A Vampire's Reward

In Tampa I stayed the longest because it was so easy to blend in with the residents and tourists. I needed that because I didn't have control over my mind as of yet, didn't have myself guarded like I do now. After two years there I wandered northward, exploring the state another year before I moved on to travel one more year in the southern states before returning to Florida and building a home in Pensacola, a place where I had no memories of Dante.

I reread the part where they lost sight of Jackson in Chattanooga. The P. I. concluded that he believed the underling was heading for me. That he may finally be tired of being hunted and now wants to be found, to confront me and end it once and for all.

"You don't look good, Marina, what's going on?" Chad asked.

"He's coming for me, Chad." I handed him the letter and watched his face as he read, "You know what this means don't you?"

"What?" His voice wavered when he looked at me and his face grew ashen.

"It means that you and Rose need to leave as soon as possible. This underling will kill you because he will be able to see how much you mean to me, and he will have no problem killing someone I love."

I suddenly gasped, "Oh no. I need to warn Levi."

I started toward the door picking up a set of car keys off the counter when I felt a hand grab my shoulder. "Marina, there isn't enough time for you to warn Levi now, it's almost dawn."

"But I've got to get to him and tell him to stay away from me, Chad."

"I'll go to him, Marina, and tell him what's happening before Rose and I leave town. I promise."

"Please, please make him understand how dangerous it is to be near me. I couldn't go on if something happen to Levi." Chad pulled me close and held me in his arms like a parent would to comfort a child. "You just have to make him see." I whispered.

*

I woke up later that evening instantly on the alert. The immediate search around my coffin was clear but I sensed someone in the cabin. Opening my mind, I searched and found that someone in my blood storage room. Anger and fear screamed through me when I realized that I knew who it was.

It's Levi.

I slammed back the lid on my coffin and climbed out, jerking on a pair of comfortable jeans and a t-shirt before jogging upstairs. "What in the hell do your think you're doing?" I shouted, slamming the basement door.

He came out with two glasses filled with blood. "I'm fixing breakfast for you, Marina."

"You shouldn't be here, Levi; didn't Chad come and talk to you?" I said to him barely able to keep the growl out of my voice.

"Yes he stopped by and told me that an old enemy of yours was most likely here or at least on the way here and that you wanted me to stay away." He sat down the full glasses and reached out to take my hand but I jerked away from him.

"Then tell me why you're here, Levi?"

"I'm here because I love you and I want to help."

"Levi, you can't help me, don't you understand? You're a mortal. You'll end up more of a hindrance than help." I turned and walked out to the living room, glaring out into the night through the wall of glass.

His hands settled onto my shoulders and began to knead the tense and knotted muscles there. "Marina, I love you and there is no way that I'm going to let you go through this alone."

"But.."

"No." He interrupted. "If the roles were reversed wouldn't you want to help me?"

"Yes, but my helping you is not quite the same as you helping me. Fighting mortals is a whole lot easier then immortals."

"I can't just stand by and do nothing while someone I love needs help. It's not in my nature to run from trouble and I'm not starting now."

I turned on him, eyes glowing with hunger, anger and fear. "And I can't lose another love to this line of vampires, Levi. I almost didn't survive the first time. If he kills you, that's it. I won't be able to exist without you."

"First time, what do you mean?"

"This vampire's father killed the one who made me. The one who was my love for over two hundred years, and I killed his father and all of his siblings in retaliation. I would have killed him to if the coward had showed up to protect is family instead of hiding. Now ten years later, it appears as if he's tired of running and decided to come after me and I have no intention of letting you help."

He placed the palm of his hand against my cheek, staring into my eyes as if he could look straight into my heart, " You said you couldn't exist if I died, but what about me, Marina? What will I do if he kills you? How am I supposed to go on existing without you? Can you tell me?"

Bloody tears spilled from my eyes as I whispered, "I can make you forget."

"What?"

