“I could go to the area my mother said the anomaly took place and see if I pick anything up.”
“Good, do that. Danny, go with her. Everyone,” she paused, taking a long breath, “don’t scare her. She seems fragile. If you see her, call me and tell me where you are and I’ll go to her. Got it?”
“Loud and clear, boss.” Dante saluted her with a smile. “Congrats.”
“Save it for when she’s found. Let’s go.”
Chapter Thirteen
Felicity woke feeling incredibly content. Stretching her arms over her head, she rolled over to find she was completely alone. A little jolt of fear prickled inside of her at not seeing Dusty anywhere. Slipping off the bed, feeling a little sore, she rushed from the room in search of him.
“Dusty? Where have you gone?”
“Back here,” he called out and she followed his voice.
“Oh, there you are. I got worried when I woke and you weren’t there. What are you doing?” He turned in his seat and she saw his eyes go wide as he looked at her.
“Where are your clothes?”
“I…uh…I guess I forgot to put them on. I was worried when I woke and you weren’t there. I rather like this feeling of freedom.” It felt nice not to have constrictions on her body. She sauntered towards Dusty noticing he was once again working with the microscope. “What are you looking at now?”
“You…I mean…” He cleared his throat. “Blood. Comparing human blood with my own. You really should put something on.”
She looked over at him and saw his face had turned a ripe shade of pink. “I like not wearing clothing.” She noticed the tent in his pants. “Maybe your body wishes fewer restrictions on it as well.”
“Yeah…” He ran a hand over his mouth. “Man…I love the way your hair falls over your body. Especially like this. It sort of fans over your breasts and…well…lower and kinda hides what’s beneath. It’s very hot.”
She stood beside him, glancing down at herself and decided he was right. And if that was the case, why did she need clothing? Glancing up at him, she saw the same look in his eyes now as he’d had when he’d first seen her naked. “Are you aroused by me like this?”
“Oh yeah…” he laughed nervously.
“You would like to have sex again?” She was more than ready.
“Hell yeah—no, wait!” She climbed onto his lap, straddling him. “Oh man.”
“You are erect. I can feel it against my—”
“Yeah…but we shouldn’t do it again without protection. Jeez, why do I have to be so damn responsible?”
“Is that a question for me?” If it was, she had no idea how to answer it.
“No. I was just thinking out loud. We need to go shopping.”
“But I like sitting here. We could go after we orgasm.”
“Oh…man…” Dusty chuckled, running a hand across his face.
“I like the way you feel pressing against me.” She liked it even more when she began to move her body back and forth against his.
“Yeah…I rather like it too. Oh man…” He put his arms around her body and held her in place.
“Will you suckle from my breast like you did before?”
“We shouldn’t do this.” But as he said it, he leaned forward sucking one breast into his mouth.
“I like that. Yes, I really like that.” She began to pump her hips even more, enjoying the hardness pressing into her swollen flesh. She held his head in place as he toyed with her nipple, as his mouth ravaged her, as his tongue flicked. “Yes, yes, I really like that.” She continued to gyrate against him, feeling that familiar warmth encompass her body. And like before, she felt it ripple through her as it shook her body.
“Yes, yes, yes!” she screamed as her body gushed with delight. Dusty gripped onto her hips and began sucking even harder on her breast which drove her completely wild.
Her body exploded with delight as he let out a loud grunt. She felt the fluid pool near her apex. Curious, she looked down, noticing his pants were damp.
“You soiled yourself.”
“Huh?” he panted.
“Your pants are damp.”
“It’s semen. It’s what happens when I orgasm.”
Curious, she stood up and touched the dampness. It felt sticky. “Interesting.”
“Yeah, that is why we need protection. My sperm is what can impregnate you.”
“Very interesting. I am damp as well. Do I have sperm?” she asked, sliding her hand between her legs to feel the dew.
“No, only guys have that. I need to wash up. Then we need to get some protection. It might be a good idea if you put on some clothes before we go out.”
In one hand she felt his sperm, in the other she felt her own juices. It was odd, how different they were yet how perfectly they matched.
***
Maybe it was a mistake, but Dusty wanted to walk instead of drive. Anyway, it was only a few blocks from them, he was sure they would be fine.
“When we return after getting the protection, can we have sex?”
“Oh boy.” Where was she years ago? “Let’s just concentrate on getting the condoms and getting back. Okay?”
“I do not like these…shoes. They hurt my feet.”
Dusty glanced down at the white running shoes he’d found in a locker near the change rooms and had given Felicity to wear. They had been a bit small for her, but he’d hoped they would do for now. He couldn’t have her walking around barefoot when there was so much broken glass and other debris lying about. “I know. Maybe they’ll have some in the drugstore that will fit better.”
“I prefer being barefoot.”
“Yes, well, unless you enjoy having your feet cut up from glass, you need to wear something on your feet. We’re almost there in any case.” The couple they’d seen earlier stepped out from behind the building and his protective streak came out.
