by Renee Rose
“I have to move again. And this time, I think I need to leave Tucson,” she says.
“I’m thinking the same thing. How about a trip to New Orleans?”
“What? You mean go back to Marcel?”
“Yep. He owns the Crimson Dungeon, and yesterday he said in a text to do just that. He wants to take care of Phil for us once and for all. The guy’s a millionaire, and I think he operates a little on the shady side. Since law enforcement isn’t doing anything to protect us, maybe we need a mafia-type solution. Besides, Marcel owes me now.”
“What?”
I cringe, but Zoe is my best friend and I have to come clean with her. “I’m sorry, Zoe, but Marcel had me feeding him information about Club Toxic. Who the management was, the comings and goings of Lucius and Selene, the hours they operate, and stuff I thought was benign and wouldn’t really matter.”
“Huh? Why?”
“Why did I do it? Because I owed him. Why does he want the information? He said it was because he wanted to stay ahead of the competition.” I run my fingers through my hair and get up from the bed.
“You didn’t give him security codes or anything, did you?”
“No, no, of course not. I don’t know any of that stuff. He seemed more interested in how they ran the club. But then I started liking Theo and I felt like I was betraying you and…” I huff. “I just got in too deep. I was going to stop and then all this happened.”
“Okay, we’ll talk about that later. What do you want to do?”
“That’s the part I need to figure out. Do you feel safe where you are? I need about an hour to come up with a plan.”
“No, but I can get an Uber to a populated place. That would make me feel better. Just give Armando time to come home. I don’t want to leave before I say my version of a goodbye to him.”
I clench my jaw. “Okay, but I’m getting out of here before Theo and Alex get home.” I gnaw on my thumbnail, tears threatening to crack my voice, and I swallow the lump in my throat. “Listen, let me get on my laptop, and I’ll call you once I have something. Get somewhere safe, and text me your location.”
“Okay. Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
She’s a stronger woman than I am. There’s no way I’d be able to say goodbye in person. Gears turning in my mind, I scamper to pull out my laptop, my fingers flying over the keyboard as I research a route and travel options. A plan begins to form in my head. After about forty minutes of making arrangements and tapping notes into my smartphone, I pack up my things and text Zoe.
Pack light, and meet me at the Greyhound bus station no later than 7:30 p.m. Don’t go home. I think they’ll be waiting for you, so we’ll have to leave a lot behind. Can you do that?
The little dot animation starts, reminding me of three fingertips drumming on a table.
I’ll just bring my overnight bag I packed for Armando’s. Text me the address to the station and I’ll be there.
I grab the link from my map app and send it to her. PLEASE BE CAREFUL!
YOU TOO!
I smirk. I will.
I drop my phone to the bed and strip out of my yoga pants and tank top so I can hop into the shower and get ready to leave. My heart grows heavy and I fight the tears as I adjust the faucet. Just when I think I’ve found the perfect man, we have to run away. God damnit. I clench my jaw and step into the scalding stream. If we can clear all this up, maybe…just maybe, we can come back to Tucson and…
I let the thought die. Who am I kidding? Alex and Theo have each other, and I’ve got a ton of baggage. And Theo may never speak to me again once I come clean with him, too. They’re better off without me.
My tears mingle with the water, but I focus on the tasks ahead for our escape plan.
My eyes flutter open, and I fill my lungs with air. The familiar scent of Alex dominates my senses and I languish against his hard body lying next to me. His thigh is draped over mine, pressing against my balls. His hand is on my chest, his head, against my shoulder. I don’t hear his heartbeat or his breathing, which means he’s still deep in the coma that takes us vampires over during the day.
The sun must just be setting, so it won’t be long before Alex awakens. His musk lingers in the air from our short and furious lovemaking session prior to the coma taking him this morning.
He’d been sitting in the chair by the fireplace, trying to let me work, but the erection through his slacks was too distracting. He confessed he was thinking about our private moments with Karina.
