2 Vampires, Warlocks, And Exes

by Laura Lee

Karli, you obviously have personal matters to take care of so I’m excusing you from work for the evening. I will notify the bar on your behalf. -Leo

  Phew! Refusing to feel guilty, I stashed Leo into the back of my mind and briefly visited the bathroom. Afterwards, I donned Vance’s brown terrycloth bath robe and walked out into the kitchen to find him cooking.

  He smiled upon my arrival. “Good morning.”

  I looked out the window, noticing that it was still dark. “Huh? What time is it?”

  He placed a plate of Belgian waffles topped with whipped cream and blueberries and a side of bacon in front of me. “A little after two…it’s early, but it is technically morning. I thought you’d be hungry after…well, you know.” He blushed and looked down at his feet.

  I smiled at his coyness. As I took a bite of waffle I said, “Wow, I think these are going to make me have another orgasm! I don’t know how many more I can take!”

  All of a sudden, any bashfulness that he may have possessed disappeared. He swiftly moved towards me, gave me a look that could never be mistaken for anything but carnal, and claimed my mouth in a fierce kiss. Within seconds, I was wrapping my legs around him as he was ripping open my borrowed robe and propping me up on the kitchen countertop.

  “Oh!” I shouted as my rear end came in contact with the cool granite.

  He pulled back inquisitively. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes!” I screamed in delight. “The counter is cold, but I’m fine.”

  He grinned. “Well, we’ll just have to see what we can do to warm you up then.” He briefly kissed me on the lips and said, “Hold on, I have a great idea.” He walked over to the stainless steel fridge and began digging through its contents.

  “Huh?” I said. “What are you doing?”

  He turned around to reveal a can of whipped cream and a package of berries. As he reached into the cabinet above him, grabbing a little golden bear containing honey, he said, “Well, we’re going to need some energy for what I have planned.”

  Catching his drift I replied, “Oh, really now…and what exactly do you plan to do with those?”

  He picked me up and transferred me to the large island in the middle of the room. Shaking the can of cream he replied, “I’m going to make a meal out of you.” He then sprayed the sugary substance over my breast and immediately pulled my left nipple into his mouth. “Mmm,” he moaned. “Even better than I imagined.”

  “Holy fuck, you have a talented mouth!” I screamed.

  “Baby, you ain’t seen nothing yet,” he promised.

  Oh, and did he live up to that promise. With the cream, the berries, and the honey.

  Fourteen

  After our wonderful buffet in the kitchen, we enjoyed each other once again in the shower, then again in Vance’s bed. I hadn’t met anyone this insatiable or who had left me feeling so completely satisfied. It’s not like I had much to compare to, but Vance was by far the most talented, generous lover I had ever known. Our psychic connection while making love was amazing. We could feel each other’s pleasure as well as our own. And we kept doing that glowing thing which was weird at first, but then I learned to appreciate it: a visible symbol of our feelings for one another.

  While we were soaking in a bubble bath, I began speaking to him telepathically. I want to know more about your time on Faerie. Did you have any friends? Vance had spent ten years on Faerie studying magic. He attributed most of his knowledge to his teachings there, but I didn’t know much else about such a formative time in his life.

  Yes, I did, he replied. I was close with my mentor, Ornessa’sdaughter and her mate.We all tended to gravitate towards one another since we were so close in age and ability. They actually followed me to this realm shortly after I returned and we remained in close contact for many years. They moved to Vegas when they were expecting a child, but I still wasn’t over the incident with Maria, so I couldn’t bear spending a lot of time with them.

  What happened to them? I asked.

  He paused before answering. The last time I spoke with Bryt, she called to say goodbye because they were returning to Faerie.

  Wow, my mother’s name was Bryt too. Is that a common name among the Fae?

  He broke our telepathic connection, giving me a look of surprise. “Was your mom born in Faerie?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” I replied. “Why?”

  “Karli, no two Fae born in the land of Faerie have the same name,” he said. “It’s unheard of because a person’s name shapes who they are as an individual. The elders visit pregnant women and read the child’s aura while they’re still in their mother’s womb. They bless the child with a name based on their reading.”

