Brimstone Blues

Chapter Three

After breakfast, Matthias and Albert went out to the garage while Taz picked at her eggs. Tim Robertson sat next to her and handed her a business card.

“I made you a doctor appointment for this afternoon, sweetheart.”

She took it. “For what?”

His eyebrow shot up. Maybe it was because he was British, but all through her life she’d used that expression as a barometer of his mood.

“Do you really wish to discuss this topic with me?”

Taz glanced at the card, then back to him. Robertson nodded. “Don’t worry, he’s one of us. I’m sure there are”—he cleared his throat—“things you might wish to go over with him.”

Taz nodded.

Matthias had explained their “vampirism” as a genetic condition. The “suck all night, sleep all day” myth was just that, convenient Hollywood folklore helping them conceal the truth. Sunlight wasn’t an issue, and they could eat whatever they wanted. Depending on how many DNA markers a vampire bore, they might be a hybrid as normal as any human. Or, like Taz, have strong mental and healing powers and longevity. Thankfully the bloodsucking was limited to emergency health situations…or desire. Even so, a weaker vampire couldn’t help a stronger one.

But during sex it was definitely a mind-blowing sensation.

The ob-gyn’s office was easy to find. There were no other patients in the waiting room when she arrived.

That in itself was supernaturally freaky.

The friendly nurse escorted Taz to an exam room but didn’t instruct her to get undressed. The doctor entered a few minutes later.

“Hello, Ms. Proctor?” he asked, extending his hand. “I’m Dr. Calvin.”

Taz shook hands. “I don’t need to fill out any paperwork?”

He looked at her over his glasses. “I already talked to Mr. Robertson about your…condition,” he said. “I don’t document those like us.” He took out a prescription pad. “Have you ever been on the Pill before?”

“Years ago.”

“Any side effects?”

She shook her head. He wrote a script and handed it to her. “Start taking them on the first Sunday of your period. If you have problems with this brand making you sick, let me know, and I’ll switch you to a different one.”

She nodded, looking at the script, doing the math in her head. That would be in about a week.

Maybe that’s why I still feel so crazy. PMS to the max on top of everything else.

“You’ll want to use an alternate method of protection for the first month, to make sure. Even we’re not infallible.” He smiled.

She nodded and dropped her gaze.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

She shook her head.

Dr. Calvin sat. “I’m still a doctor. Patient-doctor privilege applies, Anastazia. Whatever you wish to say won’t leave this room.”

It spilled out of her. He handed her a box of tissues as she spent an hour crying the entire story. All of it. From taking the job with Hawthorne International and meeting Matthias for the first time, to Rafe’s death in Yellowstone. Including Rafe’s disembodied voice in her head after his death and the really hot dreams.

“Do you want my honest opinion?” Dr. Calvin asked.

“Please.”

“I don’t think you’re crazy. I think your powers are very strong, and were released in an explosive and uncontrolled way. You’re extremely perceptive and you haven’t yet mastered holding a barrier. You’re probably picking thoughts up from others or memories or what have you. I won’t claim to be an expert on someone as powerful as you, and I’m certainly not a psychologist, but I would place money on that over you losing your mind. The dreams…well, those are probably your mind trying to resolve what happened in the safest way possible.”

She sniffled. “Really?”

He smiled kindly. “Really. Actually, a lot of people who think they’re ‘psychic’ are very weak vampire hybrids, but they physically present biologically as normal humans and don’t raise any red flags. There are many more of ‘us’ out there than you think. If you ever need to talk, feel free to make an appointment. I’ll be happy to see you.”

She couldn’t help herself. “How old are you?”

“One hundred twenty-eight.” He didn’t look any older than fifty-five, at the most.

She shivered. “How long will I live?”

He shrugged, returning the prescription pad to his lab coat pocket. “I can’t tell you that. I aged to about forty, and slowed from there. Some stop aging sooner. From the looks of you, you’re one of the lucky ones.” Taz still looked like she was in her early twenties even though she was thirty-five. Great, but annoying because she got carded all the time. “If you avoid accidents, serious injuries that could mortally wound you, there’s every possibility you’ll live several hundred years, at least.”

You mean, serious injuries like being shot in the chest by a demon?

