by Aiden James
“What, like stepping out into the sun?” I suggested. He nodded grimly. “It seems like getting beheaded or stabbed through the heart with a wooden stake would be better than what the elixir will do.”
“That’s true,” he said. “But the elixir was born out of Kazikli’s desire to find something quick and relatively painless. The end result failed to meet that expectation.”
“Sounds like he fucked up,” I said, adding a wry smile to try and lighten the mood that was heading south again.
“Yes, I believe in so many words that was his assessment,” he said, smiling wryly, as well. “It was in the early days of Ralu’s underground cave kingdom, and Kazikli experimented his potions upon the wilder, untamed vampires—the first Chupacabra strains that Ralu had encouraged by his own abstention from feeding on your ancestors’ sacred blood. None of the civilized vampires looked upon these others as their brethren, so killing a few of them in pursuit of scientific knowledge and improved sorcerer magic wasn’t disdained.”
“Oh…I’ll bet that’s another grudge held by Ralu,” I said, knowing how most humans would react to that sort of thing.
This fact alone shed light on the demon vampire king’s relentless violence toward the human race and any vampires who have opposed him. If this were how he and his kind had been treated for centuries—along with being hunted by humans armed with torches and pitchforks at midnight—surely an evil mind would believe the opportunity to extract prolonged retribution in the present age was deserved payback for all sins wrought against him and his progeny.
“Why don’t we suspend this discussion on such gruesome subjects for now?” Racco suggested, likely in response to my worried frown. He gazed out the window at the sun behind us. It steadily descended toward the western horizon. “You’ve hardly touched your wine…would you prefer that I freshen your glass?”
“Sure.”
I watched him as he walked over to a small bar nearby…so fluid in his movements, a man never out of control of himself.
“Would you like a chilled glass this time?” he said, wearing an impish grin. “Mercel told me how the colder glasses were your preference on Christmas Eve. Or, we could keep things as they are, in the more traditional way.”
“Geez… I forgot all about that.” I chuckled at the memory of me asking Mercel for a frosted glass after the first one was given to me on accident. I honestly don’t know why it became my preference that night, but it did. Maybe because I believed I was going to be stuck in a Siberian-like existence in China forever. “Yeah, I’ll take a frosted glass. What the hell.”
Racco chuckled along with me, and after allowing me a few minutes to freshen up and take care of Alaia’s needs, we soon were drinking his Bordeaux vineyard’s finest merlot and talking about lighter subjects. I thought it might mean avoiding all vampire topics, but that’s mostly what we talked about. We touched on my adventures in China and Nepal, as well as his search for a Ralu-proof safe haven in countries such as Italy, Greece, and Romania.
Talking with Racco felt good, and before long I started to warm up to him again. The wanton thoughts—my lust—were rekindled, despite his and Chanson’s history. If nothing else, such desires kept me from thinking about Peter and the life I had lost, and the fact that realistically I’d never qualify for such a wonderful life. Not as long as I carried the special blood in my veins that kept good vampires separated from the bad.
If not for my daughter’s presence, I might’ve acted on that lust and my need for a man after so many months foregoing all carnal desires. But, even if I had done so, Racco soon made it clear that his priority this time was my peace of mind and comfort, much more than a conquest for sex like what happened on our last shared experience together.
By then, it was nearing eight o’clock that evening, Atlantic Time. I had a few glasses of wine and so had he. But instead of leading me back to the lone bedroom on his personalized jet for sex, when I got there I discovered he had arranged for a bassinet to be placed next to one side of the bed—my side. For himself, he had set up blankets on a nearby cot.
“You need your rest, Txema,” he told me, after I allowed him to place Alaia inside the bassinet.
She sucked on her pacifier while looking up at us both, and it was only a matter of time before she’d fall asleep. I was having a hard time staying awake myself, as the jetlag mentioned by Kazikli early that morning had caught up with me. But I had so many concerns and worries prodding my mind that I doubted I’d sleep long.
