by M. Garnet
Rad looked at Alex and shrugged. “Just doing my job. I passed on a message from the Council just a little while ago, so it might get worse. Let’s wait and see.”
Alex made a face. “Ouch, Bath does not like to have his wrist slapped. I think I will get out of town for a while, go down to New Orleans or maybe out to San Fran.” He was still standing close to her and the suitcase.
Rad motioned to a chair. “If you don’t move away, you are going to have help traveling.”
Alex raised his eyebrows and laughed as he went and sat in the indicated chair. “You know, Misty, if you get tired of having someone around who frowns all the time, just call for me. I will fly you away and hide you so that we can smile a lot. Speaking of smiling, Rad, I did get a call from your servant, Marco. Seems he got the results on some tests you had him running. He needs to talk to you.”
“Thanks, I will give him a call. I do not want to take up too much of your time. You have been generous in acquiring these items.” He got up and indicated Alex should follow him to the elevator. She just sat and watched, then looked down at the treasures in the suitcase. It was great, but it was scary. This meant she was not going home. She watched the two men talking quietly at the elevator, but she stayed in the chair until Alex left and Rad returned to the couch.
He sat on the couch and looked at her for a moment. She finally felt uncomfortable. “What?” she snapped.
Rad nodded at her almost with approval, “You do have some extra talents. I was about 25 feet away and so was Alex. You also knew the difference. This is a good talent and you should be aware of it. It keeps any Vampire from sneaking up on you, and it also tells you where I am if you need me in a hurry.”
She went to her bedroom, then paced back and forth before going to the bathroom. She was restless, angry and scared. She took a shower and used a hand blower to dry her hair. She found a pair of slacks that were made of soft material with full flared bottoms. She put on sandals that were just some thin straps but she found a black blouse that zippered up the back. When the zipper was pulled all the way up, the collar turned over and formed a turtle neck about three inches deep around her neck. It had long loose sleeves that went almost to her knuckles.
She looked at herself in the mirror and smiled. She looked like a beatnik out of a movie set. She was hoping it would make her less attractive to a Vampire, less flesh showing, less color. She pulled out some perfume and sprayed it on. Maybe this would cover her blood smell. Okay, she was willing to try anything. She went back out to the main room. He was stretched out on the couch watching TV, as if nothing had happened, still no more clothes on and still lots of muscle.
She went to the chair, pulling the suitcase closer so she could begin taking items out and looking at them. She laid out the brushes on the table, and decided it was going to be a real joy to paint with them.
He sat up and she watched him from the corner of her eye. He leaned back with both arms stretched out on the back of the couch. He had his long legs sprawled out in front and if she had not known what he was, she would have thought she had never seen any man look so sexy. Hey, what was she thinking about? He wasn’t sexy, he was a bloodsucker, something different from humans. Geez.
She reached for some of the pads of colors, aware that he was watching her and not the TV. She was finally uncomfortable enough to look up and meet his eyes. “Are you interested in the art supplies?” She raised her eyebrow and held up a handful of supplies.
“I am interested in your outfit. Going to a funeral?” He had that small tilted smile on his face.
She pretended to be interested in the art supplies so she did not answer him immediately. She decided she did not want him to think that she was too much of coward. “No, I just thought it would be better to help set some boundaries. Better to cover up instead of advertise.” She put her head down and pretended to really admire some of the paper. She could see the crooked smile and it really irritated her. She took a deep breath, rose up, and faced him. “Okay, what? Do you find everything I do amusing, or you are just bored so that any little thing entertains you? I am stuck with Vampires and I don’t want any of them touching me. So what am I doing wrong?”
“Have you ever helped a friend get ready for a wedding?” Now he was really looking at her.
She looked at him with her mouth open, trying to figure out where he was going, what he meant.
“You know, one of those big weddings, with the bride in white and the groom nervous, you helped your friend get ready on her special day?” His voice was low but she heard it over the TV.
She sighed. “Okay. Yes, I have had a couple of friends in such weddings and I have helped the brides get dressed. What is this leading up to?”
“It is like wrapping a present. Most of the fun is unwrapping. The groom and the bride have a lot of fun, happily tearing off all the layers that you were so careful in putting on early in the day.” He looked at her with the crooked smile. “With a present, sometimes you want to open it slowly and carefully, finding the edges of the paper and slipping a finger under to loosen, finding the folds to ease the first layer off and taking time to fold and put it aside, going to the next layer and slowly the anticipation builds until you get to the last layer of tissue that you carefully pull open to expose the gift that is offered.” As he described the process he kept her eyes locked, his voice got lower and that velvet tone became softer. The tone changed. There was a rasp or hoarse tone that seemed to come from lower in his chest. “There are times when you just say fuck it and you tear it all apart, throwing all the wrapping around on the ground with the need to get to the prize and have it in your hands immediately.”
