Of Witches and Warlocks: The Demon Kiss (16 page)

“I love you, too,” he said, turning his
bloodshot eyes toward me but not moving, keeping his distance from
me.

“So I have a very personal question I want to
ask you,” I replied, looking at him seriously.

“Shoot,” he said, turning to lean his back
against the glass so he could look directly at me.

“How will this bloodlust thing affect you
when we do finally decide to … um,” I trailed off, searching for
the right words to use, “you know … consummate our relationship?” I
fumbled nervously with the bottom of my shirt, and when he didn’t
answer immediately, I continued. “I mean is there some part of you
that’s always going to be holding back from me? Will you be afraid
you might hurt me? Because when we get to that spot in our
relationship, I want to know I can be with all of you, not just
bits and pieces.”

His eyes never left me as he thought about my
question for a minute.

“Portia, I honestly don’t know the answer to
that without having experienced it. I would like to think I could
give you every part of my being and not be swayed to harm you in
any way, but I really just don’t know.”

“Well, then how is it now?” I asked,
continuing to push this line of conversation. “Do you always want
to bite me when you kiss me?”

He sighed heavily, running a nervous hand
through his hair.

“Almost every single second of it,” he
answered me honestly.

“Oh.” I said, feeling bit dejected about
that.

“But you have to understand I felt that way
to some extent even before I experienced all this demon conversion
stuff,” he added.

What he said was true. I remembered back to
the night in my bedroom when he had trailed love bites down my neck
for the first time. I had seen the red marks he had left on my skin
in the mirror. His dad had drunk blood from him prior to that, but
Vance had never been given any blood in exchange.

“It is like the lust and the bloodlust are
all tangled into one thing now. One thing always seems to activate
the other,” he said a little frustrated. “I wish I could explain it
better to you.”

“I think I understand,” I replied. “At least
I’m trying to.” I bit my lip for a moment before I continued. “So
you’re saying that even after marriage, being together physically
could be a hard thing for us.”

He just sat and looked at me for several long
moments, and I knew his answer before he spoke it.

“Yes,” he said finally, staring at me.

“So what do we do about it?” I asked, feeling
completely helpless, wishing there was something proactive that I
could do.

“I don’t know,” he replied, pushing away from
the glass to walk toward me. “I guess we’ll just carefully cross
that bridge when we come to it.”

At that moment, I actually wished that Damien
Cummings was standing in front of me so I could lash out and
destroy him, the same way he was destroying my life, Vance’s life,
our life together. I shook with anger inside.

“It will all work out somehow,” Vance said
sitting down next to me, but not touching me. “Don’t worry about
it.”

“I do worry. There are so many things we
don’t know. Do demons ever father children? I mean I assume they
can. Could the problems from this condition pass on to one of them?
I don’t know enough about this, and everything I want for us could
be hanging in the balance,” I said, feeling very exasperated.

“Portia, you don’t have to marry me,” he said
softly, and I could hear the hesitation in his voice as he
struggled to say these words. “If this is going to be too difficult
for you, then we’ll just be together, but not together. Do you know
what I mean?”

“Yes, I do,” I replied. “And frankly that
isn’t an option for me. We just have to find some way to help make
you better. That’s the only choice there is.”

I felt the relief at my answer flood through
him. He stood then and pulled me up after him before bending to
place an arm under my knee, swinging me up into his arms so he was
holding me.

He left the living room, carrying me into the
master bedroom, laying me gently on the down comforter. He went
over to the large window and closed the wooden blinds to darken the
room, before coming back over to climb up onto the tall bed so he
could lie next to me.

“You’ve been tired today, and I’ve missed
sleeping with you,” he said, gently changing the subject. “Let’s
take advantage of the quiet time and take a little nap together
while everyone is gone. Shall we?”

I nodded my head in agreement as he moved up
against my back, wrapping one arm under my neck and the other
across my waist. I closed my eyes as I listened to the comfortable
sound of his breathing mixed with the sounds of the waves as they
crashed against the shore outside.

“Mmm,” I whispered, softly. “I could lay here
like this for the rest of my life and I would still die happy.”

