by Laura Lee
“I sensed your distress. I came in here and found you crying in your sleep. Bad dream?”
I thought about it for a minute. “I guess…I don’t really remember.”
He stroked my hair. “Go back to sleep. I’ll be right here.”
I stretched and felt the stiffness in my muscles. “What time is it?”
He looked over his shoulder at the alarm clock. “Five minutes past one.”
Wow, I’d spoken with Erica around six in the morning. I couldn’t believe I had slept for another seven hours. No wonder my bladder was about to burst. “I need to talk to you about Erica.” I got out of bed and made my way towards the bathroom. “Give me a few minutes to freshen up, okay?”
He nodded. “Of course.”
I came out feeling minty fresh and started sifting through the closet for something to wear. I was exhausted, but I thought getting dressed would help me perk up. Eying a pretty sundress I asked, “No chance the temperatures have heated up about twenty degrees, is there?”
He chuckled. “Why are you looking through your clothes?”
I crinkled my brows in confusion. “Because I don’t want to spend all afternoon in my jammies.”
He laughed, full on this time. “My dear, it’s one o’clock in the morning, not afternoon. You’ve been in here for over twenty-four hours.”
“What?! I slept through the entire day? Why didn’t you wake me up?”
He shrugged. “You seemed tired so I left you alone.”
I lost a full day? I sat on the edge of the bed and grumbled, “I’m still tired.” Stupid immortal side effects.
He hooked an arm around my torso and pulled me into him. “Rest, my sweet. I’ll be right here when you wake up.”
I snuggled into him and yawned. He didn’t need to tell me twice. “Okie dokie.”
I was careful to check the AM/PM indicator on the alarm clock when I woke up. It was just past five in the morning, and Leo was snoozing next to me. I quietly crawled out of bed and made my way into the bathroom. I took my time showering, letting the hot water beat down on my sore muscles. It always amazed me how quickly my body seized up from inactivity. As I was shaving my legs, I got a sudden wave of dizziness. That turned into a large volt of energy shooting throughout my entire body, causing me to gouge myself with the razor.
“Fuck!” I looked down and saw pink water swirling around the drain. Man, I got myself good.
The door burst open a few seconds later. “What happened?” Leo asked.
I jumped in shock and made a feeble attempt to conceal my nudity. The shower had a clear glass door so all my goodies were currently on display. “Leo! What the hell?”
His eyes quickly scanned the room, seemingly satisfied that no threats existed. He turned around and said, “I apologize, my sweet. I heard you shout…then I smelled your blood. I thought you were injured.”
I sighed. “I’m fine. I cut myself shaving; no big deal.”
“Would you like me to heal you?” A vampire’s saliva had enzymes in it that carried the ability to repair broken skin. Leo had sealed more than a few of my wounds since we’d met.
I looked down at my leg and saw the giant gash I had created. Dammit. “Just give me a minute, okay? I’ll meet you out in the bedroom.”
“Of course,” he said as he exited the room.
Once the door was closed, I turned off the water and stepped out of the shower to dry off. I grabbed some tissue, attempting to staunch the blood flow, but wasn’t having much luck. Resigned, I wrapped a towel tightly around my body and stepped into the bedroom.
Leo’s eyes zeroed in on the cut as his fangs grew in response. He patted the open spot on the bed next to him. “Sit.”
I sank into the mattress and stretched both legs over his lap. He stared at the blood trickling out for only a moment before he lifted my injured leg to his mouth and began lapping at the wound. Before meeting Leo, the thought of anyone cleaning up my blood with their tongue would have grossed me out. Now, all it did was remind me of the blinding pleasure he could induce with a simple prick from his fang. I felt my body warming at the memory of his bite. Based on his enthusiastic licking, I was sure he was feeling a bit nostalgic as well.
I needed to focus on something other than his tongue lazily drawing circles against my skin. “Something really weird happened right before I cut myself.”
“Hmm?” Leo murmured.
“I got dizzy,” I continued, “and then I felt this crazy jolt of power. Have you ever been around a downed power line? It was like that —I could feel the charge in the air—except it was inside of me. I’ve never felt anything like it before.”
He gave me one more lick for good measure and raised his head with eyes closed. I watched as my skin knitted together between his hands, leaving everything good as new. His fingertips bit into my calf muscle while he took deep breaths through his nose.
“Leo, you okay?”
His fingers continued to flex and retract. “Just…give me a minute.”
Instinctively, I started to pull away but he forcefully held me in place. “Ouch!”
His eyes immediately snapped open. He looked down, saw that he was holding me hostage, and instantly released his grip. “I’m sorry, my love.”
I scooted away from him. “What the hell just happened?”
“Do you still feel it now?” he countered without acknowledging my question.
I thought about it for a moment. “Yeah, I do. It’s different though. Like the power has been leashed somehow. What just happened, Leo? You were starting to scare me.” I looked down at my aching leg. “I’m already starting to bruise.”
His eyes flashed with regret. “Again, my love, I apologize. I’ve never experienced something like that before. I needed a minute to rein it in.”
“Rein what in, exactly?” Okay, now he officially had me freaked out. Leo’s never had trouble controlling anything before.
