~ Dakota ~
Dakota went to her favorite haunt. It was late evening and most everyone who was anyone was there. She saw Durk and waved him over to her table. He looked particularly handsome tonight. He was all long hair, sexy fangs and a shirt that displayed his muscular chest. He was good at providing exactly what human women loved and she noticed that he was never at a loss for feeding partners.
Most human women including herself were drawn to large male vampires with long hair and beautiful facial features. Durk definitely fit into this category. He was also easy going, loyal, funny and genuinely nice. She often wondered exactly why it was that she was not crazy in love with him.
Suddenly something caught her eye. There was a fairly aggressive female who appeared to be stalking Durk. How strange, Durk was normally a non-discrimination dater. She had seen him with women who were beautiful, plain, skinny, heavy, alien, human, no matter the color of their skin or even if they could communicate verbally he never turned a woman down for a dance or date but he was sure avoiding this one.
The look on his face was kind of blank but having known him all her life she could tell he was annoyed and not interested. She stared at the woman and finally placed the face. She was local area news reporter with a reputation as kind predatory with males. For some reason she loved the large vampires but they did not like her at all. She thought vaguely that perhaps her blood tasted bad to them.
Well, she was not going to stand for some trashy bitch making her friend miserable…and honestly he looked pretty miserable to her. She downed the rest of her drink in one gulp and meandered over to Durk. She literally grabbed the woman by her hand, removed it from Durk’s bicep and slid her arms around his waist saying, “Rachel, how long has it been? I haven’t talked to you in ages. Durk, baby can you get me drink?”
She could see the relief register briefly on his face. As soon as his back was turned she immediately grabbed Rachel by the arm and headed to the door with her. The woman’s eyes flew open registering her shock.
Dakota’s voice was low and serious as she broke it down for the woman. “Do not ever and I mean ever approach Durk again. He does not like you and he is spoken for. Am I making myself clear?”
The woman’s eyes narrowed. “Interesting that he never mentioned that to me.”
Dakota spat out her next words. “Interesting how he didn’t mention it to me either. I can tell from his facial expression and body language from across the room and so can everyone else. I am beginning to think you are just a bully and if you can bully him into being with you then it simply doesn’t matter to you whether he wants you or not. Do you realize just how sad and pathetic that really it?”
The woman hissed at her like a snake, prompting Dakota to ask, “Doesn’t it embarrass you at all that you are trying to sex with someone who does not even like you in front of an entire room full of people?”
The woman raised her voice insisting, “I think you don’t want him but you don’t want anyone else to have him either.”
Durk glanced up from purchasing drinks, realized what was going on, immediately left the drinks on the bar and rushed over. “By the gods, what is going on with you two?”
“Nothing, Rachel has just decided to stop embarrassing herself with you.”
Rachel interjected, “You ex tells me you aren’t interested in me. Is that true?”
Durk looked uncomfortable. “I should have just came right and told you that. I am sorry Dakota felt she had to get involved.”
The woman looked at him squarely in the face. “Do you mind if I ask why? You normally sex anything that moves, why not me? Honestly, I thought of approaching you as the sure thing.”
He sighed and explained, “You are a little intense. I work in state government…I get enough intense all day long. In the evening I like low key, easy and relaxing.”
Rachel laughed out loud. “We are peas in a pod my friend. From now just speak up, I don’t appreciate hearing that from your bitchy little over protective friend.”
Dakota was suddenly in the mood to nail her and took a step towards the woman without even realizing it.
Durk stepped between the two women and said sternly. “Rachel, it was my mistake. Pissing off a hunter is not a good life choice for someone like you…on several levels.”
Dakota turned to go back to her table and realized that almost everyone in the bar was watching her fight Durk’s battles for him. He would be none too happy about that. Growing up he had fought enough of her battles that she could afford to return the favor. She slid back into her booth and realized that for some reason vampire males seemed fascinated by women fighting and especially over a male. She wondered why that was. Women certainly didn’t feel that way…or perhaps she simply didn’t feel that way.
She watched Durk finish talking to Rachel and head back to the bar to get their drinks. She sighed and could not find it in her heart to hold onto anger against the woman. Durk was one sexy vampire, who could blame her for being attracted to him. Almost all women were attracted to the large sexy vampires because they were absolutely irresistible.
