by Dara Nelson
His lips came down onto mine, and the shame that I had been feeling soon left my body, replaced by the realization that I couldn’t possibly be any happier, or feel more loved.
A few hours later, Matt threw his head back and roared his release louder than I had ever heard from him as he gave one final powerful thrust, his pelvis crashing into mine as my own release was squeezing and pulsing around him then he collapsed against the rocks behind his back. We cuddled in the water for a few minutes, enjoying the twinkle of the billions of stars above us as we tried to catch our breath. Suddenly he started laughing.
“What’s so funny?” I said.
“I never thought I’d say this, but I do believe you’ve worn me out Mrs. Pearl. I couldn’t possibly go again if I tried, not without a few hours to recover. I’m going to admit that it’s his turn now.”
“You’re not mad?”
“Sarah? Where is this sudden fear coming from?” he said as he stared at me. Suddenly the answer hit him, “You feel guilty for needing us, don’t you? You feel guilty for needing our help.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and nodded, “Yes,” I squeaked.
He pulled me tight and kissed my forehead, “Oh my God, Sarah. You needing us is the best gift you could have given us, especially now. Now you can go in there and we can survive and be waiting for you because you need us to. Do you realize how much that means to both of us? You need us. That is epic, honey, truly epic."
“And you’re sure he feels the same way?”
“Absolutely, even more so. He needs this even more than I do. This gives him purpose. It gives him a reason to stay for you while you’re in there.”
We climbed out of the water, pulled on our clothes and strolled leisurely, hand-in-hand down the mountain. Matt noticed my hesitation when we walked into our living room. He pointed me in the direction of Carlos’ bedroom as he whispered in my ear, “Go to him, honey. I’m going to go collapse in our bed and sleep for a few hours so that I can be ready for round two.”
“I love you,” I whispered as I leaned my head back on his shoulder.
“I love you too,” he said as he gently pushed me forward.
I tiptoed into Carlos’ bedroom, smiled at his amazingly ripped body that was stretched out on top of the comforter then leaned down to kiss his beautiful, sleeping face. He grabbed my wrist and stopped me just before my lips reached his. “Did you mean it? Do you need me? Do you really need me?”
I smiled as I thought about the conversation Matt and I had just had. I placed my hand on his cheek, “Of course I do, sweetheart. I’ve always needed you, but I’ve finally learned to admit it and I’m trying to be okay with it.”
“Holy shit, Sarah. I love you so much,” he said as his mouth crushed down onto mine.
He slammed me against the shower wall and growled. He was exhausted, but he kept going. His knees shook, but he kept going. He was angry because his heart wanted to go on, but his body was giving out, yet he still kept going. Finally, as he grabbed my backside, he gave one final mighty thrust and we screamed into each other’s mouths as we both finally reached the climaxes we had been so desperately reaching for. Then we collapsed to the floor, splayed out like a couple of rag dolls discarded by bored children. After a few minutes he rolled toward me and wrapped me in his arms. He kissed my forehead, then said, in typical Carlos fashion, “I love you, baby, but woman, you wore me out. I’m done, spent, kaputz. You need to go so I can try to recover, but after what you’ve done to me, it might be days before my dick works again.”
I laughed and rolled towards him, “Well, there are other things you can do for me even if your dick is broken,” I said then I kissed his belly before I quickly jumped up into the water.
“You and your sex drive are going to be the death of me someday. You know that, right?” he said.
“Yeah, but what a way to die, sweetheart, what a way to die,” I said as I tipped my head back and let the warm water cascade down my body. I washed my hair then opened my eyes, surprised to see that Carlos was still lying on his back on the floor of the shower.
“Aren’t you going to get up?”
“I will, as soon as my legs will hold me up again.”
“Wimp,” I said.
“Maybe. But I sure am enjoying the show from down here.”
“I didn’t realize I was putting on a show.”
“Every time you’re naked you’re putting on a show. I thought you knew that.”
“Well, do you want me to leave the water running? Cause the show is moving to another room.”
“Where? My bedroom?”
