by C. L. Quinn
“All right. When tomorrow night comes, after you two have gone down for healing rest today, we’ll begin. Would you like another coffee?”
“Da. When he is in charge of the body, I cannot fully experience what he does. Somewhat, but it is not the same thing.”
“Okay,” Sarah responded, picking up the empty mug. “I’m sure you’re hungry too. I don’t have enough food to satisfy a vampire’s needs but I’ll order some delivery.”
As she poured hot water into the mug, she glanced towards Nikolai and her eyes went past him to something hanging on a hook behind the couch.”
“Oh, shit.”
Nikolai looked up at her. “What?”
“Tomorrow is Saturday.”
“Yes? You have to work?”
“Actually, it’s my first weekend off in six weeks.”
“That is good, yes?”
“It was.”
“Ah. You have plans.”
“Had. I’ll change them.”
“You sound regretful.”
“No. Well, yes. It was my first date here in Boston. I was kind of looking forward to it.”
“Sarah, you must go.”
“No, this takes precedence. Leo will understand.”
“I think that Mies will agree with me that we don’t want to interfere with your life.”
Sarah laughed. “You’re kidding, right? I’ve already risked my job. I think you are aware that I left Paris to live a normal human life. This, whatever this is, is beyond any human experience. So, my life is well and truly already completely interfered with, but that’s all right. Nik, you are a good man and you have a great need. It’s true that I am probably your best bet. If I can’t help you, then the only choice would be to go to the first bloods. Until I’ve done all that I can, this human life I’m trying to build is on hold.”
“I guess. There aren’t words strong enough to convey our thanks for your help.”
“You know that I am happy to do so. Today, though, you’ll get some rest and heal.” She stood and set her coffee mug on the table beside her. “Before you do, though, let me look at the worst of the wounds.”
Nikolai slid off the scrubs, lay down on the sofa, and pulled the shirt over his privates so not to embarrass her as Sarah did a quick check over his entire body.
“This is certainly first blood healing, even the deep lacerations are over half closed already. By tonight, you’ll be almost back to normal. Why don’t you go get a shower and I’ll get you some bedding for the bathroom floor. It’ll be a little cramped, but safe.”
“It will be fine, Sarah.”
“Your company bitched about it.”
“Water off a dog’s back. It won’t hurt him to get a glimpse how we normals live.”
“I was thinking the same thing. Nik, I’ve missed you. And it’s duck’s.”
“Duck’s?”
“Off a duck’s back.”
“Oh, I’ve always wondered about that.”
Nikolai went into the bathroom and reached for the shower nozzle.
Closing the door, Sarah pulled a couple of thick blankets from a closet to make a pallet. She assumed that he wouldn’t need much in the way of covers since she kept the apartment pretty warm. The outside temperature had been steadily rising over the past few weeks anyway. She smiled when she heard Nikolai groan dramatically once the generous jets of water reached him from the pulsating shower head that Naji had suggested she install. It did have a strong pulse of hot water that did wonders for sore muscles.
Several long minutes later, seated on her sofa again, her mind moved back over the wild events of the past few hours. When the door to the bathroom opened, a column of steam surged from the opening. Through the mist, Nikolai walked out, a towel low on his hips, barefoot, his hair wet and wild where it touched just below his shoulders now that it was released from its band.
Only, it wasn’t Nikolai. She could tell by his demeanor, and that erotic scent again, that Mies was in command now.
“Refreshing,” he said, as he walked towards her.
There was no other way to describe him…he was breathtaking. He walked with the confidence of a god, and for all purposes, on this earth, he was pretty near to one.
The attempt to take her eyes from him was a total failure, so she just watched him moving smoothly across her small space. She wished that he was wearing a lot more than the towel that barely covered his genitals…and wished that he was wearing a lot less.
“May I have another cup of that sweet coffee? I find it comforting. Also, I hate to impose, but I need a blood-meal to continue healing. I assume that you are accustomed to feeding a vampire. Would you do so before I go to rest?”
No. Oh God, no! How could she tell him that it would be a bad idea, a very, very, bad idea right now? That she thought that she would jump his ass if they did.
Just exactly like that, she thought, just a firm no.
“Could you make it until tonight?” she countered.
Inches from her now, Mies squatted in front of her and she raised her eyes forcibly, afraid that the towel would part and reveal what she knew was a generous cock.
“Please, doctor. You must know that it will aid my healing exponentially.”
As compelling as his unclad body was, it was when she looked into warm, dark eyes that she was lost.
“I…” Was there any safe way to do this? “Mies, I have to tell you…” Sarah didn’t know how to tell him that if they entered the intimacy of a vampire feeding, she would want to have sex with him, but she didn’t want to want it.
His huge eyes stayed on hers. “What? What are you not telling me?”
“Just that it wouldn’t be wise for me to feed you right now.”
“Why?”
Shit, how was he not aware of her ragged breath, her increased heartbeats, her sexual stimulation?
“It’s just that, um, with the sexual nature of a blood meal…it isn’t a good idea right now.”
“I would service you when we are finished.”
