I felt a spicy tingle as her lips brushed my ear. Her hands slid around my chest, teasing me. I felt her warm breath on my neck as she whispered her seduction to me. I felt a forbidden thrill as I glimpsed eternity. I wanted it. Her tongue slid across my neck, and I shivered in horrible anticipation. I felt the pressure of her two sharp teeth as hard points pushing on my throat. Once again her tongue flicked out, and I sucked in my breath. I knew what she wanted. I closed my eyes. It was up to me.

“Please. . . .” her voice was erotic.

I nodded my head. She bit down.

It was the most exquisitely excruciating pain I had ever felt. I loved it, and at the same time, was mindlessly terrified by it. My veins burned as she drew my life into her. Her fingers dug into my chest, and I loved it. My head started swimming and I realized that I couldn’t stand on my own. Her drinking became more powerful and steady as she slowly, tenderly drew me to her. I felt myself slide down and I knew that she was sitting and cradling me, like an infant.

Suddenly, I felt like a deflated balloon. She laid me down on my back, kneeling over me. I could see a drop of my life gather on her red lips and fall onto my chin. I didn’t have the energy to wipe it off. I was dying.

As I watched with dying eyes, she drew her fingernail across her wrist and held it above my mouth. Death or life. It was still up to me. I looked up into her eyes. They were pleading. And suddenly I realized how lonely she was. There was the unspeakable pain of centuries of isolation, and the savage hope that I would be with her. Her lips moved, “Please.”

“Yes.”

She flexed and a drop of her blood fell onto my tongue. It was heavy. I remembered wondering if my blood would be as heavy. And it was sweet. Sweet like love. I wanted more. I looked into her eyes. To my wonderment, there were crystalline tears running down her cheeks. I’ve never made anyone so happy. She put her wrist to my mouth and I drew her in. As her essence flowed into, my vision began to throb.