by Kate Hill
Dulcie sighed, folding her arms across her chest. “She’s right.”
“I have to go. Maybe we can have dinner next week?”
“Call us,” Dulcie told her as she and Matthew walked Nancy to the front door. “Thank you for coming.”
“I still can’t believe it,” Nancy muttered to herself as she left the house.
Dulcie closed the door and slid into Matthew’s arms. “You see? I’m sure she’s not the only one who’s upset about what happened.”
“I just don’t understand. How did this happen?”
“It’s obviously a mistake—” Dulcie stopped speaking, her gaze fixed on Matthew’s as a familiar scent permeated the air.
Simultaneously, they said, “Jay.”
“I do not want to talk to him,” Matthew stated.
“I’ll get rid of him.”
“Like hell.” Matthew strode to the front door. “He reeks of lust every time he looks at you. I’ll get rid of him. I’m in just the mood.”
Jay stood on the walk, his expression serious. “I heard about what happened to you. Now before you say anything, I want you to know I’m on your side. I don’t believe a word of it. It’s got to be some kind of mistake.”
“What do you want?” Matthew demanded, in no mood for Jay and his smooth talk.
Jay opened his arms wide. “What do you think I want, Matthew? I want you to work for me.”
“I already told you—”
“Matthew, these humans to whom you’re so loyal have kicked you in the face. All that skill, all that intellect, and you’ve wasted it on an ungrateful alien race.”
“We’re the aliens, Jay. They were here first, remember? And you know how I feel about humans, so this line of talk is doing nothing for—”
“What do you have against your own kind? I’m not saying you have to abandon mortals. I’ve met some I’ve liked, too. I’m just asking you to consider my offer. Think of all the good you could do, Matthew. Think of all those questions you have about what you are—what we are. Think of all the answers you can find without sneaking around. If you join me, you can do whatever you want. I’ll give you complete freedom. Where else will you get such an offer?”
“Especially now, right?” Matthew’s rage heightened.
“I didn’t say that. Look, anyone who knows you or who has followed your career realizes it’s only a matter of time before your name is cleared. You’ll be able to work anywhere you want, but I really want you now, Matthew. Why don’t you come to my center just until all this blows over? Then if you’re not happy, you can leave.”
Dulcie narrowed her eyes at Jay. She didn’t trust him, but she sensed the truth in his words. He desperately wanted Matthew, and he would allow him professional freedom. In spite of her feelings for Jay, she wanted her husband to be happy. Unless he was working, she knew he’d be miserable.
“Why don’t you think about it, Matthew?” she said.
Both Matthew and Jay stared at her in surprise. Dulcie shrugged, folding her arms beneath her breasts. “It can’t hurt to consider.”
“Yes!” Jay beamed. “Just think about it, Matthew. In a few days, come down and take a look around the center. Meet some of the team and see what they’re working on.”
Dulcie glanced at Matthew. Already she sensed his interest, his excitement.
Jay removed a business card from the inside pocket of his gray jacket. He passed it to Matthew. “Think about it, and you call me.”
Nodding, Matthew glanced at the card.
Jay offered Dulcie a smile as he turned and walked to his car.
Matthew closed the door and leaned against it, touching his fingertip to Dulcie’s chin. “Do you really think I should work for him?”
“I want you to be happy, Matthew. I know you won’t be unless you have somewhere to go every day and stimulate that brain of yours.” She took his hand and nipped his palm, not enough to draw blood, but almost.
“Maybe working with vampires isn’t such a bad idea. There’s so much I’d like to do that I just couldn’t at the hospital. It wasn’t always easy hiding things from Nancy as well as administration. Of course, it was simpler when Jules was around.”
“I wish he’d come back.”
Matthew kissed her mouth. “Want to have lunch later?”
She stood on tiptoe and licked his throat. “Right now I’m in the mood for a drink.”
He swept her into his arms and licked her throat.
