by C. L. Quinn
“I guess I did too. Couldn’t stop thinking about you and couldn’t figure out why. I’d convinced myself it was just because you rescued me.”
“You were wrong.”
“I was wrong.”
Leaning against the railing, Dani bent over and slid her underwear off, kicking them to the dark corner. She looked at a high table against the wall.
“Saul, I’m wearing a skirt. If you lift me onto that table, you could get inside me and no one would be the wiser. Want to get naughty?”
He had her there in seconds, his hands under her skirt. Saul’s loose shirt hung over the back of his pants as Dani unzipped them and pulled his cock out, her fingers moving up and down, caressing the smooth skin, the thickness, as it hardened and filled.
Saul supported her body when she leaned back and held the thick wet tip against her, massaging herself with the head, and even aware that it was possible their friends might be able to hear her, she couldn’t stop moaning at how arousing just the touch of his penis to her slit felt.
“I want you inside me, but I can’t stop playing. Give me a moment.”
His euphoric smile let her know he didn’t mind at all as she used his cock to bring herself to orgasm by massaging him hard against her. The second she came, he thrust in, pounding, already there himself, and shot into her only seconds after entering.
Saul held Dani so close, so tight, as he spilled into his mate, and knew nothing would ever feel as good as this moment when they both accepted each other as mate for life. He couldn’t wrap his mind around it yet, but he knew his heart already had.
“We belong,” he whispered in Dani’s ear, and as her arms tightened, he heard her quiet response.
“We belong.”
Nine
The following night, after first meal, Quattro stood in front of this group of vampire hunters he’d felt certain were his destiny. Of course, not like this, not on trial, so to speak, to defend his honor and trustworthiness. Not to prove to them that he was with them and not against them.
Even Quattro had no clue how that had happened, but it had.
“You know, I’ve been a bad motherfucker, I know that. Not a history your kind of people would be proud of. I can’t defend it. I also can’t defend where the change happened from the murderous fucker I used to be to the confused eunuch I feel like I am now. But I can tell you why.”
His eyes landed on Dani, seated on the sofa next to Saul, her legs up, a hand on her knee. He pointed at her.
“That woman. Earth magic girl. For whatever reason in the world, I’m magnetically drawn to her. Something freaky is going down. I seriously believed that we would all meet on a battlefield and I would end up killing you or you would kill me.”
“I believe so, too, so why aren’t we killing you?”
Quattro’s eyes burned into Saul’s.
“Because that isn’t what is destined. You can see I’m not your enemy now, can’t you? Dani, I know you can read me and you know now. You know as much about me as anyone ever has.”
Saul slid a hand over Dani’s as she sighed. “He’s telling the truth everyone. You know I would know if he wasn’t.” She grinned. “I think he wants to join the gang.”
“Oh, fuck no!” Jack belched out as he finished a deep swig of beer.
“I’m not looking to join the gang. I get that I’m a risk, but for now, we all have to work together because we have a common enemy who, I promise you, has chosen to kill all of us, and Felix is a methodical monster. He won’t stop until he’s done it. How, I don’t know, but that he will, I do.”
“As our maybe, maybe not, ally, what do you suggest?”
Jack was drunk, but he was still working with his full wits. “Like, we’re stuck away from our homes, a danger to anyone we get near, trying to protect those we love, and have no clue what to do from here.”
“I can find him, we’ve discovered that. The problem is, I think he’s figured out how to track me, which means kind of a stalemate. All I know is that Felix is a backstabber. He prefers to win at any cost, and the easiest way to victory is to strike when your enemy’s not looking. So, until we kill him, none of us will have any peace again. But I know one thing.”
Quattro scanned every face slowly. They were all here except Kwano, who rested in one of the rooms, healing from his sudden death. As that first night when he stood outside Jack’s hunters headquarters, he stopped at Dani.
