Midnight Thirsts: Erotic Tales Of The Vampire. Michael Thomas Ford

danger.” He looked at her, patting her on the arm. “A vampire wants him—a very powerful vampire. A vampire who is evil.”

      “There’s no such thing as vampires.” It was an automatic reaction, one taught by rote, like “the sky is blue” or “the grass is green.” There’s no such thing as vampires or ghosts or werewolves or witches. She rubbed her arms and shivered.

      “Oh, there are, Rachel. You can be sure of that. Vampires are not a creation of superstitious minds. They are very real, and when they are evil, they can be very dangerous. Most humans go their entire lives without encountering anything of a supernatural nature; others are not so fortunate. And your Philip has attracted the attention of one.” He reached into his pocket and removed a golden locket. He clicked it open and passed it to her. “Does he look familiar to you?”

      Inside the locket was a miniature photograph of a young man, wearing clothes from another period. His hair was long, curling gently at the shoulders. He was wearing a black suit with a white shirt underneath, open at the collar where a small cross hung at the base of his throat. At his neck. His face—she gave a little gasp.

      “It’s Philip.” She stared at him, wrapping her arms around herself to keep from shivering.

      He took the locket back and snapped it shut. “No, my dear, that is a portrait of Maximilian Hesse, the younger son of a German count before the Franco-Prussian War.”

      “He looks like Philip.”

      “Which is why Philip is in so much danger.” He sighed. “Over a hundred years ago, a vampire by the name of Gunther von Gittelsbach fell in love with Maxi Hesse. And young Maxi loved Gunther in return. They lived an idyllic life together, loving each other the best they could. And when Gunther…” He paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. “When Gunther felt that Maxi loved him enough, he offered the gift of immortality, revealing his true nature to him. When that happened, Maxi killed himself.”

      Rachel began to shiver.

      “And Gunther went mad with grief. He became a rogue, killing humans, torturing them, killing members of our order, who had been instructed to destroy him.” He reached out with a gloved hand and took hers. “I’ve been trailing Gunther ever since. He has to be stopped, you see. It is our job—our holy mission, if you will—to protect the human race, not kill members of it.”

      “You’ve been after this guy for over a hundred years.” This is crazy, her mind rebelled. This can’t be happening; this old man is a nutcase—probably should be locked up somewhere; this is crazy; I need to get back inside and away from this nutcase before…

      “And now he wants your young friend. He has never, you see, forgotten Maxi; it’s actually quite sad, really.” His voice trailed off, and he watched a cab go by. “Romantic and sad. Gunther wants to give him the gift of immortality, to make a companion for all eternity. He doesn’t want to be alone, even though that’s part of our existence—loneliness. Loving humans—mortals, if you will—is a mistake. Mortals die, you see, and we go on.”

      “This doesn’t make sense.”

      “I assure you, I am not insane.”

      “Like you’d admit it.”

      He opened his mouth, pulling his lips back, baring marble white teeth. The canines…

      …were long and pointed.

      Gunther unlocked a black wrought-iron gate and pulled Philip inside. He pushed him up against the brick wall. He pushed Philip’s arm up over his head, pinning him, bringing his mouth to the base of Philip’s neck, kissing, licking, biting, taking little nibbles of the soft skin there.

      Oh, yes, Philip thought, his body beginning to tremble, take me now; take me here; I don’t want to wait anymore, as he brought up his left leg and wrapped it around Gunther’s. His hands drifted down Gunther’s back, cupping the hard, round ass, squeezing, his excitement growing.

      Gunther tore Philip’s T-shirt at the neck, ripping it down, shredding it, exposing Philip’s hairless torso. Gunther’s mouth hungrily moved down to Philip’s nipples, biting them, teasing them with flicks of his tongue.

      Philip closed his eyes and moaned. Oh, yes, this feels so fucking good, yes…

      “My beautiful Maxi,” Gunther whispered, “I’ve waited for you for so long.”

      Philip gasped as Gunther’s teeth clamped down on his right nipple. He looked down, seeing the blond head, watching the tongue darting out and licking the blood bubbling slowly out of his nipple. He heard muffled voices, footsteps, two people walking by on the other side of the gate, the splashing of water from the other side of the dark tunnel they were inside, Gunther hungrily lapping at his nipple as though nursing. His body trembled. His cock and balls were aching, demanding release.

      He heard his heartbeat pounding inside his head again.

      He closed his eyes. And…

      Candles, casting shadows.

      “I love you,” Gunther was saying, smiling down on him, sweat beading on his face, glistening in the flickering light. They were both naked, and he could feel the soft, silky sheets against his skin, sensuously caressing him, the softness of the bed shaping to his form. The windows were open, and the breeze coming through them was warm and soft, felt almost like gentle kisses on his skin.

      What—what is happening to me? he wondered, opening his eyes, shaking his head to clear it. Gunther’s tongue was trailing down his torso, licking at the faint trail of blood. The nipple had stopped bleeding, was healed. His entire body stiffened, and an involuntary groan escaped through his lips. Gunther smiled up at him, his mouth smeared with blood. He’s so beautiful, Philip thought, so beautiful; no one has ever made me feel like this before….

      Gunther stood up and pressed his mouth to Philip’s.

      Philip tasted his own blood. Metallic and coppery, but somehow sweet.

      His cock was aching, begging for release. He reached down and undid the top button of his jeans. His hand brushed against Gunther’s crotch, the huge cock straining against the denim fabric and the buttons.

      It was so big, porn-star big. Can I handle that? Philip wondered, imagining how it would feel inside him, sliding in and out with the urgent need to reach its inevitable conclusion, and he wanted it; he wanted to feel it inside him, feel it filling him with its need and size and girth; he wanted to put his mouth on it, to lick it, to nibble on the head, to run his tongue along its tender and sensitive underside, to suckle on his balls and make him crazy with desire, to make Gunther moan and cry out with pleasure.

      Gunther cupped Philip’s crotch, and Philip moaned again.

      “Liebchen,” Gunther whispered, “I want to make love to you all night long.”

      Philip swallowed. “I’d like that.”

      “Come,” Gunther said, taking his hand. “I don’t know how much longer I can wait.” He pressed his lips against Philip’s again, his tongue darting into Philip’s mouth, and Philip grasped it with his own mouth, sucking on it until Gunther began to growl low down in his throat.

      He pulled Philip along into the courtyard beyond the carriageway.

      “You—you’re a vampire.” This is insane; this can’t be happening to me, Rachel thought, her mind reeling from the sheer unbelievability of it all. It must be a dream; I’m dreaming all this; the pot put me to sleep and I’m just having some kind of weird dream caused by the weird mist and the darkness and my overactive imagination. She started to rise, to get away, to go back inside and back to her apartment.

      “You have nothing to fear from me.” Nigel said, his voice soothing. “I am sworn to protect human life.”

      “You drink buh-buh-blood.” She started shaking; she couldn’t help it; even as she willed herself to stop, she couldn’t; the chill from the mist seemed to have penetrated