by C. L. Quinn
“Fuck.”
Nikolai had been listening to the exchange. “Zach, you’ve used that term before. First blood. What does it mean?”
It wasn’t Zach’s place to tell their secret to a human that he barely knew.
“It’s just a term. It refers to vampire blood. Nothing new, Nik. Still, a vampire graveyard several thousand years old is fascinating.”
“I agree. I can’t wait to see it,” Dez distracted Nikolai.
Nikolai clapped his hands. “Tomorrow night, I will lead you down. If you will excuse me, I tire. I will see you all at the last part of evening. Sleep well, my friends.” He looked at Dez. “I assume you will be bunking with my buddy here? Unless you have another idea in mind?”
Zach pitched an empty bottle at Nikolai, intentionally missing him. “Go to bed, comrade. Yes, she’s staying with me.”
“A guy has to try. The nights are cold here in Siberia.”
Pushing his chair back in, Nikolai bowed slightly.
“Sladkikh snov,” he said as he turned to go into one of the two rooms above ground.
“Sweet dreams to you, too, my friend,” Olivia responded as he closed the door. She turned to Zip. “You’ve been quiet tonight, Michael. Are you also beat?”
“I’ve just watched and listened. You people are fascinating.”
“We are, aren’t we?” Standing, she reached for his hand. “Well, it’s time for me to take this young man to our room and have my way with him. Or let him have his way with me. Is that the same thing? I intend to find out. Good-night, Zach.”
Good-night, Dez.
They were gone, leaving Dez and Zach alone at the table.
“Come with me.” Zach pulled Dez from her seat and led her down a hallway with no lighting that led to a narrow stairwell. “It isn’t luxury, but there’s more than enough room for what I want to do to you.”
“Sounds like paradise.”
“It will be.”
An excited shriek emanated from a door that Zach pulled Dez past and opened a second one beyond. The room was in almost total darkness until Zach lit a candle.
“Candlelight? Is that all the room has?”
“Yep. You need something else?”
In silence, Dez walked over to the wide mattress lying on the floor of what was essentially a hole in the ground.
“These rooms are just a cut-out basement. But you’re right, the bed is big enough. That’s all we need.”
She stepped up into the center of the mattress, balanced one hand against the wall, and twirled suddenly, like something that Superman might do. Her clothes were gone and she lay on her belly perched up on her elbows.
“Come and get me.”
Explosively, Zach was on her, fully dressed, because he couldn’t wait to have her naked beneath him. “I picked up some of your impatience, woman. I have a lot of catching up to do.”
I’ll say you do.
Zach smiled. Dez, in his head, her body beneath him, after so much time…God, she was here. While he wasn’t a patient man, he was going to do this right, make love to her now, slowly and thoroughly, until every inch of her vibrated off this mattress.
Lifting her legs up, he slid between them and bit, deep enough to draw blood, but lightly, so that he left a trail of nicks that he licked up until he reached the center between those long glorious legs. Instead of burying his tongue inside her, he moved to the other side and did the same, traveling down to her ankles, slender, soft, and bit again.
“Ah, fuck,” she moaned softly. “Baby, you know I don’t like foreplay. Get to it, get inside me and fuck me to the sky.”
Zach, his hands under her buttocks, his lips just inches from her clitoris, looked up into her eyes. She was pushed up on her elbows, her eyes half-closed, ready for an explosive orgasm.
“No,” he said, and flipped her over.
“No? Just fuck me, Zach.”
“Not happening. You’re used to calling the shots, I get that. Not tonight. I’m going to take my time and start from the bottom, work my way up, and then work my way back down. We’re not fucking, we’re connecting. We’re making love.”
Dez dropped her head onto her arms and did exactly as he wanted her to do, she shut up and let him touch her. Everywhere. Normally, she wanted him inside her, immediately, to make her body thrum, make her come and then hold her afterward. But they were new now, again, and this time it was different.
