Chapter 11 - Unexpected Visitor

WARNING: This chapter contains very graphic/detailed nudity, strong language, and sexual content.

“I’ll tell you what that was,” Xavier answered in response to Allanna’s question about what the fuck that was. “That was amazing.”

Allanna was still huffing for air. No big bad wolf could blow down any house and need to gasp for air as much as she did now.

That was the kind of love making that Cynthia was always telling her about. That was how it was supposed to be. Xavier’s happy trail that she’d seen earlier hadn’t led to disappointment.

“I’m glad you think so,” he said smugly. “You weren’t too bad yourself.”

“I’ve never had anyone that good.”

“I have to say, the feeling is mutual. Though I must also add that I’ve never had anyone that loud, either.”

“Hey, I’m part wolf. We don’t howl at the moon, and I have no idea who invented that stereotype, but we can howl for other activities.”

“Technically, you didn't need to shout. I could have read your mind. But I found it highly amusing, not to mention sexy.”

“Thanks for sharing.”

“That was quite the imaginative way to thank me. I only wish I also had a gift to give you instead of just taking you out for your birthday.”

“Believe me, what you just gave me is all the gift I need. I just wanted it to be a kiss, but I guess we both got carried away.”

“I’m not complaining.”

“Neither am I.”

Xavier surprised her then by wrapping an arm around her naked body. She was sweating thanks to her spiked body heat, not to mention from the strenuous activity she’d just done. His cool skin felt very relieving.

Allanna felt her eyes beginning to close. Xavier had taken a lot of energy out of her. She finally gave in and let herself fall into a state of perpetual sleep. She felt Xavier do the same next to her, and she didn’t ask him to retreat to the couch tonight.

********************

Xavier didn’t fall asleep as soon as Allanna. His mind was too focused on what had just happened. He felt no regrets, and with his arm wrapped around what was supposed to be his greatest enemy, he felt a sense of caring and protection that he hadn't felt in a very long time.

However, when he did manage to drift off into unconsciousness, he was disturbed by images of a red-eyed vampire taking Allanna’s life, and he was powerless to stop him.

When dawn finally broke, he woke up and crawled out of the covers, then stared down at Allanna, sleeping peacefully. What was the significance of that dream he’d had? The red eyes had been unmistakable – he knew of only one vampire who had eyes that color, and that was Mortius. But why had he been killing Allanna in Xavier’s dream? And more importantly, why did that bother Xavier so much?

Yes, he was very fond of her, and he was extraneously attracted to her, but the way she made him feel, and the thought of that dream…did he feel something more?

Finally, Xavier shoved himself off the bed and threw on some clothes. He wanted to prepare a breakfast for Allanna. It wouldn’t be the same as her hunting a meal, but at least she wouldn’t go hungry.

Unfortunately, one thing their exquisite hotel suite didn't offer was a kitchen. But Xavier knew that there were some places downstairs to buy food. He rushed downstairs to get some ingredients, then headed back upstairs to prepare French toast. He did so as quietly as possible so he didn't disturb Allanna, who was still sleeping behind the open bedroom door.

As he prepared the toast, Xavier contemplated his dream. He had a hunch he knew what it meant, but he was almost afraid to admit it. Still, there was no denying how he felt, and the fact that he hadn’t felt like this since Scarlet. Was he really falling in love again? He’d swore that would never happen again, but here he was, feeling the same feelings, only this time perhaps stronger, and for a werewolf of all things.

But then again, his own mother had fallen in love with a werewolf. Maybe an attraction for the opposite species was hereditary. Unlikely, but that was beside the point. Was history repeating itself? Obviously it wasn’t impossible for a vampire and werewolf to fall in love, but it was pretty frowned upon.

Still, he wasn’t sure of Allanna’s feelings for him, and he wasn’t entirely certain that what he was feeling was love. He just knew that he thought he’d been in love with Scarlet, and this time the sensation was stronger.

