by K. Aten
She sighed. “After so many times helping me out, I felt like it was the least I could do for my old friend.” Louve turned to Sarah with a look of regret. “I really had no idea how poor his control was, and I am very sorry that Jesse had to pay the price of my miscalculation.” When Sarah looked down at her hands, Louve cast her gaze toward Keller. “And I am also regretting the fact that I did not send him home after that incident. It seems I am becoming insensé in my old age. Forgive me, mon ami.”
Keller held her gaze. “I understand about old debts, and I too have had my fair share of mistakes. All we can do is move forward from here.”
Sarah finally raised her eyes and nodded at the Frenchwoman. She was not so easy to forgive, but mistakes she had made aplenty. Who was she to judge? Her main concern was Annie, and the safety of all four of them. “Yes, let’s definitely move forward.”
Noticing empty bottles, she stood and cleared them away. “Would you care for another?” When dark and light heads nodded assent, she made her way to the bar and returned with two more beers. “I have brought a few new ones for you to try, since you seem to enjoy the American microbrews.” She handed a bottle of Sundog to Keller and a bottle of Amber Tease Ale to Sarah.
After both tentatively took a swig of the new beers, Keller grinned. “Hey, this is really good!” She turned to Sarah. “Would you like to try it?” The singer smiled and nodded before handing her own bottle over. Almost as one, they exclaimed “I like this one better!”
All three women burst into laughter, but Sarah and Keller kept their new bottles. Louve clapped her hands in delight. “Excellent!”
After taking another swig of the Sundog, Sarah let her natural curiosity out to play. “Where did you say these beers are from?”
The small brunette across from her grinned. “They are from breweries in Michigan. Who knew American beer could be so varied and subtle with its flavors. It is not wine, but eh, it is quite good, no?”
Keller held up her bottle and read the label. “Grand Rapids. Isn’t that the second largest city behind Detroit? I’ve never been there.”
Sarah nodded. “I played there once while I was on tour. They have an amazing live music scene. With all the bars and pubs, they have an incredible array of talent hitting their open mic nights. I actually played at a brewery downtown. I opened for another popular band and the crowd was very receptive and laid back.” Sarah remembered that particular gig with fondness. It paid well and the crowd was amazing. The sporty blonde butch she spent the night with was also a pleasant memory. Jamie was only in town for a night, just like Sarah, but what a night it was. Yes, Grand Rapids was a nice city with a Riverwalk that was quiet and dark after midnight. One of the things she loved about touring the country for her music was the sense of exploration and adventure that met her with each new city.
Every word Sarah spoke aloud burrowed deeper into Keller’s brain. She had been contemplating alternatives for when they would inevitably have to leave Columbus. If she truly wanted to open a recording studio with Sarah, then maybe this Grand Rapids would be a good place to look. Active nightlife, live music scene, fairly large city, it had all the things they would look for when it came to relocation. “Maybe we should visit this place and check out some of the breweries and music ourselves, hmm?”
Her lover gave her a delighted smile. “I think that would be amazing.”
After a few seconds pause, they both shook themselves free from the loaded look. Louve sighed and gave them a sad smile. “What I would not give to find a mate that would like to travel with me. But alas, I am alone and now tied to the circus.”
Sarah looked at her seriously. “You don’t have to be alone, Louve. Maybe you should take a vacation and see what or who might be out there for you.”
Even though she knew the singer was serious, Louve could not help releasing a tinkle of laughter as well as another rolling wave of lust. “Ah, but you know what they say in America, all the best ones are taken.” She looked curiously at Keller, then Sarah. “But perhaps you are right in that I am in need of a holiday.” Wanting a topic change, Louve addressed Sarah. “So Keller tells me that you do well with your training. She says that you are quite strong mentally.”
Sarah blushed lightly, sparing a quick glance at her girlfriend. “Yes, things seem to be going well. Despite knowing all about Keller and the things she needed to do to satisfy her hunger, it is quite different when I’m the one that has to do those things.” She took another swig of her beer. “And physically it is very different. I broke three guitar strings the first time I tried to play after my change.”