She felt his teeth on her neck, where he bit again, deep nips, and licked lingeringly. The bites, his touch, his tongue moving against her skin shot straight to her core, to the place between her legs that shared the greatest intimacy possible. The throbbing forced her up onto her elbows again, the need intense, the bloodletting driving it deeper.
“Zach…”
“No. Lie down or I’ll leave.”
God, no. No! Dez collapsed against the mattress again, but she wanted to put her hand between her legs and massage the swollen nub. He wouldn’t allow it.
Painstakingly slowly, Zach moved over her, his hard body hot and sensual, his mouth and hands burning as he went, until he lifted her buttocks up, nipped her at the crease where the curve met her legs, and slipped his fingers under her to graze her clit and slide into the moistness.
Control splintered and Dez rose, knocking Zach off the mattress.
“Get undressed. Now. If I have to wait, I’ll rip your clothes to shit.”
Zach’s smile would have rivaled one by Satan himself as he moved in hyper-speed, and stood naked, palming a full cock with his hand, ready for her.
Mirroring his speed, Dez had him under her and dropped down brutally to feed him inside her, her breasts against his chest as she moved toward a fast orgasm, already building from his tongue and teeth.
For the second time, he flipped her, remaining inside, and crushed her into the softness of the bed.
“My turn,” he whispered and drove it home, fast and hard, light fracturing across the walls from the candles flickering quickly because of the sudden air movement.
Neither could stop the loud gasps as they came stronger than they had ever before, their bodies suspended at the apex of the orgasms, then dropped like meteors shooting to earth.
Dez took Zach’s full weight easily, her eyes closed, and let herself linger on the feel of his wet body against every part of her body, his spent cock still buried in her. Two years she could have had this. Two wasted years.
Finally, Zach seemed to rouse and rolled off her with a moan. “Sorry, love, I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
Words were hard after such intense arousal, but Dez scooted closer and brushed his bangs from his forehead where they threatened to cover his eyes.
“You never have. You never could. I can’t believe I’ve made us miss this for two years.”
Zach didn’t speak at first. He just returned her loving gaze, then curled his fingers around her neck and pulled her close to slide his tongue into her mouth for a short, deep kiss.
“Darling, you don’t remember accurately. We never made love like this. We fucked, and we fucked well, but this kind of intimacy, we never achieved. I loved you, but you could never decide if you loved me back. Now, we’re both here to see if we are right for each other.”
The air stilled, and it seemed as if even the flickering flames stood at command. Dez slid back, pushed up on her side.
“Are you saying that you’re not sure of us anymore?”
“You know that I am not. We belong together, but it can’t work until you know that. You’ve been alone for too many years, baby. I think you just need to learn not to be. Please let me teach you.”
“I came around the globe to this icebox land for you from the Amazonian jungle. You may do whatever you want to convince yourself that I have changed. I admit I won’t be easy, I never have been. But I think you know that I am worth it. We are worth it, Zach.”
“I have never questioned that. Come here, love, let me feel you as I fall asleep and feel you there when I wake.
For me, that is a recurring dream.”
Dez nestled in, warm and safe in his arms, her head buried against the man she had missed desperately for too long. Emotions overwhelmed her, she tended to deny them and suppress them into oblivion. But here, held by Zach, aware she could have lost him forever, she accepted with grace that she was in love and that her feelings mattered.
Exhaustion began to take her, but just as it did, she heard a loud “Yee-haw!” come through the wall.
“Someone won first prize in the rodeo,” she heard Zach comment with a laugh, and then fell into a badly needed sleep.
Five
IN SOUTHERN FRANCE
Burne swung into Bas’s dining room and sighed when she saw the incredible first meal displayed on high tables around the edge of the room. First bloods. They knew how to live and they sure the fuck knew how to eat.
Park was already there, Bas at her side. Eillia was at the tables filling a plate. No one else was in sight. When she had been there the night before, the room had been filled, including Park’s father and his residents from down the hill, and the chatter of children, loud and overwhelming.
