by C. L. Quinn
As he spoke, she’d been scanning the dancers. One of her favorite romantic songs had replaced the hip-hop tunes, and the couples that dominated the floor now were dancing close. Ready to turn back to answer Zach’s question, her eyes slid across a pair dancing together some distance across the floor. Taller than most of the couples, the man and woman were plastered against each other, their hips moving in perfect sync. As they slowly turned, the dim lighting revealed the man’s features, enough to identify him. Heat infused her face, her hands stilled, as she processed the image. Will, grinding on another woman, their relationship obviously sexual. Squinting thought the darkened space, she tried to see who the woman was, but she was turned away from her.
Gulping down the rest of the glass of wine, she gingerly set it back on the table. Well, this changed the course of her visit. Even so, Olivia couldn’t take her eyes from them. Against her will, she found herself focusing in on every detail. Will’s right hand lay low on the woman’s buttock, the fingers curled around the curve. As Olivia watched, Will lifted his left hand to her face and lowered his to hers. He kissed her with passion and familiarity. Who was this woman?
Olivia didn’t want to acknowledge the tightness in her throat, the disappointment, the unexpected sense of loss, even though a relationship with him had never existed. Pressure behind her eyes threatened tears, and she wondered why her reaction was so strong. She couldn’t deny that it hurt to see him so intimate with another woman.
“Olivia?”
Eventually, Zach’s voice penetrated. “Olivia, are you okay?”
Unable to pull her eyes from Will, she finally responded, well aware her answer was clipped.
“Fine. Never better. Do you know that tall man?”
Zach searched the floor to land on Will. “Oh, yeah. He’s a regular at Dez’s weekend parties. He’s human, one of the earth warriors Chione found last year. Hell of a dancer, hell of a fighter.” Zach laughed. “Hell of a lover. Since Brigitte arrived, you can barely get a molecule between them. Watch. Within the next half hour, they’ll stumble to one of the guest rooms and won’t come out until daylight. Will goes back to Ife’s compound to work, and Brigitte stays here for her rest. They’re good together. Make a smashing couple.”
Zach stopped to top off his glass. “Liv? You look upset. What…” His eyes moved from her gaze, locked on Will and Brigitte, and back to notice the moisture in her eyes. He got it now. “Liv, you’re interested in him.”
It was a statement, he already saw it in the cold glare and tight set teeth. “How do you know him?”
“I don’t. Not really.” Olivia turned those big blues that reminded him so much of his mate’s on him. “Chione needed help tracking down one of her human warriors, a stranger that lived in the southwestern desert, with only a nickname and vague location. She knew that I could do it. That’s pretty much the story. I found him, got him to Africa, and came home.”
Zach shook his head. “That wasn’t pretty much the story, it was just the outline. What happened in between the I found him and came home part?”
Several more moments passed. Sighing, Olivia looked toward Brigitte, the kiss highly sexual now, and averted her gaze back to Zach.
“Nothing. Honestly, Zach, we were never together. It’s me, not him. Unfounded expectations. A spark of a relationship that I never let ignite. A woman suddenly wondering if she’d let go the man who might be the one.” Don’t judge me, Zach, I’m ready to rip someone a new one and you’re the closest to me right now. I’m okay. You know I’m always fine. I just came down here chasing a dream, but dreams aren’t real. Anyway, it got me away from work and here to visit you guys, so no complaints, right?”
“None. Dez is always over the moon to see you. Why don’t I go get her?”
“I like that idea. I’ll stay here and protect the MoonShine supply, right?”
“I’m not sure I trust that glint in your eye. I remember you could drink me under the table in Siberia.”
“Hmmm.” Bypassing her stemware, Olivia lifted the second bottle to her lips.
“I’ll hurry,” Zach groaned.
Lowering the bottle, Olivia let it hover above the tabletop. Zach needn’t worry about his wine supply; she wasn’t in the mood anymore. Still, the bottle in her hand, she lifted it again, thinking that, mood or not, being drunk with a magically produced wine might be the only thing that would get her through the night without becoming maudlin.
