Tall, Dark and Paranormal: 10 Thrilling Tales of Sexy Alpha Bad Boys

by Opal Carew

“Yes, Grampa died.” Samantha was making a heroic effort to restrain her own grief.

  “Did it hurt?”

  “No, baby. It didn’t hurt at all. Grampa didn’t feel anything. I promise.”

  A tear stole out of the corner of Ollie’s eye. “I miss him.”

  “I do, too, Ollie. Oh, baby,” Samantha cooed as Ollie’s face crumpled and her little shoulders shook. Samantha hugged her small frame in against her chest and stroked at her daughter’s long hair. After a few minutes, Ollie quieted and Samantha alternated soothing words with soft kisses to her forehead. “It’s okay to talk about missing him. Okay? You can talk to me about Grampa any time. Okay?”

  Ollie nodded her head underneath Samantha’s chin. When her breathing finally evened out, she slid across the couch onto my lap. “Can we live with Lucien now?”

  I was amazed by both her actions and her words. That she’d think to be with me in this moment of need absolutely melted me.

  Samantha managed, “No, Ollie. This is our house. We live here.”

  Ollie was about to protest when I had an idea. I reached into my pants pocket and pulled out my key chain, then worked a silver key off the ring. “How about this? I’m going to give you two a key to my house. And your mommy gave me a key to your house. So now we can come see each other at our houses any time we want. Okay?”

  Ollie hugged the key against her chest. “Okay.” Samantha looked at me and smiled weakly.

  Waves of gratitude rolled off both of them and warmed me with a sense of belonging. It had been a long time since I’d felt as needed as I did in that moment.

  Over the next several days, Samantha mostly operated on autopilot. I helped her make arrangements for Joe’s funeral, which was on Wednesday. Joe hadn’t belonged to a church, so Samantha chose a nearby funeral parlor. Dozens of her friends and colleagues showed up for the memorial service, along with a few of Joe’s colleagues from his Wayne State days.

  Samantha’s eyes were unfocused throughout most of the service, Suddenly, she started writing on the back of the service program, then held it up for me: I’m not sure I can make it through this without you. Will you please help me?

  I leaned my forehead against hers. Samantha had gotten me through my grief, there was no question I’d do the same for her. “Yes, Sam. Anything you need, I will be here for you.”

  She nodded, then rested her body against mine as she turned her attention back to the front. After the service, we followed the hearse to the cemetery, where there was another brief service. One of Samantha’s nurse friends took Ollie back home, where she and some of the other nurses organized food for those who wanted to pay their respects. Within three hours, the house was quiet again. Just the three of us remained.

  That night after Samantha put Ollie to sleep, she came in and sat on her bed with me. She looked drained. “I need your advice about something.”

  “What is it?” I grabbed her hand and brought it to my lips.

  “School starts in a week…” Her eyes got glassy.

  “You’re wondering if you should return to school?” I rubbed soothing circles over her knuckles with my thumb.

  She nodded. Her self-doubt and disappointment tasted bitter.

  “I think you should.” She looked up, ready to challenge, but I pressed on. “I think Joe would want you to. Remember how he encouraged you to go back after your mom died? He wouldn’t want you to give this up, especially when you’re so close to being done. And Ollie starts kindergarten in two weeks. If she sees you go back to school, I think it will make it easier for her to do it too. And maybe most important of all, you deserve to finish this. It might even help you to have something else to think about. With Ollie at school, you don’t want to just sit around here all day thinking. Trust me. Idle time is not your friend in these situations.”

  How well I knew.

  She took my advice and returned to complete her last semester of nursing school, and Ollie began kindergarten. They were putting on brave fronts, but their sadness and fear were palpable. Samantha’s grief hardly abated as the summer turned into fall. For weeks, she fell asleep crying in my arms. I was desperate to help them, but wasn’t sure what more I could do.

  The interesting thing was I no longer craved Samantha’s happiness for my own sake. I loved her so deeply, I cherished the experience of all of her emotions. I simply wanted to help her heal.

