by T. J. Quinn
Selene hopped up, headed for the door and replied matter of flatly over her shoulder, “Anyone could tell from watching her with you that she adores you. She was always touching you, babying you, and worrying over you. I have never seen you react to anyone the way you do with her. Jared says he has never known her show affection openly like she does with you. We noticed you two kissing on the beach. You seemed pretty into each other to me. Trust me, she adores you just like the rest of us.”
Alek thought sagely that Dakota’s feelings for him were infinitely different from her feelings for everyone else’s. That much was apparent, even to him. It was so like Selene to not recognize romantic love. She was too young and innocent to know of such things.
Still, he couldn’t believe the message she sent to him about regretting the two month break from seeing each other and that she would have preferred his company to Durk’s last night. He would love to have spent the evening with the beautiful human, cuddling and kissing away all her angst about the hunt.
He smiled to himself because now he could definitely last the rest of the week because he had something he didn’t have before. He had hope.
Chapter 18
Second Start
~ Dakota ~
Dakota woke with a start, bolting up in bed as her hands scrambled for a weapon. Almost immediately her breathing slowed as she realized she was safe and sound in her own home. She had several reoccurring bad dreams. One was of Alek shriveled and near death and another was of her son being abducted and killed just before she could get to him. Dakota was hunter, a modern day private detective and many would say she was the best in the republic. Her services were always in demand but she had known the devastating loss of not finding a person in time.
She slid out of bed and walked over to the large open window empting onto her upstairs balcony. As she walked out into the cool night air the white sheer curtains drug over her taunt weary body. She stood with both hands on the railing overlooking her posh estate and realized that all the money in the world could not keep her son safe. Life was random and unpredictable but there were things she could and did do to stack the cards in his favor.
Jared was only seventeen years old but already she had let him apprentice with her professionally. The skill set he was in the process of acquiring would help him maintain his own safety and the safety of those he loved like his little love mate Slelen Sharden. Selene was small and precious and Dakota found herself growing quite attached to the child.
Her son, Jared had also consented to have a tracking chip inserted under his skin to facilitate locating him if was ever lost or abducted. Dakota herself had one implanted as did most security conscious hunters. Modern technology was an advantage for hunters and most were very tech savvy.
Dakota sat down on a lounge chair and inhaled the crisp air deeply as she thought about how hunting had gone from a low status, poorly paid, thankless task to one of the most glamorous, high profile, well paid, respectable professions on planet earth in the course of her lifetime. Her cases were often profiled in news shows and fan web sites dedicated to tracking her success rates. She was extremely well known and kids had posters of her in her hunting leathers hanging in their rooms and school lockers. It felt strange to receive recognition primarily for hunting missing persons and solving crimes the police couldn’t manage.
The more she thought about it the more she realized people loved to root for an underdog and locating a missing person alive was always a long shot. She marveled at how adept she had become at snatching victory from the jaws of defeat in that regard. She was a damn good hunter and out of the dozens of cases she had taken over the years there had only been three she did not find alive and two of those involved people who were dead before she had even been brought into the case. She had an exceptionally good success rate and this is what people were willing to pay big bucks for. In the world of hunting the better you were the more you got paid. It was as simple as that.
However for Dakota, it was much more than money that drove her. She was a typical alpha female and it was all about pushing herself harder and faster and proving she was smarter than everyone else. She absolutely thrived on the fast pace and puzzling together clues in real time. She wasn’t particularly motivated by fame or wealth but for some reason she just had to know to know deep down inside that she was the best. She had absolutely no idea why that was so important to her but she was very aware it was the force that drove her to what some had described as single minded determination. Maybe it had something to do be with being abducted herself as an adolescent. It had been a harrowing experience for her but one that turned out to be the most important events of her life because she was rescued by Jared’s father.
One of her last hunts had been for a prominent local area business man, Alek Shardon. His hunt had been the longest and most stressful of her entire life and spending time with him afterwards had been very confusing. When the target had been acquired he was medically unstable and she spent two weeks living with him, fresh feeding him and in essence nursing him back to health. Somewhere along the way they had developed feelings for each other.
Hunting was difficult because in order to successfully resolve a case she often had to become intimately aquatinted with the target. Getting to know Alek had been a genuine pleasure because everything she learned told her he was spectacularly nice person. Then meeting him in person when he was injured and vulnerable and nursing him back to health had left her feeling conflicted.
Her attraction to him had been both intense and immediate, leading to some sexy love play that still haunted her dreams and filled her with hot desire. She had spent a lot of time thinking of him. She missed pretty much every single thing about him and most especially his company and his sense of humor. Somehow when they were together they just clicked.
She worried that it was the result of the hunting and all the sexy fresh feeding so she had asked for a two month cooling off period to give them both time to sort out if their feelings were real. The two months were now up and Dakota was in knots about seeing him again.
