Jude Stephens (15 page)

He cradled my head on his shoulder and never said a
word. He just stroked my hair.

I was glad that he didn’t say anything. There really
was nothing to say. I just experienced the most wondrous thing in
my life. Mere words weren’t enough. We must have lay there for
quite awhile, holding each other, when I heard a rustling in the
brush to our right. I sighed and said to Alex, “Onatah is getting
impatient, she sent Bullet to get us.”

Sure enough Bullet came padding out of the trees. He
sat down on his hunches about fifty yards away as if to give us
privacy. Now it was Alex’s turn to sigh, “If I throw him a frickin’
bone do you think he’ll go away?”

I laughed “No, you can’t bribe Bullet, but me? Well,
I’ll do anything for strawberries and cream.”

Alex groaned. “God, Baby, I just pictured you eating
strawberries off of my body.”

I pictured it too. Me biting into a big fat juicy
strawberry that was lying on Alex’s pale muscular chest, the juices
running over his erect nipple, my tongue lapping at it fast and
furious. Well, damn. My need for Alex was stronger than ever. I
felt it building to the same level, as if we hadn’t just had a two
hour sex fest.

“
Alex, this is frightening in its
intensity. Do you think it’s because I let go of my
control?”

“
I don’t honestly know. This is
new territory.” Alex looked like he wanted to say something else
but decided not to. I knew what he wanted to ask. He wanted to ask
if it was anything like this with Roberto, but he didn’t really
want to know.

I could tell him that it was nothing like making
love with Roberto. With Roberto sex was hot, and full of soft
spoken words of love and tenderness. With Alex it was raw and
primitive as if we were the same person. Every touch every movement
was pure bliss. I thought it best to change the subject.

“
Onatah wanted to talk to you. She
doesn’t stay up late so we better get moving.”

Alex rolled us onto our sides, kissed me hard on the
mouth and stood up in all his naked glory. I stared at his body
starting at his long muscular legs. My eyes widened in surprise at
the long thick erection.

Alex laughed, “I can see by your surprise that you
still don’t believe that the vampire’s ability to make love is
unequaled by any species on the earth.”

“
Sorry, it’s just that I’m
wondering how you get anything else done.”

Alex began getting dressed as he replied, “To be
honest with you, I’ve never had this intense of a reaction before.
It may have something to do with me taking your Sensay blood.”

I really hated myself for asking but did anyway,
“Since you first took my blood a few months ago, have you been like
this with anyone else?”

Alex squatted down next me and cupped my face in his
large hands. “Wren, there has been no one else. When I told you
that I loved you, I meant it. There is no other woman for me.”

His words frightened me. I didn’t want him to love
me. I didn’t want to be everything to him. I had loved before and
love only brought pain.

Seeing the panic in my eyes made Alex sigh. “I
understand how you feel. I’m willing to be anything you need.

I’ll be your lover if that’s all you want. I’ll be
your friend if that’s what you’re looking for. I want you to know
that I will never lie to you again.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but Alex cut me off.

“
Lying to you is the one thing I
regret most. If I had to do it all over again I would tell Roberto
to fuck off. He has always been like a brother to me. I looked up
to him for many years and I’ve always followed his counsel. When we
met you, we were both desperate to find Annika.”

At the mention of Alex’s sister and Roberto’s mate I
cringed. I had to find a way to make peace with the reality of it
so I asked, “What do you think happened with your sister Alex?
Janel said she was on Cat Island and she seemed angry at Roberto
and the world in general.”

“
I honestly don’t know. Roberto
swears nothing unusual happened. My sister has always been
outspoken and vibrant but she has never been a bitch.”

I stood and began to dress “Well, something
happened. A woman doesn’t run away from her family and her husband
over nothing.”

Alex grabbed my hand and kissed it. “You are an
amazing woman. I know talking about this is not easy for you.”

I thought about it for a minute and had to admit
that talking about it somehow lessened the pain. The wound was
still there but it was more of an ache than an actual open bleeding
sore.

I kissed Alex’s hand before releasing it and saying,
“I’ve changed these last few months. I know that my destiny is far
more important than how I’m feeling or thinking at the moment. The
world does not revolve around me.”

