Chapter 17

"I think we're ready here."

Jennie nodded at Jisoo's comment as she peered around at their handiwork. Black tablecloths, blood-red roses on each table and dim lighting. It was ready.

"You'd better go change. The guests will start arriving in half an hour, and you and Lisa are supposed to be in the receiving line," the head editor warned. Jennie grimaced, but nodded and gestured to Taehyung that it was time to go. She started out of the ballroom.

Jisoo, Jimin and Tom had all already changed; they had been exiting one at a time to get into their costumes, leaving the others to continue decorating. Jennie and Taehyung were the only ones left. Jennie had deliberately put it off until now. She wasn't looking forward to telling Lisa that she was the star attraction at this ball. She knew she was not going to be pleased, and after the laughter and passion they had shared, she was fearful the annoyed and surly Lisa would return.

"Buck up," Taehyung said as they stepped out of the elevator. "Luc has loosened up quite a bit. she may take this in stride."

Jennie forced a smile for her coworker. She only hoped she was right. She felt guilty for not having told Lisa about this from the start, but she was a coward.

The vampire ball hadn't been her idea. Jimin had come up with it. She’d considered it a brilliant bit of promotion, and when Jennie had tried to talk her out of it, telling her that Lisa wasn't a very social person and that it might overwhelm her, Jimin had steamrolled over her protests. she had even ignored the fact that the conference attendees would have little time to prepare for the switch from the spy party that had originally been planned. Jennie was worried sick that half the attendees would arrive in trench coats, the other half in capes. It might all turn farcical!

These worries faded from her mind as she paused at the entrance to the suite. V pulled out his key card and unlocked the door. Jennie spotted Lisa immediately. She was seated on the couch, watching television. Her hair was wet and she was in a robe, obviously waiting to finish getting ready. She didn't notice their entrance at first, seemed instead quite involved with whatever she was watching. There was a look of abject horror on her face. What was she watching?

Jennie glanced at the TV, recognizing a rerun of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Lisa suddenly sat forward, a sound of disgust slipping from her lips. It sounded very much like "bitch," though Jennie couldn't be sure.

Aware that they had very little time to get ready for the party, she cleared her throat. "Er Lisa?"

She glanced at her sharply, a scowl on her face. "Did you see that? Buffy just staked that poor vampire. She had yet to even do anything untoward, she just crawled out of her grave and he staked her. That is just not right. He is taking out his problems with that Barbie fellow on vampires, that is what he's doing." Lisa muttered a curse as she turned back to the screen.

A little burst of laughter slipped from Taehyung's lips, as he headed for his room. "Urn, I'm going to get ready."

Jennie bit her lip as she watched him go.

"Look!" Lisa snapped, sitting forward again. "He's just done it again. Stake-happy is what he is. He's just staking them left and right, sometimes for no reason at all. This Buffy person is"

"Lis?" Jennie interrupted.

"Hmm?" she asked. Her gaze was still fixed on the screen.

"We have to get ready to go."

"Yes. I showered, I just have to dress. I was waiting for you to return to see what I am supposed to wear. I didn't know if you had another costume or he did it again!" she launched to her feet, glaring furiously at the screen. "Who writes this nonsense? We don't turn into slavering beasts when we bite, and did I turn into a puff of smoke when I was staked? No. No, I say. This is shameful nonsense. Just ridiculous. I ought to write and"

Jennie didn't catch the rest. She left Lisa waving her fist at the television and retreated to her room to collect the costume she had rented for her. So, Lisa had discovered television. It was a shame, really. It was even her fault. She had insisted that she watch TV that first night.

She was still ranting about writing to whomever was in charge of the Buffy show and straightening them out, when Jennie returned. She paused beside her and shook her head mournfully.

"I suppose I should be grateful that you haven't discovered sports yet. Some can be impossible when they're sports freaks," she commented.

Lisa tore her gaze away from the TV and snorted. "Sports. I saw what you people call sports. Sheesh. If you want sports, you should watch a joust. Now, that was a sport. Matches won, lives lost, blood shed."Her gaze dropped to the bag she held. "Is that for me?"

