Forgotten Kisses (SuperNatural Sharing Series Book 1)

by Rena Marks

  I opened the front door and invited them in. Oser’s mouth hung open in shock. “Holy shit. How can you possibly heal that fast?”

  I shrugged. “Vampire remedy. Tastes really weird but I have to say it was worth it.”

  “No kidding. You could make a fortune with that stuff.”

  I laughed at his train of thought. “Already been there. It doesn’t work with all humans, just those with a certain connection to a vampire. The human servant thing.”

  Officer Gearman was headed toward the couch. “Is that a dead body on your sofa?”

  “Um, yeah. It’s Anna.”

  They both looked at me.

  “How’d she die?” Gearman asked suspiciously.

  I laughed.“She’s a vampire. She’ll rise tonight. They normally sleep in coffins, to keep them safe. But they haven’t been leaving me alone.”

  “If all your vampire bodyguards are dead, I’d say you’re alone.”

  “Not really.” We all whirled around at Julian’s voice.

  “I have the ability to rise earlier.”

  I went to him for a kiss. He touched my lips with his, lingering a little. I knew he remembered our last lovemaking just a few hours earlier.

  “Do you suppose you can move Anna to our bed so we can sit down and talk?” I asked him.

  Julian lifted her with hardly any effort. That amazing vampire strength. However, her body was stiff and looked unnatural. Gearman still looked suspicious, like he thought maybe we’d been caught hiding a dead body.

  I gestured to the sofa for them to sit and they both eyed it, afraid they were contaminating evidence. So I sat on the sofa and let them take the chairs. Julian returned and sat with me, taking my cast.

  “Does your arm still feel broken?” Julian asked.

  “Close your eyes. Concentrate on the bone. You’ll be able to feel the break or the mend,” he continued.

  I closed my eyes as I tried to concentrate on the bone only. It was nearly healed, along with my rib.

  “No, it’s okay.” Surprisingly, my voice sounded far away.

  “Do you want me to work on the cast?”

  “Yes.”

  I watched as Julian’s index fingernail grew out to a slicing length and he sliced alongside my cast. He was gentle and had to do it a couple times to get completely through. He pulled the cast apart and I slipped my arm out. As I did, I noticed the officers’ faces. I realized what they were thinking. That I was no longer as human as they were.

  Officer Gearman cleared his throat. “The police department has closed the serial murders case. The man in the house was identified by his dental records as being a Mr. Doug Riva and the best we can come up with is that he was trying to frame Julian for the murders.”

  “Why?”

  “It was suggested that he has a prejudice against vampires and figured the best way to get at them was by taking out the city’s master vampire. Perhaps he thought he could run them all out of town.”

  “So he doesn’t know Julian personally?”

  “Not as far as we know,” Oser looked at Julian. “Do you recall meeting him?”

  Julian shook his head. “Never.”

  “So I guess it’s case closed. Over with.” Officer Gearman stood impatiently and Oser followed. I opened my mouth to protest, and Julian winked at me. So I closed it. We walked them to the front door and they left.

  I turned toward Julian. “What is going on? How did they miss the vamp involved? We all knew it was a vamp doing the murders?”

  “It was “suggested” by Merrick that it was all the human’s doing. That no vamp was actually involved. We need to find the vampire and punish him accordingly. Human laws won’t punish him justly so we really need to handle this ourselves. Therefore, you will not be left alone, ever.”

  I nodded. Fine by me. Weeks alone in a cage was plenty of alone-time for me.

  Never being alone didn’t keep me from my nightmares, though. I dreamed frequently of being locked in the cage. One night I dreamed of Danielle.

  I was in my usual cage, rocking and moaning, hoping to hear Johnny’s voice as I had in real life. Instead, I looked up to see Danielle watching me.

  She then did something I never would have expected from the real Danielle. She unlocked my cage and stood back, watching me. I watched right back. I refused to go near the door and after a couple of moments, she left.

  I wondered if it was a trick. She never reappeared and the door was too tempting, so I rose and pushed it open. It creaked on its hinges. There was no other sound in the room.

