A Lingering Refrain - Part 1
Title: A Lingering Refrain
Author: M. Elizabeth Ravensblood
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Lucard/Sophie
Summary: Even after regaining her humanity, Sophie is haunted by the call of the night. On the verge of giving into her desires, the past comes to haunt her in the form of the vampire who changed her and the one who has desired her from the moment he saw her...
Author's Notes: This is a belated Birthday gift for my wonderful friend melsmarsh. Many thanks to my beta, jackssilverwolf. This is part one, there is more to come, it has become a very long story!
Alexander's eyes narrowed as he looked at the entrance of Club Vincenzo. Although the club hadn't been around for long, it's reputation had grown considerably since it opened. Club Vincenzo wasn't a regular nightclub. It was one that catered to vampires. Vampires could gather to feed on bottled blood, on humans who got off on being fed on and any innocents who found their way inside were fair game to be fed on or enslaved. Such establishments existed all over the world but Vincenzo's was the first in Luxembourg.
Traffic moved at little more than a crawl on the narrow street as cars fought for parking space and taxis and limousines paused to allow their occupants out in front of the club. Although he'd been irritated that the owner had opened such an establishment without coming to him first, Alexander considered going inside. It had been a long time since he'd been to a vampire club and found a willing mortal to indulge himself with. Gustav Helsing's frequent interruptions at the castle had cut into his sex life. Perhaps he would stop and find a mortal to feed from and rid himself of the tension that had been building for the past couple of months.
He was debating about whether to tell his driver to stop when he saw a woman who looked vaguely familiar step out of a taxi in front of the club. As she turned to close the door, Alexander saw her face and recognized her immediately. Despite the fact it had been several years, the heart shaped face and luminous green eyes of Sophie Metternich were etched indelibly in his mind. No longer a girl in her teens but a woman in her twenties, the hint of curves had become lush and inviting and the quiet promise of beauty her face had held had become a stunning reality.
Watching her walk into the club, Alexander was shocked. Had someone else dared to turn her? Surely, Helsing couldn't be so foolish as to send the young woman into the club, he decided. Perhaps she craved the bite? It had been a decade since her brief time as a vampire when she was fifteen, but he'd often wondered how much of it had haunted her in the wake of her return to humanity. There was little he remembered about his time as a human, but he remembered Sophie's wonder at the gifts her transformation had granted. Did she still hear the call of the night?
Alexander's reverie was broken as the car moved forward slightly. Only the limousine ahead of him stood between him and the entrance to Club Vincenzo. Considering what to do, his tongue brushed against one of his canine's and his fangs descended in a mixture of pain and pleasure. Sophie. As she rose up in his mind, his groin stirred and began to ache in tandem with his fangs. There was nothing left to consider. Whatever reason Sophie had for being there, Alexander would have her before the night was out.
"Pierre, you will stop in front of the club. Park somewhere convenient, it will displease me if I have to wait. I'll call on my cell when I'm ready for you." Alexander ordered his driver curtly.
The limousine moved forward and stopped in front of the club. An employee of the club held the door and Alexander stepped out. Although he'd been unsure of entering the club earlier, seeing Sophie had resolved the matter quickly. Walking up the steps into the entrance of the club, he opened senses in preparation to find her in the crowd. As he entered the club there was a large mirror and a man sitting at a small desk looked at him.
"You'll need to pay our special rate, Monsieur."
Humans were charged little or nothing in vampire clubs, as they were highly valued there. Vampires, however, had to pay a significant amount of money for the privilege of such easy hunting. Nodding, Alexander pulled his wallet from inside his jacket and quickly thumbed several large bills from the stack and handed them over. The man at the desk nodded in the direction of a pair of red velvet curtains and the blonde vampire moved through them.
The interior of the club was a gaudy display of Victorian furniture in gothic colors. It was typical for a vampire club to have an interior that would appeal to the mortal patrons. The furnishings would appeal to the goth crowd who bared their throats willingly. Better that the club draw in willing mortals than hold visual appeal for vampires. Alexander understood but couldn't quite suppress a shudder at the alcoves with Victorian sofas. There was a massive staircase which lead up to a mezzanine and which undoubtedly held rooms for sex and feeding.
