Shadows in Savannah (4 page)

Dane stared at the vampire in his bed. They had been awake all night and while a human would need sleep afterward, a vampire didn’t. At least, Dane wouldn’t until tomorrow.

His birthday.

He turned from Jorge at the thought and walked out of the room. He didn’t want to contemplate what his birthday meant or what it could mean. Not now.

In the kitchen, he started to prepare his usual pot of coffee, but changed his mind at the last second. He would need blood to make it through the day fully and mentally alert.

He’d never been taken so completely before. His body didn’t ache, but his soul did. Jorge fit in him as though made for him. Whatever discomfort he might have had the moment Jorge entered him, it was brief and no more than a pinch.

Jorge had been hard as stone, his muscles tight and tension filled. But he’d held Dane down with tender intensity, careful not to overpower and cause harm.

He’d actually felt cared for, precious, which in sex between vampires was rare. He —

“You think too much, love,” Jorge said from behind him, interrupting his thoughts.

Love? What an odd endearment.

“I don’t think it’s odd at all. Not between us. Not after last night.”

“It was one night. Nothing in it about love.”

“No? Then what would you say?”

“A lot of lust and hunger. Craving for companionship. This can be a lonely existence.”

“It can,” Jorge agreed. “Were you going to leave me sleeping in your bed?” he asked, changing the subject, which Dane was thankful for.

“Yes.”

“I see. Do you leave all your lovers in your bed and sneak out?”

“I don’t have lovers regularly. And, I wasn’t sneaking out.”

“Where were you off to?”

“The bookshop. I want to get the new books I brought back with me cataloged and shelved.”

“If you’ll share a glass of blood with me, I’ll gather some strength and go with you.”

“Jorge… It’s unnecessary.”

“Maybe for you, but it is very much necessary for me.”

“Why?”

“It is important to you, therefore, it is important to me. You are important to me.”

“A little more than twenty-four hours…”

“And a life that has spanned hundreds of years. I believe I know myself well enough after all this time to determine what is and isn’t important to me.”

Dane had to concede Jorge’s point. Hundreds of years does tend to give things a little different perspective. Humans might see last night as nothing more than a pleasurable sexual encounter. Dane and Jorge both saw it as more, only Dane was reluctant to admit that, either to himself or out loud to Jorge.

“Why though?”

Dane shook his head and gave Jorge an indulgent smile. “Please get out of my head.”

Jorge stepped closer until their bodies brushed together. “But I don’t want to get out of your head.” He lowered his head and nipped at Dane’s lips. “There are a lot of fun and fascinating things going on inside your mind.”

“Like what?” Dane whispered, nipping back. He liked the taste of Jorge. Exotic, and dark. Rich, and decadent. Maybe it was the gypsy blood that ran through him. Maybe it was the land he came from. Maybe it was the wine infused blood Roberto bartered with. Dane had no idea what it was that made Jorge intoxicating to taste and to touch, to simply be around.

He didn’t want to give it up.

“You don’t have to give anything up.”

Dane laughed. “I’m never going to have a private thought around you, am I?”

“No. I don’t want secrets between us.”

“Just because it’s a private thought, doesn’t mean it’s a secret.”

“I want to know everything you’re thinking, everything you’re feeling, everything,
amor
.”

“Everything?”

“Mmm. Yes. Everything.”

“Including what I feel like inside you?”

Jorge pulled back to look Dane in the eye. “I…”

Dane smiled. Finally. He was able to render the other vampire speechless and gain a slight upper hand. “You thought about it last night while you were inside me. You were wondering what it would feel like to be under me, to be impaled on me, to give yourself up to me.”

“Now who’s infiltrating thoughts?” Jorge laughed and kissed Dane hard on the lips. “And yes, I was wondering that and yes, I do still want to know, to feel it.”

“We should take care of that after the bookstore.”

“We could take care of it before…”

“We could,” Dane agreed. “But where would the fun be in that?”

Three hours, twenty books, and seven customers later, Dane was afraid the joke was on him. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about sinking into Jorge and Jorge…? Well, he didn’t seem to be tempted or bothered by the lust simmering in Dane at all. Of course, that simply fueled Dane’s desire.