Looking up as Burne entered, Park glanced at Bas, and then back to Burne. She stood and stepped away from the table.
“Damn, where is everyone?”
“Bernie, please just stay there. I need you to go to the lab before you have first meal.”
It was apparent to Burne that Park was keeping her distance.
“Why?”
“We’ve received the report from my lab on your sample. Shit, Bernie, the news is very bad.”
“God, I knew it. Wait. Bas, can I have a slice of that German chocolate cake, please?”
He nodded and got up to cut a piece, then set it on a table near the door for her with a wide gold fork. After cutting into it, Burne placed it into her mouth and closed her eyes to immerse herself in the pure joy of the perfect food. Opening her eyes, she looked at her best friend and sighed. “Okay, tell me.”
“It’s viral, and it’s virulent. Burne, it attacks blood in much the way the vampire virus does. Only the virus that converts a human’s DNA to vampire rewrites it to a stronger lifeform. This virus degrades and destroys. It has the potential for a pandemic. Baron performed several tests on this virus with vampire blood, both made and born. It is more aggressive with a made vampire’s blood. Burne, I think it can kill. When did you talk last with Vaz?”
“Last evening. Vaz told me that his friend is pretty sick and they don’t know why. So you think it’s this virus?”
“I suspect that it is. Ultimately, with direct contact, the virus overtook the blood sample in two days. It is a killer. And not just for humans.”
“Ah, fuck. And you’ve never seen anything like this before?”
“No.”
Eillia walked up beside Park. “To my knowledge, no vampire has ever died of an illness. Whatever this is, it’s unknown or new. Burne, this virus is extremely dangerous.”
“The samples in the lab are isolated and safe, but Burne, you had direct exposure to this virus. You need to be tested.” Park’s hand dropped to her belly. “I can’t risk exposure until we know that you’re clear. We have just begun work to identify the qualities of the viral contagion, but right now, it’s just too great of an unknown. The danger with a virus for humans is well understood. For a vampire, it could be devastating.”
“But we don’t get sick.”
“No, ordinarily. In this case, it appears that we might. A virus is an extremely infectious agent. It invades a cell within the body of a host and once within, it forces the host’s own cells to replicate its own genetic material. Usually, our cellular makeup is always dominant, and we eradicate any biological contaminant immediately. Bernie, imagine how effective a virus would be in a vampire if our powerful metabolic system’s own defense can’t destroy the virus?”
“Holy fuck. All right, I’ll go right now.”
“They’re expecting you. I will stay with Baron through all of this. We’ll find a way to fix this, my friend.”
“If anyone can do this, it’s you.”
Burne was gone.
Park dropped into the nearest chair, Bas suddenly behind her.
“Sweetheart, it’ll be okay.”
“No, Bas, I don’t think it will be. The report Baron sent to me is terrifying. Once we determine if this is vehicle-borne, or through direct-transmission, we have our work cut out for us. We’ll have to find a way to destroy the virus within the host. For that, I’m going to need a much stronger team of virologists. For that, we’ll need a wing and a prayer.”
“Whatever, whoever, you need, it’s done. Let me know and I’ll contact Koen. He’ll take Daniel and get on it right away.”
Eillia ate a few items on her plate, then stood up.
“Park, I’ll contact the children of the Moon and see if they have any experience with something like this.”
“Thank you, Eillia. This will only be a success if we work together. If it turns out that this virus can infect vampires, all of us are in jeopardy.”
Worried, Park paced. “Eillia, I’m glad you’re willing to stay and help, but you need to go home and make sure that Daniel, Tamesine and Marc stay at Koen’s villa and keep the children there. I don’t want them exposed at all. I’ll wipe down anything that Burne has come into contact with. I’m pretty sure it isn’t airborne, but nothing is absolute until the final tests confirm that. Baron is going to keep Burne in decontamination until we know if she’s infected.”
Bas moved to Park’s side. “We have to trust that this will be okay.”
