Riding the Storm (9 page)

His grin was more friendly than cocky, and he settled beside
her, stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers, and said, “Let’s talk
about your reactions. You didn’t enjoy the first six strikes, but once I
started warming you up, you really got into it, didn’t you?”

“Yes, Sir, I did. You went up in intensity so slowly, I
barely realized it, and there were a few times I wanted it harder, even before
you started giving it to me.”

He kissed her forehead, her nose, and gave her a quick peck
on the lips. “I have three kinds of pain I’ll expect you to handle. The kind
you enjoy, where I work you up to it. But also the kind where I just want to
see your pain, in which case I won’t work you up to it. And then there will be
pain doled out as punishment, which will be a few steps beyond what you think
you’re capable of taking.”

“You’re going to want me to give up my safeword to be
punished, aren’t you, Sir?”

“Yes, but I wasn’t going to bring it up just yet.”

“Well, I’m not ready to give it up, but I’ve always demanded
it once trust was established, so I understand why you will as well, but, I’m
not really happy about it.” She stopped and then remembered, “Sir.”

He smiled. “I wouldn’t expect you to be happy about it, and
you’re correct, there’s no place for it until we establish more trust between
us. So, for my next question — could you’ve gotten out of the ropes if
you’d wanted?”

“I don’t know, since I didn’t try. The first one? I don’t
think so. You’re a sadistic genius. Uhh,
Sir
. Putting my hands in
reverse prayer, there was no way I could get enough leverage to pull on the
rope to even
try
to break it. And then having my legs attached to my
hands so it pulled them up.” She shook her head. “I’m guessing you have a lot
of experience in rope bondage. I know for some it’s an art form, and you seem
to have it down pat. Same thing with the second way you tied me, making it so
any struggles just pulled on my throat and choked me, I may have been able to
get out of that one, eventually, but it would’ve taken a while, and I would’ve
likely been forced to crush my windpipe to do it. So, not something I’d want to
do under normal circumstances, Sir.”

“I intend to work on your ass until I can eventually fuck
you there. It may take us six months, or it may only take a month. I’ll be
patient, and it isn’t my intention to cause you great pain, but you can pretty
much count on the fact we’ll spend a good deal of time expanding your horizons,
so to speak.”

Kendra looked down, unable to meet his gaze. She’d never
allowed a submissive partner any excuses for avoiding anal penetration, so she
couldn’t very well ask for it now. She also trusted he’d work to make it
pleasurable for her — he’d already started the process by mixing anal
play with her orgasm, and she had a feeling he knew what he was doing.

He didn’t insist she look up, but stroked her hair and
pushed it away from her face as he continued. “I tried to make it easy on you
this time by restraining you so you didn’t have to choose to submit. During our
next scene I’ll spend some time with you out of restraints, so you’re forced to
come to terms with your submission. Can you tell me how you feel about that?”

“You were right about restraining me tonight, Sir. It freed
me from thinking too much, and I could just enjoy it. I was your captive and
had no choice, the only actual submitting I did was when I followed
instructions as you bound me, but once I was restrained, there was no more
choice. I mean, other than safewording, of course.” She took a breath and
added, “I really wanted to hold you a few times, though. When you were making
love to me, and then at the end, when you came. If I’ll be allowed to hold you,
it might be an okay trade-off, Sir.”

“Thanks for being honest. One more kiss to end the scene.”

His kiss was tender this time, caring, as if she were the
vulnerable one, and her heart melted a little more for him. When the kiss ended
naturally, she lay in his arms, relaxed and loose, and let him hold her.

Eventually, he said, “I’m starving. I know you don’t eat,
and I feel odd eating in front of you, but I need food. Want to come to the
galley and keep me company?”

“Sure. And don’t feel bad about eating in front of me. You
eat food, I drink blood. We both have to take in sustenance to stay alive and
it’s just a fact of life we do it in different ways.”

The next night Eric arrived at the coterie house at eight,
and he and Abbott went into the soundproof second-floor office to formalize
their arrangement.

