On the Prowl *Open Thread*

[anikatulani]

Anika rolled over in her bed reluctantly, still caressed by her trademark black satin sheets as she laid there wide awake yet still surrounded by darkness. The Sun had already set for the night, she could feel it in her bones yet she had no desire to leave the sanctuary that was the darkness of her room.

It was time to rise. Anika knew this due to the feeling of alertness that coursed through her slender lithe frame. Using her left arm she laid it across her face, covering her eyes though there was no need with black void that kept her enveloped, and sighed heavily. When did it come to this? When life was considered nothing more than an existence and to make it to another day was thought of as nothing more than having the strength to endure yet another twenty-four hours.

Aeron.

OF course she would know the answer to this question. No sooner than she asked the question mentally she had her answer, Aeron was the reason for her melancholy. Sure on outward appearances it would seem as though nothing fazed her. She was the beautifully cold and calculating vampire who thought of all aspects of her life and those around her in terms of how it could benefit her most. That was the image she portrayed to everyone and for the most part it was an accurate description of who she was. Time and existence made her that way. Enough of her life had been nothing more than submission; first as daughter offered as a gift of betrothal to the Sultan’s second son before he could even walk and talk, and second as a newly transitioned vampire under the control of her maker for nothing more than to prevent he the melancholy she now endured herself.

The cold, Calculating Councilwoman was not all she was however. There was a part of her, well hidden, that craved what all too many people had obtained: Love, happiness, and a sense of feeling complete in the sense that she belonged to only one and they in turn belonged to only her. It was a feeling that she almost thought she had obtained with Aeron. Sure he was young, immature at times, and a diva…but who else wouldn’t be that was placed in his unique situation. It also didn’t help that she always played the part of being very aloof and always pointing out that he was a pet and nothing more. Anika shuddered with a mix of pleasure and sadness as she thought of the duality of Aeron. He satisfied both of her needs, to have a man and a woman. It was perfect.

If she had anyone to blame of course it would be herself, not that she would dare make it known. To make that known would be to show weakness, and hell would freeze over before that happened.

With a many mental protestations and curses Anika gathered herself from the bed, going through the motions of hygiene and dressing as though on Autopilot. She had no patience for the cascade of ebony hair that she would normally set in rollers for a nice wave of soft curls that was her trademark, so after her shower she dried it and twisted it up in a sloppy bun and pinned it to her head. Not skipping on the makeup she placed on her signature kohl shadow, eyeliner, and mascara. She never varied from the look that was all too common to native Egyptians. Most people innocuously think it was a statement of fashion, having no true understanding that they actually wore it to protect their eyes from the blistering rays of the sun. It matters not what the significance behind it was but that now it was a statement of fashion and ultimately Anika’s signature look. After the hygiene and makeup ritual was completed she dressed in a coral blue thigh length sweater dress and thigh high boots and left to make her rounds down in the casino.

Within the safety of her room she had no need keep up a charade, plastering a look of haughtiness that, though she somewhat truly felt, was not as extensive as that of what she showed. But the Casino was nothing more than shark infested waters with great whites ready to pounce at the first scent of blood. No one would drag Anika under; it was the one vow she made herself, and the one vow she refused to break.

Walking around the casino she could tell everything was in order. The security personnel were carefully monitoring the gambling tables to make sure there were no humans trying to cheat the system, the belly dancers were out mingling and dancing to provide pleasant entertainment, the card dealers doing a great job of keeping their clients enthralled with the game at hand. It couldn’t possibly run and smoother than it was now, which was a little disappointing. Figuring the mood she was in she was hoping for an opportunity to wreak punishment and justice to those deserving of it. Anika sighed inwardly, a tightly ran ship created smooth sailing which is most important since she was a councilwoman. A councilwoman who cannot smoothly operate her own establishment couldn’t even possibly be thought of to handle Vampire affair with grace.

