After the driver pulled smoothly to the side of the two-lane highway, Niccolo instructed him to take Helena to her hotel and guard her with his life. The driver nodded with an obedient, empty gaze and waited for Helena to get in. As she was about to step inside the cab of the truck, Niccolo unexpectedly pushed her against the side of the vehicle and slanted his mouth over hers. His hands cradled the back of her head as he deepened the kiss. No one had ever kissed her so passionately, with such desperation.
Before she knew it, she was indulgently stroking his tongue with hers and within moments, he had her aching. She knew that only the feel of his skin, of their bodies merging, could possibly extinguish that little blaze—okay, forest fire—scorching her insides.
Niccolo broke the kiss, leaving her breathless. “If I don’t stop now, I will not be able to. And you must go before they catch up to me,” he’d said.
Helena had nodded, her mind a jumbled mess of hormonal overload and adrenaline.
“Helena, remember what I said. Do not think of hiding from me. I need you, and I’ve never needed anyone.”
“I—I don’t understand,” she'd replied.
He placed a soft kiss in the corner of her mouth. “You were born for me—to save me from this hell. I will not rest until we are together again and you are safe with me…forever.”
That powerful word haunted her every breath. Even now as she paced across the hardwood floor of her immaculate room. Why was his life a hell, and why did he believe Helena would rescue him? Did he intend to make her like him? “Forever” carried a lot more weight when it was said by a vampire. Regardless, she knew she wouldn’t be content until she saw him again.
I am certifiable.
“Dammit. Where the hell is he?” She glared at her pink cell on the nightstand.
As if magically complying with her wish, the phone suddenly rang, making her jump.
Caller unknown. Helena’s heart nearly stopped. She plucked up the phone and listened for several moments before answering. “Hello?”
“Hey, Lena! What's going on?”
“Ann?” Helena asked, hiding her disappointment.
“Yup! Where are you, girly?”
Helena sighed. Helplessly pining away at...“Home. Is everything okay?”
She heard a gasp on the other end. “I'm calling from a payphone, sitting here all alone with bags of plates and cups. You forgot, didn't you?” Ann was irate.
Helena's mind raced. “Nooo. How could I forget? It’s so…important…Okay. I forgot. What are you talking about?”
“Yeah. Weird. Considering the surprise beach party thing was your brainchild...”
Oh hell! “Jessica's birthday.” It was a girls-only bonfire party. She had to go pick up the drinks, logs, cake, everything. And the party started in an hour.
“Be right there.” Helena slammed down the phone and scrambled to her closet. Crap. Okay. Jeans. Find jeans. She turned and began digging through a pile of neatly folded clothes in a basket on the floor. Dammit. She tugged open her top dresser drawer. “There you are!” Helena had few pleasures in life, but she never skimped on comfortable well-fitting jeans: classic straight leg, ultra-low waist.
“Helena, my love,” she heard a deep voice whisper from behind.
Helena gasped and held on tight to that breath.
Jeans clutched to her chest, she turned slowly toward the voice.
There was no one there.
“It’s official. I’m obsessed.”
***
Helena arrived just as the dozen other guests showed up. She'd invited all of the girls from their surf club and a few close friends from the university—mostly Wino Wenches. After summer was over, they'd all be going off in separate directions to start their lives. Jess was taking a job in Seattle. Ann in Chicago. Some of their grad school classmates were going on to doctorate programs out of state.
Helena had planned to live with Aunt Rita and work for an ecological disaster response organization based in San Diego. Helena had loved her internship, cataloging mutating bacteria from the Gulf Coast last summer, and only wanted to get back into the field. She loved learning. She also had a mountain of school debts to pay and wanted to work for a few years before going for her PHD. If she went. For the first time ever, her future felt like a murky pond instead of a wide-open road paved with possibilities.
Helena looked up at Jess who'd just arrived and realized the event was in her honor. A satisfied grin swept across Helena’s face as Jess squealed with delight and hugged everyone while laughing hysterically about being duped.