Kendra had left Eric’s yacht around three in the morning.
From her previous experiences with humans she’d discovered that even those who
didn’t have day jobs generally did best staying up to between midnight and
three in the morning. This was fine with her, as it gave plenty of time to
spend around each other, but also gave her some time alone each night.

Abbott had been at the house when she’d returned, and they’d
talked telepathically so no one could overhear.

You had to go and tell him how strong I was, didn’t you?

Of course, it wouldn’t have been fair for either of you
if he thought you restrained when you weren’t.

But Abbott, he rappels off the side of mountains, with
ropes designed to hold nine thousand pounds of weight, with a coating on the
outside so they can rub against rocks and cliffs and not fray.

So, you’re saying he actually managed to restrain you?

She could hear the amusement and delight in his voice, and
she shot him a mental image of the two ways Eric had tied her up.

He’s a clever one. You may have met your match with him,
Kendra. I’m very happy for you.

And now, Abbott and Eric were in the soundproof office
talking about goodness knows what. Kendra had been in her room when he arrived,
deliberately allowing Abbott to be the one to introduce him to most of the
house. Now, she was in the first floor great room, with some of the other
vampires so she’d be around when Eric and Abbott came out of the office.

It was a normal weekday evening for now. Some were watching
television while several, like Kendra, were engrossed in a laptop. A few were
reading a book. Two were playing a game of chess.

Abbott and Eric stayed in the office close to two hours, and
when they finally came out, they went straight to the basement. The vampires
could all hear Abbott showing him their current security arrangements, which
was bizarre, as it wasn’t information usually given to humans.

This was the final straw, and most everyone in the room
started speculating about this human the Master Vampire had just spent so much
time with behind closed doors.

As the vampires were guessing, someone noticed Kendra wasn’t
part of the conversation. “Kendra, do you know why this human has Abbott’s
interest?”

Kendra looked up, said “Yes,” and then focused back on her
laptop.

The entire room stopped talking and looked at her. When they
realized she wasn’t going to offer any more information, they turned all of
their senses toward her. She sensed them using their noses, and someone said,
“You smell like him… and… sex. Did you have sex with the human?” It didn’t
matter that she’d showered, changed clothes, and slept all day, his scent would
still be on her when someone focused attention towards her. She’d known, and
was okay with it.

She looked up again and confided, “He tasted better than you
can imagine. I would
love
to have him for a human companion, and with
Abbott’s blessing I’ll attempt to groom him in that direction. But, right now
his business is with Abbott, and when Abbott wants you to know about whatever
arrangement the two of them have, he’ll tell you.”

“You’re no fun.”

She grinned at the renaissance vampire who didn’t even
try
to keep up with current times. “Oh, I think I’m a lot of fun. Just not for you,
Byron.”

They all heard voices and footsteps coming back up the stairs,
and everyone went back to what they were doing.

Abbott walked Eric into the great room and said, “Hello to
all. Eric will be giving me some proposals for ways we can use technology to
improve our security. He has some good ideas and I look forward to seeing his
recommendations. Also, we have too many vampires who have not kept up with
technology, and I want all vampires living in my territory to be available via
email. Eric will be teaching a class to familiarize everyone with how to get
around the computer, how to send and receive email, and how to look things up
on the internet.
Everyone
not currently available to me via email will
be required to attend. Anyone else who’d like to be more comfortable with a
computer is welcome, but please let me know of your intentions as soon as
possible. Eric will purchase computers to use in the classroom, and when the
classes are complete I’ll offer the equipment at a discount. And finally, he
will teach another class to help people who need help figuring out their
cellphones. Those currently not available to me through text messaging will be
required to attend. Again, others may sign up if they feel the class will be of
benefit to them.”

He paused, looked around the room, and added, “Eric is in my
employ and is under my protection. Anyone who has a problem learning from a
human needs to get over it unless they think they know more than he does, in
which case they won’t need to go to the class and can still get over it.”

