Night Howls

by Amber Lynn

  “Yeah, well you have that weird paternal trait I find annoying in men.”

  “Come on. You know you love having a little baby in the house.” That earns him a glare from me.

  “As much as I love Clyde, he is a dog. Taking care of him is a little bit different than changing and feeding a crying screaming little you. Knowing my luck, I would somehow end up having ten pups at a time. We don’t have enough people here to take care of that many children.”

  “Okay. No fighting about it tonight. Let’s just go to bed and you can think about it some more,” Alex says taking my hand and leading me into my room.

  I change into my pajamas and forget about babies, my mentoring status, and my missing in action mate. Curling up next to Alex is the only thing on my mind right now and that is just what I am going to do.

  Chapter 7

  Sweet dreams are not made of these

  I know I am dreaming because of the fact that I am seeing Sebastian, but I don’t seem to be able to interact with him. Dreaming about Sebastian isn’t unusual for me. In fact, it happens most nights.

  I do tend to not be a spectator watching events take place, though, so this is a little different. He is tied to a bed and it looks like someone has taken a knife to him, judging by the blood stain and slash marks on his shirt. I get the feeling this isn’t going to be my idea of a good dream.

  I move closer to him and when I try to touch him, my hand goes right through his body, solidifying my not being able to interact theory. My earlier assumption was based on the fact that he doesn’t seem to notice me standing in the room and I feel no live connection with him. I am going with me dreaming, rather than me being a ghost. I would hope I remember someone finally toasting my ass.

  “Come on, Sebastian. You could make this so much easier on yourself,” a woman’s voice says drawing my attention to a tall, leggy, chesty blonde that I failed to notice in a dark corner of the room. I need to work on my observation skills, but with Sebastian in the shape he is in, you really cannot blame me.

  I instantly hate the woman. She is dressed in a red negligee that might as well not even be there. Her face is all done up with makeup and I think she has some kind of glitter lotion on her skin because she is sparkling. I have so many not nice words going on in my mind about her that I cannot bring myself to say any of them. It would just come out as a garbled curse.

  “You should just let me go. I am mated, so none of your usual tricks are going to work on me. I don’t know what kind of game you are playing, but I don’t want any part of it,” Sebastian seethes at the evil witch. You tell her, honey, I silently cheer him on.

  “But we used to be so good together. Don’t you remember those days?” she asks as she starts doing some weird striptease-like dance. Yuck. I think she should keep her day job.

  Yet another reason for me to dislike the bitch, if her words are any indication, it sounds like she has had a taste of my Sebby. Being in dream world, I cannot get a good sense of what she actually is. My default train of reasoning leans towards vampire, but I am not seeing any of the usual signs. Her skin actually looks a little tanned, which is not something you see in vampires. Even a freak of a vampire like me has pasty pale skin.

  “’We’ didn’t used to be anything together. You got off while I slept and left me feeling weak in the morning. There was nothing consensual about our time together.”

  “You cannot believe that. You gave me such a boost; I know there were some special feelings on your side of the equation.”

  “Bullshit. Why have you even kidnapped me? You have plenty of men out there in the world that wouldn’t mind a little of your special attention, even if it does strip a few years off of their lives,” Sebastian says with his eyes closed not even bothering to look at the temptress. The temptress that I have figured out is a succubus. Ever since I met Ben, I have had a feeling Sebby had run afoul of one sometime in the last millennium.

  “No one else has ever been able to escape my thrall. Somehow, you did, however. I want to prove to you that I can have you anytime I want you,” the bitch replies to him. I cannot interact with Sebastian and I highly doubt if I can with her, but I walk over and swing back to punch her in the face anyway. Sadly, my hand goes right through her head. Damn dream world. When I wake up, I am finding her and shooting her a few times for good measure. I feel slightly better from at least making the attempt.

  “You expect this time will be any easier for you, now that I have actually mated and have a bond that cannot be broken?”

  “Bonds are just made to be broken. Didn’t anyone ever tell you that? I have broken so many of these little ‘bonds’ over my time that they are a joke to me. There is only one out there that could possibly defeat me and I doubt your little vampire bond has even half the strength of it,” she says with an evil laugh and sashays her tall, skinny butt towards the bed.

  Once there, she climbs on top of it and straddles Sebastian. He still has his clothes on, but I am, of course, pissed by the action. She moves around a little, probably trying to stimulate something down below on his part. If he can keep “Happy” down with a woman that looks like a goddess on top of him, I will love him forever. I doubt it is possible, though. He is a man.

  “Really? Does grueker-tilnay mean to you what it does to me?” Sebastian asks with his eyes still firmly closed.

  “You have got to be shitting me. Who would tell you about that?” she screams climbing off of him. I am able to get a visual on my property and somehow “Happy” doesn’t look very happy. If that is the case, I love our new bond.

  “Me and my girl know how to do things right,” Sebastian replies to the pissed off succubus. I wonder if he is purposely not using my name.

  “Like I said, these things are created to be broken. I will destroy whatever bond the bitch holds on you and then you will become my sex slave, to do with as I see fit.” Good luck with that, darling. I think it is called unbreakable for a reason. Even if that word doesn’t make sense in your diluted, messed up mind.

