Everything he heard brought his mind back to hers. He lifted his head. “You think that?” He almost couldn’t believe what she said. He always liked her. He admired her strength. He admired her stability. This was never in doubt, but there had always been more to it than that. She was beautiful. She was kind. She was everything he had always wanted in a woman. She was everything. He just had trouble in understanding himself some times to understand that.
“I do.” She now looked him straight in the eyes. From there, being this close to him, she could now almost look straight into his very soul. “Do you?”
He smiled. He nodded.
Like two magnets that were once opposed to each other, they turned and no longer were. She flew into his arms. The kiss they made ravaged through both of them almost feeling like lightning striking a tree. It had real power to it. If it could have, it would light up the night.
They kept like that, locked and strongly entrenched for nearly three minutes. When they finished, they released the embrace but kept one another in their arms.
He spoke—finally—first. “It’s about time!” In fact, he nearly screamed it.
She laughed.
“We should go inside.”
She smiled. “Absolutely.”
He gave her a wink. He suddenly felt young. He suddenly felt maybe a little odd, and didn’t know why he felt like that either. He didn’t really care and just accepted both feelings without question.
“He keeps a spare key under that pot.” She nodded ever so slightly towards the top step and to her right and his left.
He nodded, keeping his smile, keeping her in his arms. “Who’s going to move first?”
And they both laughed.
“I guess I will huh?” And so, he went to the pot. He lifted it, took the key sitting under it, and put it back. He then unlocked the door.
She went in first, holding his left hand, pulling him inside.
He closed the door behind him. The light of the house never came on. Why would it now?
11
Jimmy walked for a few hours. He didn’t head straight home at first. After a while, he began to understand why he didn’t. So much was running through his head that it gave him pause. He thought about everything the woman told him. He thought about her knowing who Kalima was, and that struck him harder than everything else did. It turned out that others knew him better than he did himself. That idea alone made him feel somewhat jilted. It made him feel a little begotten.
Why won’t you tell me anything? Why don’t you feel? Why can’t I read you like I do with Collins? Even after asking the questions, he felt nothing. In fact, he almost began to feel that Kalima might be ignoring him. And just that thought alone brought out even more questions. Why would you ignore me? What are you trying to hide? All he knew was that he couldn’t go home like this. He had to clear his head first. It took a few hours to get to this point, and quite frankly, none of it helped, not one damn bit.
Once he was now heading home, he began to feel somewhat tired. He even felt a little bit winded. Something he didn’t quite understand in itself. Usually, after the change, he always felt reinvigorated. He felt stronger. He felt like himself again, even after a fight, but this time, he felt worse. He felt the longing. He felt the unyielding restlessness of everything. In a way, he felt more human for the first time since all of this happened. It began to grip his soul, and twist it for its own spite, and he didn’t like it. He began to hate it. He began to regret it too. And now, reaching his steps, his head even hurt.
Just go in and get some rest. It’s been a long night. A lot has happened and you need the time to take it all in.
He nodded to himself and climbed the steps.
Tomorrow is another day.
He opened the door.
I’ll head out and try to find her after I get some sleep.
He walked into the living room and closed the door behind him.
Maybe, she has already found you. He sniffed the air. There was death there, a familiar staleness that coursed through it like a fly hovering over garbage. He recognized the smell too, and it gripped him like a vise. It gripped his muscles and perked him up. The animal in him prepared for a fight. There’s a vampire here. Vampires always smelled like death. The smelled almost like decay. Smelling it now, filling his home with its pungent aroma, he followed it to the stairs. Placing his right hand on the railing, he noticed something else too. There was also a heavy mustiness there as well, seemingly imbedded in with the decay.
There’s also a werewolf with them. The scent flowed, almost twisted, almost blended, as it climbed the stairs and ebbed. It’s too strong. They must still be here.
Slowly, he followed the smell up the stairs. He followed it to the top of the stairs, and there, he heard what sounded like deep moaning coming from the bedroom just on the left. They’re not being very quiet. He pondered some, but not a lot. These animals, he knew, he would never truly understand any of them. Why they would let him know they were there didn’t seem to bother him. The fact they were there, was enough for him to know about.
Quietly, he made it to the door. Just as quietly, he reached for the knob.
Do this quickly. Do this with purpose. If you have to change, do it at that last minute. Think before you react.
He opened the door to the spare bedroom with a flash, ready for anything. But what he saw, well that surprised him more than anything he ever thought of before.
Two people were on the bed. It looked too dark to see who they were at first, but what he could tell was that one was on top of the other one. They were moaning, even a little growling mixed in with it, and it was obvious what they were doing. They’re having sex. Why would they be doing that while waiting to kill me? He reached for the light switch on the wall just to the right of the doorframe and flipped it up.
The lights came on, and what he saw next, he wished he hadn’t.
“Sasha?” Instantly, embarrassment flew through him. Instantly the shame with seeing her like this, gripped his heart. She was completely naked. Thankfully, her red hair hung low over her shoulders and covered her breasts. All he saw was some of her shoulders. All he saw was her bare back.
