by T. S. Ryder
“Never mind Kendra now,” he announced, doing his best to calm his temper down. “Tell me about the reports.” While his sister and her late husband were working on the cure for the mysterious and fatal disease that was picking off the members of their Clan one by one, Sebastien and his direct subordinates were trying to find out any connections between the victims in an effort to locate the original source of the infection.
“There’s nothing to tell,” Alex told him, just as exasperated by the dead ends they kept running into as Sebastien was. “So far the only real connection all of them shared was that they all attended the last Great Gathering... but, come on, it couldn’t be that. No one would be insane enough to desecrate the sanctity of a Gathering, and even if such a maniac existed, wouldn’t we have heard about victims in other Clans?”
Reluctantly, Sebastien had to admit Alex had a point.
But, still, there was something that picked at his brain and wouldn’t let him dismiss the idea just yet.
“You know what I keep thinking about?” he told Alex. “The Mississippi Clan.”
Alex frowned. “You mean their marriage proposal?” he asked, and Sebastien nodded.
“You have to admit that was more than a little weird,” he said. “They’ve been pissed at us ever since my father helped my mother run away from home.”
It's been one of the great romances in vampire history, akin to Romeo and Juliet of the human world, except his parents actually had good heads on their shoulders and planned their union with much greater care. They’d met and Bonded at one of the Great Gatherings, their connection instant and all-consuming, but his maternal grandfather, the Clan King of Mississippi, refused to allow the union, seeking to hurt the then Clan King of Louisiana for some transgression long forgotten by everyone else but him, and not caring who got hurt in the process.
But he’d underestimated the strength of his daughter’s character. It took her and her beloved months of planning, but when the opportune moment came, she packed her bags and, together with every dhampir slave brave enough to follow her, ran away from her father’s plantation and into the bayou, where Baptiste Roche waited for her with boats and a small but well-equipped army.
Sebastien’s paternal grandfather granted the runaway slaves their freedom and welcomed them into the Clan, and his parents wed and led a long and happy life together until his mother’s death, their joy a perpetual thorn in the eye of her father and brothers. Ever since then, there hadn’t been a single Great Gathering that hadn’t had at least one major fight between the Louisiana and the Mississippi Clan, usually with the latter as instigators (though God knew their own Clan didn’t lack in dumb hotheads).
That was, until last year’s Gathering, which saw, for the first time in over 200 years, an offer of peace – and alliance through marriage – between the two feuding Clans. The offer of marriage was declined (unlike Sebastien’s mother’s family, the Roche looked down on the idea of cousin spouses), but the offer of peace was accepted with open arms, and the two Clams spent the night in joint revelry, drinking, dancing and coupling until the dawn’s approaching light sent them all to their beds.
“I want to investigate this further,” Sebastien told Alex. “Speak to the families, to friends... to any of the infected who are still able to speak. Ask them to tell you every little thing they remember from that night, no matter how insignificant it might seem.” Alex sighed, clearly thinking that this was a lost cause, but nevertheless obeyed. They might butt heads sometimes, but his second never failed to execute the Clan Prince’s commands to the fullest.
Once he and Alex parted, Sebastien threw himself a work, but when it became obvious that the only thing he could think of was Kendra alone in her bed, he gave up and went down to the gym to sweat off his frustrations. It didn’t do much to ease his mind, but at least it made him tired enough to fall asleep without too much tossing about.
When the sun set and the metal window covers rose, Sebastien woke up to the sound out of pure habit. As usual, after breakfast, he went down to the medical bay to see his father, passing through the laboratory on his way. Sure, he could’ve taken another route, but this one was faster... and he knew Kendra was there.
It was such an odd feeling, being so profoundly aware of another person, yet he felt as comfortable about it as if things had always been this way. He’d wondered if she was feeling the same, or if it would be taking more time for the Bonding to sink its hooks into her body and soul the way it had into his. He hoped it would happen sooner rather than later, because the wait was killing him.
She with Anais in the lab, bent over a desk as they observed something he couldn’t see from this angle – but he could observe the generous curve of her full backside instead, and felt like it was a fair exchange. He smirked but otherwise tried to pass through as if her vicinity didn’t have his hormones screaming to snatch her and carry her off to his room over one shoulder.
For better or worse, though, Anais turned just as he’d passed them by and called out to him. “Going to see the old man?” she asked by the way of greeting, and Sebastien nodded.
“Is he lucid?” he asked in reply, knowing that his sister kept regular tabs on their father while he was in the sick bay.
“It was still daylight when I saw him last,” she told him and walked over to her work desk to pick up their father’s sheet. “Come on, we’ll go see if he’s awake together,” she smiled at her brother, linking her arm with his, before calling out to her new assistant. “Kendra, come with us. Father’s one of our latest infected, and the disease hasn’t truly begun ravaging him yet. You’ll get to see how it looks in the early stage... and meet the Clan King, too.”
Kendra looked as if she was thinking it over for a moment before she left her current work to join them, nodding to Sebastien, but otherwise remaining silent.
