CHAPTER 1
“This is so romantic, Edwin. I like you in this mood.” Althea cuddled to the muscular chest, breathing in the very sensual aura of the male walking beside her.
“You like me in any mood, let us be honest, Thea.” the male beside her happened to be in a particularly festive mood this evening. He kept his features perfectly placid, of course. It would never do to allow the female the upper hand in any given situation.
It was the way of Edwin Aldemeer’s world of late. A very nice world the Master Vampire created with meticulous planning and precise timing of late.
“I do not.” the female’s contented state never lasted for long, the Enforcer was quickly beginning to understand. She pushed from his vicinity, scowling up to this height. “I don’t like you when you get all metaphysical and shit. You know I don’t understand a word you say at such a time.”
“You understand every word I say, you just choose to misinterpret most times.” The male also understood. Which amused him greatly. One would never know by his stoic manner. “Nor do I believe I was waxing metaphysically at said time.”
“I’m sorry you came back.” Althea decided, her mood certainly no better for the male’s. “I was perfectly happy being here on my own.”
“Your nipples are cold. The sight is arousing me.” the tall being stood, hands in pockets of his expensive trousers, his gaze traveling the slender frame with masculine appreciation. “And you are lying. You missed me terribly and you know as much.”
“Did not.” Thea snapped her growing pique. “Never you mind about my...things.” she crossed her arms over her ample chest deliberately. “You won’t get to see them tonight, Mister. Rest assured.”
“I will, you know.” Edwin’s all too superior tone made the lovely pout of a mouth tighten with irritation. “And you will very much appreciate it when I attend to those sweet, puckered little peaks.”
“You are so full of yourself.” The woman was positively certain of her statement, her expression saying as much. “I don’t know what I ever saw in you. I’m going home to Papa.”
She turned but Edwin’s hand lashed out, hauling her voluptuous form back to his chest. “Papa can wait. You have duties to your new fiancé to which you must attend.” His breath wafted over her nape, his lips traveling a seductive path up the swan-like neck, slow...meticulous kisses designed to entice and arouse. “I have missed that hot, steamy cavern, my little succubus. I wish to sink deeply into its creamy depths and lose myself in your...aura.”
“Yeah, sure. How many others have you sunk into, I wonder. I wasn’t born yesterday.” Thea had lain awake the past few nights, wondering over just such a reality. “Well, fine. I haven’t been celibate either then.” She squirmed about, grimacing, pulling away from his efforts. “Are you mussing my hair?”
The long blonde fluff was up this evening, soft tendrils escaping here and there, making the sophisticated style she adopted all the more alluring to the male’s way of thinking.
“You have been celibate, liar. I had Lucas watching you like a hawk. He reported your every move. Not that I do not trust you. I do, beloved.” The Enforcer held his amusement admirably.
Thea settled. “Well, if I wanted, I could have not been celibate.”
“I know that, you fucker.” he murmured lazily, the tip of his tongue playing with her lope. He suckled leisurely on the fragrant, plump nub. Edwin’s free palm cupped her right breast in its huge confines, his thumb slowly, gently raking over the taut peak which raised for his touch.
“Oh yeah?” Althea decided to forgive and forget. She caught his head with her palm holding him to his pastime.
“Show me your breasts.” The male could see down the front of the daringly cut gown but he needed...more.
“Right out here, in the open?” the female’s hopes heightened. “You haven’t done this in a long time.”
“We did it the night before I left, and the night before that.” Edwin corrected, his tone a lazy, indulgent one.
“That’s a long time, in my world.” she pouted prettily for him, lifting her mouth for a kiss, which the being supplied. A long, slow...deeply erotic kiss which left Thea breathless and coiled.
“Are you wearing undergarments.” the deep baritone washed over the female like a silk rose petal.
Thea immediately went on the defensive. “They ruin the line of my dresses. I thought you said you liked when I didn’t.”
“Did I intimate that I did not?” His palm smoothed over her ass cheek lovingly, his mouth claiming her mouth possessively.
“Oh.” She lifted her arms, having turned about in the sphere of his embrace. “Then what’s the problem?”
Thea tiptoed, her arms going about his neckline, sighing blissfully. “I actually did kind of miss you. But only a little.” She titled her neckline, giving him better access should he wish it.
Edwin...wished it, his arms tightening possessively about her body.
Thea was happy again, allowing his touch and antics. “...Did you miss me as well, as opposed to my...nether regions?” she turned her head, seeking out the handsome profile.