Helena realized how much she would miss seeing her friends every day. They'd been her rock these last years and filled a void left by not having much family around.
Helena pasted on a smile. The party must go on.
She passed out sodas for the drivers and beers to everyone else. She then popped in an old Beach Boys CD. Everyone sang and laughed, ate cake and talked about their plans for the future. Everyone except Helena. She just listened and soaked them in, knowing it would be the last time they’d all be together.
Life felt so short.
***
Just after midnight, the party died down and the guests said their goodnights. Helena plopped herself down in the sand between Jess and Ann. They stared at the dwindling flames, listening to the low crackle of the logs and the crashing waves in the background.
“Thanks Lena, that was the best birthday I've ever had,” Jess said and squeezed Helena's hand.
Helena put one arm around Ann and the other around Jess. “Love you guys.”
“Love you too, Lena,” Ann said.
Helena wished she could bottle this one moment in time and keep it safe forever.
Forever. She sighed inwardly. How silly. Nothing is forever. Change was the one constant in the universe; this much she knew. Lately, the air was thick with it, like a sticky mist blanketing everything around her. Even her bones knew it was coming.
Seeking refuge from her dark thoughts, her mind gravitated toward those deep chocolate-brown eyes and thick mane of shiny black hair. She sighed. Was he her future? Her new steady rock in the endlessly evolving universe?
“Heeey. Got any for us?” a gruff voice spoke out from behind them.
Helena sprang up and turned to find a hulking man staggering toward the fire. He looked disheveled and was clearly inebriated.
“This is a private party.” Helena crossed her arms.
The large man stepped into the firelight, providing a better look. He wore only a leather vest and dirty jeans. His heavily inked biceps were the size of footballs, which he made a point to display by crossing his arms over his chest.
“Private? Don't be rude. I don't like rude people.” Another six men approached and stood behind him.
Crap! Not good.
The large man moved toward Helena. Sinister intentions flared in his bloodshot eyes.
She swallowed. They were three girls, including her, against seven nasty looking men. “We’re just leaving; take what you want.” Helena grabbed her purse and tossed it to the man’s feet. She only needed her keys to survive, and those babies were in her pocket.
Helena glanced at her friends. Jess had her cell casually gripped in one hand and was likely trying to hit the emergency call feature.
Not going to work. Helena had checked her own cell multiple times throughout the evening, hoping Niccolo might have called, but there was no reception out here. Must have been why Ann called from a payphone earlier, now that she thought about it. How ironic. They'd come to this beach to avoid being hassled by police or party crashers. Now she’d give anything for the former.
Helena looked at her friends again. The glow of the firelight revealed the panicked looks on their faces. If they stuck together, they'd have a chance.
“Let's go,” Helena said to Ann and Jess.
One of the men moved to the path that cut through the sandbank and wooded area to the dirt parking lot. “You're not going anywhere, bit
ch,” the large man said. “We came for a party. You and your friends are going to give it to us.”
Like hell we are. I’ve survived jungles and vampires; you don’t know who you’re messing with. Helena racked her brain. Jess, Ann, and Helena were in great shape. They ran on the beach every day—okay, three times a week—and surfed all the time. These guys were big, but clearly weren't athletes. Or sober. Or felony free. We have to run for it.
At the far end of the beach was another trail that led back up to the dirt parking lot. If they ran fast enough, they'd get to their cars before the scumbags caught up.
Helena gave a knowing look at her friends. “Run!”
As if they’d been thinking the exact same thing, the girls turned in unison and sprinted toward the far end of the beach.
Helena flashed a glance over her shoulder after several seconds.
No! Helena’s pounding heart skipped a beat. Ann was missing.
Helena stopped in her tracks and turned. None of the men had followed, but one had Ann by the hair several yards from the bonfire. He was dragging her kicking and screaming.