“Are you sure there’s no safe way for us to stop in Richmond to…to see my parents and…and my Grandma Terese?”
That was worry ‘number one’ for me, although I could barely keep my thoughts straight to coherently voice my request.
“As I mentioned earlier, Ralu’s forces attacked the airports in Kathmandu and Frankfurt last night, and will undoubtedly hit Nashville’s airport at dusk—merely on the off chance of catching you,” he said, his tone compassionate and soothing. “If he never slept in the day, Ralu would have captured you already. Sadly, I think his warriors will visit Richmond at any moment, if they are not there already.”
I suddenly pictured my momma and papa, as well as my brothers and grandmother dead—eaten by fiends like the ones I encountered in Knoxville last year. I started to cry.
“There, there, Txema…your loved ones will be all right as long as we continue on our journey to Paris tonight,” he said, placing his arms around my waist from behind. His strength enveloped me, and I felt as if I could melt into those arms. “Ralu will soon follow us there, I’m sure. We’ll arrive shortly after ten o’clock tomorrow morning with another full day of travel ahead of us, and to a destination he’ll never find. You need as much rest tonight as you can get…so have no worries, my love.”
I turned around to face him, looking into his blazing blue eyes that were heated only by human passion…albeit passion with two thousand years of experience. I brought my lips up to his and closed my eyes, ready for him to take me fully. He caressed my lips with his, but then pulled away when my pulse began to race.
“Not yet, my love,” he whispered. “You need your rest. There will be plenty of opportunities for us to make up for lost time.”
I groaned in disappointment, but reluctantly allowed him to walk me over to the bed. He helped unfasten the top back button to my blouse, and after I slid out of my clothes I climbed under the covers. As he finished pulling a blanket up to my chest, I reached back and pulled his face close to mine.
“Don’t sleep over there…stay with me,” I whispered. “Please.”
He didn’t verbally respond, but pulled away. I heard his soft footsteps and then the overhead light dimmed, and I thought for sure he was going to leave my daughter and I in the bedroom alone. But, then I heard more footsteps and the sound of him undressing…and soon him pulling the covers back while he climbed into bed with me.
“I’ll never leave you again, Txema,” he told me softly, his breath tingling my neck as he pulled his warm body up tightly against mine. “I swear this upon my soul.”
Lately, trouble seemed to always find me. Yet, in that moment I felt protected and at peace from all of life’s craziness. Completely exhausted from everything going on, I quickly fell asleep…but with a smile in my heart and upon my face.
Racco’s promise to me was the last thing I thought about.
Chapter 17
I didn’t awaken until the next morning, when the dawn’s light peered in through the lone uncovered window in Racco’s bedroom. We had just arrived in Paris. I thought for sure that someone—namely Racco himself—would’ve awakened me beforehand, so I could brace myself for the brief jolt of the plane hitting the runway. Not to mention the urgency to protect Alaia from flying across the room in her bassinet.
That thought alone got me rushing out of bed. But, when I peered into the bassinet, it lay empty. Panicked, I threw on my clothes and had barely zipped up my slacks as I scurried out of the bedroom and raced down t
he hall, shouting for Racco and my baby.
“We are right here,” he calmly called to me from the front of the plane. “Come, and see for yourself that everything is okay.”
He was sitting in his preferred leather chair with Alaia in his arms, and she seemed content until Mommy arrived. She immediately raised her arms for me, which was something she could barely do even as recent as the evening before.
“She will grow up faster than you can even imagine,” he said, surely in response to the look of surprise on my face. I felt a little self-conscious as I took her from him, since I’m sure my makeup was a complete mess and that I looked a lot less appealing than I had when we said goodnight. He, on the other hand, looked as if he had showered and shaved already. He was dressed in comfortable jeans and a peach colored shirt similar to the one he wore the previous night. “And, you worry far too much!”