“Dani, I focused on you that night I came to Oregon to find your team. I watched you stand on a hill above the hunter office and knew you would be my greatest threat. I was right, but not for the right reason. I thought I would fight you, that I would use you, but instead, your magic touched mine and I changed. I knew we were meant to be together.”
Upset, Saul started to rise, but Dani’s hand on his tightened, and he sat back down.
Laughing, Quattro continued. “Not that way, buddy. Obviously. But we have some kind of odd universal connection. Then there’s you, Saul, who came to them with the same idea I had, pissed that they were killing vampires, and yet like me, you got absorbed.”
His attention now on Sanquinetta and Eva, his face softened. “Beautiful ladies. Skilled, talented, brilliant, but fragile humans. You fight those with strength and abilities that can kill you with a thought, and yet there you are, attacking them. And winning. You ladies truly impress me. Jack, human once, now vampire, the very thing you hated and killed for an entire lifetime. You, of all of us, should understand how I feel. For a new vampire, I sense that you are uncommonly powerful. Kwano and Saul were to be my ultimate adversaries. I’d never fought first bloods, and I couldn’t wait to battle someone worthy of the challenge.”
Pacing back and forth in front of his audience, Quattro finally stopped. “I am with you, all the way, member of the gang or not. We must work together to protect each other until Felix is disabled and disposed of. Please accept my pledge to you. I am your sword to wield, your shield when needed. Let me earn your trust.”
Silent now, he stood facing people he had come to admire, and grudgingly admit that he had come to care for them too. It mattered to Quattro that these people stay safe. It pissed him off that it did, but he’d learned two centuries ago that what was true should never be denied.
Jack cleared his throat. “Maybe we should take a vote. What do you think? Can Sparky join the gang?”
“I vote no,” Saul barked.
“Shut up.” Dani punched Saul’s thigh. “He means yes. So do I.”
Evaleigh held up a hand. “Me too. Quattro, I’ve watched you during the past few days while you’ve been with us, helping us. Mostly, I’ve watched your eyes. I believe you. It’s a yes.”
Sanquinetta pushed out of her wide plush chair and did a slow searching walk around Quattro. She looked him over, long full hair to muscled arms to thick thighs. She stopped and stared into his face for several long moments. Turning, she looked at her friends.
“Yes,” was all she said, and took her seat again.
All eyes turned to Jack, killing the rest of multiple bottles of beer. He’d watched San circle Quattro with amusement.
“Jack?” Eva asked.
As he reached for another bottle of beer, he tilted it back, paused before he put it to his mouth, and looked at his crew. “What the fuck. Sure. Welcome to the clubhouse.”
Quattro nodded, hesitated, because he wasn’t sure what to do, then headed to the bar.
With dawn approaching, Sanquinetta went into Kwano’s room.
Sitting beside him on the bed, she was pleased to see that the hole in his forehead was nearly closed, thank the Gods.
“Your color is better. Nice dark chocolate again.”
Vampire anatomy fascinated her. Like all male vampires, he was ripped to hell and gone. The sheet lay low over his chest, and she studied the defined contours of muscle. No wonder sex was such a large part of the vampire world; they were built for it. Just looking at such an exceptional sample of masculine perfection made a
woman cream.
She’d often wondered what it might be like to have sex with a vampire, and with so many around all the time, the opportunities frequent, she was surprised that she hadn’t.
What stopped her? It wasn’t that she had been in love with Jack, she was completely past that now. He was vampire and mated, and she was happy for him. For them.
“So pensive. What’s on that beautiful mind?”
Her eyes went to Kwano’s face, to the pleasing smile he wore. “Hey, lady.”
“You’re awake. How do you feel?”
“Like shit, but that’ll get better. Do I remember getting shot in the head?”
“Smack dab. Right in the center of that thick skull.”
“Ouch.”
With some struggle, he managed to sit up, Sanquinetta’s hand guiding him. “I’m starving. Can you…”
“Right away. And if you need more blood, Eva, Dani, and I have been donating.”
