What was wrong with her? If she had her hands available right now she would slap herself. How could she keep fantasizing about a man…creature that should be her enemy? This wasn’t even the reason why she was vacationing alone in the middle of nowhere. She was supposed to be thinking about where to go from this point on. Well, she was thinking, all right, but not about what she was supposed to have her mind on. Tristan was constantly in her thoughts and that was annoying her beyond belief.
Victoria came to an abrupt halt when she noticed what appeared to be a large boulder covering the entrance to what seemed to be an opening in the base of a mountain. It was huge and round and completely out of place. The boulder itself was about the size of a small house. And the only reason she detected an opening behind it was because of an air draft that kept coming out of one side of the stone-like door. To a human, the boulder covering the wide opening would go unnoticed. But Victoria noticed the difference in the foundation right away. The huge rock wasn’t part of the ground at all. It had been deliberately placed there by someone or something.
Judging by the scent left on the boulder, she knew exactly who placed the rock there and possibly the reason why as well. This was Tristan’s lair. She wouldn’t go so far as to say this was his home because she didn’t think a being like him would live in such an isolated place, but then again she knew nothing about him. How was she to know where he made his home? There was no way for her to know unless she asked and she couldn’t do that if he wasn’t around. Her keen sense of hearing told her Tristan was nowhere in sight. But he had been there earlier, in fact, she was sure she had missed him by a few hours at the most. That could only mean that he would be back and possibly soon.
For now, she had no choice but to go back to her makeshift home and try to entertain herself as much as possible. She had to keep herself from coming back to this place in search of the mysterious blood sucker.
Chapter Nine
Tristan dreaded making an appearance on another vampire’s turf but, upon being summoned, he opted for answering the call. It was the best way to avoid an unannounced visit from others. The fewer visitors he had the better, and he knew that if he didn’t make an appearance, eventually someone would come looking for him.
Madelia, his former lover, summoned him to her home, and after ignoring the call for the majority of the day, he finally decided to make a surprise appearance and see what the hell she wanted. Hopefully, it wasn’t the same thing she always did.
Tristan manifested himself before the grand staircase of the enormous house, catching those present by surprise. Many of the vampires that were gathered around the foyer nearly jumped out of their skins when they saw him appear out of thin air. He turned to stare at those present, a mocking grin on his face. Even though the young ones were vampires like him, none possessed special abilities aside from those acquired once the transformation was complete. Only a handful of vampires throughout the world possessed special skills such as reading minds, telekinesis, and teleportation, amongst others.
The young ones glared back at him as they noticed him mocking their reaction. Tristan bowed slightly then turned his attention to the man approaching him.
“Madelia is waiting for you.” Frank, Madelia’s right-hand man, pointed to the top of the stairs.
Tristan acknowledged the man with a slight bow of his head. “Thank you, Frank.”
Without waiting for a response, Tristan trudged up the stairs and down the large hallway. He knew where Madelia was, the same place she always was when he came over, her bedroom. As he continued down the hall, he noticed several young ones standing outside numerous closed doors. They seemed frightened and confused, even more so when he approached them.
What was going on and why did Madelia have so many young ones in her home?
The door opened as soon as Tristan reached the door to Madelia’s bedroom and a soft female voice asked him to come in. The room was dark and gloomy, its interior illuminated only by several burning candles. He could only hope this wasn’t another attempt at seduction because quite frankly, he’d already grown tired of Madelia’s seduction games. They had been lovers once and it had all been all fun and games, but their relationship ended a long time ago and he wanted to keep it that way.
Once the door closed behind him, Tristan spotted Madelia sitting on the edge of her king size bed. She wore a red silk nightgown with spaghetti straps that emphasized her cleavage and left little to the imagination.
“Well, it’s nice of you to finally show up.” Madelia’s eyes burned like cinders.
“It’s nice to see you, too,” he replied nonchalantly, utterly indifferent to what she may or may not feel. She might think he was hers to do as she wished, but he wore no leash. He belonged to no one.
“Won’t you take a seat?” She patted the bed next to her.
Tristan opted to keep a safe distance from her, so he strolled over to a chair in the far corner of the room. The farther away from her, the better. He leaned back against the seat and folded his arms across his chest.
“It sure took you long enough to get here,” she glared at him from across the room.
“I was busy,” he retorted.
“What could you possibly be doing in that isolated mountain of yours?” Madelia pinned him with an incredulous look.
Waiting for the wolf-girl to come find me. Of course, he couldn’t tell her that. She was annoying enough to begin with; there was really no need to agitate her further by admitting that he was attracted to another female, especially when that other female wasn’t even of their species.
“If you called me here to disparage my personal life, then I’m getting the hell out of here.” Tristan rose swiftly and headed for the door.
“No, don’t leave,” Madelia pleaded without rising from the bed. “There’s something very important we must discuss.”
