Authors: DD Prince
He leaned over her and kissed her nose, “Give me a few minutes to run. You won’t be able to keep up. Then I’ll come back and bring you.”
Kyla smiled, “Kay.”
He brushed her hair away from her face with his fingertips and kissed her again and then he dashed out, seeming like a little boy on Christmas morning.
Kyla grabbed some shorts and a t-shirt, a sports bra and clean underwear. Then she wrinkled up her nose remembering she didn’t have any running shoes. Even running in her bare feet in the grass again would be okay, though; better when she wasn’t on the lamb. She glanced at his shelf filled with half a dozen pairs of running shoes. Way too big. They’d be clown shoes on her and she’d undoubtedly fall on her face.
She wondered where her shoes were from that first night. They were ballet flats, though, not runners. She went to the bathroom and got dressed, washed her face, then combed and retied her hair up. It was after midnight and she’d guessed he’d been gone about 10 minutes. She was antsy so she started stretching, getting geared up for the run. Suddenly, he was there, sweating, heaving, and two inches from her, looking gorgeous and happy, and smelling like a McDonald’s hot apple pie.
“Hey, princess,” he said.
“Hey,” she gave him a shy smile, joy welling up inside.
“C’mon,” he grabbed her hand. He was still full of energy, she could see. She followed him downstairs through the kitchen, past the large fridge, where he reached in and grabbed two bottles of water, passed her one, and then they walked down a hall on the main floor Kyla hadn’t seen yet. It led to a humungous great room, big enough to host a huge party, with a fireplace, large leather sectional couches, and large TV. There was also a long fully-stocked bar on one end. There were sliding doors on one end that led outside and another end, which led to the courtyard. He walked her out the one and then they were on the property, looking ahead at a dark clearing in the trees with a pathway that was flanked with garden lights. It looked like it went quite far ahead uphill.
“Oh,” He stared at her feet, “You’ll have running shoes tomorrow. Wanna get your flip flops and just walk?”
“Let’s just run on the grass? I need the wind in my hair.”
“Okay” he said, “and I’ll get the treadmill upstairs for you from my gym tomorrow. Then you can run whenever you want to.”
Kyla smiled. Not the same as running in the fresh air but for now she’d take it. She did some more lunges and stretches as they walked.
When they finally broke out into a jog she could feel her heart sing. It felt so good to run without fear, even barefoot. Tristan ran beside her, keeping stride with her but leading the way through the dark. It was an expansive piece of property and she was grateful it was covered with lush grass that helped cushioned her bare feet.
The sky was beautifully velvet black with ¾ of a moon and stars punctuating it, much like a Lite Brite screen. It was the end of June and there weren’t too many insects out.
“Do mosquitoes bite you?” she asked.
“Nope. They wouldn’t dare. I do the biting, thank you very much.” Tristan flashed a gorgeous smile.
“Lucky.”
“There are some definite perks,” he smirked, suddenly he was directly in front of her, jogging backwards.
“So, vampires are real?” she said, looking at him studiously.
Tristan laughed, “Vampires are real.”
“Still wrapping my mind around that one. How? I mean, where do they come from?”
“They’ve just always been. There are a lot of things that have always just been that people aren’t aware of.”
“Like?”
“Like a lot of things.”
“Hmm. Okay, I guess you’re letting me absorb one supernatural phenomenon at a time?”
“You could say that.”
“So, what was your life like before you were a vampire?”
“Let’s save that conversation, okay? I wanna learn more about you, too, but let’s just run faster for now, okay?”
“I can’t go any faster, I don’t think,” she felt a little cramp and slowed down.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, maybe just a bit out of shape after a few days of lazing in bed.”
Rather, being chained to your bed…
she pushed the thought away.
“I’ll run for both of us. Whip up some wind for your hair,” he handed her his water bottle and fluidly scooped her up in his arms, all carry-over-the-threshold-like, and then started to run fast, really fast.
Kyla wrapped her arms tight around his neck and heard the plastic bottles crunch due to how tight she gripped them. She heard him laugh as they whizzed through the night. They passed a creek, he ran up and down a few hills, and she thought, though she couldn’t be sure, that they may even have dashed past a fox. Then, a few minutes later they were back at the house, inside the great room they’d gone out of. She’d love to explore this property more leisurely sometime. It was really a very beautiful piece of land, from what she could see in the dark whizzing by at who knew how many miles per hour.
“Cool off with a swim?” Tristan suggested and softly put her on her own feet and took the water bottles and put them on a table. She felt a little dizzy. That was scary but exhilarating at the same time.
