by Prince, DD
Kyla smiled sleepily and yawned, “Good night.” She wondered if he held back to prove that it wasn’t just her blood that he wanted. She squirmed against him, nuzzling his earlobe.
“Sweet dreams my beautiful delicious girl. You’re amazing, you know that?” he shifted to his side, holding her close, “No angst tonight, sweet princess, just sleep. Everything right this second is perfect. Let’s enjoy it.” He kissed her earlobe.
“Kay,” she mumbled, letting herself drift.
Oh yeah, “Hey…” she whispered.
“Hmm?”
“Where are all my shoes?”
“I guess we forgot them. I’ve arranged for some new ones.”
“I’d like to go get them. What about the shoes I was wearing the first night?”
“You only had one on when you got here. You don’t need to go back there. I’ll buy you new ones. I happen to be more than just a pretty face. I happen to be filthy rich, too.” He yawned.
She let out a little chuckle but felt a pang of sadness. He must’ve felt it because he kissed her earlobe and snuggled in closer, “Let’s not think about it tonight,” he said.
She snuggled in and started to drift again, thinking that her old life was behind her and his lack of an answer about going back pointed to the fact that he didn’t want her looking back. She didn’t like the feeling of having no control whatsoever over her current life. She wanted to say goodbye to that old life without simply running for a change, just moving on but leaving that door open, keeping contact with the friends she’d made, but had the distinct feeling Tristan connected that life with his fear of her being in danger and until the danger was out of the way she’d have to let him hold the reins. She didn’t know what he’d said to her roommate and her bosses but didn’t want to break the mood by starting a fight right now. She’d think about all this later.
Wait. Oh no… Her eyes bolted open, “Oh fuck…”
Damn, damn, shit, damn!
“What is it?” he asked.
“Um, can vampires, um, get humans pregnant? They can, right? You said your bloodlines…”
She felt his body tighten. He said nothing so she continued,
“I, um, can’t believe I didn’t think about this sooner. We’ve been having a lot of sex. Like… lots. Unprotected sex. I was on the pill for problems with my…ah…period….but I haven’t had any pills in over a week now and…”
“It’s okay, we’re covered.”
“Huh? How?”
“Shhh. Don’t worry, we’ll talk about it tomorrow. I’m so tired, I just need to close my eyes. Right now all is right with our world, baby. Shhh,” he kissed her shoulder.
“But---”
“Shhhh, you aren’t pregnant…” more kisses on the shoulder.
Kyla gave in to sleep but not before a fleeting moment of imagining little blue-eyed fanged babies crawling around.
Usually her period would’ve turned up within 2-3 days max if she’d stopped the pills abruptly. No period would’ve signified a pregnancy scare, especially after all the sex she’d had since her last pill. But he’d said they were covered.
She fell asleep with a little frown on her face, deciding she’d get answers in the morning.
-8-
She woke up feeling her rear end sting, “Wake up lazy girl!” He had swatted her behind. She sat up. He was dressed in a powder blue thin cotton t-shirt that closely matched his eyes and a pair of faded button fly jeans. He looked and smelled showered and fresh and yummy. He smiled, “You gonna sleep all day long?”
She had never been called lazy before. Then again, she never got to sleep this much before. She looked around. There were several bags and boxes on the sofa and the treadmill was now in the corner of the room by the bookshelf and facing the window.
“You’ve been busy.” She rubbed her eyes.
“I have. It’s 11:30. You were dead to the world. I can’t believe you slept through all that noise.” Tristan leaned over her. He smelled all chocolate cake-y with caramel and his eyes were twinkly. She smiled at him, starry-eyed.
“I’ve had some clothes and things delivered and my iPod’s in the desk if you like to listen to music while you run. There’s juice on the table. I’ll go get breakfast and coffee.” He gave her a loud kiss on the mouth and dashed out of the room. He was totally adorable. A girl could get used to this.