“The power,” he whispered. “Your blood…it’s different.”
“Different, how?” He looked a million miles away; I’d never seen him so distracted before. I started pulling up a pair of yoga pants under my towel and threw a hoodie over it. I wasn’t really concerned about underwear at the moment in case I needed to bolt.
Just like that, his eyes cleared and he snapped out of whatever haze had been pulling him under. “I’m guessing your powers are getting stronger since your immortality is getting closer.” He paused. “Maybe you should see if you can find something in the book.”
“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.” I bit my lip. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
Leo quickly stood and started walking towards the door. “Of course, my dear. I’ll order some coffee and meet you out front.”
Wait…what? As he walked away, I was left to wonder what the hell had just happened…and whether or not I was truly safe in his presence.
Room service was just leaving as I stepped into the living area. “That was fast.”
Leo grabbed a piece of fruit from the table. “I offered an incentive if they expedited it.” He pulled out a chair and gestured for me to sit. As I was pouring myself a cup of coffee, I noticed that his knuckles were white from clenching his fists so tightly. Before I had a chance to ask him about it, he said, “I need to attend to some urgent business. If you need me, I’ll be in my bedroom.” He used his superhuman speed to climb the stairs before I could even blink. What the hell? He never did that unless it was absolutely necessary.
“What? Wait!” He acted as if he didn’t hear me and closed his bedroom door. I followed him upstairs and knocked. “Leo, what’s going on? Please open the door.”
A moment later, he cracked the door but made no move to let me in. He was texting someone, deliberately avoiding eye contact. “Karli, maybe you should take some more time to explore the city during the day. Takk will be here any moment to escort you.”
I was thrown back by his suggestion. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”
&nbs
p; “Of course not, my sweet. I simply have a large workload and thought you’d enjoy yourself more if you got out of this stuffy suite.”
I wasn’t convinced in the slightest, but I knew when to pick my battles. “Fine. Are you going to meet me somewhere later?”
He looked at his watch. “We’ll see how everything goes. Have a good time.”
I spent the better part of the day walking around the National Museum, looking at priceless artifacts. Afterwards, I ducked into a small pub to grab a late lunch. I looked over my shoulder to find Takk hot on my heels. “You wanna grab a table?”
“Nope.” He nodded towards the large cherry colored bar on the left. “I’ll just have a seat over there.”
I rolled my eyes. “You know, it’s awfully stupid that we’ve been going to the same places all day acting like we don’t know each other.”
He shrugged. “I can do my job better this way.”
“Whatever,” I huffed.
The pub was sectioned off into two areas: a raised platform with a large rectangular-shaped bar just ahead, and on the sunken floor to the right, booths lined the wall with stained glass windows centered over each table. I chose one of those since the atmosphere was a bit cozier down there. Erica called a few moments later as I was waiting for my fish and chips to arrive.
I swiped my finger across the screen to answer. “Hey, how are you doing?”
She sighed. “I’m okay…I’m just packing right now.”
“So Shanna’s is a done deal?”
“Yeah, I’m heading over tomorrow. She said I can stay as long as I need to.”
“Are you flying there?”
“No, Vance insisted on driving with me so I’d have my car. I’ll take him to John Wayne Airport once I get settled and he’ll fly home from there.”
“That’s nice of him.”
“It is,” she agreed. “Hey, before I forget, Chad called looking for you. He wants to talk to you about the incident with Maria.”
“He did?”
“Yep, don’t worry…I didn’t tell him where you were. I told him I’d let you decide if you wanted to speak with him.” I had arranged a limited international calling plan on my cell and adjusted my settings so only my favorite contacts could ring through. My ex-boyfriend, Chad most definitely wasn’t on that list.
“How’s he doing?” He’d been hospitalized after being attacked a few days before I’d left town. To send me a message, Maria had drained him almost completely dry and left him on my couch. Being a human-demon halfling, he’d survived, but not without some serious blood transfusions.
“He’s okay, I guess. He actually seems to be the same ol’ Chad. He was only in the hospital for a day and a half, yet he walked away dating one of his nurses. Her name’s Betty or something like that.”
“We’ll see how long that lasts.” I scoffed. Chad and I were together for two and a half years, during most of which he had cheated on me repeatedly. Thankfully, his demon half made him immune to STDs.
“Anyway,” she continued, “I need to finish up here. I just wanted to relay the message. I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”
“Okay, sweetie. Have a nice drive.”
“Thanks, Kar.”
I dialed Leo after ending my call with Eri, but it went straight to his voicemail. I had a feeling he was ignoring me, which was completely out of character for him. Irritated, I downed my beer in two gulps and signaled for another. Fuck it, if he didn’t want to talk to me, I’d keep myself entertained.
Two beers later, the mysterious Connor slid into my booth. I was momentarily startled because I never saw him coming. Either I was spacing out, or he was quite stealthy. I’d put my money on the latter. My eyes automatically roamed the room until I found Takk. It looked like he was taking a picture of us with his phone. He was probably sending it to Leo, trying to convince him that I was screwing this guy. Asshole.
