Rafaroy

by T. J. Quinn

  The one experience he could never get past was losing his fighting partner and best friend. Jensen had sacrificed himself to give Alek a chance to escape. Although Alek recognized it as an act of unselfish love and compassion, the fact that he was alive to enjoy life and a family, while his friend was lying cold in the ground never sat well with him.

  At night, his dreams were haunted by images of seeing his friend die and of what might have been, had his friend lived. They would probably both have families and would have visited each other’s homes. Their children would have played together. He knew if Jensen were still alive, he would tell him to suck it up and get on with his life. Jensen would tell him to be careful and watch his back.

  Jensen said things like that so often, Alek could almost hear his friend and see him in his mind’s eye. He was waving his arms, and his lips were moving…he was shouting at him…something about there being danger…Jensen was shouting at him to get down.

  Suddenly, Alek slid back into reality, sensing danger in the here and now. He quickly opened his eyes and looked around. Nervously scanning the landscape proved fruitless. He was not sure what he was looking for, but the birds had stopped tweeting, and something was different. Then it hit him, he was being followed.

  His vampire senses began pulling in information faster than his brain could process it. The sound of breathing drifted to him on the wind, and he could smell them…four of them. His nostrils flared slightly. With some concentration, he could make out the scent of two humans, a vampire, and…maybe a Kalian. One was recently injured…he could smell the faint scent of human blood.

  He spied movement about a hundred yards away in the bush. They were looking right at him. That was a red flag because people kept to the pathways in the park rather than lurking in the brush. His eyes zeroed in on a form lying close to the ground. His mind registered the rifle in his hands about the same time as he felt a prick on his chest.

  His vision began to fail, and he reached out, groping in the air. Even as his hand flailed, he knew it some deeply born instinct searching for something to grasp onto. His knees unhinged and he began falling to the ground in what felt like slow motion. Landing upright on his knees, he looked down and saw a small dart sticking out of his chest. It was the kind used to tranquilize animals.

  Reaching down, he jerked it out and threw it aside as his vision began to blur. When trying to push back up off the ground proved impossible, he endeavored to craw with what little strength remained. His hands found a stone fountain, and he tried to pull up by grasping the edge. Darkness was closing in, and he collapsed, hitting his face on the pavement instead. He could hear footsteps, and his sense of smell told him the Kalian was approaching quickly. His last thoughts were of his girls, so young and vulnerable. Who would protect them when he didn’t return?

  Chapter 2

  Touching the Face of a Goddess

  Squeaky spent the ride home worrying about what tomorrow held. His hands tightened around his crucifix, the blatant reminder that although he longed to walk the true path of the righteous, he was forced to accept work that ensured he never caught sight of that particular path.

  “So what’s eating at my creepily anxious friend?”

  Looking up into his brother-in-law’s smiling face Squeaky had to smile. Jake was about as linked into the criminal underworld as Squeaky was. Only Jake didn’t seem to have to guilt complex Squeaky did.

  As his automobile’s automatic driving program, steered the hovercar at a snail’s pace to their neighborhood, Squeaky used the seclusion to bounce his latest caper off his longtime friend.

  “My crew was given orders to abduct a local businessman today. “

  Jake shrugged.

  Squeaky clarified the problem. “He was a vampire.”

  “Shit, I know how you guys hate perping on each other. Did you go through with it?”

  “Reluctantly, I did. My contribution was minimal. I researched the target and worked with the leader of our group to plan the best time and place for the abduction.”

  “If you planned it, I’m sure it went off without a hitch.”

  Squeaky knew his friend meant that as a compliment, but to him, it was a reminder that he was good at all the wrong kinds of things in life.

  “Yes. My plan was a complete success. My vampire brother is even now being held hostage under our team’s careful watch.”

  “You feel guilty?”

  “Of course I feel guilty. But note that my feelings on the matter did not prohibit me from betraying one of my own. I worry that my dark deed will turn darker. Even now, my vampire brother lies in a drug-induced slumber, compliments of the large animal tranquilizer we used to bring him down. My sorrow will be compounded tenfold if his body is unable to flush the drugs from his body. Vampires do not process out such impurities as easily as humans.”

  “Now you’re just making up shit to worry about.”

  Looking into Jake’s serious face, Squeaky explained. “Before the war, many of us were experimented upon often and with no thought to the long-term consequences. Vampires were seen as highly expendable. It was difficult to craft a drug that would bring him down without killing him. I mixed animal tranquilizers together to belay the potency.”

  “You’re worried that you misjudged the dosage?”

  Nodding, Squeaky swallowed thickly. I believe he is to be ransomed back to his wealthy family. In my research, I discovered he has little ones.”

  Holding up his hands, Jake made the gesture for a timeout. “People like you and me; we gotta make do with the jobs nobody else wants. They want those jobs for a reason. You gotta do what you’re asked or suffer the consequences. They ain’t gonna let you pick and choose the jobs you feel comfortable with.”

  “The fact remains that if Mr. Shardon wakes at all tomorrow, he will realize the betrayal that brought him down was at the hands of a fellow vampire. I will have to look him in the face, and that is the part of my job that claws at my conscience.”

