Black than Blue Read online

  “Not a problem. Want to come in?”

  “Sure.” I stepped inside and saw my assumptions were correct. He wasn’t alone. Van, a very sweet freshman, was asleep in his bed with Motherfucker.

  “He’s still a little homesick,” Andrew said with a shrug. He walked over to the bed and rubbed Van’s shoulder. “Hey, Van. Wake up, buddy.”

  “What?” Van’s eyes flickered open. “Oh, hi, Benny.”

  “Hi, Van.”

  “We’re gonna talk a sec. Why don’t you go see what the guys are watching downstairs?” It took a few moments, but Van eventually got up. I turned around so he could get dressed. Walking over to the window, I was reminded that Andrew had a direct view of my window across the street. When the door opened and closed, I faced Andrew. He’d put on some lacrosse shorts.

  “So what’s up?” Andrew leaned against his desk with his arms folded across his chest, covering his nipple rings. “Cleo ask you to talk to me?” On the bed, Motherfucker yawned and stretched. He looked at Andrew and me both and decided our conversation didn’t need his input.

  “No. I asked her if I could come talk to you.”

  “Have a seat.”

  I wanted to, but I was ready to take this plug out. “I’ll stand.”

  Andrew smiled. “Cleo up to her same old tricks?”

  “That’s it.”

  “I’ll level with you, Benny. I—”

  “Let me say this. I can’t share her like that right now. I know how that sounds.”

  “I don’t blame you. She’s the closest thing I’ve ever had to a best friend, or a sister, or even a mother. But I’m not in love with her, so I’m sort of at a loss as to what to do here. I think you feel threatened by me, but you shouldn’t be. I’m not trying to be with her.”

  “I understand that, so here’s what I propose. You stay with us. You’re trying to teach kindergarten, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Come to D.C. with us, and if you want, you can live with us or I’ll have my father set you up with your own place. Your pick of schools. I think you need something different from this, different from what you had with Moreland, and we want to help with that.”

  “Why? If you want her to yourself.”

  I’d asked myself the same question, but I had to stop thinking about myself and think about the bigger picture. What Cleo needed. What Andrew needed. I wouldn’t be happy if they were both miserable.

  “I’m working on some things,” I said. “What I need from her for a while is a normal relationship, but none of this is normal. You know I have a plug in my ass.” Andrew laughed but nodded as I kept talking. “You and I have similar needs. It’s a part of both of us, and I know Cleo is the best person for you in that way. I don’t want you to have to go looking somewhere else for good.” I glanced at the floor, considering what really needed to be said. “I owe you. You kept her sane when I couldn’t. You stuck with her when I lacked the sensitivity to be there for her properly. She didn’t do certain things because of you, and I’m not sure you know how much that helped her. Thank you.”

  “You don’t have to thank me, and I don’t think you have to be so hard on yourself either. You lost someone close to you in a lot of ways when she changed. You have to remember, though, I know Cleo too. I know how she can be. She’s stubborn and hardheaded, but she missed you a lot. I’m not sure if she’ll ever admit how much.”

  I shrugged. “You may be right. We both screwed up and we’ve called it even for now. But what happened between Cleo and me doesn’t change how you and Cleo relate to each other. What if we found someone else for you, a demon? You wouldn’t have to feed them, but just someone to help with your other needs?”

  “Someone to handle the pain slut inside me?”

  I’d never considered what Andrew was into, but… “Yeah.”

  “That would be cool, I guess. I just want to be in her life. She means a lot to me.”

  “And you will be.”

  “Well, we’ll play it by ear.”

  “Okay. Good.” I walked over to the bed and gave in to the need to sit down. The knowledge of the plug made me a little squirmy with every movement. I made sure I sat on top of the comforter, at the foot of Andrew’s bed, and gave the Rottweiler puppy a few strokes down his back.

  “So this is Motherfucker?”

  “That’s him.”

  At the sound of his name, Motherfucker lumbered over and crawled halfway into my lap. He didn’t waste any time before he started licking my hand.

  “Cleo was your only domme?” Andrew asked. I focused on the dog as I answered. It was easier to tell the truth if I didn’t have to look Andrew in the eye.