Kyla got up and downed the glass of fresh-squeezed tasting orange juice and then got into the shower. Half way through lathering her hair she felt hands on her rear end and lips on her chin.
“Well hello…” she giggled, “I thought you already showered.”
“I want to get my dirty girl clean. Or maybe dirtier. Let me…” She felt tingly all over. He took over lathering her hair. His strong fingers massaged her scalp and she let out a little moan. It felt so nice. She felt cared for and it was such a foreign feeling.
She tipped her head back to rinse it under the giant shower head and he took the opportunity to sink his teeth into her throat. It startled her for a second and then she found herself pinned against the tiled wall. Tristan groaned into her throat and dug his fingers into her hips. Then he let go of her throat and hips, flashed a devious-looking grin, then spun her around so that her front was flat against the wet tiled wall. He rubbed up against her backside and then worked his way so that he was penetrating her while biting on the back of her neck. Kyla grabbed the built-in shower shelf, knocking over a bottle of shower gel, and groaned loud. It felt so good. He took her hair and squeezed the excess water out, then held onto the length as he drank and moved against her, thrusting in and out at a slow pace. He cupped her between her legs and his fingers started working some magic, too.
~~~
A little while later they were both in robes and at the table by the window eating blueberry crepes with maple syrup and whipped cream on top.
“Who cooked these?” Kyla asked, “They’re fucking awesome.”
“Me.”
“This is the best thing I’ve eaten in my life. You like to cook, huh?” she dabbed at her chin, which had gotten all syrupy. He’d tasted like this one other time, like syrup and blueberries. She took a big bite and moaned. So yummy!
“In my former life I was head chef in a five-star restaurant.” He flashed a dimpled smile.
“Oh really? Everything you’ve fed me so far has been delicious. I can’t cook to save my life.”
“I hadn’t cooked in years. Then came you…”
She blushed and batted her eyelashes, “Then came me.” She used her phone sex operator voice.
“My dirty girl,” he teased, “I’ll bake you something later. What’s your favorite dessert?”
“And you bake? I’ve hit the vampire motherlode. I have a wicked sweet tooth so anything but I could handle something… chocolate?” She said, eyes lit up.
She was about to start asking more questions but then he continued, a big smile on his face, “Gotcha. Chocolate something it is. So, all that is yours. Check it out. I hope it all works.” He motioned toward the pile of bags and boxes in the sitting area, “I have a lot going on today so I won’t be around ‘til tonight. Sorry that you have to hang out here but I’m thinking that after this conference I’ll send the guys off for a bit so we can have the whole house to ourselves for a while. Or better yet, maybe we’ll go to my apartment downtown for a while,” he raised his eyebrows at her, “Go on a date, maybe?”
Kyla smiled, “Sounds good. You’re that busy but you have time to bake me something?”
He smirked, “I’ll make time. I need to fatten you up after all that fasting you did. There’s a chance,” he continued, his face turning serious, “that you might have to make an appearance during the conference, so you’ll notice something more formal there. I’m trying to avoid that but in case that’s not possible, we’re prepared.”
Kyla’s expression dropped and a chill crawled up her spine.
“I know.” Tristan said, “It’d be dangerous. We’d ha
ve to do some major prep beforehand to get away with this without anyone realizing you’re lucid but don’t stress about it for now. I’m working to find a way around it. And if we don’t have to use it you’ve got a sexy new little black dress for our first real date.”
So much for breakfast. Her appetite disintegrated.
Tristan took another sip of his coffee and then got up and kissed her softly on the mouth. His lips lingered for a beat and then he gave her shoulders a squeeze, “I’ll be in my office if you need me. Can you do me a favour and just pile everything from breakfast on that tray and put it out in the hall? Then lock the door?”
“Sure.”
He exited via the balcony. She watched him walk around to his office door then Kyla threw some workout clothes on and was about to look through the loot for runners, excited about the prospect of time on that treadmill even more than the big shopping haul spread across the sofa, but then decided to gather the breakfast dishes and get them out of the way first. She walked to the door and pushed it open, then went back to the table for the tray and took it into the hall and put it on the floor.
