Chapter 22 - Intrusion

WARNING: This chapter contains strong language and explicit sexual content (pictures included).

A week later, Allanna and Xavier were celebrating their one-year anniversary. Linley was sleeping peacefully in her crib while the two had a romantic candlelit dinner in the apartment.

"This is so nice," Allanna remarked as she dug into her spaghetti. "You really are quite the romantic."

"You're surprised? I've had a few years to perfect that trait."

"I know, but it's just so nice because it's never been done for me before."

"I can't imagine why. Someone sure missed out on something special with you."

"Oh, stop."

Xavier just chuckled in response as he savored his meal. He, like other vampires, could eat this food, but it didn't do anything to help his thirst. It tasted good, but it didn't help him in the long run. But it helped him blend in with a crowd if he was surrounded by humans.

When they finished their meal, Xavier cleared the plates away. Allanna stood up from the chair, and he zipped toward her with his lightning-fast speed before she could get away.

"I have something for you," he said in a tone that barely contained his excitement.

"I know," Allanna replied, "you told me last week that you got me something. And I told you that you didn't have to, because I felt bad that I didn't get you anything."

"To which I replied that I didn't expect anything from you in return apart from your love. Really, Allanna, I got you something because I wanted to. I love you."

With that, Xavier dashed into the bedroom and dashed back out in a matter of seconds. He was holding his hands behind his back.

"Allanna, my love," he began, "you are the very fiber of my being. You're my essence and my reason for existing. I love you with all my heart, even though it no longer beats. I'd like to present you with these..."

Xavier withdrew his hands from behind his back to reveal a dozen bright red roses. The aroma indicated that they weren't artificial, and every single one had been carefully selected to create the perfect bouquet.

"These are beautiful!" Allanna exclaimed as she happily took the flowers and breathed in their sweet scent. "Thank you so much!"

"You're very welcome, although they're not nearly as beautiful as you. However, there is more than the roses."

"More? Xavier, I know you aren't hurting for money, but those roses sure weren't cheap. What more could you possibly give me?"

"Just another token of my love for you."

Xavier then withdrew a small velvet box from his pocket and handed it to Allanna. She put her flowers on the table and opened the box to reveal a lovely gold necklace with a heart pendant dangling from the chain.

"I know how werewolves are when it comes to silver," Xavier explained, "so I went with gold. Besides, I think gold is more fitting for true love."

Tears filled Allanna's eyes as she looked at her husband. She immediately put the necklace on and then wrapped her arms around him tightly.

"Thank you so much," she whispered into his ear. "This necklace is beautiful, I really don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything. I love you and I wanted to show you how much I did. Although, I guess I could have gotten you silver if you preferred, since you explained that you can wear it so long as it doesn't get into your blood..."

"No, gold is fine. You picked it out with your own heart, and that's the one I want. I love it, almost as much as I love you."

Allanna then pulled back and planted a kiss on Xavier's icy lips. "I have to confess," she then said, "that I did get you something. I got it one day when I took Linley out with her stroller. That's the only way I could get you something without you reading my mind."

Allanna then excused herself and went into the bedroom. When she came back out, she was carrying a small rectangular box wrapped in gold paper with a silver ribbon tied on it.

"It's not much," she said apologetically, "especially since I've never shopped for a man before, but I think it fits the romantic factor."

Xavier unwrapped the paper and found himself looking at a box containing some very high-end cologne. It was a nice brand, and it even had a scratch and sniff sticker on the front of the box. The odor it was releasing was very masculine, and that was just the way he liked it.

To express his satisfaction, he picked Allanna up and covered her mouth with his, much to her delight.

"This is great," he said as he set her back down, took the bottle out of the box, and sprayed a little onto his neck before sitting down on the couch. "I love it. Thank you, Allanna."

Allanna couldn't restrain a smile. She was so relieved that Xavier liked his gift. She hadn't been sure that a vampire would have any use for cologne, but she was thrilled to find that her husband used it eagerly.

