Need

I never had a clue that I was being followed. How could I? I was merely a human and the thing that followed me was not. That was how vampires took their prey, they followed, remained hidden until the right time to strike. Though the vampire that followed me wasnt after me for food. She had another purpose, a need that she was driven to fulfill. I was to be made her mate, the one to whom her blood sang to and the one to be the father of her offspring.

So she followed me. She could have just used me for my body countless times over the past week she had lingered behind me. But it wouldnt work that way, she was beautiful of course and if she had hit on me i would have gladly gone home to her bed. If it were that simple then there would be many more vampire children in the world. So no, in order for her body to accept me as her mate there had to be a connection of love. I had to love her and she had to love me. For her, love came from the connection she felt from my blood. Her body responded to just being near me and when she was close her body almost burned for my touch. But i had no such connection, so she had to woo me utterly and completely. I had to be head over heels in love with her before my seed would take in her womb.

Dating a vampire sounds like a scary fucking deal. With her ability to throw cars and run faster than a bullet, a man couldnt help but feel a little inadequate.

Then again I didnt know any of this yet.


For now i was simply walking home from the pool hall where i played in a league every thursday night. It was fun and a perfect excuse to bullshit with the boys and drink. Plus it was close enough to my apartment that i could get completely smashed and not worry about getting home.

The crowd for the league was always pretty nice. People came to drink and watch people play in addition to playing pool themselves. Tonight had been an especially interesting night. Tonight was the first night that i saw her, beautifully stunning, stunning in the way that just makes a man's balls tingle just looking at her. Her hair was a long raven black that seemed to shimmer even in the neon light of all the signs. Her eyes were what really stunned me though, I mean her body was amazing of course, perfect firm looking tits, flat stomach and the tightest ass ive ever seen. But her eyes...they seemed to change everytime i looked at her. I could have sworn i saw them three different colors throughout the night...brown, sky blue, and gold...but i was also getting more and more fucked up as the night went on.

One thing was for sure, I would dream of her tonight.

((EDIT: Role Filled by Orithyia. The thread is now closed.)

(Shameless bump)

OOC: The outfit looks kind of like this one on the far left of the picture.

I understood that my parents had to have gone through this, that it wasn't just a legend but putting them aside I didn't know anyone else who had found their blood bound. It was a rare thing to seek, let alone just happening upon it by accident and I was the last person I would have picked to have found mine. I was taught what needed to be done, how to ease my drive and produce children but they had under played the way it would feel, how it would control your every thought.

Eight days, sixteen hours, forty-five minutes and twenty-three seconds ago I was plagued. My kind called it a blessing to the curse we had been given and I knew that it was and it awoke emotions in me that I've never felt before. Love was powerful, greedy and scared the hell out of me. I knew the moment that I saw him what he was to me. It pieced my heart like a stake and I was helpless to it. I wanted him and the blood in my veins burned with my need. My mouth watered and my fangs rang from the inside to sink into his skin.

Blood was needed as a child for my kind and it was provided from the blood-bond of your parent. As you grew older the need for blood became less so and while there perks to drinking it the moment you're fangs grew in blood became a choice. I was what they called a pure-tongue, having never taken blood for my own once my fangs grew in. We were a rarity but there was a strength in the abstinence of drinking. I was less likely to become blood crazed and morph into a slasher. Yes there was the rush of power given from borrowed blood but I preferred to siphon off the highly energized states of humans and vampire alike. It was a harder talent to train and required more focus but I my salvation in it. Blood carried memories and I didn't wish to walk this world for as long as my lifetime lasted remembering things that were not mine. I was told that such things faded but I didn't trust that once you took someone into yourself that you could truly separate them from yourself.

Still I longed to taste him, to coat my tongue in the warm coppery essence of him. That wasn't the only thing that ailed my, if it was I would have simply ignored it but it was my entire body that betrayed me. I was a hunter of my kind that grew reckless and dangerous. Humans didn't know of us and it was my job to help keep it that way. I knew my oath and the code that I must live by but my mind seemed to have forgotten them. Every waking minute of my day that I had used to track and kill the rouge I now used to follow him. I learned his habit, his mannerisms and his daily schedule. It was the reason I knew he would be here tonight.

I was determined to get his attention tonight and by the looks and cat calls I was already getting I knew that it would work. In truth this was near what what I normally wore with a slight twist. My just below the knee chunky heeled boots were the same, the black leather pants just my nicest pair but from there up it was different. I traded in my plain black tank top for a corset top and swapped the hidden pocketed coat for a mini jacket. The timing of red on the corset by luck matched the red protection runes on the pants. The only thing that bothered me about this out fit was the loop rings on the pants were empty where normally a small arsenal of weapons would be clipped and fastened there.

With a deep breath I tried to calm my nerves but I could feel him inside the building and my body was already reaction to the closeness and I hadn't even seen him yet. My body vibrated with excitement. Tonight would be the first night and I wanted to make sure he would remember me forever.

It was easy enough to spot him in the crowed room, my body longed for him and my heart raced as my ears picked up his heart beat out of everyone else's. It was torture not to approach him but I somehow managed it and made it to the other side of the room without even looking at him. I played a few games but when I felt his eyes on me, my stomach jumped up and lodged itself in my throat and knotted. I turned and shared my first look with him. Cancelling out all notice but the his it felt like the world revolved around him. Over and over we would lock eyes and it wasn't until the second or third time that I placed the strange look on his face. I didn't have my shades on and my eyes more then likely scared him.

Like all my kind our eyes are unnatural and mine were strange even for our standard of normal where purple, pure blacks and slivers were accepted without a second's thought. My mother said I had fae eyes and that they should be guarded. They were three colors that didn't blend like they should. The outer most ring was a deep earthy brown that almost swirled with the clear sky blue ring next to it. Then just around my pupil was a star burst of gold that stood against the blue with clear sharp lines. Instinctively I reached into my coat pocket for my ray ban aviators but my hand reached nothing but air. Alarm jolted my body as I quickly looked down only to remember that my coat was hanging on the office chair back home.

Scared that my eyes would scare him off I stepped into the shadows and left the pool hall to watch from afar.

As I laid in bed, the image of that woman from the pool hall haunted me. Something about her just had my mind overthinking her. Maybe it had been her eyes, those heated eyes of different colors. Or rather perhaps it was that gothic outfit she had worn. I always had a thing of the goth look, the look mind you, not the attitude. Something about the black and blood red colors on a girl got me all tingly inside.

Of course that was part of my fixation with vampires and werewolves. Yeah look I know it is stupid to have a fascination with fictional characters but a lot of the movies and books out there are just awesome. Watch Underworld and tell me Kate Beckonsale doesn't chrun the seed in your balls the whole fucking movie. Besides I'm a fucking dentist and my job is boring as shit. These things give me some colorful entertainmant, and I had a lot of stuff. My bookshelf was filled with novels, from Anne Rice, J.R. Ward, Lindsey Sands, Laurelll K. Hamilton, and countless more. I had a DVD collection of movies and TV shows, and whenever a new movie came out in theaters I was there to see it.

So with that in mind one can understand how that woman had played my every string just perfectly. Her gothy little rad and black outfit complete with silver things all over it just was amazing. I could picture her breasts heaving over the top of the corset-like thing she had on, perhaps only restrained by her jacket. It was a shame that I didn't get to see more, hell I should be kicking myself for not going over and trying to talk to her. I was drunk enough that anything stupid I said could be written off on the alcohol.
I don't know how long I was staring up at the ceiling before I started to driff off. But the last thing I saw before my eyes shut was what looked like a shadow zipping across my ceiling. By then the sleep and booze was taking me away for the night.

The next day was a beautiful Friday. Thankfully I hadn't awoken with a hangover, and the memory of that woman was still fresh in my mind. I smiled to myself and got up to get ready for my day at the office. It was Friday and like most Dentists I would only work a half-day on Fridays, baring an emergency. Off the top of my head I think I only had a couple of teeth cleanings scheduled, but I could still get a walk-in patient or two. I don't know why more Dentists weren't open to walk-in patients, I mean it was a great way to expand your business without any effort. People come in, you treat them well and make them feel comfortable about seeing you and bam you got a new client that made you at least a hundred bucks everytime you saw them.

Whatever, in my person experience medical professionals are extremely lazy. They went through all the extra work at a young age to spend the rest of their lives doing as little as possible. Doctors take more vacations than celebrities it seems. I am only twenty-seven and work my ass off for the sake of my office. I figure if I get a happy and large enough cilent base, then I would hire other dentists and simply become the CEO of my little world and then do all the vacationing.

I stepped out of the shower and smacked myself in the head. I had completely forgotten that I had to interview my receptionist today! My rate of business in my little office was becoming too much for me to handle by myself. I had put an ad out on Craigslist.com for a receptionist and had a couple of E-mail replies that seemed worth looking into. Since my Friday's were short I had scheduled the interviews for after the office closed. In my drunken haze last night I had completely forgotten to get W-2 forms and hiring paperwork, which means I would have to try to get the forms online and print them before my first client today.