She realized her desire for him had not decreased but rather it had increased to the point of being almost unbearable. She worried that once the glamour of being rescued by a famous hunter wore off he would quickly forget her. She noticed that he never approached her and she thought that either he had long since forgotten about her or he was waiting the two months as she asked.
She had thought of calling him a time or two but realized he never dated human women and her showing ongoing interest would probably just make him feel conflicted and uncomfortable if come to find out he wasn’t interested in her. She was well aware of just how uncomfortable socially awkward situations made him so she decided to leave well enough alone.
Chapter 19
Spa Day
~ Dakota ~
Going to the spa once a week for a massage, facial and manicure kept her feeling human. Meric’s spa was extremely upscale and served many prominent socialites and business men. The spa performed a variety of discrete services particularly for the male clientele.
Dakota always utilized the services of the same large male vampire, Nares. Her life was typically extremely stressful and no matter the stress level she was under his full body massage dialed it down to something manageable. His hands were like magic on her small soft body and she liked that he always respected her privacy and never put his hands where he shouldn’t. She always left feeling like a million bucks.
Her spa day was always on Saturday. She was at the front counter chatting with the receptionist, Jazel when she noticed Alek Shardon slide in the door. He greeted her warmly and she smiled as he gave her a kiss on the cheek. Nares came for her and she said her goodbyes. She noticed a strange expression slip onto Alek’s face as he watched Nares walk up and take her hand.
Within a few moments she had slid into her alcove, gotten out of her clothing, wrapped herself in a towel and laid down the massage table on her stomach. Nares beg
an to rub oil onto his hands and she relaxed in anticipation of having his hands on her. She had known Nares and his human partner Edward for years. She had been the one to introduce them to each other. She had entertained them at her home, counted them among her best friends and dearly loved them both. Nares worked his way over her body then flipped her over and began working on the front of her body.
~ Alek ~
Alek had a deep crease in his brow as he followed his woman back. He normally got the full package once a week and was usually satisfied enough never to feel the need to seek out sex from other women. If not, he would simply dial the number of visits up or down depending on his need. Since Dakota had left his home his need had been great and he was coming several times per week. That is how he ended up at the spa on a Saturday morning in addition to his normal day which was Friday.
Alek had long since realized he was socially awkward, pressed for time and his entanglements with women always ended badly. Using a professional masseuse seemed like a legal, quick, and easy way to manage the problem. It’s not like he was paying a prostitute. His masseuse just gave him a massage with a happy ending and that was just enough for him to get by. He had to admit that since he had spent time with the beautiful hunter his visits to the spa had been somewhat less fulfilling.
He was shocked to find that Dakota apparently utilized such services. He didn’t know why he would be surprised. She had a reputation for spending a lot of time in vampire bars but always going home by herself. After asking around about her Alek had realized the information he discovered generated more questions than it answered. He discovered that her last committed relationship was with Durk. They lived together for several months and ended up parting company about two years ago.
Although she had dated literally dozens and dozens of vampires since that time no one was aware of her being intimate with another. Nor could anyone remember her seeing the same male more than a couple of times. It left him with the impression she was searching for something. It was typical behavior for a vampire to engage in when looking for a mate. Although she was obviously human, he wondered if she was indeed looking for a love mate.
Perhaps being serviced at the spa was her way of managing sexual feelings as well. It kind of made him sad to think of her that way. It was strange that he felt massaging away sexual frustration was good enough for him but not for her. In his opinion someone so charming and beautiful should have a partner dedicated to her needs and available at all times, especially as Dakota seemed to be so responsive to a male’s touch. He had to admit that he hated the thought of a service person touching her that way.
Alek’s session was over in thirty minutes. For the first time in his entire life he could not manage a happy ending and waved his masseuse away. He was preoccupied with seeing Dakota again. He sat by the large pool in the center of the huge reception area while a woman performed his manicure. He chose some slow soak option that took an hour. He noticed Dakota’s service person, Nares came out of her room. As he stepped out of the room Alek noticed Dakota asleep on her table.
He was immediately angry and he didn’t know why. He wondered why she would be sleeping unless his servicing was so intensive it was exhausting for her. Nares went in and out of a couple of other alcoves, but was diligent about checking on Dakota. Alek asked for a slow pedicure and had his feet soaking when the object of his affection came out wrapped in a thirsty robe and looking very refreshed.
She slid out of her robe took a brief swim wearing nothing but swimming bottoms. Most of the females these days just wore bottoms. She alone was noticeable because she had such beautiful breasts. He really didn’t like others looking at her breasts. He was annoyed as he noticed that everyone was. He sighed as he realized all over again how very beautiful she was. She was slim, well proportioned, perhaps just a little top heavy because of the aforementioned beautiful breasts. She had long dark hair and light blue eyes. Honestly everyone both male and female stole glances at her.