An image rose up in his mind of taking Sophie upstairs and he felt himself harden. Alexander began to scan the crowd for her. After a moment of not seeing her, his eyes wandered to the staircase and he hoped she hadn't already gone off with someone. There were several attractive mortals inside the club who were giving him encouraging looks, but tonight the only thing that would satisfy him was Sophie. Closing his eyes, Alexander focused his senses. Bringing his memories of Sophie to mind, he tried to separate her scent from the mixture of vampires and mortals who moved about him. Slowly the din fell away and he found what he was looking for. Sophie was on the far side of club.
Still mortal, Alexander discerned with pleasure and opened his eyes. Although Sophie had been a magnificent vampiress, he'd felt a pang of regret that he hadn't been the one to transform her. It had been painful to lose her when her mortality had been restored, but being able to be the one to change her had given him a measure of comfort. He had been about to make his move when she slipped through his fingers, going to college in America. Recently he'd toyed with the notion of going after her but Sophie had saved him the trouble by returning home.
Moving across the club, he could hear her heartbeat as he drew closer. With each step, Lucard could sense more about her. Her scent gave off a hint of fear and desire that Alexander found intoxicating. His gums and his cock throbbed in an insistent duet of need. Drawing close, he stopped suddenly as he picked up another note in her blood. Innocence. The realization stunned Alexander. When she went away, he'd held little hope his little viola player's virtue would last past the first semester. Purity had never mattered to him much one way or another, but the prospect of making Sophie his in every sense was irresistible. Before the night was out, he vowed, she would surrender her blood, her body, and her life to him.
A dark haired man moved to Sophie's table and kissed her hand. Scowling at the interloper, Alexander continued to make his way to her table. After a decade of waiting for her, he wouldn't tolerate any competition. A second rate vampire had transformed her before, this time she would be changed by a master vampire.
**********************
Sitting in a quiet alcove of Club Vincenzo, Sophie adjusted her gown and looked around nervously. She shouldn't be there. Uncle Gustav and the boys would be horrified if they knew where she was. Although they meant well and cared about her, they couldn't understand the agony she'd felt when her humanity had been restored. Once she'd tried to talk to Uncle Gustav about the lingering feelings she had from her time as a vampire, but his response had been less than helpful. The elderly man insisted she go to church more often and that she go away to college. That it was undoubtedly Lucard using his powers to cloud her mind.
Her transformation had been painful and awkward, the vampire that transformed her hadn't known what he was doing. Vincent had meant well, but the teen had fumbled clumsily and torn her throat in his zeal. Chris flourishing a cross and a stake had frightened him away and left her alone and hunted by her own family. Distraught, she'd sought refuge with her Uncle's mortal enemy, Alexander Lucard Under his tutelage, she'd learned to enjoy the hunt and to embrace her new life. Their relationship was strange and wonderful as he treated her like a pampered pet most of the time and had slowly begun treating her like a woman. Although reticent in light of her youth, Alexander had kissed her and caressed her, awakening another kind of hunger. Then one memorable night, he'd combined the desires of flesh and blood into one perfect symphony.
He'd lead her into a bedroom in the depths of the castle, away from the prying eyes of his staff and the threat of her Uncle interrupting. Excited and nervous, she allowed him to remove her dress and watched curiously as he removed his jacket and tie. Having only ever seen him in a business suit or tie and tails, Sophie was stunned as he unbuttoned his shirt and moved to the bed. Alexander had assured her they were only going to play for a bit and that he would leave her virtue intact, however she would have willingly given him anything he'd asked as his hands slid over her skin and his lips found hers.
"Such a clumsy fool," Alexander had murmured as his tongue slid over the nearly healed scar Vincent had left on her neck. His fangs had pressed against her throat and he'd whispered, "You're mine now, Sophie. All mine."
