Longing for You

by Jenny Frame

“Everything all right?” Katie asked.

  “Yes, Byron and the Principessa are going to visit some of the witch sites.”

  “And you’re not going with them?” Katie asked.

  “No, the Principe wants to be alone with the Principessa.”

  “You normally don’t give in so easily, Duca. Normally you fight tooth and nail to make sure Byron takes security with her.”

  “I trust that she is safe enough walking around the forest paths. Besides, Byron isn’t my only focus on this trip. I’ll go and get you a blanket.”

  “Wait a minute,” Katie said. “What is your focus?”

  Alexis was going to be truthful. She didn’t need any more secrets. “You.”

  She didn’t wait to see Katie’s reaction and just walked inside the cabin.

  * * *

  Amelia and Byron had been walking in the forest for about twenty minutes, and Amelia was loving it. They hadn’t found anything yet, but it was such a luxury to be alone with Byron.

  “What are you smiling about?” Byron asked.

  “It’s just nice to have you all to myself, without an entourage around following us.”

  Byron smiled. “Yes, quite right. It is beautiful here.”

  “Where are you taking me first?” Amelia asked.

  “The place I visited during the War. Where the witches cast their spell to try to repel Hitler. I presume that such strong magic would leave a trace of energy that maybe you could tune in to.”

  Amelia sighed. “It sounds like a good plan. Only thing is that I haven’t a clue how to tune in.”

  “Follow your instincts.” Byron pulled back some branches. “It should be right through here.”

  Amelia walked into a small clearing and saw a circle marked out by small rocks and, in the centre, one worn-down rectangular stone. Amelia’s body—all of her nerve endings—began to buzz.

  “I can feel something, Byron.”

  “What?”

  “An energy, electricity in the air,” Amelia said.

  Byron slipped her arm around Amelia’s waist as they approached the perimeter of the circle.

  “I’m right by your side,” Byron said.

  Amelia gripped Byron’s hand tightly. “Will you come in with me?”

  “I can’t. A vampire can’t step inside a witch’s casting circle, but I’ll be right here,” Byron said.

  Amelia’s heart started to thud. So much had changed for her in such a short time—meeting Byron, learning she was a vampire and about all the paranormal world, discovering that her mother and father were not her real parents, and taking her place as the immortal matriarch of the Debrek clan. Not to mention the fact that she had witch blood in her. But through it all she had the strength of Byron right by her side. Did she have the courage to take this step alone?

  She held out her hand, and it shook as she reached into the perimeter of the circle. Amelia looked back to Byron, who smiled and nodded.

  “On you go.”

  Amelia’s pushed her fingers that final few inches across the perimeter. She immediately felt a warmth that welcomed her in.

  “Here goes.” Amelia took a few steps, and she was in the circle entirely.

  The warmth she had felt on her fingertips now enveloped her whole body. She gasped and lifted her arms to see all her hairs standing up on end.

  “How do you feel?” Byron shouted.

  Amelia looked over to her and smiled. “Good. I feel warm, calm, but at the same time…”

  “What?”

  Amelia turned in a circle and closed her eyes. “It’s like there is an energy surrounding me. It doesn’t feel scary.” Amelia opened her eyes and looked at Byron. “It’s almost like a happy energy, if energy can be happy.”

  “The power that made that casting circle is pleased to see you, I’m sure.” Byron smiled. “The witches touched that stone in the centre when I was here. Maybe you could try that?”

  Amelia nodded and walked over to the simple looking grey stone. She kneeled down and held her hand above it. The sensation of electrically charged air intensified the closer her hand came to the stone, and her heart began to pound. Somehow in the back of her mind, Amelia knew something was about to change.

  She pressed her hand to the stone, and an energy pushed her off her feet, and she landed on her back. Amelia heard thunderous noise all around her, and when she opened her eyes she found she was in the centre of what looked like a tornado.

  She stood slowly. The noise of the wind whipping around her was deafening, and she couldn’t see Byron any more. She started to walk back over to the stone. As she did, she could hear what sounded like voices in the midst of the noise of the wind.