“Perhaps I don’t want you to service me.”
“I don’t understand why. I am highly desirable.”
“Pretty cocky, aren’t you?”
He stood and dropped the towel. “I am well endowed, so yes, I would say so.”
As the towel dropped, she glimpsed his partially erect penis when her eyes lifted for a split second and dropped again. Yes, it was gorgeous.
Don’t look, don’t look…! Sarah repeated in her mind. And for heaven’s sake keep your tongue and hands where they are!
Her best choice was to keep her eyes on the torn threads of the rug he stood on. Damn, even the big feet that led up to hairy calves were sexy.
“I didn’t mean…oh, hell. Please put that back around you. In fact, could you put some clothes on?”
“But this body is very pleasing.”
“Look, just do what I ask.”
“You are a confusing, argumentative woman.”
“I am. You asked me to help you. Be courteous enough to follow my requests.”
As Mies wrapped the towel back around his waist, he bowed. “As you wish.”
He disappeared back into the bathroom, and as the door closed, Sarah collapsed against the back of the sofa.
“I can’t do this,” she whispered out loud to the empty room.
Sex had never been a priority for her, and while the few times she’d had it, it had been pleasant, she’d never been horny or desperate for it. With this vampire in her tiny apartment, though, she felt like a cat in heat.
“I don’t know what to do with these feelings,” she whispered out loud once again, as if someone would answer her. Naji’s voice came to her immediately afterward.
Yes, you do. You ride that magnificent beast!
No. She’d never been with a vampire, and she knew she never could be. They were sexual creatures, and if she did so, the comparison might make sex with a human male unsatisfying and that would wreck this normal life she wa
s trying to build. So, no, that would definitely never happen.
“I have to be strong. I can resist those freaking pheromones.”
No, you can’t. Your libido is on fire right now, and he’s like gasoline. Even the fumes will get you.
The door to the bathroom opened and Mies stood there, his eyes on hers again.
Why did even his gaze affect her so?
He bowed his head. “I will wait until tonight and get a blood meal from someone else. Niko tells me I am greedy to require it from you since you are doing so much for us. I apologize.” His eyes moved to the back of the sofa. “Is that bedding for me?”
Sarah had to pull her concentration from his body.
“Um, yeah.”
“Then I will retrieve them and be out of your sight for the rest of the day. Thank you, doctor, for helping us to get out of the hospital and eliminate any threat of exposure.”
“You are welcome, Mies, Nik. Um, I put two extra towels in there, just shove them under the door. Sleep well. If you need something, I will be right here.”
After a brief smile and curt nod, Mies closed the door for the last time.
Sarah downed her cold coffee and went to her bed. Without undressing, she dropped onto the mattress and rolled to face the wall. No vampires, no. No, no, no.
She fell asleep with those words repeating in her mind.
Even with the drapes drawn and the plastic blinds pulled, weak sunlight still leaked in.
Exhausted from long shifts, and now the concern and worry with this situation, Sarah startled when a voice invaded her sleep and she floated into awareness. Was someone speaking to her? They couldn’t be, she was alone in the apartment. Wasn’t she? Moments passed before she became fully alert and memory returned…no, she wasn’t alone, not even close. Two men whose fates were intertwined slept just a few feet away.
Was someone calling her?
Pushing out of the bed, she went to just outside the bathroom door, put her ear close to the panel and listened.
The silence within convinced her that she’d just imagined a voice, so she went back to her bed, but removed her clothes to slide into her satin nightgown and crawled back into the bed, this time under her covers.
Minutes later, in that twilight zone between wakefulness and sleep, she heard the voice again, quiet, but insistent.
Flipping the blanket back, she went to the bathroom, hesitated only a moment, then opened the door carefully.
“Nik? Mies?” she asked beneath her breath.
No one in the darkened room answered, so she entered.
“Are you all right?” While she wanted to let him know that she was there if he needed her, she didn’t want to wake him either if he really hadn’t called out.
He was breathing deeply, and a little uneven. She could see him in the filtered light that slipped through the narrow opening, lying on top of the blankets.
Of course, he was naked and uncovered again. Now, she couldn’t stop herself, she looked. Hard lines, sharp definition, and smooth skin covered the body that was much larger than Nikolai had been. His big arms looked like they could cradle the world, and she couldn’t help but think that that might be one of the reasons Mies had been sent back.
But the sleeping man was silent now, so she started back out of the room when a low voice said, “Sarah, stay with me.”
It was Nikolai. When he spoke, much about the voice was different.
“Are you all right?”
“I haven’t been all right for months. Sarah, I’m terrified that I’ll never be myself again. More than that, I’m pretty sure that when all of this is sorted, I’ll fade away and all that will be left is my vampire invader. It isn’t his fault, I know that, and he doesn’t intend that it will go like that, but I know. I know that I will just fade into nothingness and just be gone as if I never existed. I’m scared, Sarah.”
“Oh, Nik.” Sarah felt his pain, her empathic ability weak since she no longer had a connection to Xavier, but remnants remained, and her heart ached for him.
