Cassadaga Moon

by R. M. Sotera

  “Keep the change…” he hesitated, glancing over at her name tag,

  “Tammi.”

  “Why thank you, sir. Y’all let me know if y’all fixin’ to need another one. ’Kay?”

  Jordan nodded. “Okay, Tammi. Don’t work too hard.” Mia added in a soft voice, “Thanks.”

  Tammi disappeared from the table, and another figure appeared.

  “Well, if it isn’t Jordan De L’croix. Hey, baby, how ’bout a three-for-one blood delight tonight?” the voice cackled. A tall, raven-haired woman stood in front of them with a body made for sin.

  Jordan held a horrified expression. Slowly, the beauty eased down into the empty chair beside Mia. As if a faucet turned on, Jordan’s mood moved from incredulous and stunned to a severe case of pissed off.

  “What the hell are you doing here, Christi? Don’t you have some sorry soul to mess with?”

  Christi let a seductive smile imprint her face, reached out, and ran her hand down the back of Mia’s hair.

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  Mia jerked away from her, shooting Jordan a confused look.

  “Mia, this is Christi, an old acquaintance. Christi, this is my girlfriend Mia.”

  The raven-haired beauty shot him a look so wicked it should have incinerated him. “Old acquaintance. Really?” Christi’s head fell back before a deep, feral laugh erupted, garnering the attention of customers in a half-mile radius of the café.

  “How about the woman you fed from for more than a year? The woman you enjoyed outrageous sex with while sucking blood from between her thighs!”

  “Christi, what are you doing over here? Come join me, darling,” Jamison’s voice rolled through the room just in time. “Let’s not bother Jordan and Mia right now.”

  Jordan exhaled a breath.

  Christi looked up, as if in a sudden trance, and followed Jamison to a table at the far end of the café.

  “Who was she?” Mia’s voice cracked.

  Jordan raked his fingers through his hair once Christi and Jamison sat down at the table across the room. “One of the skeletons in my closet.”

  “I see.” Mia continued to study the buxom brunette. The words

  “sexy woman” were definitely an understatement. What did he do to her?

  “Do you? From the expression on your face I’m not so sure you do. I can’t change things that happened in my past, darlin’, but I can change my future. With you, I want to change. You make me want to be a better man.”

  “What happened with her?”

  “I didn’t treat Christi that great. Most likely she’s angry with me.” Mia gathered the beverage napkin in her hand. The next question on her tongue she really didn’t want to know the answer to, but she asked it anyway. “How many women have you had?”

  “Many.”

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  The frown moved across her lips quicker than she could control it.

  “Does it matter, Mia? Do you care about me less, knowing I’ve had many women in my bed?”

  She glanced up at him again, and this time his gaze wouldn’t allow her the refuge of looking away. “Let’s get it all out on the table.

  Right now, darlin’.”

  “What?”

  “My sex life. No secrets. I’m about to rock that Catholic upbringing of yours to the core. You need to listen. Decide if I’m worthy of you…your love.”

  Worried, she countered. “What if I don’t want to know everything? Some secrets are good, right? I mean, you don’t have to divulge every sordid detail.”

  He half smiled. “Probably not, but I’m going to tell you anyway. I don’t want any secrets between us, not now, not ever. Trust me, I wish I could change what I’ve done, but I can’t. Listen to what I have to say, darlin’, then you decide whether or not I’m worthy of redemption.”

  His phone pinged, but this time he kept his gaze glued on Mia and let the caller go to voice mail.

  “I have enjoyed many women. Sometimes one at a time, sometimes more than one. Did I care about any of them? No—not really. I fucked them because it’s what I wanted. There wasn’t an emotional attachment behind it.”

  With his remark, Mia’s mouth dropped open. “You didn’t care about any of them?”

  “I cared about one other woman in my life, before you, but the relationship ended badly. She couldn’t accept the vampirism.” He reached for his coffee and took a deep gulp, gazing at the liquid before he returned the cup to the table.

  You cared for not a single one of them? “How could you sleep with all of those women and not care about a single one of them?” Her voice trailed off.

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  “Sex and love do not equal the same thing, Mia.” He glanced toward Jamison and Christi. “I enjoy sex immensely, with or without love tagging it.”

  “Most men do, don’t they?”

  “Yes, most men do. It’s the way we’re programmed. Women usually think about love, men think sex. Women think about feelings and emotions while men think about how many orifices they can slide their dicks into.”

  Talk about laying it on the table. The man was spreading it all over the table. “How do I know I’m going to be enough for you?”

  “Love,” was all he said.

  But his answer didn’t pacify her. Seriously, how could she be enough when he’d had more than one woman at a time? “I can’t compete with all of the women you have had.”

  “You’ve already outshined them, and I haven’t even had you… in the biblical sense, yet. We have a connection that goes beyond sex, beyond love.”

  Maybe he was feeding her a line of bullshit, or maybe he was telling the truth. It really didn’t matter because she wanted him more than anything or anyone she’d ever wanted in her life. She reached over the table and kissed him.

  He grabbed her hand, pulled it into his. When he broke the kiss and his breath touched her cheek, he whispered, “I want to devour you, feel you in my bones, woman…in my soul.”

