by Kate Wendley
Anthony worriedly watched him, then touched his head when he felt he’d had enough blood. He still had to let Sebastian drink from him, if he wanted, and didn’t want to be completely drained afterwards.
Zach knew the drill and immediately released him while the wound quickly closed. Zach stayed kneeling for a time, huffing and puffing as if from exertion. Usually it was because Anthony’s blood was so powerful and took him time to adjust to it.
“Are you all right?”
He looked up at him as he panted. “Yeah. And I didn’t notice anything different about you.”
His tension eased. Maybe he really had imagined things with the Spider Woman.
When Zach finally calmed down, Sebastian took his place and Zach settled into the rolling chair at the other desk in the room. Anthony bit his wrist again, never allowing anyone else to bite him because shifters weren’t as neat or careful about it. It was his rule and always would be for the infrequent times he actually let someone have his blood.
Sebastian had drunk frequently from him in the past in their attempts to find a cure for his uncontrollable touching power. Now that his touch no longer meant he was automatically in your mind, Anthony only shared his blood when Ethan was being more irritating than usual. Ethan was too powerful for Anthony to let his guard slip around him, and he wouldn’t push him into a confrontation without a very good reason. But having Zach and Sebastian at his back, just in case, helped lessen his worries.
Anthony slid down in his chair as his body felt more and more relaxed.
Zach said, “Tell us about Kaia.”
He smiled. “She’s unlike anyone I’ve ever dated, not that there have been many.”
“When was the last time you dated someone?”
He lazily replied, “Before your time.”
Zach scoffed. “Before my time. You always say before my time.”
“It was over seventy years ago, and oddly enough, it ended with her the night Ethan came to town. My bad luck always seems to involve him somehow.”
Without a hint of sarcasm, Zach said, “Maybe he’s good luck this time.”
Anthony let out a startled laugh as he touched Sebastian’s head. “Maybe.”
Sebastian released his wrist, then put his head down as he panted, just like Zach had done.
“Tell us more about your night.”
He dreamily said, “It was wonderful, and she was quite enthusiastic to see me.” He slouched even more in his chair, his head resting on the back of it as he closed his eyes.
“Details! We want details!”
Sebastian growled, “Zach.”
He grumbled but finally said, “All right. Jeez.”
Anthony felt Sebastian stand up beside him but didn’t open his eyes just yet. “Anthony, you should feed now.”
Taking his time, he forced himself to sit up, then slowly rose from his chair. He knelt on the couch next to Frederick and leaned over the man, which gave him control over how close he’d be to the coyote as he fed. Thankfully Frederick just relaxed and let him take his fill.
Chapter 23
Anthony was anxious as he drove to Wild Woods to see Kaia. He’d never dated someone that knew he was vampire, and it made him both excited and nervous to see her again.
It occurred to him on the drive that she might not know she was the only human at Wild Woods… unless Ethan told her. Would she have made up with him already? Had their fight even been real?
He didn’t want to think that about her. He wanted to believe she was trustworthy and honest, but he barely knew her yet, no matter how intimate they’d become.
He rang her apartment and she said she’d be right down. Why not just buzz him in? Did this mean something? When she appeared behind the glass door with her shoes on, she looked a little somber. He instantly got a knot in his stomach.
She opened the door and they were kissing before he had time to think about what could be wrong. She was warm and soft in his arms and he lost himself to her sweet taste. He was horrified with himself when he pricked her tongue with his sharp fangs. He awkwardly released her and stammered, “I’m so sorry. Please forgive me. I’ll be more careful next time.”
She blinked at him, looking like it was taking her a moment to comprehend what he was talking about. Her face softened as she firmly rested her hands on his hips, keeping him close as she gave him a coy look. His body warmed significantly with her holding him like this.
“It’s ok, baby. No one’s going to die from a little scrape. At least I don’t think so.” She looked so lovingly at him he couldn’t help but reluctantly smile.