But she didn’t say it. Living through it had been scary enough. If Matthias hadn’t been right there…

She shivered again. “Thank you, Doctor.” He escorted her to the front desk.

“No charge,” he told the nurse, who nodded. Taz immediately sensed she was a hybrid.

The family who sucks together…

Sudden faint laughter in her head startled her. Crap. The phantom voice was back.

She didn’t care what the doctor said, that was an intelligent voice, not just stray thoughts from others slipping past her mental barrier. Either that, or she was now carrying a personal laugh track in her brain.

Outside, Taz stared at the piece of paper. That was certainly the easiest OB-GYN appointment she’d ever been through. Not that she’d been through a lot of them. The first one—only one—she’d had was in college, when she wanted to get on the Pill. That had involved cold stirrups and…

Taz closed her eyes and groaned. For a woman as smart as she was supposed to be, she was too stupid to live. She’d never managed to find the time to get back to the doctor, yet while she was still dating and taking the Pill in college, she’d always been able to get a prescription. In extremely belated retrospect, she put it together.

Robertson. He’d taken care of everything.

She loved Matthias, and even though they were getting married, the issue of children needed to be put on hold. He was amazing, and she felt connected to him like she’d never felt connected to anyone else.

Except Rafe, but she hadn’t slept with Rafe.

Technically.

It was more like phone or cyber sex, wasn’t it? Seducing someone as a succubus? No touch, no foul?

Except for the really hot kiss earlier in the day, and then their tender good-bye kiss at dinner.

Bet that wasn’t a problem Dear Abby heard a lot: Dear Abby, I became a succubus and seduced my fiancé’s cousin because I was really, really pissed off at my fiancé. Only he wasn’t my fiancé then, we’d just slept together, even though I loved him. It’s not like I touched his cousin. Is that still cheating? By the way, I felt like I knew his cousin even though I’d just met him, and then he was murdered by a psycho vampire bitch after I left his mind, and now I’m having these totally hot wet dreams about him—

The faint laughter rolled through her head again. That would drive her crazy if it didn’t stop, and that was a short enough trip to begin with considering all that had happened in the past couple of weeks.

She started the car and tried to remember where the closest drugstore was. At least this was one problem she could get a handle on. She didn’t want kids yet, not with all the craziness. They still had to go to London to meet with the Tribunal, a ton of work to catch up on, a wedding to plan, and…

Rafe’s funeral.

She wiped the tears away. No kids. Not right now. Better safe than sorry. While waiting for her prescription, she also picked up a couple of boxes of condoms.

Extra large.

Bonus.

Matthias wasn’t home when she returned. Robertson had a roast in the oven, and she snuck a look. He came in and caught her.

“Ah! No peeking.”

“It’s not a cake. It won’t fall.”

“I know better than to leave you alone with it. Half will be gone by dinner if I turn my back on you.”

Okay, that was a plus. Her vampire metabolism meant she could eat like a horse without turning into one.

He knew her too well. “I won’t touch, I promise.” She grabbed a handful of chips from a bag on the counter. “I’ll snack.”

He leaned against the counter, watching her. “Are you all right, dear?”

“I know you all mean well, but I wish you’d quit asking.”

“I’m sorry. We can’t help it. It’s what people who love each other do, they care.”

“I’m thinking about going to work tomorrow.”

“Are you sure that’s wise, sweetheart?”

“I’ve probably got a thousand messages waiting, and I’m way behind. I can’t hide from life forever.”

“Just don’t push yourself too soon.”

“I won’t.”

Robertson continued dinner preparations while she watched. Eventually, she asked, “What else can I do?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean. These funky powers. My vampire voodoo. What else can I do?”

Robertson looked up from where he was peeling potatoes over the sink. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know, or you don’t want to tell me?”

He turned to her, half-peeled spud in hand. “Taz, I honestly don’t know. You can already do so much more than I can. Even more than Matthias. You’re—”

“I know. I’m stronger than any other vampire you’ve met. Blah, blah, blah. Do you know how sick I am of hearing that? How so not helpful it is? Just because you know what I can do doesn’t mean I know.”

“What do you want me to tell you? We will help you as much as we can.”

“Can you at least help me with what you do know?”

