I gently pulled my hands out of his grasp and held his hands. "Paul, I'm so sorry for what I said. I didn't mean it."He shook his head. "I didn't leave because of what you said. It doesn't matter right now. Kim, what I don't understand is how you could make the decision to die. What were you thinking? Was it me?" "No, no, no. It wasn't you." I looked past him at the wall. "Mostly it was Tige and an overwhelming desire to protect him. But I'll admit that it wasn't all Tige. Paul, I just wanted to give up. Hell, I'm only existing on borrowed time. I'm such a fuck up at this! I have no idea what I'm doing half the time, and Tige is supposed to be here, not me"He shook his head violently. "Tige's life is no more important than yours!""Paul, it doesn't matter now because neither of us has to die. I can save Tige's life as well as my own."Paul seemed to calm down. "How?""I have so much to tell you, but …"I looked around, unsure of how much I could say ..."Tony said no one can o
"What?" "To be wrapped in a sheet of silver."My eyes got big. "For how long?" He opened his eyes. "From midnight until just before dawn."I inhaled deeply and stared at my wrapped wrists. "That's not possible. The silver will melt through me in seconds.""It's not too late, baby." I walked to the far wall and sat, sliding my back down it.This was the equivalent of being burned alive. And I was going to have to ... live through it? There wouldn't be anything left of me. How could that be possible? I needed Alexis to tell me what was going on. He couldn't possibly think that I'd be willing to continue my existence as a hundred thirty pounds of melted flesh. I shuddered then remembered Tony was in the cell with me. I gulped in some air. "It's going to be okay. You didn't tell Paul.""I'm not going to tell him. That's your job. He's going to insist on being there.""No." I shook my head. I did not want that. "I just need to speak to Alexis.""I would kill him if I could,"
Even though I was working hard to keep my mind blank, each step down that dark hallway toward the torture chamber made me shake. I didn't want those who loved me to read my fear, so I tried not to think and concentrated on Paul next to me. He was keeping his mind blank as well.The hallway led to a narrower flight of stairs. We were already a great deal underground. The air became chillier and damp. The darkness was so complete that even as a Vampire I had a hard time seeing. The human in front of us picked up a lantern hanging from the wall. It was a battery-operated spotlight, and it illuminated the remainder of our journey.The staircase wound around on itself so that I couldn't see what was at the bottom. We were so far underground that no matter how loud I screamed no one, from the outside would ever hear me. The human opened a door and led the way into a surprisingly large room. The ceiling was at least fifteen feet high and spanned the length and width of the house.A long
The sound of waves lapping at a shore and seagulls squawking in the distance caused me to open my eyes. I squinted against the brightness of the sun and used my hand to shade my vision so I could look around.I was lying on a beach. I sat up, the sand sticking to my fingers. I brushed them off onto my pants. I was wearing white loose pants and a loose white chemise. I squinted up at the sun again in amazement. Oh, it was so bright and warm. This was real?Someone was lying on his back next to me, his head pillowed on one arm. He squinted up at me."Alexis?"He sat up and dusted the sand off his hand then shook his curly, hair. It was Alexis. But he was so different. He was tanned, and his eyes weren't all-over black, nor red, or even gold. They were hazel. He was shirtless with a slight dusting of hair on his toned chest. He wore white pants like mine, and we were both barefoot. He was smiling at me with crinkle lines around his eyes."Where are we?" I asked."The beach, of cou
It felt so tantalizing that I was quivering between my legs. But there was Tony. I wanted to make something with Tony.Alexis' eyes rose to meet mine. He spoke with his lips still against my wrist. "I know what you will not speak with your mouth."I swallowed. "What do you think you know?""I know that you're in love with three men.""In love?" I pulled my hands out of his grasp. "I think that's an overstatement.""And I know that three men are in love with you."My heart skipped a beat. "Three," I whispered, because I knew of Tony's and Paul's feelings toward me. "Not two?""Three," he responded while leaning back on his haunches to look at me.Alexis was in love with me? I could barely believe it. "Was it the last link? Because I really didn't think it was wise."He shook his head. "At the Council meeting when I healed your wound and you reacted with nothing more than desire, no fear, no hidden agenda, I loved you at that very moment."My head was filled with so many things
I shook so badly that I could no longer support myself on one leg.He gently lowered my leg as he stood, sliding up my body and trailing kisses until he reached my neck.Neither of us had dropped teeth. I had become so accustomed to linking my sex with feeding that it was strange not to want to eat him.I felt his hands push down my top until it was like a band around my middle. As his mouth covered my breast, his low groans sent additional shivers up and down my spine. I urged him up until I could place my lips on his. I kissed him so forcefully that he fell back a step, but I was there to follow him.Our mouths opened simultaneously, and our tongues rolled over each other. He gripped me and pushed himself against me. He was so hard that he slipped between my legs even though he was still wearing pants. I cried out and squirmed out of his grasp to sink to my knees in front of him. I looked up at him as I dragged his damp pants down. He was breathing so hard.I cried out when I ki
"Yeah.""Cheese?"Oh yeah!""How about an omelet?""Yum." I nodded.Alexis whipped up cheese omelets, and we drank sweet wine. After I did the dishes—they didn't magically get clean and Alexis wasn't getting the concept of a dishwasher—we went back out to the beach to take a walk. We returned to the house in time to sit on the Adirondack chairs and watch the sun go down.Alexis built a fire in the large fireplace and we made love again on the rug.Afterwards we went to bed holding and kissing each other softly.Sleep was just sleep and not death. I woke once to the sound of Alex's quiet snores. I snuggled against his neck to the smell of soap and shampoo, and he clasped me tight while he slept.~*~When I woke the next morning, it was actually morning. The sun shined brightly through the large window. I stretched, enjoying the feel of the oversized bed. Where was Alexis? I heard music from downstairs and smelled ... coffee!When I entered the kitchen, he pushed a frying
He nodded. "But it was an ugly business which had little to do with virtue. I determined that anything was better than the battlefield. Money exchanged hands for many sordid purposes. I bought and sold secrets and thus became very powerful in my own right. I had access to the church's money and used it at will for my own purposes. Where many young men were maimed by battle, I was whole and strong. There was no lack of female attention. While the High Commanders battled, I pleasured their wives and daughters. And I indulged my every whim and desire with the wealthy as well as the poor, who were so strained by war that they often offered to sell me anything they possessed for a single coin." His eyes did not meet mine. "They often offered me sex, but in that time any and everything could be sold. Men sold wives, or sold daughters." I caught an expression of shame or maybe regret cross his face. "Even though children were never my appetite I did, at times, arrange for them to be sol