The End Zone: SPORTS ROMANCE (Contemporary Sport Bad Boy Alpha Male American Football Romance) (New Adult Second Chance Women’s Fiction Romance Short Stories) (42 page)
Authors: Jenna Payne
We decided to put his house on the market, because we had no need for two of them, especially if we were going to be living together. He soon found out about the child and he was a little perplexed. I convinced him that it was his, because his body was used each and every time. He seemed to buy that, but I wasn’t so sure and the only person that could tell us the truth was light years away.
“Travis, your love gave me this child and Ronnick gave us something that is even more priceless. He allowed us to see what we were blind to and that is something that I will be forever grateful for.” He put his arms around my waist and we closed the door, leaving us to start a new chapter in our lives together.
THE END
The day I, Becky Matthews, fell in love with a vampire started when I was standing in front of my full length mirror. I said, “I really like my body, now.” I turned this way and that to get a different view in the mirror. During the last year I’d lost a hundred pounds.
Yesterday, in a moment of pure ego, I looked up the measurements of Victoria Hendricks. She appears on the television show “Mad Men”. We’re almost the same size. We’re within five pounds of our weight. Her boobs are DD and mine are D. Notice I didn’t put the word ‘just’ before ‘D’.
There’s nothing ‘just’ about my breasts. They’re my best feature, and I love them. Let me rephrase that. Now, I love them.
I’ve spent so much time hiding my body and avoiding the sight of my body, and I did it for so many years that I’ve instituted a ritual. I do it whenever I’m going to go into a situation that would have caused me pain before.
I shucked my pants, shirt, bra and panties. By the way, that was my most enjoyable act after losing weight. I threw away my industrial strength bras and plain panties and bought some pretty ones. My favorite bra has some support underneath that makes my boobs lift up over the bra and wide set straps. It lets me wear dresses with a square neckline that drops down far enough to be interesting. I get some serious attention from men when I wear it.
I undressed with my eyes closed. I turned to the mirror and open them and burst out crying. I have looked so ugly for so long, I thought I’d never be able to look in the mirror at myself again. My body is beautiful, now. It’s sleek. No cellulite, no stretch marks or flab. Nothing hangs over. Perfect.
I was getting ready for a night out with an intriguing man named Andrei Vidnesceau. He was my...Well, I really didn’t know. We’d gone on five dates. He liked me. I knew he did. But he’d never told me how he felt. He was very conservative. His family in Romania was old money and proud of it. He’d never tried anything. He was the first significant man in my life after I changed from heavy to normal. I wasn’t desirable in any way before. Now, after I’d made what was supposed to be a breakthrough in my relationships with men I was disappointed and apprehensive because he didn’t make a concerted attack on my virtue. I knew I’d be flattered. I didn’t know how much I would let him do. It would certainly be enough to establish that we’d done something more than kissing.
I saw his scarf hanging in my closet. I held the silk to my nose and smelled the man I wanted to love. His scent went straight to my heart. It also stoked my internal fires which was welcome. I’d shut myself down because I honestly believed no man would ever desire me.
I finished dressing, and I looked good. I was wearing a lovely, black dress with a square, low-cut neckline and a definite waist. Yes, I wore my special bra and my breasts came up over the dress for a very soft, feminine feel.
The doorbell rang. I ran to answer it, feeling hopeful. I opened the door and Andrei rushed past me. He turned and slammed the door and locked all three locks. (This is New York. We always have more than one lock).
He turned to me and tried to calm down. I watched him do it. He liked to meet every situation with a calm attitude. This time, it was a struggle. I touched his arms, and he reached for me to hold my hand. He was panting. This was serious.
He said, “I have broken off with my family. They want me to give you up. I told them no. Unfortunately, I have two younger brothers who are quite physical. They wanted to lock me in the basement until I, as they put it, have rid myself of the Western bitch. I apologize for the language, dear heart. But it’s what they said,”
Sometimes a woman must act first and with significance. I put my arms around Andrei and held him close. I put his head next to mine and held it there with my hand. “I’m sorry. You had to go through that. I wish I could do something to make you feel better.”