"Yes." Jennie handed it over. She started to turn away, but gasped in surprise when she caught her hand and tugged her off balance. Jennie landed in her lap with an ungraceful plop. Before she had quite recovered, her mouth covered hers and she subjected her to a thorough kiss.

"Oh," she sighed when it was over. Her mind was awhirl. Somehow her arms had crept around Lisa's neck, and she was plastered to her chest like a wet cloth.

"Hello," the vampire growled. Her hand slid up the inside of her leg, pausing to run over a bite mark she had left on her upper thigh.

Jennie stiffened and wiggled as a thick ache started between her legs.

"Does it hurt?" she asked quietly, rubbing her fingers over the mark.

"No." She reached down to try to stop her, but the straight skirt of her business suit was pulled tight over her legs. She couldn't hamper her.

She began to nibble at her ear, and her fingers slid further up her leg.

"Lis," Jennie protested, dismayed at how breathy she sounded. She tried for a firmer tone. "I have to get ready."

Lisa grunted and slipped a finger under the elastic of her panties. "You feel ready to me."

"Oh." She arched slightly into her caress. Her body was eager to recreate a little of the magic from that morning. Her mind, however, was lecturing her. The ball. Lisa was the star attraction. And Taehyung was just on the other side of the door. This last thought, more than any other, made her scramble out of Lisa's lap and away from her touch.

"I have to dress," she blurted. Rushing into her room, Jennie slammed the door on any comment she might have made, then leaned back against it, her hand to her chest. She was panting as if she had run a race, her legs trembling, her flesh tingling. And she was fighting her own instincts. She would have much rather taken her by the hand and dragged her to bed. In fact, she was hard-pressed not to do so right that moment. But duty called.

Duty. She sighed. She still had not told Lisa that she was the focal point of tonight's ball. She was feeling lusty now, but she wouldn't be once she learned what she'd gotten her into.

Forcing herself not to think of that, she pushed herself away from the door. She had to get ready. She had brought a long black gown of her own from home. She donned the slim sheath of black silk, then used makeup to give her skin the fine white sheen of bone china before adding a blood-red lipstick. That done, she released her hair from its bun and brushed it out until it fell around her shoulders in soft waves.

Deciding she was as done as she was going to get, Jennie grabbed the two pairs of vampire teeth she had brought and hurried out of her room.

Lisa was standing in the living room, dressed and ready to go. Jennie felt a gusty sigh slip from her lips at the sight. The woman looked absolutely fabulous in her black dress. She was every man and woman's fantasy. She really wished she wasn't about to anger her with the news she had to impart.

"You look ravishing," Lisa said solemnly.

Jennie forced a smile and walked forward, holding out one set of teeth.

Lisa glanced down with distaste at the cheap plastic vampire teeth, then stiffened. Her gaze shot back to her face. "Please say you jest."

Jennie bit her lip to stifle the laugh that was suddenly eager to burst from her; Lisa looked so horrified at the very thought of wearing the tacky teeth.

"Everyone will be wearing them," she informed her. "It's a vampire ball."

"I have my own teeth," she said with great dignity.

"Yes, I know. But no one will expect that. Please, just put them on. Please, Lisa?" She touched her arm.

Her gaze settled on her lips in a way she found most distracting; then she sighed heavily with exasperation. "Oh, very well."

She snatched one of the pairs of teeth from her palm and popped them into her mouth. Then she proceeded to move them about, making faces and shifting her jaw in an effort to make them more comfortable. "Vees ore asrocious."

Jennie blinked at her slurred words. Deciding it would be best not to encourage her whining, she shrugged and popped the second set of teeth into her own mouth, then understood exactly what she meant. They were atrocious. They were damned uncomfortable. They were so bad, she almost considered leaving both pairs behind.

Taehyung sauntered into the room in his own tuxedo and cape. "You two look great," she said.

He smiled at them both, revealing a pair of realistic-looking vampire teeth.

Lisa immediately scowled. "Ou ee? 'Is eeth ook eal. An a amn ight ore omorta-ul."

Jennie was trying to translate her attempted words when Taehyung winced. "Man, Jennie," she said. "Where did you get your teeth? Sheesh. Those are so out-of-date it isn't funny."

