Tracey H. Kitts - Lilith Mercury 1 - Red (30 page)

The windows were separated only by a narrow strip of wall in this room, but in the next, there was a door between the second and third window. This door led onto a small balcony which nearly touched the ground, but gave a beautiful view of the woods.

The room next door was another reason I’d wanted the house. It was a ball room, with a large grand piano that sat off in one corner. Sadly, it was never used. It remained bare of furniture and I kept the beautifully polished wood floor dusted, but no one ever danced in it, even me. I’d thought about dancing in that room, but Alfred didn’t dance and it seemed a tragedy to dance alone in such a room. So, I kept it clean and let it be.

My exhaustion helped me to realize how much time had passed. I retracted the blades one final time, and made my way back through the house to the kitchen.

RED

Tracey H. Kitts

148

According to the clock, it was three thirty, and I still hadn’t eaten. After opening the box, I’d forgotten all about breakfast, but my stomach reminded me that it hadn’t.

Nausea nearly overpowered me and I cursed myself for not remembering the last time this had happened to me. I sat at the table for a few minutes, still breathing hard from my workout and tried to focus on something besides the flips my stomach was doing.

That’s one thing werewolves and I have in common, we both have to eat. Their extremely fast metabolism means that they have to consume food at least three times a day. It’s a very rare thing to see an overweight werewolf. Only compulsive eaters could manage that feat.

Werewolves are also practically immune to aging due to the constant regeneration of their physical tissue, and are completely immune to physical disease. Lycanthropy actually lengthens the life spans of those infected. Marco, for example, who was already of Terran descent and then infected with lycanthropy could expect to live a very long time.

That was something else that had been bothering me lately. My life was already most likely extended as his had been, even though I had not contracted the disease. On top of that, to find out I had a wizard in my family meant I could possibly live to be a thousand years old … or more.

I wasn’t sure I liked the idea of living that long. In theory it sounded good, but I didn’t want to end up like Mathias, watching everything I love fade before my eyes.

People admired wizards, but their lives were often times a sad existence.

My line of thinking had only succeeded in making me feel worse. I rushed to the half bath underneath the stairs to throw up. After I spent several minutes ‘worshiping the porcelain god’ I decided to make my way back to the kitchen.

Normally, throwing up makes you feel better, but I think it had only made me worse. I rummaged around in the fridge until I found something carbonated then took a slice of bread down from the cupboard and forced myself to eat it. I needed something heavy enough to soak up the acidity of my empty stomach and bread normally did the trick. The soft drink was mostly just to help get the nasty taste out of my mouth.

About twenty minutes and three slices of bread later, I felt better. One glance at the clock told me Elijah and Kat should be there within the hour, and I was still sweaty and unwashed.

I went upstairs as quickly as possible, but careful not to move too fast just in case I got sick again. After peeling off the sweaty spandex and placing the new blades in the bottom drawer of my wardrobe, I padded gratefully to the shower.

RED

Tracey H. Kitts

149

After a quick shower I walked, still damp and naked through the bathroom to the closet and quickly selected a pair of well fitted jeans and a soft lilac t-shirt. The jeans had been too tight only a month ago, and I noted with some satisfaction that they were now a perfect fit.

If I had wanted to I could have worn them before, but they pinched just a little at the top of my hips. I preferred to wear low rise jeans, and have been known to occasionally buy men’s jeans to avoid the extra fabric some designers seem to think women need around the thighs. That only succeeded in making my butt look baggy. If I ever did gain a few pounds, I tended to carry them in my stomach and upper hips, not in my butt or thighs.

My backside wasn’t flat by any means. I was just blessed with good genetics. My father had never worked out a day in his life and had the muscle tone of a much younger man who spent hours in the gym. On the other hand, since women naturally have more body fat, I did need to work out, at least in my opinion. However, I could go longer between periods of regular exercise without losing muscle tone.

Still, I stood in front of the mirror, twisting and turning this way and that to make sure I didn’t have any unsightly bulges anywhere I shouldn’t. Kat and Richard had both told me that I was way too self conscious. They were probably right, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. I didn’t want people to see me out in public and think that I didn’t own a mirror.

