Darkened Days (16 page)

Then he lowered himself regally to his knees in front of her and took her hands to place them against his chest.

“I am the son of the moon.  A child of our mother earth.  The leader of the people of the moon for millennia.  And I beg you to take your place at my side for these honorable people who are unique to this world.  Our race needs the new blood.  The first vampires must continue.  You would be the mother of the most extraordinary children on earth.  Please do not refuse.  You are my Shoazan.”

In that second, with this beautiful, powerful man at her feet, begging her to accept him, she could almost imagine herself saying yes.  The wave of devotion and sensuality nearly swayed her to tell him she would
consider it.  But Jacob’s face came to her suddenly and she nearly lost her balance.  Her blood called to him.  Was he near?  He couldn’t be.  Why was he the only thing in her mind now?  It brought her around though, no longer entranced by Ahmose’s vision of their perfect future.

She shook her head slowly.

“I can’t.  I get that this is important to your people, but I can’t sacrifice myself for your cause.  I’m not for you.  There is someone else who fills my mind, and while we are not together, I just realized I need to deal with that relationship before I do anything else.”

Ahmose stood, a sadness and weariness in his eyes that hadn’t been there before.

“I won’t force you.  But I cannot let you go.  You will remain here and I will show you the life you are meant to have.   You will eventually know the truth and we will merge on the night of the next full moon.  Do not fight me on this, little star.  You cannot win.  We will be together.  When that happens, you will want me very badly.  And I will make you the happiest woman on this world.”

“You can’t keep me here.  You said you were not the kind of man to force me.  Keeping me here against my wishes falls into that category.  Please don’t do that to me.”

“I am sorry, but you are too important to my people.  It will be okay, you will see.  We will still have our celebration tonight.  And get to know each other.   My people have prepared the best food and spirits.  Good dancing.  My people embrace joy.  The children of the moon laugh and dance much of the time, even when we are not celebrating such a cosmic event.”

“I won’t stay.  I’ll run off.  Somehow, I
’ll reach my people and they will come for me.”

“They won’t find you.  This community is isolated and masked from the rest of the world.  Even vampires could not find us.”

Was he telling the truth?
  Probably.  He had no reason to lie to her now.  It didn’t matter.  He underestimated her desire to get back to her own life.

She nodded.

“Okay, I’m your prisoner.  As long as you understand any chance I get, I will try to leave.”

“Understood.  I would expect nothing else.  And you are a
guest.
  You will dance with me tonight.”

“Rephrase that.”

He paused, then smiled.  “Will you dance with me tonight?”

“Maybe.  Get out of here and let your girl dress me.  If I have to do this, I may as well look amazing.”

Ahmose leaned down, took her hand, caressed the palm and kissed it.

“I have no doubt.  I eagerly await.”

He left.   As the door clicked closed, Starla went to the center of the room and stared up into the opening.  The moon had moved on.  She could see a few stars through the opening but that was all.

Okay.  She would
dance and make merry with the first bloods.  She’d enjoy the moment, but when the time came, she’d be gone.  As long as they couldn’t read her mind, she would act compliant and happy and they wouldn’t know when she left.  They may be much faster than her, but all she needed was a good head start.

He felt her!  Jacob was just finishing a huge portion of Egyptian pancakes cooked on a hot plate and covered with icing and sugar.  They were incredibly delicious so he’d been enjoying the hell out of them. 

Out of nowhere his head began to spin
so he grabbed the edge of the table.  He felt a hand solidly grip his shoulder, and while he knew someone was speaking, he couldn’t understand them.  Then his vision blurred and he felt as if he was losing consciousness.  Just as abruptly he knew what was happening.  Blood had touched blood, and he felt a tenuous connection to Starla.  It wasn’t anything intense, rather like a wisp of a thread from her life

force to his.  He didn’t know exactly where she was, but he had an area and a direction.  He knew the reason he felt her was that she was thinking about him and something in her searched for him. 
He tried to answer.  Tried to let her know he was coming for her.  He did not know if he succeeded, but at least the blood had spoken to him.

Koen held on as he watched
Jacob slump forward.  Something was happening so he let it play out. A few moments later, blinking, Jacob seemed stable and Koen let him go to take his seat again.

“What happened, Ward?”

“I have her.  Not exactly, but I think I can follow this thin blood trail at least close to her location.  It
is
in the big trees.  Deep in the big trees.”

Koen nodded.  “Finally a break.  Okay.  We’ll finish quickly and head out.  Hurry up, pup.”

Henri sat quietly watching the entire episode.  He was so new he had no idea how any of this worked.  He just knew two things right now.  He wanted to find Starla at any cost.  And he hated the big vampire that called him pup.

Chione weaved flowers and shiny beads into Starla’s hair, which had been washed with some kind of scented shampoo that left it fuller and shinier than she’d ever seen it.

And
Chione had been right about the dress.  It
was
beautiful.   Even though Chione now knew the joining ceremony would not take place, still she brought the joining gown at Ahmose’s request.    A halter top in a diaphanous pale peach material, it fit her body to perfection, snug along all her contours.  Beads like the ones in her hair cascaded from the waist and danced when she moved.  Starla had to admit she had never felt prettier.

“You are worthy of this dress so lovingly made for you by our best dressmakers.  You will make a perfect mate for our master.  We are all still surprised the joining will not be completed tonight.”

“I already made it clear it wouldn’t.”

“Yes, but
soon, I think.”

