Call of the Dark (Dark Paranormal Steamy Monster Encounter) (5 page)

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     Weeks later, Matt rented a private boat to host a staff party to celebrate the anniversary of Blast! making it into their fifth year.  Natasha walked up to the pier and admired how the boat was brilliantly decorated in gold lights and multi-colored Chinese lanterns.  Bass rumbled and the sound of laughter and loud talking reached her ears.  Matt went all out for this one.  All the staff Christmas parties she had ever been to at Blast! were always hosted in some generic chain restaurant.

     As she walked up to the ramp, Matt was there to greet her.

     "There's my star reporter.  Now the gang's all here.  Let's gear this party up!"  Matt pumped a fist in the air as he handed her a drink.

     Natasha smiled at him.  "This is really nice," she said to Matt as she circled her gaze around the boat. She eyed the large open bar and the luxe seafood buffet spread out on a large table in the interior of the ship.  "What a gorgeous venue."

     "Thanks," Matt replied, "I got the rental for a steep discount.  In lieu for a debt now settled."

     Natasha wasn't really interested in hearing the specific details.  With his personal connections and business contacts he always found the right guy to give him a deal when it was something he really wanted.

     She popped a shrimp puff in her mouth. "Really good," she muffled while chewing.

     Diane sauntered up to her.  "Hey Nat!  Nice to see that Matt is finally spending some money on his hard working drones.  A few more drinks in him and we can all ask him for a raise!"  She gave Matt a not so subtle wink in his direction.

    "You get a decent salary, and an opportunity to travel with a generous allowance. Enough to make any high maintenance senator jealous," commented Matt.

     Diane huffed.  "He still sounds sober.  We'll work on that.  So Nat, are you feeling better?  How was your vacation from your work vacation?"

     "Better, thanks.  I caught up on sleep and did a marathon of watching a few seasons of Hospital St. Hope." In truth, she still felt a little weak and flushed from time to time.  Not quite herself one hundred percent yet.  But she did manage to finally shake the pounding migraine that stayed with her for days.

     "There's the cure.  Nothing like seeing back to back episodes of slutty doctors and nurses getting it on while their neglected patients drop like flies," Diane chuckled.

     Matt interrupted, "Sorry Diane, but could you excuse us?  I have some upcoming projects and ideas I need to discuss with Nat."

     Diane took a swig from her drink.  "No problem," she said as she headed toward the bar. "Great party Matt.  You should do this more often."

     Matt motioned for Natasha to follow him as he descended downstairs to the lower floor of the ship.  He led her to a secluded room and closed the door.

     “Private meeting?” she asked as she looked down to see his hard on swelling in his light colored pants.

     “It’s been a while.  We haven’t had much of an opportunity to catch up,” Matt said as he slowly played with the pink dress ruffle overlapping her breasts.

     “Yeah, thanks for giving me the sudden time off.  I needed it.  I was really wiped after finishing the last article,” Natasha explained.

     “Well, back to the grind again.  How ‘bout we get started right now?” Matt mumbled as he started to pull the straps off her dress.

     Natasha leaned back as she felt his mouth close over the top of her left nipple.  She sighed and went through the motions, as she caressed her hands in his thick wavy hair.  Inwardly, she attempted to work up some of the old feelings of arousal she previously had for him.  After the trip to Romania, she had barely looked twice at Matt since she had been back.  Natasha attributed it to the jetlag, exhaustion and the imminent deadline she had to work with to get the article published on time.  Since her vacation at home, she would often wake up in the middle of the night overheated, panting and sweaty, flashing to the ménage she experienced in the church.  Shifting back to reality in a dreamy haze, she could almost feel the residual pulsing between her legs and the touch of their hands shifting her, and shaping her into the positions they desired.  She ached for that experience again.

