The drive to her house was longer, unfortunately, as if Iro needed one more challenge to deal with right now. She needed to think about the fact that the blood coming from his wound smelled and would taste disgusting. The rest of it didn’t, which wasn’t helping, but she tried to picture tasting the infected blood, and that nearly moved her to vomit. She found a bottle of water and downed all of it quickly, needing to get home as soon as possible.
???
When Iro finally walked through her front door, she made a beeline for her pantry. Keys were tossed somewhere. Her shoes were kicked off and landed somewhere else. She pressed the button, but instead of waiting for the heavy door to open on its own, she yanked it, found the round container of pig’s blood she’d gotten from a butcher, opened the lid, and guzzled. She didn’t sip. She didn’t drink. She guzzled. It was cold and awful, but she didn’t have the patience to wait for it to heat up fully. Finishing the first container in seconds, she set it down on the shelf at her right and pulled another. She drank that one a little more slowly, grabbed a third, and closed the refrigerator. This should hold her over, but she’d need more soon.
On her way to take a shower, she drank from the third container and set it down on her bathroom sink, not caring about a blood ring forming around it because she could deal with that later. Seconds after that, though, still very hungry, she picked the container back up and finished it. Then, having practically torn off her clothes, she turned on her shower and climbed inside right away. The water wasn’t hot yet, but sheneeded a distraction, to focus on something other than the fact that she wanted to run through this town and drink from every person she saw.
Her fangs out, she aimed her blood-coated mouth at the water and rinsed until all the blood was gone and her fangs finally receded. She washed herself, trying to get separation from the blood she still smelled everywhere and the fact that she had smelled Arwen’s intoxicating arousal not all that long ago. She didn’t want to link blood with sex where Arwen was concerned, so she resisted the urge to touch herself while in the shower. Itwouldhave temporarily relieved the pain and the tension that came from being a vampire whose sex drive exceeded any human’s, but she had gotten sloppy.
She needed sex, and she knew it. It had been too long. That had been the reason she’d gone when Cassia had called. It had always been great sex with the two of them, but now, being with Arwen, she needed more. She silently cursed herself as she turned the water off and got out becauseshehad been the one to suggest that they wait. Shedidwant to wait, but if she and Arwen were already doing that, Iro wouldn’t need it this badly right now.
Before she could sleep the day away, she needed at leastsomething, but she wasn’t about to mess things up with Arwen by finding a random woman to sate her. She certainly would not be going to Cassia after she had just told her that it was over between them, so that meant it was up to her. It would not be the same, and she rarely touched herself, only when necessary to get through the day or night, but she lay down on her bed without moving the blanket or the sheets or even drying off her body, and she stroked herself. It was hard and fast until she came, but it wasn’t enough. She needed more. Frustrated, Iro reached into her drawer and found a vibrator. She pressed it to her clit, let it take her over the edge, and she still wanted more.
She thought about how good Arwen smelled and how much she wanted to taste her and to be inside her when she came, connected to those hazel eyes as they sought seconds of pleasure at her hand, and she came a third time.
Panting, Iro hoped that she wouldn’t need another one, but she was a vampire. Vampires always needed another one. They always seemed to need more. So, she pulled one of the dildos from her drawer and, hoping thatthiswould finally sate her for the time being, she pushed it inside easily. Picturing Arwen on top of her, fingers buried deep, she gasped, pressed the vibrator back to her clit, and pumped the toy in and out, harder and faster than maybe she’d ever had, not worrying about hurting herself or being sore later because that would not happen. Healing definitely had its major advantages, but the temptation to never stop wasn’t one of them.
As she came, Iro pictured Arwen’s eyes looking down at her.
“Yes, baby! Take me,” she said to no one.
Arwen, in her fantasy, had done just that, and Iro came down a minute later while still moving the dildo inside herself but having turned the vibrator off, at least. Her body continued to be on fire, though, so it was time for acoldshower.
