EIGHT
I stared at Clara, incredulous. “Nick is…he’s kicking me out?”
Clara smiled again. “Yes. He wants you out.”
"Do you mean ‘out’ as in... well, permanently, or...."
"I mean ‘out’ as in ‘out for the day,’ or at least for a little while. Commander Alexander thinks being cooped up is starting to make you crazy. So, go. Enjoy some fresh spring air.”
Slumping against the wall, I breathed a sigh of very unexpected and strange relief that I would be seeing Nick again. I told myself this was just because I was relieved that I could still execute my revenge plan to execute him if I came to the conclusion that he had indeed been behind the murder of my coven members.
After taking a deep breath, I nodded at Clara. “Okay, well, just let me grab a few things, and I'll be on my way out for the day, ready to get some fresh spring air.”
Smiling, she took a white envelope from her pocket and handed it to me. "Spending money for the day. Go to the cafe with the white awning across the street at nine. That's where a lot of the human women who haven't been turned into vampires yet go to socialize and grab a bite to eat. A young woman named Dana will be waiting for you there. She'll be your first friend in town, I’m guessing."
With a smile and a little wink, Clara soon left with her white tennis shoes squeaking quietly down the hallway.
My first step out of the apartment felt so good I could have cried. I hadn't realized it, but I now knew that my time spent being confined in the government prison had probably made me a little crazy. Not to mention that I hadn’t left my new apartment in Everglen the previous day. If I hadn’t been going at least a little crazy, I didn't think being outside would have felt half as blissful as it did.
I practically skipped down the long, marble-floored hallway to an elevator bay at the end. Then I got in and rode the elevator down to the ground floor as the only passenger. It was when I stepped out that all the stares began.
Like the hallway, the ground floor of the building was made of marble, and it seemed to be some sort of lobby, with people coming and going from different elevator bays. When they caught sight of me, most people stopped what they were doing and peered at me intensely. I began walking a little faster, uncomfortable with the attention, until a pretty, slender young woman with long, curly auburn hair caught up with me, began walking by my side, and said hello.
Possibly overly thrilled to have a possible new friend, I said hello back with a big smile.
The curly-haired woman smiled in return. "Wow. The rumors that are going around are very true. You're gorgeous."
I slowed my walking to a stop and smiled again, more than a bit embarrassed but pleased at the same time. "Well, thank you, but...how do you know me? I don't think we've ever met before."
She gave me a dazzling grin that made her vivid green eyes sparkle. "Well, I was told your general description, and you're also the only woman in this building I've never seen before." Still grinning, the young woman extended a hand. "I'm Dana, and I was just heading over to the cafe to meet you. I've been enlisted by Clara to show you around town today."
I took her hand and shook it. "Oh. Well, it's really nice to meet you, Dana. I'm Tiffany. And I'm really ecstatic to be out of my apartment."
She laughed, and we soon left the building and headed across the street to the cafe, and within ten minutes, we were sitting with plates of breakfast and mugs of steaming coffee, chatting away like we’d been friends for years. Bright sunlight streaming in through the plate glass windows of the cafe added to my buoyant mood, as did a few friendly waves and hellos from other human women sitting nearby.
Dana told me that she'd arrived in Everglen three years earlier and had a baby daughter named Stephanie with her husband Noah, who was a good friend of Nick’s, and also one of his top men when it came to fighting the Dormios. She also told me that the building we'd just left was strictly for Nick’s "inner circle" people to live in, and since she and Noah had an apartment there, we were neighbors, although separated by ten floors.
"So, anytime you want to come down and visit Stephanie and me, you're more than welcome to."
I said I'd love to, and I really meant it. I'd always loved children of all ages and babies, and the thought of getting to hold a baby soon filled me with joy.
Dana and I continued chatting while we ate, but when the subject turned to Nick and how we were "getting on," as Dana put it, I began to feel decidedly less chatty.
Lowering my gaze to my plate, I also lowered my voice so that none of the women nearby could hear me. "I'm sorry, but it's just that...well, I'm really not sure about the two of us right now. I'm really...confused about a lot of things."
To say the least.
"So, maybe if you wouldn’t mind...maybe we could just talk about something else right now instead."
Dana said that was no problem and that she understood completely. "But just know that if you ever do want to talk about how things are going with Nick, I've got a good set of listening ears, so come to me anytime."
I said I would, then changed the subject by asking if the cafe had Belgian waffles. "As long as I'm having sausage and eggs this morning, I guess I might as well go full-tilt."
I'd always had a hearty appetite, but fortunately, past my teen growing years, I'd never put on weight. Also, my hourglass-shaped figure had never developed any unwanted bumps or lumps. I could only hope that my metabolism would stay as fast as it apparently was for the rest of my life.