With everything happening so out of control all at once—the preparations for the upcoming masquerade, the note Lucius left me, Karina’s plight, Alex returning—I needed dominance. I took him the way only a vampire can couple with another—hard, passionate, bruising, relentless. And when he lost consciousness from the coming daylight, I tucked him into bed and returned to my computer. But it was hard to concentrate. I found myself gazing at his peaceful form, that face so handsome, it hurts to look at it. My heart ached for him and wanted to open up, but my head told me to hold back. They were at war with each other until the daylight eventually took me, too.
Even now, as he sleeps against me, my heart hurts. He’s back in my life, but will it last? I don’t understand why he had to break things off in such a hurtful way. Why he had to push me away. I have a hard time believing it was to make it easier for him to say goodbye. Maybe he didn’t want to have a long-distance relationship while he was stuck with Bartholomew. I could have worked with that. Maybe.
Perhaps it was immaturity on his part. He’d only been a vampire for just under fifty years, and spent his entire immortality under the thumb of the London Nest. An orphan living in the streets of the East End, he knew nothing but manipulation and thievery from the moment he was brought, screaming, into this world. Healthy relationship skills were non-existent, especially during that era, and in poverty. Living was all about survival.
So what makes me think he’s learned anything in the last century under the same oppression? What could I possibly be thinking in letting him back in and then being crushed when he pushes me out? Leave me when he feels the pressure any relationship experiences at one time or another?
All I know now is that I’ve missed him, but I hadn’t realized just how much until he came bursting into the office.
With Karina in his arms.
I clench my fist and put it behind my head against the pillow.
Karina. How can a fragile little human mean so much to me in such a short amount of time? I have known her a scant few months, and yet the first time I tasted her blood, she was branded on my tongue. I became lost in those big brown eyes and melted the first time she whispered, “Yes, Sir.” So submissive. So exquisitely obedient, and yet delightfully mischievous. Such fire and such meekness in one sweet package. I smirk. All strawberries and cream. Our little cupcake. I can see Alex has fallen for her, too.
He stirs beside me, his cock brushing against my hip, and I wrap my arm around his shoulder. His mouth brands a hot trail over my chest and he grabs my shaft, so turgid after thinking about our session this morning. His hand lazily strokes me.
I groan.
“Mmm, rise and shine, handsome.” His deep voice flutters against my chest. He turns a sleepy smile toward me.
I can’t pretend I’m not scared. “I need to know why you pushed me away.”
His smile fades and he rests his cheek on my chest. “Do we have to talk about this right now?”
“Alex, I can’t even begin to tell you how much that break-up tore me apart. You said you didn’t love me, that I was only another—”
“I know what I said.”
I tighten my grip on his shoulder when he tries to rise. “How can you expect me to give you a second chance when I could be setting myself up for another heartache?” I pinch his chin and force him to look at me. “How do I know you’re not going to do it again?”
“I did it to protect you.”
“Protect me? From what?”
Alex props himself upon his elbow. “Theo, please, you have to promise me you’re not going to try to charge back to London and try to fix the past. That’s behind us now, and—”
“Bartholomew wanted me dead?”
Worry clouds his eyes. “Yes.”
Of course he did. How did I not see that?
He places a hand over my heart. “Don’t tell me you wouldn’t have stormed the castle for me. Because if you didn’t care enough to risk everything so we could be together, then I was a fool to have pushed you away. And the pain I caused you wasn’t worth the sacrifice.”
“No. No, you’re right. That’s exactly what I would have done.” The way I felt about Alexander at that time, I would have been foolish enough to challenge Bartholomew and either gotten myself killed, or my sire would have interfered to protect me, and Bartholomew and Lucius would have been at war.
Alex was right.
He caresses my cheek. “I’m not blaming you for how everything turned out. I was willing to sacrifice everything to have you, too. Everything…except you. I just wish I didn’t have to hurt you in the process, but I couldn’t think of any other way.”
