Club Angel's Kiss

I saw the house from the bottom of the hill.

The structure loomed at the top, three stories tall. Dark wood panels covered every inch of the exterior, and every window in sight was pitch black. At the base of the foundation sat a large, roofed porch with two side pillars at each corner.

A gray stone walkway lined with low-growing rose bushes led up to the four steps connection to the porch. Beside the front door sat a white swing, complete with a padded gray and black cushion.

Huge, wrought iron bars forming a solid black fence circled around the entire property.

The main entrance way to the grounds was a matching iron gate with two doors. The intricate detailing within the metal swirled upward to the top. To my surprise, ‘Sanders’ was spelled out within the designs.

“Sanders?” Were my eyes finally making things up? “Like Matthew Sanders? This is Matt’s home?”

“Not Matt’s alone.”

I turned on my heel. Jett pushed her way through the dense crowd of my coven to step in front of me.

I pressed my hands further into my jacket pockets. With a nod of my head, I willed her to continue with the much needed explanation.

She looked aimlessly up at the house.

“His family was quite wealthy once, when he was younger,” Jett stated. “This was their estate. But they all eventually died. Matt was already a vampire by then. He’s the only one left in his family. He’s the last with the Sanders’ namesake.”

Several hushed whispers whipped through the group. I pointed toward our new home.

“Everyone can go up to the house now,” I informed. “I am not keeping any of you here. So, please. Go on ahead.”

I waited in silence as they hurried passed me and through the gates, leaving Zacky at my side and Jett in front of me.

Zack draped his arms over my shoulders and down my chest. I pushed myself into his chest, closer to his cold temperature.

Finally, when everyone was gone, I continued.

“Why didn’t he just have kids? To pass on the name, I mean,” I questioned. “He’s the King. I’m sure one of the previous Queen’s would have been more than thrilled to carry his child.”

Jett contorted her face around, confused. Her eyes filmed over with horror, sadness. If possible, her skin lost even more color than before.

Zack’s body tensed.

“What?” I muttered.

“We can’t have children,” Jett said slowly. “Vampires are the closest things to death without actually being dead. Our reproductive system cannot produce children.”

Well, I just made a complete ass of myself. Something such as that should have been common sense. Of course vampires couldn’t have babies!

Someone made an entire movie about it! Honestly. One would think after seeing Van Helsing thirty times, I would remember that.

“Oh,” I breathed.

Jett nodded. “Yes, it’s…unfortunate.” She shook her head. “If I had known this before I was bitten, I would not be in this situation.”

She walked passed us very quickly, head bowed. I didn’t try to stop her. It was obvious she was sensitive about it.

I pulled away from Zacky’s grip and turned to look at him.

“I didn’t know you couldn’t have kids.” My stomach churned sickeningly. “How come no one ever told me this?”

“You didn’t ask.”

I gritted my teeth together.

“Okay, let’s just go look around the house.” I grabbed his hand and pulled him through the gates. We crossed the lush lawn very slowly, not saying a word to each other. I didn’t want to bring up the obvious elephant in the room.

And if he didn’t want to talk about it, I most certainly wasn’t bringing it up.

Zacky pushed open the large, heavy front door, before pulling his hand from mine and kissing my forehead.

“I shall go find our new room, my love,” he whispered.

I nodded and watched him disappear. Hopefully the rest of the coven left a room for Zee and myself.

/ - / - / - /

The inside of our new home was much like the outside: fancy and expensive looking. I liked it. The living area was much more enjoyable than that in the club. The all white, cushy furniture looked ever so inviting, the whole ambiance made me feel at home.

I crossed over to the darkly wooded coffee table and ran my finger over the top. An entire inch of dust and muck came up with it, leaning a clean line where my fingertip trailed.

“Ew,” I muttered. I wiped the film onto my blue jeans. “I need to go shopping for cleaning supplies. If this has to be my home, I have got to clean it.”

I sighed.

Home. This was supposed to be our new home, so why did it feel like I was locked in hell? The club felt more like a loving place to be, but I had no connection to this house. It was merely a structure built for another family.

And not mine.

I walked quickly out of the living room and into what looked like the kitchen. I didn’t’ bother to appreciate the obvious beauty within the room. My eyes, instead, found what it was looking for: a door.

Immediately, I shot out of the glass doorway. I scrambled down three, small steps and into a backyard. A green, elegantly sculpted yard with a fenced out square not far from where I stood.

I couldn’t venture over to investigate, though. My legs stopped cooperating, and I dropped to the ground.

A family.

My entire future was at stake!

I loved Zacky. He was, and always will be, everything I ever wanted, I ever dreamed of having. But he could never start a family with me. We could never have baby to call me “Mommy” or look up to Zacky as a father.