“I know what you mean,” he said, as he lifted
a hand to stroke the side of my face and down my hair.

“That feels good,” I replied with a sigh,
relaxing completely against him.

“So I have a personal question for you now,”
he said softly, his breath whispering across my ear.

“Okay,” I said, wondering what it was.

“If you could have any one wish granted to
you right now, what would it be?” he asked me, and I was surprised
by it.

“That’s easy,” I said. “I would wish for you
to be completely cured of the things that you’ve had to go through
lately.”

“You’d waste your wish on me?” he asked,
seeming truly astonished by my answer.

I rolled over in his arms so I could face
him.

“I’m not wasting anything. I want you to be
well more than anything in the world. I would even sacrifice my own
life if it would accomplish that for you.”

“Don’t even talk like that, Portia!” he said
harshly, his eyes flashing at me. “I’m not worth your sacrifice.
Besides, what good would it do to be cured if I had to live my life
without you? I’d be miserable.”

“I know exactly how you feel. I remember when
I thought you’d die and I’d have to live my life without you. It
was the most excruciating pain I’d ever felt. It encompassed my
whole being. And you hated me because I wouldn’t feed you. I could
feel your anger boiling over towards me.”

“That wasn’t really me, baby,” he said softer
now, his gaze relaxing. “I would’ve never treated you in such a way
if I’d truly been myself. That was the talk of uncontrolled demon
emotions. Please forgive me for hurting you that way.”

“No. You were right. I fed you and ultimately
that was what ended up saving your life,” I reminded him.

“No. It was the binding spell and your
healer’s magic that did it. Had you fed me any sooner, while I was
stronger, I would’ve killed you. There’s no doubt in my mind,” he
stated as he looked at me. “I’m sorry, but it’s the truth.”

“Let’s not talk about it any longer,” I said
placing a finger over his lips. “It’s done now. We got our miracle.
You’re still alive and you haven’t been converted into a demon. We
can work with that.”

“I agree,” he said, leaning in to kiss me,
placing his hand against my cheek.

This kiss was very sweet, almost chaste at
first, but suddenly I felt an emotional barrier break and a sob
catch in my throat.

“What’s the matter, baby?” he crooned softly
against my ear, as he rubbed his cheek up against mine.

“We have just been through so much,” I choked
out, feeling my carefully controlled emotions suddenly spinning out
of control. “I can’t believe you’re really here with me sometimes.
It’s like I’m dreaming and I’m afraid every time I go to sleep I’ll
wake up and find you’re going to be gone again. I’m so happy when
I’m with you, yet at the same time I see this dark looming cloud
which is threatening our future.”

“I’m really here, Portia, and I’m not going
to leave you,” he said, as he pulled me closer, kissing me hard and
passionately as if trying to drive his point home.

He rolled me over onto my back as he leaned
over the top of me. The kissing intensified so greatly at this
point that I felt as if he were bruising my tender lips beneath his
own.

He broke away from me suddenly, looking deep
into my eyes, and I could see several emotions pass through
them.

“Touch me, Portia. I’m real and I belong
completely to you,” he said, breathing into my ear as he reached
down to lift one of my hands to place it over his shirt on his
chest, near his heart.

I let my fingers run over the chiseled
muscles that I could feel beneath, marveling over his physique.

“What are you doing?” I asked, in confusion
at his actions, not understanding what he was asking me to do.

“I was wrong to leave you before,” he said,
trying to explain to me. “I’m sorry. I just want you to know I am
real and I am here with you right now. I’ll do everything in my
power to always be with you. Please, please, forgive me for hurting
you before.”

He lifted my hand from his chest then and
turned it so he could place a kiss in the center of my palm. When
he opened his eyes, I could see the dreaded red streaks flaring to
an all-new level in his irises as he struggled for some semblance
of control once again.

“Get some rest,” he said as he climbed off
the bed, laying my hand gently back at my waist. “I’ll be in the
other room if you need me.”

I woke up less than an hour later when I
heard all the voices of the coven members entering the condo in
high chatter.

“Shhhh!” I heard Vance hiss quickly, from the
other room. “Portia is sleeping.”

