Protecting Emma

by ML Michaels

  He jumped in his seat as Tandy met these words with a sharp, caustic laugh.

  “Oh come off of it, Lancer, you’re not going to dump me,” she insisted, adding with a smile that was not at all kind, “Aside from being a stone cold fox, I have more Twitter followers than all the members of Night Serenade combined. I, my darling, am your key to success.”

  It was Lancer’s turn to laugh, and loudly.

  “Then have your Twitter followers take you to dinner—and, for all I care, to bed,” he snapped, adding with a pointed look in her direction, “I suppose that in the context of a 140-character Tweet, even you might come off as barely tolerable.”

  Tandy had heard enough.

  “Oh, so you have trouble tolerating me huh?” she snapped, adding as she pulled her Corvette to a full stop at the side of the main highway that entwined its way through Clearview. “Fine, then. Fish out your cell phone and call for a Taxi to take you the rest of the way home.”

  Shrugging as he swung open her car’s passenger side door and made a graceful leap from its confines, Lancer waved his final goodbyes as he snapped over his shoulder, “Although I wager that the typical cab driver would boast roughly twice the charm and intellect of the lady before me—and, Tandy, please note that I use the term lady very loosely indeed—I do believe that I would prefer to walk the rest of the way home. And with that my dear, I bid you good night. And goodbye.”

  Proving his words moments later, Lancer immersed himself in the velvety ebony that defined the Clearview night; feeling one with the night around them as he savored each accent of its mystical element—the sublime glow of the radiant moon and the pure crystalline stars, the sweetest song of crickets and nightingales as they hovered overhead, the tender whisper of passing night breezes as they stroked and succored his troubled soul.

  “Ah, how I love the night,” he breathed, casting his head back as he shut his eyes and became one with the darkness. “And I also love something else as well—or, more specifically someone.”

  He warmed now as he sought comfort in the memories of his newest friend, a kind, funny woman who—despite her obvious lack of what one would call conventional beauty—absolutely enchanted him with her talent and wit, not to mention a sense of sweetness and decency that seemed lacking in (ahem) recent partners.

  “I only wish that I had spoken up more strongly when Tandy insulted Amie,” he mused, shaking his head from side to side as he added, “I should have sent that little witch on her way and stayed right there. With Amie.”

  The very mention of her name prompted a most pleasing wave of electric warmth to course wild through Lancer’s body, making his heart pound and his pulse race as he remembered the sound of Amie’s sweet voice, the vision of her gorgeous smile, the sound of her intelligent and witty words.

  “I would love nothing more than to ask Amie out,” he pondered, adding as his head lowered and steps slowed in the grasses beneath. “First I have to ponder though, if even a wonderful woman such as Amie can accept certain things about me—about all of the members of Night Serenade. Can she accept me? Can she believe in me?”

  ***

  The fall of the next night came all too quickly for a reluctant Amie, who prepared both her camera equipment and herself for a live performance by Night Serenade, a band set to perform that evening at Club Groove, the premiere rock’n’roll night club in downtown Clearview.

  Dressing that evening in a knee length red velvet dress that more than flattered her slender figure, she abandoned her signature pigtails for the evening and brushed out the long soft waves of her cinnamon brown hair; also applying a coat of ruby red lipstick before grabbing her camera and heading for the door.

  “I’m not dressing up to impress a man who is already spoken for,” she told herself, lifting her chin to proud effect as she jumped into the driver’s seat of her smart green compact car. “I’m simply showing Lancer what he is missing out on—sure enough.”

  Soon she stood in the midst of a low lit night club bathed in mesmerizing waves of aqua blue light, standing motionless in a vast sea of screaming females who cheered the arrival of the house band—the mesmerizing European quartet known as Night Serenade.

  As the handsome Cade stood center stage, tossing his long mane of midnight black hair as he launched into a rousing chorus of his newest erotic love song, “Into You,” his fellow band members played and danced around him as the gathered audience screamed their approval, save, that is, for the lone woman who was there to go to work.

