The Collettes: Sola Read online

  "Because, Gideon Godspeed, I am going to give you a gift that no other woman could. Ready to listen to me now?"

  He could only nod. She slowly released her hold on his neck. He was going to need something more than the beer that had dropped from his hand.

  * * * *

  Sola sat back down, this time on his leather sofa, and watched him walk silently back to the kitchen. He came back out a few minutes later with bourbon and a glass. Sola raised her eyebrow in question.

  "For this I'm going to need a lot more alcohol than beer offers.” He glanced at her. “So let me guess, you're a vampire, right?"

  She inclined her head in response. “What tipped you off? The teeth?"

  "Ha ha, you're a laugh riot, lady. You know you're not supposed to exist, right? For God's sake! I'm sitting here talking to a fucking vampire. You musta hit me harder than I thought."

  "There are lots of things that aren't supposed to exist, but yet there they are."

  "Okay.” Gideon took a gulp from his glass. “So, you're a vampire. What in hell do you want with me?"

  Sola watched him drink. She leaned over and took the bottle. “I think you've had enough.” She hated the taste of alcohol in blood.

  He grabbed the bottle back from her. “Lady, Sola ... whatever ... I need way more than one drink to handle this."

  Sola snatched the bottle again impatiently and threw it against the wall. She had no time for this. “Are you ready to hear me or not? Because I could do this the hard way."

  Gideon sighed and flopped back against the chair. His voice took on a surly, sarcastic tone. “By no means. Let's not do it the hard way. I'm not going to argue with the woman with superhuman strength. Go on, talk."

  Sola stood and began to walk slowly around the room. She felt Gideon's glare on her every step she took. She told him the story of her and her sisters’ birth and the birthright given to them. She noticed how his attention remained riveted to her story, the Lazarus amulet and the role he played.

  "So you're trying to tell me you need me to help you find this amulet and the only clue is a piece of old paper you have?"

  "In a manner of speaking, yes."

  "Not in a manner of speaking. If you could have found it without me, you'd be gone by now, not walking around in my apartment. Let me see the paper."

  His cocky tone made her grit her teeth, but she handed him the paper anyway. “I haven't read it yet."

  "Aren't you afraid I might destroy this or run with it?"

  Sola met his gaze. “You wouldn't get very far with it. I'd kill you before you could do anything with the parchment."

  "Uh-huh.” Gideon unrolled the old paper, glanced at it, then at her. “There's nothing on this."

  "What do you mean there's nothing?” She strode behind him and peered over his shoulder. “What the hell?” Sola made a sound in her throat that was a cross between a growl and a hiss. She walked away, flinging her hands in the air and speaking in French. Then in English she said, “This couldn't be easy, could it?"

  "Hey, don't get mad at me. I just opened it.” Gideon threw the paper down on the coffee table and sat back. “I guess you don't need me now, since this doesn't seem real."

  "Oh, it is real. When I fell against you, I had a vision of us looking for the amulet.” Sola thought it best not to tell him exactly what she saw. For a man who just learned vampires existed, he was handling it relatively well. She was waiting for the turnaround when he learned what had to happen.

  "Wow, a vision-seeing, super-strength vampire. Do I bow now or later?"

  The sarcasm in his voice made her angry all over again. How could they work together, fight together, and find the amulet, when she did not even know if she liked him from one minute to the next?

  "I didn't tell you everything, Gideon. There is something else you must do before we can begin our search."

  "Hmm, another part. Let me guess—I have to become a vampire.” He was joking, but when she didn't deny it, his gaze flew to her face. Sola could see the realization there. “You're not saying anything, Sola. I was kidding ... You are kidding, right?"

  "Immortality is a beautiful thing, Gideon. I've been alive for three hundred years. Well, in a few weeks. The world will be yours to explore and do as you wish.” Sola tried to cajole him to her way of thinking, but she saw it wasn't working.

