H.T. Night's 8-Book Vampire Box Set (37 page)

After we rested, Yari flew up again and we
followed her, making our way toward West Hollywood. Yari squawked a
final time and flew down for us to follow her into a nice gated
townhouse community. Yari scanned the ground to make sure no Tandra
were outside. When the coast was clear, we all headed down with her
and landed. Yari quickly transitioned to her Mani form and turned
over the doormat in front of a white and brown home. She grabbed a
key that was under the mat and opened the door quickly so she
wouldn’t get burned by the sunlight. We all went in the front door
and transitioned alongside her.

“It’s just three rooms,” Yari said. “So we
will have to double up.”

“Hector and I don’t need a room. We barely
sleep,” Wyatt said. “The living room will be fine for us.”

“I can barely keep my eyes open,” I
commented. “I’m going to crash in the room with the biggest
bed.”

“That would be mine,” Yari said. “It’s a
California king.”

“Then I’ll take the one with the second
biggest bed.”

“It’s okay, Josiah. You can sleep in my
room.”

Lena’s eyes shot across the room. She was
apparently not okay with me sleeping in Yari’s bed.

“No, I’ll be okay. Just give me any room
that has a bed.”

“The guest room in the back has a queen,”
Yari answered.

“That will be fine.” I headed to the back of
the townhouse. I called out, “Wake me up when Tommy gets here.”

I entered the guest room. It was a very
interesting room. Apparently, Broadway musicals from the 1980s were
the theme to this room. Giant posters of Phantom of the Opera, Les
Miserables and Miss Saigon wallpapered the room. I wasn’t a show
tunes kind of guy but, interestingly enough, Tommy was.

There was a lock on the door, so I decided
to lock myself in. I hadn’t rested or slept in more than 36 hours,
I really could use some sleep.

I looked at the clock. It was 11:00 am.
Tommy should get here in a few hours. I closed my eyes and laid
there for about 45 minutes and then heard a knock at my door.

“Is Tommy here?” I yelled out.

No one responded. Instead I heard another
light knock.

“Sheesh,” I got up and went to the door and
opened it. “Is Tommy—” It was Lena.

“Hey there,” I said. “Are you okay?”

“You want company? I’m not exactly Miss
Popularity with these people.”

“Sure, come in.”

Lena entered the door and locked it behind
her.

“Wow, you really don’t want to socialize
with them,” I said laughing at the fact she locked the door.

“I’ve spent the last three days with those
people. I need a break. Wyatt is weird and Hector is just plain
creepy. And if I didn’t know any better, I’d think Yari is watching
me when I sleep and imagines putting a silver stake through my
heart.”

“Was it that bad?” I sat on my bed. Lena
stayed standing. “Have a seat.” Lena sat at the end of my bed. I
propped myself up so my back was leaning up against the head
board.

“So, what happened with Tommy?” Did your
little experiment go the way you wanted?” Lena laid her entire body
across the end of the bed. She was so tiny that she almost didn’t
have her feet hanging off the width of the queen size bed.

“It actually went really well, we really
connected. To what extent I don’t know yet.”

“That’s great.” Lena seemed
uncomfortable.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“This whole thing is nuts. I don’t even know
what we’re running from. It’s becoming overwhelming.”

I looked straight ahead and nodded. “If I
wanted to,” I said, “I could spend all day tripping out about all
of this shit. But I can’t do that anymore. At some point, you have
to accept that your life as you knew it is completely over. And now
you need to make the most out of your new one.”

Lena reached her hand out to me.

I took her hand and held it. “You’re going
to have to just let everything go, otherwise you will make yourself
crazy. Everything that we have ever been taught is wrong. Our
reality is what and how we are living today. We’re both 20 years
old and have been given the keys to this world.”

“Have we?” Lena asked. “Have we been given
the keys? Or did someone throw us in a cage and throw the keys
away?”

“We have been given the truth, or at least
what the truth is for us. People run around all their lives
clinging on faith and hope. They never truly know if what they
believe in is their true calling. They won’t know till they die.
Not us. We get to live in our faith. We get to defend it.”

