Louise Ch. 10

"What's it like to be a vampire? I mean is it that much different than being a human?"

"Wow... I don't know how to answer that. I've never been human- at least not for long. I guess I would have to say that aside from the physical differences and the mortality issue, there isn't that much of a difference. As you know when we mate, it's for life and there are very rare instances of infidelity. Why are you asking?" Veronica asked.

"Just curious." Louise replied as she handed a loaf of bread to Veronica. "I'm looking forward to the wedding." she said changing the subject.

"So are we... are you and Nathan going to have a wedding?"

"I don't think so." Louise replied. "I would be too nervous."

"I understand but you could have a ceremony with just the two of you and then a reception or you and Kevyn can do it together." Veronica said.

"That's an idea." Louise mused. It was worth thinking about.

By five, everyone was gone with the exception of Kevyn and Patrick.

"Why don't you stay?" Louise asked. "It's getting late."

Kevyn looked at Louise and knew that she had something on her mind.

"Sure, we can make dinner together." Kevyn replied.

Patrick and Nathan sensing that the sisters needed a few minutes alone made themselves scarce.

"What are we going to do?" Louise asked Kevyn.

"There's nothing that we can do." Kevyn replied. "She has to find out the hard way and we can only hope that she doesn't get herself hurt or killed in the process."

"Nathan won't let that happen." Louise said. "He said that they would keep her as safe as she'll let them but Kev... something's going to happen to her and she won't come to us for help."

"How do you know?" Kevyn asked.

"I felt it." Louise replied sadly. "She's convinced that we've somehow taken something from her and I don't think that I helped anything."

"You only said what we've all been saying to her and what she needed to hear." Kevyn replied. "I think that she heard you simply because you've never confronted her like that. I was watching her, Lou you hit a few nerves and I bet you planted a few seeds that only have to take root."

Kevyn and Louise looked at each other and then hugged.

"Meet you here at three." Kevyn said kissing Louise's wet cheek. "And try not to worry too much."

**********

Louise laid on the bed her mind going a hundred miles an hour trying to think of a way to help Barb but kept coming up with nothing. She finally conceded that Kevyn was right, there was absolutely nothing that they could do except watch and wait.

"Louise, listen to me." Nathan said gently. "There is and was nothing that you could have done for her. All of this is in her hands, it always has been and its time that she face the ramifications of her choices. All we can do is wait."

"You don't understand." Louise said softly.

"Don't I?" Nathan asked. "I see the results of the choices that were made by those in my family everyday. I could have lost you because of it. Patrick almost lost Kevyn and the list goes on. You don't think that I wish that I could have done something to change it? But the fact of the matter is I can't do anything but take steps to make sure that it never happens again. So yes sweetheart, I understand."

"I'm sorry." Louise said softly.

"There's nothing to apologize for. You're frightened for your sister and so is Kevyn but you show it more. Its part of the empathy but you are also exhausted and you need to sleep."

"I don't think that I can sleep." she replied even as she yawned and put an arm across his waist.

"Can't or won't?" Nathan asked as he pulled her closer to him and kissed her.

"Can't, I have too many things on my mind. If I were at home, I'd get up and cook something."

"That's one option." Nathan said, "but I like mine better and by the way, you are home and if you want to get up and cook, we'll do it."

He nuzzled her temple with his lips before kissing it. Louise turned to face him, looked into his and kissed him. It was the first time since their mating that she had taken the initiative and they both liked it. Nathan deepened the kiss as he ran his hands down her back, over her ass and then under the tee shirt that she insisted that she had to wear to bed.

"Sweetheart, the tee shirt has to go." he murmured against lips and a second later, it was gone. He grazed his lips down her chin, over her neck and to her chest where he stopped and pressed them against where her heart beat. Even his hands were still as he waited until her heart slowed to more normal rate. Only then did he move his lips to the nipple closest to him kissed the tip of it before taking it into his mouth, lightly biting down on it and then sucking on it loving the way it felt as it grew and hardened in his mouth.

