The Recruiters (10 page)

The voice behind me stopped me, “Don’t do it, Sarah. You look fine,” Stacy said from her spot in the sun.

I heard Matt talking to Aduviri as he reached the edge first. “Please, you first, Aduviri,” he said. “Right this…” he stopped short as he glanced over and saw me standing there. He was as frozen as a statue with his mouth hanging open.

Aduviri paused and stared at him, but Carlos urged him from behind, “Go ahead, Aduviri,” he said as he smiled at me and winked. “Matt gets stupid sometimes when his wife’s around. Awesome dress, Sarah.”

I pointed my finger at Stacy. “She made me wear it,” I said, as I started to panic slightly. What if it was too much? What if he was mad that I was wearing it?

My panic vanished when I saw Matt blink, break into a huge leering grin and say, “Thank you, Stacy,” as he came and wrapped his arms around me.

“
Anytime,” she mumbled as she was dozing in the sun.

Matt moved to make introductions. “Aduviri, meet my wife, Sarah. Sarah this is Aduviri.”

I stuck my hand out and shook his. “Nice to meet you Aduviri,” I said.

“
Honored to meet you,” he replied. His accent was strong.

“
Please, have a seat,” Matt said as he gestured to the benches behind us.

“
Gracias,” replied Aduviri as he sat.

Matt went to sit at the helm, but Carlos stuck his arm out. “No you don’t. I’ll take first shift,” he said. “You two are pretty exhausted, you should go below and take a nap.” He winked at us as he sat down and turned the key. The engine roared to life. The incredibly loud engine. The engine that would keep a human’s ears from hearing anything else. You didn’t have to tell us twice. We turned and felt we couldn’t get to the stateroom fast enough.

Chapter Eleven

I held the tattered shreds of silk up above my face as I lay in his arms. “I’m going to have to buy her a new dress,” I said. “This is going to be embarrassing when I tell her.”

He smiled and kissed my forehead. “Sorry,” he said, “I just couldn’t help myself. God, I couldn’t believe how wet you were from the moment we got down here. You must have been fantasizing about this all afternoon.”

Yeah, I thought, that was it. It wasn’t that a woman had made me that wet, it was thinking about sex with Matt. “I was,” I whispered.

I smiled as I remembered him growling, his teeth sinking into me, tearing the dress as he pulled away and went to bite down again. “It’s okay. And, God, it was so worth it,” I said. “I just hope it’s not a one of a kind dress.”

He chuckled, “I hope not,” then he groaned.

“
What?” I said.

“
I have to go relieve Carlos,” he said. “It’s way past my time, but I really don’t want to move.”

“
I don’t either, but you’re right,” I said as I climbed off the end of the bed. I tucked the shredded dress into my bag and pulled on my sundress, then held out my hand to Matt.

We headed topside and Carlos smirked at us. “It’s about time,” he said.

“
Sorry,” Matt mumbled as he and Carlos switched spots. I turned and smiled at Stacy and Aduviri, who were both behind us on the couch, deep in conversation.

She smiled at me as I frowned when she didn’t seem surprised to see me back in my own dress, then I blushed as Carlos whispered in my ear, “I already told her that her dress met an early demise.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. “You heard us?” I whispered. “Did they?”

“
Of course, I did,” he smirked. “But, no, they didn’t, although I can’t see how they didn’t, the amount of noise you were making.”

I bumped my shoulder into him. “Shhhhh,” I said. I turned to Stacy and Aduviri, happy to end my current embarrassing conversation with Carlos. “You two hungry?” I asked. “Would you like some dinner?”

“
You know me,” Stacy said as she climbed off the couch, “I’m always starving.”

Aduviri nodded his head, “Something to eat would be nice,” he said.

Stacy grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the stairs. “You stay here, Adu,” she called over her shoulder. “We’ll fix something and bring it right up.” She dragged me down the steps and started pulling things out of the cupboard. “Mmm, spaghetti sounds good,” she said. “That should work and it’s easy to fix. So, is Adu one of you?”

