by A. C. James
I did the same as I watched him drying himself. I glanced down as I bent to dry my legs.
“Eeep!” I squealed when he smacked my ass.
Arie laughed. “I couldn’t help myself.”
I smiled back at him despite my stinging backside. “You know payback is—”
He scooped me into his arms, carrying me to the bed. I laughed when he plopped me onto it and fell on top of me.
“Payback?” Arie asked as he nuzzled my neck, his body pinning mine to the bed. His kisses slid down the slope of my neck, to my shoulders.
“Mmmmmm. Well, I suppose I can let you off if there’s some other way you can…” His kisses dotted along my collarbone. “Persuade me,” I murmured, curling my fingers into his hair.
Arie’s kisses trailed between my breasts before he stopped, looking up at me. “I told you, Holly. I need to be inside you. I want to feel you.”
There were shadows in his eyes. He was as desperate as I was to put tonight behind us. I needed his love like I’d never needed love, never needed anyone before. As long as he was right there with me I could face anything. Without him in my world and in my life I wouldn’t know where to begin. I’d never felt that way. It felt crazy, clingy, needy, and so damned desperate that I knew I could never admit it.
“I need to feel you too,” I said.
It was as close to the truth as I could tell him without sounding like a desperate, love-struck fool. How I was falling for him and how fast we’d moved into the loft scared me, but I didn’t think I could run. God, Arie was right. I wanted to run, and I’d been damned good at it. I’d run from relationships when the Sight got in the way. Running was easy. Running meant that I wouldn’t lose myself in him or get hurt. I’d never have to worry about his past or Katarina. I’d never have to deal with all my nagging insecurities. I closed my eyes. He planted kisses across my stomach before moving back up. When he cupped my face, I opened them and he took my breath away. He kissed me. Slowly, gently, and with such tenderness that I fell apart.
Arie leaned up and maintained eye contact as he slid inside of me. Our hips rocked together with excruciating slowness. I wrapped my legs around his waist. He took his time, and I could feel him deep inside of me as he made love to me in a way that could only be described as reverent. It wasn’t our usual fevered or rough-and-tumble union, where he relished dominating me. The way he made my body respond to his slow, deep strokes surprised me. I closed my eyes.
His strokes became harder, deeper, but were still at a slow steady pace that ratcheted my desire even higher. If he kept up that rhythm I knew I would come. Arie kissed my cheeks, my closed eyelids, and then the side of my neck. As I wrapped my arms around his neck, I tightened my grip on his hips with my legs, urging him to pump faster. He quickened the pace and I came in clenching waves that fluxed around his shaft. His body shook as he spilled inside of me at the same moment. We were red-hot together but had never been able to climax simultaneously. We fell in a tangle on the bed—bone-tired, spent, and completely satisfied.
Chapter 9
I didn’t want to move. We had stayed up most of the night and then collapsed in a tangled heap. Except now there was a cold, empty spot in the bed next to me. A familiar voice broke through my semi-dozing, ‘don’t want to get out of bed yet’ stasis.
“Wake up, sunshine. Get your ass up and at ‘em.”
“Ow.”
I rolled from my stomach to my back, pulling the sheet around me. Apparently, Tessa had decided to wake me up by slapping my ass since I almost always slept on my stomach. I hardly knew why she’d be here at all, let alone so damned early, and I sure as hell didn’t appreciate waking up to her smacking me.
Tessa flicked a polished red nail. “Get dressed and come down or you’re going to miss breakfast.”
“Breakfast?” I grumbled.
I’d never been much of a morning person, and becoming a vampire hadn’t changed my attitude toward daylight.
“Arie ordered a Crimson Dusk and she should be here in ten minutes. So get moving and get dressed already.”
I sighed. “I suppose I shouldn’t trust any other sources for now.”
“Straight from the tap is always preferable anyway,” Tessa said with a smirk.
I scowled up at Tessa. Her casual remarks came before coffee, before blood, and I could barely handle Tessa’s cavalier attitude on a good day. But wake me up the way she did and it made me punchy.
“All right, just give me a minute,” I said as I swung my legs over the side of the bed.
Tessa turned on her heel, heading downstairs to where I could smell coffee brewing. I threw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt before shuffling to the bathroom. As I brushed my teeth, I thought of last night. I didn’t have time to consider making love to Arie or our living situation. Or what an insecure idiot I was mentioning my doubts. All I could think about now was that Victor Monti’s brother Lucca had cooked up something that could kill me and a whole bunch of vampires. And the Slayers. I didn’t even want to consider that they had their own league of succubus-like assassins running around doing their dirty work.
Victoria.
She’d been through so much. Now I understood why she was aloof and reserved most of the time. I finished brushing my teeth and threw my hair into a ponytail before heading downstairs. Tessa sat in my usual seat at the breakfast bar while Arie leaned against a counter. They seemed to be talking security when I took a seat next to Tessa. Arie stopped talking when I sat down.
“Good morning. You want some coffee?”