“Miss you?” the question seemed to stump the male for a beat. He even halted his pastime to ponder it. “I...suppose I might have, had I given it any real thought. Why do you ask?”
Thea gave over the ‘look’. The Master Vampire was beginning to crave that ‘look’. He worked very hard for it each and every time and each and every time, it amused and delighted. He refused to show as much, of course.
“What?” He asked politely. “I have to piss.” the subject was rapidly changed which kept the woman off-guard and malleable, the Enforcer knew.
Thea frowned hard, the mood destroyed. “I told you to go before we left the house.”
Edwin held tight to his prize when she would have pulled away. His eyes deepened on the pretty little face. “Spread your legs and lift your dress.”
Thea was all confused, showing as much with her expression which was rather endearing, if Edwin did say so himself.
“Excuse me?” She snapped peevishly. “I thought you said you had to...”
“Remember those ‘life lessons’ I have been teaching of late?” the mellow tone alerted to something off-kilter. Thea loved when Edwin got all ‘off-kilter’ on her.
“Ohhh...yes, Edwin. I remember those.” She also enjoyed his ‘life lessons’, she found although originally, she didn’t think she would.
She leaned to his chest, her fingers playing with the buttons on his fine linen shirt. “I like those just fine.”
“This is one of those moments, Thea.” the being lowered his head, capturing her mouth in a searing, primitive kiss. He muttered against those kissed puffed lips. “So...lift your gown and...spread your legs.”
“I...don’t see what one thing has to do with...” Thea pulled back, suddenly suspicious. “Say, is this some kinky shit you and Stephan used to practice? I want no part in it...pervert!”
Edwin’s body stiffened slightly and Thea thought she might have crossed some line he drew in the proverbial sand but the male merely leaned, tenderly reconnecting with her lips.
She felt the tension in his form, questioning it with her look. “Oh shit. It is another one of those heinous Enforcers?”
The being scowled down at the remark. He lifted a brow. “No.” he replied stoically, a definite snip to the tone. "Keeping in mind, I...am one of those heinous Enforcers."
Thea...relaxed then she didn’t. “Then what?” her eyes darted about the dark shadows of the grounds, seeing nothing out of the ordinary.
“It is a human.” Edwin trailed sensual kisses down her throat, muttering for her ears alone. “He is hidden over by the group of ash trees. Just beyond the garden’s edge.”
The green eyes shifted this way and that...still unable to ascertain any other being nearby.
“I shall attend to it.” the male had already decided on the matter.
Thea was going to argue the point for she so loved to argue any point but something caught her attention. “...Did you hear that?” Her brow puckered warily. She did not hear any human but she thought she recognized the sound drifting on the wind.
Edwin...listened then, lifted her face, kissing her mouth lovingly. He lifted his lips only enough to murmur. “I hear it.” she was assured. “I have been hearing it now for quite some time.” his lips caressed the plump delicious curve of Thea’s mouth, as he continued to whisper into the hot, moist cavity his tongue explored so leisurely.
“Edwin, it is only a small cat.”
“No.” the Enforcer’s senses were sharpened by experience and life. “It is no cat, Thea.”
“How did he get past security!” the woman was annoyed. “I told you we needed more males here.”
“You need only one male here."
Thea gasped her shock for in the next instance, he was gone, vanishing into the night’s shadows, leaving Thea alone and befuddled as his swift exits often did.
She should be accustomed to it by now but each time took her by surprise, shocking her senses. She was a fucking vampire. She couldn’t just...vanish. There one second and gone the next.
Which was very rude in Althea's world.
Edwin was walking leisurely back, across the small rise where the garden wall sloped down into the edge of the pond.
He was not alone.
A human dangled from his outstretched arm, squirming, trying to cry out, but Edwin’s hand had captured his throat, so any outcry was suitably silenced for the duration.
The Enforcer threw the terrified bulk at Althea’s feet. His expression oblique and fixed on the man’s features.
Even though it was dark and very late, the moon allowed enough light to see that the human was a male, alright, hefty of build, rotund and breathing heavily from the toll of all the exertion of the tussle with Edwin.
“You are trespassing! This is private property.” Althea grated, directing her growing ire to the man, who rapidly backed away from the vicinity of both she and Edwin. “What do you want here?”
“I know what you two are!” the man’s voice trembled, his eyes wide with fear and revulsion. He was fumbling with something inside his coat pocket. “Stay back! I will use this if I have to!”
He thrust a cross forward, brandishing it about like a sword. Shoving it first, in the female’s face then the male’s.