  "Listen, lady, if you think I'm going to be walking around just biting people on the neck, you're crazy! There is no way I'm doing this ... none! Don't you come near me, or I'll shoot you!"

  "Unless that gun has bullets made of wood, it will only slow me down, not stop me. This will be done, Gideon. One way or the other. I don't care which way, both are pleasurable to me, but I'm looking at your part in this. Join me, Gideon. Let me show you the true pleasure of life immortal. Let me show you pleasure with me.” Sola walked toward him slowly as she spoke until she stood right in front of him. She could see her voice relaxing his body. His eyelids became heavy.

  She straddled him and slipped her hands behind his neck, sliding her fingers through his hair. “Accept my offer, Gideon. Let me show you what true pleasure is."

  He nodded.

  Sola knew it was more his choice than her trance. She could feel his cock hardening under her. She leaned in and licked his lips, making sure she bit at them gently. His hands came around her waist, sliding up her shoulders and pulling her harder down on his cock. She opened her mouth and a small gasp escaped. Gideon took the opportunity and covered her mouth with his own, slipping his tongue deep between her open lips. Heat flared between them like a match to an open box of tinder. Sola had not felt anything this intense in over a hundred years.

  She pushed him back hard against the chair, tearing his mouth away from hers and getting off him. She ordered, “Take your clothes off ... now.” She stepped out of her shoes and stripped off her top. There was nothing soft and romantic about her. She knew what she wanted and took pleasure in it when she could have it. Her eyes never left Gideon while they both undressed. His cock sprang from the confines of his boxers as she pushed them down his legs and kicked them away.

  "Hey wait ... wait!” he gasped out. Sola pushed him back into the chair once again and straddled his body. She silenced him with her kiss. Her hand slipped between them and she took his hard length into her grasp, guiding him inside her. The next sound out of Gideon was a long, slow groan as his cock sank deep into her wet crevice.

  Sola felt full as she rode him. Her body had accepted him easily, and she took pleasure as well as gave it. Her head fell back and her lips parted at the sensation of having him buried inside her. His hands were on her ass squeezing and massaging as she moved. He pulled her hard against him every time she sank onto his cock. She felt his head against her breast and his lips sought out her nipple. He licked and laved it before pulling it into his mouth.

  Sola purred in her throat, his actions making her body tingle. “Yes, Gideon. Bite them. Oh yes, just like that!"

  "God! You're driving me crazy. Take all of me!” He groaned against her chest.

  The euphoria of their coupling heightened her senses. She could smell sex in his blood, and it was time to drink, to make him part of her. “Gideon, it's time. Will you let me drink?” The slapping sound their bodies made while she pushed hard against him filled the room. She drove him to the edge of reason and took him to heights of pleasure she knew he'd never felt before.

  Gideon's reply came out like a plea. “Drink, I give it all to you. Take what you need. Ah yes, I'm going to come!"

  Sola felt the first of his hot seed spill inside her as she bit into his neck. The combination of his blood filling her mouth and his peak sent her spiraling into her own orgasm. She kept riding him as she drank, driving their orgasms even higher. His cries of pleasure filled her ears until he went silent. She heard his heartbeat slow to the point near death. Sola pulled away from him and watched his head loll back against the chair. His eyes were heavy, and he stared as she bit her own hand. He
r blood formed at the wound before she held it over his lips, letting it trickle into this mouth.

  She smiled when she saw his throat move to swallow her blood. It pleased her to know he took her gift so willingly. “Soon, your mortal body will die, Gideon, and you will see what it is to be like me, to live as a vampire for all eternity."

  She climbed off him, letting his semihard cock slip from her body. She felt disappointment, but she knew there would be other times for their coupling.

  The first shudders of his mortal death began. His body spasmed and contracted in pain. She dragged him to the door that she assumed led to his bedroom and placed him on the bed. It would take two days before the transformation would be complete. He would awaken from the fevers and the pain of her vampire blood taking over his body, and he would be hungry. Until then she would watch over him. Then she would hunt for both of them.

