Hard Days Night (The Firsts Book 8) (36 page)

“You have already. I’ve been vampire for a little over
a hundred years now, and I haven’t had any sense of family since I was changed.  No, even before that, I had no family. I had been living on the streets in Chicago, running wild with other kids, doing drugs and selling sex to pay for them.  Let’s just say that my parents were the kind of people who should never have had children.  I almost found that with your father, but neither one of us were ready to make any commitments then.  Now, there’s you and the most incredible baby I’ve ever seen, who I feel closer to than anyone since Kai.  So, I must thank you for that and for trusting me when you really didn’t have any reason to do so.”

“Desperation.
  Though I’ve always read people pretty well, I guess it’s the cop in me.  Almost from that first moment, I could tell you were an honorable woman.  Anyway, I’m getting all maudlin and “Lifetime movie” here, but I just wanted, you know, to tell you.”

Erin nodded, hesitated,
then moved closer to hug Mal.  Unaccustomed to closeness, Mal hesitated too, then returned the hug and found herself clinging.

When they stepped away from each other, both had moist eyes and parted quickly.  Mal hurried down the steps to join Jack out on the
two-tier deck before the sun rose enough to be a problem for her daughter if Erin’s supposition turned out to be wrong.

But it wasn’t.  Jack smiled up at Mal as she stepped out of the house wearing only a thin cotton sundress, barefoot, with a cup of hot chocolate in her hands and a gentle smile on her lips.  He couldn’t believe how she glowed, how lovely she looked after giving birth
just hours earlier.  She stopped and seemed to study the little girl he held in his arms.

“Did you want to take her?” he asked.

“No, please, you may keep her.  I’m exhausted and I just want to sit here and absorb the sun and feel the breeze on my face.  She’ll need to eat again in a little bit and I’ll take her then.”

Mal dropped into one of the deep lounge chairs with heavily padded cushions, her eyes on Jack.  “I just thanked Erin for all
that she’s done for me.  I need to do the same to you.   I couldn’t have done any of this without you two.  You are a lovely man, Jack Martin.”

“Not necessary.  You guys let an ex-soldier into your lives and he’s pretty grateful.  I’ve loved these islands from the first moment I landed here
, but it hasn’t ever really felt like home until these last few months.”

“Strange little family we’ve cobbled
together here, isn’t it?”  Mal took another sip of the excellent chocolate that Erin had told her she’d gotten in Switzerland.  It was true, the Swiss
did
know chocolate.

Jack nodded. 
“The best families are the ones that are chosen, not born.  Blood alone doesn’t make people a family.”

“I agree.”  She closed her eyes and
laid her head back as the sun’s touch warmed her cool skin.  “Ummm,” she moaned.

Jack glanced up at Mal, a vision of perfection,
relaxed, her eyes closed, feet pulled up, her hands wrapped around the coffee mug perched on one knee.  The moan did
not
aid his attempt to stop his intense attraction to her. Nor had her comment about feeding the baby.  His eyes dropped to her breasts, full, ready to do exactly that, the nipples pressing against the thin dress as if they were reaching for the baby. 
Or him
. 
God, she was sexy, more
now than before
.  

He wanted
to change their platonic relationship to something more intimate, but he feared that it was still all that she wanted with him.   A gurgle made him look back down at the tiny baby in his arms.  Yeah, he wanted more.  He wanted Bridget and this child he already felt a bond with, perhaps marriage, which he had never considered doing again, and a home where they would raise their children to know how loved they were.

He knew she really cared for
him, they had become close, and had incredibly nice times together.  Someday, perhaps she would see how good they were together.  Jack knew better than to push and he was patient.

Stretching his legs out, Jack tucked the baby securely into the crook of his arm and mirrored Brigitte’
s mother.  He closed his eyes to rest them.  He wouldn’t sleep, he needed to stay alert to protect his women.  He sighed.  His women?  Yeah, his women.

IN ICELAND

              After waking to a very friendly cock, Cherise grinned as she showered in the massive cavern-like shower that was perhaps her favorite part of David’s enormous Icelandic home.  The water, as usual, was warm and sensual on her skin that still had such heightened sensitivity. 
God, that man could fuck
.  She hated that word when it referred to their lovemaking, but just now, the sex had been so raw, so wild,
so primal
, it
was
the right word.

She smiled when she thought that she might be sore for days.  It was worth every friction point!

Reaching for the scrubby, she bent to unhook it, when she suddenly lost her balance, her vision blurred, and her head spun.  Something had entered her mind, spirit walked through her consciousness, something insistent, something very powerful.  She grabbed for the rough tile wall to support herself when the dizziness came again.

Colors, movement, faces, abrupt, then gone, then patterns of motion wrapped in velvet thoughts.  Something so totally unexpected, she couldn’t believe she felt it.  A presence, someone that should not be here, someone no one knew, precious, beautiful, first blood, reaching out to someone who could touch her life force even though she was so new. 
Precious beyond words!  Life that endured!  Shoazan!

In the bedroom, David slipped
on his jeans and wondered if Cherise would mind if he joined her in the shower.  He decided he’d better let her rest, he’d worked the hell out of her tonight and they were already an hour late for first meal. 

As he leaned over to pick up his shirt, he heard his mate call out.

“Cherise, baby, do you need me?”  David asked as he fastened the bottom four buttons.

