Mistake of a Lifetime

Finally, on the seventh day, she'd had enough. She was sitting at the island in her kitchen, attempting to choke down a cup of coffee and the memories were assailing her again. With a growl she snatched up her phone and punched in a number.

"Augustino."

He was pleased to hear her voice. "Rachel! How are you?"

"Where's Kimber?" She ignored the small talk, the lack of sleep and week of frustration weighing on her.

"I assume home in Mississippi. That's what he hinted at the crematorium, anyway. What's wrong?"

"I don't want to talk about it. Do you have an address?" Her manner was brisk, downright short, and she heard the frown in Augustino's voice.

"Yes, I do. He agreed to stay on contract with us, but needed some time to grieve. You were right, he's very skilled. Most of the men at Mauricio's were killed with a headshot."

Rachel cut him off, swallowing the angrier words she wanted to scream. "Send me the address."

"Not until you tell me why."

His hackles were up, she knew, and there was no way she was getting the address now without a good explanation. She silently cursed his obstinacy and authority and counted to ten.

"Because I need to see him." Admitting it was both painful and freeing.

"Why?"

She frowned darkly. "Why do you think?"

Augustino was quiet for a long moment. "I told you it was stupid to be solitary for so long." He sighed deeply. "I'll text it to you. It'll give you enough time to get a bag together. I'll call ahead and get you a jet, too."

A sob rose in her throat and she swallowed hard. "Thank you."

The rented Mercedes was nice, but not as fast as Rachel wanted. She ripped along backroads, dodging farm machines, heading south of Meridian, infuriated when she realized the gas tank hadn't been refilled and she'd need to stop. Cursing, raging, she pulled into a roadside gas station. As the car filled, she ducked inside and bought a couple packs of cigarettes. The cashier stared at her, watching her take out a black American Express and wad of mostly crisp cash.

"You ain't from around here, are you honey?"

Rachel looked up from digging for the twenty she knew she had stuffed somewhere. "Um, no." She ripped the bill from her jacket pocket and handed it over, catching the other woman's furtive glance at the Mercedes outside. Small town people will always and forever be the same.

She tore out of the parking lot, spewing gravel everywhere, and resumed her breakneck speed. The GPS had showed the path as a mostly straight shot, thanks to this agricultural area, but it was still a decent drive ahead of her.

Kimber was bent over, retrieving a dropped nail when his dog alerted. "What's up, Bobbi?" The black Cane Corso gave him a cursory glance before bolting for the front yard. He yelled a command which was promptly ignored, then cursed quietly as he ran after her. Fear chilled him as he imagined the admittedly poorly trained dog attacking a delivery man, and as he came around the corner he found a much more interesting sight.

Rachel was braced against the corner of a flashy red Mercedes sedan with Bobbi leaping and whining. The dog's stub of a tail was wagging so hard her whole body was wiggling, and Rachel smiled slightly as she corrected her.

"Yes, girl, I know. Down. Stop now."

Kimber took in her form hungrily, not realizing how desperate he'd been to see her. She looked tired and stressed, but she was the most beautiful thing he'd seen in a while. Finally she straightened and froze as she saw him.

Oh, dear god. Rachel wasn't prepared for this. He was shirtless, his jeans riding low on his lean hips, and bits of dirt and wood shavings were caught in his chest hair. He was already a beautiful bronzed tan, as if he'd been doing this all week, and her insides clenched desperately. She went weak in the knees when she saw the look on his face and he began striding determinedly towards her.

She met him halfway and he snatched her off the ground and against him, kissing her roughly with his hands in her hair. Her arms went around his shoulders and hugged him tightly, whimpering slightly against his bruising lips. It was a long kiss, deeply passionate, and a while before he set her down.

"How'd you find me?" His hands moved over her before cupping her face gently, his eyes blazing into hers. Suddenly, she was nervous.

"Augustino." She dropped her eyes to his chest, noting the healing bruise from the gunshot that had hit him in the chest. It matched well with the bruises in various states of healing under his eyes, and she supposed she was just thankful he wasn't still swollen.

"Why?" He squeezed ever so slightly and her eyes flew back to his. He didn't look or sound angry, and she was encouraged.

"Because I hated being without you." The admission hurt, but the glow in his eyes comforted her.

He smiled and dipped his head to rest his forehead against hers. "What'd you do to my dog?" His tone was friendly, relieved, and gentle and she was inspired.

She grinned. "Eh. I'm of the vampire type that has a friendly relationship with all predators."

He raised his eyebrows. "What's that mean?"

"It means I don't go to the zoo very often, unless I want to lead a bunch of tigers and wolves through the facility."

He chuckled deep in his chest and bent to kiss her again. Rachel rose up on her toes, eager to feel his lips on hers, when a feminine shout behind them rippled through her.

"Kimmie! Who's your friend that's driving such a fancy car?"

The sound was like ice water dumped on Rachel's head and she jerked away, watching a petite, buxom woman walking towards them.

"Kimber?" She looked up at him in confusion and he shook his head before ducking his head low to her ear.

"That's my best friend from childhood. Don't kill her."

Rachel shot him a glare and stuck out her hand for the woman. "Hi, I'm Rachel."

The woman looked at the hand, then to Kimber, then jerked Rachel hard against her. "Oh, honey, we don't shake hands around here! Especially not with Kimber's lady loves!"

Rachel found the sensation of being squeezed and shaken absolutely bizarre and she endured it despite the buried snort she heard from Kimber.

"Rachel, this is Amber. Long time best friend, and the keeper of my home here."