Tristan reached over and peeled her shorts and panties down all at once and pulled her shirt and bra over her head. He stepped out of his shoes and toed his socks off and then dropped his shorts.
She looked at him appreciatively. He flashed dimples and then urged her, ‘C’mon.” He totally looked like a young and carefree guy; it suited him.
They went out into the courtyard and he lifted her and then jumped into the pool with her in his arms.
Kyla touched the bottom and then swam up to the surface and found him leaning his back against the wall of the pool, using his elbows on the deck to hold himself up.
“Come here,” he said huskily.
She swam over to the side of the pool to him and held herself up with his shoulders.
He kissed her passionately.
“Feel better?” he asked.
“Yes. Thank you,” Kyla answered, “That run was very Edward and Bella, wasn’t it?”
He sucked on her lower lip and one of his arms circled her waist, pulling her tight against his hard wet body. They made out at the side of the pool for several minutes. Kyla felt the heat rising in her, she wanted him badly. Again. She wrapped her legs around his waist. He let out a little chuckle,
“Was it? Two laps and then let’s go to bed,” he whispered, sucking on her earlobe.
“Okay,” she answered, releasing him from her grip, “Oh, we’ll get the house all wet. We have no towels.”
“There are towels in the deck trunk over there but bah, whatever, I’m okay with you being wet…I like how wet you can get…” he smirked and swam off. He’d done three laps before as she was done her first. He got out of the pool and then reached to help Kyla out.
A few minutes later they were upstairs, dried off, and in bed and she was suddenly spent. She didn’t know if she had the energy for more sex.
Tristan leaned over her as she yawned, “I had a good time tonight,” he whispered.
“Me, too. Almost felt like a date.”
“One day soon we
will
have a date. You’re too tired to make love, aren’t you?” he ran his fingers through her wet hair.
The words ‘make love’ made her insides liquefy. “When has that ever stopped you?” she reached for him.
He chuckled, “In that case…”
Tristan pulled the blankets back and started to kiss her very tenderly on the neck, the shoulders, and then trailed down to her breasts,
“Then make love to you I shall…” he whispered.
“Wait,” Kyla said, “
You
lie down.”
He raised his eyebrows, then rolled over. She climbed on top of him and trailed kisses down his neck, his shoulders, and across to his chest. Then she rubbed her hands up and down the ridges of his stomach, across his biceps as she ran her nose from his chest back up to his lips, kissing along the way. He caught her hands in his, weaving their fingers together, pulling her close. She kissed him fervently and straddled him, then eased the tip of him inside of her. She squirmed and gyrated slowly until he was fully sheathed by her. He was very blessed in the size department and it hurt for a quick beat but soon started to feel wonderful. His eyes were closed and his face was alight with passion. She had put on a cotton pair of baby dolls but suddenly he was ripping the top straight down the middle.
“You have to stop ripping my clothes,” she breathed, reveling in the feel of him inside of her and the feel of his hot hands all over her.
“Then you’ll have to stop wearing them,” he answered on a slow, staggered exhale.
Kyla gyrated in small circles, enjoying the depth and when he opened his eyes, she stared directly into them. Tristan caught her breasts in his hands and kneaded them. Then he reached between them and rubbed her clit as she gyrated slowly against him. She moaned and started to pick up the pace, making bigger circles. In no time she was hitting a peak, gasping and shuddering against him. He sat up and grabbed her and pulled her to him and held her tight as she lost it and gagged herself with his shoulder and as they found their climax together, he groaned, “Mine.”
It felt beautiful. Her skin directly against his skin. His breath on her neck, his scent all around her. It was like all was right with the world. It was a totally foreign feeling. He laid back down, her still on top and him still inside of her. She nuzzled into the crook of his neck.
“You didn’t bite me,” she said.
“You need to regain your strength. Besides, if I bit you every single time I wanted to, my fangs would always be out.”
Kyla smiled sleepily and yawned, “Good night.” She wondered if he held back to prove that it wasn’t just her blood that he wanted. She squirmed against him, nuzzling his earlobe.
“Sweet dreams my beautiful delicious girl. You’re amazing, you know that?” he shifted to his side, holding her close, “No angst tonight, sweet princess, just sleep. Everything right this second is perfect. Let’s enjoy it.” He kissed her earlobe.
“Kay,” she mumbled, letting herself drift.
Oh yeah, “
Hey…” she whispered.
“Hmm?”
“Where are all my shoes?”
“I guess we forgot them. I’ve arranged for some new ones.”
“I’d like to go get them. What about the shoes I was wearing the first night?”