Eying her wearily, Tristan strolled over to the chair and reclaimed his position.
“What can I help you with?” he asked, his voice giving his frustration away.
“Many things,” she purred, running her fingers down her neck to her cleavage. Tristan however, was unimpressed. She had tried this before. Upon noticing his lack of interest, Madelia straightened up. “Unfortunately, I didn’t summon you here for that—this time, anyway.”
“Then why am I here?” Tristan couldn’t help but sound annoyed. He wanted to get the conversation over with so that he could leave.
“This is important; otherwise, I wouldn’t have summoned you at all.”
“That would be a first,” he muttered.
“Yes, it would be, but this time it’s strictly business.”
“What’s going on?” he pried.
“It seems like we elders have a rather bothersome problem we might have to contend with.”
Vampire elders maintained order throughout the vampire world to assure their secrets were kept, and kept well. As elders, they had the right to correct the young ones when and if they did something to expose themselves to humans.
This was a practice Tristan refused to take part in.
“What kind of problem?” He sighed, exasperated with the conversation already.
“Werewolves.”
Tristan’s ears perked up at the word. Madelia wanted to talk about werewolves and he had had a rather interesting encounter with one the night before.
“Is this why your house is full of young ones?”
“Sources say that there has been an increase of werewolf activity in the area.”
Tristan blanched. “Does anyone know why that is?”
The sudden news was preoccupying. Increase in werewolf activity meant there was something big going on. However, he had no clue as to what exactly that could be. He knew very little about werewolves. For all he knew they were having a family reunion.
The one time he’d come upon a werewolf it had been a quick encounter where none had been badly hurt. And until the encounter with the beautiful she-wolf, he had never seen
a female. Despite his years, he had never had the pleasure of dealing with one. But now, he was looking forward to spending a little one on one time with the she-wolf.
“We think it’s something relating to whatever society guidelines they have. In any case, we still have to be cautious.” Madelia turned to face Tristan and smiled. “And since you stubbornly insist on living in that blasted mountain of yours, you must be extra careful. They might stumble upon you while they’re running wild up there.”
Tristan frowned at her implication. “Don’t worry about me. I know how to protect myself,” he said dismissively.
“I don’t doubt that.” Her eyes traveled up and down his body suggestively.
“The young ones?” he asked, in order to change the subject.
“Ah, yes. They are here because of their lack of skills and experience when it comes to dealing with wolves. They’ve never seen one, much less fought one. We think they should be trained, just to be on the safe side.”
“There are so many here. I thought our population was decreasing.”
“It is. These are not as young as they appear, though. They’re just younger than us. But most are at least fifty years old, if not more. Of course, compared to us, they are but children.”
“Those young ones are not strong enough to take on a wolf, at least not by themselves. In a two against one battle maybe, but otherwise they’re as good as dead,” he finally said.
What little experience he did have with wolves was enough for him to know it took a lot of brutal strength and stealth to take on a giant mutt. The young ones in Madelia’s house had neither. He could tell just by looking at them.
Madelia laughed softly as she approached him. “They’re already dead, Tristan.”
“You know what I mean,” he barked in irritation.
Sensing his displeasure, Madelia rolled her eyes, placed one hand on her hips, and frowned as she gazed at him. “Look, I don’t like this any more than you do, but I still think it’s a good idea.”
“It sounds like you’re getting ready for a war,” Tristan accused.
“We’re just being cautious, Tristan. Wolves are very unpredictable beings, and if there is an increase in their numbers so close to our covens, then we have to be prepared for the worst.”
Not fully convinced Madelia was being truthful; Tristan scanned her mind briefly to make sure there wasn’t anything she wanted to hide from him. His quick inventory found nothing suspicious.
“As far as I know, vampires and werewolves have not warred on each other for over six hundred years, why would they start now?” he asked, finding it hard to believe werewolves would want to jeopardize their numbers with a war of such magnitude.
“You never know, Tristan. Like I said, they are completely unpredictable creatures with the capacity and intelligence of a human but the killer instinct of an animal.”
Yeah, so are we, he thought, but refrained from saying.
“I’m not joining in on whatever you decide to do. As far as I know, their rise in numbers has nothing to do with us, and unless they prove to be a real threat, I don’t plan to intervene.” He rose from the chair and straightened out his shirt before settling his gaze on Madelia once again.
Madelia shook her head in exasperation. “You have a lot more experience in combat than many others we know. Why wouldn’t you want to share that knowledge?”
“Because I don’t want to be tied down to any responsibilities, Madelia,”
“Why do you insist on being a loner? Isn’t immortality enough of a punishment?” Madelia closed the gap between them and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her voluptuous body to his.
“There’s nothing wrong with being a loner. Unlike you, I prefer company only when it’s brief.”
“I would gladly enjoy your company right now.” She rose on the tips of her toes and planted a kiss on Tristan’s lips. “I promise to make it brief.”
