by Eve Newton
One day, my love, we will be reunited, but for now I must do this. I have to do this for me and for my child.
I conjure up a bunch of documents with her name on them and some credit cards. I make my way to the front desk and book myself a suite and then I sit and wait. I have no idea where he is and no connection to him to find him. I am not about to wander around Miami looking, so I wait where I know I will see him when he returns. The time ticks away as I flick through a magazine absently. Then I see him, looking just as gorgeous as before, and I crave his touch. I know it will be different now. He is human and it will be very strange for me knowing what he can give me. He is alone, which is good, the hotel doorman is blocking the cameras from following him inside. I stare at him, following him with my eyes as he makes his way across the lobby. He must sense me staring, as he turns with a slight frown towards me, and I wait a beat as his eyes meet mine and then I smile. Slowly and seductively. His eyes sweep over me, sitting in the big armchair with my legs crossed, in my heels and tiny skirt, and he smiles back. He hesitates, but then slowly makes his way over to me.
“Hi,” he says, his beautiful eyes a deep shade of blue.
“Hi,” I say softly in her British accent. His eyes light up as I stand and hold my hand out in the way for him to take it and brush his lips gently over it, which he does to my delight. His eyes take in my Fae markings with a raised eyebrow and a smile.
“You are far too beautiful to be sitting here alone, shall I keep you company while you wait for your...” his eyes flick to my left hand free of my rings, “...date?”
“No date,” I say.
“No date?” he repeats. “Is this my lucky day?”
“Maybe, if you are good boy,” I say with a smirk and he laughs.
“Oh, you are a wicked woman. May I buy you a drink?” he asks.
“You may,” I say, and we make our way to the bar.
“I’m Cole O’Dell,” he says.
“Liv O’…”
Oh, crap! I have no idea what her name was before she married him. Oh, well, maybe he will find it charming.
“…Dell,” I finish, wrinkling my nose up.
“No way?” he asks with a laugh. “Are you just saying that?”
“Not at all, look…” I pull out the fake driving license and he peers at it closely.
“Well, fuck me, will you look at that. If we ever got married, you wouldn’t have to change your name.”
I grin up at him and a shiver goes down my spine as his eyes darken. “It’s handy, I’ll give you that. I’ll bear it in mind when I’m looking for a suitor.”
His eyebrows go up. “And what else will you be looking for?” he murmurs close to my ear as he leads us to a secluded table in the back.
“The usual.” I shrug nonchalantly. “Tall, dark, and handsome,” I smirk and add with a saucy wink, “and with the prettiest ever-changing blue eyes I ever did see. What about you?”
He snorts in amusement. “If I were looking for a wife, she would have to be short, blonde, with eyes like emeralds and lips like cherries.” He brushes his fingers lightly over my lips and I part them slightly. His eyes focus on them for a moment as I run my tongue over them slightly and I can hear his heart start to pound. “Someone who isn’t afraid to express themselves via ink and I think I would also like to find someone who doesn’t have to change their last name to be with me.”
“Then, I am your girl,” I say softly through lowered lashes. He leans closer and I think he is about to kiss me, when he abruptly pulls back. I look up in annoyance at the hovering waiter come to take our drinks order. It’s a bar for heaven’s sake, do we not go and order our own? But no, apparently, the waiter is Cole’s 'biggest fan' and the two spend a few moments chatting. He is very amiable with his fans. I twiddle my thumbs and order a Scotch when I finally get remembered.
“Sorry,” he mumbles as the waiter disappears clutching his autographed napkin to him.
“No worries. You are famous?” I ask. I mean, I know that he is because of going over to the Other World and learning who he was, but I had never heard of him before then. Not surprising with my sheltered and busy life, though. I don’t know anybody.
He splutters. “You don’t know who I am?” he asks.
I shake my head as our drinks arrive and I take a sip. “Should I?” I say with a suitably confused expression.
“Ah, well, no, I suppose not…” he trails off and stares at me. I stare innocently back, and he chuckles. “Sorry, I don’t get that a lot, especially from such a beautiful woman.”
