“So you think all that excitement is going to be on the news tomorrow? I didn’t see a station logo. Did you?
“Uh-uh. Bizarre,” Raf answered.
“The whole episode was extremely peculiar,” Tom ventured. “I may ask security about them. You didn’t happen to get a photo of her?”
“Yes indeedy,” Raf said happily. “They shouldn’t have a problem identifying her. They screen everyone when the high and mighty comes to town.”
I only nodded. He was right. Even ex-presidents got the full treatment and this was his home state to boot. I thought of all those shows on TV where they had face recognition programs and such, to identify people from photos on passports and drivers’ licenses. They should be able to tell us what station to watch easily enough.
“Didn’t I see you chatting up the secret agent at our table?” I recalled seeing Raf in a fairly one-sided conversation with the guy after dinner.
“Well I tried. It’s like talking to one of the palace guards. He’s a Were,” Raf said in a tone of great disappointment.
The elevator opened on the second floor. Was it bedtime? “Honey, I’m sure it was just because he was on duty. He’s not supposed to lose focus.”
“He gave me his card,” Raf waved it hopefully in the air.
“See, there you go! I’ll keep my fingers crossed!” Tom’s arm circled my waist steering me toward the bedroom. Hmm. “Night, sweetie.”
CHAPTER 22
After my true confessions in the limo, I was going to suggest sleeping apart, but Tom had ripped the tie from his neck and thrown his tux jacket across the room before I managed to remove my shawl or put down my bag.
“Easy cowboy, you’re going to bust a blood vessel.” I pushed him onto the bed and tugged at his boots, first the right, then the left. He had his pants unfastened by the time I finished. I turned and went to stand in front of the mirror. In the reflection I saw buttons zing through the air behind me, socks fly past, followed by his pants. Hum, black silk boxers. Very nice! I unzipped the short zipper at the back of the gown, unhooked the halter at my neck without damaging a nail, letting the dress slide into a puddle at my feet. Carefully I stepped out of the gown and placed it back on the satin hanger, running my hand down the silky length.
“You looked lovely, Darlin’,” Tom said in a husky voice.
“Thanks.” I turned slowly toward him. His eyes darkened and a tent built in his boxers.
This could be interesting. I tucked my thumbs in the sides of my lace panties and lowered them very slowly to the floor. Stepping out of them, I stood wearing only the necklace, earrings, stockings, and heels. With a confidence I didn’t own, I sauntered toward the bed. When I reached the foot, I crawled seductively across it, making each motion deliberate. Continuing until I was between his thighs, I eased up the length of him for a long, deep kiss.
The tip of a fang pierced my lower lip. “Ah-ah,” I cautioned before kissing and licking a staggered line from his lips to his belly. I slid the boxers down enough to free him, and continued my exploration, taking him into my mouth at last.
I took my time. He hadn’t taken my blood. Tom groaned, clenched the sides of the bed and then my hair. Finally he flipped me so quickly and easily it took a moment for the movement to register. When he slid home, electricity zinged through my core!
I arched against him, clawing first the bedding, then his back. I offered my throat but he didn’t take it, riding me until I reached the crest and went over screaming my release into his mouth. He kissed across the necklace to my breasts, causing little aftershocks to ignite, leaving me shuddering. When he reached my inner thigh, I opened to him, offering. But again, he took his time. Payback.
He was very thorough, and soon I was again on the brink. He bit the hollow of my inner thigh and I screamed. Not a scream of pain, but of pure pleasure that built until I thought I might die from it.
“Please!” I begged, not sure what I begged for. In that moment of thought, he moved above me, plunged deep inside me and I rushed to meet him. Together we went over the edge. Wave after wave of pleasure rocked us until we were limp in each other’s arms.
“Great shoes!” I giggled much, much later, when the power of speech returned. I held up a leg to admire them. It weighed a ton.
“Definitely an excellent selection,” Tom agreed. “I can’t believe Raf tried to talk you out of them.”
