Survivor (29 page)

I smiled at her, unrepentant.  “What else?”

Peter had made his way to us, and he caught our
exchange.  “Habitat for Humanity is a perfectly just cause.”  Leah rolled her
eyes and walked away, but I saw the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

Once we were alone, Peter pulled an envelope from
his pocket and handed it to me.  I slipped a finger under the flap, grinning
when I beheld the contents.  “Plane tickets?”

He nodded.  “To Japan?  Really?”  He
knew I had been helping Red Cross raise money to help the survivors of a
massive earthquake that had rocked the country, leaving thousands of people-
most of them poor and elderly- without food and shelter in the middle of
winter.  Did my guy know how to romance a lady, or what?

*****

I slipped from behind a big rock and padded silently
across the moonlit beach.  I was barefoot, despite the light dusting of snow on
the ground.  I reveled in the myriad textures beneath my feet- the cold fingers
of frozen sea grass, the shush of cold sand, the bumpiness of buried seashells.
 I could hear the ocean kissing the shore just ahead.  I paused when I heard a
slight splash, a mere ripple of sound barely discernible over the sound of the breaking
waves.

Smiling, I continued to move stealthily toward the
water, my nose filled with the cool, damp, aliveness of the place at night.  When
I reached the water, I slipped out of my light dress and underwear, leaving
them crumpled on the sand.  I slipped into the water soundlessly, creating less
of a ripple than the other creature out there had made.  I closed my eyes,
enjoying the cool glide of the water over my skin as I stroked out toward a
small island just off shore.  For a human, it would be freezing.  To me it just
felt cool, refreshing.  

Something grasped my ankle and pulled me under the
water.  My eyes flew open in surprise, but I didn’t struggle.  I stopped
breathing and kept my eyes open, though all I could see was darkness accented
with silver streaks of moonlight.  Two strong arms wrapped around my waist from
behind and pulled me against a solid, undeniably male body.  I relaxed and we
floated to the surface again.

“You were quiet, but I could feel the ripples when
you started swimming.”  Peter’s voice was husky and melodious, his vampire
voice.

I laughed.  “I was quieter than you, splashing
around like a wildebeest,” I teased.  

He scoffed at me in disbelief.  “But I was better
hidden.”

I shrugged.  “Okay, you win.”  I turned to face him,
meeting his kiss.  His full mouth moved on mine as I molded myself to his rock
hard body.  A wave broke over us and we threatened to go under again.  I pushed
away gracefully, striking out toward the island at a sedate pace.  Peter joined
me and we paddled around like a couple of kids, splashing and laughing in the
dark, cold water.  I gloried in the experience, loving the control I had over
my body.

I had once wondered what it would be like to swim
alongside him like this.  It was amazing.  Humans might argue that vampires were
unnatural, that we were abominations or freaks of nature.  They would be wrong.
 I was so much more in tune with the world around me now.  I could smell, feel,
and hear things that humans are totally unaware of.  I could sense the rhythms
of Mother Nature around me.  I floated on my back, feeling as if the water was
breathing, the small waves lifting and dropping me in time to her heartbeat.

We reached a rocky cove, sheltered by the opening to
a small cave.  Peter floated beside me and we held hands as we drifted,
listening to the earth breathing.  After some time, we made our way up onto the
shore.  We flopped down on the damp sand, our senses filled with the smells and
sounds of the ocean-scented night air.  

Peter drew me to him and I went eagerly.  He kissed
me again, deeply, and I felt my aura building along with his.  He pressed
against me and I slowly rocked forward rubbing myself down the length of him.  He
moaned and lay back, drawing me with him, and I dropped kisses along his jaw to
his throat as his big hands explored my body, pressing me closer to him.  I
sank my teeth and filled myself with him.  Still pulling at his neck, I braced
my knees on either side of him and he slipped inside, pressing deep.  I
withdrew my teeth and sat back, taking him in as I began to move.  His hands
slid up my ribs to cup my breasts before moving lower.  I moved slowly as he
drew my wrist to his mouth.  He bit me, filling me with pleasure.  We both
cried out as orgasm washed over us, the force of it doubled by our connection.

We lay there afterward, looking up at the bright
stars visible beyond the rocky overhang.  It felt as if we were in the womb of
the earth, surrounded by dark, and the deep pull of the currents.  I mused on
how far I had come in the last couple of years.  I was suddenly deeply grateful
for everything- my accident, meeting Peter, being turned, being defective.  I
was thankful for all the things I had been, the life I never would have
appreciated if it hadn’t been turned upside down, the people I never would have
met, the ones I never would have been able to help if I hadn’t been injured and
pulled off course from the life I had planned. 

I remembered Peter telling me that you have to do
something with the life you’ve been given.  I had been gifted with life,
amazing and limitless.  It was my duty to make sure it was never wasted.

P
eter dropped a kiss on my forehead and
went to answer the door.  I wasn’t surprised when Haine drifted into the
library.  I had felt his aura before he rang the doorbell.  We were still
connected somehow, and I could sense his happiness without even trying.  I
turned to him to see his bright eyes sparkling.  He was holding a thick,
letter-sized envelope in one hand, and I stood and eagerly snatched it from
him.  Peter had come to lean against the doorframe and he watched us like a
parent with two precocious children. 

“Is this it?  It came!”  I opened the envelope and
pulled out the thick stack of pages.  It was a set of sample pages from our
graphic novel.  I flipped through the stack in awe, as usual, as I saw my
writing juxtaposed with Haine’s beautiful artwork.  

I had continued to live with Peter- as if there had
even been a question of me returning to my apartment- but I refused to mooch
off him.  I wanted to be independent.  It had been my goal as a human, and that
hadn’t changed with the turn.  So far, our graphic novel series about terrible,
blood sucking fiends had been a hit.  We had landed a publishing contract that
included at least three more books, and things were looking good.

Peter slapped Haine on the back and took the pages
from me, collapsing into one of the overstuffed chairs to peruse our work while
Haine and I looked over his shoulder, grinning like idiots. 

Peter frowned and looked up.  “Can you really do
this?”  He shook the pages at us in illustration.  Sure, we’d gone a bit
overboard with that scene where the woman with telepathic powers subdues the
rampaging, demon-possessed vampire, but really, it’s not like anyone was going
to believe it. 

I sat on the arm of the chair and refused to be
ashamed.  “We are going to start a theme here,” I said resolutely.  “Our best
stuff comes from actual historical events.  No humans will know it’s real.  How
could they?  And the vampire readers will be hooked, because they know it
really happened.”

Peter just shook his head.  Haine glanced at the
clock and started.  “Sorry to leave so soon, but I have a date.” 

I grinned.  You had to be a great boyfriend when you
were dating your coven leader.  Piss her off, and he would have to do a bit
more than buy her flowers.  He ruffled my hair and nodded to Peter, then glided
out of the room.

Peter set the pages aside and pulled me onto his
lap.  “I’m very proud of you,” he said seriously.  “I’m so lucky to have such a
talented wife.”  His lips met mine and I melted, thinking I was the lucky one. 
I shifted, lacing my arms around his neck, and the little koi charm on my wrist
glinted in the soft light of the setting sun.