“Nope. Farther than that,” I said as I stepped out and grabbed a towel. That got his attention. He quickly sat up. “You mean you’re not going to get dressed before you go over to his side? You’re going to stay like that?”
“Yep,” I said as I dropped my towel in the hamper.
He jumped up, wrapped a towel around his waist and followed me into his bedroom, “This I gotta see,” he said. He stopped at his bedroom door, crossed his arms, and leaned against the door jam with the biggest shit-eating grin on his face that I had seen yet. I waved over my shoulder, “See you in a bit, baby,” I said as I walked through the living room. And I had perfect timing. Matt opened his bedroom door when I was about ten feet away from it. At first he looked shocked, but that quickly changed as he too crossed his arms, leaned against the door jam and was wearing the same shit-eating grin that I had just left on Carlos’ face. “Hot-damn you are sexy,” he said.
“Why, thank you, sweetheart. So, how much more time do you need to recover?”
He glanced down at the bulge growing in the front of his pants and said, “Absolutely none,” as he opened his arms and welcomed me inside.
I lay face down on the bed, naked, one arm hanging down the side. I knew I should
probably go in and shower, but I couldn’t seem to move. Carlos leaned down and kissed hyper-sensitive spot at the back of my neck, “Anything?” he said.
I had come back to his room a few hours before, after having spent several hours with Matt.
“Nope, not even a tingle. I never thought I’d say this, but I think I’m done,” I gasped.
I felt the bed shift slightly. I turned my head and caught Carlos raising his arms in victory. He sheepishly brought them down when he saw me looking at him. “What?” he said.
I just shook my head and laughed.
“What do you say, hun? You ready to go hunt?” he said.
“I think so. Problem is, I’m not sure I can walk right now.”
“God, I’m such a stud.”
“Oh, shut up and help me up,” I said as I made a feeble attempt to lift my arm.
“I dunno. You’re looking awfully beautiful spread out on my bed like that. Maybe I don’t want to move you. Maybe I just want to sit here and admire you for a while.”
“Come on, hun. I’m starving. I haven’t eaten in three days. Once we get to Egypt, who knows how long it will be before I eat again. Please?”
He sat down and caressed my hair from my face, “God, Sarah. How am I going to survive without you?”
It took some effort, but I managed to roll onto my side to look at him. He leaned down and pressed his forehead to mine. “You won’t be without me, Carlos. You just won’t be able to see me or touch me. But my heart will always be in here,” I said as I leaned down and kissed his chest. He wrapped his arms around me, pulled me up to standing and hugged me so tight I thought I might break. “I love you so much, kiddo.”
“I know. And I love you too. And I will make it out of this, Carlos. We will be together again, I promise.”
“Don’t,” he whispered.
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t promise. You know you can’t do that,” he said.
“Well, I know I’m going to promise to do everything I possibly can to keep her from devouring me, that I can promise,” I said, then my eyes popped open as I realized what I had just said, accidentall
y revealing what I had seen in my nightmare when we were on the island. ‘Shit, please tell me he wasn’t listening,’ I thought. My eyes squeezed shut when he spoke again, “What did you just say?”
I pulled away from his grasp and started walking toward the bedroom door as I said, “What? Hun, we really need to go hunt now, don’t you think?”
“Sarah Pearl Delgado, you stop right there!” he yelled. “Matt! Get in here right now!”
I cringed when I heard Matt’s bedroom door open, “Carlos, we’re both still naked,” I said as I looked around for something to put on. Too late, I thought, as Matt’s hand closed on Carlos’ doorknob.
“I don’t give a shit that we’re naked, missy,” he said as Matt, surprised look and all, stepped into the room right before Carlos was able to grab a pair of briefs from the dresser behind him and pull them on, “You repeat what you just said right now!”
“Uhh, guys. I can come back later,” Matt said, clearly uncomfortable.
“No, Matt. You need to hear what she just said. You need to hear what she’s been keeping from us.” Carlos hissed.
That got Matt’s attention. He got a stern look on his face, crossed his arms and waited.
“Guys, it’s nothing, really. It was just a dream that I had. I don’t even know if it’s real. I don’t know if it means anything.”
