United Service (25 page)

“Cuts and bruises. Nothing else happened.” She smiled back at him as she continued the walk to the car. “How many people have you killed for the government?”

A heavy weight lifted from his shoulders and his muscles began to relax. He pressed harder onto his wound as blood continued to stream out with each step he took. “Enough.” In a softened tone he said, “Sweetheart, that guard was dead the second he touched you.”

“My hero.” Kate shot him a softened glance and a smile. “Have you killed any of our kind?”

Sterling liked being classified as a vampire and not a genetic reject. “Yes. Vampires, too.”

“And you fight with all those vampires,” she commented as her head tilted back towards the camp. “Besides your father and aunt, who were all of those people?”

Sterling filled the time walking by telling her briefly about each member of the Colony. As they neared the car, Sterling felt the blood dripping down his side. With each step his wound had opened wider and oozed more blood, but now his injury was notable. “Kate, hold up.” He took a deep breath and sat down on a tree stump. He pulled up his stained skin covering and inspected his wound. The size had more than doubled.

“Oh, Sterling.” Kate gasped. Her eyes widened as she took in the bloody sight. “That looks bad.”

He should have accepted his aunt’s offer to seal his skin, but didn’t want to appear weak in front of Kate, especially since the process always felt like sandpaper against his excessively delicate skin. “I just need more blood,” he said reaching for the syringes his father had given him.

“That’s a big gash, Sterling.” Kate protested. “The blade was silver, wasn’t it?”

Sterling nodded. “It’ll be fine. The silver is causing the cut to heal more slowly.”

Kate knelt in front of him and leaned in. “I can seal your skin for you.”

“No,” he protested. “Blood is all I need.”

“Silver cuts take a long time to heal, and this cut is bad.”

He knew she was right. His body tensed in preparation for the horrid feel of a sealing. It was a sensation he was well aware of, and he hated it every single time his aunt had performed it for him. He bit his lip and closed his eyes. He told himself mentally not to act like a wimp in front of her. Finally he agreed, and he watched as she placed each of her hands on his thighs and leaned over. With one hand, she lifted the shirt and placed her delicate pink tongue against the torn flesh. To get closer, she pressed her body flush to his and held him tightly. In one lengthy tongue–lash, she covered the wound and went back a second and then a third time.

Sterling’s body reacted by becoming instantly erect.

His eyes pitched black and widened in shock. This was no rough medical treatment, but a slice of pure heaven. He placed one hand on her shoulder, the other on the back of her head. He sucked in a quick breath as his body rocked and nearly convulsed in an orgasm.

“That’s good!” he said, pulling her away. He kept his eyes closed. Breathing heavily he said, “That’s excellent.”

She stayed kneeling in front of him. “I think I got the full cut. Your skin looks messier because of all the blood around the wound, but I think you’re good.” Pulling away from him she asked, “You okay?”

“Fine.”

Sterling heard her make a smacking sound with her lips. “I can feel my mouth. The pin in my mouth hurts my tongue now, but …” she smacked her lips, “… I have full motion and can feel my mouth and jaw.”

Full motion
. He found it difficult even to think. He swallowed hard and choked out, “We should leave.” He gazed down into her eyes, but realizing his eyes were black and his fangs extended, he turned away from her. “We should go.”

“You know,” she said playfully, her hand cupping his crotch, “if my pins were out I wouldn’t need to stop.”

Sterling’s body hardened even more. Her hand stayed right on his crotch as he made eye contact with her. “I haven’t stopped wanting you since the moment I first laid eyes on you.” He put his hand atop hers and pressed her cupped hand down firmer onto his groin so she could feel him better. Her eyes remained a beautiful gray.

“Take my barrier down, Sterling.”

“I will. But not here.”

Sterling pulled onto the street to the hotel and drove to the front entrance. He handed the valet the car keys, but hurried around to Kate’s side to open her door. As he helped Kate out of the car, Sterling caught the attendant’s horrified stare at the bloodied clothes Sterling wore, so he compelled the man to dismiss the stains.

“I anticipate issues getting a room,” Sterling said as he removed their overnight bags from the trunk. “It’s late, so not too many humans around. But still …” He covered his face in case any security cameras focused on them. “The bruises and cuts on your face are almost healed, so I think you’ll have to rent the room. I’m looking less presentable,” he said, looking down at his blood soaked shirt. “… not to mention,” he added, “I’ve aged to the point of looking like your father.”

Kate touched Sterling’s shoulder length hair. “I think the gray makes you look very distinguished.”

“Thanks, but I’d rather people not assume I’m a pervert. The white robe you’re wearing is still clean, so here. Take this,” he said, handing her cash. They walked into the hotel, across the polished marble floor entry, and towards the registration desk. Sterling hung out in the lobby and blended into the background. He watched as Kate approached the woman and tried to rent a room. She talked with the hotel clerk for several minutes, and the woman even showed her something on the computer screen. After a while, Kate walked back to Sterling, money still in hand.

“There are three conventions going on. We need a reservation.”

Sterling shook his head and let out a slight chuckle. “We’ll work on your compelling abilities later.” He approached the desk, gazed in the woman’s eyes and compelled her to ignore his appearance and to rent him a room for the night. The woman’s eyes paled as she ran her normal routine of a computer search and created the plastic key card. She put the key into a small envelope and placed it on the counter. She then wrote a room number on the envelope.

Sterling’s heart raced as he picked up the key. Kate seemed too good of a match, and he didn’t want to mess up whatever it was that was developing between the two of them. He had been with so many human women that sex had become mechanical to him. He had never been with a vampire before, not even another half–breed. Human woman were always impressed by his performance, but what if he paled in comparison to Kate’s past vampire lovers? He wanted to make love to her, but swallowed the lump which had formed in his throat when he considered he might not be up to the challenge.

