Vampires Dead Ahead

FIVE



Colin and I had an early dinner at a restaurant on Cedar Street that served terrific Indian cuisine. Afterward he wanted to go to a movie at a downtown theater. He loved movies. Being from Otherworld, Colin had never known anything like them and had been hooked from the first time he saw one. It was still early enough that I could go to a movie and not shift until at least half an hour after it ended.

It was a comedy, and by the time it was over my stomach hurt from laughing so much. Between one of the funniest scenes I had ever witnessed—walking in on Olivia—and the movie, my stomach hadn’t stood a chance.

As we walked back to his car, Colin looped his arm around my shoulders. “How about my place for a beer or two?”

Colin enjoyed a good Belgian, and I’d found I liked them as well. I nodded. “Sure.”

He lived in a nice co-op on Sixty-sixth Road in Queens. I simply loved being around Colin. I didn’t even mind shifting from human to Drow, or vice versa, during my time with him. As long as I had a place to shift in private, I was more than happy.

“Wonderful,” I said after I took a long drink of the beer Colin had handed me. “Next to martinis this has to be my favorite.” I winked at him. “Even better than an elderflower Tom Collins.”

He gave me an embarrassed grin. I liked to find ways to tease him about the time we met after he’d been putting on the Dragon charm in a talent competition at the Pit. It had taken Hector three bottles of St. Germain elderflower liqueur to counteract the effects of his paranormal charm on all of the female patrons once his show was finished. I’d never let him live that one down.

“How about some popcorn and another movie?” Colin was really good at changing the subject.

“Sure,” I said with a smile before I went into the guest bathroom to shift.

When I came out, Colin had an old-fashioned stovetop popper out. The corn kernels rattled in the bottom of the pan as he shook it over the gas heat. In minutes the kitchen smelled of popcorn. When it was finished, we took a big steaming bowl of it into his large living room to share. We set it and our bottles of beer on the coffee table.

While Colin picked out a movie, I parked my butt in our favorite place to sit: on the floor in front of the coffee table with our backs against the sofa. The popcorn was good and buttery as I ate a handful of it and waited for him to set up the movie.

He hit the controller, and a huge screen dropped down over the large flat-screen TV that was hanging on the wall. A few seconds later the screen lit up from the ceiling projector and the lights dimmed.

“Now, this is the way to watch all of the movies you collect, Colin,” I said. “Love it.”

“This is one I haven’t watched yet,” he said as he slid down beside me. “The reviews on the Rotten Tomatoes website look almost too good to be true.”

“What movie is it?” I asked as his shoulder brushed mine.

Colin grabbed a handful of popcorn. “The Terminator.”

“You haven’t seen The Terminator?” I raised my eyebrows. “You will love it.”

He looped his arm around my shoulders. I rested against him until the action scenes became so intense that I was leaning forward almost digging my nails into my palms. It was fun getting to see others doing all of the fighting for a change.

When it was finally over, I sagged against the couch. “That was great.”

“Guess you could call us a pair of action junkies,” he said. “You would think we’d get tired of it after what we do every night as Trackers.”

“Never.” I looked up at him and smiled.

“You know how much I care about you, don’t you, Nyx?” Colin said as he lightly stroked my arm.

I tilted my head to look at him and saw the depth of emotion in his eyes that made me catch my breath.

“When I’m with you I feel complete.” Colin brushed strands of hair away from my face. “I don’t know how you feel and I won’t ask you to tell me. I just want you to know how much you mean to me.”

Colin lowered his head, and butterflies danced in my belly as his face moved closer. He brushed his lips over my mouth, so soft at first that it made me give a little moan. Then he pressed his lips more firmly to mine.

His kiss was amazing. Fire and passion mixed in with the depth of his caring.

When he drew away, my gaze met his. “You make me feel so good, Colin. Cherished, cared for, protected.”

“That’s because you are.” Colin cupped the side of my face.

“You get me.” I shifted so that my face was close to his. “You understand me in a way that no one ever has before. We’re so alike in so many ways.”

Colin smiled. “You’re beautiful, funny, intelligent.” He tugged on my hair, and I looked at the contrast of the blue strands against his golden skin. “You’re adorable, too.”

Then I tugged his long hair. “Talking about something adorable, let’s talk about you.”

“Me?” Colin laughed. “Stuffed dragons are adorable. Real Dragons aren’t.”

“Well, you’re entitled to your opinion.” I twirled the strand of hair around my finger. “We just disagree on this subject.”

Over the past six months I’d come to know Colin fairly well, but there was still a mystery about him to me. I wanted to know more about him. He seemed to be a bit uncomfortable talking about himself, but I wasn’t going to give up.

“I was just thinking earlier today how little I really know you.” I trailed my finger down his finely carved biceps. “There’s a lot behind you in your past that I know nothing about. I want to know you.”