Before Sophie had been able to find her voice and agree, she felt the sharp canines pierce her flesh. So different from Vincent's harsh bite, Alexander's teeth had glided smoothly through her skin and she felt her blood slowly ebbing into his mouth. Pleasure unlike anything she'd ever experienced or imagined coursed through her body. Gasping and crying out, she'd clung to Alexander as he drank from her. His hand came up against the back of her head and brought her mouth to his shoulder as he'd whispered in her mind, Drink Sophie. For a moment she'd hesitated and then slid her teeth into his flesh. Her bite hadn't been as effortless as Alexander's had been but she felt a wave of triumph as the older vampire groaned with pleasure against her throat. For many long moments, they had exchanged blood in a heated communion. When Alexander withdrew his fangs, she'd followed suite.
"That was amazing," Sophie had told him dazedly.
Nuzzling her, he replied, "An excellent first, my dear. Perhaps next time we'll go a bit farther."
She'd been on the verge of asking him what taking things farther meant, when she noticed the bulge in his pants straining against his zipper. Almost unconsciously, she had reached out to touch him, but Alexander grabbed her wrist and shook his head.
"Someday, darling Sophie. When you're a bit older," he'd promised.
Although she'd looked forward to his promise of someday and dreamed of a future together, it fell apart when Uncle Gustav and the boys restored her humanity. Sophie tried to put her time as a vampire behind her but the memories lingered as did the urges. Sleep eluded her most nights and Sophie would stare out her window longingly and wish she could embrace the dark velvet cloak once more. Since becoming human, food and drink tasted different. No matter how much she ate or drank, she felt unsatisfied. Sophie didn't identify her hunger as blood lust until one day when her school held a blood drive. She'd planned to donate and went to the room where it was being held, only to run away in terror moments later. The scent lingered softly in the air as she stood mesmerized by the deep burgundy bags they were placing in coolers. She'd started to reach for one when she realized what she was doing and had run away ashamed.
Sophie wasn't a vampire, the Cross of the Magyars that presided over Gustav's home would have destroyed her if she were. But she didn't think she was entirely human either. The need she'd known as a vampire lingered without any means of respite. As bad as the blood lust and the call of the night were, it was even worse that Alexander had ruined her taste for mortal men. She'd had several boyfriends, but anytime it progressed past kissing, Sophie ached to feel Alexander's fangs in her neck once more. Every relationship she'd attempted had ended disastrously when her partner would urge her to engage in heavy petting and she wouldn't respond to their touch. As much as she wanted their attentions to stir something within her, Sophie felt nothing.
For so long, she'd hungered and lusted while trying to be good and suppress her desires. Sophie had succeeded in resisting until after she graduated and returned home to Uncle Gustav's house. One evening she heard him ranting about Club Vincenzo and how he longed to burn it to the ground along with it's occupants, but couldn't risk incurring the wrath of the entire vampire world by destroying it. It was the first Sophie had ever heard of a vampire club and she'd tried not to appear too curious as she listened to him rant about them. From what he said, she had gathered that although there were human deaths at clubs like Vincenzo's, it was discouraged to avoid scaring the mortals who frequented them and gave their blood willingly.
The idea of a place where she could safely indulge a portion of her cravings had been irresistible. For nearly a month, Sophie would sneak away and watch as people and vampires came and went from the club. The name of the club gave her pause until one evening as she spied, Sophie saw someone pointing out the owner of the club in the entryway and overheard them say he was Italian. Dark haired, foreign and having the appearance of being in his twenties, Vincenzo was a far cry from the fair haired teen vampire who had transformed her. Deciding the club held no threat to her, Sophie began to plan a visit.
It had taken her most of a week to select a dress that she felt was appropriate for when she got her chance to go to Vincenzo's. Sophie's chance arrived two days later when Uncle Gustav and the boys went on a fishing trip and she was left alone. Although she had wavered briefly when they left, the pull of the club was irresistible. Nervous and excited, Sophie put on the black velvet evening dress and styled her hair before taking a taxi to Vincenzo's. During the ride to the club her heart had pounded and she'd resisted an urge to leap out as the taxi came to a halt. After making her way inside, she'd ordered a drink at the bar to steady her nerves and then had taken a seat at an out of the way table so she could quietly observe.
