Illusion

by Alexandra Anthony

  Impossible.

  He laughed softly, nuzzling his nose against my cheek. “The more we love one another, the deeper the craving will be. I have never felt anything that I can compare to what it feels like to be with you. It is like,”

  “Perfection,” I finished for him. Stefan glanced up at me and smiled, his eyes begging me to say more. “Being with you is everything I ever wanted but didn’t know to ask for it. When we’re together like this, I feel complete. Like I’m home.”

  “Home,” he repeated in agreement. “I have not had a home in 975 years.”

  He pulled his large frame from me and walked into the bathroom, his muscles moving smoothly under his skin, contracting and flexing exquisitely. I heard the water turn on in the bathroom. He’d only been gone for a moment when he reentered the room.

  I couldn’t help but admire him when he sauntered across the bedroom towards me. Rumpled blond sex hair, strong shoulders and a muscular chest tapered to his narrow hips. His long, lean legs looked as if they were sculpted from marble. He bent over me, capturing my mouth in a kiss. He raised his head and tugged on my arm.

  “Come with me.”

  Following behind him, I smiled when I saw the huge bathtub filling with water. He slipped inside and offered me his hand. Holding on to him, I slid into the water, my back against his chest. We sat in the large tub, sated and content in listening to the sounds of the water as it splashed against our skin.

  Stefan reached for the handheld attachment and turned it on, wetting my hair. He rubbed shampoo through my long hair, the tips of his fingers massaging my scalp. He rinsed my hair and I leaned back against him, letting out a contented sigh as I watched him rub soap onto a washcloth.

  “We leave for Bali tomorrow. How are you feeling about that?” Stefan asked as he rubbed my shoulders softly with the the cloth. He ran it over my breasts, and dipped below the water to linger against my stomach and between my legs.

  “I dread the 20 hour flight and we won’t have the advantage of flying on a private plane this time around,” I said, spinning around in the water to face him. I repeated the process on him, washing and rinsing his hair and washing every inch of his powerful body.

  “Commercial airlines,” Stefan sneered. “I could not get my private plane routed back in time for our flight to Bali. Lukas loaned it to business associates without my consent.”

  Glancing at the aggravated expression on his face, I could only imagine what sort of revenge Stefan would have on Lukas. I’m sure it would be embarrassing or would involve a task Lukas would be horrified at performing.

  “Yes. He is responsible for cleaning our apartment and running my errands until he joins us in Bali.”

  I had an image of Lukas running a vacuum and giggled loudly, splashing Stefan with water. His blue eyes sparkled and he pressed me against the bathtub, nibbling at my lower lip. We lingered in the tub until the water turned cold and my fingers were wrinkled, reluctantly bundling into a fluffy towel. I grabbed a wide toothed comb from the vanity and headed into the bedroom, sitting cross legged on the bed. Stefan joined me and plucked the comb from my fingers, sitting behind me to slowly comb through my long hair. His fingers were fast and gentle as I felt him separate my hair into three sections, methodically beginning to weave my hair into a long braid that hung down my back. He secured it with a rubber band and I turned to face him as he surveyed his work, a proud smile on his handsome face.

  “How did you learn to braid hair?” I questioned, rubbing my fingers over the tight plaits.

  “One does not live to be almost a thousand years old without knowing how to braid. During my human life we made our own ropes from bast and hemp which were braided together,” Stefan offered in explanation and shrugged. He placed the comb on the bedside table and reclined on the bed, running his fingers through his thick, damp hair.

  “Do you miss your human life?” I asked, moving to lie on my stomach beside him. I rested my chin on his stomach, watching him intently. He stared down at me in surprise for a moment before his face took on that familiar faraway look when he was remembering something from his past.

  “I do not miss being human and it is difficult for me to recollect much of my human life,” he said quietly and rubbed his finger across his lip, lost in thought. “I remember my father being a handsome, imposing man. He was a Jarl in our village, a nobleman. My mother was a beautiful woman with long blond hair and blue eyes. I had three brothers: Ragnarr, Sigarr and Snerrir, and a sister named Heiðr. I can recall being happy, even with my ability.”

