NYC Vamps: Vampire Romance

by Sky Winters

  Everybody agreed on the instructions, and began to approach. James led them quietly around to the back of the castle, helping them to avoid stepping into traps and triggering them so that they did not get into trouble. He could smell Sadie and knew that she was both fearful and relieved. He tried to will his voice to reach her, but because she was not part bear, he knew that it would not work. So instead, he willed his voice to his unborn children, telling them that he was on his way and would do everything he could to bring them safely into this world.

  Chapter 9

  “I want to have your wedding dress on for this," Lord Lachlan said with a seedy smile as he pushed Sadie into the entrance of the castle. He summoned the servant, the same one she had seen the first time she opened her eyes in this new world of the past, and told her to fetch the wedding dress. The woman gave Sadie a fretful look, but disappeared up the spiraling staircase to retrieve the dress.

  “Nobody humiliates me like you and lives to tell about it," Lord Lachlan said, running his finger along the polished wooden table. "Then again, few people are as beautiful as you are, so it's almost funny to me to be shamed in this way. I almost like it. Almost."

  Sadie said nothing, just glared at him as they waited for the servant to bring down the wedding gown. When she finally arrived, she gave the wedding dress to Lord Lachlan and retreated. However, she cast her eyes upon Sadie, fixing on her a worried but caring look, and disappeared up the stairs again, peeking over the railing to watch what became of the wisp of the Highlands.

  “Put it on,” Lord Lachlan ordered.

  Sadie stared at the dress, her nose crinkled in disgust. Although the gown was beautiful, she did not want to humor this sick man in that way. She refused, and Lord Lachlan instantly grew furious. He was used to everybody doing exactly what he said the first time he said it. That was what he thought obedience should be.

  “I said put on the dress!” he shouted. He pressed the tip of his sword against her throat.

  Sadie's hands shook as she picked up the dress. She was about to pull her clothes off when a huge banging noise startled them both. They turned to find the cause of the commotion and were met with a loud, malicious roar. It was James, and he had come to rescue her just in time.

  “James!” she exclaimed, running toward him. He gave her a gentle nuzzle and pushed her behind him with a large paw. James wasn't alone. Lord Lachlan was left staring at a huge circle of warriors, who had surrounded him within his own home. Most of them recognized him and had stories of vast personal loss associated with him, and so tearing this man apart limb from limb was actually some kind of closure for them. She stared at them with wide eyes, and Lachlan held his sword in his quaking hand as if he could somehow prevent the inevitable from happening.

  Soon, the bears advanced upon him, and Sadie could hear the sound of his screams shrieking from in between the giant bear forms devouring him. Finally, one last gargle escaped his lips, and a snap cracked through the air crisply. With that, the vicious tyrant Lord Lachlan was gone.

  Chapter 10

  James motioned for Sadie to get onto his back. She climbed up on him gently, worried that he might have been wounded in the battle. However, he seemed to be fine, although he moved slowly across the yard. The guards had wisely avoided attacking the massive group of bears, knowing that they were vastly outnumbered and would have been slaughtered if they had tried anything stupid. James carried Sadie to the point where he had left Gail and Dodd, and Sadie ran to Gail, who was covered only in a scrap of tartan cloth, and embraced her. Dodd remained in his bear form, ever alert to the danger.

  “Are you all right, lass?" Gail exclaimed, looking Sadie up and down. “I can't believe we almost lost you and your precious ones."

  “My what?” Sadie asked, looking at Gail and confusion.

  Gail clasped her hands over her mouth and exclaimed, “Oh, I'm so sorry. You didn't know yet, did you?”

  “What's she talking about, James?" Sadie asked, turning to James. He was no longer in his bear form, instead in his striking, muscular human form, naked in all his glory and glimmering silver in the moonlight.

  “I even heard them, it was unbelievable," James exclaimed, looking up to the sky in reverence. "You're pregnant, lass, you're having my twins. I didn't know that it would happen so soon, but it has. That was how we were able to avoid danger. They warned us of the traps. They heard Lachlan talking to you and did their best to give us a warning.”

  Sadie gazed at James in disbelief; he had to be joking with her. But Gail was looking at her with a bright smile and nodding enthusiastically. She couldn't help but believe what they were saying.

  “I know, it seems crazy. And about the babes speaking in the womb, using their bear voices...I just thought that it was old ridiculous rumors, but they truly could talk to us when it mattered the most. It must have taken a tremendous amount of energy, so I doubt they would try it again, but they were able to this once. It was amazing." James picked up Sadie and twirled her around in the dark, both of them laughing in disbelief. She was going to have his babies. And they had saved their lives.

  Chapter 11

  James and the rest of the clan were very tired after their battle with Lord Lachlan and his men. It had taken a lot out of them to arrive in such a short amount of time, and so as they approached their camp, they decided to take a long rest by the river. Sadie and James camped a little ways apart from the rest of the group, knowing that having each other back finally would be a cause for celebration. They had a lot to talk about and wanted some privacy. Gail understood and did her best to keep everybody from protesting their camping separately.

