Awakening (The Magic of the Black Forest Book 2)

by Macy Farmer

  Why did he say it wouldn’t be good if I swallowed his blood? I’ve been doing it for months now. If anything bad were going to happen, it surely would have happened by now. And, who cares? The worst thing that could happen would be that I become a vampire. To me, that wouldn’t be so bad.

  All kinds of thoughts were running through my mind while I brushed my teeth and cleaned myself up.

  A knock at the door pulled me from my mindful ranting. Shoving my toothbrush back in my mouth I mumbled I’d be out shortly. Wiping the tears from my face, I decided I should talk to Bradley about it when we got home. If it hurts him then I have no other choice but to stop. The thought alone caused my anxiety to rise. Really, it’s addictive.

  Bradley and I rode the quad while everyone else ran. Colleen and Jesse were enjoying themselves. They were doing flips and somersaults; Jesse almost flung himself into a tree. Dave just seemed to enjoy the wind on his face. Seager was in all his glory, stretching and working his muscles.

  I decided to let Bradley in and show him what I just saw and thought. The side of his cheeks rose as the corner of his mouth turned upward into a grin. I squeezed my arms around him even tighter.

  “What do you enjoy about running fast like them? Do you do flips and somersaults?” I felt his laughter before he shook his head no.

  “Do you like to feel the wind against your face?” This time he nodded his head yes. I’m beginning to take pleasure in this. If I phrase my question right I could learn a lot here.

  “Is there anything else?” Again he nodded his head yes.

  “Am I distracting you?” His body expressed laughter as he shook his head no.

  “Hmm, I think I know. You like running fast because it makes you feel like you’re flying…” I teased knowing that he enjoyed that the most.

  Every day our connection grows stronger and stronger. I don’t need to hear his thoughts to know what he’s thinking. I can feel it. It’s like our souls are becoming one. Since the first day I met him I haven’t been able to read or see his thoughts. With everyone else I can, but block it out. Well mostly. I try not to use my magic or intrude but sometimes it’s necessary.

  Suddenly, the quad came to an abrupt stop, causing me to slam forward against his back. Jesse, Colleen, and Dave stopped roughly about eight yards ahead of us. Bradley spun me onto his lap.

  He said four words before kissing me, “I like this game.” Then his lips were pressed firmly upon mine. Grinning wildly he proclaimed, “You may continue.” And we were off again.

  I wondered how he was able to spin me around like that without dropping me. So quick, fast, but gentle. Now that he knew what I was doing, the game would be harder to play. Bradley’s laughter interrupted my thoughts and reminded me that he could hear them. My shield was down during our honeymoon so that he could hear my thoughts and know how I felt. With our honeymoon over, and us headed for home, I once again shielded my thoughts. Simultaneously, Bradley shook his head, and I knew that he was well aware that I had blocked him again. In an effort to comfort my dear husband I rubbed my hands up and down his chest.

  We played the question game until we got back to the truck. With all the fun we were having, the journey home seemed shorter.

  When we got home, I felt relieved, missing it a lot more than I thought. Now that Bradley and I were married I wanted to make the house “ours.”

  We unpacked while Jesse made lunch. It’s unbelievable how much grizzlies consume in one sitting. Only three of the six of us eat yet Jesse was in the kitchen making a feast for ten.

  Alone in our bedroom, I decided to take a moment to ask Bradley about the “trance” conversation he had with Dave.

  “Why do you do it, the trance thing?” The simple question seemed to stun him for a moment before replying that he already explained ‘why.’ However, I still didn’t quite understand and asked for a better explanation.

  “Natalia, humans call it sleeping but for vampires it’s a trance. Do you know what I mean?”

  “No, I have no idea. Please explain.”

  “It’s hard.”

  “Then try harder.” I giggled.

  For a few minutes neither of us spoke. Finally, I broke the silence. “I’m sorry. Did my laughing give you the wrong impression? I still want to know.”

  “I’m still trying harder.” He grinned sarcastically.