My office was a small space in a shopping complex. A convienant location for walk-ins and even returning clients. Lots of parking, and a candy shop on the corner just to make people feel guilty about not going to the Dentist. I had a mean sense of humor. I pulled up in my jet black Porche 911 turbo, the only luxury I have afforded myself since I started my career. I have been lazy about moving out of my apartment and looking into getting a real house. But I figured a house could wait until I had a family on the way. I was an old fashioned guy like that, I wanted a wife, I wanted kids, a house, the white picket fence. The whole nine yards.

Maybe I would one day.

I locked my car with a beep, and opened my office to handle the day. On the phone there were thirty-two messages and I sighed, I really needed to get some help. Well Jake Dawson D.D.S. was open for business.

As I did every night I followed him home, keeping to the shadows and making sure not to make a sound. But tonight was different, my body sang and my heart soared. He had seen me tonight and I felt like a door and been opened. My the entire night had raced and I couldn't stop the silly grin from turning my lips. It was different having watched him without knowing but when our eyes met. Ah, it was like nothing in my thousands of years of living that I had even experienced. This is what it felt like to truly be alive, to be awake to the world. Colors seemed sharper, the light brighter without the sting of my heightened eyes. The shadows and dark of the night liked to have texture, like velvet so soft and smooth. I reached out wanting to feel the night but my hand only touched the swirling air. It was alright tho because tonight was the first night of my life.

There was a voice inside my head that told me I sounded crazy and there was a part of me that was. I loved a man that I've been stalking, who name I didn't even know yet because I kept distance from him. But not any more. I balanced on the tiny ledge outside his window, watching as he fell into bed. His mind was working, about what I wasn't sure but I prayed feverishly that it was about me. My body started to quiver again. My blood rushing and heating as I watching his eyes close and him fall asleep. I knew sleep hadn't sunk it's claws fully into my human but I couldn't wait. I wanted to be near to him, to touch him and I grew reckless with it. Like a shadow I slipped into his room.

He was perfect in my eyes. His heart was slow and steady and his breathing was deep. He was asleep and I had no fear that he would wake. If he did she doubted that his alcohol muddy conscious would think it real that she was there. I let out a shaky breath as I closed the distance between up, stopping only for a moment before I crawled into his bed and sat there at his side. We weren't touching but I was closes enough that the heat of his body burned me like the sun. It tightened my body, my breasts swelling and the nipples hardening. I was hungry from him and the things I wanted to do to him, with him clouded my mind.

This feeling was insane.

My hand shook and I could see the weakness in my body as it reached out to him. Blood pounded in my ears and the junction between my legs throbbed with need. Still I knew better then to touch him. I could barely control myself as it was. Yet my hand moved to cup his face and stopped just a hair's space between my palm and his cheek. Silently my hand hovered over his face, tracing the curves, planes and shape of every feature. I was hypnotized by his lips and my everything in my body told me to make this man mine, to let him mark me as his. I wanted the scent of his body on me, in me and tattooed on my skin forever.

Painfully I bit my bottom lip, my fangs cutting the skin until I felt the slow run off of my own blood. I was coiled so tight from the restraint to not do everything my body and mind told me to. AH! I growled in frustration jerking my hand back as if in pain. And there was pain in putting such distance in our bodies. The hand that had hovered over his face wiped the thin trail of blood from my chin, the wound already healed. I wished the pain in my heart would stop tearing at itself and I realized that allowing myself such closeness to him was the biggest mistake. Knowing how close I was now I didn't ever want to be further apart then this.

Dammit!

It felt like my heart stopped, the air in my chest burned as I ran from the room as quickly as I could. Tears welled up in my eyes and I cursed such weakness. I didn't know how my father endured this. When he talked of the time it took to gain my mother's favor there was no pain in his voice. No tremor in it to signal what an ordeal her put him thru. There was only love. I laughed in my mind, the voice telling me I was crazy again. My mother had made my father wait almost a year before she gave herself to him, before he knew the feel of her body. Of course back then things were different, society had stricter rules and watched over the daughter of Kings like a hawk.

I didn't know where I ran to but as I ran I retraced my steps and knew the line I ran crooked and turned in a pattern that looked nothing like a straight line. I praised myself on my control but then again I had thought I was running a true line. In the shadows of a large tree I stopped and tried to collect myself. I was no use. Nothing in me listened and I wanted to fall to the ground give into my longing. Instead I mapped the closet junk yard and took my frustrations out there.

That morning the news claimed that there had been a freak storm touch down at Murphy's Pick and Pull late last night. I knew better because the chaos was done by me and I wasn't the only one who knew it. My phone buzzed me awake and as I opened my eyes I could feel the sun up. 'Who the hell?!?' I growled picking up the droid razr. It was a text message from my father complementing me on my stupidity. I could hear the lowed threatening rumble in his voice even though it was only a text. The message ended with him adding that there better have been a good reason for it and that my mother says hi and she loves me.

I hadn't told anyone about my blood-bond yet. There was another hunter in this area that I had grew up with and I would trust with my life but this wasn't my life I was risking. The easiest way to kill my kind was to go after someone's blood-bond and I wasn't ready to announce it to the world until we were mated and bound to one another. I thoughts drifted to my mother and how she hadn't aged a day. She didn't have the strength and speed that me and my father did but she had powers with her mind that I was sure she didn't have before she bounded with my father. I had always wondered if that was normal but my father didn't know. His parents mother, the blood-bond was killed just before he got his fangs and his father had followed her into death.

I stretched in bed wanting to enjoy the first relaxed moments of the day before my mind centered on him. Thirty seconds later my body woke up to the image of my blood-bond. The sun was out and I need more sleep but the clock on the phone let me know that he was wake and starting his day. The need to see him was greater then my need to sleep and I get out of bed and got ready.

My reflection looked back at me and I smiled. The laced leather pants were soft and hugged her body like a second skin without restricting my movements. At nearly two-thousand dollars a pair they better be everything I wanted and more, luck to the tailor that they were. The boots were just as soft as the pants and cover to just below the knee. They weren't the same boot I hunted in and they felt so light with the lack of knives and darts that I normally tucked in them. I wore a spaghetti strap tank top under my leather jacket. It too was too light but I wasn't hunting and the moment you became a slasher the sun weakened you faster so I should be safe.

The garage door opened slowly and I grabbed the keys to my buell and started it up. By looks it was streelegal but I spent time and money to customize it with weapons and speed. The blackout tinted helmet hung on the handle bar and I put it on before looking out into the sun. Blocked and covered by the sun I felt comfortable riding out. His office wasn't a far ride as I weaved in and out between traffic. By the time I had parked my motorcycle on the sidewalk, he was locking his car. I had to give him credit, he had good taste in cars. Without removing my helmet I found a spot that would give me an open view of the office door and hide me in the shade.

The sun bothered me but it felt more like a bad sunburn then the burst fire roasting that myth said affected my kind. Of course the more time I spent in it the more it bothered me and could lead to blistering skin and a severe migraine. I had tried to build my tolerance but I didn't have the patience for it. As long as I stayed out of direct sunlight I could sit here for hours. That was until I saw a woman dressed in a short pencil skirt and tight open blouse strut into his office. I tried to keep the jealousy caged but it didn't help and I felt the rage overwhelm the want in my body and I locked myself into the arms of my chair. She didn't look like the sort who walked into a dentist office. I clenched my teeth, why was she there?

The day was perfectly smooth, most of the phone calls had turned out to be nothing but advertisements which was definately something I needed to work out with my phone company and get them to block that or something. Two phone calls were my interviews for this afternoon confirming that they would be on time and looked forward to the opportunity. The others were a couple of new appointments for next week and people confirming their appointments for today.

Then I went into my office and took off my leather jacket and put on my lab coat. I wore the standard dentist fare day to day. Today I was wearing a blue button up shirt with a light blue and black striped tie and a pair of tan slacks. When I looked in the mirror I looked like a dentist, which was good for business. People liked it when you looked the part. I personally would wear t-shirt and jeans everyday all day if I could. But people didn't respond well to that. I mean it was a stupid thing anyway, dress clothing did not make me better at my job.

Anyway I slogged through my appointments, which went nice and smooth. The only hiccup was Ms. Roosen's crowd was loose again. Since I was a nice guy and I wasn't busy I took the time to fix it for her and told her yet again to stop eating the toffee. She wouldn't listen of course, but that only meant I could charge her extra for fixing it and not feel bad about it. Hell I tell her how not to fuck her shit up and she does it anyway, then I charge her to fix it no sweat off my brow.

Once the last patient left I went into my office to print out application forms and a set of W-2 forms in case I hired one of the potential people today. Honestly I wasn't going to be too picky about who I hired, I needed someone quick and it wouldn't be very productive of me to wait for that perfect person. Hell I only needed someone who could file and answer phones without fucking things up, it shouldn't be too hard to find a person to do that.

