by C. L. Quinn
Alvin polished off a stack of pancakes as high as a small child. That was when he heard her heels tapping quickly against the stairs as she vampire-sped to him.
“I found one. A lost one.”
“What do you mean,” he asked with disinterest, assuming it was something asinine.
“Sometimes, Alvie, when I sleep, I can roam into others minds. Each of us, the first bloods, have our own skills or abilities, I told you that. You’ve seen some of mine. Another ability is mind-walking. From a sleep state. I found a first blood vampire who is blocking herself from the other first bloods.”
Now he was interested. “Why would she do that?”
“Well, I don’t know the reason. But she’s off their grid. She’s alone. She’s perfect.”
Alvin stared at her like she was mad, not for the first time. She punched him in the chest, lightly, but he still fell back off his chair.
“For our war, silly. She’s perfect for our war! We kill her. Let the other first bloods know we’re serious. Motivated. Dangerous.” She giggled.
Alvin rolled his eyes at her giggling. And loved her brilliance.
A lost first blood. Fascinating. Since he’d learned of their existence, he’d felt a renewed thrill to complete his vampire holocaust. The parents of all vampires. His hand wandered down to stroke himself. The idea of destroying them had him so excited he almost came right there.
Victory. Finally.
“You are acting strange. You’re flushed and unfocused. If I didn’t know better, I’d think it was boy problems. That’s exactly how I feel today. I can’t stop thinking about Gerolf.”
God, she did not want to talk about what distracted her today. Boy problems? Such a small term to describe the extremely heightened sexual state she had been in since she’d screwed Daniel to within an inch of both their lives last night. And it hadn’t been enough. She bounced the subject back to the cute waitress.
“So. That good?”
“Great. He’s so sexy. We haven’t done it yet. I want to, but my mom always told me to wait at least a month. I’m going to, but it’s really hard, you know?”
No, I can’t imagine. Eillia realized her breathing was rapid again. She knew her face was flushed. Vampires had the same physiological responses to sexual stimulation humans did…times twenty. It had become compulsive with Daniel. She needed him. And it was very dangerous for her to stay in this hyper sexed state too long. Like a blood thrall, when a vampire had overwhelming need for sex, it became instinctual and hard to deny. In this case, she wanted to find Daniel and pull him inside her more than anything else on earth. And it still pissed her off.
Oh. Starla had been talking the entire time Eillia had been thinking about stripping any clothing off Daniel’s magnificent body and throwing him down until she made him hard. She knew from experience it wouldn’t take long. The man was as sex starved as she was. Maybe that was why they clicked together so well. They had a shared experience of loss. Of course! That was it. Pain recognizing pain. It wasn’t Daniel that compelled her to want him so much as their grief. They’d both lost someone this past year.
Eillia knew, though. She was trying to justify it. But couldn’t. Daniel was inside her now. She was inside him. She could feel it when they merged. That’s why it was so perfect when they were together. That’s why their orgasms connected on a much deeper level than just the physical connection.
It was clear.
She had moved on. Hamid had become the man she once loved. Daniel was the man she could love if she let herself accept him. Her heart was healing and breaking at the same time. But the air felt clearer than it had in a long time. And although her breath came rapidly, it felt good to draw the sweet air and feel hope again.
That was all well and good, and she would deal with her changing emotions when she had the time, but right now, she had to deal with the animal inside that insisted she find her desired partner.
Eillia ripped the stained apron off and grabbed her keys. “Starla, I have to go. We’re nearly done here tonight anyway. Could you close up?”
“Sure. Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I just need to do something and I need to do it now. Thanks for covering for me, sweetie.”
Eillia didn’t even hear Starla answer as she blew through the back door and headed her truck toward the Wooly Bully. God, she hoped he was there tonight. She knew she could find out where he lived, but it would be much easier if he were there.
Thankfully, the roads were mostly clear now that the storm had passed. The speed felt painfully slow to a vampire, but it would be much easier to transport them with the truck than by foot. She didn’t even park, she just jumped out and slammed through the door into the dim interior of the bar. She scanned the faces almost frantically until she found him near the back with the two young locals. He looked up, startled, when she came to him suddenly. He had the same shocked look on his face as he had the first three times he’d “met” her.
“Yeah, yeah, I look like someone you knew. Come with me,” she commanded.
He stared at the stunning, demanding woman that looked like his angel, confused by her presence and her command. He looked at his companions, who had stopped drinking and were staring at her too. What the hell? But a moment later he followed her out the door, still struggling into his parka and gloves. He had no idea what had happened to his scarf.
Who was this woman, and why had she come in the Bully frantic and yelling? How could she look so much like his dead angel?
She motioned for him to get into an old Ford truck, and while he hesitated, he was too curious not to follow. He had little regard for his own safety. So he crawled in and waited while she went around to the driver’s side, got in, and started it off at a crazy speed.
