Sekhmet's Curse (Pearl Vampire Chronicles) (12 page)

I smiled
and closed my hand in his, touching our scars together
, “There’s no such thing a
s
too much with real love.  You can do this
,
stud,
of this I have no doubt
.” 

My mouth crushed onto his and his body responded instantly.  He was shaking all over,
both
from fear and desire. I knew that he was terrified and wanted to go slow.  But I also knew him well enough to know that slow was not the best way to get him over his fears.  I kissed him harder.  He groaned, “I need both my arms to hold you, damn it.” 

“No, you don’t.  I’ve got this,” I mumbled as I pulled him closer.  I reached down, unbuttoned his pants and pushed them down his legs
, his hardness springing free and pressing into my belly
.  As he stepped out of
his shoes and pants
, I
quickly
slid my own
clothes
off.  I helped him into the water so that he wouldn’t hurt his arm.   “
Gimme
a second to get the dirt out of my hair,” I whispered.  I dunked under the water, worked the pieces of dirt and dried blood
out of my hair, wiped off my face, then bent my knees and prepared.  I shot out of the water, clamped my arms and legs around him, crushed my mouth on his and took him inside me.  He gasped sharply and tried to back
up
,
terrified that he wasn’t ready for this.  But I knew he was and I held firm. 
“Oh Jesus, Sarah.
  Are you, are you sure?  I can do this?” he said with a quivering voice.

I stopped kissing for a second and looked at him. 

“Without a doubt, you can do this, Carlos
,
w
ithout a doubt.” 

This time it was his mouth that found mine
, “I love you so much,” he mumbled
before his lips crushed hard onto mine
. 
Our tongues swept around each other’s, seeking out every corner, every erogenous zone, until we were panting so hard that we both had to break away to catch our breath.  I ran kisses down his neck as he nibbled my earlobe.  Yes, he was inside
me
but right now this wasn’t about the sex.  Now was all about the love, the passion, the respect and the trust that we felt for one another, so he moved slowly inside of me, almost as an afterthought as the rest of our bodies, minds and hearts connected on the deepest level that they
ever had. 
His
one good arm pulled me tighter and he groaned as he finally released his fears and allowed himself to love completely.

Chapter Four

             
I leaned the back of my head onto his shoulder.  He kissed my temple, “Thank you,
Baby
.  I knew you were something special the first time I met you in that restaurant
in San Diego when you and Matt embarked on your journey to find out the process for changing a human into a vampire,
but I had no idea the hug
e impact you’
d have on me, on both of us.
”

I smiled, “Well, I knew you were a pervert the first time I met you, but I had no idea that you were the biggest pervert on the face of the planet.”

He laughed, “I don’t do anything half-assed ever.  It’s all or nothing with me.
  And you’re just as big of a pervert as I
am,
you just try to hide it.
”

“I know.  That’s why I knew I’d never be able to stay away from you forever.  You’re too, ummm, infectious.  Yeah, I think infectious is the right word.
”

“I’m too damn sexy and you know it,” he whispered as his fang brushed against my ear, making me shiver.
 
“Okay, I’ll admit it.  You’re too damn sexy. 
But
I
need to get back and check on Jason and you need to get to the clinic to get that arm set.”

“Shit, I completely forgot about the arm.  You are one tough-assed broad, you know that?  No one, not even Matt
,
has been able to beat me in a fight, but you sure as hell did.  It’s embarrassing as hell to admit it, but you definitely
kicked my ass
, woman
.  Oh, and that reminds me.  That thing you did with the cartwheels.  You know, when you cart wheeled over to me and wrapped me in a leg-lock.  Do you think you can do that again sometime
,
w
hen you’re naked?”

I laughed and turned around, wrapping my arms around his neck, “Oh absolutely,” I said as I kissed him.  I helped him climb out of the water then I used my t-shirt to dry us off.  Since I had nothing else to wear, I had to pull on the wet shirt.  I smiled at the goofy Carlos grin that followed.  I helped him pull his pants on, chuckling at how difficult it became because he was getting
aroused again
.  “Stop,” he blushed, “I can’t help it.  That’s what you do to me.”

I patted his belly, “You do the same thing to me,
but
it’s just not as easy to tell.” 

“Sometimes it is,” he said as he winked and gently tweaked my nipple that was poking into my shirt.

I
laughed as I
took his hand in mine and we started heading down the mountain towards home.  As we reached the outside wall
of the compound
, Carlos stopped me.  “Maria, Sarah
,
w
hat are we going to do about her?”

“Well
,
w
e’re going to find her.  And then I’m going to talk to her.” I said.

“You?
  Why you?  Shouldn’t it be me?  Or us?”

I shook my head, “Not at first.  Look, Carlos.  She’s mad at me.  She blames me.  As a woman, I know what she’s feeling.  She thinks that I get everything I want.  She thinks that I decided that one man wasn’t enough for me.  She thinks I went after you, that I stole you from her.  That’s why I have to talk to her.  I have to convince her of the truth.  That we had this building long before we ever met her
,
t
hat this ha
d
absolutely nothing to do with her
,
a
nd that I’m sorry that I hurt her.”

“And then?”

“And then she has to un-do the damage she’s done.”
“
She
does? 
Why her?”

“Because she’s going to feel guilty about what she’s done, and this will be the only way for her to get over that.”

“But, what about punishment?”

“Her guilt will be punishment enough.  Trust me.”

“I do.  I trust you completely
Mrs.
Delgado.”

