Page 34 of John’s Yearning

In a few moments, she would have the money to pay the ransom. And in a few hours, she would have her daughter back.

14

John awoke mid-afternoon, too early to leave the house—and with a hard-on the size of California. No wonder: he’d dreamed of Savannah, of how her dark skin would glisten with perspiration when he made love to her until she could take no more. Continuing those kinds of thoughts while awake did nothing to bring down his erection.

Cursing, he jumped out of bed and walked into the bathroom. The house he’d bought shortly after joining Scanguards was located in Noe Valley, a family-oriented central neighborhood of San Francisco, conveniently located close to Scanguards’ headquarters. It wasn’t large: three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a small kitchen with dining area, and a decent sized living room.

He’d chosen the house because it was surrounded by a lush garden with mature trees and bushes, providing privacy and shade. In addition, the garage underneath the raised first floor had stairs leading directly into the living quarters, an essential feature for any vampire who wanted to have the freedom of coming and going during daylight hours.

In hindsight, he should have chosen a different neighborhood, one where he wouldn’t hear as many kids playing outside in the afternoon, after they returned from school. Their voices and laughter were what normally woke him early, reminding him of what he could have had, a family of his own.

Today his sensitive hearing didn’t pick up any kids’ voices. It wasn’t what had awoken him. He knew the vivid dream about Savannah was the culprit this time. Maybe a cold shower would bring him to his senses again.

Naked, John stepped into the shower and turned on the water. He turned into the spray and allowed the cold water to hit him. But no matter how much of it he directed toward his cock, the damn thing wouldn’t deflate.

“Fuck,” he cursed and slammed his fist against the tile wall, cracking one of the fifties era tiles. Well, he needed to update the bathroom anyway. No big deal. But letting his frustrations out on the bathroom tiles wouldn’t help him with his current predicament. Only one thing would: taking the matter into his own hand.

So he succumbed to his primal need and gripped his cock with his right hand. Bracing himself against the shower wall with his left, he began to stroke himself, to pump his erection hard and fast. He let out a few breaths of air. He’d denied himself for too long, denied himself the pleasures of the flesh. That’s why he was so on edge. That’s why he had to do this now before he saw Savannah again, before he put his hands on her and pressed her against a flat surface to take her, to ram his cock into her sweet pussy and make her understand what he was: an animal, a beast, a vampire.

Yes, he wanted her to know, wanted to see the expression in her eyes when she perceived his fangs and the red glow in his eyes that surfaced only when the vampire inside him gained control.

Just like his fangs were descending now, while he ran his hand up and down his cock, squeezing and releasing, softer now, the way a woman would do it. The way Savannah would do it, pumping him with her soft hands before she would fall to her knees so she could swipe her moist tongue over the swollen tip of his cock and make him groan with pleasure.

Her luscious lips wrapped around him, bathing him in warm moisture. A hand cradled his balls, balls that had pulled up tightly, balls that were burning with the need to release their seed. A fingernail scratched gently against the tight sac, while her mouth took him deep, engulfing him in paradise. At first, she sucked on him almost playfully, but when he thrust harder into her mouth, she got the message and sucked him with more determination, harder and faster. The contrast of her dark skin against his white complexion was pure perfection. A perfect yin and yang, the dark and the light complementing each other, meant for each other. Interconnected, interdependent, indivisible. A duality, a oneness that nature had created. And man could never destroy.

He felt the pressure in his balls build, the hand on his cock squeezing harder, moving faster, the hand cradling his balls sending a tingling sensation through his body. His pulse was racing now, his heart beating faster than it ever had. He felt the approach of his orgasm, knew it was time to let go of his control, let go of the fantasy that had brought him to this point. He concentrated on one more image, on Savannah lifting her eyes to gaze up at him from her kneeling position, a look of love and lust in her eyes.

He came right there and then. His semen exploded from the tip of his cock and shot against the tile wall, running down in hot, thick streaks. He let out a sigh of relief. Maybe now, he would be able to get through the coming night and be able to concentrate on what he had to do.

He showered quickly, dried off, and got dressed. A look at the clock told him that the sun hadn’t gone down yet. But it didn’t matter. He would drive to his office anyway. Deirdre would still be there, and he could review the things she’d dug up in the meantime. The fact that she hadn’t called him yet, probably meant that she hadn’t found anything significant so far. Which was good and bad. Good, because it meant there was nothing in Savannah’s life that raised any red flags, and bad, because it meant there were no leads to follow.

It took only twenty minutes to get to Scanguards’ headquarters in the Mission, and another three to reach his office. He entered it without knocking.

Deirdre shrieked and shot up from the desk. When her eyes landed on him, she scolded him, “Damn it, you startled me. Could have told me you were coming!”

John shut the door behind him. “Didn’t mean to.” He stopped short of apologizing. After all, this was his office, not hers. Hell, she didn’t have an office. She wasn’t even really authorized to be here.

Deirdre sat down again. “I was gonna call you in a minute anyway.”

Interest made him approach the desk and glance at the computer monitor. “You found something?”

“I think so.”

His heart pounded. The way Deirdre was looking at him made him uneasy. As if she’d found something incriminating in Savannah’s background.

“Come on, Deirdre, don’t make me pull it out of your nose.”

“Remind me not to choose you as my boss,” she hissed.

He narrowed his eyes. “Like it or not, I am your boss. For now.”

“Well, since you’re asking so nicely…”

“Has anybody ever told you that your attitude stinks?”

“Has anybody ever told you that you’re impatient?” she shot back, then smirked unexpectedly. “Though I can’t blame you.” She motioned to the computer. “I don’t think you have any time to lose. Savannah Rice took a large amount of cash out of her bank account a few hours ago. It only updated in the online system a few minutes ago, that’s why I didn’t see it earlier. I was about to sign off, but when I saw how much money she’s got, I wanted to keep an eye on it.”

John stared at Deirdre. “How much money did she take out?”