Love's Challenge (Pearl Vampire Chronicles #5) (14 page)

“For what?”

I pulled him into my arms and hugged him tight.  “For loving me still. 
Especially after what I’ve done.  I love you so much, Matt.”

“I wanted to hate you, Sarah.  Things would be less complicated if I
did.  And I tried to.  But that only lasted, what?  About two hours in the
limo?  No one can do anything but love you, Sarah.  It’s impossible, and I’m
glad for that, because I really do love loving you, despite your complications,
I really do.”  He tilted my chin up and began giving me one of those kisses.

Carlos cleared his throat behind us, “Sorry to interrupt, but we don’t
have a lot of time here.  We really need to get outside to the van.”

I pressed my forehead to Matt’s, but held my hand out to Carlos.  The
three of us started walking through the airport, Matt and me with our arms
tightly around each other and Carlos and me holding hands, and as I began
noticing the looks we were invariably getting, I said, “I should just tattoo
the word “complicated” across my forehead.”

“I think “irresistible” is more appropriate,” Carlos muttered, which got
all of us chuckling. 

“Dangerous?” Matt offered. 

I threw in, “Stubborn?”

“Unavoidable?” replied Carlos.

We didn’t stop laughing and throwing out adjectives until we walked out
the doors into the bright sun.  “Jeez, this is San Francisco.  Where’s the damn
fog?” I grumbled.  I really hate the sun.  We must have been a sight.  A group
of nineteen male and one female, extremely pale people walking into the
sunlight waiting to climb into a van.  We divided in half and the first half
quickly climbed into the back of the cargo van and slid the door shut.  It took
almost five minutes for it to make the loop around the airport.  The first half
piled out and the rest of us piled in. 

“Thanks for doing this, Kevin.” Matt said. 

“No problem.  But next time I hope you’ll come and actually visit. 
What’s it been?  About sixty years?  And I haven’t met your beautiful wife,
yet.”

“I’m sorry.  Kevin, this is Sarah.  Sarah, Kevin.” he said.  I noticed
Kevin glance at me in the rearview mirror and then smile as he glanced at
Carlos.  Shit, vampires are a gossipy bunch.  What?  Is it posted on a website
somewhere? 

“Nice to meet you Kevin.”

“You too.  I’m really hoping the three of you will come for an extended
visit soon.  I’d love to show you my beautiful city.  Carlos and I used to have
some fun, wild times here, didn’t we Carlos?”

“Oh boy, did we.  Is Marlene still around?”

“Nope.  Last I heard she was in New Orleans.”

“Oh, well, sorry about that.” Carlos said.

“Don’t be.  We had fun, but it was definitely time to move on.  We both
knew that.  Eighty years is a long time.”

I looked at Matt and wondered – where will we be in eighty years?  This
immortality thing takes some getting used to.

We finished the loop and he pulled up to the curb.  “Thanks again,
Kevin.  We’ll see you soon,” Matt said.  We all said our goodbyes as we quickly
climbed out.  I felt much better now, not as achy in the ribs.  That was good. 

“Okay now that was awkward,” I mumbled.  “Guess that’s another tattoo for
me: Queen awkward.” 

We made our way through security again and gathered in the boarding area
for our next flight, which with the two layovers, would be about nineteen
hours, gee, fun.  As we boarded the plane, Matt turned to me and said, “Why
don’t you and Troy switch places for a little while?  Maybe until Minneapolis?”

My face fell.  “You, you don’t want me sitting next to you?”

He smiled and gave me a kiss.  “Of course I do.  But I’m exhausted and
want to sleep for a bit and I’m guessing you’re not tired at all.  Besides,
it’s his turn for a little while.”

I pulled him tight into my arms, mumbled, “You’re way too good to me,”
and gave him a kiss filled with so much love and passion that I thought we were
going to set off the smoke alarms. 

When I finally stopped and looked into his eyes, Matt mumbled, “Jesus,
Sarah.  I love you, too.”  I smiled and kissed his scar, then moved to the
second row.  Carlos smiled at me and kissed the back of my hand, drawing a look
from the flight attendant.  Yeah, I know.  It’s complicated.