Daniel sat there quietly for a moment. He glanced over at the silent woman a few times, but not only did she say nothing, she wouldn’t even look at him. Where the hell did she come from? And what the hell did she want with him? When he’d first looked up and saw her, he’d thought she was his angel. Then, as quickly, he thought she was an avenging angel, she looked so angry. She couldn’t be her, and she wasn’t a hallucination because the Joeys had seen her. And he was definitely sitting beside someone racing across frozen roads at breakneck speeds to an unknown destination. So she was real.
They climbed an old access road he’d passed a few times on his way out of town, then took a sharp left up a steep incline. At the top she increased her speed and then brought the Ford to a stop too abruptly with squealing brakes and a fishtail slide. They both sat there after the truck stopped. Still not looking at him, she barked, “Get out.”
He did, and followed her to the door, which she opened and stepped back for him to pass through first. It was freaking cold out there with walls of snow built up around them, so he went in quickly toward a fireplace with a waning fire, and turned to face her. She came in and slammed the door behind her, dropping her weight back against the door. She finally raised her eyes and stared at him.
“Take your clothes off,” she said quietly.
That was the last thing he expected her to say.
“What?” Daniel asked, uncertain what was going on. This woman hadn’t brought a stranger here in this isolated cabin to have sex with him. Had she?
“I asked you to take your clothes off,” she repeated.
His cock filled. He couldn’t help it. She was the personification of the woman he’d had dream sex with for the past year. He didn’t know her. How could she know him? Didn’t matter. His body wanted her, and badly. He hadn’t removed his clothes, but before he could, she was suddenly there from across the room and had torn his shirt off completely. The buttons went flying. Why did that seem familiar?
“Do you want me to rip off the jeans? Because I will.” She said that almost calmly.
Daniel shook his head, and unsnapped the denims, slid the zipper down, and slowly began to peel them off. She’d stepped back and stared as his legs were revealed. He
r eyes traveled back up. He didn’t often wear underwear, he wasn’t now, and his cock sprang free, fully erect. She stood still, watching. When he dropped his pants in a heap next to his shredded shirt, she shoved him back hard against the rough-hewn log wall and jumped on him.
Daniel was surprised. He didn’t even see her remove her clothes, but she was naked and hot against his skin. She bit his lip, drawing blood, and all he could think was how fucking sexy she was. He cupped her buttocks with his hands to support her and pulled her against him. She slid down over him and they both moaned simultaneously. He knew then. However impossible it was, he did know this woman. Intimately. She rode him hard and fast, the friction and heat enough to ignite them. And then they came, too soon, and he pumped into her as she cried out in a long deep moan. His legs nearly buckled, but he kept his weight against the wall to support them as their bodies spasmed so she would not fall.
After the orgasms rocked them, she buried her head against his neck, and he held her close, his hands and arms wrapped around her neck and back. This was too familiar, like he’d held her just like this before. Then she pulled back and looked him in the eyes. God, she was gorgeous. He thought how the dreams had lied. Reality was so much more incredible.
The angel brought up a hand and caressed his cheek, then turned his head aside, and nuzzled his neck. A sudden sharp pain ended quickly and then he felt extremely hot. She was moving against him again, easily, slipping back and forth along his body. He felt her breasts, the nipples, her belly, her slit, against him and a euphoria that felt like heaven. He didn’t know what she was doing to him, but it rivaled sex with her and he nearly came again, even though he wasn’t inside her anymore. It took everything he had to keep from falling to the floor.
Eillia loved Daniel’s blood. Needed it. Sex and blood belonged together for vampires. But when there was a spiritual connection, it was even more spectacular. Vampires believed there was nothing else on this earth better than sex and blood with a mate. He smelled so intoxicating. She had to admit now. She could mate with Daniel. She’d never thought of Hamid as mate. Their love had been epic and beautiful. But her body knew, her heart knew…she could spend all her lifetimes with Daniel.
She finished feeding and sealed his wounds. The last thing she wanted was to move away from him, but she realized he was struggling to keep her up. His legs would have given out during that explosive orgasm, but he wouldn’t let himself drop her or hurt her. He didn’t know he couldn’t really hurt her. He didn’t know what she was.
He was going to find out. Tonight.
Tamesine stared at Alvin. “I want her. Those first bloods…they were my family. And they think they’re better than me? Ha! I’m more powerful than all of them put together. Probably. I’m certainly more powerful than one of them. You want to send a message to the vampire community? You can’t do better than a first blood. You kill one of us, you show your power and conviction. You show you’re on the grid. You show them exactly what you’ve wanted to do all along.”
Alvin wondered about how the universe worked. Here, given to him unexpectedly, was the very tool he needed to make his point. Yes, by god, he wanted the first blood. He’d already seen what one could do. What a coup to take one out. He knew he was hunted. He also knew they laughed at him for his epic failure last year.
He lifted his champagne flute.
“To success! We go to Alaska!”
With a newly stoked fire blazing away in the fireplace, Daniel turned as the woman he’d just had amazing sex with came out of the bedroom, tying a belt around a fuzzy robe. It suited her. She was small, wrapped in white, her shiny black hair nearly to her waist He was already a little in love with her. Or a lot. He didn’t know how, but he did know her. As soon as he tried to convince himself it was just the dreams, he knew that wasn’t true. Building and stoking the fire, he’d looked around. He knew this room. This cabin was not unknown to him either. He wondered if he’d been here with her before in an alcohol induced state.