  “Do you really think my girl is just going to let you do that? I didn’t exactly mate with a marshmallow. She is going to find you and kick your ass from here back down to Hell where you belong.” There is so much fire and passion in Sebastian’s statement that I find it really sensual. I always love it when the guys stick up for me, especially in cases like this, where I don’t get to voice my own opinion.

  “You really think some little girlie vampire is going to stop me? I will tear her to shreds,” she says walking out of the room. She is probably on her way to kick a baby. She just has that kind of look in her eyes.

  “In your dreams, Candace,” Sebastian replies finally opening his eyes. Eerily, he focuses in right where I am standing.

  That is creepy. I know he had his eyes closed when she first started talking, but before that they were open and he didn’t appear to know I was here.

  I jerk awake in my bedroom with Alex still curled up beside me. I have no idea of the time, but I need to talk to Sebby. The events of the dream are either happening right now or in the future, since I am not aware of him being kidnapped by a succubus in the last three weeks.

  Alex seems to still be asleep, so I wiggle slightly to grab my phone from the nightstand I recently had added on my side of the bed. I was tired of having to get up if the phone awoke me in the middle of the night.

  I press Sebastian’s preset number and hold the phone up to my ear. After three rings, a sleepy Sebby answers.

  “Love, did you have a bad dream?” he asks. I think he is saying it as a joke. Little does he know.

  “Who is Candace?” I reply thankful that at least the events of my dream haven’t happened yet.

  “I can only think of one person with that name and I hope like Hell you haven’t had the unfortunate luck of having to meet her,” he replies sounding a lot more awake. I feel him actively poking around in my mind to find the information I know on the subject. Lucky him doesn’t have to wait for me to think
things. He can now pull my memories.

  “Oh, you will love what you find,” I say actively thinking over the dream so he doesn’t have to really dig.

  “Fuck,” he yells loud enough I think everyone in Night Owl City might have heard him, even with him being a few hours away. “I hate that bitch.”

  “I gathered as much. I was not aware of her before tonight, so do you figure this is something in your future?”

  “Not if I can help it. The thing needs to be killed, but even after years of searching, I have not found a sure fire succubus killer. I have found a spell that will banish her for a while, but she is a persistent little gnat. I should have known when I thwarted her plans for me, she would eventually come back to bite me in the ass.”

  “Now will you believe me when I say something bad is going to happen?” Maybe I finally have a strong enough case. There is no way I could have just dreamed up a girl I have never met.

  “Yes. With a specific threat pointed out, I will be able to plan a better defensive front. Your dream will not become a reality, love. You can go back to sleep with that assurance,” he says trying to calm me down.

  I don’t know how possible sleep is, but I want to give him a chance to work on his plan. “Fine. Are you sure I cannot come meet you now? You might need me.”

  “I think you being around may just add oil to the fire. Some of the other vampires started arriving tonight and they had a lot of questions about you. I tried to just be vague, but you are already a topic of contention around here.”

  “When am I not?” I ask with a sigh. “Call me when you get up in the morning so I know everything is still okay.”

  “I will. Now, go to sleep and no dreams of evil demon bitches.”

  “Bye,” I reply and hang the phone up. I let it drop on my belly while my mind starts going over things.

  “I still say he is going to be just fine,” Alex says. Sebastian's yelling must have awoken him.

  “I will believe it when he is back in my arms. You didn’t see the slut of a succubus. I seriously hope she never gets Jake in a room. He would be in Hell and not even know it.”

  Alex picks up my phone and reaches over me to put it in its spot. On his way back down, his hand strokes my face and he leans down to put an innocent kiss on my lips. “No one will ever take either of us away from you. You are stuck with us for the rest of your unnaturally long life.”

  I curl in to his side and wrap my arm around his waist. “To think, there was a time I dreaded that statement coming true.”

  “I am glad we could change your mind. Now, close your eyes and get some sleep. Tomorrow is another day and I am sure it will bring other headaches.”

  “You know, some days I think I might actually love you, Alexander Monroe.” If things keep going like they are, I feel the days of my uncertainty on the matter are numbered.

  “When you know for certain, make sure I am the first person you tell,” he says and softly sings me a lullaby that does its job of lulling me to sleep. I didn't even know he could sing. I am still learning new things every day.

  Chapter 8

  Losing my mind a little in the morning light

  The next day dawns for me with a face full of slobber. “I thought we talked about this, Clyde. Mommy does not like being awoken to dog breath,” I say pushing him off the bed.

  “He was just trying to wake you up,” Alex says laughing beside me.

  “I don't see him using that method on anyone else. I think I would prefer him to just gnaw on my ankle. Those doggie breath mints don't do a thing for his chronic case of halitosis. Do you think there is a product out there that would help?” I crawl out from under my covers so I can use the little girls' room. I need to wash my face. The sulfur breath is lingering this morning.

  “You could stuff little hunks of sulfur up your nose. Then you won't even notice that he stinks,” he suggests.