He laid her back with the nipple still in his mouth and moved to the neglected one giving it the same treatment as he rolled the nipple that he just left between his fingers. He took his time with her breasts, like Patrick, the breast was probably his favorite body part on a woman but he had the feeling that he was about to change his mind.

The scent of Louise's arousal beckoned him. He had yet to taste her and he was now eager to do so. He released the nipple, kissed her and continued his journey down her body. He took his time in exploring her with his lips and hands gently massaging and kissing every exposed area.

When he reached the junction between her legs, he paused to smell and look at it. Every other woman he had ever been with smelled sour in comparison to her. In his eagerness, he almost didn't warn her of what he was about to do but then remembered that he could show her.

"Sweetheart, lower your shields."

He waited patiently as Louise slowly lowered her shields. When they were down, he sent her a telepathic picture of him making love to her with his mouth and then began. He started with the inside of her thighs kissing and nipping at them but causing no pain. He stopped when he saw how tense she was and spoke to her telepathically.

"Close your eyes and relax."

He waited until she was more relaxed and began again. This time he kept talking to her telling her that she was safe and that he loved her more than anything or anyone that he could think of. Finally, he was at his destination, her wet, aroused mound. Even though he hadn't opened her nether lips, he could see her glistening clit peeking through. Instead of going directly for it, he opened her with two fingers, and swiped her from bottom to the top of her slit stopping just short of her clit and then going down again.

Louise had heard talk at work about the things people did during sex and wasn't sure that she believed half of it but here she was, married and about to experience the pleasures of oral sex for the first time. She was glad that Nathan had given her a warning of what he was about to do and knew that he wouldn't have to do it again. She jumped a little when she felt him open her vaginal lips but relaxed when he began to speak to her telepathically.

She moaned and bucked her hips when she felt the first swipe of his warm, wet tongue against her sex for the first time. A few licks later, she was moving her hips in search of his tongue wishing that he would touch her in that one spot. She opened her legs wider than she thought possible inviting him to do what they both wanted.

Nathan continued to lick and nibble until he got the signal that he was waiting for- the opening of her legs inviting him to feast on her. Even then, he didn't rush as he lapped up the clear fluid that ran from her. As he tasted her, the taste of every other woman seemed to disappear from his memory. There was only her. Finally, he took her pulsing clit into his mouth and suckled on it. He could hear her cries of pleasure and allowed himself to feel what she was feeling. His balls tightened against him and his cock throbbed as he shared in her pleasure.

Louise was beside herself as Nathan made love to her. Just as she was about to come, she opened herself to him completely. Whatever piece of her she had been holding back, she gave to him. A soft moan escaped her lips and gradually escalated into a full scream as she trusted not only him but also herself into his care.

Nathan felt her release herself into his care. He closed his eyes in an attempt not to come; he needed to be inside of her when he did that. He didn't know or understand why nor did he care. The only thing that he cared about was that when it was over, both of them would be stronger and closer than even the first time that they made love. He also realized that in order for that to happen, he had to give himself to her completely as she had just given herself to him.

Nathan gave Louise's clit one last pull that sent her over the edge crying and screaming for him. Before her orgasm was completely over, he was inside of her pumping hard and fast giving her everything that he was and would be. He came with a scream that left his throat raw and dry.

Afterwards, he hugged Louise to him. Neither of them spoke. There was nothing to say. Nathan lay awake long after Louise had fallen asleep. He wasn't worried about anything in particular, he was thinking about the Yancy family. In order for Louise to have the power that she did meant that an ancestor was psychically powerful. Kevyn was strong in what she could do and even Barb was psychic to some degree, the others he didn't know about but Louise seemed to have been given the bulk of the gifts. As he finally closed his eyes, he made a mental note to check into her line.

*********

Barb woke up early cramped, hungry and still angry about the night before. She looked at the clock, swore and rolled off the sofa. If it hadn't been for the fact that the apartment was rent free, she would have looked for a bigger place. She made her way to the tiny bathroom, used the toilet and washed her hands and face when she was done. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and frowned at the small pimple at the corner of her mouth. She couldn't remember the last time that she had a pimple and attributed it to the stress of the past couple of weeks.

