36. No Take Backs
No Take Backs
We make love for most of the night, drifting in between.
As dawn spills through the windows, I watch the sun gild Micah in gold through the triple-UV protection. Apparently, even Vamps need sleep after the amount of sex we had.
As if sensing my eyes on him, he opens his and smiles at me with lazy satisfaction. I think I could get used to that look as he leans over and kisses me, long and slow and languid.
‘What now?’ I ask. There are a hundred questions wrapped up in that one.
‘I think you should probably have some breakfast to replenish your energy. And coffee. You’ll definitely need coffee.’ Micah deliberately misinterprets with a grin. He is unbelievably gorgeous when he’s relaxed. And naked.
‘Maybe a shower,’ I add. If he doesn’t want to talk about the future, I won’t push him.
His gaze sweeps lazily over my body, and his eyes instantly heat, blazing with molten darkness. I trail mine down his chest to his abs, and the evidence of where his thoughts have taken him.
‘I never knew Vamps were so insatiable,’ I tease him.
‘It takes the edge off the need for blood.’ He looks as if he’d like to do that right now. ‘The same as alcohol does.’
‘But blood is better.’ He knows what I mean. The first time was heightened for him because he had his fangs in my throat and my blood pumping through his undead heart and coursing through his veins.
‘Blood is different. I need it to live. Unlike with food for humans, drinking from the vein is the same pleasure for us as an orgasm. You enjoy the taste of food. For Vampires, blood is ecstasy.’
Heat pools between my legs at the memory of how the taste of his blood almost caused me to orgasm when he was healing me.
‘Evangeline.’ His voice is soft, and I move closer to fit against him. ‘I’ve never had my fangs in anyone, never taken blood, while having sex.’ He pauses, letting the words permeate my heart. ‘I’ve also never had my wings out.’
My whole body melts as what he’s saying sinks in. I don’t have adequate words for the gift he’s given me. Place my hand against his jaw, I kiss him slowly, deeply, with all of my soul.
Within moments, we’re in the bathroom, and he takes me against the wall of the shower, hot water pounding down on us as we climax together.
I dress in clothes I left behind when I fled seven years ago.
Old jeans and a pink sweater over a t-shirt that should have been gotten rid of long ago.
That Micah kept them in my room, kept everything the way I’d left it, catches at my heart.
He never does anything without meaning. He was hoping I would come back, while leaving me space to decide for myself.
We can’t change the past, but the future is wide open.
Micah needs more blood than the small amount he took from me. It’s waiting in a carafe in the kitchen, along with coffee and bagels.
‘I’m moving back to the Coven permanently,’ he tells me as I inhale the elixir of life. It’s not quite the same as blood, but I imagine my need for it is close.
I don’t know how he has fresh bagels with cream cheese and strawberry jelly. For all I know, he sent a helicopter for them while we were sleeping. Or Barclay went to the store. Either way, I almost moan as I take my first bite.
‘With Lila gone, I need to take the reins again. I’ve been neglecting the Vampires for far too long, anyway. It wasn’t fair to her.’
‘Mm-hmm,’ I say around a mouthful of bagel, washing it down with coffee.
‘Evangeline, I want you to live with me.’
My eyes shoot to his. They’re dangerously serious as he leans against the counter next to where I’m sitting, blood untouched.
Suddenly, it feels like a lot. It’s not that I don’t want it.
All of it. Earlier, I asked what now? But less than twenty-four hours ago, I had a Werewolf boyfriend.
And although I don’t feel ashamed of what Micah and I shared, or our feelings for each other, I also don’t want to rub it in Jake’s face. He doesn’t deserve that.
Plus, there are the logistics of being with a Vampire when I’m the lead detective of the Paranormal Police Squad. Jake and I kept our jobs separate, and although it drove a wedge between us, I realize with that wonderful thing called hindsight that it had to be that way.
If I live at the Coven, I’m essentially giving my loyalty to Vamps over Lycos. I’m sure the only reason it worked when I was with Jake was that Lila was my friend as well as being Coven liaison to the PPS.
But I’m aware that many in Jake’s Pack were against our relationship. And Jake’s isn’t the only Werewolf Pack in this city. What will happen to my credibility if I’m living with a Vampire?
Vamps are undead and immortal. Weres are much closer to being human- or at least, they’re seen that way. I was walking a fine line with the Captain by dating a Werewolf. I’m not sure I’ll be given the same understanding if I’m banging a thousands-of-years-old Vampire.
