The Comanche Vampire (13 page)

He
smoked as his thoughts flew wild in all directions like birds into the
sky.
 
Ned reflected on the things he’d
done, the lives he’d taken without remorse, the objects taken without guilt,
raids made and mayhem done.
 
He’d made
more war than love, revenge had burned in his gut with a terrible heat, and
he’d fought hard to the bitter last.
 
His
memories made him think he must’ve been evil but then Ned remembered how he’d
cared for his wife, loved his children, and how he’d carried a burden in his
heart for his people.
 
He thought of good
times and bad, quiet moments of contentment and times of unbridled rage.
  
Then, he’d been a Comanche warrior, product
of his people, creation of his time and circumstance.
 
He’d been no better than most, worse than
some, maybe, but not all.
 
He’d lived by
a code of honor, one few in this modern world would understand but it mattered
then and had fit.

Ned
replayed the night he’d been made into a bloodsucker.
 
He recalled those early years, his
self-loathing and shame.
 
Once again, he
couldn’t say he’d been all positive, but neither had he been a negative
force.
 
Over the years he’d changed, more
than he’d realized until now.
 
Pea’hocso
in his prime would’ve never felt remorse for
anything he did, for he’d lived the way of a warrior.
 
However, Ned Big Eagle regretted many things
he’d done in his distant past.
 
His
solitary existence had evolved as a sort of penance, he realized, born out of a
sense of shame.

As
a vampire, he’d always felt unworthy and wrong.
 
His emotions kept him apart but some sense of honor, one not so far
removed from his days of war, kept Ned from becoming a greedy, vindictive evil
creature.
 
The woman who had turned him
had been the latter.
 
He’d never thought
of it before but he could’ve wreaked havoc on the blue coat soldiers, making as
many as he could into vampires.
 
He could
have used his situation to punish anyone who offended him or whom he disliked but
he hadn’t.

Who am I now? What am I now?
Ned wondered.
 
He tried to imagine telling Anne the truth,
sharing with her his stark and shocking reality but he failed.
 
Every possible way he could summon up ended
with her scorn, fear, or disbelief.
 
But,
sometime she’d have to know or they couldn’t remain in a relationship or share
love.
 
Part of Ned wanted to wake her and
tell her, blunt and without any explanation.
 
Another side of his soul devised ways to hide and not share the
truth.
 
As he considered the options, he
focused with such intensity he failed to hear Anne join him.

“What’s
the matter?” she said, in her lilting voice.
 
Her hand touched his shoulder and he glanced up at her.
 

Ned
took her hand and held it. “Nothing,” he lied. “Sit down with me if you want.”

“You
look so strange,” she said as she joined him. “You seem upset and worried.
 
What is it?”

He
drew a deep breath. “I’m not the man you think I am, Anne.”

Her
frown line appeared, faint but present. “What do you mean?”

“I’ve
done things you couldn’t imagine,” he told her. “I’m nothing like you think.”

In
the flickering firelight, she’d never seemed more beautiful.
 
The flames reflected in her eyes and made
them molten.
 
Anne stared into his face
without blinking and her hand tightened against his. “I know enough to love
you,” she said. “And whatever else there may be, I know all I need to know.
You’re a good man, Ned, with a fine heart.
 
You love the old ways, but you’re not afraid to live in the present. You
bring strength wherever you go and you’re caring, considerate.”

Each
word struck his chest like a well-aimed arrow shot from an enemy bow. “Maybe I’m
only like that with you or maybe you see me that way because you love me, not
because I am.”

“Huh-uh,”
Anne said. “I’m an intelligent woman and I’m a good judge of character.
 
If you weren’t all I said, I’d know… but you
are, Ned.”

Ned
said nothing, couldn’t summon up the words because he had no idea how to
express his emotions.
 
And, if he had, he
wouldn’t have been up to dredge them up past the thick knot of tears locked
within his throat.
 
Anne’s love moved him
and so he put one arm around her.
 
He
held her close and tight, her head on his shoulder.
 
They sat for a long time, until the moon
shifted position and the first light of dawn appeared in the east.

“All
I can do is try to be the man you think I am,” Ned said, finally.
 
“If I can’t and when you figure out I’m not,
promise to forgive me.”

Speaking
hurt, cut like broken shards of glass in his throat and tightened his chest but
he needed to say it.
 
Anne’s wordless cry
eased a fraction of his anguish.
 
She
kissed his face, his cheeks and then his mouth.
 
“I don’t know what’s bothering you. I can tell you’re hurting over
something.
 
Why don’t you just tell me,
Ned? Whatever it is can’t be that terrible, and it’s not going to change how I
feel about you. Won’t you just tell me?”

He
ought to do it, just say the four words that would destroy his world.
 
Ned couldn’t bring himself to say ‘I am a
vampire’ so he said, “I can’t, Anne.
 
Not
now.”

“Then
I’ll wait,” she told him. “I’ll listen when you’re ready to tell me, when you
can. Don’t be sad.
 
We should be happy.”

Anne’s
plea tugged hard on his heartstrings. “I am,” Ned told her. “Oh, I am.”

“Then
show me.” Her grin infected him and banished his dark thoughts for now.

His
facial muscles stretched as his smile emerged. “I’d like to.
 
Wanna
go back in
the lodge?”

“I
wouldn’t mind but I was thinking maybe we could go out for breakfast, maybe one
of those buffets,” Anne said. She sounded wistful. “And then maybe we could go
to the museum on post at Fort Sill.
 
Then
we’d head over to the Museum of the Great Plains in Lawton.
 
We could make a day of it, running around to
see some historic sites, do a little shopping, and have lunch.”