  Jake’s voice softened. “I know Vampires usually shared a strict brotherhood and never committed acts of aggression against each other…”

  “Did you know that protecting each other from outside threats is a deeply ingrained part of our religious doctrine? I hate my part in this situation. It goes against every fiber of my being as I am a vampire.”

  “Maybe you can do something to ease his way. Treat him with respect, even though the outcome of his fate is not in your hands. Just be open and honest, Squeaky. Just don’t get caught sympathizing with him.”

  “You are right to remind me of the inherent dangers of going against the syndicate. I worry all the time about them coming after my beautiful Alyese in recompense for some failure or mistake on my part.”

  “It has known that to happen.” Jake’s voice dropped to a low rumble when his sister’s safety was being discussed.

  “I will tolerate no risk to my lovely wife. I would suffer a thousand terrible deaths to keep her out of harms way. No matter what, I must keep my home life separate from my work life.”

  “My sister is far too innocent to recognize danger in general. It is good she has you to look after her.”

  “Though I do my best to keep her safe, I worry that having me in her life also introduced additional danger that would not otherwise be there.”

  “Look, dude, you cannot spend every minute of every day beating yourself up about shit like that.” Grabbing Squeaky by the head, Jake gave him a playful shove. “I swear to God, you worry more than man I ever met. Get your head in the game. You don’t want to go home to my sister every evening being a total killjoy.”

  Sighing, Squeaky had to smile at his irreverent friend. “Coming home to Alyese every evening is an honor I do not deserve, but a pleasure I can never resist. Seeing her smiling face and her kind words are by far the best part of my day.”

  “What the hell am I chopped liver?”

  “No, you are the only person in the world I can speak openly about such th
ings with. That fact alone earns you a special place in my heart.”

  Laughing as the vehicle came to a stuttering stop in Squeaky’s driveway, Jake commented merrily. “Dudes do not say things like to each other, but thanks for the sentiment.”

  “Humans are such narrow-minded concrete thinkers.”

  Climbing out into the cool night his friend deadpanned back. “Just when I was starting to like you, you come off with shit like that. I am not narrow-minded.”

  “As you wish. Do you need a ride into the city tomorrow?”

  “Yep, I gotta keep up the hustle. You know how it is.”

  “Indeed I do, my friend. Meet here at six in the morning.”

  Jerking his hand up above his head, Jake strolled down the block towards the home he shared with several other males.

  Squeaky quietly entered through the garage of his modest rental home. All the lights were out. Since it was so, late Alyese was probably in bed. He stopped for a moment by a small meditation shrine to pray. He lit a small incense and murmured a simple prayer. “Praise be to the gods mighty and strong. Impart to me your wisdom that I might know right from wrong. I beg of you, pull me from the path of darkness into the light.” He disciplined himself for a moment of meditation before putting out the incense and going to his room for sleeping.

  His beautiful wife was already in bed. Squeaky tried not to wake her as he showered and slid into bed beside her. She was small, delicate, and though he worked in an office. He looked down at the human female lying all pale and lovely against his dark sheets. It was difficult to believe he had somehow managed to find such a loving, loyal, and dedicated mate on this alien planet millions of miles from his homeworld.

  Her inherent goodness made it virtually impossible to admit to not being an office worker. Squeaky closed his eyes and imagined the look in her eyes if she knew, really knew what he did for a living. Seeing that look of disappointment on her face would tear him apart.

  Meeting her a year and a half ago had been a bit of a life-altering experience for him. Compared to her, he seemed more like the small little creature with many legs the humans despised so much…what was it called…oh, yes, a spider. That is what he felt like every time he did something he knew was wrong.

  Squeaky had spent the last year and a half endeavoring to be more like the husband she deserved, rather than the husband she had inadvertently ended up with. In trying to reinvent himself, Squeaky realized something he never knew before. The gods blessed people with the opportunity to make many choices throughout each day.

  As he fell into the habit of making better choices, he could feel himself slowly turning from a horrible person into someone who made him proud. Pride in himself was a feeling he had not known much about up until now. He found that the more he tried to be a decent person, the easier it became.

  Since this newfound path was the one and only way to finally close the lingering distance between himself and his wife, he decided right then and there to take the final step by getting himself out of the business once and for all. Somehow, he would find a way.

  As he looked down at his beautiful little wife, her eyes fluttered open, and her expression turned adoring. His chest ached, as Squeaky realized for the very first time that he was finally beginning to feel worthy of her love. It was so like her to wait up for him. Alyese was always so considerate of his feelings.

  He knew she would want him to feed tonight. He was awash with feelings of anticipation, craving, love, lust, guilt, and such an intense thirst for her. Her precious blood was innocent, pure, and better than anything he had ever imagined, much less tasted.

  Because his wife always worried about him eating, he made it a point to ease her worries. Alyese didn’t entirely trust synthetic blood to keep him healthy, so she insisted on supplementing with fresh feeding at least every other day. He had a feeling tonight was the night because he had not fed the day before.