She reached out and slowly finger combed his hair back on his left side as she tucked it behind his ear, her touch feeling completely sensuous. He couldn’t help a groan at the unexpected jolt it sent through him. If he thought too hard about it, he also realized she always tucked his hair on the side of his face with his scar. Why she would want to expose the hideous gash any more than it already was, he wasn’t sure.
She had a playful smirk and smiling eyes as she watched him. Her gaze flicked to his mouth, no doubt looking for his fangs. She looked back into his eyes and said, “It’s nice to see you again.”
He took a deep breath, his worries vanishing as he held her. “It’s a pleasure to see you as well, my sweet. Always.” He tenderly caressed her cheek, then trailed his hand down her neck. She sweetly arched for him as he lightly traced his finger around one of his bites from last night. “I’m sorry for that.”
Her smile faltered, the look of barely hidden disappointment feeling like a tidal wave knocking into him. “You are?”
He caught his breath at the intensity of her emotions. Did she really feel so much for him? “I’m not sorry for our night together. Only sorry that I bit you somewhere so noticeable.”
Her smile returned with a shaky breath. They had a wonderful moment of gazing into each other’s eyes, the whole world gone but for the two of them before someone came out the door behind Kaia. He nudged her aside so the shifter could get by them, and was surprised to feel her stiffen when she realized the woman was there.
Before he could ask what was wrong, she said, “So… do you want to watch a movie tonight?” The quick twinkle in her eye made him heat up. Did watch a movie mean the same as it did last night? That they’d be naked in each other’s arms soon? He hoped so.
She smiled coyly as he chuckled. “I’d love to.”
She took him by the arm and led him back into her apartment where they were instantly all over each other. They had each other’s clothes flung off before they made it to her bedroom, and Anthony was just as turned on tonight by her incredibly beautiful body, warm kisses, and insistent hands as he was last night.
She wasted no time showing him how much she wanted him, and he just as enthusiastically kissed and caressed her as well. And this time as he thrust in and out of her beautiful body, nearing his brain’s shut off point as he got close to orgasm, he made sure his mouth was turned away from her neck. He still ended up biting her, but he never took as much blood when he bit anywhere else. Her lovely shoulder ended up tasting just as good, though, he belatedly realized.
They took more time with each other the second time around, and it was just as perfect as the first. They rested next to each other then, flat on their backs, panting as they calmed down.
Anthony watched Kaia’s chest rise and fall, loving the way she looked naked. She was so comfortable with herself. He’d never experienced that with a woman before. Not with someone he wanted to date, anyway. The shifters were prone to be more comfortable with nudity simply because they had to strip down once a month in front of lots of people at full moon. The women Anthony had dated, though there were very few, had never been that free with themselves.
Kaia was open, though, and she seemed completely comfortable touching Anthony’s body as well. He decided he liked that. A lot.
She innocently said, “Can I ask you something?”
“Anything, my sweet.”
&nbs
p; “You only live with other vampires and shapeshifters?”
“Yes.”
“Then who were those men that came to live with you? With the one that died?”
Her question made him freeze up as he got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.
“They were vampire.”
“And they were into drugs? If vampires don’t eat food, how can they do drugs?”
He didn’t like where this conversation was going. Not at all. “They weren’t doing drugs themselves. They were making them, then selling them to humans.”
“Oh.” She was quiet for a moment, then asked the question he desperately didn’t want her to ask. “So how did the one guy die? The one you were beating yourself up about?”
Dread filled him, and then heartache. He wanted honesty between them more than anything, but he wasn’t sure she’d accept the more hideous side of his life, and he didn’t want this to end with her.
Not yet.
Not ever.
But he also didn’t want to have to hide who he was from his lover. He liked this feeling of being open about his vampire identity and felt like if he was going to do this, then he wanted her to know everything. Or at least as much as she wanted to know.