  The voices got louder and stronger. She kneeled by the stone and shut her eyes to concentrate on the voices, but she just couldn’t catch the words.

  Almost as quickly as it happened, it stopped. The howling winds disappeared, and she could see Byron standing calmly outside the circle. That was odd. She expected Byron to be going crazy trying to get to her.

  “Anything?” Byron said.

  “What? Didn’t you see any of that?” Amelia marched out of the circle.

  Byron looked confused. “Any of what?”

  Amelia explained about the winds and the voices. “You didn’t see that?”

  “No, nothing. To me it just looked as if you were touching the stone in quiet contemplation.”

  “It was anything but quiet. What do you think it means?” Amelia asked.

  “I don’t know. If only the Grand Duchess was still alive. She would know what it meant.”

  “I wish I could talk to her.” Her death had left a huge hole in the paranormal world.

  Byron took her hand. “Let’s go back to the cabin, and we’ll talk about it.”

  As they walked away from the circle, Amelia heard a voice whispering behind her. She turned around quickly but there was nothing there.

  “What’s wrong?” Byron asked.

  “Nothing. Let’s just get back.”

  Amelia shivered. The voices had followed her out of the circle.

  Chapter Ten

  “What are you doing on your feet?” Alexis said. Alexis had found Katie pouring herself a drink from the fridge. As soon as she said the words, she knew they were said too harshly, like the way the old Alexis used to talk, and judging by Katie’s scowl, her words hadn’t gone over well. “I’m sorry if that sounded harsh. I simply meant that you should ask me for what you want. That way you can rest.”

  “I can get a glass of juice. Besides, I’m feeling a lot better, a lot stronger.”

  “As you wish, but come and sit on the couch, so I can change your dressing. Dr. McKenzie said I had to change it once a day.”

  Katie took Alexis’s arm and walked back to the couch. Alexis had a first aid kit and put it on the coffee table, then kneeled in front of Katie.

  Katie reached out and touched her mouth. Alexis caught her breath. Why was Katie caressing her? Katie gazed deeply into her eyes, and Alexis’s mouth went dry. No enemy she had ever come up against had ever been able to disarm her the way this human did.

  Then Katie’s eyes narrowed and she held up her finger with a spot of blood on it. “You missed a bit.”

  Instead of licking it off Katie’s finger, which was what Alexis wanted to do, she took a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped it away. She had drunk some blood from the bottled supply she brought with her.

  “You don’t have to look so terrified when I touch you,” Katie said with annoyance.

  “I wasn’t. I was simply—”

  Katie sighed. “You were. Anyway, how are you feeding while you’re here?”

  Alexis opened up the first aid box. “Bottled, and some blood bags in the fridge.”

  “You can’t be satisfied on bottled alone. Byron has Amelia, and I could feed you.”

  “No way,” Alexis said, “you’re recovering from a physical and mental trauma. I’m not taking blood from you.”

&nbs
p; Katie couldn’t help but feel a little hurt. “I forgot—you don’t like my blood.”

  “Of course it’s not that. I’m trying to do the right thing here. Can you let me?”

  “You never will answer that question, will you?” Katie asked.

  Alexis took out the bandages and said nothing. Alexis got the alcohol wipes ready to clean the wound and began to reach for the bandage around Katie’s neck, then hesitated.

  “I have to take off your old bandage. May I?”

  Katie didn’t know whether she was coming or going with Alexis’s behaviour. One moment she was barking an order at her, the next falling over herself to take care of her, not to mention being terrified when Katie touched her.

  She thought when Alexis had shown her passion in her bedroom, after their argument over Josie, that she had finally broken through those tough layers of steel Alexis had around her, but it hadn’t turned out that way.

  Katie had been so angry at herself for ever finding Alexis attractive, far less having the biggest crush on her since she was a teenager, but the way Alexis had saved her from Josie and taken care of her since had made her think maybe her heart was right all this time.

