Superstition

by Veronica Blake

  This man was definitely like no other lover she had ever known. They had gone far beyond physical contact. When he entered her, Dawn felt he claimed more than her body; it was as if he possessed her very soul. She wasn’t a very spiritual person, but she was certain she just had a revelation of some sort. The connection she felt with him was almost unearthly. She wished they could remain linked together like this for the rest of forever. But even forever wouldn’t be long enough.

  ****

  Mateo closed the front door of the apartment as quietly as possible. Dawn had not moved a muscle the entire time he had been getting ready to leave. They had spent the entire night engaged in such deep intimacy that it felt as though their spirits had become fused.

  The image of her sleeping alone in the bed when he left her caused a strange lump to form in his throat. She reminded him of an angelic being with her long blonde hair spread out in wild profusion along the top of her flowered pillow case. The matching sheet covered her firm luscious body all the way to her chin, but he didn’t need to see more to remember she was not so angel-like last night. His Udaya was the precise mixture of angel and hot temptress. The erection this thought aroused reminded him how much he wanted to stay here with her forever.

  He climbed into his truck and drove off as soon as he started the ignition. He couldn’t chance she would come out of her apartment and detain him. The sun would be up soon. He should have left earlier. But he lingered, wanting to spend every possible second with her, even if it was only lying next to her watching her sleep. The consequences of being caught away from the mountain once the sun rose, though, were not an option.

  Driving back to the reservation, Mateo was lost to the amazing experience of making love to his mate. A smile claimed his lips. He could still smell the succulent scent of her desert-scented cologne in his truck. The hardness of his cock was more than a little annoying now that he was no longer with her. But it was a small price to pay for all he discovered in her loving embrace.

  The first night with her had been more exciting, erotic and romantic than he could have ever imagined. Had she realized it was the first time he ever made love? There was no way she could have known, he told himself smugly. He had no doubts he had been a gifted first-timer by the way she responded to him.

  His smile widened. It had been so worth the century-long wait. It saddened him to think if he had completed the mating process as soon as she arrived on the Superstitions to camp with her friend that first night, he would have never known the extent of her real passion because she would have been completely under his vampire spell and compelled to make love to him whenever he desired it.

  Now, he had no doubt she was as excited to be with him as he was to be with her in every way. When the time came to make her his mate for all eternity, they would have experienced so much more than his grandfather, father, or brothers had ever known with their mates.

  A deep sense of relief filled Mateo for the strength he had been able to exhibit while they had been in the throes of such intense love-making. His mouth and throat felt as though they had erupted into blistering coals with the thought of being so close to her and not drinking more of her blood, but he fought the consuming urge with every reserve he could muster, and he prevailed. If he had been able to control his vampire urges during such electrifying intimacy, he was confident he could pull off his plan without any trouble.

  But he reminded himself he still had to be careful while he was coming to see Dawn in her human world. There was too much at stake...his entire clan’s existence for one thing.

  Mateo parked his truck in a secluded location on the reservation. He did not have to worry about leaving it there, because the Clan Society protected everything associated with the secret vampire clan from the mountain.

  It was nearly daylight, and Mateo had to hurry to the caves before any light of day touched his nocturnal skin and reduced him to a blackened spot on the ground. As he traveled quickly up the mountain with his sure-footed immortal ease, he thought about the admission Dawn made regarding her dreams. Of course, they weren’t dreams, and he was surprised and more than a little worried to know she was able to remember anything about those events.

  He recalled the concerns his grandfather mentioned when he told him he started the mating ritual, but hadn’t completed it. Could the strange illness she mentioned be a result of his bites? If there was any chance he was putting her health at risk, he would not hesitate to make her his mate immediately. But she seemed okay now. She had been better than okay tonight.

  As long as he remained strong and resisted biting her again, hopefully, they wouldn’t have to rush the inevitable. They would spend eternity in his world, and he really loved living in hers, even if it was only for a little while longer…and if he could deny his ravenous hunger for her blood.

