Safeword: Storm Clouds(28)

And then she left. Not the slowly walk out the door kind of leave... but the super fast thing that vampires do so it looks like they disappear. If she had to kiss him and say goodbye she was going to cry, and she didn't want to do that, so she just went.

Once she was in her car and driving she realized she didn't want to go to the house and see anyone. She was bawling her eyes out, and she just couldn't handle questions from her housemates right now. Not to mention they didn’t need to see her getting emotional over a human.

Abbot?

Yes Kendra. What's wrong? Are you crying?

Yes, dammit. Stupid mortal men.

What happened?

He wants kids. Wants someone who can watch him in hang gliding competitions.

He broke up with you?

No. Yes. I don't know. He said he needs time to think. Can I stay at your house on the mountain tonight? I can't deal with questions from the coterie tonight.

Of course. And knowing you, you'd like something to keep you busy. I'm short handed at The Carnival if you'd like to go see what you can do to get things running smoothly.

That would be great. I'll run by there and handle things and then see you on the mountain later tonight?

It's a deal. Want me to see if I can round some refreshment up for you that comes straight from the source?

Don't go out of your way, but if it's convenient, then, sure.

And so she want to The Carnival, one of Abbot's bars that was set up with jugglers and girls overhead on trapeze bars. Well, not so much a trapeze as a large bar hanging from the ceiling, so when they flipped around on the bars they moved back and forth a few feet. The girls and jugglers were only there on the weekends though, so tonight there was only the virtual game section and the decor that made it look like a carnival. She arrived to discover they were short one doorman and one bartender. The manager was capable of tending bar but was trying to handle the door, which meant one bartender was trying to do everything by himself. She set the manager up at the bar and then set herself up at the door. The doorman also doubles as a bouncer for the front part of the club, but Kendra could handle anything that might come up. It was a fairly busy night and she appreciated the chance to keep busy and not think of Eric, but watching a few of the couples come in made her miss him. Which was ridiculous, they'd only just met. But, last night had been special. And she had thought he'd handled the whole 'I'm a bloodsucking vampire' thing fairly well, considering.

She helped close up at the end of the night and then drove up the mountain to Abbot's house. She phoned Gavin on the way to let him know she wasn't coming home tonight. She could have used the mind link, but the phone was considered more polite amongst people who weren't close friends. When he asked her where she was staying she changed the subject, and he thankfully didn’t push for an answer. Not that it was any of his business, but they were friends even if they weren't really close, and that’s the kind of things friends usually told each other.

When she went into Abbot’s house she saw Carla and a man she didn't recognize. Carla was Abbot's hair stylist, she came to his home to cut his hair since he couldn't very well visit her during daylight hours. She knew he was a vampire and she had been bound as an employee so she wouldn't tell the secret. Kendra knew that Abbot also occasionally drank from Carla, and Carla thought that was pretty cool.

"Kendra, you've met Carla, of course. I'd like for you to meet her husband Tom. They are newlyweds, and Carla asked me last week for permission to tell her husband about me, since she didn't want to keep secrets from him. He is here so she can tell him and I can bind him, which we have already done. Tom would like to be bitten, to see what it is that Carla experiences when I bite her. I thought you'd enjoy doing that."

No orgasmic bite, please. Just a blissfully pleasant and non-sexual experience.

You got it. And thanks. You're the best.

She looked at Tom and gave what she knew to be a warm smile. "Hello Tom, it's nice to meet you. I can sense that you are nervous, there is no reason to be. I'll be gentle, there will be an instant of pain when I first bite but then it will turn into a pleasurable experience. There should be less than a second of pain."

Kendra looked towards Carla. "Carla, do you have a preference for where I bite him?"



"I think probably his neck?"



"Is that good with you Tom?"



"I don't want to have to explain bite marks."



"They will be completely healed over by noon tomorrow. There is a healing agent in our saliva. But, Tom, you don't seem too sure of this. Let us all have a drink and sit and talk for a bit, and then see if you still want to be bitten."

"No, I'm sure. If Carla has been being bitten then I need to understand what that has meant. And what it might mean if she keeps doing it. She says she wants to keep doing it. To keep letting Abbot bite her when she does his hair."