“Did you just read my mind?”
I looked at him suspiciously, since his response certainly fit my worried thoughts. Alaia made a sound that almost sounded like a giggle. I wondered, for a moment, if I had two telepathic voyeurs in the passenger cabin with me.
“No, Txema, I’m not gifted like the vampires in that way,” he said, chuckling amusedly. “It’s only an observation that comes from many, many years of dealing with the heavier burden of vanity that all women carry, as opposed to the much lighter one we men have been dealt.”
Easy for someone like him to say, I’m sure. I highly doubt that most gorgeous, insanely rich men in the prime of life can relate to the ‘spring flower’ cycle a woman deals with. Granted, I’m quite young for a mother, and technically still a teenager as I write this. But, I have a cousin that will be twenty-seven in December, and when I last saw her at twenty-five, she looked nothing like she once did at my age. Three kids and a philandering husband are partly responsible for that. But, there aren’t many women who can keep an even pace with their aging male counterparts. Unless they become vampires, where aging and fighting gravity are no longer issues to contend with.
“So, how long will we be here?” I peered through a window on the opposite side of the plane from where he sat. Alaia continued to make giggling noises while I marveled at how deserted the tarmac looked. “We are in Paris, correct?”
“Yes, this is definitely the Charles de Gaulle Airport that we’re sitting in,” he confirmed. “You’re not used to the curfews in Europe that make it difficult to travel for airliners. Good thing I have my own jet with friends throughout this continent to pull strings for me, eh?”
“What? Or, else we’d still be back in Nashville—is that your point?” I taunted playfully, while returning my attention to him.
“Actually, your lovely behind would likely still be somewhere in Nepal, since your flight from Kathmandu to Frankfurt and then to the States was also arranged through personal friends of mine,” he said. “Of course, you have the option of traveling by vampire, as well. But, that can take some time since supernatural or not, they do need to take breaks while traveling from one region to the next.”
I almost said something else smartass about how they might incinerate at daybreak traveling like that, but then thought better of it. At the same time, I started to feel nausea from my hunger, since the stuffed crab from my lunch with Peter was the last thing I’d eaten.
“I will have a fabulous brunch prepared for you!” said Racco, who stood up after he heard my stomach’s rumble and moved over to the bar, where he opened a small refrigerator. “In the meantime, this should tide you over.”
He pulled out a parfait glass that looked as if it had a chocolate shake poured into it, and brought it over to me.
“Drink this,” he said, while motioning for me to hand Alaia over to him again. “It will take you a few minutes to drink it all, so why not sit down with me?”
“Why, does this have a drug in it or something?”
“No, there is no Rohypnol or anything else, other than vitamins and things that completely nourish the human body,” he advised, chuckling some more while reclaiming his seat with my daughter cradled in his arms.
“Ah, so it has perhaps the same ingredients as that crazy pill you gave me when we were about to ski down that mountain in the Pyrenees, huh?”
“Sort of,” he said. “Will you at least taste it, damn it?”
Tough words delivered with a silver-tongue and devilish smile.
I took a sip…and then another, and another until I nearly gulped it all down. It was delicious, and my ravenous hunger made it nearly impossible to heed Racco’s advice to drink it slowly.
“Now, in four or five hours, when you wake up for good, we’ll share an excellent brunch,” he advised, while rocking Alaia in his arms like a proud papa. I couldn’t be more proud…and suddenly felt quite tired again.
“You did put something in this!” I accused him. The tiredness damn near rivaled my experience from the night before, when I could barely keep it together long enough to climb under the bedcovers. “What in the hell did you put in it?”
“Nothing harmful, Txema,” he said. “The truth is that you haven’t slept very long at all since last night. You were asleep for less than four hours—Paris is seven hours ahead of Nashville. If you take time to ‘do the math’, as they say, you’ll see this is true, and that you woke up at what would’ve been 11:30 p.m. Nashville time, which corresponds to 6:30 a.m. in Paris. It’s not even seven o’clock yet…seeing daylight after retiring in the dark is what has thrown you off.”
