Now or Forever (7 page)

Tassanee was glad to be overlooked and passed over. And then even that changed. She’d been twenty-four; old by any standard of the day when it happened. She’d been in shock. Rooted in place. Her eyes locked to his. He was slightly taller than her. Stocky. Unattractive. And unbathed. She was actually surprised the man wanted her in his bed, and not beneath his sword. Her unabashed look must have been what caught his attention and stopped him. That was when she’d discovered that she really wasn’t afraid of death.

Life in the harem was no honor. It was imprisonment in a silken prison. That’s why she knew, even as the poison had taken effect, it had actually been a release. She’d had to be convinced to accept this eternity that Akron offered. She wanted nothing to do with the Vampire Assassin League, or killing for profit. It was difficult enough at first just to kill. Akron had contacted her occasionally over the centuries. Always asking. About her condition. Her frame her mind. Her readiness to join VAL. His words would just be there. In her head. And he spoke Khmer. She never questioned it.

But she mustn’t forget how much she owed the eunuch, Hashovarn. He was the only thing that had made life in the harem bearable. He was assigned to her in her third year. And every night, Tassanee would sneak from her luxurious prison cell to join Hashovarn in the gardens, learning not only the basics of the Cambodian martial art of
Bokator
, but also the skills behind communicating. How a word or two could convey feeling. Generate emotion. A gesture could mean a thousand things. A lingering glance even more.

But nowhere in her twelve years in there had she realized what was meant by real, physical mating. She hadn’t heard one thing about how pleasurable it was for the woman. The heights of joy her spirit soared to. The thrum of ecstasy her body experienced. The absolute wonder that had been making love to her mate.

Leonard.

Tassanee leaned a little closer to study him, smiling slightly at how he sprawled in his chair, taking up the entire thing with his length. He had his head pillowed on an upraised arm, while his legs overhung the bottom by a good foot. Maybe more. The man was truly immense. It couldn’t just be her perception. He’d been taller than his partner, Stan, hadn’t he? And he was very fit. He hadn’t fastened his jacket and where she’d ripped his shirt apart, she could see all sorts of valleys and shadows that seemed to draw the eye. As did the little line of hair he had leading straight down to...

Oh my.

He was very sizeable there, too.

Tassanee hadn’t much comparison, other than the drawings and sculptures she’d been trained on, but those pictures and objects weren’t any kind of preparation for what a man’s body really looked like. Or the artists hadn’t ever seen anything like Leonard. She looked down, twisted her lips, and actually blushed. And then her eyes went wide. She didn’t remember ever blushing. And yet, it still happened. Because she’d found the one man destined for her. For all time. She didn’t have to be told.

She knew.

She was very lucky, too. Not only was Leonard large and manly, but he was handsome as well. He had a full head of hair, in a medium-brown shade. It was a riot about his head at the moment. She could see a curl peeking from behind the ear on this side. He also had a dark growth of whiskers on his cheeks, chin, and upper lip. None of the eunuchs in the harem had facial hair. Now that she thought of it, none of her victims over the centuries had sported any, either. Very intriguing. Interesting. It actually added to the passion-filled kisses they’d exchanged. Her lips still felt a bit sore from where she’d scraped them.

“Penny for your thoughts, babe.”

He cracked open the eye closest to her. He had very clear, blue-shaded eyes. She gasped and pulled back slightly.

“My...thoughts?”

“Yeah. As in – what are you thinking?”

“Oh. I’ve just been...um...watching you.”

“Seriously? Did you get any...uh, rest? Or whatever you undead call it?”

She shook her head.

“No? You’ve spent all this time watching me?”

“You’re very handsome,” she replied.

“Well. Hell. For that sort of remark, you can have a quarter.”

“What?”

“A penny for your thoughts, remember? That is a cliché for asking what someone is thinking, and offering to pay to hear them. And you told me, so I’m saying those kinds of thoughts are worth a bit more.”

“Oh. You’re speaking of monetary remuneration in American coinage.”

“Holy smack. Where did you learn English again?”

“Hong-Ye. And his cell phone.”

“Oh yeah. That’s right. You just randomly called numbers, and the best party you could reach was an economics professor with a minor degree in snooty-sounding English?”

