by C. L. Quinn
Closer, closer, closer, she waited for fear to kick in and the desire to run away.
It never happened. Koen stood at the head of the procession. When a vampire chose a mate, a ceremony was never necessary, so he was more a token referee.
He looked out over his family, everyone from both households and then some. His eyes moved to his brother who already had a bottle of whisky in his hand. Saint’s preserve us, he thought. Bas held Park’s hand while she tried to get the restless Cairine to sit up in the chair. He’d noticed that Bas hadn’t let his daughter out of his sight since she’d come home.
“Okay, people, we are here to share this joining ceremony with these two rogues who have finally chosen to commit to each other. Good choice, you guys. It’s the best thing that I’ve ever done.”
Alisa, with a sweet smile, sat in the front row holding Tamesine’s little girl. She saluted him.
“Now, I believe we have written vows, yeah?”
Zach unwrapped a piece of paper and spread it open against his palm.
“Baby, you go first,” he said to Dez.
Koen thought that she looked thunderstruck.
“Um, no, really, you go first.”
Zach cleared his throat. “All right. Dez, in this world, we talk about spirit and soul a lot. I think that’s what I want you to understand about me. You are my heart, my spirit, my soul, and my world. I walked away only so that you could understand that we belonged together from that first day in Vancouver. Dez, it’s just this simple. I love you, and I want you as my mate for as long as the fates will allow me to be with you.”
Moving towards her suddenly, Zach kissed her on the forehead and stepped back, his hands folded again, and just smiled.
“Are you finished?” Dez asked abruptly.
“I am,” Zach replied. “Your turn.”
Dez let her eyes roam over the audience, her new family, Tamesine with her mate and a brother and sister for Dez, Olivia tugging at a crooked tie on Zip, and the one she’d built over centuries with Bas. She looked back up at Zach with a smile that lit her world from every dark corner and back.
Damn’t, she wasn’t good at this shit!
“I freaking take you as my mate forever, Zach.” She paused. “That’s it. I think it says it all.”
Koen, his eyebrows lifted, nodded.
“I agree. You two are hitched.” He lifted both arms.
“Wedding cake!” he yelled.
The party went on all night, raucous and fun-filled, endless music, food, and dancing.
Park, still recovering, the child finally moving happily in her belly again, sat some distance away from the loudest music.
She’d dropped onto the sand and let the sound of the waves calm her racing mind.
Bas came up beside her and handed her a full size plate that held a large piece of chocolate cake with white icing piled high. Dropping down beside her, he handed her a fork.
“How long before we get back to normal, Bas?” she asked as she cut off a bite.
Bas shook his head, a hand on her calf, caressing the muscles. “Never. Nothing in my life has ever been worse than going to our bed at night knowing that you might not ever be there with me again.”
“When I knew that I was dying, the only thing I wanted in the world was to curl up in your arms, and if I had to die, I wanted my last breath to come against your chest. I wanted to bury myself in you and become a part of you so that, once I was gone, I would still be there. I didn’t want you to lose me. But more than that, it was our son, who I had failed.”
“Never, never, never has there been a better mother. You astound me, Park, and could never let any of us down.”
“Thank the fates that they were kind.”
“Thank Tamesine. Again. That woman has become our savior in so many ways. When I think about how I didn’t want her in our lives, I think that was when the fates were kind. They let her stay anyway.”
“She’s had a tough life. Now, though, she has a huge first blood family.”
“Another moment when our lives are changing yet again.”
“There is a wild future coming.”
Bas gently took the fork from Park’s hand, cut another bite of the cake and fed it to her, then one for himself.
“I don’t care, as long as we face it together.”
He got a kiss from icing-covered lips and didn’t complain at all.
“Come with me,” Dez told Zach as she grabbed his hand and pulled him down the beach so distant they couldn’t see or hear any of the partiers at Zach’s home.
It was almost too dark to see each other under the edge of a rocky outcropping, but she drew him up and pushed him down. The dress required some vampire-level skills to get it off, but in no time, Dez stood naked except for the high-heels and the black pearls.
“Would you like to fuck a married woman?”
“I would like to fuck this one,” Zach answered.
“Lucky for you, she’s available and you’re just her type.”
Naked now, Zach lay exactly where Dez had pushed him, up on his elbows, as he enjoyed the view.
Stepping over him, Dez used the heel of one of the shoes to push a leg aside, then did the same with the other one.
She lay down on her stomach between his legs and fingered his cock, more than ready for her. Drawing him in, she worked him until he lost his ability to stay up on his elbows and fell back against the sand. Her tongue, fast, creative, and a little punishing, which he liked, moved up and down so quickly, he came explosively sooner than he wanted to.
