Sekhmet's Curse (Pearl Vampire Chronicles) (17 page)

Matt groaned, stretched, then mumbled, “What, honey?  Did you say something?”

I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, “No, darling, I didn’t say anything.  Good morning, my love.”

He turned and smiled at me, “Good morning to you, too.  I’ll be
t
you’re pretty hungry.”

“Famished
.”

“Well, let’s let vain boy get his beauty rest,
cause
God knows he needs it.”

“I heard that,” Carlos mumbled before he rolled over.  “This face couldn’t possibly get any more beautiful
,
”
he said, grinning.

Matt and I both rolled our eyes before we climbed out of bed.  The three of us headed downstairs to eat.  “Ummm, maybe you should wait here while one of us checks on Jason and Aquila,” Carlos said
.  I nodded and Carlos pushed out his chair
and stood up
.   “I’ll go,” he said.  I watched as he tensely headed out the door. 

“Don’t worry, Sarah.  He won’t do anything stupid
,
”
  Matt
whispered.

“He’s still angry over the whole “forcing me to have a baby against my will” thing, isn’t he?”

“Well, shouldn’t he be?  I am too, if you want to know the truth.  But I’m dealing because you asked me to.  And so is he.  But it doesn’t mean we’ll ever be best friends with Aquila.”

“I know.  And I would never ask you to
be
.  But it turned out he was right.  I
was
yearning to have another child.  But I would never have had one by my own choice. 
I never would have said yes if he had asked me.
He had to make that decision for me.”

“I know.  I just wish it could have been me
,
”
Matt whispered as he stared at his hands.

“So do I, sweetheart.  More than anything I wish it could have been you.
  I would give anything to have your child.  And I’d love to somehow have Carlos’ baby too.
”

‘
Sarah.  Jason thinks it safe for you to come over now.’
Carlos thought
.

“We can go over to the house now,” I said to Matt.

I took a few hesitant steps in the front door
of the main house
.  Aquila was sitting on the couch with his back to me.  “You are safe now, female.  And I’m sorry for what happened out there.”

“
It’s
okay, Aquila.  And I’m sorry that Sekhmet took you.  That was my fault.”

“Jason has been telling me a bit about that too.  She’s summoned the two of you to her tomb for this test?  What are you planning on doing about this?  I cannot
lose my son.”

“I know.  And neither can
I
.  But we can’t fight her, she’s too strong.  But I am really good at puzzles.  I’m fairly certain that I can figure out
and pass
her test
s
.”

“You have to, female
,
f
or you will be holding my life in your hands
.  I will not survive if my son dies
,
”
he said.

“I know.  And I will do my best to protect him.  I will die if it will save him.”

“I hope it doesn’t come to that, because, if it does, I
be
tter not be around your mates.  They are just as protective of you as I am of my son.”

“They are.  But they would never blame you.
  They know who to blame
,
w
hich is why
I need to return to the fortress as soon as possible to begin my studying.
”

“Studying?”

“Yes.  She told me that I need to become highly knowledgeable in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics.”

“Hmmmm.
  Perhaps Latin might help too.  I could teach you.”

“Thank you very much.  Yes, that might help.  I’ll
make sure I work that into my schedule.”

“I also know where my
creator, the priest,
hid ancient texts about vampires and
Seraphim
’s.  I could retrieve them if you think that they might help.”

“I definitely think they would.  Thank you.  How far do you have to go to get them?”

“Not far from the fortress at all.  They are at the church in Mexico where he lived for many years.”

“Oh yes.  I’ve been there.  We could land in Mexico first, drive to the church then fly to Peru.”

“Thank you,” he said.

Matt walked in through the front door, hesitated a moment when he saw me sitting there talking to

Aquila, then smiled, “Boat’s ready, Sarah.”

My heart flip-flopped in my chest.  Too long, I thought, yes, it’s been way too long
.  The excitement of what I was planning began dancing in my eyes as I walked over to him.  “What?” he whispered.  I smiled and kissed him on the cheek, “Nothing that you won’t know about soon enough, my love.”
 

We packed as much blood as we could into the fridge on the boat, then we ate one more time before locking up the house.  As we walked onto the porch I turned
to Carlos and handed him my bag, “Can you take this to the boat for me, please?  I want to go say goodbye to Jonas.  I’ll catch up to you in a minute.”  He nodded then kissed my temple.  I watched briefly as the four of them headed down onto the path, marveling once again at Aquila’s size – the sweats that Carlos had loaned him looked like shorts on him and they were so tight that they left nothing to the imagination
.  Of course, with him being naked most of the time, imagination wasn’t really necessary
.
I was grateful to him that I wasn’t conscious when he put that enormous thing inside of me.  There is such a thing as too big.

I walked around the side of the house and into the garden, to Jonas’ grave.  I sat on the small bench
underneath the tree
. 

“Thank you, Jonas” I whispered, not really expecting a response.  I jumped when I got one.  His voice popped into my head,
‘
Well, you still owe me for that information I gave you, you know.
’

“
I do?  Didn’t I already thank you for it?
”

‘
Really, Sarah.
  Did you think that a ‘Thank you’ would be enough?  How many days were you here
this time on the island? 
And no sex?
   No sex at all?
  I’m very disappointed.’