The first interveiwee was a young woman who wore a surprisingly revealing outfit. Not that I minded, as she was very pretty and the top she wore gave me a nice view of her cleavage. I smiled and greeted her, decided that if she was intelligent enough to do what I needed than I would hire her. I know it is probably sexist of me or something, but this was MY office and if I wanted a hot piece of ass walking around MY office all day, then that was my right as a stupid perv.

As it turned out, she was a pretty bright young lady. Going through school though and she wasn't sure she could commit to the hours I needed her. That meant I may needed to go with an older woman to work for me, but maybe not. I had one more interview in a few minutes so I would just have to see what happened.

After the first interview I promised to call the young woman, who's name turned out to be Cathrine Stewart and let her know the outcome. I couldn't promise anything because I had another interview in twenty minutes. She gave me a smile and bent over to grab her bag off the floor, which she must have known would give me a great view of her tight little ass, and I wondered if she had a thing for fucking dentists.

Once she was gone I turned away to my filing cabinet and put away a few papers. But then I heard someone come into the office, and I glanced at my watch. "Wow you're early I didn't expect you for another twenty minutes or so." I said, turned toward the newcomer.

I started to smile at the woman standing in the room, but froze. My eyes couldn't register what I was seeing. Could it really be true? Was it her? The woman from the pool hall last night, and from my dreams. I found myself unable to think of something to say. The last thing I expected was to ever see that woman again, even less so to see her here for a job interview.

"Umm, Hello there. I'm Jake Dawson." I kind of stammered, "I uh...You're here for the receptionist job right?" I asked, god I was floundering bad. What was it about this woman had me so thrown off? Oh maybe because she was fucking insanely hot and even now she wore the gothic-like clothing that I loved. Well maybe she would be old enough to be out of school and could commit to the business hours.

I was painfully aware of the seconds ticking by and my fingers drummed in aggravation. I was stewing and my body shook in a cold rage. She was in there a long time and if I closed off everything else I could hear the quite muffling of two voices. Was she giggling?!?! All the muscles in my body tensed and I could hear the metallic wail of the metal chair I was sitting on twist but it didn't process in my mind. All that I could think of were those badly made pornos where girls like that walked into a doctor's office and fucked them dry. My head was shaking no.

It wasn't fair to him to feel this way. I had taken many men over my lifetime but obeying to the code I never made anything of it but a one night stand. Relationships got in the way of work and since we couldn't tell humans about or any of the other things that went bump it was useless to even try. It also made them a target and that wasn't always a good thing to make a human when you were oath bound to protect them.

When the armrest on the left side broke off and almost dumped me on the ground I snapped out of it. Without meaning to I had twisted the arm over and over again until it had broken off. I looked around making sure there was no one there that could have seen me do that. Lucky for me there wasn't. I growled at myself and stood up to throw the piece of metal away acting as if it were just an empty Starbucks coffee cup.

Bad timing on the human's part had her walking out with and confident smile on her face and a victorious sway to her hips. If killing her wouldn't banish me to an empty husk of a life I would have done it. I pulled my helmet off, only cringing from the light with narrowed eyes as I took a deep breath in. I had her scent now and marked it in my mind as a threat.

If you had asked me to explain it, I couldn't. I wouldn't know where to start but only that I didn't like that woman. This was another new feeling for me and like the emotion of love I wasn't dealing with it well. In fact I was handling it even worse. My head was shaking again. I stopped it the moment I realized it and tossed my helmet towards the bike and just like at home it hooked like a horseshoe on the handle.

I had every intention of going back to my broken chair but after pulling a pair of sunglasses out of the pocket of my jacket I moved in the opposite direction. There was a name and business plate on the side of the door that I had never noticed before. I ruled it under not wanting to pay too much attention and knew it was a lie. I didn't want to know his name because I knew better. With his name I would be the kind of stalker that technology afforded; background checks, personal histories, pictures and anything else that was ever mark or stamped about him. Hell hospitals and doctors offices now kept their files on linked systems and it would be a breeze to look him up and know how his last physical went.

"Umm, Hello there. I'm Jake Dawson. I uh...You're here for the receptionist job right?"

His voice combined with the the lack of the woman's scent on him won me over. I visibly relaxed and felt my body go loose as my anger left me. What replaced my anger was just as dangerous to Jake. I swooned over the name repeating it over and over in my mind. Jake. Jake. Jake. I longed to know what his name felt screamed from my lips in the throws of passion. As I sheathed him and my body miked him as I climaxed. I licked my lips and rolled my bottom lip between my teeth a habit made years ago not to show my fangs as I did it.

"Yes." I quickly lied. "I'm here for the receptionist job." Was that why the other woman had been here? I made me feel stupid but no enough to mentally remove her from the threat list. "Althea Methoni." She wanted to say Αλθαια Μεθώνης but it was a name used long ago and had little meaning in this time. My voice I knew still carried the lilt of my native language and I had been told by many people that my accent was both exotic, strange and pleasing. I hoped Jake thought it was too because I wanted the reason of my being here to be the only lie between us and masking my voice to fit would be lie enough to hurt.

Close once again to him my eyes greedily drank him in. His lip! Ah how I wanted to cross the space between us and kiss him. Feel the heat of his body pressed against me. The hard edges of his body fitting perfectly into my soft curves and because we were made for each other we would fit perfectly. I swallowed the knot in my throat but other then that telling sign all looked fine. I wanted to laugh. If only he could read my mind and know what filled it. I wanted in to feel as I felt and I tried willing him to. But it wouldn't work, there was no way that stand this far away from him would ready him. I had to take my time, just like my father did and pray to all the Gods that I knew that he didn't make me wait a year.

So now I had her name, but more than that I had the sound of her voice. She spoke with such confidence and power in her voice that I felt tingles run down my spine. This woman was strange in so many ways, and so many ways I couldn't begin to describe. It was like something about her affected me in the very molecules of my body. And her voice spoke to the molecules that made up my existence.

She had an accent and that was something I didn't expect. It sounded Russian, yet something not...dare i say it had a Transylvanian sound to it? Maybe that was just my imagination. I found myself letting her name roll through my head, sadly I was trying to figure out if I could pronounce it without butchering it. Her name didn't sound Russian but I could spent hours trying to guess where it was from. One thing was certain she wasn't from this side of the globe.

I swallowed hard and said, "Althea." Then I smiled, "I am sorry I hope I said that right, I am terrible with names." I gestured toward the chair across from me and tried to just think about getting on with the interview. "Please have a seat this wont take much of your day."

I opened up the drawer of my desk and pulled out the application form and the W-2 form for her to fill out. I was pretty much determined to hire her, and figured I could work around her restrictions if she had any. Something about her just made me feel...I don't know, good I guess. I wanted to have her around, I was more relaxed in the five minutes she had been in my office than I had been in months. How she was able to put me at ease was beyond me, but if having her around would make my life easier then hell I needed to keep her around.

"So the first thing I need to know, is can you commit to the office hours." I said, my voice almost shaking as if it felt obsurd to make any kind of demand of this woman. "We...uh, we will be here Monday through Thursday from 9 am, till 4 pm. But there's an hour around 12 or 1 in which we close for lunch. Then on Fridays I only open from 10 am till 2 pm. So we have a pretty easy week."

She made no kind of objections that I could see. Her eyes seemed to bore into me, as if she was trying to memorize me. I blushed at that thought, god she was so exotic and it was completely alluring. I wanted to ask her out to dinner, not offer her a job. Ugh, my head hurt. Why did she have to be applying for a job? Now I would feel like a sleezy cocksucker to ask her out, because she would probably say yes in the thought that she must go out with me to get the job. Then if I hired her, it would be completely unprofessional to ask her out.

Damnit.

Either way it was better to have her around than to not have her around. "If those hours work out great, the only other part of the job is some filing and answering the phones. IF you are comfortable answering the phones and talking to people coming to check-in then all that's really left is to fill out these forms so I can start up a payroll for you." I gave her my best friendly smile and slid the forms toward her with a pen hooked onto the top piece of paper.

I shivered and grew damp at the sound of my name falling from his captivating lips. I wanted to hear him say it again and when I took my first step towards him I felt the hesitation in my knees as they threatened to give out on me. I was weakened by this man, by this human and while it scared me like nothing ever had I loved the almost power he had over me.

"You said it correctly." I wished that he didn't so it would give me a reason to have him repeat my name over and over. I took a shaking breath in and smiled sweetly as I took the across from him. I remembered the woman who was here before and her shown off chests and wanted to prove to Jake that I mine looked just as good. Fidgeting as if I was uncomfortable I slowly unzipped my jacket revealing the tight black spaghetti tank top. With a roll of my shoulder that pushed out my chest I coyly turned my head and pulled my arms out and folded the leather garment in my lap once I was done. The tank top wasn't obscene or anything, in fact it fully covered my bra and I was pretty sure that the corset top had been lover cut. Not only that but the top from the night before had also pushed them up and together.

Still there was a nerves thump in my heart as I sat there knowing that my breasts were bigger then the woman's before and hoped that he liked them. I knew that it shouldn't have mattered but I cared and I was sure the pain would be something near to heartache if he didn't like the sight of me. I pushed all of that aside as Jake talked so that I could memorize every letter that he spoke.

