But she didn’t.
She sighed deeply, before arching her back, pressing her curves against my chest, pouring gasoline on the fire that had already been ignited inside of me. I growled, my cock throbbing painfully, deliciously, between my legs.
“Leo,” she whimpered, tearing her lips from mine. “I’m worried about you!”
“Addy,” I said, peering into her eyes, “don’t worry about me. I’m completely fine with killing Dane, I’m glad that asshole is gone! Maybe I enjoyed it too much, but so what? It felt good, it felt like power running through my fingers, it felt like, for a quick second, I was God!” I kissed her again, hard, urgently, before ripping my lips away. “There’s only one other thing that makes me feel that way, Addy.” I pressed my raging cock against her center. “And that’s you. And right now, if you don’t let me taste you, let me sink myself into you, let me…” I bent my head, licking her neck seductively. She shuddered and I smiled as I peered into her eyes once more. “…lick every single inch of your smooth, creamy skin and sink myself as deeply as I can into your sweet pussy, then I think I’ll surely die myself.”
Her eyes dilated wide, her plump lips parted with a tiny gasp.
“Please,” she whispered, nodding her head.
It was all I needed. She was everything I needed.
I swooped her up in my arms and carried her back to the bedroom, throwing her on the bed and ripping her clothes from her body. In seconds, I was sliding into her warmth, her thighs wrapped around my dancing hips, her moans echoing in my ears.
All thoughts of Dane faded to a faintly lingering pulse of power in my brain. I’d killed someone.
But he deserved it.
What was I going to do? Let someone hurt the woman I loved more than anything in this world? Let someone take away my very future?
What kind of man would I be if I’d done that?
I pushed away all arguments about right or wrong, pushed all thoughts of that egomaniac asshole away, and reveled in the monstrous sense of power I was feeling.
Addy’s moans and whimpers and sighs drowned it all out, leaving me lost in the raw, savage pleasure of our dance.
TWENTY-SEVEN
ADDY
Leo’s pulsing heat thrust wildly, his eyes alive and sharp as he watched me from above. Like wildfire, his passion had spread from his eyes to his touch to his mouth to his thrusts and he hammered into me like a man possessed. Possessed by pleasure, possessed by love, but today there was something else there.
Leo had found his power.
I felt it in the way he slammed into me. He’d held back before, but now, there was something stronger there, something unleashed inside of him that was now loose and free. His mouth devoured me, licking, biting and sucking every inch of my flesh as his massive hardness drove into me, harder, faster, stronger, every thrust a race against the last.
I didn’t mind.
I could take it.
In fact, I relished in it, throwing my thighs open in a welcoming invitation, opening myself up to each and every inch of his power. I drank it in, letting it wash over me, letting it hypnotize me, intoxicate me.
So much so that it drowned out the worry that lingered under the surface. Under the shockwaves of electric pleasure that was shooting through me, under the breathtaking, mind-bending orgasms that ricocheted through my shuddering flesh, under the blinding beauty of the god of a man that took his pleasure from me repeatedly…the worry was there.
Worry for how Leo would choose to engage with this new found power. Worry for how, once the adrenaline had faded and he had time to process his thoughts, he would feel.
After all, Leo was good.
What would the transition from normal human to vampire to killer look like on him in the end?
What would that do to his goodness?
Nobody ever remained the same, I knew this. It was a risk I’d taken, albeit in the heat of the moment. I’d vowed to remain by his side, and I’d do that, no matter who he became.
That didn’t make me worry for him any less, though.
As waves of glorious spasms conquered my shuddering flesh, I gave in completely, letting the worry fade, letting the deliciously magical pleasure wash everything else away.
Leo’s rhythm mirrored my own and we crashed over the edge as one, entangled in each other, finding the paradise we’d both been searching for.
He fell in a heap on top of me, panting lightly, his heart beating strongly with mine with only a few layers of skin separating them. They reached out to each other, stronger together, stronger beating as one.
