by Jeff Schanz
He was trying to catch his breath, his mind too content to care that he was blankly staring at the ceiling. Sex had never felt like that before. With other women, it was always just lust and physical release. This was different. Lia's eyes were closed and her mouth was comfortably slack. She was breathing hard, too, but calming down easier than he was. Her fangs were pulsing and he decided he liked it. In her unique condition, those curious fangs were the visible representation that he had succeeded in giving her pleasure. It made him feel good looking at them. Then, like she just had an injection of new energy, she turned, planted a quick kiss on him, and glided over to the bathroom to clean up. He slid under the covers.
I’m never going to get used to that glide walk of hers. And I love it.
She came back quicker than he expected, still naked, and slid under the covers with him. She nestled her face into his chest and he engulfed her in his arms.
“That didn’t last long enough,” he said. “I wanted to do so much more with you.”
She gave him a mysterious smile. “My silly man thinks we’re finished.”
“We’re not? Good. I was afraid you’d think that was all I could do.”
“Well, if I was in my lab, I would never base my conclusion on a single experiment. Multiple experiments are needed.”
Brandt harrumphed like a soap opera diva. “Is that all I am to you? An experiment?”
She grinned impishly. “I shall conduct experiments to find out how many times we can climax together.”
Brandt felt a little anxiety. “Sounds wonderful, except – uh, you need to understand that men don’t recover as quickly as women. We can take, uh – twenty, thirty minutes, maybe longer before we can even – you know.”
She scrunched her face in a tigress snarl. “Mr. Dekker, I have read and memorized every sexual technique from every culture. I know things about your body that even you do not know. How did you put it? …Challenge accepted, sister.”
She reached down and stroked him with a gentle hand. It was enjoyable, but he was flaccid and nearly numb. Then she did something he honestly didn’t know what it was. Suddenly his heart was racing. And something else was coming alive again. Very alive. Holy shit.
She grinned wickedly. “Shall we start with page one of the Kama Sutra?” She snaked her way on top of him and shimmied into position. He felt like a bolt of electricity was going through him. They kissed and nibbled each other’s neck, then she started to move rhythmically. He had never felt so comfortable with a woman, and at the same time desired her so entirely. He was starting to believe they could make love indefinitely.
“How many of these techniques are we going to try?” he murmured between kisses.
“All of them,” she said and started moving faster.
CHAPTER 28
Brandt stood at the wheel of the trawler. The wind was at their back and they were making faster speed than it had taken them to get to Catalina. The sun was still below the horizon, so Lia lazed on deck, a long-sleeved blouse over her bathing suit and leggings.
Brandt was numb from his navel to knee and thoroughly exhausted. Happily exhausted. Neither of them had slept except for maybe an hour before they had to get up. Contrary to Lia's intentions, they hadn't gotten to every technique she had read about, but they had made a dent in several chapters and might have made up a new one. The maid service would be curious as to how the room got into that condition. Honestly, he wasn't sure he could explain it. He couldn't recall half the things they did, it was all a blur. All he knew was that he was absolutely in love. Everything else was details.
If Lia kept up that kind of pace from now on, he was going to need stamina pills. He was 28 years old and needing Viagra and vitamin E to keep up with his previously shy, now wild girlfriend. Poor baby.
Lia sat with her arms hugging her knees, staring back at their mild wake. Several dolphins jumped and dove through the wake.
She pointed at them and beamed. “They like us!”
“They’re probably spying. Check for cameras on their heads.”
“Silly. Dolphins don’t spy with cameras. They use Morse code.” Lia giggled at her own humor.
Actually, they might. Brandt looked back at her. She looked wonderfully content. He had no idea how to make things work for them, or how to keep her content. He never wanted her to be alone or sad again. She deserved more than him, but she had picked him anyway, and he was going to do the best he could to earn it.
“Is there any books in your library on how to talk to dolphins? We need to ask if they’re spies,” he said.
“No books that I know of. So I will have to use my vampyre telepathy.”
He was about to laugh and then suddenly wondered if that could work. He turned and gave her a questioning look.
She rolled her eyes and snorted a nasal laugh. “I’m kidding. I can’t do that.”
He shrugged. “It’s not that crazy a thought, you know.”
She chuckled. With a dramatic voice, she said, “Wait! I am getting something. Yes? Yes, I can hear them. They are saying: Pardon us. We are looking for fish. Have you seen any?”
“Ok, I can see how this is gonna be now. You’re going to turn into the comedian and I’ll have to learn how to be the serious one. I fall in love with a sweet, innocent girl and corrupt her.”
