by C. L. Quinn
Thirteen
“Hey, keep up, buddy!”
Marc called back to Taggert, who flagged behind him by several yards.
“Hey, I’m just recovering from a gunshot and you’re a fucking vampire! Give a guy some space!”
They’d jogged the length of the beach twice a night since Taggert had returned. He was fully healed now, the gunshot wound in his forehead no longer visible at all. Any damage that it had done to his brain had been repaired.
“Just getting you back to fighting condition.”
“I appreciate it, but I’m fine now. Marc, you need to go spend the evening with your mate and kids.”
“I do. Our guests are leaving tomorrow right after rising so we’re having our farewell dinner in about half an hour. I’m just worried about you. You’ve been too quiet since you’ve been back.”
“Just lost in thought. I’m fine. I do have a favor though, for Koen. I want to use his jet to go back to Chicago for New Year’s Eve. Do you think he’ll let me have it?”
“I don’t see why not. Why do you want…oh. The girl?”
“Yeah, I have to make sure she’s okay. And I owe her a nice dinner. She did save my life.”
“Yeah, she did. So its gratitude?”
Taggert punched Marc in the shoulder enough to make it sting.
“Yeah, gratitude.”
Eillia and Park had helped Alisa remove the Christmas decorations and redressed the dining room and living area with silver, white, and blue for the New Year’s celebration. The entire room glowed with silver stars that twinkled as they spun on short cords hung from the ceiling.
“Magical, isn’t it?” Park had said when they were finished.
“It really is.” Eillia had never felt such a strong sense of family as she had these past few years, her heart nearly bursting with joy and excitement for the future of their kids.
Later, dinner consisted of everyone’s favorites, as the chef followed a survey taken by his staff after Christmas. Even the unique foods of Zambia were represented for Ahmose and his group.
Once first meal was finished, they gathered back at the beach one last time. Tonight, the air was warm, the breeze soft, the stars electric in their black velvet.
Eillia stood and addressed the beautiful people that surrounded this gentle fire that crackled and spit occasional sparks into the sky.
“We’ve used the word historic to describe this gathering, but we haven’t stopped to really appreciate how historic this is. Until we met Ahmose’s tribe, the children of the moon, we didn’t know there were other first bloods. Until then, we didn’t know that we were children of the sun, and that we had no idea the depth of our own power. It was the most transformative moment in our lives at that time. Ultimately, we now know that these children are the future of our races and our world. Tonight, I would just like to thank the universe for the gift of life most extraordinary.”
She turned to Park, who sat beside Bas, with Cairine on the sand between Bas’s legs.
“Cairine, who began this period of precious births, a third generation vampire child, welcome to our lives, my precious girl. We’ve never seen a third generation first blood before and can’t wait to see your future. Your name is Gaelic for pure, and you are that, my lovely girl. Then there is my little surprise, and he is that, as I was a thousand years into my life and never expected to bear a child. Caedmon, the most precocious boy I’ve ever known, your name means warrior, and we knew even then, before this grand destiny became clear, that you would be on the frontlines someday as you protect this world.”
Her eyes teared as she looked at her own little son in Daniel’s arms. Daniel’s eyes glistened too.
“For that moment, we were done with children in our community, but then our brother from Africa brought his own long-foretold destiny, and a lovely new vampire will bear with him three children that were always meant to be. So far, we have Eras. Eras, your name means man of peace, and I can see that in your kind eyes whenever I look at you, barely over a year old, and already an old soul. Your sister, Shani, which means wonderful, is completely that, sweet, gentle, and deeply attached to her sister from another mother. Little Brigitte came into our community from her human world, her name a gift from her special grandmother, meant, I think we all agree, to always be together, wherever life takes these two young women some day.”
Tamesine held one of her children while Marc held the other. Eillia walked up and brushed their wild, soft hair.
“These two, twins, like their mother, bonded before birth, and destined for greatness, I believe. Bryson, which is Scottish for son of the powerful, and his sister, Fia, which I know means dark of peace. For these children, who I think will rarely be apart in life, Bryson, who is precisely what his name implies, will always be there fighting with his sister. Fia will carry a special fate, as her name tells us, because we all know that peace comes with a price. It is hard-won and worth every sacrifice. These are the children that will shape tomorrow. On this eve of a new year, we thank the universe for the gift to have been there for the past, to be here for the present, and to know that we have a destiny for the future. Join me, my family and friends, in gratitude for all that we have been granted and the prayer that we will all be well.”
The night stayed exactly as it began, easy and lovely and thoughtful, everyone living mindfully in the moment.
Even for vampires, who were long-lived, this one moment of now was all that anyone was ever really assured, anything could change at any moment, things and lives could be lost. They had all lost people over the centuries and learned to accept that nothing and no one lives forever, and that it was never meant to be so.
“Happy New Year,” Eillia said, as they lifted centuries old crystal glasses to celebrate another year’s arrival.
“Peace on earth,” she prayed.
IN CHICAGO ON NEW YEAR’S EVE
Heidi’s voice was overexcited, but that was usually the case for Heidi. The tone traveled easily through Merry’s cell phone.
