He smiled, that big gorgeous smile of his, completely aware of her perusal. Somehow she managed to draw air into her lungs as she settled her satchel at the foot of the table. He turned and hung up his coat on a peg by the door, which of course gave her another exquisite view of broad shoulders and tight buttocks.
Dragging her gaze away from him, she took in the beautiful old red brick floor of the foyer that looked like it had been there a couple of centuries. A heavy planked-wood table, gleaming with polish, sat in the center of the space. An unusual arrangement of driftwood sat off to one side with a stamped brass bowl at the opposite end. Beyond, a seascape hung on the wall showing not just his home on the bluff, but the sandy beach and waves below. But like the lived-mostly-at-night Realm world she’d come to love, the scene was set at night, although lit with a warm glow, a bank of stars in the background.
“The living room is this way.” He took her hand in his, a gesture that made her heart beat heavily once more.
Over the months, she’d gained a strong sense of the man because she’d done her homework. The realm internet hadn’t lacked for information since he was a prominent figure in the Grochaire Realm Investigative Unit. She’d read article after article about him, including a few hundred blogs. She could probably recite his work history and case-solves as well as he could. He also often served as an advisor to the other realms when it came to tracking serial predators.
He was essentially a military man, a fighter, a warrior. His service in Mastyr Quinlan’s Vampire Guard had lasted over two decades, which meant he’d spent every night of his life during that time battling the Nine Realms principle enemy, the frightening Invictus wraith-pairs. Charlotte had never seen one of these terrible pairs and she counted herself beyond lucky. The pairings of wraiths with other realm-folk had resulted in persistent violence and death for hundreds of years. The Vampire Guard of each realm worked to hunt these pairs down and to destroy them.
But Willem had left the Guard some time ago, focusing on methods to hunt Grochaire’s version of serial killers and rapists. Because her friend Susie, a wonderful, gossipy troll, worked at the RIU, she’d streamed lots of information Charlotte’s way. Willem had the highest solve rate in the entire realm. He’d also failed at one case in particular.
For decades he’d been on the trail of the Infinity Killer who preyed on young boys leaving behind the figure-eight infinity symbol on his victims. Yet in all this time Willem hadn’t been able to uncover the monster. The entire department believed that some kind of fae spell must be keeping the killer hidden.
On the social side, Susie had shared with her that Willem had a rocky history with women and a clear inability to commit, which in many ways made no sense to Charlotte. From all that she’d learned about him, he was a man of honor and integrity and therefore should have been married with a dozen vampire babies by now.
Because on a basic level, Charlotte was sensible, she hadn’t come to his beach home with the belief that she’d be able to establish a long-term anything with him. Clearly, he had issues.
Guiding her to the threshold, Willem waved a hand. “Living room, dining room. The kitchen is off to the left.”
A bank of windows flanked each end of the space, one that overlooked the sea, and the other opening onto a well-groomed lawn and garden, with a massive oak tree in the center. A dark, thick trestle table and chairs sat in front of the far windows, while a group of oversized furniture, fit for a man who’d once served in the Guard, filled the area in front of Charlotte.
The wall adjacent to the front windows housed a fireplace also surrounded by the same red brick that she thought might have been recycled from an old factory.
The décor was in blue, beige, and brown, but instead of the usual beach-y seashells scattered here and there, Willem displayed a number of antique daggers and swords along with a few ornate candle holders supporting fat, white pillars. She had a sense of age within the room, and that nothing here had been bought in recent years or even decades, a reminder that Willem was a hundred-years-old.
With her hand still held in his, she turned to him. “There’s something I think I should tell you.”
“A confession?”
She nodded and felt her cheeks warm up.
***
Chapter Two
Willem couldn’t help but smile. With all he knew about Charlotte, he was pretty sure that her somewhat guilt-stricken look was unnecessary. “So, exactly what terrible crime have you committed?”
She smiled, supporting his belief he had nothing serious to worry about. “It’s not too horrible, but you might consider it invasive. The truth is, I surfed the Nine Realms Internet for every scrap of information I could find about you. Just wanted you to know.”
“You did?” For some reason, the admission pleased the hell out of him. Seems he wasn’t the only one after information.
Her gaze never faltered, excellent eye-contact. “I was so drawn to you, Willem, and you are such a notable in Grochaire, that I wanted to know as much as I could. I mean, you’re famous in this world. You’re a friend to Mastyr Quinlan who rules the entire realm and you served in his Vampire Guard, the elite of the elite. And is it true that you once single-handedly saved a troll family near the town of Ashland at the foothills of the Ashur Mountains? I heard you held off four Invictus pair.”
A shiver went through him as he recalled the incident. “I did. Almost got myself killed.”
“Susie, my troll friend who works at the RIU, is one of your biggest fans for that reason. She knows the family you saved.”
“Well, I’m glad.” He saw the admiration in her eyes and felt uneasy. He really didn’t want Charlotte thinking more of him than he actually deserved. A lot of worthy vampires served in the Guard, but that didn’t make him special, just committed.
