The tension created by the recent events was not lost on the group of friends. Anne's revelation surprised them, but it was not unexpected. "The man," as Anne kept calling him, had disappeared from in front of everyone, and he most obviously had the power to teleport himself. Or move with incredible speed. The skillset was pretty limited in terms of supernatural heritage. Vampires and demons were the forerunners as suspects.
As a group, they decided to grab a bite to eat to steady their nerves and hopefully gather a few more details from Anne before they all headed in different directions. Sitting in a late-night, pleather covered diner booth, the homey smells of burgers and pie calmed everyone's stress. As the oldest in the group, Victor started the discussion first.
"Anne, Sweetie, explain what you mean when you said 'the man' is a vampire." Victor spoke calmly and carefully chose his words such that a "yes" or "no" answer wouldn't suffice. Anne had obviously been pulled as far as she could be and had snapped at the club. They didn't want her completely recoiling into herself again.
Jae kept his arm over Anne's shoulder as Anne leaned her back into his side, slightly turned away from him. It was her favorite position lately, only this time she played with the fingers on his hand instead of her own.
"He-" Anne started and then hesitated, pressing her eyelids closed, creating deep lines in her forehead. She wrangled with her thoughts as she battled not to let them take over.
"He appeared in the dark shadows of the cave. He was always in the dark, talking to Derrick." Jae kissed Anne's head in encouragement. This was already more than they had known for a month.
"I- I don't know what relationship he has with Derrick, but Derrick called him 'Master' at one point. Derrick seemed conflicted. He wanted to 'keep' me but also wanted the man to reward him for me." Jae began to rage internally as he thought of someone treating Anne as something to be bought and sold. Anne began to pull her hand from Jae's as she began to lose to her own thoughts of being treated like an animal. Jae quickly grabbed her hand and held it tightly, intertwining their fingers, so she knew he was there with her. She tilted her head up and off to the side to see his handsome face. He smiled and kissed her nose.
"You got this, Blue. We are all here with you." Jae muttered before tenderly kissing her temple. Anne took a deep breath in and then let it all go. She took a sip of her soda before continuing.
"I was hiding the best I could, keeping my walls up like my mother taught me to, and Derrick kept pestering me to smell me. He got in my face, up to my neck. He wanted to prove to himself that I was Fae. I needed to be Fae born." Her thoughts began to wander off as the group looked at each other.
"So, Anne. You can willingly block yourself off?" Michael was the first to ask the question on everyone's mind.
"Yeah. It was about the only thing my mother taught me as a child in terms of my gifts. She said it was imperative that I be able to hide myself, to not be seen. 'It's dangerous' is about all she told me. Honestly, it's how I have managed this far. If I don't make eye contact, I can stay quite hidden, almost as if I am invisible. But now it makes me sad. When I hide, I don't feel like myself anymore. I want to live and engage and be free." Her voice was excited at the end at the ideas she was proposing, but her voice trailed off as she began to play with her soda straw.
Michael spoke again quickly. "So this man wanted to take you from Derrick. Why didn't he? It seems like he could transport you with him as he had with Derrick. What happened?"
Anne visibly shuddered at the question, and Jae quickly squeezed her hand to stop her mental retreat.
"He- He didn't like the way I smelled. Derrick had been so close that he had nearly 'damaged the goods' or something like that. He couldn't get a good whiff of me either to confirm, so he stuck his nose into my neck twice, and he..." She stopped herself. Subconsciously, she reached up to her shoulder and started rubbing it.
"Tell us, my love. Whatever he did is on him, not on you. It's not your fault." Nova reached over the table toward Anne, hoping Anne would extend her hand in response, and to Nova's pleasure, she did.
"He licked me. That motherfucker licked me. He dared to touch that sensitive part of my body with his mouth and his nose. He put so much pressure on it like he wanted to get inside like I was a fucking meal! God damn it! I feel so disgusting, even thinking about it. How dare he?" Anne was yelling at this point, not caring whether people were looking at her or not.
Her eyes were wide as she retold the events, and her chest was heaving as she began to rub her shoulder aggressively. Jae was beginning to increasingly understand what had been going through Anne's mind over the past month. It explained some of the difficulties with their interpersonal interactions.
"Shit!" Anne continued her rant as everyone just listened silently. "Why the hell does it matter if I am part Fae? That vile man didn't even care that I wasn't 'pureblood.' " She finally took a chance to catch her breath as she took another sip of soda.
Jae took a moment to re-secure their connection, and he placed his arm around Anne at the waist. She finally relaxed a bit into his shoulder, having let loose a lot of the tension she had been holding. Following a deep breath, she closed her eyes, pressing her cheek into Jae. His masculine scent brought her deep comfort.
After a healthy pause wrapped in soothing silence, Victor took the lead once again, hoping to answer some of Anne's questions.
"Well, sweetie," he began after a sigh, " A vampire wanting Fae blood is not unheard of. Vampires seem to enjoy it for a variety of reasons, and it seems this particular vampire has been searching for it for a while."
"Is it really that rare?" Anne was surprised. And then she stopped to think about it. She never really saw her relatives on her mother's side, but her parents regularly visited them. In fact, her parents were getting back from a trip this weekend..