The bottom of the bottle still lifted, she shot a quick glance to where Will and Brigitte had been practically fucking on the dance floor and saw them moving toward her, now only about ten feet away. Still wrapped around his partner, weaving a little, Will wore a genuine easy grin, something that she’d never seen, when he suddenly glanced up, his eyes scanning around him until they landed on her. His expression revealed shock when he saw her.
Surprised he’d noticed her in his current inebriated and horny state, Olivia waved at him with the bottle.
Pulling Brigitte to a stop beside him, Will stared at Olivia, unaware that Brigitte’s eyes followed his to the beautiful vampire at the table, then back to Will.
“Olivia,” Will whispered.
“Biker.” Olivia did not whisper. The nickname she’d known him by before she’d known his real name felt more intimate, but she reminded herself that it was a mistake to bring up that memory. He was with another woman. Her eyes moved from his to those of his companion.
She summoned a smile for Brigitte, even if it couldn’t quite reach her eyes. She’d always liked the beautiful child of the moon.
“Hey, Bridge. How’s Zambia?”
Brigitte’s smile was warm, real, although Olivia could sense her concern. “Um, great. Everyone is doing perfectly. When did you get here?”
“Just arrived in time to see the end of the dance contest.”
“Ugh!” Wrapping her arms around Will’s waist, Brigitte laughed. “We were hardly stellar, were we, babe?”
Olivia’s eyes went to the hug. And she noticed the endearment. Staking her claim?
Will nodded, his head stiff. “No, not quite.” His discomfort was obvious. Pulling away from Brigitte’s tight embrace, he glanced at Olivia. “Well, it’s nice to see you again.”
If she hadn’t been so unsettled about finding the man she had come all this way to seduce in a clinch with another woman, Olivia would have found his discomfort amusing.
Brigitte shrugged as Will pulled her away. “See you later, Olivia.”
As they cleared the room, Olivia rolled her eyes, and whispered, “Not if I see you first.” Childish she knew, but she didn’t care.
Brigitte was a sweet girl. And Will had no idea that Olivia had come here for him, so both were innocent in this. Didn’t matter, though. Olivia lifted the wine and sucked down a quarter of the body. She couldn’t purge the image of Brigitte’s legs wrapped around Will’s waist.
“My girl!”
Dez blew in like a hurricane, enveloping Olivia in her huge presence and warm arms. Like a lifeline, Olivia held tight to her grandmother, one of the brightest points in her life since she’d found her family.
Dez pulled back to absorb her granddaughter, still one of very few fourth generation first blood vampires.
“I think you need to move here. I miss you way too much to have you all the way in the U.S.”
“I’d love to, but my business is in the city of night-lights, and you know I love it. Although, of course I miss you too.”
Zach stood behind the two women, so alike in spite of the generation that separated them. Life had become one big party after another since he and Dez had finally mated, and he wouldn’t change a moment. He stepped forward, a hand on each of their backs.
“Why don’t we retire to the dining room and let the rest of these guys burn out as dawn arrives? Get a nice quiet last meal.”
“Perfect idea.” Dez winked at Zach. “With all the belly dancing earlier tonight, I need to recharge.”
His grin wide, Z
ach lifted his eyebrows. “From my point of view, it was worth every tiring gyration.”
Dez ran a finger down his chest and stopped just below the beltline of his jeans on the obvious mound.
“Perhaps after some calories, I’ll give you a private encore before we rest.”
Following them, Olivia faked a choking sound. “Ugh. Should granddaughters have to listen to their grandmothers make sexual deals?”
Especially when her own erotic adventure had just blown up in her face.
His eyes on her, Zach stopped and pulled Olivia forward. “I know what you need. Come look at this.”
He led her into the dining room and toward the buffet table near the kitchen that was just now being set for last meal. “This is it, Liv.”
Zach lifted a large stainless-steel cover from a tall tray with a flourish.
