by Joey W. Hill
“That’s it. I knew I should have made her sign a confidentiality agreement,” Ben said.
She made a face, but couldn’t help indulging a longer look at him. The expression that was easy and charming now could so easily disappear to reveal a darker, more dangerous and even more irresistible side. Realizing it was safer not to linger over that territory, she turned her attention back to Matt. He was still holding her hand, which made it easier for her to say what she wanted to say.
“I know my editor has been very impressed with your contribution to the New Orleans community, particularly your generous sponsorship of the domestic violence center. The article I write will reflect that.” Tightening her fingers on his, she met his gaze without flinching. She was more than a fighter. She wasn’t a coward, and she did believe in telling the truth. “New Orleans…or anywhere, needs men like you watching out for their women and children. It will be my honor to state that publicly.”
She couldn’t eat crow any better than that. It was time to get the hell out of here and go home to a night of deep reflection, supplemented by a lot of chocolate. Giving Matt a nod, she withdrew her hand, but before she could make her graceful retreat, Ben’s hand closed on her elbow. Looking up, she found him right behind her, all his heat and strength.
“Unless you have someplace to be, we’d be happy to have you join us for a drink. Matt has some inside info about a reporter leaving your paper, from the crime beat. He thinks that slot could be yours if you move on it fast enough. Care to hear more?”
She blinked. “You bet I would. If it’s not a bribe.”
Lucas chuckled. The Kensington CFO had a leaner build than Matt or Peter, but that was because all his appealing muscle was sculpted by his leisure time passion—competing as an amateur cyclist. It was rumored he biked almost everywhere that he didn’t have the K&A limo take him, including to and from work. He raised his glass to her now, his brow lifting under a fall of silky hair streaked blond by exposure to sunlight. “She’s smart, Ben. And ethical.”
“Yeah. I’m trying not to hold that against her. No bribe,” Ben said, lifting a hand in the Scout’s honor pose. “Just ask Matt, if you don’t trust me.”
When she automatically looked toward Matt, she was rewarded with amusement from the rest of the men and Ben’s mock pained expression.
“It’s true.” Matt gestured to the seat next to Ben, across from him, and motioned to the bartender. “What drink can we buy you, Celeste? Jon is finishing up with another lady in one of the playrooms, but he’ll be joining us soon. He’d love to see you.”
“I think water with lemon, to keep my head clear.” But when Ben put his hand on her lower back to usher her toward the chair, she hesitated. As she rose on her toes, he obligingly dipped his head, his breath caressing her cheek as she managed a dignified whisper in his ear. “Um…if you don’t mind… I need a pillow to sit on.”
Ben gave her a look that qualified as pure sin. “You can sit on my lap if you like, darlin’.”
She doubted his lap would be as soft as she needed, but the offer was tempting. In fact, everything about the Knights of the Board Room was tempting. K&A was putting its fitting touches on their post-Katrina renovated New Orleans’ offices and would be moving back to their home base from Baton Rouge soon. That, plus tonight’s events, said that the crime beat was going to be decidedly safer in the future for her than the business social news. Not to mention, there were definite advantages to hanging around cops, firemen, EMTs…
The world was full of possibilities.
Christmas at the Mall
A vignette featuring Jacob and Lyssa of Vampire Queen’s Servant, Mark of the Vampire Queen and Bound by the Vampire Queen from the Vampire Queen Series.
Originally Posted 12/13/2011
Background: In thinking about what a Christmas mall trip would be like with Lyssa, my thousand-year-old vampire queen, and her servant, Jacob, I decided to tag along on an actual trip and see if I could hear a few snippets of conversation. They of course decided to bring their son Kane with them, because what could be more fun than shopping with a vampire toddler?
While this story is barely more than a few pages, much shorter than what has become my normal length for vignettes, it kicked off two follow-up Christmas vignettes. The very next year, I wrote one where Lyssa hosted a Christmas party for a variety of the Vampire Queen Series characters (You’re All Invited). And a few years later, an incident that occurred in this very short vignette inspired another Christmas novella about Lyssa’s son as a grown-up (A Season of Giving). As a result, I felt it deserved a spot in the compilation.
