Love's Challenge (Pearl Vampire Chronicles #5) (9 page)

“I love you, Sarah,” he said. 

I coughed once.  “I love you too,” I croaked.  “How about some sort of
backup?  Like an anchor or something.  You know, some sort of wire that’s
anchored to the ground.  So that, if you guys miss and those things get a hold
of me, I still wouldn’t go anywhere,” I said.

Matt stared at me for a minute then he nodded.  “I suppose I can live
with that,” he mumbled.  “If I have to.”

“Yes, you have to,” I whispered, “Let’s get to work, baby.”  I grabbed
his hand and opened the door.  Derek, Carlos and Bahiti were staring at the
monitors, watching the footage of the video.  On another monitor, a close up
picture of one of those things was frozen on the screen.  Carlos turned around
and faced me as we walked in.  “You are not going to be in a net with one of
those things, Sarah,” he said.  “It’ll tear you apart.”

“Yes I am, Carlos.  Just get me out fast,” I said.

Carlos jumped up.  “NO!” he yelled, surprising us all.  He glanced
around, and, realizing what he had done, sank back to the chair.  He stared at
Matt.  “Please don’t let her do this, man,” he said. 

Matt’s eyes flashed with anger then quickly softened.  “There’s no stopping
her from doing what she feels she needs to do.  You and I know that better than
anyone, Carlos,” he whispered.

“I know.  But I had to try,” Carlos said.

“I know.  And I tried too,” Matt said.

“I know you did.”

“Do you mind, guys?  I’m standing right here.  Can we please get to work
on a plan?  He has Stacy and Missy.  We need to find them and save them before
one of those things tears itself out of their bellies.  Please?” I said.

They both nodded.  “Okay, Sarah.  I kind of feel like a broken record,
but, you win, again,” Matt said.  Oops, wrong thing.  That just pissed me off,
big time.

“Son of a bitch.  Shut the fuck up, both of you.  This is not about me. 
This is not about winning anything.  Somebody is doing something really wrong
here.  This is about stopping them.  This is about saving vampires that we care
about.  Now are you two going to help me or do I have to go find someone who
will?”

They both stared at me with their mouths open.  I saw Carlos try to suppress
his grin.  He popped into my head  
‘Shit, Sarah.  That was some strong
at-ti-tude.  That just totally turned me on.  I’ve got wood here, seriously.’

I bit my lip and smiled at him.  God, but he knew how to make me laugh.

“You’re right, Sarah. I’m sorry.  Ummm, for the net, I’m thinking steel
mesh, like they use to protect people from shark attacks.  And probably twenty
feet by twenty feet.  For the anchor, I’m not sure.  Just a wire around your
ankle and we’d risk you losing a foot.  I’m guessing these things are strong
enough for that.  I’ll have to think about the anchor for a bit,” Matt said.

“Thank you.  And what about some sort of implantable tracking device. 
You know, one that goes under my skin.  Just in case they do get me.” I said

“They can’t get you, Sarah,” Matt mumbled.

“I know that, Matt.  But just in case, we need to plan for all possible
outcomes.  One of those outcomes could be them taking me.  So, I’m thinking a
strong tracking device so you can find me quickly and save my ass, would be
kind of nice.”

Carlos chuckled, he couldn’t help it.  Matt glared and took a step toward
him, but I placed my hand on his arm.  He looked at me.  I shook my head and
then kissed his cheek.  “Okay, it’s late.  Enough for tonight.  Tomorrow we
find the mesh for the net and work on the anchor.  We have to do this soon.  Very
soon.”  I said.  Bahiti asked Derek to stay behind for a few minutes.  She said
she wanted to study the footage a bit more. 

Carlos, Matt and I walked to the kitchen to feed.  As they sat down at
the table, Carlos said, “Why don’t you ask me anymore?”

“Ask you what?” I said as I stood by the microwave.

“Not you, me,” Matt said.  “He wants to know why I stopped asking if he
was keeping his hands off of you.”

I spun around and stared at them.  I really didn’t think I wanted to hear
the answer to this.

“Well?” Carlos said.  I glared at him for a second.  He shrugged his
shoulders at me.