“What are you doing?” Felicity asked when Dusty stepped in front of her.
“Felicity?”
“Protecting you,” he informed her and was determined not to let anything happen to her.
“Those are my parents, Trinity and Basil. They will not harm me.” She stepped out from behind him just as they approached. “Hello again.”
“We’ve been looking all over for you, Felicity. Please, don’t run away again,” Trinity expressed in a hurried tone.
“I was frightened and unsure the last time we met. I am not frightened now,” Felicity responded calmly.
“Can we go somewhere, and talk?”
“Perhaps after we’ve done our shopping for protection and shoes.”
“Excuse me?” Basil stepped forward with a challenging look in his eyes.
Shit! “Um…we were going to buy shoes. Shoes,” he emphasized, not wanting an angry father to come after him. “Besides, I don’t think Felicity wants to go anywhere with you.”
“I would like to speak with my parents now,” Felicity informed him.
“Are you sure?” Dusty took her aside. “Are you ready for this?”
“Yes. I believe I am, but I would like you there with me.”
He wasn’t about to leave her alone, not after what she had told him about her parents. Not after hearing all the men where he’d been held captive talk about Trinity like she was some evil force to be reckoned with. “I’ll stick with you.”
“We could go to our place and talk,” Felicity suggested to her parents.
“Um…that may not be such a good idea.” Pulling her aside again, he lowered his voice. “They’ll know where we’re staying.”
“Vampires have excellent hearing, in case you didn’t know that about yourself.”
Dusty shot Basil a narrow look. Yeah, he knew that. Still.
“It’s okay if they know where I’m staying. This is what I came here to do. I need to do it now.” She turned back to her parents. “We are staying just down the block in that clinic. If you follow us, we can begin our discussion.”
“I hope you know what you’re doing.”
She took Dusty’s hand in hers and smiled. “So do I.”
***
Trinity watched her daughter walk away hand in hand with some boy who seemed very protective of her. She had no idea how they knew each other, but she was sure going to find out.
“She said they were going to get protection. You heard that, right?” Basil whispered through gritted teeth.
She nodded. “Do you think he’s from the Realm?”
“I think he had better keep his hands to himself where our daughter is concerned.”
“It feels so weird. I mean, she’s a grown woman and I don’t even know her, yet I feel…protective of her. You do too. Isn’t that weird, when we don’t know her?”
Basil shrugged, slipped a cigarette from his pocket, and lit it up. “Blood is blood no matter what. I’m going to rip his arm off if he doesn’t remove it from her waist.”
“Behave. I’m scared.”
He stopped her, took her face in his hand. “Of what?”
“Of scaring her off. I don’t want to lose her again, Basil.”
“We won’t.” He kissed her quickly. “I promise.”
As they followed their daughter, Trinity could only hope Basil was right.
Because she couldn’t go through losing her daughter twice.
Chapter Fourteen
Her legs were shaking. How odd was that? Felicity knew she was safe, she knew there was nothing her parents could do to her that she couldn’t handle, yet she was terrified.
They sat in what Dusty called the waiting area, in chairs that were much too hard, and stared at each other. Felicity knew if she opened her mind, she would hear what her parents were thinking, but she wouldn’t. She simply didn’t want to know what they were thinking, for fear of, well, more things than she could imagine. Instead, she sat across from them, examining the two people who had given her life.
Her mother had a round face with a square chin. She had an elegance to her that was disguised by a pale blue shirt and dark, stiff-looking pants. Her hair was pulled back in a tight tail at the back of her head. She had a slender build that Felicity recognized as being the same as her own.
Her father was an imposing figure with such beauty that it took her breath away. She’d never seen a man more handsome. His hair hung to his shoulders in a river of black satin. His eyes were the same blue as her own and lined with long dark lashes. He had very prominent cheekbones and lips rich with fullness. She had his mouth.
And sitting with them now, she sensed nothing remotely close to evil.
Trinity spoke first.
“How old are you?”
“My mother told me I am twenty.”
Her birth mother’s eyes narrowed. “Rajana is not your mother. I am.”
Her father took her mother’s hand in his, which touched Felicity deeply. She could see the love he held for her in his eyes.
“Rajana is the woman who raised me and she is the one I call mother.”
“Only because she stole you from us,” Trinity snapped.
“I was taken from you because you are evil and wish to take her out and reign as the new queen.”
Trinity’s brow curled. “Is that what she told you?”
“Yes.”
“Well, it’s a lie.”
“Relax, my love.” Her father lifted her mother’s hand to his lips and kissed it softly before turning his attention to Felicity. “My mother has a way of spinning things to suit her. This has always been her way, but I assure you, neither of us is evil. I promise you, Trinity does not want to take over as reigning queen.”
“Damn straight. I hate these powers she gave me and would give anything to be rid of them. She took you from me, from us because she wanted you for her own. She encouraged me to sign you away with a lie then snatched you from my arms only minutes after you were born. If anyone is evil, it’s her.”
