The bathroom here in his lair seldom got used with the exception of the shower. It was as big as some people's apartments. The walls were all imported handmade tile of the riches blues and reds. They not only covered the floor, but three of the walls as well. The forth wall, the one just over the nine-by-nine foot garden tub, was a bank of quarried stone. The double sink and separate shower and tub fixtures were made of gold and shone brightly in the room. The other fixtures, such as the toilet and counter top, were a deep shade of red. The sink basins were large, deep pottery bowls of cobalt blue. The only other colors in the room were the towels hanging on the warmer and were of the purest white.

Aaron sprayed water over her head, careful not to get soap in her eyes, and gently began to wash and rinse her hair. Then using a large bath sponge, he washed her body of the sweat from their lovemaking.

Neither said anything for a long time. They just enjoyed holding and touching each other, not always in a s.e.xual, sensual way, just the need to connect on some level, to be together at last. The candles that Sara had lit twinkled gently around the room; their jasmine scent delicately moved throughout the room.

"I wondered if my abilities would change if you bit me. I don't think they did, but they're different, stronger in some ways, sharper in others. I can also feel a deeper connection to you. I can hear your heart beating, mine too." She turned around on his lap and looked at him. "I can also feel Sherman; his presence is there, just in the back of my mind. I could feel him before, but not like this. Before, I was aware of him because I was worried about Mel. Now, he's just there. I feel his hatred more."

"What about the others, can you feel them as well?" He thought about Sherman, wondering about what he was going to do about him.

He felt her stiffen slightly. "Demetrius and April are making love. Again. Sheesh, is that all they can think about?"

"Again? You know what, never mind. I don't want to know. Moving along, unless you want to let me watch and take notes. And I'd like to point out you and I have made love several times just tonight."

"You do just fine on your own." She snuggled back against him. "I am hungry, really hungry, as a matter of fact. Do you think Duncan has anything in the house?"

"I don't know. We could order something, or go out if you'd like." He hadn't thought of human food for a long while. He'd had Duncan get some into the house for her when she was staying here before, but that couldn't be any good now. The thought of her eating something was making him hard again, and he didn't even know why.

"No, I want a cheeseburger with lettuce and tomato. Pickles, lots of pickles. And so much catsup and mayo that it drips down my hands. Hummm. I wanna bite down into a really fresh bun. Oh, and French fries. Gotta have fries with a cheeseburger. You have to soak up the drippy stuff off the plate with them. I like to eat them two or three at a time. I love them overcooked and salty, really...Aaron, I'm really hungry."

Aaron stared at her for all of twenty seconds, and then stood the both of them up in the tub, splashing water all over the bathroom floor. He wanted to see her eat real food. He'd never had a cheeseburger himself; they weren't around when he was human, but he could watch people eat them. And he was very excited about seeing her eating one, sinking her teeth into one, chewing it, savoring it just like she had described. Christ, he had a hard-on thinking about her eating food. He was in serious trouble here.

Aaron dressed with the speed only vampires have, blurring through the room, finding her something to wear of his. They were upstairs and in the kitchen in record time, and going through the refrigerator searching for ground beef, lettuce, tomatoes, and pickles, everything that went on a burger with the works. They didn't have any luck with the French fries, but they made due with a bag of green onion chips in the cabinet.

Sara made the patty and put it into the large skillet they'd unearthed under the counter. The smell of sizzling beef permeated the room. While that cooked, she sliced the tomatoes and pickles. He was mesmerized as she put one in her mouth and sucked it. He was sure she wasn't even aware of what she was doing to him. Then again, maybe she was.

But the time she ate a cheeseburger with all the tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs and was dipping up a big bowl of ice cream, he was hard as stone. When she was searching for something to top the last bit of creamy confection, she came across a can of whipped cream. Aaron's eyes were on her a.s.s as she was bent over looking and when she stood and turned toward him, his eyes had turned with need.

Aaron stood up from the chair, undoing the snap and zipper on his low rider jeans as he approached her. When his c.o.c.k was free, he stopped in front of her and began stroking his hard c.o.c.k with his fist, up and down, up and down. She watched him, mesmerized by his hand fisting his c.o.c.k. By the time the drop of pre-c.u.m pearled at the tip, he could smell her arousal on his tongue.