If Xavier was in love with Allanna, that spelled trouble for both of them. It was unthinkable for them to even be civil to one another, but to be in love? It was downright forbidden.

Allanna then woke up, her nude torso sliding out from under the covers, tempting Xavier to jump back into bed for round two. Or perhaps to christen the hot tub next to the bedroom. Instead, he said, “Good morning. I made you some breakfast.”

“You did? You didn’t have to do that.”

“It’s all right. Consider it a birthday breakfast.”

Allanna smiled before lethargically pushing herself out of bed and putting on some clothes. She walked toward the mini bar and sat down as Xavier put her toast in front of her.

“This looks and smells great,” she said with satisfaction as she dug in.

“I’m glad. One good thing about living forever, you get plenty of time to learn to cook decently.”

As Allanna ate, she asked Xavier, “So, I was wondering…do vampires physically age as they get older?”

“Well, it depends actually. If one is born a vampire, then yes, but it’s a very long process. It would take probably three times as long for us to age one year physically as it does five years for humans. I'm an example of that. However, Mortius turned himself into a vampire, so he won't age as he gets older.”

“And can you turn into bats and fly?”

Xavier got a good laugh out of that one. He literally threw his head back and replied, gasping for air, “No, I’m afraid not. That’s an old legend. We can move very fast, especially at night, and some elder vampires can teleport, among other things, but that’s it.”

“Elder vampires?”

“Yes, a few vampires are several hundreds of years old. Myself, I’m only a little over a century. But Mortius, he’s around 500. The older a vampire is, the stronger his powers are. The oldest ones can teleport and control the minds of others.”

“That sounds downright creepy. The mind-controlling part, anyway.”

“I guess it would, from the perspective of someone who isn’t a vampire. But now I must ask you – since we were underground, and therefore unable to tell if it was day or night, I’m not certain, but can you transform into a wolf whenever you want? Or is that restricted to night?”

“We can transform whenever we want to, but we always prefer to do it at night. There’s less chance of being seen that way, and hunters usually aren’t out at night.”

“Of course.”

“There’s one exception though – when there’s a full moon, we have to transform, and we can’t transform back into humans until the sun rises. That comes from when werewolves first came to be, since they’re said to have gotten their powers from the full moon. So we can’t control shifting on those nights.”

“What about Cynthia? She works at night; surely she has to work during the full moon.”

“Well, she makes a note of when the next full moon is, and she plans ahead to call in sick that night. She starts acting sick a couple of days beforehand, then calls on that day and says she won’t be in that night. So far no one has suspected anything.”

The two continued to converse as Allanna ate, both learning new things about the other. Eventually, Xavier sat down next to her and brought up the courage to ask, “Do you regret last night?”

Allanna looked up from her plate and said, “I thought I would, but I didn’t care. I’ll be honest, part of me was curious about what it would be like. You know, sleeping with a vampire. Although I guess now it could be considered sleeping with the enemy. But anyway, I was somewhat curious, but I really wanted to. I guess it’s just been so long…but, wow, you really know what you’re doing. To be honest, you’re a sex god.”

“Why, thank you.”

“I’m serious, Cynthia’s always bragging about what a good lay she had and how good he was, blah blah blah. I never knew that kind of pleasure until last night.”

“Would you be opposed to doing it again?”

“I don’t know…it should feel wrong, like I made a huge mistake, but…I don’t know, it still feels so…right.”

“It must have, if you were so adamant that we continue despite not having any means of birth control.”

“Oh, shut up. I told you, it’s been a while.”

“You were physically and sexually frustrated. No wonder you’ve been so cranky. At least now you got your exercise. Actually, you got both.”

“Zip it.”

The two chuckled together before a deep voice spoke from across the room, “How sweet.”

Xavier’s back stiffened and Allanna jerked her head toward the source of the voice.

“Mortius,” Xavier snarled.

“Indeed. It’s been quite a while, hasn’t it, Xavier?”