“You idiot. Those don’t have any effect on us. Christ died on a stake...not a cross. I know, my dad was there!” she grated. “Just how stupid are you, I’m curious.”
“You come any closer and you’ll be sorry, I swear.”
“Going to shoot us with silver bullets?” Thea asked sweetly. “You’re a moron.” she grated the fact, her mood altering swiftly.
“Just...stay back. I have a complete file on you, especially him.” the man pointed the cross at Aldemeer. “If anything happens to me, I’ve sent a dossier to a friend. He will take it public. You’ll be splashed all over the internet by tomorrow night.”
“Anything else you’d like to clue him in on?” Thea sighed more than heavily. "He doesn't have your social security number as yet."
“I work for the Globe. My boss knows I’m here.” he staggered back, almost falling over his own feet. “I’m not afraid of you.”
Thea glanced at a very silent, all too quiet, Edwin Aldemeer.
The silence came and it seemed to settle the guy a bit. He took some breaths, straightening his frame, getting his bearings. “I’ll get a fucking Pulitzer for this expose. No one believes you exist but I got all the proof I need. You’ll see.”
Althea lowered her head. She realized the end of this scenario long ago. She stepped out of the way.
Aldemeer shifted his stare for a long moment then, advanced on the unsuspecting ‘victim’.
In seconds the human lay dead, on the dewy grass, his face showing his shock and surprise.
Thea had cringed at the sound of the broken vertebrae. The human’s neck lay at an impossibly odd angle. The cross was still grasped in a tightly clenched fist.
Edwin looked down at his handiwork. “I will have the students address this problem.”
The being checked with his companion. “It is what I do, Althea. You know this. He was our enemy.”
“I didn’t say anything.” her tone was quiet and subdued.
“What are you thinking, however?”
“...I’m getting chilled, I think I will...”
Edwin held up his hand, a weary look on his face. “...I forgot momentarily.” He glanced out over the pond, his eyes seeing something the female vampire’s did not.
“The stupid cat?”
“It is not...that, Thea.” the being held out his hand, which Thea took. The walk was a relatively short one.
An old gravel road wound about the tree groups and heavy brush past the pond. Their steps led them to a dust covered Subaru, with a few rust spots that had been covered with some gray substance Thea could not recognize.
“This is his car?” the woman looked the late SUV over absently but then...she too, heard the sound, this time much more clearly and distinctly. “...Oh my god.” she gasped sharply, recognizing it instantly, hurrying closer.
The woman looked into the back seat, her mouth agape.
Edwin sighed heavily, opening the back door, leaning in.
“What are you doing? Leave it! Someone will find it tomorrow, Edwin.” Thea was appalled at the male’s actions which were quite clear.
“We cannot leave it.” Edwin spoke quietly so as not to alarm the infant he now held in his arms. “The vehicle must be destroyed.”
“What are you going to do with it?” the green eyes were wide and fretful as she stared transfixed to the fussy child held in his arms.
“What the fuck, Thea!” Edwin’s temper exploded. “It is a child. I do not harm children!”
“I...didn’t mea...” But, she had. She felt terrible. “I know that, Edwin. I do.” She reached for him but he held up a staying hand and moved off holding the infant against the cold of the night.
Althea followed docilely, feeling her inadequacies. “Where are you taking it?” She followed his steps, having to rush to keep up. A thought occurred suddenly and she brightened. “Hey, I heard the Animal Shelter takes in strays.”
The being halted his steps, glaring back at the female.
“What?” Thea didn’t understand that look at all. “I’m just trying to help here.”
Edwin sighed heavily, continuing his steps. “We will leave it with the proper authorities tomorrow night.” He motioned. “The sun rises soon.”
Thea shifted a look to his meaning. “We have to keep that thing all night?” the female whined. “Edwin, how did you let this happen?”
The manor was a few hundred meters ahead. Edwin stopped abruptly. “I will inform Lucas of the incident. Take the child into the house.”
Thea stepped back hurriedly. “Not me, buddy. That is your problem. Not mine.”
Edwin’s eyes fell on the cooing baby in his arms. “Get used to it.” he muttered his growing disenchantment before transferring his pique back to... “Would you rather dispose of the dead body?” he turned his attention to his wayward fiancée.
“Don’t you take that tone with me, Enforcer Guy.” Thea stood her ground. “I didn’t kill that idiot and I’m not taking the rap. You did the deed, do the dirty work.”
Edwin rubbed his eyes, a disgruntled grunt escaping his throat. “I could make it two dead bodies.” he lifted a warning glare.
