by Unknown
“What?” She finally looked at him.
“The first time I saw you, I was expecting some ice queen vampire type, like Melaina.” A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “I couldn’t believe my eyes when this totally gorgeous girl turned out to be the infamous Eden.”
She smirked. “You’re trying really hard to get the pillow talk thing right, I’ll give you that much.”
“Hey.” He nudged her thigh. “This isn’t pillow talk. I almost turned down the job because I knew I’d be too distracted by you to keep it professional.” He looked at her, naked and disheveled on the bed in front of him. “Obviously, I was right about that part.”
She frowned. “Are you sorry you took the job?”
“No,” he answered emphatically. “And I’m not sorry about tonight either.” He punctuated his words with a kiss on her thigh.
“Mmm…” She fell back onto the bed. “Why don’t you work your way up?”
“Sounds like a plan.” He planted a line of kisses up her thigh, over the curve of her hip, and across the roundness of her belly. Feeling his blood rushing lower in his body, he rejoined her on the bed, pulling her flush against him.
There were a thousand things he wanted to say to her, but they all lodged in his throat when she looked into his eyes. The only thing he could do was kiss her, letting his body tell her how he felt about her.
Her mouth was warm and inviting, and he slid his tongue between her lips gratefully, slaking his thirst for her like a man in the desert who’d finally found an oasis. Her breasts were cushioned against his chest, and when she draped one leg over his hip, it was like being engulfed by softness.
He let his hands roam her body, exploring every lush curve, every secret place. His fingers delved between her legs, feeling the gush of liquid heat there. He went hard again instantly, his need echoing hers.
He rolled her onto her back, and supporting himself with one arm, guided his cock back into her.
The heated urgency had eased enough for him to hold himself still, feeling her around him, the pulsating warmth of her. Each breath brought their bodies together, and he shifted his weight to his elbows, lacing his fingers through hers even as he began to thrust into her.
She brought her knees up, allowing him to go so deep inside her that he couldn’t tell where he left off and she began. The barriers between her flesh and his seemed to dissolve until they were a single being, bound together in mind-altering pleasure.
Something brushed his back and he opened his eyes. Rose petals of the deepest and most velvety red framed Eden’s face on the pillow. They rained down from the ceiling, drifting like ruby colored feathers to land on the bed and the carpet.
“Element of earth,” she gasped. “Remember?”
The heady fragrance of roses began to fill the room as the petals collected on the bed like red snow. Soon they were making love on a bed of rose petals. Mounds of petals covered the floor like sand dunes.
It was pure sensual overload. She was so wet he could barely stay inside her, and her orgasmic cries made it impossible for him to keep it slow. Lost in the scent of roses and the feel of her hips undulating beneath him, he drove into her.
She responded in kind, pushing her hips up to meet his thrusts. When she reached down to clutch his backside, whispering in his ear to go deeper, he had to pull back.
She made a sound of protest when he climbed off the bed. But when he pulled her to the edge and parted her legs, she sighed with pleasure.
He plunged back into her, her tight pussy milking his cock. When she squeezed her inner walls around his shaft, his last shred of control shattered, and he put his hands beneath her ass, lifting her hips and pounding her pussy like a jackhammer.
The bedsprings squeaked with every motion, and Eden’s body shook from head to toe. Sweat ran between her breasts, and wetness seeped from her pussy down her legs. She thrashed on the bed before him, tremors running down her legs as her inner chamber spasmed around his painfully swollen cock.
Fractured moans sounded deep in his throat, and her keening cry joined with it, making a sound as primal as anything heard in the most savage jungle. He slammed into her again and again, feeling his balls tighten, knowing his orgasm was imminent and wanting her to come when he did.
He lifted her backside higher and she let out a sob when he ground himself against her clit. She reached down to touch him, and the feel of her fingers on his cock sent him flying. He exploded, his come shooting into her with contractions so powerful that he thought he might see God.
He sank to the floor, pulling her with him until they landed on a perfumed pillow of rose petals, leaving him with the feeling that he could die right then and his life would’ve all been worth it.
* * *
“I need to go out later and get some Vlad’s for you.” Cameron ran his hand over her hip, his voice groggy. “Not to mention some rations for a meal, in case we ever decide to leave the bedroom again.”
Eden sighed and wrapped herself around the man beside her. She felt boneless, warm and blissful. “You don’t have to do that. Stay here and sleep.”
He turned slightly to look at her. “After that, you probably need to feed worse than ever.”
She bit her bottom lip. “Not exactly.”
He shot her a look. “Care to explain?”
She averted her gaze. “We sort of… had a tantric exchange.”
“Meaning?”
She cringed. “I’d always heard that it was possible to feed through sex, but…” She squirmed against him. “Tonight I got to test the theory.”
“And it’s true?”
“It’s way true.” She watched as he flopped back onto the floor.
“So not only am I a good lay, I’m also a tasty snack?” He stared up at the ceiling.
“Let’s just say that I’m satisfied, in more ways than one.” She exhaled, studying his grim expression. “This really bothers you, doesn’t it?”
