Secret Fantasies Read online

  Startled, they flew apart onto their own respective seats as if they were a pair of sixteen-year-olds, caught about to have unsafe penetration. Alderic walked through the door, removing his outer jacket as he entered. The old vampire seemed supremely blind to the fact two people he had never, to his knowledge, seen in the same room, were mere seconds away from eating each other’s face off.

  Vasili mentally cursed the old dog throughout all five of the commonly known hells and back. Alderic didn’t even appear upset he had walked in at the precise second Vasili would have given anything for him to not interrupt.

  He cast a quick glance at Lea, admitting that she looked flushed, but not disconcerted in the slightest. Was he the only one annoyed at the interruption?

  Just as he was about to stand up and pace the small shop, Vasili noticed the whiteness of Lea’s knuckles as she pressed her hands together.

  Aha, he smirked to himself, obviously I’m not the only one slightly flustered and annoyed here. Bloody brilliant.

  “Ah! Young Lea,” Alderic said as if he ran in on her like this all the time. “I haven’t seen you in a while, my dear. I’m so glad to see you come back and visit an old dog like me. How are you, my dear?”

  Vasili grinned, amused more than he would have guessed to hear how Alderic kept his gentlemanly manners no matter what. He mentally shook his fist at fate, while relaxing back into the chair and silently acknowledging the hit fate had dealt him.

  Next time, he promised himself solemnly, next time I will make sure we are somewhere we won’t have Alderic, or any Montague, waltz in on us at a second’s notice.

  Vasili snorted as Lea brushed the few strands of her blonde hair behind her ear and hastily stood up from the largely padded, comfortable seat. Vasili felt a touch smug to notice the faint red flush still covered her cheeks, even though her voice came out of her mouth smooth and perfectly natural.

  How often had this happened, he mused, and he simply hadn’t looked closely enough to see? He could see the interest in her eyes, hear the very slight difference in her tone of voice. Maybe Lea had been interested in him from the start.

  “I am fine, thanks, Alderic,” she said, “I actually came here to look for you,” she added. “I need you to contact Gav for me, please.”

  Vasili felt like smirking when the elderly vampire merely shook his head at her rather sadly. He had known Alderic had no means of communicating with Gavreel, and for once, for the first time since she had begun to drop her bombshells, he felt slightly more in control.

  “I am sorry, my dear,” Alderic said slowly, “but Gavreel always closes his mind to all outside distractions when he is deep in his research. Often he has sequestered himself away here, his mind so closed to everything outside of his research that not even I have been able to penetrate his mind telepathically.”

  Vasili watched Lea’s face fall, as she realized Alderic was not lying.

  “I have spoken to Gavreel’s sons a few times, and he has his mind so closed not even they have been able to penetrate his mind. I am sorry, my dear, but I can’t get in touch with Gav, not even through our personal telepathic link. And you know better than I that he isn’t wearing his unit—indeed, I do believe it was you who told him to leave it back here so it wouldn’t fall into the wrong hands or be hacked into.”

  Vasili snickered, and tried to cover it with a cough as Lea shot him an angry glare. Alderic merely shrugged, not seeming concerned in the least with the byplay between them.

  Vasili couldn’t help his pleasure as Lea ran an agitated hand over her smooth ponytail, at finally seeing her unable to ignore her reaction to his presence. He laughed aloud as Lea made a gesture of frustration at him and likely the world at large. She sent him a fiery glare over her shoulder which likely would have felled a lesser vampire.

  “As he has not been responding to his children’s telepathic attempts, I sincerely doubt he is communicable to anyone at this moment.”

  Except Chandra, Vasili thought suddenly, recalling how Ruthie and Rylan had informed them all earlier that Gavreel seemed to have hooked up with the female vampire on Owanus, the home planet of all vampires.

  After a moment of internal debate, finally Vasili dismissed the notion. Likely it would just upset her, cause her to stress about something she could do nothing about. He could not see Gavreel, under any circumstances whatsoever, betraying his beliefs or succumbing to the wiles of a female vampire he’d been sparring with in journals for decades.