Dana flagged down the waitress and ordered Belgian waffles with strawberries and powdered sugar for us both, and while we ate them, she remarked what a shame it was that vampires couldn't enjoy food. "I mean, I know my husband enjoys...well, drinking you-know-what, and he claims that it's even more satisfying than eating food, if you can believe that…but for some reason, I'm still not convinced. I guess I'll just have to find out for myself once I let him turn me into a vampire after we're finished having kids. It's just that I've always been a little on the squeamish side."
"Oh, you, too?"
"Yes. Very squeamish, I should say, honestly. It helps to know that most of the vampires here in Everglen only drink from animals, but...you know, it really doesn't help that much. It still grosses me out. Noah says that I need to start trusting him when he says that I'll absolutely, positively get used to it, and that eventually, I won't find drinking from animals 'gross' in the least. He says I'll actually look forward to 'hunting' trips to the wild forestland outside of the city. I keep telling him he's absolutely nuts if he really believes that."
With a sense of unease creeping up on me, I put my fork down. "So...do you know if Nick only drinks from animals?"
"Oh, of course. Nick, Noah, and really almost everybody else here are exclusively animals-only. There's no difference between drinking from animals and humans, at least not nutritionally, as gross as that sounds when discussing the ingestion of blood. I think it's just more of an ethics thing."
"So... you don't think Nick would ever drain a group of people dry in order to kill them?"
Dana suddenly stopped cutting off a bite of her waffle with a fork and slowly looked up at me, frowning. "Please don't take this the wrong way, and it's really none of my business, but it sounds to me like you and Nick might really need to get to know each other a little better."
Instantly mortified, I picked up my fork and began cutting at my waffles, avoiding Dana's eyes. "Oh, I know that. I know we do. And that was just a silly hypothetical question. I'm just still on very unfamiliar footing with the whole vampire thing, so I've just been asking lots of random questions of people lately just to try to get all the information that I can."
"Well, there's certainly nothing wrong with that, and again, none of my business, but you might want to start asking more questions of Nick directly because it sounds like maybe you haven't been comfortable enough to do that yet. Just try it, though. I think it'll help. Nick is a really good man, and a good leader, and he’ll answer any other questions you have with complete honesty.”
I put my fork down, suddenly unable to eat another bite of my waffles, but not necessarily because I was getting full. As if I hadn't had my perceptions and convictions rattled enough the night before, now I really wasn't sure who Nick really was. I really wasn't sure if he was the man I should be planning on taking revenge on.
The thought crossed my mind that maybe it was still possible that Nick was the monster I'd accused him the night before of being, or at least, maybe he had been a monster several years earlier. Maybe something had made him change. Maybe killing my coven had made him sick with himself and determined to change his ways.
I also realized it was possible that, as I'd suspected during my intoxicated paranoia fit of the night before, maybe he somehow knew who I was and what I was planning to do. So he was trying to hide his true self just to confuse me and throw me off track. Maybe he even had Dana "working" for him, planting more seeds of uncertainty and confusion in my mind. I had to admit, though, if all this were the case and if Nick knew about my revenge plans, it seemed like he would just kill me instead of taking the chance that I might kill him first.
I was sick of thinking. Dana soon changed the subject back to Stephanie, and I was grateful. I really needed a mental break and more light chatter.
To my relief, that was what I got for the rest of the day. Dana and I strolled around the city for a few hours, visited several boutiques, and then had a late lunch at a small restaurant. Then, we headed back to our building so that I could meet baby Stephanie, who'd been under the care of a smiling, elderly vampire named Amelie, who was her babysitter and obviously relished the role. Dana had told me that after hundreds of years without babies in the community, many vampire women were so thrilled with the new little ones that they'd beg the new mothers for a chance to babysit, even just for ten minutes.
Stephanie was an angel of a baby, with round, rosy cheeks, two teeth, and a halo of silky light red curls. Holding her, I imagined what it might feel like to hold a baby of my own, and my heart ached because I knew I probably wouldn’t be sticking around Everglen long enough to become pregnant with Nick.
I had no clue why this thought should cause a little pang in my heart when the very idea of even wanting to have a baby with Nick was completely absurd, on many levels, not least of which was that I needed to get to the bottom of whether or not he was a murderer before having any more similar thoughts.
When I left Dana's apartment around five, I was near-desperate to see Nick. Dana was right. I needed to talk to him more, needed to spend more time with him. I figured this alone would help me determine the truth about him.
However, not long after I'd gotten home to my own apartment, Clara came up and told me that Nick was dealing with a “Dormio problem” about ten miles from the city. "It's something having to do with more spies. Dozens of them. They're hiding deep in the forestland."
