Days of Redemption (The Firsts Book 6) (18 page)

When Bryn lowered Lauren and her feet touched the shower floor, she looked into his eyes.

“I will never forget this night,” she said.  “Not ever.”

Bryn nodded slowly.  He didn’t have anything to say back to her.  He knew she wouldn’t come back to Iceland, that she would disappear again.  He wasn’t ready to make any declarations either.  After the failure with Bess, he’d never wanted to try it again.  He’d convinced himself he wasn’t relationship material.  
Nay
, he wasn’t planning to try it again.   But he did know that he wouldn’t forget this night either. 
Not ever
.

Still, she meant something to him, and although he didn’t know what, he still wanted her.

“Let me scrub ya down, and get ya to bed.  This night, we’ll fix things.”

“Okay.”

Quickly, they soaped up and rinsed off, letting their hands linger over each other as they did so.  It was sensuous and playful, and he finally lifted her once again in his arms as he carried her from the shower to dry her off. 

Bryn took a moment to dry himself off
while Lauren wrapped a large white robe around her and held onto a second to give to Bryn when he was finished with his own towels.

He turned off the water, collected their clothes, and left them outside of another door that led into a bedroom.

“Dez’s staff will clean those by tonight,” he said, as he moved to a big bed and pulled down a lightweight blanket.

“Let’s get some sleep,” he told Lauren
.   The bed groaned with his weight, and Bryn was out in seconds, unmoving, almost as if he’d been drugged again. 

She climbed
in next to him, and rolled to bury herself against his big warm body as she fell asleep.

One floor above, a serious discussion rocked the table that held several first blood vampires as they finished an excellent Brazilian meal. 

Park had started it earlier with an urgent statement.

“You know we’re just beginning to stop this man.  We have to clip him completely before he does real harm to someone in our community.  This serum, it’s serious trouble.  Father, you’ve never seen anything like it in all your centuries, right?”

“I haven’t.   You know if it stopped me, if it stopped Park and Tamesine, then no one is safe.”

Koen looked at Tamesine, who silently watched everything and everyone with huge blue eyes. 

“You have controlled the movement of a first blood.  Your power is extraordinary, even among the extraordinary.   It put you out completely, didn’t it?”

Tamesine was slow to respond, then she nodded.

“It did. 
But only briefly.  I woke long before Park.  It dulled my senses, and my magics, but I worked it out in minutes.”  Her eyes traveled around the table to meet the eyes of her companions.  “He’s dangerous.  He’s serious, and he’s hurt a lot more than you know.  There’s another lab.  In Germany.”

“What?”  Park asked.

“In Germany.  The first lab.  The last I knew, it was partially shut down, but that’s where he had his longest held subjects.  It was awful, I realize that now.  I’m so sorry for who I used to be.”

“We have to find this lab and destroy it
,” David insisted. 

Koen put a hand on his shoulder.  “We will.  It appears I was optimistic
to think this was over and we could go home.  We’ll find this lab and shut it down, if need be.  Park, we’re raiding Lamont’s office in Paris, aren’t we?”

Nodding, Park reached for some soft dinner rolls that she had been eyeing.  “It’s a priority. 
Xavier’s already sending someone tonight.  Whoever developed this serum has to be found, the formula eliminated, and anyone who ever had any contact with the lab, purged.  We thought Alvin Crosby’s war on the vampires was a threat?  That was nothing, compared to this.  He was one vampire bent on a vendetta.  This man has a driven need to either eliminate us or control us, and the resources, apparently, to potentially pull it off.  This is game-changing, my family and friends.  If we don’t stop him, we may not live to regret it.”

“Well, daughter, I guess we go to war after all.  First, Dez, bring me that fucking cake.  It’s been eyeing me for the past twenty minutes and I mean to eat every slice of it.”  He pointed to a triple chocolate cake on a pedestal stand several feet away.  One of
Dez’s staff responded immediately and set it in front of Koen.

Koen’s lifted his eyebrows.  “Don’t anyone even consider it.  This one is all
mine.”   He pulled the pedestal towards him, picked up a fork, and dug in.

After a few bites, he looked up and searched for Dez.  When he found her, he waved at her.

“Hey, Dez, can I get my Bugatti back?  I’d like to take her home.”

Dez grinned. 
About time.  She’d stolen the incredible sports car from him nearly two years ago!

SIXTEEN

Dez bid goodbye to all of her guests, and turned to face her large, empty receiving area.  It had been good to reconnect with old friends, to beat an enemy, at least for the time being, and to
feel useful again.  Life had felt empty lately.

She wandered around, killing lights, musing about her life.  That was the
problem, things had just been too easy lately.  Too simple, too dull.

It wasn’t that she missed him.

Anyway, it had been
his
choice to leave,
she
wasn’t going to stop him.  As she pushed a chair in and killed the final light, she walked slowly down the stairs.  But she knew that he’d
wanted
her to. As much as she tried to pretend he didn’t matter, she remembered every line of his face, of that body that she’d never felt she could ever get enough of.

