baby. I don't know my father's extended family. Nero is my Nosferatin family now.
“I haven't told him,” I finally answered.
He tried to hide it, but I could feel Michel's body relax, just slightly, just a fraction. If I hadn't have been wrapped in his arms I don't think I would have noticed.
“Do you think it may happen again, ma douce ?”
I sighed. “This was the first time it has made me Dream Walk when asleep. Usually, it just wakes me up and I'm aware of evil somewhere on the planet doing something not so nice and I can do nothing about it.” I shuddered involuntarily then.
Michel stroked my back. “I am sorry, ma douce . I had not noticed, you have hidden it well.”
I hadn't hidden it for him, I'd hidden it for me. I was scared that he'd find a way to use this power, this talent. I was scared he'd find a way to use me. I really wasn't giving this relationship the attention it deserved. I'd practically signed it's death warrant before it had even begun. Why? Because he's a vampire. Why else?
I pulled away then and looked at him. “What could you have done? What can anyone do? I don't know what to do with this knowledge, Michel. I don't know how to stop being sucked into the evil that invades this world. I thought I had enough right here in Auckland to contend with, but now it seems I have to take on the world too. I don't know if I can do this. It's picked the wrong Nosferatin. I'm not strong enough for this.” My voice had got quieter and quieter, until it was just a hushed whisper, barely heard.
“You are the strongest, most capable human I have ever met. Do not ever forget that, ma douce . Do not.”
His hand touched my cheek, rested at my jaw, his thumb stroking slowly over my skin. When I chanced a look into his eyes I noticed a swirl of amethyst in the blue. Did it scare me? No. It made my breath catch, my heart beat faster, but not out of fear. He looked at me with such tenderness. I will admit, there are times when I forget he's a vampire. When I forget that I should be careful, should not trust. There are times when I simply don't care. All that matters is him and me. Nothing else.
He brushed his lips against my mouth softly, almost chastely. He paused, ran a hand through my hair, rested it at the back of my neck, so warm, so soft, then bent his head again and kissed me more deeply.
It never seemed to take long for Michel and I to get close, to melt into the heat of each other. If only my body would be as cautious as my head, I'd be OK. But it isn't, not by a long shot, where Michel is concerned.
He smelt divine. A beautiful fresh smell of wild flowers and freshly cut grass in the meadow at home on the farm, laced with a soft scent of the sea. The two would not normally exist together, but with Michel they just seemed right. Comforting. Clean. Home.
I pulled back reluctantly, he needed to know everything. The fact that I had Dream Walked unintentionally was only part of the problem. Gregor was a concern
He looked at me with slight surprise. I don't often pull away from his embrace any more. I may have, in the beginning, but not now. My body called for him on so many levels. I was truly undone by this man. But, he needed to know.
“I ended up in Rome just now, near the Trevi Fountain . My pull had taken me to a Nosferatin about to be killed by a vampire.”
Michel's eyebrows rose. He was intrigued.
“His name was Gregor.” I went to say something else, but Michel had stilled, so still, vampire still. Uh-oh.
I took a deep breath in, it might be the last I get for a while, by the looks of the deep amethyst and violet now swirling around in his eyes.
“He has silver or grey eyes and a scar on the right side of his face, from his eye down his cheek.” I showed where the scar was on me. Michel had practically turned to stone.
“ The Nosferatin said he was the Iunctio in their area. Their law. The vampire knew who I was and what I was and that I was your kindred Nosferatin.”
I