“Hey, you’re the one who picked the play. Don’t tell me you didn’t expect to have this sort of conversation afterward.”
“Ah, here is our limo, if you please? I’m glad you brought a heavy coat as I’ve made arrangements for us to have a private moonlit boat ride.”
“Like I said, you really didn’t have to go all out to impress me.”
“The idea isn’t to impress you,” he said, his voice gentle now. He caressed my cheek and added, “It’s to make you feel special.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. He’d kissed me during intermission, another of those panty melting kisses that turned my insides to Jell-O, and I was wondering what would happen if he repeated the kiss later. I was betting there was a bed on the plane, and I was fairly certain I wasn’t ready to have sex with him. There was too much to think about, and I wasn’t prepared to fall for a vampire. I was okay with dating one and playing around some, but to actually fall for him? No, that hadn’t been the plan. I mean, I’d grow old and he wouldn’t. And I was a mom — a vampire boyfriend didn’t fit into my life.
Even using the word
boyfriend
on a thirty-eight hundred year old vampire sounded ridiculous. Vampire lover, yeah, that fit. I don’t do casual sex, but I’m fine with meaningful sex with someone I don’t intend to spend the rest of my life with.
Meaningful sex meant some sort of relationship. Not necessarily a lifelong relationship or even a committed one, but enough of a connection to make the sex more than just a physical act.
“I didn’t think that statement should have made you look quite so thoughtful,” he said with a wistful smile. “I wish I knew what was going on in that head of yours.”
My silence must’ve made him wonder what I was thinking. I was
really
glad he couldn’t read my thoughts. At least, I hoped he still couldn’t.
“This is different for you, isn’t it?” I asked. “You can usually read thoughts when you want?”
“I can’t read everything from everyone. Most supernaturals learn to put up shields, but I can easily read almost all humans. Of those I can’t read, I can usually get a good idea of the direction of their thoughts even if I can’t get the specific brainwaves. However, I get nothing from your brain that you don’t intentionally send.”
“Does this make me a challenge?”
He kissed my forehead and smiled. “No, it just makes you Kirsten. You’re still trying to figure out what I see in you, aren’t you?”
“Yep.”
The limo stopped and I looked out the window to see the waterfront. Abbott helped me out of the limo and we went into a building. A largish man in jeans and a flannel-lined blue jean jacket met us at the door, let us in, and then locked the door behind us. I guess they were closed.
“Mr. Hamilton, if you and your lady will come this way, please.”
We followed him out a different door, down the long walkway of a dock, and onto a decent sized boat. The vessel would’ve easily held fifty people, and it was just Abbott and I. We walked upstairs and sat down in a room with windows on all sides. Once the boat was underway, a waiter brought a drink that looked like whiskey on ice for Abbott, and something with whipped cream on it for me. Abbott said, “I’ve made the assumption you’d be happy with hot chocolate with Bailey’s in it, and whipped cream on top?”
“Happy?
Ecstatic
might be more like it at this point. I’m not freezing, but I’m a touch cold and this will take the chill off. What are you drinking?”
“Jack Daniels on ice.”
“You’re taking that ‘living in Tennessee’ thing a bit far, aren’t you? Or is that your drink of choice no matter where you live?”
“It’s not because I’m living in Tennessee, it happens to be a drink I enjoy.”
I sighed. “What a coincidence.”
He raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“It used to be my drink of choice, back in my wild days. Now, I still chill with a Jack and Coke at home occasionally, once Lauren is down for the night. Not very often, but I guess it’s my comfort drink when I’ve had a hard day. I haven’t been sloppy-drunk in so long I can’t remember — before I brought Lauren home, for sure. But still, when I’m stressed, a nice strong Jack and Coke has the ability to take the edge off.” I took a sip of my drink and felt the heat travel to my stomach. I closed my eyes a few seconds to enjoy it, then opened them to say, “Right now the Baileys and hot chocolate is perfect, though. I needed something hot, and chocolate is never a bad call.”
“And why did you not seem happy that we both enjoy the same drink?” Abbott asked.
