"I'm sure they will, since they lost so many. We'll have our hands full with one wristling. You need anything before I go?” Vare asked.
"Nah. I'm good. The advantage of weight. You skinny guys wear out faster."
"My van is parked in the back,” Vare said to Darlene as they walked through the kitchen to a small porch. “Why don't you ride with your son to my place? I'll have one of the crew follow with your car. We don't want to leave anything here that might be linked to you. Sooner or later the authorities will show up,” Vare said.
Darlene couldn't quite think straight, but what he said sounded logical. She needed to stay with Brian. That she could focus on. She followed Vare outside to a utility van where he placed Brian in the back.
"I'll need your car keys, to get your car to my house,” Vare said. She handed them to him. “Is your son's car here, too?"
"Yes, it's down the street,” she said. “It's a white Camaro."
"You have his keys?"
The keys were in Brian's pocket and so she gave them to Vare. While he took them indoors she got into the passenger seat, wiping tears onto her sweatshirt sleeve. Vare got into the driver's seat a moment later. He turned sideways toward her and looked straight into her eyes. “It would be best if you went to sleep. It's a long drive."
Darlene nodded. It would be good to sleep. I'm so tired. She fumbled the seatbelt and Vare's hands brushed hers aside and completed the simple task.
"Sleep. I will get you to safety.” Darlene obediently closed her eyes without any objection. As she drifted off to sleep, feeling warm and safe, she heard Vare chuckle.
Chapter Two
Vare glanced at the woman sleeping peacefully in the passenger seat. She was not the type of woman he spent time around. He didn't accept young women on his blood crew, not ones he found sexually attractive. Right now his crew consisted of a young gay couple, a married couple in their fifties, and a man in his forties. His lovers were always vampire women. Human lovers were too complicated.
But as he drove Vare found himself glancing at the sleeping woman. Darlene was pretty in a wholesome, soccer mom way, with silky ash blond hair pulled up in a ponytail, and no makeup to hide the sprinkling of freckles on her nose or to darken her thick, soft brown lashes. No lipstick on her healthy pink lips. Her eyes, he remembered, were a green and gold hazel, warm and clear with lines to prove she wasn't a girl but a woman. Round and soft, big breasted, with lush thighs, Darlene Maxwell would be delicious in bed. All soft warmth and generous kisses, he imagined, because she had a warm aura about her.
Vare had been transformed nearly two centuries ago, in Prussia, back when full-figured women were lauded as great beauties, so different from today. He still held the old-fashioned standards of beauty, unchanged by the fashions of the times. His body reacted with a rush of desire and he needed to concentrate on his driving.
It had been too long since he'd been with a woman. Veronique was the closest vampire woman in the clan, and he'd missed their last rendezvous. The hard lean body of the vampiress did not have the sensual draw of the woman sitting next to him. Of course, that might be the elixir affecting him. It worked on the vampire who emitted it as well as the human they fed upon. Since this was the first attractive woman he'd fed from in over a century, it was reasonable he'd notice a difference. A sexual difference.
Women like Darlene didn't live in his world, though now she would be forced to live on the periphery of the vampire underground, because of her son. Darlene and her world were nearly as foreign to him as his vampire world would be to her.
Vare flipped open his cell phone. “I'll be home in an hour. I have guests, a wristling boy I'll be fostering, and his mother.” On the other end, Ron squawked with excitement about the boy.
A wristling. The last thing he'd expected from this night's work had been a young one. In two hundred years as a vampire, he'd never transformed a human into a vampire. It was the mother who had persuaded him. Something about Darlene's eyes, so huge and full of pain, had torn at him. He wanted to make things right for her. Then feeding from her...he felt the desire to possess her well up again, his predator's senses alert to her every breath. Having a human woman around, one he'd fed from, one he desired, was going to be complicated.
What a night's work.
Vare arrived at the estate and Ron opened the security gate for him. He parked in the back of the house and Ron came out to assist him.
"I'm shocked and amazed,” Ron said as he dragged the boy out of the van.
