Dirk had extended his invitation to his batch-mates who also flatly refused to join him as they recalled a bitter experience on the last occasion when Dirk had encountered a tarantula who much to his friends’ chagrin, finally was literally eating out of Dirk’s hand.
“Oh no Dirk, you go up there alone this time and leave me out,” laughed Winston as they shared a bottle of scotch in the mess room. Dirk laughed his throaty laugh.
Dirk’s ability with tarantulas and the like was his background which only Ellen his wife knew. Dirk’s ancestors were vampires and that is where he got his unfathomable strength and lightning speed, not forgetting his love for the wild beasts.
As he was about to leave on his hiking expedition, Ellen walked into the sitting room nursing a cup of steaming coffee in her hand. Dirk and she had been married for seven years and had two sons aged 6 and 3. Of late their love life had dwindled and even when he made love to her, Dirk knew that she responded out of obligation and nothing else. She no longer was perky and even when he fondled her breasts she just let him do it without any response from her side.
“Dirk could you stay back for a while?” she asked. He looked at her and knew that it was something important as she had a serious look on her face.
“Of course honey,” he said and he dropped his hiking equipment on the floor while he followed her to the sitting room.
Ellen cringed at his term of endearment. She turned to face him and the look in her eyes brought back memories of the days when he was courting her and never knew that she was a vampire. That same piercing look bore through his body like hot iron rod.
“Dirk will you stop calling me honey. I am far from that and you know it,” she said.
“Alright, can I know why you wanted me to stay back?” he asked.
“Dirk I am leaving you,” she said.
At first he did not understand. “Leaving?” he looked at her questioningly.
Ellen felt annoyed and irritated. “Yes… yes leaving as in walking out on you,” she said as she spread her hands in anger and irritation.
“Oh and why is that? Have you found someone new to fly about at night to?” he asked trying to make a joke out of it, but failing miserably.
“You could say that,” she said.
Dirk would not have minded Ellen walking out on him if she was not as he was – a vampire at night and a Major in the Army by day. Ellen was more ferocious at her peak and he hoped that at least for the sake of her children she would behave herself. She was a vampire herself at night and was more ferocious than he was. She pursued her victim until she had had her fill and only then would she drop her limp victim under a tree and vanish into the dark night.
“Tell me Ellen, who is he?” asked Dirk sounding like a jealous husband and looking into her eyes trying to read them and the secret that lay behind those gleaming beady eyes. He knew they had to be above their origins and he doubted whether Ellen would be as secretive as he, as he recollected the night when she had smiled with a woman passerby and that woman had fled for dear life after she spotted Ellen’s fangs.
“Can you wait until I return from Fairway Mountain? We could then sit together and discuss this issue,” he said.
But Ellen shook her head. “I can’t Dirk, I just can’t and there is nothing more to discuss. You know we don’t thrill each other in bed like we used to. It is just a “slam-bang-thank you ma’am” thing every time we make love. That is if you could call it that” she said. Dirk knew that she was getting agitated and he decided to stay back and discuss her departure.
“Okay shoot,” he said sitting opposite her and stretching his long legs before him.
“There is nothing much to tell. All I want is to leave and I am taking the kids with me,” she said.
“You are what?” shouted Dirk. “You cannot do that.”
“May I ask why not? You are the same as I am, a Major by day and a vampire by night. So it will make no difference with whom our kids stay,” said Ellen.
“Why do I get this feeling that there is a third party involved in your decision?” he asked. Ellen grinned at him and he saw her fangs, which was an indication that he should keep quiet.
“Well you can do what you like, but remember this Ellen, once you leave, you have left for good. Don’t coming begging at my doorstep to take you back. No amount of blood would satisfy me to see you suffer,” he said and with that he walked out of the house carrying his hiking equipment.
Ellen quietly packed her things and she and the boys left no sooner Dirk left on his hiking expedition. Antonio called over in his woody truck. They packed her things and drove off, Ellen to start a new life and Antonio to indulge in a young woman.
Chapter 2
Ellen had been on one of her nightly pursuits when she had collided with a bat which shrieked at her and flapped its wings angrily. Ellen had been astounded by the bat’s shrieks that she quickly regained her human self and looked up at the bat as it hung upside down, but focused his beady eyes on her.
“Hey you up there, sorry I barged into you,” she said. The bat shrieked once more and dropped to the ground. Ellen’s eyes grew wide as she looked as the bat began to drop slowing from the branch he hung onto and how he began transforming into a human shape. Ellen gasped when before her stood a handsome young man with auburn hair and a beautiful smile.
“Hello. I am Antonio and I am truly sorry about all of that. I am new to this area and thought of exploring it for new opportunities and you sure fit the bill,” he said as he looked at from head to toe.
“You sure surprised me,” laughed Ellen as she took a closer look at her new friend.
