Lover of the Night.

[Ravenloft]

Darius:

Darius could not fight his passionate hunger any longer, his teeth stung into Gails breast, not for but a moment, it was long enough though, he felt her wince, but plied the magic of his tongue to the two point wound, drinking in only the smallest portion of her blood, his body felt the flush of life and he realised that it had awakened his arousal, not as a blood drinker, but as a mortal, it swelled within the confines of his pants and for a moment he thought it the most curious thing, but then Gails embrace refocused him. "My flesh has felt your need, my venus..." Darius breathed against her skin as he lifted his head, to look her in the eyes, his own showing a sort of beguiled amusement that she would surely misunderstand...

 

[Maid of Marvels]

Gail cried out sharply when Darius bit her, marvelling at how the pain soon began to bring her pleasure as he nuzzled, suckling at the firm flesh of her breast. They had always been sensitive, but seemed even more so tonight. Perhaps it was the fire he had ignited deep within her soul. He was, indeed, her heart's desire... as well as her body's.

"Ohh... gods... " Gail murmured into his hair as she pressed her lips against the top of his head. She was hovering on the brink of an orgasm and he hadn't even touched her.

"My flesh has felt your need, my venus..." She couldn't read the look in his eyes as he looked up into hers, but she knew he desired her as much as she did him. Without breaking their gaze, Gail brought her lips to his, suckling at his lower lip. Tasting... How she hungered for him! She wanted her mouth to wander over his body. Nibbling. Nuzzling. Licking. Tasting...

Her body ached for release from the sexual tension that had been building since the moment their eyes met at Le Baiser Foncé, and a low groan escaped her lips. "Please, Darius. I need to touch you."

 

[Ravenloft]

Darius:

Slipping out of his silk shirt, Darius then took Gails hands in his and plased them upon his stomach, just above his belt. He leaned back, his expression a strange mixture of curiosity and pleasure as he licked the traces of Gails blood from his lips slowly. He realised that her blood had awakened him in this manner, that somehow, her most passionate desire had been carried over to him within her vitae. "I have not... Made love in many years, Gail, in so very many years..." Darius admited, as he realised he was beginining to feel a completely different need from the wont for her blood.

 

[Maid of Marvels]

"I have not... Made love in many years, Gail, in so very many years..."

"Shhh... " She placed a tender kiss on his lips as his eyes held her in his thrall.

Gail could feel his erection straining at the confines of his clothing. She ran her fingers over the length of him, thrilling at the fact that his manhoodd pulsed at her touch. Smiling, she stood, tugging at his belt in a signal for Darius to stand with her.

Her hands shook. Not from fear, but from impatience as she fumbled with his belt and the clasp at the waist of his trousers. Never blinking, Darius placed his hands on her waist as she finally accomplished her goal.

Eager to appease the bittersweet longing of her body, yet loath to do so, Gail slowly lowered Darius' zipper and slid her hands inside. She pressed against him, her hands lowering his pants even as they moved over his ass.

She gasped aloud as his cock sprung free, her fingertips tracing along the bulging vein on its underside before closing them around his girth. "Sit" she whispered, indicating the chair she had just stood from.

 

[Ravenloft]

Darius:

Darius stood along with Gail as her hands passed over him. She undid his belt, lowered his zipper, sliding her hands within, each action seeming so very tantalizing to him, what a strange paradox, he thought, that the sensation of seduction should seem so new to him. He who had fed off of seduction over the centuries was now quickly becoming the seduced.

Her gasp brought him back from his pleasureable revery and he looked down, his hands on her hips as her fingertips caressed lightly along his now freed length. She whispered for him to sit, and he did, leaning back, having swithced places, his hands moved up her waist, to her breasts, the pad of his right tumb brushed over the slightly risen marks where he had bitten her.

Wordlessly he looked up at her, his eyes showing with passionate need, need for something he had not had in more life times than he could count.

 

[Maid of Marvels]

Removing his hands from her body, Gail stepped away from Darius to unzip her skirt which she let slither down her hips to the floor. Stepping free from the discarded garment, she smiled softly and lowered her panties.