“You only had one on when you got here. You don’t need to go back there. I’ll buy you new ones. I happen to be more than just a pretty face. I happen to be filthy rich, too.” He yawned.
She let out a little chuckle but felt a pang of sadness. He must’ve felt it because he kissed her earlobe and snuggled in closer, “Let’s not think about it tonight,” he said.
She snuggled in and started to drift again, thinking that her old life was behind her and his lack of an answer about going back pointed to the fact that he didn’t want her looking back. She didn’t like the feeling of having no control whatsoever over her current life. She wanted to say goodbye to that old life without simply running for a change, just moving on but leaving that door open, keeping contact with the friends she’d made, but had the distinct feeling Tristan connected that life with his fear of her being in danger and until the danger was out of the way she’d have to let him hold the reins. She didn’t know what he’d said to her roommate and her bosses but didn’t want to break the mood by starting a fight right now. She’d think about all this later.
Wait. Oh no…
Her eyes bolted open, “Oh fuck…”
Damn, damn, shit, damn!
“What is it?” he asked.
“Um, can vampires, um, get humans pregnant? They can, right? You said your bloodlines…”
She felt his body tighten. He said nothing so she continued,
“I, um, can’t believe I didn’t think about this sooner. We’ve been having a lot of sex. Like… lots. Unprotected sex. I was on the pill for problems with my…ah…period….but I haven’t had any pills in over a week now and…”
“It’s okay, we’re covered.”
“Huh? How?”
“Shhh. Don’t worry, we’ll talk about it tomorrow. I’m so tired, I just need to close my eyes. Right now all is right with our world, baby. Shhh,” he kissed her shoulder.
“But---”
“Shhhh, you aren’t pregnant…” more kisses on the shoulder.
Kyla gave in to sleep but not before a fleeting moment of imagining little blue-eyed fanged babies crawling around.
Usually her period would’ve turned up within 2-3 days max if she’d stopped the pills abruptly. No period would’ve signified a pregnancy scare, especially after all the sex she’d had since her last pill. But he’d said they were covered.
She fell asleep with a little frown on her face, deciding she’d get answers in the morning.
She woke up feeling her rear end sting, “Wake up lazy girl!” He had swatted her behind. She sat up. He was dressed in a powder blue thin cotton t-shirt that closely matched his eyes and a pair of faded button fly jeans. He looked and smelled showered and fresh and yummy. He smiled, “You gonna sleep all day long?”
She had never been called lazy before. Then again, she never got to sleep this much before. She looked around. There were several bags and boxes on the sofa and the treadmill was now in the corner of the room by the bookshelf and facing the window.
“You’ve been busy.” She rubbed her eyes.
“I have. It’s 11:30. You were dead to the world. I can’t believe you slept through all that noise.” Tristan leaned over her. He smelled all chocolate cake-y with caramel and his eyes were twinkly. She smiled at him, starry-eyed.
“I’ve had some clothes and things delivered and my iPod’s in the desk if you like to listen to music while you run. There’s juice on the table. I’ll go get breakfast and coffee.” He gave her a loud kiss on the mouth and dashed out of the room. He was totally adorable. A girl could get used to this.
Kyla got up and downed the glass of fresh-squeezed tasting orange juice and then got into the shower. Half way through lathering her hair she felt hands on her rear end and lips on her chin.
“Well hello…” she giggled, “I thought you already showered.”
“I want to get my dirty girl clean. Or maybe dirtier. Let me…” She felt tingly all over. He took over lathering her hair. His strong fingers massaged her scalp and she let out a little moan. It felt so nice. She felt cared for and it was such a foreign feeling.
She tipped her head back to rinse it under the giant shower head and he took the opportunity to sink his teeth into her throat. It startled her for a second and then she found herself pinned against the tiled wall. Tristan groaned into her throat and dug his fingers into her hips. Then he let go of her throat and hips, flashed a devious-looking grin, then spun her around so that her front was flat against the wet tiled wall. He rubbed up against her backside and then worked his way so that he was penetrating her while biting on the back of her neck. Kyla grabbed the built-in shower shelf, knocking over a bottle of shower gel, and groaned loud. It felt so good. He took her hair and squeezed the excess water out, then held onto the length as he drank and moved against her, thrusting in and out at a slow pace. He cupped her between her legs and his fingers started working some magic, too.
~~~
A little while later they were both in robes and at the table by the window eating blueberry crepes with maple syrup and whipped cream on top.
“Who cooked these?” Kyla asked, “They’re fucking awesome.”
“Me.”
“This is the best thing I’ve eaten in my life. You like to cook, huh?” she dabbed at her chin, which had gotten all syrupy. He’d tasted like this one other time, like syrup and blueberries. She took a big bite and moaned. So yummy!