Jennie glared at her friend's betrayal. Deciding to ignore both of them, she headed for the door, saying, "Let's go, I don't want to be late." At least, she tried to say that. It came out more like " 'et's o ah own an oo ee ate." Sighing as Taehyung burst out laughing, she dragged the door open and led the way out.

Lisa tried to remove her teeth in the elevator, but Jennie managed to convince her to put them back in. She then removed her own, cleared her throat and said, "Luc, I really should have mentioned this before, but"

"I a uh oco oin uh uh awe."

"What?" Taehyung gaped at her, then glanced at Jennie. "What did she say?"

"She said, 'I am the focal point of the ball,'" she answered distractedly. Then she asked Lisa. "How did you know?"

Lisa spat her teeth out before answering, "Wendy told me."

"Oh." Jennie bit her lip and surveyed her face, trying to figure out why she wasn't angry. "It wasn't my idea," she informed her quietly.

"It really wasn't," Taehyung said. "This was Jimin's brainchild. Jennie tried to talk her out of it."

When Lisa merely nodded and didn't say anything else, Jennie frowned. "You aren't angry?"

She shrugged. "I was a tad annoyed at first. But it's only a couple of hours out of my life. I have a lot of hours to fill, Jennie. This whole conference is barely a heartbeat of time for me."

Taehyung looked perplexed. Jennie wasn't perplexed as to Lisa's meaning she had lived hundreds of years, and would no doubt live hundreds more; these few days were barely a grain of sand on the beach of her life but what she did wonder about was whether her words held a secret meaning for her. She was one of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of women who had passed through her life in those hundreds of years. Was the relationship they were enjoying just as unimportant to her as this conference? Was she just another grain of sand?

The idea bothered her, yet it made perfect sense. What else could she be? In another twenty-four hours she would be back at home in Seoul, and she would be back in Jeju. Life would go on as it always had. Eventually, she would meet some nice man, settle down and have a couple of kids, grow old. And Lisa would be still young, sexy, and taking some other woman to the heights of ecstasy. The idea really bothered her.

Taking a deep breath to try to dispel the ache in her heart, Jennie put her teeth back in her mouth and followed Taehyung out of the elevator.

"There you are!" Jisoo greeted as they arrived. She stood just inside the ballroom doors with Lady Sana and Jimin. "You're just in time. One or two people have arrived, but that's all."

"Good. It would be shameful to be late for my own party," Lisa said dryly. She gave the publisher a glance that made the man shift uncomfortably.

"Yes, well," Jimin muttered, but Lisa had already turned to greet Lady Sana.

Lis smiled at the woman in her lovely crimson gown, took her hand and bowed low over it. "Lady Sana," she said, pressing a kiss to the back of her hand. "You look and smell good enough to eat."

Lady Sana gave a good-natured laugh at this, but Jennie tensed. She distinctly recalled her almost biting the woman. She also recalled that she had yet to replace Lisa's emergency blood supply. As far as she knew, she needed more than the blood she’d gotten from her this morning while they made love. She'd meant to make a quick trip to the blood bank at some point today, but it had slipped her mind. And now Lisa must be starving. And no doubt in pain from lack of blood.

Still, she didn't look to be in bad shape. She peered at Lisa as she laughed and talked to Jisoo and Lady Sana. She was a touch pale, but not gray as she had been. And there were no pained lines on her face.

Jennie considered the matter as she reminded Lisa to put her teeth back in, and they took their positions at the door to greet the ball attendees. She concluded that they would have to leave the ball early and rob the blood bank again. She hated to do it. Blood banks were always short of blood. But Lisa was as needy as any patient, and she could hardly let her suffer.

They were at the door for an hour before Jisoo announced it was time to circulate. Jennie stayed close to Lisa, afraid that she might out of desperation bite one of the guests. She might not have worried so much if women didn't keep coming up, asking to have their picture taken with her doing just that. She could only imagine the torture she must be suffering, pretending to bite their necks. It was rather like asking a dieting woman to hold a forkful of cheesecake in her mouth all night and not chew.