Jess responded this time. "It's not common. Fae, like you, stay pretty well hidden. I have to be honest; you are the first Fae I have met. And for the record, I have to say; you do smell quite intoxicating when you show yourself." She smiled and then gave Jae a sideways glance.
"I think that you, my friend, are one lucky hybrid. When you guys finally mate and mark, I think it will be double the pleasure for your vamp tastebuds!" Jess wiggled her eyebrows up and down, getting a laugh from everyone at the table.
Anne quickly flushed a deep red as she buried her face into Jae's chest. Jae raised one eyebrow in consideration. He honestly couldn't wait. They had both waited this long, and it was sure to be quite the event. At least in his mind, anyway. Actual performance might vary.
Nova saw Anne's sweet innocence and wanted to rescue her as she always did.
"I know this is virgin territory for you, but you don't have to worry about playing with the club." With that, Nova pulled her shirt's collar to the side just a bit, revealing her mark proudly as Victor did the same. The entire table burst out in laughter at the implications and double meanings in her use of the idioms. They seem to have been lost on her.
Jess patted her hand after she caught her breath. "Join the club, Nova. Playing with a club, in this case, is appropriate, but oh, so different." Nova thought about it and then blushed deeply herself.
And still, Jess persisted. "As for the virgin part, I think that's between Jae and Anne."
Jae nearly spit out his coffee. He quickly wiped his mouth, regained a "suave" look, and began to speak.
Michael cut him off first. "No need to explain."
Jess smirked at her mate's words and then leaned up to kiss him. They had suspected for a while. Their poor friend really seemed too clueless about too many things to be otherwise. Seriously, had Jae and Anne's parents kept them under rocks?
Anne wanted to quickly shift the conversation away from herself, so she picked up on her friend's new "status." Mating and marking in the supernatural world was a big deal. It was the equivalent to getting married in the human world, only more permanent. Mating and marking secure the relationship, tying the partnership for eternity.
Because supernaturals live longer than humans, the mark can help humans live longer with their supernatural partner. Between supernaturals, a mark warns others to stay away, and it also helps with creating a new life as changes to a body may occur. Some supernatural marks are even known to help transfer powers between partners. In short, it wasn't something to be done lightly. That being said, most supernaturals, once they found their soulmate, claimed their partner quickly. The pull to be together was intense and could cause some beings to do things a bit irrationally and potentially illegally.
Nova and Victor took an average amount of time to mate and mark. Granted, mating, aka having sex and marking, aka placing a permanent mark on each partner, do not have to happen simultaneously. As Jae and Anne were doing, many partnerships explored their compatibility and worked on their relationship before taking either step. Only for most supernaturals, the process happened much, much faster. Anne and Jae were slowpokes. Anne's fear of rejection and Jae's fear of killing his beloved held them back significantly. Recent events, however, showed them just how much they meant to each other, and their thoughts were quickly changing on the subject.
Everyone congratulated the happy mated couple, and Nova let them know that since her time with the agency was coming up, she would be leaving a bit early to travel with Victor. The man was indeed a tiger. He had homes and businesses all over the globe and loved to explore. Now that he was mated for life, he had given up his independent ways. Anyone looking at him could see he was one smitten kitten. In short, Nova would only be with them for one more week. It was a unanimous decision to have a party for them the following weekend. And then hopefully, it was a "see you later" and not a forever "goodbye." Victor and Nova meant too much to Anne for that to be the case.
The couples ended the evening laughing and joking in high spirits. The idea of a bloodthirsty vampire lurking in the shadows was pushed to the back of their subconscious,, with more happy events occupying their minds.
The ride home was quiet. Tunes were low and on the mellow side due to the late-night nature of their trip. Anne and Jae snuggled in the back seat, hand in hand. Shoes were off, and feet tenderly played with feet. With the weight of the past month, successfully dropped at the moment, Anne breathed easily, and her eyelids drooped. A sweet, comfortable sleep engulfed her.
As Jae carried her into his apartment, he took full advantage of having this alone time with his sweet Blue. Jae woke her enough to get her to change into one of his t-shirts in her sleepy haze. Jae graciously offered to help, but she, unfortunately, insisted on using the bathroom. Jae helped her to snuggle into his covers before getting himself ready for bed. With boxers on, Jae slid into bed and gently turned Anne, so she rested on his chest instead of on her pillow. He couldn't help the smile that spread across his face as she snuggled into him. It had been a month since they spent the night like this, and even then, it hadn't ended as expected. This moment was worth waiting and fighting for. Anne was worth waiting for and fighting for.
Anne had a dreamless, nightmare free slumber- the first in a month. She was so glad that Jae had fought for her. The force of their love always brought them back together. No matter what struggles they might have, they were stronger together.
*****
A/N: Is it weird that I want to squee at my own characters! I love the friendships and relationships that continue to build. I love that Jae just does his own thing. I love that Anne is powerful and yet so very vulnerable still.
This is fair warning that more mature chapters are up next. While this book is far from an after-dark book, content between two consenting adults will be written as such. Enjoy!