United Service (17 page)

She took a deep breath. “Simply put, my body doesn’t work right. When I’m awake I can’t sense it. My hands and feet are numb. During the night my feeling comes back, but the sensations always go away when I’m awake. I can’t even walk at times.” She held up her arms, her hands in fists as they flailed about.

Sterling knew several different abilities in vampires, but as far as he had seen, he was the only one whose ability came with horrible side effects. “You seemed fine yesterday. What happened?”

Sighing, she said, “I slept. I pierce my body with pins during the day so I can feel my hands and feet. Since I’ll feel the pins when I sleep, I removed them so they won’t hurt me.”

Sterling thought back to her restless nap on the plane. It explained a lot.

She continued. “I can’t even control the movement of my hands without piercing them.” She tried again to move her fingers and failed. She managed to bring her hand up to her face and she again rubbed her forehead.

Sterling thought back to how she walked yesterday. All the tripping now made sense. He reached up and touched her hand. “That explains why you trip. It also explains the bruises.” He thought back to the noise he heard before he entered the room. “When you opened the door just now, did you fall?”

“Yes.”

His hand gestured towards the floor. “What’s the story on the broken glass you stepped on?”

“I didn’t plan.” She nodded toward the pins on the bedside table and Sterling noticed she bit her tongue again. She did it on purpose.

“My mother usually helps me do this. I can’t get the pins in without the use of my hands. My gloves cover up my pins so no one can see them, and so they don’t get caught on anything.” She sighed, and then continued, “I can’t feel my entire body. The problem is worse on my hands and feet, that’s why I put pins in them. The pain of the piercing forces my body to feel them. The pain allows me to walk and to use my hands, because I can sense them that way. But this morning, I had no help. When you stood at the door I knew I had to walk over and let you in so you could help me, but I couldn’t walk. I managed to slide the glass off the nightstand. Then I swung my legs around and stepped on it. As soon as the glass punctured my skin, I could feel my feet well enough to walk over.”

Sterling studied her. She lived trapped in her body just like he did. He always had thought his bad side effects were due to his half–breed nature. Vampires didn’t normally talk about their lineage if they were half–breeds, but he was curious to know. The more blood a vampire drank, the younger their appearance. They could never appear younger than their Jahrling Year, the year their fangs were fully grown in and they stopped eating human food and could feed off human blood exclusively. Half–breeds developed later in life, which was why his base age was twenty–seven. Kate’s age seemed to be in her early twenties. He had assumed she was purebred, especially since she cast off the scent of being a predator while sleeping. “Kate, can I ask you a personal question?”

“Ah, sure.”

His eyes furrowed. “I don’t mean to insult you, but are you a half–breed?”

“No. My parents are both vampires.”

He hated to admit this, but he was the one who brought the topic up. “You must have noticed that I’m a half–breed.”

“Yes. Why?”

“I don’t know any adult half–breeds. The numbing of your body sounds like it could be a negative side effect of an ability. I’m the only one I know with a negative side effect, I assumed it was because of what I am.”

“Your mother is human? Doesn’t she want to turn and live longer?”

“My mother died giving birth to me. My parents were married very young, even before my father’s Jahrling Year, before he had the ability to turn her. Since our women aren’t fertile until after their Jahrling Year, I suspect he didn’t think a human woman that young could get pregnant. Before he knew it, I was conceived and then there were complications …,” he trailed off.

“And of course she couldn’t be turned while pregnant, even if he had achieved the ability,” Kate said

Sterling bit his lower lip. “I was my mother’s death sentence.” After a moment of awkward silence, Sterling asked, “What exactly is your ability?”

“Nothing. I haven’t discovered anything special yet. I can’t feel my body. It sucks.” Again, she bit her tongue.

Sterling enjoyed her use of the English vernacular. Her use of language showed her age, but she was entertaining when she talked. Smiling he asked, “How old are you?”

She smiled back at him. “That’s for me to know and for you to find out.”

He couldn’t tell if that was flirting or not. Her smile suggested she was, but he had difficulty reading her. “Why do you do that?” When she gave him a puzzled look, he added, “You’re not interested in me. I understand why you’re not, but you flirt like you are.”

Her cheeks grew flushed. “I need you to pin me. Can you do that for me?”

It was as much of an explanation as he would probably get. “What exactly do you want me to do?”

“Stick pins in my body so I can be quasi–normal.”

Ok, definitely did not sound like flirting. It was more of a ‘you’re a good friend’ type of thing. Sterling knew the great depths he went to just to feel normal. This was a different type of remedy than he had, but overall it was the same. He needed the rain or a woman to soothe his pain, even his aunt would work for his skin problems. Kate needed pins. It really was no different. He was happy to help her. Goodness knows he relied on the kindness of others to be normal. He picked up the first tiny rod from the bedside table. The pin was already opened. Instantly, he read the information about the pin. Without his gloves on, the history of the pin, its owner, and any specifics about its use came rushing into his mind. “You’ve used this pin a lot.”

“I use them every day, why?”

“Because I can sense the pin’s history. Your mother gave you this pin. I can see the image of her pinning them to your body in my head.”

She smiled back at him. “At least your ability is something cool.”

He halfway smiled. “Yeah, right.” His finger traced the length of the pin and winced as he saw how the pins had to be rammed through her skin. His own fingers began to itch as he read the pin. “I’m sorry you have to do this every day. Give me your hand.”

Kate moved her hand closer to Sterling, her hand still in a fist. She flailed her hand without control and he grabbed it in midair.