“Did I? But you sure are a strong woman and I liked your flight too. It made me remember the days of my……” but Antonio stopped abruptly and smiled revealing a perfect set of fangs.
“You sure are pretty,” he said as he moved with the grace of a panther circling its prey.
Ellen did not back off but stood looking at Antonio, her eyes mesmerized by his handsome face and muscular body. How she wished she could see him nude and feel his arms around her crushing her to him. She swayed in anticipation and Antonio noticed how sexy she looked as she observed him from beneath her hooded eyes.
He pulled her to him and brought his mouth down on hers crushing her in a kiss that left Ellen breathless. She had never been kissed this way before and she loved it. He ripped the blouse off her body revealing her golden orbs with its perky tips which were hard as rocks and beckoned to Antonio.
Ellen moaned in anticipation as Antonio latched on to her breast and bit her nipple. She felt his penis budge her stomach and her legs buckled as she dropped to the ground taking Antonio with her. He covered her body with his and plunged into her almost immediately as he was rock hard and wanted to release his load. They made love on the gravel path and then Antonio left promising to meet her again the following night.
Ellen returned home and looked at her swollen face in the mirror. She then ran her palm over her neck and smiled when she saw the tell-tale sign of Antonio as he had left an impression on her neck she would never forget.
Chapter 3
Ellen and the boys moved in with Antonio and she was impressed with his apartment.
“You sure do have a flashy apartment considering that you only work as a barman at Jake’s,” she said. Antonio had laughed.
The boys were fascinated by the electronic games that adorned their room and they were occupied throughout the night and did not even notice that their mother and Antonio were not around.
As they continued to live more or less like husband and wife, Antonio began to actually act like a husband. He came in late from work and complained all the time. Ellen who worked as a barrister in Clancy and Guild’s law firm, usually worked after six reading briefs and preparing for the following days hearings. Antonio began to complain that she was never at home when he arrived.
“That’s because you work in the daytime as a barman and at night you want me to join you
on your nightly pursuits,” she said.
But Antonio was not to be bought over with what Ellen told him. He stared at her in anger and then walked off toward the kitchen. The boys were up in their room doing their homework and when everything seemed quiet, Ellen gently pushed open the door to the kitchen. She found Antonio with his back turned toward the door looking out at the inky black night.
“I hope you are not contemplating going out tonight,” she said. Antonio turned ever so slowly that Ellen had to strain to see him. She backed off when he faced her fully.
As the kitchen light fell upon his face, Antonio looked perfectly white and bloodless. His eyes looked like polished tin and his lips were drawn back revealing a deadly set of fangs, projecting like those of a wild animal. He began to approach her with gliding movements and within seconds he was standing only about two inches away from her. Ellen looked frightened as she looked into those gray eyes. Ellen then saw that the color of Antonio’s eyes were changing and his skin was beginning to wrinkle and shrivel up.
“Oh God what is happening to you,” her voice was almost a squeak.
Antonio laughed a hideous laugh as his hand shot out and held her shoulder in a deathly grip. “
You still don’t know the real me, Ellen,” he said in a voice that sounded like an old man. In fact he had changed into an old man.
“Oh Antonio, change back to your normal self. If the boys come in to the kitchen, they would get the fright of their lives,” she pleaded.
“This is my normal self, Ellen. My boyish self is only for Jake’s bar. I thought I told you that or didn’t I,” Antonio said looking up doubtfully.
“You didn’t,” said Ellen.
“Well then let’s go out on the deck and I will tell you who I am,” he said as he caught Ellen’s hand in a tight grip, quite a tight grip for an old man such as he was at the moment and then almost pulled her on to the deck, as he shut the door behind him.
“Ellen, I lived in London 400 years ago,” he said.
Ellen’s hand flew to her mouth. “You are 400 years old?” she asked her voice a permanent squeak.
Antonio nodded. “Yes I am. I am a 400-year old vampire. I was so fed up with being an old man that I changed in to a barman.” he said as he croaked in laughter, his sagging cheeks dangling to an un-played rhythm.
Ellen froze where she stood listening to Antonio’s confession. “So what are you going to do about it?” she asked.
“I can go back to being Antonio the barman, but you must come to terms with the fact that I may go back to being my natural self without prior warning,” he said.
“It is too late to turn back now, Ellen. We are too involved in our love and I have no intention of letting you go in case you go back to that husband of yours whom I have known from birth,” said Antonio. Ellen looked at Antonio in shock.
“You knew Dirk from birth?” she asked eyeing him suspiciously.
“Listen, Ellen we have to make the most of what we have now. Let me tell you one thing. I never believed in love, as I never thought it a necessary factor between man and woman. But after I met you I began to feel that my sexual pursuits with you not only made me hard but also gave me a sense of satisfaction as I penetrated you and then it began to dawn on me that I loved you.” he laughed his croaky laugh.
