Endless Days (The Firsts)

by C. L. Quinn

  “I’m really looking forward to getting to…” she paused for effect. “…know you.”

  He looked like she hit him with a brick.

  “Shall we go in?” She smiled easily.

  He nodded and then cleared his throat. “Yes, uh, yes, our table is ready, over here, near the fireplace.”

  Perfect, romantic. Cherise hadn’t forgotten how to seduce a man…she just hoped her heart was in it enough tonight to carry it through to the end. He was so handsome and she should be feeling the attraction already. Maybe it would take a few more moments with him. Either way, someone was going down on someone else tonight.

  He pulled her chair out, she smiled graciously, and they started the expected small talk.

  He asked her about her business and she told him a little about how she got started…he told her about his practice and where he wanted to take it. Small talk, pleasant, required, to get to her goal. She already knew that, as nice as he was, he wasn’t making her wet like that damn vampire had almost right away.

  “This bread is outstanding, isn’t it?” James said.

  She nodded and sensuously licked a little glob of butter off the top of one slice while he stopped and stared. Then she felt it. His presence. Her head shot up and she scanned the room. There. In the corner, with a perfect view of their table. The vampire. Watching them. He looked at her, smiled, and held up a glass of blood red wine to her.

  What the…

  Well, he’d followed her, obviously. What the hell he thought he was doing, she didn’t know, but it couldn’t change her plans. She was getting well and fully fucked tonight.

  Turning back to her date, she decided to ignore him, and smiled engagingly at James.

  “You are a handsome man. Why aren’t you married?”

  “Never found the right girl.” He picked up his glass and held it to her. “That might be changing tonight.” She held hers up to him and they toasted. She smiled again as she leaned in, the very low neckline of her halter top dress gaped and gave him a view that would not be allowed on a public street. She wanted to be sure he knew what charms she had to offer. His eyes locked on her breasts and he didn’t move, his wine glass suspended in midair.

  “Uh…” he finally said. “That’s an, um…uh…lovely dress you’re wearing. The, uh, color…color suits you perfectly.”

  She sat back and smiled, lifted her glass over her head and stretched, which also lifted her breasts up and out.

  “Why, thank you. I liked it as soon as I saw it. Had them take if off a well-endowed mannequin. I wasn’t sure if it would fit me as well.”

  He gulped. “Yeah, well, uh…I’d say it does.”

  Yeah, he was hooked, reel him in. She leaned in again, and lathed some of the soft butter onto her finger. She tried not to, but her eyes slid over to glance at Kav. He wasn’t smiling any more. Good.

  “I think this is the best butter I have ever had. Don’t you think it’s incredibly smooth?”

  He nodded. “I…”

  “Here…try it again…without the bread.” She led her finger into his mouth and let her eyes linger on his lips as he closed them around it and sucked. She let out a moan, and glanced toward Kav. He was standing up, looking furious. What the hell? Who did he think he was? If she wanted to fingerfuck this man right here in this restaurant, she was going to. She had a goal.

  James swallowed hard. “Hey, uh, look…I need to go to the men’s room to…uh…I’ll be right back.”

  He got up, keeping his napkin with him, holding it low over his front. Ah. She sat back and smiled, gave the vampire a look as he sat back down in his seat. We have lift-off, she thought. All she needed now was to get him home. The waitress came up to Kav and he waved her away without speaking to her. His loss. He needed the food and it didn’t get any better than here. Too bad she wouldn’t be getting to eat either.

  A few minutes later, James came back. He’d obviously tried to take care of his problem, but it was still apparent. Cherise slid her chair over next to him and let her hand drop below table level.

  His eyes shot wide.

  “James, I’m not really hungry…for steak…anymore. Would you mind escorting me back to my cabin?”

  He nodded, pulled his wallet out, threw down two hundred dollar bills and pushed his chair back, helped her out of hers. They walked quickly out of the restaurant.

  Cherise leaned in close as they cleared the covered entryway and started toward the parking lot. She kissed him, slid her tongue in briefly, and pulled back.

  “Please follow me.”

  Then she got in her little car and headed home to finish her night. He was right on her tail all the way home. It seemed appropriate, she thought. That was exactly where he was going to be as soon as she got him in her bed, too.

  It only took twenty minutes to make it back, and as soon as she got out of her car, he was on her. James grabbed her and pulled her close, his hands roamed down to her butt to pull her against his erection that hadn’t dropped at all.

  “My god, I thought I was going to come right there in the restaurant. I’ve never met anyone so sexy in my life. Please tell me that we’re going in your house to finish this?”

  “Oh, yes, we are. Come with me.”

  “Oh, I plan to come all over you.”

  She was leading him through the door when Kav was suddenly there and grabbed James, then threw him across the lawn. He landed, shocked, in a heap near his own car.

  Cherise squealed. “What the hell are you doing? Get away from him, vampire. This isn’t any of your business.” She hurried to James, but Kav arrived first and hauled him up by the shoulders.

  Kav caught his eyes and stared. “You followed her back to her place tonight, you had sex, but it was terrible. She’s frigid and has terrible body odor. Especially down there. You never want to see her again.”

