by Alice Brown
Kevin was already well aware she had nothing on under that sheet draped over her, and when she drew her knees up to her chest, he felt his cock eagerly pulsate to life. Memories of her hot, wet pussy pressed up against his cock for most of last night came surging to the forefront of his brain. And those long legs, damn, what he wouldn’t give to have those things wrapped around him as he fucked her into the mattress. He quickly tucked those thoughts into a drawer and shut it tight as he calmly replied, “Don’t apologize. I am your best chance of coming out of this situation alive. I understand your fear, but as long as you are here, you are safe.” He forced himself to maintain eye contact with her as he spoke, knowing otherwise his eyes would be straying down to her rather sexy thighs. They seemed to have a will of their own. “Now that Shawn knows what we are, he also knows this is not a family he wants to mess with.” Kevin stopped and sighed deeply. “I regret that he escaped before we could fully detain him. I’ve got my team on standby, and we are still camped out at his house. Sooner or later, he’ll slip up, and we will be waiting for him. Once we have him in custody, it will be the end of him. We have enough evidence on him to put him before the judging committee. If he is found guilty, he will be shaked and baked.”
“Excuse me, what is ‘shake and bake’? Please tell me your kind has another form of punishment other than putting a tasty coating on chicken!” Erica cried out in exasperation.
“A tasty what…oh, I’m sorry. It is a term used by the team. The true terminology is ‘staked and baked.’ I probably shouldn’t be telling you this…” he whispered and leaned towards her, and Erica easily caught the twinkle in his eyes. “There are only two ways to kill a vampire. Sever the head from the body, and burning. The term ‘staked and baked’ actually refers to the fact that we render a vampire helpless by placing a wooden stake through their heart. Then if the judging panel finds them guilty, they go through decapitation and then burning of the body. And by the way, my team, the VCTF, actually stands for Vampire Crime Task Force. The Victims Crime Task Force is just what the humans know us as. It helps keep our existence a secret,” Kevin explained.
“Oh, okay, I get it. I promise your secret is safe with me.” Erica made a big deal of crossing her heart as she made her promise.
Kevin gave her a gentle smile. “I know you will. If I didn’t trust you, I wouldn’t be telling you any of this.” He stopped for just a moment and then continued. “Basically, the VCTF is the vampire police force. I know you have your doubts about us, but most vamps know the rules and adhere to them very well, which leaves my team free to help the local and state police forces. Trust me when I say that humans can get every bit as evil as our kind. Once in a while one of our own gets out of hand, like Shawn. We have had him under surveillance ever since I first became suspicious that you were in over your head. Our kind has our own legal system. Trust me, Shawn will be shown justice before this is over with.” Kevin stopped, allowing her time to digest everything.
As delectable as she was looking, Kevin figured if he didn’t get away from her soon, he might regret it. “I am going to get out of here and let you dress.” He stated as he started to rise up. “I promised you answers and explanations, and I intend to keep that promise.” He started walking to the door. “Are you hungry? I could fix breakfast,” he offered as he reached the door and turned to face her once again.
He watched her curl her nose up at the thought of breakfast, which he found adorable.
“I’ll get a cup of coffee after my shower.”
He turned on his heel and left the room, and Erica quickly gathered up her clothing. As she headed for the shower, her head was swimming with confusion. She was still very legally married, even though she didn’t want to be, and yet she found herself drawn to Kevin in a way she would have not thought possible. She shook her head at her own thoughts. Was she considering pursuing a relationship with Kevin? Was it possible for a vampire and a human to have a healthy relationship? Then again, since when had her thoughts shifted to include a future with Kevin? Could they be together without her being hurt? And if so, was it possible for that relationship to work on a long-term basis and both parties to be happy? It gave her a lot to ponder, and she found herself more confused the more she pondered. Her head felt like it was spinning in circles.
