Well, I promised you all a peek at my next project as soon as I had the first chapter written, so here it is!! :-) Now, please keep in mind that this is a first draft, so there are almost certainly errors, and it is subject to revision, changes, and wholesale scrapping. Still, I hope it will give you a better idea of the type of story it will be. I did say that it is not a romance novel, and it's not, but I never said there wouldn't be any sex in it, now did I? ;-) Enjoy!
Chapter One
Lightning bolts of fire and ice shot up and down Petri's spine as she moved over the human man on the bed. Her short, slender body bowed with the sensations that washed over her. His lust was like a fountain of cold water on a hot day, and she was parched. It had been too long; she needed this. Badly.
Looking down on him as she slid her body onto his raging cock, she smiled. This client had wanted to be blindfolded; he said he enjoyed the mystery. That was fine with her. There was more mystery in Petri than most humans would know what to do with, and now she didn't need to be careful to keep her own eyes shut. This was going to be a good feed, and there was no way she could have kept them from glowing.
The man moaned in pleasure. Being fed upon felt as good for humans as feeding did for Petri. None of her clients knew she sipped from their energy, their life force, when she fucked them. All they knew was that she was one hell of a talented dolly. A win-win for all involved.
This client was a regular; Petri had shown him many times how good it could be with her. Some of her regulars came to crave her, almost like the dream dust that was sold below. They were guaranteed repeat business, and she always made sure to show them a good time. After all, that was her job.
The energy of the man's lust filled Petri as she glided up and down on top of him. She shivered. It was renewing, rejuvenating. She couldn't get enough. Leaning down, she pressed her cat-like mouth to his lips and kissed him. Their tongues tangled as he responded, and she undulated her hips against his, faster and faster. As their sex intensified, Petri drank deeper, swallowing down the man's whimpers and sighs of ecstasy as she swallowed his desire.
Lost in the haze of feeding for the first time in days, Petri didn't realize it at first when the man went suddenly still underneath her. His penis remained stiff and eager inside her, and she continued to ride it, draining his energy, until she felt the cold, clamminess of his skin. Her heart skipped a beat.
Swinging her leg over him, she clambered off his body and knelt beside him on the bed. She grabbed his shoulder, shaking him, but there was no response. He was as still and cold as death.
Petri's breath froze in her chest as she tried to suppress her rising panic. She slapped him, hard, across his face, trying to provoke a response. There was nothing. Leaning down, she put her ear against his chest, listening for something, anything. Any sign that a spark of life remained in the man. She wasn't sure, but she thought she might have heard a faint fluttering within.
Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and put her hands on his chest, fingers splayed. She had never done this before, but her instincts said it might work. The process of drawing energy off others had come automatically when she reached physical maturity. It was as natural as breathing to her. But reversing the flow of energy… That was something else altogether. She forced herself to focus; all she could do was try.
Reaching down into the well of energy within her, Petri tried to snag a wisp of it. It was like trying to catch fog. Gritting her teeth, she concentrated and managed to grab a small piece of the mist and tease it up, out of herself and back into the man. It flowed at a slow trickle, but it did flow. The man took a deep breath and Petri slumped in relief.
Before she could stop him, or even turn away, the man reached up and snatched the blindfold from his face. When he saw her glowing eyes, he shrieked, "Mgeni!"
Petri swore. She knew she didn't have much time. Sitting up, she sucker-punched her client hard in his stomach. The man folded over, clutching his gut, just like she knew he would. As her former client coughed and wheezed, Petri scrambled into her clothes and out the window. She couldn't risk trying to make it through the crowded club below; she needed to be gone before the man recovered enough to sound the alarm.
As she scurried down the fire escape, Petri cursed herself. She should have known she needed to be more careful! After having gone without feeding for several days, she shouldn't have broken her fast in such a public place! At least, he wasn't dead. That was the one thing that might save her. If she had killed an Upworld client in Under City, the houses would have banded together and hunted her no matter where she went.
The funny thing about Under City, it could be a wild, crazy place, but only within certain parameters. In some ways, it was as restrictive as the world above. Upworld citizens were fair game for cons, beatings, muggings, pick-pocketing, and many other crimes, but only as long as they left Under City breathing. After all, they came for the thrill of danger, so, in many ways, the denizens of Under City were just giving them what they paid for.
But too many deaths were bad for business, and that the houses would not allow. The only way an Upworld citizen could be killed in Under City with the blessing of the houses was if they killed an underworlder without paying for it first. Life was cheap in Under City, but it wasn't free. And no one left Under City without paying their bill. No one.
But even though the man was alive, Petri's life was still in danger. She had survived thus far in Under City because everyone thought she was a Human/Paka hybrid. Half-breeds weren't especially loved, even among the generally open-minded underworlders, but they were tolerated. Arcanum, on the other hand, were universally despised, and the glowing eyes and energy draining power were unmistakable. Petri was now a marked woman, and it wouldn't be long before half the underworlders in the Southern sector were howling for her blood. She needed to get away.
The problem was, where could she go? Each sector of Under City was isolated from the other sectors, and the only way to get from one sector to another was to travel through Upworld. And the only way underworlders were allowed into Upworld was if they had a pass. Even if she did manage to get to another sector, that would only be a temporary reprieve. Word would travel and her appearance was too distinctive for her to be able to disappear into a crowd of strangers.
No, the only possible way for her to survive was for her to find passage off world. Petri grimaced. She might as well wish for the planetary presidency.
The moment she reached the ground, Petri looked both ways down the alleyway she was in. But everything seemed normal. The bass from club Abracadabra throbbed through the street, lending the night a syncopated heartbeat. The fast food dollies who worked the crowd outside the club seemed to be doing a brisk business. The groans and gasps of pleasure from their johns blended with the music.
Other than the regular street activity, nothing was happening. Maybe the hottest club in the sector wasn't the worst place this could have happened. At least, she was central. It wouldn't be hard to get anywhere in the sector from here, if she could only decide where it was she should go.
Hiding and lying low were out of the question. There were too many people in Under City who would be thrilled to earn a couple easy creds by informing on her. Which also made going home impossible, that was the first place they would look for her. The distant rumble of a subway broke through her temporary paralysis and got Petri moving.
But she didn't run. Running in Under City was never a good idea. Running meant trouble and attracted attention. Predators chased those who ran, and Under City was full of predators.
A short, brisk walk brought her to the transit station just as a train pulled up to the stop. It wasn't a perfect solution, it wasn't even a good solution, but at least it was a stopgap that might give her the time she needed to formulate a plan. Being a moving target was better than being a stationary one.
She hopped on the train and found an empty car. As she dropped into a seat at the back of the car, she sighed. It had started out as such a good night.
I hope you enjoyed it! Naturally, as I write this story, there will be more peeks to come. Thank you all for stopping by today, and don't forget to check back for the next installment of Mistral Dawn's Musings!! :-)
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