The moment he woke up, Reynaud knew he wasn’t alone in the house. Not that he was worried it was an enemy. He sensed immediately that it was Burke.
Why is he still here? Or here at all?
He was fairly certain he knew the answer. Burke hadn’t gone home as Reynaud had asked, and when he’d arrived at the house Antoine had let him in.
Now what do I do? Shower, I suppose, and get dressed. Feed, and then…He shrugged. Take it from there.
When he was presentable, casually dressed in jeans and a worn T-shirt, he went downstairs to the kitchen. Opening a small refrigerator concealed behind the back paneling in one of the cupboards, he took out a bag of blood, dropped his fangs, and began to drink.
“That’s curiously interesting,” Burke said from the doorway.
As Reynaud had heard him approaching he wasn’t surprised to see him there. He stopped long enough to smile at him before draining the bag. “Strange way to put it,” he said as he tossed the empty bag into a biohazardous waste container in one of the lower cabinets.
“There’s something almost sexy seeing you feed like that.”
That raised Reynaud’s eyebrows. “Sexy?”
Burke shrugged. “What can I say? It was. Now, I need to feed. I don’t suppose you have any eggs.”
“No, but we can go out to eat.”
“Nowhere fancy, though. I look like I slept in my clothes.”
Reynaud checked him out and agreed. “I’m comfortable the way I am, so what about the Gumbo Shop, although I doubt you’ll find breakfast at this hour.”
“There’s Big Killer, which has a great cheddar omelet Po-Boy. It’s not far from here and we can take whatever we get down by the river to eat. Or, I guess I can, since you won’t be eating.”
“That sounds fine to me,” Reynaud replied.
The walk took only a few minutes, during which Reynaud said, putting his arm around Burke’s shoulders, “You can take a break from searching. It’s not the weekend, and you aren’t armed, anyway.”
“Habit,” Burke replied with a small grin.
He did get the Po-Boy, and sweet tea. Then they walked down to the river, where, despite the relatively early hour and the preponderance of tourists, they managed to find a vacant bench in Woldenberg Park.
“Good?” Reynaud asked when Burke had made inroads into his sandwich.
“Right now, as hungry as I am, even bad fast-food burgers would taste good. To answer your question, though, it’s excellent.”
He continued eating while Reynaud leaned back, watching one of the riverboats go by.
“Did you ever take one, way back when?” Burke asked. “I know you said vampires are leery of being on the river.”
“When it’s a large boat, like that one, it’s safe enough.”
“That didn’t answer my question.”
“Yes, I have, and I enjoyed it. It was luxurious, with ornate furnishings, chandeliers, a salon with a piano player, everything one could want, if one could afford it.”
“Which you could?” Burke asked, cocking his head in question.
“I’m not poor, and I haven’t been for years. You should realize that. You’ve seen my house and you know I own the property.”
Burke laughed. “I own my house and you’d better believe I’m not rich.”
“Well, that does put a different slant on things. I thought I was hooking up with a wealthy human.”
“Excuse me? Hooking up?”
Reynaud shrugged. “Perhaps not the best way to put it, I’ll admit.”
“Do you honestly want to…hook up? I know we’ve sort of danced around being interested in each other, but I’m hardly the kind of man you want to be in a relationship with.”
“Why not?”
“I’m human.”
“A very interesting human. Appealing, even sexy.”
Burke swallowed hard. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“I am. I know Antoine would call me crazy, but then it’s not any of his business who I want to be with.”
“Tell that to him,” Burke replied. “He tried to lay it on the line to me last night about how it wouldn’t work because of our differences.”
“He what! He didn’t. Damn him.”
“He was looking out for your best interests, as your friend. He did apologize, afterward.”
“I would hope so,” Reynaud replied dryly. He was startled when Burke suddenly took hold of his hand and traced one finger up his arm. “What are you doing?”
