I slept like the dead. Well...not literally because it's been a proven fact several times over that I am not actually dead, but you know what I mean. This bed was seriously amazeballs and if I could have thought of a way to strap it to the top of my Gremlin, I totally would have. Stretching like a cat after a nice long afternoon nap in the sunshine, I rolled over on my back and slowly blinked my eyes open.
Two glowing, diamond icicle eyes stared down at me and a set of white fangs blazed in the dark. Which really wasn't technically dark. Not to me and my trusty vampire vision. Too bad that didn't help out with the creep me the hell out factor. Waking up with two eyeballs and fangs looking down at you only inches away from your face, is every horror movie script brought to life.
I screamed like a girl, pulling the covers clear up to my chin. Now, in my defense...I am a girl, so I totally owned the right to scream like one. Besides, everyone screams like a girl. It would be amazingly awkward if someone screamed in a real low pitched voice.
Once the final bits of my "Aaaaarrrrggghhhhhh," faded away, I realized Fang was lying on his side. His handsome head suspended by his hand propping up his chin. Watching me. The covers had fallen low across his hips revealing his chest. His naked chest. His very well-muscled, with perfect pecs, a smattering of delicate dark curls and fantastic abs...naked. His two nipples, pert in the coolness of the room, stood out like two small pepperonis. Making me hungry for pizza...and other things.
Wait. I gulped. He hadn't went to bed that way. Had he? Quickly, I peeked under the covers I had clutched in my hand to check to make sure I was still fully clothed. Thank goodness...I was and hadn't turned into a sexsomniac sometime during the night...or...um...day. Stanger things have happened. Becoming a vampire was definitely on the top of my list of strange shit.
"Holy Moses on a pogo stick!" I bolted upright and scowled at him. "Don't do that!" I started groping my way towards the edge of Satan's satin acres. Somehow, I had ended up in the middle of the gigantic bed and judging by the divots...wrapped around him. "And stop smiling, you look like an idiot," I grouched.
"And a good evening to you too, Red," he purred cheekily, grinning wider.
"Shuddap," I muttered as I scrambled over to my side of the bed with all the grace of a pregnant water buffalo.
He laughed a deep, dark...morning voice...type chuckle. It was sexy as hell, sending a small shudder through me. Which I stubbornly ignored.
"I take it you are not a morning person."
"Not anymore, genius." I pointed a finger at my chest. "Vampire, remember?" Rolling my eyes, I flopped back amongst the sea of pillows. "And just to set the record straight...no. I never was a morning person before at least one pot of coffee. Half the time, I am not even an afternoon person." I waved my hand in a shooing motion. "If you want bright eyed and bushy tailed, go chase a squirrel," I grumbled.
Another rumbling chuckle came from the other side of the bed and I frowned. In my humble opinion there were only two types of people in the world. Morning people and the folks who wanted to shoot morning people. The only thing that kept me from being a mass murderer was I looked terrible in stripes and jail house orange.
He bounced over to my side like an excited puppy, hovering over me with a stupid grin on his face and a well past five o'clock shadow on his chin. He looked better than he had a right to and I wanted to slap him.
"Then, by all means, let's remedy the problem and get some coffee in you." Dipping down, he plunked a wet kiss on my lips before bounding off the bed and heading toward the door. One pass of his "open sesame" hand and he was striding down the hallway.
Buckass naked.
The sight of his perfectly toned backside as he walked was as glorious as watching the moon come up. Suddenly, I was wide awake. The sight sending a jolt of adrenaline through me more powerful than a cappuccino with for shots.
Why the hell was he naked? Flinging back the covers, I popped out of bed like a piece of toast being flung out of an overly ambitious toaster. Rounding the behemoth bed, I found the pajamas he had worn when we went to sleep, laying in a pile on the floor.
Grabbing his tank top, I brought it up to my nose and inhaled. The heavenly musky scent made my knees tremble and I had to sit down. Fang obviously slept in the nude. A little smile quirked up the corner of my mouth. He had made an attempt to sleep clothed for my sake and hadn't taken any liberties with me when he very easily could have. Maybe he wasn't such a bad guy after all. Dammit.
Sighing, I walked over to the mirror above the dresser. Oh good grief. My hair was a massive, tangled rat's nest. Squinting, I noticed a dried white trail of slobber traveling from the corner of my mouth down past my chin. Great. Instead of worrying about why he was naked, I should have been grateful he hadn't chewed off his arm to get away from me this morning. Licking my fingers, I quickly scrubbed off the evidence that I drooled in my sleep.
