Dark Love (The Two Vampires, #3)

by M. D. Bowden

  CHAPTER 5

  Daniel glowed from within as he sped on. It was still some way to Sarah’s house and he wanted to do this quickly so they could get back to the urn. He felt he had already left it unattended too long and was anxious to get back to it, to bury it and get it out of their lives so that they could move on. Move literally, he wondered where they should go as there was an infinite variety of places they could choose from. But then, he had been to many places so maybe he should let Sarah decide. This was going to be more of an upheaval for her. Daniel had not ever chosen a place to live himself though as he had always been following Sebastian, ever since he had turned, trying to do damage control and to save lives. It was a long time since he had had anyone else to consider in his plans, and the idea of choosing a place was tempting. He hoped the same places appealed to them both.

  He also sped on as it would be fun for Sarah – and he could see how it was – the expression on her face! She had the biggest grin, and her long, honey blond hair was streaming out behind her. She looked stunning, if, errr . . . a little messy, he thought wryly. They would both need baths before they could go to the airport or see Sarah’s kids. They could do that at the hotel he’d been staying in, and he could pack up his stuff while she showered and got dressed.

  They whipped around a few more trees, Sarah laughing beside him, when he spotted her house up ahead. He drew to a quick stop, and Sarah nearly fell over, but he pulled her playfully against him. He lifted her off her feet and kissed her passionately. God, he loved her so much, and she was sexy. Very, very sexy. He started to feel aroused and pushed her back against a tree. He knew he shouldn’t, but she was here, and oh, she was beautiful. But she pushed away, ahh – he made himself control his body. He knew why she did not want this now; she was worried for her parents. As he drew back and looked into her face her eyes glinted mischievously, driving him mad. He wanted to jump her, but he restrained himself.

  ‘Sarah . . .’

  ‘Yes,’ she answered, breathlessly.

  ‘You should wait here – and I’m going to influence you – to make sure everyone stays safe. Is that ok?’ he said.

  He hoped he was right to ask her this time and that she would not resist. He was relieved to see her nod and immediately asserted his will and said, ‘Stay here and wait for me.’

  Daniel turned and walked towards Sarah’s house, glancing back at her over his shoulder. She smiled gently, making his heart ache to return to her. He forced himself to turn around as he walked out of the forest and up to her front gate. It was closed so he unhitched the catch and walked up the path to the front door.

  He could hear that Sarah’s parents were still up, she had been right - their anxious voices were traveling out into the night. He was glad to hear the children breathing softly from upstairs; Sarah’s parents had obviously managed to calm them. Maybe Megan had not understood what she had seen when Sebastian had snapped Sarah’s neck. She had obviously been very distressed, Daniel remembered her wails well, but that did not mean she knew that Sarah had died. Megan may have thought her badly hurt. Maybe it had seemed ridiculous to her, and to Sarah’s parents, and they had persuaded her it was a dream.

  Daniel wondered what the time was, it seemed like a long night, but from looking up at the stars he thought it was probably only about three in the morning. The last few hours felt like they stretched into days, each minute of Sarah’s new life being vivid in his memory.

  He knocked lightly on the door – loud enough for Keith and Alice to hear, but hopefully not loud enough to wake up Megan and Bea too.

  He immediately heard footsteps approaching and the door was flung open – revealing Sarah’s graying father, Keith, standing there in an old tartan dressing gown.

  ‘Daniel! Come in. Did you find Sarah?’ he asked, and stepped back.

  Daniel entered quickly, immediately projecting a calming influence. ‘Yes, she is fine, do not worry. Well, she is upset, I took her back to my hotel room and put her to bed there, and she has gone to sleep. I came to tell you it is alright and you can rest now. We will come over together in the morning.’

  Daniel enforced each word with his will, making sure that Keith would believe him, that he wouldn’t question him, and that he would do as Daniel said.

  Alice, Sarah’s Mom, appeared in the doorway looking very concerned. She had dark shadows beneath her eyes, which were bloodshot from crying. Daniel extended his influence to her and watched as she relaxed before him.

