Beautiful Monsters Vol. I

CAPTIVE

By Jex Lane

CHAPTER ONE

 

Thump.

 

Matthew grabbed his chest as a wave of ecstasy washed through him. Every part of him had been on edge since he had first felt the strange sensation a few moments ago. He ran his hands through his dark brown hair, then rubbed them across the stubble on his chin in a futile attempt to regain control.

It didn’t work.

 

Thump.

 

Another wave of pleasure rippled through him. He had never felt anything like it; not even the moment just before he sunk his teeth into a soft neck—when the desire and anticipation coiled up in his stomach—could compare.

This time, it wasn’t blood driving him on. He had already fed tonight. His victim had been a young girl who he seduced away from a seedy downtown club, drunk and receptive to his suggestions. It had almost been too easy to lure her into a dark alleyway, even on a night as cold as this one.

A blanket of guilt wrapped around him. He always tried to go as long as he could without killing but no matter how much he resisted it, the hunger always won in the end. And she had been so sweet, too. Matthew’s upper fangs descended, and he licked his lips with the memory of her blood filling his mouth and sliding down his throat.

He had just finished feeding when he felt it the first time, a deep ‘thud’ that vibrated within him, more a feeling than a sound. The sensation stirred his blood, and bliss flooded through him. He had no choice but to seek out the source.

God, the feeling was irresistible, the pull of it stronger than anything he had ever felt before. It had been weak at first, hardly noticeable, but it grew stronger with each overwhelming thump.

He hadn’t even bothered to hide the body of the girl; he just left her behind in the dirty alley. She deserved better than that, but he left her all the same.

 

Thump.

 

Fuck. It felt too good. He adjusted his jeans, resisting the urge to find a private place and take care of the uncomfortable bulge making them tighter. That thought had him laughing. He was being worse than a teenager, and he hadn’t been one in a long time.

It had been seven long years since he was turned. The attack had happened only a few days after his thirty-second birthday and, on that night, his entire life changed. His body stopped aging, he was stronger, faster, and his diet became a little more limited. His need for blood was ravenous.

And, god, did he feed.

A slave to his hunger, he was still unable to sate his thirst. The first year had been terrible for him and he’d taken a life nearly every night.

All it took was for a human to pass too close to him and his world would melt into the wonderful fragrance of blood…the flow of it pumping through their veins…the thud of their heartbeat…

Whenever he’d hunted, Matthew would silently beg for his prey to escape, but they never got away from him. By the time a human realized what he was—and understood the danger they were in—it was too late. They fought. They screamed. They begged. They died.

And he loved it.

And he hated himself for loving it.

Now that he was a little older, he could go as long as a week without feeding. He always fought to deny himself for as long as possible, but instinct always took over and a human would die so that he could continue to exist. He was a monster.

A terrible, rapacious monster.

 

Thump.

 

Matthew looked around. He was alone, surrounded by tall warehouse buildings and empty parking lots with dim streetlights, but he could smell trees and small animals nearby. He had to be approaching the outskirts of town.

It was a good-sized town with a busy nightlife that made feeding easy, but Matthew hadn’t bothered to learn the name of it. He was just passing through on his way south. He couldn’t even be sure what state he was in. Tennessee maybe?

He closed his eyes, stilled his breathing, and listened.

He was close now.

Around the other side of a warehouse, he could hear a lone human’s heartbeat, fast but steady. He pushed his senses out further to be sure whoever was on the other side of the building was truly alone.

A cat prowled a fenced-off alleyway between the warehouses. Rats scurried through the walls.

Only one human was around, perhaps even for miles.

Good.

If he had to kill, no one would hear the screams.

 

Thump.

 

Before he even knew what he was doing, Matthew jumped over the barbed wired fence and sprinted down the alleyway towards the back of the warehouse. He startled the cat, which hissed at him and darted away. The sound brought him back to his senses, and he slid to a halt.

He balled his fists and his fingers turned into long, sharp claws. Blood droplets ran down them as the pointed tips pierced the soft flesh of his palms. He pressed deeper in a futile effort to regain command of his body. What the fuck was happening to him? And why did it feel so damn good?

Once he felt a bit more in control he slunk forward, keeping to the shadows, and cautiously glimpsed around the corner.

Mountains of junk littered the back of the warehouse. A chained fence topped with barbed wire enclosed the entire area, and beyond that was nothing but forest.

Matthew couldn’t see the human from where he stood, but bright light streamed out from gaps in the piles of scrap metal heaped on the dirt ground. Why was the human working so late on such a cold night?

None of what he saw explained what he was feeling. Or smelling. The scent coming from the human was divine, like night and earth. Heat welled up in Matthew’s belly.