I was in the process of combing my fingers through my hair, when Fang reappeared in the reflection. Thankfully for my libido...and to my inner hussy's dismay...he was freshly showered and dressed in a pair of leathers with a body hugging black t-shirt tucked into them. Sweet baby Jesus. I didn't know what was worse, naked or those damn leather pants he seemed so fond of.
My eyes drifted from his body to the white cup he held in his hand. Sniffing, I caught a whiff of life's sweet elixir. Coffee. Turning, I made grabby gestures until he handed it to me. Taking it, I brought it to my eager lips and took a sip. It was perfect, black, strong and delicious.
"Better?" he asked, giving me a little smirk.
I took another sip. Instead of killing him...I now only wanted to maim him...a little. "Much."
"Is it safe to try and have a conversation with you now?"
"You can try," I muttered, rolling my eyes. If there was one thing non-morning people hated more, it was being talked to while they were trying to enjoy their coffee. But, since he had been a real gem and brought it to me, I will cut him a little slack.
"How about if I came bearing gifts?" He cocked his bothersome eyebrow at me, but because he said the magic word gift, I ignored it.
"What is it?" I asked over the brim of my cup, trying to hide my excitement. What can I say? I love getting gifts...so sue me.
"Come and have a look." He tossed the bag on the bed.
Trying not to jump on it like a zombie on a cadaver, I slowly set my cup down on the dresser and casually ambled over. Reaching in, I pulled out several delicious sets of new undergarments in a rainbow of colors. And not the cheap K-Mart stuff either, but the kind you saved for special occasions. I was elbow deep in bikinis, hipster shorts and...oh my...thongs. All of them gorgeous and my size.
"How?" Was all I could ask as I hugged the silky pieces to my chest.
He shrugged one of his massive shoulders. "I gave your things to Mason last night and he went shopping."
Okay...that was sort of perverted, but under the circumstances, beggars couldn't be choosers. Although, the thought of the grinning Mason wandering around the women's department of a store...probably humming to himself...did make me shudder just a tad.
Walking slowly to Fang, I raised up on my tippy toes and planted a kiss on his surprised lips.
"Thank you," I said, giving him a genuine smile. Fangs and all.
He stared at me for long moment, blinking those gleaming eyes of his for a few seconds before he gave me a catlike grin. "You're welcome."
It's amazing what clean underwear will do for a girl's mood. Freshly showered, I dug through my goodie bag of lingerie and chose a silky crimson pair of panties with matching bra. Donning them on, I did a little shimmy in front of the mirror. Goodness, the fit was so perfect, I might hire Mason to be my permanent personal pantie purchaser. Wow...try to say that five times fast.
Pulling on my freshly laundered turtleneck, curtesy of the incredible Mason, I reached for my new pair of black skinny jeans and slid them up. The material clung lovingly to my legs and I admired them as I slipped my feet into the red open toed pumps. Oh yeah, baby...these shoes were the bomb-diggity.
Turning with a giggle, I gathered up my unruly red curls and quickly brushed them back into a ponytail which I secured with a hairband I luckily found in the bottom of my purse. Studying my reflection, I slipped on the waist-length, black leather coat and dabbed a little pink lip-gloss on my lips. I pulled my hair out from under the jacket and gave it a little fluff as it fell down my back. Straightening the collar, I stood and took in the effect of my efforts.
"I am so damn cute, it's downright scary," I said saucily, blowing my reflection a kiss.
By the time I was finished in the bathroom, I was practically skipping. That was until I ran into Fang who was somewhat patiently waiting for me to make an appearance. Judging by the bags he had stacked next to the door, he was ready to hit the road.
My heart plummeted. The Colony awaits. "Do we have to go?" I whined.
He gave me a small smile which gave me little comfort. "Yes, Melanie. Come." He stepped towards me and took my hand, pulling me gently towards the door. "The sooner we get there, the sooner we can convince the Elders you are harmless."
"I would rather we convince them that if they lay one finger on me, they will rue the day," I snapped, bending down and picking up my bags and the spoon shovel.
"Something tells me they will figure that out on their own soon enough," he muttered, opening the door which lead to the cabin and the deliriously happy Mason.