  “Well, that’s impossible because I know my mom was born in Faerie and her name was Bryt,” I argued.

  He grabbed my hand and shifted his body towards me. “Karli, I’m telling you there was only one person born in the entire kingdom of Faerie with that name. I am confident of that. That only leaves one conclusion.”

  “No, you’re wrong,” I said, denying his implication. “It can’t be. What was her mate’s name?”

  “Myko,” he replied.

  I pulled away from him, choking back a sob. “Omigod.” That was my father’s name.

  “Karli, close your eyes and relax your mind,” he commanded.

  Confused, I asked, “Why?”

  “Just do it,” he said. Softening his tone he added, “Please.”

  He placed his hands on my face as I closed my eyes. I saw a blinding white light before it softened and took shape. Suddenly, I had a vision of a younger Vance standing in a beautiful forest. The same one that he’d shown me before…from his time spent on Faerie. He was around the same age as the boy in the old photo with his parents on his sofa table. There was a girl and a boy with him here, both brunettes, standing in the distance but I could not make out their faces.

  “Come on, we have to get back,” Vance called to them.

  The couple, smiling and holding hands, turned around and started walking towards him. The boy was ruggedly handsome in his youth and the girl was beautiful, with delicate features. I could feel the love seeping out of their pores with every fiber of my being. I studied their faces, trying to make sense of everything as they came closer. I looked into the girl’s eyes and was met with exact replicas of my own. I gasped, severing our mental connection. I opened my eyes as tears started flowing down my cheeks.

  “That was them,” I cried. “They looked younger, but that was definitely them.”

  Vance gave me a concerned look and moved closer. “Are you okay, Karli?”

  “This can’t be real. You knew my parents. You knew my grandmother, someone I’ve never even met. How is this even possible? How is it possible that the one person on the planet who knows my family, besides Irina, is someone that I happened to meet by chance? How is it possible that this person is you?”

  He placed his hands on my face as I began crying harder. “I don’t know, Karli. Sometimes Fate has a way of making things happen.” He started kissing away my tears. “Shh, honey. Don’t cry. It’s okay. Everything is going to be okay.”

  “You said you knew them when they lived here. Did you know me?”

  “No, not exactly,” he replied. “The last time I saw them was when your mother was pregnant with you. When she told me she was expecting, I didn’t react appropriately. I was so wrapped up in my own misery that I couldn’t be happy for them. Understandably, she was hurt because they were my closest friends for over sixty years. I didn’t talk to them once for almost five years after that.”

  I took some deep breaths, calming myself down a little so I could speak. “You said she called you to say goodbye. Why would she have done that if you hurt them so badly?”

  “She wanted to wish me peace in my life,” he said and sighed. “She told me that she forgave me because she knew how badly I was hurting. She said that she saw hope in my future, I only needed to be patient. She was a very talented seer; did you know
that?”

  “I had no idea,” I replied breathlessly.

  “Karli, I didn’t know this at the time, but I think she knew that you would come into my life. Maybe she saw you in my future.”

  “How could that be?” I asked. “That would mean that she knew that I would stay here. Did she know that they were going to die? If so, why did they leave the house that day? How could they have just left me like that?”

  “Karli, I know you didn’t get a chance to know them well, but I did,” he said. “You were everything to them. I will never forget the look on your mom’s face when she told me she was pregnant. She was radiant! I was so envious of the love they had for each other, and you were a product of that. Trust me, if she knew what would happen, she would let it, because it was meant to happen. She once told me that sometimes we must endure trials and tribulations because they open our souls to the ones who were meant to unlock them.”

  I started reaching for a towel so I could get out of the tub. “You’re telling me that they abandoned me, because Fate told them to?” I shrieked.

  He sat back and placed his hand over mine, preventing me from unfolding the towel. “They had complete faith in it. I used to as well, but I lost my way. I’m only realizing now that they were right all along.”