“No, thanks. I’ll wait for the donor before I eat anything else.” I wanted coffee and breakfast, but I didn’t think I could choke down either without some real sustenance first.
“Tessa stopped by because she tried to call us after we left but she couldn’t get a hold of us,” Arie said.
Because we were too busy making love and didn’t hear the phone ring.
“Oh, well, we pretty much crashed as soon we got back,” I said. “And my cell phone was dead. I put it on the charger but it wasn’t turned on. Sorry about that.”
Shit. I realized as soon as I said it that I’d piled on the excuses pretty thick but I didn’t feel like sharing the details of my sex life with Tessa right now.
“Whatever,” Tessa said. “It was way too much for me to text and I figured I’d stop by on my way to the club. But anyway, as I told Arie before you came down there was an incident after you two left last night.”
“What happened?”
“Victor sent some thug over Victoria’s townhouse to fetch his daughter.” Tessa took a sip of coffee. “I figured I should stop by to fill you in on my way over to the club, because I have no idea what else he has planned, and you’re on the way.”
Arie coughed.
“Oh my god. Are they okay?” I asked.
“Yes, Victoria took care of him.”
“So what are we going to do?” I asked.
“Victoria and Luna are staying in Arie’s old apartment at the club for now.”
The third floor at HFC housed Tessa’s office, her dungeon, an interrogation room that was way scarier, and apartments for some of the staff or visiting vampires.
“I thought you said no fae at the club,” I said.
“And you have a better idea?” Tessa asked. “We don’t have any other choice.”
“The safest place for Luna is HFC,” Arie said.
“It’s not like the club is all that safe…not anymore.” I bit my lower lip. “Well, I don’t mean to sound callous or anything, but maybe it’s better if we send her packing before anyone else gets hurt.”
The burnt bodies lined up at the club were carried out like garbage. I certainly didn’t want to end up like one of them.
“Holly!” Arie looked surprised that I would even suggest such a thing.
Damn.
“Look, I like Luna. I really do, and I feel really bad about her problems—”
“Yeah, she does have daddy issues,” Tessa said as she flicked one of her nails.
“But after last night, I think we should try negotiating with him. If he wants his daughter that damn bad—”
“You don’t negotiate with a man like that,” Tessa said.
Arie spoke so softly that I almost didn’t hear him. “And there’s no guarantee that once he has his daughter back that he won’t just come at us again with this poison his brother is brewing.”
“Arie’s right,” Tessa said. “You weren’t around when Victor Monti controlled the city. You have no idea what kind of power you’re giving him if we give him Luna. There’s no going back after what happened at the club.”
Of course I knew they were right. I hated that I’d even suggested it, but I was drained and a little helpless after last night. We had to do something. This was so much worse than Katarina. And I didn’t even want to think about the havoc she’d caused. But somehow imagining a world where I had been Arie’s first love, his only love, was harder on my heart than everything she’d done or what we faced now. Something so utterly ridiculous and human to think of at a time like this.
I sighed. “So what’s next? We can’t just sit here and wait. Don’t you think we need a plan of attack?”
“Patience,” Arie said.
But I couldn’t help it. A war between fae and vampires could expose us to humankind if we didn’t handle this quickly.
“We’re not doing nothing. The Slayer caught a red-eye flight, and I put together a packet with Lucca Monti’s photo from the surveillance footage along with all the details I got from Luna, including his last known address. I sent him everything this morning.”
“What if the club is attacked again?” I asked.
Arie laughed. “I’d like to see them try it. They’ve lost the element of surprise. Now we know and we’ll be ready.”
“I had the entire supply of Puncture dumped except for a small sample which I sent to the Legacy’s lab for testing. For now we’ll have to rely on CD donors at the club,” Tessa said.
“It’s not ideal, but it’s the only way to be safe.” Arie crossed his arms.
Tessa nodded. “There’s only so many donors to go around.”
“And only so much blood you can take from them.”
Arie looked over at me as I mused aloud. Suddenly his cell phone rang. He answered it.
“Hello?”
“Yes, I’m expecting her. Send her up.” With that Arie hung up and turned toward me. “Your Crimson Dusk is here.”
We were all quiet until Tessa broke the silence.
“I sent Victoria to fae territory on the North Side of town to do some surveillance after that thug showed up at her place. She dropped Luna off at the club and has been watching them ever since. Victoria just checked in with me an hour ago.”
“And?” Arie asked.
“Everything is quiet. It doesn’t seem like they’re gathering in numbers or about to make a move. I have a guard posted outside of Arie’s old apartment at the club for Luna’s safety.”
“So that’s it then?” I asked.
“Yeah, I just need to have my office and the club swept for bugs. I need to get over there and get that done before the club opens,” Tessa said.
“Wait, you still plan to open after what happened? You can’t be serious,” I said.
“It’s business as usual—otherwise we look weak. We look like we’re afraid,” Tessa said.
With that there was a knock at the door.
“Breakfast I presume,” Arie said.