His legs jelly, he lifted his head. “I keep forgetting how good you are at that.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep reminding you.”
Zach pulled her onto his chest. Just the sensation of her naked body, her breasts, her clitoris, against his skin was as erotic for him as sex. His hands roamed over her body, and stopped to give her full breasts extra attention.
“My turn,” he commented.
“Not yet. This is the first time that we’ll make love as mates. I want to savor every moment.”
Zach was grateful that vampire anatomy allowed him to get hard enough quickly enough for her to ride him so soon.
Dez lowered herself over him and began the motion that they had done so many times before. This was different, though, because this man was hers, and she was his. And they had nearly lost it all.
Zach watched as her eyes began to glow.
“It’s official, you’re first blood. Scary magic eyes.”
Her movements became faster, he thrust up to meet her as she stroked down, heat building, the orgasm waiting, waiting, waiting…and then the roller coaster ride as they swept to the edge and stayed there, spasms of pleasure never felt before, the satiated collapse. Zach could barely breathe.
Dez pushed up and walked away from him, down the beach to splash the water with her feet.
When he could stand again, Zach followed her. He took her hand and they walked without speaking for a while. He kept peeking at her until she spoke.
“Am I good enough for you, Zach? You are so extraordinary, you deserve the finest woman in the world.”
He pulled her close. “Yeah? Good thing I’ve got her then.”
It was settled, they were bound. Forever and always.
Until death do them part. But not today.
TWO DAYS LATER
Olivia waited as Zach loaded the final bag and gave him a hug. Dez had avoided her this last day while she and Zach packed and prepared to leave France. Zip was leaving too, catching a flight to the states. She would wipe his memory of the vampire stuff before he went, but she’d leave the memories of their aggressive sex. Someday, she would find him, and they’d play again. For now, she needed to find out who she was, and that could only happen here in France with her great-grandmother.
She’d decided to go look for Dez and have it out when Dez stepped out the front door of the villa.
They stopped, eyes locked, they knew too much wa
s left unsaid.
Dez sighed and took Olivia’s hand. “Zach, I’ll be back in a little bit.”
She pulled her from the villa onto the road. “Let’s walk.”
Olivia nodded and stayed at Dez’s side. They wandered down the two lane road until eventually Dez spoke again. “I know why you want to stay here and I understand. I’m not upset with you. But here’s what you must know. You are my family and you are always welcome to come to me, wherever I am.”
“You risked your life to save mine, I have to believe that you care about me.”
Dez halted and put a hand out to Olivia to stop her.
“I suck at telling people how I feel. But I would make that choice a thousand times over, because you are my blood, and you are a remarkable woman, and I can’t wait to get to know you and let you get to know me. Does that clarify things?”
With tears in her eyes, Olivia hugged Dez and didn’t let go. “It does. I kind of suck at telling people how I feel too, so that’s just another thing we have in common.”
As she pulled back, Olivia wiped her eyes. “Uh, are you going to look for my father?”
“I am. In fact, Bas has a superstar tech guy that I’ve already spoken with and he’s going to do some research on boys born around the time that my son was in that part of London. I’ll let you know. Olivia, have a wonderful time, but when you’re ready, why don’t you come to South America?”
“I will. But don’t be shocked if I call you Grand-mama, I kind of like that.”
“Oh, shit. This is going to kill my take-no-prisoners reputation.”
“We’re pretty adaptable. You’ll get used to it.”
When they arrived back at the villa, Koen charged out of the house. “Kids, we’re going to miss our window if we don’t get moving. Daylight waits for no man.”
Giving Olivia another hug, Dez looked around to see Tamesine and her family on the steps. After a brief hesitation, she went up the steps and hugged Tamesine, Marc, and then kissed her brother and sister on their chubby cheeks.
“There, I’m officially no longer a badass!”
Zach scooped her off the steps and carried her down to Koen’s car. “You can take it out on me.”
“You can bet on it.”
As they drove away from the villa, Dez looked back to watch it recede into the darkness. Yes, she would be back and soon, because this was family, and love, and protection, and Dez could admit that was exactly what she sought in Zach.
He reached for her hand and laid it against his chest.
“So, that was quite an adventure, wasn’t it?”
OUTSIDE OF PARIS
Sarah unpacked Xavier’s things and put them in the proper places. His room was so large, a family of six could live there without seeing each other all week.
He hadn’t used most of the clothes he’d taken to Siberia, so she just shook them out and hung them up in his closet in their assigned spots. The rest, she’d take downstairs to be laundered.
