I felt nervous because his words were so true. I really was a blood player, then.But I was also his partner, right? A couple… Did that make me… different?
“Yes, you are my partner,” he said. “Which is just as well, seeing as there is no way I’d want you to end up seeking your thrills purely through a blood house. As upmarket as they are, they are not nearly enough for a girl like you.”
My curiosity was piqued more than ever.
“Blood house? What’s a blood house?”
“Blood houses are places blood players go to surrender their blood. They are frequented by a regular clientele of people desperate for fangs, and quite often anything else that goes along with them. We have a few of them based around the world.”
Wow!
“Really?! There are people desperate for bites that go to blood houses to get them? Like whore houses, but with vampires instead?”
His eyebrows pitted. “No, no. I wouldn’t say they are like whore houses. These people and situations are most certainly consensual, no matter how intense the exchanges may be. They may well seek out consensual non-consent, but these people get what they need from us, and we get what we need from them in return.”
People.
“Yes, people,” he continued. “Your imagination won’t be far from the truth, I promise. Call it a selection of filthy vampire novels in the flesh. Men biting men, women biting women. Vampires sharingvictimsall at once.”
I was truly fascinated.
“Do you ever go to these blood houses?”
He looked me in the eyes, and I’m sure he was digging into my thoughts, ready to read me. Only this time I felt myself put a wall up.
“Never be embarrassed by your thoughts or fantasies,” he said.
“I’m not,” I replied, but he kept on staring at me.
“You’ve been very sheltered, but that doesn’t need to be the case anymore. The world is a big place, and there are fantasies galore to be enjoyed in it.”
He paused as the waitress delivered our merlot and took our orders. Steak and steak.
“In answer to your question, yes,” he said, once she’d gone. “I do visit blood houses. Or at least I did until you came along. Now, my cravings are all about you.”
“That’s quite a statement,” I said, with another flash of pride.
“Yes, it is,” he agreed. “Now, how about we get some of your real questions out of the way? Shall we start from the beginning? How did I become the creature I am today? That’s one of your most pressing curiosities, yes?”
He was right on that. Thewho, why, whenquestions had one clear place to start. That became a lot more clear as I downed a few decent gulps of merlot.
“Yes, please, let’s go from the beginning,” I said. “How did you become a vampire, Hans? And why?”
Chapter Thirteen
“Iwasaknight,”Hans told me, and my eyebrows shot up.
“A knight? An actual knight? On horseback with a sword?!”
“Not exactly. I missed the Crusades luckily, otherwise I’d have likely been butchered in the Holy Land on a battlefield drenched in blood. I managed to miss that stage of it, but yes. I was a member of the Knights Templar. I really did have an impressive sword. I still have it actually.”
I saw the humour on his face and it made me laugh.
“You’re blessed with impressive swords then, Hans.”
“Indeed.”
I flicked my attention back to his story with absolute fascination, like a girl hearing a fairy tale.