  James walked to his car, looking at her. Then he stuttered out an awkward, mumbled “had a good time, call ya.” And he was gone.

  Cherise just stood there, shocked. She tried to speak, but didn’t know what to say. “I…you…you son of a bitch…you big ass smart-ass vampire…I had a goal.”

  Kav was beside her, vampire fast, and had her face in his hands.

  “Do not think I’ll let you do that again. You were torturing him, and you were taunting me. I may not remember much, but I got that. You may not have noticed, but you had every cock in that place at attention. I don’t think you know what you do to men.”

  “I know what I was trying to do to that man!”

  “Yeah, so do I. Lucky for you, I stopped you in time. Look.” He was caressing her cheeks, her ears, her throat, gently. “I know I don’t have the right. But you can’t have sex with another man and come to me. Even if it’s just to feed me. I don’t know what’s going on…but I do know I want you and I think I might kill any man who touches you. So, could you just not…be so…irresistible until we’re done. I can’t be here if you have other men around you. They would all want you.”

  “I haven’t had sex with anyone in years, Kav. But…I can’t have it with you. I can’t be with a vampire. You’ll swallow me whole.”

  He groaned. “Ah, that is exactly what I want to do. I want to feed from you and I want to eat you. In every way possible. I know you don’t think you want me…”

  She mumbled and looked at the ground.

  He lowered his head to try to see her face.

  “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

  Cherise lifted her head. “I didn’t say I didn’t want you. I said I shouldn’t.”

  He stood still, his eyes locked on her. And although he could move as fast as lightning, he moved toward her painfully slowly. Her head was still cradled in his large hands and he touched her lips gently with his own. Oh, how he had lied to the man he sent away just now. She smelled like heaven and sex and like she was already his. He kissed her again, no tongue, and waited for her to moan in protest, which she did. He kissed her once more, lips only, an she grabb
ed him and forced his lips apart. He gave her his tongue then, and he was all in…the kiss even deeper and more passionate than he’d intended. And he knew, even though he couldn’t remember any other woman’s kiss, he’d never known a kiss like this. He’d never wanted anyone like he wanted this irritating, pain in the ass woman who he needed to enter with more than his thrusting tongue. His erection was so painful now, he had to reach down and release it from the tight jeans. He needed her, and oh, fuck yeah, she needed him.

  He swept her into his arms and carried her into the little cabin, through it to the small bedroom that was every bit as frilly as the living room. But her bed was large and thank god, because he was anything but small. He laid her down on top of the plush comforter and came down on top of her. She could feel how much he wanted her, as his body fitted itself between her legs. But she was so small, he was afraid he’d hurt her.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  She didn’t speak, and buried her head in his shoulder. He rolled off of her and lifted her head. Tears glistened in her eyes.

  “Cherise, have I hurt you?”

  She shook her head. He didn’t understand.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I can’t do this. I can’t be with you. You’re vampire. More than.”

  He shook her head. Didn’t know what she meant. “So? Humans have sex with vampires all the time.”

  She pushed herself off the bed. “But I’m not just human. If we do this, I might bond to you. And then we’ll be bound. I’ll know you more than you would ever want anyone to know. I’ll know who you are in your deepest self and who you’ve been. See, that’s the quickest way for me to unlock your past…if we have sex, I may become linked to you. But…it’s permanent. You could move on if you wanted, but I…I’d be stuck. It’s beyond painful if a relationship doesn’t work out for an empath. So, Kav, it isn’t simple and it isn’t just sex. That’s why I wanted to kill my desire for you with James. He would be just that … just

  uncomplicated sex. I hoped that the only reason I wanted you was because it had been so long for me.”

  “But that’s not the case.”

  “I don’t know. I don’t understand why I want you so much. Just…please, just go home. I can’t do this.”

  “Will feeding me be…possible?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know. I…I can try. But not tonight, okay? Can you wait until tomorrow?”

  He nodded. “I still think we can be together…”

  She grabbed him and kissed him again, thrust her tongue into his mouth and looked into his eyes. Her hand found him, where he’d released himself from the tight pants, and held him, her fingers moving along his length. He felt dizzy, imbalanced, and even though he was lying down, he knew he could not have stood up even if he wanted to. Images shaped around him, exploded outward, people, things, places he did not recognize. He felt like he was falling, like he was being assaulted. Suddenly it stopped and the tilting world stilled again. Cherise had stepped back, away from him, and was looking at him with sadness in her eyes.

  “I was right. We would bond. We cannot ever do this. So, if I feed you, you have to maintain your distance. You have to promise, Kav.”

  He didn’t think he could. But…

  “I’ll try.”

  “Alright. Well, go home and then come back here tomorrow night.”

  He didn’t know what else to do, so he got off the bed and turned to her. “I won’t be able to stop wanting you.”

  “As long as we don’t act on it, we can do this. And…another thing. Your name…your real name…is David.”

  That shocked him. He thought about it for a moment. It didn’t seem right. He had a bad vibe from the name. “I think I like Kav better.”

  “Okay. Tomorrow, then.”

