I'm not bad--I'm just written that way BLOGFEST POST

For once, this isn't an excerpt, but it might be if some readers have their way. This is a short story I wrote for my other blog this week to get it out of my head, but it seems "right" for this blogfest. It falls into the same category of bad as Jessica Rabbit in my opinion.

*Not appropriate for the young or easily weirded out*

I woke up dead in a trunk. You wouldn't believe how often this happens to me. I pulled my stilettoed heel up and kicked against the roof.

"Hey...," a voice yelled, hitting the top of the trunk. "Keep those heels off the upholstery and give me a second."

Fair enough... since he'd asked sort of nicely.

A moment later, the trunk popped open. I shielded my eyes from the bulb in the dimly-lit garage. It was night--barely. A hand reached out to help me from the well-padded trunk. As far as trunks went, it hadn't been bad. The hand was nice and strong... and living. I inhaled the strong scent of blood rushing and mmmmm... he wore a nice subtle cologne. Expensive... for a guy with callused hands. My eyes adjusted and I looked around. The living didn't like if you focused overly on them. I was in a two-car garage with a nice vintage and restored barracuda convertible. Sweet. I love a man who appreciates vintage.

Now... the man. He was tall and broad and muscular. His hair was long and black but pulled back in a ponytail. He had eyelashes women killed for surrounding dark brown eyes. He could use a shave, but it made him look rough and... sweet heaven... a type O. It had been too long since I'd eaten.

Tall and dark must have noticed the extra pallor of my skin because he reached behind him and handed me a glass of blood.

"It's warm," I said, trying not to salivate.

He pulled a rubber strap from around his bicep and tossed it in the trash. "Straight from the source as it were. I wasn't expecting to bring a guest home. My name is Mitch and the Arch told me there might be a fanged friend there last night. You took a bad hit before they threw you out in the alley for the light to kill you. I got you just in time."

The blood was calling to me but this was a game I played with myself. It was about proving I wasn't an animal. I lifted up my shirt to make the waist chain with the "arch angel" sign visible. "I'll show you mine if you show me yours."

He smiled. "I already saw yours. It's the reason you made it into Angeline's trunk and not into a pile of dust." Regardless, he lifted up his shirt to show the tattoo of a "Arch Angel" friend.

"Angeline?"

He gestured at the car. "Angeline doesn't put up with any old vamp hanging out in her."

I glanced back at the car in approval. "Nice, Mitch."

"Mitch is sometimes nice... especially to women who come with a name." He raised his eyebrows, looking at me. He'd been keeping his distance since I got out of the car. I wasn't sure if it was because he was polite or still unsure of me. "Arch Angel" would have hunted me down if I was dangerous... it's what we did. Still... I could understand some caution if you had a beating heart.

"My name is Darcy," I said. I held up the glass. "You got a straw?"

He laughed and walked through the door into his house, opening a drawer and handing the straw out through the doorway but then staying inside. Drat. I could feel a pulse of energy from the doorway. He was staying inside, and he hadn't invited me in. Stupid "domain of the living" block. Not that there was anything wrong with his garage, but it might have been nice to go inside. Still, I wasn't about to ask or beg. He knew our kind. He knew the rules.

I stabbed the straw into the glass and sipped. Oh... wow. I'd been living on animal blood or cold donor. This was heaven. It slid across my tongue like syrup. The fact that he was there made the experience intense. I could smell the heat from his blood pouring off his body from a few feet away and the warmth sliding down my throat spreading through my body. He was watching with interest too. Have mercy on a girl, Mitch. I felt like I was going up in flames in front of him. When I finished and set the glass aside, I took a moment to compose myself.

"Was it enough?" he asked from inside the doorway.

"In some ways," I said, trying to cope. Yeah. This was why you went with animal or donor blood.

"Hmm.... What does that mean?"

His blood was pounding inside me. I closed my eyes. I wasn't sure how much he knew about vampires who'd gone clean. This was both good and bad. It was bad in that it was just... sooo... good. Okay. I needed him.

I swallowed the blood lust. "So, how much do you know about vamps and blood lust, Mitch?"

"Some. I know that you're not going to kill me to suck my blood. That's a myth."

I opened my eyes. I'm sure he could see my pupils were fully dilated. "It's not that kind of lust, Mitch," I whispered. Okay, if I sat on the stool and concentrated on anything other than the man in the house... why did he have to be in the house? If he was still in the garage, I'd have pinned him to the ground by now and been having my wicked way with him.

Mitch chuckled and leaned against the doorway. "So... this is blood lust?"

"In the flesh...." I gestured to my body that was vibrating with need.

"Does it get worse than this?"

"Does it need to?" I asked him, annoyed.

He shrugged. I stood up and walked toward the door, my black leather stiletto boots clicked on the garage floor, and he watched my hips sway as I approached, but he didn't move. He did know I couldn't come in. Well, if he could tease... so could I.

"Put out your hand," I whispered.

He did, without hesitation, and with his eyes saying, "I dare you."

The doorway pushed against me as I tipped my face in. I put my cheek against his palm, feeling the brush of callused palms on my supernaturally soft skin. I let my lips brush the pads of his fingers, and I heard his heart speed up. You ain't seen nothing yet, baby. I bit the tip of his finger. A moment later, he jerked back. It wasn't the pain.

"What was...?" he mouthed, his eyes dilated.

"You... your blood is already inside me, Mitch," I whispered. "When it's fresh like that... to a vampire whose been on cold or beast." I moaned. I was to the point of aching with need. I needed to touch him. "Mitch... you... your blood... it feels the same to my body." I'd let him get just a taste of that... just a bit. Since we shared blood currently... we could share mental images... if we were touching.

He swallowed, trying to tame his body's response. "Will it be like that....?"

I smothered a smug smile. "Better. Once you go vamp, Mitch...."

He didn't say anything. The silence hung between us. His body was still resonating heat but I felt the cold of the garage behind me. Was he expecting me to beg? He could wait all night for that. Wow... he'd already regained control. I'd never seen anyone able to block and resist so well. His heart was slowing to a lazy beat. Oooh... and that was so sexy too. I wanted... needed to feel his pulse with my skin.... to hear his heartbeat from his chest pressed up against my cheek. I had some major, major needs.

Mitch didn't move.

My whole body groaned in defeat. Part of me wanted to try out begging. Crap. Pride could be a pain. I was going to be in bad shape. I wanted to crawl back into the trunk and wait the bloodlust out.

Mitch took a step back from the doorway. "Come on in, Darcy. Let's make you a little more comfortable."