  ‘Don’t worry Alice. Sarah will be ok and you will see her in the morning. Go upstairs and sleep now,’ Daniel finished. He turned to Keith and said, ‘When I go back outside, lock up and then go to bed. Sleep until the kids wake up in the morning.’

  ‘OK Daniel,’ Keith responded solemnly.

  Daniel stepped back outside. Now he and Sarah could do what was needed. They would find the urn and bury it, and it would be done.

  He walked back down the path and closed the gate firmly behind him. He looked up at the forest where he had left Sarah. It was pitch black under the trees as the moon had set, but he could just make out her face under the starlight. She was leaning against a tree and waiting as he had told her to. He stepped off the path and made his way across the undergrowth to return to her side.

  CHAPTER 6

  Sarah saw Daniel coming and stood up straight. She was anxious to hear how her family was doing. He was approaching across the undergrowth she had so frequently stumbled over herself on walks with her children.

  She caught Daniel’s eye as he got closer and said, ‘Are they all ok?’

  ‘They are. Your kids are sleeping soundly in their rooms. Your parents were worried but I’ve influenced them to calm down and go to sleep till morning. I’ve told them you are sleeping in my hotel, that you are ok, and that we will go see them in the morning.’

  ‘Thank you Daniel, thank you so much,’ Sarah said.

  She was very appreciative that he had postponed his plans for her and her parents. She supposed burying the urn was probably quite important and now they had to find it.

  ‘No worries,’ Daniel replied, and Sarah saw a mischievous look in his eyes as he moved closer.

  Her cheeks warmed as she thought she understood his intension, but before she had had a chance to say anything she felt his arms around her and she was over his shoulder.

  ‘Daniel!’ she shrieked while beating at his back, ‘What are you doing?’

  ‘Going to find the urn of course,’ he said whilst streaking thought the trees. Sarah yelped as she just missed a branch. It was pitch black under the canopy of trees, and even with her newly enhanced senses she could only just see where they were going. The dark felt entirely different in her new form, it felt freeing, liberating.

  She let Daniel carry her, as he was ignoring her protests anyway, and allowed herself to enjoy it. He was moving at an incredible speed. Her skirt was flying up and she was very aware of her exposed bum and ripped underwear. She really needed some fresh clothes. Sarah forgot about this as her hair whipped in her eyes and Daniel skidded to a halt next to the urn.

  Sarah could smell the dried blood from the deer she had fed on after awakening, as it was not far away. She looked down at the urn, half surprised Daniel had found it so easily. It was a large metal vessel, shining faintly silver in the starlight, stoppered with a cork. She heard Daniel’s exhaled breath, and realized he had been worried about that too. But it was here, and she thought it was about time that Daniel put her down. She was not going to say anything though, she was going to wait and see what he decided to do.

  ‘Sarah,’ he taunted, swaying her a little.

  I’m keeping my mouth shut, she thought, but realized too late she had been projecting. He had heard her thought, and he laughed playfully. She gasped as he threw her forwards and caught her in his arms. They were close, his lips were before hers, and his hands were tight around her waist.

  She traced his lower lip with her fore finger, and realized she had move
d closer without thinking. They were breathing together, sharing their breath; energy and power flowing between them. His lips were touching hers and he was kissing her, so sweetly, so tenderly. Her heart was going to melt, her body was going limp in his arms and he was holding her weight with no apparent effort. His lips left hers and cold air made them tingle where they were moist from his kiss. She opened her eyes and looked into his and she spiraled to eternity though his soul.

  ‘Daniel, what’s happening?’ she projected, panicking; her mind felt like it was slipping from her, she was getting lost in his.