"Suck my c.o.c.k. Suck me until I come in your mouth. I want to shoot my hot c.u.m down your throat." She dropped to her knees without a second's hesitation, licking her lips. Her tongue darted out and captured the drop at the tiny slit at the head of his c.o.c.k. She climaxed as soon as she tasted him. Aaron leaned forward to hold onto the counter, his release ready to explode from him as he watched her come.

"Sara, please, now, take me now." Before the last word spilled from his mouth, she wrapped her mouth around him.

Her mouth was hot and wet, tight like her. He couldn't hold back. He reached down and cupped the back of her head. Holding her head gently, he began pumping his length in her, f.u.c.king her mouth like he had her body. He wanted to be easier, not rock so hard, but when she wrapped her hand around his length, he started pumping like a man possessed. He looked down at her through hooded eyes and saw her riding her own fingers, riding them like he was f.u.c.king her, like he was f.u.c.king her mouth. His climax grabbed him, he roared as he released deep into her mouth, and she swallowed every drop. When his last of his c.u.m spurted into her luscious mouth, he jerked her up and slammed her onto the counter, tearing away the shirt and panties. He rammed his still hard c.o.c.k deep inside her, fast. It didn't take long for him to come again, and as soon as he bit her, she came with him, screaming and sobbing his name over and over again.

Aaron watched her sleep. It wasn't the deep sleep of his kind, but of the exhausted sleep of a woman well used throughout the night. He smiled down at her. She was his mate.

Sara would never be boring, that was for sure. He was looking forward to many, many years with her beside him and him beside her. He kissed her gently on her brow, careful not to disturb her. They had made love, sometimes bordering on violent at times, several times tonight. She needed to rest, and he needed to go and find Colin.

They needed to set in motion better security for his home. He also wanted Colin to search for as much information as he could about Shermie, Mel's mate. What he'd been up to since Mel had gone into hiding. He also wanted to know if he'd been the one beating Sara all this time. If he had, then there wasn't going to be a realm, human or magical, that he could hide in that Aaron wouldn't be able to find him.

Aaron was back long before daybreak, finding he couldn't be without her. He was drifting off to slumber, smiling and thinking about what a turn on it had been to watch her eat a burger. He couldn't wait to tell Duncan to get a good supply of burger fixings and fries in the house. Duncan was going to be p.i.s.sed about the mess in the kitchen, or maybe not. Duncan had become very lax about things when it came to Sara. s.e.x, at least like they had had on a counter, was not very neat and tidy.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE.

That evening when Aaron rose, Sara was gone. He was up and getting dressed to find her when she whispered through his mind.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well, bloodsucker?" He felt her laughter race across his skin like a touch.

"Good morning yourself, human. Yes, I slept very well. Someone wore me out completely. Where are you, love? I thought you'd be here when I arose."

"I have a job. Some of us aren't wealthy and can laze about all day in bed." He felt her laughter again, her voice doing all sorts of things to his libido.

"I thought we'd spend the day in my bed, getting to know each other...better." He sent her waves of his need for her. He felt when she became so aroused that it was uncomfortable for her. That made him smile.

"Stop that," she told him breathlessly. "I'm at about twenty-five thousand feet right now, so I don't need to get all hot and bothered by you just yet. I can come over after I land. Would that be okay?"

"I want you here all the time, Sara. Move in here with me, stay with me?" He asked. He knew that this should have been something he asked her in person, but his heart and his body couldn't wait.

"We'll talk when I come over. I...I'm not...I don't..."

"It's all right, love." And he realized that it was. He loved her. "When you come over, we'll talk, okay? I don't want to force you into anything you don't want. I just need to see you."

"Okay then. I will land in about forty-seven minutes, and then it will take me about twenty-three minutes to get to your house. I'll see you then?" He heard the relief in her voice and tried not to be hurt by it.

Only Sara would give exact times. He grinned. He knew that she was correct in the amount of time it would take her to land and be at his house. Why? Because she was Sara.

"All right, I'll see you then. Oh and Sara, don't eat anything. I had Duncan get you some stuff to eat. I want to see you eat those French fries."

Sara landed the beautiful Cessna just over forty-eight minutes later, taxiing to the hangar on a perfect landing. She was reaching out to Aaron to let him know she was running behind when she felt them in the hangar. The High Council had finally come for her. She got off the plane and went straight to them. She felt there was no reason to run. They'd find her again anyway.