Kevin was standing in the hallway to greet Erica as she emerged from her shower with a hot cup of coffee in his hand. He gazed down at her soft, sweet body, the tantalizing aroma of fresh lavender faintly coming from her hair. Hmm, she must have bought a new shampoo when she went shopping. What I wouldn’t do to have her in a bathtub, naked, leaning back with those sweet breasts pressing upward as I wash those beautiful, long locks. The picture that sprang to mind was certainly enough to wake up the beast inside him, who agreed wholeheartedly. Her hair was still wet and glistening in the morning sunlight, and Kevin found himself drawn to her like a magnet. He couldn’t help himself from reaching over and running his fingers through her strands. “I hope one day you will allow me the opportunity to show you how blissful someone else brushing your hair can be.”
He watched her face turn red with embarrassment. Evidently no one had ever taken the time to truly show her how much pleasure could be derived from something as simple as brushing her hair. But he would, he would show her that and more. He’d use the brushing out of her hair as foreplay, and have her begging him to fill that hot, sweet pussy of hers before it was over with.
“So, what are the plans for today?” Hmmm, she wanted to change the subject did she? He arched his eyebrow up at her to let her know he wasn’t going to give in that easy.
Instead of answering her immediately, he leaned forward and took a long sniff of her hair. “Hmm, I love your new shampoo.” He moved a swath of hair out of his way to place tiny kisses on her neck. He was surprised when he caught her leaning her head to give him better access. He smiled. Slow and steady will win the fight. That’s what he had to remember.
“I thought we would start today by going to see Charles. He tends to be the history buff in the family. It would be a good place for you to start for your questions.” And just like that he had let her off the hook and taken things back to neutral ground. Erica nodded her head at him in response, unable to articulate anything at the given moment. The man kept her on her toes. One minute he was practically making love to her hair, the next he was discussing her upcoming class on “Vampire History 101”!
* * * *
Kevin knocked lightly on Charles’s office door a short time later, and as the couple entered, Erica immediately spotted a thin scratch on his face. She knew it was from the fight the day before.
“Good morning, Erica,” Charles stated as he smiled up at her. He was sitting at his desk, and had a computer in pieces in front of him, computer components strewn out all over the desk. Erica wasn’t sure if he was putting it back together or tearing it apart.
She walked straight over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. Kevin had asked for her trust, and she was beginning to realize that at least on some level she did trust this unique family. “I owe you a huge thank you for yesterday,” she stated, as she hugged him tightly. She would have never asked him to help fight this fight for her, but she was very grateful that he had been there to assist Kevin.
“Oh, it was nothing,” Charles replied as he patted her back reassuringly. “I was just backing up my son, that’s all.” He continued. “I understand you two are here for a history lesson on vampires.”
He gazed into Erica’s eyes a long moment before continuing, as if trying to gauge her receptiveness to what he was about to tell her. He frowned slightly before beginning. “What I am about to tell you is not common knowledge. I happen to think you deserve the truth, and well, I am hoping you’ll eventually become part of my family, in which case, you’ll need to know this information anyway. And on the off chance you don’t, well, you won’t remember any of it, anyhow.”
Erica wasn’t sure what Charles had meant by that l
ast statement, but decided to keep quiet and let him continue.
“I’m just going to start at the beginning. Vampires have co-existed with humans for thousands of years, simply because only a small handful of humans know of our existence. As with the human race, we have had some bad apples also. There are those vampires that are resistant to obeying the rules. They believe they are above that. We consider these vampires to be “rogue” because they refuse to blend in and insist on causing trouble. They pose a great threat for the remainder of us. Most of us just want to live life as normal as possible. About 125 years ago, the first vampire society and the VCTF were set up.” Charles glanced over at Kevin before continuing, “I assume you’ve told her the real reason for the VCTF?”
“Yes, we discussed that this morning.” Kevin replied.
“Good, I just wanted to be sure everyone is on the same page,” Charles finished addressing his son, and then turned his attention back to Erica.
