by C. L. Quinn
“Well, you look incredible.”
“It’s a remaining gift of vampire blood. I’ve never been sick, and while I’m aging, it’s kinder than it might be otherwise. I’m happy, though. I’ve good friends here, and I can finish the rest of my journey with them.”
Sanquinetta raised her wine glass up in a mock toast.
“That’s beautiful, Buddy, and maybe the best anyone can hope for. A well-lived life and a peaceful passing.”
Scooting his chair back, Saul stood and leaned over Dani’s shoulder. “Would you take a walk on the beach with me?”
“Uh, yeah. Okay.” Dani looked at the others around the table, all eyes on them. “Excuse us.” She picked up her own glass before she followed Saul down old wood steps to the sand below.
Sipping her wine, Dani watched Saul’s silhouette as they walked away from Buddy’s beach house. “It’s a quiet night,” she finally commented.
Saul nodded, his head still silhouetted as he looked away from the rising moonlight. “It is. It might not have been if we’d stayed in our homes.”
“No.”
“Dani, you trust Quattro.”
“Yes, Saul, I do.”
“Are you…” Saul trailed off and didn’t start again.
“Ask your question.”
“Are you interested in him? Sexually? I know that you two have some kind of bond, but, is it sexual? Romantic? Damn it, Dani, do you want him?”
Stopping, she grabbed Saul’s left arm and stopped him too. “No.” Then a few seconds later, she repeated the word, but Saul sensed something different. “No. But. Saul, I can’t explain how I feel about him, it’s kind of complicated. He’s sexy, anyone can see that. I can tell you, that when it comes to sexual and emotional attraction, it isn’t Quattro I want.”
Saul thought he might fall on his knees in gratitude to the universe. His next question was equally important.
“Can you see yourself spending your life with me?”
“Shit. I’m not ready to answer a question like that.”
Dani walked down the beach, moving quickly away from Saul. Then he heard her seconds later. “Yes, I can.”
He had her in his arms before she could take another breath. “That will do for now. We don’t have to say another word.”
“Good. I’m all talked out.”
Dragging him down the beach, she pulled him into a cutout in the landscape that looked like a shallow cave.
After pushing him down, Dani lowered herself on top of him, his hands trapped under hers while she started to bite his neck. That simple act set him on fire and Saul was ready to roll her over when Dani held a hand up to stop him.
“Uh,uh. It’s my turn.”
Sliding down Saul’s hard body, her own grateful for the contact, Dani slipped her hands under his pants and tugged them with her as she went. A strong yank pulled them past firm buttocks and let his cock pop free as she finished by yanking the pants down to his ankles.
“Now, where was I? Ah, yes…”
Fingers clamping muscled thighs, she moved back up Saul’s body, her eyes on his cock, which he now held upright, slowly massaging the head.
“Let me see that,” she whispered, patted his hands away, and ran her own fingers from top to bottom, spiraling quickly until she leaned over, using her teeth, gently nipped all along the wet slit as he had done to hers last night.
His groan fired her and she dropped down to give the begging organ what it wanted.
“Just stay still. I don’t need your help.”
Saul did as asked, although he stayed up on his elbows so he could watch Dani’s lips and mouth make love to him. That she was there, so intimately biting and licking him, pulling him into her, he could barely hold on, an orgasm building too quick under Dani’s skilled attention. Far too soon, and not really soon enough, he exploded, pumping all over himself and Dani, warm, slick, generous.
“I think I accomplished my goal,” she whispered, laughing, her eyes back on Saul’s face as she crawled over his body to drop against his bare chest.
“Saul…I hope you can tell, it’s only you I want.”
Saul barely heard her whisper, but when he realized what she said, he pulled her closer. Dizzy suddenly, small vibrations began to move through his body.
“Dani?”
“I feel it. Saul, it’s magic. My earth magic, moving around us.”
“Why? Are you all right?”