And if I had challenged Bartholomew, Alex could have ended up the casualty instead of—or with—me. I thread my fingers through the dark curls on the back of his head and pull him toward me, fusing my mouth to his. My heart skips when his beard scrapes my jaw.
He pumps against me, dragging the length of his erection along my hip, pressing his sac into my thigh. My cock aches with pressure as our tongues duel. I break away and flip onto my stomach as I reach across the bed to grab the lube from the nightstand. With my left knee bent, and my right leg straight, my ass is deliberately on display for him, and I revel at the low growl Alex breathes against my spine. He palms my ass. His hand slides between my legs and cups my balls. I arch my back, pressing my backside against his arm, giving him access to my cock, which he grabs with greedy fingers.
I reach behind me and hand him the lube.
His breath hitches. The top snaps open.
I smile against the mattress. “I did ravish you rather harshly this morning. It’s only fair.”
Alex smears lube between my cheeks and scoffs. “That was fucking amazing.” His lubed dick slides against the crack of my ass, the head teasingly stroking my hole. “I certainly hope you’re not apologizing for that,” he purrs against my ear.
“Not at all.” I shudder as his cock slips inside me, past the first ring of muscle.
He buries himself to the hilt inside me, both of us groaning, his full weight upon me. I lift my ass into him, driving him deeper. Alex grabs my hips and yanks me to my knees. His dick slides in and out, tip to balls, slow and deliberate. I fist my cock, matching his pace and controlling the build.
“Fuck, you’re tight. I’ve missed this ass.” His hand cracks against my cheek and I grunt at the sharp sting, which fades away too quickly.
Alex picks up his pace, his balls slapping against mine, his tempo bruising as he drives deep, hard. In moments, his legs are trembling. “Shit, I’m gonna come.”
“Do it, Alex. Pound my ass.”
And he does, crying out and clutching my hips as he spears me through his climax.
But I’m not done with him yet. I pull away and shove him to the bed.
He chuckles. “God, yes.”
Lube in hand, I wet my cock, slick in my palm, then spread the lubricant generously between his cheeks. He’s still panting on his stomach when I drive my shaft into his ass. But I’m as impatient as he is, pumping my cock into his tight hole, bucking my hips and driving deeper, faster, harder. I grab his wrists, holding him to the mattress, fucking him as relentlessly as I did this morning. And like a schoolboy having his first ejaculation, I shudder a quick release that tears through my throat. I grunt and thrust, milking the last of my orgasm from his body before collapsing on top of him.
Breathless and sweating, we roll onto our backs, and I pull him to my side and gaze down at him.
He has a smile on his face as big as mine. “Fucking amazing. That’s all I can say.”
I sigh, viewing the past through these new glasses of perspective, of understanding what really happened. I wish I could change the past, but I can’t. “You’re right. As much as I would like to kick Bartholomew’s royal ass, what happened is behind us. I guess I feel like there are so many years we’ve wasted being apart, and he needs to pay for it. But that won’t bring back those years.”
“No, it won’t. And he certainly won’t apologize.” He kisses my chest and turns his loving gaze to me. “Let’s move forward. I’m not beholden to him anymore. I’m free to be with you.”
I still hesitate, the old saying coming to mind: Once bitten, twice shy. “Let’s see how things go.”
“I understand.” He wraps his arm around my waist and squeezes. “Let’s check in on our cupcake.”
My chest bounces with a laugh. “I’m glad I’m not the only one eager to see her.”
“What are we going to do, Theo? I don’t want to let her go. It breaks my heart to think we can’t have her together.”
I nod, but my spirit weighs heavy. “I have to think about it. I agree that you and I have never had someone so utterly matched to the two of us, but she’s human. And that means exposing her to our world. It’s dangerous for her, and for us.”