“Because I decided that I didn’t want to hear the other answer.  I didn’t
want to hear you say no.  No, you weren’t keeping your hands off of her.  Since
I didn’t want to hear that, I had to stop asking the question,” Matt mumbled. 
Crap, that’s what I was afraid of.  But we had been good so far.  The answer
was still ‘so far.’  That was something, wasn’t it?  But he was right.  The day
will come when the answer will change.  We all knew that. 

“I can understand that,” Carlos said.

“So, are you?” Matt said then he squeezed his eyes shut.

“Are you sure you want me to answer that?” Carlos said.

Matt opened his eyes and watched me.  He nodded his head.  I saw his jaw
tighten as he braced for the other answer.

“So far,” Carlos said.

I watched Matt take a few deep breaths.  Relief filled his eyes.  But
Carlos locked his eyes on me.  I could feel them.  He popped into my head,
‘but
not for much longer, Sarah.’
.  Shit, I know that, I thought as I squeezed
my eyes shut.  I feel it too.  It was coming.  Like a storm on the horizon, it
was coming.  There was no place to run.  There was no place to hide.  And there
wasn’t a cellar strong enough to keep me from its grasp.

Chapter
Eight

Today was the day.  It took us almost a week, but we had the netting.  We
had the ‘anchor’ – one that had a break-away feature so I wouldn’t lose a foot
if they pulled too hard. I had a tracking device implanted in my arm.  Matt,
Carlos, Derek, Billy, Bahiti and Troy were going to be placed around the net. 
Starting at noon I was going to be spending the rest of the day in the
courtyard.  As bait.  I had a few things to take care of in the office.  Matt
had a few last minute preparations he needed to do in his office.  After an
early morning of making love, I kissed him on the cheek in the hall.  “I’ll
meet you at noon by the courtyard doors,” I said. 

He hugged me tight.  “I love you,” he whispered. 

“I love you too,” I said then I headed off to my office.  I hadn’t even
made it to my desk when I knew that today was also the day of the storm.  It
hit me like a ton of bricks the second Carlos popped into my head.
‘Sarah,’
he
thought.

‘Please, no, Carlos,’
I thought.

‘Don’t fucking do this.  You could get seriously hurt today. 
You could be killed.  You could be gone.  Jesus, Sarah.  I haven’t touched
anything but your hand for months, not since we left Texas.  At least let me
kiss you and tell you how much I love you, damn it,’
he thought.

‘But there are cameras everywhere here.  He could see us. 
And we can’t leave.’

‘No he can’t.  I paid Derek to put in a kill switch on the
two cameras in my room and the one in the hall outside my room.  I told him
some of the ladies I saw were protective of their privacy.  Act like you’re
turning into the kitchen.  I’ll kill the cameras.  He won’t see you going into
my room.’

Shit.  That wasn’t what I needed to hear. 
‘Just a kiss, please
Carlos.  Nothing more.  Not this time.’

‘Fine.  Just a kiss.  I promise.’

I stood up from my desk, knowing damn good and well that I wasn’t fooling
anyone, especially myself.  I quietly walked down the hall toward the kitchen. 
I wanted to run the other way, but my feet wouldn’t let me.  Instead I turned
as if I was going to walk into the kitchen and stopped.  I heard his door
open.  I took a deep breath.  Then I ran into his arms as the storm hit.

His mouth crushed down on mine as he pressed me against the door.  “God,
I’ve missed you so much, Sarah,” he groaned.

“I missed you too,” I whispered as I pulled him closer.  I groaned as I
kissed him harder.  I shivered as his hand moved under my shirt and touched my
skin.  I groaned as his hand clasped my breast.  Then the reality of what was
about to happen hit me.  I stopped.  “Shit, no, wait, Carlos, please,” I said. 
I was gasping for air.  My arms wanted so much to pull him closer to me.  I
looked into his eyes.  “Carlos, I can’t.  Not here.  Not under this roof.  Not
right next to the room I share with him.  I can’t.  Please,” I gasped.

He stared at me.  I saw anger flash in his eyes.  But then they softened. 
“You’re right, Sarah.  I’ll wait, for now.  But only until this is all over. 
When this is done, when the priest and those things are dead and it’s safe to
travel again, we’ll be together.  If only for a few hours, we’ll be together. 
We’ll go to the lake.  We’ll go to the cave.  We’ll go to the forest.  I don’t
know where, but we’ll be together.  We
have
to. You know we have to.  It
hurts to stop this.”