  “Yes. We learned a lot, but it was hard to find the time. Can I ask you something?” I looked back down at the puppy. He had on a black and red collar complete with a dog license that featured his lovely name.

  “Sure.”

  “Did Cleo ever flog you?” I asked hesitantly. I’d never had another person I could talk to about this stuff, and I never had anyone I could talk to about Cleo in the same context. My curiosity outweighed my jealousy.

  “Sure. A bunch of times. The flogger is one of my favorite implements.” I was quiet for a few moments, debating whether I was curious enough to ask my follow-up question. “Do you want me to tell you about it?” Andrew said.

  I looked up into his dark brown eyes. There was no judgment, just understanding.

  “Yes,” I said, suddenly relieved. “Would you?”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Benny

  I sat on the edge of my bed, considering my pajamas. We’d made it through the week with no trouble. Camila had helped me explain away Paeno’s mark. Portia had caught a glimpse of it one day in the kitchen. Camila came to my rescue, telling the freshman that the mark was Daddy’s nest insignia, a design I’d gotten at her tattoo shop in preparation for graduation. Portia accepted that story and wasted no time spreading that news around. All the girls wanted to see it, of course, but none of them questioned it. Amy thought it looked cool. Not having to hide it made things a little easier, even though I was still waiting for a definitive response from Daddy. Mama claimed he was still taking care of things, but he hadn’t spoken with Paeno yet. They communicated differently, I knew that. I just had to be patient.

  I went to class and studied. I handed over my list. Cleo fed from me and we fucked as often as we could. I didn’t feel comfortable sleeping in Omi’s apartment, so I woke up most mornings alone, but still, for the first time in years, I was happy. I held my sister counseling sessions, and even though most girls came by to ask me about Cleo, those sessions weren’t so bad. I found if I just told the boring details, the girls who didn’t really know me that well lost interest. They didn’t think I had anything juicy to keep hidden. It made sitting through those sessions with one of Cleo’s plugs inside me that much more interesting.

  It only took two brief conversations with our sister-queens, but Cleo was able to find a replacement for Andrew. Rodrick. It turns out we weren’t the only ones involved in our own kind of kink. Rodrick and Natasha had participated in several BDSM scenes in their lifetime. Rodrick had even run an exclusive dungeon at one point before moving to America. He and Natasha had just recently considered starting up again with one of their adult feeders outside of the house. Rodrick was more than willing to take Andrew on, and due to her general fondness for Rodrick, Cleo had no problem accepting their offer. Andrew was very happy with the idea. He and Rodrick were close and Andrew had had a slight attraction to him ever since they’d taken him into the OBA house. On the terms that Cleo was his primary demon, Rodrick made arrangements to take care of Andrew’s submissive needs at least twice a week. More if they both desired.

  I was thrilled with this decision, though I kept my exuberance under control. It was a load off Cleo and me both. Still, other challenges remained. As we neared the weekend, I realized I wasn’t ready for movie night. Cleo had asked me to come, and all day I’d kep
t replaying her words to me in my head.

  “You need to get used to me feeding, B. It will be a part of our lives forever, and I need you to accept that,” she’d said. I told her that I understood, but she was still skeptical and rightfully so. Though I’d claimed I was, I wasn’t comfortable with Cleo feeding from other people. I’d never witnessed it because it would traumatize me for life, but I knew Mama and Daddy had a similar relationship. They were married, and Daddy claimed Mama as his mate. His feeders knew exactly where they stood with him, but the totality of those relationships couldn’t be avoided.

  Mama had to deal with sharing Daddy with other people in certain ways. Mama didn’t seem to mind, though. I could chalk that up to her understanding nature or the fact that Daddy treated her so well she was willing to put those feelings aside. I wanted to ask her, but if it was the latter I didn’t want to make her feel bad. In the interim, I had to suck it up. It was just another downside to being insanely possessive and sharing your life with a vampire. Unless I wanted to change myself, which I didn’t, or unless I was okay with Cleo draining me in a few short days, which I wasn’t, I would have to come to terms with sharing Cleo with Laura, Skylar, Andrew, and Hollis for the rest of the semester. And I might as well get used to it now. Twenty minutes before movie time, and I couldn’t back out now. I’d never made it through a whole movie night, so I had no idea what to expect.