“Yeah, um, I’m not sure…this hasn’t ever happened be…”
The vibrations intensified, curling through both as they lay wrapped close, holding tight onto the other, afraid to let go. It was that closeness, that connection, which completed the earth-based magical bond between a child born of the chosen protectors of earth, first bloods, and a child born of the earth itself in Dani.
Slowly, the vibrations calmed, leaving Saul and Dani still holding each other, skin to skin.
“I’ve, uh, experienced a lot these past two years since I became an earth warrior, but this…this is different.”
“Whatever it was, I still feel prickles running inside me.”
“It was a bonding of some kind, Saul.”
Dani smiled and pulled away to look into his eyes.
“Earth magic seems to have decided that, for some reason, we are meant to be together. I feel the prickles too. Magics like this usually have a purpose. I’ve learned not to question them, just embrace them.”
Lying beside Saul, their eyes locked, Dani saw his begin to glow. “Saul…”
He slipped a finger along her lips. “Maybe it’s telling us something we already know.”
As Dani studied Saul, she realized that she wouldn’t want to wake up another day in her life without seeing that beautiful face.
“Yeah…” Dani whispered, and leaned down to kiss the man she knew she would spend all the remaining days of her life with. The kiss was deep, tender, and when he rolled her over and pulled her into him, every touch a lover’s touch, both knew that this bond made by love and magic was unbreakable.
Arriving back at Buddy’s house, their fingers intertwined, Saul and Dani watched light crawl up the sky behind the house.
“I guess I’m done for the day. Are you coming in?”
“I’d like to watch the sunrise, but I won’t be long.”
“Okay. Well, sleep tight. See you tonight.”
“Okay.”
After Saul was gone, Dani wandered back down the deck stairs to walk along the beach as the sky changed from scarlet to orange to golden, then faded away to cerulean.
She hadn’t expected this, hadn’t expected Saul. To fall in love with no warning at all. Wasn’t that supposed to happen gradually as, over time, two people begin to know they were a good fit?
This sudden odd relationship fit perfectly with the crazy nature of her life for the past two years and for a moment, watching golden light steal across sparkling water, she wondered if she could trust it. They really didn’t know each other, anything about each other. How could they call this love?
Now seated in the sand, her knees pulled up and arms resting on them, Dani had to admit that none of that seemed relevant. She’d watched Saul’s eyes as she walked into a room, seen the glow, the pleasure he couldn’t disguise. She’d felt trickles of joy when he touched her and at the thought of sex with him, arousal came hard.
Glancing back at the house, she knew he was in a room by himself, tired and naked. As she released a soft sigh. That’s exactly where she needed to be.
Pausing a few more minutes before she went inside, she lingered to enjoy the final moments of the sunrise. There wouldn’t be many more in her life.
Past the stairs, she saw four doors coming off a wide hallway, the first door the only one open, and when Dani peeked in, she saw San and Eva lying on a large bed.
“Hey, there. You can sleep here with Eva and I’ll take the cot if you’d like.”
Dani hesitated for a few moments and before she could answer, Sanquinetta
pushed Dani’s travel bag toward her with her foot. “Or, you can get out of here and join that hot vamp in Room 2, the next one down on this side.”
“You knew of course.”
“Sweetheart, no one in their right mind should turn down that handsome hunka hunka. Particularly if they’re falling in love.”
No answer, the girls already knew Dani well enough. Picking up her bag, she glanced at friends who had saved her life as often as she’d saved theirs. “I love you guys, you know that.”
“We do. We love you right back, but get out of here before Saul goes into that deep daytime sleep.”
Out the door, closing it behind her, because she knew the girls were done for the day too, Dani opened the door to the second room. A tiny ambience light glowed along the perimeter, just enough for her to see Saul, on the bed, a sheet dragged low exposing most of his naked body.
