“You’re mine forever, Caleb,” she answered resolutely.
He actually shivered as her words sunk into his mind. Hers forever. The thought was simultaneously thrilling and ominous. Despite his love and adoration for her, forever was a long time to contemplate.
He wrapped her hand in his as she held his pendant and rose to meet her lips with a passionate kiss. She pressed him back down onto the bed and nipped at his lower lip as she kissed him. Within moments, she felt his hand probing underneath her knit top, and his fingers gently caressed her breasts.
A tantalizing shiver ran through her as she turned his body to lie on top of hers while continuing to kiss him. Acting upon her signal, he used one hand to shift his sweatpants off while she slipped from her pajama pants. He kissed her passionately and endeavored to please her tenderly. Then time stood still as darkness blanketed them from the cares of the outside world.
After Caleb fell asleep, Katrina glanced at him in the darkness and pulled the covers up to his neck so he didn’t catch a chill. She slipped out of bed, pulled her pajama pants and sleeveless top back on, and made her way upstairs to the first floor. She found Paige in the front entry room, curled up on one end of the couch with her feet pulled beneath her as she lounged against the arm rest. Katrina grinned at her friend’s attire: a pair of black Lycra biking shorts and a black cotton t-shirt with the image of a large, red, flaming skull on the front.
“There you are,” Paige greeted her.
“Sorry,” Katrina offered as she commandeered the other end of the couch, draping one leg over the edge of the cushion. “Took a little longer than expected.”
Paige smirked and ventured slyly, “Make-up sex is great, isn’t it?”
“What makes you think --”
The blonde vampire looked away and interrupted, “Fine, whatever.”
“Yes, it’s wonderful, actually, particularly after a couple of weeks or more,” Katrina conceded with a sigh.
Paige smirked and affirmed, “Yep, thought so.”
The red-haired vampire shook her head. “So, what’s the scoop on Gil?”
Paige recounted everything that she had told Caleb earlier. “So Gil has two women in his life: me and Mary Jane.”
“Ah, but do you have feelings for him?”
Paige considered that with a slight frown. “Somewhat, but it’s still too early for me to say for certain.”
The two chatted at length about a host of other topics, including the upcoming spring break trip to England that Katrina had in mind for her and Caleb. That led to a discussion of their favorite European destinations, and Paige revealed her desire to revisit Italy and Greece following the few decades since her last visit. Since then, most of her time had been spent in North or Central America, and she welcomed a change of scenery. But with needing to observe Gil for the time being, she was putting off any vacation plans.
“Why not take him with you?” Katrina asked.
“I need to wait to find out if he’s on any watch lists before he applies for a passport,” Paige explained. “I’m still researching his background, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s had some trouble with the law in the past for --”
“Drugs,” Katrina interjected.
Paige nodded and chuckled. “Yeah, he’s kind of a pot-head. But I can probably break him of that eventually, if I wanted to.”
Katrina nodded and hoped everything would work out for her. It had been years since anyone had caught her friend’s eye, although Katrina had a sneaky suspicion that someone like Caleb might have been on her radar under different circumstances. Fortunately, she trusted Paige implicitly, and the thought of her former pupil’s friendship and innocent affections for Caleb no longer made her jealous. Besides, few were as devoted as the young man in her life.
“Hello? Earth to Katrina,” Paige interrupted with a snap of her fingers. “Lost you there for a minute.”
Katrina jolted from her reverie with a smirk and remarked, “Okay, I’m back now, Houston.”
“So what are you going to do about Caleb’s memory?”
Katrina quietly considered a response. “I was thinking about trying to use the same hypnotic technique to undo what I did nearly twenty years ago.”
Paige’s eyebrows rose. “You can do that?”
The red-haired vampire shrugged. “I can try. I’ve never actually faced something like this before. In fact, I haven’t hypnotized anyone else since then, either. I was surprised when it worked the first time, actually.”