  I stepped through the door and then ran from the room and down a hallway, never seeing her. I felt blood dripping down my body. Suddenly I was in the coffin room at Bang’s.

  The coffin room. That’s what I needed to help me, to hide in Julian’s coffin. I sought it out and hesitated in raising the lid. Would he be inside? Would she, waiting to jump out at me?

  It was empty. So I crawled in and slept. Then I woke from my dream.

  But when I awoke, I had that watched feeling. It watched me for a while before fading out and I had the creepy feeling that it watched while I slept. I hadn’t had the feeling in a long time. I’d started to wonder if they were done watching. I guessed not.

  * * * * *

  It had been a week since my healing. I was never left alone and spent most of my time at the gym or at Bang’s. I was on Anna’s watch one day when she asked me if I’d like to take a nap.

  I raised an eyebrow. She just looked at me, no emotion whatsoever on her face. Even while I was suspicious, as she stood there looking innocent.

  I trusted Anna.

  I nodded. One tiny corner of her lips lifted and she walked me down to the coffin room.

  I hadn’t had a nap in two days. I was perfectly healed but what the hell? If she thought a little soil would help me, who was I to argue? Usually, Anna would take me to the coffin room and leave as I got into Julian’s. She would return and wait for me to wake. I would thump the lid and she would leave until I left it.

  By doing it this way, the coffins wouldn’t have to be rearranged.

  We arrived at the coffin room and it wasn’t silent. There was a meeting going on, but it became instantly hushed when I walked into the room. Not before I’d caught the last sentence, though.

  “My sweet, what are you doing here?” Julian asked, a little too quickly.

  “I was thinking of taking a nap.” Suddenly, Anna’s behavior made sense and I sought to protect her. “No wonder Anna tried to discourage it. There seems to be a private meeting going on.” I glared at her accusingly, as if she really tried to discourage it.

  She lowered her eyes.

  “We were just having an informal meeting.”

  “Very informal. And yes, I caught that last sentence.”

  There was silence among the vamps. Julian’s beautiful face stiffened slightly. “Anjelia, I know you are friends with the wolf king. But there are renegade wolves in his pack who are about to attack us. We have to disarm them quickly, while the wolves are weak. I won’t let harm come to the king.”

  Oh, like that was a big favor to me?

  “The wolves wouldn’t attack without Leo’s permission. They are too loyal,” I said calmly.

  “Then perhaps they have his permission,” he said gently.

  “Julian, we need a moment in private.”

  He made a hand motion and the rest of the vampires, including Anna, left the room.

  “My sweet,” he started.

  “Bullshit!” I exploded. “How dare you attack when he’s weak? He’s weak because he allowed you to bind with him to save me. Isn’t that why he’s weak? Because you can see into his head and see his secrets? And this binding was supposed to be a secret between the three of us.”

  “It is, still. I have told no one of it.”

  Thanks heavens for that. If the wolves knew of Leo’s binding to Julian they would mutiny.

  “His wolves are restless,” he continued. “They wi
ll attack with or without your doctor.”

  “No, they won’t. And you’re not going to attack them with the promise of saving Leo like he’ll be my pet. Don’t forget, he may have had a renegade wolf who helped with my kidnapping, but obviously there was a vampire involved also. That makes us even with Leo, not one up.”

  “What will you do to stop us, my sweet?” he said gently.

  I smiled. “I will practice that little mind meld that you and Leo have. I’ll warn him of the attack and you’ll lose countless vampires.”

  “Could you do that? Several of those vampires are now your friends. Could you willingly cause their deaths?”

  “How would you like to cause mine? If this conversation continues further, I will take myself off to live in the mansion. Where several of the wolves are now my friends. If you attack it, you’ll get me in the process.”

  In a heartbeat, Julian was in front of me. I hated when vamps use that super warp speed. I held my ground.

  “Dammit, Anjelia,” he growled before grabbing me to him.

  “Dammit, Julian,” I growled back before his head lowered to mine. My arms wound around his neck of their own accord.

