by C. L. Quinn
“Ah, that’s not a problem…over and over again.”
Standing, Torin began to pick up the remnants of their dinner. This area was so sacred, neither would spoil it with even a sliver of trash.
“I guess my chances with the lovely vampiress are low, but if she ever dumps your big ass, I’m next in line.”
“Fair enough, buddy.”
Noise moved easily through the cave, so when voices and sounds traveled down the access corridor, both men faced the ladder that led from the surface.
“Someone’s coming,” Torin commented.
Above the cavern, Olivia glanced over the edge where a solar-powered lantern’s light disappeared into a dark hole.
“Yep, that looks familiar. Sans snow and ice. And I think the last one was a real ladder. Is that rope? It looks swingy.”
Zach nodded. “It’s swingy, and kind of fun.”
“I’m a wuss, Zach, and I admit I’m all kinds of girly. Can you carry me down?”
“Ha. I’ve seen you in action, lady. You are a wild woman.”
“Was. Now I’m just a lady. I’ll go first. Can I just jump?”
“Not wise. It’s too deep.”
“I’m fourth generation, I got mad skills.”
Dez grabbed Olivia’s hand. “Sweetheart, don’t. Use the freaking ladder.”
“Worrywart. Okay. Last one down buys drinks all night.”
Olivia used the freaking ladder, but jumped the last dozen feet. The easy drop felt good. Even vampires needed to keep their bodies moving and she’d been particularly sedentary lately. Add to that the emotional confusion from her failed attempt at romance, and it was clear to her that she needed to change a lot of things in the coming months.
Zach dropped beside her, smiling, because he’d done the same and pushed off the ladder far before the final steps, then waited for Dez to come down each one, careful not to damage the high heels on her boots. Zach played the gentleman and reached out to lift her into his arms before she hit the final step.
“I wish you had worn one of the six pairs of hiking boots I bought you this year.”
Dez slipped onto the soft ground. “Traipsing through the jungle and climbing down into a hole in the earth is no reason to abandon sexy footwear.”
Kissing her grandmother on the cheek, Olivia turned to head down the dark corridor. “It kind of is, Dez. So, what do we find down here anyway?”
“You’ll see,” Zach answered. “Just keep going.”
The corridor proceeded for another thirty feet or so to where she saw low flickering light ahead. Aware that Dez and Zach were just behind her, Olivia continued until the corridor ended into a vast cave, high-ceilinged and brilliantly dazzling where an unknown light source flickered across what looked like millions of large diamonds. Not true diamonds, she imagined, but incredible nonetheless.
“Oh, my…” Olivia’s voice a whisper, her head back, eyes cast upward, she turned to take in the view. Coming around, she noticed two figures behind a shadowed wall. Male, both big, they walked out into the light, and she held her breath. Will was one of them, his eyes locked on hers, a wave of emotion curling off him as she realized in that moment that the connection they’d had last year in Arizona was still there. Whatever he had with Brigitte, he still had feelings for her. The realization took her by surprise.
“Willoughby Collins. I was told you might be here, and as expected, here you are.”
God, how lame. Olivia decided it was time to shut up and let the others in the room handle the conversation, since they really hadn’t told her. Zach and Dez knew how she felt, so they could crawl her the fuck out of the embarrassing situation.
But they didn’t need to. The other man, who she hadn’t paid any attention to other than acknowledge that he existed, moved forward to take her hand.
“Hello, lovely lady. May I introduce myself? The name is Torin Almada.”
Surprised, Olivia switched her gaze to the man who was even taller than Will, his look exotic and fascinating, his scent that of a wild animal. This intriguing man, Will, and the most spectacular natural formation she’d ever seen, here in this hole in the earth in South America. She had to admit, things had gotten interesting.
“Olivia, at your service sir,” she said, mirroring his proper demeanor. Without warning, her eyes shot back to Will. He hadn’t moved, standing just beyond the darkened shadows with a bag in one hand and a bottle in the other.
“A friend of yours, Will?”