  “I feel the same about you. But, Jordan, before we leave, tell me about her.” She pointed to Jamison’s table.

  He glanced at Christi. “Come on, I’ll tell you her story on our walk back to your car.”

  They hit the sunny walking trail and both slipped on their sunglasses as Jordan discussed Christi’s story. “Renegade vampire gone wild” pretty much summed it up.

  “Does anything I’m saying make sense?” he asked.

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  When they reached the parking lot, Mia stopped first. “Yes, it does. By making Christi feel special, she is less apt to run her mouth about the sanction. Right?”

  He glanced toward her car, moved them in front of it, and then leaned against the hood. Shoving his hands into the front pockets of his jeans, he waited. His actions gave Mia the perfect opportunity to admire his body.

  “See something you like, Ms. Christini?” A wave of heat rushed across her cheeks. “I’m sorry, I—I—”

  “No need to be embarrassed, darlin’. I’m beyond flattered by your assessment of me. I plan to assess your curves later myself.” Mia half smiled. She needed to get her thoughts back on track.

  Right now all she wanted was to feel his hands all over her body. Get a grip, woman. She attempted to regain her pre-gutter mind back. Still feeling warm, she switched gears back to the discussion at hand.

  “Christi is an affection-starved little girl in a woman’s body.” Jordan nodded. “That’s a very considerate way of putting it.” He cocked an eyebrow at her. “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather ogle my body a little more?”

  Yes. Ignore him.

  She glanced over at the fountain perched in the middle of the lake, spewing water in a circular motion.

  Jordan stepped closer toward her, shortening the distance between them. “Go ahead, ask what’s on your mind.”

  “Jamison Rierson. How do you know him?” Her gaze stayed glued to the fountain. It was as if she was waiting for some magical element to change the form of it. She would need to make sure when she wrote in h
er journal tonight she mentioned the beauty of the fountain.

  “Vampire.”

  A group of small children running past them up the sidewalk broke her concentration for a split second before she gasped.

  “Seriously?”

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  He laughed low. She just stared at him. “You’re serious. He is a vampire, too?”

  “Yes, he is.”

  A plethora of emotions rushed through Mia, to the point of almost knocking her off-balance. Oh my God! It finally made sense, why he wouldn’t get close to her. He assumed she would never understand his alternative life style.

  “You realize Jamison wanted you for more than a friend, don’t you?”

  She couldn’t speak. Her mouth felt as dried out as a plum that lay for hours in the Arizona sun. “Sure.”

  “Look at me.” Jordan took one more step, pinning Mia between his body and the car. “I understand if you had feelings for him. But know this, darlin’, I won’t let you go. Not without a fight.” Damn. Now her eyes were tearing.

  “Are your tears for him?” His voice slipped over her. It remained steady, his expression soft.

  She thought about it. Are they?

  “No. It’s too late for Jamison. I had feelings for him once, but when I met you, they disappeared. Actually, it’s like they never existed.”

  Was he questioning her feelings for him? Did he wonder if her new knowledge about Jamison would change anything between them?

  “Are you sure, babe? Am I what you want?” She didn’t need to contemplate his question, so she answered him with a fact, and then a question of her own.

  “Yes, you are what I want. How can you even ask me that?”

  “Because I’m not so sure, now that you are aware of Jamison’s secret. What if he decides going after you is what he wants? Not to mention, you are still falling in love with me. You could just as easily fall out of love with me.”

  She was in shock about Jamison—this much was true—but losing Jordan was not an option. He must know her feelings were a done 126

  deal. The falling was finished. She was in love with him. It didn’t matter that their courtship had been less than a week. Love at first sight existed throughout time and space.

  Touching his arm, she admitted, “I’m done falling.” A wry expression lit up his face. “Meaning?” She found refuge against his chest. “I love you.” I said it.

  “I needed to hear those words from you.” He crushed his lips against hers, and she could’ve sworn the impact of his kiss curled her toes.

  “Let’s go somewhere more private before I strip you naked right here.”

  “Good idea. How about my apartment?”

  His breath caught, then glided between them like velvet.

  “Mmmm, we better go…now.”

  Mia drove the distance to her apartment complex in a haze, occasionally glancing in the rearview mirror to make sure the black Mercedes Kompressor followed. What about birth control? She didn’t own condoms, and she wasn’t on the pill. What about the sponge and spermicides? Shit!

  She pulled into the complex and whipped her MINI Cooper into the space in front of building six. Jordan emerged from his vehicle before she had the keys out of the ignition or the window rolled up.

  “Geez.” Jordan planted himself by her car. “Remind me not to drive with you. You drive like a bat out of hell.” She pushed the door open and stepped out onto the sidewalk. “Ha ha.” She arched a brow at him. “I had a lot on my mind.”

  “Like what?” A sexy grin crossed his face. He seemed to study her as his face turned serious. “Well, besides the obvious heavy shit we just discussed back at the lake.”

  “Not that.” She dug in her small purse for keys. “Birth control,” she blurted. Will I ever learn to think before speaking? She examined the ring of keys in her hand. Probably not.