  “May I?” Alexis asked again.

  Katie shook herself from her thoughts. “Yes, sorry.”

  Alexis tenderly unwrapped her neck bandage, and Katie winced as the pad covering her bite was eased off.

  “Sorry,” Alexis said.

  “It’s okay. How does it look?”

  Katie watched as Alexis examined her wound, and her eyes started to flame red, the colour a vampire’s eyes became when they felt extremes of emotion.

  “What’s wrong? Is it that bad?” Katie asked.

  Alexis stared silently at her wound, becoming tense with utter fury, it seemed.

  “Alexis? Is the wound worse?”

  Alexis closed her eyes and shook her head. When she opened them, Alexis looked at her and said with passion and anger, “I hate seeing her bite on you. If I ever find Josie, I won’t break her neck—I’ll sever her head from her shoulders, so she’ll never harm a human again.”

  Katie was taken aback with her honesty. Her heart beat heavily, and her stomach flipped in response to Alexis’s passion. Alexis did feel deeply—she was sure of it now.

  Alexis must have seen her silence as fear of her fury, because she took a breath and said, “I’m sorry. I hate to see a vampire use such violence in an attempt to feed. New bloods often do, and some vampires never learn to take what they need with care and respect.”

  “I know—some are rougher than others, but my best experience came to me when I was new to giving blood.”

  Alexis looked away, clearly not wanting to hear about an experience she’d had with another vampire.

  “Alexis?” Katie touched Alexis’s chin and made her look up to her. “It was you. I was a blood virgin, and you slowly, kindly eased me through my first experience. I’ve never had anything close to that feeling that gave me”—Katie moved her hand to caress Alexis’s cheek—“but then you ran.”

  Alexis covered her hand with hers and took a breath. “Katie, I ran that day because…”

  Finally, Alexis was going to explain, to tell her the truth about that day. “Why, tell me?”

  Alexis shuffled forward on her knees and put her arms on Katie’s waist. “I ran because—” Suddenly Alexis’s phone started to ring and the intense moment was gone. Alexis pulled the phone from her pocket and said, “Sorry. I have to take it.”

  Alexis got up and walked over to the fireplace to talk.

  Katie could have screamed. Alexis was so close to acknowledging what happened that day and talking about her feelings, and the moment was gone.

  * * *

  Amelia was back at the cabin sitting at the kitchen table, while Byron made a phone call. Something had changed inside her, but what she didn’t know. The voices that she had discovered and heard in the circle were still there but were only a muffled whisper, a mishmash of voices, and she couldn’t tease them apart.

  She tapped her fingers against the kitchen table incessantly. Since she’d left the circle, it felt like she had brought the energy from it with her. Her nerves were buzzing. It was most intense in her sex and her nipples and made her long for the touch of her lover to ease her need.

  Byron walked back in the door and Amelia jumped up.

  “Everything all right?” Amelia asked.

  “Yes, I just had to call the office. Are you okay? You look a little tense and jumpy.”

  Amelia walked over to Byron, unbuttoned her coat, and slipped it off. She loosened Byron’s tie and slipped her hands under her collar. “I just feel full of energy. Do you need to feed?”

  Byron smiled. “Do you want me to feed?”

  Instead of answering Amelia kissed Byron and jumped, wrapping her legs around her waist. They kissed feverishly, and Amelia just felt hotter by the second. There was a torrent of energy inside her, and it was desperate to get out.

  Byron carried her into the bedroom, and between kisses they pulled at each other’s clothes. Amelia saw Byron’s eyes were red, and it just made her want her all the more.

  Amelia was naked, but Byron still had her jockey shorts on. Amelia couldn’t wait and pulled Byron onto the bed on top of her. The need inside her was stronger than she had ever felt, and the utter bliss she experienced when Byron sucked her nipple and grasped the other breast was painfully good.

  “I need you inside me, Byron. Fuck me, or I’m going to explode.”