Though I never thought about having kids of my own before, it just now settled in my mind that I might want them. But of course it would at this point. Only when I knew there was no possibility of ever getting pregnant.

Of course, I always had my mother’s foster care business to fall back on. How hard would it be to adopt at child through her? Surely I would be allowed to see my family now that Matt couldn’t tell me otherwise.

I would have to ask about that.

“Hey, Amber.”

Brian lowered himself beside me. I glanced at him, clenching my teeth together with as much force as possible. There was no way I could start crying and not end up with Zacky harassing me about what was wrong.

“Hi,” I croaked. “What are you doing out here? With me? I figured everyone was pretty pissed at me right now.”

“We are not pissed at you.” He slid his arm around my shoulders. “I think everyone is simply confused. They are all running around like chickens without heads because they have never been without a King for guidance.”

I rested my head against his shoulder. My eyes wandered out to the fenced in grounds around us, watching all that was happening.

If not for my devastation, the scenery would be absolutely gorgeous.

“But I am their Queen. Shouldn’t they come to me for guidance?” I whispered. “I am not their primary leader. They have to come to terms with that.”

“I agree that the coven has to come to terms with you as a Queen…” He fell silent.

I discreetly looked up at his face. He wasn’t done talking, that was easy to see in his thoughtful expression. His lips were pursed and his forehead was creased with concentration.

Whatever he was about to say, I probably wouldn’t enjoy it.

We sat in silence for several minutes. I remained looked at him and the determination on his face never wavered even the slightest bit. He was completely motionless, like a statue, and wasn’t bothering to take even breaths.

Instead, uneven, quick sips of air were being breathed in between intervals of about an entire minute. A human would have been out cold by this point.

Finally, he spoke.

“However, for us to do such, our Queen must first do the same.”

I froze.

Brian gave me a complete look of knowing.

So, I had to come to terms with myself being Queen of a Chicago coven of vampires.

Never had such truer words been spoken.

“You’re right,” I whimpered with a shaking voice. “I am not comfortable with this yet. I have no idea what to do. I’m still a killable human.”

I swiped my hand across my face.

“Just because I was plunged into this two months ago doesn’t mean I’m used to it, doesn’t mean any of this makes any sense at all.”

I took a deep breath.

“I’m on a vampire’s hit list. My best friends are undead beings. I am in a relationship with the most sweet and caring vampire in the world, and all I have done as a girlfriend is put him in danger. And now I find out I can never have children because he can’t impregnate me! I have every fucking right to be confused and uncomfortable and borderline insane.”

Brian arched his eyebrows and whistled.

I pushed myself to my feet.

It felt like a fifty pound weight just lifted from my shoulders. I could breath! And all it took was to pour my heart out to Brian. How easy.

“Do you understand now? Why everyone is uncomfortable with you as a leader?”

I nodded slowly. “I understand.”

Brian slapped his hands on his knees and stood up. He kissed the side of my head. “I am off to see why my mate is yelling at someone,” he announced. “I will more than likely check in on you later, okay? Please don’t do anything rash.”

Rash? Did he think I was suicidal now?

I shook my head to tell him I wouldn’t. He turned to the backdoor and grabbed the knob.

“And Zee wants to see you,” he added.

“How do you kn--”

“Amber!”

My head snapped upwards. Zacky was leaning out a window on the top floor, motioning with his hand for me to join him.

I smiled. “What’s up?”

“I’ve found something you might like,” Zack called down. “Come up and see it. I’m on the third floor.”

“Be right up!” I rushed back inside, passing through the now bustling kitchen. I pushed through the group that had formed in the living room and crossed over to the circular staircase.

Jett came storming down from one of the upper floors as I stepped onto the bottom stair, so I politely pressed my back against the railing and let her pass by.

Brian flew down behind her seconds later.

I cringed. Poor Brian. The conversation about never having children must have put Jett in a foul mood. I had never seen the two of them argue; never even seen them say a cross word to each other.

Obviously I was not the only one who was upset about the lack of babies.

Pushing the tension of the coven to the back of my mind, I continued up the flight of stairs, away from the commotion of the living room and kitchen.

I hit the landing for the second floor, but completely ignored the two hallways leading to the rest of the bedrooms. I ventured up the next stairway, instead, enjoying the silence bouncing off the white walls on either side of me.

Finally, I came to another landing, the last on my trek to the third floor. Only a single door sat in the tiny hallway, and that door was white and distressed, almost like a shabby chic look. It was much different than the rest of the entrances in the house.

“Zee?” I called, rapping my knuckles on the wood. “Is this where you are?”

The door swung open. Zacky stepped into my line of view, a huge smile stretching across his pale face.