Keller spoke up. “It is better now, but still difficult. We started taking kickboxing classes but I think our instructor is getting suspicious. Sarah nearly threw me across the room in our last session.” She turned to Sarah. “I don’t think we should go back there again, it’s too risky.”
Sarah agreed with a sigh. “I think you’re right. But I still need to work on control and we just don’t have the space at the condo.”
“Mes amis, I have offered the solution to you many times. Why do you not take your training with us? We are not all circus acts and wolf training. You can ask Jesse yourselves, but we also teach self-defense.”
The two vampires appeared to mull it over for a few seconds, then looked at each other. Keller shrugged. “It makes sense, they would be better to train with than humans. We would still have to temper our strength with them, but we’d be getting the training we want. I have had enough instruction in the past to save me from those more extreme circumstances. However, I will be the first to admit that I’ve always relied more on my mental powers and brute strength than any real fighting skill.”
Sarah snickered at the thought of the small blonde using “brute strength” on anyone then nodded in agreement with her about the training. “You’re right of course, and we’ll be able to keep an eye on Jesse. I made a promise to Annie to look out for her.” She looked at Louve and answered for both of them. “That sounds great, thank you.”
The Frenchwoman stood and collected empty bottles again, then made her way out of the room at a fast pace. “Come, come, I will introduce you to Alain. He handles the day to day business of the circus and sets the schedule for training.” Keller chuckled at the energetic she-wolf but her and Sarah had no choice but to follow her just as fast.
Their meeting with Alain went well. He was a short, stocky man with a friendly easy-going personality. When Keller asked Jesse if she’d be willing to switch her training to Sundays, she readily agreed. Sarah saw the look of relief in Annie’s eyes when she found out that Jesse would be training with them. It all seemed to work out perfectly.
However, one person did not seem happy about the arrangement. Marie overheard the plans and had words with Louve in the corner. The words were loud and unhappy. Eventually she stalked out, roughly brushing her shoulder against Sarah’s, nearly knocking the unsuspecting woman down. Keller immediately went to work to soothe her lover’s temper and it wasn’t long after that the four women found themselves heading home.
Louve could sense her control over her troupe slipping and knew it wouldn’t bode well down the road. She thought perhaps she would speak with Alain and see if he thought she was failing as their leader and boss. He had always been honest with her in the past.
Chapter Three
SARAH AND KELLER had been training with Jesse and Alain more than a month when Sarah first began having problems. She began to feel drained by the end of each day but she didn’t want to say anything to her girlfriend. Sarah was used to dealing with stuff herself and didn’t like to admit weakness of any kind. Keller had given Joanne Markham notice that she would be quitting before the Columbus Pride festival. While the bar manager had been busy looking for her replacement, she had cut back her own hours slightly.
Unfortunately Sarah kept getting busier. On top of the training with the werewolves, she was also still giving private lessons for her business, putting together
a set list for the festival, and filling in all her free time at the studio recording her new album. The musician was exhausted and felt like she hardly saw her lover any more. Feeling the drag of her schedule more acutely than normal, Sarah decided to take a couple nights off from the studio. It was a Friday night and she knew Keller was off the entire weekend so they would have a couple days to spend together. Keller wasn’t there when she arrived so she poured herself a glass of wine and sat on the couch for a few minutes to relax.
“Sarah…Sarah…” The brunette woke with a start. She looked toward her lover, then the darkened windows of the condo. Sarah glanced over at her untouched glass of wine, confused. Keller sat next to her and gazed into her eyes. The blue never failed to entrance Sarah. The hunger she felt for her lover was more than just biology. It was emotional, visceral, and on some level, spiritual. Her attention was broken when Keller spoke. “Are you okay?” Keller took note of the dark circles under her soul mate’s eyes and the uncharacteristic deep sleep. She had called her for a few minutes before Sarah finally woke. Worry nagged the back of her brain.
