"Oh, right, sorry. Hunter, my name is Hunter." He reached out his hand to me with a grin.

"Hunter?" I repeated. Of course his name would be Hunter, I thought to myself. I hesitated for a moment unsure if I should let him touch me before I reached out to shake his hand. Then I reasoned that at that point, we were so close if he wanted to do me in, I wouldn't have a chance anyway. I placed my small hand in his. "I'm Janice," I told him as we shook hands. As we let go of each other's hands he gave me a strange look. My stomach turned in a knot and I wondered if he had figured me out. Maybe I shouldn't have let him touch me. "What?" I waited for him to reach back into his bag for the wooden stake I knew was there.

He pursed his lips together and quickly shook his head. "Oh, nothing, forget about it."

"Well, Hunter thanks again for coming to my rescue. There's no way I would have ever caught that...guy. I'm actually just going home and its pretty close, so you don't have to walk me. I'll be fine." I told him the truth, my apartment was only two blocks away from where we stood.

"I would feel better knowing that you made it home safely. Two blocks will only take a couple of minutes."

I could tell from the tone of his voice that he wasn't going to let me walk those two blocks by myself. He was determined on escorting me home.

"Ok," I reluctantly agreed. As we walked side by side, I thought of how ironic it was that he was walking me home to make sure I got there safely. The vampire hunter was walking the vampire home. There were many times I often said my life was stranger than fiction, and this was definitely one of those times. I thought that if he knew the truth about me, he would kill me in a second. The thought made me shiver so badly I couldn't hide it. Hunter noticed and mistook my fear as me being cold.

"Are you cold? Come here," he instructed me as he wrapped an arm around me so we were closer walking down the path.

But there he was wrong. Dead wrong. Walking next to him, being that close to him made me feel warmer than I had since I'd become a vampire. I turned my head towards him so I was able to breathe in his scent. It was masculine and wonderfully unique just to him. As we approached my building, we walked together like lovers, not like mortal enemies. I knew it was wrong to feel attracted to him, but I couldn't help myself. He was so big and strong and I couldn't help but feel safe next to him. We didn't even have to talk to each other; we simply walked in silence.

We reached my building and I stopped. I hated to break the comfortable quiet between us. "This is me here," I announced to him. He looked at the building and I knew he was checking it out, accessing the security level of where I lived. "Thanks again for everything... getting back my bag, walking me home."

Hunter looked down at me smiling and it made me weak in the knees. He was an incredibly gorgeous man.

"Ummm... I know we just met, and you don't know me, but I was wondering if maybe I could take you out to dinner tomorrow night. If you don't already have any plans or anything?" He wrinkled his brow as if thinking about what he had just asked me. "You probably have plans already though."

Even though the idea of going out on a date with a vampire slayer was totally insane, I wanted to see him again. There was something about him I really liked, and he was incredibly s.e.xy. I still wasn't interested in a serious relationship and I knew that because our individual circ.u.mstances, nothing too serious could ever happen. Plus, he'd only suggested dinner and not marriage. If he did figure out what I was, what was the worse that could happen? I could die? Been there, done that.

"Tomorrow night sounds great, actually. I don't have any plans at all." It was true. Tomorrow I planned on popping popcorn and renting movies. I was probably the most pathetic vampire on the planet.

"Really?" He sounded completely surprised with the notion that I had nothing to do the next night and was accepting his invitation. "Well how about I pick you up here at seven? Will that work?"

I nodded in agreement. "Sounds great." I glanced over at my buildings front door. "Well, I'm going to go inside now..." I turned to walk to my front door but stopped and opened my bag to find my keys first.

"Hey." He leaned towards me and grabbed me by the arm, startling me. "I'm glad that I ran into you tonight," he told me. His voice was soft and gentle, and he didn't seem like the type of man who did soft and gentle that often.

"Yeah, me too," I confessed.

Hunter hesitated for second, then leaned in and placed a kiss on my cheek. His lips were warm and soft against my skin. It took me everything I had to fight the urge to grab him and kiss him squarely on the lips. He paused for the slightest moment so our cheeks touched. Closing my eyes and swallowing, I heard his heart racing and could feel his blood pumping through his veins. There was an attraction between us that I could easily feel. It made me want to touch him, kiss him, and taste him.

"You better get inside because you're still shivering." His words brought me back to reality. "I'll see you tomorrow," he promised me as he turned to walk to the sidewalk.