We can handle whatever happens, I thought as Leo’s breathing returned to normal.
“This is forever,” I whispered, my fingers sliding through his soft hair.
“We are forever,” he replied, his voice a thick, loving whisper that enveloped me with hope.
TWENTY-EIGHT
LEO
As soon as I put Addy’s car in park, I heard Bessie barking. I couldn’t help but smile. In fact, I’m pretty sure I was beaming like I’d just punted the winning goal in the Superbowl, I was so stoked.
I felt amazing and everything with Addy was incredible.
Now that our Dane problem was solved, I was full of hope for our future together. As far as I was concerned, Addy and I were unstoppable. Once we’d readjusted to our lives together, made a few adjustments and agreements, we’d be on our way to happily ever after.
Showing my face at Ma’s doorstep was the very first step in that direction.
I’d cooked up a doozy of a story to explain my disappearance, and Ma was the first person I was going to try it out on. She was also the most important person to gauge if it was going to be believable, or if I needed to tweak some details, so I was eager to get it over with.
I knew she’d give me a hard time, whether she believed me or not.
I opened the screen door and rang the doorbell. Normally, I’d have just walked in but I didn’t want to frighten her. Her little heart could only take so much.
“Bessie, calm down!” I heard her voice from the other side of the door and smiled. Bessie was losing control, her whimpers and cries at a feverish pitch as she clawed at the front door. The sound of locks unlatching clicked loudly in my ears and I took a deep breath as the door opened.
“Hey, Ma,” I said, flashing her a wry grin.
“Oh, my lord!” She cried, clutching her chest. Bessie lost her shit completely, doing her best to barrel me down after rushing past Ma’s legs. “Heaven’s to Betsy! It’s you! Oh, Leo!”
I ignored Bessie, and pulled Ma into my arms, hating the fact that she was already crying.
“Leo, where have you been?” She cried, pulling away and looking me up and down. “Are you okay?”
“I’ll explain everything, Ma,” I said, reaching down, doing my best to pet Bessie and push her off of me at the same time. “I’m okay, I really am. Let’s go inside and get out of the heat, okay?”
“Oh, Leo!” She said, kissing my cheek. “I just can’t believe this! I thought…oh, honey,” she paused, her lips quivering as tears rolled down her face.
“I know, Ma. I’m so sorry. I really am,” I said. “I’ll explain, come on, let’s go inside.” Finally, I was able to get her to put one foot in front of the other. I pulled Bessie inside and closed the door.
As soon as I turned back around, Bessie bounded on top of me, her huge wet tongue lapping at my face frantically.
Last year, I’d left Bessie with Ma for two weeks while I went on vacation to Hawaii and when I’d returned Bessie walked up to me, sniffed me, and dismissed me completely. This spectacle — her tail wagging wildly, her mouth and tongue and nose working overdrive to explore me — was nothing she’d ever done before.
But now I knew why.
I snorted and pushed her away.
“I’ve got your number, old girl,” I murmured, scratching her ears as I sat up. She laid on her back and whimpered shamelessly. I wanted nothing more tha
n to stay there with her all day and rub her belly and scratch her ears, but I couldn’t do that right now.
I had a mother that I had to lie to.
I rose with a sigh and walked into Ma’s living room. Her craftsman style house was perfect for her. The intricate woodwork and built-in cabinets made the interior extra cozy and gave the entire place a cabin feel. The handmade quilts and china tea-sets gave it a grandma feel.
Ma wasn’t a grandma, though. And now she never would be, I thought. I pushed away a twinge of guilt and vowed to deal with one bombshell at a time. The fact that I was alive was more important than the fact that I couldn’t continue her genetic line anymore.
“Leo, where in tarnation have you been?” She asked. She sat on her floral brocade couch, looking up at me with bewilderment. “The police were looking for you.”