Author: M. Elizabeth Ravensblood
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Lucard/Sophie
Summary: Even after regaining her humanity, Sophie is haunted by the call of the night. On the verge of giving into her desires, the past comes to haunt her in the form of the vampire who changed her and the one who has desired her from the moment he saw her...
Author's Notes: This is a belated Birthday gift for my wonderful friend melsmarsh. Many thanks to my beta, jackssilverwolf. This is part one, there is more to come, it has become a very long story!
Alexander's eyes narrowed as he looked at the entrance of Club Vincenzo. Although the club hadn't been around for long, it's reputation had grown considerably since it opened. Club Vincenzo wasn't a regular nightclub. It was one that catered to vampires. Vampires could gather to feed on bottled blood, on humans who got off on being fed on and any innocents who found their way inside were fair game to be fed on or enslaved. Such establishments existed all over the world but Vincenzo's was the first in Luxembourg.
Traffic moved at little more than a crawl on the narrow street as cars fought for parking space and taxis and limousines paused to allow their occupants out in front of the club. Although he'd been irritated that the owner had opened such an establishment without coming to him first, Alexander considered going inside. It had been a long time since he'd been to a vampire club and found a willing mortal to indulge himself with. Gustav Helsing's frequent interruptions at the castle had cut into his sex life. Perhaps he would stop and find a mortal to feed from and rid himself of the tension that had been building for the past couple of months.
He was debating about whether to tell his driver to stop when he saw a woman who looked vaguely familiar step out of a taxi in front of the club. As she turned to close the door, Alexander saw her face and recognized her immediately. Despite the fact it had been several years, the heart shaped face and luminous green eyes of Sophie Metternich were etched indelibly in his mind. No longer a girl in her teens but a woman in her twenties, the hint of curves had become lush and inviting and the quiet promise of beauty her face had held had become a stunning reality.
Watching her walk into the club, Alexander was shocked. Had someone else dared to turn her? Surely, Helsing couldn't be so foolish as to send the young woman into the club, he decided. Perhaps she craved the bite? It had been a decade since her brief time as a vampire when she was fifteen, but he'd often wondered how much of it had haunted her in the wake of her return to humanity. There was little he remembered about his time as a human, but he remembered Sophie's wonder at the gifts her transformation had granted. Did she still hear the call of the night?
Alexander's reverie was broken as the car moved forward slightly. Only the limousine ahead of him stood between him and the entrance to Club Vincenzo. Considering what to do, his tongue brushed against one of his canine's and his fangs descended in a mixture of pain and pleasure. Sophie. As she rose up in his mind, his groin stirred and began to ache in tandem with his fangs. There was nothing left to consider. Whatever reason Sophie had for being there, Alexander would have her before the night was out.
"Pierre, you will stop in front of the club. Park somewhere convenient, it will displease me if I have to wait. I'll call on my cell when I'm ready for you." Alexander ordered his driver curtly.
The limousine moved forward and stopped in front of the club. An employee of the club held the door and Alexander stepped out. Although he'd been unsure of entering the club earlier, seeing Sophie had resolved the matter quickly. Walking up the steps into the entrance of the club, he opened senses in preparation to find her in the crowd. As he entered the club there was a large mirror and a man sitting at a small desk looked at him.
"You'll need to pay our special rate, Monsieur."
Humans were charged little or nothing in vampire clubs, as they were highly valued there. Vampires, however, had to pay a significant amount of money for the privilege of such easy hunting. Nodding, Alexander pulled his wallet from inside his jacket and quickly thumbed several large bills from the stack and handed them over. The man at the desk nodded in the direction of a pair of red velvet curtains and the blonde vampire moved through them.
The interior of the club was a gaudy display of Victorian furniture in gothic colors. It was typical for a vampire club to have an interior that would appeal to the mortal patrons. The furnishings would appeal to the goth crowd who bared their throats willingly. Better that the club draw in willing mortals than hold visual appeal for vampires. Alexander understood but couldn't quite suppress a shudder at the alcoves with Victorian sofas. There was a massive staircase which lead up to a mezzanine and which undoubtedly held rooms for sex and feeding.
