Sinsperationally Yours

by Prince, Nikki

  “Yeah the cell reception up here is terrible. What’s wrong? You sound worried?”

  “I am. I had hoped not to do this over the phone but it’s the only way. Mila, please listen carefully. I need you to gather your things and meet me outside the gate as quickly as you can. Don’t tell Diego what you’re doing, just leave.”

  “What? I can’t leave right now. I need to stay until tomorrow. It’s complicated.”

  “I know about the terms of your inheritance, Mila.”

  “Did Lance say something to you?”

  “No, not Lance. Diego did.”

  Apprehension squeezed her chest. “That seems strange, but I guess it’s not really confidential…”

  “Mila, please, I’m begging you. Diego is not who you think he is. You need to get out of that house now before it’s too late.”

  “Antonio, I’m sorry but you’re sounding a little crazy here. I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on. If you’re outside the gate, then why don’t you come up to the house so we can talk about this face-to-face.”

  “That’s the thing. I can’t come up, it’s not possible and I don’t know how to explain it. You need to come down. It’s the only way.”

  “Okay, I think that’s enough. I need to go. Diego is waiting for me.”

  “Diego is obsessed with you! He thinks you’re the reincarnated soul of his dead lover.”

  The idea was so ludicrous that she should’ve laughed. But Mila became angry instead. “That’s the most horrible thing you could say Antonio. I’m hanging up now. Good-bye.”

  “Does your head hurt?”

  She froze. “What does that have anything to do with this?”

  “I noticed last night that you weren’t acting yourself and I confronted Diego. We’ve known each other a long time and I can tell when something is not right with him. He finally admitted that he had Julissa slip you something during the day so you would be more agreeable to whatever he asked of you. I told you he’s obsessed with you…has been since the day he became your guardian and he’s waited all these years for his chance to get you alone. I’m afraid if you don’t leave right this minute, then you’ll never leave.” He breathed into the phone. “Mila, Diego is a vampire.”

  This time she did laugh. “Okay, now I get it. Lance put you up to this, didn’t he? Well you can tell him that I don’t appreciate him making fun of me or my wild imagination. In fact, tell him to never to call me again.”

  She hung up the phone and then turned it off altogether.

  All the reasons why she broke it off with Lance in the first place came flooding back and Mila cringed. At least their “engagement” had only lasted a few days. A vampire? Please.

  The throbbing in her head was beyond ridiculous now. She needed to find Julissa and lots of aspirin.

  As she made her way down the stairs, she still couldn’t believe Antonio had actually told her that Diego believed Mila was his dead lover. Her memory blurred, but the emotion she witnessed last night when he spoke about the woman still gave her goose bumps. What was her name again? Julissa had told her yesterday, but she couldn’t quite recall it except that it was a Spanish name and it had started with an “M” too.

  Maria? Mercedes? Magdelena? Milagro?

  That’s it. Her name was Milagro – the Spanish word for “miracle,” according to Julissa.

  Milagro. Mila.

  Milagro. Mila.

  It wasn’t possible. It couldn’t be.

  A shudder reverberated down her spine. She needed to find Diego. The door to his study was open but the room was empty. As she started to head toward the dining room, she heard muffled voices that seemed to be coming from inside the wall. That’s when she noticed the room’s other door close on its own as if someone had just left. Mila walked over to it and turned the handle. It opened to reveal a steel door behind it. She turned that handle, but it was locked. Running her fingers over the keypad it became obvious that the door wouldn’t open unless she had the right code. But what could it be? She didn’t know Diego well enough to even try to guess.

  Unless….

  With trembling fingers, Mila punched in her own birthdate. The green light turned on and the door opened.

  The voices were louder now and she instantly recognized them. Slowly, she made her way down the stairs toward the light at the bottom so she could better hear the conversation between Diego and Julissa. She stopped about three quarters of the way when she realized there was another door there, but this one was open and Diego’s voice sounded close.