  “Okay, here goes nothing.” He sat on the bed next to me and held my hands, rubbing them with his thumbs. “Before we were married I thought that there was no way I could have loved you more. You were already everything to me. When I saw you step out from behind the misty curtain in all your beauty, I was so proud to be marrying you. When you said ‘I do,’ my love for you grew even more. From that moment forward my goal is to make sure you are happy. I still feel like I’m the luckiest man in the world.”

  “That seems about right since I’m the luckiest woman in the world,” I interrupted.

  “Are you going to let me finish?”

  I gestured as if I was zipping my lips together then nodded my head.

  He laughed. “Our wedding night was amazing, as has every night been since then.” He ran his index finger along my cheek. His eyes were gazing heavenly into mine while his smile expressed the total opposite. It was wickedly seductive. He leaned in to run his tongue along the edge of my lower lip, causing it to quiver. “I thought you would want me to hold you afterwards. Isn’t that the appropriate thing to do?” he teased.

  I returned him a crooked flirty smirk. It is the human thing to do. Needing a moment to digest the information I got up and went to look out of our bedroom window. There were still unanswered questions. It’s as though he talked around the answers.

  Without turning to face him I said, “So, I was the first mortal woman you were with?”

  “As I’ve told you time and time again, yes.”

  “So you have had sex with vampires and shifters, but never went into a trance afterwards? Our wedding night is the first time you did the trance thing?”

  “Correct.”

  “Why was Dave so stunned that you never did that before?”

  “Dave’s interpretation of a trance is when a vampire has experienced the closest thing to heaven. His first experience was many years ago, after his first few times having sex with another vampire. He said it hasn’t happened since then and believes we can only do it when we give ourselves completely to our partner. Honestly, I don’t think he ever experienced it. I think his first sexual experience as a vampire with a vampire, overwhelmed him and he confused the emotions. I could be wrong though.”

  I was even more confused than before.

  “I can tell I’ve confused you even more, allow me to start over.” Staring out the window I could feel his eyes on me. “After we make love, I go into a state of altered consciousness where I replay every moment in my head. Making mental note of what you liked or didn’t like. I ask myself what are we going to try next or when is the next time…” He chuckled. “I laugh but it’s true. Having sex with you once or twice a night, it’s just not enough. If it were up to me we would have it all night long, every night. So while you sleep, I go into a trance to relive some of the greatest moments of my evening or evenings. It’s like I’m sleeping because I’m dreaming of you.”

  “When you’re in a trance you’re dreaming about me?”

  “Yes.” Worry and concern weighed heavy in his voice. Unbeknownst to him, I’m thrilled at hearing this.

  After spinning around I lunged towards him, threw myself into him, and forced him backwards onto our bed. My sudden reaction surprised him.

  Grinning from ear to ear, “That means you really enjoyed yourself as much as I did. Maybe we should do it once in the morning then once in the evening? Sort of spread it throughout the day. I wouldn’t mind.”

  “Natalia, you are always surprising me with your reactions. Of course I enjoyed myself. Being intimate with you is heavenly, unlike anything I’ve ever experienced in my entire life.”r />
  “Are you saying you agree with me? You know about exploring each other a couple times a day? If you do, we could do it right now.”

  He let out a boisterous laugh, “We have company. It would be rude of us to stay in the bedroom for hours after our friends came all the way to our mountain house just to make sure we got home safely.”

  Grinding myself on him playfully, I said, “It doesn’t have to take that long. They’ll never know we’re missing.” I thought I pinned him down but, without effort, he flipped us around and glared down at me, scowling.

  “I won’t rush it, not with you. It is not merely sex. When I touch you it will always be with love. Please understand my darling wife. We will have our time later tonight and I will fulfill the promise I made to you before we left the mountain house, to start from the beginning.”

  “Well when you put it that way… How can I resist?” I smiled adoringly at him. “Shall we join our guests?”

  He pulled me up with him, “We shall.”

