I spoke up before Lily could respond. “Hey, do you think I could get my hands on that information?”
Lexi blanched. “Umm, I’m sure you could request it if you decided to work with the CDS, but I don’t know if they would share otherwise.”
I pursed my lips, realizing that part probably had been a lie after all. Well, I still learned something though – they didn’t go waving people’s personal business around. Or at least they hadn’t with Lexi.
I nodded and met Lily’s gaze again. “Anyway, I promise not to look if you want to grab Freya. Or did you need me to do something else?”
Lily seemed to have relaxed a little. “No, you’re fine. Freya’s just going to run our bags upstairs, but we wanted to make sure you didn’t go snooping while she does.”
I nodded in confirmation. “I’ll be good,” I promised with a smile.
She glanced at Lexi again, and then ran back outside to wave Freya in.
Once they had their stuff upstairs, Lily poured herself half a glass of eggnog too and sat down to chat a little.
In the meantime, Freya called Heidi just to check up on her and Rose. We had passcodes now, which were phrases we could say if we wanted to communicate that something was wrong without letting eavesdroppers know.
Apparently, Freya had already discussed codewords with Rose, but having to actually use them prompted her to make all of us agree on a few phrases.
One of them was kind of silly, and hypothetically realistic, but was something none of us ever said – ‘I really have to pee, so I’m going to let you go for now.’
If Heidi were to say that to Freya, or something very similar, she’d be going from zero to a million in half a second, knowing it meant they were in trouble. But instead, Freya hung up with a relaxed expression, sitting down next to me to listen in on the conversation.
Once Lexi decided to leave about thirty minutes later, I finally discovered what the surprise was, though it was more for them rather than me.
It was an early Valentine’s day gift.
Freya had decided to get Lily a special vibrator that could be used while we had sex. The smaller portion of it was designed so that it could be inside her at the same time that I was, while the larger portion would stimulate her on the outside.
I had certainly never used something like that before, but I was fine with trying it out. If it would give her better orgasms then I was all for it, and I wasn’t at all bothered that a machine might be able to do a better job than me, just like I wasn’t bothered that a forklift could do a better job at lifting crates than my physical arms could.
We had never tried anything like that before largely because Lily still had a difficult time keeping her body temperature under control, even if she almost never exploded into flames nowadays. And vibrators weren’t designed to be shoved into an oven.
But since Lily had continuously gotten incrementally better at keeping her temperature under control too, Freya decided it was time to try something like that out.
And holy hell, try it out we did.
The vibrator came with a remote, which Freya got to handle, and after starting Lily off slow she turned it up to its maximum setting, causing Lily to have an orgasm in like ten seconds flat – the fastest and strongest orgasm I’d ever seen her have.
Shit, she got there so hard that she screamed.
And Freya was practically grinning ear to ear, knowing that she was technically responsible for it.
Once Lily was done twitching, she groaned, sounding out of breath. “Damn, this thing needs to come with a warning label.”
“And what would that say?” I wondered curiously, smiling as well.
She sucked in a deep breath. “Umm, take the day off, hydrate, maybe do some stretching, and don’t expect to be able to walk ever again.”
I laughed. “That good, huh?”
“Uh-huh,” she agreed, her eyes looking glazed over.
“Can I try it out?” Freya wondered.
“Please,” Lily urged. “I can’t move anymore.”
“Aww,” Freya whined. “But I figured you’d control the remote.”
Lily looked at her in surprise, her orange irises churning sluggishly. “I…” She paused and then started again. “I guess I can do that.”
“Really?” Freya said in surprise, sounding like she wasn’t expecting her to say yes. Which I completely understood, since even after all this time Freya and I mostly kept our sex private.
Lily shifted her gaze to the ceiling for a moment, before inclining her head just slightly. “Yeah, I can do that,” she reaffirmed more confidently. “But I can’t move from this spot right now.”
My bed wasn’t as large as her super-sized one, but there was still plenty of room. I went ahead and sat up, only to retrieve the vibrator and give it to Freya, who immediately positioned it where she wanted and then carefully straddled my lap while holding it in place.
Once we were locked and loaded, she reached out and handed the tiny remote to Lily who ended up turning onto her side and propping her head up with her elbow.
For a moment, she seemed a little uncertain looking at Freya in my lap, probably for a multitude of reasons, but then she developed a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Time for some payback,” she teased, turning it on the lowest setting and slowly increasing the intensity.
Holy hell.
And I thought Lily’s orgasm was intense.
The moral of the story?
Vibrators are awesome. Sure, it wasn’t anything too special for me, but our sex life just got a hundred-thousand times more amazing.
And it was great before.
13: Unexpected Realizations
Heidi Stockton
February 16, 2735 – 2 Weeks Later – Afternoon
Heidi finished frying her fourth grilled cheese sandwich, the other three on a plate, each with a turkey slice on it and two slices of cheese, and then sat down at Lily’s new massive kitchen table. It was crazy how different Lily’s house looked now that it had been expanded. They hadn’t just added a second floor, while simultaneously making the first floor larger – they had remodeled the kitchen entirely as well.