I slid off the barstool and walked over to answer the door. A woman in her thirties wearing a wool coat and a flashy scarf smiled when I opened it.
“Someone ordered a Crimson Dusk,” she said.
“Yes, come in.” I stepped to the side as I held the door open.
“Well, I have to get going,” Tessa said as she slid off of her perch at the breakfast bar and shrugged into her coat. “See you later.”
She left just as the woman took off her coat and unwrapped her scarf to reveal a pair of puncture wounds in the side of her neck. The only time I’d ever fed on a human was at the club, and it’s not like he’d volunteered. It felt a little funny with someone who was willing, although I couldn’t say why. Wordlessly, she walked over to me and tilted her neck.
“Wait,” I said. “What’s your name?”
She gave me an odd look before answering. “Denise.”
“Denise, can I ask you something?”
I bit my lower lip.
“What?”
“I don’t mean to be rude. I’m very grateful, but why do you do this?”
She looked over at Arie. “I’m a doctor. My son is a vampire. It was the only way to save his life when modern medicine failed him. I view it as donating blood. It fulfills a need. Now if you don’t mind, I have to get to the hospital and do rounds. So if you could please get on with it.”
I swallowed. “Sorry.”
If she viewed this as donating blood I wondered vaguely if I should offer her some orange juice, or cookies, or something afterwards. Of course, that was a ridiculous idea but that didn’t stop it from randomly popping into my head. Closing the distance between us, I stepped behind her and grabbed her shoulders. I tried to be gentle when I punctured her neck. Her blood replenished me, and I took as little as I could before releasing her. I used a drop of my own blood to stop the bleeding.
“Thank you.”
Denise nodded. Then she picked up the scarf that she’d draped over the sofa and wrapped it around her neck. As she put on her coat Arie coughed.
“Thank you for coming on such short notice.”
“Of course,” she said. “You saved my son’s life. I owe you.”
Arie smiled at her and showed her out.
“You turned her son?” I asked after he closed the door.
“No, I took him to Tessa. She turned him. Victoria was the only vampire I turned after Katarina.”
“Oh.”
“Yes, I’m sure you can understand my reluctance after how badly things went with her.”
I gulped. There it was again. Those stupid insecurities bubbling to the surface. I contemplated this as I made my way to the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee and a bagel when my phone rang. The number flashed across the screen of my cell phone.
Shit.
I’d talked to Mrs. Ellis over the holidays, but I didn’t tell her about Arie, let alone the promise ring. And I’d certainly left out the part about me being a vampire. I had to keep reminding myself to call her Elizabeth. It just didn’t feel right when I couldn’t bring myself to call her mom. She’d taken me in when I was sixteen and I’d always be grateful. But I swear she had a dead-on accurate bullshit detector. She’d sensed that something wasn’t right when I’d talked to her last week. Elizabeth didn’t know what, and I didn’t know how to tell her.
Hi, how are you? I’m fine, and you? Oh, I’m a vampire. Just the conversation I wanted to have.
“Are you going to answer that?” Arie asked.
“Um, yeah.”
Arie headed up the stairs to the loft bedroom as I took a deep breath and accepted the call.
“Hi.”
“Hi, yourself. You do know how to use a phone, right?”
I laughed. “Yeah, I’m sorry. I’ve just been really busy with work.”
“At the Coffee Grind.”
I paused. “Um, yeah.”
“Holly, what is going on with you?”
“I’m fine. Really.”
But I was so far from fine it wasn’t funny and she wasn’t buying it.
“Did you lose your job? You know we’re here for you if there’s anything you nee
d.”
“I know, but I’m okay.”
“You sound different.”
Yeah. I am different. Inhumanly different.
“I’m really, really sorry. I’ll try to call more. I’ve missed talking to you.”
There was dead silence on the other end.
“It’s not that. You’ve been distant and vague for months now. We’re really worried about you.”
“Don’t worry. I can take care of myself.”
“I know you can. Do you want to come down for a visit next month? I know it’s not your birthday yet…”
“I can’t get away—not with work.”
I hated lying to her, but it was better than explaining that I’d met my godmother, learned more about my biological family, that I died, that I was dating one seriously hot vampire, oh, and I’d quit my job at the coffee shop to work for Tessa as a seer. Yeah, that was a conversation that would only go over one way. Shock, disbelief, and her getting on a plane to come up here and have me committed.
Besides, I couldn’t just drop everything and go on a vacation when my world had been turned upside down. And I promised Rue last week that I’d visit my grandmother in a month. I needed to know more about my family. Elizabeth would probably be hurt, at least at first, and I didn’t want to hurt her. It killed me that I was keeping things from two people I loved. I’d kept the mysterious ‘T’ from Arie when we were supposed to be straight with one another. I didn’t know what that would do to our relationship. Wasn’t not telling him the same thing as lying? I’m sure that’s how he’d see it. Now I was keeping everything from Elizabeth too. It twisted my stomach into knots.
“Well if you can get time off or change your mind, let us know. We’d love to have you,” Elizabeth said.
