Nos Faux Ratu Ch. 08

"Yes. How did you know?"

He grinned. "Nessa has the most wicked toys!" He pointed at a screen that showed the VIP lounge, and it was showing the area that she had just been standing. "Insane digital zoom, perfect sound --"

"I didn't even see the camera."

"It was all the way across the room!" William said excitedly. "And you're really okay with me helping?"

"It'll keep you out of trouble. The trouble I got you into. I can't believe you're handling this so well."

"Not much choice. I feel bad for my parents . . . you know --" he stammered.

"They are your parents," Jenna said. "I'm just . . . I was just there at the beginning."

William started to speak, stopped, then started again. "I want you to meet them. When this is over, I mean."

Jenna shook her head. "I can't. What would I say?"

"The truth. Ish. But I don't want to lie to them, I don't want you to do your vampire mojo and wipe my brain, and that kinda limits our options. And don't tell me that we either can't ever see each other again or have to hide and stuff."

Jenna shook her head. Meet Ronald and Michelle Monroe? And how would she explain anything? "We'll talk when I get back," she told him, stepping forward and hugging him.

"Don't feed me that line," William said angrily, pushing her away. "You treat me like an adult by letting me actually help with your mission, but you don't trust me enough to know that I want this?"

Jenna closed her eyes. "I trust you to know your own mind, but that doesn't mean you get to have everything you want."

"But why --"

"Because I am not going to ruin your life," Jenna snapped. "Because something like this will change how your parents look at you. If they love you, and we both know they do, they'll want you as far away from me as possible."

"You don't know that," he shot back angrily. "You don't know them --"

"I know them. They are wonderful people who want what's best for you and . . . and I can't have this discussion now." Jenna turned to leave.

"Why do you get to be the one who decides what our relationship is?" he called after her as she disappeared into the lift.

She had no response except to tell him she loved him, one more time. Maybe for the last time.

Jenna again sought out Caitlin, her feet carrying her to the woman's presence before her mind caught up.

"What's wrong?" the brunette beauty asked, seeing her "girlfriend" subtly but visibly upset. Most people would not have been able to read Jenna, but Caitlin had spent years studying that face. She knew every line and every expression the woman had ever shown.

"Just . . . nothing."

"It's not 'nothing'. What's up?" Caitlin walked her girlfriend off to the side. "This whole thing we have now? Part of it means you have to talk to me. It's a rule."

It took a moment for Jenna to realize the other woman was teasing her. Sort of. She closed her eyes, opened them, and recited her conversation with William. By the end, she realized that her voice was cracking, something she was not used to. She wasn't sure what it meant, but Caitlin did. Jenna was actually scared. The notion of meeting her son's adoptive parents and trying to explain why she had been absent, or that she was not trying to steal THEIR son away, terrified her.

"Babe --"

"Babe?"

"Work with me here. Term of affection, get used to it," she added with a smiled. Sometimes, she didn't think Jenna really understood innuendo or dry humor. "Babe, he's scared too. You just walked into his life, larger than life, and he's probably scared that he'll never see you again.

"But how would I ever explain any of this?"

"You come up with a good cover story that isn't too far from the truth, then otherwise lie your incredibly cute ass off."

"What would be even vaguely close to this that wouldn't be a bold-faced lie? Vampires, werewolves, commandos . . . I'm not that good at lying."

"You'll be fine. We will figure this out. You'll meet his parents, then we can go diving in the Caribbean, and all you have to do is help destroy our psychopathic ex-boss who just happens to have claws and fangs. Oh, and his right hand man, who may be the most dangerous thing that I've seen. Except maybe you."

"You're not . . . you're not afraid of me, are you?"

Caitlin threw her head back and laughed, which caught the obvious attention of some of the others who were nearby. This caused her to lead Jenna away to the lift in order to afford some privacy. When they were alone, she admitted that Jenna had always scared her.

"But why? I never threatened you. Did I?"

Caitlin smiled and her fingers touched the side of Jenna's face with a gentleness reserved for a work of art. "Same reason that people feared angels, I guess. You're too beautiful for words, yet you're so incredibly dangerous. Even before you were a vampire. I was scared to talk to you because . . . well honestly, I thought you were way out of my league."

"Out of your . . . are you serious?" Jenna asked.