Sarah gave her a weary smile and tried to brush off Keller’s concern. “I’m fine, I just didn’t realize how tired I was. I had plans to come home and make us dinner, and then have my way with you. I’m sorry I fell asleep, I just feel so run down.” She cocked her head in thought for a few seconds. “Are you sure I can’t get sick? Because I feel like I’m coming down with something.” She laughed slightly, trying to play her words off as a joke. But her attempted humor was hollow, much like she felt.
Alarm bells clamored inside Keller’s head with Sarah’s admission. She suddenly had an idea what was wrong with her girlfriend. “No, we definitely can’t get sick. However I fear you’ve been working so hard lately that you’re burning more energy that you can take in. It’s been weeks since we’ve had a chance to feed at the club. I think what you’re suffering is similar to when I got injured last year and nearly died.” When Sarah gave her a startled look, she rushed to reassure her. “It’s not that bad; however, you do need to feed as soon as possible.”
Green eyes stared back at her in confusion. “I don’t understand, I fed off you a few days ago. We feed off each other regularly, and you’ve gone longer without draining energy at the club. Why isn’t that enough?”
Shaggy blonde hair shook with Keller’s head. “It’s not the same for a few different reasons. I’m a lot older and I have a much greater capacity than you do. I can take in a lot more when I feed, which means my energy will last a lot longer. And also I think it’s because we are only feeding off each other. I suspect that maybe we are both suffering from weak blood, so when we feed off each other it’s not rejuvenating us. We need fresh blood.”
“So what do we do? I don’t think I could feed off just anyone, and I definitely don’t want to do it without you. It’s too sexual and it would feel weird now. And you said that that was the only energy that would feed us.”
Keller thought for a minute, going over their possibilities in her head. “While we can technically feed on ordinary neutral emotion, it typically has no real power to it. Sensual energy is ten times stronger than average emotion. For instance, even I would be hard pressed to make a meal at a conference of dentists. That being said, we still have a few options. We can try to pick someone up together at the club, we can find someone outside the club for a quick snack in an alley and wipe their memory, or we can call Louve. You know she would be willing.”
Sarah seemed to ponder the ideas. “What do you think is the best for us?”
The shorter woman sighed and ran a hand through her already messy hair. “Well, I’ve done all three plenty of times, but I’ll admit it is a big difference when approaching the problem as a couple. Perhaps the safest would be Louve. But I also don’t want it to look as if we are seeking her out either. I don’t want anyone to know that we are weakened right now.” What she didn’t admit to Sarah was her impression that Louve seemed a bit off lately. Her long-time friend was losing control of her troupe and her emotions, and Keller didn’t want to distract the Frenchwoman any further. She only hoped that between Louve and Alain, they could get things back on track again with the wolf troupe.
The singer tapped her bottom lip in thought. “What if we leave it to chance? Why don’t we go to the Temple du Loup tonight to feed on the energy? If she is there, you know she will offer a night together. If she’s not there, perhaps we then try to pick up someone from the club. There’s usually at least one person willing to participate in a threesome. What do you think?”
Keller looked at her strangely. “Have you done this before, set out to pick someone up for a threesome?”
Sarah blushed and scratched at her temple. “Ahh, it was years ago, when Jill and I dated. Neither one of us wanted to seriously settle down. As a result we had many wild nights with a third.”
It was a grinning blonde that leaned in close and whispered in her ear. “Wild nights, hmm?” She ran her sharp rapidly elongating teeth along the helix of Sarah’s ear. “Were they as wild as ours?”
Sarah shuddered with sudden arousal. “Definitely not.”
Keller looked at her lover curiously, often wondering but never asking about Sarah’s relationship with her ex-girlfriend turned best friend. “What ever happened between you and Jill to cause you to break up? Did you love her? I mean, were you in love with her?” She was legitimately curious, and she was always interested in gaining little insights into Sarah’s personality and past. While they had shared a great many things about their lives, Sarah was definitely the more closed between the two of them. Sarah Colby had many layers, much like an onion. She liked to hide her emotions beneath layers of superficial thoughts and smiles.