There was no mistaking her intent nor his, for her passion was clearly reflected in his eyes as she moved toward Darius, straddling his lap. She was on fire!

Reaching down between them, her trembling fingers encircled his shaft and she held her breath. Guiding him. Slowly. Between the petal-soft folds at the juncture of her thighs.

Gail drew Darius' erection through the slick wetness of her excitement before bringing him to her entrance. A place even warmer and wetter than she had teased him with a moment before. The place where she most ached for fulfillment.

Gail lowered her body, feeling her inner walls stretch to admit his girth and just as easily reshape to his form. She wanted to move slowly. To savor each excrutiatingly sensuous moment of his entrance, but she could not. Unable to hold back, Gail impaled herself completely on Darius' rigid cock with a shuddering exhalation of breath.

 

[Ravenloft]

Darius:

Darius leaned back on his hands, looking up at Gail as she shed her cloths, he found himself longing for her, he realized, longing to be inside of her. The sight of her naked sex stirred him just as though he were tasting the beat of her pulse. She straddled him and he accepted her with a sigh, feeling a strange heat filling his veins. Was it the small amount of blood he had drank from her? Was her blood somehow commanding his passions to such mortal desires?

Oh, how sweetly she trembled a she took his phallus in her soft hand, and oh how sensuously wonderful it felt as she tantalized the head of his cock against the warm petals of her sex. A warm dampness graced the length of his cock as she drew it through the folds of her sex, how amasing it felt, the sensation passing through his groin and hips on par with even the sweetest draught of blood. And when she drew him to the entrance of her sex, and when she lowered herself upon him, drawing his cock into her clasping confines he gasped. He felt her so keenly with his unnatural sence of touch, now focused wholey upon where he joined with her that it seemed he she were an ocean, an ocean of silk... "Nnnn, Gail, you feel like silk, an ocean of silk..." Darius breathed, repeating his thougths to her as he reached up to enfold her in his arms. Suddenly she sunk down upon him, taking her to such a depth within her ocean of silk that words fled him, his lips working mutely to express what he felt, he gave in to silence in a long, low sigh, casting his head back as she began to roll her hips, keeping him held deep inside her, the motion she was causing with the slightest roll of her hips made it feel as though she was endless, as though there were no end to this silken ocean. A silken ocean... Ah, that image would be emblazoned upon his mind until the end of time, and he would have it no other way.

 

[Maid of Marvels]

A breathy sigh of complete surrender to passion escaped her lips. Lost in the throes of ecstasy, her hands travelled over Darius' thighs and around his waist to his back. She pulled them back, running them up his chest and down his arms and back again.

She raked her fingers through his hair as he suckled her breasts. Her head thrown back, she cried out his name, urging him on. She loved the feel of him thrusting deep within her belly as she rode the length of his manhood. Sensations washed over her, like the warm waters of a perfumed bath.

 

[Ravenloft]

Darius:

Gail traveled her hands all over Darius's body, and he reveled in her touch. The passion they shared was growing, he could hear her pulse quickening, and when he looked in her eyes with his own steely blues, he noticed how her pupils dialated. Having seen this hundreds of times before in those he had fed on in the past as a reaction to the pleasure of his blood kiss, he knew she was in the midst of her orgasm even before the lush contractions of her sex played upon his ridged cock. He lifted himself to her breast, desperate to taste her once more, without thinking, he made the smallest knick upon her breast as he suckled upon her nipple.

Such a beautiful scene it must have been, their mutual release. Her head cast back as she caressed his nursing head to her breast, his arms cast about her sweet slender frame... The quickened and urgent rolls of her hips bringing him to the brink of orgasm, the sudden milking of her sex as it convulsed all along his cock sending him soaring him over that brink, and when his seed gushed into her in a fluid torrent of carnal release, he bit, drawing blood. For his part, no words could ever describe how sublime this release was, it was a release on two fronts, the carnal, and the visceral, blood and seed.

His stomach fluttered, a strange, yet wonderful sensation, and it was all he could just to hold her, riding these sensations to their very end. Eventually they came down from this carnal high, giddiness settling in. Gail began to laugh, her body shaking as she did. He embraces her, sharing her giddy mirth as they both collapsed to the floor.