He moved to support himself on his elbow so he could look her straight in the eye. He pet her shoulder and Kaia grew alarmed when his hand briefly trembled.
“Baby? Are you ok? Is this a sensitive subject? I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up.”
Grief filled him with a stabbing pain in his heart. “My sweet, I want to tell you anything you want to know.”
She pet his hand as she quickly said, “Baby, we don’t have to talk about this. It’s ok. It was a thoughtless question. I’m sorry.”
He took his hand from her grasp and lovingly caressed her cheek as he tried to calm himself. He couldn’t bear the thought of losing Kaia, but he also didn’t want to live a lie.
“I want you to know that I’ve cherished every single moment I’ve spent with you and will continue to cherish this time no matter where things go for you and I after tonight. I want you to know that, and to know that I would never, ever do anything to harm you.”
She worriedly whispered, “Why are you saying these things?” Her harshly beating heart was loud in his ears as she stared wide eyed at him.
He held her gaze and decided he had to tell her the truth. She deserved to know who she was being intimate with, even if it was a monster.
Without preamble, he said, “I killed him. I’m the reason he’s no longer on this earth.”
She visibly tensed and he easily sensed her fear. “What do you mean you killed him? You shouldn’t blame yourself for−”
He gave her a sharp look and put his hand up to cut her words off.
“I took him to the woods and ended his life with my own two hands. I killed him, Kaia. It was I, and it’s the reason he weighs on my conscience. As Master Vampire of the Atlanta territory, I−”
She quickly interrupted him, fear still emanating from her beautiful body. “Master Vampire? Of the Atlanta territory? What does that mean?”
He cocked his head. She really didn’t know? “I… Hasn’t Ethan or Patrick or any of the others told you this?”
She shook her head in confusion.
“I apologize. I narrowly assumed they informed you of some things. I’m the most powerful creature, for lack of a better word, in this city. This territory. I oversee and am responsible for thousands of supernaturals, and because of that, sometimes I have to make hard choices.”
She was still frowning at him, but he didn’t feel the high level of fear from her anymore. The knot in his stomach began to ease. She was quiet as she watched him and he decided to tell her more since talking seemed to be calming her.
“I have rules for living here, and if a vampire or shifter doesn’t abide by those rules, well, the vampires are my direct responsibility to punish. I use my judgment for each infraction and when all possible restitutions have been exhausted, and the problem still isn’t resolved, then the final punishment could be extreme. Each situation is unique.”
She delicately asked, “What are your rules?”
He studied her face as he kept his senses alert to her mood. She still had fear in her, which didn’t make him feel good, but she was talking instead of screaming at him to get out. That gave him hope.
“Supernaturals should do nothing to alert the general population to our existence, though I make exceptions for lovers and a small number of others. Vampires are never to outright feed from humans, they’re to feed from shifters only, and if called upon, they’ll provide any help required of them to assist a family member in need or to keep the community’s secrets guarded.”
“There are thousands of supernaturals?” Her pounding heart didn’t sound quite as loud anymore, and her frown was less deep.
“Around two hundred and fifty vampires and nearly two thousand shifters. They live all over the general vicinity of Atlanta.”
Her tension was slowly, slowly draining away.
“How old are you? For real.”
“My human age was thirty three when I was turned vampire. In total, I’ve been on this earth for two hundred and sixty five years.”
She sighed, but her frown was disappearing. “So where all have you lived?”
He again found it surreal to be telling his lover all about himself, but he’d keep talking as long as she kept asking questions.
“As a human, I lived near Rochester, New York. As a vampire, I’ve always lived in Atlanta, though it’s changed names over the years. Regardless, I was here well before the Civil War and helped rebuild the city after it was almost entirely destroyed. I’m heavily invested in and outright own large parts of this city and the surrounding areas.”
She looked away from him and he wasn’t sure if he’d said something wrong, well, besides that he’d killed someone.