  I recalled a photo in his living room. One that had given me the chills the first time I saw it. “Omigod, that picture on the sofa table. You’re standing on a boat with two other people. Those are my parents! I didn’t recognize them at first because they were wearing those big hats and sunglasses.”

  Looking down he said, “Yes, that’s them. That was taken the last day I saw them.” He looked up at me, grabbing my hand and holding it against his chest. “She was six weeks pregnant in that picture, so technically you’re there too. I know it’s upsetting to think about your parents’ deaths, but you need to have faith, Karli. Faith in the Fates, and faith in us. I’ve looked at that picture every day for over twenty-five years because it made me feel peace like nothing else could. I couldn’t explain it before now, but I know that’s because of you.”

  He blasted me with unfathomable emotion as he kissed me just then. I was completely consumed by it—by him. My heart instantly melted…suddenly I was a firm believer in destiny. “Oh, Vance,” I moaned.

  He pulled me into his lap, and I crossed my ankles behind his back. “Karli, I need to be inside you again,” he said breathlessly.

  I resumed our kiss as he lifted my hips, slowly sliding me down his massive length. “Oh, you feel so good!” I exclaimed.

  “This feels so good, baby,” he said as he moved inside of me, splashing water on the floor. “So right.” He trailed kisses down my jaw, to my neck, and back up to my earlobe as I slowly rode him. “I’ve never felt anything more perfect in my entire life.”

  I gasped as he lifted me to the thick head of his penis, before thrusting into me down to the hilt. “Me neither,” I agreed. “Nothing in this world feels better than this!”

  I fell into his embrace and didn’t let go for the next three days.

  ******

  On Wednesday morning, Vance and I managed to untangle ourselves from each other and head to Smith’s for some groceries. It felt odd to do something so domestic with him, yet at the same time it felt so natural. Everything with him now seemed so natural. Instinctual. As if this is where I was meant to be all along.

  “What do you feel like having for dinner?” he asked as he playfully bumped his hip into mine.

  I bumped him back. “I don’t know. My dinners usually consist of something frozen. I’m not much of a cook.”

  He leaned over and lightly pecked me on the lips. “That’s because you’ve never had the right person to teach you. Lucky for you, I’m a good teacher. Cooking, Fae magic, sex magic, you name it. Although if you ask me, I think we’re doing just fine without the sex magic. Better than fine.”

  I blushed. “Vance! We’re in a grocery store. You shouldn’t be talking about that!”

  He laughed. “Talk about what, Karli? Sex?” He pinched my ass before adding, “Or more specifically, how badly I would love to pull you into a stock room right now and have my wicked way with you?”

  I swatted his hand away. “Stop it! You can’t make me think about that right now.” Or how badly I wanted him to pull me into that stock room.

  He gave me a side hug and kissed the top of my head. “C’mon baby, let’s hurry up and get our fuel so we can get home and make ourselves hungry.” Oh, trust me, I was already hungry. Very, very hungry.

  After dinner, and another round of dessert, Vance and I finally broke away from each other to get back to the real world. He needed to check in with Tara at the station so I decided to go back home to pick up some things. In between making love, he had asked me to move in with him. Not wanting to jinx anything, I told him I wanted to wait, but I agreed to move some of my belongings over so I could stay with him more often. I smiled as I recalled how he’d excitedly cleared out a dresser drawer for me.

  When I got to my apartment, I found Jake sitting on the steps in front of my door. When he raised his head, I gasped. He looked like hell. “Jake, what’s wrong?” I asked. “What are you doing here?”

  He scrubbed his hand over his face. In a gravelly voice he replied, “Karli, Erica’s been missing for over three days. She went to work and never came home. I’ve tried calling her repeatedly, even tried a locator spell, but I can’t find her anywhere. I didn’t know where else to go.”

  “What?” I asked. “What do you mean she’s missing? Did you two have a fight?”

  He looked down shamefully. “A little one, yeah,” he admitted. “But not anything that would make her leave me. Or I don’t think so anyway…I guess we haven’t really known each other for very long. But I know she loves me as much as I love her. I really think something’s wrong.”

