Kiss of the Vampire: pt 5

“Why does nothing you say surprise me?” Lijie, Aniker’s brother, says walking out of the hospital with her.
“Because we both come from the same bloodline and you know we are some freaks.” Aniker playfully jokes. Lijie just shakes his head.
“I channel my freak into one person so that I don’t end up in a drug-induced sex cult,” Liejie jabs back.
“Please don’t tell anyone,” Aniker says after the chirp of his car door. Walking to the back door, she opens it and goes to toss her backpack in, remembering that she was teleported and doesn’t have it. When she looks up from the car, Lijie is just staring at her shaking his head in disbelief. They both get in, and when she buckles up in the passenger seat, he turns to her.
“What she is doing is illegal, but I have an idea that telling would be worse than saying nothing. Picking fights with Vampires isn’t a smart move for either of us if we want to lay low. But neither is becoming a Vampire’s sex thrall.
“Yes it is, it’s illegal so no one should be talking about it.” Aniker snaps back. Lijie goes to rebut, but after he thinks about it, he realizes that she’s right. He starts the car and turns back to her.
“That doesn’t mean it was a good idea though.”
“I didn’t know she was going to drug me with her bite?” Aniker says while Kong exits the parking lot and plays jazz low in the car.
“Did you not know that Vampires could do that?”
“No.”
“I should have known you didn’t pay attention to history class.”
“They taught this stuff in school?” Aniker’s surprise in her tone.
“Not the Vampire’s gift,” Lijie laughs. “Or at least not in any of the classes I was in, but yes, they talked about the powers of the races and how they’ve been handed down over time. Be lucky Emily isn’t a third or older generation Vampire.”
“Why?”
“Isn’t it obvious? The older Vampire’s magic was a lot stronger. Over time with a lot of cross-breeding and older bloodlines dying off. All the races are a tad weaker than they used to be.”
“Because of the War of the Gods?” Lijie stops at a light and looks at his sister.
“That, and the Demon war too. We lost a lot of good people.” Aniker sees the hurt in his eyes. A couple of his Army buddies didn’t make it back as he did. Going back with the flow of traffic when the light changes. “So, chances are, you’re dealing with a fifth-generation vampire. This particular generation is a little more spontaneous and reckless. Not to mention childish.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Dr. Emily sees you all as her pets. Or better yet her toys, that she doesn’t want to share with anyone.”
“I think it’s a little hot,” Aniker smiles.
“You would.”
“Women like to be claimed, even if we don’t admit it all the time.”
“Like how the wedding band is supposed to be a signal of you being claimed by your husband?”
“Yes, but who says I only want to be claimed by one person?”
“You. When you decided to get married. You went before the Dragons and the Gods and professed your love for your mate and made a vow to be his bonded.”
“Yeah, but we have an agreement,” Aniker tries to combat.
“Yes, one that clearly states that you have free reign on sexual exploration and can find satisfaction with other women. This is beyond that, you are letting another one claim you.”
“I didn’t know she would claim me!” Aniker found herself yelling at him.
“You should have known something was up when she asked for a date then gave up so soon. We’re from the Motor district of the Underdark, that’s hustler’s 101.”
“I know, Li, damn!” Aniker lets out her frustration.”
“Look, you’re my sister, and I have your back. You just have to live with this. Be ready for Paul to have some pushback to this. If you tell him.”
“Do I have to ?” Aniker sounds like a little girl, and when Lijie looks over at her, that’s what he sees. His little sister that even to this day is attached to his hip.
“You don’t have to. You should, but I know you. You feel like you can keep this under control. As long as you keep this contained, you don’t have to tell him. But you should.”
Aniker looks out the window and starts thinking as they pass the old district of Galvornia. Buildings that have been up since the first Great War stand proud, some with a few modern facelifts, but their original beauty is still there. It makes Aniker think about her situation. Those old values stood like building in her mind. They were important, but sometimes they needed just a little bit of tweaking.
Sure she vowed to be the bonded of Paul, but what did that mean? Did it mean that she would have to not be sexually satisfied? That she had to give up on that part of her life because her Mated was older and no longer capable of pleasing her? Was this truly asked of her?
Or was she free to define what was a wife in her book? Could she be claimed by another woman and that be acceptable? Sure, that was a little more intimate than she originally agreed, but this made her happy she had found. Not willing to fill her brother in on this, knowing that he would bring up their agreement with Paul.
Lijie, though a critical thinker, sometimes thought in black and white. And when it came to agreements, the businessman he was always kicked in and took over. Damn that agreement. It’s not written down, and therefore not admissible in a court of law. So she was free to bend or even re-write the rules.