Dakota seemed pleasantly surprised when she came back out of the pool and noticed Alek sitting alone. She walked over to him, plopped down on the recliner next to him and asked, “Why are you frowning, my friend? Don’t you like your foot soak?”
He looked up at her feeling rather awkward. “Sorry I didn’t realize I was frowning.”
“Well just so you know, you are adorable even when you frown.”
Dakota was a nice person and her habit was to say complementary things of others. He tried not to take it personally although his heart warmed each time she complemented him. He smiled slightly and looked embarrassed. She seemed amused that he was a little shy though they were more than familiar with each other.
She gushed, “My God, there is absolutely nothing better than spa day. I wish I could spend every single day here. Nares is absolutely fabulous. Why are you here on Saturday? I thought that Friday was your day.”
He looked embarrassed again and she seemed to realize she was prying so she sat back. “Sorry, I will get back in my own lane.”
Nares smiled as he sat down at her feet. “I was just bragging about you. You give the best massages ever. I really do need a husband like you.” She turned to Alek. “I keep telling him over and over that I would make a better wife that Edward, but he just won’t listen.”
Nares smiled at her antics. “Dakota you are always so enthusiastic about your spa day with me. Yet, when you’re sketching with Edward you have so much fun you tell him he should kick me to the curb and run off with you.”
She looked adoringly at him and said, “You are absolutely right, I never realized I did that.”
Nares smiled slightly and reminded her, “I thought my sweet little Edward was helping you find Mr. Right. He told me the two of you did something called the ‘pinky swear’ that you were not going to settle for anything less than a gold bring from Mr. Right.”
Dakota looked fake-wounded and brought her hand to her chest. “Ring not bring, my friend. Exactly how much of my personal business does your sweet little Edward tell you?” His smile told her them was pretty much everything.
Alek distracted her from that train of thought by murmuring, “Well if you are in the market for a husband don’t forget I have several endearing qualities.”
“What kind of fun could we have together?”
Alek reminded her, “Well, there have been a couple of things we did together that you seemed to enjoy.”
A soft pink blush slowly spread from her face down her entire body. “Oh my God yes, your talents are enough to get you onto the short list of potential husbands.”
Alek smiled shyly and glanced down at his hands.
Nares interjected, “You two are cute. You should do our couple’s massage.”
Dakota responded promptly. “We are not a couple, yet.”
Nares clarified, “If you are doing more than one thing with him that makes you blush all the way down to your pretty little toes, trust me, you qualify for the couple’s massage.”
Alek interjected, “I would like that very much.” He was beginning to think that maybe Dakota just had regular massages after all.
Dakota said, “Oh, I think I would like that more.”
Alek smiled at her reminding him of their prior conversation about which of them liked their innocent lovemaking games more.
Nares looked from one to the other of them, clearly catching on that they seemed to be enjoying a private joke. “I can’ every remember you being quite so interested in a male like Alek.”
“What in the verse is that supposed to mean?” Nares smothered a smiled and instead of answering, he tilted his head slightly. “I have an 11:00 am available next Saturday.” They both nodded.
~ Dakota ~
Dakota left feeling absolutely refreshed and excited about having the couples massage next week with Alek.
She was happy that since the hunt, her son Jared had been spending more time at her place. He had even brought Selene with him on occasion. The young lady was swe
et and she was growing to adore her more with each passing visit.
Jared loved to practice his marksmanship. Dakota loved it as well. Their favorite sport was one in which the shooter had a set of laser pistols and a device that spit out different numbers of disks which the shooter had to shoot before they hit the ground.
Jared stood in the middle of her rather huge yard while Dakota and Selene watched. He shouted ‘pull’ and the machine spit out 12 disks and Jared immediately pulled the two laser pistols from his leather holsters and hit every single one before they hit the ground. It was his best shooting so far. Dakota stepped out and Jared went to watch with Selene.
Dakota reset the machine and voice activated it. “Pull.” Her draw was almost twice as quick as Jared and the device shot out 31 disks. Dakota immediately began shooting in different directions and managed to hit every single disk but one. She frowned and walked up to Jared.
“Most people would be happy to be stuck at 30, mother. That would still win you a medal in most competitions.”
Dakota responded with frustration. “I have been stuck at 30 for 2 years.”
A masculine voice came from the side. “Maybe it is the stance of your body.”
Dakota smiled because it was Alek. He was well within his rights to visit her now that the two weeks were up. She was ecstatic that he seemed to be making an effort to bump into her fairly regularly.
He strolled into the yard. “A million years ago when I actually did such things the older fighters used to tell us to kneel. Can I try?”
Jared fit him with leathers and pistols and he set the device for 31. He said pull and immediately dropped to one knee as he drew his weapons and shot every single disk prior to them hitting the ground. Though he was not keen on admitting it, this was the one game he practiced every single day to stay in peak form. He didn’t particularly like to shoot but it was his secret little insurance police in case the human world fell into chaos like his home world had all those years ago.