Alex stared at me with eyes blazing. “My God woman,
you are so sexy. I may need to take some self control lessons.”

I laughed. “I will ask Cheve if he can fit you on
his schedule.”

Alex growled and roughly pulled me into his arms and
started kissing my neck. “You will teach me control. Only you can
control this hunger that I have.”

Lightening raced along my nerve endings as I pulled
Alex’s head down to kiss him. My tongue had just slipped into his
mouth when we were knocked down. Alex and I broke apart to see
Bullet staring at us.

“
Oh, okay Boy. I get it. We need
to go see Onatah now.”

Alex rose and pulled me to my feet. We began walking
back when I said, “We will need to be careful. Our passion can be
dangerous.”

Alex didn’t laugh. “I was thinking the same thing.
Neither of us sensed Bullet just now. That could have been a
Guardian sneaking up on us, and you could have been killed.”

“
We both could have been killed.
We’ll have to be careful from now on. We may need to have Bullet
nearby to warn us of any danger.”

Alex let out a breath, “Thank God. I thought you
were going to say that Cheve would need to be there, or worse that
you weren’t going to let me make love to you again.”

I chuckled “Ummm, I don’t think that I get off on
voyeurism, and to be honest I think that I wouldn’t be able to
spend the rest of my life without ever feeling you inside me
again.”

Alex stopped dead in his tracks and grabbed me
roughly by the arm and pulled me against him. He murmured thickly
into my hair, “Those words made my heart stop beating for a
second.

If I were to meet the sun tomorrow I would die a
happy man.”

I didn’t know what to say to that, so I said
nothing. We just held each other for a minute and then began
walking again.

Before we went to Onatah’s, we stopped back at my
place to change clothing. I really didn’t want to explain to my
mother how Alex had ripped my shirt off before we had wild sex.

When we reached Onatah’s longhouse, Alex stopped
outside and smoothed his hair back and straightened his shirt. I
couldn’t help laughing. “You are a hundred and seventy five year
old vampire. Don’t tell me you’re afraid of one elderly woman.”

Alex gave me a dirty look, “Babe…she is not just an
elderly woman. She is a tribal elder and is to be respected and
revered. Plus she’s your mother, and I just ravished her daughter.
I may end up with a backside full of buckshot tonight.”

“
Awww…a little buckshot won’t hurt
you. And if you do get hurt I promise to kiss it and make it
better.”

Alex moaned. “Stop it. I really don’t want to meet
your Mother with an obvious erection.”

This was fun, but I decided to show him a little
mercy. “Oh, okay. I’m sorry. I won’t try to arouse you anymore
tonight.”

“
Hey, wait a minute. I never said
that. You can arouse me--”

Alex was cut off by the door flying open. Cheve was
standing there not looking too happy. “You’ve kept Onatah waiting
long enough.”

I immediately felt contrite, after all Onatah
normally did not stay up this late. “I’m sorry. We lost track of
time.”

Cheve looked at Alex and sneered. “I’m sure you
did.”

I ignored him, and we went inside. Onatah was
sitting in a chair with her sewing. She had a talent for doing
exquisite beadwork.

“
I’m sorry Onatah. We lost track
of time.”

Onatah smiled warmly at Alex, “Mr. Sandstrom, it’s a
pleasure to formally meet you. Orenda has spoken about you
often.”

Alex moved forward, took Onatah’s hand and with an
old world charm kissed it. “The pleasure is all mine. I am honored
to not only meet with Wren’s mother but also a distinguished tribal
elder.”

He bowed low. Onatah looked at him with sharp eyes.
Alex did not flinch under her stare. They stayed like that for what
felt like a long time, until Onatah broke the silence with, “Please
have a seat.”

We sat, and Onatah immediately began talking, “Alex,
I’m not the type of person to beat around the bush or to avoid
unpleasant subjects. Time is too valuable a commodity to waste,
well maybe not for someone like you, but for the rest of us mortals
it is.’

Now I was beginning to feel nervous. In all the time
I’d known Onatah, I’d never seen her so serious and so direct.