“Uh-oh.” Colin threw his head back and looked up at the ceiling. He had that crooked smile on his face that I loved. He slowly brought his head down and his eyes met mine. “Do we have to do this?”

I gave a single nod. “Yes.”

“Okay. Ask away, Nyx Ciar,” he said. “What would you like to know?”

There was something about the mixture of his confident expression with his smile. He had me. Forget the questions, I wanted to kiss him.

“Okay,” I said. “Let’s start with how someone who is as hot as you isn’t taken already.”

“What?” Colin shook his head and laughed. “That’s your question? How about you just get to know me better and you come up with your own answer on that if you don’t already have one. Next.”

I rolled my eyes. “Well, so much for the ‘ask away’ comment.”

He shook his head. “I said ask away, I didn’t promise I would answer away.”

So many strong males could not talk about their feelings. I hoped Colin was different. I needed that in a man, but this wasn’t starting so good.

“Let’s begin with how you ended up in this Earth Otherworld.” I continued to stroke his arm as I spoke. “Why did you leave your part of Otherworld?”

Colin cocked his head and looked more serious all of a sudden. “Those are memories I don’t like to think about. Let’s try another.”

I was beginning to understand why he didn’t have anyone. I was an open book, but I couldn’t even get out of him why he left his Otherworld and why he wasn’t involved in a relationship.

“This isn’t going so well, is it?” I said, adding a smile. I didn’t want to frighten him off by pressing too hard. At least not just yet. “But I want to be with someone who’s a little more transparent than a brick wall.”

Leaning forward, I got right up in his face and poked him in the side with my index finger. “You don’t want anyone to know you, do you, Colin? Is there a gate somewhere to this wall you have built around you?”

I gave him a quick kiss on the lips and sat back.

A bit of a pleading look came to his eyes. “Can’t we just do more of that kissing stuff? I am better at that than talking about myself.”

“Let’s make a deal.” I braced myself on my elbow and forearm. “More kissing after more telling.”

Colin shook his head with a look of resignation on his strong features. “You have quite the persuasive way about you, don’t you, Nyx?”

I leaned back into him and gave him another poke in his side and a kiss that lingered a bit longer this time. “I’ve been told that.”

“You’re right, I don’t talk much about me. I’ll admit I’m guarded.” Colin was talking in a quiet tone. “I guess life has made me that way. I have a story, a journey, like all people do. Some of that story I’m proud of, other parts, well … not so much.”

He looked down before he continued. “There are things in my past that I haven’t talked about with anyone. But I will tell you. There’s something about you, Nyx, that makes me feel I can trust you. Something about even the way you’re asking now. You want to know me, and you are so accepting of me and what I am. I’ve seen that quality in you with so many paranorms whom others aren’t accepting of.”

I hadn’t seen Colin so serious before. “Now you have me wondering about this dark past.” I laughed. “What are you, a serial killer?”

Colin smiled. “I do have somewhat of a dark past, but nothing like that.”

“Then tell me,” I said.

With a sigh, Colin started talking. “My parents died when I was a child. I was sent from home to home—foster families, as norms would call it.” He shrugged. “I was rebellious, angry, and I had a temper.”

“You?” I raised my brows. “You’re so even-tempered now.”

At that, Colin laughed. “You have no idea how hard I have to work on that.”

He grew a little more serious again. “That anger and temper manifested itself into me going into Dragon form and spewing fire to show how tough I was. Frequently I ended up in fights, always needing to prove myself. To show everyone that I was somebody.”

I thought about that little boy he’d been and my heart hurt for him. A young Colin, desperate to fit in but not knowing how to do it without anger.

“And then one day I more than lost my temper, Nyx.” Colin looked away from me for a moment before he met my gaze again. “It was over something that didn’t even matter. But I burned down an entire village.”

My eyes widened. “An entire village?”

“Yes, it was an accident, but I did it when I blew up. I was kicked out of my Otherworld.” He sighed again. “You can imagine why.”

“You were kicked out of your Otherworld? It must have been so hard for you to be alone.” I squeezed his hand in mine.

“It was better than the alternative,” he said. “They thought about putting me away in prison, but they decided the strongest punishment they could impose was banning me from the world I grew up in and the only world I knew. Turning me out into a place I knew nothing about.”

He continued, “And to some extent they were right. It hasn’t been easy. I’ve never truly felt at home anywhere.”

“Wow,” I said. “That must have been so very hard. What did you do next?”

“I traveled to different Otherworlds in my human form,” he said. “I even petitioned a king I worked with and asked if he could do anything, saying I would continue to work for him as a Dragon, protecting his princess.”

“The king you mentioned when you were talking with my father,” I said.

“King Durkin.” Colin nodded. “He was a good man and a good king. But in the end, he could do nothing for me, though he wanted to. He knew I’d made a mistake that I regretted.”

“Then what?” I asked.