  “Go on,” I whispered. I was barely breathing, mesmerized by the deep timbre of his voice and his story.

  He smiled faintly and continued. “I was 33 when our village came under attack. My father was killed and as I was the eldest, it was left for me to lead our village. We were victorious; however I was not so lucky that day. I was wounded in battle, left by my comrades to bleed to death on a funeral pyre on a cold spring night of that year. I can recall the pain of my wounds and staring at the stars, praying to Freya or Hel to end my suffering, though I should have been fighting for my life. Solveig intervened and made me what I am today.”

  “Solveig was your maker, right?”

  “Yes. She was kind as far as sires go. She was nearly 800 years old when she turned me and as the years passed, she lost her sanity. She began creating vampires and left them to obliterate entire villages and towns. The Council intervened and she met her final death when I was a little over 300 years old.”

  Sucking in a shallow breath, I looked down at the silky, pale skin of his stomach instead of his eyes. “Did you love her?”

  “Josephine, my love. Look at me,” Stefan murmured. I fearfully looked up and his sea blue eyes met mine. He reached over to stroke the side of my face. “Yes, I loved her. She was my sire and for a time, we were lovers. Do not do this to yourself. I love you and only you. What I felt for her cannot even compare to my depth of my love for you. Once I had my vision of you, no one else mattered. I understood 200 years ago that you would be the one I would be with until the end of my life. Do you understand?”

  Nodding, I let Stefan pull me into his arms. He started crooning and humming to me in Swedish, comforting me. “I liten Reck ... för att nå henne riskerade jag mitt liv ofta ...Fast jag dräpas inom armar min älskade, Sova i Sif-of-siden-klänningar "omfattar: För den blonda kvinnan känner jag älskar ändlösa.”

  His deep voice was lovely to listen to, regardless of what he said. “What did you sing to me?”

  His lips curled into a smile against my temple. “When I was human, men did not write or recite love poems. It was forbidden to do so. I am sure it is safe to do now.” He tipped my face up to look in his eyes as he spoke. “I little reck...to reach her risked I have my life oft...Though I be slain within the arms of my beloved, sleeping in the Sif-of-silken-gowns' embraces: for the fair-haired woman feel I love unending.”

  “That’s beautiful,” I whispered, my fingers tracing lines across his chest.

  He softly stroked my hair and peppered kisses against my face. He continued to hum, the deep sound rumbling in his chest and lulling me to sleep.

  “Kian was right about one thing the first day I met him,” I mumbled drowsily.

  “And what was that, vackra?”

  “He said you died that night to be reborn for me. It took over 900 years for us to find each other, yet here we are together in an apartment in New York City.”

  Stefan tucked the covers around us. “He is correct. Against all of the odds, we found one another. It was fate.”

  Burrowing closer to him, my eyes were heavy and my voice tired as I recited part of one of my favorite poems to him. “He loves my heart, for once it was his own, I cherish his, because in me it bides. My true love hath my heart and I have his.”

  * * *

  Flying commercial with a vampire turned out to more interesting than I’d expected it to be. We were flying first class out of JFK, but even with all of the
perks it was humorous to watch Stefan bypass body searches and scanners. He would put the agents under his influence, which was an almost trance-like state, informing them that there was no need to check him. He was no threat to anyone on the plane. He would then release them and he would be passed through with a wave of the TSA agent’s hand. This seemed to work especially well with the female agents.

  It was almost 6 pm when we boarded our flight. I hurried to snag the window seat before Stefan had a chance to grab it. Stefan grumbled and stowed our carry-on bags in the overhead compartment, sighing heavily as he attempted to arrange his large body comfortably in the much too small seat.

  “This is why I hate flying commercial. It is these fucking seats! Jävla människor och deras små säten!”

  Smothering a giggle, I had to turn away. He jostled both of our seats as he struggled beside of me. Out of the corner of my eye I could see his long legs stretched out as far as they could go and he still looked like he was hunched over. It was going to be a long flight for both of us.