She continued thinking on, letting the thought in her head run off in mental tangent when a delectable scent slammed against her with the force of a head on collision at 70 miles per hour. The deliriously provocative scent of sandalwood snapped her back to reality and it was then that the light bulb went off. Sure Aeron was gone and that just plain sucked, but what better way to get over her slump than to find herself a scrumptiously muscled, thoroughbred of a man. One who reeks of masculinity, domination, power and stamina. One who was dark and methodical. Yes that was exactly what she needed. Aeron had spoiled her. Sure he didn’t look like anything of the sort when in his androgynous state, and he was more diva than macho, but when his male side came to play oh it was delicious. Normally Anika was the one to maintain control the entire time and make the pet submit to her demands. However When Aeron went man mode it was the complete opposite. He controlled the situation. Anika had a feeling that it might be due to the fact that Aeron stayed in his androgynous and female form so often his man side never had a chance to be exercised. With Anika the man was out, Aeron for the most part didn’t even control it. His man screamed for Anika. It has since left Anika yearning for a man daring enough to do just the same.

Surveying the crowd Anika was renewed and reinvigorated. She knew now how to get her groove back, now it was all of matter of finding the one to make it happen. Whoever she finds to do the job better bring his A game or may the Gods have mercy on his soul.

[Logan James]

One minute, thirty seconds more. Logan counted slowly in his head. If he could just avoid the behemoth with concrete fists for one minute, thirty seconds more, he could win the match and be 10000 blood credits richer. That would keep him from having to spill one drop of blood for the blood suckers for the next 10 months. The fight promoter was taking bets against him. The little vampire boy who took his last 50 credits bet it all on him, one hundred to one. That would give him another 5000 credits which he would split with the little lad. That’s almost 6 months room fare in the casino. No more public housing, some clothing, and he could get his bike fixed. That alone would give him extra credits, if he used it for transportation, if he got a real job. He had not been able to get a real job due to owing blood tax which was dangerous for him to pay.

One minute, Logan ducked as a giant fist came down on the ground centimeters from him. He feigned and dodged and came up with a crippling blow to the giant man’s gut. The creature looked like he ate 4 cows per day all on his own, fried in chicken fat and soaked in salad dressing. He was a disgusting blob but powerful and deadly. “That all you got, Fatso?” he growled with a grin and dodged again as the enraged creature swung at him again. “Forty-five seconds, tons of fun.” He ran toward him, slid between his legs, stood up and kicked him in the ass, causing him to stumble forward. The crowd roared with laughter. The 9 foot tall mutant turned on him with a roar of indignation, “Tangshu smash!” he shouted and swung both his fists together in an attempt to smash Logan’s head. Logan ducked just in time and rolled away from the monstrosity. “You’ll have to do better than that.” Logan baited the man. Just then, one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen walked by. He stopped and looked as her eyes met his. She was lust from head to toe and he was washed over by a wave of desire. He was suddenly hoisted into the air and turned around to face his attacker. “Tangshu smash!” the creature cried. Just then the bell rang, signaling the end of the match. “Times up!” Logan informed the man but he still didn’t put him down. “Tangshu SMASH!” it shouted and began to sqeeze him. He could feel and hear his adamantium bones popping painfully in their joints. Logan cried out in pain, then anger. “Times UP!” he growled and held up his fists. Blades extended from his knuckles. He raised his hand in the air as the creature laughed then brought his fist down, severing the mans arm. The smile disappeared from the creatures face, he had no choice but to drop Logan and he fell to his knees crying.

Logan wrapped an arm around his ribs as they slowly moved back into place and began to heal. The deep, dark bruises that had engulfed his chest and abdomen were fading, leaving his skin tone perfect once again. His muscles quivered with exhaustion as he crawled out of the ring and walked toward the fight boss. “I stayed in. Two minutes.” He held out his hand for the money.
“You cut off his fucking arm!” the fight boss exclaimed.

“Bollucks! ’e was bloody well crushin’ me. ‘twas 'im or me bones.” Logan spat back. “I won, I did the time, now gimme my credits!” he demanded.

The pit boss looked around him at his gang of bodyguards, “Who’s going to make me?”

Logan slid the blades form his hands once more but the unmistakable scent of perfume invaded his senses and those of all the males surrounding him. All eyes turned toward the source.
“Mistress…” the pit boss said softly and bowed his head respectfully.