Once I walked back into the bedroom the clock said I had exactly fifteen minutes to find a bra that looked good underneath the tight shirt and dry my hair. Deciding that damp hair was not a tragedy, and showing off my nipples to Kat and Elijah would be, I went for the bra first.

My breasts are too large to go braless. But, even if I were a B cup instead of a D, I think I’d still want to wear a bra. It was bad enough I didn’t wear underwear most of the time, but there was no need to look slutty.

So, I rummaged quickly through the chest of drawers that held my lingerie and pajamas and soon came across a pale lilac bra made of silk and lace. I had a penchant for lingerie, but it had to fit well. No sense buying something that wasn’t functional and if it happened to match, all the better.

I had just pulled my shirt up around my neck in order to slip on the bra when I heard a knock at the door downstairs. A quick glance out the window told me it was Kat, and she was early.

Pulling my shirt down as I went, I dashed down the stairs and let her in.

“You’re early,” I panted.

“And you’re not ready. Big surprise.” She smiled.

“Shut up, Kat.”

RED

Tracey H. Kitts

150

“Well, you’ve got about ten minutes before Mr. Blue Eyes shows up with the game.” She yelled at my retreating backside, “I’d hurry if I were you.”

In the middle of a frantic attempt to dry my hair, Kat made her way into my bedroom. She walked over and plopped down among my plethora of pillows and blurted,

“Guess what?”

“What?” I turned slightly so I could see her face.

“I’ve met someone.” She smiled.

“Really?” That got my attention. “Do tell?”

“He’s gorgeous,” she practically drooled.

“What’s he like, and when did this happen?”

“He came in the shop a few days ago. As far as his personality, I have no idea, our first date is tomorrow. But, I can tell you about his ass.” She giggled.

“Got a good look at that did you? What’s the rest of him look like?” I teased, turning my head every which way to get the roots of my hair dry.

“His name is Charles Xander. He’s got short auburn hair, gorgeous green eyes, and an ass that could stop traffic.”

I whistled. “That’s a tall order for one man. Auburn hair, huh?”

“Yeah,

so?”

“Admit it, you have lesbian fantasies about me,” I teased.

Kat rolled her eyes. “Oh yeah, woman of my dreams. I’ve got a weakness for redheads.” She laughed.

“So, what was he looking for?”

“He came in just after I put up the pictures of the tea party, said he was looking for some nice picture frames. Why?”

“Oh, I was just wondering. Since you say that only gay men know how to decorate properly, I wanted to know if he asked for decorating advice, or just picked it all out himself.”

“He asked for advice,” she said smugly. “That’s how we struck up a conversation. Besides, I can tell if a man is gay or not.”

“You’re so full of crap.” I laughed as I put on my makeup.

“Maybe, but I’ve got a hot date tomorrow night.” She stuck out her tongue.

“Oh, that’s nice. Real mature.” I smirked.

“It’s not my fault you move too slow,” she taunted.

“I don’t move slow.” I ran some putty through my hair. “I just think you should be sure he understands the baking directions before you give the cookie away.”

“Bitch.” She tossed a pillow at me.

“Slut,” I threw it back.

Kat paused in mid throw. We had both heard a knock at the door.

As I started downstairs she said, “Why don’t you just pick one?”

“It’s not that easy, Kat.”

“Sure it is. They’re all hot. You put their names in a hat and just
pick
one.”

I glared at her over my shoulder.

“Or,” she continued, “you could just have them line up and drop their drawers.”

RED

Tracey H. Kitts

151

I laughed so hard I nearly fell down the last few steps. When I answered the door, my eyes were glazed with tears and at first Elijah mistook my expression.

“What’s wrong?” he asked immediately.

“Nothing.” I wiped my eyes.

“We were just joking around,” Kat answered.

“Oh, I just thought you were that glad to see me.” He laughed.

We sat up the game around the coffee table in the sitting room and decided to order pizza. Of course, we couldn’t find anyone who delivered to the middle of nowhere, so Kat offered to go and pick it up.