As she stood under the spray again, she thought about how she had left things with Arwen. Remembering the confused look on Arwen’s face, she wished that they could redo their first morning together. She would’ve woken Arwen up slowly, kissing every inch of skin that she could find, and they would’ve made love just as slowly before she pulled out her favorite book of poetry by one of the masters and read it to Arwen as she held her. Maybe Arwen would have fallen back asleep, and Iro would’ve gone to make them breakfast. They would’ve eaten in the dining room like civilized adults, but on their way to the kitchen to deposit their dishes, Iro would’ve taken Arwen against the counter and tasted her arousal, letting it coat her lips andtongue before she picked Arwen up, placed her on the kitchen island, and pushed her tongue inside, craving more of her.
“Fuck. No. Not again,” she said, pressing her palm to the shower wall. “Get it together,” she scolded herself. “God, I want her. Steady supply of blood. Steady supply of self-administered orgasms. Stay on track. Stay on plan, Iro.”
Repeating the same message to herself, she moved into her walk-in closet and walked through the hidden door in the wall that opened when she pressed another button. Naked, she lay in there on the small twin bed that she rarely used, but when she did, it helped her recover. When she’d first looked at this old building, Iro had realized that the pantry and closet had been connected. The closet itself had been a walk-in, but a much larger one than she needed due to the previous owner expanding the space. She had added the wall separating the closet herself, which was easy when she had done it so many times before, and completing the work herself meant no one knew that this room existed, which was also the point.
The room had been painted in the darkest black paint in the world, which also happened to be the most expensive black paint in the world. There were no lights, no windows, no way for the harmful rays of the sun to get in, and she had installed sound panels to help keep out as much of the noise as possible. She never brought her phone or computer into this room because it served only one purpose: it allowed her to sleep before the Moon rose and she could recharge in it. She’d checked her phone on the ride home and knew when the sunset was that night, so her plan involved waking up then and eating more before she would see if Arwen had texted.
???
When Iro woke on her own, she felt mostly better, but she needed to eat again and possibly take a long walk outside before Arwen came over if they were having a date that night. She could also use another few orgasms, which made her feel embarrassed, but it was what it was. She couldn’t help the pull she felt for the woman, and getting her body under control was vital if she was going to invite Arwen over.
Leaving her hideout, she found that the sun was down, thankfully, so she went to grab her phone, which she had left charging. It was just after seven, and she had four messages from Arwen.
Arwen Lam: Hi. Zara decided to work from home today, I guess, and she told me she had plans tonight. Not sure what those are, but I’m free if you still want to get together.
That message had come in around noon.
Arwen Lam: Hey, it’s been a few hours. I know you’re probably busy, and I’m not trying to pester you, I promise, but you usually reply a little sooner. Can you let me know if we’re on for tonight?
That message had come in around three.
Arwen Lam: Hey, I’m heading home. I assume you just got busy, and maybe I’ll hear from you later tonight.
That had been received at five o’clock, and the last message had followed a little under an hour later.
Arwen Lam: I’m trying not to worry, Iro, but something was up with you this morning. Can you please just reply that you’re okay? Tell me you’re busy. I’m a lawyer; I’ll understand.
Iro closed her eyes at the thought of worrying Arwen, who had been, as she had put it, unlucky in relationships, and had probably been ghosted, as modern people would put it, before. Iro didn’t want to do that to her. Instead of sending a text, she picked up the phone.
“Hi. Are you okay?” Arwen asked quickly.
“Yes. I am so sorry for not getting back to you sooner. My phone didn’t charge last night because I was at your place, and I’ve been in meetings all day, so I didn’t notice when it died. I didn’t mean to worry you. I know it’s after seven, so you’ve probably already eaten, but if you’re still up for it, I’d love it if you came over. Maybe in about an hour? I… just got out of the office, and I need to pick up food to cook because I don’t think I’ve been to the grocery store lately.”
“Are you sure? If you’re still feeling tired, we can do it another night. You didn’t seem like yourself when you left my place this morning.”