[anikatulani]

Anika allowed the dizzyingly male scent that penetrated and shattered her thoughts to direct her through the Casino. Her body had finely tuned itself to this scent and directed her on autopilot. As the scent strengthened she realized the direction it was coming from; the fight ring.

Since fight rings were illegal in New Vegas the fight ring was obscurely located off in one of the back corners of the Casino. To the untrained eye it looked to be nothing more than one of the money rooms or security rooms for the casino. It had several guards out to protect its entrance and persons not employed by Anika as a part of her security team were personally escorted in and out of the only two doors to the room. Both doors were electronically connected so that only one could be open at a time, to prevent suspicion of a fight ring should shouts and scream emanate from the room. All of the walls were sound proofed to prevent suspicion. The first door opened into a small room with another door. The second door opened to reveal a downwards staircase that led to a massive mini arena, complete with betting booths, bars, and exotic dancers For those looking to pass their time by other means while waiting on their bets to be determined won or lost.

There were a total of four fight cages in the arena. Three of them were for amateur MMA fighter looking to fight their way into more money. The fourth and biggest fight cage of all is the one that garnered the most attention and the most revenue for Anika. It was Tangshu’s cage and the two minute challenge. That challenge alone held the biggest prize in her underground ring. 10,000 blood credits to the person who could last two minutes in Tangshu’s cage. Anika had never minded raising the bar so high, for it created a bigger desire to fight Tangshu, as well as generated betting revenue. People were allowed to bet on how much time the challenger would last in the ring or they could bet on whether or not the challenger had was it took to make it the full two minutes. In the history of the challenge only one person had lasted the two minutes to win the challenge, only die later that evening from the internal injuries at home Tangshu had inflicted. That had been a mess to cover up and forced Anika to have the challengers sign a consent form to stay in the 72 hours observation room should they last the two minutes, that way if anyone survived the two minutes she could make sure they didn’t die out in the public and create a problem for her. She already had a disposal plan for those idiotic enough to fight Tangshu and be killed in the process. The ones that survive the two minutes were the trickier ones to deal with.

Anika made her way down the stairs and into the massive room. There her nose faltered for only a short moment when the grotesque scent of Tangshu captured her sense of smell. He was the very reason she hated making her rounds down here. Sure Tangshu pleased her in the sense that he brought her a lot of money with his feral deadly nature, but was an abomination to look at and he always robbed her of her ability to feed for a couple of days. She normally left the monitoring of the arena to Riz and his team for that very reason; however her body denied her the fortune of having that luxury right now. Every cell screamed out to find the owner of the smell that captured her interest and it would not be denied.

It took Anika a few moments to orient herself and her nose to the detestable aroma down in the arena. Since she was in no rush she familiarized her nose as she walked around and eventually took her place in the VIP box that could oversee all arenas at once. If his scent alone was enough to bring her down here then surely she would see him on the big screen in the VIP area. She quickly searched the four camera views to find the one that lured her down to an area she detested. Shock was an unfamiliar emotion that washed over her as she looked at arena four’s camera view to see the very one she was down here for was the one that was entering the ring to take on the deadly mammoth that waited inside it. Tangshu’s track record left Anika with one of two choices; stop the fight or make her way back upstairs. If she didn’t stop the fight Tangshu would surely kill the man and there would be no need for her to be down here, defiling herself with the stench. She deliberated for a moment about what to do. The fight would make her a good bit of money and yet her body screamed out for him. Her body winning the argument propelled her out of the VIP box and into the crowd. She would stop the fight and she would take the man into her custody to decide what to do with later.

As she approached the cage her eyes locked with what could only be described as sex on two legs. Testosterone poured out of his pores and he permeated an aura of control and possessiveness. Anika knees shook for a moment, halting her progress to the pit boss running the cage for her. Damnit! This never happened to her, not even with Aeron when he was in full male mode. As she paused it felt as if everything passed in slow motion. The one moment she paused from locking eyes with the stranger was all it took to provide Tangshu the opportunity to wrap his massive arms around him and begin squeezing the life out of him. Never had she wanted to rid herself of Tangshu any more than she did now. She proceeded forward, ready to kill Tangshu and save this man when she was halted yet again. This time is wasn’t from the feelings the stranger gave her but from what took place in front of her. Out of nowhere high grade steel claws extended from in between the knuckles on his hands and he used the claws to slice off Tangshu’s arm. The giant had no choice but to let him go as he fell to the ground wailing.