Plus, Micah needs to concentrate on running the Coven again.
I know there are internal and external politics- with other Covens such as New Orleans- that he’ll need to take control of.
At least until he appoints someone to take Lila’s place.
I’m well aware that before the night he rescued me, and for the two years I lived at the Coven with him, he made every important decision.
He formed the NYC Coven, as he had many others before, gathering Vampires and building a society.
Only now am I coming to understand how much he gave up to live with me here, at the castle.
‘You don’t have to decide now. I only wanted to let you know where I stand.’ My Vampire leans down and kisses me in understanding. I wrap my arms around his waist. ‘Care to give me a ride into the city?’ He pulls back and winks at me.
‘Only if we can have sex to christen my new car,’ I say with a straight face.
Micah clutches his heart even as his eyes darken. ‘I’m thousands of years old. Are you trying to kill me?’
‘I thought that was how all men wanted to go?’ I say innocently. His deep laugh curls my toes and heats my core.
‘I’ll get what I need. You finish your coffee. I hate to think of your driving skills without it.’ He’s gone before I can retort or hit him.
This is how it used to be between us. Minus being railed in the shower. I think my heart may actually explode from happiness. It’s the ultimate afterglow, and I intend to bask in it.
Captain Buchanan, my partner Tim Easten, and Ruby Blue all knew it was my birthday yesterday, and as it’s the weekend and we have no new cases, no one will bother me until Monday.
At least, not with any PPS business. Ruby, however, will want to know all about last night, which she no doubt thinks I spent with Jake.
Most social feeds are a waste of time. I don’t need the world to know what I’m doing every moment of my day, and I don’t have the time or the inclination to make holos or post inspirational quotes.
But as I turn my micro off silent with thought, sending it to my contacts, a flood of notifications appears in front of my eyes.
I scroll as I drink more coffee and wait for Micah.
All of my Squad, cops from other departments, dispatch, old high school friends, and some from the Police Academy, have all wished me happy birthday.
And for the first time in ten years, I don’t hate the sight of the messages.
They’re not only a reminder of what I’ve lost, but of the life I’ve built for myself.
A life I love, with friends who see all of who I am.
Ruby’s birthday holo is full of innuendos that have me blushing, ending with a demand for me to flicker her ASAP.
Standing in Micah’s kitchen, I make a holo inviting her to my place for a girl’s night later.
Let her wonder where I am. Her face will be priceless when I tell her.
I can’t keep the smile off my face thinking about it.
We don’t have sex in the car. I was having far too much fun flooring it.
I’ll need to modify it with lights and a siren so I can break all the laws.
But the roar of the engine, the feel of the smooth leather, and the incredibly hot Vampire sitting in the passenger seat laughing at me, is what I imagine taking illegal supps is like.
The rush, the power, the feeling of invincibility.
Micah kisses me goodbye when I drop him at the Coven. It’s long and slow and sets my body on fire with need. There are no promises, no plans, no pressure. He’s immortal; he probably doesn’t worry about making plans for the week. I’ll see him when I do.
I didn’t get much sleep last night, and I have a few hours before Ruby arrives for a holo and pizza, so I decide to take a nap.
I also don’t want to make any decisions right now, or let reality intrude too soon.
Such as my aging, while Micah doesn’t. He said he would have Turned me at twenty, and I know he won’t hesitate now. All I have to do is ask.
And if I’m going to Turn, I don’t want to be old. Micah is late-twenties, at least in looks. He said he had all the time in the world to wait for me. But what if he’d accidentally left it too long, and I’d been sixty? I firmly shut down that train of thought.
The PPS is mine. The reason I joined the police was because of my parents’ murder.
It’s cliched, but that doesn’t make it any less true.
I’m making a difference in this city, and there’s talk of it being adopted in other places.
Not only in the US, but internationally, if the World Council has its way. I can’t do that if I’m not human.
My front door alarm wakes me. Thinking it’s Ruby Blue, I don’t bother to access the camera from my contacts.
When I open the door, Jake is standing there. I stare at him, not sure what to say, what to do. I knew I would have to face him eventually, but not yet. And I don’t want him to hear about Micah from anyone else.
‘Can I come in? Please, Eve?’ The sound of my name jolts me from the stasis I was suspended in.