Prior to the renovation, Lily’s house had only been the one floor, with each room being spacious since the floorplan was so simple, minus the smaller kitchen that doubled as a dining room. However, by expanding the right side of the house and adding a stairwell, they had more room for both the kitchen and the dining room, with the two rooms feeling more distinct now, since the fireproof vinyl flooring was a different style in each – the kitchen was designed with thick vinyl tiles, while the vinyl in the dining room appeared like hardwood floors.
The second floor felt especially huge, since the stairs opened up to a large loft with a massive sectional sofa covered in the familiar vinyl-style material that Heidi was used to seeing Lily dressed in.
There were then four spacious rooms upstairs, along with another bathroom, all of them pretty much going unused except for Rose’s new room. The reason being because Lily’s original room downstairs, which was behind the living room, had already been the largest room in the house, and was still the biggest even after the additions.
Outside, the construction company had also built a large four-car garage that was attached via a short tunnel leading to the side of the house where a new doorway had been put in. The property was also now surrounded by a six-foot tall vinyl woodgrain fence that looked like real stained wood from a distance.
The paved driveway was then gated off, with Lily having given all of them a tiny key-fob that would cause the gate to open automatically if they were within ten feet of it, and close once the small device was out of range.
However, the fence was technically only half finished, and it would stay that way until Lexi had a house built next-door.
After giving her older sister the official okay, Lily also decided she didn’t want a fence separating them, even if it wouldn’t really make a difference either way. Thus, Lexi w
ould be paying to have the luxurious vinyl fencing completed by wrapping around their future house too.
Which told Heidi that Lily must not know what almost happened between her and Sam, because otherwise she felt like Lily would be more hesitant.
Alternatively, Freya did know.
Heidi could see it in her eyes whenever the deceptively young woman met her gaze. Honestly, knowing what Freya was capable of, the idea that Heidi might have inadvertently pissed off an immortal vampire terrified her.
Which meant, when Freya unexpectedly walked around the corner into the kitchen, Heidi’s heartrate picked up.
Even though it was a Saturday, her sister was busy until later, working on something at home. On the other hand, Sam had gone out to have lunch with his friend Nick, which left Lily and Rose playing outside in the freshly fallen snow.
Heidi and Freya had both been outside too, at least until Heidi’s ravishing hunger prompted her to take a break and get a second lunch – something no one else around her ever did.
Even now, it was a little strange to be at home with three other people, while only one ate regular food.
The fact that neither Freya nor Rose ever sat down at the table to eat like a normal person only served to remind Heidi that she was treading on thin ice.
She hadn’t anticipated Freya coming inside to talk though, and the fact that she had done so silently was even more unnerving.
“Umm, hey,” Heidi said uncomfortably when Freya didn’t say anything right away. She was still starving, but she put down the grilled cheese she had been inhaling anyway.
“Have you thought about what we talked about a month ago?” Freya wondered.
Heidi blanched, ducking her head.
‘Shit.’
Not only did Freya have the Sam situation hanging over Heidi’s head, but there was that too.
“I need more time to think about it,” Heidi tried delaying, hoping desperately Freya didn’t give her an ultimatum.
Her answer prompted Freya to sigh and pull out a chair to sit down.
Heidi’s body visibly began to tremble. She didn’t want this to happen right now. She wasn’t ready to make this decision, and she certainly wasn’t ready to be forced into it.
Unexpectedly, just as Freya began to speak, Heidi’s eyes widened in shock as she felt her underwear become wet.
Shit! Had she just pissed herself?
She looked up at Freya in horror, completely mortified, only to see Freya’s nostrils flaring, her eyes wide in shock as well.
“Heidi,” she said in surprise. “Are you on your period?”
Renewed shock immediately transitioned into a fresh wave of embarrassment. “I…I don’t know,” she admitted, resisting the urge to check herself. The wet feeling made her afraid to even move from her chair, horrified that it might be showing through her jeans.
Could this day get any worse?
It had been fine before, but now it was terrible.
Freya seemed exceptionally pensive. “This would be the first time you’ve had a period in a while, wouldn’t it? Which means you probably don’t have any pads or tampons…”
Heidi nodded once sharply, feeling like the room was far too hot. Everything was beginning to spin. “Yeah, because–”
“I know,” Freya cut her off, sounding surprisingly gentle. She then sighed. “And your sister’s on birth control, so she wouldn’t either.” She paused. “I’ll go grab you a wad of toilet paper, take you to the store, and then drive you home to change.”
“I can’t go into the store like this,” Heidi hissed, resting her head in her palm from feeling dizzy.
Freya rolled her eyes. “You can wait in the car, silly. But Heidi…”
“What?” she asked, confused by Freya’s tense expression.
“You really need to start taking birth control.”
Heidi blanched, wondering if she was making a reference to the incident with Sam.
However, surprisingly, she had a different train of thought. “You can’t be having periods right now if you’re going to be helping take care of Rose. Her face is still changing whenever she smells blood. Sam and I are working on it, of course, but now isn’t a good time for you to be adding that to the mix. You’ll just stress her out.”