Olivia couldn’t help shooting him a wan smile. Aware of her heartache tonight, Zach knew precisely what a woman needed to help salve a wounded heart. A three tier chocolate cake glistened under the lights over the table. Dark chocolate icing dripped down the side over thick milk chocolate buttercream icing that covered all three layers.
“It’s filled with rich white icing,” Zach elaborated.
Olivia, her back to her grandmother, sent him an air kiss and mouthed thank you. The man knew what a woman needed and this would do nicely. As the moments passed, she felt more raw at the way the situation had turned out. She’d waited too long, it was that simple. Taking responsibility for her own choices that led her here at this moment of lost possibilities didn’t mean that she didn’t deserve that cake.
Two hours later, filled with wine and a massive dump of sugar, a little drunk and a lot exhausted, Olivia left her travel pack on a padded bench at the foot of the bed in her room. Decorated with natural colors, the wall hangings on the room shimmered under soft crystal lighting. Like Dez, Olivia loved sequins, crystals, anything that sparkled or shined, creating a space that felt like home.
After her flight, in need of a quick shower, Olivia donned a thin robe and headed from her room to the nearest of three enormous bathrooms that served all the rooms on this floor. Her mood had improved, both from Dez and Zach’s amusing company, and the effects of the MoonShine. Smiling, humming a tune that had been playing in her room, she hurried down the hallway, low-lit since, while it was daylight outside, it was a vampire’s night.
As she reached the big double door, she dropped against the wall, frustrated that it was occupied. Pushing away, she started to head toward the other end of the corridor to the next closest bathroom when she heard the door open. Good, she could get her shower now. Turning back, she watched Will, wrapped only in a damp towel slung around his waist, walk from the bathroom into the hall, his eyes lifting from where he’d just secured the towel to meet hers.
Neither moved at first, both stunned to meet like this, still surprised to have met here tonight at all. Finally, his tongue moving around his lips, a hand pushing wet hair from his face, Will nodded to her.
“Olivia.”
She shook her head. “You already said that. Earlier. Tonight.”
Uneasy, Olivia shifted her weight and let herself enjoy the unexpected view. Gods, he looked, smelled, impossibly arousing. Instantly, she felt the tug of sexual desire between her legs. Inhibition still compromised by the MoonShine, she couldn’t control what she felt and found herself saying what was on her mind.
“You looked almost exactly like this when we first met, except that you didn’t have that towel, you know, where it is now, covering…”
Easing closer, her hand moved out to touch the towel exactly where it covered a rising mound. “Um, here.”
Although the pressure was light, she could feel the hard length of his cock as it continued to fill, and she pressed harder, her fingers curving around the long thick shape. She smiled, and wondered if he could see the regret, then dropped her hand to take a step back.
“I remember.”
Will fought the urge to pull the towel free and bring her hand back where it had been a second earlier. “What are you doing here, Olivia? I’m sorry, that sounded rude. It’s just, I’ve been here for a month and I’ve never seen you.”
“Dez is my grandmother.”
“Oh. I didn’t know that. Although, now that I think about it, when I first met her, she reminded me of you.”
“Aw, how sweet.”
His erotic response to her deepened as his eyes moved over an almost sheer robe she wore, highlighting rather than covering dark nipples pressed against the soft fabric. This was not right, not after he’d just fucked Brigitte harder than he ever had. He knew it was because of Olivia’s unexplained presence tonight. Just seeing her had brought surprise, confusion, resentment, guilt, an entire concoction of ridiculous emotions that he didn’t really know or understand. Yet here he was, a few hours later, on a chance encounter, and his fucking cock was begging for her to touch it.
I’m a pig, he thought. Beautiful, sexy, giving woman in my bed who I’ve been having sex with for the past three weeks, and here I am, drooling over a woman who wouldn’t give me the time of day before. Get it together, man.
Was she coming on to him? Just teasing him? It couldn’t matter. While he and Brigitte were only having a good time like they had in Colorado, no commitments had ever been proclaimed for either of them, he was still with her. No matter how intensely his body reacted to Olivia, it wasn’t happening. Backing away, he smiled.