She sucked in a deep breath. This was a little more than she wanted to be discussing with him. She was aware that he had not moved, but she felt a lot more danger from him during the last few seconds than at any other time she had been in the room. She pulled her eyes away from him, aware that she was still holding supplies at an awkward angle, so she set them back down into the suitcase and began packing away all the rest of the items she had pulled out. She tried to zip the suitcase shut, but it would only go so far. Frustrated, she stood up with the extended handle of the suitcase and tried to balance it to pull it towards her bedroom.
She was aware of his eyes on her and she made it almost to the door before the case turned sideways, tipping articles out on the floor. She could not help herself. She stamped her foot and let loose with several loud cuss words. She took a deep breath and silently apologized to her dead mother, wherever she was, for the words. She turned to him and finally let out a deep breath. “You know you made that happen!”
“You are blaming me for what?” He got up to approach her. “The suitcase tipping, or your temper? Or were you responding to my suggestions?”
She choose to ignore him and squatted down on her heels to stuff the lose items into the case. She felt him move in close. It brought a type of heat to her body. Shit, this was not going to turn out good. She finished but looked over at a naked foot which had trapped a small pad to the floor. She tried to make up her mind as to what her next move should be. She knew he was pushing her, but it was a game she did not want to play, especially since she had started to find an excitement from being in contact with him that she did not want to acknowledge.
She voted on the obvious. “You are standing on one of my pads. Or is it too bright in here for a Vampire to be able to see where he is walking?” She put her fingers on a corner of the pad away from his foot. The lights dimmed. It was getting evening outside and the glass was tinted, so as the sky dimmed, the rooms immediately became pale grey shadows. She stood up in a panic. That was a mistake, as she was immediately against a solid wall that was his chest. She started to step back and stumbled against the suitcase, but before she fell he had his hands around both upper arms and held her upright a few inches away from him.
They stood there for a very long moment. She had to try her voice twice but finally got out a senten
ce. “Thanks, now let me go, and turn the lights back up.” She looked up and took in a sharp breath. She could see his eyes. They seemed to almost have a soft glow so that she could see the pale blue.
“Did I tell you that Misty is a great name for you? Like fog on the docks late at night when you are mad, and tendrils hanging to hills early in the morning when you are just waking up.” His voice was that low raspy voice that was below the velvet.
“Let. Me. Go.” She found that she could not raise her voice, but she was able to find her anger to hide behind and she felt that it came out with the three words.
He held her and he tilted his head. “What are you willing to pay?”
She pulled against the hands that held her with no result, like trying to resist steel. She stopped and just relaxed. “Okay, as usual, I will play your stupid game. What do you want? And don’t ask for blood or sex.”
“How about let’s unwrap the package?”
Shit, she knew this was not going to turn out good when she had started out on the chair. “How much do you want me to take off?” She imagined that crooked smile getting wider.
“Oh, no. It is my package. I get to unwrap it.” He let go of her and she stood still, just inches from him. She wanted so desperately to step back, but knew that the suitcase was right behind her. Maybe she could step sideways to move away. She felt him turn her around swiftly so that her back was towards him and he lifted her up, carrying her into the bedroom. She bit her lip but refused to give him the pleasure of hearing her complain. She was surprised that he set her down on her feet in the middle of the shadowy room, still with her back to him. She clinched her hands into fists as she felt him pull the top of the turtleneck up to reach the zipper.
Okay, she could endure this. There was not much light in here and she realized that for reasons she did not like, he was teasing her. She was waiting for the swift pull of the zipper, but instead he slowly, ever so slowly, moved the zipper down. Worse, as it was lowered, he ran a finger down her spine. At first his touch was cold, but a heat began to form following the path of the finger. She felt a tightening in her breasts. Her nipples actually formed into nubs. She took a deep breath trying to get control of herself. How could she let this monster excite her?
He bypassed her bra and continued down her back until he reached the bottom of the blouse. He took his hands to her shoulders, sliding his hands under the blouse as he slowly pushed down her arms, taking the blouse with it until he reached her wrists. He let go and the blouse settled down to the floor. He held her wrists together across her stomach and pulled her back against him. She felt his skin against her bare back and again she had that odd sensation of cold first, then heat traveling through her body. She had to put a stop to this before her crazy body did something she was going to regret. “I don’t think this falls into your description of payment. I want you to let me go.”
She heard him take a deep breath before he answered. “Well, you are not being completely honest, because your heartbeat is saying something else. But you are right, I will need a cold shower if we don’t stop. That is, unless you have changed your mind about the sex or the blood?”
She jumped so fast that she was a foot away before she realized that he had let her go. By the time she turned around in the dark room she found that he was gone. She made her way to the lamp by the bed, turned it on and sat down to catch her breath. She was more worried about her reaction than she was the man who had taken her blouse.
She went into the bathroom, undressed and got under the shower again but did not stay very long, as she thought about him taking a cold shower. She wrapped a big towel around herself, taking a moment to look at herself in the mirror. She did not know what to think. She had actually responded to the monster who was holding her as a virtual prisoner. She had to get away, for her sanity. She went and found her sweatshirt and curled up in the large bed but she had to admit that she got very little sleep. When she did fall asleep she saw a pair of pale blue eyes watching her and she would jerk awake to find herself alone in the room. She finally left the light on and got a couple of hours of restless sleep.