"See you tomorrow," I answered back. I entered the foyer of my apartment building and I could feel his eyes on my back. I knew he wouldn't walk away until he saw me enter thru the other door into the hall. My fingers trembled as I put my key in the lock. I couldn't help but think the last time I had been so excited to see a man again, my life had changed dramatically. I had the feeling that after tomorrow night, my life would be changing dramatically again.

Chapter Six

When I entered my apartment, I threw my purse and keys on the kitchen table and slid off my shoes. I looked across the room and saw the red light flashing on my answering machine. I figured the message would be my mom calling to confirm breakfast for next Sunday.

I had been avoiding talking to her since I became a vampire. I knew I was going to have to talk to her eventually; I was simply going for the latter. I wasn't looking forward to telling her I was going to have to miss breakfast with her Sunday. We met for breakfast once a month for years; we started after my dad had pa.s.sed away. In the past, we would only miss our breakfast if we were deathly ill or had some serious issue that needed to be resolved. When I told her I wasn't going to be able to make it, I knew she was going to give me the third degree questioning why. Whatever excuse I gave her was going to have to be a good one. I really didn't want to think about lying to my mom right then, so I decided to think about Hunter instead.

I decided I could never tell Jake about Hunter. I knew he would freak out if I told him I went on a date with a slayer. Hunter would be my very own secret.

As I lay down on my bed, I mentally went through my closet, wondering what I should wear on my date with him. I wished Veronica still lived in the apartment with me. She was always better at picking out clothes. She had finally moved in with her boyfriend a few days after I changed. It was better being alone because then I didn't have to explain to her why I always slept during the day. It was while wondering if I would wake up early enough for a quick run to the mall to get myself something new to wear that my death like sleep finally overtook me.

When I woke up at dusk the first thing I did was call my mom. While I was sleeping, she had called me again and I knew I had put off the inevitable long enough. If I didn't return her call, she might be worried about me and come over. The phone rang and I silently prayed she wouldn't answer. It would be much easier to leave a vague message canceling next week than actually talking to her. Of course, I was not so lucky.

"h.e.l.lo?"

As soon as I heard my mom's voice, I felt a lump in my throat. I hadn't talked to her since I became a vampire and that realization got me choked up.

"h.e.l.lo?" she asked again sounding annoyed.

"Mom, hey, it's me, Janice." I don't know why I always feel the need to say my name to her. I was the only one on the planet who called her Mom since I was an only child.

"Janice, how are you?"

"I'm good. I saw that you called me. Were you calling me about next week?" I figured I might as well get it over with and tell her I wasn't going to be able to meet her.

"Yeah, listen... I know we meet every month, but I was wondering if it would be ok with you if we skipped this month. I've been meaning to call you but I've been so busy."

I didn't say anything at first because I was so surprised she was canceling on me. I didn't see this coming at all. "You want to cancel?"

"Yeah, I'm going to be going out of town for the weekend so I won't be able to make it," she explained.

My mother never goes anywhere so I knew something was going on. All of a sudden, I found myself giving her the third degree. "Who are you going with? Where are you going?"

"I'm going to be driving up to Wisconsin with my neighbor for the weekend."

"Oh, with Mrs. Contella? That's cool mom. I think it's great for the two of you to get away." Mrs. Contella was a widow too and lived next door to my mom. They had been friends for years and they got along great. I noticed my mom hadn't said anything back to me yet. "Mom? You still there?"

"Yeah. I'm not going with Mrs. Contella, Janice. I'm going with Joe, my other neighbor."

"Oh," I replied surprised. My mom was going away for the weekend with a man. While I'll admit I was totally shocked my mom was going with Joe, it didn't upset me at all. My dad had been gone for a long time and she'd been alone many years. I often told her she needed to get out and meet someone. I guess all she really had to do was go next door.

"Are you angry? I hope you aren't. If you want me to cancel, just tell me and I will. I was a little nervous to tell you because I didn't want to get you upset."

"No, mom, I think it's great that you're going with Joe. He's a really nice guy. I hope you go and have some fun, you deserve it."

"I promise I'll make breakfast next month," she told me.

"It's fine, really. Let's play it by ear and see how it goes."

"Ok, well I'll let you go then. Joe and I are going to barbeque and he should be here any minute. I'll call you when I get back."

"That sounds good. Thanks mom. Bye." I hung up the phone relieved I was off the hook for next week. I glanced at the clock and noticed the time. I still had time to take a quick shower and run to the mall if I hurried. I was so excited about seeing Hunter again, but at the same time, I was extremely nervous. I knew going out with him was playing with fire but I was willing to risk getting burned.

