Vampires Need Not…Apply? (Accidentally Yours #4)(40)
Author: Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

“Thanks.” She sauntered away but toward the door leading to the dock instead. She slipped her dress over her head, offering him another glimpse of that perfect ass and the unveiled waves of long dark hair flowing down her back.

He sucked in a breath. “Ay, mujer. Que picosa.” This time he looked without shame, drooling over her tanned, perfectly shaped ass and lavishing many impure thoughts upon it. Thoughts involving warm oils and his hands. He made a little groan as she disappeared outside, then adjusted himself. Yes, thank the gods for leather pants and triple stitching.

* * *

Why is it, that moments of profound clarity—epiphanies, if you will—come at the most inopportune times? The ride to the villa had been one of those, and now Ixtab needed to think. Really, really think.

She sprinted toward the sanctuary of the cool lake water she’d swum in since she was a mere sprig of goddess one human year old.

The coolness of the fresh water instantly refreshed her bare skin, but she wished it could do more than wash away the stale scent of the cenote on her body. So many years she’d lived. So many damned years watching people evolve. They lived, they loved, they felt pain and triumph, they failed and succeeded. Then they died. The irony was that watching the humans live their lives and the world evolve didn’t make her feel like a part of it. To the contrary, she felt left behind. An outsider. Completely alone. Ultimately, like her brethren, she simply stopped evolving and growing as a living being. What was the point? There was no one to share it with.

One might think having thirteen brothers and sisters for eternity might provide some form of comfort for this. She couldn’t quite call this a life, now could she? During the drive to the villa she realized that “siblings” or not—they weren’t truly related, after all—her seventy thousand years of existence didn’t come close to offering the same amount of joy one human being experienced in a single lifetime because she didn’t have love. Not true love. Not from a man who saw her soul, her light—ominous thunderclouds and rainbows included—and loved her for who she truly was. Thinking about Antonio offering himself to her as part of that stupid prank had made her realize that.

Her head broke through the water’s glassy surface, and she stared up at the stars and the full moon. She sighed and glanced longingly toward the dock of the villa. Creator almighty, she felt drawn to that male, but she didn’t want one night. She didn’t want just sex, even though the newborn possibility of this intrigued her. No. She wanted more. She wanted to be hit over the head in love. She wanted to evolve. She wanted to grow up and then grow old with someone. She wanted to know she was the center of someone’s universe. She wanted… a real life.

Just once. Just once. Just once.

The revelation stunned her. Perhaps because she’d spent an eternity burying these desires. Perhaps because she had spent the last two hundred years punishing herself for Francisco’s death, believing he’d been the one for her. But had he been? What she felt for Antonio was so very, very different. With Francisco, she felt drawn to him, yes. She admired how he held the dying in his arms and showed them selfless compassion. His kindness was what she loved. However, Antonio… Deep breath. Her feeling left her mind and body spinning in a state of utter chaos. She craved him completely. He made her want all of those crazy things she’d never have: love, family, a life together… All of them impossible for someone like her, a goddess who trafficked dark energy.

If only she could change.

You?

Piff! Yeah, right. That’s like asking a skunk to stop stinking. Her role was her role and that was that. It didn’t matter how sad she felt about it.

Then another epiphany hit her like six tons of immortal bricks. Perhaps that was why Antonio was really there: to offer a chance. To prove you are capable of compassion and good, to open the portal and help put the Universe back on its feet. Perhaps he is your… catalyst for change.

“Is he my… spark?” she said quietly under her breath. Why else would the Universe create a man whose destiny was to become a vampire—hearty enough to withstand my touch—who looked like the mortal she once loved. Why else would the Universe throw them into this situation?

No, the thought was silly. The Universe didn’t care about her, she was merely its slave. A slave without the right to hope for anything. Yet she did. Making her a fool. A simple, lonely fool. The resentment threatened to consume her.

She ducked under the water and swam and swam and swam until her humanlike body demanded oxygen, causing her to break the surface.

“Ixtab!” she heard Antonio call, his voice echoing from across the calm waters of the lake. Oh, how she loved the sound of him saying her name. “Ixtab!” he called out again. “Where’d you go?”

She released a long, slow breath and swam toward the dock, the darkness concealing her from his view. “I’m here, vampire. And you are to refer to me as Oh Divine One or have you forgotten?”

He dropped a towel on the dock, grunted, and stormed back inside.

I know how you feel…

* * *

Ixtab toweled off and found one of the many well-appointed bathrooms, each furnished with the opulent luxury only the infamous Niccolo DiConti would obsess over. She showered with scented soaps and fruity lavender shampoo, and then blow-dried her waist-length hair, all the while thinking about Antonio and how badly she wanted her assumptions to be true.

And the only way to find out is to speak with him, openly and honestly. Yes, she was not a child. She was a grown goddess, thousands of years old and afraid of nothing.

She entered the attached bedroom—a modern, luxurious suite with the large vampire-sized bed covered with down pillows and white silky sheets. Laid out were several shopping bags. She opened them up and found black dresses and a veil and… a pair of black lace panties?

Penelope must’ve purchased these, because no way had the vampire gone out shopping, but what had Penelope been thinking? Ixtab held up the panties and inspected the miniscule scrap of fabric with curiosity. “How can anyone claim these are underpants?” She threw them over her shoulder. “Might as well go commanda.”

She shrugged on a dress similar to the one she’d worn earlier, only this one was a bit shorter, cutting off right above the knees. Once again, the veil was a sheer, silky black and came down to her chin, not nearly long enough to cover her thick, waist-length tresses.

A heavenly, chocolaty smell saturated her nose, capturing her attention. My favorite dish! Deities didn’t need to eat, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t drop her panties—if she’d worn any—for a chocolate caramel soufflé.