“This morning, after your battle with Silvan, the wounds here were so deep I was certain they hit bone. Now, there’s nothing to say they existed. In less than a day they’re gone.” Burke looked up at him. “I know you heal quickly, but this is amazing. Sorry, but it fascinates me.” He frowned, his fingers now resting on Reynaud’s wrist. “You have a pulse.”
“Of course I do. I would be truly dead without it, although it takes ingesting blood to sustain it. You saw me feeding. That fascinated you, too, or so you said.”
“Yes.” Burke smiled. “Everything about you does. Who you are, what you can do. Fascinating, sexy, and I’ll admit a bit terrifying as well.”
Reynaud frowned. “Too much so?”
“A month ago, I’d have said definitely yes. Now…” Burke brushed a finger over Reynaud’s lips. “Now, not really.” He chuckled. “Who knew The Hunter, as you dubbed me, would ever want to become involved with a vampire?”
“But you do? Want to be involved I mean.”
Burke nodded slowly. “I think so, in spite of our differences. Antoine let me know in no uncertain terms that the chance we could make it work was nil. The whole age thing, you know, and you having to reinvent yourself every few years. Let’s prove him wrong.”
Reynaud’s pulse raced at Burke’s words. “You’re certain?”
Instead of answering his question directly, Burke replied, “Don’t get upset with me, please, but in spite what you and Antoine said I wasn’t sure you would come out the winner when you faced down Silvan. That scared the shit out of me—that I might lose you. So yes, I’m certain.” He looked away, saying quietly, “I might lose you anyway, sometime in the future when I age and you don’t. I know that and I accept it. Until then, let’s live as if there’s no tomorrow.” He returned his gaze to Reynaud’s face. “That is if you’re willing to chance caring for a human and perhaps, someday, loving one.”
“I think I can handle it.” He caressed Burke’s cheek with his fingertips, “As long as it’s you.”
“Would you think I’m rushing things if I kissed you?”
“Well, we haven’t known each other that long,” Reynaud replied seriously. Then he grinned. “That said, I think I’d like to be kissed by you.”
Their lips meshed in a slow one that Reynaud would have deepened when Burke opened to him, if Burke hadn’t pulled back suddenly. With a quirky smile he said, “We’d better slow down.”
“I suppose we should…however…” Reynaud replied before kissing him again.
“You’re not very good at listening, are you?” Burke said sternly when the kiss ended. Then he laughed. “Not that I’m complaining.”
“In this case I would hope not. You were right, though. We shouldn’t move too fast. This is new for both of us.”
“Uh-huh. As long as you’ve been around I’m sure you’re well versed in kissing and everything that goes with it.”
Reynaud eyed him, saying with a hint of laughter, “While you’re a babe in the woods?”
Burke shrugged. “Not really.”
“Good, and I mean it. That’s not what I was trying to say, though. Who we are, what we are, makes this different. I’ll tell you honestly, I’ve never met a human who interested me until you. It’s going to take some adjusting to. You might begin to regret it when it sinks in that we can’t do the usual things together other couples do, since I’m not…available during the day.”
“I’m not either, five days a week. Something about having a
fulltime job, you know. Then there’s Friday and Saturday nights.” Burke took Reynaud’s hands, looking him straight in the eye. “I’m not going to stop what I’ve been doing.”
Reynaud nodded. “I won’t ask you to. You’re doing what I and my team do, saving lives by eliminating the vampires who break our laws about feeding. You’re very good at it, too.”
“Lots of practice,” Burke replied wryly. “By the way, why do you and Antoine think you can put me off wanting to be with you? Do you think I’m too stupid to know what I’m getting into?”
“Good lord, no.” Reynaud paused, thinking about what Burke had asked. “I suppose it’s because we know vampires who have tried to make it work with a human and in almost every case they were doomed to failure.”
“But not always.”
“No. On rare occasions they have formed a lasting relationship for as long as the human was alive.” He decided now was not the time to mention two situations he knew of where the human had allowed their vampire lover to turn them so they could be together forever. There might never be a time to tell him that—if we reach the point when we truly are a couple with everything that implies. It’s a huge commitment for a human to make.