“I can’t believe you’re the same guy who
questioned everything two months ago.”

“Well, turning into a vampire and needing
those skills to save your life three times would make anyone a
believer. I have to embrace all of this. It’s all I can do now.
Otherwise, I’m fighting who I really am.”

Lena crawled over and laid down next to me.
I put my arm around her back and she put her arm around my waist.
We both let out a sigh at the exact same moment.

“I feel safe with you.” Lena tightened her
grip around my waist. “I feel safer with you than anyone in my
entire life.”

“Even Atticai?”

“Especially him.”

“Really?”

“I was always unsure of what he was doing. I
thought I loved him, but in the end I think that was why I cared
about him. The mystery.”

“I get it. You spend all your time trying to
figure a person out. Before you know it, you find yourself having
intense feelings and you’re never quite sure when it started
happening.” In a way, I was referring to Lena. My uncertainty had
led me to a place in my heart I never knew existed.

Lena adjusted her head so her face was at
the same level as mine. My heart was beating very fast. This was
the most intimacy we had ever shared. I looked deep into her eyes.
My feelings for her were so intense. I didn’t know for sure what
she truly felt about me and that was killing me inside.

“Josiah,” Lena paused.

“Yeah,” I said.

“Are you going to leave me?”

I took a deep breath. “Why would you ask
that?”

“I need to know. When this is all over, do
you plan on going away?”

“Lena, I will always be here for you.”

“Always?”

“Always,” I said.

“I believe you.”

“What are you afraid of?” I asked.

“You’re all I have, Josiah. I have no true
friends, no more family.”

I nodded my head at her. “Lena,” I said, “we
are forever bonded.”

“Is that all it is? A bond?”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Are we only bonded by this experience?”

I calmly looked at her. “No, Lena. We’re
not. I feel bonded with you by something way more powerful.”

“You do?”

“Yeah.”

“So do I,” she said.

We were quiet. We had an amazing way of
opening up to one another and then shutting down when it reached a
certain point. Fuck it! I wasn’t letting it shut down this time.
“You are becoming my world.”

“What about Yari?”

“I needed Yari and she needed me.”

Lena paused. “Why did you need her?”

“I needed her because she led me to
you.”

We just stared at one another with a new
kind of energy. It built up slowly and just held in the air like a
bubble waiting to pop.

Lena leaned in and put her head on my chest.
I wrapped my arms around her and held her tight.

“I might be falling for you, Josiah.” Lena
looked up at me with tears in her eyes. I took my hand and gently
wiped her eyes. I already knew I had fallen for her.

Chapter Eighteen

We had both fallen asleep and Lena’s head
was still on my chest. As I slept, I could feel Lena gently
touching me. She was touching my chest, my stomach, and my legs. It
was like being brushed by an angel. This lasted for hours. I was
going in and out of sleep each time feeling Lena’s touch. I’m not
sure if she ever slept.

I looked at the clock on the dresser, it
read 5:00 p.m. Tommy must have shown up by now. I didn’t want to
leave the room. Lena was still gently rubbing my abdomen. I leaned
up.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“I’m great,” I said.

“Josiah,” Lena said

“Yes.”

“Why haven’t you kissed me?”

I paused. I really didn’t have an
answer.

“Do you want to kiss me?” Lena asked

“Very much so,” I whispered.

“Okay, then.” Lena smiled.

This was it. My heart was pounding. I turned
my head, and leaned into her face. In the dark she looked like a
pixie with her short black hair. I very gently slipped my head
closer to her mouth and softly kissed her lips. As our lips
touched, I was overwhelmed by my senses. Every touch, every smell,
seemed magnified. I took my right hand and placed it on the back of
her head. She aggressively leaned forward, pinning me to my back.
She was taking control and I was letting her do it.

She lay on top of me, kissing my face, my
neck, and my lips. I could feel the fire burning from inside her.
It was as if a tiger had been let out of her cage.

“Can I bite you?” she asked.

“Do whatever you want,” I whispered
back.