“You know I can read minds right?” Lijie says turning into a Burger Dash, and Aniker nearly jumps out of her skin. “And for the record. I’m not that black and white. Do what makes you happy, I just want you to think about the consequences of what you do.”
“I am,” She says, unable to yell because she knows that he’s going to get her a bacon cheeseburger deluxe, chili cheese fries, and a chocolate shake.
“Are you considering Paul’s feelings?”
“Dragon’s mercy, yes,” she breathes.
“And how he’s going to feel abandoned after he put you through school?” Shit. She didn’t think of it like that.
Paul worked a ton of hours to pay her way through nursing school. Many times she didn’t see him for days, because he would take on extra shifts of his second job, after the already long hours of his first job. And while he was at work, she was afforded the luxury of staying home and focusing on her studies.
It was nice that she didn’t have to focus on anything but her school, but many times it left her lonely. Which lead to the agreement in the first place. Well in its infant stages anyway.
They inched forward car by car until Lijie put in both of their orders. Lijie knows that when she is quiet like this, she’s thinking and he reaches out to her and grabs her hand.
“Look, whatever you do. I have your back. I’m going to see if there is a way for Monks to break the spell of the Vampire’s Kiss. I want to give you some fighting power, just in case you need it.” Aniker smiles as her brother always makes her feel better, even if it was him who originally brought on her feeling sad. She knows what he saying is true, and she knows that oftentimes she only thinks with her emotions.
He was her perfect balance. His logic always brings her back to level ground. And the way they spoiled each other made everything better, she thinks as he hands her the large chocolate shake.
Grabbing their food and pulling off, Lijie heads to the highway.
“So what’s it going to be, Sis? Are you going to your apartment or home to your husband?”
“I have to go back to the apartment. I left all my stuff there.”
“Nice try of stalling, but I know that you have spares of everything from that apartment at your house. Not to mention, I could wait for you to grab it and still take you home.”
“Could you not remember some of the stuff I tell you.”
“Sure, like how my sister is participating in a vampiric sex cult, that’s illegal in most territories?”
“You’re an ass sometimes,” Aniker rolls her eyes.
“Sometimes? Come on, I deserve more credit than that.”
“I hate you sometimes,” Aniker laughs.
“That’s okay, I love you all the time,” Lijie rebuts and makes the turn heading to her apartment.
“Now that I’m thinking about it, why are you on my head so hard? What about you and Ling-ling?”
“For the last time, her name is Liling, and we are wonderful. No sex cults or anything.”
“Just not the kinky sex that you are into?” Aniker smiles mischievously.
“I’m a lot to deal with at times, and I know that. I’m not going to jeopardize the best relationship I’ve ever been in, because she doesn’t want me to tie her up… or her tie me up.”
“So it’s okay for you to go without?”
“Sure is. It’s not like we’re not having plenty of sex. And I enjoy it with her.”
“You just could be enjoying it more?”
“That’s a broad and unfair statement, but yes.”
“And she knows about your appetite?”
“Sure, but it’s a lot to throw at someone,” Lijie says stopping at a light and glancing over to Aniker and taking one of her fries.
“She should just open up and try it, or,” Lijie cuts Aniker off.
“I am not forcing her into anything she’s not ready for, nor am I going to ask to have sex with other people.”
“Why not?” Aniker asks, seeing as how well it worked for her.
“One, that can be considered as sexual assault. I think one of us committing sex crimes is enough. Two, it’s different for men. We don’t have the luxury of making such requests without being called pigs or perverts, and that’s the best of those options. Worse we fight and I am accused of wanting to cheat, and the worst being she just leaves me. Besides, I don’t want the kinky sex I like with some other woman, I want the kinky sex I like with my woman. And if I can’t have that, I will settle for the vanilla sex that I have now.” Lijie finishes up as he pulls up to her building, stopping at the curve of the main entrance.
“Are you calling women like me selfish?”
“If that’s what you heard then sure, but what I actually said was that women have it easier when it comes to being sexually liberated. When women do it, it’s seen as liberating, when men do it, we are seen as perverts. When men are okay with their women finding satisfaction outside of the relegation ship, they are seen as allies in women’s struggles, when they don’t, they are seen as oppressors. If women let their men have sex with other women, she’s oppressed and the man doesn’t care about her at all, he just wants to sleep around. If a woman suppresses the man, she’s keeping her home.
“Whatever, it’s not like that.”
“What did your friends tell you about your situation before you and Paul made the arrangement?”
Aniker thinks back to how her friends encouraged her to start the arrangement.
“Shut up. I love you, bro,” She says, hugging him before getting out of the car. If nothing else, Lijie gives her a lot to think about.