She fixed herself a bowl of cereal, wondered if Juliette was up and decided that she didn't care. If she couldn't sleep then no one else could either. She put the half-eaten bowl of cereal in the sink and dug through her purse for her cell phone. Juliette's phone rang four times before she answered it.

"Barb? Do you know what time it is?" Juliette asked sleepily.

"I don't know and I don't care. Have you packed up my stuff yet?"

"Some of it. I'm on vacation this week, I'll get it done." Juliette replied.

"Good. Just make sure you pack all my under things and clothes together and that the boxes are labeled."

"Barb, do you realize how much crap you have? You need a moving company and that's going to cost you a fortune even if Mr. Riverton gives you my employee discount. Why don't you put it in storage for now and I'll send your clothes and things?"

Barb didn't respond for several minutes.

"Let me call you back." she said and hung up.

She called her realtor next.

"Sonya, what's happening with the house?" she asked without saying hello.

"Barb, it's seven am here and I'm not even out of bed yet. I'll call you when I get to the office."

Sonya hung up not giving Barb a chance to argue with her. She called Juliette back and told her what she wanted.

"Pack up my clothes and personal stuff and send it here. Will Riverton give me the employee discount on one of the storage spaces?"

"He will if you use one his crews to pack up and bring your stuff here." Juliette replied.

"Then do it, it has to be a lot cheaper than having it brought across the country." Barb replied.

"I'll call when the office opens... Barb? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Barb replied.

"Kev and Lou, are they alright?"

"They're fine. I have to go." Barb said and quickly hung up. She didn't want to hear or talk about Kevyn and Louise. All it did was make her angry. Just thinking about them made her blood boil but even so, she was still hurt by what Louise said to her.

She spent the morning waiting for Sonya to call her back about the house, channel surfing and continuing her search for a dating service. Sonya didn't call her until two in the afternoon and the news while not bad wasn't as good as Barb had hoped.

"I have a buyer but they're offering twenty thousand less than you want. I can try to split the difference but if they don't bite what do you want me to do?"

"What about the Jones?" Barb asked.

"They passed and there are no other offers on the table." Sonya replied.

"See what you can do." Barb said after a long hesitation. "If they won't budge then sell it."

Barb logged off the dating site and onto her bank account. She breathed a sigh of relief to see that the money from her 401k had gone in. Her phone didn't ring again until late afternoon; it was Sonya calling her back.

"Ok, we split the difference.... And they want the furniture."

"Fine, it saves me the cost of having it moved and stored. Can I sign the papers via email?"

"I'd rather not go that route, I'll overnight them to you but I will email them to you so that you can look them over."

"They've made the down payment?" Barb asked.

"More than that." Sonya replied, "They have the cash. Apparently, she inherited quite a bit of money and decided to buy a house. Once all of the inspections and appraisals are done and the papers signed we're done."

Barb didn't miss the note of relief she heard in Sonya's voice.

"Email me those forms, I'll look them over and call with any questions."

"Of course but bear in mind that tomorrow is Sunday and I do attend church."

"Yeah, I'll try not to bother you." Barb said snidely and hung up.

She spent the rest of the afternoon online changing her address and contact information before she remembered to call Juliette back with the change in plans regarding the movers. When she called her back, Wanda the oldest grandchild answered the phone.

"Auntie Barb!"

That enthusiastic greeting was the only thing that really brightened Barb's day.

"Hi Wannie! How are you?"

"I'm good! Guess what? I got an A on my science project!"

"That's great! Where's your mom?" Barb asked cutting the conversation short.

"She's in the kitchen." Wanda replied the hurt evident in her voice.

"Go get her for me." Barb said ignoring the hurt tone in her oldest niece's voice.

She had to give Juliette credit. Barb had never wanted children. To her they were a hindrance and not the blessing that people claimed them to be. However, Juliette loved her kids even if she dumped them on Louise when she wanted or needed a night out. Barb also knew that Juliette always helped the kids with their homework and took them on day trips; she was a good mother.

When Juliette finally came to the phone, Barb told her about the change in plan.