The arena turned into chaos as cheers, screams, and shouts resonated throughout the room. Her stranger faced off with the pit boss over the 10,000 blood credit he was due for lasting more than 2 minutes and the pit boss looked as though he had every intention to have the man killed off; more than likely out of fear of what she would do to him for allowing a major source of income to become eradicated. Someone was going to have to answer alright, and Anika knew just how she was going to play this and retain the stranger for herself.

Just when it seemed the pit boss and his crew were going to go toe to toe with her stranger he noticed she had been down by the arena watching.

“Mistress…”

The pit boss said in a voice that held a mix of respect, adoration, fear, and panic as both he and his men bowed their heads to her. He had every right to feel panic at the circumstances; under his watch Tangshu became nothing more than food for the fodder now. Her mouth held a smirk and her eyes portrayed anger and menace. “Stop bowing!” she snapped when they failed to rise right away. She raised an eyebrow quizzically as she looked at the now unconscious Tangshu. It wouldn’t be too much longer and he would be dead from blood loss. No sense in trying to save him now. He would be useless to her now. Her stomach churned as the scent of his blood clogged her nose with its stench. God even his blood was unappealing. “I want that filthy stench cleaned up. It disgusts me. I want the arena bleached. I don’t want to ever smell something that grotesque ever again.” When the pit boss and his men hesitated she glared at them, walked to one of the subordinates, lifted him with ease and threw him into the arena “NOW!” she screamed to the rest of them. She then walked over to the stranger until she was about 2 feet in front of him; her smirk grew slightly larger. “It would seem we have ourselves a bit of dilemma here.” Anika said as she moved her hands to rest on her hips. “You see Tangshu there was a major revenue generator for me and now I have no way to recoup the loses I will face as a result of his no longer being able to operate under the same functionality. You want the 10,000 blood credits due for making it two minutes in the ring with him. I believe we may be at an impasse here.” She walked around him as to size him up. Boy was he a fins specimen, vibes of danger licked off his body like flames ready to burn the person foolish enough to get to close. His body was perfection and wanted nothing more than pierce his ass with her own claws while he was between her legs. He was delicious and she wanted him. She stopped in front of him after her inspection, her breast grazing off his as she leaned in to purr in his ear so no one else would hear. “I believe you and I have some business to discuss with regards to how we can rectify this situation. I am sure we can both come up with an agreement that will benefit the both us” she leaned back and looked into his eyes with her own devious ones. “What do you say? Care to discuss an arrangement with me?”

[Logan James]

Logan watched as the woman approached. He also watched as they all made fools out of themselves with feigned reverence that was given out of fear. There were ways of showing respect without coming across as a groveling dog. Yes, they were afraid of the woman who reeked of power and desire. His loins reminded him of that, for sure. It would not take much thought to push her against a wall and hike her leg enough to take her against it. He imagined she did not have much on under that short skirt, if anything at all. He caught himself looking at her. Her every curve begged to have his tongue dragged along it; tracing every inch of her perfect body, drawing a treasure map of lust, leading to where X marked the spot. It took his breath away and he involuntarily licked his lips at the thought of it.

The moment only lasted a few second when her words cut into his fantasy. “Look ‘ere laidy. Ain’t nuthin’ in the rules says I gotta let him squeeze me to death, and ain’t nuthin’ in the rules says I canna kill da man.” His accent, which he usually hid, was betraying his Northern European childhood as he spoke. “An’ I ain’t gotta make any deals with you to get my credits.” He added. Then it occurred to him just exactly what she might be inferring. The realization made him shut his mouth. He cleared his throat shyly. This could be his ticket to freedom. Or not…but it was worth a shot.

“But…if you needs to see me about sumthin’ in your office or sumthin’….” He said then let one corner of his mouth turn up in a knowing smile. “As long as I get me credits, that is.” He added just to let her know, he may be willing to negotiate but his credits were expected since he won his contest.