I smiled,
“
Well, I see that even death hasn’t changed you, has it? 
Still the same leering pervert.
”

‘At your service, madam.’

‘
What’s it like, Jonas? 
Being dead.
  Is it lonely?’

‘Not really.  I can enter any creature I want, so I can move around the world, which is neat.  My favorites for getting around are birds, big birds, like seagulls,
albatross
and eagles.’

“
Can you feel anything?
”

‘Absolutely.
  Why do you think I travel around the world?  I can enter into any man as he’s having sex and it’s exactly as if I’m doing it myself.  I’ve even entered into some women, just to see
what it feels like from your end.
’

I blushed and looked down at my feet.
“Always back to the sex, huh Jonas?”

‘
Always, Sarah.
  Death hasn’t changed that.  But to what you’re thinking, n
o
,
I haven’t joined with you yet.  This is a new skill that I’ve just recently acquired.
Besides, you would feel it.  Humans don’t, mainly because I wait until they’ve got a few drinks in
them before I enter.  And
I haven’t had a chance to make it back to Peru since I’ve figured this out.  Which is why I was so disappointed that you didn’t do anything when you were here.  You know how much I wanted you when I was alive.  That desire hasn’t gone away at all, Sarah.  But do I detect not only embarrassment from you but also a bit of excitement too?  You want me to do this, don’t you?  You’re excited by it.’

I quickly stood up,
“
I have to go now Jonas.  We have to get back home.  Thanks again for helping us.
”

‘You, Sarah.
  I helped you
.  And I’ll be around.  Believe me, I’ll be seeing you soon,’
he chuckled as he left my head. 
I quickly made my way down to the dock, but maybe it was a little too quickly.  I forgot to try to calm myself down first.  I was still a little flustered from what Jonas had said and my heart was still racing a bit
, because, truth be told, there was a part of me that was a little curious, intrigued, and, yes, even a bit excited by the idea of Jonas being able to feel what I feel during sex.
  Matt looked at me with questioning eyes as I jumped onto the boat at the
stern.  I smiled, shrugged my shoulders then quickly tossed off the stern lines.  I tried to avoid his gaze as I slinked up behind him, but I couldn’t avoid his question.  “Everything okay, honey?”

“Everything’s fine.  Just a little over-tired from the last few days. 
Haven’t made up for the lack of sleep.”

“And the hunger?”
Carlos said as he slid his hand in mine and squeezed.

“Manageable for now.
  Okay, who’s driving first and who’s coming below with me to nap for a bit?”

Matt and Carlos glanced at each other
.
I didn’t miss the look that passed between them.  I rolled my eyes and tried to look offended, when in reality I was trying not to smile, “Guys, it’s a boat full of
creatures with exceptional hearing
.  Do you really think we, or I should say I, could get away with something?”

“Well, maybe not, but it sure would be fun to try,” Carlos mumbled
with his grin firmly planted
as he stepped up to the wheel
,
“
I’ll drive first.  Relieve me in three hours, okay?”

“Got it.
  Thanks man.  I really am exhausted.  I feel like I could sleep for a week,” Matt said as he took my
hand in his and led me downstairs.  ‘God, I hope not,’ I thought as I quietly followed behind.  The moment we were in the bedroom with the door closed, I
spun around and
locked my mouth on his and linked with his mind.  “Sarah,” he mumbled as he tried to pull away, but I kept my grip firmly behind his neck and
held
him tight.  ‘
Be quiet, Matthew Pearl.  Don’t speak.  Don’t moan.  Don’t gasp.  Don’t make a fucking sound.  Just love me.’
I thought as my hunger filled every corner of my being.

‘
Sweet Jesus
,’
he thought, then he grimaced as he clamped off the first moan that tried to escape him.  We threw off our clothes and fell to the floor, a mass of entwined limbs, interlaced fingers, coupled lips pressed tightly together, and, finally, the joining that I yearned for as he easily found his way inside my more-than-ready
body
.

I dozed, much later, with my head on his chest and my fingers lightly caressing his beautiful, naked body.  “Do I still do it for you, Sarah?  Satisfy you, I mean.”

I lifted my head and just stared for a moment.  “Are you serious?  You mean, you can’t tell?”

“Well, I mean, it seems like I do.  But sometimes, with a woman, it’s hard to tell what they are really thinking and feeling.  You’d tell me if you needed me to do something different, right?  You’d tell me if you were bored?”

“Where is this insecurity coming from, honey?  Have I done something to make you think that I was at all unhappy, because, if I did I assure you it wasn’t intentional. 
Quite the opposite, in fact.
  You excite me more now than you did before we
ever
slept together, because now I know what’s coming.   Now I know what you’re capable of
, and that excites me more and more every day,”
I said as a shiver rocked my body.  He smiled and leaned in to kiss me.
  “
It’s not insecurity, honey, it’s more that I just want to check in with you every once in a while, because, God knows, you do have a tendency to keep things from me to spare my feelings.”

I opened my mouth to protest but he quickly pressed his finger to my lips, “Don’t even try missy, you know that I’m right.  Now,
I’ve got to go relieve Carlos, now.  I’ll see you later, baby
,
”
he said as he gave my pouting lips a quick kiss.
  As he pulled his
clothes on, I grumbled, “I hate it when you do that.”

“What?  Get dressed?”