“Devon, where did you disappear to when we were fighting? Before you came back as a lion?”
“I heard the others calling, looking for us. So I ran to let them know where we were and changed into a lion to charge Jon. It was only a few moments.”
“It seemed much longer,” she said, the worry clear in her voice. “I was afraid I’d lost you.”
I ruffled her hair. “Nah, you’re stuck with me a little longer, sweetheart.”
She blinked as if holding back tears and jutted her chin. “I guess we don’t need to hide out anymore. Mind if I stay with you another day so I can clean up and rest before the trip? I’ll leave for America come nightfall.”
I wanted to tell her she was welcome to stay as long as she wanted, that I wanted her to stay. But instead I just replied, “Of course. I want you in my bed one more time to wish you a proper goodbye.”
Chapter Twelve
Layla
Devon was without a doubt the best lover I’d ever had. Although I only had limited experience in the bedroom, the way he knew what my body craved was almost intuitive. I loved how he didn’t hold back and gave it to me as rough as I wanted, something no man I’d ever been with before had done.
However, this time Devon was so gentle and my body once again responded to his slightest touch. His expert tongue savored one nipple and then the other. When he gently bit one, I moaned at the pleasure and pain.
He took his time exploring my body with his hands, his lips, his tongue, so deftly I wanted to melt beneath him. How could I leave this? Passion like this was something I’d never experienced; I’d never wanted someone so much before, never craved them this way.
He had plugged in his phone and put on Amy Winehouse when we first returned to his bedroom, as she was one artist we both agreed on. But the pain in her voice as she sang Love is a Losing Game cemented the finality of our affair. Soon Devon would be just someone from my past.
Without any more threats, there was no reason for me to stay. No reason why I should share his bed in this magnificent English forest. Knowing this was the last time my body would feel such divine pleasure, I lay back into his bed, savoring every kiss, imprinting his every touch on my memory.
When his lips finally met the apex of my inner thighs, I pushed my sorrow aside to focus on the last night of pleasure.
“Please. Now,” I begged as he tortured me with light strokes of his tongue on my upper thighs. So close but not quite there.
He then tasted me with a long stroke of his tongue and I arched my back.
“Yes, Devon. Yes!”
He took his time exploring every inch, every crevice, driving me insane with a fierce hold on my sensitive nerves, and then pulling back with long, deep strokes up and down.
“Please. Don’t tease me anymore,” I begged. “I’m going to explode.”
Devon sucked my nub with such expert pressure that he brought me right to the precipice. I screamed his name as my desire exploded into a million colors around me.
He pulled away and then entered me slowly. I clung to him as he moved inside me, all the way in and almost out, so much so that I grabbed at him, afraid he would stop. The sweet torture continued as the longing rose in me so that I pressed closer and harder to him with each thrust, my rear no longer on the bed. The beginning of another orgasm took me by surprise. I clawed his back as it took control and I came again, calling his name.
He flipped me over so now I straddled him.
“I want to see you again like this, remember you.”
I started slowly as I moved against him, as he filled me with every centimeter of his thick cock.
“So glorious,” he whispered as he touched my cheek.
It didn’t take long to rise to another splendid peak on top of him, with him bucking beneath me, hitting all the sensitive spots. When I exploded again, he gripped my shoulders as he shot deep into me, so fiercely that I cried out.
When I fell upon him, satiated, he whispered, “I’m going to miss you.”
Devon
Layla booked a night flight from Bristol to Boston. I drove her to the airport and had so many things I wanted to say to her jumbling in my head, but I didn’t know how to say them. Or if she wanted to hear them.
“Thank you for everything,” Layla said. She wrapped her arms around me. I pulled her closer, bending down so I could inhale the scent of lilacs one last time. I would forever associate that scent with her.
“Take care of yourself, sweetheart. You are so prone to finding trouble, I’m reluctant to let you go.” I kissed her so lightly on the top of her head, I wondered if she’d even notice.
“Sometimes it finds me.” She pulled back to look up at me with a grin. “It was quite a wild ride, wasn’t it?”
“It sure was.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be all right.”
Our eyes locked for I don’t know how long, communicating what I knew my words could never express. I cared about her deeply, I’d miss her terribly and I was fairly certain by the warmth and sadness in her warm brown eyes that she felt the same for me.
However, our time was over. We had no reason to be with each other anymore. It was time for each of us to go back to our lives before this incident had thrown us together.
I parked the car and retrieved her bag from the boot, putting it down next to her.
“I’m not letting you leave without a goodbye kiss,” I said.
She leaned forward, her eyelids fluttering closed, the way they always did when I kissed her, another thing I’d miss and never forget. I bent down to reach her slightly parted lips and her head tilted back. My tongue savored her sweet mouth filled with the coppery taste of blood still lingering from the pouch she had earlier. I devoured her, imprinting the feel of her lips onto my memory.
Layla pulled away first. “I better catch my plane.”
She smiled as she picked up her bag. Then she leaned in to give me a kiss on the cheek and said, “Goodbye, Devon. Be happy.”