  * * * *

  Gideon was in the midst of his own heaven or hell, he did not know which. All he knew was one minute he was burning and then the next, chills racked his body. His flesh felt like it was not his own anymore. Every nerve ending hummed with a new energy. Between sleep and waking he was disoriented, but there were new sensations as well. He could hear the voices of neighbors from apartments upstairs, talking and having sex. They were so clear now it was like a radio with the volume too loud in his head. He could smell her as she came into the room to wipe the sweat from his body. He could still smell his scent on her skin.

  Finally he opened his eyes. The pain and confusion vanished and he felt every new power clearly. Sola lay next to him, and he glanced over at her, expecting her to be asleep. His gaze traveled the length of her body. She had slept in her clothes, but still his cock hardened. His eyes met with hers, and he knew she was his mate. Instinct told him that. He was a part of her now and she was a part of him.

  His smile showed his newly formed fangs. He could tell what his body needed and accepted its demands readily. But he also knew he was still too weak to find what it craved. “I'm hungry."

  Sola smiled in return and rolled out of bed, then pulled on her coat. “I'll find our dinner. Stay here."

  She walked out of the bedroom, her hips swaying, her body moving in its own seductions. He was a creature of the night now, but he wondered if he would miss being human when eternity seemed endless.

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  Chapter Four

  Gideon studied Sola as she paced in her lavishly furnished living room. The room was decorated in dark browns, cream, and black. Gideon ran his hands down the luxurious sofa he sat on. He had seen it in a magazine and knew it was worth more than everything in his apartment.

  They had come to her apartment after his first meal. Sola had brought home a tasty morsel, a woman who was about twenty-five and alone on the streets. He understood how she hunted. She only took those she thought would never be reported. Or, as she explained, if a crime happened to be committed in her presence, she dined on those who were the offenders. Her little brand of justice, so to speak. How could he tell her it was wrong? New York was a big place, and a lot of crimes went unreported. One less criminal on the streets was good for him, or at least when he was a cop it was. Now he was just like her.

  She had let him drink first, encouraging him to put the girl in a trance and then bite. The first taste of blood filled his mouth, and he groaned in pleasure at the sensation of the warm, thick liquid filling his mouth. This was a new kind of hunger, unlike what humans had for food. It went deep into his soul, and as he drank her blood, he saw flashes of her memories. He understood now when they consumed blood they consumed people's lives, their memories and their strength. His eyes locked with Sola's as he drank and even though they were not touching, he felt a connection. He could sense her, something that came with her giving him her blood. She bit into the girl's wrist, drinking as well, and Gideon closed his eyes and continued to suck.

  His first taste of blood was a heady sensation. When the meal was over, he asked how they would get rid of the body. There was still a part of his mortal emotions that made him feel guilt. Was it murder or was it like an animal killing for food? The moral line blurred when it came to vampires, and in only a few short hours, he felt himself losing parts of his soul to the predator inside. He was filled with doubts but kept them silent, not wanting to worry Sola. They disposed of the body in the river, and Gideon made a promise to himself that he would not lose the small parts of humanity he had left.

  After their trip outside and Gideon's thrill at learning his new vampire abilities they went back to Sola's apartment and wondered about the parchment piece that sat on the table, empty of words. Gideon thought it was all a hoax, but kept that point to himself as well. She sat beside him and he nonchalantly picked up the paper, unrolling it once again. Instead of it being blank, words burned into it at his touch. Sola looked at him and he glanced to her before they both read it aloud.

  The journey begins where colors dance in the sky.

  Where Night is day and day is long.

  To show strength one heart must show weakness.

  "What in the hell does that mean?” Sola asked in irritation. And Gideon agreed with her. “Why couldn't it be written in plain old English? The amulet is here. Go pick it up."

