Insolita Luna

by M. J. O'Shea

  I laughed. “I’ll try to get out the door quickly.” I couldn’t help messing with him a little. “It’ll be awfully tempting to take a nice long romantic shower together, though.”

  He made a strangled noise and hung up the phone.

  Still laughing, I went to the bed to wake Noah. He was sprawled out on his back, lips slightly open and one arm crooked behind his head. His bright silky hair was draped halfway over his eyes. He looked so peaceful and sweet lying there like that, I almost hated to wake him… almost.

  With a near silent snicker, I started kissing his stomach and his soft pink nipples. He moaned a little but didn’t wake. Grinning openly, I gently tugged his boxers to his knees and then off the ends of his feet. I crawled back under the blanket and between his gracefully muscled thighs. He moaned and reached under the covers to tug at my hair. I took him into my mouth as far as I could, using my tongue and my hands to give him every sensation possible. He breathed hard, telling me how hot I was and how amazing my mouth felt. I increased the pressure of my tongue and cupped the globes of his amazing butt in my hands. When my fingers accidentally slipped to his entrance, I took the opportunity to test the waters. I pushed gently, wondering how he’d react.

  “Yes, babe,” he murmured, his voice catching. “I want you to—” He drew his breath in sharply.

  I knew what he wanted. I wanted it too. Moistening my finger in my mouth, I massaged it against his muscles, ready to delve into uncharted territory.

  “You ready?” I asked, then took another long lick on his straining shaft.

  “Yeah, just take it slow. I’ve never let anyone do this before.”

  “Really?” I figured he’d have at least tried.

  “I guess there was always a part of me I was saving for you subconsciously,” he murmured and kissed my nose. I smiled softly, then distracted him with a long deep kiss while I pushed one finger into him.

  He breathed in sharply against my lips, then let his back arch slightly. The way he moved was so beautiful, it made my breath catch in my throat. His cheeks flushed a soft mottled pink and he pushed his head against the pillow.

  “Zack… more.”

  I knew someday soon I’d be inside him, not just my hand, but I wanted to start slow. Noah didn’t last long. He panted loudly, groaning and laughing. I reveled in the sounds of him overwhelmed by the pleasure I’d caused.

  After a few moments, I crawled my way back up him with a huge smile. “Wake up, babe,” I whispered before claiming his lips in a sweet little kiss.

  He let out a soft bark of laughter. “I think that may have been the best wake-up call in the history of forever.”

  “Thank you,” I answered with a satisfied purr. I gave him a light tap on the hip. “Now we gotta get up. I told PC we’d be over there for game night in like a half hour.”

  “We have to get out of bed?”

  Noah’s disappointed look made me giggle and melt all at the same time. “Yeah. I promised. But don’t worry. We can start where we left off as soon as we get back.”

  He grinned at me and hopped out of bed, heading for my hallway bathroom. “Hey, Noh?” He turned and looked back at me. I pointed to a white door in the corner. “My bathroom’s in there. The shower is way better than that little thing in the hall. Definitely room for two.” He stopped in his place and turned toward the right direction but not before making a seductive beckoning motion with his finger.

  I was more than happy to follow.

  THE NIGHT was beautiful. Soft and warm, but not sticky like summer nights so often get. Since PC’s apartment was so close, we decided to walk instead of wasting the gorgeous evening sitting in a cab. I loved how it felt to walk down the street with Noah, holding his hand. It hammered in the fact that I really was with him, in my neighborhood and not just in the suspended reality of the lake house. We were together for real. I squeezed his hand and leaned over to brush my lips across his cheek as we walked.

  “What was that for?”

  “Nothing. Just happy that we’re here together. I’ve probably walked this neighborhood a hundred times, wishing you were walking next to me just like now.”

  He brought my hand up to kiss it. “Believe me, wherever I was, I was wishing the same thing.”

  We walked in companionable quiet for a few blocks. I couldn’t get over how different everything seemed. It was the same neighborhood I’d lived in for nearly my whole life, but it looked like a new world. Everything was brighter, clearer, more interesting than it had been only weeks before when I’d been packing a bag full of dread and trying to prepare myself for the lake.