“What do you say we go to the beach?”
“The beach?”
She nodded. “The private one way up in Maine where my family had their gathering last year?”
A lusty smile spread across Matthew’s face. Squeezing her closer, he nipped her bottom lip. “I have some wonderful memories of that place.”
“I know.” She stroked his nape. “Feel like rekindling them?”
He placed her on her feet and smacked her bottom. “Get us a change of clothes and I’ll pack us a snack.”
“I love being spontaneous!” she chirped, grasping his crotch and standing on tiptoe as she kissed him.
With a final tug on his cock, she turned and hurried up the steps.
Moments later, Dulcie joined Matthew in the car. Her pulse quickened at the sight of him, so blatantly sexy that she almost dragged him back to the house for a quickie before they left. Sunglasses protected his eyes, and to her delight, though in a very un-Matthew-like gesture, he was shirtless. One of his powerful arms rested on the edge of the open window while his opposite hand curved around the wheel. Sunlight glinted off his chest hair that tapered down his flat stomach and disappeared beneath the waist of his jeans. The denim clung to the hard curves of his thighs and calves.
Glancing at her, he smiled. “Ready?”
“More than you know.”
“Me too.” His grin turned wolfish. “I can hardly wait to rip that dress off you.”
As Dulcie tossed a travel bag into the backseat, she noticed their picnic basket and another shopping bag from a novelty store at the mall.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“When I was out earlier, I stopped for a thing or two you might like.”
“What?” She reached for the bag and opened it. Laughing, her nipples and clit already tingling at the thought of how they’d play together, she looked at the items.
“A feather. A silk blindfold. Chocolate body paint.”
“I couldn’t find peanut butter.”
“Matthew!”
He shrugged, a smile tugging at his lips.
Wearing a wicked grin, she removed the feather and unzipped his jeans.
“Dulcie, what the hell are you doing?”
“Seeing if this works.”
She curled her fist around his cock and leaned down, taking the head between her lips.
“Damn it, you’re going to get us into an accident!”
“It’s nice that your legs are so long that you need to sit so far away from the wheel. Leaves me plenty of room.”
“Dulcie!” he growled, his pulse racing as her tongue swirled over his cock head. As he tried concentrating on the road, he fought to control his breathing. He was about to pull over when one of his former associates who lived in the neighborhood stepped out of his house and waved. Matthew forced a smile as he sped to the end of the street, Dulcie’s teeth and tongue working on his cock while her hand squeezed and stroked his sac. “Stop it!”
Burying a hand in her hair, he tugged her away from his crotch. A shiver ran down his spine as his cock popped free of her lips.
“Sometimes I think you’re really evil,” he panted, casting her a roguish glance.
Offering him an innocent smile, she twirled the feather over his rock-hard erection. “How does it feel?”
“Like I’m going to explode. Zip up my pants before a cop pulls us over!”
“Uh—” Dulcie’s brow furrowed as she attempted to restrain his cock, “—that’s easier said than done.”
H
e cast a brief glance at his massive erection and inhaled deeply. It twitched and swelled even more as he thought of all the delightful ways he could punish her when they got to the beach.
Chapter Nine
Matthew sat on his backyard grass, staring up at the clear, starry sky. The aroma of incense floated on the breeze as vicious incantations wafted through his mind. He wasn’t the most experienced warlock in the world, but he had the feeling if he placed a simple curse on Simmons it would probably take.
“Kali,” he whispered. “Hecate…”
He sighed and shook his head. Such strange powers weren’t meant to be wasted on the likes of Simmons, and placing a curse could be bad for the spell-caster. At least that’s what those silly magic books said. He felt like such a total fool sneaking into the New Age section at bookstores. He had to step over teenagers with black nail polish and pierced eyebrows just to snatch one of the books and rush to the checkout.
“It’s for my daughter,” he’d say to the clerks. Why did he tell them anything? It was none of their business.