  Julian had the same vampires who were going to attack the mansion patrol the shopping center instead. We would catch any murderers dumping bodies and remove them before the cops were called.

  However, there were no bodies. The murders seemed to have stopped while the other side regrouped. The tension was thick, the wait long. Waiting to see if another murder would occur or if it was over.

  We didn’t need to wait long. It wasn’t quite as we expected, though. Because that was when Julian, love of my life, disappeared.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Julian had just dropped me off at home when my phone rang.

  “Hello?”

  “Anjelia, it’s a slow night tonight. Johnny can handle things here.”

  “What are you saying, Julian?”

  I really was confused, he had just dropped me off.

  “Would you like company tonight?”

  Silence ensued. He was trying hard to bring things back to normal after our coffin room confrontation.

  “Are you kidding? How long will it take you to fly to me?”

  He laughed, low and deep.

  Later, I would learn to be grateful for that one night. It was close to dawn when he leaned over me to kiss me goodbye.

  “Are you leaving?”

  He kissed me again. “Yes, my sweet. I have a lot to do today. I’ll take you to dinner tonight? A late one?”

  I knew what he meant. Late for me, since I was on daytime hours.

  “Mmm. What time?” I yawned.

  “Eight?”

  “Okay. I’ll be waiting. I love you.”

  “No more than I love you.”

  With that, he was gone.

  He never did call me. At eight thirty, I called the bar and Johnny answered.

  “Johnny, where’s Julian?”

  “Anjelia? I thought he was with you.” Johnny's voice sounded puzzled.

  “No, he was supposed to meet me a half hour ago.”

  “Leah, he never came in today. We assumed he was spending the day with you.”

  “He left before dawn this morning. I haven’t talked to him today.”

  “Okay, let me check around.”

  “I’m coming over.”

  I quickly locked up the gym and headed straight next door.

  Johnny shook his head at me. “No one has seen or heard from him today.”

  I looked around the bar. They were getting ready for the night. Lily walked over, looking worried. She grabbed my hand.

  “Leah, are you okay? I just don’t know—this can’t be happening. What could have happened to our master?”

  Worried as I was about Julian, I realized that a vampire without his master was a horrible thing.

  I held her as she sobbed into my shoulder. I looked at Johnny helplessly. He finally took charge, something that he never did with Lily. His crush on her caused him to act differently around her. He was terrified to have her push him away, as all three girls were independent for a reason.

  “Lily, come to me,” Johnny commanded.

  He never gave her a chance to respond, just took her from my arms and held her against him. He walked her from the room and toward the back stairs.

  Danielle stood behind the bar. I wasn’t afraid of her, because others were bustling around. She was still old and ugly, but her hands were bandaged. I continued to stare at her, but she ignored me.

  Before I knew it, Anna and Nicki arrived.

  “What happened to Danielle’s hands?” I asked.

  Anna shrugged. “She burned them in the kitchen, I believe. They are taking a little long to heal, though. She probably just wants attention.”

  Hours later, we still hadn't found him. I was getting discouraged, and panic was setting in. Anna, Nicki and I wandered to Julian’s office, where Johnny was comforting a hiccuping Lily.

  The five of us sat around in silence. Once in a while, Nicki would reach out and stroke Lily’s hair.

  “I can call Leo, see if he’s heard anything,” I said, desperate for something to happen.

  “I think we should keep it quiet. We can run the business for a while and you can keep him alive if he is imprisoned somewhere,” Johnny said.

  “How can I keep him alive?”

  “You’re his human servant, Anjelia. Just as extra human food strengthens both of you, if Julian is not able to feed you can do it for him.”

  “Are we talking about blood, Johnny?”

  He nodded slowly.

  “I don’t know. It’s pretty gross. I’m not a vampire.”

  “We’ll help you. It’s the only way to sustain his life.” Johnny’s voice took on a no-nonsense tone.

  I nodded. The thought of drinking blood gagged me, but I would do anything for Julian.

  “How do we know I’m not drinking blood for nothing?”