 

[Maid of Marvels]

They fell together laughing, exhilarated by the passion and intensity of their love making. The lush Ferahan Sarouk carpet framed their nakedness as they lay before the fire, unwilling to free themselves one from the other.

Touching, talking, kissing, murmuring into the long hours of the night, it was almost dawn when Gail fell asleep after making plans to meet later that day after her lecture.

 

[Ravenloft]

Morning rose as Gail slept alone on the floor where Darius had lain with her. A man in black, just as black as Darius had worn, loomed over her. He knelt and shook her shoulder gently, so as not to unduley alarm her as she woke. "Miss... Miss?" He called quietly, the whisper of a breeze in her ear. "My lord has bid me to wake you this day, the sun rises, and he hath said you have buisness therein..." He spoke as though he were out of place, out of time, belonging to some other age, only not knowing it. As Gails eyes came open, she saw that this man, fairer of hair than Darius, wore the same style clothing, that only now struck her as dated, very dated, belonging to another century, or to the very excentric, perhaps... Gloves, she noted, even his servants wore gloves... He lifted her to her feet, carefully. Treating her as though she were a peice of fragile art... Taking her to a limo, one she, in her sleepiness, did not recognize, he settled her in the back, then took the drivers seat.


Not more than an hour passed before this limo came to a stop and the back door opened at her side, with her still barely concious. The man knelt at the open door, where a chill breaze caressed her skin from and lifted a small vial of a thick red liquid to her lips. "Drink, I plead of you, drink... Of (She thought she heard 'FOR' Darius..." The vile was to her lips, the thick liquid oozing between her lips. It sparked something in her subconcious, bringing her awake. She shook violently for but a moment, then settled back with an unconcious sigh...

Deep in his day sleep, Darius kept a silent, supernatural eye upon all of this, his venus would not be treated poorly, no, or heads would roll... She was his be all, and end all at this very moment, no one would tarnish her beauty for him... It was his bidding, it was his will...

 

[Maid of Marvels]

Gail stepped from the limousine, suddenly remembering that her rental car had been left at Darius' estate. As if he sensed her thought, the driver spoke, "My lord has bid me to take you where ever it is you desire and return you to the manor when you are ready."

"He did, did he?" Gail smiled. The man was so... out of time and place. "Well, then. I will be ready to go to the University within the hour. My seminar begins at ten. Oh... and what shall I call you?"

"Richards, Miss. Eliot Richards," he replied with a curt bow.

"I see. Richards it is. Will you wait or shall I phone?" It occurred to Gail that she didn't have Darius' number. "Well... in truth, I don't have... "

"I will remain with you throughout the day, Miss Westrick. Please do not concern yourself."

"All right then," Gail replied with a smile, her thoughts turning to Darius yet again. It really was sweet of him. She couldn't wait to see him again.

******************************

Dressed and showered, Gail gathered up her briefcase and her laptop and returned to the limousine. Eliot had already swung open the door and was approaching to carry her things.

"Why thank you, Eliot. You're very kind."

He merely nodded, admitting her into the car and closing the door securely behind her after determining her destination. Gail leaned back against the seat, the memory of Darius' hands and mouth on her body as vivid now as if he were touching her this very moment. If she wasn't mistaken...

Gods! She could swear she felt his breath against her neck! The sensation was both eerie and erotic and she felt herself responding. It's just your imagination, Gail. Lighten up, she admonished herself. Even so, it seemed all she could think of was seeing Darius again.

 

[Ravenloft]

Eliot drove Gail to her lecture in silence, not a creepy silence mind you, but a respectful silence, he let her rest peacfully as he drove.

He came to her door once they had stopped and offered his elbow to escort her in. Once he had taken her into the conference hall, he made sure she was set, and had all she needed, then turned and left.

The lecture was nothing impressive, nothing she really hadn't heard before, it had just been put in a slightly different way than she was used to. In the last ten minutes of it though, it was revealed that there was an art gallery set up, out in the main hall for the people to exhibit before they left. "A portion of the gallery and the funding for it was contributed by a Darius Von Tilla, just this morning..." The last speaker said finally, as he departed.

