Page 16 of You Only Die Twice

Red tinges my vision as I stare at Gloria. All the anger and hatred from earlier fills me, coalescing into a maelstrom of emotion that is hard to control. This whole time I thought Luka was the threat. Never once did I even dream it could be Gloria. The fact that I even felt conflicted in my feelings earlier sickens me.

It doesn’t matter that I didn’t know she was still alive. Now that I know she is and how she became this way, I feel nothing towards her. Maybe one day Katrina will betray me in the same way, but if I turn her, I’ll know. I’ll hear her traitorous thoughts and rip out her throat before she can even act on them. Just that thought sends a ripple of pain through my heart, and I know then that even if she ever does betray me, I won’t be able to do a damn thing about it.

Katrina truly is my weak spot. There’s really no way I can ever kill her, even if she somehow turns into a cheater like Gloria. Deep down, I know Katrina will never do that. I don’t know how I know, but it’s my gut intuition.

It’s normally never wrong, but Gloria proved I can’t always trust it. Why is it then that Katrina feels different? Is it because I can actually see a difference now? With Gloria, I was so happy to finally find someone that wasn’t opposed to some of my darker cravings. I never let myself believe that she could ever be anything other than the woman she showed herself to be.

But after playing with Katrina, I know Gloria’s submission was false. There was no fire behind it. It was all a controlled facade. Though I don’t know what her end game was, she never submitted to me because she truly craved it. There was no loss of control, no wild abandon. Not like Katrina. Katrina gave herself to me completely, with no reservations.

When was the last time Gloria did that for me? Even after giving her multiple orgasms, she thanked me, kissed my lips, and turned over to sleep. Perfunctory. Why did I never see it before? Because I was young and in love. That’s why. I let my thoughts get clouded. But now that I’m a vampire, now that I have far more sense than before, my thinking is clear.

Luka watches me, his lips widening into a grin as he studies my inner monolog. This is exactly what he wants. He wants to make me a cuckold to Katrina, to bow to every whim of hers I hear, but I refuse. Gloria may have made a mockery out of me, but that will never happen with Katrina.

Even if she turns out to be just as innocent as she appears, I’ll always watch her. I’ll always know. At first, the very idea of turning her into a vampire was repugnant, but if I’m the one that turns her, her thoughts will be as clear as her speaking to me.

With that knowledge, I’ll either keep her so satisfied that all she can think about is Luka or me, or Luka will probably kill her. Pure and simple. Closing my eyes, I take several cleansing breaths. I’m projecting. I know I am.

Katrina is not the one to blame here. She’s not the lying manipulative bitch that cheated on me, all the while feigning a headache or some such shit to get out of having sex with me.

Even now, Gloria’s doe eyes widen, filling with blood tears as she stares at me from under the implacable weight of Luka’s foot. She’s the enemy. She dared to threaten what meant the most to me. Without Katrina, my life would be empty, meaningless. She dared threaten the only sanctuary I had in this godforsaken place.

“What do you intend to do to her?”

“I’m feeling magnanimous. I already had her punishment planned out, but I would love for you to do the honors.” He slides his hand into his pocket and pulls out what looks like a cock cage, only this one doesn’t seem to have a lock.

Small spikes dot the metal surface, each tip glinting with wicked sharpness as he turns it in the light. My balls tighten as I note Gloria’s growing hysteria in my periphery. She’s terrified. As she should be. I never really played with fear. Did I enjoy the adrenaline rush when playing with a partner whose energy matched mine? Absolutely.

This is different. It’s visceral. Her terror is palpable on the air, a sour note that burns the back of my throat. Something deep within me stirs as her frame vibrates on the floor. At this point, Luka moves his foot, and in a blur of movement, Gloria is at my feet, her fingers clawing at the designer shoes he put me in.

I don’t care if she ruins them. Material things don’t mean much. The things that do mean anything are people. She was dead. She was supposed to be dead. My mind still reels as I try to come to terms with the apparition before me. She’s so real. So very much alive, well, as alive as one can be and still be a vampire.

The more I watch her beg for mercy with guttural grunts and moans, the more everything clicks into place, aligning my heart and mind. This is the closure I needed. I practically begged Luka for it, thinking he was the one responsible for her death. And in a way, he was, just not in the human sense of the word. My brain goes back to the ship, to the few interactions we had. I was convinced they were all just a feverish dream brought on by PTSD and hallucinations, but they were real.

Every fucking thing that happened to me was real. “Why?” The word is out before I can even keep it from leaving my lips. With a quirked-up smile, Luka bends over and removes the ring, allowing Gloria to speak. She doesn’t. Instead, she lays her head on my shoe and sobs.

At one time, the world revolved around her tears, her smiles, her needs and wants. I would have moved heaven and earth to make her happy. Not only was she my partner at work, but she was also my partner in life, my other half. Fuck, I had planned on proposing not too long in the future. But then she was dead. Ripped away. My heart went with her.

But now I see everything clearly. Every touch, every laugh, every sigh. It was all a lie. She never wanted me. She never craved my dominance the way she led on. My gaze drifts back to the blank screens, willing Katrina’s face to reappear, but Luka doesn’t indulge me. Why would he? Not once since I’ve been turned has he ever made anything easy on me.

Gloria whimpers, her ass rising up in the air as she forces the front part of her body even lower. As if somehow she can muster enough submission to quell the anger swirling deep in my heart. Her noises are irritating, pathetic to the core. I’m sure they’re just as fake as she is. She doesn’t want me to hurt her and will do anything to get out of this punishment.

“I will not repeat myself.”

Gloria rises up to her knees, the posture so reminiscent of earlier scenes. If not for the blood streaming down her face to gather in the hollow at the base of her neck, it would be just like any other play session.

“Why has so many connotations -.”

I wrap my fingers around the column of her neck, squeezing for a brief moment. “You know exactly what I’m asking you. No more games.”

“He offered me eternity.” Gloria shugs, her eyes taking on a dull glaze of helplessness. As if that one sentence can change the trajectory of our interactions, but it’s far too late for that now.

Every fiber in me demands recompense, and it’s not just for her actions while she was still alive. The very fact that she poses a threat to the new object of my obsession is too much to handle. With a jerk of my arm, I toss her away, ignoring the sickening thud as her head hits the ground.

A mere bump isn’t going to kill her. That would be wishful thinking. “Please,” she moans, her voice small and pitiful. “Please let me make it up to you.”

I glance up at Luka, looking to him for advice. She is no longer mine to control or punish, really. That’s Luka’s job. The moment she slept with him, she was no longer mine. The fact that he’s allowing me to help is a slight balm to the ravaged wound in my heart.

The problem is, there’s no form of punishment that will actually satisfy me. It’s not like anything I do will cause a lasting effect. One or two nights in her coffin, and she’ll be good as new. Then what? There will still be the matter of Katrina. If she threatened her life once before, she would do it again.