I shook my head, “No, he’s not.”

“
Darn,” she replied. “He’s sweet,” she continued on as she placed a pot of water on the stove. “So he tore the dress right off you huh? Sexy. He must have strong hands though, it’s pretty thick, strong silk.”

“
He didn’t use his hands,” I mumbled, then quickly closed my eyes (why did I just tell her that?).

She stopped and turned around to face me, confusion clouding her face as she studied me, then her eyes flew open as she realized. “His teeth?” she asked and I nodded. “That’s so hot!” then she cocked her head to the side. “You bite each other during sex?” she asked. “Doesn’t that hurt?”

I couldn’t stop the shiver that rocked my body. “No, it most definitely does not hurt,” I said.

“
Wow,” she said. “I wonder…”

“
No!” I said. “This is not something Carlos can do while you’re human, so don’t even ask, okay?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “Okay,” she said as she turned back to the stove and added the noodles to the boiling water. “Bummer.”

I shook my head and laughed as I went and opened the jar of spaghetti sauce and poured into the pan. We emerged a little while later with spaghetti, salad, bread and a bottled water for Aduviri. The two of them sat on the couch and ate while Carlos, Matt and I talked. I whispered to them, “Do you think we could each sneak down for a quick bite? We haven’t eaten in a few days.”

Matt turned around to look at them, “They’re busy eating, so now would probably be a good time,” he said. “You two go first,” and he kissed my forehead. I nodded and grabbed Carlos’ arm and gently pushed him down the stairs.

“
Interesting conversation you had with Stacy earlier,” Carlos playfully whispered.

I stared at him for a second then my embarrassment turned to anger, “Would you stay out of my head, please?”

“
Are you kidding? And miss stuff like this? No way. So how tempted were you, Sarah?”

“
I wasn’t.”

“
Bullshit, Sarah. I could feel you. You can’t lie to me.”

“
Do I really have to have this conversation with you Carlos?”

“
Well, would you rather have it with Matt?”

“
Hell no. I’d rather not have it at all.”

“
Nope. Not happening. We already swept the back rub incident under the rug. I’m not doing that anymore. Apparently you’re a female version of me, complete with a turbo-charged sex drive. You’re not hiding anymore.”

“
But is it really appropriate for us to be talking like this?” I said.

“
We’re not
doing
anything, Sarah. We’re just two friends sharing our sexual adventures. Guys talk like that all the time.”

I thought about that as I grabbed two pints out of the fridge drawer. I was just opening my mouth to respond, when I heard Stacy say, “I’ll be right back Adu. I need some more napkins.” I quickly closed the drawer and stood up. “Hey guys,” she said as she came down stairs. “I want to watch.”

I looked at Carlos. “Watch?” I said. “We’re not doing anything, there’s nothing to watch.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re gonna feed, right?” she said. “I want to see.”

I shook my head. “Stacy, that’s not a good idea,” I said, blushing.

She stuck out her lower lip. “But I want to see what I’m getting into,” she said.

It was Carlos who spoke next. “Sarah, she’s right you know, we might as well show her.”

I opened my mouth to protest, then shook my head and shrugged my shoulders.

“
Good,” she said as she moved closer to us.

I stopped her and pressed her back to the stairs while shaking my head. “Uh-uh,” I said. “You stand right there and don’t move, okay?”

She nodded her head, her eyes wide. I could hear her heart pounding. I turned and pushed Carlos into the farthest corner of the galley. “You and I will stand here, okay?”