“In my former life I was head chef in a five-star restaurant.” He flashed a dimpled smile.
“Oh really? Everything you’ve fed me so far has been delicious. I can’t cook to save my life.”
“I hadn’t cooked in years. Then came you…”
She blushed and batted her eyelashes, “Then came me.” She used her phone sex operator voice.
“My dirty girl,” he teased, “I’ll bake you something later. What’s your favorite dessert?”
“And you bake? I’ve hit the vampire motherlode. I have a wicked sweet tooth so anything but I could handle something… chocolate?” She said, eyes lit up.
She was about to start asking more questions but then he continued, a big smile on his face, “Gotcha. Chocolate something it is. So, all that is yours. Check it out. I hope it all works.” He motioned toward the pile of bags and boxes in the sitting area, “I have a lot going on today so I won’t be around ‘til tonight. Sorry that you have to hang out here but I’m thinking that after this conference I’ll send the guys off for a bit so we can have the whole house to ourselves for a while. Or better yet, maybe we’ll go to my apartment downtown for a while,” he raised his eyebrows at her, “Go on a date, maybe?”
Kyla smiled, “Sounds good. You’re
that
busy but you have time to bake me something?”
He smirked, “I’ll make time. I need to fatten you up after all that fasting you did. There’s a chance,” he continued, his face turning serious, “that you might have to make an appearance during the conference, so you’ll notice something more formal there. I’m trying to avoid that but in case that’s not possible, we’re prepared.”
Kyla’s expression dropped and a chill crawled up her spine.
“I know.” Tristan said, “It’d be dangerous. We’d have to do some major prep beforehand to get away with this without anyone realizing you’re lucid but don’t stress about it for now. I’m working to find a way around it. And if we don’t have to use it you’ve got a sexy new little black dress for our first real date.”
So much for breakfast.
Her appetite disintegrated.
Tristan took another sip of his coffee and then got up and kissed her softly on the mouth. His lips lingered for a beat and then he gave her shoulders a squeeze, “I’ll be in my office if you need me. Can you do me a favour and just pile everything from breakfast on that tray and put it out in the hall? Then lock the door?”
“Sure.”
He exited via the balcony. She watched him walk around to his office door then Kyla threw some workout clothes on and was about to look through the loot for runners, excited about the prospect of time on that treadmill even more than the big shopping haul spread across the sofa, but then decided to gather the breakfast dishes and get them out of the way first. She walked to the door and pushed it open, then went back to the table for the tray and took it into the hall and put it on the floor.
She heard something and saw a form step into the hall from the guestroom next door. She jolted. Joe. He’d seen her. She backed into the bedroom and shut the door and locked it.
Shit.
Was that going to be a bad thing? Surely the guys knew she was still there. Maybe Tristan didn’t want them to know she wasn’t still chained to the bed. She didn’t know if being sighted was a bad thing or not so she decided to go tell him. She walked out onto the balcony and looked down into the courtyard and she hurried around to the office door. The walk felt eerie as the last time she’d done it, she had been trying to leave him. It felt like a walk of shame. She could see about a dozen large round tables around the perimeter of the courtyard, obviously things were gearing up for this party. She pushed the office door open, noticing the screen had already been repaired and came face to face with Tristan and Sam. Sam was standing in front of Tristan’s desk and they’d clearly been entrenched in some sort of heated conversation. She stopped dead in her tracks. Sam’s eyebrows perked upwards and his mouth dropped open.
Tristan stood up and his eyes narrowed. “Wait in the bedroom for me, Kyla, please,” he clipped, his jaw tight.
She wanted to swallow but her throat was dry. She nodded and backed out. As she shut the door behind her, she heard Sam ask, “Please? Really, Tris?”
Her heart was pounding wildly. She had seen a dark and grim look on his face and guessed that barging in there with Sam present had not made him happy. She shut the door back in the master suite and sat on the couch, feeling panicked but thinking he should’ve warned her.
A long time passed and she got tired of drumming her fingers on the sofa arm so she finally got up and made the bed. She needed to get the panic out of her chest, out of her gut.
When she decided to start looking at the bags and boxes on the sofa and coffee table she was overwhelmed at the amount of stuff and the expense he’d gone to. The first thing she opened was a Nike shoebox. They were her size and pink with just a bit of sparkle and were ones she’d seen in the store and loved them, but could never justify spending that price on one pair of running shoes. Another shoe box revealed a pair of high-heeled glittery black strappy sandals with red soles. There were 6 other shoe boxes. Why would she need all these shoes if she were spending the foreseeable future in his bedroom?