He pushed away slightly. “There is. Now that I’m free of my family’s restrictions, I would like to feel your love first hand. Let me show you.” He picked me up and carried me to the sofa.
Nobody’s picked me up for two decades. It felt marvelous. I’m a little surprised that Andrei could do it. He’s normal sized; over six feet tall, muscular but not bulky. Picture Chris Pratt in “Jurassic World” or Bradley Cooper in “American Sniper”. He’s surprisingly thick and impressive in his upper body. And, he’s handsome. Every time I looked at him, I felt a little faint.
He sat on the sofa with me still in his arms. He had legs like hydraulic pistons. He didn’t quiver when he lowered himself to the sofa.
I stretched down on the cushions and arranged my skirt so that it was well above my knees. My legs looked really good for him.
He gathered me in and kissed me solidly. I’d never been kissed like that. Lots of pressure from his arms and mouth. It lasted a long time. I melted from the time his lips touched mine.
When the kiss ended, I gave him two more little kisses on the mouth to make sure he knew I liked it. I leaned back. “I’m going to tell you something that women like to reserve for a little later in the relationship. Your split with your family over me is too important to let slide by so I have to tell you this now.” I put my fingers on his cheek and pulled his head around so he looked me directly in the eye. “I care about you. I’m close to falling completely in love with you. I’d like to. I want you to know that I’m a grownup. I treat things seriously. I’m going to be here for you for all time if we have that long. Do you understand?”
He kissed me again. I heard a strange sound like a bunch of tiny mice scratching away inside a wall. I realized that I was rubbing my toes together. I only did that when I was fully involved with something. My nylons made the little skritchy noise.
My lovely body joined in the emotional celebration in a calm and serene way. I felt my skin become more sensitive and my breathing deepen and slow down. How delicious.
We were kissing like that and had been kissing like that for five solid minutes when the door to my apartment disintegrated.
Really, it went from solid to sawdust in a second. It was a full mahogany door three inches thick, and it turned to wood chips instantly. Two men with dark, frightening looks on their faces stomped into my rooms. They shouted something at Andrei I couldn’t understand. He’s Romanian so I supposed that was the language they’re using. Andrei shouted something back.
We were still sitting on the sofa. Andrei got to his feet with me still his arms and set me down. One of the men pointed at me and shouted something that was probably hostile. Andrei objected, and they went at it.
The fight lasted less than three seconds. I mean exactly what I say. Three seconds. Suddenly, these three human-looking men became blurs as they fought around my apartment. They did it with fists. The blows came on top of each other. It sounded like a bunch of soldiers shooting guns at the same time.
It ended when Andrei blurred his way out of my apartment with a limp, bad guy in each hand. He was back in less time than it took for me to exhale.
He said, “I have to let you in on the secret. You have to know.”
He took my hand and led me to the doorway that used to have a solid wooden door. He picked up a piece of wood and handed it to me. “Hold this. Without it, you’d convince yourself that it was all an illusion or magic or something else. All of this is real.”
He looked at the doorway. I saw his eyebrows come close together. Without a sound, the door put itself back together again. It happened abruptly. The pieces didn’t rearrange themself gently. They zoomed back into place as if they’d been given orders by someone with a lot of authority and wanted to obey very quickly.
Andrei held me in his arms and said, “You see, my dear. I’m a vampire.”
*****
How would you have handled it. My first reaction was loss. I thought, “We’re not going to be together.” That knowledge created a deep, empty pit inside my heart.
He said, “Let me explain.
Whatever he was going to say was lost when someone knocked on the door again. He turned to answer it and stopped. He said, “It’s important that you know those two men weren’t my brothers. They came from another coven.”
He answered the door and a tall, stately man and a gorgeous woman came into my apartment.
The woman didn’t look at me at all. The man gave me a contemptuous glance that took in my entire body, much as a buyer studies a horse he might purchase. The man said, “Andrei. Are you well?”
I know fathers. I have one and my friends all have one. When a father asks his son that question, it isn’t simply to begin the conversation. He meant, “I know you were in a fight. I see that you won. I’m proud of you. Did you get hurt?”
Andrei said, “I’m fine, father”, which in father/son speak means “I’m undamaged. I disposed of our common enemy completely.”