She finally said, “So what happened? I mean, how did you find out about the drugs?”
She was still frowning, but he got the feeling she was thinking about things other than him ending Jim’s life.
“The vampire came to my home with silver in his pockets, intending to torture a shifter in my family because he’d stolen drug money from him. I, of course, immediately got involved because the vampire had gone against direct rules of this city. Besides intending to torture the shifter, his small family had made themselves known to the police. Their house had been flagged as a possible meth house.”
“Shifters can’t be around silver?”
Her curiosity felt like a good thing as her tension continued to disappear. “Silver is poison to them. It shouldn’t even touch their skin. It’s very painful.”
She looked at her bare hands, then back at him. “I didn’t know that.”
He cocked his head. “I notice you don’t wear much jewelry when we’re together, though I see some on your dresser.”
“I wear it to work sometimes. Some of it’s silver.”
He nodded once. “You may or may not work with any shifters. They’ll have many excuses for not touching or getting too close to someone that they can tell has silver on.”
“They can just tell?”
“They can smell it.”
She blinked at him, her energy seeming to drain from her all of a sudden.
He sighed heavily. “I know this is a lot to handle all at once. My life can be harsh, my sweet, and at the most unexpected times, but I put great thought into my decisions and what they mean for everyone’s continued well-being, both supernaturals and humans. I have quite a lot of responsibility on my shoulders, but I still don’t make a decision, like ending a man’s life, lightly. It was a last resort for someone I’d spent six long months trying to get through to.”
He didn’t like the troubled look on her face, and was surprised when she woodenly mumbled, “Some people are just bad.”
He cocked his head and really looked at her. Was she still talking about Jim, o
r someone else? She weakly smiled at him, then picked up his hand. She kissed it while looking him in the eye. “Some people are just bad, Anthony, and some people, like you, are good. You’re a good man.” She pressed his palm against her cheek, and he felt overcome with emotion.
She sat up and reached for him, and they hugged for a long time.
He whispered against her hair, “Thank you, my sweet. Thank you for trying to understand me. Thank you for all that you are.”
**
When Anthony went home for the night, Kaia felt very alone. She’d been out of whack all day today after finding out about vampires, shifters, and lying friends. And it didn’t take a genius to figure out that if Anthony had shapeshifters back home then Ethan probably did, too. After all, she sarcastically thought, it was a rule of the city that vampires only feed off shifters.
It had to be Cory, Ethan’s good friend and roommate. Or Patrick. That jerk. Of course Patrick was a shifter. He always seemed to be running errands for Ethan, and was the one to crash her first date with Anthony. Ethan must be more than just Patrick’s landlord for him to do everything he told him to do.
In a way, she felt like she didn’t even know who she was anymore. She was dating a vampire, her supposed best friend was a vampire, and the world, or at least Atlanta, was full of vampires and shapeshifters. None of that seemed real.
Anthony made her feel normal, though. She felt safe with him, and not just because he was the Master of them all. He made her feel calm, and… loved.
Except he still didn’t know everything about her, and now that he was gone, she felt cold and alone. She’d known Ethan for fourteen years, yet thinking of him in the apartment next door, now, made her mad. It didn’t feel like she was surrounded by friends anymore. Now it felt like she was the outsider again and didn’t belong here.
When Ethan tried to talk to her earlier tonight, before Anthony came over, she couldn’t even make herself answer the door. Besides the fact that Ethan hid being vampire from her, she was furious that he’d lied whenever she tried to talk to him about the weird tingles she’d sometimes feel. All along it’d been her sensing him or someone else using their supernatural powers. According to Anthony, there was even a name for people like her. She was a ‘sensitive’. So Ethan’s excuse that some people couldn’t handle knowing about this stuff was bullshit because she’d already sort of known. Instead, he’d humiliated her by letting her think her strange feelings all these years were ghosts, and maybe even ghosts of her parents. She could imagine his pity now…