  “Chances are, if he were dead you would be also. Therefore, he must be imprisoned somewhere. If so, I don’t know if he is being fed. Also, you need to have one of us with you at all times. Whoever abducted him will try to get to you to ensure his death.”

  “He’s been missing for what fifteen...twenty hours? When will he need to feed?”

  “You should probably feed for him now. We don’t know if he’s been injured or not.”

  I took a deep breath. “Who and how do I do it?”

  There was silence.

  “I guess we can slice one of us with a knife and you can drink.”

  All three girls looked disgusted.

  “I’m not getting sliced,” muttered Anna.

  “How about if one of us bites another and then Anjelia can suck the blood?” Lily asked.

  “Yes, that’s better,” said Nicki, “more natural.”

  Natural? I raised an eyebrow but she continued on. “It’s your idea, Lily, and it was Johnny’s to slice so one of you can be the blood donor and one can be the biter?”

  “Since I’ll be the blood-sucker, I think I should choose whose blood it is,” I began.

  “Pulease, Leah. We all know you’ll be picking Johnny’s blood.”

  Anna grinned.

  Lily rose and walked behind Johnny who still sat. She kept her eyes on me as she lowered her mouth to Johnny’s neck. Her fangs slowly dropped and punctured his skin. Reluctantly she pulled away, only allowing herself to lick her fangs. Two red wounds were on his neck and threatened to overflow.

  “Come on, Leah. Don’t waste any,” Lily encouraged.

  I stood in her position and didn’t bother to meet their eyes. The blood pooled, and I swallowed, trying not to gag. I latched onto his neck and licked delicately. There was a slightly salty, coppery taste to his blood. Through my nose I took a deeper breath and clamped my mouth over the bite.

  I could do this, I told myself. I bit Leo, didn’t I?

  At the first suck, I felt the warmth
enter my mouth, trickling down my throat and into my soul. It was more than just the temperature of his blood. And somehow, I felt Julian. I felt his desperation and his hunger. I couldn’t communicate with him but I felt incredible hunger and it terrified me. I sucked harder, wanting as much sustenance as I could get for Julian, hoping he could feel comfort in the feeding of familiar blood. I was vaguely aware of Johnny but Julian was more important right now.

  In a small part of my subconscious, I actually heard Johnny’s heartbeat. It was faint at first, distant. Then it began beating faster and louder. Still I sucked harder and then he emitted a low moan. Johnny jerked and I gave one last suck before looking up. All three girls were watching with wide eyes.

  “Damn, girl,” Anna said.

  I looked at her questioningly. Lily coughed. Nicki stared pointedly at Johnny’s crotch. I glanced down to see a wet stain spreading across the front of his pants.

  “Oh.”

  I didn’t know what else to say.

  Johnny chuckled. “Thanks, Luscious Leah. I guess I’ll go change.”

  He rose and left me with the three girls.

  “So, um, does that always happen?”

  “Nope. You’re just good.”

  “Well, it always happens like that with me and Julian.”

  “That’s different,” Nicki said. “You’re his human servant. You have a sexual relationship. His drawing of your blood will always be that way.”

  “So if Julian fed one of you, would it be sexual or not?”

  “Yes, because he’s our master vampire. He can control it at will. He has all the power. If I fed Julian, it would probably just be a feeding, though. If he fed from a human, of course the human would have an orgasm, because the weaker race always does. Julian wouldn’t, unless it was his human servant, then he could have one too.”

  I shook my head but it didn’t make it any more clear. This whole thing was confusing.

  “But vampires can’t obtain nutrition from each other, right? It’s just for pleasure?”

  “Unless it’s your master…Julian’s blood will sustain any one of us.”

  “If Julian fed from Johnny? Would he have one?”

  “No, they’re both vamps. Unless they were both horny to begin with or inexperienced at feeding like you are. Maybe someday you’ll be able to feed without causing a Big O to your donor. Although, if you think about it, why else would someone donate their blood? Now, Johnny will have to go feed on a human to replenish his own supply. You won’t be able to feed from a human, because you are human. You can only feed from us.”