“I am not exactly innocent or a girl, you know. I am a lot older than you. And I have had other men.”
Brandt glared at her in mock anger. “What?! Who are these bozos? I’ll kick their ass.”
She stood and took a few sassy steps in his direction. “You can’t beat up every man I have ever been with.”
“Uh, yes I can.”
She smirked. “Some of them are very old now.”
“Easier to kick their ass that way. Wait… some? How many young guys are there?”
She tried to feign innocence. She was struggling to restrain a laugh. “It is hard to say. So many men come to my island.”
Lying little minx. “Well, they snoozed, they looosed. Lost. Whatever -- they’re too late. You’re mine now.”
“You do not own me, silly man.” Her hands were on her hips in pretend defiance.
“There’s only one set of teeth marks on your ass, babe, and their mine. So I own that at least.”
The laugh she was holding in burst out. She recovered and threw herself into his arms. “Well, then I claim your – ass because my teeth marks are on it.” She put her hand up to her mouth to admonish herself for the “a” word.
He pulled her to him. “Wait – I thought the teeth marks were on my shoulder.”
“Those are fang marks, darling. Just regular teeth on your – rear.”
“When did you bite my ass?”
“After you bit mine.”
He didn’t remember. Oh, wait. Yes, I do. He smiled and absently rubbed that butt cheek. She patted the other cheek.
“They are only on one side though,” she said, acting concerned. “That won’t do. We will have to do the other.”
“You’re supposed to kiss my ass, not bite it.”
“I’d rather kiss something else.”
She pressed her lips against his and they kissed for a while.
He came up for air and pulled back a little. “Um, we better stop or I’ll have to toss out the anchor and throw you down on this deck.”
She shrugged. “Are we in a hurry?”
He wasn’t sure. He considered it for a moment, then sighed. “No, but it’s too deep for the anchor, and the boat will drift if I leave the wheel. And the sun is about to come up.”
She glided past him heading for the cabin. “So I should go into this cabin all by myself? All excited, and …,” she hugged herself, “cold – no, wait – hot?” She brushed her hand across his numb groin. The tingle told him the numbness wasn’t very permanent. “I’m soooo hot,” she taunted him. “All this constrictive clothing.” She gave him the under-lid stare like he was a pi
ece of meat and she was a tiger. A very sexy tiger that had peeled off one side of her blouse, her red bathing suit showing underneath. The tie behind her neck was undone. When did she manage that? The top of her breast was exposed.
“You are incorrigible,” he said.
“No, I am insatiable,” she purred. “It’s been one hundred years. You better find somewhere to throw that anchor out, or I’m starting without you.”
Shit. Where was the shallow water on that damned map! He steered hard left.
After they had made love again, they lay quietly in each either’s arms just enjoying the closeness. As much as Brandt enjoyed making love to her, he might have enjoyed just holding her even more.
So, you’re saying you like cuddling more than sex? Someone’s going to take away your man card.
He had found shallow enough water to toss the anchor, so their position would be fine for a while, but he was worried about enemy craft sneaking up on them, so he got up to check. Seeing none, he went back down and snuggled back up to Lia. Though the cabin’s comfort level was minimal, it didn’t matter as long as he had Lia next to him. She tugged his arms around her like he was a blanket and they napped for a while.
Brandt's quick-twitch brain jolted him awake. He had heard something. He went up to the deck but saw no other ships. There was a roiling section of water where a whale had likely surfaced. That must've been it. He started going back down to Lia, then reconsidered that it was more prudent to stay in the wheelhouse, so he went ahead and pulled anchor and got back on course.
Lia eventually came up and snuggled into him standing up. They stayed like that for a considerable amount of time even though the sun was up. She used Brandt’s body to block the sun. Eventually, she sat down on the floor of the wheelhouse, near the entrance to the cabin. There was just enough shade there that she could sit for a while before needing to go completely below. She also had her wide-brimmed hat on. It was the same one that had the beekeeper’s veil, which was pulled back at the moment.
“Should I kick the – ass of all the women you’ve been with?” she asked, pinching her shoulders up at the “a” word.
“You certainly could, but it’s not necessary. I never loved any of them.”
“Good.” She closed her eyes and breathed in the heady salt air. “Then we are even. You are the only man I ever loved, as well.”
Brandt was a little taken aback. “Not Vasili?”