[anikatulani]

Anika smirked at the man standing in front of her. She thought it funny how blunt he was about getting his credits due. He didn’t beat around the bush and she liked that. Too many people under her did enough pussyfooting for all of New Vegas. It was nice to see a man not grovel or cower now and then in fear from being in her presence. Of course that would only apply to men she found herself exceptionally attracted to.

Anika hadn’t yet moved from in front of him, even as he belligerently spoke on about not making any deals for his 10,000 credits. He calmed down as soon as he realized that she might have had an ulterior motive to speak to him. So he possessed some intelligence after all. He had Anika wondering there for a moment in the beginning as to the level of intelligence he possessed since he volunteered to go in the cage in the first place with Tangshu. Now after seeing the destructive weapon of choice he maintained at all times on now had made sense that he went in; nothing at all to fear when one had such a destructive weapon in his arsenal. Thinking of the possible positive outcomes involving this force of power stirred an itch inside of her begging to be scratched.

Anika leaned in close enough so her lips pressed against his neck as she inhaled the wonderfully rich Sandalwood aroma that covered every inch of his skin. Even after having sparred with Tangshu and been in closed contact with him he still smelled dizzyingly erotic to her. Her lips parted and for the briefest of moments she ran her tongue along his skin. “Mmmm you even taste as good as you smell.” She leaned back to an upright position. “Well then, we best get going so we can hash out the details of our arrangement. Don’t worry I am sure it will be an arrangement that will make all sides happy.” She turned, sauntering her way to and up the stairs and on to her office, which contained a door adjoining the office to her room. Not once did she look back, confident in that he would be not far behind her. Of course he’d be behind her. He wanted his 10,000 blood credits. Though if she gets her way and he agrees to her proposition then the 10,000 blood credits will seem like play money in the long run. She licked her lips and smiled in triumph. Oh she would have her cake and eat it too. She reached her office soon enough, unlocked the door, entered and left it for her guest to come in. “Shut the door after you enter.” She said loud of enough for anyone within proximity to hear it.

[Logan James]

Logan closed his eyes and fought to control his urge to push the woman against the wall and hike her skirt as her proximity sparked his libido in a way that he had not allowed to happen in a long time. It must have been her exotic beauty and the way she carried herself. He didn’t know but she smelled great too. Usually, he was immune to the wiles of a woman so it wasn’t too difficult to stem his urges. That is until her tongue touched his skin. His manhood stirred in his jeans as if waking from a long and glorious nap, ready to perform at a moment’s notice. He took a shuddering breath and concentrated on keeping control. “Alright then, lead the way.” He drawled.

Logan noticed the eyes of jealousy on him as he walked behind the woman. Normally, he was not lead by anyone but since he didn’t know where she was going, he made an exception. She may think she was in charge of everything in the casino, but there was one thing she was not in charge of, Logan. He had never been a follower and he always did things his way. He knew if he was to find his brothers, he was going to have to jump through some hoops. He needed to get out of the slums and into a hotel and have the capitol he needed to avoid blood taxes if he was going to be able to find them. Blending in with mainstream society in New Vegas was not his idea of fun but it was unavoidable since this would be where he could find them. Bolt could pass as an elemental so he knew that could be a place to look for him, but Wraith would have to depend on them to blend in. Remy would have no trouble at all in the casinos. He probably already had them all set up in a room in one of them. Once you got into one of them, you could move from one to the next by trading credits with a small percentage loss. He knew Remy would be working his way towards the Valhalla so that is what he would do.

He followed the woman and noted the air of arrogance she carried. He noticed many vampires had that and sometimes it really irked him. What irked him most was the way she commanded him, but he found her to be so incredibly desirable, her voice made his loins stir. He turned and closed the door then turned to face the woman. “I’ll be having my credits. I won the contest, fair and square and I’d like to take a shower and get the stench of that thing off of me.” He said matter of factly. “Look, I’ll be spending all those credits right here in your hotel, so are you really losing anything?” he asked logically. “As for your arrangements, if it involves me making more credits, I’ll listen. If it involves me not getting my fair dues, I’m out of here.” The fact that he was in this room with her, alone and at her mercy made him uncomfortable. If he wanted to leave, she could not stop him, but he needed those credits.