“Um, yeah. A friend.”
“Brother, more like, these days.” Torin hadn’t released Olivia’s hand, and now slid a finger into the palm. “Here to see the sights? Quite unrivaled anywhere else on earth, isn’t it?”
“It’s…astounding.” Her eyes moved to Will, silent, still, waiting to see how she reacted. Shifting back to Torin, she smiled. “Why don’t you show me around? Tell me what I’m seeing.”
“It would be a pleasure.”
Keeping her hand in his, Torin led Olivia to the other side of the cave while Dez and Zach remained beside Will.
“Handsome man. A friend, eh?” Dez watched Will as he watched Torin with Olivia. He wasn’t happy.
“He is. We’ve bonded through both common interests and magic.”
“Magic? I sense no magic in him.”
“No, he’s perfectly normal. But he’s traveled with me into my connection with the earth. It was accidental. I didn’t know it was possible, but he touched me while I was fully immersed and it drew him in. Since then, he gets me and I get him.”
“He likes my granddaughter.”
“Of course he does. The guy has great instincts and taste, and Olivia is extraordinary.”
Moving closer to Will, Dez touched his wrist and read his emotions. It was as she suspected. Will’s heart was racing, breathing too quick, and he couldn’t take his eyes off Olivia. Whatever relationship he had with Brigitte, this man had deep feelings for Olivia too. Watching her with another man, even his friend, upset him. There could be no doubt; he cared for her.
Dez would keep his secret. She’d learned a long time ago that in matters of the heart, it was best to let things unfold naturally. If he was meant to be with Olivia, he would be. The year she’d discovered that she was first blood had shown her that when magic was involved, the universe had a way of seeing to it that what should be would be.
“It’ll be all right,” was all she said, and stepped back.
“So, Will, how’s the progress here?”
An hour later, their guests gone, Torin turned to Will.
“I think I’m in love. What a glorious woman. Vampire, right?”
“Vampire. First blood, like Brigitte.”
“Damn. Well, you’re making it work with Brigitte. You think I have a chance with Olivia?”
Will didn’t know what to say. Olivia wasn’t his, he was with Brigitte, so he had no right to interfere with Torin’s interest. It wasn’t right to discourage him. Anyway, Olivia might not even be attracted to him. Immediately, he admitted that wasn’t likely. Torin was exactly her type. Big, alpha male that oozed sexuality. Will had seen his effect on women, even Brigitte.
He nodded. “She might like them big and dumb.”
“Ha, ha. I think I’ll go get a nice long shower before we head to Dez’s tonight to party.”
“Have a good time. I think I’ll stay in and get some rest.”
“No way, brother. We can make it a foursome.”
“I’m coming off very little sleep from last night.”
“So what, you mostly sleep while you’re down here. Come on.”
“Not tonight, Tor, but good luck with Olivia.”
“Won’t need luck, got skills. Okay, I’m heading up. I’ll take the bags. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow evening.”
“Deal.”
After Torin left, Will did his final lap around the cave, his hand against the crystal wall as he walked. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t keep his mind off Olivia. She’d
looked so perfect tonight, but it was the image from this morning that filled his view. Barefoot, drunk, playful, her hand on his cock. Even now, alone here, sacred though it was, the cave also held a sensuality, and since it often fed off his emotions, an intense wave of need washed over him. Somehow, it carried Olivia’s scent, which still lingered here, to him and he breathed it in as his hand lowered to pull his zipper down and release the tightness as his cock responded to just the essence of Olivia.
Will let the hand touching the wall drop too, and walked back to the center of the cave.
“What are you doing?” he barked, his eyes on the ceiling as he shoved the nearly erect cock back into his pants and forced the zipper back up. “You’re feeding me her scent. It isn’t going to be easy for me to be around her while she’s here. Don’t make it harder.”
Pissed, and not sure why he was, Will finished his lap and climbed to the surface, stopping to appreciate the light breeze. The temperature was always high in the cave, the air sometimes stale, making the return to topside refreshing every time. Ife and her group would arrive soon and although he usually hung around to greet them and let them know if there was any new information, tonight he’d had enough of everyone and everything. All he really wanted was to crawl into his own bed, alone, and sleep until the sun left again.
