Daydream Believer (The Firsts Book 10)

by C. L. Quinn

  DAYDREAM

  BELIEVER

  C.L.QUINN

  Blak Kat Publishing

  February 2015

  All rights reserved

  One

  That was a long fucking way down! From below, it seemed manageable, but from up here on the mountain, as he stepped up to the edge of the cliff, the light of the full moon showed an expansive valley stretched below him. He was getting ready to step off that cliff into open air.

  Zach looked at his instructor.

  “This just doesn’t seem right,” he said, wisecracking.

  Zip nodded. “The first time never does. You just have to trust the training, and trust the air. Go for it, Zach. You’ll never feel anything this good again in your life.”

  God, he hoped that wasn’t true! Memories of a woman he would never forget proved that, no matter how good flying might feel, it wouldn’t even be close to as good as it gets.

  Now, though, standing on the edge of open sky wearing a woefully inadequate, oddly designed nylon bag that would enable him to fly, his biggest concern was about how long it might take a vampire to heal if this turned out to be a big fucking failure.

  Zip put a hand on Zach’s back, and Zach pushed backwards against him.

  “Whoa, don’t help! I’m going to step off, but, hey, give a guy a moment to make peace with the potential consequences.”

  “I wasn’t pushing. Well, not yet anyway. You’re ready, you know. I’ve never seen anyone take to this like you have. I’m right behind you, brother.”

  “I know you are. So…”

  Zach took off at a run and leaped into the sky, his arms and legs taut and wide, the wingsuit spread hard, the air pressing into it, creating lift.

  He would have sucked in a deep breath at the thrill and relief that he’d pulled off the take-off and actually jumped…if he could breathe.

  Eyes scanning the moonlit landscape below, he had to admit; it was spectacular. Just him, the air, and thin nylon against gravity and the hard ground hundreds of feet below.

  To his side, a bright blue shadow gained on him, the color muted by the darkness, but Zach could see Zip clearly.

  Damn, that was a brave man. He was human, and had much more to fear than Zach.

  They glided across rolling hills filled with pine trees silvered by the light of the moon. Carried aloft on light air currents, they sailed past irregular bodies of water glistening in the magical nightlight, distant villages lit for nighttime, and the soft light shining through windows.

  Zach admitted. Nothing would ever feel as good as coming inside of Dez…but this was close. He’d been so angry and lost, so wild and lawless, careless and carefree, since he’d blown out of her life two years ago. He’d traveled a lot and taken the time to discover what life as a vampire could be.

  The past two years had been extraordinary. In that first year alone, he’d done things he’d never expected to do in the average human lifetime. He’d driven every super-car he’d ever wanted to at outrageous speeds that would have stopped his heart when he’d just been Zach the attorney in L.A. He’d visited at least half the globe, found a stunning woman (or ten) in every city he’d stayed for more than a night, and discovered the real meaning of the word stamina. This night, the night he’d pushed himself the furthest and jumped off a cliff to literally fly, was the culmination of this incredible journey.

  Zach had barely taken a moment to stop long enough to think about her. That had been a conscious effort, his way of dealing with her loss. If he kept himself busy enough, he didn’t think about her. Much. But he still missed her, and knew that he always would. Didn’t mean he didn’t enjoy the hell out of this crazy life he was living right now!

  Zip had pulled ahead, controlling himself better than Zach, his skill superior to Zach’s on his maiden voyage. There was a reassurance in watching the skilled wingman sailing over the land just in front of him. This was one of the most spectacular nights of his life. Little else would ever top this, Zip had been right about that. The Austrian mountainside below their gliding bodies was indescribably beautiful with moonlight bathing the trees and valleys.

  Tilting to ride the wind, Zach moved his body to meet the air and watched the landscape bathed in silver as it moved beneath his grateful eyes. This, he needed, especially tonight, this escape from his mind, this spectacular flight, this journey beyond himself. Taking this leap was the pinnacle of his year of living dangerously, a perfectly sane and brilliant reaction to becoming a nearly indestructible immortal vampire, and he had to admit that he couldn’t have chosen a more perfect culmination.