She saw him standing there, and instantly felt the same way he did. Well, maybe, a little bit more than what he obviously felt. “Jimmy?” She tried to cover herself up with something, but unfortunately, they started all of this on top of the covers and stayed like that, as they did it, so she had nothing to grab. Instead, she just had herself, so she covered herself up with both her hands and arms.
Being amazed was an understatement if there ever was one. “Sasha? What the hell are you doing here?” Jimmy felt like slamming the door. His emotions seemed mixed up and it showed. He didn’t know what to do, or how to feel. He was happy to see her again, that was not in doubt, but the embarrassment seeing her like this seemed even worse, so neither of those feelings wanted to give up the fight to get out first. He wasn’t even sure which one he wanted to win it anyway. He was far too confused to have any real direct thoughts.
“I…We…” Sasha flew off the bed, to the other side of it, found some of their clothes on the floor, grabbed something, anything, and rushed it over her breasts. Being a werewolf, one was never embarrassed like this. They were used to being naked. Hell, Jimmy has seen her so many times in the past, but right at that moment, she felt more of it than ever before in her life, and she had no idea how to feel it. She had no idea how to show it right.
Jimmy tried to look away, but as soon as she left the other person on the bed, he saw who that other person was, and instantly, his eyes froze on him like a hungry man sees food piled high on a table in front of him. “Brandon?” He couldn’t believe it. He wasn’t even sure if he knew what he saw after he said it. “Brandon, what the hell are you doing? What the fuck are you doing with her?” He never had children. He truly didn’t know what a father ever felt, but right at that moment, he did. He understood the feelings. He understood everyt
hing, all at once, and right then, he felt like he had just walked in on his baby girl with her first boyfriend. He felt anger. He felt revulsion. He felt like every evil in the world had just hurt his daughter without a shred of good left in the world to enjoy it. Everything he felt was too much. Everything he saw hurt. Everything that happened was too much to take in long enough to understand anything. So in other words, he was too angry to think.
Brandon felt his anger. Hell, he even believed he saw his eyes turn yellow. He felt his trauma. He, himself, felt ashamed and defensive beyond words. “Dude, I can explain.” He covered himself with his hands at first, but that didn’t seem to give him what he needed, so he flew off the bed and joined Sasha on her side of the bed instead. Unlike her, he sat down on his knees, right by her feet.
With her embarrassment subsiding, reality crept back into her mind before the others. “Wait. You…we don’t have to explain anything. We’re grown adults here. We’re perfectly able to discuss this like we are actually that.” She bent down, saw her shirt, picked it up, and put it back on. She then went for her pants and did the same thing.
Jimmy watched her, looked back to Brandon, listened to what she said, and took a deep breath. She was right, of course. He knew that, she knew that, hell they all knew it. “I’m sorry, you’re right. I’m just a little shocked, that’s all. I’m a little lost right now too.” He felt himself calm. Not a lot, but he did enough to be able to think straight again. He looked at her, and then to Brandon, and then decided just to leave. He didn’t really think, as he closed the door and headed back to the stairs. He walked down to the living room, moved through the archway to it, found the sofa, and took a heavy seat in the middle of it. He then found himself staring off at the bay window at the front of the house with nothing but blankness all around him. He just stayed there, until both of them joined him there in the room.
Sasha was the first to the living room, and she sat next to Jimmy on the sofa. “I’m sorry that you had to see that. I know it must have shocked the hell out of you. We shouldn’t have done that now. Not when you weren’t home. Not like that.” She spoke softly. She understood his reactions. He did think of her as his daughter after all, and she knew that. She let herself think about what she would have done if she’d come home and found him like that. She would have been surprised too. She might have even been shocked.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been surprised. You’re a grown woman capable of making your own decisions.” He puffed some. “But why Brandon? You could do so much better than that.” He looked at her, and just behind her, he saw Brandon standing just under the vaulted archway to the hallway.
Brandon listened, and suddenly felt, well small—extremely too small—for words to fit him right. “Thanks man.” He understood some of what Jimmy was feeling. He understood the shock of all of it, but he didn’t understand the comments that he just made about him. He and Jimmy have been friends since high school, hell since they were kids. He thought of him as his best friend. He thought of him as family, as brothers, and that’s what now bothered him the most. That’s what he didn’t understand, and right then, right after hearing what he said, he didn’t think he ever would. In all honesty, he hurt his feelings more than he ever did.
Jimmy understood. He heard what he just said, and it struck him into his chest with a heavy thud. He didn’t mean it that way. He truly didn’t. “I’m sorry Brandon. I didn’t mean it like that.” He stood up from the sofa and moved to where he was standing directly in front of Sasha. “I think of Sasha as my daughter. She is in fact my daughter.” He took a deep breath, and let it all out with a huge exhale that seemed to reverberate around the staleness in the room. “I’ve known you my whole life, and in all that time, I’ve watched you with every woman you had. I’ve seen how you treat them. I’ve seen how they become every time after you break their hearts.”