“Ah. Thanks all around. Yes, please, food, and perhaps a feeding afterward. I’ll heal quicker.”
Standing, Sanquinetta started toward the door.
“I know,” she commented, and thought, I really do know vampire behavior, inside out. Look at me.
At first meal the following night, Kwano was well enough to join them. He kept looking over at Quattro, seated near Eva, then suddenly asked, “Is he part of the team now?”
Jack lowered his fork. “While you were still asleep, there was a discussion. We decided to accept his help until we resolve this danger with his good friend Felix.”
“Not my friend,” Quattro growled through a bite of sirloin.
Jack rolled his eyes dramatically. “Dani assures us he’s not planning to betray us.”
Kwano continued to watch Quattro while they ate. His attention made Quattro uncomfortable, often glancing up to see Kwano’s eyes on him.
Picking up his plate, Quattro blasted from the room onto the balcony.
Shrugging, a slight smile spreading on his face, Kwano glanced around at his friends. “He’s sensitive. Wondered about that.”
On the balcony, his plate abandoned, Quattro wondered how the hell he had ended up like this. He’d commanded fear and respect for centuries and now he tolerated shit from people he’d have killed before. Where did he plan on these choices taking him?
“May I join you?”
Dani, beside him. Quiet, elegant, kind.
Her voice always calmed him at once, although he didn’t know why. “Sure. I can’t stop you, I have no voice here.”
“That isn’t true. You’re just new to us and we all have to find our groove. They believe me when I tell them that you’re trustworthy. They will come around.”
“Huh. I’m not sure I can wait.”
“Quattro, you were a self-sworn enemy to those people in that room. You’re first blood, so it’s hardly an empty threat. We’ve just finished our first conflict and you helped protect us, so give us a break. Give yourself a break.”
“Will do. Thank you for coming to talk with me. I’m not accustomed to this kind of isolation.”
“You could come back in with us.”
“No. I need some distance right now. But not from you. Dani, you can stay.”
“So you can try to convince her to fuck you?”
Dani and Quattro faced Saul, who had followed her.
Moving toward him, Dani placed a hand on Saul’s chest. “It’s okay. Saul, you need to trust me.”
“I trust you. Him, I don’t.”
Quattro surged toward Saul. “I might not be at war with you guys anymore, but you, asshole, I’d happily take you on.”
Saul pressed against Dani’s hand set on his chest.
“You got it. Where and when?”
“Why not tonight? There has to be somewhere on the ground where we can spar. Fuck, I really want to kick your ass.”
“Stop,” Dani warned, and pushed against the advancing Quattro, one hand still planted on Saul as the other shoved against Quattro. The moment her hand touched Quattro, a sharp stream of electricity ran from her fingers through her body and past her other hand into Saul.
The three froze, Quattro and Saul stunned, clueless to what was happening, as the remnants of the charge in their bodies continued tingling from their eyes to their toes. Neither could move, but neither wanted to move. The feeling was a little like compulsion, but they knew it wasn’t what froze them in place.
Seconds of silence passed before Saul could speak.
“What…Dani, what is this?”
As the tingling subsided, Quattro stepped back just enough to clear Dani’s hand, and Saul moved closer to clasp the one that had rested against him.
“Dani, are you okay?”
She finally shook her head and stared first at Saul, then Quattro, before she backed away from both. They were shocked when she smiled.
“What?” Quattro demanded.
“This is unexpected.”
“Dani, what the hell happened? Why are you smiling like that?”
“Saul, you just met your father, the first blood who created you, right?”
“Yeah, he’s an asshole. So what?”
Shaking her head, she turned to Quattro. “And you never knew either of your parents, is that true?”
“Never. I found out what I was by stumbling into it.”
“Well, life’s strange. When I touched you at the same time, it set up some kind of tether between you two, and I read into your histories. Into your vampire natures.”