  Byron grazed her teeth down her neck, teasing her for that first bite and suck of her blood. It wasn’t fast enough for Amelia. She was overwhelmed and needed to set the pace herself.

  She pushed Byron onto her back and straddled her. “Let me?”

  Byron smiled. “Whatever you want, mia cara.”

  Amelia slipped Byron’s strap-on out of her underwear and pumped it with her hand a few times, making Byron moan as she watched her.

  “I need your cock,” Amelia said in a low voice.

  She was so turned on that her hands had a slight quiver in them. All she knew was that she needed Byron inside her, or she would explode.

  Amelia eased the strap-on inside her and didn’t take her time getting used to the feel. She pushed it deep and started to thrust. Bryon reached up and squeezed her breasts. They were on fire at her touch.

  She leaned over and kissed Byron, sucking her lip and teasing her fangs with her tongue.

  “You feel so good, mia cara,” Byron moaned.

  The muffled voices were getting louder in her head and seemed to increase with every thrust she took. Amelia’s heart hammered like it was going to explode.

  “I need to come,” Amelia said in a desperate voice. She sat up and leaned against Byron’s legs.

  “I love you,” Byron said.

  “I love you.” She held out her wrist to Byron and said, “Feed from me when I come.”

  Byron nodded and took her hand, peppering it with kisses, then scratching her wrist with her teeth.

  Amelia closed her eyes, and her head fell backward. Her hips had settled into a slow, deep rhythm, and with each thrust the voices in her head got louder. Her head was starting to swim, her body to shake, as her orgasm approached.

  It was going to be too powerful, too much, but she couldn’t stop, not any more. Her hips sped up, and she moaned deeply, almost as if in pain. All the need and desperate want was ready to explode in her.

  Just before she fell over the edge, Amelia told Byron, “Bite me, bite me now.”

  Amelia’s hips started to jerk as a searing heat surged from her sex and speared all over her body. Her vision went white, and she heard a high-pitched whistle in her ears. Suddenly all the energy she had disappeared, and she fell forward onto Byron. Her body started to shake, and Byron wrapped her arms around her.

  “It’s all right. I’m here, you’re safe.”

  Amelia opened her eyes, and she heard a clear voice in her head say, Wel
come, Amelia. We’ve been waiting for you.

  * * *

  Alexis lay on her bed staring at the ceiling. She never slept much as it was, but after today, she was never going to sleep. She had come so close to telling Katie the truth of how she felt about her. Katie had this knack of looking in her eyes and finding the truth, but verbalizing it was different.

  Things just seemed to get more complicated every day. She had finally had a phone call from her informant in Paris, and it was not what she had expected to find. Victorija had become a recluse and her Duca, Drasas, appeared to be the figurehead for the Dreds since their encounter in Scotland.

  She’d shared this information with Byron earlier this evening, and neither of them knew what to make of it. Victorija was not one for delegation. She liked power and control, so there must be something else going on. There were also smaller vampire families, clans, newly turned vampires going to the Dred banner. They were building their numbers, but to what end?

  Alexis was shaken from her thoughts when she heard a low moan coming from Katie’s bedroom. Katie was dreaming.

  But then the moan became, “No, please don’t. Josie, no.”

  Alexis was by the side of her bed in seconds. Katie was thrashing around, quite distressed. She fell to her knees and took Katie’s hand.

  “Shh, shh, it’s all right. I’m here.”

  Suddenly Katie gasped and her eyes popped open. “Alexis?”

  “You were having a bad dream.”

  Katie turned over on her side to face Alexis. “Josie was chasing me, and I couldn’t get away.”

  Alexis put both hands around Katie’s and kissed her knuckles. “She can’t get you. I’m here.”

  “Will you stay?” Katie asked.

  “Of course I will. Just shut your eyes. You don’t have to be frightened when I’m here.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Victorija had been staring at the computer screen for hours, in between feeding from her vampire blood hosts. She had followed the trail of birth, death, and marriage certificates back through the years, from Daisy MacDougall’s birth. She had nearly given up many times.