As tempting as it was to allow the enticement to take over, he didn’t want to get involved with her again. He made that mistake once, and that was one time too many. Some things were not worth repeating.
Realizing it was best to make himself scarce before things got out of hand, Tristan removed her arms from his neck and backed away.
“Just this once…” she pleaded.
“Sorry, but I—”
Without warning, Madelia wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed him. He barely had any time to react before she slid her tongue into his mouth. Tristan tried dislodging her but she pushed her body forward and increased the tempo to her kissing game. Her small hands tugged his white shirt free of his black pants and with incredible precision, roamed the contours of his muscled chest. It was a familiar feeling he happened to enjoy and because he had been without a female companion for so long, his body began to respond even when his mind protested against the unwanted attention.
Before long, Madelia had him half naked and half aroused. She enjoyed sliding her hands inside his pants and gliding her fingers along his semi-hard shaft. Tristan groaned as the she-devil stroked him hard, forcing his member to respond to her ministrations. He was still a man and so he responded like one. It took little effort for her to get him aroused enough so that he would rock his hips back and forth as her hand fondled his member. It was almost a victory—almost. More often than not, Madelia counted on her beauty to get what she wanted. And this night, like so many others, she wanted Tristan Garland. She knew he didn’t really want her, but he was a man who had been without a woman for a long time that she took advantage of it. So far, it was working.
He returned the kisses and even the caresses at first, but as soon as the image of the beautiful red-headed girl with big blue eyes and olive-colored skin entered his mind, he froze. As he soon discovered, he did want to kiss and caress a woman, just not the one he was currently holding. While he caressed Madelia’s arms, legs, thighs, and finally her small but firm breasts, he realized he couldn’t get the image of the she-wolf out of his head no matter how hard he tried to get into his foreplay with Madelia.
Unable to take another moment of the mental torture, Tristan broke apart from Madelia and stepped back.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, eyes glazed with lust and unfulfilled passion.
“I have to go.”
A look of surprise crossed Madelia’s features. “But we were just starting to have fun.”
“I’m sorry, but…I can’t do this.”
Before Madelia could pounce on him again, Tristan disappeared into a foggy mist and was traveling at lightning speeds through the air in the direction of his cave. Even as he vanished, Tristan could hear Madelia calling out for him, cursing when he didn’t respond. He needed—wanted to get away from Madelia before he made the same mistake he had all those years ago.
Escaping from Madelia’s clutches proved easy enough, under the circumstances. Once he concentrated on the possibility of running into the beautiful she-wolf that invaded his every thought, he realized he simply didn’t want to be in Madelia’s presence any longer. Her shapely body, no matter how tempting, could not lure his thoughts away from the beauty of the face that invaded his mind every few seconds.
For a brief moment, Tristan let his body do the ruling and Madelia took advantage of that. But almost as soon as the foreplay started, he began to regret it. What was he thinking? He could kick himself for letting that devil of a woman lure him to her again. That was one mistake he wasn’t ready to repeat.
History was a thing of the past and Madelia, as attractive and enchanting as she was, was a part of it and nothing more. The brief time he spent as her lover those many years ago were fun-filled days full of passionate embraces and sex at all hours of the day. Unfortunately for her, sex wasn’t the only thing he wanted in an immortal relationship, so he split ways with Madelia sooner rather than later and moved on with his solitary life.
His solitary lifestyle had been pleasant until he stumbled upon the she-wolf. Meeting her had completely sha
ttered his tranquility and peace of mind. Now all he could do was think about her. She was becoming an obsession. Her gorgeous face just moments before he bit her neck was an image he wouldn’t soon forget. The feel of her warm, tantalizing, and very alive body was imprinted in his head and wouldn’t leave his mind no matter how much he tried to distract himself.
Females had come in and out of his life many times and more often than not, he never gave them a second thought once they parted. But with the wolf-girl things had been different from the first moment his eyes rested on her face. Her unique features and the power of her strong blood lured him in, and for once, he was completely unable to fight the attraction he felt for the forbidden.
For the first time in his life he desired something he couldn’t have. He wanted the forbidden fruit. And if he kept thinking about her, he was going to drive himself to madness. He absolutely had to stop his thoughts from straying to the pretty redhead every five seconds and focus on other things.
Tristan gave some thought to what Madelia had said. Because of his past experiences in battle and combat, and because of his unique abilities, more often than not Tristan would be called upon to inspect the area and control any roguish young ones causing havoc in any part of the world. They paid him hefty amounts of money—that he did not need—which he used to spoil himself on the rare occasions he visited the more prominent cities.
While he preferred not to get involved in affairs that had nothing to do with him, perhaps scouting the place would be beneficial. Searching for answers might not be such a bad idea after all. The wolves were near his territory and could turn out to be a bigger problem than he anticipated.
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