“I went to two Otherworlds and never felt accepted as a Dragon. Then I had the opportunity to come here, to the Earth Otherworld.” Colin dragged his hand down his face. “A Sorceress owed me a favor, and she used the transference to get me here. I couldn’t do it myself the first time.”

I tilted my head to the side. “When was that?”

“Long enough ago for me to learn human ways and to become at ease with the human language,” Colin said. “I did one form of metalwork or another over the decades.”

“How old are you?” I asked.

Colin looked thoughtful. “On my birthday next, I’ll be one hundred and two. Give or take a couple of years.”

I stared at him. “Really?”

“Your father is over two thousand years old,” he said. “I’m but a babe next to him.”

“True.” I gave him a teasing grin. “But in Earth years you’re robbing the cradle.” I shifted myself so that I could study him more easily. “What about relationships?”

“I was in a few relationships in the other Otherworlds that I lived in.” Colin said. “Paranorm females loved the fact that I’m Dragon because it made me out as some sort of bad boy.” He gave a little smile. “Females like to play with the bad boys. But I never got them to get serious.”

He continued, “So I dated a few norm women. After the first couple, one of whom I was in love with, I knew it wouldn’t work out. When it came down to it, as a Dragon I was too different,” he said. “They knew they couldn’t take me home to Mom and Dad and tell them I was a Dragon. So I avoided serious relationships to protect myself. I decided just to have fun.”

“That’s why Adam and I broke up—the fact that I’m so different.” I still felt a little sad, but it didn’t hurt as much now. “How could he explain having a wife whose skin changes at night? He wouldn’t have been able to, and it wouldn’t have been right for him to miss out on family and friends’ events and sleepovers because his wife turned amethyst after dark.”

Colin kissed me. “We’re a lot alike, you and I.”

“Yes,” I said. “I like that.” I paused. “You don’t seem to have anger issues now.”

“I’ve had to temper my anger,” he said. “I’ve really had to work at it. I don’t regret my past … it has made me the man I am today … a better man than I was. But I still fight aspects of my nature.” He held my gaze. “I need someone who understands it.”

“I get it. There are things I have to work at, too.”

“I didn’t want to be that person, the one who loses control like I used to.” He rubbed his face with his hand again. “I learned to turn that on with the bad guys, and have avoided burning down villages ever since.”

His gaze looked faraway for a moment. “Not a day goes by that I don’t think of what I did to my own village. Not one day goes by I don’t think I would like to go back and see the people I grew up with. And I think about the danger of that happening to the people I care about. I can never let that happen. I can never lose control like that.”

He continued, “So when you bring this up, Nyx, it’s hard to talk about because it forces me to dwell on a past that I’m not proud of, and I feel like I have left behind. But you want to know me, to understand me … Well, this is me. Do you want to leave now?”

“Leave?” I said. “Are you serious? None of us is perfect. I respect you for not being bitter. For being willing to change aspects you didn’t like of yourself.

“So many say people can never change,” I went on. “That is not true. Life has a way of changing people. You either become bitter and defiant and angrier. Or you recognize and take responsibility for areas where you’ve fallen short and change them. You changed, Colin. You are not that person.”

“Thank you for saying that. I would like to think that I have changed. Being a Tracker helps. It allows me to direct the anger and flame those who deserve it.”

“Thank you, Colin.” I smiled at him. “You shared a lot.”

“More than I thought I would,” Colin said. “I haven’t told anyone that since I left my Otherworld. It’s all you, Nyx. That persuasive side of yours.”

“Persuasive side?” I asked.

“Have you forgotten so soon? Time to pay up, Nyx Ciar. The kissing for telling.”

Colin jumped on top and pinned me down and smothered me with his kiss. It wasn’t too hard for him. He was met with little resistance.

He drew back and studied me with his burnished-gold eyes, the passion in them making me catch my breath.

Something twisted in my abdomen and my heart beat faster. I tried to swallow but my throat was too dry. All this time Colin had been so good about giving me my space. But now I saw desire there that was almost too much for him to hold back.

Then he kissed me harder, deeper, and I kissed him with the same fierceness. I brought my fingers up to the sides of his face and slid them into the soft strands of his long hair.

Thought really didn’t come to me. It was all about caring and need and the deep affection I felt for him.

Colin clasped his hands around my waist and without breaking our kiss he rolled us so that I was straddling him.

He slid his hands into my hair and caressed my scalp. I felt myself slipping, wanting to be with Colin in every way possible.

To catch my breath, I drew away from Colin and immediately missed his lips, his taste. I met his eyes, which were now like liquid gold.

He moved me so that our foreheads touched and we still held each other’s gazes. “You know I would never push you into anything you’re not ready for.”

I twirled a long strand of his hair around my finger and gave a little smile. “Thank you, Colin.”

He kissed me lightly before settling his hands on my hips. “I’ll wait for you, Nyx.” His voice was soft, sensual. “I’ll be here when you are ready.”