(Back dated one day)
Mab woke up with the taste of blood in her mouth. Perhaps it would better described as a hunger, for all the salt safe-iron tang seemed so real. Waking Bobby up would have been easy. He never would have though overly much about a mid-coital bite that left him bleeding. It would have quieted the hunger for a time. Left her able to sleep. But it would be about the same as giving an addict a taste of their favorite drug. The hunger would come back, stronger than ever.
She gently shifted out from Bobby’s arms, leaving him a note that she had gotten a craving and would be back soon. Not a single lie and it would comfort her conscience knowing he knew she hadn’t left him. She went into her closet, slipped on simple black dress and a pair of sling backs. A stop in the bathroom and pearls went around her neck and in her ears. There was no need for makeup. Her hair was pulled up into a respectable knot. Satisfied with her appearance, she willed herself through time and space.
It was six o’clock the night before in a popular restaurant in Los Angeles. She suddenly had reservations for two under an innocuous last name. The maitre de smiled widely at her and the bump in her belly. Blushing prettily, she followed him to the table that was out of the way but in sight of the bar. In less than a minute here was no doubt in Mab’s mind who she would be hunting this night.
He was tall, 6’7 or 6’8. Black hair that was under control more by will and force than reality. His piercing hazel eyes scanned the room like a lion stalking a watering hole. Rather than skipping over the pregnant woman alone at a table, me made a note of her, clearly noting her as a weak individual in the herd. A half an hour passed, and the occasional note, he started focusing on her. Accordingly, Mab’s shoulders slowly slumped and she looked more and more dejected, lost. He was practically drooling.
The waiter came over apologetically with a ‘Madam, I do apologize, but their are other people waiting for this table. If your date doesn’t show up soon...’ Mab never even had a chance to respond. He was at the table, flashing a charming smile that left the man dazzled and Mab rather impressed. “I beg your forgiveness, my dear, I got temporarily distracted by the bar. Difficult day at work an all.” The waiter blushed and backed away.
Turning that same powerful smile on Mab, he was quick to explain himself. “Do forgive my assumption, but leaving a beautiful woman alone to be intimidated by waitstaff because some cad wasn’t polite enough to call you and explain things. Though only God knows why he’d stand up a beautiful woman like you.”
“I would hate to put you out,” her cheeks were a warm rose blush, “I’m sure my husband is just being kept late. He’s a professor, and some of the graduate students work odd hours...” She swallowed and looked away and she could practically see the triumph in his eyes.
“Call me Tom, please, and it’s no trouble at all. I was going to eat my dinner alone, and sharing it with you will improve my company infinitely.” His voice went as soft as velvet. “And I know all too well the kind of men who forget their beautiful wives for inexperienced graduate students.”
“Oh, no, Tom, he isn’t...” Her eyes welled up with barely contained tears. “It was never a problem before....” she looks down at her rounded belly, “...before I started to look like a whale. It’s perfectly understandable why he wouldn’t have touched me for months. I can’t imagine any man wanting to...” She blushed hotly as if suddenly realizing what she had been talking about.
He gently took both of her hands in his, thumbs gently stroking her palms. “Please, have dinner with me. I couldn’t imagine leaving you like this, under such painful misconceptions. You are such a beautiful woman, pregnancy only makes you more so if a man has half a mind.” Her hands quivered in his, as if she was afraid of what he offered her. “It’s just dinner between two people who could become friends. Let my treat you, celebrate your pregnancy like you deserve.”
Slowly she smiled up at him through her eyelashes, innocent with just hint of hunger. “Alright, if you insist. Call me, Maria, please.”
The dinner went smoothly, him flirting gently then with slowly increasing intensity as she responded. It was easy enough for her to begin to smolder at him as he impressed her again and again with the depth and breadth of his knowledge. Mab played the perfect repressed housewife; hungry for attention, affection, and sex. He order them something chocolate and about lost his mind as he watched her enjoy it, sucking the spoon like she was making money. He asked her breathlessly if she’d go back to his apartment. Mab looked down as if unsure. “I promise I won’t hurt you.” She smiled up at him and nodded.
Her hand played over his thigh the entire drive over. Her voice was calm and normal, but the touch had him speeding the whole way. As soon as they entered his apartment, he pushed her up against a wall. In less than a breath, Tom was covering her mouth with his, lifting her up slightly so their hips were better aligned too grind into her around the bump. Mab was shocked, another woman might have been scared to be manhandled with his sudden aggression, but she’d had too many lovers of the same ilk. It only took a moment and her legs wrapping around him to have the kiss under control and him panting as she pulls back. “Make sure that the door is locked, please.”
He nodded, slowly setting her on her feet. Tom smirked locking the door and turning back to face her, unbuttoning his pants. There was a brief moment of shock in his eyes before all the life drained from them. Mab watched with a frozen fascination as the blood trickled down her knife and over her hand. Some part of her wished that she had drawn it out, made it into a bigger ordeal. She envied Bobby his ritual and the high it gave him even if it was followed by such an immediate low. All that was left was a release of the hunger that had built up in her and cleaning off her knife. She ran her tongue down both sides of the blade, cleaning off the blood and sating the hunger completely.
She washed the blood off in his bathroom. Unsatisfied, she finally stripped down and took a shower on the off chance that she missed some of the spray. He had some general scented shampoo and soap, but it was nothing like what she used. Hopefully it wouldn’t be a problem. Bobby might notice, but it was nothing distinctly masculine. Perhaps she could explain it away, perhaps not. He’d understand the truth if she told him. Few people could understand it better. She didn’t want to admit it to him though. There was no shame in her for it. It wasn’t even private. It was nothing. There was no point in telling him about nothing.
Stepping out of the shower she dressed again, willing herself back to the closet. She kicked off the shoes and shed the jewels. Her hair had fallen out of the knot about the time she had been slammed into the wall. The dress fell away easily and she pulled on one of Bobby’s tee shirts that had started winding up in her closet. She crawled under the covers before she realized Bobby had been awake the entire time since she returned. “Where did you take the shower?” It had been too much to hope he wouldn’t notice.
“I needed to kill someone and didn’t want to risk coming back with blood spatter.”
Bobby nodded slowly and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. She cuddled up to him quietly, trying not to think.