"Dead serious. However horrible the circumstances are that made you what you are, I only saw the result. You ARE an angel, Jenna. A guardian angel for your son and --" Caitlin paused, grinned, and blushed. "And you're so very heavenly in other ways."

Jenna almost wanted to blush, figuring that would be the appropriate response. Human Jenna would have blushed. Young Jenna most certainly would have. "I . . . uhm, you . . . Okay, not good at the whole romantic banter thing."

Caitlin was amazed at how shy Jenna could be. This was the girl who never got to grow up, a fifteen year old psyche on the mend and testing the waters of life for the first time. She pulled Jenna out of the lift and towards the wall of a residential hallway. Her mouth poised to do something besides smile as her face moved toward Jenna's. Lips met lips, the vampire's still uncertain but eager, the human's slow but steady.

"Is this really a good time for this?" Jenna murmured as she tried to catch her girlfriend's bottom lip with her teeth.

"If we have time, then it's a good time," Caitlin growled. 'Damn it,' she thought, 'where's my room?' She saw it and put her back to the door, pulling Jenna in close, letting the other woman be in the dominant position, and make her own desires known. Jenna seemed content to keep kissing, though one hand drifted down to Caitlin's hip. Then, it moved past the hip and grabbed the door handle.

"Open, damn it," Jenna muttered hungrily.

Caitlin spread her legs a bit and pulled Jenna in. "Is that open enough for you?"

Jenna chewed her own bottom lip this time. "You're a very bad person, aren't you?"

The two of them wound up tumbling through the door and back onto the same bed where they had consummated their fledgling relationship.

"We really should be getting ready for the mission," Jenna said, struggling to figure out the quickest way to get Caitlin out of her pants.

"We are," Caitlin said, pulling her top off over her head. "If we don't do this, you'll be distracted all night."

Jenna kissed the soft expanse of Caitlin's breasts after pushing the sports bra up. "Can't have that." Jenna took advantage of her girlfriend when Caitlin sat down so she could kick her pants off, pushing the woman onto her back and pushing those legs, still bound at the ankle by trousers and underwear, leaving that perfect sex exposed. Both Nessa and Caitlin had made sure that Jenna received pleasure first, and she was determined to reverse that trend.

Caitlin let out a sigh when that curious tongue penetrated her folds, tasting her wetness. She tried to reach up and grab her ankles so she could remove the constraining garments, but a few flicks of the tongue caused her to settled back into the bed and murmur happily. "Right there," she said. "Just a little more gently and . . . ahh!"

This was one of the things that Jenna liked about Caitlin. The woman knew how to provide feedback. So she went to the spot Caitlin had wanted, touching her most secret places with nimble fingers and making sure to curtail her strength. Being a vampire was going to take some time to get used to. She sniffed her lover's pussy, and she cold sense her excitement at a level she never imagined. She wondered if Nessa had felt this way in their times together. Sex with a beautiful woman . . . this was life. Maybe vampires sought out such encounters as a reminder of the warmth they now missed, yet still craved.

Caitlin finally was able to keep her upper body elevated long enough to rip her pants off and spread her legs, watching as an eager lover pleasured her. She gripped the bedspread, arching her back slightly and willing Jenna's tongue deeper and deeper into that place reserved for a most intimate friend. She wanted to cum, both for Jenna and for herself. So she coaxed her lover on whenever she did something that Caitlin enjoyed, and she found herself barreling towards release. Then, Jenna's tongue stopped moving.

"Don't stop!" Caitlin practically screamed, her voice tinged with desperation. "That's just mean!"

Jenna looked a bit abashed, giving Caitlin's clitoral hood a few soft licks. "Sorry. You stopped speaking. And breathing."

"Sweetheart, that's because you were doing everything just . . . just . . . right!" she moaned, as Jenna's teasing finally ended and the main event arrived. "Ah! Ah! Ahhhhhhhhhhh!" she sighed.

Jenna felt proud and happy and . . . well, just content. She'd done something good for her new girlfriend, and she wanted nothing more than to do it again. And again. She did not want to stop until the sun came up. Hell, she didn't want to stop until the sun went out, but Caitlin was having none of that.

"Sensitive," Caitlin said, pulling her pussy, and particularly he clitoris, away from Jenna's mouth. "Good grief, when did you get so greedy?" she added, smiling as she sat up.