She went on to say that Nick had told her he probably wouldn't be home until the next day.
"Commander Alexander told me to tell you to remember that you can reach him on his cellular telephone, so you can call if you need to."
I didn't want to call him. I just wanted to see him.
It turned out that I didn't see Nick for three more days. Not until he showed up at my door one evening, asking to come in.
*
I told Nick to come in, and he stepped inside the foyer and shut the door behind him.
"I'm sorry I didn't call first. I hope this isn't a bad time to drop by."
I shook my head. "No. It's not."
It wasn't, except that after having had a late dinner, I'd just finished getting ready for bed, including putting on a pair of comfortable but fairly unattractive plain gray sweatpants and also pulling my hair up into a very sloppy and probably equally unattractive topknot. I didn't have a single stitch of makeup on, either, and I usually at least liked to have on a little mascara and lip gloss when I was around other people. However, I supposed the state I was in was still better than the one I'd been in the first day I'd met Nick, when I'd answered the door wearing only one sock.
He and I just looked at each other for a long moment. His deep gray eyes seemed to be drawing me into them, as if they possessed some supernatural power all their own. I was pretty sure this wasn't the case; with light gray flecks within the dark gray, and long, dark lashes that curled just slightly, his eyes were just so beautiful that I couldn't seem to look away. Not even to thoroughly rake my gaze over the length of his long, lean body.
However, after another long moment, I felt a little warmth rising to my cheeks and managed to glance away briefly, toward the living room. "Do you want to go sit down or something?"
"No. Not quite yet. I want to do something else first."
"What is it?"
In response, he pulled me into his arms, surprising me.
"What are you doing?"
With a hungry look in his eyes, he began lowering his mouth to mine. "I’m doing what I've wanted to do since the second I laid eyes on you."
The moment I felt his lips brush against mine, I seemed to melt in his arms, sighing with pleasure. He kissed me gently, tenderly at first, seeming to savor the taste of my lips, and making a few soft noises of pleasure himself. It wasn't long, though, before he intensified the kiss, or I did; I wasn't really even sure. I didn't even care. All I knew was that what was happening between Nick and me felt right, and I didn't want it to end. I only wanted it to continue and progress further. Hopefully all the way into my bedroom.
Wrapping my arms around his neck, I pressed my body into the length of his, reveling in the feel of his muscles, which felt something like a brick wall against my body. His muscles weren't the only hardness I was feeling, though. After only just a minute or two of kissing me, he was already rock-hard in another area, and he pressed this area even closer against my stomach, moving his hands from the small of my back to my rear at the same time.
I wanted Nick badly. I wanted him to pick me up and take me into my bedroom, then make love to me with the same passion he was showing me with his kissing.
After just a little while longer, I broke our kiss, deciding to just be bold and come right out and tell him what I wanted. "Will you take me into my bedroom now, Nick? Please?"
With a low growl, he began kneading my rear, squeezing each rounded globe with just enough pressure to feel pleasurable but not painful. At least, not in a way I didn't like.
"Hmm...take you to your bedroom, you say? And I even got a please. I have to say that you sure have changed from the woman I encountered over drinks just a few nights ago."
I cringed inwardly, recalling how embarrassingly buzzed I'd become. "Yeah...about that. I'm really sorry I became a bit hostile."
Nick shrugged, still continuing to knead my rear. "I'm a grown man, and I can handle a bit of hostility. It's your outright sassiness that I still feel inclined to punish you for."
"What do you mean? How do you want to 'punish' me?"
I couldn't imagine, but part of me wanted to find out.
Immediately, while looking into my eyes, Nick lifted a hand from my rear, then returned it in the form of a swift, sharp swat. "That's how I want to punish you."
Though the action had been enough to surprise me, and enough to make me gasp even, it hadn't exactly hurt, similar to his squeezing of my rear cheeks. Or at least, the same as the squeezing, it hadn't hurt in a way that I didn't like.
Somewhat breathless, and with a rush of heat rising to my face, I looked up at his. "I believe I was very sassy to you more than once."
Not needing any further encouragement, Nick immediately delivered another stinging swat to my right cheek, and then another, and then two to my left, with his hand firm enough to make me bury my face in his chest, wincing.
However, once I realized that he was done 'punishing' me, I lifted my face, realizing that I wasn't now just aroused, but desperate. "Take me to my bedroom now. Rip my clothes off. Then, I don't want you to be gentle or slow. I want you to be hard, and fast, and rough." With another rush of heat rising to my face, I swallowed, realizing that I'd never before in my life been so bold about a sexual request. "Please."
Nick had already begin scooping me up even before I'd finished the word.