  Aiming her camera in the direction of the band that danced and flounced before her, she couldn’t help but direct her lens toward one musician in particular, the lead guitarist who never took his eyes off of her as he slithered and gyrated across the breadth of the stage.

  As Lancer Lovejoy held her gaze and pounded out some lush reverberating riffs on the strings of his beloved ruby red Stratocaster, the guitarist mouthed the words that Cade sang at the opposite end of the stage, sultry lyrics that included, “I’m a willing servant at your disposal,” and “Tonight is the night that I fulfill your every fantasy,” and “Come to me my love…Come to me now.”

  Yet in lieu of “coming to Lancer…coming to him now,” Amie instead opted to hold her place strong and steadfast at the center of the dance floor offering him a faint but noncommittal smile as she continued to snap photos of him and the rest of the band.

  Then he came for her. Blast him.

  Hopping off the stage in a single smooth flourish, Lancer made his way through the elated crowd as he surged headfirst into a searing guitar solo; his tall muscled body undulating sleek and sexy as he seemed to play for her pleasure.

  She almost trembled outright as she beheld the vision of poetry in motion: a radiant guitarist who strummed his guitar much like an angel would play his harp.

  “An angel who just happens to be really good at the lost art of dirty dancing,” she mused, pursing her lips as her tempter gyrated his hard trim hips and flexed his rock hard pecs—drawing closer and closer as his wide emerald eyes narrowed and brimmed with the sheer essence of seduction.

  For just a moment she managed to lose her battle with temptation, her own body moving and swaying as she lost herself in the music of the night.

  Neglecting for just a moment the tools of the trade, the guitar and camera that justified their presence at the show that evening, the couple’s bodies moved closer in the midst of an ever tightening circle performing a dance that seemed to both lure and challenge them as their public surroundings dissolved around them.

  Finally, their bodies touched as their hands joined between them their chests brushing against each other as they stared deep into one another’s eyes.

  “You’re beautiful tonight,” Lancer released on a whisper, searing her with a slow sensual smile that nearly stopped her heart.

  Backing up his words with a sound dose of action, the impassioned musician surged forward to seize her lips in a hot kiss, his full moist lips rubbing and massaging her own as she purred her contentment.

  Angling his head over hers to intensify the passion of their kiss, Lancer went back to playing his strings as his mouth played hers in a similar fashion, his long wet tongue joining the ethereal chorus as it entwined with hers.

  The couple’s bodies continued to move as a single radiant constant as Lancer kissed her senseless, their bodies leaning into one another as the long silken tendrils of his golden hair brushed soft against her chest.

  Finally, he broke their kiss, searing her with an impassioned gaze as he whispered, “We have a break coming up after the next song. Meet me back at the bar.”

  Although a dazed Amie did indeed retreat to the brass bordered mahogany bar that lined the back of the night club, she stopped just short of issuing a warm welcome to the man who had invited her there.

  “Great show, Lancer,” she praised the golden-haired guitarist, who met the subject of his admiration with a knowing smile as he sidled up alongside her at the bar. “As per
usual, you amaze me with your talents.”

  Lancer arched his eyebrows.

  “Why thank you Miss,” he acknowledged with a nod, adding as he inclined his head in her direction, “What I would really like to know, though, is just what you think of my other talents.”

  Amie smiled, but only briefly.

  “Well while I greatly enjoyed our kiss, Lancer, I can’t help but feel that it was the wrong thing to do,” she revealed, adding as she pinned him with a pointed expression, “Although I always have taken virtual pleasure in recording the wild deeds of musicians, of all forms and varieties, I myself always have held to a strict moral code—one that precludes me from messing around with committed men.”

  Lancer shook his head.

