the sides of her neck, his thumbs right over her veins. "Always."
His mouth found hers and she grabbed onto his shoulders, urging him closer. As he pulled up the bottom of her sweater, she lifted her arms so he could get it off her and then let herself fall back on the bed. He took off her pants and her panties and then did away with his own clothes.
He loomed over her, picking her up with one arm and putting her farther back on the bed. His thigh came between her legs and then his body pressed hers into the mattress, that heavy arousal running up the very center of her. She undulated against him, stroking herself, stroking him.
His mouth moved urgently as they kissed, but he entered her slowly, parting her gently, stretching her, joining them together. He was thick and hard and heavenly and he moved languidly, deeply. That delicious dark scent came out of his skin, saturating her.
"I will have no other," he said against her throat. "I will take none but you."
Mary wrapped her legs around his hips, trying to have him so far inside that he could stay with her forever.
John followed Tohrment through the house. There were a lot of rooms, and all the furniture and decorations were really nice, really old. He paused by a painting of a mountain scene. A little brass nameplate on the gilt frame read Frederic Church. He wondered who that was and decided the guy was awfully good at what he did.
Down at the end of a hallway, Tohrment opened a door and turned on a light. "I put your suitcase in here already."
John walked inside. The walls and ceiling were painted dark blue and there was a big bed with a sleek headboard and lots of fat pillows. There was also a desk and a bureau. And a set of sliding glass doors that opened onto a terrace.
"Bathroom's through here." Tohrment turned on another light
John put his head in and saw a whole lot of dark blue marble. The shower was glassed in and... wow, there were four heads for the water to come out.
"If you need anything Wellsie is here, and I'll be back around four A.M. We go downstairs about that time every night. If you need us during the day, just pick up any phone and dial pound one. We'd be happy to see you anytime. Oh, and we have two doggen, or staff, who help out around here, Sal and Regine. Both of them know you're with us now.
They show up around five-ish. If you need to go out, just ask them to take you."
John went over to the bed and touched a pillowcase. It was so soft, he could barely feel it.
"You're going to be fine here, son. It might take some getting used to, but you're going to be fine."
John looked across the room. Shoring up his courage, he walked over to Tohrment and opened his mouth. Then he pointed up to the man.
"You sure you want to do this now?" Tohrment murmured.
When John nodded, Tohrment slowly parted his lips. And bared a set of fangs.
Oh... man. Oh...
John swallowed and put his fingers to his own mouth.
"Yeah, you're going to get them, too. Sometime in the next couple of years." Tohrment crossed the room and sat on the bed, plugging his elbows into his knees. "We go through the change around age twenty-five. After that you're going to need to drink to survive. And I'm not talking about milk, son."
John cocked his eyebrows, wondering from whom.
"We'll find you a female to get you through the change, and I'll tell you what to expect. It's no party, but once you have it behind you, you'll be so strong, you'll think it was all worth it."
John's eyes flared as he measured Tohrment. Abruptly he spread his hands apart horizontally and lengthwise, then put his thumb to his own chest.
"Yeah, you'll be my size, too."
John mouthed the words get out.
"Really. That's why the transition is a bitch. Your body goes through a big change in a period of hours. Afterward you're going to have to relearn things, how to walk, how to move." Tohr looked down at himself. "These bodies of ours are hard to control at first."
John absently rubbed his chest, where the circular scar was.
Tohrment's eyes tracked the movement.
"I have to be honest with you, son. There's a lot we don't know about you. For one thing, there's no telling how much