Chapter Seven

It was seven pm and I was ready to go outside to see if Hunter was here yet for our date. While I was getting dressed, I reminded myself the last time I was excited seeing a guy again, he turned me into a vampire. I needed to be cautious with him. He seemed like the perfect guy: tall, dark and handsome. The only negative was that he'd kill me in a heartbeat if he knew I was a vampire.

When I got to the foyer and looked outside, I saw Hunter standing on the sidewalk waiting for me. It wasn't that surprising to me that he'd be on time, he seemed the prompt type. He was looking down the street and didn't see me yet, so I was able to give him a good once over. He had on jeans and a black long sleeved shirt. I noticed he wasn't wearing his backpack and thought that as a good sign. Maybe he was able to feel me staring at him because he turned and looked right at me. He smiled and made his way to the apartment foyer where I stood.

I opened the door for him so we were both standing together in the small foyer.

"Wow, you look fantastic," he told me as his eyes danced over me. In the light of the foyer, I could see his eyes were brown, as I had guessed they were last night.

"Thanks," I said trying to sound casual even though I felt uncomfortable with his compliment. The reality was I had spent almost an hour at the mall trying on clothes before I decided on purchasing a long denim skirt and olive green sweater. Even though I was now the walking dead, I still had issues over the size of my thighs. Some things never change.

Hunter must have noticed my uneasiness with his earlier compliment to me. "No, really, I mean it, you look great."

"You don't have to say that." I had to look away, I couldn't even look him in the eye I was so uncomfortable. It didn't help the foyer we were in was small and so we were standing very close, almost touching.

"I know I don't have to say that," he said to me as he lifted my chin with his pointer finger to lift my head so we locked eyes. "I wanted to say it. You are absolutely beautiful."

I was speechless; there was nothing I could say back to him. He took a small step closer to me so that we now touched. There was electricity in the air between us and I knew he was going to kiss me. When he leaned down to me, my lips were ready for his. Our first kiss was gentle and sweet, lips brushing each other tenderly. As we kissed, I reached up and placed my hands on his chest. I could feel he was solid muscle under his clothes. Hunter moaned and put his hands on my a.s.s pulling me to him so our bodies pressed together. I slid my hands from his chest to up around his neck. He moved his lips from my mouth across my cheek to my neck and ear.

"You really do something to me, I can't explain it," he murmured in my ear.

He didn't have to explain anything to me; I felt it. I felt it in his pa.s.sionate kisses and the way he held me. I felt it in his hard as steel erection that was pressing against me making my panties wet with desire.

Hunter stopped kissing me and pulled my head back by my hair so that we were staring at each other. "There's something about you I can't figure out. I feel so drawn to you, as if we need to be together, but I feel there's something else about you. I've never been like this with someone I just met, ever, I don't understand it."

All reason told me I should say good-bye and never see him again since I knew he was a slayer. Deep down inside I knew I wasn't going to do the reasonable thing. I leaned up to him and placed another kiss on his lips, then turned and opened the door to the stairs.

"Come on," I said as I started up the stairs to go back to my apartment. He followed me up the two flights of stairs to my apartment door. As I put the key in the lock he put his hand over mine, preventing me from turning the key.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked me. His eyes gave him away. Even though he sounded concerned, I could see the excitement and desire flickering in those intense brown eyes.

"I'm sure," I said back and watched him remove his hand from mine, and the key I still held. I opened the door and we both entered my apartment, Hunter closing the door behind him. We didn't even make it out of the hallway. He rushed up to me and gathered me in his arms pulling me close, so we stumbled back against the hallway wall. He rubbed himself against me and I reached down to touch his erection through his pants. He moaned deep in his throat then pulled himself away from me.

"I don't know what I'm doing here," he told me. He ran his hand over his brown hair and seemed to be thinking. "This isn't like me. I don't do things like this. I almost never date and I never get involved with women. My job is pretty dangerous so I try to keep to myself. I don't want to lead you on thinking I can give you something I can't," he tried to explain. "I don't know when I'll be able to see you again and I don't want you doing anything you don't want to do."

I'm sure most women would tell him to take a hike, but to me his not wanting to commit made him even more attractive. Before I had stayed away from relationships out of personal choice, now I felt it was out of necessity.

I moved closer to him and unb.u.t.toned his blue jeans, lowering the zipper. He stood there watching me without saying a word. I reached into his pants and briefs so I could touch him. His gaze moved from his pants to my eyes.