Lena kissed the top of my forehead softly
and made her way down kissing me inch by inch until reaching my
neck. I was in complete ecstasy. She kissed my neck passionately.
With each kiss, she tightened her lips more and more. Her kisses
turned into nibbles and her nibbles turned into bites. She bit down
and I let her. It was me giving myself back to her. She had trusted
me and now I trusted her. The pain felt delightful. I wasn’t even
sure what flowed through my veins now that I was a vampire.
Whatever it was ignited her with passion. My entire body began to
quiver. I was in complete submission to this woman. She had me; she
had every inch of me. And I loved every second of it.

I had secretly longed for this moment for
months. I never imagined that she’d be this daring, this
adventurous. She stopped biting me and her mouth made its way back
to my lips. My fluid was dripping from her mouth. I could feel
whatever it was dripping on my chin. She then went back to kissing
my mouth. I could taste my Mani blood inside her mouth. This was
the hottest thing I’d ever experienced.

We continued kissing. I was very mindful to
allow her to control the pace. Every now and then I would take a
little bit of control and then release it back to her. Each time I
had control, I held her tighter. I loved her deeper. Finally, I
pulled her tightly to me. I gently flipped her over so now I was on
top of her.

I kissed her chin, her cheek, her forehead.
As she laid on her back, I kissed her neck and the top of her
collarbone.

Lena once again took control. She took my
shirt from the bottom position. She tore off her own tank top. She
wasn’t wearing a bra. Our upper bodies were bare pressing up
against one another; our skin sticking to each other. She kissed my
neck, my face, my chest, she licked my stomach. As she did I
tightened up my six pack, and that seemed to excite her. She began
kissing every inch of my upper body. I just laid back and allowed
her to discover me—to discover every bit of me—on her terms.

Her hand dropped and she cupped my groin. I
was at full attention, and just the slightest touch put my entire
body into an exhilarating euphoria that I had never experienced
before.

I whispered, “Only do what you want to
do.”

“Oh, Josiah. I’ve wanted to do this since
high school.”

Lena slowly unbuttoned my 501 jeans and slid
them off. She buried her face up against my boxers. Her hand slowly
reached inside the peep hole, and she got a hold of me. She
proceeded to pleasure me with her hand. She was gentle and
attentive. I didn’t know if this was her first time experiencing a
man, so I let her find her way. It was as if my body was her very
own private amusement park. I was thrilled to be the main
attraction.

She stopped before I could climax, and I
didn’t care. I reached down and lifted her up so she was lying
completely on top of my body. We kissed and kissed—we held each
other tight. We were here, we were in the moment—and we were
alive.

* * *

We laid there in each other’s arms. Seconds
became minutes, and minutes became hours. I didn’t want to leave
and nobody was going to force me. I wanted to lie there forever,
and so did she. If there was a way to do it, we would have.

I had so much to say to her, but I had no
idea how to tell her. All I could do is show her how much I cared
for her until I was ready to share it out loud. She would know by
my actions how I felt about her.

“You think we should get up?” Lena
whispered. It was weird hearing her voice. Neither one of us had
spoken in hours.

“What time is it?” I asked.

“Almost six in the morning.”

“Wow, we have been lying here for a long
time.”

“I know.” Lena got up and put on her black
tank top. I put on my white t-shirt. She turned on the light and it
felt like someone flashed a spotlight on our faces.

“Come here,” I said softly to Lena. Lena
walked over to me and I stood up and hugged her. She pulled back
and looked at my neck.

“Sorry about your neck, you have some
hickey.”

I felt my neck and it was a tad tender. I
smiled at Lena and said, “Next time I’ll have another taste.”

“Oh, you will?”

I grinned. “I’m going to see what Tommy is
doing.”

“Okay.”

“Josiah?” Lena murmured.

“Yeah.”

“Can we keep this between us?”

“Sure. No problem. But the hickey is a big
giveaway.”

Lena nodded and a part of me felt like maybe
she was marking her territory as far as Yari was concerned. I
opened the door and headed to the living room. Yari was duct taping
the curtains and the doorways.