  He left and she threw herself down on the bed. And cried like she hadn’t since she was a young girl and knew what pain her future would hold. But she was crying for him now, because in her limited glimpse of his life, she saw moments, seconds, and there was terrible pain and torture in his past. She knew one reason why he didn’t want to remember. This was what she would have to find, through other methods, for him to heal. He would have to know and face his past and it would be hard. Painful for both of them. For her, partially because she would relive those moments of this life with him, and partially because she was coming to care for him. Above and beyond the physical attraction, she was feeling some bonding already with him as a man.

  She rolled over and stared at the pretty reflections on the ceiling, caused by moonlight passing through a prism wind chime in the window. This would not go well for her, either.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Margaret hit her up as soon as Cherise came through the door.

  “So…how did it go?”

  Having barely recovered from her crying jag just a few hours ago, she didn’t feel like dealing with…well, anything, today. And this was her shop, so she was the boss.

  “Margaret, it went fine. Now, I’m exhausted and I will discuss this later, I promise. For now, though, please handle the front and I’ll get the kitchen. I have a bad headache and I just want to be invisible for a while, okay?”

  With a soft look of sympathy, Margaret nodded and took point at the counter. She’d realized that Cherise meant she did not feel like their usual chatter and banter, so she left her alone. Except for calling back orders, she didn’t bother Cherise, and god, was she grateful for it. The headache hadn’t been a lie…she had a mother of one. And no medication in the world could help her…it came from the imbalance inside her spirit and mind. She’d connected with Kav’s spirit last night and a part of it was still within her. That was also one of the difficult parts for an empath…the connections that were psychically painful were often physical as well. And because she’d let herself bond with him a little, it was even worse. Tonight, she would have to tell him what he was. Open him up to his heritage. It wouldn’t be easy.

  After two hours of cooking, even the low clatter of carefully handled pots and pans had her head aching much worse. She went to the window between the kitchen and the dining area.

  “Margaret,” she called softly, “I wonder if you would call Chelsea and see if she can come in. I need to go home and close my eyes. The headache won’t subside like this.”

  “Sure, honey. That must have been some date. I’ll call her right now.”

  Cherise nodded and sat down in her wicker chair with her head in her hands. A moment later Margaret tapped her on the arm.

  “Go home, honey. Chelse will be here in twenty minutes. Go home and get well.”

  With a deeply drawn breath of relief, Cherise took her bag and headed out. The brilliant sunshine shot light at her that she could not stand, even with dark sunglasses covering her squinting eyes. As soon as she reached home, she pulled all the blinds and dropped into her bed. Her cats joined her and she rolled up next to them and willed herself to sleep. The headache would go away, but not until she had time tonight to meditate and put things right in her mind. She would need darkness and solitude to do that, so she hoped she could go unconscious until then.

  Kav had nightmares throughout the day…not like before. These were detailed and had faces in them he knew he should recognize. Although he didn’t. His own face, seen through the eyes of someone else. Sharp pain, inflicted over, and over and over… Endless…. endless days of exposure to sunlight…burns to the soul…then healing…to be exposed all over again…to burn and heal…burn and heal…endlessly… Stabbings, bullet holes…pain, never ending pain. Starvation, one of the worst things for a vampire. His soul was dying even though his body couldn’t. Stop. Please stop…

  Let me die…

  She was rolling back and forth. The cats had to leave. They both just stood on the floor looking at her, worried. The dreams…torture…what they did to him…endlessly… There was no escape…they took his power… He burned…oh, god, help him…he burned from the outside in…hotter than any flame, more p
ainful than if someone lit him up with kerosene and a match. Ultraviolet and vampires…the most combustible combination on earth. Pain like no other being could know. Burned alive…then pulled back before the brink of death…endless…days he could not count…nights when he should be free of pain, but no… That’s when they came with weapons. Torture…for years…

  Why?

  Cherise woke violently, sat up so quickly she worried about whiplash. It felt like her body was on fire, her face and eyes burning as if someone had torched her. Her eyes shot around the room, dark now from the absent sun, searching for…what? The torturers…so real…in her mind…so real. She scooted off the bed and peeled off her clothes, then went to the shower and turned on cold water, stepped under the shower head and let it cool the heat. Water…most basic element of all life, of blood, of skin, of bone. It did what she sought…it brought her out of the dreams and let her mind calm.

  But, oh, that poor man, what he had suffered... how could she ever help someone who had lived through that? How could anyone survive intact? Her answer was immediate. He hadn’t. That’s why his aura was dim. His life force was fractured. He was so damaged.

  She planted her hands on the cool tile and leaned in, lifting her face directly under the flow of water to caress her cheeks. He needed her. More than anyone ever. She could not turn away from him. It would be inhuman. Beyond inhuman. And there was the fact that he was so much more than just a vampire. Could she save him? She really didn’t know…

  When Kav came to her house, only candles lit the darkness again. He checked the door, was it locked? No, she still left it open…so he entered. She wasn’t inside. He continued to the garden to find her there with a huge mug of tea. She was curled up in a wicker rocking chair with her wet hair cinched up in a messy bun. So pretty… He had to stop thinking of how beautiful she was…

  “Cherise. It’s me. Are you up to feeding me?”