Djuna, a female vampire living alone in Connecticut who refrains from human blood, meets human man Paolo, who's there to research a screenplay. The pair share an instant attraction, but Djuna is reluctant to get close as she knows it could end up hurting him. She rebuffs him, but Paolo remains persistent, and Djuna lets him in on her secret. Paulo is incredulous at first, but then she proves it, and he accepts this. They have sex, and while doing so, Djuna feeds on him. As a result, Paulo turns into a vampire as well. He has no problem with this, and Djuna is overjoyed to have a companion.
However, all is not simply eternal bliss together, since Djuna's ne'er-do-well sister, Maia (also a vampire) intrudes. Maia does not share Djuna's commitment against feeding on humans in the least, with her volatile presence causing trouble in the local vampire community.
Examples in Kiss of the Damned:
- Blackmail: Maia gets Xenia to relent from sending her away by having her tempted into drinking human blood. Presumably it would not go down well in her Vegetarian Vampire community.
- Cain and Abel: Djuna is a Vegetarian Vampire who's remorseful about feeding on the man she loves, turning him into a vampire. Maia, her sister, is unapologetically murderous, lethally feeding on numerous humans. They both dislike each other, and Maia tries to steal Djuna's man away.
- Cassandra Truth: Paolo, as you might expect, reacts with laughter first when Djuna says she's a vampire. He believes it upon her displaying a game face however.
- Depraved Bisexual: Maia, a vampire, has a threeway with a man and woman whom she lethally feeds on later. It's also indicated she hypnotizes Paolo into sleeping with her.
- Forbidden Fruit: Maia dangles Anna, a virgin, in front of Xenia, a Vegetarian Vampire who hasn't drunk human blood for forty years and finds a virgin's blood particularly tempting. She gives in.
- Fourth-Date Marriage: Although they don't get formally engaged or married, after just a few days Paolo moves in with Djuna and is willing to spend the rest of his eternal life with her. That's some intense Love at First Sight.
- Friendly Neighborhood Vampire: Djuna and the other vampires living in Connecticut seem overall nice, only drinking blood from animals. She and the leader, Xenia, break this but only after being very tempted.
- Game Face: Vampires' faces grow slightly monstrous looking with their eyes glowing eerie blue when they begin or are about to feed.
- Hair-Contrast Duo: Vampire sisters Djuna and Mia are very much opposites, as signified by their respective hair colors. Redhead Djuna, a Vegetarian Vampire, gets into a loving committed relationship with Paolo. Brunette Mia though feeds lethally on humans and is a promiscuous bisexual, hypnotizing Paolo (apparently) to sleep with her so she can take what Djuna has.
- Honey Trap: Maia, a vampire, seduces and has sex with humans frequently whom she then feeds on afterward (she's shown biting a man right after the act in one case). She also does this with Xenia by proxy, presenting her with a human virginal young woman (knowing her weakness for them) then blackmailing her for feeding because Xenia's the leader of a Vegetarian Vampire group.
- Horror Hunger: Djuna explains after Paolo becomes a vampire how vampires feel intense desires to drink blood. It grows stronger the longer a vampire goes without, becoming painful. Before feeding on him, she was clearly trying to stop herself, struggling with it, but eventually loses control when they're having sex.
- Interplay of Sex and Violence: Djuna is having sex with Paolo when she bites him, which turns him into a vampire as well.
- Interrupted Intimacy: Djuna and Paolo return to find Maia having a three-way. She's not happy, especially since they realize she's going to feed on the couple afterward, sending them away instead.
- Karmic Death: At the end, Maia is driving to the house at night after having gotten away with all her misdeeds, gets into a car accident, and wakes up the next day when the sun is out. She's killed before she can find shelter.
- Kiss of the Vampire: Paolo seems to find Djuna's bite pleasurable as she feeds on him (they're having sex at the same time, granted).
- Lesbian Vampire: Maia is a bisexual vampire, to judge from her picking up a man and woman to have sex with (then later feed on). She later hypnotizes Paolo to have sex with her too.
- Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: Redhead Djuna wears fairly light colors usually. She's a Vegetarian Vampire who resists the urge to feed on humans most of the time. Her sister Maia is a brunette, wears dark clothing and has no compunctions at all about lethally feeding on people. Both have long hair and favor feminine clothing like blouses, dresses or skirts, often of a very high quality.
- Lingerie Scene: Djuna is shown at length wearing only her bra and panties before having sex with Paolo.
- Lipstick Lesbian: Maia is a feminine bisexual who is always well made up, having long hair with stylish skirts and blouses. She has a threesome with a man and woman, plus hypnotizing Paolo into sex.
- Love at First Sight: Djuna and Paolo run into each other, with a single glance being enough for them to fall in love. Paolo is not only drawn to her intensely, he accepts Djuna making him a vampire, after which he's soon moved in and they act like a married couple functionally despite only knowing each other two or three days.
- Making Love in All the Wrong Places: Maia and Paolo have sex in the steam room.
- The Masquerade: Discussed by Xenia and the other vampires while talking at the party. She's resentful of having to live in the shadows, but another vampire notes if humans knew about them they'd be slaughtered.
- Ms. Fanservice:
- Djuna, who's very beautiful, appears at length wearing only her lingerie and has two sex scenes (appearing topless very briefly in one).
- Maia, her sister, is also good-looking, having a three-way and sex with Paolo too, where she also appears topless (at greater length).
- Murder by Inaction: Irene, the vampires' servant, comes across Maia crawling toward the house to get in from the sunlight. She ignores Maia's pleas that she help, lighting a cigarette from her burning body and watching her die. As Maia is a Serial Killer, it's hard to care though.
- Neck Lift: Maia hoists up Djuna by her neck against a wall during an argument.
- "Not If They Enjoyed It" Rationalization: Maia indicates she hypnotized Paolo into sex with her or something similar by telling him if some part of him didn't want her it wouldn't work.
- Off the Wagon:
- Djuna, a Vegetarian Vampire, gives in and feeds on Paolo. She also later kills Paolo's agent this way.
- Her leader Xenia also does this (after forty years) since Maia dangles temptation before her.
- Our Vampires Are Different: They are fairly standard to modern depictions: live forever unless killed, heal instantly from most injuries, drink blood, killed by fire, decapitation and sunlight. However, they don't need to do anything special in turning humans, simply biting them is enough if the person isn't killed.
- Really Gets Around: Maia has lots of casual sex, from what's seen. It's not only for pleasure, but due to being a vampire who then feeds on her sex partners after getting them close. In the film she's with four people (though for Paolo it seems she hypnotizes him so it's probably rape). All are in quick succession after just meeting them.
- The Renfield: Irene, a human woman, serves the Connecticut vampire community. A blood disorder makes her unappealing, and her own mother had the same condition, serving them earlier.
- Serial Killer: Maia, in contrast to the Connecticut vampires, regularly drinks humans' blood lethally. She had to flee Amsterdam as she'd killed a man there and it was detected. Coming to the US doesn't stop her though.
- Sex Starts, Story Stops: The sex scenes are not very long, but all fairly gratuitous, since they don't advance things in the plot much.
- Threeway Sex: Maia has sex with a man and woman in the house, then feeds on them later.
- Vampire Bites Suck: Those which Maia delivers are very painful at least. In one case, she actually rips a chunk of flesh from a man's neck.
- Vampires Are Rich: Those in the Connecticut community are all dressed very well and show every sign of being high society types. Maia however is an exception, as she lethally feeds on humans rather than follow their moral Vegetarian Vampire ways, which necessitates living in a more insecure position.
- Virginity Flag: Xenia can tell instantly that Anna's a virgin, and therefore her blood is intensely tempting for some unexplained reason. It seems virgins just smell differently.
- Vegetarian Vampire: The Connecticut vampire community are all intent on feeding only from animals. Djuna and Xenia both break this in the face of intense temptation. Maia on the other hand rejects this idea entirely.
- Wall Bang Her: Maia has sex with a man up against a wall in an alley outside a bar, before feeding on him lethally.
- Weakened by the Light: Vampires can be killed by sunlight here, as usual. Maia is killed this way in the end.