Josef spoke up. “What happens if we get some fancy
electronic security system and the power goes out?”

Abbott turned to Eric. “Eric, this is Josef, my head of
security. You’ll be working closely with him, so I’ll let you tell Josef what
you told me.”

“Hello Josef, it’s nice to meet you. If we put an electronic
system in, there’ll be a number of failsafe backups in place for a variety of
circumstances. In the case of a power outage, each unit will have a battery
backup that’ll last an hour or two. When the battery fails there’ll be a master
battery to pick up on equipment as their individual batteries run out. The idea
is to give a minimum of sixteen hours of automatic backup in case the power
goes out as you all go down for the day. If the power is still out when you
arise, or if it’s out before sunset and you aren’t sure the batteries will
last, then you’ll have a generator on site. Diesel isn’t dangerous to store, so
we’ll bury a tank in the yard. And, if worse comes to worst and it’s a long
term power outage, say, a couple of weeks, and you run out of diesel, we’ll
create the system so you can still use your old fashioned methods, as well.”

Josef nodded. “Okay, I have more questions but we’ll arrange
a time to sit and talk once you have your proposal ready.”

Eric turned to Abbott. “If you have nothing else for me,
I’ll be going.”

“Of course, thank you for your time and I look forward to
seeing your ideas.”

Kendra closed her laptop, stood, and walked outside with
him, wrapping her arm around his waist as they left the room. As they neared
his car, she gave him a peck on the cheek and told him, “I’ll follow you in my
car, so I can drive home when you’re ready to sleep.”

When they arrived at the marina Kendra could feel him trying
to put some distance between them — physical as well as emotional
distance, and she wasn’t sure where it was coming from. She asked about his
time with Abbott, hoping to figure out the problem.

“I assume Abbott let you see how the mind link worked? So
the two of you can talk without speaking?”

“Yes, he did. And when he bound me, it was different than
what you did. More… businesslike, I guess, which is what you said, but it was
just…
different
.” He ran his hand through his hair. “Kendra, I don’t… I
don’t want you to do anything else, magical... metaphysical... to me. I think I
need some space to figure out how I feel about all this. I’ll follow through on
my agreement with Abbott because if you and I eventually go ahead with a
relationship, we’ll need his protection. I have strong feelings for you, and I
don’t want to completely shut the door on that possibility, but,” he sighed and
shook his head, “I’m just not sure how I feel about… all of it. What you are,
what you can do.”

Kendra’s heart fell to her stomach. “You need some space as
in you want me to go and you’ll call me when you figure it out... or you need
some space as in you want us to keep seeing each other but just not go so fast
until you figure it out?”

“It’s only been in the last year that I decided I someday
want to have kids. I want to teach them to rappel and hang glide and kayak. I
want to watch my son play ball and my daughter dance. Or, if they’re so
inclined, my daughter play ball and my son dance. I don’t care, I just want to
watch them do whatever makes them happy, whatever makes them feel alive. If I
go into a serious relationship with you, I’m giving that up. I’m also giving up
any hopes of a normal relationship. You’d never see me in a hang gliding
competition as it happened. You’d never kayak down the Ocoee with me and my
buddies from the raft companies. There’s so much I want to share with someone,
and I won’t be able to share it with you.”

She was
not
going to be emotional about this. She
took a breath to settle her nerves so her voice would be steady, and said, “You
didn’t answer my question, Eric. Do you want me to walk out of your life until
you figure it out, or do you want to keep seeing each other some and just not
take things so fast?”

“I didn’t answer your question because I don’t know.”

She fought to keep her voice steady, to not show any
emotions. “Okay, then. Let me talk for a few minutes. Some of what you say is
true and there’s no way around it. But other parts, there may be a way around.
First off, I can travel with you. Abbott has a private plane with a fully
darkened bedroom, and I can travel anywhere in the world as long as I clear it
with him ahead of time and it’s available. So, while I may not be outside and
watching during the actual competition, I can be there that night. Most large
cities have vampire houses I can stay in while I’m in the city. Abbott has good
relations with most of the other territory masters, and I’m welcome to come
into their territory as long as we do the proper polite vampire political stuff
ahead of time.”