People often tell me I have the uncanny ability to ask the right questions. I’ve always assumed this is in large part due to my training as a therapist, but on some level I figure whatever latent psychic abilities I sometimes exhibit probably have something to do with it, too. Tonight, I was seeing that Abbott also seemed to have this skill, and I wasn’t sure exactly how to answer him.
The truth? I was ready for us to stop having so much in common, but I wasn’t going to tell him that, so I hedged. “Did I sound unhappy? I’m sorry. No reason for me to be happy or unhappy about it.”
His eyes went harsh and I heard power in his voice again. “I may not be able to read your mind, but I can smell a lie.” He didn’t look pleased, and whatever he was doing to his voice had the ability to completely undo me if he didn’t stop.
So, of course, I went on the offensive. “Don’t try to go all Dom on me, and I don’t need that creepy voice thing while on a date, either. Sorry, I shouldn’t have lied. I’ll just say that I decline to answer the question at this time, and we’ll drop it.”
“I do not like being lied to.” He didn’t push power into his voice, but it wasn’t hard to hear he was still pissed.
I sighed and felt my shoulders sag. I held his gaze as I said, “I’m sorry. I should’ve just changed the subject. It isn’t like me to answer dishonestly, but if I weren’t being irrational then there’d be no reason for me to be happy or unhappy about the fact you like Jack Daniels. The entire statement wasn’t really a lie so much as misdirection. Still, I apologize, since even though it wasn’t technically a lie, I also wasn’t speaking truth.”
“Apology accepted, though I’d feel better if you actually told me why it bothered you.”
I looked out the windows now, taking in the beautiful night, and the moon’s reflection on the water’s rippling surface. “If it weren’t a silly female reason I would. I don’t normally
do
silly female, and I’m not comfortable with it.” I hoped he’d let me change the conversation, and I tried with, “The view of the city is beautiful from here, let’s not waste it by bickering.”
I slipped my coat off, stood, and walked to the window to look out. Abbott followed and stood behind me with his arms around my torso, and I leaned my head back against his chest. I’m five foot two inches tall, and he’s at least a foot taller, so he could easily look over my head to see the view.
“This is nice, thank you,” I said.
“I thank you for coming with me.”
“Have you ever lived in Chicago?”
“Yes, but it’s been long enough there are no humans who’ll remember.”
“It must be hard to outlive most everyone. I know there are the other vampires, and then those like Aaron and Mordecai who are either immortal or don’t die until killed, but most of the people you meet are just in your life for a relatively short time, right?”
“Sometimes it’s hard. Mostly, I’ve lived this life so long I’ve learned to deal with death, though occasionally someone important comes into my life, refuses to be turned, and I grieve as I watch them age and die. It’s possible for me to keep a human alive longer than their normal lifespan, but it isn’t the same as turning them.”
I was considering which of my questions to ask first when he added, “A handful of the long-lived move around together. We decide far in advance which city we’ll move next, and we go as a group. There are also others I see as I move around, whom I’ve known in the past. Things are more comfortable for me now than they’ve been in centuries, and it’s a luxury to be living in a time where I get along with most of the other territory Masters, so I can obtain passage to visit their demesne. I had to get permission from the Master of this area for us to fly here tonight. Vampire society has way too many rules, but I do my best to work within them.”
“So, your relationships with humans — you go into them knowing they’re short term.”
“Usually, yes. I’ve also turned a fair share of humans I fell in love with, so I didn’t have to say goodbye to them and I wasn’t forced to watch them grow old.”
“Did they want to be turned?”
“Of course. Since I’ve been Master and have been able to make my own decisions, I haven’t turned anyone against their will. All have known full well what it meant, with many conversations about what they would give up as well as what they would gain. I require the vampires in my territory to do the same before they turn someone.”
“Not all Masters are as laid back and easygoing as you though, right?”
“My people would likely argue about my being laid back, though it’s true as long as they follow my rules I generally let them live their lives as they wish.” He hesitated, as if deciding whether to say what he was thinking, and then said, “After what you saw me do to Piers, I’m a bit surprised you think I’m laid back and easygoing.”
