The Vampire's Father's Day Present Page 2

  “We’re not really his possessions, he can’t actually collect us.” Adam sat down and rubbed his knees. He wanted to find a way out of this silly game but couldn’t think of one right off the bat. “Is there another way to get you to help me? One where I’m not naked?”

  Lucius looked over at him with a frown. “You’re really not interested, are you?”

  Adam shook his head. He definitely wasn’t. “I’m not wired like that.”

  “Sorry. I’m surrounded by gay and bi guys constantly in the pack. Sometimes it’s hard to remember that not every guy I meet is interested in jumping into bed with me right then and there. That’s usually how these things go.”

  “Poor you.” Adam smiled, and Lucius smiled back. That seemed to settle things between them and Lucius went to Adam’s laptop. It was open on his desk, and Adam didn’t mind him using it without asking first.

  “The password is rockies,” Adam said. That would let Lucius unlock his computer. Thankfully Lucius seemed distracted by the computer, and Adam didn’t have to talk about how wrong Lucius had been about him. He was attracted to men, just not to the casual sex Lucius had been so set on. He occasionally thought it would be nice to find someone he could be with long term, but his long term was a lot different than other people’s. So far he hadn’t found a vampire he was interested in, and most of the werewolves were short term, by their very nature.

  “Tell me a little about yourself. I need something to work from here,” Lucius said as he brought up a couple of web pages.

  Adam took a deep breath and leaned back against the couch as he thought. “I was born in 1898, in London, and my last name when I was human was Prat. I married my wife, Isabella, in 1918. She was from Portugal, and her family had come to England looking for work. We came to New York in 1920. My son, Emilio, was only six months old at the time. I was turned that same year.” He tried to be calm about his life, telling Lucius only the facts, but the family he’d lost hurt to talk about, even almost a century later. Like the scar on his neck, it was a wound that would never completely heal.

  “You sound like you miss them.”

  Adam looked over at Lucius to see him typing away at the laptop and not looking his direction. “I do. Very much.”

  “How much do you want me to tell you? If someone in your family died horribly, was murdered, or went to prison for something really bad would you want to know?”

  It was a fair question, and not one Adam had considered before. But he nodded anyway. If there was a chance for any information whatsoever, he wanted to take it. Even the least little bit would be interesting and might help him feel better about the life he didn’t get to share with them. “I would, because their history is mine as well.”

  “And if someone related to you was still alive, would you go meet them?”

  The idea was laughable. But Adam did not feel like laughing right then. “No. I’m a vampire. That wouldn’t only be stupid but also impossible. It would be enough to know what happened to them. I only want answers.”

  “You sound like you want closure,” Lucius added, still not looking up from the screen.

  In some ways, he was probably right. Knowing his family was still out there might help him more fully embrace his vampire side. He didn’t like to talk about how hard it was for him to be undead. There were times it was nigh impossible to go on, but he didn’t want to die a true death, either. “It’d be nice to be able to end my human life with the knowledge of what happened to my family. I loved Isabella greatly, and I miss Emilio every day. I know they aren’t still alive, but to know they lived, experienced a full life, that would help me.”

  Lucius paused in his typing and Adam frowned. “What did you find?” Adam asked.

  “I’m looking at draft records right now. Emilio would’ve been at the right age to enter World War II, so I was starting there, and he’s listed as having entered on his own.”

  Adam’s heart sped up. He knew the horrors that war had wrecked on the people who fought in it. “Did he die in combat? Was he injured?”

  Lucius shook his head. “I’m looking. Do you want to come see? I found some pictures of him. He was on a medical ship.”

  Using his vampire speed, Adam was standing next to him mere seconds later, leaning over Lucius’s shoulder. Even with all the other pictures of young men on the screen, he recognized Emilio instantly. “That’s my son,” he said, touching the picture of Emilio bent over a patient.

  Lucius kept the picture up as he continued typing. “Emilio served well, earned some medals, and settled in Oregon after the war. He was married, and they had four children. I’m looking at hospital records right now. They lost a child early on and had three others. Here, see, these are their birth records. He became a science teacher after the war.”

  Adam was fascinated by all of it as Lucius pulled up more and more information for him to see. There were pictures of his grandchildren, and then of their children as well. One had gone on to be a senator, another a doctor. They had lives Adam would have never imagined for them, and Lucius was showing him all of it. It seemed a miracle that they’d managed to have incredible lives while Adam had been stuck more or less as he’d been when he was alive.

  “Emilio passed away in 1985 of a heart attack. This is his obituary,” Lucius said, pulling him out of his happiness.

  Adam stared at the photo of his son in his sixties, looking older than he himself would ever be able to. “He sounds like he had a good life with a lot of family around him. I’m happy for him. Can you find out what became of Isabella?”

  Lucius went back through records, searching multiple sites at once, digging through files Adam would have never thought to look at. There was so much information it was mind boggling. Finally, he stopped at a marriage certificate. “She got remarried, five years after you...”

  “After I died,” Adam filled in. It was the truth. He had died as a human and had come back to life as a vampire. It wasn’t trendy for vampires to consider their first death as dying, but Adam did. Sure, he used the term turned or changed so he didn’t irritate the other vampires, but he was enough of a realist to use died too.

  Lucius nodded and kept typing. “There’s lots of information here. I’ll leave it all up so that you can go through it and read it all on your own. Your youngest surviving descendant lives in Florida. She apparently shows Golden Retrievers.” He pushed the chair back, and Adam was surprised at how easy it had all been for him, something he’d been struggling with for years, and Lucius had knocked it out within an hour.