  She had come to bed without clothing and was wearing the promise locket he had given her. It was the one and only memento of his family and was given to him by his grandmother before she died. It was made of an ancient lightweight metal the color of tarnished silver and had a small, oval, red bloodstone set into the front of it.

  It was a good thing the alien overlords cared little for such trinkets, or his grandmother would have never been able to hang onto it all those years on the alien ship. If only she had lived long enough to see it wrapped around the neck of his beautiful wife, she would have known all her sacrifices to keep him alive on the ships had been worth it. Having a mate meant their line would continue.

  It gave him an immense feeling of satisfaction to see his most precious possession hanging around the neck of the woman he dearly loved. It looked beautiful against her pale white skin. His eyes traveled from her face, as she sat up, to her neck and down the length of her arms to her delicate hands. Drawing on this his lips, he pressed a gentle kiss to her palm.

  “I missed you this evening.”

  “I’m sorry, love. Please know that I would prefer being with you a thousand times more than the tasks assigned to me today.”

  “Forget about your job. Your wife needs your undivided attention if you’re up to the challenge.”

  Grinning, he took a deep breath. “You smell like flowers.”

  “I tried a new body wash. Do you like it?”

  “Yes. It’s delicate and feminine, like you.”

  “I like the way you smell better.”

  Almost cringing, he hesitated to ask.

  “You smell like a hot sexy male.”

  Having grown up on a slave ship, so few of the creatures on board had blood suitable for feeding and even fewer still were willing to feed vampires. He was always hungry before landing on his world. Lack of proper nutrition during his formative years had led to his smaller body size. Being loved and cared for by his beautiful wife was a dream he never had once dared to dream.

  “You truly are a precious gift from the gods. Human women were so very open, loving, and accepting of our kind.”

  Smiling up at him, she murmured. “It’s because Vampires are all long hair, sexy fangs, and practically worship women. Who wouldn’t want that?”

  Squeaky opened up a little to her. “On my homeworld, females are scarce, and only the most prominent members of our society have their very own female. The rest must make do with negotiating breeding rights with a female. Even then, the privilege of procreation is always awarded to the largest and strongest.”

  “That sounds very discriminatory to me.”

  “Our females think it best that only the strongest males contribute to the gene pool. I would never have been selected by a female because of my size alone.”

  “I would have chosen you.”

  “Perhaps, but I would not have been allowed to keep you.”

  Her eyes got large. “What do you mean by not allowed to keep me?”

  “They would have taken you from me and assigned me military service aboard another vessel and never allowed to return. It is how they handled such things.”

  “Vampire females must be docile. If anyone tried to take you away, I’d scream the walls down.”

  Trying to get her to understand her value was proving difficult this night. “I do not believe you would be so keen to keep me after meeting the males of my homeworld. You know only me and my emotionally scarred brethren that survived aboard the slave ships bound for Earth. The males of my homeworld are large, strong and handsome beyond compare.”

  Scooting closer to him, she asked quietly. “Would you like to know a secret?”

  Quickly locking down the rising panic, he nodded. Usually in his world secrets were terrible soul-sucking obligations. He knew his innocent wife well enough to not believe her capable of such.

  “I’ve always been thoroughly fascinated by Vampires. The thing that held me back was their size. Most of your kind are a good twenty-five percent larger than human men. It doesn’t seem like much until you think of being
trapped beneath one. I was drawn to you because of your size.”

  Looking down, he tried to get his head around what she was saying. “I am more the size of a human male.”

  “Yep, and that makes you perfect for me.”

  Seeing the wisdom of her words, he had to admit that it made a certain kind of sense. “How strange that the one quality I always saw as a weakness is the one who drew a perfect mate to me.” Raising his eyes to hers, he reached out to her. She came easily into his arms.

  He felt his heart might just explode as he watched her slowly unbuttoning his shirt. Heaving out a sigh of relief, he turned wrapping her in his arms. Moving closer, she kissed his neck and smoothed her hands over his chest. The look in her eyes was both loving and filled with a growing need for him. It was an intoxicating combination. Her soft hands and lips had him hard before she even slid her hand down to his gently tug down his pajama bottoms.

  “I love everything about you, especially your nice six-pack. You’re everything I ever wanted in a man.”

  His hands roamed over her soft skin, mapping and claiming her as his own. Palming one of her perfect breasts, he teased her nipple with his tongue, before sucking it into a tight little point.

  “God, I love how you touch me.”

  His woman whispering sexy things flipped all the right switches for him as a male. Learning that she was attracted to him because of his smaller size and that she loved the way he touched her enflamed his desire. Her words, the tone of her voice, and the scent of her arousal were more intoxicating than anything Squeaky had ever known.

  Alyese rolled on top of him, wrapping her legs around him and the sensation of her silky smooth body flush with his as she moved against him was just the kind of sensual foreplay he loved.

  Her long, brown hair fell over one shoulder and spilled onto his chest, gently caressing his skin. Kissing her way down his body, she landed on his manhood. Her soft wet tongue teased his willing flesh over and over again, spiking his desire until he couldn’t stand it.