There's something very special about Halloween, a time when the veil between this world and the other grows thin. When anything is possible, and it's easy to believe in things that go bump in the night. Our fantasies are fueled by vampires, and werewolves, and ghosts - oh my! And where there are fantasies, that's where you'll find a lot of writers, taking notes and naming names.
Today at work, we're having a Halloween lunch - how cool is that? For my contribution, I made a cheese ball that I like to call Mason Verger. Okay, the actual recipe name is the Flayed Man, but you get the idea (since Mason cut his face off and ate under the influence of Hannibal Lecter). It was actually easier to make than I thought it would be, and I didn't bother to use a mold. I figured I could shape it myself, and I did.
Another important fact about today is that Be My Human was released today from Dreamspinner Press! This is the second book in the Moonlit Skies series by M.A. Church and myself.
For the first day of the blog hop, I promised to finish the flash I started Wednesday, A Crescent Bay Halloween. Well, here's part two. I hope you enjoy it. But before I post it, every good blog hop needs a giveaway, so this will be no exception. I'll be giving away to three commenters, randomly drawn at the end of the hop, a copy of anything from my backlist, including books that are unavailable. How do you win?
Every day, I'll ask a question. All you have to do is answer it. And don't forget your email address. Without that, I can't contact you.
Today's question - could you love a werewolf or a vampire, if you met one in real life - why or why not?
Now here's my second part of my flash, enjoy!
A Crescent Bay Halloween, Part II
Raoul hadn’t celebrated Halloween in years. Twenty years, to
be precise. Despite the fact that the holiday brought a plethora of partiers to
Charisma from far and wide, hoping for glimpses of the supernatural set that
frequented the place, Raoul never set foot there on Halloween night, preferring
the solitude of his cabin in the woods. No desire to fuck, to drink, or display
himself as the reigning prince of Charisma. On that night, he preferred to
remain alone… and brood.
Tonight was different. Tonight he simply wished to be with
Alexx, to celebrate this special day with him, for reasons that had nothing to
do with any Samhain festivities. It was Alexx’s birthday, and that meant more
to Raoul than anything. Therefore, Charisma was the last place he expected to
be. And yet, here they were.
“But it’s your birthday, I thought we could do something
special. Just you and me…”
And by something special, he meant making love, all night
long. Put his vaunted werewolf stamina to the test.
Surely making love hadn’t become stale already? Not that
there wasn’t more to their relationship than the physical, but there was
nothing wrong with spending an evening in bed, either. Sometimes there were
things the heart could only express with the assistance of the body, times when
mere words became inadequate to express the desires of the soul.
“We belong at Charisma,” Alexx insisted. “Especially tonight
of all nights.”
Raoul had accepted Alexx’s decision with as good a grace as
he could muster. “Anything you wish, my love,” he whispered softly in Alexx’s
ear. They sat together in their cabin, discussing the night to come. For a
moment, Raoul thought he felt Alexx tremble, but the moment passed, and he saw
nothing but Alexx’s complacent smile. So be it, he thought. Charisma it is.
It was too late to even think about costumes, not that Raoul
really cared. Those days were long dead for him, but if Alexx wanted to, he
would have. But Alexx didn’t push the issue, so they’d dressed as themselves. It
didn’t matter. Nothing mattered but being together.
When they’d walked up to the front door of the nightclub, they
found Paolo and Francesco checking IDs, and they received wide-eyed stares from
both bouncers. Well, to be fair, they were staring at Raoul, for reasons he
knew only too well.
‘B-boss, you’re here,” Paolo stuttered.
“Glad you noticed,” Raoul growled, but there was no bite in
his voice, despite his words. “We’re just here to celebrate—”
“Hey guys, happy Halloween,” Alexx interrupted, so smoothly
anyone else might have believed it was unintentional and born of enthusiasm for
the occasion. But not Raoul. That move was deliberate. As if he didn’t want to
be reminded of his birthday. Odd, now that he was legal to get into Charisma, Raoul
would have thought Alexx would want to bask in the fact. But no, he seemed to
be hiding from it. The question was why?
“C’mon, wolfboy, can’t stand here all night. The party’s
inside, isn’t it?” He took Raoul’s hand and tugged him toward the door. Raoul
rolled his eyes and shrugged, allowing himself to be led inside Charisma.
