Mira by Leighann Phoenix Page B

tanned leather skin, dark blue eyes, and a gentle smile.   But in the endless moments she waited for him to touch her a monstrous image was steadily distorting the one she was trying to hold onto.  
                Rillan watched her tremble.   The beast in him was pleased at the sight and smell of fear.   He craved it.   There was something sweeter about blood tainted with terror.   He moved slowly, letting his icy touch make her flinch beneath him.   Rillan pressed her head to one side and leaned down to bite her.   In one swift movement, his fangs sliced into her flesh.  
                Mira whimpered in pain as she felt the sharp piercing, and then the rhythmic pressure as he sucked her blood from her.   The darkness began to swim.   Tears squeezed from her eyes, and she started to relax as she surrendered to the situation.   Rillan’s cold heavy body pressed down on her, pinning her beneath him.   His icy grip on her arms was painful as he held her down, in case she decided to fight it. Mira was finding it difficult to breath e as the cold pressure on her chest, the pain searing through her neck, and the spinning darkness enveloped her.   As she felt her consciousness slipping away, she surrendered gratefully to the black.   This is what it feels like to suffocate and die.
                Rillan took his time finishing his meal.   He was careful not to take any more than he needed.   Warmth flooded through his body, both from the blood and from being pressed against her.   He reveled in the feeling, as the chill left him.   It wouldn’t last long, but he would enjoy it while he had it.   When he was sated, he lay down beside her and pulled her into his arms.   Her back was to his chest, and her head rested on his shoulder.   His body shifted back to normal, and he sighed contentedly as he held her.
                Elizabeth drifted back into his mind.   That was the last time he allowed himself the pleasure of keeping a woman in his arms as she slept.   He took in a deep breath and let it out, staring up at the cave ceiling.   She had been very different though.   Elizabeth lost her mind almost the instant she had been delivered to him.   It was easy enough to ignore.   She wasn’t crazy in most ways.   Her mind simply chose not to acknowledge the demon half of him.  
                Elizabeth behaved as if she was his lover or wife, and life here was perfectly normal.   At first it bothered him.   But quickly he came to accept it as a reasonable way for her to cope with what he was.   Elizabeth smiled and loved him, until he changed or needed blood.   Then she would become catatonic until it was over.   It was with Elizabeth that he learned to eat normal food again.   She would cook dinner for him, make him clothes.   After a while he even grew to like the way she adapted.   It allowed him to forget himself when he was with her.
                Now there was Mira.   Rillan wondered how long she could last down here.   If she were living amongst her people, he had no doubt that she would be the wife of a powerful person.   She would give birth to warriors or teachers.   She had the inner strength to know and accept what he was, the intelligence to be afraid of it, but the bravery to survive it.   He held her tighter.   He knew she could survive indefinitely down here.   He would bleed her dry and watch her die slowly.  
                Rillan pressed his face into her hair and took a deep breath.   This was exactly what he wanted for as long as he had been here.   Now he was finding himself unable to justify keeping her.   The others were one thing.   Sacrifices that were pitiful excuses for what the people I protect are capable of .   To some extent I’m helping their population by eliminating such weak excuses for human beings.   Mira, however, deserves to be married and have children.   Things I can never