     Matt led her to the couch at the far end of the wall in the small room.  He bent her over and with a determined yank, pulled up her dress to unveil her rounded ass seductively covered in more black lace.  Matt skimmed her underwear down to a place where it could gently fall to her ankles as he opened the top of his pants and adjusted his bearings to enter her from behind.  Natasha felt the long shaft dive into her as his strong hands firmly held her waist, forcing him into her further with long, dominant strikes.  Natasha cinched in her body and moved to the set tempo Matt required to get off.  Try as she might, Matt wasn’t doing it for her anymore.  The sex they had previously experienced together, once passionate and dangerous, that magnified with the additional risk of getting caught, now seemed mundane.  He paled in comparison with the pumping throb that swelled and poured through her system, which sent her over the brink in ecstatic tremors that lasted for hours.  She latched onto that thought and instantly felt a spark of fire flame in her central core.  Her body reacted innately to the memory and stiffened against his rough staff pummeling into her.  Matt felt the internal constriction surround him and quickened his pace.  As Matt charged faster in her, she detected a slight buzz of a climax mount within her.  She fought for it, claimed it and held fast to it. As it swiftly fizzled away, she wistfully craved for the constant cycle of orgasms that had transcended her to vertexes of physical pleasure she had never thought possible.  Matt faltered his grip on her and trembled as he felt her draw him further in and close in around his stiff cock.  As a groan escaped through his gritted teeth, he gave one final lunge and expended himself into her.  She allowed him a few minutes to enjoy the moment before she glided out from under him to slip her underwear back on and straighten out her dress.  Matt looked at her and gave her a self-satisfied grin.

     “I got a lot of positive feedback from the last article you and Tom were working on,” he began as he shook himself back into his clothes and zipped up the remaining evidence of their rendezvous.

     “Really?  Glad to hear it.  It’s nice to finally be recognized.  We slaved really hard over it.  And to top it off, both me and Tom were sick for half the trip.  Him the first half, me the second.  It’s a miracle we could cobble anything together under the circumstances.”  Natasha leaned back against the couch and kicked her feet out to rest on the coffee table in front of her.

     “Well, you both really came through and pulled out a gonzo cover article.  It really struck a chord with readers.  Our traffic since its publication has increased dramatically and it’s been our most popular issue yet.”  He reached into a small cupboard and pulled out a bottle of red wine he had hidden inside.  He popped the cork and proceeded to fill two glasses and hand one to her.  “Here, congratulations.  This is a special vintage.  Cheers to you working under pressure and succeeding brilliantly.”

     They clinked glasses and drank.  Natasha smiled and thanked him warmly at him as she drank.  It was really good, whatever it was.  She wasn’t very educated when it came to wine.  But knowing him, she figured it was probably pretty expensive.

     Matt continued, “I have to admit though, before you left for vacation, me and some of the staff were a little concerned about you.  It looked like you were more than just sick.  Not yourself.  You seemed detached, unfocused somehow. Even Tom was worried for you.  But I’m glad to see that you’re back on track now.”

     Natasha tried to justify herself.  “Yeah, going to the church, that drive up the mountain completely unnerved me for a bit.  Then Tom’s virus hit me.  I wasn’t really used to Eastern European cuisine, so the food probably didn’t help much either.  I think I’m ok now. So did I pass my performance review?”  She looked at him with a smug wink in her eye.

     Matt joked, “I need to continue with further assessments before I make a conclusion.”   He paused and wryly added, “However, I would probably categorize you as ‘Performs Tasks Adequately.’”

     “Such high praise,” Natasha grimly replied, “I can respond to that with an update on my LinkedIn with ‘Seeking New Employment.’

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     Natasha tossed and turned in bed. This was the third night in a row where she couldn't get herself to sleep. She was caged, restless, sexually turned on like hell and frustrated.  Pleasuring herself to subdue her libido was now becoming a nightly ritual for a decent night’s sleep.  Recently her sexual insomnia was starting to affect her work.  Her normal patience and good humor had gone AWOL, and just yesterday she had to apologize for snapping at an intern for cropping errors she would have previously laughed off.  Natasha got up and paced in her bedroom, then stopped to look outside. Another full moon, or close to it.  She knew what was wrong, but she did not want to come to terms with it.  Not just yet.  The encounter in the church.  It had changed her somehow.  She knew by how she would wake up after dreaming about it again and hearing the hidden whispers in her ears fade away as she sat up in bed.  By the constantly itchy skin that was now growing an eczema-like texture to it, flaking off and darkening underneath. And by how her body would not respond to any man anymore, but would wake up in a steamy sweat, thinking of
them
. She longed to go back.  Over the past two months, she realized that some nights were worse than others.  Always when the moon was higher and brighter, the desire to return would get stronger.  As Natasha sat back, looking into the sky and absentmindedly delving her fingers into her needy crevice, she searched for her G spot.  Visualizing bodies heaving and merging in illicit trysts with winged demons in dark secret places, she wondered if the feeling would ever go away, and if not, how much longer she would last.