“There, you see, it is possible. Like I said earlier, let’s prove Antoine, and you, wrong and make it work. Well, try to at least. Because we’re attracted to each other doesn’t mean we can make it in the long run.”
“That holds true for any relationship, no matter who the people are.” Reynaud chuckled. “We’re talking this to death. I suggest we take a walk, maybe check out some of the galleries and antique shops on Royal.”
“We’d better hurry. They’re probably closing soon.”
“Or already have. The story of my life,” Reynaud grumbled. “All I get to visit at this hour are tourist shops if I don’t feel like going to a club.”
“Now there’s an idea.”
“Tourist shops?” Reynaud looked at him in horror as they began walking.
“No. The club. I want to find out if you can dance something more recent than a Viennese waltz.”
“Well, there’s the jitterbug, the foxtrot, the Charleston. I know them all.”
“Okay, let me put this another way. Can you move to the beat of the music?”
Reynaud laughed, putting his arm around Burke’s waist. “I can, so if you want to dance, we will.”
They did, and despite Burke’s obvious fears to the contrary, Reynaud was able to keep up with him when the beat was lively. Slow dancing was a problem, however. Not that Reynaud couldn’t slow dance, but holding Burke while they did played hell with his libido.
“I think we need to take a break, and go back to our table,” Reynaud said after the third one.
Burke grinned. “Getting tired?”
“Getting thirsty,” Reynaud lied, putting his hands on Burke’s shoulders to steer him to the bar so they could order fresh drinks. When they had them, they returned to their table only to find it was occupied.
“Our fault, for not leaving half-finished drinks there,” Burke commented as they found a place to lean against the railing.
“I doubt it would have made a difference,” Reynaud replied, sipping his wine. He was happy to feel the breeze kick up. It went a long way toward cooling him down—in all ways. Not that he was physically sweating, but it had been hot inside the bar.
“We should plan on doing something Sunday,” Burke said.
“I thought we already had. Okay, that was for last Sunday, and things came up to change that.”
“No kidding. Do you want to try again?”
“Of course. At your place, or do you want to do something else?”
“We could go to the zoo first. I told you I live close to it.”
“It undoubtedly closes before I wake up. Besides, some of the animals panic when I’m around because they can sense I’m not human.”
Burke winced. “Does that happen with your average dog or cat?”
“Rarely, but then I do my best to avoid them.”
“We could still explore the park, then go back to my place and watch a movie…or something.” Burke looked hopefully at Reynaud.
“Watching a movie is fine. Or something? No. Not until we’re certain we want to be together for the long haul and can handle our divergent life styles.” When Burke looked downhearted, Reynaud said softly, “I’m sorry, but that’s the way it has to be.”
“I know.” Burke put his arms around Reynaud then kissed him, saying when they parted, “It doesn’t mean we can’t do this.”
Reynaud smiled. “No, it doesn’t, and I’m sure we will…often.”
* * * *
Friday and Saturday, Burke spent his time as he had for the past several years, looking for vampires who deserved his special attention. He found two, dispatching them before they could attack the human they were after.
Sunday, as they’d planned, he and Reynaud spent some time in Audubon Park. They happened upon the labyrinth that had been laid out in the wake of Hurricane Katrina to help the people of New Orleans heal from the ordeal.
“Walking it really is peaceful,” Reynaud said when they finished. “You have to focus on each step if you’re going to succeed, which takes you out of yourself and away from your problems.”
“I read somewhere it was inspired by the floor of Chartres Cathedral.”
“Perhaps. I wouldn’t know, never having been there.”
“But you were born in France.”
Reynaud hugged him, laughing. “You were born here. Have you been to, say New York City, or Los Angeles?”
“All right. Point made.”
They ended up, as planned, at Burke’s house where they watched a movie on Netflix while cuddling and sharing kisses. Enough so that when it was finished Burke said with some amusement, “I’m not certain what we just watched.”