The thought of him even looking at such a book was ridiculous. He was an Immaculate, the most powerful of all vampires! He was a firm believer in science. There had to be logical explanations for the psychic powers of his kind. If he could admit to himself that he believed—just a little—he might seek out a real practitioner. The only way to learn the truth would be from someone who really knew how to use incantations, not someone writing corny spells to sell books to children and adults seeking to mix love potions.
“Matthew?” Dulcie said as she stepped outside.
He stood and met her halfway across the yard, drawing her into his arms.
“What are you doing?” she asked. “Incantations?”
“No.”
“You should have Adam or Mara ask around the Network. There are probably plenty of practicing witches who could help you explore—”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Not everyone has your ability.”
He lay on his back, the grass soft and damp against his flesh, and tugged her against his chest. One of his hands stroked her thick hair while the other extended skyward. “I wonder where we come from out there. Which planet is ours?”
“You mean where the Originals came from? I don’t know.”
“Adam says it’s dark, like nighttime, from what he could understand of the First Father’s memories.”
Dulcie smiled. “It must be beautiful.”
“Beautiful.”
“Matthew, you’ve always wanted to know everything about our kind, to understand our nature. You were one of the only vampires who believed we weren’t supernatural but biological beings, and you were right. Maybe Jay’s center is the place for you.”
“I hate him as much as I hate Simmons.”
“I’d love to claw his throat out,” Dulcie snarled.
“Which one?”
“Mostly Simmons.”
“And you told me to calm down.”
“Doesn’t mean I can’t have my fantasies. Our phone’s ringing.”
“Should we answer it?”
“Why not? Race you to it!” Dulcie leapt to her feet and bounded across the yard.
“Hey! That’s cheating!” Matthew laughed. He sprang, covering the distance between himself and Dulcie in seconds. Growling playfully, she raced up the porch steps. He jumped, caught the edge of the deck and pulled himself onto the porch before she made it to the top.
“Now who’s cheating?” She stamped her foot, catching up to him as he picked up the phone. He tossed her a wolfish smile, his incisors flashing. Sheathing his fangs, he spoke into the receiver. “Hello?”
“Oh, Matthew, honey! We were away for the weekend and just heard what happened from Lisa!” Matthew’s mother said. “What happened? Are you okay? My poor boy—”
“Will you stop fussing and let him talk?” Buck growled. Matthew realized the two were on a speaker phone.
Dulcie nearly smiled as her vampiric ears picked up the entire conversation. Matthew’s parents were certainly characters.
“I’m fine,” Matthew said. “It’s all such lies.”
“Of course it is!” Julie continued. “How dare they do this to you after all those years you’ve worked at that hospital!”
“What are you going to do until this blows over?” Buck asked.
“I’m not sure yet—”
“Well, son, you can always work with me again. You were a terrific plumber!”
“You fool!” Julie snapped. “He didn’t spend all those years in medical school to unplug toilets!”
Dulcie bit her cheek to keep from laughing.
“There’s nothing wrong with being a plumber!” Buck shouted so loudly that Matthew had to hold the phone away from his ear. “I made enough money to send him to all those goddamn fancy schools, didn’t I? Do you know how many doctors and lawyers come running to me when their pipes don’t work? And I charge the bastards good prices, too!”
“Gee thanks, Dad.”
“But you don’t have to worry about that, Matthew,” Buck continued, “because you know how to fix your own pipes. I dare anybody to find a hopper you can’t unplug—”
“For heaven’s sake, Buck!”
“How’s Lisa and the baby?” Matthew attempted to avoid a full-blown fight between his parents.
Buck lowered his voice. “Fine, fine.”
“Why don’t you and Dulcie come over for lunch tomorrow? We have the baby all day.”
“We’ll come!” Dulcie called over Matthew’s shoulder.
Several moments later, he hung up the receiver and sighed. “I’m really going to miss them someday.”