Will had grabbed a cup of non-caffeinated coffee, a tray of fruit, and retired to his room. Door locked, fone keyed to low, he finished his snack and crawled onto the top of his bed to let his body and mind crash. As tired as he was, he fell immediately into a dreamless sleep.
An incessant beeping interrupted that deep sleep, and Will came awake slowly as awareness told him that someone was trying to wake him. He finally identified the beep as his door chime.
“Ah, what the hell…”
Right now, he didn’t want to open his eyes, let alone move. He wondered if whoever it was could hear him if he just called out. Doubtful, since the bed was in the back of the room and behind a heavy screen.
Fully awake now, he sat up and swung his legs off the bed, reluctance tugging at him as he reached for his shorts and pushed himself up, scratching his belly like he remembered his father doing decades ago.
Instead of calling through the door, he pressed a button on a panel several feet away.
“Yes?”
“Willyboy, we have a date.”
Brigitte. Shit. He knew what this meant and he knew he couldn’t say no. Oddly, with her, he never could, and it had nothing to do with compulsion. She was just so fucking cute and persuasive.
A second button released the locks and the door slid open. Will took one look at her and rolled his eyes.
“Yes.”
Grinning, Brigitte walked in, closed the door panel, and loosely locked her arms around Will’s neck. “I haven’t even asked you a question.”
“It doesn’t matter. The answer is yes.”
Moving closer, she snuggled into his wild bed hair.
“Ummm, I love them when they are well trained. But I guess I’d better ask anyway. Come with me tonight to Dez’s. I’m in the mood for more dancing, more camaraderie, and more you. So I guess we’re going then.”
“I guess we are.” He didn’t want to. As much as she was in the mood to party, he was in a mood to stay here and brood. Thing was, he’d never disappointed Brigitte and he couldn’t now.
“Let me get cleaned up.”
Purring into his ear, Brigitte lowered a hand to slide it beneath the shorts. “I can help you with that.”
One hour later at Dez’s compound
Torin scoped the room, his eyes sharp, his desire strong. That stunning vampire had to be here, he had to find her. The more he thought of her, the more he convinced himself that they might be good for each other. Touching her arm tonight had left an impression.
Dez’s place was hopping tonight. The tables were already filled and the dance floor busy with people who had obviously been partying for some time. That was possible; Dez didn’t really completely close down the nightclub rooms in her compound. If someone wanted to stay and drink, stay and dance…hell, stay and fuck, they could.
Accustomed to the lifestyles of vampires, Torin found everything about their behavior completely normal now. They lived life fully and without hold, all the pleasures, all the joys, full on. Fucking, most of all. As only a human, he wondered if he could ever measure up, but the idea was ludicrous. No, he couldn’t, but he knew that vampires fell in love with humans all the time.
So why couldn’t this lovely Olivia fall in love with him? He intended to see where they could go from here.
In her room, Olivia debated between what she wanted to do, which was stay here and sleep, or do what she should do, and go enjoy the company of her family. Making the right choice, committed to the action, she put on her sexiest dress, smiled at the image in the mirror, forced a cheerful look on her face, and went out into the corridor, up one flight, to find Zach and Dez. The situation with Will stung, there was no doubt, but she needed to get back to living the life she’d built.
“Find a good man and fuck him hard.” Good advice that had served her well more than once. Long lives bred bad days with great frequency. Olivia had long ago discovered that simple physical pleasure could heal a lot of wounds if one gave it time and effort.
Tonight, she planned to give it a lot of effort. Entering the nightclub area of the compound, she looked at the large group of partiers, most of whom were already feeling no pain. “Right back at ya, friends,” she murmured.
“What was that, Liv?”
Zach came up behind her and dropped a kiss on her nose. Acting like her grandfather, Zach failed to accomplish the task. He was a few hundred years younger than her and appeared to be the same age, even though, technically, as Dez’s mate, he assumed the role.