  “I have protection, Mia.”

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  “Oh.” I really have to get with the sex program.

  She moved like lightning toward the stairwell.

  He snickered and followed close behind. “Did I say something wrong?”

  Taking the steps two at a time, she stopped and yelled back to him. “Shut up.”

  “Shut up! I’ll show you shut up,” he countered, sprinting up the steps to catch her.

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  Chapter Eleven

  Bring on the sex!

  Inside the apartment, Jordan scanned the living room while Mia headed for the kitchen. She poured two glasses of her special sun tea and cranked the air down to seventy-five degrees before she rejoined him. The day was turning out to be a scorcher, and if it hit ninety-eight degrees like the meteorologist predicted, the humidity would make it feel like it was well over one-hundred degrees, turning her apartment into a sauna. Maxing out the air-conditioning would do nothing to cool her inner temperature. Oh well, some things are just worth suffering through.

  Appearing in the doorway, Mia watched Jordan study the framed pictures on her small oak desk. “Those pictures are mostly my family.”

  He took the tray from her hands, placed it on the small table in front of the sofa. “You resemble your mother. She is very beautiful, darlin’.”

  “That’s very sweet of you. Thanks.”

  “Just relaying what I see.” He walked over and stood in front of her. “Come on,” he whispered, and guided them to the sofa. He sat down and then straddled her across him, pushing his erection alongside her inner thigh.

  “Don’t you want some tea?

  “Not this moment.”

  His lips pressed to hers, as his fingertips roamed in small circles along her back. “I want Mia now. Tea later.”

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  Her face grew warm. It was as if the room was closing in on her.

  A deep flutter lined her stomach. She was sure she was about to puke all over him. For God’s sake, she was a grown woman! But one who hadn’t experienced full-blown intercourse yet. Sheltered upbringing equaled embarrassment later. And her later had just arrived.

  Should she be perspiring as if someone released a fire hose above her head? It wasn’t just her virginity that frightened her. What if all the years of Catholic instruction were correct? Was giving herself to a man before marriage going to send her straight to hell? Am I prepared for the consequences of my actions?

  Even if Jehovah God stood in her living room telling her point-blank what she was about to do was wrong, she would do it anyway.

  Her body desired him more than it did eternal life.

  As if he could hear the bantering of her thoughts, he released her.

  “What’s wrong?”

  His face was beautiful. She reached out and traced the diamond stud in his nose with her finger. “I guess I’m a little nervous, that’s all.”

  “Don’t be, baby. I won’t hurt you.”

  The promise in his words eased her nerves. “I believe you.” When he placed the tips of his fingers against her cheek, her stomach flipped.

  “I promise to be gentle with you,” he assured her.

  When he reached for her wrists, his cell phone rang. “I’m sorry, babe. I have to get this.”

  She slid off his lap, depositing her body next to him.

  He flipped open the phone. “Yeah,” he snapped.

  At least his hands held no malice, because he was able to continue massaging Mia’s left leg.

  She gazed at him as he listened to the voice on the other end of the phone, almost happy for the unexpected reprieve. “Fine, I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

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  “You have to go,” she stated rather than questioned. She was well aware of the answer.

  “Yes, but it’s a good thing. Jamison wants to talk.”

  “Oh.” Her tone bordered more perturbed than sad. We were in the middle of…and you have to run. She didn’t expect her first time to happen like this. Not only was she absent the white dress, soon she would be minus the man.

  “I’m sorry, Mia.” He to
uched her hair, just a light stroke. “I shouldn’t divulge this information, but I think we are in too deep for me to keep it from you.” He paused. “Jamison isn’t just a vampire.

  He’s the Elder.”

  “Elder?” she repeated, a little puzzled. What the hell is an Elder?

  “Yes. He is the leader of the group, the rule enforcer, the head honcho.” He lifted her back across his lap. His cock jumped, and. as if it had called her name, Mia’s gaze moved over it.

  Jordan laughed, and narrowed his gaze toward his dick. “See what you do to me, woman.”

  Awkward couldn’t describe Mia’s sudden predicament. Did she have to examine his crotch? Especially while he watched?

  “You can examine my jewels all you want when I get back,” he promised. “I’m going to see Jamison to talk about you.” Thank God Jordan changed the subject from his cock to Jamison’s Eldership. Examine it! He makes it sound like a science experiment.

  “What if he says no? Can he make you stay away from me?” Incredulously, he huffed. “Babe, I don’t give a shit what he thinks.

  All I’m going to do is try to talk some sense into him. I found someone outside of the group. He is going to have to deal with it.

  Nobody can make me do anything I don’t want to do. You should know that about me by now, Mia,” he promised, then kissed it with a seal of authority.

  “I don’t want you to lose your status in the group because of me.

  Can’t there be a compromise?”

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  “Jamison will compromise. So, yes, would be the answer to your question.”

  “You seem positive that you can change his mind about us.” What if Jamison wouldn’t compromise? Did being an Elder give him the power to dictate relationships? It was hard for her to imagine the academic Jamison, the one who chaired the English department at Dr. Phillips High School, and this Elder Jamison were the same person. My co-worker is the head-honcho vampire. Wow.