“Well it’s all yours. Have a nice visit.”
Her eyes shifted to the floor and back to his. He could almost swear he saw indecision, but that didn’t make sense. Whatever it was, he needed to go before the erection got any bigger or he lost his ability to control the unwelcome desire for this unbelievably beautiful woman.
“Good-night.”
Moving like the devil himself was chasing him, Will walked with purpose and speed back to the suite that Dez had assigned to Brigitte since she’d been in South America. He himself had slept there with her every night since she arrived.
They had a perfect relationship. He liked her, a lot, and she liked him, a lot too. The sex was hot, athletic, satisfying, and since they already knew each other’s bodies and preferences from the days in Colorado, they’d fallen right back into comfortable patterns.
This was what he needed. What he wanted. Nothing serious. Will knew, admitted to himself only, that if he’d started something with the intriguing Olivia, it would never be just casual. It would be scorching and something they would likely have trouble walking away from.
I’m not ready for that, he promised himself as he stepped inside Brigitte’s room. Right?
“Right,” he whispered out loud to himself.
Brigitte slept, the deep sleep of a vampire after aggressive sex and the arrival of daylight hours. He needed to get dressed and back to Ife’s home, where he still lived most of the time, and get back down to what they all now called the Cavern of Starlight.
Pressing the door to the now empty bathroom closed and dropping back against it, Olivia closed her eyes, her right hand sliding down to squeeze the thick nub that had been begging for attention. Just seeing Will again had reignited the fire she’d felt that first night he’d come from the sand-pool in the desert, turning her on immediately.
Water had cascaded from him then as he walked from the pool, and even though he was merely damp tonight, Olivia, aware that she was drunk, enjoying the freedom it provided, had nearly pushed him down and licked him top to bottom.
“You’d have enjoyed that,” she whispered to the man who wasn’t there. Her eyes landed on the tiled floors and walls that covered the back of the oversized bathroom, still wet from Will’s shower.
Moving slowly, Olivia dropped her robe and stepped onto the stone-colored tiles, toeing water droplets that might have slid down his body. Eyes closed now, she imagined him there, naked, no towel, the cock she knew was incredibly generous erect and weeping for her. She glanced up at the ra
in shower head and a hand-held wand that provided powerful pulsating water at the touch of a button. Leaning against the tile wall, she turned on the water, and as it cascaded over her head, she reached for the wand. It would have to do.
Six hours later at the Cavern of Starlight
Will laid his snack pack on a metal table set up the first week that Ife’s team had started serious investigation into the cave system of off-world crystals. Certain now that the crystals had been here for millennia, everyone waited with fascination to find out more about their nature and why they were suddenly revealed. Had they been put here with a purpose? Was there a reason the cave had been revealed at this time? It was indeed the mystery Ife had told them it was.
But not to Will. From the first moment Caedmon had led him down here, the second his foot had touched the earth at this depth, he’d known that this cave had opened for him. That the buried treasure of universal gifts had been waiting for him. That Mother Earth welcomed him home. His earth-borne power had dug into the living planet at the same moment that it had reached up to him. What these crystals were, how they had come to be buried so deep within this world, what their purpose was, he did not know, but he did know that he was the one destined to touch them and deliver them to the world.
As he had that first night, and every time he was here alone since then, Will turned off every light that the vampire’s had placed around the huge domed cave. Instead of total darkness, as Caedmon had found when he fell into this opening, Will lifted his eyes to watch an unparalleled display of refracted light glow from every crystal that covered the ceiling and walls of this magnificent place. He’d discovered something that he hadn’t revealed to anyone else yet. It’s why he came here alone during daylight hours. Will wasn’t ready to share with anyone yet that when he was alone here, the cave and crystals absorbed his magic. They resonated now with light and sound that made the mystery even grander.
At first, when he’d felt the power exchange, the crystal cave reaching into him, feeding power to him, he’d worried about what they wanted from him. Were they trying to drain him? Had he been given this gift to only hold for them awhile?