“Booze, Zach, and a lot of it. Quickly.”
“As you wish, young lady. Come with me.”
“You make a handsome grandfather, Zach.”
“I know. Something I could never have imagined when I was an attorney in L.A. so many years ago.”
Her gaze softened, a hand slid up to his cheek.
“I bet you were quite striking as a human.”
“You’d win that bet.”
Nostalgia for the life lost as a human being was rare, but there were moments when a memory struck and regrets surfaced. Briefly in most cases, and certainly here for Zach, who loved being vampire and mated to Dez.
“Had a lot of fun, I admit it. Some friends I miss.”
“How did it happen for you?”
“I decided to go out on a date with a pretty girl. She was abducted by a vampire, I tried to help her, got nearly murdered, and she saved me by making them convert me. Reluctantly, Dez offered to do the deed, and vampire I became. It was a fucking crazy ride.”
“It had to be. I’m glad you’re here with us now. Dez is so crazy about you.”
“She saved me, in more ways than one. I can’t imagine a happier life.”
A happy life. Yeah, that’s what mattered in the end, what everyone sought. Olivia watched the writhing bodies enjoying Dez’s hospitality. Perhaps her reaction to Will was only a recognition that it was time to find someone special to share this journey with. Perhaps it didn’t have to be him.
“I think it’s time I look for some of that myself. Hey, isn’t that Will’s friend from the cave?”
She and Zach watched Torin at the bar, smiling at the friendly barmaid. Zach nodded.
“Yeah, it is. He seemed to like you quite a lot.”
“I think I’ll go see if he’ll buy me a drink.”
Zach stopped her with a hand on hers. “You deserve your happily ever after, Olivia. Open yourself up to it.”
Her eyes on his electric blue ones, she tipped her head in acknowledgment. “I think I’m ready to. Have a good night, grandfather.”
Her fingers sliding off Zach’s, Olivia walked slowly across the room, her eyes on Torin. He was a truly attractive
masculine specimen, every bit as sexy as Will. She had no doubt that they could have a good time together. As she watched, he lifted his drink, his head back, he brought it to his lips, a laugh finishing, when his eyes moved toward her. The smile widened and he lowered the drink.
Olivia didn’t stop until she was within reach of his breath. “Hello, Will’s friend.”
His eyes moved over her, dropped to her body briefly, then back to her face, to her lips, then to her eyes.
“Hello. Will’s friend will do. I’ll earn the right for you to remember my name.”
“Fair enough. Please order me a generous glass of Glenfiddich.”
“Without delay.”
Torin turned to place her order, presenting a nice view of a strong back, and strong arms. Olivia smiled as her eyes moved over his head and long sleek dark hair that would be nice to hang onto during an orgasm. Yes, this was a good plan.
Brigitte kissed Will as they moved through the nightclub where the floor pulsated to blasting percussion, vibrating off the walls as well. Her arms around his neck, she pulled back to search his eyes.
“I’m happy you came with me. You seemed a little distant this morning.”
“No, no, Brigitte. I just partied too much last night and the work is taking a lot of my energy right now.”
“Perhaps I can help. If you need a magical conduit to share the load while you merge, I could join you.”
“It isn’t like that, Bridge. It really is a one on one fusion with my innate earth powers. I’m fine, I just need some rest.” That wasn’t exactly true, but he couldn’t let her know that Olivia’s presence had affected his connection to her.
“I’m sorry, I guess I shouldn’t have pushed you to leave your bed. Say, let’s just go back and I’ll crawl in with you.”
Will almost nodded and lifted her in his arms to carry her back out of the noisy room when he saw Torin at the bar, an arm around Olivia’s waist, lift a stemmed glass to her lips. Torin and Olivia, together. It shouldn’t surprise him, but it did. There couldn’t have been a worse development. If Olivia did fall for Torin and they were to become close, would he be able to deal with it? How would he handle hearing Torin boast about how great they were together?