“It was noisy, that’s for sure. Lots of guns and shoot-’em-ups. Other than that…” Reynaud shrugged. “Right now, though, I’d better leave. You have to work tomorrow.”
“Yeah, and after missing last week I’m sure I’ll have a lot to catch up on.”
“I’ll see you next weekend, then. If you get tired of roaming the streets call me. We can meet up at the club.”
“I will.” Burke hugged him. “Stay out of trouble until then.”
“I never get in trouble,” Reynaud protested.
Burke rolled his eyes. “I’ll take your word for it.”
They kissed one more time then Reynaud left. After locking the door, Burke leaned against it, smiling. “We will make this work. It might take a while, but we will.”
Chapter 9
Two months later, Burke was beginning to wonder if he and Reynaud could make their relationship move on beyond hugs and kisses. They had Sundays together, once Reynaud had awakened, and as the vampire had suggested, Friday and Saturday nights when Burke took a break from his hunting to spend time with him at the club—to the point the bartenders saw them coming and had their drinks ready for them.
During the weeknights Reynaud wasn’t available as he did have things he had to do for Antoine. “He’s the King, I’m his second-in-command. I have no choice,” he said when Burke got testy about not having those evenings with him. “Be glad he allows me some freedom on the weekends.”
“I am, but damn it, Rey.”
“This is what I meant about our divergent life styles,” Reynaud replied. “After all, you do insist on doing your hunting, you know.”
“With your blessing, and Antoine’s,” Burke pointed out. “It frees up some of your team to do whatever it is you need them for other than dealing with what, the last time I talked with him, Antoine called minor but still worrisome rogues.”
“I know. I wasn’t complaining…much.” Reynaud kissed him to prove his point.
By mutual consent, because they knew it was the wisest thing to do, they would spend Sunday nights going to movies, taking in live jazz shows, going to one of the casinos, or s
trolling through a part of the city that wasn’t one of their normal haunts. They would end up at either Reynaud’s or Burke’s house but always late enough that they had to call it a night before things went beyond kissing and a bit of mutual explorations of each other’s bodies. Above the waist, damn it, Burke lamented more than once—but never to Reynaud.
* * * *
Reynaud wasn’t exactly overjoyed about taking things slow, either, but he was certain it was for the best.
“He knows what my life is like, at least superficially,” he said to Antoine one Wednesday evening over glasses of wine in Antoine’s office at the plantation. “He accepts it, but grudgingly because it means we can’t be together during the week.”
“How does he feel about you having to leave town?”
“To take Jakob back to his King to face an accounting for his crimes?” Reynaud sighed. “I haven’t told him yet.”
Jakob was a Young Adult vampire who had taken upon himself to find the Sire who had deserted him soon after his first year as a vampire, severing their link before leaving him to the less than tender mercies of an Old one who had made him his virtual slave until he tired of him, when Jakob turned one hundred. For the next fifty years he had wandered the country, surviving as best he could until one of the Kings had taken him under his wing. Things might have turned out well for him if he hadn’t learned that his Sire was in the habit of doing the same thing with others he’d turned. Without asking his King’s permission, Jakob had gone in search of him. That alone was a crime. When he found him and then destroyed him, he became a wanted man—or vampire in this case.
Reynaud couldn’t help but admire him for succeeding in his quest. After all, his own Sire had done the same thing to him. It didn’t stop him from capturing Jakob when he came upon him in the house where he’d taken refuge until, as he’d told Reynaud, he could find a safe place to go to ground “Until the heat is off.”
How Jakob was able to get the best of his Sire, he refused to say. Reynaud and Antoine’s best guess was he’d caught him in bed with his latest Child and staked him. With no link between them, the Sire would have thought Jakob was just another much younger vampire, and in the throes of passion ignored his presence as other than what he thought was a voyeur.
Burke and the Vampire Page 8