  “You know young love,” she said, although she wasn't very old herself. The rest of the clan begrudgingly agreed and allowed them to have their privacy.

  James lay on the ground naked, his muscles rippling handsomely in the moonlight. Sadie ran her hand down his chest as they spoke, letting her palm roam the firm, warm curves of his body. He smiled at her, his eyes twinkling in the moonlight, and pulled her on top of him. She nestled there, instantly aroused by the feeling of his bare groin pressing against her middle. She buckled against him and he grinned at her, knowing what was on her mind, squeezing her ass in both his hands.

  He thrust against her, his rod growing hard as it pressed between her legs, and she sighed softly, feeling the bulge of the tip of his penis as it massaged her clit, sending tendrils of pleasure winding throughout her entire body. He sighed as she squirmed out of her clothes, pressing her naked body on top of him. Her hot breasts trailed along his cool body, the hard mounds of her nipples arousing him uncontrollably, making him groan as he grew hard to the point of bursting. She nestled on top of him, her hot loins enveloping him inside of them, and he slid fully inside of her, eliciting a groan from both of them.

  Her groan turned to a cry of pleasure as he thrust hard inside of her, going as deep as he could go, burying himself in her and pumping again and again. She moaned with pleasure as he made love to her, their bodies entwined on the ground. James brought her nipples to his mouth, his strong, skilled hands roaming her body expertly and lovingly, resting gently on the mound of his unborn children for a moment before finally he bent her over and began pounding her in earnest, until she gripped the grass in her hands and cried out, pushing her mouth into the crook of her arm to muffle the sounds of her intense orgasm.

  Her body quaked around James, contracting and pulling on him until he uttered a low moan, flooding her inside with his hot explosion. They collapsed into each other, breathing heavily, gripping one another with pure love as they instantly fell asleep.

  Epilogue

  When they finally returned back to the camp, Ivar was waiting expectantly with a smile on his face. James had confessed what he knew of Sadie's past on the journey, but she had taken it surprisingly well, gripping his muscular arm and leaning her head into it. She asked him never to lie to her again, and he promised he wouldn't.

  “What is it, Ivar?” Jam
es asked with a grin, slapping the old man on the back.

  “We figured out how to send Sadie back to her own world,” he said. “We weren't totally sure we could, it was risky, but we know it will work now. Once she delivers the twins, we will open the portal and she can return.”

  “Wait, what are you talking about?” Sadie asked, her heart thudding. “I'm not leaving my twins.”

  James and Ivar looked at each other nervously.

  “You don't have to leave them,” James said softly. “Not if you stay here with me. And even if you just want to go home, that's all right, too. You can take them. I don't know how you'll teach them the bear ways, but we can manage. Maybe I can go with you. I think Gail would make a great Alpha.”

  He winked at Gail and she laughed.

  “What would you like to do, Sadie?” Ivar asked, furrowing his brow. He had been so relieved just moments before, but now he was back to his old brooding self.

  “I'd like to stay here with you,” Sadie said. “I want to be a Highlander.”

  The clan was silent for a moment, until finally eruptions of glee and excitement followed. Everybody was cheering; they couldn't imagine life without Sadie now that she was there.

  James picked her up and swung her around and they laughed, kissing passionately. They would raise their family together, free to be bears.

  THE END

  The Grey

  Chapter One

  The house sat in the middle of a wooded area, surrounded by trees and a gravelled pavement that served as both road and driveway. Savannah got out of the car and stared at the quaint little house that was going to be her home for the next six months.

  “This is what I always imagined Little Red Riding Hood’s grandmother’s house to look like,” Savannah said, turning back to her parents.

  “Do you like it?” her father had taken to speaking very precisely for her benefit. She never needed to wear her hearing aid around her parents because she could read their lips perfectly.

  “It’s all right,” Savannah said reluctantly. In fact, she did like it. There was a sense of cosiness that clung to the house and the town that she had never experienced before. Still, she didn’t want her parents to know that, because she didn’t want them thinking she was happy about the move.

  She stayed outside and walked toward the trees that stood beside the house like sentinels. They had a strong, oaky smell, but there was an undercurrent of something else in the air. The back of the house faced a series of small hills that led up to larger ones. They were paved with grass and rock and Savannah could sense the difference in the air up there.

  A half hour later she went back into the house to join her parents. They had bought the house with the furniture included. The sofa was upholstered with a thick fabric that held a heavy pattern of flowers. Instead of blinds in the windows, there were curtains in a variety of mismatched floral patterns. There were floorboards and carpets instead of tiles, and a staircase, with block stairs, and an old-fashioned railing.

  “You could be right,” Savannah’s mother said, when she walked into the kitchen. “Maybe Red Riding Hood’s grandmother did live here.”

  Savannah smiled, grabbed her duffel bag, and walked upstairs in search of her room. It was nestled in the corner overlooking the mountains and the hooded trees. There was one large window that brought in all the light and bathed the sparse contents of her room in an ivory glow. She set down her duffel bag and examined her small four-poster bed.