Aside from that, though, everything went fine. Well except for the damned teeth she had supplied. It was terribly difficult to speak coherently with them in and Lisa's dropped into her wineglass at least three times as she tried to drink. The fourth time she dropped them, Jennie caught Lisa's arm and dragged her to a stage across the ballroom. Slipping backstage, she led her through the first door she came to, flicked on the lights and closed the door behind them.

Lisa peered around. The room was a dressing room, and she raisedher eyebrows. "What"

"Give me your teeth," Jennie interrupted, holding out her hand.

Lisa didn't bother to hide her relief as she popped them out. When she handed them over, Jennie walked back to the dressing table and tossed bothher fake fangs and hers into a garbage can. "You can use your real teeth. We'll just tell everyone that a nice fan saw the trouble you were having and offered you a spare pair."

She turned, giving a start when she found her directly behind her. She hadn't heard her follow. Managing a smile despite her suddenly tripping heart, she said, "We should probably wait a few minutes before going back. I'm not sure how long it usually takes to put in teeth like Taehyung has, but I imagine the glue needs a few moments to dry."

"Hmm." Lisa ran a hand up her arm, smiling when she shivered.

Jennie tried not to look ready to leap on her. The woman had just to touch her and she wanted her. Dear God, her legs were shaking. Clearing her throat, she shifted away and sank onto the upholstered bench in front of the dressing table. Turning to face the mirror, she set her purse down, took out her lipstick and quickly applied a fresh coat. Her eyes darted to the woman standing behind her when she placed her hands on her shoulders.

Lisa didn't say anything, just caught her gaze in the mirror. Jennie's mouth went dry. She swallowed at the sight of the golden fire sparking out of her eyes. She recognized that look. She had nearly burned her alive with it this morning. Lisa wanted her.

Her hands slid off her shoulders, and Jennie's gaze shifted to follow her hands as they dropped down to cover her breasts. The dress had no back, which meant she'd had to forgo a bra. There was nothing between her hands and her breasts except for black silk.

"Lisa"

"Shhh." She placed one knee on the bench by her hip, then nudged her head to the side. Urging back her hair, she placed a kiss on her neck.

Jennie leaned back into her and watched in the mirror. A sigh slipped from her lips as she ran her thumbs over her erect nipples. Then she removed one hand and raised it to catch her chin and turn her head. she kissed her. Jennie moaned, opening to her, arching into her caress, her hands sliding up her arms toward her shoulders.

She was taken by surprise when she suddenly lifted her to her feet. "What?"

"Come," was all she said. Then she was leaving the room and pulling her behind her. Jennie thought she was taking her back to the party, but she led her onto the curtained stage. she quickly crossed it. Jennie tried to follow quietly, knowing all that stood between them and the ballroom full of people was the stage's closed curtain, but her high-heeled shoes went click-click-click as she walked. Lisa led her down the stairs on the opposite side and out a door.

"Where are we going?" Jennie hissed, glancing nervously back down the hall at the doors to the ballroom.

Lis stopped at the elevators and pushed the button. "You look tired," she said. "You worked too hard today. You need rest."

Jennie spoke sharply. "Lis, we have to Ohh," she cried as the elevator doors opened and she tugged her inside.

"Lisa," she repeated. She pushed the button for their floor, but Jennie slipped between her and the panel and hit the open button. "We have to" She nearly swallowed her tongue when she pressed close against her back and slid her hands up to cup her breasts. She let go of the elevator button to grab her hands. "Lisa!"

She ground her lower body against her buttocks, and she closed her eyes as she felt her hot body against her. The elevator's doors closed, and the car started to rise. "A nap does sound good," she breathed. Then she shook her head. "No, we have to"

She swallowed her words again as she bent to catch her legs just above the knees. Her hands skimmed up over her skin, sliding under her skirt as she straightened.

Jennie groaned and widened her stance. She cupped her between the legs with both hands and pressed her back against her.

"You want me."

"I want you," Jennie echoed. Then she blinked her eyes. "Hey!"

Struggling out of her hold, she whirled to scowl at her. "Don't pull that mind-control crap on me."

"Don't you want me?"

Jennie merely scowled harder. She knew she wanted her. She couldn't have slipped inside her mind if she didn't. Still, that didn't matter. She was finding it difficult enough to fight her desires and do what was expected of her having her take control of her mind was not helping. And she had slipped in so easily!