  As the wind whipped against the wingsuit and tore at him, he watched as Zip engaged the parachute that would allow him to sail safely back to ground. Following his instructor and newfound friend, Zach did the same, the sudden tug on his body yanked him upward with force to allow him to dangle safely until his feet touched the earth.

  He thought it had to be a completely natural human reaction to drop onto the hard-packed ground and lower his head to kiss the grass.

  Zach was raising his head when he saw two feet approaching and heard Zip laughing.

  “Fucking awesome, isn’t it? Tell me you’ve never had a ride like that before!”

  Standing, Zach pulled his helmet off, nodded, and unzipped the neck of the suit. “Nothing quite like this, no. That was a life experience, my friend. All I can say is that I want to do that again soon.”

  “That’s what most people say who fly the friendly skies with me. I have to thank you, though, Zach. This was the first time I’ve ever done this at night, and even with that full moon, I was concerned that there wasn’t enough light. I freaking loved it, man! After a ride like that, we need to find a pub and kill some ale!”

  “Amen to that. If there was ever an event that earned a night of drinking and debauchery, throwing yourself off a cliff at night is it. We’re brave-ass heroes tonight, buddy! I’m buying!”

  Gathering up their equipment, the exhilarated men hiked towards the lights into the village on the edge of the valley they’d dropped into. The air was cool, almost cold, and they wanted to find a place to stay, warm up, and get something to eat and drink. After a few odd looks from the villagers, a local woman led them to a big house that took in lodgers.

  Although Zip knew that Zach was vampire, for practical purposes, Zach had used compulsion to clue him in and control his responses when Zip witnessed things that a normal human being could never do. This way, Zach could include him in his life and enjoy his company. Zach had been told that it was wise to leave few humans aware of the vampire existence for everyone’s safety and contentment. His experiences these past two years had proven that it was good advice.

  Zip shook his head when Zach used air displacement to create extreme speed as he packed up their gear to store it in the corner of the room. Zip had seen his buddy move like that before and yet still watched in shocked awe with a grin on his face.

  “That is impossible, bro. You gotta show me how to do that.”

  “Sure,” Zach answered without concern. When they parted someday soon, Zip wouldn’t remember Zach or anything about their flight. Zach’s amazing supernatural nature would just disappear from the birdman’s mind. The need to do that, to eliminate any memories, was one of his least favorite parts of being vampire. Human relationships he built usually had to be compelled to forget his existence.

  Zach understood. It was in the forgetting that allowed the vampires to live in the world and yet remain hidden and safe. It still fucking sucked.

  “Let’s go get that booze,” he said and grabbed Zip’s collar to pull him from their quaint little room.

  “I need to get sm
ashed and laid, and in exactly that order.”

  “There are a lot of beautiful women in this town, it’s Saturday night, and we’re good-looking foreigners. Let’s go find some fun.”

  “Zip, I knew we were meant to be when I met you on that mountaintop.”

  “Six weeks of sky-diving and lessons came out of watching you stand so fucking close to the edge of the world without any gear at all. You scared the shit out of me and awed me at the same time. It’s been a ride, wild man.”

  With a sigh, Zach pushed Zip out the door and pulled it shut. Yeah, but where did he go from here?

  “Screw it,” he whispered to himself. “Zip, let’s hit it.”

  The village had one club, and when Zach first entered the place, warmth struck him immediately. The place was packed with young people enjoying the weekend night and each other’s company. It was exactly what the two men sought after such an exhilarating flight.

  They took a centrally located table, vacated by a couple of rowdy young men, Zach’s doing, once the two succumbed to the compulsion to move somewhere else on Zach’s suggestion. Zip flagged a waitress and asked her to send drinks right away.

  “This is one of my favorite villages in Austria. The people are welcoming and the ladies are gorgeous.”