Ellen felt tears prick her eyes as she listened to Antonio’s confession. “Oh Antonio, I will never leave you no matter how old you are. You may be 40 years or 400 years it does not matter to me anymore. All that I want is your love and your sexy body,” she said licking her lips as she watched him transform himself into the young barman he was during the day.
There was no question in Antonio’s mind that as a vampire he could have his pick of women, but as a mortal he knew that he was besotted with Ellen.
Chapter 4
Back on Madison Avenue, Dirk had returned from his mountain hike and lay stretched on the couch. He was exceptionally tired that night and decided to stay in. The house was ghostly and silent. He missed Ellen and the boys, but refrained from thinking of them too much.
Dirk was dozing on the couch when his he was abruptly jolted from his slumber. He sat up and listened. “Wasn’t that a woman screaming,’ he said to himself. He listened once more and this time the scream was blood curdling, that the hairs on his body stood up straight.
Dirk threw his coat on and rushed through the front door. He stood listening and then he heard another scream and this time he knew it came from the direction of his new neighbor’s house. He had seen a beautiful girl move in with her parents. She had endless legs, a sweet face and a figure any man would die for. Dirk had found himself fantasying sleeping with her and what he would do to her if he got the opportunity. A woman screamed once more and then there was silence. Dirk hurtled over the fence and landed just below a room window, which Dirk suspected belonged to the pretty girl.
He sprinted to the front door and rang the doorbell. Within second the door opened and Dirk was mesmerized by the beauty of the girl who stood before him. “I heard screams. I live next door.” he tried to explain.
“Oh I am terribly scared. My parents have gone out to dinner with friends and I am alone at home,” she said holding the door open for him to enter.
“I was about to get into bed and opened my closet to take my night gown, when this huge bat flew from it and started shrieking overhead as he flew in circles. It flew down on me once, but I swatted it with a book and they it flew up to that beam over there and swung from it. Its beady eyes staring at me. It was really scary when I tried to swat at it again and it flew right through that closed window,” she said shivering.
“As you sure it was a bat?” asked Dirk.
“It was indeed a bat and definitely not the usual ones we see at night. They are harmless and peaceful, but this bat was ferocious,” she said with another shudder.
Dirk nodded his head and looked around. He did indeed smell the scent the bat had left behind and he knew that it was no ordinary bat, just as the young girl had said.
“I am Dirk Mc Donald by the way.” said Dirk extending his hand toward the young girl.
“I’m Natasha Sanders,” she said shyly.
“Are your parents going to be late?” he asked her.
“They are staying over with friends and will be here only tomorrow morning. I am really scared Dirk,” she said.
Dirk looked at Natasha and could not believe his luck. His groins tightened at the sight of her and he smiled impishly as her. Natasha did not like the look she saw in Dirk’s eyes.
“I can stay alone. It was that awful bat that scared me,” said Natasha sensing that Dirk was not the savior he happened to act as. She stood up and headed for the front door. “Thank you very much for coming over Dirk,” she said as she held the door open.
“Are you sure you can manage on your own. Don’t you want to call your parents? May be they would come over,” he said.
Natasha shook her head. “I wouldn’t dream of calling them. It is seldom that my dad takes my mom out for a little fun like this and it would not be nice to get them to come back just because of a silly bat,” she said sounding very grown up all of a sudden.
“You know where to find me if that silly bat comes visiting you again,” he said grinning boyishly at her. Natasha’s insides flipped when she saw his simple, but she checked herself at once.
Dirk left Natasha’s house and returned to his, but all the time the beautiful Natasha haunted him as he stood outside his house and looked at the night skies.
“What would Ellen be doing now? Would she be on her nightly pursuits looking for prey to provide her with blood energy?” he asked himself.
All of a sudden he got the urge to see Natasha again as he wanted her very much. With a quick twirl he changed into a bat and flew to Natasha’s bedroom window swinging himself on to the ledge. She was in her room and changing into her nightgown. It had him shuddering at the sight of her well chiseled body. Her breasts were perky and upturned
. Not like the saggy ones Ellen had and her curly mound was perfectly trimmed. He swung so hard that he knocked against the window and Natasha let out a piercing yell as she ran out of her room and headed for the front door.
Dirk lost no time in flying back to his house and he sat on the couch reading a book when he heard frantic tapping on his front door. Smiling to himself he lazily pushed off the couch and walked to the door yawning.
“Oh I am sorry, I did not mean to wake you up Dirk, but that bat came back and frightened me again. I cannot go back to my house until my parents come back tomorrow. May I stay with you please?” she was pleading with him and he nodded.
He was going to be the perfect gentleman while she stayed at his home that night. He would not touch her or even attempt to touch her. He knew that one never got a second chance to make a first impression and he was all out to make that first impression that would last in Natasha’s mind forever.
Jack (Secret Revenge #1) Page 37