"When can you get up there?" she asked.

"Tomorrow and with any luck I can have your stuff ready to be shipped by the end of the day." Juliette replied.

"Are you going out tonight?" Barb asked not really caring."

"Nah, me and the kids are going to watch movies and make those donut things that mom used to make." Juliette replied and then hesitated. "We were wrong you know."

"Wrong about what?" Barb asked.

"About the way that we didn't help Louise with mom. She shouldn't have had to take care of her alone."

"What brought this on?" Barb asked.

"I don't know." Juliette replied. "I just wish that we had helped her more."

"Look, I gotta run, call me when you have the price for the shipping."

She hung up and went back to changing and updating her contact information. After thinking about it for several minutes, she cancelled her 'twitter' and 'face book' accounts and then decided to change her cell phone number as well. The only people that she would give it to would be ... no one she decided.

The next thing was to decide on whether she should buy a car or not. She spent the evening debating the issue and decided to buy a small used car. By the time she finished everything for the day; it was late evening. Her cell phone rang; she looked at the number, recognized it as Kevyn's and silenced it. She didn't even bother to check to see if there was a voice mail

She made herself a sandwich, poured a glass of soda and turned on the small color television looking for something to watch. She almost gagged when she saw the ad for 'The Emerald' flash across the screen. Barb turned off the television, took the uneaten sandwich to the kitchen, wrapped it and put it in the fridge.

Even though it was warm in the apartment, Barb felt chilled. She wrapped her blanket around her and fell into a fitful sleep.

********

Louise opened her eyes and then closed them again relishing the feeling of Nathan's warm breath blowing across her forehead. She tried to put into words what she was feeling and came up with none that seemed adequate. What she did know was that she was where she wanted and needed to be and not even her concerns about Barb disturbed the sense of peace that she felt.

She couldn't tell what time it was but she thought that it had to be close to the time she was supposed to meet Kevyn in the kitchen. She tried to ease out of bed to use the bathroom but Nathan stopped her.

"Where are you running off to?" He asked his eyes still closed. "It's early."

"I need the bathroom and I'm meeting Kev in the kitchen at three." she replied.

"It's only one." Nathan said slowly opening his eyes.

"How do you know?" Louise asked.

"I just do, so go to the bathroom and come back to bed." he replied as he kissed her forehead.

He noticed with satisfaction that she didn't look for her tee shirt when she got out of bed. Now if he could get her to forget the damned thing period. Nathan watched her ass jiggle as she walked across the room, got out of bed and followed her into the bathroom. He had other things that he would rather be doing than sleeping. He went into the shower part of the bathroom, turned it on and got in. Louise got in a few minutes later and began to wash her hair.

"Let me." Nathan said taking the bottle of shampoo away from her.

Louise stood still as Nathan gently washed her hair taking care not to tangle it. He carefully rinsed the soap out aware of her aversion to having water running down her face and applied the leave in conditioner. Louise didn't object as he washed her back and then turned her around to wash the front of her. When he was finished, Louise reciprocated .She had Nathan kneel in front of her so that she could wash his hair, shoulders and upper back. It occurred to her that they were making love without making love and she loved it. She was learning that there were many ways to make love without sex and wondered what else Nathan had to teach her.

Nathan dried her off and applied oil to her skin talking to her in soothing tones as he rubbed her back. His intent was for her to sleep. As far as he was concerned, she hadn't slept enough. He wasn't concerned about Kevyn, she would understand and if she didn't- too bad.

Soon after he started the massage, Louise was sleeping. It wasn't the deep sleep of the exhausted. But it was the sleep of someone who knew that they were cared for, safe and loved. As he watched her sleep, his love for her grew. He didn't think that it was possible but it was happening. He now understood the love between his parents and the others. The feeling that there really was a love so strong and that someone loved him so intensely astounded him.

He could see how it could easily become an obsession and how it could lead to unhappiness for both parties. He would have to remind himself to step back and let Louise have her space so she wouldn't feel smothered. He knew that part of what he was feeling was the novelty of being newly mated and in time that would pass but still the danger of becoming obsessive would remain.