Dani took a deep breath and said, “Saul, meet your brother. Quattro, you aren’t alone anymore.”
“What?” both men barked simultaneously.
Dani took Quattro’s hand, then Saul’s, and led them to the seating area on the balcony, pulling them into two seats across from each other. “You are brothers. That asshole you just met, Saul, is Quattro’s father too.”
“That isn’t possible.”
“It’s true, my love. Whether you want to know this or not, the truth is that you two are family.”
“I don’t believe it. You’re mistaken.”
Dani moved to Quattro and knelt at his side. “I’m not and you know it. You will both need time, but this is real. However this wild relationship began, you need to know that you two are bonded by blood. Now, I’m going to go back to the others, but I suggest you two sit here quietly for a while and just stare at each other. You are family.”
When Dani stood, she kissed Saul, tugged at his hair and walked away.
Several minutes later, and multiple glances shot from one vampire to the other, Saul finally spoke.
“He’s an asshole, like I said. Didn’t want to know he had a son.”
Quattro didn’t respond, just moved to the balcony and stared over the edge, forty six stories from the ground. It was an awe-inspiring sight. Finally, he felt compelled to speak. “Figures.”
That was it. They remained silent until Jack called out to them.
“Uh, guys, you might want to come out here. We have a visitor.”
Quattro’s eyes on Saul’s, they stopped when both said, again simultaneously, “Visitor?”, as if it meant something, then hurried to the doorway.
Inside, the two men joined everyone else, now gathered around a buxom young woman wearing the popular casual garments of the day, a fabric soft as satin that conformed to a wide number of sizes and body types. On her, it clung to voluptuous curves.
Her face was slim and held wide pale green eyes.
“Hi, is this everyone? I’m supposed to make sure you are all here.”
Impatient, Sanquinetta snapped, “We’re all here. Speak.”
“Okay. Felix says to tell you that you have two options. You can wait around for him to pick you off one by one, in which it may take years and you will never know when he’s coming. Also, he said to remind you that your friends and families won’t be safe either. Or you can meet him Thursday night at the visitor’s point of Kolekole Pass on Oahu. He says that there
you will resolve this and either he or all of you will be dead. I am free to go now.”
Shuddering, the woman blinked, coming out of her compulsion. It appeared that Felix had built in a release from his control as soon as she finished her assigned task.
“Where…where am I?” Startled, panic started to set in.
“Come on, I’ll see you to the lobby,” Saul told her. No chance he would allow anyone else to leave this room without a first blood. Kwano was still recovering and Quattro was still, mostly, an unknown.
Once he left, the remaining people in the room wandered back to the sofa area.
Eva dropped down, her legs over the arm.
“Whew.”
Jack grabbed three bottles of beer. “Yeah.”
Still hungry, yet worried, Kwano decided food would help with both feelings. “Guess we’re traveling to Hawaii tomorrow.”
“That seems the only choice.” Sanquinetta plopped beside Dani, leaning against her as Dani put an arm around her friend.
“Quattro, any insights?”
He nodded. “Prepare to rumble.”
Closing the door as he arrived back in the apartment, engaging first blood magics to lock them down for the day, Saul looked over the people he’d come to love and the brother he was still processing. No one spoke, everyone lost in thought.
“Looks like we’re all going to get lei’d, eh?”
Jack pitched a pillow at him. “And not in a good way.”
“Sun’s up in about thirty minutes. Let’s get some rest before we decide anything else. We’re going, I think we all agree on that. Right?”
Everyone gave Jack a nod or a look that let him know they agreed.
“Right. Rest, then strategize. First, though, I’m going to get drunk and call Ife.”
Saul tugged Dani away from Sanquinetta. “Sorry, San. We have some things to talk about.”
“Sure. Talk. While I’m sure the conversation is scintillating, do me a favor and quit pounding the headboard of the bed with so many words. Get out of here, I’ll clean up.”