Amber finally released Rachel and she would have stumbled if he hadn't caught her. "Shoot. 'Keeper' my ass, I'm the only one who'll tolerate him and that mangy mutt of his so he has to accept my help. And I love every minute of it." She grinned at Kimber, who squirmed before shrugging.

"True enough." He looked mildly embarrassed and Amber grinned before turning to walk back inside.

"I'll let y'all keep catching up. Dinner's in an hour."

Kimber studied Rachel's face as she watched Amber walk back into the house. If she was jealous, she hid it well. When he heard the screen door slam, her eyes flicked to his and she smiled when she saw him staring.

"So it's like that, huh?"

Wordlessly, he picked her up and held her tightly and proceeded towards what she assumed was the garage. She wrapped her legs around his waist and held on, enjoying the ridiculous level of manhandling he displayed. Once inside, she saw a glimpse of the BMW she'd given him before he cleared a workbench with one heavy swipe. Gently, he sat her down there so her face was level with his.

"Now, why are you here?"

Rachel was surprised. "I just told you."

"Yeah, you gave me a short answer. Why not call me?"

His clipped manner confused her and she shrugged, feeling her heart start to shrivel. "I didn't have your number."

"And you couldn't get it from Tony?" Kimber purposely masked his true intentions, but he wondered how long he could hold out. She was wilting like an unwatered flower before his eyes and it tore at his heart. But he needed real truths, and so did she.

"I didn't want you to evade me, like you did back in Atlanta." She wasn't meeting his eyes and her hands were folded tidily in her lap though her thumbs wiggled nervously.

"Why do you think I evaded you?"

"Because you didn't come after me. You knew where I lived. I waited. I wanted to give you space, let you come to me of your own accord and free will. I couldn't wait any longer."

"Why not?"

Finally her eyes flew to his and he almost melted. There was the faintest sheen of tears in those emerald depths and his heart ached. "Because I can't fucking deal with being alone anymore. Because 24 hours with you was enough to remind me how great it is to be around someone who fits, someone complimentary, someone wonderful. In 24 hours, you destroyed the balanced world I had, the cold and logical and controlled, and now all I can imagine is having you around all the time. Maybe not one big happy family because you're an assassin and I'm a vampire, but maybe we can have our own functional dysfunction."

He relented and reached up, cupping her face gently in his hands and shushing her. Impulsively he kissed her lightly, tracing her lips with his tongue before lifting his head. "I understand, Rachel."

She sniffled ever so slightly and gripped her hands with his. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that I get it. I had one thing in mind when I met you, and that was getting my sister out of the grip of the mafia. After more than a few failed relationships, yes even one with Amber, I gave up on love, and passion, and romance. But damned if you didn't flip that completely on its head, and now I can't imagine life without you."

She stared at him dumbly, as if she hadn't heard him, and he felt the need to continue. "I needed to bury my sister, and needed some place to heal and think things over, and that's why I came home. I was coming back to Atlanta, Rachel. My flight was booked for tomorrow night, and I was going to go straight to your house and explain and do my best to talk you into loving me. Thank you for making my job easier."

A spark of anger lit up her eyes finally as his words sank in. "So I flew out here and drove a shitty rental for nothing?"

Kimber grinned, unfazed. "I wouldn't say that. I'm happier than a pig in shit to see you a day early, and it's nice to see you outside of your element. You're fascinating."

Rachel didn't know how to respond. She was furious that she'd acted so irrationally and laid so much of her heart bare, but incredibly relieved that she wasn't going to be alone and flattered at his compliment. Finally, words came to her. "I don't feel so bad about punching you in the face now."

He threw back his head and laughed heartily and she pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. His laughter died to chuckles, and finally he nuzzled her under her ear. "You broke my zygomatic, you know."

She shivered, still pouting. "I know. It swelled like I did and I'm pretty sure I felt it crack."

He pressed delicate kisses down her neck. "Mm, that's what I like the best about you. You can kick my ass."

Her resolve was rapidly weakening and she sighed deeply, her nipples growing firm. "I can, absolutely. It's my gift to you every day that I don't."

He buried his face in her shoulder and laughed before snatching her off the workbench and around him. He hooked his hands under her butt and looked at her seriously, his eyes dark. "So how is this going to work?"

Rachel supposed she could get used to being packed around. "Well, we're going to have to be pretty flexible for a lot of it, but I see you going on trips around the world for Tony and coming home to me on a regular basis. That is, of course, when I'm not going with you."

"That sounds like a plan. What about the vampire thing?"

She looked up at him curiously. "What about it?"

He frowned slightly. "You're going to live forever. I'm not. You need to drink blood on what I assume to be a regular basis, and maybe that raises concerns I don't know how to address."

He was serious and she nodded, falling silent as she pondered. "Well, ideally I feed weekly. I really don't have to feed much more than monthly, although I can go much longer without it." She saw from his expression that she wasn't resolving what bothered him, and realization set in. "Being my Warm is not required for being with me, Kimber. I don't have to feed from you, and I don't have to have sex to feed. I have ways around it."

He smiled suddenly and she knew that was the issue. "That's good to know." He kissed her again, a gentle but thorough kiss that made her toes curl. He turned and she was suddenly placed on the hood of the car. She looked up in surprise and her insides clenched at the intent plainly written on his face. His hands slid under her shirt and flattened out over her sides, and his eyes gleamed.

"So you've missed me for a week, huh?" He teased her lips with his and she sighed.

"Every minute of every day."

He smiled against her mouth. "Me too."