Awakening (The Magic of the Black Forest Book 2) (6 page)

In the year I’ve known Bradley, I’d never seen him sleep. He told me he used to sleep when he was younger, but hadn’t needed to since his twenties. That was about half a century ago. Unsure if it was dangerous to wake a sleeping vampire – I laughed at the thought – I hesitated then slowly shook his body, but he didn’t wake. He was breathing, it sounded like he was sleeping. I whispered his name in his ear and asked him if he was sleeping. No response.

“Bradley, are you okay?”

He opened his eyes, smiled at me, and responded, “Yes, my love.” Then he closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

Chapter 3

Whilst Bradley slept, I put on one of his shirts and headed towards the kitchen to whip up something to eat. When I stepped into the hallway Seager trotted up, his nails tapping on the hardwood floors. Luckily, he had already explored the house and knew exactly where to go.

To the left of Bradley’s bedroom a dim and narrow hallway with bare white walls led to the kitchen. Like the hallway, the kitchen walls were white and bare. The cabinets were premium oak, the sandstone colored countertops made of marble and ceramic tile floors were Hampton beige. Basically his kitchen was beige and white. 

Even though Bradley didn’t eat, he made sure the fridge and cabinets were full with my favorite foods. He had Seager’s food brought in, too. After feeding Seager, I plopped down in the chair at the table to have a bowl of cereal.

“Did you check out the house?” Usually I used telepathy to speak to him but the house was too quiet. It seemed eerie.

“
Yep, all but the upstairs. There are two other bedrooms each with a full bathroom. There’s also a living room, dining room, a recreational room, and a tool room. The décor is a blank canvas and could use a little improvement. In his previous lives he had better taste.”

When we were finished eating, we walked through the lower floor and I saw what he meant. It was very ordinary. I’d been expecting to see more of his lifetime in this house. He’d lived for about seven or eight decades yet I didn’t see any pictures of his mother or of him as a child.

“Really, he had better taste before?” I said nonchalantly, hoping he’d tell me something about our past together.

“Yes, but you and Brad must figure out the past together.”
Stopping momentarily, he looked up at me and smirked.
“Come on, the stairs are over here. Let’s go check it out.”

Trotting ahead, he led me to the bottom of the stairs. I hit the switch and the bright lights lit up the stairway. Walking up the steps, I wondered why he didn’t have pictures hanging on the walls. Every wall in the house has been bare so far.

The top of the stairs turned onto a long hallway that had three doors. The first two doors we tried were locked. I thought about using my magic to unlock them but didn’t want to invade on his privacy. Without a doubt, I’ll have to ask him about them. We continued to the end of the hall.

“This door is probably locked, too,” I said, looking down at him.

“Well we won’t know unless you try. If I had thumbs I would have opened it by now.”

The doorknob turned so I pushed it open and felt around for the light switch. When I turned it on, I was stunned by what I found. The walls were filled with pictures of what seemed to be of his entire life. Why would he hide everything up here? As I walked deeper into the room, Seager accidently backed into the door, slamming it shut.

Startled, I spun around.

Wagging his tail sheepishly,
“Sorry, didn’t mean to do that.”

“You scared the crap out of me!” Leisurely strolling over to the other side of the room, I passed all sorts of beautiful artwork and antiques.

On a matching set of antique tables sat several tall vases, statues, and busts that appeared to be ancient artifacts. In the center of the room there was a black walnut Victorian sofa, with a matching loveseat settee.

On the far wall, hung a huge portrait of a beautiful woman holding a baby boy. It was the largest picture in the room. Immediately, I recognized him and the woman, his mother. He has her crooked smile. Gazing down at him, her eyes were filled with love and devotion. Her long, wavy red hair fell loosely over her shoulders. Not appearing as young as she truly was, she was still quite beautiful.

Standing on my tippy toes, I peered to get a closer look at my handsome husband, who had to be at most, twelve months old? Or, at least that’s what I thought until I saw his wide crooked grin with two fangs protruding from his top gums. I’ve seen that smile before but never those fangs. He had to be older. Starring at the picture sent a chill up my spine… Fangs. Seeing him as a child with fangs was a bit scary. I’d never seen Bradley with fangs as an adult. He’s hidden that part of himself pretty well, always keeping his inner vampire at bay.