He’d nearly closed the store an hour ago, unable to take much more without a taste of Jorge’s lips and the feel of his hard body. But Dane had resisted, promising himself that waiting would make the moment that much more delicious. He was now cursing that train of thought.

He heard Jorge laugh a few aisles over and Dane just smiled. Inside his head again... Truth be told, it didn’t bother him at all. No one had ever taken an interest in him the way Jorge had. No one… His thoughts trailed off and he stared blankly, stricken to his core at the pages in his hands. His birthday. Tomorrow. He’d be human.

It had slipped his mind, pushed to the far corners after he’d brought it up in London and Jorge hadn’t reacted, either negative or positive.

“What do you want to do?” Jorge asked gently, kneeling in front of Dane. He took the book, set it on the floor and took Dane’s hands in his and Dane, still stared. This time, though, their fingers curled around each other. He couldn’t look Jorge in the eye because the confusion swirling inside Dane was scary, more so than any unknown he’d ever faced.

He was frightened. He’d never met a man like Jorge. He’d never met anyone who might mean anything at all to him. He’d done everything he could not to form anything but business relationships with humans or other vampires. He’d never wanted the mess it would cause, the pain.

“Dane.”

“I can’t do this.”

“You can’t do what?”

“I can’t…Not with you.”
Not with anyone. Ever
. He screamed the words in his head knowing Jorge would hear them. He expected the other vampire to pull away, to retreat, but he didn’t. He held Dane’s hands tighter, inched closer on his knees.

Jorge’s fingers were long and blunt at the end. The type on a man who had done manual labor once upon a time. Dane’s were different—long, yes, but tapered at the end. Smooth where Jorge’s were slightly rough. Jorge’s skin was a few tones darker than Dane’s and for a long moment, Dane marveled that even as vampires, they still retained some of the humanity that at first glance would have told them apart.

“We have until midnight before the change takes place. We’ll decide then.”

“This isn’t your decision,” Dane hissed, forcing himself to keep his voice low so as not to alert the store’s customers to their personal matter.

“The second I took your body last night and beyond the moment you take mine tonight, it is a decision we make together.”

“It is not your life, Jorge.”

“But it is,
meu amor
.” He smiled sadly, ripping Dane apart inside as he did so. “It is.” He took his hands away and placed the book back in Dane’s palms. “We’ll talk about it later. Finish your work.”

“Are you leaving?” Dane was suddenly frightened, scared that Jorge wouldn’t return, and equally fearful that he might. Jorge chuckled at Dane’s thoughts making Dane smile as well. Every other second he forgot Jorge was reading his mind.

“Yes. I’m leaving for a while. I’ll be back when the shop closes to walk you home.” He leaned forward and kissed Dane on the forehead, his lips lingered against Dane’s flesh. He couldn’t cry, but if it had been possible, he felt certain he’d have shed tears.

Chapter Six

Dane wanted to die. Jorge knew it as clearly as he knew his own name and where he’d come from. Dane wanted to die. Tomorrow. On his birthday. As a human.

What was he supposed to do? How was he supposed to stand by and watch the beautiful vampire end himself? How was he supposed to interfere?

Jorge walked away from the bookstore and, given their short acquaintance, it was one of the hardest things he’d ever done. He wanted to return, to take Dane in his arms and hold him there, keep him safe. At the same time, he didn’t need to be there. If he’d stayed, they’d have argued and it would have ended badly. Jorge didn’t want that. And so he left.

The overcast day seemed to have followed them over from their trip to London. He kept to the shadows, near the buildings, his jacket pulled tight around him, the collar and lapels turned up. He would appear cold to passersby, but cold wasn’t what he was going for. Being a man not wanting to be disturbed or spoken to, however, was. He didn’t make eye contact with anyone, and he took the cobbled steps down to river level and beyond at the far end of the riverwalk until he reached the tunnel entrance.

“Roberto,” he called out as he neared the Italian’s alcove. It didn’t occur to him that the elder vampire might be resting. It also didn’t bother him to wake Roberto, either. Jorge needed advice and Roberto was the one he trusted not to have an ulterior motive in giving it.