The door closed behind her and Dani stayed, leaning her weight against it, this moment likely one of the most defining in her life. The man resting in that bed, beautiful, loving, gentle, powerful, vampire, was hers and she was his. From this day for the rest of her life, they would be together, navigating the years, laughing, loving, crying, sharing it all.
She watched him roll over and the sheet slide down to reveal his cock at rest, snuggled up next to him.
“All mine,” Dani whispered, set her bag aside, walking toward him, she dropped her clothes and slid in beside Saul.
Moaning, but not waking, he rolled toward her and pulled her to him.
Home in his arms for the rest of her life, Dani’s last thought before she fell asleep was a thank you to the universe. He was worth the wait.
A cloudless dark sky covered Buddy’s deck as he presented first meal for the first time in so many years, he couldn’t remember.
“Haven’t seen a vampire in a long time, guys and this has been nice. So, this is the last of my store run. If you plan to stay tonight, I’ll head to Seaside Market and resupply.”
Crunching on fried fish, Jack shook his head. “Naw, Buddy, you’re hosting us. I’ll make that trip for you. Yeah, if it’s okay, this is a safe location until we figure out what the hell is going on, we’d love to stay if we’re welcome.”
“Of course, of course. All right, then, after we eat, I’ll show you where the market is.”
“Perfect. Then we need to head back to our office to meet someone.”
Kwano wandered out, barely awake, wearing only wildly striped briefs. “Buddy, I slept like the dead. That bed is fantastic.”
“You haven’t slept on a Zentastic mattress before? Damn, I wouldn’t sleep on anything else. They’ve been on the market for about six years. That is one of the things with you vampires. You’ve been around so long, you miss some of the new things. Old habits, I guess, whether human or vampire, rarely change. We’re all vulnerable. Yeah, Kwano, you all have to get one.”
“Never slept more comfortably. As soon as we fix our current problem, I will. Thank you, Buddy, for hosting us. You are a kind man.”
“Aw, no worries. This is a kick. I love my human life, I do, but it’s great to spend some time with vamps again. No one knows how to enjoy life better than you guys.”
“A long life is miserable unless you’re having fun, right, Saul?”
Saul, alone, walked out of the house, sliding a white tee shirt over thick arms.
“Completely agree. Damn, nice spread again, Buddy.”
Saul dropped into a chair and started filling a plate. He’d topped off an impressive mound before Sanquinetta leaned across the table. “Where’s Dani?”
Saul lowered his head, trying to hide an emotional smile. “Um, still asleep.”
Always naughty, Sanquinetta nodded. “Wore her out, did you?”
His eyes hit hers, and Sanquinetta saw moisture. From that first moment she’d accepted Saul as a part of the team, she’d seen his tender heart. He was in love, and she knew from their conversations in the past that it was the first time. Even she began to tear up.
She slid a hand across the table to touch his.
“I’m happy for you, my friend.”
He nodded wordlessly and went back to his plate.
Evaleigh’s considerably smaller portions nearly gone, she looked up at Jack. “I’ll come with you when you hit the store. I need a lino cable and a few more tap lines to set up my computer here.”
“Cool. After we eat, we’ll make a quick trip.”
Half an hour later, at Seaside Market, Jack began to select large quantities of food as Evaleigh walked past him.
“There’s an electronics section near the rear, Jack. I’ll get what I need and join you in a few minutes.”
“All right. Just send a Vtex to find me when you come back.”
“’Kay. See ya.”
Moving through the Tak aisles where people chose goods with a wand connected to their account, she was pleased to see that the electronics section displayed the actual items so she could handle them personally.
Tak systems showed multiple aisles lined with 3-D images of products, the shopper would wave their purchase wand over its scanner, and then go to the front of the store to pick up all the items they’d chosen, already packaged and ready to go.
Some items, though, a shopper would need to see to choose, and electronics fell into that category.
Selecting a high-tech lino cable she needed to gain full access to the Web at Buddy’s house, she moved on to find the tap lines.
