The Hunted (Blood Series Book 0)

Chapter 6

 

  Both cars left the Halfmoon Bay beach visitors parking lot at the same time. The black Audi turned north on Highway 1 and the sleek silver Mercedes headed south.

  “So what’s the plan?” Darby asked.

  “Well, when was the last time you went to the Monterey Aquarium?”

  She cocked her head and started to bite her lip.

  “I don’t know? I think the last time was with my Dad and Rowan when we were in high school. How about you?”

  “Never been. I’ve heard they have a really great sea horse and sea otter exhibitions. I thought we could go exploring there for a while to start.”

  “Sounds fun. Will we be staying in Monterey tonight?”

  “Could be! I took the liberty of getting two rooms near Cannery Row in case we didn’t want to drive back tonight, but I will leave that up to you to decide.” He reached over and gently clasped her hand, brought it to his lips, and kissed the back of it with lips so gentle, she trembled and blushed. Then he dropped it down onto his thigh to rest. He occasionally stroked the top of her hand with his thumb. It was so calming and sweet. His tenderness seemed limitless.

  His hand was warm around hers and she worried that his warmth may give her sweaty palms. The nervous excitement was intense enough. What if he thinks sweaty hands are gross? Can I control it? Shouldn’t they make sweaty palm antiperspirant? I mean, isn’t it normal to have sweaty palms on your first date? She was looking out the window and starting to get very tense. She had shorts on, and it could get rather chilly on the coast in the evening, even in the summer. I don’t have a toothbrush either. Yuck, morning breath, she thought.

  He picked her hand up kissed it again and said, “Darby, I don’t care if you get sweaty palms.” He turned her hand over and kissed her palm, which was very hot, but not quite sweaty. Then he brought her hand up to touch his cheek and continued, “I’ve also taken the liberty to pack some necessities for both of us and what we don’t have we can get in Monterey.”

  She looked at him, eyes focused, as if trying to look into his mind and with a smirk she said, “You’re reading my mind, aren’t you?”

  A little embarrassed, he released her hand and put it back on the steering wheel and answered, “Yes! But I can hardly help it. I’ve been able to read your mind from our first meeting. Normally, I can sense things about someone, maybe read a thought or two, but the connection with you, well, I find it hard to define my thoughts from yours.”

  “Well, now that is embarrassing. So you heard that whole thing with the sweaty palm antiperspirant and...” Then a realization hit her, Oh my God, have I pictured him naked or….Oh God, this isn’t happening.

  He couldn’t help it; he laughed out loud and then quickly tried to stop. He stroked her hair.

  “Please don’t be embarrassed,” he said, “If you think I haven’t had some of the same thoughts, well, you are mistaken. Very poorly mistaken!” He chuckled and then he was a bit embarrassed himself.

  “But why can’t I read your mind, if mine seems so connected to yours?” she asked.

  “I’m not sure! But somehow I think with time, you will be able to. You’ve not really tapped into all your gifts yet. I would guess that there are a few things you can do that you don’t know you can do, just because you have never tried. I’d like to explore that with you, if you would allow me. I mean if you are not interested, that’s one thing, but if you are curious – you and your sister, I think Blake and I can help you. Even test you!”

  “Really, you think I have that kind of power...potential?”

  “I really do! But let’s get something straight right now – I’m not with you right now because of what you can do. Sure you and your sister may be able to help my brother and me with this Paine problem, but that is not why I’m with you. I can’t speak for my brother on this, but as for me, I’m in…I mean...I...I can’t breathe or think when I am away from you. Somewhere in the last few days, I’ve come to...hmmm...Let’s say it this way...My life was perfectly fine before I met you. I thought. But now that you’re here and I’ve gotten to know you, I couldn’t go back to my old life. I’ve now seen what I was missing. I’ve touched it, kissed it,” he smiled, “laughed with it, now there is no going back. You’ve become a part of me, like an organ or limb, that I can’t do without. If you didn’t have any power at all, that part would not change. You are my happiness now. I only hope that you feel the same.”

