Crimson Shadows Read online

  Did Ellie have any idea what she was asking of him . . . that he let go of his hurt and make himself vulnerable by putting his heart in her hands? What if Ellie grew bored with him in a few years and dropped him? Jimmy didn't think he could survive another rejection, didn't know what he'd do if he didn't have Ellie in his life.

  Wasn't that his answer right there? Jimmy loved Ellie, loved her so much he couldn't bear the thought of life without her. It wasn't Maggie that brought him back to Southampton all these years; it was Ellie. Not that Jimmy didn't care for Maggie, but it was Ellie that kept drawing him back here, Ellie with her slanting smile, bubbling over with enthusiasm about her latest design. Jimmy looked over the vista of years gone by and saw himself showing Ellie his contact sheets, respecting her insightful analysis of his pictures, her sharp eye that knew what worked and what didn't. He saw the moonlight swims and long talks ... all of that done under the guise of their unusual friendship. Now there was something different, a chance for something more enduring between them and Jimmy thought he'd be a fool if he didn't at least try and pursue it.

  Jimmy put his hand over Ellie's and probed her eyes, trying to see any last-minute trepidation. "You're sure?"

  Ellie's response was to stand on tiptoe, kiss him square on the lips, and wrap her strong legs around his waist.

  Jimmy put one hand beneath Ellie to hold her steady and thought about nothing but his need to satisfy this wonderful girl who was offering him so much, so unthinkingly.

  Jimmy felt ready to burst and knew he couldn't wait much longer. But first he had to assure himself Ellie was ready for him ... he wanted this to be as good as possible for her. He slipped his fingers inside her, groaning at the warm, dark wetness he encountered.

  Suddenly Ellie's eyes widened and a strangled whimper escaped her, one of shock and need.

  "Do it," Jimmy told her as she thrashed around in his arms. Jimmy started moving his fingers in a slow- motion tickle, his sure-fire technique. "Come on, honey..."

  Ellie needed no further encouragement. Throwing her head back and digging her nails into his back, Ellie came screaming her pleasure, throbbing wildly around Jimmy's fingers. His last rational thought was if that were what Ellie felt like around his hand, what would it be like when she throbbed around ...

  Jimmy had no idea how they wound up back on the bed with him lodged firmly inside her while his hands dug into the firm expanse of her ass to move Ellie's hips in the rhythm he craved. Now it was his turn to scream and howl as he felt Ellie climax again and followed her blindly.

  "I'm thirsty," Ellie announced a few minutes later and Jimmy wearily raised his head from her breasts.

  "I'll go down to the kitchen," he volunteered, reluctant to leave the comfort of the cool sheets and Ellie sprawled in contented languor, a smile of almost feline satisfaction on her face.

  "Thanks, Jimmy," Ellie beamed and held out her arms. Leaning down, he kissed her as thoroughly as though he expected to be gone for days and not the ten minutes it would take him to get some drinks.

  Jimmy stopped in his bedroom and threw a packet of cigarettes and a lighter in the pocket of his robe. On impulse, he went to his chest of dresser drawers and withdrew an item buried deep in the top drawer.

  "Lemonade okay with you?" Jimmy asked, returning to Ellie's room with a pitcher and two tall glasses.

  Ellie nodded and drank deeply, startling Jimmy when she held out her hand for the cigarette he'd just lit. "When did you start smoking?"

  "A few months ago," she shrugged and impatiently gestured for a cigarette. Jimmy lit one for her, thinking he'd certainly introduced her to far darker vices than smoking this evening.

  "What's going through your mind?" Jimmy inquired after they smoked in silence for a few minutes. Ellie looked happy, but she could be experiencing some compunction now that their love making was reality and not fantasy.

  "I'm relieved," she said immediately and Jimmy laughed at the unexpected word.

  "Why relieved, honey?"

  "I thought I was frigid," Ellie told him and Jimmy wondered what kind of ass she might have been with to form that opinion. No doubt some young kid that didn't know any more about sex than she did.