  That only meant Gavreel and Chandra were working on the one goal, whether Chandra knew the full story behind Gavreel’s work or not. And so there seemed little to no point in ruining Lea’s afternoon by pointing out Gavreel’s deviation from the set course.

  Surprisingly, the longer he watched Lea’s pale blue eyes flick over the bookshelves stacked and crammed with titles, the harder he could feel his cock twitch in lust.

  He tried hard to put his finger on what exactly it was Lea currently did to make him so lusty. To make him crave so much to throw her over his shoulder, and cart her to his lodgings so he could strip her gently and make love to her until they both expired from exhaustion. Yet he couldn’t work it out. She wasn’t trying to turn him on, she was not teasing him, taunting him or flaunting herself at him. She simply was thinking.

  Goddess above, he thought, shocked to his core. How the five hells had he managed to stay sane and not jump her these last few months?

  Just as he began to create the fantasy in his mind, conjuring the image of himself dragging Lea out the back of the shop and working the odd fastenings on her Force uniform, the door buzzer sounded yet again and Vasili really did groan this time.

  He propped one leg discreetly up onto the thigh of his other leg as he sighed in resignation. Damned fates were against him today. He crossed his arms over his chest, hoping to either brazen out the massive rod tenting his pants, or to hide it from anyone’s more casual glance.

  Vasili winced internally as Simeon and Rylan both entered the store together, feminine laughter floating in from behind them.

  Damnation, he cursed to himself. Now he really was in for it. Si and Rylan might have their heads up in the stars with their new partners, but he had a sneaking suspicion all the teasing and jesting he had given them in recent days was about to be repaid, tenfold.

  Vasili rose from his chair and made sure his loose shirt covered the massive erection the sexy little blonde was responsible for. He watched two of his oldest friends warily, waiting for the recognition and surprise to enter their eyes.

  Vasili took the few steps needed to stand next to Lea, as Clare and Ruthie slowly entered the shop, both of them chatting a mile a minute together as if they had known each other forever.

  The twins both looked at Vas, and he felt a start of surprise himself. Both vampires looked as if they had spent the last few days in heaven, bliss and a sense of deeply ingrained satisfaction on their faces.

  As the two women eagerly chatted to each other nonstop about the latest in the season’s fashions, utterly ignoring Lea as well as the four men, Vasili snickered as a weary resignation entered the two vamps’ faces, the reluctance known galaxy-wide to interrupt two women so happily conversing about something their men had almost no interest in.

  Clare caught sight of Lea first, a questioning look upon her face. Vasili realized the young woman had never met Lea before, and had no idea who she was. Ruthie’s attention was quickly snagged, as Clare had ceased chattering to her.

  “Lea!” Ruthie said, shocked, and gave Rylan the opening he, Simeon and Vasili had been waiting for.

  Rylan introduced everyone, and before he had even finished, both Clare and Ruthie were looking curiously at Lea. Vasili felt his heart constrict a moment, and he stood even closer to Lea, ready to wrap a protective arm around her, but he never got that far.

  Before anyone knew exactly what was happening, Clare had solicited Lea’s opinion on whether non-hooded jackets, or silver-lining trimmed jackets would be all the
rage the following month.

  Lea crossed over to the two women, gesticulating as she raved about the merits of silver-lining trim. In barely the time it took for Vasili to blink, the three women were verbally off and running, talking through a staggering number of options, accessories and tailors at what almost felt like mach speed.

  Vasili felt stunned, wondered how the hell the three women could keep up and understand exactly what each one was insisting.

  Vasili looked at both Rylan and Simeon, and they merely shrugged, indicating this was what the women had acted like since the start. Feeling more than overwhelmed, Vasili opened his mouth, having no idea what he wanted or needed to say.

  Thankfully, Rylan and Simeon hustled Alderic to the opposite corner of the room, and with a final glance at Lea, Vasili followed suit. Lea was gesticulating madly, making some point about gold piping versus silver piping, or some such nonsense, and Vasili knew he was not leaving her undefended. In fact, he was the one who felt as if he were moving in sheer self-defense.