“Ah, Zach,” Dez whispered to no one.  “You were
such
a girl.” He was too emotional, too attached, too needy.  He suffocated her. 
Didn’t he?

It didn’t matter.  What she needed now was a purpose, a mission, a distraction from her incessant need to keep
revisiting her relationship with Zach.  And this battle that the first bloods were preparing to fight, she wanted in. 

Dez had listened carefully as Park and Koen detailed the need to stop this Lamont guy permanently.  That was the mission Dez needed.  She would fly to Koen’s home in southern France and present herself for service.   Only one thing bothered her.

The blonde first blood, the one they called Tamesine, Dez knew she had been a psychotic murderer, which was disturbing enough.  But there was something else that bothered her, something intangible that made her extraordinarily uneasy around the woman. 
Something more than just her past
. 

Whatever it was, she wouldn’t figure it out tonight. 

Dez pulled the black satin sheets back from her custom-made bed that spanned the entire back of her night chamber.  Six people could fit on it easily and there had been times when it had been necessary to have that kind of space. 

She was exhausted. 
Although it was night, she had not slept at all the previous day, so she crawled in and threw her head onto her king-sized plush pillow.   Her clothes abandoned on the floor in a bundle, she stretched out, her bare skin sliding sensuously across the smooth fabric.

She needed sex.  It had been a long time, and
while that wasn’t typical for her, recently it was becoming so.  Yeah, she just needed to find a sexy vampire and fuck the hell out of him.  Zach was
not
the only hot vampire on the planet! 

Letting the fingers of one hand slide around her nipples, the other slipped across her belly
.  That big one, the first blood named Xavier, he would do.  Tomorrow night, she would fly to Paris, and shove that enormous vampire’s cock as far into her as he fit. 
That
should exorcise the insistent memory of Zach.

Exhaustion took her and she fell asleep, pissed that his face was the last thing on her mind as she did.

When they arrived at the airport, Bryn went to his rental plane to deal with the asshole that had kidnapped Lauren and shot Bryn to death in Chicago.  But the plane was gone.  He should have known, should have expected, that Lamont would have people who would come for their assassin.  He promised himself he would find the man and
kill him some day.  There was nothing else he could do right now, so he joined David and Cherise on their private plane back to Iceland.  Lauren traveled with them, because returning to Chicago wasn’t an option for her. 

They knew that Lamont would still like to get his hands on her, so Lauren was in as much danger as ever.  Chicago would be the first place they would look.  Iceland would be the second, but
even Lamont would know he couldn’t touch her there with so much protection.

On the flight home, most of the passengers slept or napped for the majority of the flight.  It turned out that the serum the SRS had used on the vampires still held some punch.  Everyone who had been dosed was intermittently exhausted almost to the point of unconsciousness. 

Lauren sat quietly in her luxury seat and watched Bryn as he slept, a slight smile on his face.  She smiled too, hoping that he was remembering their lovemaking the night before.  She let herself indulge, immerse herself in him, because as soon as they landed, she’d say goodbye to this big vampire that had given her the best time of her life.  She’d meant it when she told him she would never forget him.

But nothing had changed.  She was still an outsider, an interloper who’d forced her presence into their lives to undo damage she’d caused to their community.  Mission accomplished, it was time to step away from the vampire world forever.  She and Bryn had had a wonderful time together, but she didn’t belong there.   Eventually, he’d find a suitable vampire mate, and Lauren would be envious indeed.  
Lucky, lucky
girl.

The jet landed without incident
outside of Reykjavik, where a waiting large 4-wheel drive SUV took them back to CastleRock, David’s massive wide-roofed home built largely underground for shelter from the long sunlit summer days in Iceland. 

Lauren felt as if she followed the residents wherever they went in the home, much like a rescued puppy might, as they got something to eat, and then decided to go to their rooms to rest again. 

She was feeling very fifth-wheelish. “Bryn, go get some sleep.  I’m okay, I wasn’t drugged like you and David were.  I’ll stay up here and let you have your bed.”

He started to protest when Cherise stepped forward.  “I would like to visit with Lauren anyway, Bryn.  Go ahead, my friend, rest.  She’ll be here when you get up.”

Still, Bryn hesitated before he left, but then nodded, kissed Lauren casually on the cheek and went down the stairs.

Left alone, Cherise and Katerine led Lauren back to the dining area, where they pulled a tray filled with cheesecake cookies, one of Cherise’s creations from her own bakery she had run for over a year in the American states.

“Lauren, I am so glad we got to you before that monster killed you.  You’re all right?  He didn’t harm you while he had you?”

“No.  Really, I’m fine.
  Cherise, thank you for coming for us, for Bryn.  He should never have been involved.”

“
Chérie
, if he had not, you most certainly would have been killed by that man.  I would have been most upset.”

Lauren smiled.  She
did
love this kind-hearted woman.  

“I appreciate it, nonetheless.   I need your help, though.  I need to arrange some things in Chicago, and then disappear again.”

“You may stay here, if you would like to do so.”

“Thank you.  It means a lot to me that you offer, but I really can’t.  I don’t belong here.”

“You could.”