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     “Hey, Nat, the boss wants to see us in his office,” Tom said as he swept by her cubicle.

     “What about?” she asked as she got up to follow him.

     “Dunno,” he shrugged as they walked together to Matt’s office.

     They entered the open door and sat down as Matt closed the door behind them.

     “Great news,” he started as he sat down by the desk.  “The article you both worked on has gotten some extra-special attention.  The Romanian tourism board would like to host you and take you on a private tour.  As a thank you for showcasing the Northern Maramureş region in a positive review and showing the public there’s more to the country other than the cheesy vampire lore and spooky castles.  According to their info, bookings and excursions have spiked astronomically in the area and they attribute it mostly to the interest generated by you.”

     Natasha’s heart jumped at the thought but Tom was the first to speak.  “Awesome!” Tom said, “When do we leave?”

     Matt replied, “Well, they were thinking about sometime in the fall before they arrange everything for you.  Maybe end of September or October.  We’re working it out.  We just heard from them this week."

     Natasha smiled weakly and looked at the both of them, trying to look excited.  "Sounds great.  I'm really psyched."

     She sank back in her chair and blurred out the rest of the conversation.  She knew she couldn’t wait that long.

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     Another restless night.  Natasha woke up.  She didn’t have to look outside to see another full moon.  The craving to return was as bad as it ever was.  Three months went by and the feeling would temporarily subside, only to strengthen anew once another full cycle hit.  This time, with a perigee moon, she could not fight it anymore.  She had to go back.  She went to her computer, and in an urgent fevered delirium, she started searching for departure dates.  It was time for another vacation.

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     Business class.  She decided to splurge for once, and it was worth it.  As she left the plane, and picked up her luggage, Natasha wished she could travel like that more often.  With more room to stretch out, and the piece of mind that she was heading to the place she had been yearning for finally for months, she was actually able to get somewhat of a sound sleep.  Now the rental car.  As she waited in line, she looked over the map.  North.  Somehow, she knew she had to go more north, directly towards the Carpathian mountains, hugging the border.  It was nowhere near the village she had stayed in before.  While plotting her course, and plugging it into her navigator, she filled out her paperwork, took the keys and started to drive.

     After hours driving on winding mountain roads, she came to a valley lookout with a small lot for cars and parked the car.  She got out, duffle bag in hand and looked around.  The scenery was beautiful.  Too bad for nature she was the only one to see it now.  The valley around her was a vibrant sea of green grass and colorful wildflowers, hidden partially by the tall trees sparsely scattered in the area.  The snow crested mountains towered in front of her, diminishing her to a tiny speck in the landscape.  This was where she would have to leave the car and climb.  She walked a worn path up the grassy hill until it met with rocky gravel and climbed further.  She climbed up for about an hour and a half, pausing for breath until she felt the need to stop and veer towards a set of scrub bushes off the path.  Moving the tangled branches aside, she felt a breeze coming from behind the scrub and found an entrance into the mountain.  She walked in.  It was dark, and as her eyes adjusted to the lack of light, she unzipped her duffle bag and fumbled with a flashlight.  Better.  She walked down the tiny path inside the mountain, where it twisted and turned, narrowed and forked in several directions.  She squeezed herself through small rock tunnels, as she followed her internal guide, the call of the dark, the one that led her here.  As she went deeper into the tunnels, she saw on the walls handprints of the ones who had been there before.  Human handprints.  The ones who had also once been called, as she was now.  Finally, she came to an open room leading to a dead end, with a hole in the floor.  Aiming her flashlight inside, she tried to see the bottom.  She saw nothing but darkness.  Dropping a coin, she soon heard it land on the floor below.  It was not a far drop, but she had brought no rope with her.  She had no idea, if she went in, whether there was another way out.  She sat there for a moment, turning her final decision in her mind.  Then she jumped down into the hole.