“Shit!” Helena turned to Jess, panting. “Run, Jess! Get to your car, drive until you have a signal, and call the police!”
“Are you fucking insane, Lena? I'm not leaving you. Or her.”
Helena didn’t have time to argue or think through the consequences. She ran toward the sandbank, straining her eyes for anything she could use as a weapon. All they needed to do was free Ann. They could outrun these men again. She hoped.
Ann's scream soared through the air.
Helena and Jess both picked up grapefruit sized rocks and sprinted toward the fire. All but two of the men were riffling through the ice chests. One of the two held Ann by the hair; the other had thrown himself on top of her.
Helena launched herself and pounded the side of his skull.
He fell to his side. “Ah! You bitch!”
The other men jumped in and grabbed Helena. She felt a fist slam into her face. Blood poured from her lip as she crumbled. Next, Jess screamed, and then…there were blood-curdling cries from one of the scumbags.
Helena rolled onto her back to witness the men collapsing one by one like falling dominoes, landing face first in the sand around the bonfire, grasping their gushing throats.
“What the…?” She heard a gurgling sound to her right and turned her head. An enormous man held the largest of the scumbags by his neck. Only now that man didn’t look so large. He looked like a tiny bug about to be squashed by an angry giant.
Helena gasped. The giant was Niccolo. His shoulder length black hair was loose, and he was dressed like he'd walked straight off the Milan runway, wearing a black turtleneck and slacks.
Niccolo snapped the man's neck and threw him like a rag doll. He rushed to her side, immediately reaching for her face. “The bastards! Killing them was too kind!”
“How did you find me?” she whispered, her eyes wide with shock.
Niccolo swept his hand over her forehead with affection. “Mio cuore, I will always find you. Forever.”
***
The phone ringing in Helena's ear jolted her from a coma-like sleep. Her hand fumbled with the handset, twice knocking it to the floor before she finally managed to connect it with her face. “Hellooo?” Her voice sounded like she'd eaten sandpaper-covered jalapenos.
Although the curtains were drawn and blinds closed, a sliver of light sliced through a narrow gap at the bottom of the pane. She glanced at her clock on the nightstand. Two P.M.?
“Lena. Jeez, there you are! Why aren’t you answering your phone? Are you hung over or something?” said the voice on the other end.
“Jess?” Helena's memory jogged. She rocketed from the bed and fell to the floor with a thump! She reached for her lip as she righted herself back into bed. It was swollen and definitely tender. No, not a dream.
“Oh my God. Are you okay?” she said into the phone. The last thing Helena remembered was Niccolo holding her.
Jessica laughed. “Depends on your definition of ‘okay.’ Did you have to bust out the tequila last night, Lena? I've got the worst hangover. We’re talking permanent brain damage. I don’t even remember going to bed.”
Hangover? Jess didn't drink last night, and there was no tequila. Only drunk biker rapists and one very, very pissed off vampire.
“But, I do remember,” Jess added, “your smokin’ new boyfriend and his buddies! Can you say ‘yummm?’ Why didn't you tell me you were seeing a sex god? In fact, they all looked like they just hopped off of the fabulous-man-bus. Can I have one for displaying in the new shrine I’m going to build in their honor? Or a photo? An autographed photo? Naked, of course.”
What the hell is going on? “Sorry? But could you repeat that part about…” Helena realized the shower was running in her adjoining bathroom and had just been shut off. Oh my god…Niccolo.
“Jess, let me call you right back. I don't feel well,” she whispered.
Helena silently put down the phone and tiptoed to the bathroom door. What should she do? Run? Knock? Walk in? Get naked? And…how should she feel? Excited? Freaked out? Angry because he hadn’t called for three weeks? Relieved, because the wait was over and she could finally start asking all those questions swimming in her head?
The door swung open, and Niccolo boldly stood before her in his birthday-suit-glory, his unforgettable diamond-cut abs glistening with drops of water.