  Not that Ellie hadn't been wonderful . . . she'd been everything Jimmy could hope for. But he could tell by the way she moved, with unsure but instinctive passion, she wasn't that experienced. Not that Jimmy would mind teaching her ... he was just thankful she hadn't been a virgin. Maggie was going to go ballistic when she found out what happened—imagine how she'd react if Jimmy had not only slept with Ellie but had deflowered her.

  He might not have taken her virginity but he had given Ellie her first climax. Jimmy wouldn't embarrass Ellie by telling her he'd known, by her astonished eyes and thousand volt smile, that the rush of feeling pulsating through her was a new and wonderful experience. Jimmy leaned back, not aware that his own pleasure at his prowess was making his mouth stretch into a foolish grin that matched the one on Ellie's face.

  "What's with that dopey smile?" Ellie asked and Jimmy snuffed out his cigarette in reply, pulling a willing Ellie beneath him.

  "I was just thinking there's at least three hours before sunrise and I don't want to waste them smoking."

  "Me either," Ellie smiled and arched hungrily beneath him. "Let's do it again."

  And they did . . . three more times with Ellie growing more relaxed and curious each time. She wanted to experiment, and Jimmy gladly took on the role of teacher, thinking her education would be one long, delightful course in sensuality.

  The phone rang just as Jimmy had initiated Ellie into one of his favorite pursuits—sixty-nine. He'd just tasted her musky, bittersweet juices while he felt that velvet tongue explore his cock when the phone on Ellie's nightstand shrilled at them. At the first ring, a cold, leaden ball settled in Jimmy's stomach and he felt himself shrivel up instantaneously.

  He was rolling off Ellie even before he felt a hand reach up to push him away. Jimmy threw a pillow over his face as he heard Ellie pick up the phone with a shaky hello. All the warm desire in him turned to ash. Jimmy listened as Ellie fed her mother some cock- and-bull story about why she'd taken so long to pick up the phone.

  Though Jimmy was relieved at this evidence Maggie had survived her trip to Chicago, he had a fervent and futile hope he'd never have to set eyes on her again.

  Not only would this be the death knell of his friendship with Maggie, Jimmy knew she was going to do her damndest to destroy him. Knowing Maggie as well as he did, Jimmy thought her mildest reaction to his sleeping with Ellie would be to crush his balls in the blender and feed them to the cats while he watched. From there, she'd work her way up to more sadistic tortures before she finally cut off his head and let him die.

  'That was Mom," Ellie said unnecessarily after she hung up, her face as taut and worried as Jimmy imagined his was. "She and Daddy and Lee are coming home tomorrow night. Jimmy, I don't think we should tell everybody right away. I mean, with Charles and Mikal. .. it just isn't the right time."

  "Hon, "Jimmy said and ran his hand over her petal- soft cheek, "Maggie won't need to be told . . . she's going to know what happened thirty seconds after she steps through the door tomorrow. I wouldn't be surprised if you already got her antenna up by how jumpy you sounded. Either we tell your mother or wait for her to guess and it won't look good if we don't have the guts to tell her we're together." Lee Winslow wouldn't exactly be jumping for joy and Jimmy refused to even speculate on Simon Baldevar's reaction. Somehow Jimmy did not think he was what that psychopathic asshole had in mind for a son-in-law.

  Ellie bit her lower lip pensively. "I guess you're right. I mean, sometimes it seems like Mom knows things about me before I know them myself. But I don't want to bother her when I know she's got so much on her mind. Jimmy, what are we going to do?"

  Even in his queasy apprehension, Jimmy had to smile at that "we." Pushing long, sloppy locks of his hair off his face, Jimmy turned to Ellie and took her hands. "I've b
een thinking about it ever since the phone rang. The way I see it, we have one chance to make this whole crazy thing work out. One.

  "The problem," Jimmy continued, "is that your mother will never believe I love you. She's going to think I used you or worse, she might think this whole thing is a grudge fuck against her—my sick way of getting even with her for choosing Simon Baldevar over me. The first thing I want you to know is that's absolutely untrue. Your mother had nothing to do with what happened tonight. And I'd never have touched you if I didn't want a relationship. But Maggie will never buy that unless we do something to show her we're serious about each other."

  "How do we do that?" Ellie asked.