Unfortunately, their father was still asleep and didn’t wake during their visit. He may have been only one of the recent victims, but he was also the oldest one they had so far, carrying 459 years under his belt. Vampires lived long lives, but they weren’t immortal, or immune to the trappings of age. The longest living vampire Sebastien had ever heard of was Old Mother Bellamy, the iron matriarch of the Washington Clan, who’d celebrated her 600th birthday just last year, but for all the sharpness of her mind – and tongue – her body had become too frail for her to ever leave her wheelchair decades ago. She remained alive through the sheer power of her will, but even that couldn’t last forever. The old coot had had a good run, and Sebastien still felt a little sad at the thought of attending a Great Gathering without seeing her there, surrounded by her many children and grandchildren.
It hurt his heart to see his father so ill, but he did his best not to show it too much, sitting on the stool at his bedside while Anais and Kendra looked over Baptiste’s charts and compared them with other data they had. He only half listened to them... until he heard one of them mention AIDS.
He looked at them, frowning, but they didn’t notice him at all, and it wasn’t until they were out of the sick bay and back in the lab that he took the opportunity to ask what was going on.
“Kendra had an interesting theory that I decided it was worth looking into,” Anais told him, actually sounding hopeful. “We won’t know anything for sure until all the lab work is concluded, but I think we might be on to something.”
“It’s based on old AIDS research,” Kendra chimed in. “The data Anais and Dr. Duquesne gathered so far makes me think it’s a valid option... but yes, until the new data is in and we can do a comparison, we won’t know for sure if we’re going in the right direction.”
Sebastien frowned. “You think it might be sexually transmitted?” he asked Kendra directly, but she shook her head. Whatever fear or awkwardness she had felt the night before, it had clearly taken a step back to professional curiosity, because she spoke without shying away or wasting time on carefully wording her replies. “I think it might be transmitted through bodily fluids, wit
h blood being the most obvious carrier,” she told him. “Anais said that you were in charge of all non-medical research into the infection?” He nodded. “Good. I’d like to see the results of your investigations. It might help us narrow down the field and pinpoint the original source.”
“We’re actually following a new lead ourselves,” he told them then. “Alex is doing all the groundwork for the time being, but if anything definitive or new comes along, I’ll be sure to bring it to you right away.”
Anais nodded. “Hopefully, we’ll get to the bottom of this soon,” she said. “I’m sick and tired of watching my people die.” Unsaid went what Sebastien knew to be the biggest fear his sister had – the death of their father – but he chose not to bring it up. Anais still hadn’t had a chance to properly mourn the loss of her husband; he didn’t need to add to that burden.
“You should take Kendra to bed,” Anais suggested out of the blue, making both her brother and her assistant choke, but continuing as if she hadn’t noticed the shock on their faces. “She’s been working all day, but we have an even bigger load to deal with tomorrow, and needs to sleep.” She was acting all innocent and altruistic, but Sebastien recognized matchmaking when he saw it.
If it had been any other woman, he would’ve made some excuse and dashed off.
But for Kendra...
He looked over at her, waiting for her reply. “It’s still early... but, yeah, I probably should get some rest,” she said, but she didn’t wait for Sebastien. Instead, she walked over to one of the desks in the lab and picked up what looked to him like his first history book, and made her way out of the lab.
“Better hurry if you don’t want someone else to snatch her away,” Anais teased him, but rather than reply with his usual lightheartedness, Sebastien growled angrily at the thought of Kendra in another man’s arms, and rushed after her.
Chapter Seven
It didn’t take Sebastien too long to catch up with Kendra, and she felt a strange sort of satisfaction when she heard him trailing after her, his heavy steps growing louder as he approached her. It made her feel hunted, but rather than be afraid or repulsed by the thought, it excited her.
Clearly, this whole vampire thing was affecting her brain more than she would’ve thought possible... although, oddly, not more than she would’ve liked. It was a new and alluring feeling, and she was curious to explore where it could lead
She knew where she wanted it to lead her, though, and wondered if Sebastien felt the same. She did not know him, but she knew herself, and she recognized the signs that she was rapidly becoming interested in this man, this vampire, probably more so than would be wise. But she couldn’t help it. Every other moment, even when she was deep in her work, she would remember some reaction of his or something that he said, a trace of a kinder, gentler person that existed under the harsh exterior of the pure male he presented to the outside world. Oh, she had no doubt that this profound masculinity was as much a part of his personality as the loving brother Anais talked about or the caring son she had seen today in his father’s hospital suite, but where the alpha male attracted her on a deeply carnal level, it was the other, hidden part of him that made her think of Sebastien Roche as someone who might tempt her to wish for more than a wild clash of bodies in the night.
But that wasn’t going to happen, was it? He was not only a very handsome man, but the current de facto leader of his Clan and the future Clan King. She could see him taking her for a romp – she had caught him looking at her with lust in his eyes more than once – but she suspected he would choose someone with a better understanding of his world for his Queen.
Oh, well... she might as well enjoy what she could when she could, she decided, as they approached the door of her room. There were no guards there at the moment, and when the Day Guard had abandoned her at nightfall, no one else had come looking for her either.
