Sylvie

Unable to really resist the small woman in his lap, Alan nodded and kept talking. “Back then all sorts of shows and traveling entertainers came into town, it was a windfall for them.”  He kissed the blood bunny on her cheek as well. “A different time.  Street performers made up lots of these little side attractions.  It wasn’t uncommon to see huge snakes or strange lizards for free.”

“I’ve seen pictures.  I am a little of a history lover.”  She cuddled into Alan’s arms. “Sounds like you enjoyed it.”

Memories of the age flooded into Alan’s mind, “I did.  Very happy time.”  He paused and walked his fingers over Veronica’s neck and cheeks. “That is where I met Amos.”

Fighting off the urge to lick Alan’s fingers, Veronica sighed and dreamily answered, “Amos?  Amos who?”

“You don’t know your Mistress’s creator?”  Alan huffed lightly, “Interesting.  Amos Whitelock, If he is still around he’d be about three hundred now.”  Taking a little liberty with his blood bunny, Alan slipped his finger down and plucked a button free on Veronica’s blouse. “Typical guy really.  Still has a British accent, I think.”  Happy that his light advance didn’t offend Veronica, Alan took the opportunity to unfasten a couple more buttons. “He and I met over a small bidding war on a pair of horses, of all things.”  Alan laughed. “Virginia used to be rather known for horse racing, and I was trying my hand at it.”  He shrugged and slipped his hand into Veronica’s blouse and rubbed her shoulder gently. “I found out later, after wasting a fortune, that I was terrible at it.”  He snickered, “Amos even said as much.”

More than aware of what Alan was doing, Veronica turned to face her new beau. “Mister Brown, I will thank you to not open my shirt anymore.”  She winked and kissed him lightly on the neck. “I have been around so many vampires that unless you actually use your ability to take my will away, the scent of a vampire no longer makes me…squiggly.”  She laughed. “We will have plenty of playtime later.”  She reached for Alan’s chin and turned him to face her. “I like you. I am already comfortable with you, so let things go normally, please.”

Rolling his expressive brown eyes for Veronica, Alan smiled and reluctantly sighed and conceded defeat. “Fine.  When you put it that way, how's a vampire to resist?” He laughed, “I do find your blood mind boggling.  How is it that I both want to feed and not feed?”  He added, “What are you doing to me?”

“Tell me more about my mistress and I will give you that little secret.”  Veronica winked and whispered into Alan’s ear, “It’s all about why I am a blood bunny, my dear.”

A fun shiver ran up and down Alan’s spine forcing him to adjust his seating. “More of that, young lady and I won’t be responsible for what happens.”  He laughed then resumed, “Once we met, we just found that we enjoyed each other’s company.  It took a couple weeks of visiting places in Petersburg and sampling all of the men’s clubs, before he trusted me enough to introduce me to Sylvie.”  Alan felt his uncomfortable bulge diminish, “She didn’t call herself Sylvie back then.  She still held onto her Native American culture and called herself Taini.”  He paused for a moment, “If I recall correctly, it means returning moon.”

“How absolutely adorable!”  Veronica bounced lightly, “Such a fitting name for her.  I love her eyes as they phase.  I could watch them all day long.”  Veronica paused when Alan raised his eyebrow, “What?  I like eyes.”  She grabbed his thigh tightly, “You really should see..”

Holding up his hand, Alan had a feeling he knew what Veronica was going to say. “No, I don’t want to see those blue eyes.”  He shivered, “You may see them as benevolent, but for most of us?  That is the stuff of nightmares.”  He cupped Veronica’s chin, “I prefer your brown eyes, Miss Brown.”  He winked, “Anyway.  The roaring twenties!”  He clapped lightly, “Even then, we tried to hide in plain sight, the veil and all.”  He watched Veronica nod, “Back then, we wouldn’t have risked having blood bunnies.”  Reassuring her with a light pat on her thigh, Alan continued. “Even then, Sylvie stuck out.  Her visions.”  He tapped his forehead. “Something about them used to both fascinate and frighten people.  She is much better at hiding when she is getting one now, but back then?”  He shrugged, “People believed all kinds of wild things blindly.”

“So she’s been a visionary the entire time?”  Veronica questioned and started flipping a strand of Alan’s hair between her fingers. “I know it's my turn.”

Leaning into the soft touch of Veronica’s fingers, Alan murmured, “Yes..yes she has, as least since I have known her.  Fascinating woman, forced to see things she never asked to see.”  He cleared his throat and looked into Veronica’s eyes. “Now it’s your turn.”

Using Alan as a partial bed, Veronica spread out horizontally across the chair. “I am sure that you have met lots of people who are obsessed with vampires and blood.”  She heard a low snicker from Alan as he shook his head. “Good.  It will make this easier to understand.”  Using her finger, Veronica traced a soft line down Alan’s neck slowly. “Myself and the others, it’s not the blood.  It’s not the bite.  It’s the euphoria that is attached to it.”  She looked deeply into Alan’s eyes, “The closest thing I can compare it to is having an orgasm that is so strong that your body almost can’t handle it.” Veronica smiled when Alan raised his eyebrows, “Notice I said compare it to an orgasm.  I have had both..many times.”  She winked, “Being fed from is at this point, necessary.  I have noticed that through some trick of biology or..” Veronica snickered, “..or magic, I produce more blood than I should be capable of having.”

“Aren’t you afraid of being drained into nothing?”  Alan inquired and licked along the veins in Veronica’s neck. “I know many of my brethren would love the opportunity to try and do it for the sake of doing it.”  He kissed his way down Veronica’s neck to the center of her chest, stopping at her heart. “Vampires aren’t all that different from the people that they started out being.  Some are plainly evil, some are just normal and trying to get by.”

Buttoning her shirt for the second time, Veronica sighed and sat up. “I am not worried about it in the least.  I can’t explain why..”  She tapped on her wrists, “..but my blood, the blood of the bunnies, it’s like filling to the point where you’d be forced to stop.”  She shrugged, “Franco said he could taste his limit when we served him.”

Scooping Veronica into his arms, Alan stood up and twirled the couple once and then set Veronica back on her feet. “Thank you for sharing.”  He winked, “I fear if we don’t get started on these preparations, then Sylvie will be a little grumpy when she gets back.”  Alan tapped his forehead again, “Given what I’ve seen with her central eye?”  He laughed, “I don’t want to tempt fate's eye on me.”

Retrieving the dust rag from where she’d tossed it, Veronica twirled it in her hand as she spoke. “I would be more concerned about what the mistress has already seen.”