Saul thought about this for a moment, his palms still pressed firmly to the ground. “Eventually,” he said. “There are things that, thirty years later, I’m still not quite able to process.”
“Fair enough,” she said. “Can I at least sit with you?”
“Of course,” Saul smiled.
She sat by him, making sure not to touch him in any way. She didn’t want to disrupt whatever he was doing. He silently thanked her for this and was once again amazed at how quickly they had managed to sync into one another’s moods and emotions.
He wanted to tell her all about what had happened to his father—the bits of it that had been left out of the Red Creek Gazette and whispered about in a much darker world than that little paper could ever hope to imagine. It would be nice to speak to someone other than Jill; Jill had remained detached about it ever since the incident had happened. He always assumed it was because it was just too intense for her. She didn’t like conflict and when it was forced upon her, Jill became a very violent and primal sort of creature.
To have Nikki to share his thoughts over his father’s death would be a blessing. But he didn’t dare test their relationship at that level just yet. It scared him. He was sure it would scare her as well.
They sat that way for a while, Saul enjoying Nikki’s presence beside him. From time to time, he thought he detected the scent of blood on the air—not that of his father’s long ago death, but something fresher. It was crisp and tainted, soft and elusive on the wind.
Somewhere in the recesses of his head, an alarm started to sound. But for now, in that moment, he was more worried about the memory of his father and the company of the remarkable woman beside him.
CHAPTER FOUR
1
Two days after they shared the touching and rather awkward moment at the site of Saul’s father’s death, Saul had started to feel that the cabin was getting far too crowded. He hated to think such things, but he didn’t like the fact that his cabin was essentially becoming Jason’s Vampire playground. That, coupled with the fact that questions about his father’s death were revisiting him like persistent ghosts, made Saul antsy.
Saul had never been a territorial sort and Jason was a very level-headed guy as far as Saul was concerned, but this man’s sudden dependence on his father’s cabin was becoming irritating. All in all, things in the cabin – as well as in Saul’s head –were becoming toxic. He felt rage coming and going nearly every day now, passing through him and then leaving as casually as a spring breeze.
He discussed this with Nikki and they decided that they would get away for a few days. Sure, they had been back from Ireland for only four days, but Saul was feeling suffocated in the cabin. He hated the feeling—to be uncomfortable in the place that he had called home for so long—but it was there, plain and simple. It made him feel selfish and spoiled, but it was what it was.
His father would have claimed that such unrest meant that a great change was on the way. But Saul didn’t buy into those old superstitions. All he knew was that he needed to get away from the growing tension in the cabin and that he wanted Nikki with him. He was no longer the solitary type; he’d much rather have Nikki with him wherever he went, even if they did nothing more than sit beside one another in silence.
They ended up revisiting the little inn that they had escaped to after the battle with the Greelys. Saul knew that Jill was frustrated with him being gone all of the time –he was, after all, essentially leaving her to babysit Jason – but she understood. Besides, Saul was going to do the same for her soon. Jill needed some time away, too; she’d uprooted her life and come back to her family only to be dealt a bloody situation with the Greely clan. He knew that she had recently gone out into a nearby town to satiate her lust, but he didn’t know how much longer that would hold her.
Saul and Nikki talked about these things as they sat on the back deck of their little suite. The deck overlooked a small lake that perfectly reflected the full moon overhead. They sat in twin lawn chairs beside one another, looking out to the night.
“No word from The Guard on where you’ll be headed next?” Nikki asked, staring out into that impossible darkness that swam on the lake.
“None. I think things are starting to settle down. Whatever turmoil news of the planned revolt against the smaller clans caused, it is dwindling.”
“Good. It was a stupid plan.”
“The thing that still gnaws at me, though, is what will become of Jason.”
“What do you mean?” Nikki asked.
“Well, if he turns out to be a Rogue and we don’t tell The Guard about it and they somehow find out anyway, that will place us on their bad side. And I hate to say it, but being so close to The Guard is something that any vampire would want. I can’t really jeopardize the relationship I have with them. Also, any treason against them has often been met with death. It’s a very sticky situation.”
“I understand that.”
“So you also understand that if it does come to that, I’ll have to fight him. I’ll have to hand him over to The Guard.”
“Yeah. I know.” She would not look at him in that moment. Instead, her eyes remained focused on the lake.
“You won’t hate me for that?” he asked. “Not even a little bit?”
Nikki looked at him finally, and frowned. “No. I know it’s a really tricky situation. Between the supernatural elements and the political side of things with The Guard, I can’t even begin to imagine how difficult it all has to be for you.”
“There’s just….there’s just too much on the line,” Saul said. “I know all of this stress is coming from working so closely with The Guard, but…well, it has to be done.”
“To get answers about your father?” she asked.
“Among other things.”
“And you’re still not ready to tell me everything there is to know about that?”
“Soon,” he said. “and, you know, I don’t even know everything there is to know about his death.”
“Yeah, I know,” she said.