“You usually have beautiful women throw themselves at you?” I ask with an arched eyebrow, getting into this role now. Being her is so easy and such fun. He is fun and sweet, but there is no edge to him as there is as him as a Vampire. He just, is.
“Let’s just say that there are some crazy stalkers out there,” he admits ruefully.
“I’m sure,” I murmur.
“Are you a crazy stalker?” he asks me with a wicked smile.
“Oh no. I have never stalked anyone in my life,” I say in mock horror with my hand on my chest. “I am wounded you would think otherwise.”
He laughs. “No, I don’t suppose you have. You have no need. You are probably the one fighting off crazy stalkers.”
“So, does that make you a crazy stalker?” I ask.
“If you keep looking at me like that I may have to start,” he says as he leans forward again. I lower my gaze from his eyes to his mouth and back up again and his breath hitches.
“Like that, you mean?” I whisper.
“Just like that,” he says before he pulls me to him for a kiss. I fall into it, forgetting all about everybody else and just focusing on him. He has to fall in love with me so I can turn him. That is all that matters.
“Shall we take this upstairs?” he murmurs, and at my nod, he drags me to my feet and leads me hastily to the elevators. I punch in the floor number to my own suite and lead him inside. My palms are sweating, and I find I am nervous. Except for Constantine, I have never been propositioned quite so hastily before. I wonder if it all happened this quickly with the other versions of us. Is it all a part of destiny, or am I completely naïve and this is how things are nowadays? Either way, I know I want him, so I just go with it. As soon as the door closes, he takes me in his arms and crushes me to him as he kisses me, his hands in my hair, over my back, and down to my backside. On a whim, I get rid of my underwear before his hands go up my skirt and he moans into my mouth as he feels my bare skin. “Oh God, you are so sexy,” he says as he pulls my leg up around his waist and pushes me back against the wall. I fumble with his pants, trying to get him free as he takes off his shirt. He pulls my hands away and runs his hands up my top to cup my naked breasts underneath, rubbing his palms over my nipples. I can feel my fangs aching to drop, but I can’t. Not yet. He pulls my top off and lowers his mouth, closing his lips over my peaked nipple. I run my hands through his hair as he swipes his tongue over me. “I want you, Liv,” he says, coming back up to kiss me.
“I want you too. Now,” I say as I reach for him again, but he pushes me away and takes my hand, pulling me towards the bed. He turns me around and gasps at the Dragon on my back, who thankfully realizes She is in human company and is staying remarkably still. “Wow,” he breathes. “You have got to be the sexiest thing I have ever seen.” He kisses my shoulder and then all the way down my spine as he pushes my skirt to the floor.
“Cole,” I say, turning to him. “Take me now.” I lower myself to the bed and scoot back.
He doesn’t need asking twice after that and loses his pants and crawls over me, dropping little kisses everywhere before he plunges his tongue right into my wet entrance as he rubs his thumb over my clit. I come almost instantly, and I feel him smile against me. “Easy, aren’t you?” he asks as he kisses my still flat stomach and circles my belly button with his tongue.
“Not usually,” I lie, because who am I kidding, I love sex, especially this wanto
n, lust-filled variety that Liv is so fond of. I must remember that I am supposed to be her. That is who he fell in love with. “But your tongue is like magick, I can’t help myself,” I smirk at him and he chuckles.
“Such a flatterer. I bet you say that to all the guys,” he says as he kisses me, and I run my tongue around his lips, tasting myself.
“Just you,” I say against his lips as he moves over me.
I can feel him gently against me and I raise my hips, but he hesitates with a look I can’t quite place. “Uh, do you have…you know…protection?” he asks me.
I stare at him blankly. He’s worried about protection? Should I tell him I already set the wards the second I walked into the suite?
“Liv?” he asks me, as I continue to remain silent, trying to figure out if on some level he knows what I am. I realize I am being ridiculous, but I don’t know what he is asking me. I shake my head because I am pretty sure that I don’t have what he wants. All I’ve got is the clothes on my back, well, the floor, and the fake documents. “Oh,” he says disappointedly and moves away from me.