“Then turn her, Theo.” He props himself upon his elbow, cupping his hand around my face. “This whole mess with this stalker would go away. She would be able to protect herself and her friend Zoe.”
“I haven’t turned anyone in my entire two-thousand years and I don’t want to start now.” I sit up and swing my legs over the side of the bed, holding my head in my hands. “I would never forgive myself if she didn’t survive the transformation.”
Alex maneuvers across the bed to sit beside me. “You’re old enough to do it. The risks go down the older a vampire is.”
“But the risks don’t go away. There is no guarantee she’ll live. Even Lucius faces those risks, and he’s older than I am.”
“Just think about it, please?”
“She may be completely mortified by what we are. There’s no guarantee she’ll want to be turned. We risk losing her that way, as well.” I shake my head. “I would much rather see her blissfully ignorant of vampires and werewolves and all the other dangerous creatures in this world, than to see the horror on her face when she learns the truth.”
Alex sighs and rests his chin on my shoulder. “Yes. There is that.”
I give him a quick kiss. “Come on. Let’s clean up, and go see her.”
Alex showers while I check my email. My research on the internet this morning produced plenty of pictures showing this Phil character rubbing elbows with senators, presidents and Fortune 500 CEOs. I sent out a number of messages to city officials I know, humans who I feel would be straight with me. Some of them haven’t replied. Some of them have said they’re not sure they can get involved. Jurisdiction bullshit and run-arounds. The girls were right. This man seems untouchable. In the human world, that is. I may just have to provide a supernatural solution to this problem. Karina and Zoe should not have to keep running.
After Alex and I are both showered and dressed, we exit my underground lair through the rear garage entrance, and drive around to the house. Alex’s SUV rental is still in the drive, but the lights in the house are off. He and I exchange an uncertain glance and march through the front door.
“Karina?” I shut the door and listen. Silence.
Alex goes to the kitchen while I head to the bedroom. The bed is made, the bathroom clean, but the room is empty. No overnight bag. No laptop case. No toiletries or personal belongings. The drawer Alex cleared out for her in my dresser is empty.
“Theo!”
I blur to the kitchen, where Alex is holding an envelope addressed to me in her decorative handwriting. I tear it open and pull out the page of stationery.
My Dearest Theophilus,
And it is for that very reason I cannot stay. Just because you have the money to try and fix my problems, doesn’t mean you should. Zoe and I have had to deal with Phil for six years, and we’re coming to understand there’s nothing we can do about him. He’s too rich and powerful, knows too many people in high places.
But there’s something else. I got myself mixed up with a very powerful man in New Orleans, named Marcel Boucher. He’s the owner of the Crimson Dungeon in the French Quarter, and though he introduced me to BDSM, I learned there were a lot of strings attached to our relationship. He got me the job at Hyperion. He bailed me out of a bad situation in New Orleans.
Marcel asked me to spy on Club Toxic. As much as I hate to confess this—and it’s why I couldn’t stay, because I couldn’t bear to see the look on your face when you learned I betrayed your confidence—I have been feeding Marcel information about your club’s management structure, and the comings and goings of Lucius and Selene.
I stop reading, my hands quivering, and take a seat at the breakfast bar. Her words are breaking my heart, but they’re making sense of what’s happened.
“What? Is she okay? Where is she?”
I hold up my hand, unable to speak past the anger and heartbreak clogging my throat. But I press on to finish the letter.
I have been feeding Marcel information about your club’s management structure and the comings and goings of Lucius and Selene. I honestly thought it was harmless information, and Marcel insisted it was just to help him get a leg up on the competition. I guess the reputation of Club Toxic is as far reaching as Louisiana.
But then I met you, and everything changed. I can’t do it for him anymore.
I understand if you hate me and never want to see me again. I would expect nothing less. But please know I never meant to hurt you or Alex. And I hope I protect you both by getting out of your lives and going with Zoe. She’s my family. I have to put her first. And when we leave, we hope we’re taking the trouble with us.
