The Link (10 page)

I had no idea what time it was when I woke up, but it was still dark outside…
and Matthew was
lightly caressing my face. It took me a moment, but then the memories of the ceremony came flooding back. I was aware that our hands were still together, but I could feel that they could separate now. I reluctantly released my hand from his and stared at my palm in the moonlight that was streaming through the window.

“
What was that?” I asked him as I began to trace my finger along the new scar that was now forming on my hand.

He shivered and then stared at his palm with a surprised look on his face and said, “The chief told me it’s called an eternal linking ceremony
…
and I can FEEL you tracing your scar!!” I stopped and stared at him. He smiled then and began tracing the scar on his own palm and I instantly felt the tingle in my own scar and then moving through my body. I shivered. I smiled and wondered aloud, “How far apart can we go before we can’t feel that anymore?”

“
I
’
m not sure, but I hope I never have to find out,” he said.

I smiled at that comforting thought and then forgot to breathe as he leaned down and began kissing
me. My entire body instantly responded, and so did his, as he rolled over and easily entered me. We moved with each other and I could feel my climax building. Just when I thought it couldn’t possibly get any better he reached down and grabbed my hand in his, and when our scars touched I could FEEL everything he was feeling too. I could feel him getting close.
Everything we felt was pulsing through both us.
My breath caught in my chest, “Oh my God, Matt,” I said between gasps.
I started feeling light-headed. He slowed down a bit and locked his eyes with mine, watching me while I tried to catch my breath. I was shaking all over, but I wasn’t dizzy anymore. I nodded at him, “Okay
,
I whispered.

“
You sure?” he said. The anticipation sent another shiver through my body.

“
God, yes,” I groaned, “just do me a favor
…
” I groaned but then I couldn’t speak anymore. I was so close, speaking was impossible. He slowed down again, but he was gritting his teeth. “What, Sarah, what? Hurry,” he groaned.

I needed something to stifle the scream that I
knew was coming, that’s what I was trying to tell him. But it was too late for words now. I shook my head at him and grabbed the back of his neck with my free hand, pul
led
him down hard and forc
ed
his mouth to crush down on mine. We both felt it then, my climax first that rolled through my body like waves crashing to the shore, followed closely by his. It was unlike anything we’d ever felt before. Tears streamed from my eyes. Our lips pressed together barely muffled our sounds as we both cried out.
Too much to bear, was my first thought. Don’t ever stop, was my next….

Chapter Five

We woke, again, at dawn this time. The jungle was alive with sounds and the smell of food floated into the hut. I was instantly aware that I didn’t eat yesterday. “I’m starving,” I said.

“
So am I,” he grinned, leering at me.

My hands pressed into his cold chest as I tried to push him back (yeah, like THAT was going to happen)
.
“Seriously? Hold up. I need food to keep up MY strength, especially if you want more of what we had last night,” I said.

He stuck out his bottom lip, pouting but his eyes were smiling, “Oh, I most definitely want more, so I suppose I should let you eat
,
”
he groaned.

I smiled, grabbed his (non-scarred) hand and pulled him out the door. We walked over to the group of villagers and they handed me some goat
’
s milk, a tortilla and a scoopful of stew that I really wasn’t sure I wanted to know what was in it… but I was so hungry it was delicious. I finished eating and
the boat-driver stood up.

“
That must be our cue that it’s time to leave,” he said. The women brought me a bag that I saw had my old clothes and shoes in it and we turned and walked hand-in-hand down the path and back to the river. The boat ride back was uneventful and very relaxing. I decided to ask a few more questions.

“
Do these scars have something to do with changing me?” I said.

He looked at his hand. “Yes they do, but I’m still not exactly sure how yet. But I’m guessing these are the scars that the priest told me about. The
scars
that we sprinkle the powder on,” he said.

“
That was my thought too. Okay, next subject: Have any of your friends been
…
ummmm…
intimate with humans? What I’m getting at is
…
is
…
well
…
am I an exception or am I normal?
With how I’m reacting, or overreacting, to sex with you. I mean
…
are all vampires like you or is it just you? Do all humans freak out like I am or is it just me?” I said.
Matt’s left eyebrow went up as he smiled at me and I blushed and buried my head in my hands. “God, I’m so embarrassed,” I groaned.

Matt shifted in the boat slightly and scooted down right behind me, wrapping his arms tightly around me. “Don’t be embarrassed, Sarah. There is absolutely nothing wrong with you. You are completely normal
…
no, scratch that. You are better than normal. You are an amazingly loving and giving person. But what’s truly amazing is how much that comes across…in the bedroom. I’ve never
…
ummm…
been with anyone like you. So I can’t really answer your question. I mean, I’ve heard people say that humans react extremely
…
positively
…
when they’re with a vampire. But I’ve never had such a hard time controlling myself around someone before you. It’s taking every ounce of self-control that I have to keep me from making love to you all day and night long,” he said.