I could tell Carlos was exhausted, he didn’t sleep on the first flight,
but he tried so hard to stay awake and talk to me.  It was so sweet.  “Don’t do
anything stupid when we get there, Sarah.  I mean it.  Don’t take stupid
chances,” he said.

“Me?  Are you really telling me that?  With you being the stupid chances
King.  Trying to get Jonas to kill you by telling him that you were the one who
turned him in?  You should be saying that to yourself, Carlos.  Look, I’ll make
you a deal.  I won’t do anything anymore stupid, reckless or dangerous than you,
deal?” I said.

Carlos stared at me for a second, trying desperately to keep his droopy
eyes from closing.  “Kiss me,” he said.

“What?” I said, as I turned and looked at Matt, who was sound asleep in
the seat in front of Carlos.

Carlos grinned.  “Kiss me, to seal the deal.  Please?  Kiss me?”  He
brought both hands to either side of my face and brought his mouth to mine.  Another
kiss filled with so much love and so much sadness, because each one really
could be, and probably should be, our last kiss.  I loved them, and hated them,
at the same time.  I loved them for obvious reasons.  I hated them because they
hurt so much.  I hated them because I shouldn’t be getting them.  I hated them
because he deserved more than this.  I hated them because Matt deserved
better.  I hated them because I wanted more of them.  “Last one, for now,” he
whispered after he pulled away.

I tried to smile.  “Last one, for now.”  He leaned his head on my shoulder;
I reached my arm up and caressed my fingers in his hair.

“Love you, kiddo,” he mumbled as he drifted off. 

I turned my head and kissed his forehead, “Love you, too, sleepyhead.”

He slept with his head on my shoulder for a few hours, drooling onto my
shirt.  I decided to link with him and watch his dreams because they were probably
much more interesting than the movie they were showing on the flight.  All
vampires could link minds and pass some words, thoughts and images back and
forth, but Carlos and I had always had a unique connection that allowed us
(whether we wanted to or not) to see each other’s thoughts, visions and dreams
in real time.  His first dream was of us in the hotel room.  I smiled and
closed my eyes.  It faded to black after a while.  Then his fingers started to
twitch again as another dream started.  This one was of Carlos and Maria,
arguing in a hotel room.  I didn’t want to intrude on this, so I pulled my mind
back, but not before I heard him tell her, “I can’t help how I feel about her,
Maria.  I love her.  I have since the day I met her and I always will.”

I tried to watch the movie for a while, but I definitely wasn’t paying
attention.  Suddenly Carlos jerked his arm.  I linked with him again.  He was
in a warehouse, and it was burning.  He was leaning over a body.  He looked up
and had blood running down his chin.  Suddenly a seraphim swooped down on him,
screaming and clawing at him.  I was in this dream too.  I jumped onto the
seraphim’s back, as Carlos yelled, “Sarah, no!” and I tried to sink my teeth
into its neck.  My fangs went in, but its skin was too thick.  I couldn’t get a
hold of its spinal cord.  It threw me off its back and into the wall.  I
watched in horror as Carlos started fighting with it again.  I didn’t want to
see what happened next.  I pulled my mind back and gently tried to wake
Carlos.  I had to stop this dream. 

“Carlos, sweetie, wake up,” I said.  He jerked his head up and I gasped
and clamped my hand over his mouth.  His fangs were down.  “Close your eyes,
quick,” I whispered as I quickly glanced around to see if anybody was looking.  “You
were dreaming.  You’re fine now.  Try to calm down.”  He nodded his head and
grabbed my other hand.  It took a minute or two, but he finally kissed my palm
that was still clamped over his mouth and nodded at me.  I looked at him and
saw that his eyes were normal – not the changed eyes of a hunting vampire, with
the large black pupil, able to see in complete darkness, and the blood red
replacing the white - , so I pulled my hand away. 

“Jesus, Sarah.  If you hadn’t been sitting next to me…  This is why I
hate flying commercial on long flights.” 

“What happened?” Matt whispered.  Apparently he woke up and was watching
us. 

“He had a nightmare,” I said.  “Could have been an issue, but it wasn’t.”

“I guess it’s a good thing I had you change seats then, huh?”

“Yeah, thanks man,” Carlos said.

“Well, as soon as Troy wakes up, can I have her back for a bit?”