Commit to office hours? A memory flashed of my father and we told me what being born of their kind required. 'Because of what we do, we have to interact with people, with humans but we must be unseen shadows who move among them. We must be part of their word, but never in their world. For we are hunters for not only our people but their's as well.' It was the first promised taken and I tried to fit this 'job' in black or white. But no matter how I saw it, it was a shade of gray and because it wasn't breaking the rules I bent them.

He stammered again and I found that trait overly adorable. "The hours sound great. What the pay schedule?" I didn't care about the money, I have more then I could deal with but the whole point of a job was to made money so it seemed an acceptable question to ask. "And what kind of benefits do you offer?" Again with no need for doctors, retirement or any of that other stuff I didn't really care for the answer. I was pretty sure I had heard it asked before either in passing or from a movie.

The only thing that did bother me was having to deal with the sun. It would be out and because of my lack of will on that part even the bright lights in his office seemed bright behind my sunglasses. I cursed myself. If I had listened better and played in the sun more I'd be better prepared for this but it was something that I would have to suffer and deal with. If it meant spending time with Jake it was worth it.

"I'm fine with answering phones. If it helps I speak a few languages fluently." I bragged shamelessly. I wanted this job and short of tampering with his mind I would get it. "I'm also very organized and tidy. So if you need me to clean I'm more then willing to assist you." I took the forms and prayed that I didn't sound too eager. When my eyes met his face again my heart skipped. That smile! My heart almost started hurting before it remembered how to beat again. Maybe I didn't want this job. I questioned myself as my fangs grew hot in my mouth demanding to feel skin under it's points.

Keeping my heart beating and my breathing normal I clutched the pen and in small, neat and flowing penmanship quickly filled out the forms.

Name (Last, First): Methoni, Althea
Street Address: 600-1325 Ward Circle
Phone Number: 808.555.5122
Birthday (mm/dd/yyy age) 05/16/1985 26

The W-2 was a repeat of what the top sheet already asked me but I was fine with that and filled this one out slower. The faster I filled this form out the quicker he would expect me to leave and because of that I left my SS# box empty. If he didn't catch it while I was still here he would need to call me back to at least fill it out and that would give me a valid reason to see him again.

I couldn't delay it anymore. Sitting there any longer with my pen no moving would only make me look like a fool and I begrudgingly pushed the papers back, the pen clipped right where I had found it. It occurred to me only after I returned the forms that I could have handed him the pen and 'accidentally' brush against his hand. Oh well the chance had been missed and I would regret it later when I was alone.

"I don't want this to sound weird or anything but didn't I see you last night at the pool hall?"

This woman seemed perfect in everyway. She was well spoke, and favorable to what I needed from someone in the office. She went above and beyond the abilities I requested in the sense of being bilingual and cleaning skills. I watched her hair fall over her face as she focused on filling out the paperwork. Her penmenship was remarkable, elegant and fancy, yet perfectly readable. It was as if her written words jumped from the page into your mind in perfect understanding.

I took a deep breath and sat back in my chair. I tried to detach myself from my attraction for her, and the professional in me that was just simply trying to get some hired help. But she had to peel her jacket off, as if shedding a shield and exposing herself to me. Ok so she wasn't naked, her breasts not suddenly exposed to my gaze like an offering from the Gods to simply reach out and touch them. But behind the material of that tanktop, I completely had a free view of her cleavage. I could see just how wonderfully shaped her breasts were. Large and firm, her skin was flawless and I mean fucking flawless. I couldn't see so much as a wrinkle, not a vein beneath her silky flesh, nothing.

How could this woman carved from marble now be a part of my life?

As if on que she slid the papers toward me and I leaned forward again to pick them up. If I hurried I could submit these papers to the I.R.S. and put her into my computer system to start a payroll for her. I glanced them over quickly and saw that she had missed a box.

"Ah, oops. You missed a box here." I told her pointing it out to her and sliding the paper back toward her. "I have to tell you, Althea...." again her name was exotically wonderful leaving my lips, "I really like what you've presented..." I coughed, hoping she didn't think that she was about to get the job because she gave me a teasing hint of her tits. "Uh...I mean...Well look I'm not good at this interviewing thing. So let's just screw it and let's have you start on Monday at 9 am."

I smiled and stood up. "I'm going to start you at twelve per hour. Then after ninety days you will move up to fifteen. As for benefits, sadly I can't offer anything at the moment because I'm a private practice. However I can give you free dental work anything you need it." I paused and looked at her mouth. "Your teeth look perfect to me from here though."

"Well Althea, I look forward to working with you." I told her and held out my hand for a shake.

Then she said it. "Didn't I see you last night at the pool hall?"

I completely faltered, hell maybe I even floundered. What was I supposed to say to that? I mean if I jumped out and instantly said, 'Damn right you did baby. I was fucking awesome wasn't I?' well then I would simply be a dick. Speaking of dicks, I had been pretty drunk last night, what if I had sloppenly hit on her and I just couldn't remember it. Then my response would have to be, 'Oh damn, I'm so sorry I hit on you last night.'

I lowered my hand, the idea of a handshake and welcome about thrown out the window. "I umm...I guess you could have, I play in a league on Thursday evenings." I had to pretend I suddenly realized who she was. "Oh hey wait, yeah. I think I remember you. Did you wear like a corset thing last night?" I nodded and smiled, "Well hey nice to meet you then."

I chewed my lower lip and said, "You know I gotta say I was really close to coming up to you and asking you out to dinner last night. But I uh, look I don't want this to get weird but I just thought you were far too beautiful to ever be seen in public with me." I shrugged, "I know it's crazy right, but well, come on you've seen yourself in the mirror you have to know you look incredible right?"

"Oh-" I flushed my cheeks with color and took the piece of paper back and quickly jolted down the numbers. A fellow hunter who we had long ago nicknamed 'Data' was responsible for all information on their people to not only be current but flawless in it's validation. Driver's licences, birth certificates, doctor records, passports and even out bank accounts were handled by him and his blood bound Clover.

There was a shadow of a frown forming on my lips as he caught my 'mistake' but it melted the moment my name rolled from his lips. My body burned so hot that the air seemed cold and my skin broke out in goosebumps. I could listen to him say my name for the next thousand years and I wouldn't tire of it. Jake made the throb in my body worst by admitting he like what I presented. I didn't care how he meant it or in what form but it was about me and I felt joy lighten my body at the same tine that it shivered pride down my spine.

I nodded my head modestly once and smiled. "Agreed, Monday at nine." My head swirled on his words of 'screw it' and twisted them in ways that made me slick with wanton need. 'Screw you'. 'Screw me'. 'Lets screw'. On and on my mind fabricated and formed the crude words but now that I knew the sound of his voice more intimately I could easily imagine him giving me the harsh demands.

Again my head nodded politely as Jake told me my wages and benefits, which only included dental work but as I never got sick and I healed as fast as Wolverine I didn't need any but it was nice of him to offer his services. I even smiled as he complimented my teeth. I was tempted to flash him my fangs but knew that wouldn't be the right thing to do. Not only because I had to make him love me but because I didn't want him to die of fright. "Well thank you." I glowed. "I have to admit I'm really bad about flossing."

I was never going to get used to the way my body reacted to the way he said my name. This time my eyes closed and I had to take a deep steadying breath to calm myself and get control of my body. Which was fighting me fang and claw to just jump him and make his scream my name as I rode us both to satisfaction. I cleared my throat and when my will was strong again I opened my eyes and saw him standing there with his hand out.

I wanted to shake my head no but stopped myself before I even moved. I was having enough trouble just trying to keep to myself I wasn't sure what touching him would do to me. So I distracted him with a question that would made mask the fact that I didn't trust myself to touch him yet, if ever.

Think he remembers me me?!? That spun me around in a whole 180 and killed every flame that burned me. I thought I had been memorable, captivating and I knew that he had looked over to me more then once.

Ak!

I was a jumble of emotions. My blood still called out to him and I could almost taste his but his words iced everything else in my body. "Nice to meet you too. What are the chances, right?" My voice was happy and cheerful even thought my mind was a mess from the war that tore at me between what my body wanted and what my wounded pride fought against.

Right then I hated my father and made him the scapegoat of this mess. Why didn't he tell me that it would be like this. Why didn't he warm me enough and tell me every detail of what it had been like for him. What made him think that I could go thru this unprepared! I didn't care that he had told me that each one of us was different that no one every felt the same as another. No, I needed someone to blame and I make it him.

And like whiplash I was back to being a ball of fire. He had wanted to ask me to dinner. I praised my father and forgotten the hurt of being looked over as he showed his lie with his confession of wanting to ask me out. I laughed when he asked me about a mirror. Mirrors reflected one's soul and because I didn't have one I didn't own one. Sure I could project an image of myself if I push out enough energy to do so. Even with that flaw I guess I understood what he meant. At five nine I was tall and curvy with muscles of a large praying cat. My skin was flawless, ageless and taunt and smooth with youth. Having been created then cursed by a god more vain then the one who created his kind my body was the target of every man and even most women. My breasts were large, firm and perky with dusty rose nipples perfectly centered and pointed slight up. My chest tapered down to a flat tummy that showed strong muscles without cutting hard defining lines. From there my hips curved out perfectly as if made to fit a man's hands. And the upside down heart shape of my bottom was high and tight on legs that were well toned and went on forever.