Then she looked through the clothes and found designer yoga pants and hoodies, a few pairs of jeans, pretty tops, a few pairs of pants, sexy bras and other underwear, long and short sundresses that would be great by the pool, and a few sexy negligees, 3 bikinis, a one-piece bathing suit, and 2 sheer swim wraps. Then there was a little black dress that shimmered with glitter, the same as the shoes. It was a short halter dress that looked very expensive and looked exactly like something she’d recently drooled over on a window shopping trip with Daisy. There was also a gorgeous full-length leather trench coat.
Another large bag was filled with toiletries, nearly every toiletry imaginable, it seemed. Deodorant, face wash, cosmetics, a hair brush, curling iron, hair dryer, flat iron, elastics, hair spray, shampoo, body wash, toothbrush, Polysporin, a package of ponytail holders, even a package of maxi pads and tampons. There was also a bottle of Tylenol and a bottle of Pepto Bismol as well as a box of Gravol. Kyla was overwhelmed with all the stuff. The clothes were all the right size. There was a variety of make-up, earrings, other accessories, too. There were three shades of foundation, five tubes of lipstick, three mascara and eyeliner colors, a massive MAC eye shadow palette. It felt like a cross between Christmas and…what? A prize package from a makeover TV show? A bad dream? What?
Realization again started to sink in as she examined the sanitary products. Why hadn’t her period come? And why hadn’t she even thought about it before last night? Her judgement was obviously totally out the window. She put the loot bag of toiletries in the cabinet under the bathroom sink and wandered back out to the bedroom.
She’d taken a break from her brain for 12 hours but here she was again, agonizing. She was worried about her future, about her free will, worried about being in danger from other vampires, but worried that Tristan would suddenly not want her anymore, too.
When that thought hit her it was probably what bothered her the most. In a short time she had gone from fear stricken to being a lot like the lovesick puppy he was acting like. She closed her eyes and saw the two of them in the shower that morning. He was so sexy, so attentive, so playful and affectionate.
How could any girl resist that, let alone a girl who had some chemical bond through blood and paranormal magic? She shook herself out of her reverie and went back to putting the new stuff away, thinking about the fact that there were still so many things she didn’t know; so many things to be afraid of. Their relationship was based, so far, on chemistry, sexual chemistry and whatever chemical reaction happened when he fed from her --- chemistry that had an effect on both of them. This wasn’t the way a man and woman typically got to know one another. Did they have anything in common?
But he was also so…sweet and physical. He was gorgeous and had charisma and she could see falling head over heels for him if this playful and energetic guy was who he really was. But what about the monster? How long until scary Tristan was back? Would she have to lose herself to keep black-eyed Tristan at bay?
It took her quite a while to get it all away and suddenly she realized he was in the doorway of the closet, assessing her. “How long have you been standing there?” she asked. She put down the bag in her hand. He had his arms crossed over his chest, all sorts of muscle flexing as he watched her. He had a cool demeanor but damn, he was hot.
She cleared her throat, “Is everything okay? I only came to tell you ---”
Tristan shook his head, “Got a lot going on in there, huh?” he kissed her temple.
She flushed, “Yeah.”
“Don’t stress about that thing with Sam; it was my fault. I shouldn’t have told you to come. I should get you a phone instead so we can clear things like that until all this stuff is sorted. I should’ve known he might be in there with me. It was bad timing, too, based on the conversation he and I were having.”
“I came to talk to you because I saw Joe.”
“What? Where?”
“When I put the breakfast tray in the hall, He was coming out of the next bedroom. He saw me.”
Tristan put his hand over his forehead and clenched his jaw, “No reason he should be in this wing of the house. And?”
“And nothing, I just came back in quickly and shut the door. I came to tell you and that’s when…you know.”
He exhaled loudly, “Okay don’t worry about it. Just stay in here the rest of the day, okay? I don’t like the idea of either of them being alone with you. Especially Joe.”
He pulled her close and held her, rubbing her back. Kyla sank into his embrace. He felt so warm; he smelled so good.
“You feel so good,” he murmured, “But I’ve gotta tear myself away. I’ll be back to check on you soon. Need anything before I go?”
“Naw, I’m good. But I wanted to ask you about the whole birth control thing. Can I have my purse? I need to double-check my pills. I think I should’ve had my, err… period by now.”
“You’re not pregnant Kyla, you don’t have to worry. You don’t need those pills.”
“Why? And really? How do you know, I mean can you not…”
“I gave you a shot. When I took blood I gave you a birth control shot. I knew you’d ovulate if I didn’t.”