The first painting in the gallery was a woman cast in a shadow that made her skin look as though it were shaded blue. She was naked, and her form was exquisite. Long, cascading raven hair that barely hid her full, round breasts, her hands curved around the thorny stem of a red rose, its petels resting against her lips, the thorns all along the stem she held seemed to sting into her skin. A rivulet of blood poured from her right breast, just above her only exposed nipple, her graceful finger tips just below that same nipple, the blood parting into two streams around its perked, and aroused hardness. Another thorn stabbed through the palm of her right hand, another stream of blood running down her blueish skin, to her elbow. The curves of her stomach and hips, so full, they seemed something from classical art, on par with the Venus even, this was no anorexic woman, she was full of body, a soft and delectable thing. From her hips and below, everything seemed to melt into shadow, there was only the slightest hint of the nest of hair that rest between her legs, black shadow hiding her most intimate place, her legs stretching downward, one infront of the other. One foot upon a jagged rock, as though she was stepping forward, in a practiced walk, the stone beneath her foot drawing crimson blood in a cascade over the rock. Her other leg withdrew into pitch black shadow. Only now did her expression make sence, her face was cast into a mask of tortured, sorrowful love. An agonizing need for something, or someone, and she held the rose as though it were that someone...

That painting was, by far, the most rich, the most telling work in the gallery. Several others seemed to have as much passion painted into them, but not as much truth.

For instance, there was a painting of another woman, this one, her skin was alabaster white, and she laid amungst soft, lacey pillows, just as white as her skin, her head propped up by them, a smile similar, if not more telling than that of the Mona Lisa on her lips. She caressed her stomach which was full with child, round and dazzlingly white, so much so that it nearly shimmered. Her hips were turned away as though to keep the mystery of her womanhood from the paintings viewers.

And a third remarkable painting stood out from the crowd. In this one, a woman, and only now did it become clear, after seeing the rest, though she did not look the same in each painting, she was the same woman, if not in appearance, at least, in soul. She stood tall, one hand cast across her breasts, hand toward her viewers, the other stretched down, in the tossled hair of a kneeling man. He embraced his arms about her hips, his head rested against her slightly rounded stomach. Again, those most intimate places of her body were hidden in thick and black shadow. She had a peaceful, contented expression on her face while the man who embraced her, though his face was turned toward the viewer, his expression was cloaked in shadow. The only hint to his emotion for this woman was the way he embraced her, and, oh, how he embraced her...

All these paintings, Gail saw, and more!

 

[Maid of Marvels]

Checking her wristwatch repeatedly to see if it was still working, Gail felt as though the day would never end. She could barely concentrate on the lecture as her thoughts consistently reverted to Darius. At one point, she had turned quickly toward the seat to her right thinking he was sitting beside her. Of course he wasn't. But she would have sworn in a court of law that Darius Von Tilla was right beside her.

Gail could feel his breath on her neck, feel the touch of his hands on her body, feel the tenderness of her breasts and the growing desire deep within her body. She longed for him and couldn't wait to be in his arms once again.

When the last speaker announced that there would be an exhibit in the main gallery, Gail figured she'd skip it. There weren't any artists of note and she didn't want to spend another moment away from Darius. Distracted, she barely heard the last artist's name.

Darius Von Tilla.

Surely her ears were playing tricks on her. She asked a colleague who assured her that she had heard correctly. Von Tilla. Did she know of him? Intrigued, Gail had replied that she wasn't sure. It couldn't be the same. Could it?

And so she found herself wandering among the portraits on display. Magnificent, all. But the three. The Von Tillas. She stood before each in turn. The woman with the rose was bittersweet in her mind's eye. There was something innately sad about it and she didn't linger overlong.

The second felt of fulfillment. She found herself touching her own stomach as she gazed upon the pristine beauty of the pregnant woman's distended belly. That one made her smile.

It was the third, however, that moved her most. The lovers. She could almost feel the passion that he felt for this woman he held in his arms. Gail couldn't help feeling a twinge of jealousy, wondering who this woman was that seemed to have captured Darius' very soul.

Finally tearing herself away, Gail hurried to the limousine. They didn't have much time left together. "Take me to him, Richards. Please," she almost pleaded as she stepped past him to get into the car.