Carlos grinned and saluted me, “Whatever you say captain.” I smiled at him and shook my head, then grabbed two bags out of the fridge and warmed them in the microwave. I could smell them as they heated up, I didn’t realize how hungry I was. I could feel my teeth tingling already. My pulse quickened. My muscles tensed as I went into predator mode. The room changed as my eyes changed. I could still see Stacy, but it wasn’t her that I was seeing, it was her beating heart and her pulsing veins. I could feel the pull to search for evil in her, but I fought it off and forced my focus back to the microwave just as it dinged. I barely had time to turn and hand Carlos his pint before I sank my teeth into mine. Then I blinked and the room returned to normal and I saw Stacy staring at us with her mouth open. I went over to her, gently grabbed her arms and forced her to look at me. “You okay, hun?” I said.

“
Whoa,” she finally replied. “That was so fast.”

“
I know,” I said as I pressed some napkins into her hand. “Now, back upstairs,” I said as I turned her around and pushed. I felt Carlos behind me, but I put my hand out to stop him. “Hold up a second,” I whispered.

“
Sure,” he said. “What’s up?”

I shook my head, held up my hand and closed my eyes. I reached out to his mind with mine. I felt him let me in then I opened my eyes and stared at him.
‘Something’s wrong,’
I thought.

‘
What?’
he thought back.

‘
I felt something just then,’
I thought.
‘I could see her blood pumping through her, and I really felt like I could have bitten her if I wanted to.’

His eyes went wide,
‘Really?’
he thought, then he shook his head,
‘No, you must be mistaken Sarah. She doesn’t have an ounce of evil in her. That’s not possible.’

‘
But what if it is?’
I thought.
‘Remember, I was changed in a different way. Maybe I am different.’

He stared at me for a second then shook his head.
‘No,’
he thought,
‘it must have been because you were so hungry. You must have felt something different because of that.’

I nodded my head, hoping he was right, but not convinced at all that he was.

‘
Now,’
he thought,
‘unless you want your hubby in on this conversation or to have him think that we’re getting’ freaky, we need to get back upstairs, because he’s trying to find out what’s taking us so long.’

I gasped and pulled my mind back and whispered, “Please don’t tell him,” then I turned and headed up the stairs. Carlos drove while Matt ducked down to eat, but I noticed that Carlos kept glancing at me out the corner of his eye. I grimaced and closed my eyes as I realized that he wasn’t convinced about his diagnosis downstairs either. “Please let him be right,” I mumbled, only to open my eyes and see Matt staring at me.

“
Please let him be right about what?” he said.

My mind scrambled for a second then grasped at the only thing it could find. “Please let him be right that we’re almost there. I’m sick of this cramped boat,” I said just before Carlos called over his shoulder.

“
I can see the island up ahead.”

“
Good,” I said, trying to sound calm, but I could feel Matt scrutinizing me. I could tell that he didn’t quite believe that that was what I was talking about. I relaxed as I felt him shrug his shoulders and let it go, then he wrapped his arm around my waist.

“
Wow. Look at all of the boats. There must be at least fifty of them,” Carlos said.

“
Are we sure we’re ready?” I whispered.

“
As ready as we’ll ever be,” he said as he kissed the side of my head.

Andrew and Janine were waiting for us on the dock. “It’s about time,” Andrew said. “The others are all here in the clearing at the center of the island. They’re waiting for you.”

“
Okay,” I said. We made quick introductions then I said to Andrew, “Can you get Aduviri and Stacy inside?” Andrew nodded. I grabbed Matt’s and Carlos’ hands, took a deep breath and we walked up the path into the jungle.

Chapter Twelve

We emerged from the jungle into the clearing and all three of us stopped. Our eyes moved around the circle of vampires who sat on the logs around the edge of the clearing. “There must be a hundred,” I whispered to no one in particular.

“
A hundred and twelve to be exact,” Matt marveled and Carlos just nodded his head.

“
Wow,” I said as we stepped into the center of the ring.

“
Welcome friends,” Matt began and over a hundred heads nodded in response. “Thank you all for coming.” I glanced up at Carlos. His eyes were squinted as they moved around the ring, trying to read every mind, trying gauge if there was a threat here. It made me feel safe. I held tight to his hand as Matt went on, “I’m assuming Andrew has explained a little to you?”