  Stefan powered up his laptop and handed it to me with a smirk on his face. He pulled CD’s out of the laptop case and handed them to me wordlessly. I grabbed them from him and inserted one in the CD drive, slipping ear buds in my ears and sticking my tongue out at him as I thought back to receiving these CD’s earlier in the morning.

  I’d packed light for our return trip to Bali with us. We really didn’t need to take much since we would only be there a few days: long enough for me to pack up and ship what I wanted to keep, put my villa on the market and say my goodbyes. I’d walked into the living room to see Lukas sitting on the couch, talking to Stefan. Lukas popped off of the couch, bouncing over towards me with a shit-eating grin on his face. He handed me a gift bag he had partially hidden behind his back.

  “What’s this?” I asked as I took the bag from him, trying to peek inside and see what was underneath all of the paper.

  “This will come in handy for you. After walking in the other morning,” Lukas rolled his eyes skyward and wrinkled his nose in distaste. “I thought you could use this.”

  Putting the bag down on the counter, I pulled all the bright tissue paper to see a box for a foreign language program with the word ‘Swedish’ prominently displayed. I looked at Lukas with furrowed brows.

  “Swedish?!”

  “Since Stefan obviously likes to talk dirty to you in Swedish while you get your freak on, I thought you should at least know what he’s saying.” Lukas smiled, pinched my cheek and bounced back to the couch where he plopped down and looked very arrogant.

  Meeting Stefan’s eyes, he shrugged non-commitally at me and folded his hands behind his head, prominently displaying his broad chest.

  His voice was filled with humor as it drifted through my mind. “Are you sure you are ready for an eternity of Lukas, vackra?”

  “Is anyone prepared for an hour with Lukas?” I mentally shot back, fighting the smile that was threatening to break over my face.

  “Touché.”

  “Lukas, I didn’t realize you were so concerned about me learning different sex words in Swedish. I think Stefan has it covered, but I appreciate the gift. Maybe I should remember the ones I don’t know and have you translate for me instead.” I countered. How I managed to keep a straight face, I’ll never know.

  Lukas huffed and the look of horror on his face was comical. I wasn’t sure if he was disgusted at the memory of walking in on us or the idea of me making him translate Stefan’s dirty talk. Either way, it was enjoyable to watch him squirm.

  “Well played, Josephine.” Stefan nodded in approval, his mind voice filled with humor.

  “I’ll do it too. I’ll make him translate just because I can and it’ll drive him crazy.”

  Stefan snorted and rose from the chair to stand beside of me, taking the CD’s from my hands and flipping them over to read the back. He raised an eyebrow and glanced at Lukas, who had suddenly had developed an interest in searching for lint on his shirt.

  “You’re doing that mind thing again, aren’t you? It’s so unfair that you two can talk to each other and no one else knows what’s going on.” Lukas pursed his lips and pouted. “I’m off, lovebirds. Have fun flying commercial!”

  Lukas flounced out of the apartment, slamming the door behind him. Eternity was going to be a long time with his spoiled behavior.

  Pulling myself out of my musings, I tried to concentrate on the droning voice on the CD. If Stefan was doing the narration it would make for a more interesting experience. I kept finding my thoughts drifting to memories of Stefan talking to me in Swedish while we made love and I found myself shifting uncomfortably in my seat.

  “Where did you go, Josephine?” Stefan’s mind voice pulled me out of my fantasies.

  Shaking my head, I smiled at him, pulled the ear buds from my ears and leaned in to kiss him softly on the tip of his nose. “I was remembering the look of disgust on Lukas’ face when I told him he could translate your sexy talk for me.”

  Stefan chuckled, his laughter shaking both of our seats. He took my hand and traced the veins in my hands with his fingertips and he raised his eyes to look at me. They were darker than usual, the pupils dilated. I knew that look. I had a highly aroused Stefan on a long flight that was filled with passengers that seemed to take an interest in everything we were doing, thanks to Stefan and his inhuman good looks and grace.

  “I am happy you wore that skirt. It makes your legs look extremely sexy,” Stefan murmured softly as his fingers drifted up from my hands to dance across my arm.

  Putting my lips next to his ear, I let my lips tickle his ear as I spoke. “You didn’t give me much choice in the matter if I remember correctly. You had it picked out for me.”

