by C. L. Quinn
He smiled disarmingly at her.
“Hey, you’re up. I just brought some more firewood around from your shed. You were getting low. And it has to be really heavy for a small thing like you to lug in. It’s the least I can do to help out.”
“Thank you.” He couldn’t know it was never any trouble for her. “Then you must be hungry. Here, wash your hands and I’ll give you some toast while I make us some omelets.”
He grinned. “Deal.”
After they ate, Daniel stoked the fire and brought it back to high dancing flames as the air cooled down again. “I was thinking about trying to make it back to town today. How far out are you?”
“I’m about ten miles outside town. It’s a rough road, too. But I’ll be glad to take you.”
“I’d rather not put you through the risk. It’s still pretty hazardous out there. You wouldn’t by any chance happen to have a second vehicle I could borrow?”
“Just the one truck. But I’m not worried. I can safely take you to town. I’ll be going in to work tonight anyway.”
“In this? You won’t have many diners.”
“I know. It’s just a little dull here at times.”
“I understand. I have my moments, too.
He stared at her then, and Eillia could feel the heat beginning to build again. Yeah, she needed to get him out of here. Her respiration soared again, raw and uneven, as her mind went to him naked beneath her last night, his blood in her mouth, and an orgasm that rivaled any she had ever had.
“No. I’m going to take you,” she said abruptly.
He got it then. She wanted him out of there. He nodded.
“Okay. Well, thanks for your hospitality. And the rescue. I think I would have died if you hadn’t brought me here.”
Eillia knew he would have. She nodded too. “You’re welcome. I’m glad you made it through okay. Um, I can take you to town in about an hour. Will that do?”
“Sure. Well, I’ll just go, uh, pack.” Daniel wandered out of the kitchen on that joke. He was an unwelcome visitor. She didn’t want him. Not the way he wanted her. He literally could not control his body’s reaction to her. When he was near her, his heart rate shot up, his cock hardened, and his breathing quickened. She was his dream. He couldn’t touch her. He felt like this was karma kicking him in the teeth. Testing him. He had thought maybe he could visit her some time later, but now he knew he never would.
A moment later she left the kitchen and went into her bedroom, closing the door quickly behind her. Yeah, she was ready to see the ass-end of him. It was for the best. He grabbed the poker and stoked the fire aggressively. He could hear her pacing, talking to herself, or something. It was odd.
His back was to her bedroom and he didn’t see her come back out. He heard her voice first.
“Why do you smell so fucking good!?”
He turned and nearly fell back when he saw her standing there in an open robe. Naked. She’d pulled her hair up in a tousled bun, her spectacular body displayed for him as she stood there with her legs set and her hands clenched as if she were waiting for battle. When she strode forward a few seconds later, he realized he was not wrong.
“Get your clothes off. Now!”
He froze for a second before he could process what was happening. As he started to speak, she stepped forward and grabbed his shirt, ripped it open, the buttons flying in every direction.
Daniel was speechless. Eillia shook her head.
“What is wrong with you? I want you! Now!”
Daniel shook his head, then, as if he finally understood her, dropped his pants quickly and grabbed her up in his arms. He lifted her off the floor and threw her over his shoulder to carry her back into the bedroom. As he threw her on the bed, he brought his own body down on top of hers. He stopped then and lifted up to look into her eyes. Were they glowing? It must be a trick of the light. He smoothed her hair back and stared at her face.
“We’re having sex, right? You want me inside you?”
“You are a slow human!” she said, softer than before and pulled his head down.
Daniel got it now. He plundered her mouth, eager, as if he were a starving man, his cock so erect and hard he had to roll over some to give it room. Eillia met the thrust of his tongue with her own, tenaciously pulling at him to keep him close to her. He pulled back, though, and let his eyes roam over her body.
“How can you be this gorgeous? I’ve never wanted anyone like I want you.”
“Even though we’re strangers. I know. But just being around you makes me so horny I can’t stop myself. But this is for the last time.”
Her statement rolled into his mind. Last time? This would be the first.
He kissed her again, lingeringly, his hands sliding sensuously over her body from her breasts to her clitoris. He touched her there and felt her body lift to him. He raised his head for just a moment.
“You’re not a stranger to me,” he said breathlessly, and then moved down to circle her nipples with his tongue, swirling her to near climax. But she heard what he said.
“What? You know me? How?” She was just as breathless. And concerned now. Did he know her?
“In my dreams.” He moved to the other nipple. “I see you every night in my dreams.”
Eillia relaxed and submitted completely to his touch. He really didn’t know her. He continued down her body until he slipped further down the old mattress to lift her buttocks with his palms and bury his inventive tongue in her. He teased and tugged. Gentle and quick. Just the right places, while his hands caressed her skin in feather-like motions that nearly drove her mad. When she came, it was exquisite. Eillia threw back her head and let out a primal cry. This man was very skilled. God, how she missed the passion, the sensations that were soul deep. She was sure she would never feel this way again after Hamid. But Daniel was an amazing surprise. She shoved him back and climbed on top of him. He grabbed her small body and turned her onto her back again.