Alek had proven to be the exception to the rule large sexy vampire rule. He was somewhat shorter putting him a little taller than most humans and he carried some muscle mass around his upper body that was quite sexy. His hair barely touched his shoulders but his facial features were exquisite. The advantages Alek had over every other male she knew were his intellect, his unique sense of humor and naturally his sexual prowess. He was exactly the kind of nice easy going attractive male one could not stop thinking about.
Durk slid into the chair across from her, dropped her drink in front of her and looked at her questioningly.
Feeling her irritation rising, Dakota huffed. “She was annoying you and it made me mad. Sorry, I poked my nose in your business.”
He just continued to look at her and she squirmed. “Look, I have never seen you less than enthusiastic about dancing with a female. She was creeping you out. What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t pounce on her? Come on Durk, give me a break, you can’t be all that upset that I swatted an annoying fly away from you.”
He continued to say nothing.
Dakota asked brightly, “So, do you want to dance?”
He replied, “No, I do not want to dance. I want to hear more about this Alek Shardon.”
Dakota sat back in her seat. “I’m not inclined to discuss Alek with you Durk.”
Durk’s eyes narrowed and he said, “Amazingly enough, he is not inclined to discuss you with me either. Makes me think something might be up there. I hear the two of you have a couple’s massage scheduled for Saturday morning.”
Dakota’s voice was strained, “Durk I love you and you know that I do, but my feelings for Alek are substantially different from my feelings for you.”
He pouted and as usual she folded admitting, “All right, Alek and I have a couple’s massage scheduled for Saturday morning. I guess I should just stop trying to figure out how it is you know every single thing about me.”
Durk smiled, and said mildly, “Dakota you are a hunter. I can’t believe you haven’t figured that out yet. In fact you are a famous hunter and quite a local celebrity. Most of your cases involve hunting for our kind because vampires are still most often marginalized in such situations. You are passionate about equal rights for vampires. You have a very positive attitude about our kind and almost exclusively date vampire males. In addition to all that, you are beautiful, wealthy, as well as a kind and decent person. You are at the very top of the dating chain, trust me everyone gossips about you and you are all vampire males talk about in the locker room. They couldn’t be more interested in you unless you turned out to have a vampire heritage yourself. I just keep my ear to the ground. Once your couples massage landed in the scheduling book it was the talk of the spa.”
“Only because you flatter my ego with your little white lies will I forgive you for prying into my personal life.”
“Would it interest you to know that your gentleman friend has been receiving rough treatment because of you.”
Dakota rolled her eyes. “He owns a multimillion dollar corporation, is a veteran of the alien wars, and he just survived torture at the hands of some truly awful people. Trust me when I say he is quite capable of taking care of himself.”
“The males who know you seem to think that he has some kind of adolescent crush on you and they cannot imagine you could possibly be interested in him. They do not think he is your ‘type’, if you will excuse the term.”
“Well you can pass along to them that he is exactly my type and I am indeed involved in a very romantic relationship with him.”
Durk, glanced to the far side of the room. “You could clarify that far better than me.”
Dakota’s eyes narrowed as she noticed several larger vampire males around Alek. The whole scene had that bully on the playground feel about it. They were taking turns talking to him and he seemed uncomfortable and embarrassed. She was annoyed because she knew how much he tried to avoid socially awkward situations.
Dakota stood up, kissed Durk on the nose, walked casually across the room to Alek. As she walked up she could hear one of males saying, “…she always helps the sick. Feeding for pleasure is an entirely different matter. I wonder what that would even look like with someone like you.”
She slid her arms around Alek’s waist then ran one hand up his chest, around the back of his neck and pulled loose the band from his hair. She glanced at the mouthy vampire over her shoulder and stated smoothly “Interesting that you ask. If you hang around long enough tonight you just might find out.” She pulled his hair forward over his shoulders.
Alek looked down at her with amusement playing on his face. “You seem to have some strange fascination with my hair. It really is my worst quality.”
She ran her hand back down his chest and unbuttoned one of the buttons on the lower part of his shirt. She slipped two fingers in, leisurely ran them over his stomach muscles. “My dear I have been over you with a fine tooth comb and have yet to find a less than outstanding quality.”