  “I don’t understand why you did it Julissa! I told you all along that I didn’t want you to interfere in that way!”

  “You said that, but then you asked me for a protection spell over the property after you received Antonio’s letter. How was I supposed to know that kind of magic was okay, but the other one wasn’t?”

  Mila gasped involuntarily and quickly clapped her hand over her mouth. When it was apparent they didn’t hear her, she took another few steps closer.

  “Fine, you’re right. I should’ve been clearer. I guess I’m disappointed, that’s all.”

  “But why? The freedom spell isn’t a love spell. All it does is make inhibitions and doubt disappear so the person is free to explore their true feelings. If Mila didn’t have any feelings for you in the first place, the freedom spell wouldn’t have made a difference.”

  What they said next was unintelligible since Mila continued to reel from the knowledge that she had indeed been under a spell last night. Antonio was right. And if he was right about that…

  She tried to focus again on their words and realized their voices sounded further way. They had moved more inside the room. Gingerly, she came down the last steps and peered around the door. The room resembled a recording studio, at least one from either the 1970s or 1980s judging by the old-fashioned knobs and buttons on the soundboard. But instead of instruments or microphones on the other side of the glass partition, she saw a mish mash of furniture including a Victorian-style canopy bed and a neon orange couch. The odd scene intrigued her and she stepped through the doorway. At that moment, Diego and Julissa came out of a large wall safe and Mila focused on the small, clear bags he held in his hands. They contained a dark red liquid.

  “Mila!” Diego’s voice sounded funny to her, almost like it was being played back in slow motion on a tape recorder.

  The room began to spin and she felt herself falling down into a deep abyss. She wanted to scream for someone to save her, but she could only manage one word before the darkness overtook her: Vampire.

  ***

  Inhaling a sharp breath, Mila awoke. Hazy light blinded her groggy eyes and she felt warm. Too warm.

  “Am I dead?” she whispered.

  “No, Mila. You’re very much alive. Thanks be to God.” She turned toward Diego’s voice and saw him sitting in a chair next to the bed where she laid. They were in the recording studio/bedroom at the bottom of the secret stairs.

  She stared up at the white popcorn ceiling. “What happened?”

  “You fainted, but luckily I caught you before you hit your head on something. We think your body is reacting to something Julissa gave you to drink yesterday. Your temperature was over 103 degrees two hours ago, but it’s going down.” The unusual gruffness of his voice made her look at him again and this time she saw it. The pained expression, the worry in his eyes, the paleness of his complexion. But why?

  “What’s wrong? Tell me! What else are you hiding from me?” she yelled.

  His sad eyes widened. “Nothing’s wrong with you Mila. I promise. It’s just that for an hour or so, your fever…I worried... Anyway, you’re better now.”

  Satisfied with his explanation, she attempted to sit up. He shot out of the chair to help her and she was grateful for his strength. He helped her move some pillows behind her back and then offered her a drink of water, which she accepted.

  Then they sat there for several minutes not talking. When her head
finally cleared, she asked him, “So, am I your prisoner now?”

  “What? No! Of course not! Why would you even think that?”

  “Because you’re a vampire who believes I’m your soul mate reincarnated!” He flinched at her words and she almost regretted saying them the way she did. When he raised his eyebrows, she answered his unasked question, “Antonio told me. And let me guess, he’s a vampire too?”

  She thought he’d try to deny it. Instead, he put his head in his hands and nodded. She should’ve made a run for it right then and there. Deep down she knew he wouldn’t go after her.

  But against all reason she stayed and ordered him to tell her everything. And he did.

  He told her how for centuries he kept a close watch on his lover’s descendants, especially the girls. His need to protect them brought him from Mexico to America in the 1900s. Then about 24 years ago, the last remaining male descendant of Milagro Morelos died in a car accident. Grief-stricken and inconsolable, he attended the funeral and that’s where he heard whispers of a drug-addict mistress. After thousands of dollars and three private investigators, he found the woman living in a halfway house on Skid Row and learned her 1-year-old daughter had been placed into foster care. Diego located the girl the next day and as soon as he touched her hand, he knew. So he charmed and bribed his way through the legal system to make sure the baby ended up with the only two people he trusted in this world. When they asked him how they could ever repay him for finding them a child at last, he told them only to name their new daughter “Mila.”