“That was a mistake,” I said. “I didn’t think that through. I didn’t think the cops would be looking for me.”
“Well, where did you go?”
“Ma, do you remember my friend Bobby from college?”
“Was he the one that stole your girlfriend that one time?”
“No, that was Bradley,” I said, trying to keep the exasperation from my voice. “Bobby was the one that was kind of a hippie, remember? He wore tie-dyed shirts and had long stringy hair? He loved your peach cobbler, do you remember?”
“Oh, yes,” she said, nodding. “He was a nice boy. A little dull, but he was very polite.”
“Right,” I said. “Well, Bobby came to visit me in the hospital. He told me about a special place, kind of a spa. They specialize in a special treatment for people with all kinds of conditions that has been gaining a lot of success. It isn’t a medical thing, more of a spiritual thing, actually. Bobby’s friends down in New Mexico run the place . So, that’s where I went.”
“Without telling anyone? Without telling me?”
“I know, Ma. That was wrong of me. Very wrong. But Bobby was leaving that night and he told me I could come along with him. The treatment lasts several days long and you need to be isolated from other people and civilization. I had to go right then or I wouldn’t have been able to go at all. I should have left a note, I know. But I thought I would be able to call you when I arrived and explain everything. Unfortunately, once I arrived, I discovered there weren’t any phones and since we were in a remote mountainside, there wasn’t any cell service. I had no way of calling you, Ma. I’m so sorry I worried you.”
“That’s it?” She asked, her eyes trailing over me.
“That’s it.”
“And how do you feel? How is your heart? Leo, everyone was worried about you. We didn’t know if you had wandered off, or been kidnapped, or had a mental breakdown…”
“I know, I feel terrible about all that, Ma, I really do,” I said, taking her hand. “But Ma, the good news I feel incredible! The treatment worked! My heart is stronger than it’s ever been and I am so happy I went.”
“Really?” She asked. “That’s so wonderful. But I really think you should be looked at by a doctor, Leo. What was this treatment?”
“Well, it’s a little out there, I know, but basically, the treatment is a combination of removing yourself from all the stresses of the outside world, eating healthy, and spending the evenings cleansing yourself of all kinds of spiritual blocks that are in your body.”
“How did you do that?”
“With a tea, Ma. We drank a tea, it’s called ayahuasca, it’s an ancient, spiritual medicine brew and it heals —.”
“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me!” Ma exclaimed.
“No, I’m not kidding, Ma.”
“My friend Sage from my yoga class goes on and on about that stuff, Leo! She swears it’s opened up her third-eye, whatever that is. She said she sees God when she does it, but my other friend, Nora, she calls it the ‘brew of the devil’. I can’t believe you ran off to New Mexico to do drugs, Leo!”
“Ma!”
“Well, I’m just saying if you wanted to do that you could have told me and I could have arranged it with Sage for you. You didn’t have to run off to another state and worry me like that, Leo!”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. Ma never failed to surprise me, and I made a note to myself to take a little more interest in her yoga friends. She’d been talking about going to yoga for a few months now, but I had no idea she was surrounding herself with such colorful people.
The fact of the matter was that I'd never actually done ayahuasca, so I was faking my way through it, but I’d done a fair amount of internet research and I hoped if anyone questioned me, I’d be able to be convincing.
My friend Bobby was real, though. A hippie through and through, I’d not seen him for years, but I thought of him often. I gave a silent vow of thanks to him now, because Ma seemed to be buying my story.
If she believed it, anyone would.
“I still think you need to be checked out by a doctor,” Ma said.
“I already was, Ma. I saw Addy. She’s given me a clean bill of health.”
“Really?” She asked, skeptically.
“Yep,” I said.
“I don’t know, Leo,” she said, shaking her head.
“Ma, look at me! What’s not to know?” I said, standing up. “I’m strong, I feel amazing, my heart is beating and pumping like it belongs to a twenty year old. I just needed some fresh air and time away to heal from the surgery. Sure, I would have died without the surgery, but going out there with Bobby did wonders for me.”
