Only Human (47 page)

He stripped to silk boxers, and — much to Smokey’s dismay — we crawled into bed together. However, once again I was under the covers and he was on top.

“I want you under the blankets with me, Abbott.”

“I’ll make you cold.”

“Which is why I put flannel pajamas on.”

When I first met him, his breathing seemed normal, but as we spent more time around each other I was getting used to the idea he only needed to breathe when he spoke. I liked him not breathing around me, even though it was creepy, because it meant he was letting me see who he really is.

So now, he drew breath in, let it out in a chuckle, and said, “Intelligence is so sexy, Carena,” as he resituated himself under the covers with me, and held me as I drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Thirty-One

When I awakened the next morning, I found a note on my nightstand letting me know he’d call me when he rose in the evening.

I’m not often alone in my own home, and I went downstairs to make coffee, and took it upstairs for a long Epsom salt bath.

I took my cell phone to the tub and texted a Y to James. He called me back almost immediately, and I told him of my day with Abbott, from going over the BDSM checklist, the negotiations, and then the scene with Abbott last night, finishing with, “My ass has a few bruises, but nothing too bad, though you can imagine the force behind each strike since he gave me only fifteen — especially since I’m pretty sure only the final six were hard enough to bruise. Also, his dick is huge. I feel like I was fisted by a woman last night.”

“So, you’re telling me your bottom and vagina are going to be off limits to me?”

I rolled my eyes at his speech. Sometimes he was all proper with medical names, and sometimes he dropped into the gutter, but most times on the phone it was the proper medical terms. “I would never dare say such a thing, Sir. I’m just informing you there’s been some trauma to those areas. I trust you to know what is best, of course.”

I could almost hear his smile of approval over the phone. “It’s okay, Dear One, this is the reason we originally set our day up as Monday, so you’d would have as much time to heal from our play as possible before any weekend dates you might have. If someone has to work around damage it should be me, and not a potential relationship partner for you. I care about you, and this means I hope you find someone you can be happy with. Never fear, we’ll work around things.”

“Oh, there’s fear, because I know how creative you’re likely to be as you figure out how to work around things.”

Once again, I knew exactly the shape of his evil grin, even over the phone. The man was a true sadist and he never apologized for it.

However, he also cared about me, and his next question was, “How do you feel about this man, Dear One?”

“I haven’t figured it out, yet. I mean, he’s a rich and powerful guy and it seems he’s used to getting his way, but he seemed to immediately understand I’m a dominant personality outside the bedroom. He hasn’t done anything to rile my temper too bad, yet, but he’s done a few things that had me getting snippy with him, and he dealt with it okay.” I delved a little deeper, and told him, “My lack of submission outside the bedroom doesn’t seem to challenge him, but I’m also not ready to walk into a relationship with him. Maybe eventually, but not now.”

“It sounds as if you’re giving him a chance, and I’m glad. Listen to your gut and do what feels right. You’ll figure it out.”

“Thanks. I should probably get out of the tub and get ready, I’m meeting my parents and Lauren for lunch in a little over an hour.”

“Take care, Dear One. See you tomorrow.”

Xiaolan came home as I was putting my makeup on, and she was clearly hung over. I wasn’t one to judge, as I’d partied a lot my first few years of college. However, Xiaolan was just beginning to experiment and I felt responsible for her. I was happy she’d stayed put for the night so no one had to drive her home after drinking, but wasn’t sure how to tell her, and figured now wasn’t the time, anyway. I’d talk to her later about drinking responsibly, in a non-lecturing sort of way. I’d have to figure out how to do that, of course. Maybe wait until Lauren was in bed, and sit with Xiaolan and offer her a drink for our talk? Yeah, that might work. My mom was against alcohol in all forms and quantities, and I’d had to figure things out on my own. I learned a few lessons the hard way, and if possible I’d like to save Xiaolan from having to learn through experience.

Lunch with Lauren and my parents was actually a pleasant experience — my mom was on her best behavior since I’d let her take Lauren to church.