Sarah stiffened, not expecting the question in the middle of a conversation that was headed to places a lot less serious. She thought for a few seconds trying to come up with a sufficient answer. “We did love each other. We were actually best friends through high school, but we didn’t start dating until college. We didn’t date very long though because I think neither one of us really wanted to settle down.” She frowned. “We broke up right after my parents died. I guess I just wasn’t the same person after that, and I had too many responsibilities. I couldn’t deal with a relationship on top of everything else.”
Keller’s eyes widened with a sudden flash of insight into her lover’s personality. “Did you break up with her?”
Sarah shrugged. “I mean, it was mostly mutual but yeah, I broke it off. It was…” She sighed, struggling to find the words. “I guess I still loved her at the time. I just couldn’t, you know? And after so many years, she’s just Jill. We’re best friends, who sometimes hook up. But there’s no romance between us.” Tired of dredging up old memories, she grasped Keller’s face in both hands and pulled her close for a kiss. She swirled her tongue around Keller’s sharp teeth, caressing the sensitive canines until Keller was panting with desire. When Keller did the same to her in return, she pulled away to see that her lover’s blue eyes had gone dark with need. “I can assure you that no one in my life has come close to matching what you do to me. Now, I believe we were going out tonight, which means I need to get ready. Off with you!” She pushed Keller back from the couch and stood. With a wink at her gobsmacked lover, Sarah headed for their bedroom to get ready.
Two hours later they were standing in line to get into the club. It wasn’t nearly as long as the line on Saturdays because Saturday was the only day the circus troupe actually performed. Keller cast another glance at Sarah’s outfit. “Not that you aren’t hot in anything I’ve seen you wear, but I don’t understand why you chose that shirt to go with your jeans when we’re supposed to be looking for a third.” She pouted. “The shirt totally covers your ass.”
Sarah glanced back at her and smirked. It was near eleven and the people in line were not paying them any attention. “I chose the shirt on purpose, and I have other attributes to offer besides my ass you know.” They got t
o the front before she could add any more, so she dug a twenty out of her pocket and handed it to the doorman. Just inside they showed their ID’s and got their hands stamped. Rather than proceed through the familiar revolving door, Sarah pulled Keller off to the side.
Keller looked at her in confusion. “Don’t you want to go in?”
Sarah gave her a mysterious smile. “Of course I do, but I want to explain my outfit to you.”
Blue eyes looked up at her in surprise. “Lass, you don’t have to do that. I think you look gorgeous in anything and as long as you’re comfortable I’m happy.”
“Oh, I’m happy too. Come here and find out just how happy I am.” She pulled Keller into her arms and spun them around so the blonde’s back was against the stone wall next to the rear entrance of the church. As Sarah pulled her into a kiss she bent her knees slightly and rubbed the front of her jeans into Keller’s crotch.
As soon as the distinctive lump rubbed against the front of Keller’s own jeans, she moaned into her lover’s mouth. Pulling back, she turned darkened eyes toward the singer. “I can’t believe you wore that out!” Even after knowing Sarah for a year, the singer continued to surprise her. Keller would have never expected Sarah to do something so daring. Sometimes it seemed as if every single day opened new facets of their individual lives to each other.
Sarah gave her another enigmatic smile. “Do you like it?” When Keller whispered “yes,” Sarah’s voice lowered. “Do you want me to use it on you right now?” She gave another roll of her hips and felt Keller shudder against her once again.
While Sarah was typically more emotionally reserved than Keller, she was also a little wilder in her ways. Keller’s reserve had much to do with the fact that she had to learn to live below the radar for most of her life. As a vampire who lived for centuries, one learned very quickly to not be noticed. But despite the quiet reserve brought on by centuries of self-control, Keller enjoyed being tempted into Sarah’s fresh antics. “You’re killing me here! Of course I do, I—” She was interrupted when a large group came through the door laughing, clearly having started drinking at another bar. She pulled Sarah’s head down so she could whisper in the singer’s ear. “I want to find a dark corner somewhere and show you just how much I want it!”