In fact, with Xavier sitting there on the couch looking so handsome, and wearing that very masculine cologne, Allanna realized just how stimulating it was.

"I can think of something else to give you for our anniversary, and for another way to thank you," she said with a wink.

"Oh, I wonder how," Xavier said sarcastically, but in a seductive, far from argumentative tone. Allanna just smiled as she positioned herself above him.

"You're so beautiful," Xavier said as he looked at his wife in awe. She was the perfect specimen of womankind, even if she was half wolf. Her abundant bosom was dangerously close to his face, and he felt the familiar hardening south of his belt.

Just because they were married and parents didn't mean their sex life would plummet.

Allanna responded to Xavier's compliment by spreading her legs and sitting on Xavier's lap, cupping his face in her hands. She gazed longingly into his eyes, and he knew, both in his own mind as well as hers, that they'd made the right decision. Even if their relationship and the life of their child was forbidden, it didn't matter. All that mattered was that they were together.

Their mouths drew closer together like a magnetic force until at last they touched. Xavier picked Allanna up and, their lips never separating, carried her to the bedroom. There, they stripped down to their intimates as their tongues took turns exploring the insides of each others' mouth. They hoped Linley, even with her advanced hearing thanks to her parents both having that ability, wouldn't hear the commotion.

Without saying a word, Xavier lowered Allanna onto the floor. She didn't even care that it wasn't as comfortable as the bed. She was too busy enjoying her husband's kisses and how his fingers were fondling her.

"Xavier," she moaned under her breath in ecstasy. His cool lips brushed against her cheek and his fingers traced her flat stomach before settling on top of her bra. He could read in her mind how badly she wanted this. But one of his guilty pleasures was that he enjoyed teasing her. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore.

"Please," she begged, her voice rising to a squeal, hopefully not loud enough to wake Linley in the adjoining room, "take me."

Xavier didn't hesitate. He stripped off his boxers and Allanna removed her lingerie. With his brute strength, Xavier turned Allanna around so that she was facing the bed. With one quick, hard thrust, he entered her. It took all she had not to let out a scream.

"Oh God," she moaned as her nails dug into the bed. She began to slide down it, hardly able to keep herself standing upright in the throes of passion.

"Holy shit," Xavier grunted from behind. Just like before, he'd picked up on Allanna's habit of moaning during coitus. He positioned himself so that Allanna's new position didn't cause the sex to cease. He wasn't about ready to end this. It was their one year anniversary, and he wanted to make every second count, and last for as long as possible.

"Fuck yes," Allanna said in a tone that was half whisper, half scream. She was trying so hard not to shout, not only for Linley's sake, but for the sake of the neighbors. Her moaning just turned Xavier on more, prompting him to thrust even harder.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Allanna bellowed, even louder than before. "Please, don't stop! That's it!"

Allanna hoisted herself up and Xavier arched his back as he felt his release. And during that release, he couldn't restrain himself - his fangs elongated and sunk into the tender flesh of Allanna's shoulder.

"Ouch!" she yelped as he pulled back, their breathing rushed. "What the fuck was that for?"

"I'm sorry," Xavier said between gasps, "I couldn't help myself. It was just so...good."

Allanna looked at the gash on her shoulder as blood erupted from it. It wasn't a lot, but she did dash to the bathroom to wrap it up. Xavier followed her with an apologetic look on his face.

"I'm so sorry," he said glumly. "I shouldn't have..."

"It's okay. I take it as a compliment. But next time, ask me, okay?"

"All right, fair enough."

Just then, Linley's cry emitted from the next room. Xavier, with his lightning fast speed, dashed into the bedroom, threw his clothes back on, and darted into Linley's room. He picked up the crying toddler and held her close.

"What's the matter?" he asked her soothingly as he snuggled her against his chest. "Did you have a bad dream?"

"Nose," the toddler replied.

"Nose? What about it? Do you have a stuffy nose?"

"NOSE!"

Xavier read Linley's mind and ascertained that she was trying to say "noise", not "nose."