She didn’t answer, and while he knew there was nothing that could harm her in the enclosed bathroom, he got off their bed and walked over to push the door open.

“Cherise,” he called again as he entered the steamy room.

Again, there was no answer, so he hurried over and saw her head
bowed beneath the waterfall showerhead, both hands supporting her against the thick tile wall.  She looked up.

“David, I have had a vision.”

He moved into the shower and put his arms around her to support her, his clothes now soaked, but he didn’t care. His empathic wife could read emotions, but visions were uncommon.  They were usually vitally important, but they were also debilitating.

“Come out, baby,” he said, and led his wet, naked woman from the shower.  Seconds later, he had her wrapped in a massive
heated towel.

She looked up at him, her enormous eyes locked on his.  “She’s alive, but he doesn’t know that. I must go to him.”

Whatever that meant, and he knew it meant a lot, David continued drying Cherise’s hair with a smaller towel.

“Who do you mean, babe?”

Cherise stilled his hand and pushed her curly hair back.

“Ahmose, my love.  I need to go to Africa.”

IN SOUTH AFRICA

God, finally!
  The sun gone, Ahmose burst from his dwelling, the large yurt not nearly enough to contain his wandering spirit now that this unexplainable, bizarre assault had entered his mind.  He stopped beneath his favorite tree, a flowering Cassia tree that someone had brought him from Java a few years ago, and breathed deeply.

This had been such a rough summer, his mind fractured by memories of Mal and moments when he wished he’d
never left her or had brought her here.  The birth of the second of his three children, a daughter so perfect he wondered if she had been born of gods and sent down to him.  He did not feel worthy of these incredible first blood children.

But he’d made it past all of it, and was settled in again as master of this village of first bloods, happy again, and ready to move forward.  Life was lived that way, he knew that, so he had to stop facing backwards.  His life lay ahead, with children, and not just his own, who someday would be more powerful than all of those who came before, who would follow a course set by destiny, the journey as yet unrevealed.

Cherise was his only link to the spirit plane where this strange message must have come to him from.  Iceland was a few hours behind Zambia, so he would wait until she and her household roused before he phoned her.

As he thought this, his own cell chimed.

Picking up the call, he greeted a number he did not recognize, but most vampire’s numbers were either blocked or private.

“Yes?” he inquired casually, as he’d heard Koen do so often.

“Ahmose, we need to meet.”

It didn’t surprise him. 
Cherise’s lovely voice coming through his mobile phone confirmed what he thought might have happened.  She, too, must have felt some of the message.

“Cherise, is it about my
experience this past day?”

She was quiet,
then spoke again.  “I imagine it is, then.  Let us speak face to face.  David’s jet will be ready in half an hour and we will be en route.  We will be with you by first meal tomorrow night.”

“What is happening?  Can you tell me anything?”

“When I arrive, Ahmose.  Life can be very interesting.”

“
With a thousand years of life behind me, I am shocked that life can still surprise me, and yet it keeps happening.”

“I will see you soon, my friend.  Stay calm, it will all be okay.”

“You know I trust you completely,
madame
. I will try, but I doubt I will succeed.”

“Just hold that little girl in your arms, Ahmose,
then peace will come.”

“You are a wise woman.  I look forward to seeing you and your mate again.”

“Salaam, Ahmose.”

“Salaam, Cherise.”

So, whatever it was, the empath had also intercepted the vision.  She had known it was for him. 

Patience, then.
  Ahmose would go through his day, he would do what Cherise suggested and hold his little princess, and await Cherise and David’s arrival.  He decided he would not worry anyone else with the craziness of the situation until he knew what it meant.

It was going to be a long night
and day ahead.

It had been, horribly, enormously, indescribably long.  Twice, in the course of the night, Ahmose had become dizzy and
had to grab something nearby to keep his balance.  Fortunately, no one had noticed those few times and he was able to keep the events to himself.  Cherise could not arrive soon enough.

Ahmose had worked throughout the night trying to figure out what any of it meant, but it was too cryptic and he really couldn’t imagine.  There was a strong chance it was a prognostication, which meant he would probably have to deal with trying to thwart a bad outcome.  Surely Cherise would have revealed
good
news over the phone.

So he spent the day expecting the
worst, hoping for the best, and trying to avoid people because this was so important, and he didn’t want to speculate on anything until Cherise arrived.  Likely, whatever she told him would affect their lives here at the Victoria Falls.

Rest came again, the sun lingering at the beginning of the day, and Ahmose prepared to go in until nightfall, until Cherise and David arrived.

He picked up his daughter to say good-night, then his son, and turned to bid a good rest to Starla.  She stopped him.

“Jacob,” Starla said to her mate. “Would you watch the kids for a few moments?  I want to speak with Ahmose.”

“I think I can handle two brats for a few moments.  As long as the two of you don’t decide to take a sudden vacation for six weeks, go ahead.”

Starla shot him a thank you, and took Ahmose’s ar
m to lead him from the children’s room.  They passed into her garden and she turned to face him.

“What is it, Ahmose?” she demanded.

“I do not know what you refer to, Star?”

“
Uhhh,” she scoffed.  “You have been weird all day.  Something is happening or has happened or is going to happen…I don’t know, but I know
you
, and you aren’t your normal self.”

“Star, I haven’t been my normal self since I met you.  Remember that all of our lives have been exponentially altered by our unique journey together, and these special children.  I’m all right, Star, trust me.”