  “I bow to your excellent choices, Zip, you’ve never steered me wrong. The only question I have is, what the hell are you going to do next? ”

  Zip grinned as his eyes moved across the table to the bar. “I’m going to do that pretty little brunette at the end of the counter.”

  Standing, he pulled his shirt down, grabbed his bottle, winked at Zach and used a little too much swagger to make his way across the room. Shaking his head, Zach killed the bottle of local beer he’d been nursing and scanned the room.

  More than one woman was eyeing him.

  She watched the two buff, uber-macho men come into the tavern. One, handsome, with long dark hair pulled into a ponytail, was completely human. The second one, blonde, taller, intense…yeah, not so much. He was big, but most vampire men were. This one, though, wasn’t only bigger than most vampires she’d met, but he had bright blue eyes, and that was decidedly not common for vampires. Try as she might, she couldn’t keep her eyes off him. He was sexy, that intrigued her, it always did, but he was more than that…he was a mystery. Even when she was still human, she’d loved a good mystery.

  When the human male walked away to join a slender brunette at the bar, she considered her approach. Of course, he would know immediately that she was vampire, too, once she got close enough to him.

  Olivia downed the remainder of a tall mug of ale, wiping her lips with the back of her hand afterward and slipped off the stool. She was going to get close enough.

  Zach needed blood, and as usual, a good lay. The exhilaration of the wingsuit flight was waning now, and with Zip doing his thing with the ladies, it was time to take care of his own important physical needs. He’d already scoped the crowded room and selected three likely candidates, blondes, all of them.

  Since he’d left Dez, he often imagined her long multi-hued black hair spread over his thighs as she pleasured him. For some reason he wouldn’t let himself explore, he couldn’t be with a woman with black or even dark hair. Did it seem like he was cheating? Or was it that no other woman would measure up to the first woman in his life that he’d fallen in love with? Although Dez hadn’t been able to return that love, he was still hopelessly trapped in her. If she called, he’d go to her immediately.

  “I just need some blood,” he whispered to himself as he polished off his second bottle of bourbon. “I’m pussy-whipped and the pussy that’s whipping me is long gone. Fuck, I’m a lame vampire.” He wasn’t concerned that anyone would hear his admission, the din of music and voices in the small tavern would drown out anything he said. No one would hear his self-deprecating comment either.

  “Not lame from where I stand,” a soft female voice said behind him, her cultured British accent lyrical and sexy.

  Whipping around, Zach stared at a petite dark-haired woman who reached around him to snag the only full bottle of whisky left on his table.

  “So, what are we drinking?” she asked as she tilted it up and killed it in one long, breath-free draw.

  She was vampire, Zach knew right away. The woman held herself with supreme confidence, her long dark hair snatched up in a sexy, wild curly mass. Her eyes were dark, normal for vampires, but had strange striations in a lighter tone that he’d never seen before.

  “Umm, the high-end stuff. Makes sense, you being vampire and all,” she commented loudly as she slammed the bottle back onto the table.

  Wrapping his hand around the bottle to make sure that it didn’t fall over, Zach turned fully to face her.

  “I’m sorry, can you repeat that? I don’t think that everyone heard you tell them that I’m vampire,” he said, using very low volume that only a vampire could hear from this range.

  The woman moved in, slid between his legs, leaned closer, and put her lips against his ear. “Vampire,” she whispered. “I’m Olivia. And we need to talk. Do you have a room? Or we can go to mine.”

  This was a bold invitation for a vampire who did not know much about another vampire, but he was intrigued. She was stunning and she smelled incredible.

  “My room is shared with the man you saw with me. Your place, if it’s private.”

  Olivia moved her thighs back and forth against Zach’s.

  “Very,” was all she said. She recaptured the empty bottle, used her tongue around the rim. “Ummm. Nothing good left to lick here. Follow me if you want to.”