Lauren and I went to the grocery store afterwards, and I was standing in the produce section when Abbott called. I told him where we were, that I wouldn’t be able to come see him today, and invited him to come to the house after dark if he’d like. He realized I couldn’t say much with Lauren listening, and said he’d love to and he looked forward to seeing me.

I had a great day doing normal, everyday stuff with my daughter, and when we got home we put the groceries away and cooked together. Xiaolan came down looking rough, she’d slept most of the day and still wasn’t feeling great. I offered to steam her some plain jasmine rice and she said that would be great. So Xiaolan ate rice, and Lauren and I had gourmet homemade chili.

When the kitchen was clean I had Lauren try her Halloween costume on so we could figure out what to do with her makeup and hair. My mom loves to sew and be over-the-top creative, so they do that part and then I get to help with hair and makeup. Lauren had decided she was too old to be a princess, and had my mom create a beautiful dress fit for a Queen — a beautiful Elizabethan deep-purple velvet dress with metallic gold braiding and trim. It was perfect, and luxurious, and she looked twenty-five years old.

I pulled her hair up into a fancy braided bun, put her golden crown on, and made up her face as if she were royalty.

And wished she’d chosen to be Raggedy Ann, or
anything
less beautiful. She’d missed out on trick-or-treating as a child living in an orphanage, though, and thoroughly enjoyed dressing up, even at her age.

She was still in her costume when Abbott arrived, and I’d expected her to stay upstairs and change back into street clothes. However, she came down the steps as if she were truly royalty, and he looked thunderstruck. I forced myself to keep from going off on him in front of Lauren, though I seriously considered letting something
happen
to the dress so she couldn’t wear it in public.

It wasn’t really sexy, just luxurious and regal and beautiful.

Lauren’s best friend goes to a Methodist Church and she’d be going to their party. My mother doesn’t approve of this church because they (horror of horrors) allow the women to attend in
pants
. I thought it unusual that a church was calling it a Halloween party and not putting a limit on the kinds of costumes allowed, and to be honest it made me think better of the church and its congregation.

I sent Lauren up to change clothes, and suggested this might be a good opportunity to wash and deep-condition her hair. Abbott and I went to the family room and I got us both a glass of filtered ice water. And yeah, I put it in fancy stemmed water glasses. Wealth alone didn’t normally impress or flabbergast me, but Abbott’s age, intelligence, experiences, and wealth combined was threatening my normal self-confident mindset. It wasn’t so much I needed to impress him, as I needed to not look like a country bumpkin.

I handed him his glass and said, “If something should happen to me and I’m not around to protect her, Lauren is off limits to the supernaturals until she’s at least twenty-five — old enough to make up her own mind without being talked into something she may end up regretting. I want your word you’ll leave her alone until then, and that you’ll make sure everyone else does, too, though I’ll be extracting the same promise from everyone close to me, also. No one touches her; no one talks to her. She’s not to know of your
existence
.”

“I regret if you misunderstood my expression upon seeing her in that beautiful gown. I was alive when the style was popular, and I was appreciating how well she wore the dress, and not her in particular. I will, of course, give you my word to what you ask. She is off limits until she is twenty-five, and I will put her under my protection to make it so, if necessary.”

I was still glaring at him and he got a bit indignant, “Kirsten, I am not a child molester. Your daughter is safer around me than anyone else I know. Not only would I not lay a hand on her, but I would protect her from anyone who tried. You’re special to me and you love her with all of your heart. I first fell for you when I saw the look on your face as you watched her on stage. I
know
how much you love her.”

“If I ever catch you around her when you shouldn’t be, I’ll kill you. Understood?”

His eyes and face shifted into the way they looked when he’d vamped out to scare the rednecks who’d called the demons, and he spat his words at me, his voice an inhuman growl that scraped across my nerves. “
Perfectly
. I hope this is the last we need to speak of this.”

“As long as we understand each other,” I told him, not wavering from our eye contact, no matter how scary he looked and sounded at the moment. “I’ll die protecting her, if I have to.”