  Right before we walked out of the bedroom I turned to face him. “Wait one second. I need to say something.” Wanting him to see and feel what I’m saying, I waited for him to look me in the eyes. Caressing his biceps, my hands rubbing up and down, I said, “Thank you for our beautiful honeymoon. I had a great time. I want you to know that my heart and soul belong to you completely. I love you, Bradley.”

  Crowning my fingers around the nape his neck, I pulled his mouth down to mine, and gave him a kiss he won’t soon forget. Tracing and licking his bottom lip, I wasted no time and dove in. Deepening our kiss, my tongue battled his for dominance. Once he gave in and followed my dance I broke away. Slowly, he opened his unfocused and clearly dazzled eyes. Smiling adoringly, I took his hand in mine and led him to the living room.

  “What were you guys doing?” Jesse would have to be the one to ruin the moment.

  “None of your business, Jess. How about we discuss what we’re going to do about Anthony and my poor excuse for a father? Tell us what’s been going on while we’ve been away.” Bradley got down to business while I paced back and forth.

  “Well I guess I can start,” Dave volunteered. “Not too long ago I came by to check on your house and both of them were here. They were just sitting on the porch as if they lived here.”

  “Were they in our house?” Fearful I ran up the steps, taking two steps at a time, to check on things. When I was sure everything was as I left it, I came right back down.

  “Is everything okay?” Seager asked.

  “Yes, everything is as I left it.” I responded out loud, knowing that Bradley would be thinking the same thing. I sat back down next to Bradley.

  Rubbing my back, comforting me, he observed, “I didn’t pick up their scent but do you think they were in her house?”

  Quickly I corrected him, “Our house.” We smiled at one another before turning our attention back to Dave.

  “No. Jess and I heard they were in town so we set up a couple of traps. If they had gotten into the house we would have known. I should have I listened in on their conversation instead of kicking them off of the porch. All we know is what the rumors are and that is they were looking for the two of you and that there were consequences for you getting married.”

  “Wait, I have an idea. Bradley, I need to go outside and talk to the trees will you come with me?”

  “Did I just hear you say you need to talk to the trees?” Colleen asked.

  “Yes. It’s a long story.” I turned to look at Bradley but he was already standing there, grinning and holding out his hand, waiting for mine. “Come on, Seager.”

  I led them deeper into the trees. As we walked past the trees, I took a leaf from each while thanking them for their sacrifice. After a few minutes I asked Bradley and Seager to wait while I went on without them. At the same time they both asked how far. It was just a few feet away, maybe a yard or so. When they realized they could see and most likely hear me, they were okay with letting me go on my own.

  Up ahead was a narrow shallow creek; the flow was constant. Kneeling down beside it, I drew a seven-point star on the bank with a seven-point sun in the middle. A symbol, my magical energy, that helped me talk to the trees. Gathering all the leaves I had collected, I prepared for my request. One by one a leaf was placed in the flowing creek while asking the trees to let us know what Anthony and Andrew had to say.

  For my protection, for my loved ones, please tell me the words that were unheard. These words were chanted each time a leaf was set into the flowing creek. My thoughts were images of them sitting on our porch talking. Once all the leaves were gone I rose to my feet and thanked the earth, air, fire, and water for their assistance. I carefully brushed my star completely away and began walking back to Bradley and Seager.

  Standing in front of Bradley, I was about to say it didn’t work when their angry words brought me to my knees. I cradled my head in my hands, trying to ease the pain caused by their hatred. I couldn’t hear anything through the pain so I let down my shield, hoping that Seager or Bradley could make out what they were saying. My head felt as if it would explode at any moment. Then, the light and pain disappeared. Everything went black.

  Familiar voices worriedly repeated my name, pleading with me to wake. All the voices and sounds faded when I heard the most beautiful sound in the world… My Bradley’s voice. He kept telling them to give me air, to back away. The sound of his voice was fierce but hesitant, as if he was afraid and not sure what to do. Cradling my body against his, he wrapped his arms tightly around me, rocking us. I could also hear Seager trying to tell everyone that I was waking up, but no one heard him, they were too upset and weren’t listening. Slowly, I began to open my eyes and saw we were on the front porch, my body cradled in Bradley’s arms.