“Yes,” he answered. “I am in our new bedroom.”

“Really? Will I like it?”

“No.” His tone was dead serious. “You are going to absolutely love it, my beautiful Queen. And I shall be your tour guide today, giving you the complete go round of this amazing attic.”

I clapped my hands together in sheer joy. A private, gorgeous bedroom belonging to Zack and myself. And only to us.

Never had I been so close to weeping from happiness.

“But first, you must close your eyes.”

I did as I was told. He placed his hands over my eyes and gently led me forward. The door slammed close behind us.

Zacky leaned closer to my ear.

“Are you ready?”

I nodded once.

And he yanked his hands away.

Just like he had said, I loved it. The exposed, honey colored wood walls, and the smooth floors of the same color. The wooden four poster bed with a sheer, white mosquito net draped over the top, and the silk comforter.

Two white nightstands sat on either side of the bed, each holding two, tall white candlesticks.

The entire back wall of the room was one giant window overlooking the back and side yards. There was a dresser against the wall, a shag rug in the middle of the floor, a vanity directly opposite of the window wall, and a chest sitting at the bottom of the bed.

The room was my dream. It was something any girl could ever wish for, and it was even more than that.

My hands slowly lifted to my mouth.

“Zack, this is beautiful,” I whispered. “It’s…amazing! Is this really our room? I really get to live here?”

“For the rest of forever.” Zacky’s arms snaked around my waist, pulling me against his body. “With me by your side.”

I cringed.

The rest of forever…

Is what I wanted with Zacky. And sacrifices had to be made to have that. Sacrifices that I was beyond willing to make.

/ - / - / - /

“Zackary--!”

His name gasped its way passed my lips. It was all I could manage with my current state of breathlessness and enjoyment.

Zacky trailed his hand down my thigh. An electric jolt coursed through my body.

I pressed my head further into the pillow behind me.

Zack brushed his lips against mine. My arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer, kissing him back with all the passion I could scrounge up.

This was perfect.

Wrong, but perfect.

Really. How much of a bitch would karma be because we were having sex in a bed that belonged to our dead friend?

We both had reserved seats in hell by now.

“Amber?” Zack whispered against my mouth.

“What?”

“Do you miss your family?”

I broke the kiss.

“What?” I repeated.

“Do you miss your family?” he asked again.

I laid back against the mattress and stared up at him in confusion. I bit down on my lip, mulling over the question.

Zack went back to what he was doing, his lips immediately attacking my neck.

How did he expect me to think when he was…ravaging my body? Ahem. For lack of a better word or phrase.

“A little,” I murmured through clenched teeth. “But why--why do you ask? Especially…right now? When we’re busy?”

“I wanted to know.” He pulled away. “I heard you talking to Brian earlier about it, and I was curious.”

Shit. He had been listening!

I put my hands on his chest and gave a gentle shove. Thankfully, he stopped and looked down at me, giving me time to think somewhat straightly.

“What exactly did you hear?” I whispered in a pant.

“Everything,” he answered. “I heard every bit of what you said to him, and--and I really need to ask you some things, Amber.”

I raked my fingers through my damp hair. “Okay, ask me anything.”

Zacky rolled off of me and laid down at my side. He propped himself up with his elbow on the pillow, his other arm wrapping itself around my waist. I cuddled closer to his cold temperature.

To say the least, I was very disappointed that we did not get to finish what we were doing, but obviously these questions were important to Zack.

So I was willing to listen.

“Does it bother you that we can never have children?” Zack traced his index finger in circles around my bellybutton.

The first question was expected.

“Only a little bit,” I replied. “I mean, my mother works as a Foster Care agent. I could always get involved in the business just long enough to get a baby of our own. It wouldn’t be that hard.”

Zack looked at me doubtfully. “It’s not the same, though.”

“No, it wouldn’t be the same as actually being pregnant and giving birth, but would it really be that different? And it would be worth it. We could have a baby to raise and love.” I grinned at the mere thought of being a mother.

Having a baby to care for with Zacky. It was like a dream. A dream that would never happen. One that the entire coven would object to.

And Zack would probably object to anyway.

“We cannot bring an infant into this shit,” Zack said, reading my thoughts exactly. “Enemy vampires would devour our child the second we brought it into this house because Cassariah and Drakkar know that would absolutely destroy us.”

“The best revenge of all.” I slapped my hands over my face. “Worse than killing Matt and Inez, or killing me.”

“You see our dilemma.”

I yanked the blankets over my shoulders and cuddled up to my mate. He wrapped his arms around my torso.

The conversation was over for now. Only because I didn’t want to talk about our dank looking future together, our rest of eternity, anymore. Not when I felt so mentally unstable.

“Good night, love.”