just a little, enough so that she heard her heavy breathing, and soon deep breaths of satisfaction.
He waited until she had regained herself before he let her go. But she grabbed his wrist. “Please, I beg you.”
Bomber had discussed with Lorenco that she wanted a Blood Bond. This meant that if she drank his blood three times, she would be beholden to him. Not just beholden – his devoted servant. She would look to him to feed her at least every month, to reinforce the bond. It was bad enough that she had talked him into giving his blood for the bouncers, and they’d been drinking it steadily these past few nights, secreted in the coffee. She said he’d do it for a week, to make sure all of them were bound. He honestly didn’t like that idea, but she explained that if any Kindred came to the bar and caused trouble, they would need an edge.
Lorenco had said that some people wanted to be blood bonded. Some people wanted to be submissive. Some people would want a powerful man like Bomber to protect them. He’d never seen himself as that, always finding women who could take care of themselves or women who treated him like trash. This was actually a pleasant change of pace. He could get used to this.
He didn’t move, but leaned in close to her. “I can’t give you what you’ll want.”
“Neither did Jacmes.” She craned her head to look at him. “Jacmes’ heart was somewhere else too. But you both care about me.” She brought her hand up and caressed his cheek. “You more than him.”
Give them what they want, Lorenco had said. Finally, he took his switchblade out and cut his wrist. She latched onto his arm like a dying man and licked the thick blood, then sucked on him, again digging with her eye teeth. He winced as she tore the wound open wider. Finally he pulled away, and noted the wound had gotten a good inch longer. He willed his blood to the wound to close it.
She watched it heal before her eyes. He walked around the desk as it healed. “Tomorrow night.”
She nodded. He could tell she was anticipating it like a child anticipating Christmas.
He went back to his office, and the girl was still there. She had grabbed a book from the bookcase and was idly reading it. “Good, you came back,” she said, and got up. “Is it true?”
“Is what true?” he asked, as she stood close to him.
She reached down and grabbed his crotch. Lorenco did that often, so he didn’t flinch. “It is. The video didn’t lie.”
“Video?” he stepped back. “What video?”
“The one on YouTube.”
“ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?”
She danced back so fast that she fell. He was furious, and he threw open his door. He tore it off the hinges and stormed down the hallway. As he passed, he saw a bouncer who didn’t move fast enough and gave him a shove, throwing him into the wall. He was heading straight for Anilia’s office.
James saw him coming. James turned and ran down the hall, heading into one of the storerooms. Anilia saw Bomber walking in the hall past her window and she got up from her desk. He shoved open her door – this time it didn’t fly off. It did extend its range, however, and the handle slammed into the window, shattering the glass in the corner and causing a huge crack.
“There’s a fucking video of me on YouTube!”
She backed against the wall. “I…I heard about it—”
He swept his arm and the computer’s monitor went flying to the side. “Did you do it?”
She kept shaking her head, her eyes wide with terror. “No! No!”
He lifted her desk with one hand and also tossed that to the side. “Who did? WHO FUCKING DID!”
“I don’t know!” He had gotten up to her and grabbed her by the neck.
“Stop right there!” yelled a voice.
Bomber turned. James stood there with a hand-held propane torch and waved it menacingly. At the flame, Bomber went over the edge. He let go of her and looked for an escape. Seeing the window, he went at it and through it, shattering glass and getting shards in his skin. He got up, prepared to jump back in, but James held the flame toward him. Bomber hissed, fangs dropped and the Beast in full cry. James then tucked his hand in his pants pocket and pulled out a piece of material.
Anilia cried, “He didn’t mean it, James!”
Bomber debated within himself – go at the kine with the fire, or get out. James made his decision for him, lighting the material on fire and tossing it at Bomber.
Bomber ran, seeing a door, wrenched it open and dove out of it.
The material burned itself out on the concrete floor, and James turned to Anila. “Did he hurt you?”
“You scared the boss,” said a deep angry voice standing at the shattered window. Three burly bouncers stood there, all of them pissed.
“Who the fuck do you think you are?” said another one.
James held the propane tank against them. Two were big enough to climb over the broken window. The other one went to the doorway to block James from escaping. “Stay back, or I’ll burn you too.”
“You can try.” One knocked the tank out of his hand, and the other rushed to pick it up before it caught anything on fire. He turned it off while the other two bouncers closed in.
Anilia did nothing to stop the beating.
Words: 1580
Inspiration: Blood Bonding
Music: Won’t Get Fooled Again – The Who and Right Here, Right Now – Fatboy Slim
Comment: It was initially going to be just the first part with Sparkles, but it was only 500 words. I did want to do the second part with Anilia as a separate entry, stopping at the Blood Bond. Then something made me think of YouTube, because something as big as Bomber being exposed in the club should be shared with the world, right? Maybe his face was blocked out. There are cameras all over the place in that club.