 

[Ravenloft]

Eliot Richards:

Bowing slightly, a slight smile playing across his lips, Richards opened Gail's door for her, to let her in, then, once she was settled, he closed the door softly and got into the driver's seat as well. "I trust the lecture was pleasant, Ms Westrick?" He peered into the rear view mirror as he asked his question.

Driving them to the mansion, Richards let Gail alone, with her thoughts. Finally, they were back, and he stopped the car, came around and let Gail out, offering her his hand again.

Leading her up the steps, to the mansion's doors, he unlocked and cast them open. "Master Darius requests that you wait until dusk for his arival,asking forgiveness for his absence, buit has said that you may have anything your heart might desire in the interum." Richards said, in a formal, respectful voice. "Perhaps some wine? I could have a meal prepaired for you. Ah, let me show you to a place you could rest?" Richards seemed eager to see Gail well pleased.

 

[Maid of Marvels]

Richards led her up the stairs to the second level of the manor, as he called it. He stopped at a door midway down the hall and held it open for her.

The sight that met her eyes was breathtaking. The room was in muted tones of mauve and seafoam green but the bed was truly its centerpiece, a sleighbed that appeared to have some straight from the czar's palace. A fire crackled brightly in the fireplace and there were French doors leading to a sunroom.

And her things. Everything from the hotel was here. Gail looked askance at Richards who merely smiled and told her that his Lord had suggested she might be more comfortable if her belongings were here with her. It was amazing, but so so right.

Gail thanked Richards and said she would be down shortly after refreshing herself. Perhaps a small dinner of cheese and fruit, if he could manage? Somehow she knew that if she had asked for fresh oysters in the wrong month it would be provided without question and seemingly without effort.

Richards closed the door behind himself, leaving Gail spinning herself in a circle and bouncing onto the bed. It was like a dream. She laughed aloud at her childishness and got up to prepare herself for Darius' arrival.

 

[Ravenloft]

Darius Von Tilla:

As dusk decended, Darius rose, wasting no time, dawdling not even a second, he knew how precious this last night with Gail would be. Eliot had prepaired an eisel and several cans of paint for his master earlier that day, so that was done. He had a chaise brought in, upholstered in a deep blue velvet, for Gail to lounge on. His brow was arched, he realized that for the first time, in more than one hundred years, he was excited. Here was his chance to create, genuinely create something of lasting beauty, that was not just a copy of something great.

He did not know he cherished the woman at this moment as well, but he credited her with his excitement. She had awoken something inside of him he thought had died long ago. He could only recognise it as passion.

He had Richards bring Gail to the room he had set up before letting him retire for the night, so they could be alone. A plate of fine cheeses and exotic fruits waited for her, along with a bottle of fine Beaujolais wine. The chairs they had sat in the night before were still present, and once gail entered the room, Daruis invited her to sit with him, as she enjoyed her meal, pouring her a glass of the wine before he sat.

 

[Maid of Marvels]

The tray Richards had left held a variety of cheeses, a baked brie en croute at the center; pears, apples and grapes chief among the fruits that filled a crystal bowl. Warm, crusty Italian bread and rolls filled a napkin-covered basket. The Beaujolais was lovely. Light and fruity as she savored her first sip.

They talked about everything and nothing while Gail ate. Darius merely watched, saying that he had dined earlier. The electricity between them was the same. Unseen sparks filled the air, igniting the passions they had shared the night before.

Finally pushing her plate aside, Gail raised the question that had been begging to be asked since she had returned from the seminar. "The paintings in the gallery, Darius. They were... gods. Magnificent. So beautiful. Who is she?"

All the words she sought escaped her and a flush rose to her cheeks. Gail thought she must sound... jealous? Perhaps she was. She wondered how Darius could still want to paint her after having a model such as that.

 

[Ravenloft]

Darius Von Tilla:

Darius had to pause in thought. "You know, in appearance, I don't know who she is, but the feel of her... Its a familiar feeling, and a comforting feeling." He leaned forward in his seat then. "The feeling it gave me every time I painted those images, they are the same feelings that decend upon me when I am in you're company Gail. That is why I selected those particular pieces for you to see." He reached out to take her hand. "Gail, my dear Gail, I do believe that if not in appearance, than in essence, I was painting you." He said in a hushed tone, his eyes glowing with an inborn passion.