He smiled at her gentle love play and put one arm around her. She gave him a sensual kiss on the lips.
He smiled down at her and pointed out. “You are very open with your affections tonight.”
“You are not at all shy about moving on me pretty hard in private, would you pretend not to know me in public?”
Alek placed one hand on her cheek replying, “Never my sweet little hunter.” He immediately pulled her small body to him and forced a long intimate kiss upon her lips which she returned with a growing passion that left no doubt in anyone’s mind of their mutual interest in each other.
“Gentlemen, I hope you will excuse us.” He led her to the dance floor and he whispered. “That’s two times you had to save me.”
“The more I get to know you the more I realize you are well worth saving.”
He drew her closer and nuzzled his face in the side of her hair whispering, “I am very glad to have the opportunity to see you again Dakota. I thought that perhaps I would be nothing more than a bad hunting memory by now.”
She shook her head. “Actually, I have spent a lot of time thinking about you. You are a difficult male to forget.”
“I’m sorry that everyone seems to be staring at us tonight. I hope that doesn’t make you uncomfortable.”
“When I am in your arms I don’t typically notice what other males are doing.”
“I wonder why they are so interested in what we are doing.”
Dakota smiled mischievously. “Well as you mentioned it, I think you should give the nice men what they want.”
She pulled her hair back and he realized she wanted them to think she was spoken for. He gently bit her neck and drank her blood in front of everyone. Her intention was to make her point, but once her sweet blood flowed into his mouth he could not help but to drink deeply and thirstily.
He pulled her into his arms and then somehow her legs were wrapped around his waist and he lifted her onto his body. He could still hear the slow sensual music playing as he drank from her neck and she ran her fingers through his hair as he drank. She whispered to him that he had sexy fangs, and that she loved the feeling of his fangs in her neck. The whispers that went through the crowd were almost audible.
~ Durk ~
Durk watched from across the room. This Alek person was drinking from her neck openly right on the dance floor. He had lifted her up to reach her neck and she had instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist. Alek’s touch was gentle and sensual. It left Durk with the distinct feeling they were lovers. They appeared to be so crazy in love with each other that they were kind of on automatic pilot.
Dakota had her eyes closed, was running her fingers through his hair and seemed to be whispering something into his ear as he fed. They seemed to be lost in the moment. He had never seen anything like that before. The level of sensuality flowing back and forth between the two of them was breathtaking. He certainly never would have thought it from Dakota. He decided to just watch and see how the evening played itself out.
~ Alek ~
Dakota slid down his body into a standing position again and smiled that his eyes were a deep red. Feeding from her again felt natural and right. He thought that might keep the males at bay for a while but probably would not make his own life any easier.
They spent the evening cuddled in a booth talking about everything under the sun. “I was a little confused about the kiss you gave me when you left my home. I don’t know how you would expect that I could forget you in two short weeks. It was the kiss that made me think maybe you really were interested in seeing me again.”
She smiled and slid her hand into his. “Is that why you are at my favorite bar two weeks later?”
He smiled faintly. “I am nothing if not predictable, I suppose.”
She moved closer to him. “Thank you for coming to me tonight. I was very serious about wanting an opportunity to see you again and a little worried because I didn’t think you dated humans. The kiss was more a result of you having me in your arms and me not being able to stop myself.”
He smiled and doubted that could possibly be true.
The waiter stopped by and Alek ordered her a rare bottle of red wine. It was a good vintage and she did seem to love it. He got himself a bottled water. He liked that the more she drank the more flirtatious she became with him. He thought that maybe she did like him and was just more likely to show it when her inhibitions were lowered due to drinking the intoxicating beverage.
He noticed immediately that she almost couldn’t keep her hands off him. She held his hand, ran her hand gently up his arm while she talked to him, touched his hair and his face and even kissed him a couple of times. She was very switched on with him and it felt wonderful to feel so attractive and interesting. He couldn’t help but to reciprocate.
They were getting strange looks from the other males for the better part of the night but he didn’t even care. She was beautiful, had a wonderful personality, a brilliant sense of humor, and at least for the evening she was all his. At the end of the night he sent her home in his limo because she was too intoxicated to drive and took a cab home himself.