“Worth every penny.” I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open but this was important. “Honey, not to change the subject, but Raf’s going through a pretty rough patch right now.” He pushed the damp hair back from my forehead to give me a kiss. “That’s not fair,” I groused. “I get all sweaty and you stay fresh as a daisy.” Now that the glow was receding, a shower seemed really good to me.
“I like it. You’re all sweet and salty at the same time,” Tom assured me with a grin that showed a lot of fang.
“Let’s keep on the subject here, that being Raf. I don’t get it. Why can’t he find a guy? I mean he is absolutely adorable in the dreamiest sort of way.” Tom gave me a look. “Yes, be afraid. Be very afraid, ’cause if he ever turns straight — you are so out of here!”
“Duly noted.”
“Seriously, when was the last time he had a date — with a guy?”
Tom gave that some thought, a lot of thought. “We came together in nineteen hundred and I can’t honestly say I ever remember him having a lover.” A frown wrinkled his brow. “No, not one.”
I sat up in the bed horrified! “How could you not notice? Tom, he was in that sarcophagus for a couple of millennia. Add another what, hundred, hundred and eight years to that? Christ on a cracker! There is something wrong here, bad, bad wrong.”
Tom paced up and down the bedroom, which in his current state of undress would have my undivided attention under other circumstances. As it was, all I could think was poor, poor Raf. “How could I not have noticed?” Tom repeated my question.
“I don’t think it will serve any purpose to hash over your failings now. What we need to concentrate on is how we fix this. Do you know why he hid in that tomb?”
Tom sat heavily on the foot of the bed. “Yes, yes I know. He spurned his maker.” He glanced at the clock.
I slipped into my robe.
“Where are you going?”
“To see Raf.” I looked him dead in the eye. “I’m going to let him feed.”
He was on me in heartbeat, but I stood my ground.
“Why?”
I shrugged. “That’s what friends do.”
He kissed me hard. “Hurry, it will be dawn soon.”
More confused than ever, I crossed the hall to Raf’s room and tapped on his door. “Raf, honey, you still up?”
“Sure, hard to sleep with that racket across the hall,” he grouched. I opened the door and went in. He was sitting in bed reading. That was so not going to help his condition.
I crawled into bed next to him, “Sweetie, we need to talk, but we don’t have much time, so I’ll cut to the chase. I thought you might be thirsty.”
“Ah, Honey! You sure?” Hope gleamed in those big brown eyes.
“Yeah, yeah. Got a vein preference?” Now I’m comfort food.
He took my hand and brought it to his lips, kissing it gently. Never taking his eyes off mine, giving me every chance to change my mind, he rolled my hand over to expose my wrist. He bit ever so gently, not at all like you see in the horror movies. It didn’t hurt, not really. I felt a tightening in my chest and gulped to hold back the water works that threatened to ruin the moment. He only took a sip; hardly any at all, and tenderly licked the wound until it closed. He put my arm around his shoulders and snuggled into the crook of my side and I turned slightly to spoon him.
“You taste like strawberries,” he whispered.
Ah, I guess you are what you eat. “I love you, too.” I whispered into his hair. My eyes closed on his sigh.
CHAPTER 23
I woke to the smell of steak. Surv
eying my surroundings, I realized I’d never left Raf’s room. Okay. My second revelation? Someone lay in bed next to me and it wasn’t my dog. Someone — turned out to be Tom. Hmm. Did we have a three way last night and someone forgot to tell me?
I needed a shower. The clock informed me I’d slept for ten hours — no wonder I felt better than I had in days. I stretched and found myself a little sore in certain places and my lips tugged upward then down with the memories of last night. I slipped out of bed. If I wanted the shower to myself, I needed to hurry. Tom would wake soon.
I wrapped the robe tighter around me and stepped across the hallway to grab a pair of denim shorts, a tank top, the appropriate undies, and headed into the bathroom, where I found roses. Three dozen yellow roses! No card, but somehow I knew they were from Raf. Aww!