  A tear fell and rolled down her cheek as he finished speaking. She hadn’t realized that her eyes had even welled up, and she looked at him as he stared out the windshield of the car and said, “I do feel that way and I have to say that was the most perfect thing anyone, ever, has said to me.” She raised her hand and touched his cheek with her whole sweaty palm and let her hand glide down his face, letting her fingertips run along his jawbone to his chin and then down his neck, over his Adam’s apple to the vulnerable triangular indentation at the base of his throat.

  She felt a tiny vibration with her fingertips as he let out an almost inaudible groan. If she hadn’t felt the vibration, she might not have known he had groaned at all.

  “Umm, please don’t do that while I’m driving. I want to make sure I get you there in one piece and I’m afraid if you keep that up...ummm...I’ll crash the car at the very least.” With that he gave her a warning look, with a sly, erotic smile.

  She bit her lip and smiled, turning back forward in her seat.

  “However,” he continued, “just so we are clear, you can do that anytime you like, when I’m not operating any heavy machinery and preferably when we’re alone, because you will definitely get a reaction from me.”

  “What kind of reaction?” she asked coyly.

  “Try it tonight if you wish, and you’ll get your answer.”

  Sweet, sweet anticipation – there’s nothing like it, she thought.

  He answered out loud, “Here, here!” They both laughed.

  There was some silence as both thought on what might or might not happen that night. Darby broke the silence. “Can you influence a person’s thoughts with your mind? As a vampire, I mean.”

  “Yes. Some vampires use this influence to lure their prey, but for myself, I use it so they don’t remember the feeding. They have no recollection of meeting me, or the feeding, they just assume they got bit by an insect.”

  “Have you ever influenced me?”

  “Not so far,” he laughed.

  “Can you influence other vampires?”

  “No.”

  “Can you sense them? I mean, do you know when another is around?”

  “Yes.”

  “What’s it like drinking blood? It seems like such an intimate thing – like taking someone’s life force. Is there a connection you feel with the person?”

  “Hmmm,” he said a little embarrassed, then continued, “It’s hard to describe drinking blood, because I’ve always done it. It would be like me asking you what it felt like to drink water. I would suppose a made-vampire could describe it better since they were human and turned vampire. But as for the intimacy, yes, I suppose there is a bit of intimacy there. Again, this would be better answered by a made-vampire, who has something to compare it to. If I had to describe it, I would say that it is similar to any animal feeding on another. The need for sustenance is primal for all living things.”

  “Have you ever shared your blood with another vampire?”

  “No, I haven’t. Some vampire couples do. I guess it would be another form of sexual intimacy, but I’ve never met anyone, until now, that I ever wanted to experience that kind of closeness with.”

  “Have you ever wanted to bite me?”

  “No. I feel protective of you. I couldn’t possibly hurt you.”

  “Speaking of biting, does it hurt?”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know. There may come a time when you are weak, hungry, or hurt. There’s no reason you couldn’t take some
of my blood, right? I just want to know if it would hurt.”

  “No, I think it only hurts for a second, like a needle going in, but then again I’ve never been bitten. There’s always the mind influence too; I could block the pain in your mind if need be.”

  “How do you turn a human into a vampire?”

  “It’s a process of feeding on the human and then offering the vampire blood to the human. How much of each, I have no idea.”

  “Would you ever consider turning me, if that was what I wanted?”

  “I don’t see the benefit of putting you through a near death experience, that may or may not work, and then watching you suffer through the endless craving and lust for blood. What would be the point?”

  “To be with you forever would be the point, and to be more like you. Immortality with someone you love, how could that be a bad thing?”

  “I know that sounds romantic to you, but forever is a very long time to have such a craving and hunger.”

  “So I take it you’ve never made a vampire?”

  “No – the process itself is very tricky and it doesn’t always work. You’re supposed to control them, teach them not to kill humans, be responsible for those you turn. Most don’t follow through with the responsibility thing. It can be done, though. There are some born vampires who have fallen in love with humans and turned them, to be with them longer.”

  “I’m sorry I’m asking so many questions. It’s just kind of fascinating. Plus I guess it helps me to get a handle on it. Wrap my brain around it, so to speak.”

  “It’s fine. I’m just glad you find it fascinating and not terrifying. I was a little worried there for a while.”