But none of that mattered to me as I watched Jake chew on his lip and leaned in wanting that to be my teeth that scrapped across his skin as my tongue caressed and my mouth sucked.

I couldn't believe the words that were coming out of his mouth. Too beautiful to be seen in public with him? He didn't know the effect he had on me or he wouldn't have said that. "I would be honored to been seen in public with you." My voice rang with such sincerity that Jake would be a fool to not believe. I wanted to add that I would rather be seen by him in private places with him but bit my tongue. "If you wouldn't think it weird," I said turning his words back on him. "and can look pass the fact that I kind of work for you now, I would love nothing more then to spend more time with you." All of you. It was another thing thought not said. "If not dinner maybe a friendly game of pool, where you'll lose, and a drink or two." I winked then realized that he couldn't have seen that because I still had my glasses on.

It may have been a little late to think about manors now but I took off the shade and nervously looked up. If there was anything that I disliked about myself it was my eyes. My mom had thought it cute her call me her little fae but it was something that had gotten me teased about until I was old enough to shut the mouths of those who teased me. I knew my eyes were unworldly and prayed that they wouldn't scared Jake away.

I couldn't help but smile at her boast of beating me at pool. I held up my hand and waggled a finger, "Now don't go making a promise you can't keep." I teased. I played on a pool league every week and I had only seen her once at the pool hall. How much practice could she have? She was only twenty six after all, okay well bad example because I was only a year older...but come on, it was against my man code to let myself be beaten by a girl.

She slowly took off her sunglasses, and looked up at me. I felt my breath catch in my throat. Those eyes, those incredibly beautiful eyes, this woman was a marvel of the female form. Everything about her seemed to signal her perfect creation. I peered into her eyes and for a moment I lost myself in the Kaleidoscope patterns within her irises. For that moment nothing mattered, I could die right then and I wouldn't much care.

Finally my lungs burned for breath and I inhaled sharply. Then I looked away and smile at her. "You know what, that sounds like a lot of fun. Why don't we meet up at the pool hall this evening, say seven o'clock?" I turned away, mostly because if I continued to look into her eyes any longer she would own my soul. Okay not really, but I would probably say something stupid and I wanted her to know me fore at least an hour before I stuffed my foot into my mouth.

"I'll get your paper work entering into the computer and you will officially be hired Althea." I looked up against and smiled, her eyes were watching me and my heart thumped loudly in my chest. Dear God, how would I ever be able to afford staying within her presence without going mad with need? She struck a very strong chord inside me, and I shivered in the many things I could do with her.

We said goodbyes, and after another minute Althea walked out my door. But it seemed like she was just as reluctant to leave as I was to let her go. Maybe we were having one of those fabled Romeo and Juliet moments, love at first sight. Lust? Something? I don't know, I couldn't really put my finger on it but there was something going on here. Was it really coincidence that I saw her at the pool hall, and then applying for a job the next day? Possibly, but what where the odds of that?

Whatever it was I wasn't going to argue over it. Althea was everything I wanted in a woman, at least form what I could tell, she was beautiful, seemed easy-going, smart, sexy, did I say beautiful yet? I hung my head and pulled the keyboard in front of me. Focus Jake. I put into Althea's information then shut the computer down and locked up.

I got home with two hours before my fated meeting with Althea and jumped into the shower. I used the extra time to shave and make sure every part of me smelt as fresh as possible. I wanted to look as good for her as i could. Well damn I hardly knew the girl and I was acting like my life would be over if I didn't absolutely impress her tonight.

I debated on dressing up to meet her, but decided that I wanted her to see the real me. So I put on a T-shirt and jeans. My idea was that if she how me at my most relaxed, then maybe she would relax and open up to me as well. If nothing came of this night, I wanted us to at least be able to be friends so that we would work well together.

On a normal night I would have walked to the pool hall and walked home to give me the freedom to drink all I wanted. But it was warm out tonight and the last thing I wanted was to walk to the pool hall and end up sweaty before I even met up with Althea. That would be embarrassing. So I drove and found a parking spot in the back.

I was a few minutes early and the only cars in the lot were the employee cars. I glanced at my watch then decided to wait in front of the pool hall for her. My stomach burned to see her again. My loins itched at the thought of seeing her. She wore those gothic outfits that just lit a fire under my nuts and I couldn't wait to see what she came in this time. In the shower I had realized that those outfits played to my vampire fantasies, like Kate Beckinsale in Underworld. I wonder how her body would have felt against me while she wore that tight leather.

There was a warmth that spread in my chest at his smile. "I never make promises I can't keep." And for as much as I tried the smile on my lips hinted at things that it shouldn't have. I wanted to believe that the look and heat that I felt from Jake's body was because he hungered for me the way I hungered for him but he was human and there was no called from my blood to him. Everything I felt was completely one sided and there was a pain in the knowledge. I buried it and even this that dulling thought the smile on my face never once flickered. How could it when he agreed to spend more time with me.

"Seven o'clock sounds great." It would give me just enough time to get home and take a nice nap. I was immortal but I still needed my beauty sleep and I wanted to make sure I looked my best for tonight. "I can't wait." I happily admitted already planning what I would wear. I didn't care for the feel of denim on my skin and preferred leather and silks.

The shiver crumbled the control I had. I had to get out of here before I did something stupid, like scare him or jump him. Or scare him because I jumped/raped him. I mindlessly nodded at what he had said trying with every fiber in my body to not reach out and touch. It was nearly impossible and my body was screaming out with the injustice of it but I managed.

I was glad that this time when goodbyes were said he didn't offer me his hand in a shake. In my head I saw him reach out to shake my hand and I lifted it to my lips and sucked his pointer finger in my mouth. My tongue swirled around it and when I pulled it out I gently scarped my teeth against it, letting him feel my fangs. The image was so realistic that my tongue rubbed the roof of my mouth searching. I clamped my jaw tight and stressed the need to get out of here again.

Unsure of what to say and fearing that if I opened my mouth I would say something foolish or stoop to begging I just smiled and waved and I backed away from Jake and closer to the door. With the door handle firmly gasped in my hand I turned and raked my eyes over him once more and left putting on my shades again as I stepped out into the sun.

I didn't even bother with my helmet as I scrambled to get out of here. I didn't want to and my body fought my moving sluggishly but I overpowered it and straddled the motorcycle wishing it was Jake before zipping off down the road.

The moment I was home I set an alarm an hour before our date and fell into bed. Sitting out during sunlit hours was exhausting. It was almost as bad as shopping
but it was well worth it from what I gained from it. I had a job and while I didn't care about that I was working for Jake and that made it the most important thing in my life. Yet somehow even better then that was the date I had with him. My mind tried to tell me it wasn't a date but I didn't listened to it as I fell asleep dreaming of the best case scenario for tonight.

Needless to say when I work up to my alarm some hours later I was worked up and horny beyond all belief. I growled low in my throat and with the speed of my kind took a shower, dressed and readied myself in less then an hour. Pushing my reflection I looked at myself and smoothed my hair, fixed my make-up and fussed with every little thing that my fingers touched. I wasn't quite sure of what they called this black and red leather look now a days but I hoped it wasn't still filled with superstitions about devil worshiping and virgin sacrificing.

I wanted not to care how he would see me. I didn't know his 'type' and not knowing made me feel weak and so unlike myself. For a second I thought about changing into something 'cute and girly' but even if I decided I wanted to change I didn't have anything in my closets that could be called 'cute' or 'girly'. Annoyed that this was all I had and praying that it was good enough I left the house forgetting that I was playing human and flashed to the rooftop of the pool hall.

Even though I had finished with enough time to be early my fussing over my appearance and worrying over what I wore made me late. I spotted the 911 turbo instantly and my heart started pounding hard enough I could swear that I felt it and it hurt. I could feel that he was close and I forced myself not to look around for him. I let out a shaky chopped breath thru my nose and jumped off the roof to the dark alley behind the building.

Jake was here, I could smell him and it made my mouth water. "Jake." I whispered the name and goosebumps shivered over my skin. With a smile I shook it off and rounded the corner shocked to see him waiting there in front of the pool hall. I paused and my eyes behind the mirrored sunglasses narrowing. How could I explain why I rounded the corner the lead to a dark and somewhat spooky alley. I wasn't sure what I would tell him if he asked. I have no problems lying and could even lie with the best of them but I didn't want to lie to Jake.

"Jake." I said him name again without meaning to and goosebumps covered me again. I wasn't sure if I was mentally prepared for tonight but there was no way I was going to rain check tonight. "Jake!" This time I was aware that I called his name out and I lift my arm in a wave as I approached him with a smile on my face.