A young man with a Seaside Market badge that said Nathan saw Evaleigh wandering in his section.
“Can I help you find something?”
“Hi, yes, tap lines?”
“Over here.”
He led her around the next aisle, and stopped.
Evaleigh looked at the items, all software products, but no tap lines. “Um, sorry, where are they?”
“Not in this aisle.” Nathan didn’t move. “I was just supposed to bring you here.”
Looking around, Evaleigh’s right hand slid down to her waist to rest on her shock gun. “What? What do you mean you were supposed to bring me here?”
“Just that. I don’t know why.”
Compulsion. Yep, it was time to go.
Alarms going off in her head and gut, Evaleigh palmed the shock pellet gun that could stop a vampire, and moved through the aisles looking for Jack. Hidden behind a panel, she took a moment to send a quick Vtex, but he didn’t answer.
“Oh, we’re fucked,” she whispered. Jack would have answered. Somehow, this was going sideways fast.
Somehow, the enemy had found them.
She kept to the side of the building, her back protected by the wall, eyes scanning for any movement. An older woman using her wand to choose her groceries passed Evaleigh, giving her a strange look as Evaleigh lowered her gun, but remained on guard. Around another corner, eyes shooting around the space ahead, she started to move toward the front with a burst of speed when hands grabbed her head, hard, biting into her skull.
Eyes downcast, she tried to bring her gun up to fire, but something hit her hands with such force, pain splintered up her arm, nearly collapsing her.
“Give up, pretty little hunter. You can’t win.”
Don’t let him compel you, you’re lost if you do.
She tried, oh fuck, she tried, but he forced her head upward, her eyes closed, she was lost when he squeezed, squeezed, squeezed, bones in her face ready to crack.
“Look at me,” he commanded.
Finally, because the pain was too awful and because Evaleigh knew he could, and would, shatter her skull, she opened her eyes and let him in. Once compelled, she knew that it was over.
Her eyes moved over his face, recognized him from the vid images she’d recovered, and matched a voice to him. Handsome, sure, long dark hair pulled up into a man-bun, eyes coal black, he grinned. “You will do everything I tell you to do and you will not try to leave my side.”
Yeah, it was done. Vampires had gotten another vamp
ire hunter.
“Felix! I’ve got her!”
Peele hurried toward the front of the market, Evaleigh close behind. He was grinning, thrilled that they were finally getting these vampire hunters. This one, the gorgeous blonde with attitude, this one, by the Gods, was his. Ultimately, yes, she would die, along with the other hunters, but not before he had his fill of her. He glanced back at her pretty mouth. And she had her fill of him. His cock twitched. Fuck, he loved being a vampire!
The front of the market featured its food items, busier by far than the area where he’d captured his target, so he weaved between various shoppers, fully confident that his capture would stay right with him as commanded.
Felix was supposed to be waiting in front with the vampire named Jack, but he didn’t see him.
“Still working on it, I guess. Come on, huntress, we’re going to our lift-car. You’ll strap in the back and you won’t move for any reason.”
Out the door into the efficiently lit parking area, he led her to a luxury lift-car, pushed her inside, and into a seat near the rear.
“Do as I commanded. I’ll be back soon.”
It wasn’t necessary for him to watch Evaleigh’s furious face as she lifted the strap and secured it in place.
Fuck. Jack should have been the easy one. He hadn’t been. Just a made vampire, Felix expected to overcome him with little to no resistance, but Jack had seen him a split second before Felix was on him, and while it hadn’t been enough of a head start, it was enough to allow Jack to attempt to elude him.
No fucking way!
Pursuing the vampire through the market, he realized that Jack would only head one direction; toward the back because he knew they’d be after his little human friend. He couldn’t have been more obvious. And that was how he’d do this. Those emotional weaknesses brought down more men than anything else in history. Wars could be won by simply waiting for ridiculous attachments to fell the pathetic.