  “Well rest assured that, if I indeed had spent one more moment in Tandy’s presence, someone would have well had to ‘commit’ me—to a mental asylum,” he asserted with a snort, adding more seriously, “The fact is though, Amie, that she and I broke up last night. I am now a free and single man,” he paused here, adding as he graced her with a dazzling smile, “One who would very much like to ask you to dinner tomorrow night.”

  Amie thought a moment, then shook her head.

  “Although I would love to spend more time with you, Lancer, how do I know that this date isn’t just an apology; something that you’re doing out of pity?” she challenged him, adding less heatedly, “Aside from that concern, I think that—all things considered—it would be better for me to concentrate on my career right now.”

  Lancer thought a moment, then nodded.

  “Well, if that’s truly how you feel,” he allowed, “Would you perhaps be more amenable to the idea of meeting me tomorrow night at the band’s house—or The Cave, as we call it—for a one on one photo shoot?” he paused here, adding with a hooded glance in her direction, “I’ve been thinking that my fans might appreciate some more intimate photos of me—pictures taken in my home…perhaps even in my bedroom. And I’d really like for the most talented photographer I know to take these more personal shots.”

  ***

  These words echoed in Amie’s mind the next evening as her slick green compact made its way toward a mysterious destination known as ‘the cave,’ the residence that the members of Night Serenade called their own.

  Her photographer’s eye appreciated the simple beauty of this lush tropical residence, one boasting a sleek ivory sandstone exterior that glowed in the beams of a luminous full moon.

  Parking in the circular driveway before this expansive two story mini manse, she approached a front door that stood as an artsy work of ebullient stained glass, one that this evening came adorned with a piece of sleek ivory parchment emblazoned with a free flowing script that seemed neat and distinguished in character.

  “Dearest Amie,” the note read. “I’m alone in here this evening. Please come join me in my bedroom.”

  Soon Amie passed the threshold of this elegant entryway to step into what appeared to be the guys’ sitting room, a darkened but clean-lined art deco style room furnished with angular scarlet hued furniture and lavender walls lined with prime examples of classic pop art.

  “Lancer?” she called out, grasping her shiny metallic camera to her chest as she made her way toward the back of the house.

  “Please come to the back bedroom on the right.”

  She trembled in spite of herself as Lancer’s deep, sonorous voice rang out to fill the atmosphere with its tempting dulcet tones.

  Walking as if in a dreamlike haze to the room indicated, Amie opened its door to behold a vision that nearly stole her breath.

  Laying ensconced in the ivory satin comforters that covered a lavish four poster bed, Lancer appeared for all intents and purposes to be fully and gloriously nude; the luxurious strands of his golden hair spread like vibrant sunbeams across the surface of a satin pillowcase, his massive bronzed pectorals and planed washboard abs peaking up from just above the border of his whisper soft comforter.

  That is until he whipped away the comforter to reveal the most beautiful male body she’d ever beheld.

  She gaped outright at the vision of a trim waist and long sturdy legs as well as a long hard shaft that seemed to salute her arrival.

  “Do you want me to photograph you in the nude?” Amie asked him, voice barely above a whisper.

  Lancer nodded.

  “If you so wish,” he whispered in return, adding as he rose from the bed and held out his hand to her, “First, however, I would invite you to explore and discover your subject. Ravish me, Amie.”

  At Lancer’s request an entranced Amie took a seat at the edge of his bed; watching in wonder as he dropped to his knees before her and slipped her feet from the confines of her shoes—suckling her toes and licking her tired pads before laving his way up her legs.

  Throwing her head back in a show of strong and unabashed arousal, Amie relished the feeling as he stole beneath her practical plaid skirt and massaged her soft skinned thighs, then going on to pull her soft cotton undies down her legs before returning immediately to the source of her pleasure.

  An impassioned Lancer licked open her feminine folds and graced her with the ultimate intimate kiss, sealing his full soft lips around her throbbing clit as he licked and suckled her.

  Shifting his head from side to side to intensify the friction, her lover continued to devour her nub, sending shards of intense erotic sparks careening upward through every part of her body.