The short shower relaxed my sore muscles. The intoxicating smell of the steak beckoned me. Dressing quickly, I dried my hair and sans makeup, hurried to the kitchen to find chef Raf working his wonders. I kissed his proffered cheek, “Good morning. Thanks for the roses. They’re beautiful! Can I bring some down here?”
“Whatever you want doll, but eat first. You know what happens to overcooked steak.”
The huge T-bone had a baked potato and a salad to go with. When I started to fix my plate, Raf waved me towards the table. We seldom sat at the little dining table, opting for the bar, but I did as directed. Raf placed my plate in front of me along with a glass of tea. He sat beside me with his chin propped on his hands.
“Aren’t you having anything?” I asked between bites, when I realized he didn’t have a glass or bottle in front of him.
He gave me a big smile and just shook his head. “I’ll just watch you. You do enjoy your food.”
Heat rushed up my neck. “Stop staring.”
“You’re not afraid of anything.”
“Sure I am. Tons of stuff. You want me to make you a list?”
“Uh-huh. Name two.”
“I’m afraid of losing control. I don’t want anyone making decisions for me.”
“That’s one.”
“Yeah well, the next one’s the kicker. I hate making decisions because I’m always afraid I’ll make the wrong one.”
“Oh honey, you are so screwed!”
“Tell me about it.” I rolled my eyes. “That’s why Dee whammied me. I think things to death trying to make the right choices. She thought she was helping but it’s just made things worse. I can’t trust myself — or her.”
“Everything okay with the guy upstairs?”
He didn’t mean God.
“Is it? I can’t seem to say no to him. I have no self-control. Is that Dee’s spell or a true emotion? I should be furious with him. So should you!”
“Why? What did he do?”
“He was with you for over a hundred years and never noticed you didn’t have a lover.”
“Oh.”
“You’re all alone in a tomb for two thousand years. Believe me, I got some burning questions for you about that! Tom finds you. He can’t figure it out? He doesn’t think about it? Y’all live together and he’s your best bud for a century and he doesn’t notice you never get any? There’s something so totally wrong with this scenario. Geeze Louise, I’ve known you for a month and I figured it out.”
“Men don’t … .” Raf started.
“Honey, don’t make excuses for the man. I get he rescued you. But I had to point it out to him … He seemed confused when I did.” I palmed my forehead. “Honey, just who were you hiding from in that tomb? How bad were they?”
Raf shuddered. “Very!”
“Tom said you were hiding from your maker, as in the one who turned you?” Raf nodded and looked around, like he was afraid they might appear if he spoke of them out loud. “Are they strong enough to hit you with a curse that would hold for over two thousand years?”
“Oh Shit!” Raf whispered.
I shoved the last of my steak in my mouth, thinking as I slowly chewed. I swallowed, and then took a gulp from my tea. “Sweetie, I think it’s time you told me about your childhood.”
“So do I,” Tom agreed from the foot of the stairs.
“A moment sooner and I would have bitten your head off,” I told him as I rose from my chair. “You have a temporary reprieve.”
“I’m not sure I deserve one,” Tom admitted sullenly.
I kissed his cheek we passed on the stairs, “Innocent until proven guilty.”
“Mmm, steak.”
“I’m going to brush my teeth, and then we’re going to have story time.” I nodded to Raf. The poor guy looked scared to death.
I brushed, flossed, and moved a vase of roses into my bedroom. I brought the third downstairs with me and set them in the middle of the dining table. Plopping down on the sofa and patting the cushions on either side of me, “Come to Mama, boys,” I coaxed.
Raf still had that deer-in-the-headlight look, but he reluctantly sat on my right and snuggled in. Tom took the seat to the left and put his arm around my shoulders. At least he was having his dinner. Breakfast? He sat the bottle of RR on a coaster on the coffee table.
“Okay?”
“Once upon a time, long, long ago, in a land far, far away,” Raf began before I elbowed him. “Well it was,” he insisted.
I rolled my eyes. “Tell it your way.” He would anyway, no matter what I said.