“I’m guessing you hold your control, your position, because no one can take it from you. It isn’t like the U.S. Presidency where there’s the Army and Navy and Marines to make sure no one takes it from you. This means you can’t allow anyone to question your authority, especially not in front of people, and when they do you must make it clear it won’t be tolerated.” I turned in his arms and added, “I had the feeling most everyone else in the room had respect for you. Not fear, but respect. They knew as long as they didn’t challenge you, they had no reason to fear you. I’ve seen good leaders and I’ve seen bad leaders, and the general feeling I got from the people I met was that they considered you a good leader.”
I held his gaze a few seconds to give him a chance to speak. When he didn’t, I turned in his arms to look out the window again. “You told me as much in one of our conversations, that there was a formal way to address you, but you didn’t require your people to do so unless there was a reason. You don’t seem like the type of person to let power go to your head, you seem more like the type of leader who rules because you want it done the way you do it, and not the way someone else does. As the saying goes, if you want something done right, do it yourself.”
His chest vibrated against my back when he spoke. “You’re quite perceptive, Miss O’Shea.”
I ignored him and continued with my thoughts. “I know it annoys you when I question what you see in me, but I still have to wonder what you’re thinking. I’m human, you aren’t. And yet you appear to be romancing me pretty seriously. You and I so far seem to have much in common, but to what end could there be for us to explore this?”
He turned me around and looked down at me. I didn’t like looking up so I levitated until we were eye to eye. I faltered at first because being over water made it a lot harder, but I’d used a boat to balance against before, and this was a big boat, so I managed.
“As you’ve just demonstrated, you’re more than human.”
“I’ll still die sometime in the next thirty or forty years, if not before. There’s no reason to believe my metaphysical abilities will lengthen my life.”
And then the world spun out of control as he kissed me. He wrapped his arms around me so I was no longer levitating, he was holding me, and his lips were on mine, opening them, pressing, controlling. He wasn’t gentle this time, but rough and demanding. He
took me
with his mouth. His arms around me were gentle, but his mouth told me he was tired of talking and wanted to show me how he felt. My legs wrapped themselves around his waist, giving me the leverage I needed to kiss him back with as much power and energy as he’d been giving me.
His face moved down, his lips on my neck, his tongue tasting me, and as good as it felt, suddenly I was afraid he would bite me and I pushed him back — my legs still wrapped around him, but my head and hands pushing me backwards away from him. He must have smelled my fear because he stopped, pulled his head back a touch, and froze. He was treating me like a skittish horse, trying not to scare me or make me run, just as he’d done for Lauren when she saw his vamped out face.
He very quietly said, “I’m not going to bite you. I have more control than that.”
I leaned into him a little, trying to show I trusted him. I was actually sorry I hadn’t, but I was sure I’d felt him wanting to bite me, or at least thinking about it.
“But you wanted to bite me.” It came out as more of an accusation than I intended, but I couldn’t think of a way to soften it.
“Of course I did, but you have my word that I won’t unless you tell me to. Unless you
want
me to.”
“Okay.”
I put my legs on the ground and he released me as I stepped back to the table. There was a little hot chocolate and Baileys left in my cup and I wanted to drink the rest of it. It looked like the boat was headed back the direction we came, but I had no idea how near we were to the dock. I was ready to get off of the boat, though I wasn’t sure the limo or the plane would be much better. Especially not if there was a bed on the plane.
He stayed where he was, looking at me in the reflection of the glass. “Just okay?”
“Yes, just okay. You seem to me to be a man, well, vampire, of honor. If you give me your word then I accept it. I’m not promising I won’t freak again in the heat of the moment, but as of right now, I accept it.”
He turned to look at me, but didn’t step towards me, “Fair enough. I’m sorry I scared you. Your smell is intoxicating and I
do
want to know how you taste, but unless you wish for me to, I will not taste of you. How did you know I was thinking of it, though?”
“I felt the desire. I wasn’t reading your mind, it was an intuition thing. An instinct. I just
knew
.”
He nodded, accepting my word. “Please know it’s the same as you looking at someone’s plate and thinking ‘oh, that cake looks good’. You may imagine how good it is, wish you’d ordered it instead of whatever you ordered, but you would never stick your fork across to their plate and get yourself a bite without their consent. And unless it was a good friend, you’d never ask in the first place. I wasn’t seriously contemplating biting you, just wondering what you’d taste like.”