  Sola immediately went to the telephone and called one of her sisters. He overheard her making plans to meet with them. I am to be included, of course, he thought with a smile. The clue would have remained invisible without him. He listened as she told them about him. She flicked the cell phone closed with a loud click and made a frustrated sound in her throat. In only a few short hours, he was learning she had little to no patience at all.

  "Something wrong?” Gideon asked mildly.

  "Everything is wrong. This clue is ridiculous. Now I have to take you to Albany to meet my sisters and Jarrod? You would think we were engaged or something and not looking for a damn amulet."

  He grinned. “Yeah? Everyone wants to meet me?"

  Sola flopped down next to him with a sigh and gave him a slanted look. “Don't get happy. This is business, nothing more."

  "It didn't feel like business when you were riding me like a show pony."

  "Could you be any crasser? Besides, it just tastes better that way."

  "So that was you putting your own brand of spice on your food, so to speak. No enjoyment on your part?” Gideon asked.

  "I always enjoy sex. I've been around long enough to get very proficient at it."

  Gideon didn't want to think of her and her other lovers. He didn't want her to think of him so casually. He'd felt them connect, and he wanted her to feel the same way, except she was looking at him like a business partner. It set his teeth on edge.

  "Really? I'll have to try it sometime. Maybe with a nice, tiny thing with big tits,” he mused out loud.

  The hiss she made showed him she was not pleased with the idea. “You do, I'll break your neck and hers before you can take the first taste."

  "Why, Sola, I might say that you're jealous,” Gideon said with a smirk.

  "You might say wrong. I've been alive for three centuries. I don't get jealous. We have a mission, and your mind can't be on anything other than that."

  "Ah, so it's only us looking for the amulet that got you riled up?"

  "Exactly."

  "I wonder what will happen after this little quest is over?"

  "We'll see if we're still alive. Now, enough of this. We have to leave for Albany."

  "It's after ten now. By the time we get there it will be almost sunrise, and that's doing the limit."

  Sola got up and shrugged into her coat. “Oh, I'm a really good driver, Gideon. Don't worry, we'll get there in plenty of time."

  He followed out the door, putting his coat on along the way. He soon found out her version of a good driver meant she drove like a maniac. Even though he was undead, he felt himself fearing for his life more than once.

  * * * *

  The first attack came just outs
ide of Albany. The road was dark and clear of any traffic when they pulled up to a streetlight. Sola slowed just a little debating whether she should run the light. After all, there was no one around.

  It was as if Gideon sensed her thoughts. “Don't even think about it. I'm surprised we haven't been pulled over with the way you drive. Let's not give the state police a reason to stop us."

  "You're a cop. You could talk your way out of it,” she countered. “Besides, I don't have a license."

  "You're kidding me! And you drive like this? Why in God's name don't you have a driver's license? How hard is it to get one?"

  "Well, what age do you suggest I put down? Sola Collette, age three hundred. And as far as I know, the DMV does not have a night shift."

  "Touché.” He checked the rearview mirror. “There's a van behind us. Where did it come from?"

  Sola glanced up. “I don't know. I didn't see it pull up."

  They watched as a car came from behind the van and pulled next to them. The windows were tinted. She heard the sound of the automatic whir, and the window slowly slid down to reveal a face Sola recognized behind the wheel. His smile was sinister as he inclined his head in her direction. She pressed her foot against the gas pedal. The wheels of her car squealed when she pulled away. The two vehicles gave chase.

  "What the fuck, Sola! Who is that?” Gideon held onto the door when she took a sharp turn in the road.

  "That's our worst nightmare. Creve, bounty hunter and vampire killer. He knows about the amulet, and he and his friends have decided it would be easier to kill me and my sisters before we can get our hands on it."

  The car pulled in front of them. Even though Sola's Corvette was fast, it was no match for the powerful engine of Creve's vehicle. Sola turned the wheel to avoid a collision and went into the ditch on the side of the road. She didn't even wait. Moving quickly, she reached into the back and pulled out two guns. She handed one to Gideon. Creve and his men piled out of the vehicles that had run them off the road.