  “I will get right on that,” I say as I flush the toilet and grab the soap. The soap isn't scented, but I am hoping it rinses off the residue. A good amount of hot water and half the bar of soap later, I feel much better.

  I walk back to the bed where Alex is still lying on his stomach and climb on his back straddling him. Feeling nice, I start massaging his shoulders, digging in deep to work out the knots. For as calm as he appears on the surface, he has a good amount of tension built up.

  “Now, I am sure I love you,” Alex says muffled by his pillow.

  “Yeah, that is what all the boys tell me when I rub them like this,” I reply as I start chopping down his spine with the side of my hand.

  “You should probably tell me who these other boys are, so I can make sure you won't be touching them again. You do recall we have a no touching policy in place for about every man alive.”

  “But Sven makes the cutest noises when I massage his pecs,” I say and I am instantly shifted around so he is on top of me and we are facing each other. How he managed it, I have no clue.

  “I bet I can make you forget all about Sven,” he promises as he grinds himself into me. He doesn’t push hard; it is just a gentle nudge to let me know he is happy to see me.

  “Mmm. I am sure you could, but I promised myself the next time I got off that I wouldn’t be dry humping your leg.” I shift underneath him to rub his bulging boxers just slightly with my leg.

  His wolf comes to the surface briefly enough for him to growl his approval. “Our clothing can be lost in mere seconds,” he adds to the growl and he bends down to bite my neck softly where Sebastian has already left his mark. After the nightmare I had last night and my depression from being away from Sebby, I am not really in the mood.

  “Very tempting, I am afraid Clyde won’t wait for his breakfast and morning walk, though.”

  “Walt can take care of him. I have been such a good boy lately, don’t you think I deserve a little reward?” he asks working very hard to keep himself from moving anymore. I don’t think it would take much contact for him to explode. Some days I am happy to have this kind of effect on him, but other days I don’t want the responsibility.

  Being in a generous mood this evening, but not wanting to play slip and slide, I get brave and move my hand to the elastic band holding his boxers up. He did relieve some pressure for me not that long ago, the least I can do is return the favor. Slowly and carefully, I wiggle my fingers beneath the band and I am met immediately with the soft, velvety skin of his joystick. His hard enough to drill nails into a wall, joystick.

  “Oh God,” he moans visibly shaking now. After getting a feel for what I am working with, I wrap my fingers around him and grip tightly. Unable to stop himself, he starts rocking back and forth causing my hand to stroke him. “You weren’t far off when you thought it won’t take me long to go over the edge. It is cliché, but I have dreamed so many times of you touching me like this,” he gets out before his pace picks up and grunting ensues.

  While he goes about his business, I do a little comparison. He and Sebastian are about even in the size department, as far as I can feel. I haven’t officially got a look at the beast in my hand, but I have seen them both erect in boxers, so I think that gives me a good reference point. Judging from that, Alex probably has an inch or two in length. The big difference between the two is Sebastian is uncut. When he was a wee lad, they didn’t perform circumcisions where he grew up. I like the fact that they are different in that way as well as almost everything else.

  “Squeeze just a little tighter, please,” Alex whispers and I follow his direction making a tighter fist. I guess it isn’t very nice to be sitting here working to pleasure him and thinking about Sebastian, but he should know it really isn’t doing anything for me. He starts taking in deep, ragged breaths. “Oh God. Oh God. Oh God.” Before he can say it another time, his body tenses up. It sounds like he is having a religious experience. I am a little afraid to hear who he starts praying to when we actually do the full deed.

  “Anyone and everyone I can think of, if it feels that good. You sh
ould probably remove your hand because I have a feeling I could keep you here all day. Even with that bit of relief, I am good to go again,” he says as he helps me remove my hand without getting any man goo on it. I have already used my allotted amount of soap for the week, so I appreciate his assistance. He, on the other hand, might need to spend a little time in the shower to get himself cleaned up. “You want to make sure I get cleaned up properly?”

  “Sorry, you know that I cannot partake in a joint shower with you until me and Sebastian share one. He has been requesting one longer.”

  “One of these days I will beat him to getting to experience something first,” he says giving me a quick kiss on the nose and then rolling off the bed.

  “I haven't given Sebby a hand job before, so you got him there,” I let him know.

  He grins and shakes his head while making his way to the bathroom. “Well, it is a start. Is the third point to our triangle okay this evening?” he asks as I hear the shower turn on.

  “Feels fine to me. He is supposed to call when he is up and about, which he is. I imagine he was giving us a little time to make sure you didn’t end up with blue balls. Speak of the devil,” I say as my phone starts buzzing on the table.

  “Just where have your hands been this fine night, my love?” Sebastian asks the second I connect the call. I reach out to his mind to see what exactly he has seen. What I find takes our relationship to an even weirder level.

  “I am sure you don't need to know. Should I ask what your right hand was doing while you were tuning in? I do believe you have a touch of voyeur in you.”

  “You are the only one that didn't get off from the experience. Maybe you should have Alex take care of that little problem for you.”

  I roll out of the bed wanting to find some bacon. It currently has more appeal than Alex playing with my lady bits. “I think I have exceeded my limit for skin-on-skin contact for one day.”