He rubbed a rose petal between his fingers. “It would, if it were anyone but you.”
She felt the magic of their intimacy slipping through her fingers like sand. “You offered to let me feed from your energy, remember?”
“Yeah,” he chuckled, “but I didn’t think it would work.”
It was her turn to sit up. “So you just waltzed in here tonight with your little bullshit offer to let me feed on you, trying to do what, exactly?”
His mouth turned up in a half-smile. “Any excuse to get you to put your hands all over me would’ve done. I was so tired of walking around with a massive hard-on that I would’ve let you tap a vein at that point, just to touch you.”
“But in retrospect,” she continued, “you’re a little icked out at the idea of a vampire munching your mojo?”
“You’re not really a vampire, though.” He dropped the rose petal, and she watched it drift to the floor.
“Is that what you’re telling yourself?” Her chest tightened as she stared down at him. “If you can convince yourself that I’m not a real vampire, it makes it more palatable for you to get naked with me?”
“There’s nothing unpalatable about getting you naked,” he drawled. “And you’re a dhampire. Not a vampire. Case closed.”
“But what if I was?”
“You’re not.” He looked at her, annoyance crossing his face. “Besides, it’s not like you’re just some random dhampire feeding on me. I have… feelings for you.”
“Feelings?” That stung. “Wow, big confession there, stud.”
“I don’t like discussing my… feelings.” He made a pained face.
Good thing she hadn’t blurted out an admission of love in the heat of passion. Huffing out a breath, she folded her arms over her knees and turned away from him. “Why do you hate vampires so much, other than an irrational prejudice on your part?”
Silence pressed itself into the space between them. When he finally spoke, it was in a voice more subdued than anything she’d heard from him. “A vampire
killed someone I love.”
The tightness in her chest expanded. “Who was it?”
He paused for a heartbeat. “My son.”
Her throat felt as if it were collapsing with the weight of sudden sorrow. “What happened?”
He lifted a handful of rose petals from the floor. “I was at Quantico. There was a girl… a waitress at the diner where I used to go, off the base.” He let the petals fall to the floor one by one. “I was lonely. About two months into it, she told me she was pregnant.”
She kept silent, overwhelmed with the weight of his grief.
“We got married and Sammy was born. I wasn’t in love with Brenda, but I cared about her. I thought we could make a go of it, you know, be a real family for our son.” He raked his fingers through the petals beside him. “And we did, for a while. I wanted to bring them back to Texas, maybe move back here so he could grow up with Allison and my grandmother. Then…” He stopped, his voice thick with emotion.
“You don’t have to go into it.” She reached toward him tentatively, placing her hand on the side of his face.
“No, it’s okay. I just haven’t talked about this in a long time.” He let out a long breath and seemed to regain his composure. “I’d never given any thoughts to vampires before. I knew about House Christabel there in Quantico, but…”
“They’re a sister house of Minotaur,” she said.
“Believe me, I know.” He stretched his arms behind his head. “Brenda had taken Sammy to a fast food place for dinner that night while I was working, one of those with the indoor playground and… we never knew how the vampire got him. Brenda bent down to tie her shoe and when she looked up, Sammy wasn’t on the slide anymore.” He trailed off for a moment. “The vamp who took him was crazy. She’d been turned against her will, and wanted a child. She tried to turn Sammy… I guess she thought she’d be able to keep him a child forever. But she didn’t know what she was doing and he didn’t…”
Eden couldn’t stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks.
“Everything fell apart then. I stayed drunk all the time and Brenda finally gave up on me. Not that I blame her. Without Sammy, there was nothing to hold us together anymore. The vamp who killed him met the dawn before we could track her down, so I didn’t even get the satisfaction of seeing justice done. One day I was a father and a husband, and the next day, it was all gone.”
He cleared his throat and went on. “I moved back to Texas and started training with the paranormal crimes unit in Fort Worth.” He let out a bitter laugh. “The sergeant said he’d never seen anyone so driven. It became the focus of my life. I stopped drinking, I stopped feeling sorry for myself… I stopped everything but killing the monsters who’d taken my son from me, until I went too far one day and killed without a warrant.” His gaze stopped drifting around the room and settled on her. “And then I met you.”
“And now what?” She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
“We’re together.” He reached for her. “There’s more to my life than revenge now.”
“We’re not all like that monster back in Quantico, or the ones that are after me, you know.” She rested her cheek against his chest, listening to the pounding of his heart. “I know there are some evil vampires out there, but we’re not all like that.”
He gave her a look of doubt. “All I know is… if I save you, then in some small way, I’ve made up for what happened back in Quantico.”
She didn’t answer him with words. Instead, she rolled over on top of him, and gave him the comfort of her body, making love to him until sleep finally forced them to stop.
Chapter 11
Cameron woke with a start. His hands were resting on something incredibly warm and soft, and the room was filled with the scent of flowers.
Then he remembered. He had his palms cupped over the swell of Eden’s breasts, and they’d fallen asleep on the floor after a marathon lovemaking session.
He smiled, burying his face in her hair and inhaling the scent.
Something nagged at him. What had he forgotten?