  She shuddered outright in a fit of pleasure as he rubbed her slender hips, the tendrils of his long, silky blond hair teasing and tickling the skin of her thighs.

  Then with a last resounding lick he sent her careening across the bounds of an incredible clitoral orgasm; setting her afire as her pleasured body fell forward into his muscled arms.

  Rising from the floor with his lady in his arms, Lancer cradled her close to his massive chest as he engaged her in an impassioned kiss.

  The couple’s lips smacked together and their tongues entangled as they dissolved in a passionate frenzy on the surface of his luxurious bed; their kiss deepening as he stripped away the confining fabrics of her shirt and skirt.

  Soon his nurturing hands ran like warm water down the surface of her spine, rubbing and massaging as their hips and thighs interlocked between them.

  “I long to make love to you, my baby, like no man ever has,” Lancer whispered soft and sweet against Amie’s lips, holding her body closer than close as he laid a gentle squeeze on the tender skin of her derriere. “I want to make you forget all the others and take you to paradise.”

  With these words he lowered his head reverent to her chest and suckled her breasts; her nipples rising to firm erect points between his sumptuous lips as the strands of his blond hair tickled her chest.

  His trim hips gyrated intense against her own as their arms and legs entangled between them, his long hard cock rising to tease her sensitive feminine cleft.

  Rolling free and wild across the sheets beneath them, the couple clung to one another as their lips smacked together and their heated breaths intermingled.

  Clutching her lover to her with possessive arms, Amie ran her hands through his lustrous hair as she entwined her legs around his planed back and spread her slender thighs before him.

  “I want you inside of me,” she growled outright, adding as she thrust herself deeper in his arms, “Now, Lancer.”

  More than eager to heed his lady’s command, an aroused Lancer surged his long hard shaft to the depths of her soaking wet pussy; their hips claiming an immediate rhythm as their mouths again collided in a binding kiss.

  Continuing the lush sensual dance they’d enacted the night before on the floor of Club Groove, the couple’s bodies writhed and swayed together as his slithering cock surged forth to her very core, teasing and filling her as the back and forth flow of their tongues mirrored the motions of his divine penetration.

  Soon it became difficult to tell where one ended an
d the other began; and as Lancer continued to ply Amie’s lips with the sweetest of kisses, he clutched her to him as their bodies writhed together to create a divine friction--one that culminated in a long last stroke that sent them both hurtling across the bounds of an incredible shared climax.

  Her eyes flying wide to engage her lover in a gaze that bespoke her tender affection, Amie instead gasped in a show of abject shock as she found him oddly transformed; his emerald eyes now glowing pure gold in the low lights of his bedroom, and his full soft lips parting to reveal a set of long, sharp fangs.

  Although she rolled away from him on the surface of the bed, Amie noted that her lover made no move to bite or otherwise harm her in any way, instead covering his face in an attempt to conceal the transformation that turned him from man to beast.

  Finally, he peeled his hands away from his face revealing once again the angelic visage she’d come to know and adore.

  “I didn’t want you to see me this way, Amie,” Lancer rasped out, trembling from head to toe as he added, “Now that you have, I feel that I must tell you just who I am—just who we are.”

  He jumped then as Amie met these words with a loud, derisive snort.

  “Well you’re vampires, right?” she asked him, adding as she performed a major face palm that made her lover guffaw outright, “Duh!”

  Lancer shook his head.

  “How can you be so cool about this?” he asked her.

  Amie shrugged.

  “I became a photographer, Lancer, because I believe in the unbelievable,” she explained. “The more beautifully outrageous something is, the more I want to capture it with my camera. And aside from shooting actors and musicians, I have also shot ghost hunts and taken candid architectural shots of haunted houses.” She paused here, adding with a cheeky grin, “So actually Lancer, sex with a vampire is probably not the most outrageous thing I’ve ever done—just the most pleasurable and definitely the most meaningful.”