and around her, enveloping her and it still wasn't enough. She couldn't move in this
position and she so wanted to move. Elvi moaned a plea into his mouth, her hips
shifting the slight bit they could in frustration, then Victor twisted them both on the
bed, laying her on her back and coming down on top.
Elvi sighed into his mouth as his body covered hers, and then gasped as he withdrew,
only to surge back in.
As he withdrew and plunged forward again, she dug her nails in, clawing at his back
and urging him on, but then cried out in protest when Victor caught her wrists and
lifted them over her head, holding them there. He immediately covered her mouth
again, thrusting his tongue between her lips as his body surged forward.
Elvi struggled to free her hands for a moment, then gave it up and concentrated on
using her body to meet his thrusts as the pleasure swirling in her brain became a
tornado, wiping out every other thought. It was only one more thrust before the
pleasure exploded between them. Elvi tore her mouth from his and bit into his
shoulder to keep from screaming out and drawing the others again, then allowed
herself to drop into the darkness that waited beyond the fire they'd created.
Elvi woke several times over the next few hours, finding herself wrapped in Victor's
arms all but once. She rose up sleepily in the bed that time, and peered around but
didn't see him. Thinking he'd gone to his own room, she dropped back to sleep with a
disappointed sigh, only to find him there again when next she woke. The last time she
opened her eyes it was after nine in the morning. Recalling she was supposed to phone
Teddy, she eased carefully out of Victor's embrace and slipped from the bed. A quick
shower later, she dressed and crept from her room so as not to disturb Victor.
The house was silent as she made her way up the hall. Elvi paused at Mabel's room and
eased the door carefully open. When she saw Mabel sleeping peacefully and both
Edward and DJ asleep in their chairs, she eased the door closed and made her way
downstairs. She didn't think Mabel's turning was over yet, but it appeared the worst of
it was done.
In the kitchen, Elvi placed her call to Teddy. He was understandably surprised to hear
they already needed more blood. He and Mabel had laid in a lot before the men
arrived. It was only then that Elvi realized she hadn't informed him of the attacks on
Victor and her resulting injury. She'd meant to call him, but found she was
uncomfortable around him since the day she'd learned he cared for her. He'd been so
short with her since then that it had been easy to allow the pie making to distract her.
She didn't tell him now, thinking it better to tell him in person, and was glad she hadn't
after his reaction to the news of Mabel's turning. Teddy was cursing up a storm as he
hung up. He wasn't pleased.
Making a face as she hung up, Elvi moved to turn on the stove to allow it to heat, and
then grabbed a tray from the cupboard over the refrigerator and headed downstairs to
see how many pies left in the cold room needed baking. She wasn't surprised to find
that there were still fifteen pies on the shelf. DJ had given blood to Mabel an hour
after they'd left last night and there was no way he would have been baking pies while
Mabel thrashed and screamed upstairs.
Setting three pies on the tray, Elvi carried them back up to the kitchen and set them on
the counter. Leaving them there for the moment, she retrieved one of the few bags of
blood remaining in the fridge, slapped it to her teeth, and moved to peer out the
window while she waited for it to drain. Her gaze slid over the garden with longing as
she fed. Elvi had never got to work on it as she'd hoped. She hadn't even made it past
the deck in sunlight yet. Perhaps she could do some work while the pies were baking.
Turning away, she tossed the empty bag in the garbage, then moved into the cupboard
room and retrieved her hat and the long‐sleeved shirt she'd hung there the other day.
She donned both, then found the suntan lotion and quickly slathered some on.
Satisfied that she'd taken the necessary precautions, Elvi then put the pies in the oven
and set the tinier before grabbing her gloves and slipping outside.
A smile curled Elvi's lips as she started across the deck. Birds were singing and flapping
around in the birdbath, butterflies were dancing among the flowers, and there was a
squirrel digging in the garden, no doubt in search of a walnut it had buried there.
"Good morning, Elvi!"
Pausing at the edge of the deck, she glanced over and smiled at Mike Knight. The man
was dressed in shorts and a short‐sleeved shirt, busily running a fine net over the
surface of his pool to remove the leaves that had fallen during the night.
"Good morning, Mike. Not working today?"