"I said I could make you forget. Right here, right now, I could erase any memory that you may have of me from your mind and you could live a normal life." He stepped back from me as a gasp left him, "At least you would be alive and with no memory of me. I would be the one who would have to go on living without you, knowing you will never remember any of what we shared." I fought to hold back my sob but failed, turning away from him so he wouldn't see the streams of blood trailing down my cheeks.

"Make me forget...? No way, Marina, you may have the power to make my mind forget you but what about my heart, my soul? Do you think you can just erase the changes you have left on them so easily? Do you think you can erase your mark from them?"

I let out a scream and picked up a glass vase filled with flowers and threw it across the room against the fireplace, watching the glass shatter into thousands of tiny pieces. I reached out and grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him to me. "Do you think I want you to forget, Levi? For the first time in years I feel alive, I feel loved, I don't feel alone anymore. Do you really think it would be that easy for me to remove every trace of love you have for me? To watch in a few seconds any recognition of feeling, good or bad, wiped from your memory of me? I would have to watch your love for me die, Levi, right before my very eyes." I gave him a slight shove away and went back into the kitchen and downed one glass of blood before I felt him step up behind me.

"Marina, I'm sorry." He put his hands on my hips and then stepped in closer, wrapping his arms around me, holding me against his chest. I couldn't fight my emotions as tremors shook me. I turned in the circle of his arms and buried my face against his chest, shoulders shaking as I cried.

"Shush, we'll think of something love. We won't lose each other. I promise." His voice was soft as he stroked his hands over my back. He then swiftly scooped me up and carried me through the cabin to the guest bedroom, holding me tight as he sat on the bed and leaned against the headboard.

Once the tears had faded and I had calmed down I felt a different tension building inside; one that only Levi could make better. Moving my head against his chest, my lips found the open area at his collar and left a kiss on his bare skin. I placed another over his Adam's apple and the underside of his chin. I strung a line of kisses along his strong jaw to his ear, whispering, "Make love to me. Make the world disappear if only for a little while, Levi."

He curled one hand into my hair and gently pulled me away, staring with eyes that shined full of love before giving me the softest of kisses. It was deep and slow, filled with longing and caring, drawing a moan from the depths of my heart as he finished by leaving light kisses over each cheek and over my closed eyes.

His free hand tugged my shirt from my pants. His hand was so hot against my skin as he caressed my belly. I shifted over his lap till I straddled him. He pulled my shirt over my head and tossed it aside. I held myself still while he looked his fill. My nipples hardened under his gaze and I felt the tingle begin between my legs.

His hands held my breasts while thumbing my nipples. He nibbled his way from my chin to my throat and then he took turns nibbling on each nipple. His hands left my breasts to undo my jeans, as his mouth still played on one of my nipples, when he suddenly bit down, sending a jolt of pleasure down to my clit. The pleasure was so sharp that I bucked my hips rubbing my pussy over the hard bulge of his cock in his lap.

I gave a startled cry as he flipped me over to lie flat on my back. His strong hands made quick time in removing my jeans and panties before he moved between my legs still fully clothed. He held himself over top of me and while giving me a kiss so hot it curled my toes, he rubbed his body against mine.

His cotton shirt teased my stiff nipples and the smooth skin of my belly. The soft material of his well-worn jeans created a sizzle against my thighs as they cradled him. When he pressed his bulging fly down onto my pussy and moved his hips causing such a sweet friction I moaned into his mouth pushing myself up against him.

His mouth went back to my breasts kissing all around the nipples before he suckled each one. My belly started quivering as his wet tongue slid over it. He stroked the heel of his palm over my mound, looking up into my eyes, driving me crazy with his slow teasing touch.

With his head now between my legs he started kissing my thighs working his way closer to my pussy with each one. His lips were like fire and his breath just as hot when he kissed my mound and down my slit. I tried to push his mouth harder into me with my hands on the back of his head but he grabbed them, twining our fingers together and held them at my sides.

Now that I'm unable to pull him to me I thrust my hips up toward his mouth. "Please." I begged as my voice started to change from the growth of my teeth.

I watched as he extended his tongue and licked up my slit, pushing in and making sure he hit my clit before pulling it back into his mouth. Again and again he licked me, working in slow upward strokes, going deeper between my pussy lips on each pass.