  “Ah, you are right. I figured it would be freeing since we would be sitting for so long. We can always get a blanket later if you get cold.” Stefan waggled his eyebrows and his hand finally made it to caress the side of my face, his fingers winding in my long hair. He pulled my face to his and his lips met mine. When he slid his tongue into my mouth, I knew we’d be getting the blanket sooner than later. His free hand pushed the armrest between our seats and he scooted closer, his arousal becoming more and more apparent by the longing of his kiss.

  Reluctantly pulling my lips away, I cleared my throat to get his attention. His jaw was clenched and his handsome face was serious.

  “This is not finished,” he warned as his hand moved across the front of his jeans, adjusting himself. I could see the outline of his hard cock pressing against the denim and took pity on him. That had to be uncomfortable.

  “I know. Patience, sweetheart.” I rubbed his leg in consolation, attempting to innocently brush my hand against his bulging erection. He grabbed my hand in a blur, pressing it against him.

  “See what you do to me. This is for you.” Stefan’s voice came out in a sexy hiss.

  A flight attendant happened to walk by and I pulled my hand from his to motion for her.

  “Yes?” She glanced at me and then her eyes moved to roam over Stefan. She was an attractive blond with heavy makeup and thick perfume, well past her prime but attempting to hold on to her waning sex appeal. She leaned over to appear like she was being attentive to me, yet it was apparent she was only doing it to stick her breasts in his face. I didn’t have to lower my shields to read her emotions. They were as obvious as her pathetic attempts to appear seductive. She wanted him.

  Sighing heavily, I gritted my teeth and tried to smile sweetly as I glanced at her name tag. If Stefan could have his moment of jealousy, I could too. “Mary, I’m feeling cold. Is it possible to get a blanket?”

  “Sure. What about you, dear? Are you cold too?” Mary focused on Stefan, placing her hand on his arm. He looked at her hand and then glanced up at her face, his blue eyes losing that sparkle I loved so much. He looked at her with indifference and simply cocked his eyebrow.

  The flight attendant blushed and jerked her hand away, rushing off to get my blanket. Up
on her return, she almost threw it at me in her embarrassment and haste to get away.

  Stefan sighed heavily and rested his head against the back of the seat as I arranged the blanket over both of us, saying nothing. I could feel anger simmering under the surface of my outwardly cool demeanor. Would I ever get used to women falling all over themselves for his attention? It only took me a minute of deliberation. I’d probably never get used to it.

  “I hate that she did that. You know I have no desire for that kind of attention.”

  I nodded and placed my head against his shoulder. “I know. You’re beautiful, Stefan. Every woman wants you.” One of my hands crept underneath the blanket, across his lap to lightly stroke the front of his pants.

  “I could care less about anyone else, vackra. I only want you,” he exhaled softly. His head turned so we were face to face, our lips meeting in a chaste kiss. My fingers inched down the zipper and moved to thumb open his jeans. He tilted his hips so his jeans fell open and his cock slipped into my palm. We both groaned in unison at the sensation of his velvety hardness in my hand, his impressive length throbbing in expectation of what was to come.

  It only took a few strokes until he’d reached his limit, wanting more than just my hands on him.

  “Wait two minutes and meet me in the bathroom,” Stefan said, jerking his head towards the front of the plane. He managed to zip his pants up underneath the blanket and stood up, his wide shoulders disappearing down the aisle into the bathroom.

  It was the longest two minutes of my life. My heart was racing and I jiggled my leg nervously as I kept glancing at my watch. When the allotted time had passed, I placed the blanket on the seat and tried to casually walk to the bathroom. I had put my hand up to knock when it cracked open, his large hand blurring out and yanking me inside, locking the door behind us.

  Inside the cramped airplane bathroom, we were pressed together and an exquisitely sinful smile quirked his lips. He grabbed me by the waist, sitting me on the edge of the tiny sink. His thoughts were completely unshielded and the intense emotion that filled his mind was overwhelming. It was more than love. It was adoration, devotion, worship and desire all jumbled together.