“Hurry, hurry, hurry! The party’s already wild, Merry girl! You should see the men here. Real hotties, Merry! I got my eye on a six foot tall piece of serious eye candy! And he has a friend!”
“All right, I’ve just finished getting dressed. I’ll be there in about twenty minutes. Save me a seat.”
Sighing, Merry touched the END button and dropped her cell into a small sparkly bag. Heidi had secured invites for them to the biggest party of the year, a New Year’s Eve party at one of the hottest clubs downtown. She was waiting there right now for Merry.
The only thing wrong was that Merry didn’t want to go. She wasn’t in a party mood.
This had been a tough week; she hadn’t fully recovered from the kidnapping and bizarre revelation that vampires really existed and that she actually knew one. The combination of circumstances had left her barely functional. Really, all that she wanted to do tonight was wrap up in a warm bathrobe, get some chamomile tea, and watch an old black and white romance on her small television. But she’d promised Heidi that she would go.
Merry tried to keep her promises. She walked over to the slender full-length mirror that she’d rescued from the dumpster behind her apartment building. It had a few cracks, but it did its job of showing her how she looked.
Pretty nice, as it turned out. Heidi had brought Merry a black sequined dress to wear tonight. It was skin-tight with a slit up the left side nearly to mid-hip and a neckline that Merry had been tugging on since she slipped it on. No bra would fit beneath it since the dress scooped low enough to nearly reveal her nipples. While she wasn’t comfortable with that, she didn’t really care a lot tonight either.
“Maybe you just need a good fuck with a gorgeous stranger. A hot one-night stand,” Merry told the woman in the mirror.
It was true. Her body had been thrumming the past four days, the slit between her legs twitching so much she often put a hand down there to calm the area. Not only was she missing the man she’d built
a brief attachment with, when she closed her eyes, her memory kept returning to his touch, his gentle voice, his cock moving inside her that made her feel things she never had.
She’d never really needed sex, but now she wanted it. Realistically, she knew what she really wanted and needed was to see Taggert again.
But he was gone and wasn’t coming back. He was part of Lauren’s new world of vampires and danger and magic. While they’d had a connection during their days of captivity, they were free now. Yeah, they’d joked about getting dinner when they were rescued, but that was the sort of thing that people said and never followed through with. He had no reason to think about her now that they were safe and returned to their lives. Even so, she kept seeing his handsome face and wide smile every time she closed her eyes.
“Yep,” she said suddenly to the sexy woman in the mirror. “You are going to go out tonight and get well and truly fucked.” No, she wouldn’t.
Turning from the mirror, she snatched her keys and dropped them into the small purse with her cell phone, and a tube of lip gloss.
“Be good, kitties,” she said and was reaching for the door when a knock startled her. Her hand hovered in the air for a few moments. Someone was on the other side of the door.
It had to be Mrs. Walton, no one else would be here tonight.
“Hey,” she said, as she pulled the door open, looking down to make sure that the neckline of the dress hadn’t dropped enough to offend the sweet old woman.
“Hey,” a deep voice said.
Merry’s head shot up. That voice was deeply embedded in her memory, one that she was certain she would never hear again.
But here he was, Taggert, at her door, on New Year’s Eve.
She couldn’t speak.
Neither did he, at first, then he shook his head and whistled low. “Wow. I have to say, my timing couldn’t be better. Unless you’re waiting for a date, in which case, it couldn’t be worse.”
“Um, huh. No. I’m sorry, I’m kind of shocked. I really didn’t expect to see you again.”
“Is it a good shocked or a bad shocked?”
“Shocked. Happy shocked, though.”
“That’s all I need to know.”
Taggert swept Merry up in his arms, stepped into her apartment, and kicked the door closed.
“Is there a date coming? Because I might have to beat the shit out of him.”
“No date, but I am on my way to a New Year’s Eve party with a friend.”
“I don’t think that friend can do for you what I intend to do. Would you like a list?”
Still in Taggert’s arms, still stunned that he was here, Merry shook her head. Then she nodded.
“All right, but I tend to be a show-and-tell kind of guy. This might take a while.”
Her eyes went to Taggert’s forehead, where there should be evidence of the bullet that had nearly taken his life. Without thought, she lifted a finger and traced the perfectly smooth skin.
“No scar,” Merry whispered.
“No scar. Not with the way I was healed.” He paused as he put her on her bed, a mattress tucked away in the corner of the room with deep purple and red blankets covering it. “You do…I mean, did Lauren…Crap, did they let you remember?”
She nodded. “Lauren told me that she and the others are vampires and that their blood would heal you. Obviously it did, and without any mark at all. It’s a miracle.”
“They’re all miracles. I’m glad that you know. It means we’ll have no secrets between us. That’s the only way to begin a relationship.”
“Relationship? We have a relationship?”
“We have a relationship. The vampires believe that most events happen for a reason, that fate guides us. Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t. But if it did, it would have put exactly you in that room with me. I knew you for two days, that’s it, and yet I can’t get you out of my mind. Hell, I didn’t even know what you looked like, and I still obsessed over you. So, Merry White, if you agree, I would like a chance to get to know you under normal day-to-day circumstances and see if I’m right that the fates kindly put us together and that we fit like perfect puzzle pieces. What do you think?”