"Yeah. Me, too. What a night."
"I readied a bedroom on the lowest level, just down the hall from your room,” Ron said.
Ron, retired from a career in the marines, was on Vare's blood crew and managed security and other matters. “I called clan personnel and let them know we would need additions to the blood crew in a couple days."
"Good. Let's get the boy in there and then I'll come back for the mother."
Ron glanced at the sleeping woman curiously and Vare felt a flash of possessiveness. Ron had a rep as a ladies’ man with the blood crews. He was considered good looking, too, tan and fit with thick, prematurely gray hair.
Vare grimaced a little. “I had to feed, after offering to the boy. She was there, found him right after he was drained. So I persuaded her to let me feed. She's under my thrall right now. I put her to sleep."
Ron raised his eyebrows and grinned. “Well, you have had a busy night. I can get the kid if you want to stay and wake up the mom. What're their names, by the way?"
"The kid is Brian. Her name is Darlene."
Ron took the boy to the house and Vare turned to Darlene. He opened the passenger door and placed a hand on her shoulder. Instead of hard bone, her shoulder had an unaccustomed softness. He paused, and then gently stroked her shoulder for a moment. The bond was working on them both. She obeyed him without question, and he... Vare swallowed hard. He was hard as a rock, just touching her shoulder, and his fangs lengthened in sympathy with his cock.
Darlene looked so innocent sleeping there, all silky hair and soft curves. The poor woman had no idea...
He shook he shoulder. “Darlene, wake up."
Darlene woke up confused, in a strange car. Then it all came back to her. Brian. Vare. “How could I fall asleep?” she cried. Her son was near death, and she went to sleep?
"Shh, it is all right. Shock.” Vare's voice was strangely soothing.
"Where's Brian? Is he all right?” She looked around in the dark but could only see a walled driveway.
"Yes, he is getting settled in a bedroom. Come."
Vare's house was a large sprawling brick ranch style home, full of gleaming woodwork and expensive furniture. They went down to a basement level that was just as luxurious as the upstairs. Brian was in a bedroom decorated in shades of green. Except for the wound on his neck, he looked as though sleeping normally. Someone had removed his shoes and jeans and placed them on a dresser.
"Why don't you get some sleep?” Vare spoke. “Your son will not rise tonight. At the earliest, it will be tomorrow night. You can take the room next door."
"I would rather stay in here, with him. I'm sure I could sleep in that chair.” Darlene nodded at an overstuffed recliner near the bed.
Vare nodded and brought her a soft blanket and pillow. “One of my associates will be right outside in the family room. I will have him check on you. If you need anything, just ask Ron for assistance. I must go communicate the night's happenings to my clan."
"Is...is your associate a vampire?"
"Not this one. Ron is human."
Darlene was exhausted, but her mind refused to settle down to sleep. She'd met Ron, who handed her bottles of juice and water, with orders to drink up. Brian slept quietly, and she rested in the recliner with just a dim bedside light.
Darlene rarely slept away from home, and knowing she was in the home of a vampire —that her son would change into one or die—was too much. She sat for a long time holding back tears, know
ing that once they started it would be hard to stop crying.
The door opened and Vare came in. “I can feel your distress,” he said in a soft voice that seemed to enter her body and seep into her bones, bringing a deep warmth. “I will stay here with you until you can sleep.” He sat down on the bed, so close his knees almost touched her.
"What will happen to my son, after he awakes?"
"The first two years are crucial. He must be fed blood without violence, and the only way for that to happen is to be part of a clan that is committed to raising him as one of their members. Otherwise, without clan feeding, he will hunt and become an evil creature like the vampires you saw at the party. Imagine a two-year-old with superhuman strength and an unrelenting desire for blood and you will see what a rogue vampire is like."
Darlene shuddered, remembering all the phone calls she had from various babysitters back when Brian had been an actual two-year-old. He'd been the classic, tantrum throwing toddler monster. She shook her head.