  Halloween passed, then my birthday—which Samantha insisted on observing, and then Thanksgiving. We had small celebrations to try to keep things normal for Ollie, but Samantha’s heart wasn’t really into any of it. She needed a change. That’s when it came to me. I called Griffin. After he checked with everyone, he enthusiastically agreed.

  One early December night after Samantha put Ollie to bed, I suggested the idea: “How about for Christmas we go to New York to visit my family?”

  Her eyes lit up in a way they hadn’t for months. “Really? But I don’t want to impose.”

  “Nonsense, Sam. I’ve already talked to them, and they’d be thrilled to have us. They’d really like to meet you.”

  She thought for a minute. “Okay. A change of scenery might do us good.”

  For the three weeks before Christmas, she and Ollie were both brimming with excitement about our trip to New York. I, on the other hand, was a nervous wreck. I didn’t know how many phone calls and e-mails I exchanged with Griffin and the others. There were so many contingencies to anticipate and make plans for. I doubted whether an entire coven of vampires could fool a pair of humans in close quarters for five days. But they all scoffed at me. They reassured me they were up to the challenge.

  The week before Christmas, Samantha and I sprawled on the couch together watching a movie after Ollie had gone to bed. Samantha had just finished all of her exams and was the most relaxed I’d seen her in weeks. “Sam?”

  “Hmm?” She was absentmindedly combing her fingers through my hair as I leaned my back against her chest. I loved her hands in my hair. She seemed to love to play with it.

  “I need to tell you something.” Well, two somethings, actually.

  “Okay.”

  “It’s not a big deal, but I wanted you to know one of the people you’ll meet in New York, my sister- in-law’s sister, Catherine… well, I just wanted you to know I dated her for a while after Lena died.” Again, the vague outline of the truth.

  “Okay.” She shifted so she could see my face more. “Is there a reason I need to know this?”

  “No, not really. We’re on friendly terms, and I know she’s looking forward to meeting you. It’s just…there are things about my past you still don’t know that you should know.” Of course, dating Catherine was not the most important thing about me she didn’t know. I berated myself inside for that as we spoke.

  She sighed. “Lucien, I’m about to meet your family. And we’ve just spent pretty much every day of the last six months together. You’ve seen me at my absolute worst and never wavered one instant in your love or commitment to me. Whatever I don’t know about you at this point isn’t that important.” She reached her hand into a bowl of popcorn on the coffee table.

  I sighed. I would need to talk to my family about this while we were there. I have to tell her. Soon. I could barely stand myself for not having done so already. I’d never been able to find the courage I’d nearly summoned that night in Milwaukee to attempt the Conversation. I couldn’t imagine doing it in the midst of Samantha’s grief. That had been a convenient excuse. And I knew it. I shifted so my ear was against Samantha’s chest and concentrated on the rhythmic sound of her heart to distract me from my thoughts.

  Soon, it was Christmas Eve. Samantha and Ollie were bubbling with excitement about our trip. We packed up the Silverado with luggage and presents and got underway. Samantha loaded more songs on the iPod, including a number of Christmas carols at Ollie’s request.

  It was the most alive I had seen and felt them in months.

  Including a stop for lunch and several stops fo
r the bathroom, we made it to Ithaca in about eight hours. I smiled to myself—it was the longest it’d ever taken me to make that trip.

  If I’d had a heart that could beat, it would’ve been thundering as we pulled up the gravel drive to Orchard Hill. I smiled when Ollie gasped.

  They’d gone all out. About a dozen trees in the front yard glittered with colored lights and every window in the front of the house had a white candle. A huge wreath with greenery, pine cones, berries, and a large red bow adorned the door. This was my family’s first Christmas ever with a child in the house. They were thrilled.

  I pulled the truck into the circular drive and parked behind Jed’s Infiniti Crossover—he’d loved when Nissan first introduced the Infiniti luxury line in 1989. He thought it appropriate for our kind and had owned some Infiniti vehicle ever since.

  I looked at Samantha and then back at Ollie. “Well, girls, we’re here. Welcome to Orchard Hill.”

  Chapter Twelve

  All of a sudden Samantha got nervous. Her anxiety combined with mine was a bit overwhelming in the confined space of the truck cab. I hopped out and opened the door for Ollie, who promptly jumped down into the snow.