She heard something and saw a form step into the hall from the guestroom next door. She jolted. Joe. He’d seen her. She backed into the bedroom and shut the door and locked it.
Shit.
Was that going to be a bad thing? Surely the guys knew she was still there. Maybe Tristan didn’t want them to know she wasn’t still chained to the bed. She didn’t know if being sighted was a bad thing or not so she decided to go tell him. She walked out onto the balcony and looked down into the courtyard and she hurried around to the office door. The walk felt eerie as the last time she’d done it, she had been trying to leave him. It felt like a walk of shame. She could see about a dozen large round tables around the perimeter of the courtyard, obviously things were gearing up for this party. She pushed the office door open, noticing the screen had already been repaired and came face to face with Tristan and Sam. Sam was standing in front of Tristan’s desk and they’d clearly been entrenched in some sort of heated conversation. She stopped dead in her tracks. Sam’s eyebrows perked upwards and his mouth dropped open.
Tristan stood up and his eyes narrowed. “Wait in the bedroom for me, Kyla, please,” he clipped, his jaw tight.
She wanted to swallow but her throat was dry. She nodded and backed out. As she shut the door behind her, she heard Sam ask, “Please? Really, Tris?”
Her heart was pounding wildly. She had seen a dark and grim look on his face and guessed that barging in there with Sam present had not made him happy. She shut the door back in the master suite and sat on the couch, feeling panicked but thinking he should’ve warned her.
A long time passed and she got tired of drumming her fingers on the sofa arm so she finally got up and made the bed. She needed to get the panic out of her chest, out of her gut.
When she decided to start looking at the bags and boxes on the sofa and coffee table she was overwhelmed at the amount of stuff and the expense he’d gone to. The first thing she opened was a Nike shoebox. They were her size and pink with just a bit of sparkle and were ones she’d seen in the store and loved them, but could never justify spending that price on one pair of running shoes. Another shoe box revealed a pair of high-heeled glittery black strappy sandals with red soles. There were 6 other shoe boxes. Why would she need all these shoes if she were spending the foreseeable future in his bedroom?
Then she looked through the clothes and found designer yoga pants and hoodies, a few pairs of jeans, pretty tops, a few pairs of pants, sexy bras and other underwear, long and short sundresses that would be great by the pool, and a few sexy negligees, 3 bikinis, a one-piece bathing suit, and 2 sheer swim wraps. Then there was a little black dress that shimmered with glitter, the same as the shoes. It was a short halter dress that looked very expensive and looked exactly like something she’d recently drooled over on a window shopping trip with Daisy. There was also a gorgeous full-length leather trench coat.
Another large bag was filled with toiletries, nearly every toiletry imaginable, it seemed. Deodorant, face wash, cosmetics, a hair brush, curling iron, hair dryer, flat iron, elastics, hair spray, shampoo, body wash, toothbrush, Polysporin, a package of ponytail holders, even a package of maxi pads and tampons. There was also a bottle of Tylenol and a bottle of Pepto Bismol as well as a box of Gravol. Kyla was overwhelmed with all the stuff. The clothes were all the right size. There was a variety of make-up, earrings, other accessories, too. There were three shades of foundation, five tubes of lipstick, three mascara and eyeliner colors, a massive MAC eye shadow palette. It felt like a cross between Christmas and…what? A prize package from a makeover TV show? A bad dream? What?
Realization again started to sink in as she examined the sanitary products. Why hadn’t her period come? And why hadn’t she even thought about it before last night? Her judgement was obviously totally out the window. She put the loot bag of toiletries in the cabinet under the bathroom sink and wandered back out to the bedroom.
She’d taken a break from her brain for 12 hours but here she was again, agonizing. She was worried about her future, about her free will, worried about being in danger from other vampires, but worried that Tristan would suddenly not want her anymore, too.