Once again her father soothed with a squeeze of his hand. “How is it you can be twenty years old?”
“My mother made me this old.” Felicity ignored the snort from her birth mother.
“How do you mean, she made you this old?” Basil inquired.
“I do not know how she achieved it, but a few short weeks ago I was still a young girl. She took me for a walk and my next memory is waking in my bed at this age. She’s done so my entire life.”
“She aged you?” her mother gasped.
“What memories do you have of growing up?” her father continued.
Playing with her hair, Felicity thought back to her life. “I recall some things in my youth, but not many. My earliest memory is when I was approximately…five. It is vague, like looking through a foggy window. I was given a doll that had long white hair like my mother’s—Rajana,” she corrected when her birth mother snarled once again. “She told me it was my birthday and that each day of my birth I would receive another doll.”
“How many do you have now?”
She liked her father’s voice. It was a little deep but oddly soothing. “Four. I was recently given one. Just after we spoke.” She turned her attention to her birth mother.
“We spoke? When did we speak?”
“I am unsure of the time. You were locked in the cell my mother kept you in. After you left, I asked my mother about you and she told me you were my birth mother. We went for a walk and I woke like this.” She held her hands out to her body.
“I think I’m going to be sick.” Eyes shimmering, Trinity lowered her head between her knees.
“I’ll get you some water.” Rushing from his seat, Dusty hurried from the room.
“I did not mean to make you feel ill.”
“It’s not you, sweetheart. It’s what happened to you.”
Her father called her sweetheart. Felicity’s heart warmed with those words. “I questioned my mother on your evilness. You seemed so nice, so kind and I wondered how someone who seemed sincere could be as evil as my mother—Rajana—proclaimed. And I do not see how she has you under her spell.”
Basil tilted his head in confusion as he rubbed Trinity’s back. “Is that what my mother told you?”
“Yes. She said my birth mother brainwashed you so you would desert your mother and help Trinity take over the Realm. But I see no signs of a spell on you. I only see love.”
Trinity lifted her head and the tears rolled down her cheeks. “You let me look inside of you, to show me that you truly were my daughter. I ask you now. Look inside of me and see the truth. Please.”
If it was a ploy to control her, Felicity was prepared for it. As she stepped into her mother’s mind, she saw the love Trinity held for the man beside her, and she saw the love Trinity held for her only child. Her heart filled with emotions when she was taken to the moment of her birth and the tears of joy her mother had spilled. She pulled out of her mother’s thoughts with tears stinging her eyes.
“Do you see the truth now? I loved you, from the very moment I found out about you. Yeah, I was scared, but I loved you. I love you now. I don’t want to take over as queen. All I want is my daughter back. I want you back.”
She felt her mother’s emotions spill over into her own. “When I came to your cell it was because something called to me. I felt…something pulling at me and when I heard your voice it was as if…I recognized it. It stirred something inside of me. Here.” She placed a hand on her heart. “I felt comforted by it, by you, and it was so strong that even after I woke at this age, I felt it.”
“There was something about you too, that got to me. After we spoke
, I couldn’t get you out of my head and I wondered what such a young thing was doing in a place like that. It was you that kept me going, you that encouraged me to hold on, to be strong. Oh, Felicity, if I had known it was you…I came there to look for you,” Trinity blurted out through her tears. “We performed a spell so that I could go into the Realm and bring you home. I’ve been trying ever since you were born to bring you back to us. But Rajana kept blocking us. I can’t believe I finally have you back.”
She was thrown when her mother rushed to her. Falling down on her knees, Trinity embraced Felicity in a tight hold. Cautiously, Felicity put her arms around her mother. As they embraced, she felt something inside of her click for the very first time.
She felt love wash through her for the woman who had given her life.
“Mother.”
“Yes. Yes, I am your mother.” Sitting back, Trinity cupped Felicity’s face in her hands. “Oh, look how beautiful you are. Basil, look at her.”
He sat down beside them and replaced her mother’s hand with his own. “More beautiful than anything I have ever seen.”
“My father.”
“Can you call me Dad?” he chuckled, wiping his own tears away.
“Dad.” It slid off her tongue with an odd sensation, but Felicity decided it was something she could get used to. “She talks of you often. Your mother. She wishes she had never let you go.”
He wiped his tears, then wiped hers. “It still gave her no right to take you from us.”
“Did you lock her in the Realm?” her mother asked.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I knew if I didn’t, she would come after me and take me home. I only wanted time to see my parents, to get to know them, to find out for myself if they were truly evil.”
“And now what? What will you do now?” her father asked softly.
Felicity drew in a deep breath. Dusty entered the room with a cup in hand. “I wish to remain here and get to know my parents.”
“Oh, sweetie, you couldn’t have said anything more precious.”
“I guess you don’t need this now.” Dusty set the cup on an empty chair.
“I want you to come home with us.”
Shiela Stewart - [Darkness 06] Page 9