"Sara, please don't fight us," Tyler Sims, second in command of the Royal Guard, pleaded with her. "You know that in this world we'd have to kill you immediately if you do."

Sara looked at the men before her and sighed. She could easily kill them all, even without her armament. They were an untried and young group of men and women. Marcus had told her that most of the others, the more seasoned and trained, had fled, taking their families away when Sherman had taken over Molavonta after Mel had disappeared. Most, if not all of them, were hiding in the human realm until things returned to normal. She wondered if that would ever be possible now.

"I won't fight," she told him as she put her arms forward, palms out. No, she wouldn't fight them. She needed to let Aaron know what had happened and to contact Mel to take care of their bond. She wouldn't have him die because of her.

Two men stepped forward and clamped the leg shackles and wrist irons on her. Drawing his sword, Tyler walked toward her. She could tell that he was scared and nervous.

"I won't fight you, Tyler, I promise you."

At his nod, he touched it to the skin just over her heart. As soon as he touched her skin with his sword, they were in Molavonta standing outside one of the dungeons doors.

"I'm sorry Sara," he told her as soon as the others left them alone. "But I thought if I was with you, you'd stand a better chance of getting here in one piece. Orders were to kill on sight if you put up the least resistances."

"I figured as much. When...do they have a time set yet?" She couldn't ask when her beheading was. It was too much. Her heart crumbled in pain. Aaron, oh Aaron.

"There's to be a trial first. I've never heard why. Usually, they just take the accused out and lop off their... Oh my G.o.d, Sara, I'm sorry. I...I wasn't thinking," Tyler said.

"It's all right, really. If you could, could you maybe keep me informed? Not at risk to yourself, but you know...?" She couldn't look at his stricken face any longer, and turned toward the cell door. As she slid inside, he moved beside her.

"This is from the queen," he whispered as he put small stone in her hand and slipped back out again. In a louder voice, he said, "Yes, when I know, you'll know."

When April and Demetrius came into their office at the air strip, Melody was answering the company phones. It would have been comical if they hadn't heard what she was saying.

"Yes, I'm pretty sure we fly there, too. No, no I don't know anything about planes, big or little. Other than they can fly, of course. When I want to be somewhere, I just zap myself there... No, I don't want to zap you anywhere, but if you keep being stupid, I might just zap you." She turned to them as she was hanging up the now dead receiver. "He hung up on me, the nerve. Hi, we have a problem."

Demetrius knew that if Melody the Queen was here, then something had seriously gone wrong. He'd just leave this time, not stand and fight. He couldn't chance losing April and the child. He looked around the beautifully appointed office. All the leather on the chairs and chrome tables were more to his tastes rather than April's, but she had been getting used to it. He loved the shelves, though. They held some of the most unique model planes he'd ever done. He'd carved them all by hand over the centuries.

The photos on the wall were of birds and kites and other flights of fancy, all precursors to the flight of man. The windows looked out over the large, wooded area on the back lot, where they were currently having their home built. This room's dark paneling made it seem homey and warm despite the modern touches. All the clean lines and smell was usually relaxing, but it wasn't working right now. Too much stress in his personal life what with the new baby and poor Sara.

"Yes, we do, if you have been here all day answering the phone. Why the h.e.l.l are you here?" April asked.

Demetrius could feel the anger boil off both women. April had taken exception to the woman since the party. Just last night she had been telling him how much she hated the way she'd treated Sara after all she'd done for her. He secretly agreed. Sparks were going to fly between the two women. He just hoped it was later rather than today.

"You know I can read your every thought," said the queen.

Demetrius flushed. He'd forgotten that about her.

After a few tense moments of the two women staring at each other, Mel turned to Demetrius again. "Sara's been arrested by the High Council. They came here and picked her up about an hour ago. I can only a.s.sume they knew to come then because you two would be out. She's being detained in one of the cells in the dungeon. And before you ask, yes, she's being treated very well. For as much as you'd like to believe I'm a horrible ruler, I do have people in place I can trust."

"Then you can have her released, right?" It seemed simple enough to Demetrius. Just pop in say, "release her," and she'd be home again.

"No. Right now that's not possible," Mel told them.