“Sorry!” I heard someone whisper
apologetically, as I was climbing down off the bed.

“It’s all right. I’m awake,” I said as I
walked out of the bedroom door, running my hands over my hair
trying to smooth it. “How did things go?” I asked, as I looked
around at their bright faces.

“Have I ever told you how awesome your mother
is?” my dad said, smiling as he grabbed her around the waist from
behind, leaning over her shoulder to kiss her on the cheek. “She
walked in there like a pro, fooling everyone involved. She even
snowed me, and I knew who she was.”

“He’s blowing it all out of proportion,” Mom
laughed as she waved him off. “I just met the realtor lady, walked
in to look around, taking a quick minute to speak to a couple of
the guys who were unloading the truck from Cummings Enterprises,
and asked them how they liked the facilities. Piece of cake
really.”

“And she learned that the truck that was
delivering to the warehouse was hauling the same long narrow crates
we found at the other warehouses,” Dad added, giving a squeeze to
her shoulders.

“I only asked them if they found easy access
to the loading dock,” she replied, shaking her head at Dad. “It
just so happened that the truck was open while I was talking to
them.”

“Did the men seem suspicious at all?” Vance
piped up, looking a little worried about it.

“Not that I could tell,” Mom answered,
looking at him. “They were very kind to me actually.”

“That’s because they thought she was hot,”
Dad said, with a knowing grin. “They were totally checking her
out.” A stormy look suddenly passed over his face. “Dang it! I
should have stormed in and punched them both!”

“Easy, Dad!” I laughed, as I patted him on
the shoulder. “Try to step it down a notch.”

“Tell them what else you did,” Dad smiled,
speaking to Mom again, giving her a little nudge of
encouragement.

“Well, I happened to be able to place a
microphone on the premises,” she replied with a nonchalant
shrug.

“A microphone! She did it all on her own!”
Dad exclaimed, sounding totally amazed. “I didn’t even know she’d
taken one out of my briefcase. She’s a natural at this stuff!”

Vance leaned forward then, placing his elbows
on his knees.

“So we’ll have audio with our video tonight?”
he asked, lifting an eyebrow in interest.

“Yes, we will,” Dad replied, nodding
excitedly, as he continued to proudly pat my mom on the
shoulder.

“That’s great!” Vance said, a slight smile
moving across his face. “Good job, Stacey.”

“Thanks.” She smiled and looked around at
everybody. “Well, I guess I need to go change so I can get dinner
for this brood started. We need to get everyone fed before you all
have to take off again.”

“You want me start cooking anything for you?”
I called after her, as she walked off down the hall, toward the
door.

“I bought stuff we can grill tonight,” she
called over her shoulder. “You can start the coals in the barbeque
grill out on the patio if you’d like.”

I did as she asked, and after several minutes
the coals were ready for cooking, though Dad insisted on being the
grill master, since it was a “man’s job” as he put it. I didn’t
argue with him, but I realized I’d never understand the whole male
testosterone fascination with cooking outdoors.

Vance, Shelly, Brad, and I helped Mom out in
the kitchen. We all did a little magical slicing and dicing, since
there was so much more food to prepare this time around.

As soon as Dad had the meat all cooked and
ready, dinner was served. Steaks, hamburgers, and pork chops graced
the table, along with mashed potatoes, gravy, corn on the cob, and
green salad, followed by a gelatin dessert.

“This looks delicious!” Hal exclaimed, as he
reached over to grab up a plate and start the buffet line.

When everyone had their food dished up, we
had a blessing on the meal and over the evening’s activities. Then
we began eating.

“So, each of you are clear with your
assignments for tonight?” Dad asked, as he looked carefully around
the room.

Everyone nodded their heads, between
mouthfuls of food.

“Good. I think Hal and Bruce should go down
to the marina as soon as they are done with dinner to start trying
to catch the fishing boats as they come back in,” Dad suggested.
“Mom, you, Brad and Shelly should head out as soon as it’s dark to
get the camera set up. Vance, Portia and I will leave right after
dinner also to get things set up at Juan’s place.”