  “Even if I ran initially, I somehow think I’d be running back to find you as soon as my mind cleared.” He smiled.

  After a few minutes they turned off of Highway One and pulled into the valet area of the Spindrift Inn on Cannery Row. When Devon turned off the car and pulled the lever to pop the trunk, Darby turned to him and wrapped her arms around him.

  “What was that for? Not that I’m complaining or anything.”

  “Thank you.”

  “For what? So far I’ve only driven you to Monterey.”

  “For everything, but mostly for being you.”

  “Well, that’s an easy one. I wake up everyday as me and I don’t even have to try!”

  They both chuckled and he got out of the car. As he was walking around the front of the car, he noticed she was starting to get out and as they met eyes, he put up his hand with one finger up as if issuing a demand for her to stop. She smiled coyly but was tickled by his gallantry. He came over to her door, opened it, and held out his hand to help her out.

  How utterly romantic, I feel like royalty! she thought to herself with a smile.

  He responded out loud, “Get used to it!”

  With his left hand hovering at the small of her back, he led her to the door. An old-fashioned gesture, she thought, like holding hands, but more proper. To tell all men in the vicinity ‘this beautiful woman is with me and I’m proud to be with her.’

  The porter came to him. In his right hand, Devon had his key and some cash. The porter put out his hand as if to shake hands with Devon, but it was a ruse to give him the key and tip. Devon then asked him to bring the bags.

  He led her to the counter. A gorgeous woman stood behind the counter, ogling Devon and completely ignoring Darby. She said to Devon, “May I help you, Sir?” He answered her, “Check-In for Bloomington.”

  Then he turned to Darby, pulled her to him and kissed the top of her head. Completely disgruntled by his lack of attention to her, the gorgeous woman said, “Yes, I have you down for two rooms for you and your guest.”

  That’s when Darby whispered in his ear, “How about just one?”

  His eyebrows rose, and he looked at her to verify that she was sure. She nodded in response. He turned and said, “Seems our other guest will not be joining us. We’ll only be needing one room.”

  “Certainly, Sir.”

  He interrupted her to add, “But the arrangements for the one room have not changed, correct?”

  “No, Sir. Your instructions are all right here and will be ready for you at the requested time.” As the woman read through all the instructions, she seemed to be even madder.

  Devon turned back to Darby, who confronted him with a confused look. “Just a little surprise!” he said tauntingly. Like a little boy with a secret, his smile was as bright as the sun.

  They turned from the counter and went back outside, turned right on the sidewalk, and walked about a block to the aquarium. It was Sunday and there were many people there. They looked at all the exhibits and touched all the critters they were allowed to.

  There was an amazing jellyfish exhibit. Darby had no idea there were so many different kinds - different sizes, different colors, some that even looked like they had LED lights running up and down them.

  They walked past a humongous tank with kelp as tall as two stories. The kelp swayed with the ocean current. It made Darby a bit dizzy to watch, but it was gorgeous. In another area was a glass tunnel where they had a simulated wave crashing over it, so it was like surfing inside the tube of a wave.

  They headed for the seahorse exhibit. It was dark and crowded like most of the exhibits, but Darby had a hold of Devon’s hand the whole time. She didn’t even get sweaty palms. There were so many kinds of seahorses. Again, she had no idea there were so many. There were all different colors and sizes and even shapes. Some looked like sticks and some looked like clumps of seaweed but as they floated around you could make out what was their head and body. It was so amazing and she was so excited to share it with Devon. He oohed and ahhed and pointed just as she did, wanting to share everything they saw with each other.

  They were searching for the hiding seahorses in one of the tanks and since she was shorter than him, he would cozy up behind her at most tanks. He seemed conscious of not being to close to her in case she didn’t like it, but she did. At this tank, she purposely leaned back to meet his body. He put his chin on her head and kissed her. His arms came around her waist and held her. Safe in his arms, warm from his body against hers – this was bliss. His lips slid gently down to her ear and he whispered, “It is… I totally agree.” She closed her eyes in contentment for just a second and as if reading her like a book, he tenderly kissed the ear in which he had just whispered. They stood there for a while, still searching for the tiny seahorses, when over the speaker they heard, “Mr. Bloomington, would you please proceed to the designated door?”