  I started unlocking my door. “Did you call the police?”

  “Yeah,” he replied. “But they seemed to lose interest after I admitted that we had been arguing. Has she called you? Do you know where she is?”

  I opened the door and stepped aside to let him in. “No, Jake, I haven’t heard from her.” And now I was feeling a little guilty for being so removed from the world. After closing the door behind him I added, “C’mon, I’ll try calling her. If I can’t reach her, I’ll get Vance to come over to check it out.”

  He pulled me into a giant bear hug, painfully squeezing the breath out of me. “Oh, thank you, Karli! I’m so glad she has you as a friend.”

  I dug through my purse until I found my phone. As I started dialing, Jake grabbed it from my hand. “Wha--” I started to say.

  He gave me a wicked smile as he threw it across the room. “You know, Karli, now that I think about it…I don’t think I’ll be needing your assistance after all.”

  “Huh?” I shook my head in confusion. “What the hell are you talking about, Jake? And why did you just chuck my phone across the room?”

  “Dormio,” he said in a commanding voice.

  “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” I asked irritably.

  Before I could find out, my world was clouded in black.

  Fifteen

  The first thing I realized upon waking was that I was gagged and my arms hurt. Bad. The second thing that came into focus was that I was hanging from a rafter, my wrists bound in leather straps. Well, that explained the arm pain. Sluggishly, I lifted my head to survey the area. I was in a large, dark room. An old warehouse perhaps. A single bulb hung overhead, affording me minimal sight. It was drafty in there…probably because I’d been stripped down to my bra and underwear. As the fogginess started to lift, panic started settling in. Where the hell was I? And how did I get here? Think, Karli! The last thing I remembered was talking to Jake in my apartment and then…what? Omigod, I think that bastard spelled me! But why?

  A noise to my right interrupted my musings. A slender figure came into view but it was too dark to make out who it was at fir
st. My spidey senses were tingling as the figure came closer. Straining my eyes to adjust in the darkness, I could identify a female form. What. The. Fuck.

  “Well, you certainly are a sight to see, aren’t you?” she drawled. “I can see why Vance and Leo are so drawn to you.” Oh fuck. Maria. I knew that bitch was evil! She came into view, standing mere inches in front of me, appraising my nearly naked body lasciviously. I flinched when she began tracing the lines of my bra cups with her finger. As she removed my gag she said, “Don’t even think about screaming, Karli. It will be useless. This place has been soundproofed for the bands that used to play here back in my human days.”

  I glared. “I don’t know what you’re thinking of doing, Maria, but Leo will find me and then you’ll be sorry.”

  Maria smirked. “Ah, yes I suppose that he will eventually be able to locate you once he figures out that you’ve gone missing. What you seem to forget, is that he and I also have a bond and I could sense him coming with plenty of warning.”

  Shit, I didn’t think about that. “I’m sure he can feel my distress right now,” I countered. “He’ll be on his way any time now.”

  She smiled even wider with fang. “Oh, my poor, naïve little girl. That’s where you’re wrong. You see, your little witch friend in the other room is very talented thanks to her newly acquired abilities. She has placed wards around the building which block out anyone’s ability to sense anything that goes on within these walls. They won’t last forever, but if she values both of your lives, she will keep them up for as long as possible. I should have at least a few days to have fun with you.”

  Erica’s here? Oh hell, what was going on? “You’re lying,” I spat.

  “Am I?” Maria paused for a moment as if deep in thought. “Well, I can tell you that Leo is currently at his delightful club in a very…how shall I say, happy mood. If I had to guess, I would say that he is feeding, or perhaps fucking one of his lovely patrons at the moment. Probably both.” I tried not to, but I cringed at the thought which caused Maria to grin before continuing. “Perhaps he’s decided that you weren’t worth waiting for since you decided to screw Vance over him. If he truly senses your distress, he mustn’t care.” She leaned in and inhaled. “I can see why he held out for so long though. You smell absolutely delicious.” She kissed me lightly on the lips, knelt down in front of me, and forced my thighs open.