“There are a group of elders, including myself, who originally set up the foundations of our little society. Prior to this, we had to rely on humans for our blood supply, and animals of course. We tried to help the human population by getting rid of their bad apples, and soon realized that we were taking the law into our own individual hands. This found some of our kind playing the role of God, and that was simply unacceptable. It is not our wish to come across as better than humans, just a different type of breed. We realized we had to find another way to survive. It became harder and harder to continuously cover up what we were doing, and many of the local townsfolk were starting to get suspicious. Most of the towns and cities were fairly small back then, so when people started going missing, it was noticed. It was not a good time to be a vampire.
“The elders and I envisioned a society within the human society, and so we started placing vampires in key positions working together with the humans on an everyday basis. Basically, the main point, of course, is to blend in with humans. The number one rule for vampires is to never do anything intentional that could or would result in the secret being exposed. Now, of course, that rule is broken down into a hundred different facets. We set out to develop a society that was self-governing. We felt that in keeping our kind living together, our numbers would help strengthen us. That took some time to accomplish. Most of our kind tended to be territorial at that point, and so most of us lived in isolation.
“Eventually we developed our own schools, medical facilities, crime task force, legal system, food sources, etc. And, with vampires mingling with mortals on an everyday basis, it actually helps our society from being exposed. Things tend to get easier for us as time passes, and mortals have evolved over the last hundred and twenty-five years. We are finding that your kind is not as suspicious as they once were. Of course, plastic surgery being as popular as it is, and humans developing an ever-burning desire not to age, these things have helped us out tremendously. Combine that with your human teenagers who are dressing in gothic black these days, and wearing white face powder and bright red lip stick. People don’t pay as close attention to details anymore. As time goes by, humans are becoming much better at just accepting what they see, and not being nowhere near as prejudiced as they once were.”
Charles stopped for a moment and studied Erica, wanting to ensure she was handling everything he was throwing at her. She was, but it was still a bit of a shock to hear everything. She had been totally in the dark about any of this, even though she had been married to a vampire for four years. She wondered why Shawn hadn’t told her about any of this, and then the answer hit her. Shawn was what Charles and his kind considered “rogue”, and so he would not have wanted her to have access to help. She had assumed a long time ago that Shawn was not the only vampire out in the world, but she would have never guessed that there was an entire society of vampires living within their city.
Questions started popping into Erica’s mind, and she quickly picked the most important one to voice. “You mentioned you have your own food source, what exactly do you mean?”
Charles glanced over at Kevin to ask, “She hasn’t met Davidrick yet, has she?”
“No,” Kevin answered his father. “She will later this evening. He is coming by with a supply.”
Charles looked back over to Erica and continued. “We have several vamps that work at our local blood banks. We also have Kevin’s good friend Davidrick, who runs the morgue at the hospital. Both supply us with the blood that we need, and at no danger to humans. If we run into a situation where we can’t get human blood, our kind can always substitute animal blood.” Erica noticed Charles made a face as this last remark was made, and assumed animal blood was not on his list of favorite meals. Or maybe he had a problem killing Bambi? That thought almost made her laugh out loud, a vampire not wanting to kill?
“I hope that Davidrick has been able to get his hands on some O negative. We have been out for almost a week now,” Charles grumbled, startling Erica out of her personal musings.
“So you are not allowed to go out and bite humans when you get hungry?” Erica asked a little suspiciously.
Both Charles and Kevin stared at her as if she had grown two heads. It was Charles who recuperated first and answered, “Only in the absolute extreme emergency, and even then, the vampire must report his actions to our judicial board. Why would you think such a thing, dear?”
Instead of replying, Erica reached down and rolled up one of the sleeves to her long-sleeve shirt, then, holding out her arm, displayed the numerous scars running down the arm.
Charles stared down at her arm for a moment and then closed his eyes. A look of rage skittered across his face, and it took him a moment to thrust his temper back down. When he reopened his eyes, they were black. You could see the anger rolling off of him in waves. “That son of a bitch needs to be taken down for this reason alone!” he barked out as he shot a look over to Kevin.