“I’ve been watching movies, too.” Her tone was defensive.

“You have?”

“On the laptop.”

“What kind of movies can you get in this part of the world anyway?”

“Mostly black and white. But I put them in English and read the subtitles, so I learned even faster that way. I also know some Spanish.”

“Let me get this straight. You took out an archeologist team for a blood fix, stole a laptop that was probably monitored, and used it to stream a bunch of dusty, old movies. You’re really cute. You know that?”

“And you’re handsome.”

His eyebrows lifted. “I really hate to disillusion you, Hon, but I’m pretty much average.”

“No.”

“Oh yeah. Average build. A bit tall, maybe, depends on the hemisphere I’m in. If I get sent to any Scandinavian country, I’m actually a tad short. But there you have it. Average is my middle name.”

“No.” This time she shook her head.

“Tassanee. I really like the way you think, but I have to be average. That’s how covert operations work. You blend in. You don’t stand out. Nobody really notices you. That way nobody can do much of a recollection later. But I do like the way you think.”

“You are not average. You are way too handsome.”

“Okay. I give. You can have a dollar. But that’s my top offer.”

“I was also looking at your...whiskers.”

He turned his head to completely face her. “What?”

“If you pay me, I should give you your money’s worth.”

“Wow. You are definitely a woman who takes a man at his word.” He ran a hand over his jaw. “I don’t usually look this rough. So I’ll make a deal with you. When I get near a razor and shower, I’ll handle it for you.”

“You will?”

“I don’t give razor burns on purpose, love.”

“Razor burns?”

“Your lips a little sore? Maybe your chin line? I didn’t mark you too much, did I? Oh damn. You even have a hickey.”

She frowned.

“A hickey. You know. Like a bruise, from sucking a little too hard in certain places. In your case, it would probably contain two puncture marks. From these.” He pointed to his own canine teeth.

“Oh. A neck mark.”

“Yeah. And you have one, which is going to be an instant indicator that we had a great time with in-flight entertainment. Especially since it’s not turtleneck weather.”

She frowned again and scrunched one eye.

“I really like that look of yours, Tassanee. Really.”

“Look?”

“The confused, ‘what the hell is he talking about?’ look. Yeah. That one. Promise not to lose it too soon. Okay?”

He was smiling through it and she matched it. And then his smile faded. He cleared his throat.

“I suppose we should put the cabin back in some semblance of order.”

“Len?”

“Yeah?” he answered it from over his shoulder.

“Will you make love to me again?”

She watched as he went statue-still and then reached for the lever, putting his chair back upright so it matched hers.

“That is not a good idea.”

“Why not?”

“Time, mainly. This jet is bound to need refueling soon. We’ve been flying for...” He lifted his wrist and checked the thing on his arm again. “Damn. I knew I should have bought the water resistant one. Let’s just say five hours. No. Wait.” He looked about him and narrowed his eyes. “This is a Gulfstream...G Series. Wow. Depending on modifications, we can probably go twelve to fourteen hours before needing refueling. Then again, I don’t know how long we’ve been flying or how much fuel we had when we started, or what the weather and wind conditions are, all of which affect fuel usage. This is a nice ride, babe. Pricey. But nice. Really nice. I might have to look into getting one myself. I might even have enough funds one of these days since all I do is stick my paychecks in various accounts and sit on it. Oh. And pay taxes.”

“But vampires can fly.”

“Right. I am not touching that. Not even with a ten foot pole.”

“What?”

“Vampires might have the power of flight, but even they have their limitations. They sometimes need to fly beyond daybreak. That’s why VAL has lots of corporate jets. Like this one. Only not quite as nice. Dang. This is a really nice jet.”

“So...we do have time?”

“Tassanee. Babe. I’m beginning to think you have a one-track mind.”

“I do?”

“And trust me. I am definitely your man. I’m just saying time is not our friend at the moment.”

“It’s not?”

“On a flight this long, we might even have two pilots up there. That means one or both are probably due for a pit stop. And that means we’ll have to yank that ax handle loose and release them. And hey. I could go for one, myself.”

“One what?”