“Again, I appreciate your offer, but I can’t stay.  If you could help me make my arrangements, I can be out of here within a day.”

“If that is what you desire.”

“I do.”  Lauren bit into one of the cookies. 
“Ummm.  I’d forgotten how good you are with a little flour and sugar.”

“I shall make sure you have a large doggie bag.
  When you are ready, meet Gunnar in the war-room and he will take care of the arrangements you need to make.”

Katerine smiled at the mention of her mate.  “I haven’t seen him since we’ve returned.  He’s been seaside, but
he’s due back in a few hours.  Little human, you should see Cherise’s menagerie before you go.  It’s quite astounding.”

“I’d love to.  I’m finished if you are.”

“Splendid.  Off we go to look at animals that are not native to Iceland, but they’re happy here anyway.”

Cherise watched Katerine lead Lauren away.  Smiling, she reached for another cookie.  She thought of a phrase that defined the human experience as she watched the revised Lauren leave arm-in-arm with Kat. 
Life is what happens to you while you’re making other plans.

Bryn could feel the drug still present in his body.  It had less impact now, and although he knew it was finally beginning to metabolize, he still felt sluggish and less mentally aware than usual.  One side-effect, though, was that it seemed to leave him even more sexually frustrated than usual.  He’d come out of his room at about the same time as David.  Standing in the wide corridor outside their bed-chambers, they looked at each other.

“Looking for someone
?” David asked.

“Aye.
  You?”

David nodded.  “I’m feeling…needy.”

“Yeah, me too.  That drug seems to have an aphrodisiac component.”

Shoving Bryn back, David grinned.  “Well, don’t look at me!  I love you like a brother, but that’s just taking it too far!”

Bryn returned the shove.  “Aye.  Lookin’ for somethin’ a little different meself.  What the hell was that shite he shot us with?”

“I don’t
know, bro.  But Park will find out.  Hopefully, she can synthesize an antidote. Then we need to find Lamont before he uses it on anyone else.  For now, though, I need to find Cherise.”

“I’ve a bit of a search for someone
meself.  Do ya fancy Lauren and Cherise are together?”

“I would think so.  I’m going to have Gunnar track her down and send her to me.  Would you like a similar delivery?”

“Much appreciated, bro.  See ya soon then.”

Bryn and David disappeared inside their respective rooms. 

Ten minutes passed before a tentative knock preceded the door opening with a gentle push.

“Bryn?”

Lauren’s voice was soft.

“Come in, Lass.  Close the door tightly.”

Entering the darkened room, Lauren nearly stumbled over something near the entrance, but it was because her eyes were locked on the enormous bed in the back of the room, surrounded by candles, just bright enough to illuminate the big man in the center.  She smiled and lowered her head as she walked towards him, undoing the big buttons on a fluffy sweater Cherise had donated to her a few hours earlier.   It dropped silently in her path as she continued to drop her clothes.  When she arrived at the bed, she was naked.

She watched Bryn’s eyes glistening in the dim lighting as they roamed over her.

“Excuse me, vampire.  Did you summon me for a particular reason?  I was quite busy holding kittens.”

“I’ve got a handful for
ya right here, lassie.   If ya want to pet somethin,’ come closer.”

Now Bryn stood beside the bed, his cock pointing at her as Lauren walked up and immediately slid her hand around it.  It throbbed as she ran her fingertips over the head.

Bryn took her shoulders in his hands.  “Ah,” he moaned.  “Ya don’t know how much I needed to feel ya touch me.”

He
didn’t know how badly
she
needed touch him, because this was going to be goodbye.

“In that case…” Lauren said as she shoved him back onto the bed and got on top of him.

“You pleasured me last night.  Do. Not. Move,” Lauren said, quietly, seriously.

Bryn dropped his head on his fat pillow and closed his eyes.  He felt her lips first as she grazed his neck, the blunt human teeth nipping hard at his skin.  It was erotic and nearly made him surge up and grab her, but he forced himself to lie still.
  For someone who called herself a novice, he could find nothing inexperienced about what she was doing to him.

He loved the feeling of her body as she slip
ped down his, rubbing against him, the curves, the motion, her breasts, her fingers.  When she arrived again at his cock, he started to lift up, but she shoved him back down.

“Mine,” she said as she took him into her mouth and began a journey from shaft to tip that had him almost wishing for chains again, for something to hold onto.

And he almost wished she’d meant it, when she said that word. 
Mine. 
He knew she’d just said it because their sex had been extraordinary and she finally felt confident in her ability to please him.  He wasn’t ready to consider a mate, and he’d already heard her tell Cherise she was ready to get out of this chaos again.   So he let himself enjoy these final moments with her.  Bryn knew he would ride her once more before this night was over, give her one last orgasm, one final memory.

Later, completely satiated, they lay in each other’s arms.  There was little to be said, but Lauren spoke anyway.

“Bryn, thank you.  I just want you to know, being with you, I’m so grateful for this time we’ve had.”

“I wouldn’t have missed it for the world, either, little human.”

“Maybe we can do it again.  Someday.”