“A minute, several hours, all day—if you had just locked the door, I wouldn’t have to receive anyone at all.”
With that, I pushed open the door and greeted my clients. I left it ajar so I could hear if he tried messing with anything he shouldn’t. I stood at the tall wooden countertop that stretched completely across the room.
“Do you have anything that can ease stomach pains?” a woman asked. She had come with her companion.
“Aside from ginger, there are a few things I could prescribe. Could you tell me a little more about the pain?”
As I was trying to be attentive to my patron’s needs, a rustling of my skirt caught my attention. I glanced down to see Silas sitting between my legs with his back resting on the cabinet drawers facing me. He leaned forward only to disappear under my skirt.
“Issomething the matter?” the patron asked.
“No! Apologies—I thought I saw arat.” I smacked the side of Silas’s face with my knee as he continued his ruse. “Please continue.”
“It started a few days ago—” The client began giving me an unnecessary story for her pain that did not seem relevant to its description. With Silas between my legs, it was hard to focus anyway. He began licking and sucking the skin around my thighs and working his way up, but never actually getting near the place I wanted him to be.
“And the pain?” My voice shook. “Is there a particular sensation you can describe to me that could help me prescribe something?”
“Needles, it feels like needles,” she explained.
That was when he did it. He sank his fangs into my thigh, piercing the flesh and holding my legs in place.
“Oh,” I mumbled. “Have you tried cannabis? Or laudanum? It is said to ease... nerves. Nerve pain is what it sounds like.” I swallowed hard.
“Miss Lis, are you all right?”
“Yes, I am well, just deep in thought about what could possibly be the cause.” I smiled weakly. Silas bit down harder, and I bit my lip, finally feeling the wave of numbness over the area from the venom. Why did it feel so good? It was like morphine. But I could not ignore the stars in my vision.
“You look pale,” the companion mentioned worriedly. “Should we come by later?”
“That... might be a good idea. Would you flip the sign on your way out? I must be coming down with a fainting spell.”
“Yes, of course! We will drop by tomorrow. Do get some rest!” The woman looked strangely at her companion before they left the shop.
When the bell rang on their way out, my knees finally gave out, and I fell backward onto the floor, pressing my back against the cabinetry on the other side of the narrow walkway behind the counter.
He followed me, and the clicking made his mouth vibrate against my skin, sucking at my thigh as my legs shook in his grip.
I pulled my skirt up, and he glanced up at me from between my thighs, his eyes narrowed in annoyance as I took away his dark cover.
“What are you doing?” I asked, but he only answered by yanking my thighs toward him, making me slouch against the drawers of my cabinet. I could see the blood start to drip past his lips as he fed.
I slapped my legs together sharply, the force making him unlatch from my leg. Though it made his teeth widen the punctures on my thigh as they were ripped from the skin. The blood dripped down between my legs, staining some of my undergarments in the process.
“You’ve made a mess,” he huffed, licking over the wound to stop the bleeding and chasing the trail of blood with his tongue between my legs, lapping at my skin.
“Get out,” I snapped.
“I’m not finished.” He glared.
“Why must you be so difficult?” I pushed his face away and stood shakily.
“Because I know that you like it, deep,deepdown,” he teased, rising to his feet in tandem.
“Pest.”
“Vixen.”
“I will see you next week.”