"Yes, an ugly prospect. Very dangerous, as you experienced tonight,” Vare stated. “And the behavior pattern gets set in such an unclaimed vampire, they never grow out of it. That is why we eliminate them, like we did tonight. They endanger humans and the clans who live in secrecy among humans. In a clan, Brian will grow back into himself, as a rational adult, around his second anniversary. The rogue vampires you met tonight rarely live to their second year as a vampire."
"Will he stay seventeen forever?” The thought that he would be an awkward teen for the rest of his life made her throat ache. She'd been so looking forward to Brian growing up and leaving the awkward teen years behind. Now all her plans, all their plans for his future, were shattered.
"No, he will mature to manhood, but he will age very slowly after attaining his full growth. Vampires do not age as humans do."
Darlene began to relax as he spoke. His voice had a quality she couldn't name, but it seemed to resonate within her. His bite mark throbbed in response to his voice, and tingles of desires swirled down between her legs. She pressed them together tightly, both to provide some pressure and to try to quell the desire beginning to overwhelm her.
Vare leaned toward her, and the deep blue of his eyes mesmerized her. “I can feel what you feel, and you may not realize it, but you are picking up my emotional state, too,” Vare said.
"What do you mean?"
"Attraction. Desire.” The husky way he spoke the words sent a shiver down her spine. “It is part of the feeding experience that we shared."
"You mean it makes us attracted to each other?"
"Yes."
The way Vare said the word made heart leap in response. She dragged in a sharp breath, then looked at him. “I don't know about that...have you looked at you? You are very handsome."
"And you are lovely."
"I am?” Darlene's eyes widened in surprise. “Tonight a girl at the party called me old and fat."
Vare's eyes traveled up and down her body. Darlene's nipples hardened in response to his gaze on her breasts and she caught her breath.
"You are neither.” Vare reached out a hand and gently caressed her cheek. “I would love to share a night with you. But there would be ramifications that you would not like later. My semen has the same properties as the elixir from my teeth. Even if we used protection, there is some in my saliva, also. And I do not think I would be able to stop myself from biting. It is part of a vampire's sexual nature."
"Oh. So it would be a bad idea?” Darlene was surprised at how deep her disappointment went. She was also surprised she was actually considering sleeping with him.
"Very. You would be connected to me for a much longer time, and both of us would have a difficult time resisting each other. So we would have more sex, and deepen the connection until it became a bond. We would become psychically connected. It would take you away from your life in the daylight, and bring you into my life in the dark."
"Oh.” She twisted her face into a deep thought, trying to remember why this would be a bad thing. “Oh! You would be stuck with me. And I'm so not the vampire lover type. Not exotic.” She thought back to how the vampire woman looked at that party. Sexy, sleek, dangerous. Hot. Darlene looked down at her chubby thighs clad in faded denim and the baggy pink sweatshirt, then at his hard sculpted body. Worlds apart.
Darlene sighed and her head began to pound in pain. Vampires, her son, violence, sudden sexual awareness...her emotions clashed and she felt physically and mentally battered.
Vare seemed to know. He led her out to the sitting room area and helped her onto the sofa. “Ron, you can take a break for awhile,” he said to a silver haired man playing a hand held video game. “I don't think we need to stand guard tonight.” The man nodded and left.
"I will get you something to drink. Is there anything else you need?"
"Something for a headache?” Darlene doubted that vampires owned pain relievers, so she was somewhat surprised when he returned with a glass of ice, a can of cola and a bottle of aspirin.
"Thanks,” she said. She tried to look calm, but her hands shook too much to open the pill bottle. Vare again came to her rescue.
"You need to try and calm down,” he said. “You will make yourself ill.” Vare took her hand, rubbing his thumb across the pulse of her inner wrist. She knew he meant to comfort her, but electric thrills ran through her, reaching every secret place.
"How can I calm down? My son's nearly dead, and the only reason I haven't called the ambulance is because you sunk your fangs into me” She wiped away a tear. “Vampires are real, my son will become a vampire, and now I want to sleep with you.” Her thoughts blurted out and she burst into tears again, ducking her head in embarrassment.