Nodding, Park slid her hands up his sides and pushed in for a tight hug. When she pulled back, she removed the heavy clip that held her long titian hair back, pulled it tighter, repositioned the clip and smiled.
“Well, time to go to work. We may have a pandemic to squash.”
Eillia picked up her cell phone and followed Park from the room.
Bas dropped back at his table and finished off the rest of the chocolate cake. “If I’m going to die, I’m going out with a smile on my face.”
SUNSET AT LAKE BAIKAL
Dez woke groggily, which wasn’t normal for her. Ordinarily, she shot awake and blew out of bed. This night, though, memory softened her mood, she stretched and looked to her side for Zach. He wasn’t there, so she rolled to the other side to find that the bed was empty except for her.
No worries, she thought. Today was the first day of the rest of their lives together. And it was a glorious day!
Sliding on a pair of loose-fitting sweatpants and a baggy sweatshirt lying on the floor, she lowered her face to bury her nose in the soft material that smelled like Zach.
Barefoot, she worked her way up the close stairs to find Zach tending a generous fire that warmed the little room nicely. He looked up and smiled when he saw her, hair tousled, dressed in his clothes, a bare foot resting on the other one.
“Gorgeous. I was sure I dreamed you until I woke with your knee pressed against my cock.”
“That was you?”
Splitting the air, Zach had Dez in his arms, her feet in the air, her arms reaching for him. “That will always be me for the rest of your life.”
“Oh. Well, then. I guess that’s all right.”
“Yawn. True love. Maudlin, isn’t it, Zip?” Dressed elegantly in a silk sweater and satin pants, her hair carefully pinned up with sparkly hairclips, Olivia entered the room with Zip right behind her.
As he finished buttoning his shirt, he looked up and smiled. “I think it’s great. I’ve always wondered if I would ever meet a girl someday that could take me from the mountains.”
“Why would you ever want to do that?” Olivia looked horrified as she reached for a bottle of milk on the tabletop.
“No, I don’t really mean I’d stop flying. But I wonder if I’d ever love someone enough to give it up for her.”
Eyebrows raised, a look of confusion on her face, Olivia poured a big gla
ss of milk and grabbed a sweet roll from a big plate. “Huh. Where’s Nik?”
“He’s on a breakfast run. It appears that we are eating him out of house and home. Someone needs to give that boy some funds.”
“I always do. He has access to my European accounts.”
“Ain’t you handy. In that case, I’m starving. He’s going to take all of us down into the ice caves tonight.”
Dez wiggled out of Zach’s arms. “Wow. Just what a girl who just traveled from ninety degrees wants to hear.”
“Change of scenery is good for you, love,” Olivia offered, her eyes moving lazily over Dez. Striking ensemble. I can see why the boy is heels over head.
Child, you don’t want to have a go at me. I’m at least a few centuries older than you and I could wipe this frozen lake with you.
Kidding. So sensitive. And I got the idea from Zach that you weren’t that type. Hard-ass is what I got.
No mistake there, missy. How’s the cowboy?
Olivia smiled. You heard that. He’s, um…unbridled.
Good for you. What happened to our truce?
It stands. I’m just a little bitchy before my morning coffee.
Ditto.
“Dez? Dez?”
An insistent voice finally punched through the telepathic connection she’d engaged with Olivia. Dez still smiled because, although she found Olivia annoying and pedantic, it was sort of liberating to have another person around who had the same skill.
“I’m sorry, pet, I got distracted. What was it?”
“Nikolai is back with breakfast and coffee. What would you like?”
Your naked ass against mine.
Olivia laughed so hard she spat some of her coffee out.
Zip looked at Zach. “Is there something going on here that I don’t know about?”
Shaking his head, Zach winced. “Just let it go, buddy. You’ll never really understand women and you’ll certainly never understand vampire women.”
Breakfast finished, Nikolai actually fit all five of them into his small car and drove north again.