He let go of my hands and pushed my legs wider apart and opened me for his searching tongue. My hands went above my head and grabbed onto the bars in the headboard, groaning when his mouth drew my clit inside and sucked.

He licked me faster, kissing and sucking my heated flesh, wiggling his tongue inside me, rubbing my clit with his nose and I all I could do was grind into his face. He pulled my clit into his mouth again and sucked hard then bit down. My hands snapped the bars loose in the headboard as my body bowed upward, drawn taut as my orgasm exploded.

Levi kept sucking me till the end, slowly easing me down with gentle licks of his tongue and soothing strokes of his hands over my body. He removed the broken pieces of wood from my still clenched fist then began to undress.

I lay there watching him remove his shirt, watching the muscles flex in his arms and across his chest. He took his time pulling the zipper on his jeans over his bulging cock.

I wasn't able to look away from his crotch as his cock twitched up toward his stomach. He was so hard and full, so ready to take me. I simply held my hand out to him, drawing his body between my thighs. I took him in my hand and stroked his hot flesh, loving the sound of his moan as my thumb swirled around the head.

He rubbed the head between the wet lips of my pussy then pushed in, both of us moaning as I stretched around him, taking him deep. I wrapped my legs around him, heels on his ass and held him in place, letting my muscles squeeze him. His whole body trembled as I massaged his cock rhythmically inside me.

"Marina," he moaned and began to move, pulling back, pushing in, slowly at first then increasing in speed. He sank his hands into my hair and kissed me. The harder he fucked into me the harder his tongue thrust into my mouth.

As the pleasure grew the wall I kept around my mind began to crack. Levi's thoughts were starting to break through and all I could hear was his voice saying, "Let me in. Let me all the way in, Marina."

When that mental wall collapsed I jerked his mouth away from mine, crying out as my control shattered. Levi felt everything, every flash of heat, every nerve tingling, every muscle tightening. He felt my hunger rise up to the point of no return and just before I sank my teeth into his neck I heard him growl.

I felt the spark of pain that went through him but it didn't cool his desire, his need. If anything it made Levi burn hotter and his need climb higher. He pounded into my cunt as I drew his hot blood into my mouth and bit down harder when my orgasm ripped through me.

The whole bed shook with the wild almost out of control movements of Levi's body. His grunting filled the room with the animalistic sounds of mating as he tried to push up into my womb. Then he shouted out and I felt the white hot flame shoot through him and felt the heat of his seed filling my cunt.

My teeth slid from his neck and my body shook at the depth my mind let Levi go. He was moaning, his face buried against the side of my neck. He was still inside me, his hips still thrusting slightly and then finally stopping.

tears came to my eyes as I knew this would be our last night together. Our last night of sharing such a deep connection because after tonight, Levi will no longer remember me.

I hold back my tears, removed the pain from my eyes before I opened them. When I did he was looking down at me, every line on his face showing the love he felt and I feel my heart break even more. With trembling lips I kissed him softly. "I love you, Levi. You will have my love forever."

***

The rest of the night was spent in bed. I told Levi things that no other mortal knew about my life as a vampire. We both shared stories of our childhood. Both of us laughed at our antics as kids. I soaked up every detail that he shared with me over those few hours only to wish that the night would never end.

I made love to Levi one last time in the hour before sunrise. I took my time, touching, memorizing every inch of him. I tried to keep my tears at bay as the last tremors coursed through me but they flowed freely onto his chest.

As he began to drift off to sleep I began to put an end to us. In only a few commands the process was put into place and started in his mind. I placed one last command for him to sleep so that when he wakes, he will never remember the name Marina Wilder or what had happen to him in the last few days.

My tears fell silently as I dressed him and then myself. His truck keys in hand I carried him out to his truck in those last minutes before dawn. I made sure his thick coat was zipped up tight and gazed upon his sleeping face. Memories of the past began to blend with the present of the last time I was with Dante and a sob escaped from my throat.