  ‘Focus, withdraw your mind,’ she felt his answer. She concentrated hard and came to, seeing his dark pupils again, but keeping her mind. He kissed her hard and she responded. She was eager for him to be physically close. She jumped and wrapped her legs around him, holding herself in place with her leg muscles, something she could not have done as a human. She pushed her hands down the back of his pants and pulled his bum hard towards her. He was quickly responding and she felt him push a hand up her top, cupping her breast, and his other at his belt. She felt she could not wait and this could not be drawn out. She had to have him now. She pushed against him, and he did against her and he was in her. He was so hard and big, filling her, moving inside her.

  She groped for his body, tugging at him, lost in space. He was balancing, no support from either side, just their bodies against each other, moving as one entity. As she was kissing him and he thrust his tongue in her mouth she felt as though she was floating and that they were twisting in the air, merging in their passion.

  She forgot their surroundings, the trees and animals and darkness, and only thought of Daniel. His warm loving mind and hard sexy body. His silky hair and amazingly kissable lips, and his intuitive movement, just doing exactly what made her feel good. Ahh, he was doing it now. He was so close, her cheeks were burning and she was gasping for breath. He was slowing down, playing with her, tantalizing her.

  She moved against him quicker, forcing him to speed up. She had to have him as she wanted him so bad. She thrust her tongue in his mouth and he was massaging it with hers, while stroking her nipple and moving at an exquisite rhythm that she came powerfully. Her orgasm wracked her whole body, spasms traveling from her groin to her toes and fingers, to her heart and brain, and he was still pounding, it was stunning, and she exploded again as he came in her and they kissed, Sarah’s heart feeling whole and loved as he held her tight in the air.

  ‘That was unbelievable,’ Sarah whispered to him, becoming aware again of the forest sounds around her. She realized that they really were floating, and locked eyes with Daniel in wonder, as he slowly lowered them to the ground.

  ‘How?’ she asked.

  ‘I will show you, in time,’ he answered quietly, but playful still.

  Sarah could not help but smile at him again. Daniel. Ummm. Sexy, playful, Daniel.

  ‘Back to business now, right?’ she asked him.

  ‘I suppose so,’ he said slowly, reluctantly letting his arms fall from around her. Sarah felt exposed without his touch, but she knew burying the urn was something they would have to do. She yawned, and realized she was tired.

  Daniel extended his arm and brushed her brow briefly, leaving Sarah with cool tingles to refresh her eyes.

  ‘We can rest for a short time, once we have done this,’ he said. ‘We need to find the spade first though. It should be somewhere around here . . .’

  Sarah started looking for it too, wandering between trees and stretching her eyes to their limit. Daniel was looking in the other direction from the urn and she could hear his faint footsteps as they snapped twigs in the distance. It was not long before she saw another glint of silver, and hastened towards it. It was the spade, still dirty from Daniels earlier burying. She leant over and picked it up by its wooden handle. She recognized it from her shed; it had been Jo’s spade. She had never used it in the yard as it was too heavy for her, but as she lifted it now she realized it was light. Her body had certainly changed.

  ‘Daniel, I’ve found it,’ she called.

  For one heart stopping moment she did not hear him, then he was at her side and she laughed anxiously. She would be lost without him.

  Daniel had the urn in his hands.

  ‘Shall we bury it here?’ she asked him.

  ‘No, I think we should go further into the forest. Further from your house,’ Daniel said.

  ‘Lead the way,’ Sarah said playfully, she was not so tired they could not make this fun.

  Daniel shot her a searching look, before shooting off into the depths of the forest.

  Sarah took a deep breath and shot after him, adrenaline buzzing in her veins. She made sure she kept Daniel in sight as he darted ahead. She had a suspicion he was being gentle with her, that he could lose her if he tried, but she did not mind. She did not want to lose him, she wanted to chase him. On and on they went, racing each other, narrowly avoiding trees. Sarah laughed as Daniel stopped. She was just about to grab him when he shot off again, and she took pursuit, rejoicing in her ease of movement and her agility. It was so rejuvenating, and exciting. She felt like she could do anything, such an expanse of possibility stretched before her.