  In reply, Jimmy reached for the terry cloth robe he'd dropped on the floor and scooped out a small gray jeweler's box.

  "Marry me, Ellie," he said and popped open the box to show her his mother's wedding ring, a small marquise cut diamond ring in a yellow-gold setting. Jimmy didn't find it necessary to tell Ellie he'd once presented her mother with this ring and received a firm rebuff.

  'Jimmy," Ellie said, her face blank and unreadable as she stared at the ring.

  Please, Jimmy prayed. Don't let her give me any of Maggie's wishy-washy I-don't-know-if-this-is-the-right- thing-to-do bullshit that amounted to No. Jimmy didn't want to get shot down again, hear that while he was perfectly acceptable as a bed partner, Ellie had no need for him otherwise.

  "We can't get married now," she finally said and Jimmy's heart sank. "Not with Charles barely cold ... it wouldn't be right. We'll have to put it off, get engaged first. An engagement would show Mom we're serious about each other. But we have to let some time pass . .. out of respect."

  "Engaged?" Jimmy repeated stupidly, feeling there might be some reason to continue living after all. 'You mean you want to marry me?"

  "Of course I do," Ellie said and held out her left hand expectantly. Shaking like he was in the midst of the DT tremors he used to get, Jimmy finally managed to slide the ring on her ring finger.

  Ellie held her hand up to the light, dazzling red and blue prisms reflecting from the diamond. "Oh, Jimmy, it's beautiful."

  "You're beautiful," he said and grabbed her roughly, crushing her to him so she wouldn't see his tears, tears of gratefulness mingled with fear. Charles's decapitated head floated before him, reminding Jimmy of the threat they were all living under now.

  He wouldn't let anything happen to Ellie, Jimmy vowed. He wouldn't let that sick, twisted vampire brother of hers take her from him.

  "Why did you sound so surprised when I said yes?" Ellie asked, still admiring her ring.

  "Ellie, look at me," Jimmy commanded and Ellie turned her eyes to him. "Do you understand what a commitment this is?"

  "I thought we were past you talking to me like I'm five," she complained and rolled her eyes. "Love, fidelity, for better for worse, in sickness and in health, till death do we part . . . yes, I understand what a commitment marriage is. What do you think—I'm going to run around on you, ask for a divorce in six months?"

  "If you do I'll drown you," he said half-seriously. "It's just you're very young to get married ... or engaged."

  "Mom was eighteen when she and Daddy got together," Ellie shrugged. "You were my age when you got married."

  "That was a shotgun wedding," Jimmy reminded her. "I couldn't keep it in my pants and nine months later I had a son to prove that. And I don't think Amy and I would have stayed together. I would have met my responsibility to Jay but sooner or later we would have gotten divorced. We were both too young and too different to make it work. The only thing we had in common was an ignorance of birth control."

  "Well, I think you and I have a lot more in common than that," Ellie countered. "We're both smart, artistic, have the same interests. We're sexually compatible ... that's a lot more than most couples have to go on. About my being young ... so what? What am I supposed to do, waste my twenties dating jerks I know don't interest me? I've already figured out what I want ... you. I'm not going to change my mind in five years or ten or a hundred."

  'That bring us to the next problem," Jimmy said. "If we get married, you have to transform."

  "Of course," Ellie said calmly. "Daddy already said I have to transform."

  "Don't talk about him," Jimmy snapped with automatic antipathy. "Look, putting his high-handed orders aside and even what we feel for each other— are you absolutely sure you want to transform? Do you know what it means to be a vampire?"

  "After seventeen years of living with them, how could I not?" Ellie asked with mild exasperation. 'Jimmy, I have to say you and Mom have been a little unrealistic about this whole thing. It never occurred to me that at some point I wasn't going to transform. Maybe this is a little earlier than I expected but that's okay. I'm going into business for myself anyway... I'll just meet my clients and design at night. I know about the rest, the blood lust and stuff... I figured you and Mom would help me cope with that. But Jimmy, think about it. What else is there for me but transformation? Did you think I was just going to finish out my mortal life and die while you all continued on? What would that make me ... some brief interlude in your lives? Don't you want me around forever? Jimmy?"