“Not afraid I’ll run away anymore?” she asked Sebastien teasingly. He looked at her oddly for a moment, one of those looks that told her he was thinking but not what he was thinking about.
“Do you intend to run?” he asked her, instead of replying to her question, making her give him a bemused grin.
“No, I don’t. Not anymore,” she told him openly. “Things just started getting interesting around here and, to be perfectly honest, I’m growing too curious about your world for my own good.” She leaned against the door and crossed her arms over her chest, not failing to notice the flicker in his eyes as he glanced at her risen bosom. “And about you,” she added, more to see how he’d react than anything else.
Slowly, Sebastien laid his palms against the door, resting them just above her shoulders, and lowered his head to look her straight in the eyes. “And what’s so interesting about me?” he asked, daring her to take another step in this game, a game she couldn’t have imagined herself playing just the day before, but now felt like she would burn away if she didn’t bring to the finish line.
With a dare of her own, she returned his gaze with steady determination, brown eyes meeting amber in a battle of wills. “You are a very... contradictory man,” she said, her voice dropping an octave. “One minute you’re driven and completely in command of yourself... another, you’re losing your temper... and yet another you turn all sweet and empathetic.” She smiled. “You’ve got just enough bad boy in you to make you fun, and just enough glimpses of good to make a woman daydream about how you’d change for her.”
He smirked. “Is that what you’re looking for? Someone to change? Someone to mold into your image of a perfect man?” he asked, almost sneering, and Kendra rolled her eyes.
“Oh, please... if I ever decide I wanna raise a perfect man, I’ll have a son.”
Every muscle on Sebastien’s body instantly tensed at that reply. “The only sons you’re going to raise will be mine,” he told her, with fierce conviction in his words, his eyes aflame. “The only daughters you’ll raise will be mine. Because you belong to me, Kendra Allenby. Me. No one else. Me.”
It didn’t feel right that such a possessive claim would make her insides melt for this man, and yet she could feel herself growing hotter by the second, her breath deepening, and her heartbeat quickening.
“I belong to me, Sebastien Roche,” she countered him as if laying down a law. “But if you’re a good boy, I might let you share.”
Suddenly, before she could realize what was going on, he’d pulled her off the door and into his arms, holding her close as his lips crashed onto hers, and she moaned at the contact, trembling, before kissing him back with all the passion that had gathered inside of her during the day with each and every random thought of him.
She heard him utter a low, rumbling sigh, and his hands slipped lower, down her back and under her bottom, grabbing her hard as he lifted her up as if she weighed but a fraction of her nearly 300 lbs. On instinct, she wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms snaked around his neck, pulling him into an embrace. A kick to the door later and they were in her room. Another few steps and they landed on the bed together. They never stopped kissing, hungry for each other, and neither one ready to let go of the reigns. It should’ve been a turn-off, but Kendra found herself enjoying the contrast to her previous lovers. This would be a battle as much as lovemaking, and she intended to give as good as she got.
Mixed in with their moans were the sounds of clothes ripping as they frantically tried to get each other naked, throwing the garments away without looking or caring where they landed. In one moment, frustrated with his apparent inability to undo her bra, Sebastien swore and began to pull at it, making Kendra laugh heartily.
He stopped everything and looked at her, eyebrow cocked.
“The clasp’s in the front,” she replied, sniggering, and he laughed, a booming sound like a dam breaking inside him, full of joie de vivre, and so infectious she had to laugh with him.
Calming down, Sebastien locked eyes with her again and kissed her, a gentler, deeper kiss, but no less fierce in its pass
ion. “Woman,” he murmured as he broke the kiss, lifting her up to rest against the pillows and undoing the clasp in one swift move. “You’ll be the death of me.” He slipped the bra to the sides and off her shoulders, throwing it back somewhere, and leaving her in nothing but delicate silk panties and thigh high stockings – a sight that, from the look on his face, he seemed to appreciate most ardently.
Propping himself up on his mighty arms, he lowered his head for another kiss on the lips. From there, he moved to her neck, nipping gently at the soft skin and letting her feel the scrape of his fangs as he traveled down to her clavicles and lower, between her breasts and to her navel, circling it with his tongue, which made her giggle, and then climbing back up. Straddling her hips, he sat up, his weight on his knees, and moved his hands to her breasts, the size of them too much for his palms to handle. He squeezed tight, making her moan loudly and her hips roll seemingly of their own volition and lowered his mouth to suck in one puckered nipple, dark like cholate and, to him, just as sweet. He rolled the sensitive nub in his mouth, his tongue teasing the tip of it. Kendra mewled, reaching out for him, laying her hands on his shoulders, her nails digging deep into the hard muscle.
He hissed and let go of her breasts, letting them spill out, but kept kissing the lovely generous mounds, taking every sign of pleasure as a reward. His right hand slid down her round, soft stomach until it reached the waistband of her panties, and then he pulled them down, slipping the undergarment down her hips and off her legs. He moved his body lower, nudging her to open her legs for him with his knees, and when she did, he nestled himself between her thick thighs, kissing the trembling inner side from the knee down, until he reached his prize, and dived in.
