Where Lost Things Dwell: Night Creatures Book Two

Chapter Fourteen - The Consequences of Conflict

Waking, securely held by someone she loved, made Kalyna happy; content in a way she hadn't been in many years. Her body still felt languid from the night before, even as she squirmed back, her back tight against the solid planes of Dunstan's front. He murmured sleepily, his arms tightening around her, and she would've happily stayed that way forever, but the clock on the bedside table said they only had a short time before its shrill beeping urged them both out of bed. Not that Dunstan seemed to mind.

"I'm still not entirely sure I believe you let me do that," he murmured as his lips brushed her shoulder. "Or that you still feel so good about it."

Laughing, she rolled towards him, so her front pressed against his instead, looking up into his handsome face and enjoying the ripple of heat that slid through her when she thought about the previous night. "Turns out I'm not so vanilla after all. If I hadn't felt good about it, I would have stopped you. You would've stopped yourself. But I enjoyed it; every mind-blowing, overwhelming, awe-inspiring second of it. You make me feel good. You make me feel strong, and in charge enough to be able to submit, which sounds like a contradiction but you make me feel... at peace in my own skin, even while it's being marked by a crop or a cat o' nine tails."

"It's not a contradiction," he murmured, kissing her tenderly, a soft brush of skin against skin that nonetheless left her lips tingling. "I understand exactly what you mean, beautiful. I just never expected to have someone who really got it."

Smiling, she kissed him again. "You looked really damn vampire, you know. All fangs, glowing eyes, and blood smeared across your body. It was hot."

He groaned, his hand sliding down to cup her ass. "Not that long ago, the very idea would've horrified you, but you looked pretty damn vampire yourself, fangs out and blood rolling down your skin. Do you know that your eyes brighten when your fangs extend? It makes the heterochromia so much more obvious, until they're almost turquoise and jade. It's beautiful. You make a beautiful vampire, even with your heartbeat."

"I'm pleased you think so. And I'm pleased you taught me how hot vampires can be," she teased.

"All vampires?" he wondered.

"One vampire," she corrected. "My gorgeous, sexy, vampire Staff Sergeant."

He grinned and nipped her lip, then smacked her ass, murmuring, "As much as I'd like to lie here while you describe how amazing I am, you have Battlefield Casualty Drills today. You really should be getting up. Have you even looked over the Battlefield Casualty Drills Aide Memoire? If you don't know it off by heart, I'll be disappointed, recruit."

"I have actually." She cast him a defiant look. "Both the standard military issue booklet and the secondary supernatural pamphlet. I will try my best not to forget anything. What are you doing tonight?"

"There's been reports of a vagrant going around 'biting pub goers' in Durham. Reports have increased over the last four weeks and it's beginning to make it into newspapers. The words 'vampire menace' have even been used in the press." Dunstan shrugged, not looking overly concerned by mortal 'metaphor'. "As we're the ones with police badges as well as being OTF enlistees, the Major wants me and Maloney to patrol around the area where most reports have come in. I get to wear my other hat tonight."

Kalyna screwed up her nose then joked, "I prefer your fatigues to your police uniform. Your police uniform makes me want to headbutt you in the face."

"I'm aware," he drawled. "But as you've already done that once, I'm hoping I'll survive tonight without earning myself another broken nose. Anyway, it's probably just a human with some sort of mental health concern or out of their mind on drugs. That's happened before. Most vamps know better than to hunt in one locale for a prolonged period of time, and they know better than forgetting to erase themselves from the memories of those they bite. Even if it is a vampire, they aren't hiding their tracks. They should be easy enough to track down."