 

[Maid of Marvels]

Somewhere in the deepest recesses of her mind, Gail knew that Darius was speaking the truth, that it wasn't just lip service. There was an inexplicable bond between them that transcended time and space and any logic she thought to apply to her life.

Her fingertips absent-mindedly traced the swell of her breast above the lace of her bra. There was something that she knew she should remember, but for the life of her...

Darius' voice broke into her reverie, his breath on her neck. When had he moved next to her? Had she been that lost in thought? In truth, it didn't matter. It was just 'the way things were' between them.

"So tell me, Darius. Would you like to paint the real me now?" Gail cocked her head and smiled impishly. She already knew the answer as she offered her lips to his.

 

[Ravenloft]

Darius Von Tilla:


Taking her offered lips, Darius played such a sweet and empassioned kiss upon them that when he pulled away, he could she she was left breathless. Smiling a warm smile at Gail's offer. "I most certainly would, my dearest Gail." Darius breathed, his breath touching lightly against her cheek as he leaned in to kiss along her jaw line, a light finger tip drawing along the nape of her neck. "The beauty you contain, inside and out..." Darius paused to kiss Gails ear lobe, his hand moving down her neck to her collar bone, resting upon the hand she had upon her lacey bra. "Should be captured for all time..." Darius turned his eyes upon Gails ample breasts as his fingers slipped beneath her own to undo her bra, lowering himself to the sweet curve of one of her freed breasts in a soft kiss. "So that no one is deprived of it..." Darius lifted his sharp blue eyes to gaze into Gails own, a look of honest adulation in his gaze.

 

[Maid of Marvels]

She let Darius undress her, his eyes and mouth worshipping her flesh as it was revealed to him, inch by tantalizingly slow inch. His fingertips caressed her skin as if he were reading Braille, memorizing every curve and contour.

Gail felt as if time had slowed and she was moving through a thick haze. She was drowning. In his eyes. With his words. At his touch. She hardly knew this man who knelt before her yet she felt as if she had always known him... and wanted him.

Content and at peace in a way she had never been before, Gail melted into Darius with every fibre of her being. She was his and his alone. And he knew it.

 

[Ravenloft]

Darius Von Tilla:

With a sigh, Darius lowered his eyes down over Gail's bared breasts as his nimble fingers unbuttoned the rest of her blouse, tossing it open, exposing the gentle curve of her belly. Sinking downward, he kissed her skin just above the hem of her pants, opening his mouth, his hot tongue tasting her as she felt her pants being undone, then drawn off.

Drawing back for a moment, Darius took in the sight of her, his sweet Venus, and his breath stalled in his throat, so struck by her beauty. "You're beauty makes me ache inside Gail... Makes me feel alive." Darius let his hand trail up along gail's long slender leg, slipping between her thighs only to caress her sex intimately, oh so intimately through her sheer panties.

 

[Maid of Marvels]

Gail trembled as Darius' fingers skimmed tantalizingly over her mons, knowing he could feel her desire in the moistness of the silk as they slipped lower. He held her entranced with his touch, her breathing growing short as she wove her fingers through his dark hair.

The anticipation was almost unbearable, as Gail's body responded instinctively to his touch. Will-less, her hips gyrated sinuously, matching the slow languorous movements of her lover's hand. Waiting. Wanting. Aching.

 

[Ravenloft]

Darius Von Tilla:

Darius found that breathing the sweet scent of Gail's sex, that the slow steeping of her arousal was once again awakening his human desires. The carnal passions flooding his body and soul were just as new to him as they were the night before. In the grip of that passion, he drew Gail's panties free and shed his own cloths once more, standing over her for just a moment, his white face framed in stark contrast by his long raven hair, pale skin warmed from within.

He knelt down upon the bed with Gail, taking her into his arms as he urged her thighs to part. His lips rested at her neck as he slid into her deeply, a warm breath sigh heating her skin as he did. "My Venus..."