I don't know how long I was waiting in front of the pool hall for, but it couldn't have been long. Despite that, I was freaking out on the inside, wanting to pace but barely holding myself back for doing it. I feared that she wouldn't show up. I didn't think to write her number down, and I couldn't call her. She couldn't call me either, I mean what if she had texted me to say she couldn't make it or something.

Then she rounded the corner and my jaw nearly hit the floor. Althea walked toward me wearing this black ensemble that made her just look unbelievably stunning. The outfit was perfectly teasing as well, hints of her smooth stomach and promises of deep cleavage just had my body wanting nothing more than to feel her beneath me.

I blinked as she came up to me with the most amazing smile I have ever seen. "Wow Althea, you look absolutely incredible." I told her stepping up to her as she came up to me. I half lifted my arms as if I would pull her into a hug, hesitated a moment then decided to go for it. I smiled and pulled her into a casual hug, not wanting it to get completely weird. It was a hug you'd give someone from work, but I let my hands drip down to her lower back so that there would be no hiding my interest in her. I closed my eyes and wished I could hold her, the way her breasts were still big enough to press to my chest like this just held too much promise for me.

Finally I slipped back and said, "I'm so glad you could make it." I turned and opened the door for her. "I hope you are ready to get your beautiful little butt kicked. I'm make you buy me so much beer." I teased.

We went into the hall which was busy because of a Friday rather than a league night. Mac, the owner, saw me and waved me over. "Hey Jake! You need a table tonight?" He asked.

I nodded, "Yeah Mac if you wouldn't mind."

Mac smiled and eyed Althea beside to me. "Anything for you Jake, and you've got yourself a really beauty here. Good god who is this fine young lady?"

I smiled and put a hand on Althea's shoulder, "This is Althea Mac. She's my new office assistant and I'm taking her out to show her a good time. Maybe she'll show me a good time later." I was joking of course, putting on a big show for Mac even though I never seemed to need to do much to impress the guy.

Mac waved it off dismissively, "I'm sure you are not the ladies man you think you are sir." He winked at Althea and then handed me a V.I.P pool card. "Go claim a table Jake and I'll give Althea here some drinks for you two."

I took the card and nodded, "Great thanks Mac. Be right back Althea." I said and moved off to find a table I liked.

* * * *

Mac waited until Jake was out of human earshot and turned his gaze onto Althea. His demeanor was not longer friendly and welcoming, instead it was cold and serious. "You listen to me you bloodsucking blight. I know what you are and I don't know what your game is. But you stay away from Jake. He is just a good guy, who never needs to learn of the world we are from. I am guessing since you haven't killed him yet you have felt the power in his blood." He waved his hand again and started pouring a couple of beers. "I will only say this once, leave him and never come back. Walk out the back door and never return. I will make up a lie for you. Because if you stay and pull him into this world only to let something happen to him I will personally make it a mission for me and my entire pack to hunt you down and make you suffer." He told her, letting the wolfblood flow through him so she would be able to feel the power coming form his body. The Alpha Werewolf was a man that should not be crossed, even by a vampire. "I am granting him pack protection as of now, so keep your fangs out of him and get lost."

I blushed with the praise. "You don't look too bad yourself. In fact I would even go as far to say you look delicious." The word rolled from my lips dripping with every bit of sensuality that I felt gazing at him with hot hungry eyes still hidden by my glasses. What he did next shocked the looked from me and froze me to the stop. This was the first time that our bodies had ever touched and my head swam with the heavenly feel of it. I would never got to heaved, just a fade of darkness until you're chosen to be reborn but if there was a heaven for my kind it would feel like this. A warm body hard and fit that fitted to mine like a puzzle piece. My pupils are naturally dilated differently to see better in the dark but when his body touched my and pressed for a hug my pupils narrowed to needle points and my body rang out with a want so sharp it was painful.

My arms wrapped around him and I returned the hug a shiver going down my spine at the feel of his hands on me. Leaning my head in I breathed him in. Her scent was clean and crisp but it was the scent of his skin, his blood that called to me the most. I was glad he was the one to move back fist because I never would have. It was hard enough to keep from closing every inch that separated our bodies. I wanted to feel the weight of him on top of me and I didn't care that we were int eh middle of public in front of a pool hall he visited every week.

"I-I-" Every nerve ending in my body was burning for him and there was a tremor in my body that I couldn't stop. I cleared my throat as tried again to speak without stuttering. "I wouldn't have missed it for the world." I sang in horror at myself that the Ronnie Milsap song had just came out of my mouth. There was no control over myself, I sighed in my head. This wasn't the first time that I had thought that but I didn't realize how bad it could get. I just prayed that it didn't get worse. I would sacrifice an number of bulls to whatever God promised to help me stay calm and sane around Jake. "If it'll make the game anymore fun we'll go beer for ball. So every ball the other person makes that's a beer that they owe them." I had been kind of hoping that a voice would come to me and take my offer but where there was nothing I let it drop and deal with it myself.

Glad to have something divert my attention to my newest obsession of memorizing every millisecond of having Jake's body against mine, I followed Jake into the hall. He was a regular and part of the league here so it didn't surprise me the owner called Jake over. I listened to them talk like friends and when Jake put his hand on me I leaned into it and had to stop myself from kissing the tips of his fingers. "What's that saying? Ask, and Ye Shall Receive." It wasn't a promise but I would be more then happy to follow thru with it and my smile hopefully said as much.

Mac didn't seem convinced and it ruffled my feathers for some reason. The ruffled turning into anger when he winked at me. I didn't like this guy but I tried to stay friendly as kept the smile on my face.

"Okay." I watched Jake move my eyes fixated on his ass as he walked away. Boy does he have an ass made for biting. I snickered. There was a roll of tension and barely contained rage that washed over me and it put me on high alert though from the outside nothing changed. When I turned to look back at Mac everything had changed and I could feel the power of the alpha wolf.

Fuck!

How did I miss that?!?! I yelled at myself as my smile grew cocky. I knew the answer to that, it was Jake. If I had been of the right mind I would have noticed it before but whenever I was around Jake nothing else seemed to matter. I would have to work on that. It wasn't just dangerous for me but it was dangerous for Jake and I wasn't willing to risk Jake's life because I got sloppy.

"Ohhh bloodsucking blight." My voice shook with mocked fright. "Really that's all you got? Couldn't you pick something a little less 'b' rated movie worthy?" I sighed in a tired voice. I didn't care that the wolf was only trying to keep Jake safe but I didn't listen to the calm logical side of my brain because what I heard was this mutt trying to keep me from my blood bond. "Heel Balto." I snapped the growl low in my throat. It wasn't wise to taunt a alpha but in a public place like this there wasn't anything he could do about it. I let my power roam over the entire pool hall and the surrounding building just in case. Yeah there were too many humans here for him to start anything even if there were an handful of non-human auras that I read.

"I can promise you this." I walked over to the wolf and trailed a finger down his face just to piss him off. "You keep me from my bl- Jake and I will be the biggest pain in the ass you've ever met." The voice I spoke with was cold but somehow cheery like a school girl's. "Give him all the protection that you want but I'm not leaving." I flashed the bottom tips of my fangs so only he could see. "So it seems like you're stuck with me." I chuckled stepping back as I heard the footsteps of Jake coming back. "I don't care if you kill me but if you fail at your job to keep him safe I'll find a way to come back and kill you. So I guess that's two promises or three depending how you see it." I stuck my thumb in my finger and pricked the pad of my thumb with my fang and pulled it out of my mouth and watched a bead of blood form before the wound healed. "Tell me if I'm lying." I teased the wolf knowing that my blood was as poisonous for him to drink as his was to me.

Mac didn't like the feel of this vampire's aura. It was strong, stronger than any other blood sucker he ever felt. Back in the days of the war, before the sides had to call a uneasy set of peace due to human technology becoming to advance to hide all-out war, Mac had hunted and slaughtered many of her kind. The vampires, useless, blood sucking monsters, were very different in levels of power. Some were nearly impossible to kill, others were child's play. This one though, was strong than any of them.

He looked at her and wondered what her angle was. Why here? Why Jake? Sure the boy had a power in his blood that was like a beacon to her kind, but it wasn't enough to make him such a target that unseen pack protection couldn't keep him safe. Then Mac's eyes widened and he looked back at Jake. He had heard a rumor long ago, that the strongest of the vampires were vampires that had found a mate. A mate with the blood that could call to their own and enhance their power and enable reproduction to occur within the vampire's system.

"No!" Mac hissed, leaning toward him. "Why him? You can't possib...." Then Jake walked up with a smile and Mac's attitude changed on a dime. "Alright here's your drinks," he said, setting the beers on the counter, "Jake take it easy on the lady alright. It's not polite to beat a girl without mercy."

Jake smiled, "No problem Mac, I'll be nice and gentle with her."

Mac watched from the counter as they went to a table. The vampire seemed to completely ignore everything else in the world but Jake. It was like the world shut itself off to her when he was around. To her there was only him, he had never seen someone give that kind of attention to another. The blood within Jake must be stronger than Mac had ever realized.