  The rest, she already knew.

  “I can tell you don’t believe what I believe and it’s crazy of me to even think you will give me a chance to make things right. So I’m going to waive the terms of the trust and give you access to the bank account tonight. You are free to leave whenever you want.”

  Diego looked at her one last time and then stood up to leave.

  Her heart hammered in her chest, but not because of the money or because she feared him. The story of Diego’s devotion to finding his beloved touched her deeply. Even though he had everything a man could want—wealth, homes in different countries, good looks, a fit body and, of course, eternal life—none of it mattered to him.

  Only Mila mattered. Then. And now.

  “Wait,” she whispered. “Wait.”

  He turned around and she could see his eyes brimming with unshed tears. The love emanating from him took her breath away and she did the only thing that felt right.

  She reached for him.

  He was on her in an instant and her body came alive the moment they connected. He claimed her lips in a hard, deep kiss. The urgency thrilled her and she let him know by pushing her tongue against his mouth until he let her in. He guided her back down on the bed and then moved his hands from her hair to her breasts, palming and cupping them through her thin peasant blouse.

  “Take it off,” she murmured against his mouth.

  Diego pulled her blouse up and maneuvered it off her body. Then he reached under her and deftly wrangled her free from her bra. He tore his lips from hers and captured one naked breast in his mouth while Mila moaned in pleasure. After licking and sucking one nipple into a hardened peak, he moved his attention to other breast. A tingling warmth spread to her pussy and she literally ached to have him inside her.

  She moved one hand between them and tried to unsnap and unzip his pants, but she couldn’t manage it. He looked up at her from her breast and smiled. Her heart surged and for a second an image of him looking at her from the same position flashed before her eyes in a moment of déja vu. How was that possible?

  This isn’t the time to analyze, Mila. This is the time to get naked.

  Pushing aside the questions for now, she smiled and proceeded to take off her own jeans. Diego got off the bed and also started removing his clothes until he stood naked before her. She licked her lips at the sight of thick, erect cock.

  “I need to taste you,” she told him. If her brashness surprised him, he didn’t show it. Instead, he laid back on the bed and waited for her to do what she wanted. As her fingers encircled the length of him, he inhaled a sharp breath.

  Her nipples tightened again in anticipation. Starting at the tip, she moved her tongue down his shaft and then back up again. Mila took him into her mouth as deep as she could and felt Diego’s hands on her head guiding her into a rhythm with every suck. “Yes, my love. Just like that.”

  His cock throbbed against her lips and the feel of it excited her, spurring her to suck harder and faster.

  But just as she fell into a groove, Diego grunted that he couldn’t take much more. He pulled her up toward him and flipped her onto her back. In a flash, he moved between her legs and when his tongue flicked against her clit she cried out. Although part of her wanted to experience the full gamut of his oral skills, her pussy screamed to be invaded by another part of his body.

  Without words, he knew what she wanted. Diego moved to his knees and pulled her legs over his shoulders. He teased her at first, rubbing the tip of cock against her swollen clit.

  “Fuck me, now. Please,” she groaned.

  “With pleasure my love,” he rasped and pushed himself inside her sex, inch by glorious inch. They both gasped.

  He slid his cock out slowly and then back in again, creating a tempo that both delighted and frustrated her. Again, as if he could read her thoughts, his thrusts came quicker and harder, stretching and filling her completely. At last.

  Diego lowered his head to kiss her, before moving his warm, wet lips down to her neck. She could taste herself on him and she loved it. A feeling of wanton sensuality enveloped her; making her want to do things she’d never done before.