Nikki remained quiet for a moment before a slow sly smile began to dawn on her face. She leaned over against him and brushed his long hair with her hands in a loving sort of gesture. “I feel useless,” she confessed. “I wish there was something more I could do to help.”
“You listening to me vent is more than enough help,” Saul said. “Trust me.”
“Yeah, but there has to be something else I can do to help.” Saying this, her hand trailed from his hair, down his neck, and to his chest. “Can’t you think of anything?”
“Maybe,” he said, grinning at her.
“Like what?” she asked, her hand sliding lower where it then found the button of his jeans. She unclasped it and slowly undid his zipper.
Nikki had moved quickly and unexpectedly so he wasn’t hard yet. She slipped her hands into his boxers and stroked him slow and softly. She was beginning to know all of his buttons—what he liked and what he didn’t like. She knew what drove him crazy and what would help him go all night. She slid her fingers lazily along his shaft as he grew hard. She knew he loved this, something he reinforced when he let out a sigh.
“Maybe I can come up with something on my own,” she said as she got out of her chair, her hand never leaving his cock.
By the time she was on her knees in front of him, he was nearly fully erect. She pulled his pants down lower, not allowing him to lift up to remove them completely just yet. She was being selfish in this; she knew that by restraining him playfully in this way, he’d go wild on her when things got going.
Nikki moved her hand up and kept it there, working her thumb around the edges of the tip of his manhood. Meanwhile, she placed her tongue along his shaft and licked up slowly, the tip of her tongue becoming a curl as it met the place where her hand was. She then tightened her grip and slid her hand back down, replacing her fingers with her mouth. When she took him in her mouth, she ran her tongue in a circular motion around the tip and then, just as
he arched his back and let out another sigh, she took his entire length into her mouth until she nearly choked, and started working slowly.
Nikki looked up at him as she went about the task. When they had established a rhythm, she used her hand and her mouth in tandem. Then slowly, she removed his pants totally without stopping. She cupped his balls in her hand and squeezed lightly, letting her tongue play there for a moment as well. She did all of this at a slow, agonizing rate.
“Oh my God, you’re asking for it,” Saul growled in a hitched breath. She could tell that she was driving him crazy.
She took her mouth away and smiled at him. “You’re right,” she teased. “I am asking for it.”
With that, she tightened her grip, took him back into her mouth, and started pumping up and down. As she did, Saul placed his hands on her head and pushed her back down—not gently, but not violently either. He guided her head, grabbing onto her hair and controlling the speed. She knew he liked this and she knew what was coming next. Just thinking about it made her wet. He pulled her hair just enough to cause a twinge of pain and her enjoyment of it showed in how she increased the intensity of her attention.
Saul pulled her head away and kissed her deeply. She felt his hands at her back, demanding and somehow gentle at the same time. She loved to feel the size of those big hands on her petite body. He worked with eagerness, removing her pants and then pulling her shirt off with such roughness that he nearly ripped it. She was not wearing a bra, so the moment her shirt was off, his mouth went for her breasts.
This surprised Nikki somewhat. She was expecting him to instantly push her against the wall of the deck and take her from behind. Instead, she found herself being lifted up and into his lap. With her small breasts in his face, Saul now biting gently at her nipples in a way that drove her crazy, he positioned her over his engorged cock and lowered her down onto it.
She gasped when he filled her and when he gave her his first full thrust, Nikki was done playing around. She cupped her right breast, his mouth still at the nipple, and pushed it harder into his face. “More,” she gasped. “Bite harder.”
He obliged and when he did, she shuddered. She planted her hands on his shoulders and started swaying on him. She lifted her hips and then lowered herself again and again, softly at first and then harder. He found her speed and matched it, thrusting up as she came down. She rocked hard in his lap, her cries growing loud enough to echo across the lake.
The whole thing was unexpected and a bit more urgent than their sex had been as of late. Saul could usually make himself last for hours but this time, with Nikki giving him full control of her body, she felt him building to his climax within five minutes. Sensing that it was near, she gave it to him harder, so hard that her knees began to ache as they held her up on the edges of the chair.
Nikki’s cries were nearly screams now. She felt him tensing up and when he came, she gave it one last surge of energy. He bucked beneath her, shivering. She did the same. While she hadn’t come, her body sure as hell felt like she had.
They sat there for a moment, him still inside her, and looked out into the lake. She kissed him briefly and then walked inside to clean up.
When she was done, she came out of the bathroom and saw him standing by the sink, waiting for her. He was looking devilishly at her….a look she had learned to love.
“What?” she asked. She was still naked and just seeing him still undressed made her feel a flush of heat.
“You didn’t come,” he stated.
“It’s no big deal,” she said.
“Oh yes it is,” he countered, coming at her with his catlike speed. He lifted her up again, and sat her on the sink.
Before Nikki could orient herself, Saul was on his knees in the floor, pushing her legs apart and returning the favor, putting his tongue to work with expert care. Nikki moaned, gripped his hair in her hands, and let him take her.
A wide smile touched her lips when she realized that this was just the beginning of what would likely be a very long night.
