Page 40 of Black Star

More. More intense. More violent.

It was the nature of the vampire.

The urgency had been muted somewhat since his encounter with Diamond, but he still didn’t trust himself. When he’d awakened to find her gone, he’d almost gone into a rage. Howdareshe leave him when he needed her like this! Then he remembered telling her to be gone when he woke. He knew he’d hurt her, but he also knew he needed to have her again. She was, quite possibly, the only person, man or woman, within a million light years who could take what he had to give and come out intact.

At least, he hoped she had. Even through the haze of the Blood Burning, her fate weighed heavily on his mind. She didn’t deserve to be abused by a vampire. No woman did.

When the chime rang softly, he snapped, “Enter.” Ranier stood outside his door, a furious expression on his face.

“She thought you’d sleep for several hours. Why are you awake?”

“She was gone. My body recognized it and came out of hibernation.”

“You almost killed her, you know.”

“I figured as much.” Viktor tried to control his tone as much as possible, but he still heard a waver that shouldn’t have been there. “She will survive, then?”

Ranier scowled and entered his cabin. The doorwhooshedclosed behind him. “Barely. How could you possibly do that to her? She was trying to help you!”

“Ranier, do you knowanythingabout vampires?”

He pushed a hand through his hair before answering. “I know more than I ever wanted to know, including what you’re going through. I know I sound petulant, but even though you’re quite possibly the best friend I’ve ever had, I still cringe when I think about what I walked in on earlier. Since I met you, I’ve always thought of you as completely in control. Even when we knew you were pushed beyond your endurance, I still never thought you were capable of anything like that.”

Viktor had to sink his fangs into his lower lip to keep from losing the fragile hold he had on his control. “I know you don’t understand, Ranier, but I did everything I was capable of doing, including giving her a way out. She refused to take it -- even taunted me with her willingness to let me fuck her into oblivion. I happen to believe she knew exactly what she was getting into. I regret it, but I can’t change it.”

The smaller man paced the room a couple of times before turning back to Viktor. “I was going to the captain to recommend we destroy you, no matter how much the thought sickened me, but Diamond made me promise I wouldn’t. She said you’d be better after this.” He raised an eyebrow. “Are you?”

“I am.” Viktor could say that without hesitation. “But I’m far from past the crisis. If I’m lucky, I can hold out until we get to Draggoon. Once I’m on my home world, I can get the relief I need.”

“Then maybe I can keep my promise and tell the captain you’re getting better and do so with a straight face.” He sighed and scrubbed a hand through his hair again. “I have to lock you in, Viktor. You understand?”

The hurt and confused young man stomped out of Viktor’s cabin and Viktor heard the soft chime of the security locks enabling. He wasn’t sure how far they were from Draggoon, but if it was too far, and Diamond was gone too long, Ranier might regret letting him live.

Chapter Three

“I understand you have personal issues with this, Ranier, but I need you to be objective.” Captain Damon Singh stared at Ranier with hard eyes, completely the captain looking out for the welfare of his ship, not the man who considered Viktor his friend as well as second in command. Ranier admired him for his ability to separate the friend from the monster.

“I can’t give you an objective opinion, Captain.” Ranier scrubbed a hand over his face. “Everything military in me is screaming for someone to kill him, but I can’t ask my men to do something I’m not willing to do myself. I think Diamond knows his condition better than anyone, and if she’s willing to bet her life that he’s more stable now, I have to take her word for it. I have to believe there is still hope of saving him.”

Damon paused a moment before asking in a tired voice, “Is Diamond all right? Phoebe is very worried.” Ranier hadn’t been on theBlack Starvery long, but he’d been there long enough to have learned to read between the lines. Phoebe might very well be worried, but Damon was equally so.

“She’s in Medical, and came through better than I thought she would when I first found her, but it’s going to take several days at best for her to recover.”

Damon sighed. “We need to get Viktor back to Draggoon, but we’ve got another problem.”

“Why does there always seem to be a problem? Why can’t things work out without incident just once? What’s the crisis now?” Ranier sounded a tad bit snitty, but he really wanted to be done with this. The emotional strain was more than he could bear at the moment.

Damon raised an eyebrow, but ignored Ranier’s outburst. “We have bigger problems than one vampire run amok. We’re being followed. The Hand of God, as well as several Vok’nair war ships.”

“What do you think they’re after?” Ranier puzzled.

“Most likely, the Hand exchanged information on the location ofBlack Starfor help in regaining the women. No matter what, I’m afraid we’re in for a rough time. We’ll have no problem outrunning them, but if they pick up a fleet of Vok’nair ships, they may very well have a good chance of succeeding in taking back theBlack Star.”

“Unless the vampires help us. Is that likely?”

Damon snorted and stood from his desk. Stalking to the large viewscreen that served as a window to the immediate area outside his office, he grunted. “You see how much trouble we have with Viktor. Can you imagine a whole planet of vampires on the rampage? No. They won’t help unless they’re threatened. To be honest --” Damon turned back to face Ranier. “-- given the potential for disaster, it’s probably best they don’t.” He smiled. “We’ll worry about that when the time comes.”

Ranier turned to go.

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