“This must be my lucky week, running into you three times now.” He looked around before raising his glass. “It appears as if you’re drinking alone. I’d like to help you remedy that, if you’d allow me to do so. That is, of course, if your date isn’t taking another call?”
I was intoxicated just enough to say, “Nope, no date. By all means, please join me.” I wasn’t drunk enough to forget that he was a vampire, but I wasn’t worried either. I could easily read his emotions, and all I got was curiosity with a side of desire. Maybe my mojo wasn’t working before.
He took a sip of Merlot. At least that’s what I think it was. “So, you never told me before. What part of America are you from?”
“Vegas.” I took a sip of beer. “Ever been?”
He shook his head. “No, never. I’ve spent some time in New York and California but only briefly. Perhaps I’ll have to visit one day. What brings you to Ireland?”
“I’ve always wanted to visit.” Not technically a lie. “My…friend had some business to conduct and offered to take me with him.”
“And this is the same friend that was with you the other night?”
I nodded. “Yep.”
“And where is he now?”
I shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine.”
He smiled. “So he’s not your lover then.”
I choked on my beer a little. “Excuse me?”
He held up his hands in surrender. “Pardon me for being so forward. You see, I’m not a man to mince words. I was simply observing that this…friend of yours could not possibly be your lover.”
Okay, I was curious enough to bite. “And why do you say that?”
“Because,” he waved his hand towards me, “if I had you in my bed, I certainly wouldn’t take you halfway around the globe and leave you to wander by yourself. Any man in his right mind would never let you out of his sight.”
I caught Takk out of the corner of my eye, reminding me that I could never technically be out of Leo’s sight with his errand boy over there. “I don’t know if I should be flattered or offended.”
He motioned for the waitress to bring us another round. “I assure you, I mean no offense. I’m simply saying that a man who knows a woman intimately…especially a woman like you, would want her by his side at all times. He wouldn’t want to be without her presence.”
“Maybe he’s tied up with work.”
“No work is that important.” Ouch! I couldn’t help but feel a little pain in my chest when I thought about Leo’s reason for dismissing me earlier. “Tell me, Karli. Is he, or is he not, your lover?”
“Why do you want to know?” I countered.
“Because I’d like to know if I have a chance of filling that role.”
“Oh.” I was caught off guard by his reply and needed a moment to collect my thoughts. “No.”
“No, he’s not your lover?” he clarified. “Or no, I don’t have a shot?”
I smiled. He certainly was charming; I had to give him that. “Both.”
He laughed. “Pity for both of us. Would you still do me the honor of sharing some conversation?”
“Sure.” Why the hell not, I thought. Leo was ignoring me, Takk refused to sit with me. It was certainly less pathetic than drinking alone.
He raised his glass for a toast. “To conversation.”
“To conversation,” I echoed as our glasses clinked together.
I had learned that Connor was not only quite the charmer, but he was also an astute businessman. At one point, I had asked him why he was in the Temple Bar area so often, since that was where we kept meeting. He stated that he was in real estate and owned several buildings within a three block radius. He often came to the area to check on his tenants or perform maintenance inspections. My belly was warmed by the alcohol and I started to lose sight of why I was really in Dublin. I pretended that we were just two people in a bar getting to know one another; something I saw on any given night at work. A girl and a boy…nothing more complicated than that. I was so sick of all this doomsday shit that had been looming over my head. I wanted the escape, i
f only for a few hours. He was certainly an attractive man, making it much easier to do so.
Sometime later, Takk approached our table. “Fun’s over. It’s time to go.”
Connor stood up, hackles raised. “Are you with this man?”
“No,” I replied.
“Yes,” Takk growled at the same time.
Connor raised an eyebrow in question. “Which is it? Yes or no?”
I sighed as I grabbed my purse and got up from the table. “Technically…yes.”
“I see.” He grabbed my hand and brushed his lips against my skin. “It’s been lovely talking with you, Karli. Perhaps we’ll run into each other again?”
“Don’t count on it,” Takk said gruffly.
Connor smirked as if Takk’s hostility amused him. “My, what an incredible perfume you have on; I didn’t notice it before. May I ask what fragrance you’re wearing?”
Huh? “I’m not wearing any. Maybe you smell my bodywash. It’s some floral scent.”
He considered that for a moment. “Yes…maybe that’s it.” He made sure to knock Takk’s shoulder with his own as he started walking away. What was it with guys and the shoulder clip?
“Watch it, asshole,” Takk warned.
Connor’s smile was full force this time. “My apologies, wolf.” He looked over his shoulder at me. “Have a good evening, my beautiful American.”
I blushed. “Um…yep. You too.”
I waited until he was out of the building before I asked, “How did he know you’re a werewolf?”
Leo once told me that he could sense other supes but he never explained how he did it. Was this yet another ability that all vampires had?
Takk grabbed my elbow and started pulling me towards the door. “Let’s go.”
I tried shrugging him off, but my strength was no match for his. Leo’s sedan pulled up as we stepped outside. Takk opened the back door and not so gently pushed me in. “Hey!” I whined.
Leo was watching our exchange through the rear view mirror. “Takk.”