2
Jill could tell that Jason was getting restless. That was good, in a way; his calm demeanor meant that he still lacked any negative side-effects from his Turning. Jason was not having any violent outbursts and didn’t seem to be falling victim to bloodlust. Jill had seen a newly turned vampire fall to bloodlust with no access to blood before. It was incredibly similar to watching a drug addict holed up in rehab without access to their drug of choice.
But Jason was showing none of that. Still, it was beginning to creep her out to be alone with him. It wasn’t anything in particular about him, but sometimes she would catch him in these really intense fugues. He would be staring off into space and she could only wonder what he was thinking about.
On the night after Saul and Nikki had left for their little getaway (something Jill was actually a bit more pissed about than she had let either of them know), Jill had been sitting on the front porch and looking out into the woods. She was thinking about the life she had started building for herself after she had left Red Creek following the death of her father. She had started making friends and doing things that normal people would do. She had started dating, had gone to clubs and bars. For a while, she had felt mortal. And it hadn’t been so bad.
She’d ended up in Florida and had managed to start putting together a nice life for herself. Once she got used to the damning sun and the short nights, it hadn’t been so bad. Jill had almost been able to see herself living there for a long period of time—maybe forever.
But now she was back in Red Creek…back in hiding. There was nothing to do here but wait things out and reflect on a past that had, at most points, been lackluster. There had been a lot of nights just like this one: sitting outside, watching the night, doing absolutely nothing and not even daring to make any plans or dreams about the future.
Jill thought about one of the guys she’d been dating before Saul had beckoned her back to Red Creek. She hadn’t really cared for him, but he had been amazing in bed. Sex was something that she had gradually leaned into during her time away, fearing that the animalistic need that she had for it would eventually overtake her and bring out her true nature. And once that true nature was released, she wasn’t sure that she could trust herself to not attack a human.
Jill had been tentative with sex because the fierceness in her blood always tried hard to surface when her body was so vulnerable and close to human flesh. But after some work, she had gotten used to it.
Jill sighed. The poor schmuck from the other night had been okay. She’d managed to coax him into a total of three bouts in that one night, but by the time she was done with him, he’d been exhausted and bruised. The whole thing had left her somewhat unsatisfied. She didn’t know if she’d be able to submit herself to a life of occasional one-night stands to satisfy her libido. She wanted something like Saul and Nikki had.
Of course, there was Jason. Jill wasn’t really all that attracted to him, but she had seen him naked a few times as she had cared for him. He was moderately equipped below the belt and if she could keep control of the situation, he’d fulfill her needs. But she didn’t think there was any way that she’d be able to maintain a relationship with him.
Besides, it would be wrong to use him for sex. It wouldn’t be right to him—or Nikki. She wasn’t sure what was going on between them. Jill thought that Nikki was harboring some sort of guilt-fueled compassion for him. Whenever she felt that coming from Nikki, Jill remembered just how emotional mortal humans could be and that was one thing that she didn’t envy at all.
Depressed about the prospect of another wasted night, Jill stood up to head back inside. Maybe she’d read another book. Or maybe she’d knock out a bottle of wine all on her own. It was shaping up to be that kind of night.
Jill gave the night one final glance and turned for the front door. As her hand fell on the knob, a sound rose behind her. “Lovely night,” came a male’s soothing voice.
Jill turned around a
nd couldn’t make sense of what she was seeing at first. Was it a ghost? Maybe a figment of her imagination? The night seemed to be shifting in particular spot, outlined by what appeared to be fog.
But it was the fog that clued her in—a mist that, if touched, she knew would feel like a soft and almost pleasant electric pulse within the fibers of a spider’s web. With the outline of the figure before her, she knew it for what it was. And she was afraid that what it was could in fact be trouble.
“Moorcheh,” she said.
He nodded to her, the most physically intimidating yet intelligent member of The Guard. His eyes locked on her and she could literally feel him reaching into her soul, looking back through the chasms of her history as if she were nothing more than a book to be read.
“It has come to our attention,” Moorcheh said, “that by sending Saul on our errands, he is leaving you behind to tend to one of Leibald’s would-be victims.”
He didn’t ask it as a question. He was simply stating a fact; Jill couldn’t tell if he was remorseful or not.
“That’s right,” she agreed. “I don’t really mind. I figure it’s sort of like penance for having run off on him after Dad died.”
“How noble,” Moorcheh said. Jill couldn’t quite place why, but she was not at all comfortable with the tone of voice he was using. She didn’t feel threatened by him, but she sure as hell didn’t want him here in that moment.
“Jill…tell me. How is this unaccounted-for vampire that you have been tasked to babysit?”
She thought fast and the first thing that came to her was a lie. She just hoped that he wouldn’t be able to read it in her. She could still feel him prying inside of her and she didn’t like it one bit.
“He’s still not turning,” she lied. “He’s showing symptoms on some days but they are gone the next. I think he may be out of the woods.”
“You mean, he may restore back to a full human?”
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