"I wanted that!" Jenna pouted, then realized how it had sounded and buried her face in the covers. "I sounded like a kid asking for its blanket."

Caitlin laughed, turning on the bed and kissing the top of Jenna's head. "I don't mind providing a little comfort," she murmured, pushing Jenna's hair aside and then kissing the back of her neck.

"Oh that feels so very good," Jenna whispered. It was a truly intimate thing, arousing her in ways that direct stimulation couldn't touch. Caitlin's lips working around Jenna like they were tracing a necklace. The butterfly-light sensations were igniting a joy Jenna could not describe, and wanted to go on forever. But eventually, Caitlin lay back on the bed.

"C'mere," she said. "Get naked, then come here."

Jenna stood and kept her eyes on Caitlin's as she undressed, removing under-armor one piece at a time, much to the other woman's delight. Caitlin savored the moment that each bit of pale, perfect skin came into view, but mostly she delighted in the shy glances and even shyer smiles that Jenna would give her when their eyes met. Then Jenna straddled Caitlin's hips while the human woman sat up to meet her, kissing her and cupping her ass.

"You're not still scared of me are you?" Jenna asked between kisses.

Caitlin moved a hand between her thighs, curling two fingers into Jenna's sex and feeling the heat of her lover's body. "It scares me how much I want you. Does that count?"

Jenna began to move her hips, riding Caitlin's hand in a gentle motion. "That's a good fear," she replied, arching her back and willing those nimble digits further into her body.

Caitlin leaned in and took one of Jenna's pert pink nipples into her mouth, like little bits of fruit on those pale mounds, and were very, very delectable. Gentle pressure preceded lightly touching the nubs with her teeth, rolling them slightly until Jenna gasped. That was as close to hurting her as Caitlin would go. Jenna was probably never going to be the kink-meister that Nessa was supposed to be, but Caitlin could work with what she had.

The intercom came on. *Fifteen minutes to deployment. All personnel, please report to the armory.*

"God dammit!" Caitlin growled. When was she going to get an uninterrupted session with this woman? Even as Jenna looked annoyed and started to pull away, Caitlin pulled her back, not withdrawing her fingers. "Oh hell no, you're not ready to go yet."

"But they said --" Jenna started to say, her heart (amongst other body parts) not really into the notion of leaving either.

"They can wait," the human woman growled. "It's not like they're going to start the invasion without you." She kept one hand on Jenna's ass, gripping it with a certain ferocity that would not be challenged. Her fingers were playing her girlfriend's pussy like an instrument, building up in the coda for a sweet sounding finale. And when Jenna groaned, she knew she was there. "Are you cumming?" she whispered into Jenna's ear.

"Yessss," Jenna hissed, clenching at Caitlin's fingers as they danced inside her body. Jenna wrapped her arms around her lover's body and just held her until the tremors finally ceased and she was in control of her body again.

"Damn impending violence," Caitlin grumbled. "Next time, I'm taking you to a hotel with no intercoms or communicators, and I'm not letting you go until we've both been fucked silly."

"It's a date," Jenna said. She let Caitlin kiss her, then reluctantly pulled away. She didn't want to fight anyone. She had never wanted to just curl up in bed with a warm body next to her so badly in her life. But bad people like the Hanged Man and the Fool did not wait for cuddling, and the warrior in Jenna . . . in the Empress . . . knew she still had a job to do. The two women readied themselves, but did not speak. You could not speak your last words to someone if you did not speak at all. Finally, the two of them put on their game faces and headed back to the lift.

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An hour later . . .

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Jenna was peaking around the corner of an alley, listening to comm chatter. There were four separate teams that would be going in. Marcus was with Nessa, to no one's surprise. Anabella was teamed with Hildr, though she was still yelling at Nessa over the radio. Apparently, ancient Scottish banshees had tempers. Who knew? Theo was with Cresil and Kobal, and Shinmatsu was standing right behind Jenna.

"Almost time," Shinmatsu muttered. "It has been a long time since the brood has fought together."

"You don't sound happy about it."

He stared forward. "Lives will be lost today. It may be needed, but it is not desired."

Jenna looked back at him. "You don't like fighting?"

"I like competition. There is a difference." He looked down at her. "And you?"

"I never liked the fighting. I never really liked anything I did. I was just good at it. It gave me purpose."

"And what is your purpose now?"

Jenna turned and stared into space. "I'm figuring that out."