“We don’t have too many left on the list, when all’s said and done.” Jacob pulled the folded paper from his back pocket and examined it. “Gideon? Get him a 5-pack of black Hanes t-shirts, slap a bow on them, and he’s good to go. He’d consider it a treat, getting them new. I’ve seen him pull them out of dumpsters. Most of the time he gets them from the Salvation Army for 50 cents apiece.”
“Speaking of which…” Lyssa nodded at a volunteer dressed as Santa, ringing the bell next to the red donation bucket. Before Jacob could reach for his wallet, she stopped him, her long-nailed fingers moving into the space provided by his bent arm to reach into his back pocket herself, caressing the muscular terrain beneath the denim. He gave her a wry smile, sliding his arm around her waist as she opened the wallet, pulled out one of her hundreds and handed it to him.
“You know, most women carry a purse. You just haul me around.”
“Far more convenient. With the added benefit of finding things much better in your pockets than lint and gum.” As he stepped away to give the money to the volunteer and re-pocket his wallet, she plucked the list from him. Kane was belted into his stroller, but his eyes were darting everywhere. Jacob obligingly brought him close enough to an animatronic display of Rudolph that he could pet the deer’s felt-covered leg.
“How about custom-made boots for Gideon?” Lyssa suggested. “With a pocket sole for an extra blade? Your brother would like that.”
“It’s a little close to the holiday to order custom-made boots.”
“Not if I ordered them three months ago. I just need you to pick out the knife.”
He was pleased, but on principle he rolled his eyes. “I think you’re way too fond of my brother. I bet I won’t get a Christmas gift half as nice.”
“You won’t if you keep acting like that.” Giving him her sultry smile, she nodded toward the tobacco shop which offered high end knives for sale. As he rolled the stroller up to the display case, Lyssa reached down to keep Kane’s candy cane sticky hands off the glass.
“Oh, what a beautiful boy.” The sales girl crooned it, leaning over the counter in her low cut Santa elf suit. She was besotted as everyone was by Kane’s long lashes and jade-colored eyes, even if his focus seemed a little intense for a toddler. It became even more intense as her position exposed more of those plump breasts. Even though Kane was nursed on his mother’s blood, Lyssa preferred to feed him that vital nourishment from a vein at her breast. Most vampire females honored with the rare privilege of birthing a born vampire did.
“Yes, honey, you’re a little too young for knives,” the buxom elf told Kane as Lyssa kept his hands off the glass. “You could nick yourself.”
Jacob thought the more likely danger was Kane nicking the sales girl. They’d have to peel him off her like a leech. Lyssa registered his thought, a frisson of amusement passing from her mind to his.
For the pocket heel, Jacob chose a blade that could spring open with the touch of a finger. He also picked out a wicked eight incher to go on the inside of the boot, his personal gift to his brother. Gideon didn’t feel dressed if he wasn’t carrying three or four blades. And a nine millimeter.
As they moved from the tobacco shop toward the toy store, he tucked the bag in the back of the stroller. “I could buy you one of those elf suits for our Christmas dinner,” he told Lyssa. “All the male guests would find it v
ery festive.”
“And how fortunate, it’s the color of blood.” Lyssa sniffed. Jacob brushed his lips over her ear.
“I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands off you. You’d probably have to punish me, a lot.”
“Stop trying to distract me,” she told him, but he saw the curve to her lips, the glint in her green eyes.
On their way into the toy store, Kane snagged a plastic handgun from the wall display. It came with soft rubber projectiles and targets. Lyssa pried it out of his fingers. “No, we have no use for that.”
“Oh, good for you,” a matronly woman gushed, leaning down to chuck Kane on the chin. Jacob put a hand on his son’s small shoulder, a strict “no biting” warning. “Definitely good to teach them that lesson young.”
“Yes,” Lyssa said. “He can disembowel someone far faster than he can shoot them.”
The woman’s eyes snapped up. Meeting a mature vampire’s gaze was unsettling on the best of days, and when it was the gaze of an irritated vampire queen, it was downright disturbing. The woman edged around them and disappeared.