Ma nodded, looking me up and down as if she was determined to see for herself whether I was healthy or not.
“You look a little pale,” she said, pursing her lips. “And skinny. Have you been eating?”
“Like a king!” I said, sitting next to her and patting her hand. “Ma, I promise. It’s all over. I’m healthy as a horse now. You don’t have to worry.”
“I’m glad you’re back, of course, but I think you should take it easy, Leo. It takes months to recover from what you’ve gone through.”
“For most people, yes,” I agreed. “But I’m not most people, Ma.”
“You always were a little cocky,” she said, a reluctant smile spreading across her face. “Just take it easy, you hear me?”
“I will, Ma,” I said, kissing her paper-thin cheek. “I promise.”
“And never leave without telling me like that again, Leo!” She said, wagging a finger at me.
“I won’t, Ma, I promise.”
“Well, alright then. Are you hungry? I made chicken and dumplings and I have a chocolate pie cooling on the stove.”
“Oh, Ma,” I said. “Am I ever!”
Bessie followed us to the kitchen, her tail wagging happily. I couldn’t help but smile. It felt good to be back in Ma’s kitchen, to be with both of them. They’d been the two most important women in my life for a very long time. Now, we’d have to make room for Addy.
“Hey, Ma,” I said, as she placed a bowl of dumplings in front of me. “We need to talk about Addy.”
“That doctor you said you were going to marry?” She asked. “Did you screw things up with her by disappearing?”
“No, Ma,” I said, shaking my head. She had such faith in me. “We’re together now. I just wanted you to know. You’ll be seeing a lot of her and I want you to welcome her into the family.”
“Well, I’ll be nice, of course, but welcoming her into the family? Don’t you think it’s a little too soon? You’ve only known her a few weeks, Leo.”
“When you know, you know,” I shrugged, shoveling her delicious comfort food into my mouth.
“Oh, Leo, you always were a romantic,” she replied. “Just be careful. No reason to go fast. If it’s right, it’s right.”
“It’s right, Ma,” I said.
“Well, time will tell,” she said, shaking her head.
“You’ll see, Ma. She’s the one,” I winked. “Now how about some of that pie?”
“I’ll get it,” she said, turning to
the stove. She began cutting the pie and I heard her voice again.
“I just don’t know if that Doctor Addy is good for him.”
“Ma!” I said. “Of course Addy’s good for me.”
She paled and turned slowly to me.
“I didn’t say anything,” she said, squinting at me suspiciously.
“Yeah, you did,” I said.
“How did he hear that?” I heard her voice again, but this time she was looking right at me and her lips didn’t move.
“Ma, what are you doing?” I asked, with a shaky laugh.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, turning away.
She put a slice of pie on a dainty pink saucer and brought it over to me. I watched her carefully as she sat down.
“Ma, are you feeling alright?” I asked. “Has anything weird been going on while I was away?”
“I’m fine,” she said, with a dismissive wave. “Besides my only son disappearing into thin air, everything’s been just dandy.”
“I’m sorry again, Ma,” I said.
“I know,” she said.
I took a bite of pie, still watching her. Something wasn’t right, but I didn’t know how to describe it.
“Do you need any money, Ma?”
“Money? No, I’m fine,” she said.
“Good,” I nodded.
“What I need is a son who doesn’t run off to take up with the hippies and leave me with his dirty beast to take care of.”
“Ma!” I said, before I realized her lips hadn’t moved again. She’d been quietly watching me eat.
“What?” She asked, blinking innocently.
“Nothing,” I said, shrugging. I must just be imaging things, I thought. This can’t be happening. I finished the pie in a few quick bites, the chocolate tasting like ambrosia on my tongue. “Ma, that was the best pie I’ve ever had. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” she said, smiling.
The Sanctuary 2: The Vampire's Passion Page 10