And if he was a target to one vampire.....I might mean he would be a target to others.

* * * * *

So I had a table set up for a simple game of eight-ball as it was the most straight forward type of game of pool. Not that I didn't believe that Althea could play another game-type, I just prefered eight-ball to anything else. I grabbed a que off the wall and smiled at Althea.

"Now normally I bring my own que." I told her with a smile. "But I'll use the rental crappy ones to make it a fair game." I said taking a drink of my beer and setting it down on a counter near the table.

I gestured to the table, "Would you like to break?" I asked, I didn't care either way and something else had occured to me when I was setting the game up. If I happened to walk around the table while Althea took her shots, I would get to stare at her ass in her tight pants while she was bent over. Her ass looked incredible standing up, man I shuddered to think what it would look like bent over for my eager eyes.

I saw the reaction and knew that the wolf knew. "Thank you Mac." I tried smiling but knowing that this Alpha knew what Jake was to me put me on edge. I didn't want anyone to know and it wouldn't be long before the mutt opened his trap and squealed like a stuck pig. I didn't hate were's in fact because of my job there was a lion pride in Vegas and a pard in Seattle that I had worked with for years to hunt and kill the slayers of my kind. It wasn't always the easiest of alliances but it had worked and I had even been able to make friends with a few of them. But I didn't know this wolf from any other stray and to me that meant danger and because of that I felt even more prone to taunt the k9.

"Beers." I smiled as if it were gold in my hands instead of glass bottles. I handed them to Jake and when he took them I placed my hand on his cheek and trailed it down his jaw until I held his chin. Eyes flashing to Mac I turned Jake's head slightly so it exposed his neck to me and I licked the pulse in his jugular. "I assume you got us a good table?" I asked letting him go and stepping back as if nothing had happened. It was a stupid move on my part but I wanted to mark him as mine for the wolf to see but the consequence of it lit the tip of my tongue on fire. The spice of his skin was earthy and tasted of a coming storm. It was addictive and my legs were shaky as I followed him to our table forgetting already about the wolf.

I smiled and grabbed the que next to the one that he had picked. "Oh a man who comes equip with his own stick, I like it." I joked trying to busy my mind with anything but the taste of him. Stupid, stupid, stupid! I repeated over and over in my head. What I wouldn't to do pin him on this table, to- I stopped myself from finishing that dream.

"I'd love to." I placed the cue ball off center. Leaning my body over the shot and keeping my back heel centered on my point I pulled back and made contact with the cue and following thru watched as it hit the point ball dead center. I smiled a sly little smile as two solids were pocketed. The rest of the balls had spread widely over the table and the cue ball rested in the middle of the tightest cluster.

It wasn't the best position for the cue to be in because the balls that I could hit touched others and the ones that didn't were more tricky to sink. Not that I didn't try but I was only able to make one more ball in having gone for the touching cluster of four and landing me in a position where all I had was stripes. What I did try harder on was pointing my butt out and towards Jake as I shot.

I liked the idea that he was looking at my ass and when I shot again I bent over and glanced back at him. I still had my glasses on and I took that time, bet over the table looking back at him to remove them. I was being a pain and I was enjoying it. But it was my shot and I didn't want to make him wait for his turn. I hit the cue ball and watched it bounce off the walls just grazing a solid and stopping near the 8 ball.

"Your turn." I smiled putting my glasses where our beers were and picked up my bottle and took a sip.

I didn't know if she was teasing me or what. Ever since I left her alone for a moment with Mac she had been acting so much more forward it seemed. From the lick on my throat that I swear was still tingling. What was it about her that affected me so much? I mean that lick, was clearly a tease, yet it had the promise of so much more. It clouded my mind, she was just a beautiful woman. I've seen plenty of beautiful women before, what was so different about this one.

I watched her take her shots, eying the way her body seemed to flow from one curve to the other. Her backside was amazing and within the confines of her tight outfit, it made her seem streamlined. Even more so, was the way she stuck her ass out toward me while she shot. Like she knew what I wanted to see. I was paying so much attention to her sweet little rump that I didn't notice that she took an extra shot on the table.

She turned toward me and slowly took off the sunglasses letting me see her beautiful eyes. She smirked and turned toward me, reminding me that no matter how good her ass looked, she also had a fantastic mid-section and wonderful breasts to complete the package as well.

I stepped up to the table and looked out for the first time at the damage she had done. I saw three missing solids so she hadn't done too bad for a start. But the cue ball was placed right near four strips which was going to make beating her very easy. I looked her way and winked then took a shot easily sinking a strip and positioning the ball for another free sink. I purposefully missed the fourth ball so that I could watch her again, though.

I stood up straight and turned to her with a smile. "I guess the score is even."

I stepped up to her and looked into her beautiful eyes, moving close. "Althea, let me ask you something." I said softly, "What do you say about ditching the crowd and go share a bottle of wine at my apartment. It's quiet and we can talk and get to know each other." I said.

I moved to the wall and set my stick on the rack. "I am normally not this forward Althea, I swear it. But I can't help but feel like there is some strange energy between us, and I have never been attracted to anyone the way I'm attracted to you." I paused and stepped up to her, almost close enough to be pressed against her, "So what do you say?"

I knew the way Jake played pool and it wasn't like this. He was the hunter and everyone else the pray. Hit strikes were true and powerful and it was with near calculated ease that he would set up for his next shot before he had even taken his first. He wasn't playing at his best, he was doing just as he said he would with Mac, he was being gentle with me.

If it had been anyone other then Jake I would have been mad. I was skilled and with my age and vampire abilities pool was child's play for me and I didn't need him to treat me like a woman but that wasn't the way I felt. I was warmed that he was giving me what he thought was a fair try. She understood how much fun constantly losing was and how quickly you could lose your interest in a game because of it. And I also couldn't blame him for the same thing that I did. I wasn't into the game as much as I should have been but I had other things on my mind that took priority over sticks and balls.

I wanted to bite his lips, lick his smile. "Even." I chuckled over the word. With my fumbled extra shot and his purposefully missed one we were even. "I'm not sure we're really paying the proper attention or respect to the game as we should. I know I'm not."

I loved the look his Jake's eyes as he stalked closer to me, it sent a shiver down my spine that traveled straight to the core of me. His softly spoken words ripple across my skin like a disturbed pond, I leaned closer to his body. "I would say?" What I should say is no. Being alone with him while he slept was one thing. Being alone with him after knowing the feel of his body and the taste of his skin was idiotic. My mind was still telling me to say no but the words that fell from my lips were something completely different.

Before I was able to answer he pulled away and put his stick up on the rack. "You couldn't lie to me even if you wanted to." Well he could try but I could hear his body, from the beats of his heart to the breathes that he took. I could also see the heat of his body if I focused my eyes to see it.

The thing he said about the energy between us, I didn't know what to say. There wasn't anything that I could say until he loved me and there was only lust in his body for me but it was a start. I was bound to silence and I refused to lie to him. So I stayed silent to his statement.

He pressed close again and my body sang with the heat of his. I stepped up to the challenge and pressed my body into his. "Lead and I shall follow." I said softly whispering the words against the skin of his neck. Even just pressed to him my body reacted to it. My heart got faster, my breathes quicker and the fire in my body roared to life. My breasts tingled and tightened to almost the point of pain. My body was a mess of hot and cold and worst of all was the throbbing in my core that almost thrust my hips against Jake's.

Oh how I wanted to bit him and it was a miracle that I refrained from doing it. The memory of the angry Papa-wolf might have something to do with it but I doubted it. Thoughts of the wolf ran my heart even faster. Someone knew. I let my powers fly out again reading the area again. I didn't like that someone knew and now that I had reminded myself the urge to bind Jake to me was even stronger.

"Come." I grabbed his hand smiling even though the numbers of non-humans had almost doubled since the first sweep. "It's getting loud in here and your idea of ditching this place is sounding more and more pleasurable." I reached out with the hand that didn't burn in his and covered my eyes again with my glasses.

I was delighted when she grabbed my hand and began to usher me out of the pool hall. I looked around for Mac as we passed the bar. I wanted to at least signal to him that I was leaving, but he was nowhere to be found. That was odd, Mac was always around, if he wasnt at the bar then he was at a table talking to people. But he was nowhere in sight. I was tempted to stop Althea just a moment so i could say goodbye, but the possiblity of getting laid overwhelmed that idea.

It was then that it occured to me that i had not gotten any action in a substantial amount of time. The last girl i was with must have been a year ago at least. My body must have been more aware of it than my brain was because now that i was holding Althea's hand with the propect of having sex in my apartment, my body was pulsing with the desire of it. Not to mention that Althea blew every girl out of the water in terms of hotness.

I hoped I was about to find out what a super model looked like naked on top of me.

We got out to the parking lot and something made me look into the sky. Full moon, huh. Funny i never usually notice that kind of thing despite my vampire werewolf collections of media. Tonight though the moon was gigantic. One of those wierd really full big moon nights that happen from time to time. Cool looking.

