Daydream Believer

by C. L. Quinn

Zach blew from the car, pulled Dez out quickly, and led her down steep stairs cut into rock. He carried a lighter with him and lit torches as they descended. Approaching the bottom of the ice cave, the air warmed. Once they hit the last stair, the ground leveled out, no ice apparent, but a steaming pool of water sparkled in the pale light.

  “Hot springs?”

  “Hot springs. Take off your clothes.”

  Dez waited a moment, and then, her eyes sparkled as she put a foot up on one of the stone benches and slid the zipper down on a boot. Once it was off, she removed the other one, slowly peeled her calf-length leather coat from her shoulders and tossed it on top of them.

  Next, the leather pants zipped up both sides, so she reached down and carefully pulled one side and then the other, the pants coming apart at the outside edges fell away.

  Zach’s eyes went to her curved thighs, and the area above them, with a sharp intake of breath. She wasn’t wearing underwear, so that area was well framed now by the only thing she still wore, a sleeveless leather sheath that stopped just above the V where her thighs ended. When she slid a fingertip down and drew circles over that place he wanted more than anything, he nearly lost it.

  “You, now. Fair is fair.”

  “Dez, you are uniquely known for never playing fair.”

  “I’m turning over a new leaf.”

  “Convenient.”

  “Very.” Dez’s eyes dropped to the snap on Zach’s pants. “Strip.”

  His eyes moved to the same area on Dez, where her fingertips slid from back to front, mesmerized until she repeated the command.

  Nodding, he lifted his gaze back to hers and threw his own coat on top of hers. Just as slowly, he peeled the thick sweatshirt from the bottom, past his chest and over his head to join the growing pile of clothing. The snap on the pants gave easily and he slid them down.

  Dez’s eyes stopped at the thick, rigid cock pointing at her.

  “Someone’s hungry for adventure.”

  “Someone has been waiting for you.”

  “I’m here. I’m yours. Do what you want, Zach.”

  Lifting the sheath exactly as Zach had done with his sweatshirt, Dez stood, naked, ready for him, and Zach, as much as he wanted her, couldn’t move. All he needed for this one moment in time was to look at that body, this woman, that he wanted inside.

  “Zach, what do you want to do?”

  Moving forward out of sense memory, the desire in complete control, Zach took Dez’s hand and pulled her behind him into the hot water. Steam rose around their bodies, momentarily obscuring them from each other’s sight. It didn’t matter, Zach took a seat on a ledge and pulled her onto his lap.

  “You came,” he whispered.

  “You doubted?”

  “I…” Zach wrapped his tongue around Dez’s left nipple and tugged, his tongue twisting around the already erect button. Then he stopped and buried his head between her generous breasts. His hands cupped her buttocks and he just held her against the hard cock that wondered why he delayed, the head weeping against her.

  Zach breathed in her scent which was intoxicating all by itself. That combined with holding the woman he loved more than anything in his arms, made him speechless. How do you describe perfection? Are there words big enough? He knew she waited for his answer. Moments beyond his quiet stillness, he looked up at Dez.

  “I doubted. It’s been two years, baby. I imagined that you’d considered my love for you, considered whether you had the same feelings, decided that you didn’t, and moved on, with me nothing more than a nice memory.”

  “Never.”

  This close to him, Dez knew only one way to convince him that she was here to commit to him, now and for always. She lifted up and fed his cock into her, tightened and drew him inside her body. Leaning away from him, she raised his chin and caught his eyes.

  “This, what we had, what we still have, is the truest thing I’ve ever felt in my long life. Zach, I’m hundreds of years alive on this world and I’ve never connected to anyone like I have with you. You complete me and you scare the shit out of me. I’m not a loving woman, I never have been. But this, what we are together, I need. It may have taken me a while to be brave enough to come for you, but I never had any doubt how much I loved you.”

  Barely able to speak now, her body shuddered in response to Zach’s fullness as he invaded her, moved in her, the sexual friction intense, the connection more so. She felt his body tightening too, ready to push over the edge of ecstasy.