“And now you hunt serial offenders. What made you switch?” She searched his eyes. Clearly, she wanted to know.
Normally, he didn’t talk much about his line of work, but for some reason he wanted to tell Charlotte. “We have more crime in the Nine Realms than we should have for such a relatively low population. There’s only about nine million of us in all, nothing compared to your earth, but we have double the crime rate of your States’s statistics. The Vampire Guard throughout our world works hard at keeping the wraith-pairs in check, but we also have too much crime involving serial killers and abusers. As for why I switched, I seem to have a gift for finding them.”
The latter he said without emotion and certainly without pride. His gift had come the hard way since he’d been the victim of torture as a child. He should have died, but his captor let him go.
He’d never forgotten the pain. Or the humiliation. Or the deep-seated fear.
He shifted his gaze away from her and for a long moment he was back on that table, the one his captor had tied him to while he’d hurt him. When he escaped, he realized he’d never once seen his abductor’s face. Either Willem’s eyes had been covered by a strip of fabric, or when his eyes weren’t bound his abductor wore a hood over his head.
* * * * * * * * *
Charlotte watched Willem fall into his memories, disconnecting from her at the same time. He even let go of her hand, though she doubted he was aware of it. She felt dizzy and very strange within her body, as though a faint vibration flowed through her.
He moved to the front windows to stare at the vast expanse of the dark ocean beyond. She swore she could sense what he was feeling, that some kind of deep pain held him captive, almost like guilt but more like shame.
As she settled her gaze on his muscular physique, desire once more rippled through her, a seductive sensation that rode her skin constantly like a breeze that wouldn’t die down.
The internal vibration strengthened and suddenly a warm golden light appeared all around Willem. She blinked hard, trying to make it go away, but it remained, shimmering in front of her. She knew she was causing the light and by the lack of response from Willem, she knew only she could
see it. But what was it and how was she, a mere human, doing something like this, something she believed many of the more powerful fae women could do?
Her best word for the phenomenon was that she was looking at Willem’s aura and from what she knew of the man, the color was just right. He was golden, a shade that felt very noble to her and which described him really well.
Then it came to her in a very realm-like way that he’d suffered as a child in an even worse way than she had, that he’d been brutalized when he was young. Her dad had used the palms of his hands and his fists, but she was sure Willem had been cut.
But how did she know that?
“Are you okay?” He asked, now standing in front of her.
When had he moved in her direction?
He took her arm in hand and squeezed gently. “I was lost in thought, staring out at the ocean when I felt your distress. Charlotte, you don’t look so good.”
She closed her eyes for a moment. The internal vibration finally subsided and when she opened her eyes once more, she saw that the aura had faded and finally winked out.
“Willem, something strange is happening to me and I’m not sure what it is or what to do about it.”
He frowned, searching her eyes, still holding her arm gently. “Tell me what’s going on and I’ll do whatever needs to be done to help. Although I have to say that everything about this evening feels very realm to me.”
“I think so, too, except how can it be when I’m just a human?” Her mouth was dry.
“I know you’re scared, but what happened?”
She nodded. “Well, for a moment there, you had a golden aura around you.”
His brows rose. “Seriously? That’s what you saw? No wonder you look so pale. You do know that seeing an aura is something the fae of our realm can do.”
“I know, but there’s more. And right now I need to ask you something but it’s personal and I’m not even sure it’s appropriate.”
“Anything, Charlotte.”
She looked into his hazel eyes, at how serious he was, and she realized this was one of her favorite things about Willem, that he had a sober, careful view of life. Given all that she’d been through, she couldn’t have dated a man who joked around a lot.
She took a deep breath. “When you crossed to the windows just now, I swear I could sense what you were feeling. Then it was as though I could feel the past. And what I want to know is whether you were hurt as a child, badly I mean, not just spanked or disciplined in that way, or even hit by an out-of-control parent like I was, but really hurt.”
“Is that what you felt? That I’ve suffered?”
“I saw the aura, then I felt or sensed that you’d been, I almost want to say tortured, but I don’t want it to be true.” She put a hand to her cheek as tears bit her eyes.
He didn’t speak for a long moment, but continued to hold her gaze. His eyes narrowed as he finally said, “Well, it’s true. But I’ve never spoken of it to anyone with the exception of a counselor a long time ago. You might have heard of him, a very wise troll named Davido.”
“Of course I’ve heard of Davido. He’s iconic in your world, a legend of unknown age.”
“Yes, he is that.”
“And Davido counseled you?”
Willem nodded.
Charlotte thought for a moment. “So you’re saying that only Davido and I know that at some point in your childhood, almost a century ago, a madman hurt you?”
“Yes. You have it exactly right.”
Charlotte glanced at the window and wondered why the landscape had lightened. It couldn’t be more than ten at night, yet suddenly she could see the green of the shrubs and that the starry sky beyond had warmed up.
She turned in a full circle, taking in the room once more. She realized there were no lamps in the room, but she saw the space the way realm-folk did, as though well lit.