"Oh...," he said awkwardly. "You heard some loud noises? Great, I guess your mom and I weren't as quiet as we hoped we were."

Linley just looked up at her father with curiosity in her eyes. To get her mind off the noise that had awakened her, he grinned and attacked her with "the claw".

"I'm gonna getcha!" he teased as Linley squealed with glee when Xavier's fingers tickled her tummy.

"What's going on?" Allanna asked as she entered the room, back in her anniversary dress.

"I think Linley heard us," he said as he continued to tickle their daughter.

"Oh, great. I knew she'd get super hearing abilities. I wonder, are hers even more accelerated than ours? We both have advanced hearing abilities, but she has both genes."

"That's a good question, but only a doctor would be able to tell us that. And I don't know about you, but I don't want to take her to a human doctor. What would they say if they saw all that in her body?"

"I know, and that scares me. There's a lot about our own daughter that we don't even know, and we have no one to ask."

Xavier nodded understandingly. He had the same concerns as his wife regarding their child. They weren't even sure what kind of creature she was for sure. Did a name even exist for what she was?

Xavier feared that, since they had no one to ask, they'd never find that out.

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

Two years later...

Linley was now three years old, fully capable of speech and walking, and she was even fully potty trained. She practically took care of herself, but she was still a child, so of course she had to be provided food (and blood), not to mention toys to keep her occupied. Sometimes the only way to get her to fall asleep was by putting her in the swing her parents bought her, and letting her drift into unconsciousness to its sweet lullaby.

"You know," Xavier said one day as Linley enjoyed her swing, "Linley's old enough to be in preschool now. Maybe we should think of enrolling her. She's certainly intelligent enough."

Allanna looked at her husband like he'd lost his mind. "You can't be serious. What would she be like with other kids? She still craves blood and who knows what would happen? Plus, for all we know, someone may kidnap her."

Xavier had to think about that. Allanna did have a point. Still, he wanted his daughter to have as normal a life as possible. And that included going to school.

"What do vampires do for school?" Allanna inquired.

"Well, vampires don't go to school. They have no need for it. Their parents teach them everything they need to know. Besides, they're trained to hunt humans, not coexist with them. What about werewolves?"

"We can choose when we transform, except when there's a full moon or when we get super angry, but we still go to school like normal kids. We don't hunt humans, so there's no risk of getting caught. Of course, we can still control ourselves as a wolf, so it's not like we'd attack someone without knowing it."

"I see. Do you think Linley will have the ability to transform?"

"I'm sure she will. For us, when we're about 8 or 10 years old, we transform for the first time, but only when there's a full moon. It happens because it's in our blood and our nature to change, so we have no choice. If you know it's coming, it's best to stay away from humans, because you don't want to get caught. Plus, that first time is very painful. But that's it. After that, it's pretty easy to change between forms."

"So, you're saying that when Linley is around 8 years old or so, she'll uncontrollably turn into a wolf on the night of a full moon, and experience excruciating pain when doing so?"

"That's just a guess. She's part vampire too, so she might be strong enough to fight the pain. The most important thing is we keep her away from humans when we know it's coming. I even wonder if it'll happen sooner, or at all, because of the vampire genes in her body."

“What about the rest of the time when there's a full moon? And getting angry?”

“I’m guessing she’ll have the same lack of control over that as I will, and have to transform during a full moon even if she doesn’t want to. Then she’ll have to wait until the sun comes up, or until she calms down, to turn back into a human. But again, like I said, that’s just a guess.”

"There are so many things we don't know about our own child. It’s frightening.”

“I know; there must be something we can do. But what?”

Before Xavier could answer, a strong scent penetrated the room. Both Xavier and Allanna knew who that stench belonged to. It couldn't be anyone else.

As if on cue, the glass on one of their windows shattered open and a dark figure dashed toward Linley. In seconds, Linley was out of her swing and in the arms of the intruder.

"No!!!" Allanna yelled as she jumped off the couch, preparing to transform. But it was too late.

Mortius disappeared out the window, carrying a crying Linley in his arms.