She looked away and sighed. “I was young. He was handsome. It was exciting to be wanted by someone. I thought I loved him, but I was really just in love with the idea of being someone’s wife. It took a long time to figure out that I do not need to belong to anyone to be happy.”
Brandt felt a little deflated. “Well, I honestly feel like I belong to you, now. I liked the idea that we belong to each other. Is that so bad?”
She smiled sweetly. “I do belong to you, Rembrandt Dekker. But I do not need to be. I choose to be.”
He smiled. “I haven’t felt like my own life belongs to me for a while. God’s been moving me around like a puppet. But I think it belongs to you now. And I’m ok with that.”
They stayed quiet for a few minutes. Brandt concentrated on looking for approaching boats, and as before, he saw nothing. Maybe there really was not going to be any retaliation. He dared to hope.
Presently, she said, “I do not want Father to know yet.”
“Right, – Father.” A man-sized bat that can tear me into chum might be a complication.
“He is more old-fashioned than me, and would insist I go through proper courting rituals,” she said.
Brandt blew out a blast of breath. “I have no idea how that goes, but I’m pretty sure we’ve broken every rule already.”
She blushed. “And a bed.”
“The hotel has insurance.”
She grinned in remembrance and then shook her head like she was trying to change gears. She looked at Brandt. “The custom goes: A gentleman gets permission from her father to approach a lady. He gives her his card. She decides if he is worthy to talk to. If he has prospects, a good job, or family money, then he can be approved and they may talk. They see each other at the lady's home under supervision of the chaperones. If they agree to marry, then they may hold hands. But nothing else happens until the wedding night.”
“Ok, screw that.”
She nodded. “That’s why Vasili and I were overanxious.”
“I couldn’t have waited a week.”
“You waited nine days.”
“Ouch. Ok, screw me.”
She shook her head and had a wicked grin on her face. “If you insist.” She plucked at the buttons on her blouse.
“Ok, stop,” he said, chuckling. “I created a monster.”
She smiled and let the buttons alone. “Is my teasing getting better?”
“You win. I give up. The crown is yours.”
Lia slept in the cabin for the last couple of hours until they got within a mile of Makal Island. He called her up and she came out yawning. “I am so tired,” she said. “But I would rather keep sailing.”
“You need to rest in your own bed. You’ll be more comfortable there.”
She shook her head. “But you won’t be in it. We don’t have to tell Father we are back yet. Let’s just sleep offshore tonight.”
He wanted to. He knew he couldn’t sleep in her bed, under her father’s roof. But something else was bothering him besides that. Oh yeah. You’re supposed to leave. Remember?
Shit. Double shit.
He kissed her forehead and she gave him a sad smile.
“We knew this was coming. We have to pay the piper to dance,” he said.
She nodded somberly. “I think I want to change my mind again. I want to come with you.”
“I would love that. But it’s not safe.”
“I know. And I am making you feel guilty again.”
“No. I had the same thought for the past six hours. But I have a new plan.”
She looked up at him hopefully.
“I'm going to toss everything I have on someone's desk at Homeland Security and make The Russian out to be an international terrorist. Then I'm going to throw the same stuff on the CIA's desk, and maybe a U.S. Army special division desk. I have an old friend there. And then I let them fight amongst each other for whose jurisdiction it is, and maybe one of them will keep The Russian busy. Then I'm going to get some shady lawyer to change my name so they can't find me. And then… I have no idea, but I'm coming back here and we'll figure out the rest.”
“Change your name?” She pouted. “I was really hoping I could be called Mrs. Dekker one day.”
“I think I’d rather call myself Mr. Lia.”
The little boat pulled into the cove and Brandt pushed its nose into the pebbly ground. He hopped out and carried Lia and all her Catalina purchases through the surf until she was safe and dry on shore, with her parasol up to shade her from the sun. She gave him one last hug, then pulled back and clutched her packages.
“I will meet you at the house, but first I will need to stop at the barn and feed,” she said. “I am worn out from all the, uh…” She tried and failed to find a suitable word that she could say. She had just done an exceptional amount of “uh,” blissfully uninhibited and wild, but she still couldn’t say what it was aloud.
Brandt impishly lifted his brows. “So, you’re telling me I sexually wore out a near-immortal being?”
She crimped her mouth in a bashful smile and rolled her eyes a little. She actually looked like she was seriously considering the question. Then she nodded shyly.
Brandt fist pumped. “Yes!”
Lia snorted a quick laugh as Brandt did a little jig, then jauntily climbed back onto the boat.
“Does your father know where we went?” he called over the bow.