  Adam wished he was more adaptable to new technologies and changes. Maybe if he was, he’d be a better vampire. “Thank you,” Adam said as he stared at the screen and the unfamiliar faces smiling back at him through the pictures Lucius had been able to bring up.

  Lucius chuckled. “You’re welcome. See you.”

  “Wait,” Adam stopped him before he could go.

  “Yes?” There was a note of curiosity in Lucius’s voice.

  Adam fidgeted in his nervousness. He hadn’t felt like this since he’d first asked Isabella to dance with him. “Would you like to have a drink together? Or dinner? Or...” He fumbled as his words trailed off. Neither of those was possible for him. He didn’t drink anything but blood, and he didn’t eat, either.

  “What about a kiss instead? For a job well done?”

  Adam gave him a shaky nod. He could handle one kiss. Lucius stepped up to him and held his cheeks between his palms again. He was so warm, so alive. It touched something deep inside Adam, something he’d never even acknowledged was asleep. Adam expected his kiss to be possessive, or at the very least pushy, given how he’d already been that evening, but he was neither of those things. His kiss was gentle, and his mouth was soft against Adam’s.

  “There, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Lucius teased as he stepped back.

  Adam shook his head. The kiss hadn’t been bad at all actually. “I lied, sort of, when I tol
d you that I wasn’t interested in men.”

  Lucius’s eyebrows shot up. “Really?” He sounded like he wasn’t at all surprised.

  Adam was about to confess his attraction to Lucius when the werewolf chuckled. “I already knew. I’m a werewolf, we can smell these things. You may want to pretend I didn’t turn you on with my playfulness, but my nose doesn’t lie. So why did you?”

  Adam pursed his lips and wished his smell hadn’t given him away so easily. Even living among a pack of werewolves for a year, he was still learning more about them every day. He wondered more than once if he’d learn faster if he spent more time with them as opposed to being on their outskirts. “Because sex should mean something, and you make it seem as if it doesn’t to you. Despite my attraction to you, I can’t engage in anything with someone who would be so callous about the act.”

  Lucius’s smile softened. “I see. So, you would want something more than a one-night stand?”

  Adam nodded. He absolutely would.

  “I’m in town for a week. We could see what happens between now and then. I’m not promising you eternal mates, but sometimes the casual life gets a little stale. It might be nice to have someone I have an actual attachment to. Are you willing to give that a chance?”

  “I’d like to. Thank you.” Adam came in to kiss him this time, and Lucius opened his mouth for him, allowing him access. Adam allowed Lucius to push him up against the wall, but he froze as Lucius went for the front of his pants. “I’m not—I can’t—”

  “Tell me to stop, and I will,” Lucius promised.

  Adam bit his lip and leaned back as Lucius worked him free. The rush of warm air over his cock made him jerk, and it was quickly followed by Lucius’s hand. The touch was so hot against his sensitive skin. Adam whimpered against Lucius’s mouth as he stroked him into a rough frenzy, sliding his hands over his cock too quickly for Adam to process his pleasure before he was on the brink of it and then tumbling over. His legs went weak as Lucius continued to stroke him even after he’d cum.

  “Thanks for that,” Lucius said as Adam just stared at him.

  No one had made him cum that quickly before. Part of him was in shock. The rest of him just wanted more. He slid against the floor until he was on his butt and looking up at Lucius. “No wonder people want you all the time, when you’re able to do that to them.”

  Lucius shrugged him off. “I can do a lot more, if you let me.”

  As his heart pounded more strongly than it had in years, Adam forced himself to not give in instantly. He wanted more of Lucius, but he wanted to go beyond what Lucius was known for giving his lovers. “We’ll see how this week goes.”

  Lucius smirked. “Yes, we will.”

  Heat rose in Adam’s face. What had he gotten himself into? At the same time, he wasn’t worried or afraid. He had found peace where his human life was concerned. His family had thrived even without him. That made him feel wonderful. It was the best Father’s Day he had ever had, and the first one he’d actually received a present. He thought he was open to the possibility of something more in his vampire existence, and Lucius seemed to as well. If nothing else, the first real week of summer was going to be a hot one.

  About the Authors

  Caitlin Ricci

  Caitlin was fortunate growing up to be surrounded by family and teachers that encouraged her love of reading. She has always been a voracious reader and that love of the written word easily morphed into a passion for writing. She comes from a military family and the people of the armed forces are close to her heart. She also enjoys gardening and horseback riding in the Colorado Rockies where she calls home with her wonderful husband and their two dogs. Her belief that there is no one true path to happily ever after runs deeply through all of her stories.

  www.caitlinricci.com

  authorcaitlinricci@gmail.com

  A.J. Marcus

  A.J. has been writing to pass the time since high school. The stories he wrote helped him deal with life. A few years ago, he started sharing those stories with friends who enjoyed them and he has started sending his works out into the world to share with other people. He lives in the mountains with his extremely supportive husband. They have a lot of critters, including dogs, cats, birds, horses, and rabbits. When not writing, A.J. spends a lot of time hiking, trail riding, or just driving in the mountains. Nature provides a lot of inspiration for his work and keeps him writing. He is also an avid photographer and falconer. Don’t get him started talking about his birds, because he won’t stop for a while.

  Web Contact Info:

  Website: www.ajmarcus.com

  Email: andy@ajmarcus.com

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