“Wait,” I say, pulling him back. “Where are you going?”
“To get some,” he says as if I am a bit dense. “We can’t do it without.”
“Why not?” I ask as the penny finally drops, and I realize what he is talking about. “I am suitably protected.”
“Uh, I dunno,” he says. “It’s, you know.” He runs his hands through his hair.
I sit up and take his face in mine. “Cole, I am healthy and protected,” I say. “Are you?”
“Yes,” he says.
“Then I want you right now. I want to feel you inside me,” I say to him.
“Oh God, I want to feel you too, Liv. You are so wet and so warm, I just want to slide myself inside you and damn the consequences,” he says desperately, as I climb onto his lap.
“No consequences,” I mutter as I kiss him. “Just take me.” I rub myself over him and he groans in pleasure.
“Oh, yes,” he says as I tilt my hips again and this time he doesn’t hesitate. He pushes me down roughly and turns us over. “Oh God, yes,” he says and kisses me as he moves in and out of me. “I’ll pull out,” he mutters almost to himself as he speeds up.
I sigh to myself. He really has an issue with this. If only I could tell him that I am a Vampire. No babies–well, at least of the human-crossbreed variety–and no diseases. At the very least I suppose I could tell him I am already pregnant, but that probably wouldn’t go down well either before I turn him and make him mine. An idea starts to form in my head as I roll us over and take over. He grabs my hips and I pound away at him, bringing us both to the brink. I can hear his heart beating rapidly and I want to feed. I am starving and I can smell his AB Negative blood pumping through his veins. He is close, I know it and I take his hands off my hips and push them above his head, holding them in place. I come around him, causing his own orgasm to burst out of him. He struggles against me briefly as he groans in ecstasy and I let him go. He pulls out of me, hands on my hips, and deposits me next to him. “Liv,” he says breathlessly as I snuggle into him. “Fuck, that was amazing.”
“I know,” I say with a smile against his chest. “I want to do it again.” I look up at him and he stares down at me. “Easy and eager? I did luck out with you, didn’t I?” he asks as he pushes me over. “This time we do it my way.” He takes his time with me, setting my body ablaze with his kisses and touches and when the time comes to enter me there is no hesitation.
Chapter 8
My eyes flutter open as I feel his hand running up and down my back. I will the Dragon to stay still but She loves to be caressed and I know She wants him to run his hand over Her. I turn over quickly in case She decides to show off for him, and smile into his perfect blue eyes. “Hi,” I whisper.
“Hey,” he smirks. “That is incredible work.”
I smile and I am about to thank him when he rolls over and gets out of bed. “Where are you going?” I ask as he reaches for his pants.
“Uh, I had better get going. Early morning,” he explains evasively.
I sit up suddenly. I may be new to this whole modern-day relationship thing, but I know when I am being blown off. “You’re leaving?” Whatever happened to Other Cole’s declaration “I have loved you from the second I laid eyes on you, Liv”?
“Uh, yeah. I had a great time,” he says as he starts to get dressed.
Well, I think, affronted, this was not going to plan. Who knew he was such a cad? Then again, I didn’t exactly have a plan. I came here unprepared and the whole “seduce you until you love me,” while well executed, was a pretty lame move now that I think about it. “Cole,” I say, getting up and sauntering over to him. His eyes roam over my body and it’s a start. “Stay, please. I’m not finished with you yet,” I add seductively and his lips part as he watches me run my tongue over my lips.
“Oh, you don’t make it easy for a guy, do you?” he says, running his hand through his hair. “Look,” he says eventually, “I have a girlfriend. This night was amazing, but that’s all it was. Sex.”
I look at the bed where he is pointing and think, he has a girlfriend? The jerk.
Okay, I am not one to judge, I am standing here not only married to someone else, but also pregnant with someone else’s baby, but still. I was not expecting this to be so difficult.