"Good evening, Master and Mistress!" he cooed, clicking his heels and bowing so deeply he could have kissed his own belt buckle. "I've made lovely tapas. Would you care for some?" Turning, Mason happily danced into the kitchen and came back out with a silver tray laden with tiny cocktail weenies wrapped in what looked like Crescent Roll dough and decorated with Spanish olives.
Seriously, the man was as goofy as the "g" in lasagna, but you couldn't help but be drawn into his enthusiasm. Not wanting to hurt his feelings, I reached over and took one. Popping it in my mouth, I made the appropriate yum-yum noises which sent Mason over the moon.
When Fang did nothing but stand there and scowl, I jabbed him in the ribs and nodded my head towards the tray. Sighing heavily, he grabbed a handful and mumbled a thank you before heading out the door.
"I guess that means we're leaving," I muttered to Mason.
"Yes, the Master is very excited to return home and for you to meet the rest of the Colony."
"Excited to hurry along my execution, is more like it."
'Oh no, Mistress." He shook his head vehemently. "The Master would never allow anyone to hurt you. You will be forever safe with him."
For some reason, that made me feel better. Not great...but...better. "Thank you, Mason."
"You are most welcome, Mistress."
Giving him a little wave, I headed out the door to where Fang stood next to the driver's side door of Gizmo. Oh hell no...if he thinks he's driving my car...
"You're chariot awaits, milady," he said, opening the door in an exaggerated gesture. The man sounded like a page right out of Robin Hood. But, then again, he was probably tromping through Sherwood Forrest around that time...tights and all.
My eyebrows jumped to the top of my head. "You're letting me drive?" I asked, suspiciously. If I could have done that damn one eyebrow quirk thing, now would have been the best time for it to have happened. Drat!
He shrugged, slipping on this leather trench coat over his holsters he must have put on while I was chatting with Mason. Completing his sex in leather ensemble. "You've gotten us this far in one piece."
I snorted. "Thanks a lot. You're confidence has me all glittery inside."
I plopped down in the seat and patted Gizmo's dash before cranking him over while Fang stowed our stuff in the back. Once he folded himself into the car, I started back down the sad excuse for a road, clenching my teeth against the jarring washboard. I felt like a can a paint in one of those shake it machines at the hardware store by the time we reached the pavement.
"Take a left," Fang said pointing in the direction.
"Yeah, yeah..." I grumbled, hitting the blinker.
Absurdly, I noticed his hair was down. Straight, black and falling to his shoulders in a curtain of locks shiny enough to shimmer. Damn...women would pay a small fortune to have hair like that.
"Red?"
I wondered if he ever cut his hair or if it had always been long. Shoulder-length hair seemed to be a new trend with men these days. Though, only a certain few could actually pull it off. And don't get me started on the whole "man bun" thing. Seriously? I shook my head in disgust. The only man bun I wanted to see was the kind they sat on. A man bun was a douche knot, in my opinion and had no business being on the back of a guy's head.
But what if long hair went out someday? Peeking under my lashes at his glorious hair, I banished the horrible thought. But still, what happened if you became a vampire at the time you were sporting a mullet or something? Eternity spent locked into an unfashionable hairstyle? Ugh...I would prefer to suck the blood of an immortal like Mason and die a toxic death, quite honestly.
Although, Fang did say...vampires were born...not made. So maybe he can cut his hair...but for me, I might be stuck sporting the same look I've had for the last few years. Not that I am complaining, although I had been tossing the idea around of adding some highlights. Would they stick or just disappear? If I cut it, would it grow back? Break the scissors?
"Melanie!"
"What?" I jerked my attention to Fang, swerving precariously to the edge of the road before catching myself and straightening out.
He blew out an exasperated breath. "Did anyone ever tell you, you lack focus?"
"All the time." Seriously? That's what he interrupted my thoughts for? I snorted. People have been telling me that for years. It wasn't like it was a big news flash.
"Perhaps you should do something about it," he growled at me. "Now that I have your attention, I thought maybe we should discuss a strategy for when we arrive at the Colony."
My stomach tightened uncomfortably, the cocktail weenie threatening to make a reappearance.
How do you think the Colony will react to Mel?
Stay tuned for the next installment of FANGED to find out. Are you curious to know what Drake looks like? Come join the fun on my Facebook page K. M. Halandras and find out!
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