Stepping cautiously over the pallet, she slid down and put her arms around Nikolai’s big body. He pulled her close and buried his face into her hair.
“This is the first human contact I’ve had since I nearly died,” he whispered. “You feel so good. So human.”
“I will keep you safe, my friend, if there is any way on this earth or through the universe, I will take care of you. Sleep, Nikolai, this body is still very damaged and the rest will heal you.”
“Stay, please, just until I fall asleep again without the dreams.”
“I will. Dream good dreams, da? Sladikh snov.”
After a sigh, his breathing slowed and she could feel his muscles relax. His hair was still damp and smelled sweet from her scented body wash. She held him close and kissed his forehead.
Sighing, she looked up into the darkness, worried. Sarah had always known she was very bright, and tenacious, but this was such an enormous thing. Did she have the knowledge to help fix something so huge? Something that the universe had put into place, could a single human woman affect that event at all?
She would have to. There was no doubt at all, she must help Nikolai get his life back. The big vampire who wore his skin would have to seek different dwellings.
“I won’t let you take him,” she whispered into Nikolai’s ear. Relaxing against him, she, too, fell back asleep.
Sarah moaned. Ahhh, that felt incredible. She was dreaming that Mies’s fingers were moving across her belly, the place between her legs pulsing as it begged for the same attention. When she felt lips and teeth replace the fingers to travel from her navel and lower, she began to wake, and groaned the word no because she didn’t want to. Dreams were safe, she could explore this unwanted sexual desire with him in that shadowy place in her mind because it wasn’t real. But not if she woke too soon.
Sliding her hands down to bury her fingers in his long hair, she held him close to her skin and heard him chuckle.
“This will be perfect,” his deep voice said on a growl.
“I can’t believe I’m dreaming of you,” she mused out loud.
“It’s all a dream,” he answered, as his tongue moved up her body and curled around a nipple.
When a piercing whine interrupted the erotic moment, Sarah wondered what the hell it was. Her head felt leaden as realization struck. It was her alarm clock, but why was it ringing in this dream?
She woke completely seconds later and knew. This wasn’t a dream.
With force, she shoved Mies away from her.
“Get off me,” she hissed.
The room was too dark to see him clearly, but she knew that if her alarm had gone off, it was night and safe to open the door, so she surged up, pulled the bathroom door open and raced into her living room.
Her nightgown fell back into place, but everywhere he’d touched her still tingled. She raised her eyes to look at him as he walked from the bathroom, his cock fully erect, his stride easy. Standing before her, naked, ready to take her, the most glorious man she’d ever seen, she couldn’t take her eyes off him as much as she begged herself to look away. The offensive orbs kept straying to the hard organ between his legs. She suddenly realized he’d been speaking to her and raised her gaze back to his.
“I don’t understand. You enjoyed my attentions. I want you, can you not see that? It may have been a long time since I was with a woman, but I can promise you an orgasm like none you have ever experienced. And you came to me, I did not come to you.”
“Yes, I was with you, but…I mean, I was there for Nikolai. I’m sorry if you misunderstood. This isn’t your fault, but I don’t want to have sex with you. You need to believe that.”
He smiled and pushed the thick hair back from where it had fallen over his forehead. “I would believe that more if you had not responded so deliciously. Why do you deny this attraction?”
“Because…” She didn’t know how to explain it without implicating herself. It was time to ju
st tell the truth.
“Mies, you are first blood and one of the sexiest creatures I’ve ever seen. But I’ve lived with vampires my entire life. When I decided to move to Boston recently, it was difficult to make the commitment to living my life as a normal human. I don’t want to be involved with you on a sexual level because you’re right. I know that once I have sex with you, no one else will be enough for me. And I need to be able to bond with a fully human male if I plan to live a normal human life. You understand?”
“I understand that you are attracted to me, that you want me, but that you don’t want to lie with me.”
“I was blood-bonded for most of my life to a first blood, you already know that. He was extremely masculine, extraordinarily sexy, but I was never attracted to him in that way. I never wanted to be.”
Mies seemed to take offense. “Sexier than this body that I inhabit? You know that when my lifeforce takes control, it changes, don’t you? This body is not the same when I imbue it as when Nikolai does. Have you not seen a difference when I walk in this body than when your friend does?”
“I have.” Sarah expelled a long breath and looked up at the ceiling briefly. “Oh, yeah, have I. This is what I’m telling you. I want to help you, both of you, but I don’t want to make love with you. It’s just that straightforward. That’s the deal, Mies. You either accept it or find another way.”
It must have been her overactive imagination that made her think that he looked hurt by her curt demand. Even so, he nodded, and walked back into the bathroom.
Good God, what a fine ass! He had the perfect buttocks, and she knew that because, once again, her eyes betrayed her and watched him every step of the way.
“Coffee,” she groaned, and hurried to the kitchenette to start the kettle. They both needed the beverage as a distraction when he came back out.
Moments later, he walked out carrying the blankets. She knew right away that it was Nikolai who laid them on the back of the sofa and joined her in the kitchenette.