“What is your distress,
mi amico
?” Roberto asked, meeting Jorge at the entrance, a full wine glass in hand.

“Dane.”

“
Si
, his scent is all over you.”

“He wants to die, Roberto.”

“He said this?”

“Yes.”

“I see. Come in, come in. Have a seat.” Roberto held up his glass. “Do you want some? You look a little pale.”

Jorge nodded and gave a faint smile. “I’m always looking a little pale.”

“Gives me an excuse not to drink alone. When is his birthday? I take it that’s when you suspect this to take place?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Why aren’t you with him today?”

“He is at his bookshop with the volumes he brought back with him yesterday. He is in a place of peace and happiness among his books.”

“Yes. He finds fascinating material. Those Victorians were a naughty bunch.”

“I want him. I don’t want him to leave me.”

“He is a special creature, but you cannot interfere if ending his existence is what he wants. We are vampires. We are already in violation of the laws of nature. We cannot interfere when one seeks to right the wrong that was done to them.”

Jorge hung his head and closed his eyes. He knew all that and still it didn’t help him feel any better. He could love Dane, could spend hundreds, maybe thousands of years looking after him, spending days and nights with him. He’d never loved before, but he wanted the chance to try and love Dane. “What do I do?” he asked brokenly.

“You honor whatever his wishes are. You go or you stay through to the end, but you do not interfere with his choice, whatever it happens to be.”

“Have you ever wanted another? For more than the sport of sex and play?”

“Once, yes. A very long time ago.”

“Will you tell me about it?” Jorge had never asked to know anything about another vampire. He hadn’t ever cared. He’d only wanted to exist peacefully among others of his kind. He didn’t want entanglements. Those only made departures more difficult. Despite what some believed, vampires did have feelings, did love and hate and care and hurt.

But something told him that Roberto’s tale would help him understand Dane and what he was going through. Something in the way Roberto had spoken about the laws of nature told Jorge that he needed to hear it.

The Italian sank heavily into a chair opposite Jorge. “I have never told anyone about this. There were many years I couldn’t even think about it.” He sighed and for a moment, Jorge wasn’t sure Roberto would say else. Finally, he did, though, in a voice thick with sadness and regret. “I was in love with a young couple when I was human. The three of us had a scandalous affair. I had just come into my father’s title and fortune and thought I was king of everything. I didn’t realize until several months into our relationship, that my lovers were not as I was. They were vampires. So beautiful, there were not then, nor are there now words to describe them. I didn’t care that they were unlike me. I didn’t care that they drank blood. I only wanted to be with them always.”

“What happened?” Jorge prompted, completely caught up in Roberto’s story.

“One day, as I watched him feed from her thigh, and witnessed the pleasure that ripped through her, I realized that I cared very much that they shared a bond that I was not part of. It made me angry and it hurt me. I was jealous. I begged them to turn me, to make me into a vampire. I begged and pleaded and they always said no. I felt betrayed by them. I felt they didn’t love me as I loved them. But what I didn’t know at the time was Elana had not been made willingly. They had been taken, used as pleasure toys by a Frenchman, and when he was done with them he turned her, thinking she would turn on William and kill him. She turned him instead of letting him kill himself for what had been done to her and his inability to stop it.”

“There is more, yes?” And Jorge knew it wasn’t anything good. The raw pain in Roberto’s eyes was too much to witness and he had to look away.

“I went out one morning while they were sleeping in my chamber. I had heard them speak of a vampire in a small town not far from my villa in Tuscany. I went in search of him and told him what I wanted. His price was wine to be infused with my blood since I was a count. I cared not. The turning made me incredibly weak. He drained so much from me for his experiment of wine and blood that I believed he intended to let me die instead of turning me as he’d promised he would. In the end, though, he did honor our agreement.”

“And Elana and William?”

“Were outraged. The vampire took me home where Elana and William nursed me until I could function on my own. I knew they would be angry at first, but thought they would understand in time why I had done it. They didn’t. They didn’t know why I would choose to be this way. I didn’t know about the birthday curse and the temptation it provided for a vampire unwillingly turned. I was only able to spend a few more weeks with them before Elana…” Roberto trailed off, his eyes taking on a faraway haze.