"Then what the h.e.l.l good are you? Let me ask you something, do you think that if you were in trouble, she'd not break down every door in that place to get to you in a heartbeat? That she wouldn't go against everything she stands for to save your skinny little a.s.s? h.e.l.l, she did do that. At great risk to herself. And this is the way you repay her? By sitting on your a.s.s, acting all queenie like?" Demetrius reached out to pull April back before she did something stupid. She simply brushed him off.

"Why you bloodsucking, stupid..." Mel snarled at his mate as she stood to advance on April.

"That's enough! Christ, you two can take this up later. How do you propose we help her if you can't help us? Because I, for one, would lay down my life for her." She had risked her life, d.a.m.n it! For him, for April, and especially for his babe. He'd stay. For her, he'd stay.

"As I said..." With a glare at April, Mel continued. "She can't be released just yet. It's important to everyone that, at least for a while longer, everyone believes that she did something to me."

April's mouth opened in shock. "So, let me get this straight, we wait until someone notices that you're okay before we go in and get her? You know as far as planning well goes, you really suck at it." April wanted to hit the woman. Demetrius could tell by the way she kept flexing her fist.

"April, this isn't getting us any closer to Sara and getting her free. You can kill the queen later. Provided we have the time, that is." He sat down heavily in the office chair. "Is Sara hurt?"

"No. I told you, she's being well taken care of. I have a trusted guard outside her cell at all times. No one will get in there without a fight." At Demetrius' nod, she went on. "Aaron. Someone needs to go and explain what's happened to her."

"And tell him what? You haven't told us a d.a.m.ned thing. All you've told us is that Sara's been arrested on trumped up charges because you aren't dead. Yet. And we can't tell anyone you're alive. Gee, that'll go over well, don't you think?" April snarled.

"You know you're very sarcastic? I know you're trying to hide it and all, but you're doing a p.i.s.s poor job of it. Maybe you should practice a bit more. You're just not quite perfect at it yet. I can still hear when you're being sincere," Mel said. Even Demetrius could hear the venom in her voice. "He'll need to be told everything I've told you. Aaron needs to let this progress to the trial. If he interrupts, lives could be at stake."

"What do you mean lives? Sara's? Oh no you don't, you'll explain better than that. I've had enough of your partial information." April advanced on her and would have gone further if Demetrius hadn't stopped her by pulling her into his lap and holding her down.

"Sherman is strong, very strong. And I believe he wants to kill Sara for her powers. If he does, he will be unstoppable," Mel said.

"Why would he have to kill her for her powers? Why can't he just fade her or whatever, like he did to you?" Demetrius knew what Sherman had done to Mel when Sara had had to save her. He also knew the extent of the damage he'd done to her mentally as well as physically. Causing her to miscarry the only child she would ever have being the worst of the damage as far as the Demetrius was concerned. He didn't know what he would do if April lost their child. He couldn't image being the cause of her losing it.

"I don't know what Sara is," Mel admitted sadly. "If she isn't a royal, like I'm a.s.suming Sherman believes her not to be, then he will need only to kill her. He will then be able to absorb her powers into himself, making him incredibly strong. As far as I can tell, that would make him nearly impossible to destroy as a true immortal. He's been practicing black arts, or magic. While I do have control over all magic, Black is the most unstable. White or pure magic, which is what most witches practice, is a system of give and take. Earth gives you its powers to use."

Demetrius watched as things began to appear around Mel as she walked. A basket of fruit filled with apples, pears, and bananas, a gla.s.s of wine. She took each thing and sampled it as she continued to pace the small room. She seemly didn't even realize what was happening.

"Once you use what you need, you give back to her ten times that amount. Its recycled energy is used in the colors of flowers: yellows, pinks and reds, also in the green of the tree leaves. There are also creatures that can change the colors, but the magic must be there, the magic of the earth to sustain their magic. The purer the magic returned, the brighter the colors in the fauna in that area.

"Black magic is not renewable. It only takes from Earth and most importantly, from the user. It also burns them up very fast. That's the reason people who practice it are always in packs. They nearly always have to combine their resources to make whatever magic they're using last for longer than a few minutes. Once someone in the pack begins to grow in power, he's killed." A flurry of her hands and a hologram of a field appeared, and on it, several figures. Suddenly, one broke free and killed one of the others. A patch of blackened earth appeared in his place then the entire scene disappeared. "They'd rather kill than to have one of their kind get strong enough to overpower them," Mel explained.