  She saw Daniel had stopped again, and raced up to him, expecting him to move away before she could touch him. But he did not and she collided with him, the urn and the spade. They all tumbled to the ground, both her and Daniel laughing and breathing hard.

  ‘I think this will do, we’re a long way from your house now. No-one would think of looking here.’

  Sarah watched as Daniel picked up the spade and started to dig. She sat back against a tree and let him do it alone; they only had one spade after all.

  ‘Let me know when it’s my turn,’ she said.

  ‘I will,’ Daniel replied as he jammed the spade into the earth and threw the dirt aside. A pile was already accumulating; he was a fast digger. Sarah let her eyes close as he dug. She soon felt her mind drifting and images were forming in her unconscious.

  It was night time, but she was not lying in bed, she was up and moving around in the darkness. Utter silence surrounded her. She was drifting past gravestones in an old cemetery. Her skin pricked with a strong sense of foreboding that she could not shake away. She looked up and saw the steeple of a church, beyond which were rugged stony hills. Something touched her foot. She moved away but it clutched onto her ankle and a rotten smell rose in the air. She really did not want to look, did not want to see what it was. She had to force her eyes down, and when she did she saw it was a rotting hand, and it was coming out of the earth at the foot of a tombstone. Her heart rate went through the roof and she jerked out of her dream. She tossed and turned, slumping to the ground before falling into a deeper sleep.

  CHAPTER 7

  Daniel continued to dig as Sarah slept. He was not really going to wake her as she needed the sleep more than he did to adjust mentally to all the changes surrounding her, and he was not going to grow tired of digging. He quite enjoyed it as it was so thoroughly different from his normal day to day routines. He had not buried bodies for Sebastian; Sebastian had not cared if they were found. He liked the unquiet it caused. Burying the urn was something different altogether. He had never dug such a deep hole.

  The soil was becoming wet and the stones were hard to get the spade through. He was in the hole now, shoveling out more debris, and he decided that was deep enough. He sprang out and lifted up the urn. He stretched his mind tentatively towards it, checking the strength of the bonds, seeing if he could sense Sebastian within. He found he could, in a much weakened state. He did not imagine Sebastian would have any awareness now, he would not sense time passing as he was buried in the ground; at least Daniel thought he would not. If he does, it serves him right anyway, all the trouble, all the death and pain he has caused. Nevertheless, Sebastian had formed a big part of Daniel’s life, and he placed the urn carefully in the hole, before jumping out and turning to look down on him.

  ‘G
oodbye Sebastian,’ he muttered beneath his breath, ‘I hope you never come back.’

  He started to scoop the earth back in, covering the urn one spade load of dirt at a time. With every load of earth he thought of Sebastian staying in the ground, he thought of no-one ever finding him, of no-one noticing his place of burial. He reinforced each of these thoughts with magic.

  When it was done he treated the site in the same way he had with the bodies he had buried the previous night, covering the area with twigs and leaf litter and trying to make it look like nothing out of the ordinary had happened there. When he was satisfied he picked up the spade and listened intently for sounds of danger while watching Sarah sleeping by the tree and admiring her beauty. He wanted to make sure she was safe before leaving her alone, which he had to do to get rid of the spade. It would save time if he did it now, while she rested, as they had plenty to do in the morning. He listened out one final time before taking his favorite form of a buzzard and soaring up, through a gap between some branches, into the night sky. He held the spade in his talons and used his wings for speed, enjoying the feel of the cool air as he glided onwards. He covered a great distance in minutes and spotted a ditch in a clearing ahead. He swooped down and dropped the spade there. It was now far from searching police. He turned back and retraced his path through the darkness, back to Sarah.

  He landed near her feet as she slept on, exhausted. He transformed back and smoothed his clothes, before laying his head on Sarah’s legs and falling into slumber, warm loving thoughts mixing with images of Sebastian held beneath the earth.

  It felt like no time had passed at all when he felt movement beneath him and realized Sarah was stirring. He opened his eyes and looked across at her, to see her regarding him with a cheeky smile.