I kissed Levi, my lips lingering, gathering the memory of his taste, then I quietly shut the truck door. I struggled with myself not wanting to leave him, but the beast in me forced me back into the cabin as dawn was now only a minute away.

I stood there at the small window beside the front door watching over him, growing weaker by the second. I cried out his name as I flipped the switch for the automatic shutters to the windows and doors, then slid down to the floor, sobbing as the dark emptiness of sleep took me.

*

At darkness when I came to, I found myself lying on the floor by the front door. The house was completely dark; not that it really mattered. My senses took over and the beast in me went into protective mode, doing everything in its mental power to search the cabin and the immediate surroundings outside for any signs of a possible threat. I got to my feet and flipped the switch to retract the shutters and watched their slow rise over the back wall of glass. I made sure all the windows were uncovered in the living room, dining room and kitchen. I even checked the master bedroom, but I couldn't bring myself to step into what had become Levi's bedroom.

I changed my clothes and drank my breakfast before heading outside to the deck. It must have been warm today because there wasn't much snow left on the ground from the storm of a few days ago. I jogged down the stairs toward the left side of the cabin and stopped in my tracks when I turn the corner, staring at the chopping block where Levi had stood cutting wood, swinging an ax with so much power and with such rhythm.

I quickly turned to move back up the stairs when another memory came rushing back to me. It was of the night I climbed these very steps and everything changed between Levi and me. Emotions welling up inside my chest, "I've got to get out of here," I mumbled and turned away, tearing off into the woods at such a speed that I wasn't even a blur against the background.

In such a short time Levi had left me with so many memories and I could feel every one of them chasing after me. No matter how fast I ran or how far, they stayed one step behind, waiting for that moment to come when I would stop to catch me.

It could have been minutes or it could have been hours that I ran, but how ever long it all came to a screeching halt when I noticed where I was. Here I am trying to run away from his memory, but where do I end up running to? The only place that I'm sure to find him, Cherokee.

I wanted to leave but my need to see him was too strong to deny. I kept hidden along the tree line and let my senses feel for him. I had almost given up when I happened to spot his truck pulling into what must have been his grandmother's place.

I watched as he got out of his truck and rested his head against the door. He looked so tired to me. His hair looked like he had been raked his fingers through countless times and his clothes where all dusty and winkled. Not wanting him to feel me, I probed his mind only a little but couldn't pick up anything to worry about. He moved suddenly and turned his eyes in my direction. Carefully and slowly I stepped deeper into the shadows. His stare was so intent that it felt like a touch.

I had to bite my tongue to keep from making a sound as he started toward me. The closer he got the more my chest ached. He stood there at the edge of the trees and stared with squinted eyes into the shadows. "Is someone there?" He paced back and forth in front of me then turned to look again, "Come on now, if this is a joke it's not funny."

He rubbed the back of his neck then walked away mumbling, "I don't know what it is but ever since sundown I've felt like someone is watching me."

Fear shot through my heart and without hesitation I probed to the deepest depths of Levi's mind. If he felt someone watching him since sundown then it was damn likely they were. I searched for any markers that another vampire might have left behind when they scanned him for information. But unless they covered their tracks when they left, no vampires other then myself had been inside his head.

Levi had made it into the house and, through I hated to do it, I eavesdropped on his conversation with his grandmother. About an hour later I learned that he was going to be just as late coming home tomorrow night because his cousin still needed him to help out on the farm.

His grandmother said something next that made the hair on my nape stand on end. "Levi you need to be careful. I feel evil all around us. Some of it feels like a good kind of evil but some of it is very bad as well."

Thinking only of protecting Levi and his grandmother, I let myself into her mind. "You have a right to worry because your feelings are correct. I'm the good evil of which you speak and I'm trying to watch out for your grandson. It's true that the bad evil you speak about is near or will be soon and you would be wise not to invite anyone into your home after sunset, even if they are familiar to you. During the day things are safer but it would be wise to be inside your own home before sunset." I sensed her fear of me and try to reassure her, "You have no reason to fear me. I will do everything within my power to keep this bad evil from ever finding you and your grandson."