I kissed his cheek as
I wrapped my arm around him and we floated up and over the wall.  We ran into Matt
who was standing
in the hall just outside
of
our room, “Hey there.  I was starting to get a little worried.  Everything okay?”
he said.

“Well.  Other than the fact that my ego is bruised because she kicked my ass, everything’s fine,” Carlos
mumbled
.

Matt’s eyebrows shot up, then he grinned at me, “You?  You kicked his ass?”

“Stop
,
b
oth of you.  I feel bad.  I broke his arm.”

Matt wrapped me in his arms and kissed my forehead, “You animal.”

“Yes she is.  I need to go see Doc Cameron.  I’ll be back in a bit.”

I turned and wrapped my arms around him, “You sure you’re okay now?  You’re not going to go do
something stupid?”

He chuckled and kissed the top of my head, “Well, I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m not going to do something stupid.  This is me we’re talking about.  But yes, I’m okay now.  And I’m not going to do anything without you.  Okay?”

“I’m so sorry I broke your arm, honey.”

“Don’t be.  I needed this.  Thank you for knocking down the walls, baby,” he said
as
he headed down the hall toward the clinic.

“Walls?
  You knocked down the cave walls?”

I shook my head, “Nope.  I knocked down his walls.”

“Excuse me?”

I smiled and hugged him, “You wouldn’t understand because you came without walls.  You were easy.”

He grinned as his eyebrows went up, “Easy?  Show me how easy I was.”

I hesitated, “I’d love to, but I was going to check on Jason.
  Is that okay?
”

“He’s fine.  He said he was tired and was going to
go to
sleep.”

I definitely felt disappointed.  I wanted to talk to him
some more, “Oh.  Okay.  Then I guess it’s bedtime for us too.”

“Sweet,” he said as he scooped me into his arms.  It only took him a few seconds to help me completely forget my disappointment.

             
My eyes shot open.  “Something’s wrong,” I whispered to myself.  I glanced at the clock: three a.m.  Was it Carlos?  I never saw him after he came back from the clinic.  Maybe he was in pain.  I quietly rolled out of bed, pulled on sweats and a t-shirt, then tip-toed out our bedroom door.  I rushed through the main room to Carlos’ bedroom.  I listened at the door, but didn’t hear anything unusual.  I quietly opened the door and smiled when I saw him sleeping peacefully, with a brace on his arm.  I walked over, bent down and gently kissed his forehead.  He was sound asleep and didn’t stir at all.  No, that’s not what woke me.  But what was it?  I quietly closed Carlos’ door and stood in the main room, thinking.  Suddenly it hit me, “Jason,” I whispered.  “Something’s wrong with Jason.”  I walked out the door, crossed the hall and placed my ear to Jason’s door.  I heard muffled crying inside. 
I tapped, gently, on the door, “Jason?” I whispered.  The crying stopped as he walked to the door.  He opened it a crack, “What?” he mumbled. 
“Is everything okay?”

“Fine.
  Everything’s fine,” he snapped.  He was trying so hard to be brave.  He started to turn away and close the door. 

“Jason?  Would you like me to show you where we held your father?”  I
said,
th
inking that
his father’s scent might help him feel better.

“Now?
  Isn’t it a little late?”

I smiled, shook my head and held my hand out to him, “No.  It’s not too late at all.”

He looked at my outstretched hand, hesitated for a moment, then stepped into the hall and took my hand in his.  We made our way quietly down the halls to the holding cells.  His hand gripped mine tighter when his father’s scent hit him.  “We never harmed him, Jason.  We just didn’t understand what the
s
eraphim
’s were doing.  We held him while we were trying to figure that out.”

Jason nodded, then we rounded the corner and the cell came into view.  He slowly walked up to the open
door.  He wrapped his hands around the bars, looked up and around the cell, then gave it a little shake.  “This never would have
held him
.  He chose to stay when he did.”

I nodded as I walked inside the cell to the back wall, “I figured as much. I knew from the moment I met him that he was much too strong for us.”  I sat down on the floor and leaned my back up against the wall.  Jason hesitated before stepping inside,
which is
exactly why I had walked in first.  I knew that he was still worried that we might try to capture him.  Trust still had to be earned.  Finally, he took a deep breath through his nose and walked inside.  I saw a tear glistening on his cheek as he walked over and sat down next to me.  “We’ll find him Jason.  I promise.”

He nodded, slipped his hand in mine then brought his head down on my lap as he quietly cried.  “Shhhh,” I whispered as I caressed his cheek, “you’re not alone, Jason.  We’ll find him.”

It took about an hour, but he finally fell asleep.  I leaned my head against the wall, closed my eyes, and dozed off too.

*
  
*
 
*
 
*
 
*

‘Sarah?  Where are you?’ 
Matt thought. 

From Carlos I got, ‘
Hun, don’t make me panic.  Not now.  Where’d you go?’

‘
Relax,
guys.  I’m down in Aquila’s cell.  But please be quiet. 
Jason
’s still asleep.’

I smiled as they rounded the corner a few seconds later and stepped in
to
the cell.  Carlos crossed his legs, sat in front of me and began rubbing my feet with his good hand.  Matt sat next to me and slid his arm behind my back.  I leaned my head on his shoulder. 
‘Been here long?’
  Matt thought.

‘Since about three.
  Something woke me.  At first I thought Carlos was in pain from his arm, so I went and checked on him.  But he was out cold.  That’s when I realized that it was Jason.  He was missing his Dad and he was crying.  So I brought him down here.’