  “Bradley, what happened?” I whimpered. He didn’t respond. No one heard me over all the commotion. With my arm that dangled behind him, I grabbed his hair and pulled his head back and whimpered the words again. This time he heard me and so did everyone else. When they attempted to reach out to me, Bradley growled furiously before he ran into the house and slammed the door behind us.

  “Natalia, my love. Please tell me you’re okay.” It sounded as if he was crying. I opened my eyes again to see that he was, but without tears. I cupped his cheek with my hand and laid my head against his chest.

  “I am now. I’m going to take a nap, okay?” I felt exhausted. Even though I wanted to know what happened in the woods, it had to wait. Feeling the safety of our house and his arms, I quickly drifted off to sleep.

  When I woke up Seager was with me in our room. He licked my face and got on the bed to lie beside me. We laid there while I listened to everybody telling Bradley that he overreacted, that he needed to calm down. He defended himself by telling them he didn’t do anything differently than Dave or Jesse would have had it been Cheryl or Colleen.

  “She’s my wife. I’ve waited a long time for her. I can barely remember how my life was before her… When I didn’t know why I even existed. Now I know it’s because of her. She is my only purpose for living. Without her there’s no reason for me to be a part of this world.”

  Hearing him say those words angered me. I’m a mortal, and one day I will die. Upset and frustrated I quietly got out of bed and walked to the living room. For the first time ever I was able to sneak up on the guys.

  “Bradley, please stop talking like that.” They quickly turned their heads with disbelief. Bradley was about to sweep me off my feet again but I stopped him by putting my arm up and hand against his chest. “Shouldn’t you men be discussing a strategy, some way to find and defeat our enemies? And you Brad…” I poked my finger into his chest. “I don’t want to hear you ever talk about not being a part of this world again. I won’t live forever. Do you hear me?” Stunned by my reaction, all three of them just nodded their heads. “Fine. I’m going in the kitchen with the women while you three come up with a plan.”

  “Did she call you Brad?” Dave asked.<
br />
  “Yes, she does that when she’s angry with me or I hurt her feelings. I don’t want to be locked from the bedroom tonight so let’s discuss the issue at hand. We need to find out where they are. Jesse, can you do that?”

  “I don’t know, Brad, I think you’re already in the doghouse…” Jesse started saying sarcastically before Colleen interrupted. She told him he’d be sleeping outside if he didn’t get down to business.

  Over dinner the guys caught us up on what was going on with Anthony and Andrew. Jesse found out that they were leaving Europe tomorrow and would arrive in the state roughly two days from now.

  “Natalia…” Bradley put his hand over mine. “Seager and I could hear what the trees were telling you. It appears you’ve met my father in one of your previous lives.”

  “You see, Nat, his father killed you over a hundred and fifty years ago for choosing Brad over him. Actually, he killed Brad as well. What’s strange about this lifetime is that he’s Brad’s father as opposed to a friend or enemy.”

  Everybody just stared at Seager like they’ve never heard him speak before. The only one who was experiencing this for the first time was Cheryl.

  “Maybe we should do this in private,” I suggested.

  Shocked by Seager’s comment, Bradley agreed and asked everyone to leave, telling them he would explain later. He also reminded Cheryl not to say anything about Seager.

  Once everyone left, we sat down in the living room and Seager gave us some very important details about our past lives. Apparently, Bradley, in all his previous past lives, had always been a vampire. This lifetime was his first life as a human vampire. For several centuries Bradley’s father was the man responsible for turning him into a vampire. It’s a little ironic that he fathered Bradley in this lifetime, still making him a vampire. We were still unsure why the man had always hunted Bradley down.

  What Seager said next sent fearful chills up and down my spine. It was his father that murdered me in every one of my past lives. When I entered Bradley’s life, whether as a friend or romantically, Andrew would go into a rage. After killing Bradley, he would offer me immortality and when I declined, he killed me as well.