Erica was taken aback by Charles’s temper, but before she had a chance to react, Kevin was standing in front of her. He quickly pulled her out of her seat and wrapped his arms around her securely. Whispering in her ear, he answered her question. “No, love, that is not the way it is done. I am so sorry you have had to go through everything, but I promise that it is going to be different from now on. You have no need to fear any of us, we feel that taking blood from a human is akin to rape. We don’t take sex that isn’t freely given, and we don’t take blood that isn’t freely given either.”
Instead of releasing her, he simply swung her around so he could sit in her chair, bringing her to sit in his lap. He wrapped both arms securely around her waist, as one hand slowly began to caress her arm. Charles sat patiently across from them, waiting to continue.
“Erica, we have a considerable amount of blood brought here. Kate and Elizabeth run our own version of the Meals on Wheels program to help our elderly vampires who have difficulty getting out. Actually, Kate actually runs the program, and Elizabeth helps her out on the weekends and afternoons when she isn’t tied up with school.”
“Oh,” Erica replied quietly, at a loss for words at the moment. These vampires actually had their own version of the Meals on Wheels program? Had she taken a step into The Twilight Zone?
“We do take care of our own, but trust me, never at the expense of human lives. It is simply in our best interest, if we want to stay inconspicuous,” Charles continued in his kind, yet no-nonsense way.
“You stated a few minutes ago you have your own judicial system. Does your judicial system recognize divorce in the vampire world?” Erica cautiously asked, hope flaring to life that she might be able to get rid of Shawn once and for all.
“Yes, you would need to petition your request in front of the judicial board, but I suspect they will grant you an immediate divorce as soon as they discover what you have had to endure. In fact, if you would like, I’ll go ahead and set up an appointment. Kevin or I can go with you, that way you would feel safe,” Charles answered kindly.
A smile stole across Erica�
�s face as a feeling of exhilaration hit her. She could divorce Shawn, and then she would be free. She would be free if she decided to pursue a relationship with Kevin.
“Would you like me to set the appointment?” Charles asked cautiously, after watching numerous emotions skitter across her face for a moment.
Erica blew out a deep breath. “Yes, I know the VCTF is looking for him, but I have no desire to be married to that monster any longer than I have to.”
Charles gave her a gentle smile. “I understand, and for what it is worth, you are doing the right thing. You have the right to live your life the way you want. No woman should have to live in fear.”
Not wanting to discuss her psychotic, soon to be ex-husband, Erica decided to voice another curiosity. “You mentioned you have your own schools. Do you have young vampire children? How does that happen?”
Charles glanced over at Erica, grinning impishly. “Well, I’m sure you know all about the birds and bees, so we’ll skip over that part of the conversation.” Erica immediately felt her cheeks burning, as she noticed Charles’s grin getting wider as he observed her cheeks coloring. He was clearly enjoying embarrassing her.
“Dad,” Kevin warned from behind Erica. He had been so quiet she had almost forgotten she was sitting in his lap.
“Oh okay, you know I think a blushing woman is a thing of beauty.” Charles chuckled, but held a hand up in acknowledgment to his son.
Turning his attention back to Erica, he replied, “The truth of the matter is that two vampires cannot produce. This is mainly because the female vampire body isn’t designed to handle the changes needed. We do, however, have numerous couples that are mixed. In the case of a male vampire and a female human, it is possible for the couple to conceive. I’m surprised you didn’t already know that, being married to Shawn.”
“No” Erica replied, as she shook her head in embarrassment. Shawn had never even told her there was a chance she could get pregnant. She had been with him for four years. Come to think of it, she had never even given it a moment’s thought. She just assumed that vampires couldn’t reproduce. What did those legends state? The only way to make another vampire was to bite someone? She should have known better than to believe in legends.