  'Tired," he managed to whisper and sagged against the pillows. It was practically six o'clock—that he was awake this late into the night surprised him. Blearily, Jimmy opened one eye and saw Ellie had closed the shutters while he went downstairs—he was safe from daylight.

  "Course I want you around," he slurred and felt Ellie relax next to him. "Want you forever but.. .just didn't want you ... want you unhappy ..."

  "I'll be happy as long as we're together," Ellie whispered into his ear and Jimmy, with a last burst of energy, wrapped his arms around her as they drifted off together.

  "We'll be together," he promised, not sure if he spoke the words aloud or he was already dreaming. "Forever."

  Nine

  Meghann eyes snapped open, wide and filled with terror at the excruciating pain that felt like her skin was being stretched then peeled off her body. Whimpering, she glanced down at her arms and saw they were an appalling reddish purple, liberally covered in fever blisters that burst into oozing little rivulets of pus before her eyes.

  "It's all right, little one," she heard Simon say and looked up from her wounded skin to see him driving a car unknown to her, while she was huddled on the passenger seat.

  "Where are we? What's wrong with me?" Meghann cried in fear at the roiling nausea ripping through her and deep chills that made her shiver uncontrollably and wrap her arms around her body even though she burned with fever. What had happened to her? Why was she so sick?

  "Exposure," Simon explained and her eyes registered on him long enough to observe that his white skin was burned to the bright pink of a negligent sun- bather. "It's early for us, only six-thirty."

  "Six-thirty!" Meghann exclaimed in disbelief but the digital clock on the car stereo confirmed his lunatic statement. "But it's sunnier, Simon! We shouldn't be outdoors for another hour, at least Have you gone crazy? You'll kill us both! And how in the world did you wake up so early?"

  "Don't upset yourself," Simon said curtly when Meghann hunched over, retching out a thin, sour stream of blood and bile on the car's tan upholstered bottom. "You'll make it worse. I know you're in a great deal of discomfort; I'd hoped you'd sleep through our journey."

  'Journey?" Meghann frowned and glanced behind her to see Lee sprawled and unconscious on the backseat. "Where are we going?"

  "Midway Airport. . . my jet awaits us. You know I rise earlier than you because of my advanced age and I thought we should get back to New York as soon as possible. As to my decision to chance the sun, look outside, sweetheart."

  Meghann looked up at the sky and saw nothing but heavy, black clouds pregnant with rain that beat down on the car windows in fierce, torrential gusts.

  "Any doctor will tell you ultraviolet rays can filter through clouds and leave you with an even worse burn than you'd get on a sunny d
ay," Meghann pointed out through her chattering teeth. Why did Simon look so well while the weak light of the hidden sun seemed to slip under her bones and eat her alive from the inside? Had Simon perhaps already drunk enough of Mikal's blood to be immune to the pre-twilight sun?

  "Relax," Simon told her and she felt the car come to a stop. "We're here . . . you're safe now. All you need is to get indoors and feed."

  Simon was right—no sooner had he lifted her from the car (Meghann was so weak she could not even wrap her arms around him as he carried her) and taken her into the haven of the Learjet's windowless private cabin than Meghann felt the pain drift away and a fathoms deep drowsiness take its place.

  "Not yet, darling." Meghann felt Simon shake her awake and thrust a bottle of blood into her hands.

  Meghann sniffed and came to a sluggish awareness at the copper scent emanating from the pint bottle. Blearily, she put the bottle to her lips and drank in great, thirsty gulps while Simon toweled her dry. She felt the bottle fall from her hands but she fell asleep even before the bottle's dull thud sounded as it landed on the plush carpeting.

  Mommy, Mommy, help me! I need you . . .

  "Ellie!" Meghann shouted, wild eyed with fear as her arms stretched out in automatic protectiveness to grab the child that called out for her.

  In an instant, Simon was at her side, clutching her trembling hands. "It's all right, little one. Just a bad dream..."

  "No!" Meghann insisted. 'It's Ellie ... she needs me!"

  "Of course she does. And we're only an hour away from Southampton now." Simon smiled at Meghann's bewildered expression. "You do not remember getting on my plane?"