Chapter Eight
He had a restless night as he took a long shower and then lay naked in his bed, listening to her quiet breathing in the next room. He knocked himself on the head, in thought only, a couple of times. He was pushing his limits. After all this time, he had prided himself on his own control. The last couple of times he had allowed himself to have an actual affair with a female, he had taken control of the whole context, from location, to the sex, to the ending. He enjoyed pleasing a woman, so he was generous in gifts and entertainment. He had even tried out some of the darker sides of erotic experience, both on himself and on the females who wanted it, but he was one who needed control, needed to dominate. So mostly he wanted to bring a woman pure enjoyment.
But with this female he wanted everything, and he knew that he should just watch her then turn her over to the Council. Unfortunately, the more he came in contact with her, the less that option held any appeal. It was very early in the morning when he got a call from Rome. They were bringing Bathromo in and needed some strong enforcers along with older members to help with the settlement of the decision of the Council on the nightwalker’s transgressions.
Fuck, he did not want to be half way around the world from this female. He called Alex and Marco and made plans to travel.
* * * *
The next morning she got up, dressed in her normal tee shirt, jeans, and flats. She went out to get some breakfast. While she was behind the kitchen bar, Rad came out, dressed in a white shirt, fastening the cuffs with gold cuff links. There was a business suit jacket laying over one of the chairs. It had to be Armani or one of those out of this world, expensive designer suits.
“I need to fly to Rome today. I am having Alex come by to take care of you. Behave yourself.” Even his voice was business in its tone.
“You fly? I mean by regular jet.” She watched his large tan hands work on the cuffs. She had to fight the urge to go over hand help.
He stopped and gave her the crooked smile. “You think we fly on brooms? I can move fast for short distances, but not over the ocean. But I do go first class.” He returned to working on the cuffs.
She heard the elevator and Alex was there, all smiles as he entered carrying several packages. She had the tingle that told her he was a Vampire, but of course she already knew this. He could enter because she had already invited him in.
Alex came over and set the boxes on the counter. He gave her a big smile and turned to Rad. “Any instructions?”
“Keep her safe and obey the rules yourself. Period.” finished with his cuffs, Rad picked up his jacket and went to the low table that had what looked like a wallet and passport, along with other important papers. He put on his jacket and put the wallet and papers into the pockets. He went to the elevator. After stepping in, he paused to looked at her for a long moment and let the door close.
* * * *
He hated to leave her for too many reasons to list and a couple of reasons he did not want to say out loud to anyone. He felt it took an enforcer of his talents to really protect her. Alex was a strong Vamp. He was old and under his smile, a wise person. Alex had been through many wars, knew all the signs to watch for. Most important, he would respect the rules.
But for the first time in too long to remember, Rad was getting attached to someone, and of all things, she was mortal. He had his report from Marco. It was interesting. She had antigens similar to those of Vampires. She was related in some way to the shadows of the night. Her blood would also have some special healing powers for Vamps. He had decided he was not going to share this information with the Council at this time
He had been summoned because of Bathromo. The dumb shit had broken too many rules trying to set up his own little domain. Time to slap him down. A Vampire could build up a nice domain without running into any trouble with the Council. In fact it helped to have some control and
someone in charge in different areas. But there were rules. The main one was to keep the anonymity of the breed.
While he sat in the first class section and got more attention than the other passengers, he thought of the mistakes Bath had made. He had allowed too much lawlessness, too many deaths and way too many Vamps. The Council might even remove him. They wanted Rad there as announced as a witness along with several other witnesses, but in essence, he could also be asked to hand out a penalty which could be as severe as execution. He was not looking forward to this. Damn Bath, because he needed to be with her.
* * * *
While Rad was spending hours flying, Alex was enjoying entertaining. They had decided she needed to go out instead of being cooped up all the time. He ordered up some dresses and they spent the day deciding which were the best for her. She went along and chose a couple then went all out getting dressed up. She put on more make up than usual, including a lot of eyeliner. She swept her hair up on top of her head, put on heels and let him lead her out of the building and into a dark sedan.
Of course, all Vampires were rich and had expensive cars. So he asked her where she wanted to go and she said, “Somewhere that does not have Vampires.” So he took her to a good restaurant that had a lot of people, loud music, and the food was normal. He pretended to eat and she ate a lot. After having her last restaurant meal cut short, she decided to really enjoy this one, plus she had some plans to put in place for Alex, mainly to get him to relax around her.
He actually got up and danced with her, and she enjoyed it. She did not get any vibe except from him, so she believed him when he said no Vamps went to this area.
The next day she talked him into taking her to a park to let her draw. He drove for almost an hour before pulling into a parking lot of a public park. They found a nice picnic area and again she got no warnings other than Alex, so she enjoyed drawing, but she was firming up her plans. She was thinking that Alex did not have the same ability that Rad did, so that he would not be able to locate her as easily. At least she hoped that would prove to be true.