  When the front door opened, I spoke so only the vampires could hear. “Do not overwhelm them.” It was a fair reminder, for any one of us could do it individually, let alone a whole coven.

  Griffin and Henrietta walked down the shoveled path toward us, while Ollie, Samantha, and I moved forward to meet them. I shook Griffin’s hand and hugged Henrietta and made introductions. Ollie seemed puzzled as she studied them. She looked between them and me several times, but Henrietta distracted her and lured her inside with a dazzling description of their Christmas tree.

  After stomping the snow off our shoes in the foyer and taking off our coats, we walked through the living room into the great room where everyone was gathered. In front of the windows on the far side stood a mammoth tree easily fourteen feet tall. There must’ve been a thousand ornaments and ten times as many lights. I was going to owe them big for this visit.

  As we stepped down into the room, everyone rose from their seats. Ollie had already met them and was now walking around the tree with Henrietta, who delighted in pointing out different ornaments to her. Some of them were quite old and unusual. Ollie was absolutely enthralled.

  With my hand on the small of her back, I made more introductions. “Sam, this is my brother Jed and his wife, Rebecca.” Rebecca seemed unusually restrained; she felt nervous to meet Samantha. They all shook hands.

  “And this is Rebecca’s sister, Catherine.”

  Catherine kissed Samantha on the cheek and welcomed her with a warm smile. “It’s so nice to meet you, Sam. We’ve heard so much about you.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, too.”

  Samantha was doing so well, though her body was reacting to the presence of so many of our kind. Her heart rate was faster than normal and goose bumps sprang up on her arms when Catherine kissed her. She didn’t seem aware of these instinctual reactions.

  “And finally, this is my youngest brother, William, and his wife, Anna.” Casting William as my brother was something of a stretch as we looked nothing alike. At least Jed, Griffin, and I had dark hair. But Samantha radiated nothing but acceptance as she shook their hands.

  “This is a beautiful room,” Samantha offered as she admired the central fireplace aglow with a crackling fire.

  “Griffin designed and built it,” I told her.

  “Oh, Griffin, it’s wonderful. So construction runs in the family, then?”

  Griffin and I looked at each other and smiled. “Yes,” he said.

  “So, I know William is the youngest, but what’s the order among you?”

  “I’m the oldest,” Griffin began as everyone found seats on the leather couches, “followed by Jed, Lucien, and William.”

  “Yes, but I’m the best looking,” William countered. Samantha chuckled. William beamed at her reaction. It was stunning to me she accepted all of them so readily.

  Henrietta’s voice called from near the tree. “Samantha, Lucien, would you like something to drink?”

  “No, thanks,” I replied. Jed rolled his eyes. I glared at him in warning.

  “A glass of water would be fine, please.”

  “Are you sure you wouldn’t like something else, Sam? We have wine, juice, and soda.”

  “No, for now just water, please.”

  Henrietta nodded and led Ollie into the kitchen. “I’ll be right back,” I whispered to Samantha. I walked into the foyer where I found our stuff piled. Griffin must’ve brought it in earlier. I reached into my bag and pulled out the small flask I’d brought from home, then headed into the kitchen, which smelled of human food. The double ovens were both on and filled with pans and bowls.

  Ollie knelt in front of the fridge and arranged letter magnets in rows. I raised my eyebrows at Henrietta who simply smiled. She’d thought of everything.

  Henrietta set a cup of juice on the counter behind Ollie and filled a glass of water out of the refrigerator door for Samantha. I poured a few drops from the flask into Ollie’s juice and again into Sam’s water. Henrietta looked at me questioningly.

  “Insurance.”

  She still looked confused. I hesitated for a moment and then splashed a droplet of the holy water on the back of my hand where it hissed. Henrietta’s eyes widened as she understood. Her expression and emotions clouded with hurt.

  I walked over and squeezed her hand. “Since day one, Hen, because I wasn’t sure I could trust myself. Not just because we’re here.” She relaxed a little and nodded. I replaced the cap on the flask and stored it in the cabinet with the glasses.

  Ollie looked up at me. “Can I stay here and play?”