  On one street, they had strung all the trees with white fairy lights—tiny and sparkling. In the winter, the white lights always reminded me of ice, but in the warmth they seemed more like tiny fireflies, dancing around in the soft night breeze. Maybe it was just my happiness, but I could’ve sworn I felt magic in that street.

  Noah looked around in wonder, taking in the night, the lights, the brick buildings, and the people. I knew he was feeling the same thing too. I caressed his wrist with my thumb and smiled at him, loving the warmth in his eyes.

  A few blocks from PC’s place, I had a nasty surprise. I’d been so wrapped up in Noah that I barely noticed any of the other people on the street. It took me a few seconds to realize someone was calling my name. I looked up and saw a guy across the street waving both his arms to get my attention.

  “Who’s that?” Noah asked. I focused on the figure across the street for a little while before I was certain. Great.

  “That’s Jared,” I whispered. “A huge mistake I made last September that won’t go away.”

  Jared galloped toward us enthusiastically, somehow managing to grin at me and eye Noah suspiciously at the same time. “Hi, Zack, I didn’t know you were in town.” He eyed Noah again while he spoke, eyes moving from his toes up, slowly and scornfully. I could see the second he noticed we were holding hands.

  I smiled and tried to look happy to see him. I’d been on the receiving end of a few of his tantrums before. I didn’t want one to explode all over the street. “I just got back last night. I haven’t had a chance to call anyone yet.” It honestly hadn’t even crossed my mind to call anyone.

  “Well, I see you’ve been busy.”

  I didn’t like the way he was looking at Noah at all. “Jared, this is my boyfriend Noah.” Noah gave him a friendly smile. Jared didn’t return it. A small petty part of me liked the pissy little look Jared had on his face. Served him right for pestering me all those months when I made it clear that nothing was going to come of that one night of messing around.

  “Well, good luck, honey. It’ll never last with this one. He’s still hung up on some guy he refuses to talk about. Believe me, I should know. He strung me along for months.” He huffed loudly.

  I rolled my eyes at him.

  “It was good to see you, Jared.” I pulled on Noah. “Babe, we gotta go. We’re going to be late for the card game.” I could feel Jared’s eyes on my back, but I didn’t dare turn.

  We got around the corner before Noah lost it. He burst out laughing, nearly falling to the ground. “You had a thing with him?”

  I shoved his shoulder. “Shut up!” I was having a hard time not laughing myself. “I told you—huge mistake. I was sad, I’d been drinking; it was a weak moment. Believe me, I’ve been paying for it ever since.”

  Still laughing a little, he tugged my hand up around his neck until we were holding each other right there on the corner, under the twinkly fairy lights.

  “So are you going to dump me over some guy from your past?”

  “Maybe.” I pulled him close for a short kiss. “That guy was impossible to forget.” He kissed me again and nipped gently at my lower lip. “Plus, he was the best kisser ever,” I whispered, threading my fingers through his hair and pulling on it.

  “Yeah?”

  “Yep,” I answered and kissed him one more time, just to prove my theory, of course. When he surfac
ed from our kiss, his lips were pink and wet and his cheeks were flushed. I wanted to turn around and go back to my apartment—no, our apartment—right then. He was so beautiful….

  Noah must have been able to tell what I was thinking. He tugged on my hand, pulling me in the direction of PC’s apartment. “C’mon. Let’s go before I embarrass myself on the street corner.”

  “I’m about half a heartbeat away from that myself.” He snickered and pulled me a little faster.

  THE TEXAS Hold ’em tournament was in full swing by the time we got to PC’s apartment. We pulled up chairs and were dealt in. Everything I knew about the game, I’d learned during a friend’s birthday party sophomore year of high school… so basically, I didn’t have a clue. I played a few hands, trying to pay attention to what was going on, but it was so confusing that I just started betting randomly, not knowing if I really had anything or not.