  And when she felt his teeth scrape against her collarbone, she knew she wanted more.

  “Oh my God. Bite me. Bite me please,” she moaned.

  He stopped everything to look into her eyes. “Do you trust me?”

  “Yes,” she said breathlessly. “I don’t know why, but I know with every fiber of my being that you’ll never hurt me.”

  “I won’t Mila. I swear to you.”

  “I believe you.”

  He groaned and grinded his cock in and out of her with renewed urgency. When he moved his mouth back to her neck, Mila prepared to come. The light sucking on her neck increased in pressure, her own release building with every tug and pull. Then an exquisite mixture of pain and pleasure shot through her as Diego punctured the skin in the middle of her neck. That was all it took. They both exploded as their orgasms crashed together creating a perfect storm of love and carnality. Digging her nails into his back, she clung to him for dear life as the tsunami finally carried them away.

  Later as he held her in his arms, she found the courage to ask the question she still didn’t know if she wanted the answer to. “So, am I vampire now too?”

  He curled her closer to his bare chest. “You’re beautiful, you know that,” he answered with a kiss on top of her nose. “No, my love, you’re not a vampire. The marks will be gone in the morning. Becoming a vampire is a little more complicated and, honestly, a lot more painful. I’d never do that to you without asking. When the time is right, we can talk about it. ”

  “Okay, good,” she yawned.

  “Now wonder you’re sleepy. It’s past midnight.”

  “I guess I’m 25 now.”

  “I guess you are. Do you feel different?”

  Mila thought about the question. Besides just feeling it, she knew she was different. Her life had become simple and complicated all at the same time.

  “Happy birthday, Mila,” she heard him whisper as she closed her eyes. “Thank you for making my wish come true.”

  And for the first time in a very long time, she drifted to sleep not wondering if her lover would find her in her dreams.

  The search, for both of them, was finally over.

  Conjure the Wind

  By: M Jet

  Part 1: Consecrate

  Danielle Man
tagne stood beneath an eternally grey sky and a torrent of rain. The rain obscured her tears. Her mascara ran, accenting the vivid white scars webbing the right side of her porcelain face. Her black heels sunk into the muddy Earth. She was the only one of the hundreds of gathered funeral goers without an umbrella.

  The service had just finished and it was time to leave. But, Danielle couldn't tear herself away from the twin closed coffins. Others passed by her, patting her shoulders or back, offering comforting words, or even awkward one-armed hugs. But they were ignored. Her hands rested one on each casket and she was frozen in place by the prospect of walking away and leaving both her parents to be lowered into the ground.

  ***

  Mantagne Enterprises orchestrated a huge wake at the corporate headquarters in downtown Seattle, Washington. Which was good, because Danielle was rendered useless with grief since she'd been informed that her parents perished together in a plane crash. It was fitting that the company her parents founded and grew to staggering success should manage their final arrangements.

  The chairman of the board, Peter Davis along with one of the lawyers, Jackson Anders, finally led her out of the rain and into a stretch limousine. She stared blankly out the window as she was taken to the wake.

  Danielle perched on a chair with a glass of Merlot in her hand from which she took zero sips. Dozens of people spoke to her. She tried to tell her eyes to focus on theirs. She tried to get her lips to move and politely respond to the well wishers. But she was simply vacant. She had nothing left. Hushed whispers migrated about the banquet hall. Everybody was concerned for Danielle Mantagne. This could be the thing to set her over the edge. She'd already been through so much.

  She was a shadow of the woman she'd once been.

  ***

  Danielle was buried under blankets in her pitch dark bedroom when she heard her doorbell repeatedly chiming and thunderous knocking. She dragged herself from her dark cocoon and fought another onslaught of tears as reality returned.

  She trudged to the door and opened it to find Peter Davis and Jackson Anders standing there wearing expensive black suits and disgruntled facial expressions. "I see you've forgotten our meeting," Peter said coolly, eyeing Danielle with one harshly arched eyebrow.