Annie Nicholas - The Omegas

Daedalus sat in his study and contemplated the roaring fire in the hearth. No matter how much he fueled the flames, his heart remained cold. Centuries old but still stupid enough to fall for a pretty girl. He held the poem he’d written to her and threw it in the fire. She’d returned the others unopened as well.

He needed to reminisce on happier times, it sometimes eased the loneliness. His thoughts always betrayed him, eventually leading to her. The only good times he wished to remember involved Sugar, and they were a painful reminder she wanted nothing to do with him.

It drove him mad. He knew she cared. He saw her tears when they tried to stake him. Yet, she refused his calls and his letters. She refused him.

How many times over the last two months had he caught himself making plans to steal her away from her new home? He shook his head and rested it on the back of his favorite worn leather chair. Too many. It would be a mistake. Holding her prisoner would make her hate him more, not to mention kidnapping was illegal.

His chest ached, but not from the wound.

The CB mike on his cellphone beeped. He glanced down at it, annoyed. He’d told them not to disturb him. It beeped again. He sighed and unattached it. “What?”

“Did you order a pretty blonde for dinner, sir?”

What? He unfolded himself from the chair and went to the computer to access the camera outputs. A woman with blond curls got out of a cab, then came to stand by the guardhouse at the gate. His heart beat. One sharp, painful squeeze.

It was her.

“Bring her to my study.” Now she accepts his invitation? Two months later?

He tried to hook the phone back to his belt but missed, and it clattered to the floor. “Fuck.” It skittered under the desk as he tried to grab it. He straightened and brushed any wrinkles in his pants. Get it together, man. Whether she stayed or went, at least it would be resolved.

He strolled to the mantle where he would greet her. The dark granite under his hands offered a sense of solidness, a reflection of what he’d like to appear when she walked in, cool and strong.

An ember popped to land on his shoe. He scuffed it out and leaned against the stone, his eyes focused on the door. A faint mumble of greetings floated from the foyer.

This was nonsense.

He strode to the study’s exit so he could greet her in the foyer, then stopped. That would seem too eager.

He paced the room, running his hand over his smooth head, and wondered how to receive her. It would land him in jail or worse if he did what he wanted to do—tear her clothes off, confine her to his bedroom, and never let her go.

When had he become so insecure? Not even a minute in his home and she reduced him, Daedalus Pal Robi, a prime of the Nosferatu clan, to a teenager. A small growl rumbled deep inside a well of frustration that had gathered over the last weeks.

The knob turned.

He faced the door and crossed his arms over his chest. She needed to accept him for what he was, no compromises, no apologies.

The door opened, and the sight of the breath-taking enigma gliding into the study nailed his feet to the floor.

Their relationship started in an unconventional way. They didn’t have a chance to go out on dates or mingle socially. It remained confined to wonderful moments at her apartment, in between their busy schedules. Never an occasion to dress up.

She cleaned up nice. He’d always thought her beautiful, now she made him take the saying “eye-candy” literally. The black, knee length, spaghetti strapped dress flowed along her lush curves. It contrasted with her milky white skin and enhanced its smooth softness. Her pale blond hair fell in big, bouncy curls around her face like silken threads.

“Sugar,” he breathed.

Her stilettos clicked on the hardwood floor.

The gloss of her dark red lipstick drew his attention with visions of them wrapped around his cock. He mentally slapped himself. Think with the big bald head, not the little one.

Smiling, she approached him. “I’m happy to see you’ve recovered.”

He touched his chest where the stake had penetrated him. “It didn’t go all the way through. If I’d been a younger vampire, it would have been the end of me.” He resisted the urge to twirl the wayward curl on her cheek.

She tilted her face up to him. “We never talked after the attack.” The tips of her fingers brushed his shirt over his wound, and it softened his resolve to be stoic. “It surprised me you could wake in the day, let alone fight and save me.”

Those crystal green eyes weakened his knees. They were the most honest eyes he’d ever seen, nothing hid in them. “Most can’t.”

She stepped closer, her intense stare making him nervous. “Only the oldest of your kind have those abilities.”

He swallowed, she knew. “Where are my manners?” He gestured to the chairs. “Please, sit with me.”

With a hand on his chest she stopped him as he began to move toward them. “How old are you?”

“You came across the country to ask me that?”

She gnawed at her lower lip. “No. It’s just...” She sighed and let her hand fall, then made her way to the chairs.

He pulled his in front of hers so their knees almost touched. Leaning forward, he answered the question he always hated. “I lost count after eleven hundred years.”

She sat up straighter. “Wow.”

He caressed her knee. “Does it matter, Sugar?” He couldn’t resist slipping his hand under the hem of her dress to touch her skin. “I-I’d do anyth—”

She placed her fingertips to his lips to silence him. “I love you, Daedalus. That’s never been the issue.”

He sat back. His fingers still tingled from the touch of her skin. “I wondered. It’s nice to hear.” They were about to have the conversation he’d wanted since he healed enough to rise to consciousness. His courage dwindled for a moment, but why would she travel across the continent to blow him off?

Her grin faded. “I needed time to figure things out. Where did I want my life to head? If I stayed with you and the Omegas, life would be...”

“Difficult?”

“Out of the ordinary.”

He stared at her. “And your verdict?”

She stood, then sat on his lap. “I’m here.” Her hands ran over his scalp.

As her supple fingers caressed his head he closed his eyes, afraid she’d see the tears that threatened to spill. “I noticed.” The urge to ignite this spark she’d planted made him on edge. He didn’t want to initiate anything. She came to him .

“I moved,” she whispered in his ear.

He raised an eyebrow, and his mouth twisted in a smile. Like he didn’t already know this . “Eric informed me.”

She stretched herself along him. “I spoke with him.”

“It’s about time. They’ve been concerned about you.” The warmth of her body seeped into his.

“He has control of the Ayumu now. I know he asked Robert and Sam to follow me. I told him to stop. He needs them more than I do.”

Daedalus told Eric to stop for the same reason. His security had protected Sugar since the day of the attack, keeping her safe from any other retaliation.

The overwhelming emotions which almost drowned him receded. He opened his eyes to a wonderful sight. Exposed generous, round breasts almost spilled out of Sugar’s dress as she stretched forward. “Officially, I’m still his advisor,” he stated. They were very close to falling out. He couldn’t help but silently cheer them on.

She took a deep breath. “It must be hard to advise when you don’t even live close to Chicago.”

“Yeah.” Maybe if he pulled on the fabric.