He rolled up the sleeve of his left arm as he approached the vampire. When he was within reach he held out his bare arm.
Vellum took hold of it at wrist and elbow but instead of raising the limb to his mouth, he contemplated it. "Men will never understand the appeal of their blood to my kind," he murmured. He brushed his thumb over the tracery of veins in Clay's wrist. "Imagine a hunger that is so keen that it feels like an obsession." He used two fingers to trace the veins up the underside of the Marshal's forearm, eliciting a shiver from Clay. "To want something doesn't mean you wish to destroy it. You can want something because it appeals to you. Because the thought of possessing it makes you feel fulfilled."
"Lots of pretty talk about sucking my blood," Clay said tightly. "Just get on with it."
"If I were speaking only of your blood, you wouldn't be so nervous," Vellum said with a flash of fang. The next moment, his dark head bent over Clay's wrist and Mariel saw the Marshal shudder.
Vellum drank relatively quickly. If Clay experienced any of the vampire's effects after the initial bite, he didn't reveal it to Mariel. When Vellum finally lifted his head, he gazed up at Clay and licked his damp lips. "Sometimes the hunger can be a leash, as well. You're not the only one who's collared, Marshal. Remember that."
He strode away and mounted up. After a moment's hesitation, Clay buttoned up his sleeve and did likewise. In silence, they began their ride across the starlit desert.
However, Mariel doubted it was a silence that would last, and she was proven right.
"So vampires do care about some of the things the rest of us do," Clay said after some time.
"We share a great deal in common, Marshal. You'd be surprise."
"So surprise me."
There was challenge in his voice, but Mariel could see Vellum hadn't taken it as antagonism.
Vellum settled his hands atop his pommel, a picture of relaxation. "There's the matter of a good steak. I can still appreciate the smell and taste of one, even if my body is no longer capable of ingesting the flesh."
"You mean all this time we should have saved some for you?" Mariel asked, feeling bad about the fact she'd never once offered him a taste of their meals.
"Not at all. As I said, I'm unable to digest bulk matter." He leaned forward slightly in his saddle so he could see her beyond Clay. "Though I would have enjoyed licking your fingers clean."
She shivered, knowing he might be teasing but that he also meant it. She had to admit she was looking forward to her next meal.
"What else?" Clay demanded, his tone carrying a hint of irritation.
Vellum seemed to smile to himself. "Though I'm no longer the man I once was, I continue to find my eye turned by a beautiful woman."
"You don't have a future with Mariel."
Clay's blunt declaration shocked her.
"You may play with her now, but the end, she won't be yours," he went on. "Such a thing is impossible."
"I'm not unaware of reality, Marshal." This time it was Vellum's voice which carried a barbed note. "However, I am adept at enjoying the moment. When you're practically immortal you must learn to portion out the time lest it feel like an eternal damnation."
"Having such a long lifespan must be lonely," Mariel said gently. She couldn't begin to understand or empathize with what Vellum faced, but she tried to. She tried to imagine a life without fear of death, but also without closure. If you lived a good life, you gained some satisfaction on your death bed. But if that death bed never came? How did you feel accomplished? You had no timetables, no restrictions, no deadlines.
No challenges.
She studied him with sudden understanding. Domination was, in a way, a challenge Vellum could measure and meet. A tiny goal in the grand scheme of things, but at least it had a beginning and a moment where he would feel that he'd triumphed.
"I told you, Mariel," he said with a pale smile, "I'm not a fan of being painted as a lonely being. I have a considerable advantage that many men would kill for."
Yet it's one I suspect you no longer want, she thought, and a shiver moved through her, born of dread, sadness, and a hint of fear. What did Vellum's future hold for him? She had the awful feeling that it wasn't anything pleasant, and that he wanted it that way.
8
"Well, now isn't that a pretty sight."
Clay's easy, amused drawl should have made Mariel blush madly and scramble to collect her clothes, or at least try to shield herself with her hands. The other Mariel would have done those things. The Mariel who'd remained in Willowtown.
But she didn't know that woman anymore, and she was glad of it. Beyond a quiver in her stomach, she didn't feel ashamed or embarrassed to be caught naked in the stream by Clay. In fact, she straightened up from her bent over position to allow him to look his fill.