Suddenly, the lights went out. Alarmed, I telepathically asked Seager if he shut off the lights. When he said no, I panicked and screamed for Bradley. Seager rushed to my side, trying to calm me, telling me not to worry, that no one else was in the room with us.

We heard a loud hard thud and a clatter before the house fell silent again.

Seconds later, I heard the doorknob turn and what sounded like the door opening. 

The dark room stilled.

Feeling Bradley’s presence I raced towards the door, towards him. My foot caught on the leg of the coffee table and I fell, smashing my face on the corner of it, splitting my lip wide open.

Helping me up, “Natalia, are you…” The gentle grip on my arm tightened, fingers digging into the skin of my upper arm. Pulling me to my feet, “Are you bleeding?”

“Yes, I think so.” I took a step back. “I tripped and hit the corner of the table with my face.” Licking my bottom lip I could taste the blood. “You were sleeping so we decided to check out the house. The lights went out and I thought someone was in the room and panicked a tiny bit.”

“Just a tiny bit?” His tone dripping with sarcasm. “There’s no need to worry, there’s no one else in the house.” He pulled me to him and sat us down on the couch, rubbing my arms and trying to reassure me.

“How do you know?”

“The same way I knew how to find you, I would smell their scent. I followed yours to this room. And now I smell your blood.” He sounded frustrated. Exhaling slowly, “The lights went out because I’m not a very good electrician. Dave and I split the house when we ran the wires. I worked up here while Dave ran all the wires throughout the rest of the house. Downstairs the electricity works fine. It’s only up here that has a problem. It should come back on shortly.” Seconds later the lights came back on, temporarily blinding me.

Once I was able to see again, I stood, looked around and found Seager standing by the door.

“
Next time, instead of panicking, try lighting some candles or something. You’re a witch. Act like it.
”

“
Ha ha! Smart aleck!
” My smile grew when I saw Bradley who stood beside me, naked. “I’d apologize for waking you, but seeing you now… Not a chance.”

“Well thank you, ma’am. May I say that you look sexy and scrumptious in my shirt and those panties?” Gently, he patted my buttocks before he scooped me up in his arms and darted downstairs to the bedroom.

Knowing that he was taking me to his bed, I didn’t ask him any questions about the room. There’d be plenty of time for that later.

***

When I awoke the next morning, Bradley was breathing lightly in my ear with his arms wrapped tightly around me. While attempting to wiggle free, his eyes snapped opened. It was the first time I noticed that he had his mother’s eyes and like hers, his were full of devotion as he gazed deeply into mine.

Snuggling his body closer to mine, he kissed along my jaw up my chin to my lips. Speaking softly, his lips against mine, “Natalia, my love, your lips taste delicious,” before sucking my bottom lip into his mouth. Almost the entire time we made love, he sucked on my lip. It was so erotic, I couldn’t stop him. Afterwards, we fell asleep in each other’s arms.

Bradley’s stamina was unbelievable. Just like he promised, we spent the next few days in bed. It wasn’t all sex, all the time. We took several breaks so I could eat, shower, sleep and use the bathroom. On occasion he would join me in the shower. Sometimes we just lay in each other’s arms talking.

One day I woke alone. At first I was a little annoyed, even had a few berating thoughts. But, annoyance quickly dissipated after sitting up and noticing the plush lavender housecoat he left for me tossed at the bottom of the bed. Before today I hadn’t seen it, he must’ve been saving it to surprise me. The loving gesture had me smiling and that made my lip hurt.

“Bradley… Seager…” I called out loud first and when there was no reply I tried contacting them telepathically. Seager didn’t reply so I decided it was time to freshen up.

When I stood and stretched I felt that delightful sore feeling one gets after being made love too repeatedly. My lips, thighs, legs and even my breasts were tender.   

Standing in front of the bathroom mirror I barely recognized myself. My lip was swollen, my hair a mess, matted and sticking up all over the place. Oh, and my breath…Ewww, my teeth needed to be brushed. By this point I felt relieved that Bradley wasn’t beside me in bed.