Brandon understood some of that. “I’m sorry Jimmy.” He blinked fast and hard. He had so much to say, and now was the time to do it. “What did you expect? I mean look at us. We’re fucking animals man. We’re fucking monsters…all three of us, but it’s obvious to meet right now that we are different. With you, the animals are in you, you can bring them out whenever you want them, but with me, I’m the monster all the time. I just look at women and think two things. I want to fuck them and eat them. I don’t know about you, but that’s taking the food fetish way too far.”
Jimmy bowed his head.
Sasha felt true pride emanating through her soul.
“I’m a vampire dude.” Brandon alternated between crossing his arms over his chest and letting them fall to his sides as he talked. He had no clue where to keep them, and didn’t care about it. “I am what I am now. And then, after spending the past month with her, taking the time to get to know her, feel her, be with her, made me feel like I was normal again. She makes me feel like myself. That I’m not the monster, but just me again. I’m just Brandon with her and nothing else.”
Jimmy listened, trying to understand what he heard. It still felt hard to do, but he did try to do it. He nodded to his friend. Inside, he thought about one thing, and he had to say it. “I’ve never heard of this side of you. I’ve never seen you like this before.”
Brandon finally took a deep breath. “It’s what I feel Jimmy. I can’t help it.” He tried to smile.
Jimmy did.
Sasha obviously felt the feelings flow throughout the room, but in all honesty, she didn’t share it. She saw, and felt nothing wrong here. In fact, she felt nothing but loved. Loved by her feelings for Brandon, and loved by the feelings oozing out of Jimmy. For the first time in her life, she could honestly say that she felt complete. “I’m happy to see you again.” She reached up and took Jimmy’s left hand into her own.
He felt her warmth. He looked down to her touch. “I am too.” He looked back towards Brandon. “Both of you.” He kept the smile. It felt easier than ever to make it.
Brandon truly did smile and bowed his head.
Jimmy looked back down to Sasha. He felt that now was the best time to change the subject. Things have grown far too intense not to do it. Everyone made their point. “I’m actually surprised that it took you so long to come and find me. I’ve been here the entire time since I left Upstate.” He looked back to Brandon.
Brandon kept his head down, thinking, pondering. He suddenly had the feeling that he was going to have to make things up to his friend. He didn’t know why he felt like that, but he just knew that he did. He also figured that he would figure everything else out in due time. They were immortal creatures, all three of them, so time—well they had that in abundance.
“That’s why we’re here.” Sasha let go of Jimmy’s hand and stood up in front of him. “We had to come and find you.”
Jimmy could see her face grow serious all too fast. “What is it?” After tonight, he didn’t think he wanted to know anything more. He wasn’t too sure if he could handle anything else.
“It’s Rachel Jimmy. We think the walkers are going to try to get to her.” She pouted some. She even winced some for good measure.
Every word she spoke perked his attention to the point of an explosion. “What do you mean?” He now swallowed hollow and dry. “Is she in danger?” His heart ached from the thought. It burned from within it.
“We were attacked by several tonight. They said that they wanted to see if you were still protecting her. So yes…I think she is.”
Brandon finally looked up.
“Are you sure? That’s what they said?” He looked to Brandon, watched him nod, and then looked back to Sasha.
“Yes. What else could that mean, seeing if you were still protecting her or not?”
Jimmy’s eyes now burned with fire. He thought of nothing else. He couldn’t. He didn’t want to try to. He now had only one thought, and only one way to go. He had to leave. He had to find her. He had to protect her.
“Jimmy? We’re coming with you.” Sasha watched him leave her and head t
owards Brandon so fast that it nearly surprised her some.
Jimmy stopped directly beside him, turned, looked back to the living room, and towards the bay window at the front of the house. He could see the pale orange hint of sunlight already beginning to shine through it. “It’s getting to be morning.” He looked to Brandon right next to him. “Can you move about during the day?”
Brandon nodded. “Somewhat. I might burn, but I can.” Was this what he needed to do to make it up to Jimmy? He wasn’t sure, but at that moment, he would do anything he could to do it.
“No.” Sasha didn’t like the idea. “I don’t want him to take the chance. We should head out at nightfall. We’ll leave then.”
Jimmy shook his head violently, no. “You two do what you have to do. As for me, I’m leaving now.” He turned from Sasha to Brandon, and then to the front door behind him.
Sasha knew that Jimmy wasn’t going to argue with her, and now, after spending time with Brandon like the way they did, she completely understood him now more than ever. He would do anything to make his love safe, and he meant to do anything he could to do it. “Okay. You go, we’ll head out when we can and follow you later.”
Jimmy hesitated as he opened the door long enough to give them a nod. Finished, he headed out, and closed the door behind. He had a long trip ahead of him. It would be hardest to get out of the city, but once in the trees, he could then use the wolf. He had speed. He could get there in time. He would get there before the next sunset. He knew he could do it.
Sasha watched him leave. She turned to Brandon when the door closed. “You should rest some.” She smiled.
He nodded, and then shook his head. “If you want to go now, go with Jimmy, you can. I’ll follow you later.” He looked her dead in the eyes.
She shook her head. “We go together from now on.”
He smiled with that, and melted some for good measure.
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A Werewolf's Saga Books 4, 5, & 6 (A Werewolf's Saga Boxed Sets Book 2) Page 6