“Pit stop. Restroom break. Going to the head.” He shook his head. “Vampires.”

“So...you will make love to me again? Later, maybe?”

“That’s what you were asking? Tassanee. Babe.” He swiveled in his seat, put a finger beneath her chin and lifted her face to his. And he was grinning. From a finger-length distance away. “You have got to be joking. Do I look that dense?”

She shook her head.

“There are not enough munitions in the armory to stop me, sweetheart.”

She frowned.

“No idea what I’m saying, huh? Okay. How about they’re going to have to hog-tie me and sear my ass to the ground. That work?”

She shook her head again.

“Damn. I’m really going to have to use declaratory words, aren’t I? Yikes. I don’t know if I remember how. Or even, if I ever knew. Still nothing, huh?”

She blinked a few times. His grin widened until he was chuckling. And then he stopped, took a deep breath and looked very serious all of a sudden.

“Tassanee. Babe. What happened between us was the most amazing experience of my life. Bar none. And...oh, what the hell. I’m falling for you. Like...hard. The love stuff kind of hard. And that means this mate thing might not be such a bad—whoa there, babe! Watch the seams! I only have one jacket left!”

She was in his arms, and showing him exactly what a hickey from a vampire felt like, and moaning and writhing the entire time. He wasn’t immune. She knew exactly what the bulge at his groin signified now. And when he spoke, it was in panted breaths.

“Okay. You’re right. And when you’re right…you’re right. And we never did get to the ‘Len is on top and in charge’ position. Hold on, babe. We’re going down. I just hope this chair survives it.”

He grabbed the lever, pulled, and sent the chair right back in a horizontal position.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Something was wrong.

Len came awake, immediately aware, cognizant, and absorbing all sorts of sensory details. Without one bit of effort. The hum of the engine beneath him was still there, providing background noise as well as the slight vibration about them. Everything was exactly as it had been for hours now. The cabin was dimmer than before...which was strange. If he had to guess, he’d say it was near dawn. There wasn’t even an outline of light around the window cover. It may be dark, but he didn’t have any trouble picking out the window, the shutter he’d pulled down so any sun wouldn’t disturb Tassanee, the fabric of the walls. Oh. Shit. There appeared to be a dusting of blood droplets along the closest wall. He narrowed his eyes. It probably came from when she’d sucked at his neck. Or maybe it was when she’d raked her fingernails along his chest, giving so such pleasure with the pain that he’d jammed it into memory for recollection later. Or maybe those droplets came from when he’d actually been doing the biting and sucking sometime during some really soulful kissing...

No. Too much spray. Probably the neck thing.

Len rolled his head slightly, looking up. The lighting system was in dual tracks above them. Right now it was just a thin line of red blinking dots. He moved his eyes. The ax handle was still in place, sealing the cockpit shut. It rattled slightly. The sound would be imperceptible to normal hearing. But nothing would be visible if his eyesight hadn’t become extraordinary, anyway. He didn’t know why he questioned it. This was the reputed side-effect to blood exchange with a vampire. One of the really pleasant ones. Elevation of all the senses.

Superpowers.

Instantly delivered.

He sat up without the least bit of effort, trying not to disturb Tassanee’s form in his arms. She was all curled up; fetal position. That was against type, wasn’t it? Weren’t vampires supposed to rest in a funerary position? Like a corpse in a coffin? A mummy in its sarcophagus? Arms crossed before their breast?
Stop already, Len.
How would he know anyway? He’d never been invited into their resting places.

It sure wasn’t how Tassanee rested. She had her nose tucked into the curve of his elbow, and since his jacket was somewhere on the floor behind them and he’d yanked off the remnants of his t-shirt sometime before hammering his way to bliss, he didn’t have any barrier against her. Literally. And figuratively. He could feel every slight breath she made. Her knees were tucked into the opposite elbow, pushing slightly against a bicep. That was the literal part.

His heart gave a solid thump before deciding it really would find a normal heartbeat and return to it. Tassanee was just way too much woman. And he was way too unprepared. And that was the figurative part. He’d probably fibbed earlier. He wasn’t just in danger of falling. He was definitely already over the edge on this.