  It probably wouldn’t have mattered anyway. From what I could pick up, there were two games going on. The first was the card game, which was confusing enough. The second, well, let’s just say I wasn’t even equipped to be a participant. Finally, PC must have gotten a glimpse of my bewildered and slightly frustrated look because he called a halt.

  “Okay, rules repeat!” he called out after we all had our cards. “No switching cards with your hands or any other part of your body, no glamouring—he looked at Noah and Leila—no mind reading—a glance at Jason. I’ll try not to scent as much as possible.”

  “And no temper tantrums!” Leila chimed in, pointing straight at PC.

  “Hey, I haven’t done that tonight!”

  “What’s glamouring?” I asked.

  “Don’t you watch TV?” PC laughed.

  “Apparently not the right TV,” I answered.

  “Glamouring or compelling is Vampire 101,” Noah told me. “We can use our minds to convince people that they want the same thing we do.”

  “You can?”

  “To a point.” Hmmm. I stored that one away for later. “And scenting?” I was pretty sure I’d figured that out, but I wanted to check.

  “I’m like a wolf, right?” PC said “So, I can use scents in ways you can’t even imagine. I know the smell of fear, or the way someone sweats when they’re lying, Leila.” We all grinned at that. “It’s fairly instinctual, but I can attempt to turn it off for our purposes.”

  “I feel like the dorky kid sitting at the popular table,” I complained.

  They all laughed at me, and Noah put his arm around my shoulder. I nuzzled his neck for a second before I laughed and pulled away. “Hey! You’re just trying to see my cards!”

  “I’d love to see your cards,” he leered jokingly, giving me an exaggerated, sexy smile. Jason and PC made gagging noises and threw popcorn at him. Leila just raised her eyebrows and smiled serenely.

  The game went on for another hour or so, until it became obvious that, rules or no rules, everyone was using their gifts to cheat so outrageously that we weren’t even playing poker anymore. The second game had completely taken over and I couldn’t even try to compete.

  I wandered into the kitchen to grab another soda from the fridge. Even though it was late, the night was still warm, and a cold drink sounded really nice. I was reaching for the bottle when I felt a presence behind me. Suddenly on edge, I whipped around, only to see the tiny little vampire Leila standing in the doorway, watching me with a smile. Her impossibly small stature, combined with the two long, thick pigtails that trailed down the front of her shirt, made her look like a schoolgirl. I let out my breath slowly.

  “You scared me,” I told her with a grin.

  She giggled. “It’s good to know that you’re not too complacent. Get tired of the game?” She gestured with her head at the wildly betting group behind her.

  “We all know I wasn’t really playing. I can’t compete with you guys.”

  She nodded ruefully. “You know, you fit in so well with us, I keep forgetting that you’re human.”

  She may have forgotten, but I thought about it constantly. Since the idea of becoming a vampire had leapt into my mind, it was all I could seem to concentrate on.

  “What’s it like to get turned?” I asked. I’d wanted to ask Noah, but I was afraid he’d freak out if I even mentioned it.

  Leila smiled. “It was so long ago. I can barely remember.”

  “How long ago?” I turned red. “I mean, I know you’re not supposed to ask girls how old they are, but—”

  “It’s okay,” she laughed softly. “I don’t mind. It’s not like I look my age. Let’s just say the Greeks were still a major naval superpower when I was human.”

  “But that was—”

  “Around the time when my people were fighting Leonidas and the Spartans at Thermopylae.”

  “Wait, that really happened? Like in the movie?”

  “More or less,” she answered with a wink.

  “The things you must have seen,” I whispered, feeling like it was inappropriate to talk out loud somehow.

  “I’m still the same person I was an hour ago, Zack. You’re looking at me like I’m the Virgin Mary.”

  “More like Athena or something.” At that, she laughed outright.

  “I’d love to see you tell Jason you think I’m the goddess of wisdom. He might have something to say about that. But to answer your question, I was turned by choice, as I’m assuming you’re considering. It was painful, that much I remember. Definitely didn’t feel like the regular bites.” She winked at me. She had to have known what Noah and I were doing. I’d never thought to check Jason’s neck for bite marks, but I was sure he’d have a few as well.