When that thought hit her it was probably what bothered her the most. In a short time she had gone from fear stricken to being a lot like the lovesick puppy he was acting like. She closed her eyes and saw the two of them in the shower that morning. He was so sexy, so attentive, so playful and affectionate.
How could any girl resist that, let alone a girl who had some chemical bond through blood and paranormal magic? She shook herself out of her reverie and went back to putting the new stuff away, thinking about the fact that there were still so many things she didn’t know; so many things to be afraid of. Their relationship was based, so far, on chemistry, sexual chemistry and whatever chemical reaction happened when he fed from her --- chemistry that had an effect on both of them. This wasn’t the way a man and woman typically got to know one another. Did they have anything in common?
But he was also so…sweet and physical. He was gorgeous and had charisma and she could see falling head over heels for him if this playful and energetic guy was who he really was. But what about the monster? How long until scary Tristan was back? Would she have to lose herself to keep black-eyed Tristan at bay?
It took her quite a while to get it all away and suddenly she realized he was in the doorway of the closet, assessing her. “How long have you been standing there?” she asked. She put down the bag in her hand. He had his arms crossed over his chest, all sorts of muscle flexing as he watched her. He had a cool demeanor but damn, he was hot.
She cleared her throat, “Is everything okay? I only came to tell you ---”
Tristan shook his head, “Got a lot going on in there, huh?” he kissed her temple.
She flushed, “Yeah.”
“Don’t stress about that thing with Sam; it was my fault. I shouldn’t have told you to come. I should get you a phone instead so we can clear things like that until all this stuff is sorted. I should’ve known he might be in there with me. It was bad timing, too, based on the conversation he and I were having.”
“I came to talk to you because I saw Joe.”
“What? Where?”
“When I put the breakfast tray in the hall, He was coming out of the next bedroom. He saw me.”
Tristan put his hand over his forehead and clenched his jaw, “No reason he should be in this wing of the house. And?”
“And nothing, I just came back in quickly and shut the door. I came to tell you and that’s when…you know.”
He exhaled loudly, “Okay don’t worry about it. Just stay in here the rest of the day, okay? I don’t like the idea of either of them being alone with you. Especially Joe.”
He pulled her close and held her, rubbing her back. Kyla sank into his embrace. He felt so warm; he smelled so good.
“You feel so good,” he murmured, “But I’ve gotta tear myself away. I’ll be back to check on you soon. Need anything before I go?”
“Naw, I’m good. But I wanted to ask you about the whole birth control thing. Can I have my purse? I need to double-check my pills. I think I should’ve had my, err… period by now.”
“You’re not pregnant Kyla, you don’t have to worry. You don’t need those pills.”
“Why? And really? How do you know, I mean can you not…”
“I gave you a shot. When I took blood I gave you a birth control shot. I knew you’d ovulate if I didn’t.”
Anger rose in her. He’d just taken the liberty of injecting birth control into her? She’d written off the injection as birth control a few years back due to the long list of potential side effects.
“So, before I go, not hungry or thirsty or anything?”
“No.” she snapped.
“Whoa, easy...”
She stormed into the bathroom and slammed the door.
He followed her.
“Get out! I need to use the bathroom.”
“Let me explain,” he said and walked toward her.
“Fuck that. I can’t even have a minute to go to the bathroom myself? You’re in my head, you take my blood, you give me drugs. What about the birth control already in my system? I could’ve kept taking my fucking pills if you’d given me my damn purse back, if I hadn’t been treated like a prisoner. What about my free will?” Rage was rising in her and she wanted to smash something, smash a million things.
“Okay, chill out. You’re overreacting,” his jaw tightened.
She didn’t care in the least.
“Get out!” she hollered at him, “Is it too much to ask that I be able to take a fucking pee in peace?”
Tristan rolled his eyes, “You don’t even have to pee. You’re just being pissy.”
“Oh, bite me!”
“Bite you, eh?” he crossed his arms and looked at her disapprovingly, like she was a petulant child.
Her face flushed crimson. She couldn’t speak.