She continued, “I understand the situation with your
sister and brother in law. What I don’t understand is why you would
come to Orenda for help. That man has hurt her deeply. You
supposedly care for Orenda, so what I want to know is why do you
come here?”

I was a little shocked by her rudeness and started
to say “Onatah--”

Alex stopped me with, “Its okay, Wren. I respect
your mother’s honesty.”

Alex looked more serious than I’d ever seen him
before.

He looked directly at Onatah as he began, “Let me
explain to you how this began. A little over a year ago, my sister
Annika disappeared. We were frantic at first, but then we got
reports of her being spotted all over the world.

My family and the Valente family could not
understand why Annika wasn’t contacting us. We still don’t know
why. When Roberto and I first ran into Orenda we thought that we
could use her to help find my sister. She was a Sensay after
all.

At first we didn’t realize that she hadn’t fully
come into her powers, but when we did we thought that she could
still be useful. When we realized that she was the chosen one, the
destined Sensay of legend, we were sure that she would be able to
find Annika.”

Alex stopped and turned to look at me. His bright
green eyes were full of regret. “I swear that I begged Roberto to
tell you everything, to be honest with you from the start. He said
you were too skittish, that you needed to be brought into The
Evolved world slowly.”

Alex eyes now darkened with anger. “I told him that
I felt a connection with you from the first minute that I looked
into your beautiful eyes. He knew how I felt about you and yet he
still seduced you. He is all about vampire law and traditions, yet
he broke the law when he took you from me.

“
I’ve always respected Roberto,
looked at him as an older brother, so believe me when I tell you
that for Roberto to do all he did, he really must have loved you,
Wren. It tears me up inside to admit it, but there it is. Roberto
is a good and decent man. I think as hard as it’s been on you; it’s
been a hundred times harder on him.”

Alex took my hand between his.
“Think about it, Wren, how it must feel to love two women. Not
wanting to hurt either one. Being caught in the middle.”

The tears ran down my face. I understood what he was
saying. I had been in the same situation with him and Roberto.

Alex wiped the tears from my face. “Don’t cry Babe.
I didn’t say that to upset you. I just wanted you to understand.
Things aren’t always black and white, and people make mistakes. I
don’t want you to hurt, but I also think you wouldn’t want Roberto
to die. You and I, despite what has transpired, care for him. That
is why I came to you.”

Onatah who was quiet through all of this looked at
Alex with respect. “You are a wise man, Alex. I know it’s not easy
for you to stand in front of my daughter, loving her as much as you
do, and tell her that she should forgive Roberto because he loves
her too. My respect for you is great.”

Onatah actually bowed to Alex.
Alex looked stunned for a moment but then remembered his manners
and bowed back. Even Cheve nodded his head at Alex.

Onatah said, “Okay, enough with sentiments. Let’s
talk about what we are to do. Alex, where do you think we should
start?”

“
I think we need to go to Cat
Island.”

Chapter 16

“
Be reasonable Orenda. There is no
way you can take Bullet with you,” Cheve said as he helped me
pack.

“
I have to take him. I can’t leave
him behind.” I looked at him trying to make him understand. “It’s
not a matter of me just wanting him to go along. It’s a matter of
the feeling that he needs to go with me.”

He ran a hand through his dark
hair and sighed. “Okay, that I can understand, but Orenda it’s
going to be hell and expensive to take him on the
plane.”

I looked at Bullet who sat at his usual spot by the
stove. “I know, but he needs to be with me and so he shall.” Bullet
stared back at me with an eerie sense of understanding.

“
Okay, so it’s settled. Bullet
goes. In that case can the fucking vampire stay here?” Cheve said
as he looked at Alex who was in his torpor state in my bed. It was
weird to stand here and talk about him, but I knew that he was
unable to hear us, and we had to get everything ready for our trip
to Cat Island.

We discussed most of the plan before Alex succumbed
to his sleep. We were planning to leave after sunset tonight. It
would be Cheve, Mark, Alex, myself, and now Bullet that would be
making the trip. Bringing Bullet would make the trip a little more
difficult. We would need to make a stop, and I knew just where we
would head. There was a friend that I wanted to see.