“As far as kids are concerned,” she continued, “I’ve raised
two children since I became a vampire. One was cast out as a baby because of a
deformity to her left hand — the fingers were webbed together. This was
back in the dark ages, and her parents believed she was possessed by the devil
or something. I took the baby back to our vampire lair and raised her as my
daughter. I taught her to read and write and do math, and made sure she was
well versed on the various governments of the world, with a lot of geography
and language lessons. She eventually married what today would be known as a
Duke, and the two of them took excellent care of the people under their reign,
in spite of her hand. I was
so
proud of her.”

Kendra took a breath and kept going. “And then, after that,
in the days of Vikings and Crusades, a nearby village was quite literally raped
and pillaged. Our vampire lair was a good ways outside of town, and when we
awoke we could smell the smoke and death. We went to the village to investigate
and I found a boy of about four or five, crying beside the body of his mother.
I finally got him to talk, and he said his mother, father, grandparents,
sister, and aunt had all been killed. There weren’t many people left alive in
the village, and no one was interested in taking the boy in. I was married at
the time, to a vampire, and my husband and I raised him until he was an adult,
and then we gave him the funds to set up shop and make a living. We taught him
everything he would need to know to be a blacksmith, and we moved outside of a
new town while he moved into the town and set up shop.”

Kendra let that sink in, and when Eric didn’t speak she kept
going. “So, it
is
possible for a vampire to raise a child. My human
companion made sure my children were safe during the day, though both of them
generally stayed up the majority of the night and slept during the day. They
were in the sunshine in the afternoon, which seemed to be enough for them to
stay healthy. If you and I go forward with a long term relationship, I’d be
very open to adoption. Or, if you wanted the child to have your DNA then we
could arrange for a surrogate. But of course, none of this helps the fact I
can’t be present for any of your outdoor daytime activities. There’s no way
around that.”

Eric finally responded with, “Why does this have to be so
hard? I finally find someone I think I could spend my life with, and she isn’t
even fucking human, so spending my life with her doesn’t mean growing old
together, it means her watching me grow old and die.” He paused. “You said you
were married to a vampire? What happened? Did he get killed? Or do vampires
divorce?”

“Vampire marriages aren’t ‘till death do us part’. When
vampires marry, they do so for a set amount of years. All assets are listed when
they marry, and when something is purchased during the marriage it’s agreed at
the time of purchase who’ll get it when the marriage ends. Some marry for
twenty years, some for fifty, and some contract for the maximum time allowed,
one hundred years. When the marriage contract ends, a couple can either let it
dissolve or they can form a new contract. This particular union lasted seventy
years — we married for fifty years and then another twenty before we
agreed we’d each grown and evolved in different directions, and were better off
going our separate ways. I haven’t seen him in a few centuries, but if I did,
we’d see each other as friends from long ago and not much more at this point.”

“So, even if I decided to be a vampire so you and I could be
together forever, it’s not likely we’d be together forever?”

“I’m not aware of a vampire marriage that’s lasted longer
than about five hundred or so years. And even that’s rare. And Eric, it’s
way
too soon for you to be thinking about losing your humanity. We might date for a
year or two and decide it isn’t going to work. I won’t even consider turning
you for two or three years, maybe longer.” Kendra paused and then decided he
needed more information about the human companion relationships. “If you want
to have some kind of relationship with me but are afraid of throwing away your
other options, we can formalize the human companion relationship Abbott spoke
of the other night. This would mean you’d be free to date other people. The way
the human companion relationship is set up, it forms a bond between vampire and
human without creating a situation where all the long term issues between our
species cause problems. I have one more thing to tell you and then I’ll leave.
I won’t contact you — if you want to see me or talk to me, you’ll need to
call me. “