Raf resumed. “Life was much harder then, even so, people lived very long lives, if a wild animal didn’t eat them, they didn’t break anything, no wounds became infected, or they caught no disease. Starvation was always a problem among the poor. That never changes. We weren’t far removed from Adam and Eve, you see. God intended us to live forever, then the whole forbidden fruit incident, and all that changed. But I’m getting ahead of myself. In those days both angels and demons lived among us and sometimes mated with humans even though it was forbidden. You’re all so darn irresistible, they couldn’t seem to control themselves. The offspring of theses mating were extraordinary. They were often worshipped as ‘lesser gods’.”
“So you’re saying your maker was … ” I interrupted.
“Hush girlfriend! I am trying to give you some background. It’s hard to condense thousands of years.”
“Sorry, please continue.”
“As I was saying, these creatures were both good and evil. My point is — it wasn’t just humans inhabiting the world at that time. My maker was one of the others.
“There are many stories concerning her origins. She is mentioned in several religious texts as the first Eve. Her name was Lilitu or in the Hebrew, Lilith, she was a succubus.”
I am so going to Google Lilitu/Lilith!
“I was taken to a temple when I came of age. My parents believed I possessed healing powers. My mother claimed she had a vision of an angel while in labor who told her this. Of course I was different — which only made them more certain the vision was true.
“I missed my family, but the temple was nice. We had plenty to eat when others did not, clothes to wear, the beautiful temple to live in, and the respect of all in our town. There were others like me and we were happy together.” Raf sighed.
“People brought their sick to be healed. Surprisingly, I helped them. Not that I did anything special, really. I cleaned their wounds, cooled them when they were fevered, fed them. We were taught about herbs and how to use them. Perhaps, I was a better student and learned my lessons when those around me didn’t. For whatever reason, I had the gift and over the years my reputation as a healer grew. My presence became known to Lilitu. She came to seduce me one night.”
“Oh, I bet that went well!” I know, I should learn to keep my mouth shut, but really, Raf?
“Exactly. She was furious. Men fell at her feet. She said she would make me crawl and beg her to take me. Then she vanished.
“Bold in my own power, I didn’t worry about it. But more and more children began to get sick, many died before I could help them. It was terrible, but the worst was y
et to come.
“My mother brought my younger brother Senh to me, burning with fever. Try as I might, I couldn’t seem to cool him. None of my knowledge helped. The high priest said Senh was cursed, and Lilitu’s words came back to me. She had done this! So I summoned her intending to barter my body for my brother’s life. I tried to uphold my end of the bargain, but I couldn’t go through with it. She was unaccustomed to refusal. Her power was controlling a man’s will, even a man like me. She offered an option. She wouldn’t take my essence in her usual manner, but rather my life’s blood. Naively I agreed, if only she would cure my brother and the other children. Our pact made, she drained me.
“I awoke with the hunger, blind to all else. Lilitu laughed at me. My power had been to heal and now I would be forced to kill to survive. She laid Senh before me. The hunger controlled my mind, I couldn’t think! She laughed … ” Raf rocked back and forth in his agony. “I ripped at his throat and when he lay limp in my arms, she left us to our fate. With the blood lust gone, I realized his life spark remained. I offered my blood in hopes of his salvation. He drank from me — and was changed — both quick and dead — undead. He was only eight.”
“Oh honey,” I crooned as pink tinged tears rolled down his ashen face. “You couldn’t have known.”
“You don’t understand,” Raf choked between sobs. “What I did to him was far worse than what Lilitu did to me. Do you know why the current laws say no one under the age of sixteen can be turned regardless of the circumstance? Do you know what happens to a child when … ?” He couldn’t continue.
I propped Raf on Tom, who put an arm around the poor guy, and went to the kitchen. I wet a cloth with cold water and returned with it to wash the tears from his face. “You don’t have to spell it out, honey. Their minds and emotions grow and mature, but their bodies never do. They go crazy.” I looked into his red rimmed eyes and spoke from my heart, “Raf it isn’t your fault. You were trying to save your brother and did what you thought best in that moment.”
Midnight Sun, Inc. (Crimson Romance) Page 19