Waiting (11 page)

"Can you... I mean, are you a
ble to.
... if we wanted to?" That was so lame, but I still waited anxiously for his answer.

"We can do anything and everything together." He moved at human speed, slowly rolling until he was on top of me again.
His erection reminding me he was able to get hard.
"Once you know everything about me, your
curiosity
no longer eating at you, I plan to make you mine." His words were like a spark, igniting my earlier fire
,
making me rub up against him.

"What does it mean, to 'make you mine'?"

"It means that we'll be together. I'll never change you over unless you ask me to, or unless I have no other choice to save your life." I can live with that. "I want you to be comfortable, happy, sated, and have no regrets about us, then I can make you mine."

His eyes flashed, the purple completely taking over and exposing his feelings. Since he was a mystery
everywhere
else, I'm glad I had one factor on my side. His eyes. They could never lie to me.

"How often do you need to feed? Is that what you call it?"

"Depends. If I'm well and unharmed, once every other day. I take a little from two participants, then wipe
their
memory, close the holes, then send them on their way."

"Have you ever done that to me?" I
felt his body shudder, closing
his eyes for a brief moment before responding.

"I've never tasted your blood before tonight. The only reason I altered your memory was to keep you safe, but I've never done it before."

With one quick movement
I was back on my side and he was spooning me, kissing my hair, then squeezing me tight.

"Now, get some sleep. You have to get up in a few hours if you want to make it to work, but if you're p
lanning on calling in sick..." h
e let it dangle, the possibilities flying through my head, mostly of us continuing to lay in bed together.

Playing at nonchalance, I sighed then wiggled my butt against him.

"Good night."

He groaned then released his grip slightly, but his warmth still enveloped me.

"Good night. I might not be here when you wake up
, but I'll leave my cell number," h
e whispered into my ear, making me shudder.

"You should stay. Unless you really need to take off, b
ut I'd like to wake up with you
."

Parker chuckled, kissed my hair again, but didn't respond.

EIGHT

My alarm went
off at six thirty
but
I
hit snooze. At six forty five when it sounded again
,
I
reached up to hit it
but a
cool
hand caught mine, then slowly trailed down my arm, instantly waking me and every nerve ending in my body. I sat up and turned off the alarm, then glanced back at
Parker
laying in the same exact spot as when we'd fallen asleep.

"Good morning."

 
             
I smiled ear to ear after hearing his voice.

He's real. I'm not dead and he
wants
to be with me.

"Do you have plans today?" He sat up on his elbows, his long dark hair loose from
its
pony tail and cradling his face. "I mean, if I call in sick, would you be here?"

"No." My happiness quickly vanished. He rolled his eyes then looked me up and down in a very predatory, albeit flattering way. "We won't be here, at least not all day, since there's still plenty more to show and tell you. Is that alright?" He flashed a grin, fully aware that he'd been messing with my feelings.

"You could've just said that you'd love to hang out with me all day."

I hopped out of bed and quickly used the bathroom to freshen up.

When I came back out
he was sitting on the edge of my bed,
standing
once I came closer to him. He pulled me in and kissed me. His breath was still minty and breathtaking. I'm pretty sure he hadn't brushed his teeth, so this must be one of the perks of being a vampire.

"Are you still tired? If you're going to call in sick then you can get some more rest."

I eyed the bed, not really sure how I felt.

"Are
you
still tired?" If he was
then I'd have no problem climbing back in with him.

"No. I need very little sleep, but would love to cuddle you if you'd like."

He picked me up and threw me on the bed,
covering
his body over mine while I giggled and reached for my cell on the night stand.

I dialed my work number
and
left a message for the main receptionist and then Julie,
in case
she went to work today. This would only be my second time calling in sick in over five years. If I wasn't anticipating what a great day I was about to have,
then I might've panicked a bit
since I need to sign off on almost everything for work to get done at the office.

"What are they going to do without you?" His eyes grew wide with mock worry.

"They'll manage." I wasn't go
ing to worry about them all day
since I'd be able to make up for lost time on Friday, then have the whole weekend with Parker again. Hopefully. "Where do you live? How do you make a living?"

"I've made plenty of livings and invested well. I have a plac
e to crash at, but I'm
between houses at the moment."

"Great. An unemployed, homeless man. No wonder you decided to stay the night."

Before I could blink we were up aga
inst the far wall by the window. 
His body melded mine
against the wall and held my head firmly in his grasp, holding my gaze.

"I have plenty of homes, just none that I'm currently residing in." He swooped down and kissed me, pulli
ng my bottom lip into his mouth
then lightly tugged it with his teeth. "I might be unemployed, but I'm the richest unemployed man you'll ever meet. Vampires have
intolerance
for most jobs, so we make our money in any other way we can."

"I guess you're worth bringing home
to mom then." I was teasing him
but his eyes turned dark before he looked away. "What's wrong? You don't have to meet my mom, I was kidding."