I was completely amazed. “You’re having a hard time controlling yourself?” I whispered. He nodded and kissed the back of my neck, sending a chill down my spine
.

“
Definitely,” he said. Well, that made me feel a little better. I leaned my head onto his chest. We were nearing the dock
.
Suddenly
Matt sat up. He
was straight and tense as he began searching the shore.

“
What is it?” I whispered, not exactly sure that I wanted to know.

“
Carlos is here
.
T
here have been some
…
developments
,
” he said. I could hear the strain in his voice.

“
The Enforcers have rejoined,” Carlos said when we got to the car he had rented. “They’ve decided to return to your known friends and…
ahh…
step up the interrogation techniques.”

The concern was clear on Matt
’
s face
.
“Don’t fight them Carlos,” he said, “tell them what they want to know. It will still take them some time to pick up our trail. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Carlos grinned as he climbed into the driver’s seat of the car, “Ahh come on, let me have SOME fun,” he said as he grinned and winked at me. Matt just rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“
Are you afraid of anything, Carlos?” I asked.

“
Only commitment,” he laughed.

“
Because he’s an idiot,” Matt muttered, then he sighed
.
“You should be afraid of the Enforcers,
Carlos.”

“
Why?” Carlos
asked.
“
T
hey’re just the Elders
’
errand boys. Matt, you know the horrible crap I went through before I met you.
With Jonas.
Going through that changed me. After that I decided that life was too precious to not have fun, to not find good in everything, to not live life to its fullest.”

I looked at Matt, wanting to ask what had happened to Carlos, but he whispered
,
“
L
ater
.”

Matthew climbed into the back seat with me, pulling me close to him. “Ummm, where are we going now?” I asked.

“
The airport.
I already grabbed your stuff from the hotel,” Carlos said, as he turned and tossed two warm pints of blood onto Matthew’s lap. Matthew went to hand them back.

“
Carlos, please, not now,” he said. But I knew he needed it, he had to, so I stopped him by placing my hand on his.

“
Matt, it’s fine,” I said and I smiled.

“
Yeah, dude, you need to keep your strength up
. Otherwise that woman you’ve got is going to wear you out
,” Carlos said
, grinning
from the front seat. I
turned to look out the window, knowing
Matt
was still uncomfortable with me seeing this. Within seconds his hand was under my chin, turning my face back to look at him, the empty pints on the seat next to him. He started kissing me then and I lost all sense of time.

“
Uh, break it up guys, we’re here,” Carlos said. How did we get to the airport so fast? It had to be an hour from where we started. I blinked and tried to clear my head as I climbed out of the car.
I smiled at Matt. “So, where are we headed now?” I asked. Carlos pulled our bags out of the trunk.

“
To Africa, specifically Nigeria,” Matt said.

An hour later, after saying our goodbyes to Carlos (laughing as he hugged me and said, “Come on, Sarah. Give us a kiss so you don’t miss me too much. I promise to keep my tongue in my mouth
.
”) I was relaxing back into the fully reclined, leather first class (of course, I thought sarcastically) seat.
Matt kept teasing me during the long sixteen hour flight since I had to down his drinks as well as mine, and pick at his food as well as mine so we didn’t draw unnecessary attention from the flight attendants. All
that eating and drinking meant numerous trips to the bathroom.

“
I really do not miss that,” he said when I returned from yet another bathroom break. I pulled the armrest up and laid my head in his lap.

“
I don’t think I will either,” I mumbled as I quickly started to drift off to sleep with Matt’s hand lightly caressing through my hair. A while later we were safely tucked away in a Nigerian hotel room. We had just gotten there and I was trying really hard to control myself, but all I wanted to do was tear his clothes off and tackle him…
that seemed to be all I could ever think about now. I was biting my lip and trying not to look at him, which, of course, he noticed.

“
Sarah, honey, is something wrong?” he said as he took a step toward me.

“
Stop
,
” I whispered, which he did instantly. Then he waited.

“
I just
…
I just
…
damn it Matt. I don’t want you to get sick of me, but I can’t control myself around you. All I can think about is you, naked, on that bed, right now.”

He grinned at me.
“Sarah, I could never get sick of you,” he said as he began peeling off his clothes. He lay down on the bed and held his arms out to me…
that was all the invitation I needed.

A while later,
he sat on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands, clearly shaken up by what had just happened (truth be told, so was I but now wasn’t the time to show it). I leaned over him, wrapped my arms around him, kissed his cheek, and said “It’s okay sweetheart.”

“
Oh, come on, Sarah. It is not okay.
It’s about as far from okay as we can get,” he said. “I don’t know why that just happened. I don’t know how it happened.
And that probably scares me more than the fact that it did happen.”