The tightness in his pants told him another story. “
Challenge accepted,”
he thought as he walked over to Kate and escorted her to the elevator. Their earlier conversation of ten different ways raced through his mind. Yes. He could think of at least ten ways to take her.

They entered the large hotel room and he turned on the lights. He noticed that she glanced over to the bed but then walked to the balcony. “It’s a nice view we have.”

“I had to get the bridal suite. It’s all they had left.” Sterling went to the balcony and opened the door so the cool night breeze traveled into the room. He then put his bag on top of the luggage caddy and carried her bag over to where she stood. The cuts and bruising on her face were nearly gone, but he still suggested she have something to eat.

“Syringes?” she asked as he handed the blood over to her. “I’ve never seen blood stored like this. I thought you were going to hand me a bag of blood or that you’d go find me a human or something.”

“No. This way is easier. I get my blood packaged in syringes when I’m out in the field. I’ll warm a dose for you.” He pressed a button on the thin metal casing to warm up the syringe of blood inside. A minute later the casing beeped. “You have to open the syringe like this … and then you can inject the blood into your vein.”

She took the syringe and plunged the needle into her leg, injecting the blood into her bloodstream. Once done she handed the empty syringe back to Sterling.

His chin hit the floor. “You can do the next one a little gentler if you want.” He handed her the second syringe when it beeped.

She did this one more gently than the first one. He waited for signs of blood lust and found none. Her barrier impressed him. No wonder Ben couldn’t see an aura, nothing got through. He watched as her youthful appearance once again was restored.

“Let me get you a couple more.”

“Is there enough?”

“Yes. Don’t worry.” He heated two more syringes and gave them to her when they beeped. She injected them into her legs, more gently than the first batch. He watched and, still, no blood lust came to her.

She reached over and played with his hair. “You need blood to heal as well.”

Sterling didn’t want to squirt the blood into his mouth, especially not after witnessing her plunge one into her leg without being in pain. “I only need you right now,” he said sitting on the bed and pulling her into his lap. “Let’s unpin you.”

He carefully removed the pins from her eyebrows as she undid the one on her tongue. Next he unpinned her hands. Moving her more onto the bed, he did the same to her feet. When the last pin was out he tossed it toward the nightstand. “Finally,” he said. He looked at her with his blackened eyes, his fangs extended. He pulled his shirt and top skin covering off in one quick gesture.

His hands reached inside the robe she wore, and found her tight, trim waist. Smooth skin. Silky. It occurred to him that he didn’t have to treat her as if she were a frail human who could snap in two if things got carried away. A growl escaped his throat as he realized he could get carried away.

He tossed her farther on the bed and began passionately kissing her neck. He ripped the robe, breaking half the buttons so he touched even more of her. Picture perfect. That’s all he could think. Angelic flesh. He wasted no time as he suckled one of her now bare breasts, and fondled the other. He heard her moan louder and louder as he took one hand and began undoing the remaining buttons of the robe.

Even before he got to the last button, he sensed something from her. His skin had been hurting during the raid on the camp, but now felt great as he touched her. He sensed something new though. It was fear. It was then he noticed how statuesque she had become. In fact, she hadn’t touched him once since they had gotten on this bed. Her moaning had been her only response to what he was doing. Doing a quick check on her eyes he noticed they were pitch–black. Her heart raced and her breathing deepened. There were signs that she enjoyed what he was doing, but tonight’s activity was a two–player game and he needed his partner.

When he leaned in to kiss her, she pulled away. “Kate?”

“Uh–huh?”

Judging by his sense of smell, he could tell she was aroused. She certainly seemed interested when they had started. What could he have done in such a short amount of time to turn her off? “What’s wrong?”

She looked everywhere but directly into his eyes.

“I have protection if that is what you’re wondering.”

Her cheeks flushed. “No. I wasn’t thinking about that.”

Okay, he had no clue, so he asked what he feared. “You don’t want to be with me, do you?” Before she answered, he continued, “No. I get it. You are a tease.” He moved so he was no longer lying on her.

She pulled the torn robe over to cover her breasts. “Sterling, it’s not that I don’t want to.”

He tasted a bitterness in his mouth. Taking a deep breath he said, “You certainly do go to the limits to taunt a guy. Well played, Kate.” He lifted himself off the bed, but Kate grabbed his arm and pulled him back down.

“No, Sterling. I do want to … you know. I just ….” She paused.

His eyes grew cold and his face reddened as he cut her off. “You want to do what? Humiliate the half–breed? Get him all worked up and then put the brakes on? What?”

“Sterling, it’s not that.”

He looked down at her disbelievingly. He deepened his tone. “What then?”

“I’m a virgin.”

Sterling’s muscles went rigid as he froze in place. He mentally did his best to wrap his mind around what she had said. Instead, he stared at her with a dazed expression on his face. He couldn’t have heard her correctly, and yet, he knew he had.

Kate was beautiful, caring, thoughtful and considerate … and a virgin. She listened to him and saw him as a whole person, and not only as a half–breed. For this reason, plus her complementary skin issues, Sterling realized she was the perfect woman for him. He had a heavy feeling in his stomach and he took a deep breath to clear his thoughts. In a shaky, soft voice, he mumbled the word, “okay” as he slightly turned from her.

All those years. All those women. God, his father was right. A perfect woman did exist for him. As much as Sterling hated to admit the truth, the man had been right. He now realized that if you found the right woman, the one you wanted to spend the rest of your life with, the theory of only one woman made perfect sense.

Did he want to spend the rest of his life with Kate? Probably. More to the point, he didn’t want to spend the rest of his life
without
her. In the short time he had known her, he could tell she was the one special woman made only for him.