The Link (7 page)

Afterward, as we lay in each other’s arms, I was still trying to catch my breath as he gently caressed my skin. When I finally found my voice again I said
,
“I don’t want to move but I could really use a drink of water.”

In a flash before it had even registered that he was gone, he was up, grabbing a water bottle out of the
small fridge and then back in my arms.

I smiled at him then, “I would like to watch you move sometimes, you’re awfully breathtaking.”

“
So are you,” he said as he leaned down to kiss my breasts. He looked up at me smiled then moved up to kiss me, but I held up my hand.

“
Whoa, hold on a second, I need some water first please,” I said.

“
Oh, if you must,” he smiled, then he frowned and looked toward the door.

“
What is it?” I asked.

“
Carlos is back,” he replied as he started fumbling with the sheet, which was stuck underneath me.
“We need to get you, ah, covered up. He’s coming in.”

As soon as he said that, the door knob turned. I lifted myself up and grabbed the sheet to pull it over me, hoping I had covered up before he came barging in, but from the smirk on Carlos’ face, I wasn’t sure if I had.

“
Hi kids. Nice smile, Sarah,” he said, making me blush.

“
Locks don’t let you know to knock?” I asked .

“
Nah,” he smiled with a twinkle in his eye, “I usually put a hole in the door, and besides, it
’
s much more fun to just come in. So, what’s going on? Anything new with you two?” Then he grinned the first of what came to be known as the goofy Carlos grin. I couldn’t help but smile back, it was that infectious. I turned to Matthew to tell him to put something on because I was taking the sheet and going in to the shower, but he was already up and had his pants on. For a moment I sat there, gaping at him. I desperately wanted him in my arms again…
what was I supposed to be doing? Oh yeah…
shower. I shook my head to try and clear it, smiled, wrapped the sheet around me and headed in to the bathroom.

I started the water in the tub and sat there daydreaming, waiting for it to get hot, as I relived the last twenty-four hours in my mind, my heart racing when I got to the last few. I got under the hot water. It felt good, washing away any stress I had from trying not to think too much about the uncertainty of the future. I washed my hair, my body and was just relaxing under the warm water when suddenly,
silently, he was there, pulling back the curtain and climbing in with me. He washed his hair. While he was rinsing with his eyes closed, I snuck a peak at his perfect body, blushing when I got back up to his face and found him looking at me and smiling. I grabbed the soap and began to gently wash his body, but it didn’t take long before washing was the last thing on our minds. He pulled me to him and began kissing me hard as he released the hunger that he had controlled last time. He wasn’t holding back this time. He quickly turned off the water, picked me up and carried me back to the bed. I dimly remembered my dinner that was sitting on the table uneaten but didn’t seem to care about it.
And I didn’t even try to catch my breath this time.

I woke with a start. Looking at the clock I saw that it was three a.m. My throat was completely parched (I never did get that drink before). I turned on the small lamp on the nightstand, found the water bottle on the floor and took a long drink, finishing it almost immediately. That was when I turned to look at him, and gasped. The moonlight from the window made him appear even more pale than usual
, if that
was even possible
.
He was completely naked, completely stunning, and completely NOT breathing. It didn’t matter that I had been warned
;
it was the strangest thing actually seeing it. Not that it scared me, not really, but it made me wonder. How would I know that he wasn’t actually, you know, dead? Like real, not waking up ever, dead? I started to feel a panic building in me then. I wasn’t sure what I should do. What would happen if I tried wake him up? I started to reach out a finger to poke him, maybe that would get him to roll over or twitch or something. I moved closer and then jumped as he smirked and said, “You know, a kiss or something would be nicer,” then he rolled over to look at me, and once again my breath caught. I must be dreaming. This can’t be real. As if reading my mind, he suddenly reached over, grabbed me and pulled me down next to him.

“
What was THAT about?” I laughed.

“
I needed to touch you to make sure you’re really here,” he said.

“
Hmmm, I was just thinking the same thing,” I purred. He leaned in and started kissing me again
and within seconds every nerve in my body was awake and responding again. I pulled him on top of me and it wasn’t long before the first of several huge climaxes began rolling through me.

Much later, as I lay on my back, catching my breath, my arm across my eyes, sweat glistening off my belly, Matt whispered
,
“Sarah?”

“
Mmmm?” I said.

“
Is it…
are you…
are they always…
ummm… are they always that big? Is this how you…?” he said.

“
What? You mean sex? My…
ummm…
climaxes?” I said and he nodded.

“
Why?” I grinned
.
“Is it too much for you?”

He quickly shook his head, “Oh, hell, no,” he grinned, “You’re really amazing. I was just wondering if you
’
re always like this or is it because you
’
ve been alone for a long time.”

I pulled my arm down and looked at him.
“First of all, just because I’ve been alone doesn’t mean I haven’t had any…
I do have needs and I have no problems taking care of things on my own, Matt,” I said as he blushed.

“
But to answer your question - yes and no. I
’
ve always been this way, but I’ve never had this many or reached them so quickly. And that’s not because it’s been a while, I’m pretty sure it’s because of you. You’re my first vampire, but I gotta say, you’re definitely several notches above humans, more than several, when it comes to sex and a lot of other things.”