“Sarah, everything that happens means something, even dreams. Now spill it,” Matt said.
“How long ago did you have this dream?” Carlos said.
Shit, suddenly my legs couldn’t hold me up any longer. I took the few steps back to the bed and sat down, “I don’t know. A few months ago. When we were on the island, right after we found Aquila, I think.”
“And you didn’t tell us, why?” Matt said.
“Because I didn’t want to worry you,” I whispered.
“She didn’t want to worry us,” Carlos said sarcastically, “See Matt? She didn’t want us to worry, as if we’re not worried out of our minds already. Damn it Sarah,” he said as his hand smashed down on the bed.
“I’m sorry,” I wailed as I threw myself down on the bed.
I felt the bed shift next to me and felt Matt’s soothing hand on the back of my head. “What happened in the dream, Sarah?”
“It, it, it showed me what she does to you after you die. Why there are never any remains to be found.”
“What does she do?” he whispered.
“She swallows you whole. Everything. Her mouth gets really wide and she, she, she just swallows you up, like a fucking snake. Oh my God, I don’t want that to happen to me,” I sobbed.
“Jesus,” Carlos whispered, “Matt, we can’t let her go in there.”
As usual, Matt’s was the voice of reason, “We’ve been over this Carlos. There’s no place to hide from Sekhmet. She knows where everyone is. She knows everything. We’ll just have to figure out a way to get Sarah out when she’s in there. That’s really our only chance. Sarah? Have you told Bahiti about this?”
I looked up at him and nodded, “Yes. I told her right after we got back. She deserved to know what happened to Hapshet and why his body was never found.”
“Damn it, Sarah. You have got to stop keeping shit from us. You aren’t protecting us when you do that, you’re hurting us and making us weak. Is that what you want?” Carlos said.
“No, of course not. I would never want that. I just, I just didn’t want to make you guys worry. And then I sort of forgot about it with all the studying and everything,” I sobbed.
“What? So you get to have a monopoly on worrying now? Fuck that, Sarah. We’re married. We’re all a part of each other. When one of us is happy, we’re all happy. And when one of us is worried, we all worry. We can’t all love if one of us is hurting or worried. That’s how it works, Sarah. Take it or leave it, you don’t get it both ways,” Matt said as he rubbed my back.
I lifted my head and looked from one hurt, worried face to the other, and back a few times. Finally I slowly nodded my head, “I can’t promise that I’ll tell you everything, but I can promise that I’ll try, okay?”
Carlos sat on the bed and stroked my cheek, “I suppose we can live with that,” he said, then he got a sinister grin on his face, “Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m fucking starving. You ready for that hunting trip now?”
I grimaced as if I had been punched, but nodded my head anyways.
“We don’t have to go if you don’t want to, Sarah. But, our supplies are running pretty low these days. If you were to try to fill up on what we had, it could be a problem,” Matt said.
“No, we can go. But I won’t know if I’m going to hunt until I get there, okay? Please don’t force me to do something that I don’t want to do or that I’m not ready to do.”
“Darlin’, after the workout we all just had over the last twenty-four hours, I’m pretty sure you won’t have any choice once you get there, Sarah. But the choice is up to you.” Carlos said.
I left them to get dressed, while I went and showered quickly. I came out, put on a pair of black jeans, a black lace shirt and black boots. My men took one leering look at me and both approved my outfit then we headed out into the night.
Chapter Ten We drop down into a dark alley behind a seedy bar. My senses are immediately on overload. “Shit, what is this place?” I whispered. Carlos squeezed his arm around my waist, “I told, Sarah. I told you this was the worst of the worst. There is nothing good here. Nothing good at all.”
“I hear what you’re saying, Carlos. But I’m still not sure yet, okay?” I said.
“Don’t worry, Sarah. You don’t have to do anything that you don’t want to do. But remember where you’re going and what you’re going to have to deal with,” Matt whispered as we watched a knife fight break out at the end of the alley. I inhaled sharply as the scent of fresh blood hit me like a slap in the face, “Holy, shit,” I managed to croak out. My hands were shaking even though they were clasped tightly in Matt and Carlos’ hands. My knees shook. My heart pounded. My breathing quickened.