Vare pulled her into his arms, and she couldn't help the flood of desire that swept through her. “You are not a bad mother. You have given your son a chance. His life doesn't have to be a tragedy."
It made her cry even harder and she buried her face against his chest in embarrassment. His very hard, well-muscled chest. Darlene slid her arms around his waist. Holding him tight made her feel better.
"Try to calm down.” Vare's voice was soothing, as was his hand rubbing gently at the nape of her neck.
"It helps when you touch me,” Darlene whispered into his chest, sobs evaporating into melting warmth.
"That is part of the effect of the vampire elixir released in the feeding. It works on me, too."
"You feel comforted?"
"No. I feel something different.” His voice rasped in her ear, making her shiver. Darlene pulled him tighter.
With a sigh, Vare's lips opened and trailed down her neck to the small wound where he'd fed earlier. He licked the mark and then pressed kisses up her jaw to her lips.
Every nerve ending his mouth caressed seemed to be directly attached to her core. Desire flooded between her legs so quickly Darlene leaned back to look at Vare in shock. Her body was clamoring for orgasm.
Vare's eyes searched her face. His lips were full and soft, and his lower lip full and sensual.
Darlene leaned forward and nipped his lower lip, then licked it.
Vare trembled against her and she felt triumphant. She, Darlene Maxwell, had just bitten a vampire with passion. Somewhere in the back of her brain she sat back and stared at herself in shock.
But there was no time for analysis. Vare flattened her onto the couch, his hard body trapping her under him, his hips grinding against her. There was no mistaking his rock hard member pushing against her through their slacks.
Darlene wrapped her arms and legs around him as tight as she could, breathing heavily. Vare continued to stare at her, right into her eyes, as though trying to see her thoughts.
"We should not do this,” Vare said in a strained voice. He gripped her arms and pulled them from around his neck as though her muscles were made of cotton.
"Yes we should,” she panted. She retaliated by moving her hips in a glide, her core pressing up and down his swollen length.
Vare caught his breath and answered her move with a hard grind. His eyes did not leave hers and his pupils enlarged. Darlene moaned when he rubbed against her swollen, needy place. His hands moved, pulling her arms up over her head, holding her wrists tight with one hand of steel.
"It won't be what you're expecting,” he growled.
"No,” she agreed. “It will be lots better.” Again she slid along his hard erection.
Vare almost smiled, and one eyebrow arched as he looked at her. “I'll use my teeth."
A shudder ran through her. Darlene squeezed her eyes shut for just a moment as the throb of pleasure shot through her. “Of course you will,” she got out.
"And I last much longer than a human."
Darlene had to shield her eyes from his so he wouldn't see them rolling in ecstasy. “Oh, yes,” she moaned.
Vare moved in a blur of speed and her pink sweatshirt and denim pants flew across the room. Darlene pulled at his knit shirt while she refused to think about her plain, serviceable white cotton bra and panties. Vare's clothes vanished and Darlene clutched bare muscled shoulders instead of fabric.
Her shock at the disappearing clothes was all but forgotten as she beheld the naked man who stared down at her with hot eyes. He was gorgeous, every muscle defined and hard, his skin a golden tan, silky, with gold curls between his nipples, arrowing down in a cocoa brown streak to a large thick cock standing high.
Darlene lifted up to unhook her bra, but Vare pushed her to the floor in a dizzying, fast move. A hard muscled leg confined hers and her hands were once again held over her head, confined by his.
Darlene caught a glimpse of fang as he leaned over her chest. Hot breath touched her skin, there was a tug, and her bra fell, bitten through at the center.
Vare inspected her bare breasts. “Very pretty,” he murmured. “Love this curve...” His tongue found the spot where the lower slope of her breast met her abdomen and he licked, pressing his tongue hard against her flesh. Then he dragged his tongue straight up over her nipple.
Single Mom, Vampire Lover Page 2