An image rose up in his mind of taking Sophie upstairs and he felt himself harden. Alexander began to scan the crowd for her. After a moment of not seeing her, his eyes wandered to the staircase and he hoped she hadn't already gone off with someone. There were several attractive mortals inside the club who were giving him encouraging looks, but tonight the only thing that would satisfy him was Sophie. Closing his eyes, Alexander focused his senses. Bringing his memories of Sophie to mind, he tried to separate her scent from the mixture of vampires and mortals who moved about him. Slowly the din fell away and he found what he was looking for. Sophie was on the far side of club.
Still mortal, Alexander discerned with pleasure and opened his eyes. Although Sophie had been a magnificent vampiress, he'd felt a pang of regret that he hadn't been the one to transform her. It had been painful to lose her when her mortality had been restored, but being able to be the one to change her had given him a measure of comfort. He had been about to make his move when she slipped through his fingers, going to college in America. Recently he'd toyed with the notion of going after her but Sophie had saved him the trouble by returning home.
Moving across the club, he could hear her heartbeat as he drew closer. With each step, Lucard could sense more about her. Her scent gave off a hint of fear and desire that Alexander found intoxicating. His gums and his cock throbbed in an insistent duet of need. Drawing close, he stopped suddenly as he picked up another note in her blood. Innocence. The realization stunned Alexander. When she went away, he'd held little hope his little viola player's virtue would last past the first semester. Purity had never mattered to him much one way or another, but the prospect of making Sophie his in every sense was irresistible. Before the night was out, he vowed, she would surrender her blood, her body, and her life to him.
A dark haired man moved to Sophie's table and kissed her hand. Scowling at the interloper, Alexander continued to make his way to her table. After a decade of waiting for her, he wouldn't tolerate any competition. A second rate vampire had transformed her before, this time she would be changed by a master vampire.
**********************
Sitting in a quiet alcove of Club Vincenzo, Sophie adjusted her gown and looked around nervously. She shouldn't be there. Uncle Gustav and the boys would be horrified if they knew where she was. Although they meant well and cared about her, they couldn't understand the agony she'd felt when her humanity had been restored. Once she'd tried to talk to Uncle Gustav about the lingering feelings she had from her time as a vampire, but his response had been less than helpful. The elderly man insisted she go to church more often and that she go away to college. That it was undoubtedly Lucard using his powers to cloud her mind.
Her transformation had been painful and awkward, the vampire that transformed her hadn't known what he was doing. Vincent had meant well, but the teen had fumbled clumsily and torn her throat in his zeal. Chris flourishing a cross and a stake had frightened him away and left her alone and hunted by her own family. Distraught, she'd sought refuge with her Uncle's mortal enemy, Alexander Lucard Under his tutelage, she'd learned to enjoy the hunt and to embrace her new life. Their relationship was strange and wonderful as he treated her like a pampered pet most of the time and had slowly begun treating her like a woman. Although reticent in light of her youth, Alexander had kissed her and caressed her, awakening another kind of hunger. Then one memorable night, he'd combined the desires of flesh and blood into one perfect symphony.
He'd lead her into a bedroom in the depths of the castle, away from the prying eyes of his staff and the threat of her Uncle interrupting. Excited and nervous, she allowed him to remove her dress and watched curiously as he removed his jacket and tie. Having only ever seen him in a business suit or tie and tails, Sophie was stunned as he unbuttoned his shirt and moved to the bed. Alexander had assured her they were only going to play for a bit and that he would leave her virtue intact, however she would have willingly given him anything he'd asked as his hands slid over her skin and his lips found hers.
"Such a clumsy fool," Alexander had murmured as his tongue slid over the nearly healed scar Vincent had left on her neck. His fangs had pressed against her throat and he'd whispered, "You're mine now, Sophie. All mine."