  Even on the other side of the shop, with a mountain of shelving and books between them, Vasili still could hear the three-way friendly arguing and disagreeing going on as if he still stood next to them. Yet being out of the line of sight did calm him down somewhat.

  He breathed a sigh of relief, only to have Rylan and Simeon face him, their arms crossed in an identical manner across their chests, equally fierce frowns on their faces.

  “Why the hell is Lea in a Force uniform, Vas? You getting kinky in your old age? Need jailbait as well as a member of our Forces to help you get off?” Rylan asked in what sounded almost like an angry tone of voice. Vasili felt his hackles rise, and reminded himself this was one of his oldest friends he spoke to, not some punk out in the streets trying to get a rise from him.

  “You’re a riot, Ry,” Vasili rejoined defensively, attempting to keep his anger in check. “It’s actually you who appears to be losing your touch, old man.” Vasili smirked, anticipating the shock on the twins’ faces when he dropped his bombshell.

  “Lea is a Force member, and is twenty-nine to boot, not the jailbait you assume her to be,” Vasili continued on ruthlessly, enjoying the startled looks on both Rylan’s and Simeon’s faces. Vasili shrugged, decided he might as well drop all his bombs at once.

  “She’s been working undercover at Scooper’s, of all places, in conjunction with Gav.”

  “Gav?” Simeon interjected, his shock making his voice pitch higher. Vasili wondered if Simeon thought he was lying through his teeth.

  He snorted at the thought. As if Lea would go along with some tall tale of his!

  “Are you yanking us around, Vas? What the hell has Gav got to do with the Force? I can’t really see them needing him to look up some musty old tome.”

  Vasili puffed out his chest, feeling important. He grinned wickedly at his two friends, enjoying them hanging on his every word.

  “Gav has been following something, and consulting with Lea and the Force,” he started easily, “and that’s why so few people have ever seen her wandering off with anyone else. Aside from the fact she was passing herself off as barely legal.”

  Vasili shrugged, pushing aside the sexy image of Lea with only the common breast band the escorts wore, and the tiny fake tartan skirt. His mouth watered at the mental image.

  Roughly pulling his mind out of the gutter, Vasili cleared his throat and continued. He had a sinking sensation his momentary mental break had not gone unnoticed by either Montague twin.

  “She won’t say what exactly it is Gav’s working on for her, but I bet it’s all connected with that tome Clare brought over with her. It’s the only massive breakthrough he’d had before he left for Owanus. And remember you and Ruthie found out he’d been doing much deeper research on Owanus,” Vasili said, nodding at Rylan.

  Rylan scratched his chin but nodded, acknowledging the truth of his words.

  “It’s all linked up somehow,” he concluded, “I just have no idea how.”

  A heavy silence followed in the moments after he stopped talking, all four vampires thinking, trying to piece together what they could from what they knew.

  “And Chandra?” Rylan finally asked, breaking their silence. Vasili just shook his head, not knowing really what to say since he only had suppositions to go on, and didn’t want to make Lea look bad to his friends.

  “I have no idea, mate. Lea didn’t mention anything about Chandra, but she did seem to be pretty hot to point out that Gav was supposed to be keeping a low profile and not communicating with anyone or letting anyone ‘steal’ his data.”

  Both Rylan and Simeon exchanged big grins with Vasili. Even Alderic snapped out of whatever mental reverie he’d been in to crack a smile.

  “I assume whatever Lea knows about Gav,” Alderic spoke with a faint smile, “she hasn’t yet worked out that he’ll do whatever he damn well pleases whenever it pleases him? And to the five hells with whatever anyone else wants?”

  Vasili snorted.

  “I bet he’s tried to be polite and charming to Lea. Nah, my credits are on Lea thinking she’s in charge of whatever investigation she’s doing, and Gav is willing to let her think he’ll follow her orders.”

  The three vampires nodded sagely, and Vasili smiled.

  “Besides, I haven’t had the chance to follow this whole Chandra thing up in any great depth with Lea. More than likely Gav mouthed off after some journal argument between the two of them, and Lea thinks she’s some secret nefarious spy, instead of just another vampiric academic. And besides, my gut still says this whole Chandra thing is a fluke meeting and Gav either decided he could use Chandra’s knowledge, or they joined forces. I mean, can any of you see Gav breaking his word, or turning to another side and playing the political game?”