  “You said you were turned by choice. Who did it?”

  “My husband. We were together for many years before he was killed.”

  “By a hunter?”

  She nodded. “I’m so sorry,” I mumbled.

  “Zack, it’s okay. It was nearly two hundred years ago. I still miss him, but I’ve found someone else who will put up with me.” She smiled. “It broke my heart, though. As far as I know, he’d never killed a single human, other than in war when he was a soldier. The hunters simply refuse to believe that we are capable of decency.”

  “I don’t know how they look at you, or at Noah, and see a monster. You’re such amazing people. I’ve never met anyone with a bigger heart than him.”

  She reached up and cupped my face with her cool hand. “He loves you so much. It makes me happy to see that you feel the same.”

  I turned red, but I smiled at her words. “I always have,” I answered simply, unable to say much more. It had been such an emotional few weeks.

  “You want to get back before they miss us?” She could probably tell I was feeling a bit overwhelmed. I nodded wordlessly and followed her back to the living room.

  “Hey, babe,” Noah greeted me when I sat down. I laid my head on his shoulder for a second and kissed his cheek.

  “Hey.”

  “You wanna be dealt in?” PC asked.

  I rolled my eyes and smiled. “Like I was really playing. I’ll just be happy to watch.”

  “Suit yourself.” PC shuffled the deck expertly and began to deal.

  THEY WERE in the middle of their next hand when the front door suddenly creaked open. I felt the tension immediately explode. PC reached under his chair, and I heard the metallic clink of a safety being removed. Little tiny Leila suddenly looked more than formidable, her fangs glistening and her eyes wild. Even Noah tensed, automatically putting his body in front of mine.

  A woman, who actually looked like little more than a girl, floated through the door in a flurry of scarves and designer purses. In half a heartbeat, everyone but me relaxed. I finally breathed when I saw them smiling at the lovely creature.

  “Mom!” PC called, standing to greet the diminutive young woman with wildly curling chestnut hair and the golden eyes of a wolf. As soon as he said the word, I saw the resemblance in their faces. “What are you doing in town? I thought you and Dad
were in France.”

  I leaned over to Noah. “Why does PC’s mother look like a teenager?”

  “I’ll explain later,” he whispered back and rose. “It’s good to see you, Sabina.” He gave her a tight hug.

  “Hello, my dear.”

  Her voice was faintly accented and sounded much more mature than her appearance would have led me to expect. They hugged for a long moment before pulling back. She looked around Noah’s shoulder, regarding me curiously. I got the feeling she was a kind of mother figure for him. I knew it was important for her to like me.

  “Sabina, this is my boyfriend, Zack.” I stood and shook her hand.

  She sniffed at me delicately. “Human, no?” she asked, her nose puckering slightly.

  You make it sound like it’s a disease.

  “Mother, don’t be a snob. You married a human, if I do recall.”

  She smiled. “Yes, I did. I apologize, Zack. We don’t spend much time in the human community anymore. It was a bit startling.”

  “That’s okay,” I answered, thrown off by her regal nature. As young as she looked, I’d never met anyone who seemed so… sophisticated.

  “You never said why you were here, Mom.”

  “Your father got a call from his cousin Andre. He said there was a new coven of vampires in the city, a bit nasty according to reports of their activity.”

  Noah’s body went still all of a sudden. I felt the tension rolling off him. Nobody had to ask what he was thinking.

  “How many?” His voice was quietly intense.

  “Two males and a female, from what most can tell. There may be more.”

  “Does anyone know when they got here?”

  Sabina shook her head. “Noah, darling, you have someone to protect now.” She gave me a significant look. “No more chasing ghosts.”

  He took a deep calming breath and nodded. I decided, right at that moment, he and I needed to have a serious talk when we got back to the apartment. “You’re right, Sabina. I don’t want to put Zack or myself in serious danger. Please let me know what you find out, though.”