The elevator stopped, the doors opened, and Lisa grabbed her hand and pulled her out.

Jennie tried to dig her feet in as she dragged her up the hall. "Lisa. One more hour at the ball. One hour. Then we can go visit the blood bank and take care of your little problem. We can't. Okay, half an hour," she argued desperately as she stopped at their door and used her key card. "Half an hour more at the ball!"

She tugged her inside, pushed the door closed, then walked to the couch.

"Or maybe we could make a quick trip to the blood bank now, then go back to the ball," Jennie pleaded. Lisa dropped to sit on the couch, still holding her hand. "We can take care of your need for blood, then go back"

"Jennie," Lisa interrupted.

"What?" she asked warily.

"I do not need blood." she tugged her off balance and into her lap. "All I need is you."

Jennie didn't get a chance to respond; Lisa prevented it by sealing her lips with hers. She kept her mouth closed at first, ignoring the temptation to kiss her back as she struggled to retain control. But her lips weren't the only thing moving on her, one of her arms was around her back, the fingers having slipped through the side of her dress to caress the ticklish skin under her arm and along side her breast. The other was working busily at the ties of her gown at her shoulder.

Jennie moaned deep in her throat, but managed to keep her lips shut as first one shoulder tie was pulled free, then the other. The material pooled around her waist, and Lisa gave up trying to kiss her and bent her head to her breasts.

"Damn," Jennie breathed as she suckled one nipple, then the other. "Screw the ball."

Grabbing her by the hair, she dragged her head back up and kissed her voraciously. This was their last night together. Jimin and her job could go to hell. She was going to make the most of this.

Jennie heard Lisa growl in response to her surrender; then she set to work with a passion. Her hands were everywhere, skimming her breasts, her waist, her hips, sliding up her thighs.

Jennie wasn't satisfied simply being the recipient of her touch, and with her help, she shifted to straddle her on the couch, forcing the narrow skirt of her dress up her legs to her hips. She wanted to touch and taste her everywhere. Breaking their kiss, she leaned back and set to work removing her clothes. She pushed the straps of her dress off her shoulders, revealing Lisa's perfectly shaped mounds.

Leaving both garments bunched up behind her on the couch, Jennie set to work on her breast. She breathed a sigh of relief once she had her bare to the waist. Sliding off her lap, she knelt on the floor between her knees and turned her attention to what's in between her thighs. When she got ahold of her panties, she slid it eagerly down her legs, Lisa made as if to stand, but Jennie shifted forward, blocking her ability to rise. She pushed her panties down and caught hold of her soaking sex. Lisa jerked and gasped as she took the lips of her sex into her mouth, groaned as she ran her lips down her hole and back to her clit again.

"Jennie," she growled and caught her hands in her hair. she couldn't seem to make up her mind what to do. She suspected she wanted to pull her head away but couldn't quite manage it and so simply held on as she pleasured her. she allowed her to do so for a moment or two; then she did exert pressure and pulled her head away.

She was growling again, her face strained, and Jennie knew she had woken the beast. Catching her by one arm, Lisa stood, pulling her up with her; then she kissed her roughly, her hands shoving her gown down her hips. It barely hit the floor before she caught the fragile cloth of her panties. she gave a tug that ripped them clean off.

Jennie gasped and trembled. Then her hand was there,her fingers delving between her legs. Jennie squeezed her eyes closed and pressed into her touch, aware that her legs wouldn't hold her upright for long. Lisa seemed to realize it, too, because she broke the kiss and turned her toward the couch. Pushing her onto her knees on it with her body, she followed her, bending her over its back and pressing close.

Jennie cried out and clutched the back of the couch as her fingers slid into and filled her. She cried out again as she reached her arms around, one hand catching under her breasts for support as Lisa grind herself against her.

It was fast and furious this passion, overwhelming them both quickly. Jennie never felt Lisa bite her, but she definitely noticed when she suffused her mind with her passion. Already teetering on the edge of fulfillment,

Jennie plunged into it, screaming out with ecstasy. Lisa's pleasure joined hers in her mind. But the sound seemed faint to her ringing ears, and Jennie feared she was about to