“I hope you don’t mean right this moment.” He held up the potato.

“No, not right this moment. Smart-ass.”

Matthias and Albert returned shortly before dinner. Taz was on her laptop in the library and had just completed her order. Overnight shipping, but this late in the day meant it would be Friday before it arrived. Which was fine, she could have the weekend to look at everything. She closed her browser screen before Matthias saw what she had done. He would give her a hard enough time as it was when the stuff arrived.

Dammit, she wanted to do something. Anything.

Anything to keep her mind off Rafe.

“Hello, sweetheart. Are you all right?” Matthias asked, leaning over and touching her shoulder.

She felt a twinge of guilt for being so aloof, but she was having a hard time juggling her new circumstances. Not to mention it still felt like she was crawling out of her skin. Maybe she should ease up on the coffee.

“I’m fine.” He straightened, but she caught the front of his shirt and pulled him down for a kiss, deep, passionate. “I went to see the doctor today, big guy,” she whispered.

One eyebrow shot up. “You did?”

“Got a prescription.”

There was his half smile, the playful one that never failed to start a tingling between her legs. Damn him, he was gorgeous. And he was all hers.

“Really?” He leaned in and kissed her again, teasing, tasting.

“We’ve got to be careful the first month. After that, we’re okay.”

“Whatever you want to do, sweetheart.”

He was being so good-natured. She hadn’t seen him cry over Rafael even though she sensed his deep grief. He’d been too busy trying to keep her from dying after they left Yellowstone, trying to draw her out of her own despair.

One more item to add to Taz’s Big List o’ Guilt.

“Can we have a talk?” she asked.

He sat next to her. “About what?”

She closed the laptop and put it on the coffee table before facing him. “What can I do?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean. What else can I do?”

“Besides nearly boiling vicious bitches in hot springs?”

She couldn’t help but laugh. “Yes, that’s what I mean.”

He shrugged. “To be honest, I don’t know. The only way to find out is for us to sit down and experiment.”

“What else can you do?”

“Just because I can do something doesn’t mean you’ll be able to do it. Or, you might be able to do it, but take it to a level far beyond what I can do. And there might be things I can do that you can’t do as well, or not at all.”

“That’s not helpful.”

He started to answer when Robertson announced dinner was ready, cutting him off. “Come on,” he said, taking her hand. “I’m starving. We can talk later.”

They didn’t talk later. When they went up to bed, she was going to talk to him, but he kissed her, and she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him back. When she felt his hard and ready cock pressing against her, she realized she didn’t want to talk. She wanted him inside her.

No other lover in her life ever made her instantly wet the way he did. It was…

Supernatural.

She stifled the chuckle wanting to escape and enjoyed the feeling of his lips exploring hers, his strong and tender fingers expertly finding and rubbing her clit.

“Please,” she begged.

That was another thing. No other man ever had her feeling this desperate, this needy to feel him inside her before.

He stopped only long enough to slip a condom on. She tried to hurry him when she felt the head of his cock pressing against her wet entrance, but he wouldn’t be rushed. It wasn’t until he’d used his fingers to coax one beautiful orgasm out of her that he slid his cock home.

“Yes!” she hissed. Pleasantly large, he stretched her pussy just enough in the most delicious way, bottoming out and filling her.

Then he rolled on top of her, his beautiful blue gaze boring deep within her soul.

“I love you, Taz,” he whispered.

She smiled. “I love you too, big guy.”

When his lips crushed hers, she moaned, her sounds captured by his mouth as he started moving, harder, faster, every thrust perfectly hitting her already swollen clit and taking her closer to the brink again. His hips pistoned his cock deep inside her, faster and harder until another orgasm swept through her.

“That’s it,” he whispered, bracing both hands on the bed to pound into her until he finally came with a final soft grunt.

With his face buried in the crook of her neck, he gently nipped her. “I love you, cara.”

She smiled, content. “Love you too, big guy.” She didn’t find it corny at all that he liked saying it. On the contrary, it felt good to finally have someone to say it back to.

He left the bed only long enough to clean up. Then he returned and snuggled her tightly in his arms.

He was already asleep, and she was drifting off to sleep, when she remembered she’d wanted to talk.

Nertz. She’d talk to him tomorrow after work.