Before Sophie had been able to find her voice and agree, she felt the sharp canines pierce her flesh. So different from Vincent's harsh bite, Alexander's teeth had glided smoothly through her skin and she felt her blood slowly ebbing into his mouth. Pleasure unlike anything she'd ever experienced or imagined coursed through her body. Gasping and crying out, she'd clung to Alexander as he drank from her. His hand came up against the back of her head and brought her mouth to his shoulder as he'd whispered in her mind, Drink Sophie. For a moment she'd hesitated and then slid her teeth into his flesh. Her bite hadn't been as effortless as Alexander's had been but she felt a wave of triumph as the older vampire groaned with pleasure against her throat. For many long moments, they had exchanged blood in a heated communion. When Alexander withdrew his fangs, she'd followed suite.
"That was amazing," Sophie had told him dazedly.
Nuzzling her, he replied, "An excellent first, my dear. Perhaps next time we'll go a bit farther."
She'd been on the verge of asking him what taking things farther meant, when she noticed the bulge in his pants straining against his zipper. Almost unconsciously, she had reached out to touch him, but Alexander grabbed her wrist and shook his head.
"Someday, darling Sophie. When you're a bit older," he'd promised.
Although she'd looked forward to his promise of someday and dreamed of a future together, it fell apart when Uncle Gustav and the boys restored her humanity. Sophie tried to put her time as a vampire behind her but the memories lingered as did the urges. Sleep eluded her most nights and Sophie would stare out her window longingly and wish she could embrace the dark velvet cloak once more. Since becoming human, food and drink tasted different. No matter how much she ate or drank, she felt unsatisfied. Sophie didn't identify her hunger as blood lust until one day when her school held a blood drive. She'd planned to donate and went to the room where it was being held, only to run away in terror moments later. The scent lingered softly in the air as she stood mesmerized by the deep burgundy bags they were placing in coolers. She'd started to reach for one when she realized what she was doing and had run away ashamed.
Sophie wasn't a vampire, the Cross of the Magyars that presided over Gustav's home would have destroyed her if she were. But she didn't think she was entirely human either. The need she'd known as a vampire lingered without any means of respite. As bad as the blood lust and the call of the night were, it was even worse that Alexander had ruined her taste for mortal men. She'd had several boyfriends, but anytime it progressed past kissing, Sophie ached to feel Alexander's fangs in her neck once more. Every relationship she'd attempted had ended disastrously when her partner would urge her to engage in heavy petting and she wouldn't respond to their touch. As much as she wanted their attentions to stir something within her, Sophie felt nothing.
For so long, she'd hungered and lusted while trying to be good and suppress her desires. Sophie had succeeded in resisting until after she graduated and returned home to Uncle Gustav's house. One evening she heard him ranting about Club Vincenzo and how he longed to burn it to the ground along with it's occupants, but couldn't risk incurring the wrath of the entire vampire world by destroying it. It was the first Sophie had ever heard of a vampire club and she'd tried not to appear too curious as she listened to him rant about them. From what he said, she had gathered that although there were human deaths at clubs like Vincenzo's, it was discouraged to avoid scaring the mortals who frequented them and gave their blood willingly.
The idea of a place where she could safely indulge a portion of her cravings had been irresistible. For nearly a month, Sophie would sneak away and watch as people and vampires came and went from the club. The name of the club gave her pause until one evening as she spied, Sophie saw someone pointing out the owner of the club in the entryway and overheard them say he was Italian. Dark haired, foreign and having the appearance of being in his twenties, Vincenzo was a far cry from the fair haired teen vampire who had transformed her. Deciding the club held no threat to her, Sophie began to plan a visit.
It had taken her most of a week to select a dress that she felt was appropriate for when she got her chance to go to Vincenzo's. Sophie's chance arrived two days later when Uncle Gustav and the boys went on a fishing trip and she was left alone. Although she had wavered briefly when they left, the pull of the club was irresistible. Nervous and excited, Sophie put on the black velvet evening dress and styled her hair before taking a taxi to Vincenzo's. During the ride to the club her heart had pounded and she'd resisted an urge to leap out as the taxi came to a halt. After making her way inside, she'd ordered a drink at the bar to steady her nerves and then had taken a seat at an out of the way table so she could quietly observe.