“I’ll tell Dad. And he will make it three.”
The Enforcer chose the lesser of two evils. “Alright. I’ll be in when I can then. Give me your wrap. The baby is cold.”
Althea hesitated but in the end, reluctantly handed over the warm covering. “It better not pee on that.”
Edwin shook a noble head, walking into the shadows of the night, his newly acquired charge in tow. The baby seemed oddly pacified to be held in such capable arms, Thea noted begrudgingly.
She was looking forward to being held in those arms tonight.
The woman sent the retreating figure a ‘face’ for the fact, that plan was apparently shot to hell.
She stuck out her tongue for good measure, before continuing her trek to the house.
********
“You probably shouldn’t lay it on that bed. That is a very expensive coverlet.”
“It needs to be changed.” Edwin ignored the warning and the remark, laying the baby into the cushy fabric.
“Into what?” Althea had not followed immediately. “I’m a damned vampire, Edwin, not a magician!”
The male spared her another ‘look’. “It has soiled itself, woman! It needs to be cleaned.”
“Ewwwwww.” The woman grimaced accordingly. “I knew it would! I just knew it!”
“Those bags there. They were in the vehicle.” he motioned. “You can use the diapers inside.”
“Me?!” Althea balked, backing away even further. “I don’t know nothin bout birthin no babies!”
“And you never will.” Edwin muttered to himself. “Thank the Creator on that one.”
“I heard that!”
“Get me a thick towel and some warm cloths, moist...not dripping.” He motioned her in the direction of the bathroom. “That, at least, isn’t against any religious rules you follow, I assume?”
“Do I look like a maid service?”
The Master lifted a warning stare.
“Fine!” the female stomped off, returning soon with the needed ‘supplies’. “But, I don’t have to like it...which I don’t.”
Edwin turned his attention to the little one, removing the offending object skillfully. He was slightly amused when Althea practically gagged, rushing the full length of the massive room to get away from the foul odor.
He cleaned and changed the baby, then covered it gently.
Thea had watched the large hands as the Enforcer tended to the task. Hands that could instill passion within her body, that could be rough and insistent, but with the child, was gentle and tender.
“It is a male.” Edwin had noted as much. “I assume, it has a mother. So, perhaps we should attempt to find her first.”
“I noticed its thing.” Thea’s mom didn’t raise no idiots, her expression said as much. “Why is it staring at me like that?”
“Perhaps it is noticing your ‘things’.” Edwin mused, glancing at said...things. “It is very likely, starving.”
Thea scowled, casting a wary frown the male’s way. “These puppies are out of stock.” the woman stated sarcastically. “Wasn’t there any food in its luggage?” She checked the bags the being had sat aside on the small divan which faced the fireplace. “I always carry extra ‘you know’ when I travel.”
“Shoes?”
“I don’t buy that many shoes!” it was a sore subject between them, after all.
The room fell quiet. The sounds of the baby’s gurgles annoyed the female. “Is it going to do that all night?”
“Someone will be missing him.” Edwin knew. He wanted tomorrow to come that he could solve this issue.
“Why did that idiot bring a baby with him to stalk a couple of vampires?” Thea could not begin to phantom the reason. “Are all humans brain dead?”
“Yes.” Edwin replied quietly, his gaze on the tiny infant. He sought out Thea. “I’m sorry. I should have handled this better. It puts you in danger.”
“I’m not in danger.” she rolled expressive eyes. “You can handle anything humans throw at you, but I just hope tomorrow gets here fast, is all I’m saying, Edwin.”
He nodded. “I know.” he tried a small smile. “I had this night all intricately planned.”
“The best laid...”
“Oh, it was going to be one of the best lays you had ever encountered, trust me.” the sensual tone made Thea’s stomach pitch with adrenalin as did the confident stare. “For you see? I truly did miss you, my pet.”
Thea’s features softened. “It’s just a temporary stay. You can practice your debauchery tomorrow night. I’ll still be here. Not going anywhere.”
The baby rubbed its eyes, squirming about, starting to fuss and wiggle.
“It is needing sustenance.” Edwin sensed as much. He held his smile. “You could allow it suckle you while I seek nourishment for the little banshee. Should keep it quiet. I know it soothes me.”
Thea grinned. “You are one sick bastard.” she decided long ago. “It’s one of your many virtues.”
The Enforcer motioned. “Watch that it does not fall off the bed.”
He took his leave with but one lethal warning glance back to a melancholy female.