I started to protest how this couldn’t be true, when one of the pilots peered his head into the cabin. He announced that we’d soon take off for our next destination.
“Time to buckle up again!” Racco enthused, half jesting and half concerned. “I really think you’re going to like—no, love—today’s destination!”
I reluctantly put on my restraint, while I ‘did the math’ in my head. I should mention here that I have always scored quite high for ‘logic’ in every type of intelligence test I’ve been given the past few years. But for math, even though it is directly related to logic, I suck…really badly.
By the time we were airborne again, I had worked the numbers three different times, and gotten the same answer that Racco told me was true…twice. So, as the jetlagged exhaustion continued to grow worse, once the airplane climbed back into the clouds, I allowed him to lead me back to the bedroom. He coerced my reluctant agreement to let him take care of my baby girl, too. Then I gave my word not to leave the room again until he came back to get me, when the fabulous brunch he promised to provide was ready.
***
“Txema…Txema, my love, rise and shine!”
Lying on my stomach, I craned my neck to where I could clearly see Racco standing over me. He smiled down at me, an amused glint shining in his beautiful blue eyes.
“Perhaps you would prefer to sleep a little longer?” He sat down gently beside me. His right hand, so strong, felt wonderful as he rubbed my back. “I can have Julius, my chef, hold off on your beloved crepes until you are ready.”
“No…no, that won’t be necessary,” I told him. “Just give me a few minutes to get myself together, and I’ll join you. I take it that we’ll eat somewhere near the front of the plane, or do you have a dining room aboard this fine vessel of yours?”
“Actually, with such a nice bedroom, bathroom, and a kitchen large enough for someone like Julius to maneuver and work his magic—not to mention sleeping quarters for the servants at the back of the plane and the pilots behind the cockpit—there is no place left for a dining room, alas,” he said, grinning impishly. “But we have taken pains to make sure our improvised dining area lives up to your high standards, my chérie amore!”
That brought a giggle from me, and he laughed along with me.
“I’ll wait fifteen minutes and return for you, unless you prefer to take a shower first before eating,” he said, and got up to leave.
“If Julius can hold off for twenty minutes, I can be totally ready�
��although I don’t have anything clean to wear,” I said.
“Yes you do…something casual but still sexy.” He pointed to the cot, where a cream colored blouse and jeans had been laid out for me, along with underwear, as well. He seemed uncomfortable once he followed my gaze that lingered on the panties and bra. “I hope you don’t mind that I took the liberty long ago to find out your size from Raquel—in case an emergency such as this ever arose.”
“Just as long as they’re clean and they fit, I won’t have any qualms about wearing them.” I shot him my own impish look.
“Okay, then…I’ll be back in twenty minutes.”
I waited for him to close the bedroom door behind him to get out of bed. As I expected, the adjoining bathroom was quite nice—actually a little overboard in my mind with the black marble tiles and what looked like solid gold faucet handles. Even the commode was dressed up like this. But, I suppose when you have nothing better to spend your billions on, then anything goes. Not to mention the same waterfall jets that were in his French castle, Le chateau de douleur, had been installed in this particular aircraft.
All my shampoo, toothpaste, and makeup preferences were here, which made me believe that either Raquel or one of my other vampire guardians had given an entire list of my personal products and preferences to Racco. I doubted this information came from Garvan or Armando. Nor did it seem likely it came from Chanson.
Anyway, having everything I needed right at my fingertips allowed me to beat the twenty minutes I committed to, with at least a minute to spare. I had just put on my shoes from the day before, which weren’t a complete fashion faux pas, when Racco returned for me.
“Well…I must say you look even better than I anticipated,” he said, studying me for a moment with admiring eyes. “Regardless of what you wear, you always look like a goddess!”