I watched as she walked away from me and out of my life. After she disappeared from sight, I realized my hand was on my cheek where she had last kissed me.
Get over it, Devon. She’s not the first woman to come in and out of your life. Go on with your life. You’ll forget her soon enough, just like the others.
Something told me this time was different.
Layla
Leaving England was the sensible choice, but that didn’t mean I didn’t depart with mixed feelings when my plane pulled away from the tarmac. I was able to book a commercial flight overnight back to the US so I couldn’t see much of London in the dark. It was just as well since I didn’t really want to say goodbye to England for good. It had been my home for most of my time as a vampire. I’d never visited there before and seeing a city as magnificent as London the first time through vampire eyes was the most exhilarating experience of my life.
And of course—it was where Devon lived. Remembering the time in his flat unleashed another wave of mixed feelings. He’d tied me to the bed, leaving me furious and wanting to kill him. But at the same time, I’d been so attracted to him and he must have felt the same because we had our first kiss while I was tied there. His lips… I ran my fingers over my lips, remembering how firm and soft his touch could be. How he tasted.
We also first made love in his flat. Oh, how his touch could send me to such heights. I had intended to seduce him to try to exercise some control over his mind, but the passion was almost too much. My mind trick didn’t succeed, which was just as well. I might have still been on the run from both Stefano and Devon, looking over my shoulder until the inevitable moment that one of them found me.
Now at least, Stefano would no longer be looking for me. He’d no longer be looking for anyone. A part of me felt guilty about this, his blood was on my hands. I mean he did take me in when I was a new vampire. But he did try to kill me. So if there was a choice between his immortal life and mine, well, I was happy to still be here.
&n
bsp; “Would you like a beverage?” a male flight attendant asked, interrupting my thoughts.
“No thank you.” I made sure I drank a pouch of blood at Devon’s place to tide me over. I watched as the person next to me ordered a soda and the flight attendant opened a can and poured it into a plastic cup filled with ice. Once he’d moved on, my thoughts returned to Devon and how a part of me thought about staying in London.
Then again, he didn’t ask you to stay. You might as well return to your new life in Boston. Back with the band. You had fun.
Back with Joey.
How would I explain all that had happened to Joey? No way was he going to listen to my requests to back off after I took off without any explanation.
Joey.
Talking to Joey would be thorny after our phone call when he revealed his feelings for me. How did I feel about him? It was difficult to pinpoint. Deep down, I knew he was right; there was some sort of attraction between us. However, I wasn’t sure if it was as deep as he thought. Simply physical?
No, I cared for him. We were friends, after all. We spent so much time together in the band. And no matter how many times I told him to back off, it was kind of nice to have someone in the world who cared about me.
Whatever feelings I had for Joey, they were dwarfed by immense loss inside me right now after leaving Devon in London.
A human. I don’t know which was more problematical. A vampire in a relationship with a shapeshifter or a vampire in a relationship with a human. Both rife with complications. Perhaps I should look for someone immortal to spend the rest of my time with. At least we’d avoid many of those other complications.
But for now, I couldn’t think of being with anyone else. I closed my eyes and thought about Devon’s lips on mine. And then I dozed off.
Devon
My flat in London had too many reminders of Layla so I was glad not to return just yet. My family and I were meeting in the Forest of Dean, where we grew up and where much of our family still lived.
Since my work often had me traveling, I didn’t see my family as much as they’d like. But when we got together for family time in the forests, it was as if no time had ever passed at all. Most of my aunts and uncles and cousins lived nearby. They stuck near the forests where we’d grown up. My cottage wasn’t far from them. My parents lived in a little house in the town of Gloucester nearby, but still close enough to get into the forest. My two sisters, Jayne and Margaret, moved into Bristol for more of a city atmosphere but still within a short drive of the forest and home.
I was the only one who ventured out to spend much of my time in London, around two-and-a-half hours away when the traffic was light, and did so for more business opportunities. My services would have a limited need in the forests, but in the underbelly of a city like London, business was good. I often traveled to other European capitals for clients, but England kept me well-fed and close to my family.
Driving out to meet them, I plugged in my phone to play music. When Amy Winehouse’s Our Day Will Come came on, I listened for a minute before I had to turn it off. The last time I listened to her music was with Layla. And I didn’t need any suggestions of false hope.
The five of us met in my cottage on Saturday morning for a weekend retreat. Growing up, this used to be what we did on the weekends. My parents worked in Gloucester during the week so on the weekends we had quality time together in nature, running through the woods, changing into various animals, hunting, playing, wrestling together. Extended family all gathered here and we rarely brought human food. We ate enough of that during the week, so during the weekends we hunted as animals and got our nourishment that way. Now with all of us kids grown up with jobs and lives of our own, we generally met only about once a month. Last month, I’d been in Germany hunting down an art thief so I didn’t make it. My mother would be the first to remind me of it.
“Devon, luv.” My mum grabbed both of my cheeks and kissed me. “You’ve been away far too long. You work too much, dear. You need to slow down. We missed you last month.”