Ned
hadn’t set foot on the fort since he left it, but he’d heard some of the
original buildings, ones he’d known from his experiences there, were part of
the historical complex.
 
With an
abundance of heat and sunshine in the forecast, he didn’t think it would be a good
day to run around Lawton with Anne.
 
Maybe some rainy, gray day in the fall or winter, they could, he
thought.
 
Although he hated to disappoint
her, he answered with as much truth as he could.

“I
work tonight, Anne,” he told her. “Someday I’d like to do all that, but not
today.
 
How ‘bout we go to my house and
spend the day together?”

Her
lips twisted into a bow then Anne nodded. “I guess we can.”

“You
disappointed?”

“A
little, but I’ll manage.” Her slight smile erased any sting and Ned
relaxed.
 
She wasn’t mad, then. He gauged
the sky.
 
In an hour, it’d be full light
and he’d rather be inside by then.

“Then
let’s gather the gear and take it home.” Ned stood.
 
He put out the fire and gathered gear.
 
Anne helped and together they carried all of
it back to the house.
 
Leaving her to
investigate the kitchen, Ned showered then dressed in his usual jeans.
 
His wet hair hung past his waist. He’d combed
it but nothing more when he entered the kitchen.

Anne
climbed down from a chair and closed the cabinet she’d been investigating.
“Don’t you ever buy groceries? I wanted to make breakfast but there’s not much
to work with.
 
I can scramble eggs but
that’s about it.”

“Eggs
will do.
 
And no, I don’t go to the
supermarket much.” He didn’t have to eat and when he did, he ate what he liked,
usually in a restaurant.
 
Ned brought
home anything he wanted, but he’d never gotten into the idea of buying in bulk
or stocking up.
 

“Well,
why not? If you ever get snowed in or something, you’ll starve to death before
you’d ever freeze.”

Ned
laughed.
 
Growing up Comanche, they had gathered
and hunted what they needed.
 
Hunger
during lean times and feasting after a buffalo kill had been a way of
life.
 
He’d changed many of his ways, but
hadn’t had a need to adjust.
 
“I don’t
know,” he lied.
 
“I just never think
about grocery shopping.”

“We
can go together,” Anne cried. “It’d be fun. Besides, I can show you things you
can get so I can cook for us sometimes.”

So,
she planned on being around. He liked the idea very much.
 
No one had cooked for him since his wife,
long ago.
 
Food didn’t equal a need, but
sometimes Ned took comfort from it.

“That’d
be great. Maybe we could go today or tonight. What time do you get off?”

“I
work six to three.” Three in the morning would be fine for him and if Anne didn’t
mind prowling around a 24-hour supermarket or Wal-Mart, they could do it.

She
giggled. “I love shopping in the early morning.
 
Let’s do it!”
 
He’d shop before
dawn and a whole lot more to please this woman. “All right, we will. I’ll pick
you up and you’ll teach me how to buy food.”

Anne
lifted her little finger and crooked it around his. “It’s a promise, so no
breaking it.
 
Do you want some scrambled
eggs?”

“Sounds
good, but I want something else first.”

“You
don’t have much else,” she protested.
 
Ned kissed her with heat and she melted in his arms.
 
Anne’s mouth met his with enthusiasm. Her
lips caressed his and he savored the long kiss.
 
Although tempted to take things further, he waited.
 
They had time enough for sex later.

After
feasting on fluffy scrambled eggs, Ned decided his hair was dry enough to
braid.
 
He retrieved his comb and sat
down in the living room but Anne took it out of his hand.
 
“Let me,” she said. “Do you want one single
braid down your back?”

“Yeah,
it’s easiest when I’m working.”

“Then
turn around and sit still.”

Her
hands trailed the comb through his long hair.
 
A frisson rippled down his spine, as Anne removed any tangles.
 
She ran her fingers among his unbound locks,
then used the comb again.
 
Her deft
fingers pulled Ned’s hair into a queue and divided it into three sections.
 
She braided it swift and tight.
 
Ned surrendered to her touch.
 
He couldn’t remember anyone performing the
task for him, but he liked it.
 
Maybe
he’d become easy to arouse and damn horny but the simple act inspired a fresh
wave of desire.

“How’s
that?” Anne asked.
 
She tugged the braid
as if to test it.

“Fine,
but this would be better.” Ned reached back and grasped her.
 
He pulled her onto his lap, supported her
with his left arm and kissed her hard.
 
Her arms went around his neck and held tight.
 
He’d meant no more than a playful kiss but her
mouth on his ignited a sexual frenzy. Ned wanted her and so he took Anne with
all the wildness of his Comanche years, without restraint or remorse.
 
His kisses devoured her mouth and strayed to
her throat.
 
Ned nibbled at the tender
places on her neck and dared, knowing well what he did, to bite the top of her
left breast.
 
He suckled until the flesh
around the twin marks bruised, leaving a love mark she’d wear for a week or
more.
 
Anne’s blood tasted sweet on his
tongue and boosted his strength.
 

Ned
craved more, but held back despite an urgent hunger.
 
To avoid a third bite, one that would make
her eternal without her knowledge or wish, he ravished her.
 
He licked her nipples until they sprang into
taut pink blossoms then ran his tongue down her belly to her mound.
 
His fingers darted inside and delved until he
found her button.
 
Ned caressed it until
she screeched aloud.
 
His other hand
raked across her body, stroking and rubbing but with little finesse. Greed
fueled his desire and notched it up to an unbearable level.
 
A faint tenderness remained beneath his
erotic savagery so he rode a thin line between delivering pain and pleasure.