  Both Rylan and Simeon snickered. Alderic appeared to contemplate the thought for a moment, but then shook his head.

  “No, not Gav. The only thing outside of family he’s really interested in is his research. That’s where the strength of most of his passion lies.”

  All three of them nodded sagely with Alderic.

  “So what do you think Gav is working on, Alderic?” Simeon asked curiously.

  Vasili turned with both Simeon and Rylan, intrigued about the answer and patiently waited for Alderic to speak. The old vampire scratched his chin and seemed to contemplate something deeply for a few more moments.

  “Gavreel has a few personal quests he’s been following for years,” Alderic started slowly. All three of them nodded, already more than aware of this information.

  “I would think the only reason he would agree to work together with the Force, something he has never seemed keen about in the slightest, would be for one of his most passionate and deeply held projects. Other than that I could not give a more detailed answer. In truth, I am not certain which particular item he has been following these last months and would hate to hazard a guess and send you all off in the wrong direction.”

  Simeon started to say something but Rylan elbowed him in the stomach. Simeon scowled but held his words. Alderic continued slowly as if he hadn’t even noticed.

  “Like you asked, Si, I have been following Gav’s research this last week, or what I knew he’d been doing, and it has led me to hesitantly believe Gav is seeking out the Rune of Knowledge.”

  The three of them all appeared hung on the elderly vampire’s words.

  “The Goddess Adedenious, the partner and lover of Dante, the God of all Vampires, stole the Rune of Knowledge in a jealous rage. Dante and Adedenious had many years ago completed their Soul Circle, but Dante had become obsessed with the Truth of All, with the Rune itself and with the hidden power knowledge gives one.”

  Vasili felt his stomach twist slightly. Gavreel was by no means obsessed, but he was one single-minded vampire, easily able to close everything else off around him when the situation suited him so.

  Vasili caught a glance between Rylan and Simeon, but they all remained silent, letting
Alderic continue.

  “Legend has it that Dante began to neglect Adedenious, focus more and more fully on his studies and search, until finally the goddess snapped. She coaxed him into having sex with her, after stealing his Rune and giving it to Glorina, their eldest child, and Adedenious, a powerful goddess in her own right, wove a spell, through their soul binding, scattering them both through the galaxy as stars. There are always the constellations of ‘The Lovers’ throughout any solar system, and this is rumored to be them, united in the heavens, but with a noticeable regularity—it is the woman hunting the man, or binding the man, in the constellation, not the man chasing the woman as is common in the popular literature. That was Adedenious’ revenge, they would be together, and Dante would not be able to ignore her anymore.”

  “And this Rune that Adedenious stole, that’s what Gav is chasing after?” Rylan asked, his eyes wide.

  Vasili smiled, wondered for a moment if it was finally hitting home to Rylan that women were not just wonderfully sexual creatures, but damn powerful entities in their own rights.

  “There are thousands of rumors surrounding the Rune,” Alderic stated, removing his old-fashioned glasses to clean and toy with them. “The most popular theory revolves around the fact that Adedenious cautioned her daughter, the founder of one of the feminine priestess temples, that the Rune gave unlimited knowledge and power to the entity that held it. She instructed her daughter to hide it and guard it. The stories on where Glorina hid it, or some say destroyed it, are legion. Generally speaking, each tale is more ridiculous than the last, and since not even the full story behind Adedenious’ betrayal of Dante is solid fact, you can bet the Goddess’ followers would have a vastly different tale to tell. And thus the Rune moved from supposed reality and into legend and has never been proven to be sighted again.”

  “So,” Vasili summarized, “Gav and Chandra, two vampires who have been at each other’s throats over obscure references in journals for the last couple of decades have headed together to Klampor? And to discover the Rune which supposedly broke up the God of all Vampires and his Soul Partner and lover, the Goddess of a temple of priestesses, and one forthright and independent woman?”