  She couldn’t hear her father walk in, but she sensed his presence the moment he appeared at her door, and she turned around.

  “Remember when you were six and all you wanted was a four poster bed?”

  Savannah rolled her eyes at him. “Is this you coming through for me?”

  “It most definitely is.” Her father nodded.

  “Thanks, Dad,” Savannah signed to him sarcastically. “Twelve years late, but I’ll take it anyway.”

  He winked at her and moved on down the hall. Savannah closed the door and walked to her window. The light was already fading, and she knew it would be dark within the hour. She stuck her head out the window and closed her eyes so she could concentrate.

  The wind caressed her face, sending a comforting coolness across her body. The air smelled of smoky oak and fresh dirt. Savannah froze in place as some other unfamiliar scent washed across her. It was subtle at first, but then grew stronger. She had never caught that scent before; it was oddly pleasant and difficult to place. Savannah opened her eyes and looked around, but there was nothing to see save the different greens and browns of nature.

  Savannah had never thought she was unlucky. She had never experienced sound the way that normal people did, and couldn’t understand why it was so important as a result. She was finally able to hear sound with the help of powerful hearing aids, but she hadn’t been as thrilled as her doctors and parents had been. She liked her silent world, and the advantages it gave her.

  Ever since she was a little girl, her other senses had been heightened. She could smell more sharply, she could see more clearly, and she could feel more acutely, but it was more than just that. She had an intuition about things…about people. At least, that was what her parents called it–intuition. But for Savannah it was something more.

  She was almost nine years old when she realized people in the world had their own specific aura. There were many similarities between auras, but for the most part, everyone was unique in their own way, everyone was different. She could sense their moods and their character. It was stronger with some people in comparison to others, but it was always there.

  Sometimes she saw flashes of things in the back of her eyelids, sometimes she smelled an extra layer of scent hiding in the whole, and sometimes it was as simple as seeing what was right in front of her. It was a hard thing to try to explain, and it was hard to understand another person’s aura. Over time, Savannah began to assign colours to fit the emotions she felt coming off of people. It was then she realized that colour seemed to be as infinite as emotion.

  Her father had always referred to her as a military brat and her mother liked to call her little gypsy, but Savannah had always thought of herself as tumbleweed. She had no control over where she went when the wind blew, and she had no choice but to go where it pushed her. In her case, her parents were the wind, and she went wherever they did.

  Savannah had lived in four different countries, eleven different cities, and she had changed schools nine times. The downside was that she never had the opportunity to make friends. The upside was that she had met thousands of different people, each with their own unique auras. Very few things surprised Savannah and very few things stumped her. She had an instinct about the world, about people, and about places, and she was very rarely wrong.

  Which was why she couldn’t understand why the smell hidden just beneath the wind at her window seemed so unfamiliar. She stared up at the line of trees sitting on one of the shallower hills. They were thicker in that area and exposed very little. The secret scent was coming from that direction, but it still gave her no hints as to what it was.

  There was one thing she was certain of--the scent wasn't human.

  Chapter Two

  “Are you ready for your first day of school?” her father signed from the front seat.

  Savannah sighed. “This is my ninth first day at school,” she signed back at him. “At this point, assume I’m always ready.”

  “Aw come on,” her mother said, turning to face her from the passenger's seat. “You could sound a little more excited.”

  “Yay,” Savannah replied sarcastically.

  “Oh, all right,” her mother said. “I suppose you’ve earned the right to be a little…disinterested. Here are your hearing aids.”

  Savannah shook her head. “I don’t want to wear them.”

  “Come on, darling,” her mother insisted. “Things will go a lot easier if you just wear them.”

  Savannah sighed in frustration, but sh
e took them anyway. She knew her mother was right; it was just that she hated the first day of starting out at a new school. She always felt like a monkey in a zoo, even more so, considering that she sensed things that were normally a mystery to most people.

  “Can’t I just be home-schooled?”

  “Come on now,” her father said evenly. “It’s going to be great. Stay positive.”

  “I hate how chirpy the two of you are whenever we move someplace new,” Savannah said. “Just because you’re both so positive all the time, doesn't mean I’ll forget how much this all sucks.”

  “Honey, I know this hasn’t been easy for you,” her mother said gently. “And I know you’ve had to suffer for our lifestyle but--”

  “You can’t change it,” Savannah finished for her. “I know, I know. See you after school.” She got out of the car and headed toward the main entrance.

  Grey Mountain High School was probably the smallest high school she had seen in six years. It had that small town charm to it, but that also meant its student population was just as small, which meant that everybody’s eyes would be on the new girl who had transferred in the middle of the school year.

  Almost instantly, Savannah felt everyone’s eyes on her. She was thankful she had chosen to wear her dark jeans and grey hoodie. Hopefully she'd be able to blend into the earth tones of the town that way, and nobody would see her. The thought was so ridiculous that she smiled to herself before she realized she was actually smiling at a boy who was standing a few feet away from her.