She hugged me as if she hadn’t seen me in two years, not two months.
“I missed you too, Mum. But I couldn’t make it.”
My father came to my rescue. “Leave him be, Emma.”
After my mum released me, he hugged me in a more masculine way—big embrace, a couple of pats on the back and then backing off.
“Devon, how are you?”
“Fine, Dad. You?”
“We’re all doing well.”
“Where are Jayne and Margaret?”
“They’re already off in the forest.” He laughed at his description. “They said they needed to unwind after a long work week and they scampered off as foxes.”
“And they didn’t even wait for me?” I asked in mock indignation.
“They ran off in that direction,” my mum said.
“So let’s catch up.”
We took off our clothes without any sort of embarrassment and left them in my cottage. With the way shifters changed back and forth with clothing being a nuisance, we grew up comfortable with nudity. It wasn’t a big deal the way most humans saw it. It was just a body.
I was the first to shift into a fox and tried not to get impatient as I waited for them to change.
Go on, we’ll catch up, my father indicated. We could communicate telepathically as animals, but it didn’t carry over to us in human form.
I nodded and took off in the direction my sisters went. In a few minutes, I caught their scent and followed in that direction until I found two foxes I recognized both by scent and markings. They were rolling around on the ground, wrestling each other playfully. They were so absorbed in their play, they didn’t hear me coming.
So naturally I pounced on them.
Devon! Jayne said. You scared the bejeezus out of me.
Will you ever grow up and not sneak up on us? Jayne asked.
Never. It’s too much fun, I answered.
It’s good to see you, Jayne said. Where’s Mum and Dad?
They’re coming. You know how they like to take their time.
What do you want to do first? Margaret asked.
Let’s hunt, both Jayne and I replied.
My parents came and we told them how we were going to hunt. It had been too long since I’d been in the woods and once I changed into a fox, I craved rabbit. The predator instinct took over almost immediately when I changed into a predatory animal, even if I had just had a full meal as a human. Must burn a lot of calories transforming our bodies, we figured.
My parents agreed to the hunt, but said not to wait for them. So the girls and I took off. We had a great time that afternoon, hunting rabbits and playing around. I missed this. I needed to come back here more often. It even took my mind off Layla for a while.
Once back in human form, we sat around a campfire that evening. Even though catching up with my family was great, Layla crept back into my thoughts.
What was she doing now?
I even entertained wild thoughts of having her here in the forest with me now, introducing her to my family. She was a predator too, she could hunt. I remembered the time out in the forest hunting deer, before those bloody vampires came. Even though the idea of a shapeshifter and vampire doing anything together seemed very unnatural, in fact it felt the opposite.
My parents would probably die if I told them she was a vampire though. They were convinced they were all evil, soulless, bloodsucking monsters.
“All right, Devon?” my mum asked.
“Fine, Mum.”
“You seem awfully quiet. Even more so than usual.”
“Probably a girl,” Margaret said.
“Don’t worry, it’ll pass,” Jayne added. “Since when has he been into the same one for more than a few weeks?”
This was true. I liked staying unencumbered and the women I dated often grew too clingy for my taste. Before I could censor myself, I said, “This one’s different.”
Jayne leaned closer. “Ooh, d
o tell.”
“What’s to tell? I fancy someone. It didn’t work out. She went back to America.”
“An American?” Margaret said with mock horror. “What, are you daft?”
“She’s not the brash tourist type,” I said in defense. “And she’d lived in England for a couple of years.”
“I hope we rubbed off on her then. You know how I feel about Americans. Spoiled brats.”
“Rubbish,” my dad said. “Just because you’ve met a few like that doesn’t mean the whole lot is spoiled.”
“Maybe you should take a trip to America,” I added. “Might do you good to break some of your misconceptions. I’ve met many polite, generous Americans—quite the opposite of how you perceive them as ugly tourists.”
Margaret made a face to indicate her distaste at that idea. “Let’s get back to the subject, shall we? So if she lived in England for so long, why did she leave? Because of you?”
“Ha ha. No, I didn’t scare her away.” I ran my hand over my shaved head. “It’s complicated.”
“Most people think things are more complicated than they actually are,” my mum said. “If you strip out all the distracting details and narrow the situation down to the essential parts, usually you can find a way to make things work.”
Let’s see, she was a vampire and I was a shifter. My mother might flip if she heard the first obstacle, let alone the many others. She lived in America and I lived in England. She slept days and I usually enjoyed walking in the sun. She sang for a rock band and traveled on the road with them in America. I was a bounty hunter living on my own and traveling around Europe mostly for work. We met because she was a job I was hired to take on and I brought her to a vampire who wanted to kill her. Even if I redeemed myself with her in the end, it wasn’t exactly the most romantic way to start out.
Hmm, still not finding anything simple in this situation and no apparent fixes.
The next morning, Jayne asked, “Who wants to fly?”
We all loved to fly. I believe this made us superior than the others, but my mother would smack me on the back of my head and bring me back to reality and say, “We are what we are. No better and no worse than anybody else.”
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