Dulcie nodded, slipping her hand into his. Her parents were vampires and most likely had centuries still ahead of them. She didn’t envy Matthew’s eventual loss of his mortal loved ones. More than anything she wished he’d tell them what he was. Somehow, she felt they would understand.
* * * * *
“You’re in early.” Jay stood in the doorway of the dark, windowless lab. He smiled as he approached Matthew, who didn’t bother looking up from his microscope.
“In?” Matthew said absently. “I haven’t been home yet.”
“I knew neither of us made a mistake by you coming here. Only two weeks and it’s like you’ve always been here.”
“Hardly. There’s so much to do.” Matthew gazed around the dark room, yet to him it was just bright enough. He never realized how physically uncomfortable he’d been working under conditions geared toward mortal preferences. “It’s great to have so many samples from hybrid volunteers and not have to hide all my research.”
“I told you.” Jay perched on a stool beside Matthew. “You didn’t belong at that hospital.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“No, I’m saying it. Mortals have their own kind working for them, but there are so few of us. One more thing, not that I’m complaining about your dedication, but don’t you ever miss your wife?”
“I don’t discuss my personal life.”
Jay laughed. “What personal life? You might as well live here.”
Matthew stared hard at Jay. “You can’t decide whether you want me here or not.”
“Of course I want you here, I’m just thinking of Dulcie.”
“Dulcie’s not your business.” Matthew forced himself to keep from growling. Jay’s heartbeat quickened whenever he thought about Dulcie, and Matthew hated it. He also didn’t like to admit the truth of Jay’s words. Even though he and Dulcie understood one another, he wondered if she felt neglected because of his long work hours.
“If I were you, I’d stay home at least one full night a week,” Jay said, leaving as several other scientists stepped in to begin their shift. They exchanged brief greetings with Matthew as they settled to work.
“So do you like it here, Dr. Winter?” a dark-haired hybrid who looked no older than twenty smiled at Matthew.
“Yes, thank you. Amanda, i
s it?”
“Yes. Forgive me, but it’s strange to be working for someone so young.”
“It’s difficult to remember most of you are so much older than you look.” Matthew glanced around the room. No one appeared over forty, but each of them had seen a hundred-plus years.
“Yes. Jay mentioned that most of your circle is mortal. It’s amazing all you’ve been able to do for our kind while living under such conditions.”
“Well, it’s certainly easier to study vampires here.”
“You haven’t seen the half of it—”
“Amanda!” a thin, sandy-haired hybrid snapped as he slipped into his white coat.
She shrugged. “What?”
“Let him get used to the place. He hasn’t even been here a month yet.”
Matthew gazed at the two hybrids with interest. He asked Amanda, “What do you mean, I haven’t seen the half of it?”
“Nothing. Just some of the sillier projects around here. Call it Jay’s sense of humor. You’ll get used to it.”
In spite of his telepathic deficiency, Matthew sensed discomfort from both Amanda and the other hybrid.
“Like what?” he prodded.
“So tell him, Amanda,” the slender hybrid scoffed. “He’s the boss.”
Amanda offered a toothy smile. “You’ll have to forgive me, Dr. Winter. I tend to ramble.”
“Not at all. Everything here is of interest to me. I want to know exactly what’s going on everywhere in this center. I—”
Matthew paused as he was paged to the telephone. For the next several hours, he was occupied assisting Jay and several members of the staff, but the conversation with Amanda and the skinny hybrid remained in the back of his mind. Why did he suddenly have the most unsettling feeling? It was because the center, with its pleasant atmosphere and work more stimulating than any he’d ever done, seemed too good to be true. Around seven at night, Matthew finally decided to leave. He’d been at the center for almost two days straight and had spoken only once to Dulcie.
During the drive home, he felt a little guilty. Since starting at the center, he had been completely obsessed. As usual, Dulcie hadn’t spoken a word other than those of encouragement. When he got home, he’d have to show her exactly how much he appreciated her.