Daniel lowered his head and whispered into her ear. “My turn to be on top.”
For the second time tonight, she took a pause. He shouldn’t remember anything from before. Although, since they were involved in the same activity, some of the memory may be leaching back. He didn’t seem to notice, so she brought herself back to the moment.
He entered her and surged forward, carefully, moving slowly, letting his penis do what his tongue had done earlier, caressed her. But she wanted heat…fire…passion. Eillia thrust upward and captured him as she tightened herself around his sex, while she pulled his head down to bite his neck. Not to feed, she didn’t break the skin, but to make him pay attention.
“Ride me,” she whispered, “Hard.” And he did. Hard and fast, deeper and deeper, until she felt him merge with her again, pulling them both to the brink of an orgasm where they lingered, just on the edge, and then swept over to shattering explosions of pleasure. He dropped on her afterward for just a moment and then rolled away quickly.
“You okay? You’re so small.”
“You can’t hurt me, Daniel. I’m unbreakable.”
He pulled her to him and kissed her neck softly. “I’d never let anyone break you.”
Eillia closed her eyes. This was so perfect, here, with him, like they were lovers. They weren’t. They’d just had sex, and it was incredible, but it couldn’t be more. Déjà vu, she thought. Didn’t I just go through this last night? But tonight, she let herself enjoy him and the closeness. Because this would be the final time she let herself lay with him.
It was time to go home. Maybe not today. Or tomorrow. But soon. There were people who loved her out there and it was far past time to let them know she was alive. He couldn’t be a part of that. He wasn’t from her world.
She caressed his face as she turned to him.
“Would you sleep with me? Just this once?”
She didn’t need to see him nod. She could feel him. He would. For some reason, he thought he loved the woman he thought she was. This mystery woman from
his dreams. She hoped he would find someone wonderful like her someday. As she fell asleep in his arms, she wished it could be her.
Just before what would have been dawn, Eillia woke him with a kiss. He rolled into her, ready to go again by the erection that pushed against her side. She looked at him in the darkness, her vision very good even in dim light, and saw a face she knew she could wake up beside for a long number of years. Or forever. Too bad the choice wasn’t hers to make. He didn’t belong to her. But she wanted him this one last time. She wanted to give herself this final memory.
He began kissing her on the neck and moved to her breasts, but before he could move below, she took his face in her hands and told him, softly, “Just get inside me. I want to feel you fill me up.”
He hesitated because he could feel her sadness. “Are you alright?” he asked.
“I am. More all right than I’ve been in a long time. You’ve made the difference. Just hold me close. I want to feel you come inside me.”
He slid into her slowly. This was very different than their first two times together. It was gentle, loving, sensual. He moved carefully, building to a slow heat that slipped through their bodies, uniting them. When his climax hit, followed by hers, it was deeply intense. He did exactly what she requested. He held her close, his face buried near hers, so that after their orgasms, he kissed her again, every bit as gently as their sex had been. Eillia let herself feel what he was feeling…let her vampire ability transcend the barrier between them, and entered him. He felt so deeply for her! Love, pure and uncompromised. How could he without knowing her? The pain she’d held onto all these months suddenly shattered. Hamid had been her life, but that was before and he had been gone a while now. Eillia felt a connection to this man that lay beside her from the moment she saw him. It would be dishonest to say she felt nothing for him. For a man who was a stranger. Maybe there was something to that idea of fate after all.
It didn’t change anything. She pushed him gently aside and pulled him off the bed with her.
“There isn’t much water here, as you know. If you want to shower, it needs to be with me.”
He smiled. “I’m a practical man. If you say we need to be naked together under warm water, who am I to say different?”
“I’ll have to wash you, and you’ll have to wash me.”
He reached past her and grabbed her liquid soap and scrubby. “Yes, ma’am,” he said, and dropped to his knees.
In the kitchen some time later, Eillia leaned over as she gave him a cup of hot tea. “Daniel, thank you. You have no idea what you’ve done for me. I’ll always be grateful.”
He was reaching for some sugar, and turned to grab her wrist.
“That sounded like a goodbye. It wasn’t, was it?”
She looked at him with a sad smile. “Yes.” She captured his gaze again and spoke. “I’m taking you into town tonight. You won’t remember that I rescued you. I’m going to get you to town, but you won’t remember how I did it. You will drink your tea, go put on your winter gear, and then lay down until I wake you again. You will not awaken until you hear me say, ‘Daniel, awake.’ Okay?”
He nodded and turned his attention to his mug, added some water to cool it down, chugged it, dressed in his outdoor gear, and then lay down on the couch. A few moments later she stood over him and took one last long look.
In town twenty minutes later, Eillia laid Daniel down on a bench inside the door of a little house in the center of town. It was a little bed and breakfast, the only one in town, and it was full up due to the storm. She compelled the owner to allow Daniel a bed in a small attic room she did not normally rent. Even under compulsion, the woman responded to Daniel’s masculine body.
“Delicious. Is he yours?”
Eillia had a moment of jealousy when she almost said yes, but she looked down at the unconscious man in a bed too small for his length and shook her head. The woman was a local, mid-thirties, dark hair and eyes, full face. Others would have considered her plain, but Eillia never judged that way. She thought everyone had their own special attractiveness. Would he be interested in her?