Heidi’s eyes were wide as she considered that.
Freya continued, lowering her voice. “Those scientist bastards starved her for too long. Even though I didn’t eat very much when I was young, I never had this problem.”
Realizing how this affected Rose made Heidi feel miserable. “Freya…I’m…I’m so sorry.”
She shook her head. “You couldn’t have known this was coming. It’s not your fault. And, really, it’s a normal part of life. But let’s just make sure we get you on birth control as soon as possible, okay?”
Heidi’s eyes began to sting from all the emotions suddenly bombarding her. Between being extremely embarrassed and feeling like a burden, she was also touched by the sympathy and kindness in Freya’s tone.
She couldn’t stand it anymore – the huge elephant in the room.
As Freya began to stand up to run to the bathroom, Heidi spoke up.
“Aren’t you mad at me?” she blurted out, unable to meet her gaze.
The room was completely silent. The sudden tension was palpable.
“It won’t happen again,” Heidi continued in a rush, staring at the table.
“It better not,” Freya retorted, her tone firm.
“And I’m sorry,” Heidi added.
It was silent again, prompting her to look up at those penetrating crimson eyes.
“I believe you,” she finally replied. “And so long as nothing like that happens again, then we won’t have a problem. Now, I’ll be right back, and then we’ll go.”
Heidi nodded, thankful Freya had given her a second chance. From what she had gathered, the vampiric beauty had always been a hard-ass who didn’t take anyone’s shit, and yet this same person had been nothing but kind to Heidi from day one – even when she almost messed up in the most unforgiveable way possible.
By the time Freya made it back to the kitchen, Heidi was sobbing over her half-eaten second lunch. However, it was clear that Freya knew how to turn her sad tears into happy ones.
Her tone was again gentle.
“By the way, Rose really loves the white teddy bear you got her for Valentine’s day,” she whispered. “She’s practically inseparable from it at night.”
Heidi smiled with a sniffle, more of her tears brimming over.
❖ ❖ ❖
Sam Archer
February 16, 2735 – Current Day – Afternoon
I stuffed my hands in my pockets to protect them from the chilly gust of wind as I walked up to the entrance of the steakhouse where I was meeting Nick for lunch. I didn’t see his car anywhere, but I wasn’t too surprised since I was a little early.
The snow had finally melted earlier in the week, only for a fresh layer to blow in last night. But at least Rose was enjoying the freezing powder. She had never been allowed to play outside prior to escaping from the facility where she had been raised, so even mundane things were extra exciting and new for her.
Knowing Nick would be here soon, I figured I’d go ahead and get us a couple of seats at the bar, only to stop when I grabbed the door handle, catching sight of his vehicle pulling into the parking lot.
He parked and got out, grinning when he saw me.
“Hey man,” he called out, pausing to let a departing car drive by.
“Hey,” I replied simply, feeling a little bittersweet about meeting up with him. After all, I hadn’t been back to work in a month, and while I had talked to Nick on the phone a handful of times, this was the first I’d seen him since Lexi almost died. He had actually been the one to ask about having lunch sometime soon, but I was wanting to talk too.
Nick was making sure they held my job for me, but I had finally decided that I wasn’t going back. The stunt that the S-FBI had pulled
really made me realize that Lily’s life was counting down to the day we’d lose her, and here I was working a job I didn’t care about – one I didn’t even need – just because it’s what I had done for years.
And the kidnapping hadn’t only affected me either.
Freya was now in the process of hiring a CEO to run her fashion company for the unforeseeable future. Previously, we had decided to try to maintain the status quo and seem like life was moving along as usual, but now we didn’t see any point in trying to pretend like the threats weren’t out there. Or that we were losing time with Lily every second we spent at work.
So I was done. This was it.
I still hadn’t decided on the whole superhero business, for the exact same reasons, but I had made a decision about this.
It was time to quit.
We both shuffled through the doors and told the hostess we wanted to sit at the bar. Even though it was a Saturday, they weren’t busy at all, likely due to the time and weather. Thus, she asked if we wanted a regular menu or the bar menu, and then grabbed a couple of the latter, only to gesture for us to pick whichever seats we wanted.
I ended up ordering a steak burger and mozzarella sticks, while Nick went for fries and a handful of burger sliders.
Once we had given our order, Nick was the first to speak.
“So, umm, I wanted to let you know that I’m stepping down from my position.”
I turned in my seat, looking at him in shock. “You are? Why?”
He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “Well, you know that mission Lexi and I were supposed to go on? It still happened of course, and the CDS liked my performance so much that they made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”
I gawked at him. “You’re going to become a superhero?” I asked in disbelief.
He nodded with a sigh. “Yeah, I’ve never been crazy about the idea, but when I told them my concerns about being all over the news, like Lexi often used to be, they told me they could prevent that from happening.”
Shit, was he saying they basically admitted to the government regulating the media?
The Sacrificial Love of an Immortal Page 19