Jungle Stakes (SHORTLIST Open Novella Contest II)

Chapter 13

Minutes later her lungs were once again screaming for air by the time she came to the place where she'd first found the bodies. Sweat covered her from the exertion of running full out in the high heat. The heat would have increased the speed of decomposition and the smell of the rotting bodies hit her full force as she leaned on a tree and bent over with a hand on her knee, sucking in air.

Simply following her nose, she brushed aside the tall ferns around the depression she'd previously found. Except this time, the number of bodies had multiplied exponentially. "Oh my God", she said. The only time she'd seen carnage this bad was when a bomb had exploded in the midst of a group of civilians.

She couldn't even tell how many bodies were lying among the crushed plants. Arms and legs had been torn off and lay mixed up with a mess of decapitated torsos. She breathed through her mouth to calm the queasiness in her stomach at the overpowering stench. Picking her way carefully around the pile, she counted the heads that were visible. Thirteen. Thirteen people from their camp.

"Helena," a thrill ran through her at the voice. There was no mistaking the voice from her dreams. But also no way he could be here.

Gentle hands moved her sweaty hair off her neck and pressed a kiss there. Her body responded with a shiver of pleasure.

She closed her eyes. She must have snapped. Seeing the bodies, and her worry about Jake, and the decisions about their relationship, and the end of their business. It was all too much and making her mind imagine an escape by bringing her lover to life. Or perhaps the old woman had slipped something into her food. Maybe she was hallucinating.

Her lover's hands slid down her arms and pulled her to lean back against his chest. "Helena," he breathed into her ear, the delicate touch of his breath eliciting another delicious shiver.

Her head dropped back onto his shoulder as he nuzzled her neck. His hands slid down her back to the hem of her t-shirt. He slipped his fingers under and stroked around to her stomach then up her front. As he began to fondle her she moaned and he said, "You are mine, Helena. Let me have you before we go. My servant sent these to me, but I need to drain the rest to regain my full strength."

Her eyes snapped open. The silent jungle, the massacred bodies, the smell of carnage was all still there. Instead of pinching her arm, she dug a nail into the nail bed of her opposite thumb. The sensitive skin screamed in protest. She was definitely awake. "Your servant?"

"The old woman. She has been very helpful in making sure I get the sustenance I need. When we go back, I will save her for last. It is most entertaining to take the ones who think they are somehow safe from me."

Her spine snapped straighter as the meaning of the words her dream lover had just whispered sank in. "Fuck," she whispered.

"Yes, my mate, yes, always so ready for me. Perhaps you will be the one to stay with me forever." His hands slid down into her trousers.

Even as her mind was screaming she needed to run, her legs widened to give him access. She moaned and leaned back into his broad chest. Her body was responding to his hands, overriding her mind. She had to get away before she lost herself completely to him, but her orgasm was already so close. Every second that passed it was harder to break away from him. She jerked forward, but it was too late, wave after wave of pleasure swept over her. Her cries filled the emptiness of the surrounding jungle.

She went limp in his arms. She had to get out of his presence, to stop him touching her. Some instinct made her sag away from him toward the ground. He allowed her to go, chuckling softly.

"Yes, my pet, rest for a moment, before I take you. I've never had the pleasure of such powerful releases from any of my other mates. You please me more and more each time we are together."

She opened her eyes and focused on the glassy dead eyes of Pedro, who'd helped carry Javier to the camp. She dug her fingers into the soft ground when she thought of Jake, sick from blood loss. She wasn't in love with him, but she loved him nonetheless. And this monster had hurt him. Was planning to kill him. And Fitzy. And Javier. She had to get away somehow. She had to warn them, and take him out somehow. Without moving her head, she cast her eyes over the leaves and vines that constituted the debris of the jungle floor for anything she could use as a stake.

It was crazy insane thinking. How was she going to stake a vampire that was awake? Her military training had made her lethal, but it wouldn't measure up to someone who could literally tear someone limb from limb. He could crush her like a fly if he wanted.

"Why does your heart beat so? And why do I smell your fear? You have nothing to fear from me, my pet. Turn to look at me."

She didn't know if it was mesmerization or her own wishes, because she oh so wanted to drink in the sight of this man, but she pushed off the ground and turned to face him, bringing her eyes up slowly. Just as when he was lying in the tomb, she started at his feet and worked her way up his body. She didn't know how, but his feet were sexy. The trousers clung to his strong legs. His broad, muscular chest showed no evidence of where the stake had been driven in. She had to fight herself to not leap on him and lick her way up the smooth skin of his muscular neck. His pull on her was magnetic, and she was finding it harder to resist him.

When she reached his gloriously beautiful face and looked into his black eyes for the first time, she dug her nails into her palms to keep herself from ripping the clothes off both of them. For an interminable moment, she didn't care that he had brutally murdered the thirteen people behind her. Or that he planned to kill everyone else in the camp, which included the three men she loved most in the world. Nothing mattered except belonging to the man before her.

She stepped towards him and a twig snapped under her foot. A twig wouldn't make a good stake. Why did she need a stake? She needed a stake. She needed a Goddamned stake!

Fear coursed through her, and she stepped backwards, dragging her eyes down, away from his. Stake. Jake. Javier. Fitzy. She just had to keep repeating their names and not look at him.

The vampire gave a throaty laugh. "You are very strong to resist me, my pet. Perhaps I have finally found one to keep with me for all eternity. Look at me, pet, there's no need to be afraid. From me, you are safe."

Helena bit her tongue and began to count the leaves on the ground before her. She had to resist looking at him. She had to warn the others. "Please let me go," she said, backing away.

He followed after her, matching her step for step. "My pet, why do you want to run? Just submit to me, and I'll give you eternity." When she shook her head and continued to walk backwards, then turned and began to run in the direction of the camp, he chuckled and called after her, "Oh my love, how do you know the chase is my favourite game? I'll give you a head start."