Merry was speechless again.
“I take that as a yes. Now.” Taggert stood. “Do you think that you will need these shoes anymore tonight?”
Merry smiled. “I suspect I won’t.” Lying on the bed, she pushed up on her elbows and watched him as he stood near the foot of the mattress.
“Ah.” His hands against her ankles were extraordinarily erotic as he cupped one foot and then the other and slipped her high-heeled slides off.
She laid her head back, eyes closed, to immerse herself in the sensation of Taggert’s hands moving on her skin again.
“And I think perhaps you won’t need the dress either.”
Her eyes opened and she stared at him. “You first. I have never gotten to see you yet.”
“Fair enough.”
His eyes never left hers as he peeled off the leather coat that he’d worn from sunny France to this snow-covered Chicago night. Underneath, a tight fitting black tee shirt covered a heavily muscled body with thick arms that she well remembered being wrapped up in. Jeans that looked like they’d been painted on didn’t disguise strong thighs and a bulge beneath the zipper that heated her instantly in the same area.
Merry was breathing hard now, and realized she was actually holding the last breath.
She released it slowly. “Turn,” she commanded.
He did. As he turned, giving her the view she wanted of his buttocks, he pulled the tee shirt over his head. Facing her again, he tossed the tee shirt across the room.
“Okay?”
Eyes locked on the furred, muscled chest, she shook her head. “Very okay. I knew your body was excellent, I’ve had my hands on it, but seeing you, wow, I just, let’s just say that there’s so much to be said for lights on.”
“Agreed. I didn’t need to see you to know that you were gorgeous, but now, I’m turned on and I’ve barely touched you.”
“I know. This might be the most erotic moment of my life, and we’re still apart.”
“I can improve on that.”
In seconds, the jeans were off and he was standing in front of Merry naked, every muscle tight in his body, his cock at attention, wet and ready for her. She was beyond ready for him.
Merry got off the bed and pulled the dress over her head from the hem but did not move to him.
They stood, four feet apart, and just looked.
Taggert’s eyes could barely move from her full breasts, the nipples staring right at him, until he dropped them to scan her slim waist, then lower to the place nestled beneath a patch of dark hair. His tongue slid around his lips. He wanted on her, now, in her, sooner than that, but in this moment, his eyes wanted first dibs.
It was more than apparent he wanted her desperately. Merry watched his erect cock twitch, his hand suddenly moving to it to touch the tip, because it was begging. He stood, solid, powerful thighs holding all of that beauty that she wanted to touch and taste and bite.
“You’re perfection,” he suddenly said.
“Hardly. Although I feel the same. I need you, Taggert. This week has been almost worse than when we were captured, because I wanted to touch you and I didn’t think that I’d ever see you again.”
Slowly, he walked up to Merry, just inches from her, his hands sliding up her sides, grazed across her breasts, up the sides of her neck.
“I owe you dinner. First, though, I’m going to get inside you again. Right now.”
“Please.”
Merry took his hands and led him back to the bed, pushed him down, and straddled him. Taggert pulled her down to kiss her, and as his tongue slipped inside her mouth, Merry lifted up and slid over his cock, straight down, buried him inside her as his tongue did the same.
Both moaned. Then Taggert rolled her under him and took over. “I have to,” he whispered. “I have to feel you.”
“I…” Merry tried to respond to the beautiful thing he said, her eyes moist, her body more so, but couldn’t speak. What he said, how he felt, she did, too, and couldn’t understand how they arrived at such a deep attachment so quickly. She didn’t do things like this. She didn’t get emotionally involved. Yet here she was, nodding to herself that she wanted to wake up with this man next to her, maybe for the rest of her life.
And God was he amazing in bed!
“Christmas girl, are you all right?”
His voice interrupted her self-examination. Was she all right? Try the best she’d ever been.
Pushing away from Taggert, she sat up and looked at him. The lights in her apartment illuminated him perfectly. Her fingers curved along his cheeks, across his chin and continued down to lie flat against the warm, furry chest.
“Roomie, you are the best thing that’s ever happened to me. And I honestly don’t know what to do with that. I’m afraid to trust this. Men haven’t exactly been the best part of my life, but then, I haven’t really let anyone in.”
“You’ve let me in.”
“Yes, and tonight, now, being with you has been wonderful. But where do we go from here?”
“Anywhere we want. One thing that I’ve learned from the vampires is that time is precious. They live for centuries, and they make every moment count. We ordinary humans only have decades, we can’t afford to lose any moment at all. Here’s the truth from where I lay, which, by the way…” His eyes moved to her breasts, just inches from him. “Is spectacular. Life gives you chances, everyday, and most of us miss them. I’ve had a rough life, and I’ve always been alone. My choice. Now, I see someone who lights up the room when she comes into it, even when its pitch black. I love to touch her, and she loves it when I do. She makes me laugh and I can’t help but wonder how it would be to laugh beside her for the rest of my life.”