  Chapter Nine

  Dawn wished the night would never have to end. But there was no ignoring the sun shining through the bedroom window and hitting her smack in the face with its bright rays. She felt a smile touch her lips; lips that still clung to Mateo’s demanding kisses. Her hand impulsively rose up to touch the area at the back of her neck where she had been bitten in those bizarre dreams. Don’t start with that crazy stuff again. She sighed with relief to discover that—of course—there were no new wounds.

  Before opening her eyes, she reached over to the side of the bed where she was sure he would still be sleeping. The feel of cool sheets greeted her hand. Her eyes flew open. She was alone among the tangled mess of sheets.

  One night stand echoed through her mind. Then she noticed the note lying on the empty pillow beside her. As she grabbed the piece of white paper, she was growing more anxious by the moment. The note was written on a piece of paper torn out of the tablet she kept in the kitchen for writing her shopping lists and notes.

  She grunted with aggravation. She knew how men usually were when they first got up in the morning. Mateo had most likely gotten up from the bed and sauntered into the bathroom to take a pee. Flushing the toilet was optional when it came to men, which probably explains why she hadn’t heard him in the bathroom. Then, he must have dressed, roamed through her tiny apartment looking for pen and paper, written a note, and placed it on the pillow before leaving. And she hadn’t heard one damn thing?

  Well, they hadn’t gotten much sleep last night, so she was obviously exhausted. She couldn’t stop the silly grin that claimed her lips. Oh, it had been so worth the loss of sleep.

  She pushed up to a sitting position, aware of the slight tenderness between her legs from their exuberant night of making love; it was a pain she didn’t mind at all. Her goofy grin widened. The way this man made her feel was unreal. She rubbed her sleepy eyes and tried to focus on the note. Please don’t let it be filled with bad news like, ‘Dear Easy One-Night Stand, Wish you had higher morals, but you don’t, so I won’t be seeing you again. Bye Bye.’ Ugh. She forced herself to look down at the carefully written words on the note paper.

  My beautiful Dawn,

  There is nothing I would like more than to wake up this morning with you in my arms. Unfortunately, I have commitments I am unable to ignore and had to leave early. I didn’t want to wake you. Please forgive me for not saying goodbye. I will count the minutes until I can see you again. I will call you tonight and I hope you will be looking forward to it as much as I will be.

  Love,

  Mateo

  Love? Love. Love Mateo? Damn.

  This was crazy. She barely knew anything about him, other than he was gorgeous to look at, and a magnificent lover and just about perfect in every way, but she knew without a doubt that she loved him. She pressed the note against her bare breast. It was the closest she could be to him right now. She would be counting the minutes until she heard from him tonight.

  “Mateo Two Moons, I love you, too,” she said softly.

  Since there was no need to get up yet, she leaned back on her pillow. She hugged the note a few minutes longer then put it back o
n the pillow in the exact spot where he had left it earlier. A fleeting thought passed through her mind and made her gasp out loud.

  They hadn’t used any protection last night. She vaguely remembered thinking about that very important issue as he had been carrying her to the bedroom, but it passed through her mind as no more than a nonexistent whisper and she had completely forgotten to mention it to him. So why hadn’t he said something? No one made love for the first time without talking about that stuff these days.

  But they made love last night over and over and over again without even thinking about it. Oh well, too late now. Damn.

  Her brows drew together as a heavy frown settled on her face. She tried to care more about the fact they had been so careless, but for some reason it just didn’t seem all that important in the big scheme of everything else she felt when she thought about that man. The panic she knew she should be feeling was nothing more than a minor aggravation. Next time they would have to talk about using protection. And she was fairly certain there was going to be a next time.

  Another grin came to her lips before a huge yawn reminded her of how tired she still was. She thought she’d just rest in bed for a bit longer before she got up and did something to pass the time before Mateo called her tonight.

  But it was barely seconds before she was sound asleep, and lost to another strange world of dreams…real dreams.