  “This is where you belong, Zach,” she whispered, and that did it. Mind and body merged, the physical sensations and the emotional reaction to the fact that she loved him, created an immediate explosive response and he came, hard, with a loud groan, and pumped into Dez as she spasmed and tightened down on him.

  He held her near, and when their orgasms calmed down and they were able to move again, Zach slipped off the bench and floated both of them into the center of the pool.

  “God, I haven’t forgotten one moment with you, but that was paradise.”

  “It’s because abstinence has to work hard to remind us of what we already know. It had to remind me how perfect we are together, and that we belong together.”

  Dez floated closer as the buoyant water tried to pull them apart. “Zach, come home. I can’t do this life thing anymore without you.”

  “Are you that certain that we can make it now? That you are ready to commit to me for so many years?”

  “I think so. Yes. Yes, I am. I’m in love with you.”

  “Dez,” Zach began, then held her head in his hands.

  “Your first instinct was the right one. You think you are ready. Think, not know. I can’t do that. Baby, I can’t be in love with you forever if you aren’t with me.”

  “I do love you. Forever. Zach, you have to believe me.”

  “I believe you. Dez, you were in love with me before I left, but you still let me walk out that door. You still let me spend two years wondering if I’d ever see you again.”

  “You know I have trouble with relationships. You know that, Zach.”

  “I do.” Zach pulled Dez back to the edge of the pool and floated her onto the bench. Seating himself beside her, he was quiet for several moments before he spoke.

  “Let’s take this one day at a time. No expectations, no pressure, no promises. If it works, then it works. I’m going to be in Siberia for a while. Will you stay with me?”

  Dez nodded. “I’ll stay. Anywhere with you, anytime. To prove to you that I’m in this for always, I’ll do whatever you want.”

  “Okay.” For the second time, Zach took her face in his hands and kissed her, his tongue lingering, his fingers laced into her long wet hair. He let his tongue travel to her neck and nipped softly, bit, drew blood, licked it off and moaned. “It was such a shock when I looked up tonight.”

  “I wasn’t sure you saw me standing there.”

  “You kind of catch the eye.”

  “But you weren’t looking for me.”

  “Baby, I’ve been looking for you for two years.”

  “Zach, I hope you can forgive me and trust me after what I’ve put you through.”

  “There’s nothing to forgive, and I do trust you. I would trust you with my life, but I know that you’re a flight risk. It isn’t your fault, you made it clear how difficult your life has been.”

  “You don’t know the half of it. I recently found something out that shocked me.”

  Still nuzzling, distracted, but listening, Zach moaned again as he began to draw more blood. He fitted her beneath him, the heat of the natural mineral hot springs adding to the sensuality as he began a blood meal. It fed his need for blood and filled his cock again. As usual, the blood demanded sex, so with this woman beneath him, he’d be in her again in moments.

  “What have you found out?” he whispered when he drew back.

  Entering a sexual thrall, Dez shook her head and grabbed Zach. “Later,” she whispered before she pulled her neck
away from him and mounted him a second time. “Hard, Zach. Fast…you know how I like it.”

  He did. And he did.

  “Do you think they’ll be back tonight?”

  “I don’t know, Nikolai. Zach’s dream woman has come to him. What would you have done?” Olivia leaned across the table at Nikolai’s cabin and nicked an almond cookie he’d set out for his guests. Zip lay on a bench beside her, his head in her lap. Her eyes rested on his neck. Tonight, she would introduce him to the art of feeding a vampire.

  “The same thing. Taken her to the hot springs and made love to her all night.”

  “You have your answer then.”

  “But there is no place to rest there, and they would be trapped for the daylight.”

  “True. I suppose we’ll see them, then. Nik, I need to set up a final meal. Vampire size. What do you have?”

  “Everything. You told me you were coming and bringing a vampire, so I cleaned out several shops two days ago.”

  “I love you, you amazing man. So, let’s get some things prepared and show Zach’s woman what great hosts we are.”

  Zip groaned as he lost his comfy lap. “What can I do?”

  “So who’s the arrogant vampire?”