Starla shook her head with a smile and turned away to chug a tall glass of the burgundy alcohol to take the edge off of a night
in which she had no idea what to expect.

Ahmose dressed carefully, as if he were going to his joining ceremony.   He wore his new vest and pants, made with care by his devoted people.  After all his aides left his dwelling, he stepped to his mirror and smiled.  How
could she refuse such a dashingly handsome man?  He may not be a refined gentleman from Paris, but he was, like his people said, powerful, strong, and handsome.  The girl could never hope for a finer mate. 

The girl.  Star.  The one who would become the mother of his children.  She was beautiful.  And smart. He didn’t know if he would fall in love with her but he suspected that he would. He hadn’t been in love in a long time.  His sexual partners were gorgeous, and their sex play invigorating, inventive and satisfying.  But since he’d seen Star at the waterfalls, he had a desire to actually make
love
to a woman again.  As a son of the moon and first blood, when he made a special connection with a lover, when he was in love, he merged with her in what was truly a joining.  Those connections were rare.  But there was something with her…something that made him think she could be the one he would love for the rest of his life.  She challenged him and made him laugh.  There was no doubt she turned him on.  His cock had been at attention since he saw her two nights ago.

The question was could he get her to fall in love with
him? 
One look at the sexy vampire in the full-length mirror made him smile.  He had no doubt.  He could almost see their children running through the forest. 

Ahmose nodded
to his image, grabbed a bottle of wine and left to make a star fall in love with the moon.

Chione led Starla into a garden of flowers and lights.  It looked like someplace in a fairy tale.  A thin net canopy covered half the space where lights and garlands hung suspended overhead.  The other half of the space seemed to have been chosen specifically for the celestial display overhead.  Stars blinked, peeking down at the merrymakers on the planet below.  Everywhere she looked it seemed as if someone had woven fireflies into flowers.  She realized it was just thousands of tiny lights twinkling slowly.  Oh, but it was magical.  Twenty or so people were already there drinking and chatting, dressed in their finery too, but when they saw Chione with Starla, they stopped and came to her with luminous smiles.

Chione touched Starla’s hand.

“This is for you.  Our people are so overjoyed that you are here and will help us continue our race.”

Starla bit her tongue.  This wasn’t the time to address the question.  These people were here to celebrate and she wasn’t going to ruin that.  It was apparent a lot of preparation had gone into this night.

So she nodded and took their offered hands, surprised when several of them knelt and kissed her palm.  She was so charmed by their genuine warmth.

“Oh, mistress.  You should see your face.  Your smile could light up the sky,” Chione commented.

“I believe it.  Chione, your people are enchanting.  I’ve never felt more welcome anywhere in my life.  I think you may be right.  You have a wonderful home here and I would be so lucky to be able to find a place here.  But I’m not ready for that.  Still, I’m already half in love with all of you.”

“We must find the other half, then,” Chione said with a soft smile.

Someone gave her a beautifully carved wine glass with a sweet fruity wine she’d never tasted before.

Chione told her, “We make our own wines.  This southern region of our continent is well known for its wines, lique
urs, and local beers.  Our wines, because we are children of the moon, we call them MoonShine.   I know the word is used to refer to homemade alcohol in other places, but here MoonShine is sacred.  Good, isn’t it?”

“Beyond belief.  I would love another glass.”

“Then let me give you some of this,” Ahmose said from behind her.  Both women turned.  Chione bowed low, Starla raised her eyebrows as Ahmose stepped forward and bowed low to her, took her hand, kissed it, but let his tongue linger to taste her.   It was so sensuous, she felt herself shudder a little.

He looked spectacular.   The vest was worn alone, no shirt, so his heavily muscled chest, covered with dark hair, and thick arms that looked like they had been cut by Michelangelo, were exposed.  His long dark hair had been pulled back each time she’d seen him before, but now he wore it loose.  Thick and sleek, it cascaded halfway down his back.  The vest and harem style pants matched her gown and reminded her of what the garments originally signified.

A lump developed in her throat when she realized that she was suddenly tempted to ask him to show her what kind of a lover he was.  Reason asserted itself moments later though when he released her and proceeded to open the bottle of wine he’d brought with him.

“This is a very special vintage I’ve save
d just for this occasion.  It is very, very old.”

“Oh, Ahmose, please don’t give that to
me
then.  Save it for…”

He leaned in to kiss her brow.

“It has always been for you.”

He rendered Starla speechless.
  What was happening to her?  She felt euphoric and wondered if somehow these people had not bewitched her.  Ahmose was powerful, sexy, respectful…a beautiful man.  This was the man she should fall in love with.

She moved forward to run her fingers through his hair because she really wanted to touch him.  Ahmose closed his eyes and she felt him touch her mind. 
Oh,
god…

This man had powers she couldn’t even begin to imagine.  She could feel them when he touched her life force with his own.  He was overwhelming. 
She couldn’t
do this
.  He was legend and she was just a waitress from Alaska. 

Ahmose felt her confidence crash.

He lifted her off her feet to carry her over to a gazebo wrapped in garlands of huge white flowers.

“Breathe.  Do not think you are not worthy.  You are my destiny as I am yours.  I need you, my star in heaven.  These people have already taken you into their hearts.  You are already family.  It is up to me now to win you over as my mate.

“Is it?”

He raised his eyebrows with a wicked smile.  “It is.  I already have plans.  Would you like a preview?”