  She was following a trail on the Superstition Mountains. How odd she was not afraid at all this time. Instead, she was trembling with excitement. Ahead, she sensed there was something so amazing she couldn’t wait to see it.

  This trail was familiar. The setting sun was shining along the tops of the mountain, and on the shapes of jagged rocks and scraggily pinion trees along the sides of the trail. She remembered all this from the hike she had taken with Chloe.

  As Dawn approached a towering expanse of the mountain, a small opening became visible at the base. She did not hesitate to kneel down on her knees and crawl through the dark hole.

  Rising up to her feet, she realized she was in another familiar area. She had been here with Chloe, too. The Old Military Trail. But they hadn’t been on this high of a ridge when they were here before. The lower ledge where she had been standing with Chloe last weekend was barely visible and she had no idea how she had gotten up here on this higher ledge. From here she had a clear view of Weavers Needle. The tall pointy sphere was glowing red in the fading sunlight. Still, she wasn’t frightened at all.

  She glanced down and noticed a shape began to form on the desert floor below the Needle in the dimming light. The last rays of sun sparkled along the edges of the silhouette spread out below her. The outline highlighted by the fading sunlight began to take on a recognizable form. It resembled the profile of an old man’s face. Indentations along the barren ground clearly outlined his features, and rocks formed his nose, mouth and eyes. The eyes appeared to be staring at a particular spot on the mountain behind her.

  Turning slowly her gaze followed the same path as the unmoving stone eyes. A gasp caught in her throat as her disbelieving mind fought to comprehend what she was seeing. The entrance to the cave was massive and resembled a gaping mouth. Dawn was sure this was the jaws of Hell. Although she was afraid to see more, she couldn’t look away. Her gaze was drawn past the terrifying image of the heinous gateway, to the interior of the enormous cavern. She gasped and drew in a trembling breath.

  The walls of the cave were filled with glistening veins of gold and the fading rays of the setting sun made them cast blinding spheres of light across the land. Dawn threw her hands over her eyes to block the piercing glare of the gold. She shook with a mixture of awe and disbelief. It really did exist.

  The Lost Dutchman’s Mine was no longer lost. She had just found it.

  The sound of someone knocking on her door woke Dawn from her most recent and extremely detailed dream. For a moment, she was still mired in the vivid images of finding the Lost Dutchman Gold Mine. This dream was so detailed. Maybe not as intense as the others—the kinky ones—but all her dreams lately had been a bit too real. She glanced at the clock on her night stand and was shocked to see it was almost three-thirty in the afternoon.

  Another knock sounded from the front door. “Coming,” Dawn called out and jumped up to grab her blue satin robe from the hook on the bathroom door. What if it was Mateo? She probably looked like crap. She haphazardly ran her fingers through her tangled hair as she rushed toward the door.

  “It’s Chloe. Are you okay in there?”

  Whew. As much as she couldn’t wait to see Mateo again, she would prefer to not look like something the cat drug in when he came back. Pulling the door open, she was immediately aware of how she must look by the knowing expression on Chloe’s face.

  “I was worried you were sick again. But damn. That must have been one super-hot all-nighter. Is the Apache stud still here?” Her gaze moved past Dawn toward the open bedroom door. Her eyebrows rose up as she whispered, “In there?”

  Dawn had to giggle at the way Chloe was acting. Her cheeks were slightly flushed and there was an asinine grin curving her lips. Not that she could blame her. Mateo Two Moons would cause any woman to get excited at the thought of him lying in her bed. “Nope. He had something to do today and left early this morning.”

  Chloe walked into the apartment and snickered. “And you’re obviously still trying to catch up on sleep. He must have worn you out, big time. Seriously, you look like hell. But in a good way, of course.” She smiled and shook her head. “Wet dreams. Pizza Porn. And now this.” She gestured toward Dawn’s tangled hair and scantily-clad body.

  “I can’t even believe any of this is really happening,” Dawn replied. She pulled the tie around her waist tighter and smoothed down the front of her short robe as she motioned for Chloe to have a seat at the kitchen counter. “Coffee?”