She came over toward him and climbed onto the shabby sagging couch. Her eyes didn’t leave him as he smiled back at her and came toward the couch. He’d slid his jeans back on, but was otherwise undressed.
“Come sit next to me. Here, pull this blanket up,” she said, and wrapped a heavy plush blanket around both of them as he sat beside her.
They sat there silently looking at each other.
“I know you. Don’t I?” He finally said.
“You do. We’ve been together a few times.”
“So why don’t I remember?”
“Um, that’s a bit of a story. I’m going to tell you, because I want to. But it doesn’t change our future. It means something to me, though, to see if you can accept me.”
“I think I just proved that. We accepted the fuck out of each other a few minutes ago.”
She smiled and dropped her head, the curtain of sleek hair moving forward to cascade over her face.
Daniel bent forward and captured it in his hands.
“I love the feel of your hair. I knew that before I even touched it.”
“Residuals. Sometimes you have flashes of memory, disjointed, fragmented. It’s not unusual. I’ve played with you too much. I have to stop. But, Daniel, here’s the truth.” She paused and looked away, then back.
“We’ve made love several times. It’s always like this, intense, passionalte, for both of us. We have a connection. I don’t know exactly why, but we come together as if we were meant to be.”
“Like…fate?”
“Sort of. You don’t remember, though, because I’ve wiped your memory. I’ve compelled you to forget we’ve been together. I’m not exactly like you. I’m human, but I’m more than that.”
He calmly watched her, no reaction.
“I am a first blood vampire. Yeah, it sounds unreal. It isn’t. Look at me, Daniel. You will remember everything.”
He blinked, and looked nauseous. Eillia laid her hand on his face to calm him as the memories flooded back and he realized what he’d lost.
Daniel shook his head.
“What the fuck? How could you do that? I do remember you. The accident. Being here with you. You saved my life. I can remember you telling me what to do, and doing it. How is that possible?”
“Listen to me. I’m revealing my nature to you. I am a powerful vampire. There are many things I can do you can’t. I’m still human, but much more. Daniel, I am over a thousand years old. I know it seems unbelievable. But look…”
A sharp burst of air blasted into Daniel’s face. And she was gone. What the…?
He looked around the room and saw her in the kitchen. Then another blast of air, and she was beside him again, with a hot cup of tea in her hands.
“You couldn’t see me move because vampires can displace air and move through it so quickly, you can’t see us. It’s a handy skill. You understand?”
He didn’t say anything. He just looked from her to the kitchen, the events bouncing around in his mind. He watched her sip the steaming tea, and shook his head.
“I don’t. But I want to. Man, my mind is racing. You couldn’t possibly do the things I just saw you do. I only know one thing right now, and that is that I love being with you. I don’t deserve you, but I can’t help it. I want you. Period. No matter how crazy you are.”
Eillia laughed and handed him the tea.
“Well, that’s a start. Anyway, I want to spend the night and day with you before things progress as they must. I’m leaving in a few days, and I won’t be back. But, as a gift to myself, I would like a chance to be with you, and have you know me, just this one time. Are you alright with that?”
Sitting the tea on a little table, Daniel pulled Eillia to him and kissed her deeply.
“I’ll take anything I can with you. Maybe you can explain what you are and I’ll believe it. Maybe I’ll convince you to stay.”
“You can try, but I can’t interfere with your life. You don’t belong in my world, Daniel.”
“I don’t belong anywhere. I gave up that right a long time ago. You need to know I haven’t been a good man much of my life. I’ve done horrible things that can never be forgiven. I can never relieve my guilt or earn absolution. But I need you.”
“You have me. Daniel, no one lives a life with no trouble. But, I can see your aura. It’s your life force, your spirit. Auras surround every living thing. And in people, I can see if you are good or not, or honorable or not. Your aura is darkened, but not because you are a bad man. But because you are a good man who is tortured. I’d like to know your story someday.”
“No, you wouldn’t. I may not be able to see your aura, but I know you are kind and gentle and perfect. I would never subject you to who I once was. Let’s just take this right here, right now, with what we are together at this moment in time. Can we do that?”
“We can. Want to join me in the bedroom?”
“Race you,” he said, and knew when the air blasted his face that she was already gone.
He walked into the room to see her on the brightly covered comforter, naked and stretched out.
“What took you so long?”
“Okay, I can see this is going to take some getting used to. You know I have a lot more questions.”
“I do.”
“But not right now. Right now, I’m going to take my slow human time and make love to you.”
Crawling up onto the bed and up her body, he leaned down to lick her neck.
“I remember having blood on my neck. You actually sucked my blood, didn’t you?”
“You are delicious, Daniel.”
He paused and looked at her. “This is real, isn’t it?”
“Baby, it really is. Do you think you can accept me for what I really am?”
“If you mean the hottest, sexiest, kindest woman I’ve ever known. Yes. I can”