  He whispered in the same ear, “A surprise.”

  Her mouth open, and caught completely off guard, she followed him through the crowd to a door in the middle of the aquarium. In white letters the door read “Employees Only” and below that was a red number three. Devon reached for the door and knocked. A few seconds later a man answered the door in wet suit holding a bucket of oysters and clams. “Are you Mr. Bloomington?” he asked.

  “I am.”

  “Follow me.”

  They walked for a while down a long corridor, turned right and then right, and then left. All the while, they passed door after door with tiny windows in them, giving tiny glimpses of university faculty, oceanographers, and all kinds of aquatic animals. They finally came to a door with the number 111C painted on it. The man with the wetsuit pulled out a set of keys, from where, she wasn’t sure, and she was pretty sure she didn’t want to know. He opened the door. Behind it was a tank with 4 baby sea otters and their mother. Apparently, Darby and Devon were there to help feed the little babies, whose mother had been injured in a fishing net and was being nursed back to health.

  It was the most amazing thing Darby had ever done. Feeding these little adorable creatures and laughing at them playing, well, it just filled her heart even more. After meeting Devon, she didn’t think her heart could hold any more love, but like the ‘Grinch Who Stole Christm
as’, it grew at least two sizes right there. Devon seemed to be touched too, and enjoyed the little guys as much as she had. Darby knew that she would remember this experience always.

  After about a half an hour of playing with the baby sea otters, they found themselves back in the corridor, winding this way and that. They finally found the door that led back into the main part of the aquarium. He looked down at her and asked if she was hungry.

  “I am. Not terribly hungry, but...” Darby started to say.

  “I’ve got the perfect thing for that.” He smiled smugly. As before, he led her by the small of her back out of the aquarium and past the hotel to the harbor. They walked down the dock past a locked gate that Devon just happened to have the key to, and almost to the end.

  “Are you going to make me fish for my snack?” she jokingly asked.

  “Even better,” he said. He raised his right hand towards the forty-one foot sailboat docked there. He guided her to the boat and the captain popped his head out to welcome them.

  “Are you Mr. Bloomington?” he asked.

  “I am, and this is my guest, Ms. O’Rielly,” Devon answered.

  “A pleasure to have you aboard, Ms. O’Rielly.” The man held out his hand to assist her onto the boat.

  “I am Captain Gordon, and this is my first mate, Daniel. Why don’t you both make yourself comfortable? Mr. Bloomington has provided a sweater for you, Miss. Would you like Daniel to get that for you? The sun will be setting in about 45 minutes and it will get a bit cool.”

  Darby looked behind her, first at Devon and then back at Captain Gordon and said, “Yes, Captain Gordon, I think I would like that sweater.” Captain Gordon nodded at Daniel who jumped below deck and grabbed a gorgeous ivory cable knit pull over sweater that felt like it was made of cashmere. It was big on her; maybe it was Devon’s and that made her snuggle her face into it even more. It smelled wonderful – it smelled like him. She smiled and sat down on the deck in front of Devon, between his legs. He now, too, was donning a wool sweater that looked lovely on him. His hair was swept back from the breeze that was starting to pick up now that the sun was so low in the sky. He was a vision – like a picture from a magazine. She had her arms wrapped around her knees and then he snuggled in to her, wrapping his arms around all of her. She felt so small, so safe - so perfectly happy that tears started to well up in her eyes. He kissed her ear and whispered, “Are you ready?”

  “For what?” she said.

  “For us! For this! For our own sunset! For you and me – for all of it!”

  She had never been more sure about anything her life. She leaned back and turned so she could see those lovely brown eyes in the low glorious sunlight and answered, “I am…I’m ready for all of it and you…always for you! You keep holding me like this and I will follow you anywhere for as long as you want me there.”

  “Good, I was hoping you’d say that!” he said, hugging her tighter. She kissed his cheek. By now they were out of the harbor and the sails were up and the sun was just about to set.

  That’s when the champagne came out. Daniel offered each of them a glass with a strawberry in it.