  “Sure. We’ll be in here if you need us.” I walked back to the great room and handed Samantha her water, then sat down beside her again.

  Everyone had been asking Samantha questions about me, our relationship, and her school. They all offered a round of congratulations when she reported she’d successfully completed her degree and landed a job at the children’s hospital that started in a month. Henrietta was particularly curious to learn about her education and work as a nurse. Griffin offered his seat to Henrietta, and the pair of them became quickly immersed in medical speak.

  I joined the guys who moved near the tree and pretended to admire the ornaments so we could talk without Samantha hearing.

  “She’s wonderful, Lucien.” Griffin smiled at me. “I can’t believe she seems so comfortable among all of us.”

  Jed looked at Griffin. “Have you ever seen anything like that?”

  “It happens, although it’s not common.”

  William agreed. “The girl’s the same way. Did you all notice how easily she meets your eyes?”

  “Yes. I didn’t even hear her heart rate accelerate when she came near us. Did any of you?” Griffin and William both shook their heads no at Jed’s question.

  Samantha came up behind me and wrapped her arms around my waist. “So, men don’t typically stand around admiring Christmas trees. What are you boys plotting over here?”

  I leaned my head back and kissed her forehead. Curiosity and astonishment radiated off the men. “No plots. We were just gossiping like old women.”

  “Oh. I want in.” Her pout was beautiful. I smiled and turned in her arms to hug her back.

  “Samantha, are you getting hungry? Everything’s almost ready. I just have to get it all out of the oven,” Henrietta said as she walked into the kitchen.

  “Yes, but can I please help?” Samantha asked as she followed Henrietta.

  Jed and William made faces at each other, and then Jed grabbed my shoulders from behind. “So, she really has you wrapped around her little finger there, huh, brother?”

  I rolled my eyes. “No more than Rebecca has you whipped.”

  He gripped me harder. I shoved him away. They snickered and I smirked. Henrietta interrupted their teasing by calling us to e
at.

  The dining room table was already set. It looked like a spread right out of an interior design magazine. As Henrietta pulled the food out of the oven, Samantha moved it to the table. “Everything smells and looks wonderful,” she told Henrietta, who smiled appreciatively.

  As Henrietta, Samantha, and Rebecca made the final arrangements for dinner, the rest of us conspired in low voices in the living room. They teased me about what I’d owe them for all the human food they were going to ingest over the next several days. I felt their pain—there was simply no way for us to avoid at least one and probably two big Christmas meals with Samantha and Ollie here. I’d burned through more blood and thrown up more in the last six months than in the last six decades together.

  They decided to make a bet of it. Jed came up with the terms. “Okay,” he said, “whoever can go the whole holiday without throwing up, Lucien has to buy them the electronics of their choice.” I rolled my eyes. “Lucien, of course, is not eligible to win.”

  “Aw, I so need a media room in my cabin, Lucien.” William rubbed his hands together.

  “So here are the rules,” Jed continued. Everyone looked at him in anticipation. I was grateful for their willingness to make a game of this, even if it was going to cost me. “First, you have to eat normal portions, roughly equating whatever Samantha eats. Second, if Samantha offers you food at any point during her time here, you have to accept. Third, Samantha can never be allowed to eat by herself. And fourth, outside of our ‘wine’ at dinner, no hunting while she’s here.”

  Everyone groaned at the last rule. I’d agreed we could try sneaking “red wine” at dinner, but if she seemed at all suspicious we wouldn’t do it again.

  We all took our seats in the dining room. Griffin and Henrietta sat at the heads of the table. Rebecca, William, Catherine, and Jed sat on one side and Samantha, Ollie, me, and Anna sat on the other.

  “Samantha, it would be our great honor if you would be willing to say grace.” Griffin looked at her warmly.

  “Oh. Okay. Sure. Well, we had a tradition in my family when I was growing up. It went like this: ‘God, we thank you for this food, for rest and home and all things good, for wind and rain and sun above, but most of all for those we love. And for those who are no longer near, please, oh God, do hear our prayer.’ Then we would go around and say the names of people we loved who aren’t with us anymore. I’ll start. My mom and dad.” Samantha looked at Ollie.