"And if she is a royal? What then? Will she be able to destroy him? I thought that as a royal he would be an immortal like you. I guess I don't understand the differences of an immortal or a royal," Demetrius said.

"I'm a true immortal because of my birth. I cannot die." He watched as Mel reached over and touched the violet on the desk. It suddenly doubled in size and overflowed with fat purple blossoms. "I can fade away if I choose, but that isn't death, it's not permanent."

She sat in the chair again, looking exhausted and worn. "I've just called my mother home from Ireland where she's been a fairy ring for centuries. Sherman isn't a royal by blood, just by mating with me. When we claimed each other, so that he could be with me forever, he became a true immortal by proxy. That's the only way we could spend eternity together. And so long as I don't denounce him publicly, he'll continue to be. The only way to destroy or kill him, he must do one of three things; he must kill another royal, attempt the life of an immortal, or be stripped of his status. Any one of the first two will automatically strip him down to his former self, but then he will still have his magic, and will need to be killed."

"So, his attempt on your life, it should have taken away his immortality. But it didn't, why?" April asked her with no hostility in her voice at all, Demetrius was relieved to realize.

"Not unless someone in the High Council is aware of his involvement in the plot. I doubt when Sara was fleeing the castle with my body after the explosion, she hung around to explain what went on. And without my body..." Mel shrugged. I'm sorry to say that she was guilty until proven innocent. No, what Sherman is doing is more than likely sanctioned by the Council because they believe that Sara and the others failed me or were the ones who committed the crime. It is in all likelihood that Sara is a wanted fugitive."

"Then he's the one who had her arrested." At her nod, he continued. "High Council of Magick? You've mentioned that before. Is that some sort of court system or something?" Demetrius asked her, trying hard to understand a whole other world other than the two he currently lived in.

"Yes, that's exactly what they are. I am magic, but without someone to govern even me, things could be one sided. The Council wants for nothing, the people see to their needs. So they enforce my law for me. If not for someone to back me up and with nothing to gain, I could become a tyrant." She looked at April. So did he. But his mate just smiled at them both and continued as if Mel hadn't given her a perfect shot.

"That probably explains why she is working for smaller airlines, and when she does fly for the bigger companies, she does it under the company name and not her own. She is hiding out, just not from anyone in the human world. All this time we believed her to be hiding from the law. Just never imaged that it was the law of another realm," Demetrius mused out loud.

"What happens if she is able to prove Sherman is the one who caused your demise? Is he then stripped of his royal sanction?" April asked her.

"Yes, and once that happens, he'll be a mere immortal. Then...then Sara will be able to fry is a.s.s," she stated with a huge smile.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE.

Sara waited until full darkness before she opened her hand to the bright orange stone. Looking toward the door to make no one could see her, she blew gently across it.

She'd been given one of these stones before, a blue one then. It had been many years ago when she was still being tested and trialed to become a guard. The instructions had been to open it. It had taken her several hours of studying it, rubbing it between her hands, throwing it. She'd even tried soaking it in water. As she was drying it off, she blew a piece of lint off it and it opened up, revealing the message.

The stone rocked softly in her hand, vibrating little shakes. As she watched, the stone began to morph; tiny wings began to separate themselves from its surface. Then a face formed and took shape, its features so small they looked surreal.

As the wings started to flutter, the rest of the stone became arms, legs, and a body. The little creature rolled over in Sara's palm and stretched tautly. It was a pixie, a woodland being that worked with the forest. Sara watched as the pixie pulled her little wings tightly against her back as she continued to change and become whole.

When it had rested for several minutes, it suddenly flew from her hand and across the room toward the sink. Then she flitted over to the toilet and around the rim. Her wings were going so fast that it was nearly impossible to see with the human eye. Sara watched her until she came back and landed on her bent knee.

Sara smiled at her. She wasn't at all what the movies portrayed a pixie to look like. Her wings were diaphanous, of course. But the rest of her was purely female. Her short hair was bright, bright orange and spiked all over her head. Her eyes were also orange, but not quite as bright as the hair. She had a piercing in her little nose and a chain of something sparkly around her ankle. In addition to the dark green Grateful Dead t-shirt, she also had on a pair of Capris that reached just below her knees, and flip-flops.