"I'd love to meet your mum." His gaze returned to mine. "If my mum were still alive, I'd be honored to introduce you to her."

"I thought you said your mom turned you?" Had
I
misheard
him?

"She did. We kil
led her the first chance we got
after about a year in this new life. After
about sixty
, Francis star
ted to go crazy.  T
hat
's when I lost him to the Pulpa
s. I put up with him and tried to help him for years before finally letting him go."

He'd killed his own mom, then lost his brother to the enemy. And the amount of years he'd been on his own were mind blowing. I thought my twenty eight years were horrible, but they're nothing compared to his two hundred and something.

Before I could try and comfort him, he changed the subject.

"What's on the agenda for
today? This is the normal time for breakfast, though you don’t usually eat it. Since you’re staying home today maybe you can make time for it.”

He placed me back on my feet then took my hand and walked at a humanly speed out to my kitchen.

I made breakfast while he sat at the counter and watched. After eatin
g
I took a
shower and changed
to come out and find he looked freshly washed and was wearing a new outfit, his hair now cut short against his scalp, about an inch long.

 
             
Of course he was faster than me.  B
ut he had to fly somewhere, shower, change, then come back and he did it all without me knowing he was missing.

W
e
sat on the roof for a few hours
talking and learning more about
each other
. For example, he was born in 1806 and was turned in 1828. Since they aged quite a bit differently back in the day, he looked more about in his
late twenties or
early thirties. It was comical to think he’d passed as a high school student come to think of it. 
But with his ability to alter and control minds it was all too possible.

Parker sat
in the shadows while I enjoyed the more direct sunlight. When I drew closer to him I felt a chill. The same chill I’d felt on the rooftop of the Hilton at the reunion. I asked if he felt it too and he explained that he was partially masking himself from the sun. Like when they mask their selves in darkness to fly, so no one can see them. It was a different kind of mask, since I
could see him, he explained.  This was to save his strength, while the other is to just remain hidden.

I rubbed my arms to rid the goose-bumps. Parker stood and came to me, wrapping his arms around my waist. The heat he enamored brought forth a new kind of goose-bump and his nostrils flared in silent acknowledgement. A change of subject was in need, I realized, when the blush crept over my cheeks and gave away my embarrassment.

“Do you like being a vampire?” I found myself verbally asking before looking away from his piercing gaze.

“In some ways, yes, others no,” he explained vaguely, continuing after I found the strength to look back into his eyes. “
Being stronger than most so I could protect you is in the good category. Having to survive on blood is in the bad.” His eyes turned sad for a moment, tortured. “Being locked in time, forever in the same body….. that’s in both categories.”

Uh, yeah. He had a gorgeous body. Why wouldn’t he like being trapped forever in it?

“You don’t like the taste of blood?” I asked, whispered really.

He snorted before releasing me, shoving his hands in his front pockets as he started to pace back and forth.

“I love it!
Crave it. When I was first turned it was all I thought about for months. The feel of it sliding down my thro
at.  T
he burning desire disappearing for
only minutes before
rushing back with the same fever as before. If you don’t learn t
o
control yourself it can drive you insane. If Francis hadn’t been there for me I would’ve lost it. We kept each other going, learning.”

His steps were slow, measured, as if trying to remain in control now.

“So you learned,” I
encouraged with a
smile. “You’ve mastered your new life and
I must say,” I hesitated while
swallowing the lump in my throat before continuing with
my brave words. “It looks good on you.” I continued before the embarrassment caught up to me. “You’re a caring, kind, strong, beautiful man. A combination that would have any woman begging for your attention.”

He smiled then. A bright smile that only heightened my own. My head was tipped backwards with my hair brushing the concrete roof as he dipped me back and stared into my eyes. My breath caught when his lips bent and kissed the hollow of my neck, pushing the pearl strand out of his way while his fingers dug ever so nicely into the small of my back
and
right shoulder blade.

“And you? You’d
beg
for my attention?”

His teeth lightly nipped at the vein pulsing against my neck before placing a gentle, warm kiss to the base again. I fought for composure.

“Y-Yes,” I stuttered, probably beet red now.

“
Anything you want is yours,” he explained while setting me back upright. “You never have to beg me.”

I smiled again while waiting for my heart rate to slow before a memory surfaced that I’d completely forgotten until now. The second man I’d had sex with…I’d practically begged. I was twenty two and was desperate to get Parker out of my mind. It was our second date and he’d been anything but subtle about his intentions so I’d dragged him inside and when he hesitated I found myself a bit disoriented. He’d stepped back and looked at me like I was crazy before I whimpered a please and roughly got down on my knees to take him in my mouth. A masculine chuckle held me in place and he’d said, “Well, if you’re going to beg.”

A hot blush crept over my entire body now as I looked up at Parker with unease.

“Were you there when…I mean…” I couldn’t even find the strength to finish
my sentence.