“
I hope to be your only vampire, Sarah,” he said as he cradled me in his arms.

I snuggled closer to him and, not realizing how tired I was or how much he had worn me out, I quickly fell back to sleep. The next thing I knew he was gently caressing my forehead and whispering, “Sarah, my love, it’s time to go. We need to go…
NOW.”

My eyes flew open when I heard the urgency in his voice.

“
What
’s
wrong?” I said, as I frantically began searching for my clothes. He grabbed my hands, calming me down, forcing me to look at him.

“
Nothing, yet,” he calmly replied as he started dressing me in the clothes that were right in front of
me all along. “The Enforcers have been sent out to investigate and it’s only a matter of time before they reach my house…
and then yours, because they know I
’
m linked to you. At least they don
’
t know that the linked changed, so they won
’
t know
that
we
’
re together
,
” he replied.

I gasped “They won’t hurt my family will they?” I asked as tears began forming in my eyes.

“
No, no,” he replied, stroking my cheek to comfort me. “They wouldn’t want to reveal themselves like that. They will track me, quietly, without bringing attention to themselves.”

“
Oh, is that all,” I rolled my eyes and tried to smile.

I hurried to the bathroom to take care of necessities, brush my teeth, comb my hair, etc. When I came out he already had everything in the car and was waiting for me by the door. “Shall we?” he said as he held a hand out to me. I started to walk out the door when he suddenly pulled me to him, kissing me hard, his tongue finding mine, my head swimming…
at this rate we really wouldn’t get far. He sensed this too and forced himself back. But this
time he was gasping too. We wrapped our arms around each other and headed out to the car.

Chapter Four

We made it to Mexico by mid-afternoon. He pulled off on a side road and pulled out the oldest looking map I had ever seen. I stared at it, and then my eyes went wide as I saw the date written at the bottom. “Was that map really drawn in 1646?” I asked. “Mmhhhmm,” he replied, still studying the map.

“
That belongs in a museum,” I said.

“
It was,” he replied. I stared at him for a minute, wanting to ask how he got it, then decided against it.

Instead I asked, “Will it go back when you’re done with it?”

“
Of course,” he said as he carefully folded it up and started driving again.

We were driving for what seemed forever on a long dirt highway. I started to doze in the front seat when suddenly he made a sharp turn onto a road that was so hidden by trees and shrubs that I never would have seen it myself. “Where are we
?
”
I asked.

“
Just outside of Guaymas, Mexico,” he said. We wound uphill for about a mile then ended at a parking area at a stone wall surrounding a small church. The wooden doors to the courtyard were open now. There was no fear here. He pulled in to the courtyard and parked by the steps to the church.

He started to get out when I asked, “I gather from our hike that you can go out in the sunlight. Does it affect you at all?”

“
We can go out in the sun, just not for very long because we burn worse than a human, no pigment and all
,
” he smiled.

“
Huh,” I replied as I reached for the door handle.

“
Ummm, Sarah. I
’
m really sorry, but I need you to wait here, please,” he said. “This priest might be a little reluctant to speak around a human, especially a female.”

“
Oh,” I said
.
“But how will I know that you’re okay?”
I felt panic creeping in.

He smiled at me
.
“This priest will do me no harm,” then he leaned over and kissed me tenderly, lingering just long enough to get me all worked up again.

When he pulled away, I sarcastically said, “Gee, thanks,” then pouted.

He smiled at me, his eyes dancing and replied, “My pleasure
.
”
He
got out and walked into the church, glancing back at me and smiling one more time before he closed the door.

I tried to find something to keep me occupied. I dug my cell phone out of my backpack and turned it on. I was a little surprised that it worked down here. It lit up with voicemails. I listened to each one, tearing up when my sister, Cindy, said, “I’m really excited for you Sarah, you deserve this. Have fun…
and send pictures!”
I pulled out my laptop next and checked my emails, answering the few that I could, then I closed it up and put it away.

Inside Matthew was negotiating with the priest, which involved three things. First, Matt had to open his mind completely to him so the priest could be certain Matt hadn’t been sent here as a trap, this one took a few hours. Second, a large cash
‘
contribution’ to the church fund. And third, a blood sample. Matt didn’t ask what this was
for;
he really didn’t want to know.
He walked out of there with a
wooden container that had a red powder in it, and the knowledge that this powder was to be sprinkled on the scars -- what scars he had no clue.

While Matt had been with the priest, I got bored in the car so I closed my eyes and put my head back. When I opened them next I was startled and disoriented because it was dark outside. Dark? We got here at
three
p
.
m
.
, how could it be dark so quickly? Where was Matthew? I started to panic I looked around, trying to figure out what to do, when, just like in the hotel room, he was suddenly there, smiling and pulling me to him. I relaxed into him instantly, my fear and panic gone, and allowed him kiss me, knowing it would take my breath away, knowing it would bring me to the brink of no return but also knowing it would have to stop. I just didn’t care anymore.