“I’ll be right back. You two behave.” She winked at me on her way out the door.

Elijah laughed. “What was that all about?”

“She thinks I need to get laid,” I said simply.

“Well, I’d be glad to help you out with that.” He smiled.

As I looked into his deep blue eyes, I almost agreed. Elijah had the kind of eyes that you could lose yourself in and if I looked long enough, I’d be agreeable to most anything. I wasn’t sure how to answer him. Fortunately, he spoke first.

“Before I forget to tell you, I’m going to be out of town for a few weeks, starting next weekend.”

“Ok.” I wasn’t sure what else to say. He wasn’t my boyfriend so technically he didn’t owe me an explanation if he wanted to leave town. But, it was sweet of him to mention it.

“My mom’s birthday is coming up, and I thought I’d visit a few other relatives while I’m there.”

“That sounds nice.”

I smiled, but I was wondering what I would do on the weekends with Elijah out of town. Honestly, it wasn’t fair of me to use him that way, but I liked having him around.

Plus, he understood the way things were with Alfred and seemed to be alright with the idea of just hanging out. I shuddered to think what Marco might try if he knew I was alone. The problem was, it wasn’t a bad kind of shudder.

While Kat was gone, we fished some plates down from the cabinets. Alfred refused to use paper plates, ever. So, that meant I’d be washing dishes again. I hated washing dishes, but I didn’t want to give up any of the cabinet space to put in a dishwasher.

Kat got back quicker than I’d expected, but I wasn’t complaining. It was difficult to be alone with Elijah and not flirt more than I should. Men should not be allowed to have such a charming smile. His smile made me want to get personal, to tell him all about myself. Confessing all of my sins up front just wasn’t my style. But, I wanted to talk to him, to share things with him, every time he smiled.

The evening passed quickly, and before long it was eleven o’clock. Kat left first, saying that she needed her beauty rest for her date with Charles. When Elijah left a few minutes later, I walked him to the door.

What I wanted to do was hug him and say how much I was going to miss him.

Even though that was true, I thought it would be cruel under the circumstances. Instead I said, “I hope you have a good trip,” which sounded cold, even to my own ears.

RED

Tracey H. Kitts

152

“I’ll miss you,” he said.

The smile slipped from his face, but his eyes held a kindness that melted my heart. I put my arms around him as I sighed. “I’ll miss you, too.”

When he didn’t try to kiss me goodnight, I was filled with a mixture of relief and disappointment. I didn’t want Elijah the way I wanted Marco. What I felt was a different sort of attraction, but it was there. He looked back from where he stood at the bottom step and smiled at me. In that moment, I knew I wanted to please him. That smile was addictive and might well have been the undoing of many an innocent young girl.

I watched as his tail lights retreated down my driveway before going back inside.

* * * *

The next few weeks passed quickly and I tried desperately not to be lonely. But, with Elijah and Alfred out of town, and Kat completely infatuated with Charles Xander, I was left with few options. Occupying myself had never been a problem and I wasn’t sure why it was then. I could always find something to do. Maybe I was avoiding my own thoughts. But I had been left with little to do except think. One can only train so much, and my roses didn’t need any more pruning. Besides that, I couldn’t think of anything that I wanted to paint at the moment and I still didn’t want to write for the same reason I hadn’t picked up my sketchbook in a while. I was afraid of what I might put on the paper.

* * * *

Another week, and lo and behold, hurricane season was upon us in full swing.

Elijah was back in town, but he had to work for the next two weekends in order to make up for the time he’d taken off. Kat called and we talked often, but she hadn’t stopped by since her ‘hot date’ with Charles. I hadn’t gotten all of the details yet, but I intended to pry them out of her.

By this time, I was tired of staying at home. I’d already rented every movie that even remotely interested me, including a few chick flicks which was completely out of character. Me watching a romantic comedy was like getting most people to go to the dentist. Once a year was quite enough.

Against my better judgment, and probably Mathias’ if I’d bothered to see what he thought, I decided to go to club Red. It wasn’t the brightest idea in the world to be on the road with a hurricane on the way, but I rationalized that I was at least driving away from the storm.