Shinmatsu put one ham-sized hand on Jenna's shoulder. "You have time to figure it out."

"Unless I die tonight."

"You are the soul of optimism."

She looked over her shoulder at him. His face was still passive. "You know, the problem with you is that I can't tell when you're being sarcastic."

"Really? I thought my problem was my overwhelming sex appeal."

Jenna peered at his face. Nothing. He hadn't moved a muscle. She smiled at him. "I can see why Nessa chose you. You're the calm to her storm."

That actually seemed to startle him a bit, and the corner of his mouth quirked. "Did she tell you about how we met?"

Jenna shook her head. She checked her watch, and noticed that they had ten minutes before everyone was in position. She moved her eyes back to what would be their point of access, but part of her attention was on Shinmatsu. "No. I saw when all Nessa's children were turned, but nothing from before. You were different for her. She loved you as much as the others, but --"

"But she and I were never intimate," he said.

"Really? Was it because --" Jenna stopped, unsure how to tactfully say what she meant.

"My size? It is all right to say. I am not petite. But no, Nessa was not bothered by that."

"So why?"

"I was married."

For some reason, that surprised her. "You were married? Really?"

"Yes. I still am."

"Wait, to the same woman?"

"Yes. Marcus brought my wife over a year later. Without having sex with her," Shinmatsu added, raising an eyebrow.

"You've been married to one woman for . . . how long?"

"Four hundred years. We had our uranium anniversary last spring."

"Okay, you're making that up," Jenna said, though she smiled a little when she said it.

"I never kid about anniversaries. When I do, my wife makes me very, very sorry."

"You sound like you're afraid of her."

He shook his head. "I have healthy respect for her. She is smarter than I am, which is one of the reasons I married her."

"You respected her mind?"

"No, she tricked me. She told me that we were just going for ice cream. It turned out that she had planned a wedding."

Jenna grinned. "You could have said no."

"What? There WAS ice cream. I only got it after the ceremony."

Despite being on the verge of heading into mortal danger, Jenna had to laugh. "I thought the wives of sumos were quiet and docile."

"Have you ever met a woman willing to be surrounded by large, fat men in mawashis? They are made of sterner stuff than you know." For a moment, ever so brief, he smiled.

"You really love her, don't you?"

He nodded. "For hundreds and hundreds of years, and until the second death comes for us. If she meets an ill end, I will follow."

"So if you and Nessa never . . . you know, were intimate, then what made her want to change you?"

He closed his eyes. "I lost."

"Pardon?"

"I lost. I wound up being runner up in a tournament that I had been heavily expected to win. But my opponent was very skilled, and I felt my knee ever so lightly touch the ground."

"And the referee called it?"

"No, the gyoji missed it. I called it."

"I thought . . . why?"

"Because I was not just interested in being the winner. I was interested in being the best. I was not the best that night, and my opponent deserved the victory." His head lowered. "That mostly ended my career. Nessa was in Japan at the time, and she was a big fan of sumo. She saw the match and approached me afterward. She did offer intimacy, but I would never cheat on my wife, even with one as beautiful as Nessa. She and I became friends, and she told me what she was. Later, after I had developed diabetes and my health regressed, she offered to save me. But what was 'forever' without my wife?"

"Why didn't Nessa offer to change her too?"

"It takes a long time to recover, even for the most powerful vampires. She gives part of herself to her offspring. She promised that she would appeal to one of her children to do it for her. Marcus agreed, though he was indisposed at the time."

"Where was he?"

"The Italian Parliament. Ever since he was driven out of the Roman army, he's been a bit bitter, and has never given up attempting to recapture the Empire."

"You don't like Marcus, do you?"

Shinmatsu smiled again. It made him look almost cuddly. "Marcus and I are true brothers. I enjoy his company for a time, but after a few days, we want to beat each other senseless. But he kept his word and gave my wife eternal life, so I will forever be indebted to him. My wife and I have been given an opportunity to look after our family together." He winked. "Which is good in a culture where aged family is revered."

"So your family knows you're a vampire?"

"Should I attempt a disguise?" he replied knowingly, raising an eyebrow.

"Good point," she said, looking at his mammoth frame.

"No, my wife and I agree that we would be honest with them. We both came from so little, but we both had families that believed in us and supported us. We wanted to return the honor they bestowed."