I turned to Althea and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "Your car will be safe here if you wanna just ride with me in my porche....and i am bragging just a little bit." I told her with a little smile.

"I am afraid I cant let you go with her Jake." Mac said.

I spun in surprise to see Mac standing there. He had taken off his shirt and now stood before us topless. I blinked in confusion, "Mac? What the hell arr you doing man?"

"She is not good for you Jake. Just do me a favor and walk away."

"No Mac. Look what is this about?" I demanded. I couldnt understand why Mac would stop me. He usually encouraged me to pick up on girls at the hall. Like he was always trying to set me up, though for whatever reason i usually refused. No girl had ever attracted me the way Althea did.

Mac made a strange face, like he was trying to hold back a really big shit. "Jake run!" He roared and suddenly his entire body began to shift and change. My eyes widened as his body grew and shifted. He grew fur and his skull thickened. His face burst forward and began like a wolf. His hands cracked and became clawed.

"Holy fuck!" I cried.

The werewolf Mac roared at me in response then threw itself at Althea.

I followed his gaze up to the sky and noted the large full moon. I've never worked with dogs before but from what I knew of the were's I worked with in the past the moon called to them but their change was a choice for the most part. The weaker and younger weres changed with the moon but the ones I had personal contact with were just called not controlled.

My car? I laughed. Having flashed here I didn't need to worry about a car. "Just a little but I think it's cute." I returned the squeeze and froze at the sound of Mac's voice.

How didn't I let the mutt get so close? It was a different question with the same answer, Jake. I was really going to have to work on that. All I saw and felt was Jake, I circled him like a planet around the sun. There was a hint of anger at myself. This wasn't the first time I had thought that tonight yet I didn't seem to be making any head way to changing. I prayed that having the alpha sneak up on me was me lesson learned.

"Mac this is a bad idea." I said the same time that Jake demanded that Mac answer him.

Fuck, things were about to go from nice to messy. "Damn fucking dogs!" I cursed as Mac changed. "Run Jake!" Mac and I cried at the same time.

Jake's scream commanded my attention and I turned to see that he hadn't moved. "Jake! Ru- Ouff." Mac slammed his body into me and I was driven to the ground hold the were by his neck. "Dammit!" I tucked my legs under the belly of the wolf and kicked up with all my strength. "Don't you guys have vet check up where they give you rabies shots?" I yelled at the wolf, my voice tired even though every cell in my body was alive and buzzing with adrenaline. My kick sent him flying a few feet but that didn't mean much when they were almost as fast as her kind.

"Jake, sweetie, now would be a good time to get in the car and go home. I'll met up with you later." I nodded my head and ran to close the distance between me and the wolf first landing a solid punch on the side of it's head as it tried to get up. If Jake even so much as had bad dreams about this I was going to kill them all, peace treaty be damned.

Althea shoved me aside a second before Mac crashed into her sending her to the ground. I blinked and tried to get things through my head. Mac had just turned into a motherfucking werewolf. No this wasnt possible. I had to be dreamjng, i dreamt of shit like this all the time. Maybe i had too many beers with Althea tonight and passed out and this was simply all a dream.

Althea got her feet under the wolf and shoved him off of her. The force sent him a few feet up and away. Then he instantly scrambled to get up only she was already there, i hadnt been able to see her move. She was just there and her fist crashed into Mac's face. The wolf staggered back and Althea once again urged me to get home.

I didnt know what to do. I mean i didnt think my year of bullshit kung fu was going to help. And unless the werewolf man had a bad molar my profession wasnt helping either. I reluctantly darted to my car and jerked open the door.

Then something else hit to door closed and knocked me flat on my ass. When i looked up another werewolf was on the roof of my car glaring down at me. "Shit....hey no Fido. Bad dog." I said as I crawled backwards.

The second wolf leapt at me, only to be hit in midair by Mac's body. I looked and Althea was there hooking an arm under mine and jerking me to my feet. I looked at her and said, "I think those are fucking werewolves. What the fuck is going on?"

I was utterly and completely lost. Suddenly things that i thought were make believe were prooven truths. If they were wolves then what did that make Althea? She fought Mac off like he was little more than a toy.

Mac was on his feet again, "Dont let her take him. Bite him you must."

"Bite me? Hey no no fucking biting. I am a no biting kind of guy." I cried. Altheas gripped on me tightened and suddenly the world MOVED. Everything became a blur of motion as well i think we escaped.

Bite him! My world turned red with rage. They wouldn't touch him as long as I was alive. I wanted to sooth Jake, I wanted to take the fear and shock out of his eyes but the longer I stayed there the more would come and with Mac's order to not let him go I wasn't left with much of a choice.

"Touch him and die." I growled. I loved how the wolf told me not to harm Jake yet he was willing to curse Jake to a fate worse then being loved by me. I wanted to kill, everything in me screamed at me to let loose and show them who I was. But I had Jake and nothing came before his safety.

I had never done this before but it wasn't a problem for me to flash us from this place to one of my family homes. I said nothing as I crossed to lawn to my favorite home in the U.S. There was a legend about it being built by witches and knowing my father it probably was. It would explain the crackle that snapped at your skin when you walk thru the doors. To me it was just home.

"Um, this isn't the address I wrote down on the application." I didn't want to look at him, I didn't want to see the look on his face as he realized what I was. To make matters worse the front doors opened by itself. The main reason I loved this house was it's aura, it was like it was alive and knew who I was. It even proved to be something of a mind reader placing lost things on table tops when I could seem to find them.

I reviewed the last few minutes and cursed my luck. Mac turned into a wolf. He attacked me and I showed myself by fighting back. Then I made it even worse by flashing him away from there and then my possessed house opened it's doors without assistance from anyone or anything. If Jake didn't run as fast as he could it would be a godsend. I didn't want to have to wipe his mind. How was I going to get him to love me if everything he saw something I didn't want him to see I wiped him clean like a hard drive. My body even seemed to understand the situation and had flipped off tuning all feelings and emotions and opted for blank numbness instead.

I was in sensory overload. Everything that I had seen in the last twenty minutes was just pure insanity. Despite that, I wasn't panicking. Probably thanks to my inherent fandom for these creatures. I didn't like werewolves the way I liked vampires but they fit together in the same mythology like peanut butter and jelly fit on a sandwich. The rush through the city was just a blur in my mind, now we were suddenly in front of a house nearly overgrown in moss yet looking completely elegant for it.

Althea marched toward the front door with a now air about her. She owned this property and her attitude said that very clearly. As I followed her I remained silent, not trusting my voice to really say anything more than a few squeaks. We approached the front door and the doors opened like magic, letting us inside without breaking stride. I paused and looked behind the doors as we passed them, there was no one there. They closed the same way, and I figured they were automated.

I turned back and glanced around and I swear this place looked like something cut from a midevil castle. It was cool in here, almost dungeon like, but yet it also felt like a home. Uneasing and relaxing at the same time.

I stopped and didn't really know what to say, Althea knew something though. She seemed unshaken about werewolves appeared before us. Hell she fought them on equal ground, or maybe unequal ground. It was hard to tell. She just threw those giant animals around like they were toys.

"What...." I stopped and licked my lips. "Althea, you aren't human are you?" I asked, not sure if I wanted to know the answer. "You fought a werewolf and didn't get so much as a scratch. I mean, I think it was a werewolf. God that was Mac. I've know that guy for years."

I sighed, wanting to sit, but not trusting myself to move anymore.

I heard the shatter of my heart echo thru my entire body with that simple question. I wouldn't lie to him but I really, really didn't want to answer that question. "I'm sorry Jake." I whispered. I had yet to face him after the truth of my actions but I had to, it would just as bad if not worst then a lie. Part of me just said to run. I had never been a coward in my life and it was a feeling that coated my body like a thick nasty oil.

No, I wasn't going to run from this and whatever came from it I would bare it with my pride intact. I took a deep breath and turned to face Jake. "Mac wasn't just your normal werewolf he was an Alpha leader of his pack. I'm not too sure of the rule with wolves and the moon but it has less of a draw for cats." I started from the easiest to the hardest. I swallowed hard and lock eyes with Jake. I would look him in the eyes as say what he already knew. "As far as me, no, I'm not human."

And my body covered in ice and everything in me died. He was apparently in shock, the reality of what was happening to him had yet to hit him. It was the only reason that he was freaking out right now. "I'm what your kind calls a vampire." I took my glasses off and threw them down the hall. "If you can bare it and wish your questions answered I will answer them for you." I looked away then and walked down the hall past my discarded glasses to the large living/seating area and took a seat nearest to the fireplace. Which roared to life the moment I sat down. The wood was ceder and burned with a scent near to the smell of my skin my mother used to tell me. To her and everyone since had always said that I smelled of a strange mix of ceder fire smoke and lily of the valley. I used to lay in my mother's lap and smell my arm but could never smell the things that everyone said I smelled of.

I pet the column behind me. The house burned pear wood for my mother and pine for my father. Tho neither of them of them smell of their wood. I wondered what she would burn for Jake.