  “You went to way too much trouble for me. I mean, I love it, but I would have been just as happy having pizza and beer with you by my side holding me like this. Trust me, I’m a cheap date and pretty easy to please.”

  “Well, maybe so, but you only get one first date and I wanted ours to be perfect – something we would look back on many years later and remember how things started. Like the opening paragraph of a book, it’s got to be good to keep you interested or you’re not going to want to read all 500 pages!” he joked. He held his glass up and Darby turned to look at him and held hers up too.

  “Here’s to the first of many sunsets I hope to share with you, Darby O’Rielly.” They tapped their glasses together and Captain Gordon sailed them off into the sunset.

  “So can you hear it?” Devon asked Darby.

  “Hear what?” she said.

  “They say that when you watch the sun set, if you listen hard enough, you can hear it sizzle as it touches the water.” he answered.

  “Hmmm!” she said contently, “Nope! But it is beautiful just the same! So, should a puff of steam come up, when the sun is completely engulfed by the sea?”

  “I don’t know! I guess we’ll just have to watch and see what happens,” he whispered in her ear. Daniel came out with some fresh shrimp cocktail. Darby fed one to Devon. He seemed to truly enjoy this treatment. She laughed and they watched as the last tiny bit of sun glided down into the water.

  “Awwww! No puff of steam – Oh well, maybe next time?” Darby giggled and had another sip of champagne. When Darby finished her champagne she fed the strawberry to Devon, and he kissed her with strawberry lips. They laughed and held each other until the boat was back in the harbor and docking.

  “Oh, thank you, Devon, this has been the most amazing date, no – the most amazing day I think I have ever had in my life. Absolutely perfect in every way! And I’ve never had a date remotely in the same dimension as this date, so again, thank you for that too,” Darby said as Devon took her hand helping her to the dock.

  “I’m glad you’ve enjoyed it, but it isn’t over yet, unless you want it to be. I mean, there is still one more surprise left.”

  They turned, waved, and thanked Captain Gordon and Daniel. “Thank you again for everything. Have a good night!” With that, they continued up the dock.

  “Hmmm, I don’t know about the last surprise. The day has been so utterly perfect, aren’t we tempting fate? Maybe we should do the other surprise another day, so it has a better chance of making another day perfect.”

  “I have no idea what you just said. I don’t see how anything could go wrong with the last surprise, aside from maybe burning the hotel down, but that is pretty unlikely. But hey, if you’d rather not, it’s okay with me. I can take you home right now.”

  By the tone of his voice she could see that he was baiting her. Teasing her with what might be another incredible surprise. Then she knew she was a goner when he cracked that sunshine smile that he and his brother played so well. They both knew no one could resist the “Smile.” They knew it and she knew that from now on whenever he wanted something, she was going to see that smile. She knew that she needed to find something that she could do that would work on him, like that smile did on her; otherwise, it just wouldn’t be fair.

  “All right,” she pretended to sound reluctant, “I guess...since you did go to all this trouble, I should at least see what the last surprise is.”

  “It’s very kind of you to be so accommodating,” he said, slyly smirking at her.

  She couldn’t take it anymore and she started laughing. “You know that smile of yours is lethal.”

  “What?”

  “Yes. Lethal. Your brother is just as bad.”

  “Oh, now my brother is involved?”

  “Yes.” She turned to him and smiled. “You do know that I can’t say ‘No’ to you, when you use that gorgeous smile on me. It’s lethal! I love it, but…”

  He smirked and admitted, “I kind of had a feeling.”

  “Okay, well let’s go see the last surprise. Now that you really have my curiosity aroused.”

  He checked his cell phone for the time and said, “Okay, it should be ready by now.” With that he took her hand and set it in the crook of his arm and they walked back to the hotel.

  At the front desk, he asked, “Can I get our key? Bloomington Suite.”

  “Here you are, Sir,” the young man said as he handed him a card. Darby wasn’t sure, but she thought she saw the young man wink at Devon.

  Still with her hand on his arm, they went to the elevator and Devon hit the button for the top floor. ‘The Girl From Ipanema’ was playing in the elevator as they went whizzing up. The doors opened and they stepped to the left and went to the end of the hall. He slipped the card in the door, opened it, and le
d her in.