My lip started bleeding again from brushing my teeth. Ow! Who would have thought that toothpaste and mouthwash burned when it got inside an open wound?

It’s just a matter of time before I’ll have to heal it. But, for now, I want to enjoy the pleasure the taste of my blood brings to Bradley. Although he’s never said so, his reaction says it all. The way he holds me tight, the way he moans and growls, his actions speak much louder than words ever could.

Staring at my hair, the realization that brushing the knots from it would most likely rip a lot of it out, I decided to jump in the shower.

My husband, once again, had thought of everything; shampoo, conditioner and soap were placed in the shower with washcloths. Poking my head out the shower door, on the racks were big plushy towels. “
How hadn’t I seen them before?
” I thought to myself.

My intention was to take a quick shower, get dressed and go find Bradley and Seager. But, once that hot water hit my sore, tight muscles, I didn’t want to move. The hot water ran down my head and back, warming and relaxing my achy, stiff muscles. After washing my body and hair, I conditioned my hair heavily and ran a wide toothed comb through it, hoping it would help get the knots out. It worked. Not as painful, and I believed it saved a lot of it from being ripped out as well. Afterwards, I stood there enjoying the shower until the hot water turned cold. When I opened the shower stall door, the steam had fogged up the mirrors. Once dried, I ran a brush through my hair and put on my housecoat.

Walking out of the bedroom, something on the nightstand caught my eye. It was a note from Bradley.

Seager and I went for a walk. We’ll be back soon. There’s some French toast waiting for you in the kitchen. Enjoy.

Love always, Bradley

In the center of the kitchen table sat a large plate with a pile of French toast and all its fixings, covered in plastic wrap. With a wave of my hand the plastic wrap flew into the trashcan. “Heat,” and another wave, and steam was billowing from my breakfast. Syrup and butter, “
Mmmm, mmm
.”

During my delicious breakfast I reminisced about the last couple days. Our wedding and honeymoon were far better than I’d ever imagined they could have been. I couldn’t wait to see what else this life had in store for us.

Afterwards, I went back into the bedroom to get changed and go outside for some fresh air. Thankfully, Melissa had packed my clothes. Had Colleen volunteered for the task, I’d be wearing skirts and dresses instead of t-shirts and jeans. 

After getting dressed, I tried to mind link with Bradley and Seager again. When Seager didn’t reply within five minutes I assumed that they were out of distance and decided to head out on my own. We’ve never really successfully tested to see how far away they’d have to be before they couldn’t hear me anymore. Now was the perfect time and place to test it. Once outside I’ll try to link up with them.

I thought to myself, “
Maybe, they won’t be too far away and we’ll hook up right away
?”

Walking out of the front door, I paused to look at the doorknocker. Laughing, I shook my head, trying to figure out why he would put a knocker and bell on a door that was in a cave. A couple knocks before ringing the bell and I was off.

Can’t help but knock and push the bell, especially with it being in the middle of a cave. I mean, how many people actually come knocking at his door? It’s so odd.

Forgetting the shutter remote in the house, I raced back inside. Found it resting on the table right inside the door and headed back out into the cave. Hitting the button, the shutter opened, and the loud roaring sound echoed through the cave.

Once outside I got a really bad vibe, it swept right through, stopping me dead in my tracks. With the warning of pending danger still lingering within, I changed my mind and decided it may not be safe to go for a walk through the woods, without Bradley by my side.

Instead, I climbed onto a rather large boulder that rested on the right side of the opening of the lair and sat there, awaiting his and Seager’s return.

Relaxing and enjoying the peaceful sounds of the woods, I breathed deeply, taking in the fresh air. The serenity of the moment was interrupted by something barreling through the forest, towards the cave. Whatever it was wasn’t quiet and was quickly approaching.

The sound getting louder, so I created an invisible shield, protecting myself, and the entrance of the liar. It sounded as though it were coming from the left. While I watched, waiting for it to make its appearance, there was a loud thud and whimper on the other side of the cavern opening. When I turned, both Bradley and Seager were getting up, dusting themselves off.