Charisma was awash with brilliance, with lights and
laughter, high spirits, glitter, and a contagious buoyancy that swept through
the club like wildfire. There were a few faux werewolves and vampires—de
rigueur for Halloween night—but there were other, more imaginative and creative
characters. After all, when one has the real thing in ones midst, a costume is
simply a costume and cannot compare.
“Drink first or dance?” Alexx asked, once they were inside
the main area. Techno music thrummed around him, and the dance floor was full
of energetically writhing bodies.
“Your day, your choice, what would you like—” Something in
Alexx’s eyes stopped him cold. Something was wrong. Something was damn wrong,
but Raoul had no idea what, just that whatever it was began with Alexx and was
creeping its way up his spine with ghostlike precision. He shivered, in spite
of himself.
“I… I need to use the men’s room. Be right back.” Alexx’s
voice was barely audible, but with Raoul’s supernatural hearing, he caught
every nuance. Including a trace of pain. He reached out to take Alexx’s arm,
but Alexx was faster, for once, and melted into the crowd around them faster
than butter on a hot pancake.
Raoul’s first instinct was to go after him. Follow him into
the men’s room, find out what was wrong and make it right. But a hand on his
arm stopped him in his tracks. He turned in annoyance to find himself looking into
the eyes of a strangely familiar-looking blond. It took a moment for the memory
to register.
Miller. In the wig he’d worn as a disguise on the fateful
night when Raoul had been kidnapped and Alexx shot by the same insane
socialite—Foster Levine.
Miller was one of those guys who couldn’t hide what he
thought or felt, his eyes were indeed windows to his soul. And right now, his
eyes were full of sympathy and compassion, seemingly directed at Raoul.
Okay, he knew something. That much was apparent to Raoul.
“What are you supposed to be?” Raoul asked. “Surely not the
other man?” That had been Miller’s part on that night, when it was imperative
they convince Foster that Raoul and Alexx were no longer together. Of course,
that was long past and buried.
“What? Oh, the wig.” Miller shrugged. “I didn’t have time to
get anything else, and this was sitting in my closet… Hey, you’re not exactly
dressed up either.”
“No, I’m not,” Raoul agreed. ‘You and I need to talk.”
“Maybe we should get a drink?” Miller piped up hopefully,
but at Raoul’s growl, he seemed resigned. Raoul took Miller’s arm. They
threaded their way between the revelers until they reached a relatively quiet
spot further from the dance floor.
“Miller, something’s going on and you know what it is.”
“Um… er… Raoul…” Miller began to whine, almost defensively,
before he gave up, pressed his lips into a thin line and nodded, a bit reluctantly.
His deep sigh carried easily to Raoul’s ear.
“Okay, I’ll tell you what I think’s wrong, but remember, I
could be wrong,” Miller warned him.
“What’s wrong? Is something wrong with Alexx?” The hackles
on the back of Raoul’s neck began to rise.
“No, no, not like you think. Calm down, please. Let me try
to say this so it makes sense,” Miller implored. He glanced at Raoul, then at
the floor, then up at the bright disco balls that decorated the room. Raoul
curbed his impatience, but it wasn’t easy. Finally, Miller spoke again.
“I think he feels guilty.”
“Guilty?” That was something Raoul hadn’t expected. “Why?
About what?”
“About being happy … and alive… especially today…. I mean,
it’s his birthday, and other than me, he’s never had anyone who cared enough to
celebrate it with him. But now he has you… and he’s also aware that his
birthday is the day you lost… you know…”
“Jamie.” Raoul supplied the name.
“Yeah, Jamie. He loves you too much to hurt you by
celebrating what’s probably the worst day of your life.”
At one time, yes, it was the event that shattered Raoul’s
world, and sent him into a twenty year tailspin. But all that was behind him
now. Now he had Alexx, who may or may not be Jamie McKenna reincarnated. But
regardless, he was the love of Raoul’s life, the light in his eyes, his new
reason for being.
Nothing else mattered.
And now everything made sense. Coming to Charisma. Alexx
wanting to make sure Raoul had a good time. Raoul’s heart ached at the pain
Alexx must be hiding. Damn, he felt like an insensitive lout for not catching
on sooner.
He caught sight of Alexx, emerging from the hallway where
the restrooms were located, looking about for him.
“Miller, I hope you won’t be insulted, but you’re on your
own tonight. No offense, but I don’t want to be here, and I don’t think Alexx
does either.”
“None taken,” Miller assured him. “In fact, I think I might
go home myself. Nothing here for me.”