  “Thanks, but it’s kinda late in the day for coffee, and I have no reason to be up all night.” She chuckled dryly. “Okay. Details.” She climbed on one of the two bar stools at the small kitchen counter.

  Dawn began to dump scoopfuls of ground coffee into the coffeemaker. “Well, we met in front of the pizza parlor like planned, but he suggested we go to this place at the edge of the reservation. It was perfect, and he looked so seriously hot. And he’s, um, he’s just about the most wonderful man ever.” She poured water into the top of the coffee pot. “I think I’m totally, madly in love with him.” There, she admitted it out loud to someone else. There was no denying it now.

  A loud gasp escaped from Chloe. Her blue eyes widened as she stared back at Dawn and shook her head slightly. “You barely know him.” A worried frown tugged at the corners of her mouth. “You’re moving way too fast. You know that, right?”

  Turning away Dawn stared at the coffee dripping into the pot. “I know.” She shrugged. “Two days ago I didn’t believe in love at first sight, either.”

  “Two days?” Chloe repeated in a stunned voice. “So, you were feeling like this since Friday night when you first met him, and you didn’t tell me?”

  “Crazy. I know.” She opened an overhead cupboard and grabbed a large white coffee mug with the words Colorful Colorado written around its circumference in a rainbow of colors. “Sure you don’t want some?

  Chloe gave her head a negative shake. “I need a beer.” She headed to the refrigerator to help herself. “Sure you don’t want one of these instead?” she asked as she grabbed a bottle.

  Dawn laughed. “After the coffee I might.” She pushed a long strand of loose blonde hair back from her forehead. “I can’t believe I’ve practically slept all day.” She smiled when she noticed the knowing smirk on Chloe’s lips. Their gazes met, and Dawn giggled as she looked away, feeling once again like a teenager who had just had her first sloppy wet kiss. “He’s just, well, amazing in every way.” The words just fell out of her mouth without conscious thought.

  “Okay, I’m officially jealous now,” Chloe said as she plopped back down on the
stool. She took a big gulp of the beer she just opened. “So—think he feels the same?”

  Wrapping her hands around her coffee mug, Dawn took a sip of coffee, then slowly nodded her head. “Yeah—yeah, I really think he does.” She looked directly at her friend again and added, “This is going to sound really insane, but I have no doubt I am going to be with him forever.”

  Chloe took another big drink then sat the beer bottle on the countertop. “You’re right. It sounds so insane. It’s only been two days since you met him. One spilt beer on his feet. One display of public porn. One perfectly hot date. One all-night fuck.”

  Another giggle escaped from Dawn. “Oh, trust me, it was so much more. It was making electrifying love over and over like I’ve never done befo—”

  “Okay, enough,” Chloe interrupted and held her hand up in front of Dawn’s face. “I was just jealous before, now I’m getting sort of pissed.” She smiled to counteract her words. “You really do have it bad.” She shook her head from side to side in a slow gesture. “So, when are you seeing Mr. Perfect Everything again?”

  She shrugged as a childish smirk curled her lips. See? Even Chloe had noticed Mateo Two Moons was perfect, she thought smugly as she sat down on the other stool.

  “He’s supposed to call tonight. So, maybe later? I hope.” She turned and grabbed Chloe’s forearm. “Oh, I almost forgot. I had the craziest dream about your gold mine right before I woke up a little while ago.”

  “My gold mine?”

  “The Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine,” Dawn retorted with a roll of her eyes. “I found it. Well, in my dream, anyway.”

  “You and your crazy dreams.” She glanced down at her beer and began to chip at the label on the bottle with the nail on her forefinger. “You didn’t mention anything to the Apache stud about the gold mine, did you?”

  Dawn shook her head, aware of Chloe’s strange tone of voice and obvious change of demeanor. “We talked a little bit about the legend, but I didn’t tell him anything about you or your family’s quest to find the mine. Why?”