The tips of her ears itched and she rubbed them. This had been happening a lot as well, as though she had some kind of allergy going on.
“So what’s happening right this moment?” Willem asked.
“I can see really well and you don’t have a single light on.”
He shook his head slowly. “Definitely realm. Is this upsetting you?”
“Other than feeling surprised and unsettled, not really. Not if it truly is a realm phenomenon. I’ve lived here for years and my best friend is a troll. I’m basically comfortable with your kind. So no, I’m not upset. I love seeing the world the way you must see it. Very beautiful. It’s just such a strange, unexpected experience.”
“You’re beautiful.”
He’d spoken the words so quickly, without restraint that she couldn’t help but smile. “And I think you’re amazing.”
“You do?” His turn to look surprised.
“Yeah. I do.” She stepped close and without giving it too much thought, she leaned up and kissed him.
When she stepped away, however, he reached for her, sliding his arms around her waist and drawing her close. She leaned into him as his lips grazed hers lightly, a sensual movement that heated her all over again. She knew where this was headed and even though she’d had no intention of hooking up with Willem so soon, she was ready.
And that was another mystery in this situation because she never slept with men on a first date, except that this didn’t feel like a first date. Something in her relationship with Willem felt very old and yes, just like he’d said, very realm.
As he drew back, she felt his thoughts reaching into her mind. Because she was human, she’d always had trouble with telepathy. She wondered what it would be like with Willem. Holding onto her new realm experience, she opened up to him.
Charlotte. His voice was a strong, masculine whisper and played like an erotic melody through her own thoughts.
She responded in kind. Tell me more, Willem, inside my mind. Keep speaking to me.
You’ve never pathed before, have you?
Not like this. I’ve never been able to sustain it, but your voice sounds so clear. I can’t believe how comfortable I feel with you.
Same here.
Connecting his hips to hers and still holding her gaze, he pathed. Tell me you want this, Charlotte. Tell me. I have to know. I have to hear you say it because I don’t want to take advantage of you.
I want you, Willem. I want whatever this is between us.
He spoke aloud. “Sweet Goddess, you’re so young.” He frowned heavily. “Maybe I am taking advantage. You know I’m just shy of a hundred.”
“I know.” She thought she understood his concern. “But I also don’t want you to think I’m without experience. I’ve had two long-term relationships and the last affair was with one of my fae professors who was a-hundred-and-fifty.”
Willem scowled. “Why are you telling me this?”
“And why do you suddenly look so angry? I thought if you understood, then you wouldn’t think of me as untouchable. Besides I’m pretty sure you know all this already.”
“I do.”
“I’ve been with several men, Willem, and though I don’t usually have sex on a first date, everything about you feels so different, completely unexpected.”
He growled softly as only a vampire could do, something that sounded very possessive. He pulled her hips tight to his. “I don’t want to hear about other men.”
“Oh.” Enlightenment dawned. “I see.” She smiled just a little. “I want you Willem. That’s all I know in this situation. And I want you now.”
Though he released her, he quickly took her hand, turning her around. He crossed the foyer and entered another room that appeared to be a study of sorts with a desk, another fireplace, a cabinet with a lot of narrow drawers, and a work table. Because of the connection she had to him, she sensed that he spent a lot of time in this space.
But he didn’t stop to show her anything. Instead, he continued on, heading toward a pair of French doors to what she could see was his bedroom beyond.
However, when she
was opposite the worktable, near the chest with all the drawers, a strong vibration went through her that felt very similar to the one she’d experienced earlier. A tremor followed, forcing her to give a tug on Willem’s hand. She stopped opposite the worktable.
Willem shifted in her direction. “Charlotte, I can tell you that you’re feeling something again. What is it?”
“I have no idea, but the vibration is back.” She dipped her chin toward the cabinet. “What’s in there?”
“Some of my case files. Are you seeing another aura?”
Charlotte shook her head, but waited for some other signal to come, but nothing else happened. “Well, whatever it was, the vibration has stopped.”
He turned to her, rubbing his hands up and down her arms. “Something extraordinary is going on here, Charlotte, and I want to be sensitive to that. Do you think we should explore what you were feeling just now, because I don’t want to do the wrong thing and shut any of this down.”
She stared into his eyes and felt how torn he was, that on the one hand he was trying to be careful with her, but on the other hand he desperately wanted to get her into his bed.
She took a moment to adjust. It seemed odd to be pulled toward him so sexually while at the same time having so many jarring, fae-like experiences. It was all so new, including Willem and how much she desired him.
“Maybe we can revisit this later, but right now, I’d love to see your bedroom.”
His eyes glittered and his ocean scent rose in powerful waves so that she was caught again and followed him as he led her across the threshold.
***
Chapter Three
Once Charlotte was inside the room, she put a hand to her throat. She felt so much right now that she hardly knew what to think.
Her first date with Willem had gone from pure sexual desire and longing, to a new realm vibration that was somehow connected to Willem’s work with the RIU.
She felt nervous all over again. Everything was moving so fast, as though she’d hopped on a train and it just kept moving faster and faster.