A whoosh of air left her lungs. I’m going with…naked and excited!
His thick black hair dripped as he ran her pink towel over it. She wanted to swoon at the sight of him: there in her room using her favorite towel. Dreams really did come true. The only things missing were the hour-long foot rub and a happy ending. Pervert! Stop that.
The muscles in his right bicep flexed underneath the solid black tribal symbols tattooed down his arm in a neat line. “Helena, love. Glad to see you’re up,” he said all too casually, as if the entire situation were just another day in the life of a domesticated sitcom couple.
“What are you doing here? How did I get home last night? And what did you do to Jess? Hey! And why aren't you asleep in some coffin right now?”
Niccolo looked amused as he strolled past her toward a pile of neatly folded black clothes on the foot of her bed. She tried not to stare at his ass. It was rock hard and perfect. His skin, although slightly pale, had a light golden hue, like he’d been dusted with cinnamon.
Eyes twinkling, he turned, giving her a clear view of his front.
Her breath whooshed from her mouth again.
The smirk on his face said it all. He was giving her a show and enjoying the reaction.
Well, why wouldn’t he flaunt it? Every inch of him was built to please a woman all night long, she thought.
He cleared his throat.
She blinked and looked away from his male anatomy. “Just observing in the name of…science?” She focused her eyes on the hieroglyphics streaming down his arm instead.
“The tattoo was given to me during my lengthy slumber,” he said in a slow, deep voice. “I’ve been able to decipher only half... ‘True to the gods, you shall enter. I brake…’ that’s as far as I got. But I believe it is a spell of some sort.” He shrugged. “I'm here because you are here. I brought you home after you passed out last night. I glamoured Jess—she thinks she had the best night of her life, but really my men took her home. The sun severely weakens vampires, but does not kill us unless we’re already injured or out too long.” He slipped on his black pants and pulled on his sweater. “And, sì. My manhood was created to give you pleasure all night long.”
She gasped and covered her mouth. “I said that out loud?”
He nodded.
Oh great. Internal dialog leakage. Again.
“Buon. Any more questions? Wait.” He held out his hands. “Hold that thought. We can talk after the plane.”
“Plane?”
Niccolo gave a playful smile and crossed his arms
over his broad chest. “Sì. That large flying machine you humans invented while I was sleeping for three fun-filled centuries.”
It was then that Helena caught a mental whiff of something off, some undercurrent of anxiousness and stress.
Must be me. “You’re funny,” Helena chirped. “I know what a plane—“
“Good. Because they're quite handy for traveling long distances. Which is what you'll be doing since the home I just purchased for you is in Manhattan, mio cuore.”
Whoa. What? Yesterday she'd seriously been thinking about being with him—if he ever showed. Now, she felt like she was being bullied. She hated that.
“Don't you think you should ask me what I want? Shouldn’t we get to know each other before living together? How come you sound…different?”
Like a modern guy, but with a hint of “Hi. I’m not from around these parts” and a sprinkle of Italian.
“More questions?” He raised one dark brow. “Fine. Then I shall answer. What you want is obvious: me. Just as I want you. And, no. We should not get to know each other before we live together. Because I plan on slowly savoring that task, learning every inch of you—inside and out—over the course of many long nights for years to come. And like any good vampire, I have spent my time assimilating this new world. I must blend in. Now, if you’re satisfied, I’ve been deprived for far too long of this…”
Niccolo closed the distance between them with one stride and looked down at her with his dark, delicious eyes before he pushed his lips against hers.
His smell filled her lungs, and his touch made her feel exaggeratedly pliable. Silly-Girl Putty.
His tongue slipped past her teeth and stroked the inside of her mouth. Helena leaned into him, her knees undermining her vertical position. She completely forgot about her split lip as her mind drifted into the bliss of his embrace. Once again, being with him made her feel safe yet vivid and alive—three dimensional instead of two.