Raoul gave the other man a sharp look, but Miller only
laughed. “It’s okay, go on with you. Be with Alexx. Make each other happy.”
Raoul swooped in and gave Miller a quick peck on the cheek,
a far cry from the liplock he’d laid on him the last time. “Later,” he told
him, then hurried away, easily catching up to Alexx, who seemed relieved to see
him.
“There you are, Raoul. Thought I lost you for a minute.
Everything okay? I saw you talking to someone…”
“Miller, but he’s leaving. And so are we.” He slid his arm
around Alexx’s waist.
“Leaving?” Alexx looked confused. “But we just got here.”
“And now we’re just going.”
“Where are we going?”
“Home. Where we should have stayed to begin with.” He walked
Alexx back through the crowd, until they found themselves outside of the night
club once more. Alexx didn’t protest, didn’t question, but a slight tremor
seemed to run through him, as if he was waiting for the other shoe to drop.
They bid good night to the two confused bouncers, then
crossed the parking lot to where Raoul had parked his sports car. He unlocked
the car, as he walked Alexx to the passenger side, but stopped beside the door.
“Alexx, do you realize how very much I love and need you?”
“Well, yes, I think I do, but—”
“But nothing. You are, without question, the best thing that
ever happened to me, and I thank the powers that be every day that you came
into my life. All I wanted tonight was to celebrate your birthday with you,
that’s all.”
“I know, Raoul, I know, but how can we… how can I…” A small
moan escaped Alexx’s lips, despite his best efforts to contain it. His lower
lip quivered. Raoul quickly stilled it with a kiss.
“This is your day.
Your very special day. The day that set
you on the path to me. Anything else is done, and in the past. You have nothing
to feel guilty about. Nothing, Alexx.”
Alexx gave him a sharp look, and then his bright blue eyes
flashed with realization. “That was Miller, wasn’t it? Damn, I thought I
recognized that wig, even from a distance. He shouldn’t have told you…”
“He should have, since you didn’t.” Raoul gave Alexx a
no-nonsense look. “Didn’t we promise no secrets from one another?”
“Well, yeah…”
“Don’t well yeah me, we did, so let’s just continue doing
that, all right?”
Alexx nodded, as if he didn’t trust his voice.
“You are all that matters to me, Alexx. Not being at
Charisma tonight, not Halloween, nothing else but you. Do you know that? Really
know that?”
“I do now.” Alexx stretched up, caught Raoul’s lips in his
own, and kissed him long and hard. By the time they came up for air, the kiss
wasn’t all that was hard.
“Take me home?” Alexx murmured, and Raoul consented with
alacrity.
The drive to the cabin was shorter than usual. And Alexx
didn’t complain once about Raoul breaking the speed limit.
Raoul parked the Ferrari as close to the cabin as he could,
and they raced inside, shedding their clothes on the way to the bedroom.
They fell together, naked, on the bed, mouths joined, and
hearts beating as one. There was no further need for talk; a consensus had been
reached, a mutual accord. And although there’d been no actual fight between
them, who was to say they couldn’t indulge in make-up sex anyway? Lovemaking by
any other name…
They kissed and licked and sucked, touched and tweaked,
exploring to their hearts’ content, delving into one another like explorers on
a strange continent. And once every facet of their mutual terrain had been
re-discovered, Alexx lay on his back and drew up his legs, exposing his pink
bud to Raoul’s lustful gaze.
“Take me,” he begged. “Make me yours all over again.”
Luckily, lube was just an arm’s reach away. Raoul groped for
the tube, popped the top handily and prepped his achingly hard cock.
“You are mine, and no other,” he swore as he slid easily
into Alexx’s waiting channel. “You are my everything, Alexx. Never forget that.”
He drove inside Alexx with one long thrust, and Alexx received him, gripped him
tightly as they came together in the intimacy of their own personal dance.
Their lips crashed together, again and again, and when they’d found their
mutual release and exhausted one another, they cleaned up and then curled together
in their bed, breathing more easily.
“Raoul?” Alexx said softly, twining his fingers in Raoul’s
tendrils of dark hair that curled over his shoulder.
“Yes?”
“Best birthday ever. Thank you.”
“No, thank you,” Raoul replied.
“For what?”
“For being a part of my life.”
Alexx’s face lit with the most beautiful smile Raoul had
ever seen. They gazed deeply into one another’s eyes by the light of the moon,
before giving themselves over to sleep, and the realm of the Dream Lord, for
another night.