“Sarah,” Carlos began.
I shot him a look that immediately shut him up, “Look, I get it. They’re horrible, both of them. I can tell that. I’m going. Just give me a second.” I hissed. I gasped as the sound of a knife going into a throat pierced the night. I dropped their hands and said, “Wait here,” and took a few steps forward, then stopped.
“Honey?” Matt whispered.
I shook my head, “I was just checking,” I said, then I began moving forward again, slowly at first, then the scent grabbed hold of me and pulled, no, yanked, me forward. Next thing I knew, I was draining the second attacker while I listened to Matt and Carlos’ conversation behind me, “Checking? What the hell was she checking?” Matt said as he watched me. Carlos grinned from ear to ear as he said, “She was checking to see if she was having a sexual reaction, Matt. She was checking to see if she was getting turned on. Guess we did a good job. Whoa,” he said as he braced himself as I came running down the alley towards him. I slammed into his arms, hugged him tight and growled, “Kiss me,” then my blood covered lips smashed down onto his. After a few minutes, I pulled back and moved into Matt’s arms, “Now, you,” I groaned. When I pulled back, my fangs had retracted and my eyes were back to normal. “I did it,” I whispered. “Actually, I should say that you guys did it. It worked. The overdose of sex did the trick. It didn’t happen this time. I mean, well, you know what I mean. Thanks, you two.”
“I’ve never meant this more than I’ve meant anything I’ve ever said in my life when I say: anytime baby, anytime,” Carlos said as he winked at me.
I smiled and shook my head as I grabbed their hands and we started walking through the streets.
Several hours later, we moved slowly toward the outskirts of town. Slowly because I was so full that I couldn’t have moved any faster if I tried. There was so much blood in me that I was warm. Warm blood was pulsing through my veins. I almost felt human again. “What do you say, Sarah? Are y
ou ready to go home now?” Matt said.
“Oh yeah. I don’t think I could drink another drop. I’m full, completely……,” I stopped, turned my head and hissed. My eyes changed, my fangs dropped.
“What is it, Sarah? What’s wrong?” he whispered.
“I don’t believe it. That stupid shit,” I said as I blindly started pulling them toward an alley a few miles behind us.
“Sarah?” Carlos said.
“He didn’t listen. Shit, he never even tried to stop. He’s been hurting them since he came back. And he’s never going to stop,” I said.
Matt stopped and yanked on my arm, “Sarah? What’s going on?”
I looked at Matt and realized that he couldn’t see who I was talking about because, by instantly locking in on him myself it meant that he couldn’t see. I closed my eyes, took a few deep breaths and forced my focus away from my prey and back to Matt. I watched his eyes, as the scent of who I was seeing registered on his face. His mouth fell open, “I, I don’t believe it. That fucking weasel. Hurry, Sarah. He’s going to kill her if you don’t hurry.”
I leaned up, kissed his cheek then locked back on my prey. I felt the growl in my chest as I took off down the street, leaving Matt behind to explain to Carlos who I was after.
“It’s him, Carlos. The one she was able to resist killing during her training when she first became a vampire – training that teaches a vampire discipline when it comes to killing. Remember I told you about him? I met him in the hall before they sent him in with her, and I had a hard time not killing him. He’s bad. He’s hurt and or killed so many women, so many, Carlos. I didn’t think there was any way that she would be able to stop herself. No way at all. But she did, Carlos. She stopped herself. Her fangs were down and her eyes were changed, yet she stopped and then told him that she’d be watching him and that he better not harm anyone else. She stopped and she warned him. I was watching on the monitors, Carlos, and it was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen. All of us were so impressed and amazed at her strength. Especially as young as she was. A brand new vampire able to stop herself from killing someone so horrible! No one has ever been able to do that in all the years that the training for new vampires has been around. Nobody, until her. And, now, here he is again, getting ready to rape and kill yet one more young woman,” he said as he shook his head.