“My lady,” Jacob said reprovingly. “You know he’s not old enough to disembowel anyone yet. Plus, aren’t we trying to blend?”
“I’m blending. She was annoying.”
Jacob had to hide a smile. He’d been nonplused that Lyssa wanted to go mall shopping, but once here, the reason for her decision was clear. This mall had a variety of animatronic Christmas displays: elves hard at work in their workshop, feeding the reindeer in their stable, or hitching them up to the sleigh, getting ready for the big night. She’d wanted Kane to enjoy all of those, as well as the center atrium, where faux snow was falling on a giant Christmas tree made of sparkling wrapped presents. Carolers strolled through the mall in Dickens period clothing, and all the mall employees were dressed as their favorite Christmas characters. The entire setup was intended to be a pleasure for children and adults alike.
His lady was proving, no matter the age of the parent, seeing Christmas through the eyes of your child was hard to resist. Jacob had no objection. Since the things they usually faced were life-and-death decisions or the volatile world of vampire politics, he was all for a Christmas outing with his lady and their son. It gave him a twist of poignant memory he put away as Kane started making excited noises. The toddler was bouncing in his stroller. Fortunately, when he laughed and made such noises, his kitten-sized fangs weren’t all that noticeable.
Following his insistently pointing fingers, Jacob saw a toy train coming out from under an archway of stacked puzzles. It was a vehicle large enough to seat children Kane’s size. The track apparently ran throughout the store.
“You know, we could put that in the sunroom, run it out to the garden and let it circle through the garage. He’d love it.”
“Yes, he would.” Lyssa took Kane by the wrist, shaking his hand playfully as she made a face that delighted him, as well as Jacob. He loved to see her act silly, girlish. Relaxed. “I think he wants to test drive it first, however.”
“What gave it away?” Jacob snorted. Unbuckling Kane from the stroller, he lifted him out and put his son on his feet. The child made a dash for the train, which Jacob interrupted with a neat snag that swung him up in his arms, masking the fact Kane was far speedier than most toddlers. Actually, more than most teenagers. When they reached the train, Jacob set him down and Kane dashed again, this time for the first car. Another child was already climbing in. Kane wrinkled up his face, bared his teeth and hissed.
“Hey, hey, none of that. Jesus. Just like your mother.” Jacob pulled him back with a stern, quelling look and motioned to the other child to board the train. But that one was already running white-faced back to his harried mother.
Lyssa came to his side. “I heard that.”
“Nothing I wouldn’t tell you to your beautiful face, my lady. You do like to have your way.” Hooking an arm around her hip, he nudged her hair off her shoulder and kissed her throat. “Last time we were in a mall,” he murmured, “you had me carry you behind the center fountain so you could second mark me. And do other things.”
“Behave.” But her jade eyes glowed at him, her hand slipping into his back pocket again for a more intimate caress.
Giving her a smile, he turned back to their son, still firmly in his grasp, but who looked perilously close to tears because the train had taken off without him. “No sir. You wait until the next round, because you were rude. You going to behave this time?”
Kane nodded, pointing insistently at the train. Vampire children didn’t verbalize as early as human children, because of the interference of their fangs, but his face was as expressive as a book. Jacob had no trouble reading it. “Yeah, I know you want to ride the train. But we’re going to do it with manners. All right?”
Watching them, Lyssa couldn’t deny the strong mix of emotions she felt. Possessiveness, love, pure pleasure. Before the arrival of their son, she would have said it was impossible for Jacob to be any more irresistible than he already was. But a handsome, powerful man who obviously adored his child could attract the eye of every female within a hundred mile radius. As such, when he looked around for a sales clerk, one trotted up to him instantly. She was a pleasant-faced, dark-haired girl in a much more child-appropriate version of an elf costume. Nodding to the train, Jacob put his hands over Kane’s ears, to Lyssa and the girl’s amusement. “We want one of these, please. I assume you can deliver?”
“Yes. Oh wonderful. We only have two more in stock and we were hoping to sell them both by Christmas. Credit or cash?”