“Sorry. I should have reached for your arm.” He held her hand, which seemed so small clutched into a fist. He gently massaged the fingers and then the palms so she would loosen her grip and allow him to pin her. He noticed her soft skin. Of course, if you wore gloves every day, they would be soft. Her fingernails stood out to him. They were perfectly polished and manicured. Her nail polish was a soft pink color and looked very natural. He hated acrylic nails and saw no point in them. But nicely manicured nails were different. He personally liked bright red nail polish but didn’t think the color would suit her delicate hand. He held her hand in his and readied the first pin to stick through her flesh.

“Wait! Stop!” Kate startled him as the pin nearly entered her hand. Her fingers uncurled themselves as though she had gained more control of the muscles in her hand and arm. “I can feel my hand now.” Her eyes opened wide in surprise. “Touch my other hand, please.”

Sterling reached for and then cradled her other hand in his. He slowly massaged her fingers with his. He noticed the skin on his hands no longer itched.

“This is amazing! I can feel my hands. I can feel you. … How is this possible?”

Sterling placed one of her hands back onto the bed as he held and examined the other. “I can feel something on your skin. It’s odd. Almost like a blanket, but more like a plastic coating. … No. As I touch it, it is melting, kind of. My touch seems to go through the barrier. Or more to the point, I can pull the barrier from you and put it on me … or share it? No, the barrier disappears when placed on me. This is so weird.” His fingers traveled up her arm touching every inch of skin as it did. “I can feel this barrier up along your arm.” His hand danced around her neck and she began to laugh. “You’re ticklish?”

“I didn’t think I was, but I guess so.”

“I’ll try not to tickle you.” His hands move up toward her face. Her eyes transformed into their beautiful bluish–gray once again as he touched her. His fingers explored her body. He moved closer to her on the bed and placed his hands now on her legs. He moved up and down her legs finally resting them on her feet. “This barrier covers you from head to toe. It’s not consistent though. The barrier is thinner on some parts of your body than on others.”

“Where is it thinner?”

“Around your eyes and your lips. Parts on other areas of your body were thicker too. Your hands and feet are where the barrier feels the thickest.”

“That would explain why my hands and feet are always numb.”

“When had you first noticed this numbness, or barrier, on your body?” Sterling kept massaging up and down her legs with his hands.

“After my Jahrling Year it was in place. For about ten years before that, though, I would go numb in certain areas. It was subtle at first, but then it kept growing and growing.”

Sterling understood. “My tactile issues were fully formed during my Jahrling Year as well. About ten to fifteen years earlier though I started feeling itches and headaches.”

“Headaches, too?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “I’m always in pain. My skin feels like it’s on fire and my head is ready to explode.” He looked at his hands. “Although right now my hands feel great. I have no irritating feeling coming from them at all and the itching is stopping up along my arms.” He then asked, “Can I try something?”

Her eyes widened and she caught her breath. “Sure.”

“Can you put your hands on my leg? I want to see if your touch will ease the pain there as well.”

As soon as Sterling let go of her hands, she quickly placed her hands onto Sterling’s leg and the itching he had felt subsided. Sterling took in a huge breath. “Yes. It does work. I don’t feel pain there anymore.” Not only was the skin she touched no longer itching, but the healing sensation grew and traveled over his leg with just the one touch. The sensation was a glorious feeling.

“So, is the barrier gone?” she asked.

Sterling reached over and touched her leg. He felt no barrier there, so he reached up to her arms and ran his hands down the length of them. Once again, he felt no barrier. He sat closer to her on the bed, their hips touching. He leaned in and allowed his hands to travel up her neck, his hands now entwined in her silky locks of hair.

Kate gently pressed her lips against his, catching him off guard. The kiss was soft and tentative, as if she were testing to see if he would kiss her back. He paused a moment to look at her and found her eyes were no longer gray, but a beautiful sexy vampire black as she watched his reaction. He heard her heart rate speed up, and he smelled her arousal. When she softly growled at him, he kissed her back. He matched the pressure he felt from her lips, and soon applied more.

He believed it was the best kiss he had ever experienced in his life. The kiss tasted sweet, and her lips were full.
Peaches, definitely peaches,
he thought as he kissed her. He felt lost in the kiss and wanted more. He rarely, if ever, enjoyed kissing the women he was with. Usually he didn’t even kiss them. He never fully understood why kisses were associated with enchantments, like the kiss that awakened Sleeping Beauty. He understood now.

“More,” she demanded. “I want … more.”

He pulled himself away from the kiss and looked into her sensuous eyes. They were now ebony black. “Are you sure?” he asked.

A guttural growl escaped her throat. “Yes.” She lunged her body towards him, pushing him back down on the bed. She kissed him hard, with no reservations.

It was as if an emotional and physical floodgate had opened. His heart raced and his breath hitched with anticipation. He had wanted her since the moment he had laid eyes on her, and now, she had said yes. His hands eagerly caressed her back, feeling the lean muscles underneath. She was strong – vampire strong. He then slid one hand down past her waist and onto her shorts. The other hand was under her shirt and caressing the soft skin of her back and shoulders. Holding onto her firmly, he rolled her over so he could be on top.

And then there was a knock at the door.

“Kate. It’s Ben. Rise and Shine. You ready to go, girl?”

Sterling had lost all track of time. They needed to head out and find Brooke, the high school, and the camp. “Wait right here,” he told Kate as he got up to answer the door. His erection strained against the white shorts, and he had to adjust himself to walk the distance across the room. He took a deep breath, but knew his fangs were still extended.

Once the door opened, he saw Ben standing with his bag over his shoulders, sunglasses on, and ready to head out. Ben’s eyebrow rose. “I’m guessing you two aren’t ready to go.”

Sterling wiped his mouth and felt his extended fangs slowly receding. His lips were still swollen from Kate’s kiss, and he suspected his eyes were still pitch black as well. “Ben. We need a few more minutes. Can you get all of us some coffee?”