  Oh, Zach wanted to. His cock was filling already, pressed so hard against his jeans, he had to readjust the tight fabric. If he’d been looking for an exciting chaser to his first flight, this unexpected vampire was it.

  Olivia was already walking away from him, but slowly. She was giving him a chance to watch the snug skirt ride against her buttocks, unbothered by underwear, and only just below the curved cheeks. Long fit legs ended in ankle high boots with a high wedge heel.

  “Whew,” he whispered, aware that she could probably still hear him. Standing, he pulled his room key from his pocket, crossed the room, tucked the key quickly into Zip’s shirt pocket, and followed the beautiful vampire from the club.

  As the door closed behind him, Zach scanned the street and finally found the woman waiting for him halfway down the row of businesses. No one was around, so he used air displacement to arrive at her side in a split-second.

  “Olivia. It’s a lovely name.”

  “That which is a rose would smell as sweet…”

  “I agree.”

  “Come.”

  Olivia curled her fingers around Zach’s left hand and led him behind the next building, across two dirt lanes to a small house behind a barn. Chickens clucked quietly from a fenced-in hutch attached to the side.

  When Zach began to speak, Olivia shushed him.

  “Just follow, please,” she instructed as she pulled him inside. A weak lamp lit the room, which was compact but tidy with only a loveseat sized sofa and a single wicker chair beside a kitchenette.

  “Um, nice?” Zach said, and hoped that his comment, meant to be polite, sounded better than he thought it did.

  A laughing snort broke the silence a moment later.

  “What? No, this is the façade. The humans in this town are hard-working and kind, but hardly affluent. So to fit in, I keep simple digs that look much like everyone else’s home. But I don’t live here.”

  She pulled a small lever on the wall that looked like a key hung on a rope, the floor groaned, and a hatch opened up just a few inches right of Zach’s foot. He stepped quickly to the left and watched the hatch stop and a light go on in the dark hole to reveal steps.

  “Please,” Olivia said, gesturing towards the stairs.

  Normally it would be a bad idea for a guy to go into a hole in the ground with a stranger, but, of course, this was not a normal situatio
n, but two vampires hooking up for sex and blood.

  After a nod, he started down into the darkened place where this woman lived. The stairs stopped at a plushly carpeted floor that covered a room at least forty feet long. He scanned the area with approval as he saw high quality furniture, a well-supplied kitchen area, a TV screen that had to rival any he’d ever seen, and a bed easily big enough for a man his size to do his thing.

  “Like?” Olivia gently pushed him aside as she moved past him, touched a big lever on the wall beside the stairwell, and pulled him forward as the hatch slid back over the opening.

  “We’re vampires. We don’t live in squalor. I certainly never have. So, how about a nice Scotch? It’s forty years old and as smooth as it comes.”

  “Sure. So, you’ve lived here a long time then?”

  Suddenly, Zach found himself quite intrigued by this vampire. He was still very young himself, only about 5 years old, so he couldn’t gauge her age, but he assumed she’d been alive a lot longer than he had.

  “A century in this location. I don’t stay here all the time, but it’s sort of my default home. The people here are always wonderful, but, as you know, I have to disappear every so often so that my apparent age isn’t noticed.”

  Olivia handed a crystal whisky glass to Zach and lifted one for herself. The glasses were filled to the rim. It took a lot more alcohol to get a vampire buzzed than a normal human, let alone drunk.

  “So, where do you come from? American accent, that’s apparent.”

  “Los Angeles, originally. But I’ve lived in a lot of places since then, too. Right now, I don’t have a home, just a new destination every few weeks or months.”

  “Ah, you’re young. Trying out the world, right?” Olivia pulled herself up on top of a dresser and let her legs hang off the edge.

  The movement drew Zach’s eyes to the skirt that barely covered anything. While she easily ranked as one of the sexiest women he’d ever seen, something felt strange suddenly. He couldn’t figure out what it was, but the desire to have sex with this woman had waned. He swallowed half the glass of whisky. She was right, it was excellent.