I put my hands on his cheeks and nodded, “I know Carlos.  We will.  Soon.”
 I brought my mouth to his.  He pulled me tight again.  I could feel every inch
of him pressing against me. 

He stopped kissing and whispered into my ear, “I love you so much,
Sarah.  Do not fucking get hurt out there.  Don’t die.  I couldn’t handle it. 
I wouldn’t survive.”

“I won’t.  I promise.  I love you too,” I whispered.  He brought his
mouth down on mine again and gave me a kiss like the kiss in the plane.  A kiss
filled with so much love and sadness that it hurt.  I wanted him so much.  I
can’t stop myself, I thought.  Even under my own roof, I can’t stop myself.  I
started to move my hands to his back, to the bottom of his shirt, but he
reached back and stopped them. 

He pressed his forehead to mine and whispered, “Last one, for now.”

I smiled as I tried to catch my breath and said, “Last one, for now.” 

He kissed my forehead and mumbled, “Now, you need to get out of here
right now, unless you want to see what I do every time I think about you.”

“Don’t tempt me,” I whispered as I put my hand on the doorknob.  “Will
you be done in time to help in the courtyard,” I said, winking at him. 

He glanced down at the bulge in the front of his pants.  “Oh yeah, this
should only take a minute or two,” he smiled, making me blush. 

I kissed his cheek and pressed my hand to the front of his pants.  “I
wish it was me,” I whispered then I turned and ducked out the door.  I had to
steady myself against the wall as he popped into my head while he did it. 
‘It
is you, Sarah.  Oh fuck… it is… it is… youuu,’
he thought. “Oh, you son of
a bitch” I mumbled.  On shaky legs I made my way the last few steps into the
kitchen.  I walked to the sink and splashed cold water on my face then I sank
down at the table with my head in my hands.  I heard him come bounding down the
hall.  He was whistling, frickin happy and whistling. 

“Hey there.  You hungry?” he said.  As he walked past me to the fridge he
gently brushed his hand across my back.  I inhaled sharply and shivered. 

“Yes, I’m hungry, asshole.  I’m frickin starving.”  I said into the
table.  I heard him chuckle.  He clucked his tongue as he dropped four pints
into the microwave.

“Temper, temper, Sarah.  You really should control yourself,” he said,
grinning.  My head flew up.  I opened my mouth to yell at him.  But I
couldn’t.  It hurt to just sit here while I was looking at him.  My body wanted
to be in his arms.  I dropped my head back to the table with a loud thud.   He
sat across from me and pushed my meal against my arm.  “Eat, Sarah.  Please,”
he whispered.  I lifted my head up but kept my eyes squeezed shut.  I drank
quickly and then took a few deep breaths.  I knew he was watching me and was
enjoying the state he had put me in.  Well, turnabout is fair play, right?  I
brought my arms over my head and stretched.  I arched my back with my breasts
pressing tight against my shirt.  My nipples were still rock hard and they
strained, trying to poke through the fabric.  I seductively ran my hands down
the front of my shirt, smoothing it.  I smiled slightly when I heard him gasp. 
I opened my eyes and looked at him.  His mouth was hanging open.  I slowly
stood up and walked around behind him. I heard him inhale and then hold his
breath.  I came up right behind him, pressing my body into his back, and
brought my hands to his chin.  I tilted his head back, forcing him to look at
me.  My breasts were pressed into the top of his head.  I smiled at him. 

“You sure you’re strong enough to play this game?” I whispered.  I didn’t
wait for an answer.  “Well, sweetheart, let the games begin,” then I leaned
down and kissed his forehead. 

I smiled as I heard him mumble, “Oh, shit,” as I walked out.

Chapter
Nine

After a few more minutes spent in my office, I made my way down the hall
toward the courtyard.  I smiled when I saw them waiting for me.  All of them:
Matt; Billy and Bahiti from the vampire council (of which I was the President);
Derek and Troy from the security office and Carlos.  Carlos smiled and winked
at me.  Matt smiled and held his hand out to me.  “Everyone ready?” I said,
trying not to sound nervous.  They all nodded.  I had a book and a towel in my
hand.