Once in my bedroom, he flicked on my light, and then clothes started almost literally flying off our bodies. Within seconds, we were both completely naked, but Nick didn't even give me time to appreciate his nude form. As if I were light as air, he tossed me on my bed, then immediately spread my legs and mounted me with a growl.
His slide into my depths was a sensation of such intense pleasure that the guttural moan I made didn't even sound human to my own ears. Once he'd filled me completely with every last inch of his considerable, rock-hard length, he immediately began thrusting, making me moan again. Soon, he paused, but just briefly, just long enough to hike my legs up on his shoulders, allowing him to penetrate me deeply with every rapturous stroke.
Like I'd asked him to be, he was hard, fast, and rough, and within just a minute or two, I was already heading toward a climax, I could tell. From what I was feeling, I could tell it was likely going to be the mind-blowing kind I'd always dreamed about having. However, within moments of me having this thought, Nick paused in his rough thrusting to speak in a low, incredibly husky voice near my ear.
"Reach between your legs and touch yourself. Please. I want to feel you doing it."
All too happy to comply with his command, I moved a hand between my legs and began rapidly stroking my most sensitive spot, which was drenched with slickness. Groaning, Nick began thrusting again, now even a bit more forcefully than before.
I didn't even last ten seconds. With a loud cry, I threw my head back onto the satin pillows, gripping one of Nick's strong shoulders with the fingers of one hand while continuing to stroke myself with the fingers of the other. Pinpricks of silvery white light exploded behind my closed eyelids. Rhythmically, every muscle in my body seemed to contract and release over and over, each tightening more powerful than the last.
At the tail end of my glorious, lengthy climax, Nick also found his, driving his thick cock deep inside of me fast and hard with a prolonged groan loud enough to nearly hurt my ears. I felt him release his masculine essence inside of me, which was a warm, pleasurable sensation that added a few more waves of pleasure to what had already been the most intense orgasm of my life. By far. So far that I wasn't even sure if the orgasms I'd experienced before had really, truly, even been orgasms. Whatever they'd been, they hadn't been one thousandth as powerful or as pleasurable as what I'd just experienced.
A short while later, I rested in Nick's arms with my head against his chest. His scent was something earthy and woodsy, with faint hints of leather, spice, and soap, and I inhaled it, sure that I'd never smelled anything more heavenly in my life. I'd never been more comfortable or more satisfied than I was at present, either.
I could have punched a wall when Nick’s cellular telephone went off after we'd been relaxing together for only a few minutes. I knew he'd answer it, and I was right.
Apologizing, he released me from his embrace and slid out of bed. "Just one second. I’m sorry, but I have to get this."
Pulling the covers over me, I rolled over, sure he'd be leaving me soon.
I wasn't wrong. After answering the call and talking with whomever it was just briefly, he ended the call, and then I felt him place a hand on my shoulder from behind me.
"Tiffany, I'm sorry, but I have to go. I kind of made a break to get away while one of my elite coven members was leading a group of our fighters on a patrol west of the city, and now he's wondering where I am."
I rolled over, seeing that Nick had already managed to put his boxers and jeans back on just in the short amount of time he'd been on the phone. "Just one more minute, Nick. Please. Just one more minute with your arms around me before you go."
With his lips curving in a smile, he climbed in beside me and took me in his arms once again. "Believe it or not, I came here today because I just wanted to talk to you."
"About what?"
"The other night. I just wanted to tell you that I had the chef prepare Easter food for you because I wanted to make you feel welcome and cared for in your new home, here. I wanted you to know that I view you as a whole person, and not just as a plaything in the bedroom or a baby-making machine. At any rate, I certainly didn't mean to upset you or cause you pain. I'm not a monster, Tiffany."
I looked into Nick’s eyes for a moment or two with an emotion I couldn't quite identify welling in my chest. "I know. I know that for sure now. I can feel it."
After looking into my own eyes for a moment or two, he brushed a tender, lingering kiss against my lips. "Good. But please promise me you'll continue to feel what you're feeling about me right now, even after I leave. At least promise me you'll try. I just want you to give me the benefit of the doubt that I'm not a monster until I actually do something to deserve you thinking that way about me. Which I will never do. I promise you that, on my honor. Okay?"
"Okay."
He gave me another kiss, just as tender as the last, before speaking again. "I have to go. I’ll plan on coming to visit you again tomorrow evening. If that's something you still want."
His last comment nearly made me laugh. After the pleasure I’d just experienced, I definitely wanted to take Nick into my bed again, and I told him that. He smiled, but before we could talk further, his phone began ringing again. He soon left, saying that he'd be back the following evening at eight. With a shiver of excitement rippling through me, I told him I could hardly wait.