He gave a nod, nothing else, and we continued to glare at each other.

I was angry and resolute, and pretty sure there was no fear for him to smell. Or, I hoped so, anyway.

His face morphed into a true monster, but I continued to hold furious eye contact with him, not looking away, and ignoring how frightening his eyes and face looked, refusing to look down at his fangs.

Abbott blinked and looked away, then down. He composed himself and when he looked back up, his eyes and face had returned to normal.

“You’re a wonderful mother. You and Lauren are lucky to have each other. However, a piece of advice — most vampires do not react well to a threat of death, it speaks to our inner vampire and most will lose control and kill. I have enough restraint to keep from doing so, but not all of us do. You may want to choose your words a bit more carefully, in the future.”

“I don’t know any other way to say it, and I won’t sugarcoat it. Perhaps, should it be necessary to tell anyone else, I’ll just put some distance between us so I can react before they have a chance to try to kill me.”

“I don’t wish to fight with you. I will just say again to choose your words carefully.” He reached out to me. “Come, let me hold you, let me feel your warmth.”

I believed him, but I’d needed to make sure he knew how serious I was, which I felt I’d done. So, I went to him and let him hold me, and it felt good to be in his cool embrace.

As I relaxed in his arms, I realized he hadn’t argued about my ability to kill him. He’d treated me as a threat.
Interesting
. I wasn’t sure if this was good or bad, and figured a little of both, probably.

“Tell me, Carena, how are you feeling today? What are your after effects?”

“A little surface bruising, nothing major. I’m fine.” I didn’t tell him how sore my pussy was, though.

“I can smell a little bruising. Stand up and turn around; I’d like to see your lovely ass.”

I’d worn loose yoga pants, so it wasn’t a problem to pull them down to let him see my ass and the backs of my thighs. He needed to know how my body reacted, and I had no problems with showing him. I mean, sure, it was a little uncomfortable, another reminder of our position, but I knew he needed to see. So, I stood, turned, and dropped the yoga pants. He touched a few of the bruised areas, and then helped me pull them back up. I grinned at him as I sat down, and he pulled me to him and ravished me with his mouth.

I was breathing heavy, my vision once again blurred with lust when he pulled back and said, “Those are
my
marks, I put them there. Next time they will be much more prominent. I will make it
my
ass, and the reminder of who owns it will be with you a while. I know you said we aren’t exclusive, but you should know I’m feeling terribly possessive of you.”

“You can never give me total exclusivity, can you?”

He didn’t say anything, and I added, “You told me sex and feeding are closely linked. If I’m not willing to be your food source, you can’t be exclusive to me.”

He pulled me into his embrace once again and said, “I’ll do my best to give you space to figure things out. If we continue as we are now, it will be enough for me. For now.”

He let me go and put his finger to his lips, and moments later I heard Lauren coming down the steps, going through the foyer, through the hallway, the kitchen, and she finally bounded into the room in sweats and a t-shirt. She gave me a goodnight hug and kiss, and then bounded back upstairs, apparently planning to go to bed early. The experts say emotional age for institutionalized children begins at adoption, and over the years I’ve seen the truth in this statement. In some ways, Lauren is seven years old, in others, she’s sixteen. Parenting her can be tricky, at times, but I wouldn’t trade a second of it for anything.

I decided it was a good time to change the subject, and asked Abbott, “Are there any famous moments in history you were present to witness?”

“Yes, several actually. The original Friday the thirteenth, when the Knights Templars were rounded up, for one. I left about a month before Rome fell, so I was there for the events leading up to it, but decided it would be wise to not stick around for the final fireworks. I also spent some time in Hong Kong and Canton just before the Opium wars hit.”

I grinned. “I’m sensing a theme here, you leave when the writing is on the wall that things are about to get bad? No wonder you’ve managed to live so long.”

He stayed until around eleven, when I ran him off so I could go to bed. Our conversation wandered all over the place, and it was late before I knew it. I could’ve talked to him all night, and I think he felt the same.