Pulling the protective panel over the large window near his bed, she prepared his chamber for sleep.
Xavier raced in suddenly and jumped onto his bed.
“So glad to be home.”
“Yes, but that lake was quite spectacular.”
“Cold is what it was!”
“I can’t dispute that. Sir, I’ll take care of your laundry now and see to it that your chef knows that you are back.”
Sarah walked to the door and paused. Then she turned back to him.
Xavier, naked now and under the sheets, looked up.
“Aye, lassie?”
“Sir, I need to tell you something and if I don’t get it off my mind right now, it will torture me until I do.”
Chewing her cheek, she looked around the impressive room decorated with the best furniture, fabrics, art. She would miss this.
“I’m waitin.’”
“Of course you are. This isn’t easy, sir, and it wasn’t an easy thing to decide. But, I would like to be released from service.”
Xavier was stunned. “Ya what?”
“I would like to resume a normal human life. Xavier, the days fly in a normal life, but mine are long and dull because, while I love taking care of your needs, I’m not accomplishing anything on my own. Baron inspired me because he helps people. He has purpose.”
She paused to watch his reaction. He was still frozen, his eyes on hers, dumbstruck.
“Sir, I need to have purpose. It isn’t normal to live a hundred years. I think I need time to be with my own people, be like my own people. So, I ask if you could forgive me my service for all of the years I’ve already done.”
“I don’t know what to say. Sarah, ye’re my right hand man, and ya know that. But if ye’re not happy, then of course, ya must seek yer fortune. If we’ve learned anything these past weeks, it’s that time does not wait for us to be ready, it goes on without us. When did ya want to go?”
“Not right away. Maybe in late spring.”
“And where would ya go?”
“My mother was born in Boston in the United States and I think that’s the perfect place for me to start my new journey.”
“Then ya must go. I’ll send ya with a lot of cash and set ya up with a fine house.”
“Thank you, but, just a small amount of money to help me get started is all I need. I’ll be able to make a living.”
Xavier nodded. “Ah, the medical degree. I should have seen this comin’.”
“It was never my intention to leave you when I decided to go to school. But things evolved and I find that I need to contribute something before I go. Xavier, thank you for your understanding.”
He grimaced. “Lass, I’m not a monster.”
“Never. But you can be…forceful and intractable.”
“Aye, ya know me well. All right, little Sarah, ya have yer freedom whenever ya want it.”
Closing the door, Sarah walked away from the moment that would change her life forever. She’d asked him and he’d been kind and understanding. Xavier had been a good sire, but Sarah had known for some time now that she had to make a change.
Boston, and a real job. A normal life…
She was worried, a little scared, and more excited than she ever had been in a hundred years.
THE END
HOWEVER…AT LAKE BAIKAL…
Grateful that Olivia had convinced the vampires that he was trustworthy and allowed him to continue his work with the vampire gravesite, Nikolai thought tonight that perhaps that was a mistake. He grinned at what a pussy he was as he tried to get out of the cave ahead of an approaching snowstorm. The temperatures in the area had continued to drop to the point where his fingers stayed frozen most of the time he worked, and half the time he wasn’t sure if he had icicles hanging from his ass.
He’d already sent his team home, but stayed to ensure that all lights were off and tools stored. Looking around carefully, everything in place, he turned off the final light and turned to go, his headlamp the only light source now. With a final glance before he headed back up the corridor to the ladder, something shining in the dark caught his eye.
Normally, it was the definition of total darkness down there when the lights were out, but something glowed in a far corner of the cave, near two skeletons he had named Couple #3. A golden glow lit the darkness where there should be nothing but absolute black.
Moving through the site carefully, he squatted to get a look at what the hell it could be. Beneath the ice, an amulet lay frozen, but the center had begun to glow. As he bent closer, it glowed even brighter.
Holy shit! One of the amulets was still active?
Nikolai pulled a trowel out of his pack and scraped to see how deep the layer of ice was that surrounded it. The amulet’s glow went blindingly bright, Nikolai stood and backed away to regain his sight when he heard a horrible sound that anyone from this region recognized immediately…the ice was giving way.
Splintering ice, and a lot of it, begun before a thunderous rumble ben
eath his feet. Nikolai tried to outrun the breaking ground, but he wasn’t quick enough.
Moments later, the rumble stopped and Nikolai was gone into the earth.
Readers, one more journey, and another ripple in the world of the first bloods. We know so many journeys remain, so many stories to tell, but soon, we will move forward to when the new generation will be called.
And that will be a new day...
Thank you for coming along for this part of the journey again!
Charlie Quinn