The father continued, by the way without introducing himself to me or giving me the least bit of attention, “Tell me why this is happening to our family.”
The mother had been wandering around my apartment, touching my personal pictures and keepsakes. I know psychology. She’s invading my personal space to show me she could own me if she wanted, and there’s nothing I could do about it. I have to control my temper.
Andrei said, “It’s the Janov clan, again. I think they followed me when I left our house. Just two men. I don’t know why it wasn’t more.”
“Probably, a surprise to them. They came upon you by accident and thought they’d try their luck.”
I have had it. Enough. I gathered, not my courage, but my control, and stepped in front of the mother. She’d been making a circuit of my room, wandering from table to fireplace to table. I put myself in her way. She’d have to stop or deliberately walk around me. If she tried that, I’d take her arm and stop her. She knew it. She looked at me for the first time. “Well, what are you then. Usually, it’s a barmaid or a serving girl, even an actress. I suppose you fall in that category.”
I did it. I controlled my voice and answered in a conversational tone. “No. Actually, I’m the principal of a high school.” I had to add something to that. “I have a doctorate in Juvenile Psychology and a fellowship with Columbia University.” Not good enough yet. “My high school is part of the criminal justice system in New York. All the students have committed serious felonies.”
Damn, that felt good. I could see in her eyes that she considered me a worthy opponent. At least, I wasn’t dismissible any more. She said, “Interesting” and turned away.
I turned to both mother and father. “My name is Becky Matthews. This is my home. What are your names?”
They looked at each other. I kept my mouth shut and waited. They had two choices. They could turn and leave, and allow me to take their son as mine or they could acknowledge my existence and treat me with some tolerance.
They stayed. The father said, “I am Count Jovan Silviu Vidnesceau, hereditary leader of the former kingdom of Pietra Niemt in the current state of Romania. This is my wife, Georgiana.”
I kept it up. “Welcome to my home. Would you care to sit down?” I gestured to the sofa. They looked at each other. Once again, they had to choose between losing their son and recognizing me as a human being with innate value. They sat. Just one more. “Would you like something to drink? Coffee, tea?”
Score! The mother, Georgiana, said, “Nothing. Thank you” and looked directly at me when she said it.
I pointed at one of my armchairs for Andrei and sat down on another. I didn’t press it. I could have said, “Tell me about being a vampire”, but I didn’t. I looked at Andrei in a significant way. I didn’t need to. He picked up the ball very nicely. “I told her that I’m a vampire. She seemed to handle the news well.”
Georgiana took over. “Miss Matthews, may I speak plainly?”
She was going to tell me I didn’t deserve her son. I’ll let her do it. She surprised me.
“You passed. The words I said were meant to dismiss you. We’ve been a royal family for five hundred years. Women come to our sons with their eyes full of money. They know they don’t belong, and they can’t stand up to the least amount of resistance. I apologize for including you in that group. You have accomplished a great deal. We will accept you in our family if we can work out the other thing.”
The Count jumped in. “He’s told you we’re vampires.”
Andrei tapped my arm. “Do you still have that piece of wood?”
I nodded.
He said, “Show it to me.”
I opened my hand. “I have to accept what you told me. I saw it happen. I have the proof of it right here.”
The Count said, “A moment ago, Georgiana said that this is a time for plain speaking. It is. You have a choice before you. I agree with my wife about your suitability for my son. You would make a good addition to our little group.” He leaned forward. “Your experience with criminals. Have you had to deal with violence?”
“Constantly. We have at least one fight a week between our students and one of our teachers is attacked a few times a year. Obviously, I don’t take part in quelling the fights. I direct our guards in the tactics of re-establishing peace and normalcy.”
“Excellent. You saw our enemies. They’re aggressive. If you decide to marry Andrei, you’ll have to deal with that.”
“I can do it.”
“Now, to the other question. Here’s the situation. As you may have heard, vampires don’t age. You may marry Andrei and remain human. We would put ourselves between you and harm to make sure you weren’t changed against your will. However, you would age normally and die. You may choose to be a vampire as we are. In that case you wouldn’t age and would remain with Andrei for the rest of eternity. Or until you die in battle. Do you understand?”