“Of course you can.  I can switch seats with you right now if you want,”
Carlos said

“No, that’s okay.  But if Troy doesn’t wake up when we land in
Minneapolis then I will.  Ummm, Sarah?  Why is your shoulder all wet?” Matt
said.

I glanced down at it then pointed my chin at Carlos.  “He drools in his
sleep.”

“Sorry,” Carlos mumbled, blushing.  Matt just smiled and shook his head. 

We hit a little turbulence and Troy shot his head up. “What?  Where are
we?  We landing?”

“No, Troy.  Just a little turbulence.  But would you mind switching seats
with my wife again?”  Matt said.  This brought another disapproving look from
the nearby flight attendant as I stood up. 

“Yeah, I think complicated wins the tattoo contest,” I said as I sat in
the seat next to Matt and smiled back at Carlos.  They both nodded.  Yep, it’s
complicated.

Chapter
Twelve

“I have to walk around for a few minutes, honey.  My legs are killing
me,” I said.  We had been studying the map for a while now, in our compartment
on the train.  The four of us were in this compartment: me, Matt, Carlos and
Troy. 

“I’ll join you,” Matt said.  As we made our way down the aisle and from
car to car, Matt kept getting closer and closer to me.  He’d reach out and
touch my hand, my back.  He wrapped his arm around my stomach and pulled me
tight to him then he kissed the back of my neck.  My heart started pounding, I
was breathing heavy and I could feel wetness between my legs.  This was
foreplay.  But here?  On the train?  Where? 

“Jesus, Matt.  Do you realize what you’re doing to me?” I whispered.

“Yes.  I have to Sarah.  We don’t know what’s going to happen to us out
there.  I need this.  I’ve got to in order to get my head straight,” he
whispered.  I saw a sign ahead for the restroom.  I checked the door, it was
unlocked.  I looked both directions, the aisles were empty and the seats nearby
were vacant.  I opened the door and pulled him inside with me.

Thirty minutes later.  “Holy shit, Matt.  Again?  Are you kidding me?  Do
you realize how long we’ve been in here?  Oh my God,” I groaned. 

“I don’t know what it is, Sarah,” he gasped, “but I can’t seem to stop.  God,
I love you so much.”

Another forty minutes passed and I jumped at a knock on the door.  “Shit,”
I whispered – luckily I could see by the shadows under the door that the person
quickly gave up and walked away. 

“Don’t make me stop, Sarah.  I’m almost there, shit.  They’ll find
another bathroom.  Oh fuck, this one’s huge.  Now, now, give me your neck,
now,” he groaned, then sank his teeth deep into my neck, again.

Fifteen minutes after that, “Matt, your knees are giving out.  Your legs
won’t hold us up anymore.”

“But I’m not done yet, damn it,” he growled.  Clearly he was a man
possessed. 

“Here,” I said.  “Switch places with me.  You can lean your butt against
the counter.  I can keep my feet on the ground if you come in from behind.”

“Hurry,” he growled and we quickly switched.

“Jesus, Matt,” I groaned, “give me your wrist.  Oh my God, I need to bite
with this one, quick.”  I sunk my teeth into his wrist as he bit into the back
of my neck and we both screamed.

“Okay, okay,” he gasped into my neck as his fangs retracted.  “I think
I’m finally done.  Well, my dick’s not – the damn thing still won’t go down –
but the rest of my body is,” he smiled.

“Wow, Matt.  Actually, wow doesn’t even come close, but that’s all I’ve
got.  Wow.  Just wow,” I said as I pulled my clothes back on.  His smile danced
in his eyes as he leaned in to kiss me once more.

I poked my head out into the aisle.  “Okay, it’s deserted,” I said and we
quickly stepped out and began making our way back to our compartment – both of
us with grins on our faces until…  “Oh shit,” I said when I saw Carlos glaring
at us.  He was waiting outside our compartment and he looked pissed, and
completely stressed and freaked out. 

“Look, I’m sorry,” he began as we walked up, “but can I please talk to
Sarah alone for a minute?  The train’s due in the station in less than an
hour.  I need to make sure she’s not going to do something stupid, Matt.  I’m
no good to you if I’m just worrying about her.  Please?”