  I changed and brushed my teeth. I put my hair up and stared at myself for a long time in the mirror. I’d been eating less, but for me that wasn’t saying a whole lot. It wasn’t like it showed. I changed into a looser shirt, then sat on my bed.

  With no minutes to spare, Amy knocked on my door. “You ready to round up the troops?”

  “Yeah,” I said even though I really wanted to hide out in my room. Amy and I went around, door to door. We were really conducting our nine o’clock curfew check. All the girls were accounted for. By assigned sister-queen, they headed to the lower floor on the elevator. I used to ride in the second group with Camila’s other feeders;, now I rode third with Cleo’s other girls. Laura and I listened to Hollis and Skylar gab about some boy Hollis thought was cheating off her in her biology class. Neither of us had any idea who she was talking about.

  When we stepped off the elevator, Cleo was waiting for us. She kissed each girl on the cheek, then slung her arm over my shoulder.

  “Just relax,” she said as we walked down the hall to the common room. Camila and Ginger always took the couches and cushions closest to the door. Cleo and Tokyo usually set up shop on the farthest side of the room, the farthest from me, but this time we sat near Ginger and Camila and their girls. Tokyo, who’d been acting like a baby all week, went back to her usual spot, so our other four sister-queens and their feeders sat between us. I could still feel her sideways stare from where I was. Cleo seemed to be ignoring her.

  Skylar and Hollis made themselves comfortable on the cushions on the floor. Cleo sat near the center of the couch and I sat beside her with my legs balled up to my chest and leaned against the arm of the couch. Laura sat on Cleo’s other side. I tried not to notice that she was casually starting to undress.

  “Come closer. I want you to see,” Cleo said. I sat up straighter so my arm was draped behind Cleo’s back and my knee was resting on her thigh. “That’s better, bunny. I promise it’ll be okay.” I kept silent and focused on my breathing.

  “What are we watching?” Faeth yelled.

  “A Madonna classic,” Natasha said “An eighties classic, if you will. Who’s That Girl?”

  “Madonna was in movies?” Portia asked as she tossed her shirt on Kina’s head. She slid to her knees and started unbuttoning Kina’s jeans.

  “Yes,” Natasha replied.

  “Were any of them any good?” Omi called back across the room.

  “No,” Camila, Faeth, and Tokyo said in unison.

  “I’ve never seen this one,” Cleo said.

  “It’s fantastic,” Natasha replied. She smiled at me as she slid into the DVD room behind us.

  “Fire it up, Tash. I have no beatdowns to dole out this week,” Ginger said as she petted Samantha playfully. Movie night was the night we dealt with anyone who’d stepped out of line during the week. Missing curfew, trying to sneak a boy into the house, committing some major academic no-no or other stupid mistake that our sister-queens had to clean up. Samantha had the record in the house, five brutal spankings, but I had a feeling she enjoyed them much like I did.

  “Wait. Before we start, I have an announcement,” Ruth said. I looked at Maddie as Ruth extracted her hand from hers and walked to the center of the room. “As you all know, I applied early to law school at the University of Miami because I never want to see snow ever again. But today I got my acceptance to Georgetown.” I looked at Maddie again as her hands flew over her mouth in surprise.

  “Oh my God, baby. Does this mean we can stay?” Maddie said, scooting to the edge of the couch.

  “It looks that way. I might have to commute a little, though.”

  Maddie launched herself at Ruth and showered her with kisses as we all clapped and cheered for them. When they finally unsuctioned themselves from each other, tears of joy dotted Maddie’s cheeks.

  “Faeth, if you have any crusty old feeders on their way out, we’ll both be sticking around a little longer,” Ruth said.

  “Well, none about to kick the bucket anytime soon.” Faeth laughed. “But if you want to stick with me after graduation, I’ll talk to our master. See what he has to say about it, yeah?”

  “I’ll put in a good word too,” I offered. Though their bickering had been a thorn in my ass for months, I was happy to see Maddie and Ruth getting answers to their frustrations.