  “Dez, she’s not arrogant. And we haven’t fucked, so you can stop the jealous wife act. She’s pretty awesome. In fact, she reminds me a lot of you.”

  “Just what a girl wants to hear, that a handy replacement is waiting in the wings.”

  “You are irreplaceable, and you know it. Even with your commitment issues and childhood drama, you know that you are spectacular.”

  Silent for a few seconds, Dez looked out the window of the car. “Yeah, I do.”

  They were heading back to Zach’s local lodgings and she hated that they wouldn’t be alone anymore. She didn’t want to meet the woman who “reminds me of you” and who had a clean slate with Zach. Her eyes wandered back to him, his strong profile, powerful hands controlling the car on icy roads, his wild blonde hair long again, though short-cropped on top to stick up like he’d been in a wind tunnel. How could she sit here, finally with him again, and have even one thought less than joy that they might make a life together after all that they had been through? She slid a gloved hand over to cover his thigh and he glanced over at her. The light was dim in the car, but he could see her eyes shining.

  “Hi, baby,” he whispered.

  “Hi, baby,” she answered back. There had been a lot of bad shit in her life. Memories best left unremembered. But tonight was different. Tonight…well…life didn’t suck after all.

  “Here we are. Dez, be nice. Don’t hostile them, these are really good people and I care about them.”

  “I will be, promise. You really think I’m that great a bitch?”

  “I think you’re…passionate. And protective. What you don’t know, you’re suspicious of.”

  Sliding her hand over to grasp Zach’s crotch. “Maybe. But let’s revisit that passionate assessment. You know that I’m not finished with you tonight.”

  Slipping out of the car, Zach leaned in with a wide grin.

  “Oh, hell, do I. Come get warm, baby. Then I’ll take you to my room and set you on fire.”

  Dez surveyed the cabin they approached and decided that it was worse than the hole-in-the-frozen-wall she’d found Zach in a few hours ago. Siberia and luxury were apparently not close friends. With Zach at her side, though, she owned the moon.

  As the door squeaked open, the heat that hit her immediately felt like heaven after the cold drive back from the hot springs. Zach gently pushed her through and followed her, pulling the door closed behind them. Once it was latched, he took her hand and drew her in to a golden-lit room dominated by a table with big wood chairs around it. The beautiful vampire and two human men Zach had been with when she arrived looked up from filled plates.

  Zach tugged a reluctant Dez closer. “Guys, you already know that this is my friend Dez. Dez, may I introduce my flying partner, Michael “Zip” Miller. We jumped off a mountain together recently. Olivia, who brought us here to this stunning lake, a brand new friend who I think may have many adventures waiting for us and perhaps a little trouble. This man is Nikolai, a scientist who has a noble mission much like the first bloods. He intends to save the natural world from mankind’s unholy mission to use it up to the last stone.”

  While Dez knew that the proper greeting would be to surge forward, clasp hands, and say a hearty “nice to meet you,” instead, she just nodded.

  Nikolai shoved his chair back and did what she had just mentally reminded herself that she should do. He came around the table quickly and took her by the shoulders, kissed her on each cheek, and stepped back to give her a slight bow.

  “Welcome, Ms. Dez, to my home. Please, you must treat it as your own. Olivia has helped prepare a big meal for you two so that you will rest comfortably for this coming day. May I seat you here?”

  He pulled out a heavy chair and waited. Dez found herself responding unexpectedly to his overt hospitality.

  She smiled. Genuinely. Zach raised his eyebrows and took a seat beside her as Dez lowered herself easily into the chair presented by Nikolai.

  “I appreciate it very much, human.”

  “Nik, please, my new friend.”

  “Nik, then. Thank you. I am cold, hungry, and exhausted from that unimaginably long train journey to this ridiculously frozen country. I must ask you, why would anyone choose to live here?”

  “It is my work. And it is incredibly beautiful, even with the harsh temperatures winter brings. Come, enjoy!”

  Nikolai took it upon himself to fill a plate with a generous sampling of everything on the table. As he set it in front of Dez, he handed an empty plate to Zach. “Dig in, my friend,” he invited.