The blood. She needed a case of Vlad’s.
He eased away from Eden, careful not to wake her, and took his watch from the bedside table where it had landed during their hasty undressing of each other.
4:00 AM. Still two hours before dawn. He could go to the all-night liquor store, pick up a case of Vlad’s, and have it back in case she wanted a bottle before she went under for the day.
He got to his feet quietly, taking a blanket from the bed and placing it over Eden’s sleeping form. God, he felt so much for her that just watching her sleep made his heart ache.
He pulled on his jeans and went into the living room, grabbing a T-shirt from his bag. Within minutes he’d finished dressing, put on his weapons, and helped himself to a cold soda from the machine in the kitchen. He quickly scribbled a note on the little chalkboard hanging by the telephone, letting Eden know where he was going and that he’d be back soon.
One task to go, he told himself, stepping back into the bedroom. Sure enough, the automatic pistol sat on the bedside table where he’d placed it earlier. He quickly took a silver knife from the sheath on his right wrist, placing it beside the gun.
There was no reason to think anything would happen to her while he was gone. They were in small town Texas, where nothing ever happened, much less vampire warfare. But just to be on the safe side, he wanted her to be armed if she needed it.
He took his keys and stepped out into the garage, closing the door softly behind him. Soon he’d backed out of the garage, stopping to get out and close the overhead door.
Having secured the garage, he turned the SUV onto Orchard Lane and headed out into the dark Texas night.
* * *
Eden rolled over sleepily, seeking Cameron with her hands. When his taut, warm body didn’t materialize under her searching grasp, she opened her eyes with a start.
The room was empty, except for her and the dying embers in the fireplace. The blanket draped over her body told her that he’d been there. She stood up, wrapping the blanket around herself, and checked the bathroom.
Empty.
Wrapping the blanket tighter around her chest, she padded into the living room. His bag was still there, so he couldn’t have gone far.
She made her way into the kitchen, sighing with relief when she saw his note on the chalkboard. He’d be back soon, and she could sleep the day away with the peace of mind he always gave her.
Humming to herself, she found some orange juice in the fridge. After having a glass, she wandered back into the bedroom, getting fresh underwear and a clean nightshirt from her bag. She had just enough time for a hot shower before Cameron got back.
As she stepped under the stinging spray, she couldn’t stop humming, couldn’t stop smiling. Just knowing he was coming back to her was enough to make her happier than she’d ever been.
* * *
Cameron heard the door of Luther’s Liquor & More shut behind him with a jangle of bells. Not exactly a gourmet supermarket, but he’d picked up a case of Vlad’s for Eden -- the chocolate truffle flavor she seemed to prefer -- along with milk, eggs, and a loaf of bread. Limited provisions, but he’d made do with less before. He was pretty sure he’d be able to whip up toast and an omelet for two before the sun rose.
He clicked his remote to unlock the rear door of the Tahoe but stopped short when he reached the vehicle.
Every single tire had been slashed.
A thin coating of slime on the mirror told him that he’d likely had a visit from some Chupacabras. Turning on his heel, he ran back to the store at breakneck speed.
The sleepy-eyed clerk behind the counter looked up in surprise. “What seems to be the problem, son?”
Cameron rushed to the counter. “Someone slashed my tires.”
The older man shook his head. “There’s one all-night wrecker in town. You need me to make the call?”
Cameron plunked his bags down on the counter.
“No, I need your fucking car keys. I’ve got to get back to my girlfriend right now.”
“Now, son,” the older man began, “I can’t just hand over my truck so you can go see your lady friend…”
“You don’t get it.” Cameron took out his gun. “This is life or death. And unless you want this entire town to turn into a vampire bloodbath, you better close this rat hole of a store and take me to your truck this fucking minute.”
The clerk put his hands in the air. “All right, son, no one needs to get hurt here.”
Cameron’s gut tightened as he led the man out of the store at gunpoint. He’d explain everything to the poor clerk once they were in the truck and rolling. He didn’t have time to wait for a wrecker or a ride. He had to get to Eden before someone else did.
* * *
Eden stepped out of the bathroom, towel drying her hair. The silk of her white nightshirt swirled around her legs, a sensation she’d never noticed before. Was this what love did for you -- heighten all of your senses, making you feel as if you’d never been so alive? She wanted to twirl around the room, giddy with happiness. She giggled, imagining Cameron walking in on her doing just that.
“I think he might find that very amusing.”
“Me too,” she answered. Then she opened her eyes.
She dropped the towel, a scream tearing itself from her throat as she backed into the bedroom wall behind her. The woman who had spoken to her in a clear, melodious voice sat on the edge of the bed, composed and watchful.
“Surely you’ve been expecting me, Eden.” The woman lifted a hand to examine her nails. “You knew I’d catch up with you eventually.”
“Who… and what…” Eden trailed off, silenced by terror.
“Oh, yes. Where are my manners?” The woman came to her feet, but not by any human means. One moment she was seated, then a split second later, her body unfolded itself to a standing position, like some perverse marionette. Eden swallowed back a rush of bile.