The train came back around, slowing for new passengers. Kane started pulling Jacob toward the front. Glancing back at Lyssa, Jacob tugged out his wallet and tossed it to her. “Ask her,” he called. “I’m just a kept man.”
The sales clerk watched him lift Kane into the train car, his T-shirt pulling across the broad shoulders, denim snug on his long thighs. Though the girl whispered it under her breath, Lyssa’s enhanced hearing picked it up clearly enough.
“Baby, I’d be happy to keep you anytime.” Then she pivoted to face Lyssa. “Cash or credit, ma’am?”
“Credit.” Lyssa said, hiding her amusement. But he’s not yours to keep, love. He’s all mine.
After she handled the transaction, she went to find her boys. Kane was still circling in the train, where she expected he’d be happy to stay until the mall closed. After circling with him a couple times, Jacob had found a perch on a stock ladder where he could see most of the train’s circuit. He wasn’t aware of her perusal yet, so she indulged the private pleasure of watching him, a rugged thirty-something who could handle himself exceptionally well, whether it was in a fight or in a woman’s bed.
Now, she allowed herself a quiet dip into his mind, to see where his thoughts were going. While keeping watch over their son, he was letting his gaze was wander over the store, looking at all the Christmas decorations and sparkling trees. Since their parents’ deaths, he and Gideon had not celebrated a traditional Christmas. This Christmas would be the first time in some years the two of them had been together on the holiday. His emotions about that were a tangle of old regrets, sadness over his parents, and yet a quiet, eager anticipation of the coming holiday. Which in turn made her want to make sure it was his best Christmas ever.
She commandeered another sales clerk. “I want the five decorated trees as well,” she told her. “And that Christmas village display over there, plus the toys that sing Christmas carols…”
When she at last came back to Jacob, he was still on the ladder, though he turned his head toward her as she came, telling her, not surprisingly, that he’d been keeping an eye on her whereabouts as well. Climbing up the two steps, she leaned against him as he cinched an arm around her waist, holding her. “You know,” he chided, “between us and our guests, we’re going to have so many gifts for him, we’ll need to add another wing to the estate.”
“I wasn’t buying more gifts for him. Not technically. Are we done
with our list?”
“I don’t have anything for you yet.” He cupped her cheek, caressing her mouth with a thumb. She nipped him with a discreet fang, tasting a drop of his blood, enough to whet her appetite for more.
You are my gift, Jacob. Lifting up on her toes, she pressed her lips to the corner of his mouth. He smiled against her skin as she added, “But you know I always appreciate your taste in jewelry.”
Her jewelry collection could compete with the Queen of England’s, but she still prized the simple ring he’d bought her at a Renaissance Faire, so much so she wore it even now. He lifted her hand to his lips, touching his mouth to it. It always touched him that she wore it, which she realized was why she did it. She was a thousand-year-old vampire queen, yet she was quite simply in love with him, this heroic man who’d been a vampire hunter, a Faire player, and now her bound servant.
“Whoops, hold on. Trouble.” He stepped down off the ladder, keeping his arm around her and supporting her weight to set her on her feet. “They’re shutting down the train for a few minutes. If the conductor tries to pluck him off, he’ll go after him like a rabid dog.”
“Oh, that reminds me. We need gifts for Bran and his siblings.”
“Already handled. I have an order out to the butcher shop. Plus squeaky balls for Maggie, new collars for everyone, etc etc etc.”
“You are proving quite useful. I might keep you around a century or two.”
He tossed her another grin as he went to retrieve Kane, fortunately before the conductor reached him.
Several stores later, they were approaching the midnight closing time. A tired Kane was tucked into his stroller, as well as several more packages. Jacob had reviewed the folded receipts, amazed at all the additional Christmas items his lady had bought. He was going to be doing a lot of decorating at the Atlanta estate. He’d love every minute of it. Gideon was getting there a few days early with his two vampires, Daegan and Anwyn. He could help Jacob, Kane and John, their majordomo’s grandson, decorate some trees. Maybe Lyssa and the vampires would help as well. Christmas miracles did happen, after all.