  Zach smiled while he scooped out generous portions for himself. “So how pretty would I have to be to get that kind of service?”

  Blushing, Nikolai leaned back. “Much, much, prettier, buddy.” His even, white teeth shone in the firelight. “You have fine big hands, you can reach all the food.” He looked back at Dez, eyes sparkling. “Good, yes?”

  Enjoying the attention, Dez bit into a thick piece of bread. “Ummm. Yes, thank you. So…” Her eyes moved to Olivia. “So what’s your story? How did you and Zach meet?”

  Her gaze locked on Dez’s, Olivia took a long slow sip of wine, ran her finger around the rim of the glass, put it sensually into her mouth, glanced at Zach, then back to Dez, and sighed.

  “I always find the best pieces of meat.” To emphasize her meaning, she looked up at Zach, then lifted some kind of beef from her plate, and, with her eyes on him, she licked it, her tongue sliding slowly up one side and down the other, then across the top of the meat in circles.

  “Mmm, de-lic-ious.”

  Heat infused Dez’s head, angered at the insinuation.

  Their eyes locked.

  Suddenly Dez heard Olivia’s voice in her mind.

  Calm down, vampirella, with the tight leathers and lethal footwear. That man is yours, top of his beautiful hair to end of his big toes. I haven’t touched him, though I gave it a go after we met. It appears I reminded him too much of you. My loss. But we’re not in competition for that boy.

  Huh, well, lookie at you. A telepathic bitch looking to scratch her itch. Isn’t that interesting?

  Can we focus on the fact that you’re the first telepath I’ve met in all of my centuries? I was shocked when Zach told me that you had that same skill.

  Don’t make us cousins, lady.

  Don’t make us enemies, either. Just look at your man. He is one hundred percent all yours, darling. This little human here, he’s the one I’m hooked on right now. So, chill the fuck out and let’s have a good time, yeah?

  Zach watched the two women stare unblinking at each other and knew that they were speaking to each other telepathically. Even without their silence, he would have known because their expressions were intense and hostile.

  He placed a
hand on Dez’s and forced her to break her link with Olivia. Finally, her eyes shot to his.

  “What?” she said, more aggressively than she meant.

  “We’re all friends here, baby.”

  One more glance back at Olivia, then to Zip, to Nikolai, and Dez nodded. “Yeah, we’re all friends. So, to parties and ice-skating, right?”

  Lifting her wine glass up, the moment of tension past, she touched Zach’s glass, then Nikolai’s, Zip’s, and finally, after a moment’s hesitation, Dez bumped her glass of wine with Olivia’s. “Truce,” she said out loud for all to hear.

  “Truce,” Olivia agreed.

  I still don’t like you, Dez shot to Olivia.

  Olivia smiled. You’re going to love me.

  Scooping up a pasta dish of some kind, Dez was impressed by the flavors, which were bold and unusual, and filled her fork again before she spoke.

  “So what do you do here in this cold-ass country for fun?”

  “Spelunking for one,” Zach answered.

  “Spelunking? It’s 70 below zero out there!”

  “Not in the caves. This area has subterranean geothermal hotspots. You’ve been introduced.”

  Her smile wide, Dez nodded. “I remember.”

  “So Nikolai works below the surface this time of year, and he’s found an ancient burial ground.” This time, Zach kept his eyes on Dez’s. “A burial ground of vampires.”

  He watched her eyebrows tent. “Vampires?”

  “Ancient. As in older than a thousand years.”

  Her fork stilled, Dez let the implication sink in. For those who did not know about the existence of the first bloods, this meant little. But she knew that the first blood vampires she’d met over the past five years were only slightly older than a thousand years. They all believed that they were the first, literally, the parents of all vampires who exist or ever existed.

  “Zach, that means…” Dez trailed off as Zach nodded.

  “It does. Everything that our friends believe to be true may not be after all. There may be vampires that pre-date those with first blood.”

  “Fuck.”

  Nikolai had been listening to the exchange. “Zach, you’ve used that term before. First blood. What does it mean?”