[anikatulani]

Anika perched herself on the front of her desk and crossed her legs, making her dress ride up higher on her thighs as she waited on tall, dark, and sexy to enter. She slid the pins from her hair so that it fell down her back in an onyx cascade of natural curls. He came in, shut the door and continued on in his demand for the 10,000 credits. She thought it funny that he was still under the impression that she might not give him the credits. Not once had she actually refused to give them to him, but if he wanted to assume she was going to give him a hard time that was fine, it could possibly be used to further strengthen the deal she plan to offer him.

“Look, I’ll be spending all those credits right here in your hotel, so are you really losing anything?” He asked what seemed to be a logical question to him.

Anika smiled seductively at him so as not to betray her mild anger at his ignorance of the situation at hand; if he only knew the half of it. Tangshu generated 150, 000 blood credits a week at a minimum. In just one month she would lose over half a million blood credits that she would not being able to recover unless he agreed to her deal. She surveyed the prime slab of hunky man muscle in front of her. He did not display any blatant weakness that she could see off hand. Nothing she could use without getting to know him first and discovering the crucial tidbit of knowledge that would keep him there, with her, for as long as she wanted.

“Look Mr…I’m sorry, it seems I do not even know your name; so very rude of me. My name is Anika Tulani, as you know I am the owner of this Casino and a member of the New Vegas council. I will see that you receive you 10,000 credits. But only after we discuss the means to which I have asked you to join me.”

She slid off her desk, dress rising to the point it showed the bared hint of black lacy underwear before sliding back down her legs once she was standing. She walked over to him so that she was chest to chest with him again. Not being able to stop herself she ran her hands along his upper chest and down his arms.

“It sounds like to me you would be much more inclined to listen to me once you had a chance to indulge in a nice hot shower.”

She dropped her hands and moved away from him to the door that led to her personal quarters. Opening the door she looked back at him and smiled. “Feel free to utilize the shower located in this room. I will have someone bring some clean clothes and then we can continue with our arrangement discussion.”

[Logan James]

No one called him Logan unless they were privileged enough for Logan to care about them, and he only cared about three other people in the world, his brothers. “Wolverine.” He said flatly when she hinted that she needed to know his name. “You can call me Wolverine.” He had adopted the name long ago, back in the ‘90s when he was in a motorcycle gang with his brothers. They all had taken on alias’s. Whilst he no longer needed to hide from the government, he still hung on to the nickname he had been tagged with. “Nice to meet you Miss Tulani.” He kept his eyes forward because every tiem he looked at her, he got an eyeful of something he wanted to taste. Whether it be cleavage or her lower bits that were barely covered by black lace. Oh, yes, he saw that and his manhood betrayed him by swelling but he ignored it.

Now he kept his eyes forward to prevent himself from giving into his urge to lay her out across the desk and ravage her. But since he knew she was a member of the council, he knew he could lose his freedom for doing something so brazen to her, and that would just make him have to make a death defying escape and leave New Vegas forever. That would put a crimp in his plans to find his brothers, and he just knew they were there, somewhere. The fact that she crossed the room and laid her hands on him just made things more difficult. It would be so easy…

A shower, yes, a shower. That might help. Well, it would help if he serviced himself really quick to get him past the fact that it had been a long times since he had been with a woman. A quick wank in the shower just might be what he needed to keep his head clear. “I would appreciate that, ma’am.” He responded and followed her to the door. He walked into it, expecting her to follow him but he didn’t look back to see if she did. He just wanted to wash the stench off himself. He noticed the giant bed in the room and quickly averted his eyes when the desire to throw her onto it and pound his manhood into her caused him to stiffen more. He made a beeline for the door that was open just enough to reveal that it was the bath. He took only seconds to peel the same clothes off his body that he had been wearing for three month, taking them off every couple days to wash them and hang them to dry while he slept in his one room apartment in the slums. He had no under things so he was completely commando. He was a bit startled when the water turned on by itself and came out the perfect temperature for a shower.

………………to be continued…..elsewhere.