“No. No, he isn’t. So, he’s been here with you for two days, caught by the storm. His name is Daniel. What’s your name?”
“Everyone just calls me Betty. It’s easier.”
Okay. “Go back downstairs and resume your normal duties.” Betty left.
Eillia turned to Daniel. Yeah, Betty was right. He really was delicious. More than anything she wanted to lie down beside him and taste him again. But that was done now.
“Daniel, awake.”
He moaned, and opened his eyes. As soon as they touched her face, he smiled. “Hello, gorgeous,” he whispered.
“Hello, handsome,” Eillia responded. He leaned back and closed his eyes. Uh, uh.
“Daniel, open your eyes.” He did, and looked back into hers again. “I’ve loved being with you. You won’t remember that, but I still wanted to say it.” He started to protest, but she put up her hand. “No, don’t speak. You’re a good man. I hope you have a happy life.”
He sat up quickly, very aware something was going on here.
“I’m not a good man. You don’t know what I’ve done. But I want to be. For you. I want to deserve you.”
“I think you do. But that doesn’t change our natures. We’re good together. I’ll miss that.” She started the compulsion. “Daniel, you’ve been here in this bed and breakfast for the past two days. You have a nice relationship with the owner, a woman named Betty. When the weather allows, you will be able to go home and resume your life. You won’t remember me, or anything we’ve done together. When I walk out this door, you will sleep for another hour, and then join the others for breakfast.”
She stood and walked to the door, and as she stepped through the threshold and started to close the door, she saw him lay back, pull the blanket up, and roll over.
With regret, she closed the door quietly. Downstairs, she found Betty and finished the job of erasing herself from Daniels’s life. “Betty, you won’t remember me, or that I brought him here. When I close this door, I will disappear from your mind completely.”
Eillia left and went to the Blue Star, which was still closed. It probably wouldn’t open today. The snow would keep almost anyone from getting out, or at least going too far. Not a vampire. It was cold, so she lit a kerosene stove and pulled a chair up next to it. She took a long, deep breath.
So, this is your life, vampire. How’s it going? You need to go home.
She pulled a drumstick out of the freezer. Not a chicken leg, but the sugar cone with ice cream and peanuts. It was smooth and sweet. She buried her tongue in the cold ice cream and licked around the edge. What did this remind her of? She smiled. Yeah, she’d never get to taste him like that. It was definitely time to go home.
Daniel awoke famished. Starved. Like he never had been before in his life. He was sore, too. Ah. This freaking bed was too short for his length. How long had he been sleeping here? His memory was fuzzy. Not uncommon, considering the amount of hours in a day he spent drunk.
Oh, yeah. He was at the bed and breakfast in town. Had been for a couple of days because of the storm.
He stood and stretched. Why was he wearing his parka? Must have been cold and gotten up to slip it on. As he unzipped it and started to drop it on the bed, he realized his shirt was open, so he reached for the buttons. They were gone. What the hell? Every button on his shirt was missing. On closer inspection, they weren’t just missing…they’d been ripped off. What the hell?
A guy should remember if someone ripped his shirt off. But he couldn’t. Well, he hoped like hell he had a good time doing it! He needed to get something to eat right away, so he pulled the tails of his shirt together and opened the door. Damn. An attic room, steep stairs, narrow, treacherous for a drunk man. You’d think a guy would remember that too. Maybe his drinking was finally out of control. Maybe it was time he stopped drinking and really tried to live a decent life again. I
t wasn’t helping anyone that he was drunk and clueless all the time. Except on the boats. You couldn’t drink and work on the boats.
As he entered a small dining area with four people already seated and talking amongst themselves, a plump local woman with a huge smile looked up.
“Daniel, you’re out of bed!”
Well, she knew him. He guessed he really was that drunk. He bowed comically.
“What’d I miss?”
“Breakfast. But don’t worry, I’ll take care of you.”
The local woman looked like she could eat him.
Daniel smiled at the others while he took a seat. They gave him odd looks, he did a few double takes, shrugged, and looked at the limited menu.
CHAPTER NINE
Tamesine was giggling. It annoyed the shit out of Alvin. Not that she would ever know. She might be annoyingly childish, but he knew she could send him to vampire hell in seconds. He was intolerant, but not stupid.
“Tamesine, why don’t we get out of here? Take in the sights tonight? Get a good dinner down by the docks?”
She looked up from where she was playing with a pair of puppies on the floor.
“Splendid! I’ll just put these cuties on the second floor until we get back.” She called the pups and they raced after her as she climbed the steps slowly enough for them to follow.
Alvin turned away. “Dogs!” he said, disgusted. This powerful vampire had been an extraordinary find. It put his mission back on track. But at any moment it could go back off the rails because she was just so fucking unstable.
She’d dressed super-fast, and flew down the stairs in an overly tight sundress with six inch heels and a ridiculous hat. Which wasn’t necessary since it was night. But Alvin expected her to dress and act strange, and she certainly didn’t disappoint.