“A girlfriend,” I say slowly, trying to think on my feet. Well, that goes a long way to explaining why he was so concerned about being protected. But I have to get him to stay and short of pouncing on him and biting him until I feed him my own blood, I would really rather he knew first and decided for himself he wanted it.
He shrugs as if it is no big deal and continues to get dressed. “I’d like to see you again,” he says as he tucks his shirt into his pants. “You know,” he shrugs again.
Oh, charming. He is asking to see me again for a sex date. Fan-bloody-tastic. I guess I have two options here: give up on him and find someone else to turn or give him no choice in the matter. I decide on the latter, as I am running out of time now and I don’t have enough of it to find someone else. Besides, I want him. I drop my fangs and advance on him. His horror is evident as he sees my Shift and he backs up, shaking his head.
“Shit,” he says. “Shit, it’s you!”
I stop dead in my tracks, then lunge forward to catch him as he promptly passes out.
I pace fretfully, wondering what on Earth he meant by “it’s you.” He knows me? I nearly leap out of my skin when Corinne appears next to me and holds her hand up, causing time to freeze.
“You are ahead of schedule, Your Majesty. We weren’t expecting this for some time. We weren’t finished with him yet,” she says with a slight reprimand in her voice.
“What?” I ask her, confused beyond belief right now.
She sighs and sits, indicating me to follow, which I do. “There is a special role for this man in your life. He was chosen and we have been trying to prepare him for entering into your world.”
“I don’t understand,” I say. “What special role? How are you preparing him? Why not just let me turn him?” I fire these questions at her and she holds her hands up again.
“All will be clear soon, Your Majesty. Just know for now that you need him, but just turning him is not the correct way to go about it.”
Still, even after all these centuries, she is all about the cryptic. I gave up a long time ago trying to decipher anything she or my mother said to me.
“Look, Corinne. I went to another world. One like this, but where everything is different. The Other me was married to this man and she had turned him. He was her charge and he loved her so much. I want that,” I say, knowing I sound like a spoiled brat.
“And you will, we just need more time with him,” she says.
“I don’t have time!” I yell, exasperated. “He won’t want me once I start to show.” I clamp my mouth shut as Corinne’s drops open.
“You are with child
again, Your Majesty?” she asks.
“Yes! You are supposed to be all-knowing; how do you not know this?” I ask.
She stares at me and then at my stomach and she puts her hand to her mouth. “The Faerie baby,” she whispers.
I gesture a ‘yes, obviously’ motion with my hands and she remains silent.
“Oh,” She looks shocked and fearful and I have to wonder why. What could this child’s purpose be that would scare her so badly? I smile cautiously at her and she adjusts her features. “Well,” she says, clapping her hands together and standing. “We need to move forward post haste.”
“Okay,” I say, standing as well. “How?”
“Ahmed and I have been allowing Cole little bits of your life into his dreams. Snippets, if you will. He remembers them, but he isn’t sure yet whether he believes it to be true,” she says.
“So why didn’t he recognize me then?” I ask.
“We haven’t shown him exactly who you are yet,” Corinne says.
Well, this is just annoying…and typical of my meddling mother, even from the grave. I stand and watch as she speeds up time again and places her hand on his head. He murmurs something in his sleep and starts to sweat and convulse erratically. I step forward to stop whatever it is she is doing to him when she steps back suddenly and says, “It is done. When he wakes, he will be yours,” and then she promptly disappears. I chew my lip as I stare at him lying there, having no idea what just happened to him. It breaks my heart that this must be what happened to the Other Cole. Manipulated into loving her so she could turn him for…what? That is the big question.
He opens his eyes as I stand over him. I kneel at the side of the bed with a soft smile.
“Liv,” he says as he strokes my face. “My dreams, my beautiful, blonde Vampire.”
Epilogue
London, England, June 2013 – Aefre
We lie in each other’s arms perfectly content. It is almost time to get everything together. I am nervous. I don’t know if I can do what I need to do. If I can’t, if I fail, I will be devastated. But it must be now, I have to go and try to find her. She is the only one who can help me do what needs to be done. My stomach balls up into a tight knot and Cole senses my tension.