He took a few silent steps forward, snuck behind a tall pile, and looked through one of the gaps.

Once his eyes adjusted to the bright lights, he saw a man with dusty blond hair standing in the middle of the clearing, his back to Matthew.

The man shifted back and forth on his feet and pulled his phone out of the pocket of his black wool coat to check the time. Catching the numbers on the bright screen, Matthew saw it was a few hours after midnight. The man slipped his phone back into his pocket and let out a heavy sigh, his warm breath curling into the air above him.

 

Thump.

 

Lord Almighty. Matthew fell to his knees and raked deep grooves into the hard dirt ground. He was so close to an orgasm that if someone touched him he might explode.

Matthew wanted to run over, pin the man against a wall, and take him forcefully. Even though he had no experience in how to please another man beyond his own self-gratification, he was fairly certain he could figure it out.

Both his upper and lower fangs itched with the erotic thought. Matthew closed his eyes and felt his irises burning red again.

For a long time he wasn’t aware his eyes actually changed color. He assumed the burning he felt was simply tied to his hunger somehow…but a few months after his change, while he was in a bathroom waiting for his victim to finish taking a piss, Matthew caught himself in the mirror. His fangs were long and ready, and his fingers were claws—that much he was used to—but it shocked him to see the frightening crimson of his irises.

It was the first time he had truly seen the beast he had become.

While he had been distracted, his prey had seen Matthew studying himself and tried to escape, but he didn’t get far. The memory of that messy kill brought a wave of shame down upon Matthew and pulled him back to his current situation.

Still kneeling on the ground, he felt a little more in control. He forced his fangs back up into his gums, focused on getting his claws to recede, and closed his eyes in an attempt to force them to return to their usual brown. He hoped, anyway. He didn’t want to scare the man away before he got some answers.

At least he could pass as a human right now, his body was still warm from his earlier feeding. In a few hours, his skin would cool again and his heart would slow its beat to almost nothing. That was fine with him, he didn’t enjoy the sound of it anymore; it was too loud. Especially now, as this man caused it to beat faster.

His attention shifted when the human stilled completely. He knew Matthew was here; the fall to the ground probably made a sound and alerted him.

Matthew rose back to his feet and looked through the gap once more.

The man, his back still to Matthew, turned his head to the side and cast a look over his shoulder. Intense blue eyes flashed in Matthew’s direction, followed by a bright smile, revealing a set of perfect white teeth.

God, he was gorgeous.

Matthew had never seen anyone this good looking outside of a movie. And he had certainly never been this attracted to another man before. In college, spurred on by a group of women, he had drunkenly kissed another man. It hadn’t bothered him, but it hadn’t done anything for him either.

This was different. Just looking at this guy made his cock twitch.

The man shifted slightly. No fear came from him, his heart remained steady and his breathing continued unchanged. Instead, he smiled and stood up taller, as if happy something had come along to break his boredom.

This put Matthew on high alert. Humans were always alarmed when they heard unknown noises in the dark of night—they couldn’t help it. But not this human. This one just stood in the light, smiling, not even bothering to turn all the way around.

Matthew’s instincts told him to run away; there was danger here, even though the man he was staring at was smaller in stature and no doubt weaker. The man closed his eyes and breathed out heavily.

 

Th—

 

The fucking sensation began to swell within Matthew but before it could finish, he darted into the clearing and slipped his hand around the man’s neck, pressing hard into his throat.

“Stop. Just…stop,” Matthew said, his eyes turning red again, this time with desire.

The man took a step backwards and pressed against Matthew’s erection.

Sucking in hard, Matthew responded by rubbing his throbbing cock against the man’s ass. A deep purr rose up in his throat, and it surprised him…he didn’t even know he could purr.

Matthew loosened his grip but didn’t completely release him. He began rubbing his fingers up the side of the man’s neck and along his chiseled jaw.

He cursed the thick wool coat. The stiff upturned collar prevented Matthew’s mouth from getting close to the man’s neck. He was tempted to rip the coat off…but if he started removing articles of clothing he wouldn’t be able to stop until the man was naked.

The thought made him shiver. Was this man enjoying this as much as he was? Matthew resisted the urge to slip his hands down the blond’s body to find out if he was also hard. His fangs itched, wanting to elongate.

“What are you doing to me?” he whispered into the blond’s ear.

The man grabbed Matthew’s hand and gently tugged it away from his neck. Matthew froze as soft kisses brushed his wrist. It was unbearable. Growling, Matthew grabbed the man’s hip with his free hand, his fingers digging in hard enough to leave bruises, and pressed himself forward. He needed more.

The man smiled against Matthew’s wrist.

“I’m feeding. Then I will kill you, vampire.”