  “Thanks, you guys,” Maddie said. “Baby, I’m so happy. You don’t even know. The humidity in Miami would have screwed up my hair so bad.”

  “Okay. Okay. Sit down. You can make out and be giddy on the couch,” Ginger said. Maddie dragged Ruth back to their spot by Faeth.

  Then the lights went dim. I glanced around the room as soon as the old-school FBI warning lit up the screen. I heard Ginger mumble something to Samantha, and on our other side, Portia looked up at Kina, anxiously awaiting some sort of cue. At our feet, Skylar and Hollis were entertaining themselves, kissing and slowly taking off each other’s clothes. I finally looked back at Cleo. Laura was naked beside her. She had a beautiful body that contrasted well with her two-toned hair and her piercings. She was paler than me with small, light pink nipples and much slimmer everything.

  “You okay?” Cleo asked.

  “Yeah,” I said, though my voice was shaking a little.

  “Laura asked to go first.”

  “The sooner you can have her all to yourself,” Laura said with a smile.

  “Okay.” I swallowed and tried to make myself more comfortable. It didn’t work.

  Cleo patted her thighs and I caught on just in time to move my leg as Laura straddled her. At the last second, I almost asked Cleo to take from Laura’s wrist, but that would have been a major mistake. To ask Laura to give Cleo her wrist after she’d been feeding her for almost four years would be a major slap in the face to Laura and a blatant declaration on my part that I didn’t respect the intimacy in their blood bond.

  Instead, I bit my lips and held my breath as Cleo laced her fingers into Laura’s hair to keep her in place. She tilted Laura’s head toward me so I could look Cleo in the eye. She stared up at me as her tongue traced Laura’s skin, trying to locate the perfect point on the vein. Then her fangs sliced into Laura’s neck.

  Laura moaned immediately, her body jerking in a sudden motion. I could tell she was trying to keep her hips still, but she failed. The emotions warred inside me as I watched. I wanted to be angry, and at the same time I couldn’t help being aroused. I could smell Laura, the smell of her wet pussy and the tangy, copper scent of her blood as it covered Cleo’s tongue.

  Out of nowhere, Laura grabbed my hand and shoved it between h
er legs. At first, I tried to yank it away, but she held it there. I clamped my mouth shut and met Cleo’s eyes again. I could see just how turned on she was. I left my fingers where they were and let Laura masturbate herself on my hand as Cleo continued to claim her blood.

  Since it was part of their weekly ritual and not for Cleo’s health, their feeding was shorter than usual. When Cleo finished and she sealed Laura’s neck, Laura took my fingers and licked her juices off. My pussy twitched. She kissed me on the cheek and then hopped off the couch. Having fulfilled her duties, she went over to Camila’s couch and started making out with Mel.

  I turned back to Cleo. “They’re just used to each other,” she said. Her voice sounded like more of a purr.

  Skylar was next. Not wanting to be left out, though it was a little surprising to me, Hollis nudged my legs down and sat in my lap so we could watch Cleo feed together. At no point in the day did I think I would end up with a naked freshman in my lap, but she was perfectly content, and after a few moments, I found she helped me relax.

  When it was her turn, they switched places and Skylar plopped down on top of me. She lay slack against my shoulder, breath heaving from the round of orgasms Cleo had just put her through. I could smell her too, rich and potent. Soon, Cleo sealed her bites and then held Hollis back at arm’s length.

  “Let me see your teeth.”

  She was still shaking a little, but Hollis said “ah” and let Cleo look in her mouth.

  “Lay off the sugar, kid. You have like three cavities.”

  “Fine,” Hollis whined.

  “Don’t fine me. I’m gonna get the first case of vampire diabetes if I keep fucking with you.”

  Hollis started to argue, but Cleo slapped her butt and pushed her gently onto the other side of the couch. Skylar scurried off my lap and pounced on the other girl. It seemed Cleo and I were far from their minds.

  Now it was my turn.

  Cleo slid closer and tucked a loose piece of hair behind my ear. “Talk to me,” she whispered. In front of us, Madonna was talking in a horribly nasal voice. Around us, naked sorority girls were preoccupied with their vampires and one another.