"I'm not doing anything I don't want to do, Hunter," I said. I removed my hand from his pants and unb.u.t.toned my skirt so I could step out of it. I kicked it to the side out of my way and stepped back so I was leaning against the wall again. "Come here," I beckoned him. He came up to me and I could tell I had his undivided attention. I took his hand in mine and guided it between my legs so he touched my pink panties. I separated my legs a little more, then pulled the elastic back on one of the legs. "Touch me Hunter," I told him. He looked at me for second before sliding his hand inside the material. He groaned when he discovered that I was clean-shaven between my legs. I could tell he approved as he cupped my s.e.x with his hand. "No, touch me," I said again hoping he understood what I wanted him to do. As he slowly slid a finger inside of me, I knew he understood what I had meant that time. He moved his finger in and out of me, deliciously rubbing my c.l.i.t with every stroke.

I leaned in to him, stretching up to whisper in his ear. I was so close to his throat I could hear his blood pounding through his veins. "Take off you pants," I told him between the little shudders of pleasure I felt. He reluctantly removed his hand from my panties. As I watched him, he took off his boots and peeled off his jeans and briefs. His erection was large and straining against him. I couldn't wait to have him inside of me and my p.u.s.s.y throbbed in antic.i.p.ation. Not wanting to waste another minute, I peeled off my panties and threw them down on top of my skirt. Hunter walked up to me and picked me up off the floor. I squealed with surprise and without even thinking, I wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist. "Put me down, I'm too heavy," I cried out to him.

"Don't be silly, no you're not." He bent down and started to kiss my neck fiercely.

I closed my eyes as he held me up against the wall. All I could think about was having his hard s.e.x inside of me.

"Put me in you," he growled as if reading my mind. I let go of his neck with one arm and reached down to take his throbbing c.o.c.k in my hand. Guiding him to me, he shifted his weight so I was able to slide onto him. He pressed his hips up to me so that he filled me completely. "d.a.m.n, you feel so good," he said as his hips started to move in a constant rhythm. He closed his eyes and turned his head away from me, lost with the feeling of being inside of me. His hands continually squeezed my a.s.s.

Hunter stopped moving and paused turning to look at me for a moment. His sudden stopping of his hips made me frown.

"Kiss me," he simply said.

I leaned down to kiss him and pushed myself down on his swollen c.o.c.k letting him know I wanted him to start moving again. He must have understood, because he started pumping into me again, as we kissed each other so hard our lips were going to be sore later.

Hunter's c.o.c.k was making me crazy, rubbing my swollen c.l.i.t over and over. Deep inside I could feel my o.r.g.a.s.m blossoming inside of me. It began small, but with each stroke of his s.e.x within me, I could feel it blooming and growing larger and larger from my core outward. I tightened my hold of him around his neck.

"G.o.d," I muttered as the first wave of my o.r.g.a.s.m crashed over me like a rushing wave. It was a good thing he was holding me, my o.r.g.a.s.m was so intense it would have knocked me over. I closed my eyes and cried out as I came. Hunter continued to pound into me faster and harder until I could tell from his moans that he was coming as well. When we were finished, he still held me up, his face buried in my neck and hair. He was panting, trying to catch his breath. The hair on the back of his neck was damp with perspiration.

"Janice," he said kissing my neck. He pulled back to look at me. "That was fantastic, but it wasn't how I imagined it would be the first time between us."

His words brought a smile to my lips. "You mean you thought about us doing this when I only met you last night?" I teased him. It was nice knowing he was as attracted to me as I was to him.

"Yeah, I'll admit it, when I left here last night I thought about you... and maybe this morning when I woke up for a little while..." I could see he was starting to blush admitting he had been thinking about me. "But I thought of making love to you slowly, taking our time exploring each other's bodies, not..." he trailed off not finishing his sentence. He looked like he was trying to find the right words to say.

"Not doing it in my hall like a couple of wild animals?" I said bluntly, describing exactly what had happened between us.

Hunter shook his head and laughed at what I had said. "Wow, ummmm... yeah, I guess that's what I meant. But hearing you say it out loud sounds terrible."

"Well, if it's any consolation, what just happened didn't feel terrible," I said with a laugh.

"I still feel bad we didn't get to go slow the way I imagined," he said seriously.

"Hunter, can you put me down?" I thought he sounded a little let down and I knew I had to change that right away.

"Oh, yeah, sorry," he apologized as he slid out of me and set me gently to my feet.

"Don't apologize, just follow me," I said as I took his hand and led him down the hallway towards my bedroom.

"Can I ask where we're going?"

"To my room. We're going to do a little exploring."