Introductions

"The Dark Stranger"

© VeGirl 2014

"My husband?" I gawk and simply glare at him with sarcastically raised eyebrows.

He smiles.

I have done my best to take his possible story seriously, but that all vanished like a puff of smoke. "You're crazy!" I push him off of me, turn and slam the door in his face, leaving him there on my front porch. Here I approach him with sincerity and he just mocks me like this?

Husband, really? Isn't this making things go a little too far?

Take advantage of the poor girl who just broke up with her boyfriend why don't you? Okay, maybe people didn't have to feel bad for me, since this was my own decision, but please don't come and fill me up with these preposterous lies! I hear him knock and call for me, but all I do is ignore him, walk upstairs and hold a pillow over my ears to block him out.

To think he was a vampire is bad enough, but to being ridiculed, laughed at and being forced this 'truth' is ridiculous!

It takes me forever to fall asleep, and when I finally do he is of course there to torment me, making me long for his arms around me, and those exquisite lips on mine.

* * *

Over the next week I do my best to ignore him, but the man who has been vanished, suddenly is everywhere; he even pops up at the supermarket when I am standing by the fruit stand. "Hi gorgeous." His smirk is making my stomach flutter, but I am determined not to let him know.

"What do you want?" I ask a little too briskly.

"I just want to be here for you, darling."

I grid my teeth, turn and walk away from him. My phone chimes and I see on the display that it is Milo. "Hi Milo, just the one I wanted to see."

He chuckles. "Of course you want to see me. So how about going to the Cave?"

I laugh at the way he can lift my spirit. "A rerun? How about we go somewhere else?" I suggest.

"How about the Cave?"

I laugh at his persistence and agree to meet him there before we hang up. I'm glad that it is Saturday and I don't have to wait more than a few hours to be distracted by him. I have not turned around to look at Vincent, but I know that he has heard the whole conversation. When I finally turn around to get my shopping trolley, I avoid his eyes. I can feel them on me, but I deny him my eyes on his, I just turn and walk away.

A small part of me wants him to follow me, the part that is aching for his touch, and located somewhere deep within me.

A couple of hours later I am dressed to the teeth and meet Milo outside The Cave.

"Well hello there!" He gives me some appreciative looks and a low whistle before he kisses my cheek and put an arm around my neck to lead me inside.

Trey is standing by the bar. "Hey gorgeous, are you feeling better?" He greets me with a kiss on the cheek. "Are you here with that guy again?" He nods teasingly towards Milo. "When will you go out with me?"

I laugh at his question. "You haven't asked me. You do know that is custom, don't you?" I joke with him, feeling confident and strong. And determined not to think about Vinc...damn it, there I did it again!

After a drink on the house, Milo and I hit the dancefloor. As I'm sure I have mentioned before, Milo is a great dancer and I just revel in the feeling of his swaying hips and the way he appreciates my dancing skills. The way other girls glare at me is just a bonus.

"I'm thirsty, do you want some?" He asks after a while and I nod gratefully. "I'll get us some drinks."

I have barely seen Milo's back disappear when somebody takes my hand and twirls me towards him. "Hi darling."

"Vincent?" I am instantly out of breath, now wrapped in his strong arms. How could I not have noticed how strong those sinewy arms are before? "What are you doing here?" I do my best to make my voice determined and strong, but my body has a mind of its own; it craves him.

"I just wanted to see you again."

My harsh tone doesn't hinder him the slightest. "Do you realize we haven't danced together in a very long time?" He says as he has his arms wrapped around me and we both sway to the music. "I've missed this." He mumbles into my hair.

My heart flutters. Flutters! I am willing my body to stop this silly reaction. "What; like two hundred years?" I say sourly.

He laughs out loud. "Oh, how I have missed that sarcasm of yours." He looks into my eyes and before I can do anything about it, he leans in and gives me a kiss that makes my whole world spin.

"Sam?"

I break off the kiss and realize that I have my arms wound up around Vincent's neck, holding him close to me. I turn to look at a surprised Milo.

Err...

My mind has gone completely blank and I don't seem to come up with the slightest explanation or lie.

Vincent reaches a hand to Milo, while he keeps the other snug around my waist. "Hi, I'm Vincent; her husband."

Milo's mouth just falls open and I can't believe how dumb he looks. How could I have been falling for this guy? He pales in comparison with the blackhaired beauty by my side, but I still feel slightly protective towards Milo.

"Vincent, knock it off!" I snap with a glare at him before I turn to the guy with the drinks. "Milo, I have not been getting married this last month, so you can relax." I try to assure him, but Vincent's arm around my waist is not in my favor.

Milo's eyes glare at me with a hurtful shine. "Yeah, well... I guess I'll see you around..." Milo stutter, put the glasses in somebody else's hands and leave us.

"Now, look what you did!" I am fuming at the guy with his arms around me.

"I wasn't gonna stand here, watching him drool all over you like last time." He snarls.

Through my ire thoughts about how he must have been here watching me on the dancefloor, I notice Vincent's clenched jaw and the anger I felt, just runs off of me. Is he jealous? I simply quirk my eyebrow without uttering a single word.

"What?" He asks, visibly provoked by my action.

It actually feels good to see that he is affected by this fling Milo and I had going. It isn't like we're together; he has no claim on me. My eyes wander around us and even more people are glaring at me with this guy's arms around my waist.

"You can't walk around telling people that you're my husband!" I chide him in a hiss.

"I just did." His cocky attitude is back and I can't help but to feel out of breath in his presence and my whole body is still tingling from that kiss. However mad I am, I still crave him. When I turn on my heel to walk out on him, he takes my hand and twirls me towards him again. "Just accept that you chose me first and I intend to keep you." He says with so much sincerity and so close that my whole body tremble.

He puts one hand on each of my cheeks and slides them into my hair, tilting my head slightly up towards him. "I've been searching to find you again for a very long time." He says softly and I can hardly remember Milo at all. "I am so glad to see you again Samira."

When he pronounces my name in that French way, a shiver runs down my spine and all I do is crash my lips to his and press my body hard to his muscular one.

* * *

All way through the next week, I am still a bit shaken by the way Vincent blew Milo off and how I have no defense what so ever against him. That night he took me home, but however much I wanted him to stay and possibly ravish me, he said a respectful goodnight on my front porch and left.

I notice how I snap at people at work and how they once again glare at me as if I have grown an extra head or something.

"Sam, how about I buy you dinner tonight and you explain what the hell is wrong with you?" Eddie hiss in a discrete tone. "I won't tolerate that you treat my staff this way."

I take a deep breath. "Fine!" I snarl, frustrated and throw my hands out in exasperation.

Hours later I sit by a table in the cozy Italian restaurant down town. Eddie has not yet arrived and I sit here munching on a breadstick when the chair next to me moves and somebody slumps down on it. My eyes widen when I realize it is not Eddie.

"Hi love, how was your day?" Vincent says and tries to kiss my cheek casually, while I hastily back away.

"Vin, you can't be here." I stare at him with wide eyes. "I'm meeting Eddie, you must go!" I hiss alarmed, yet out of breath, affected by his presence.

"I know." He smiles, takes my hand and intertwine our fingers. That is of course the moment I see Eddie walk in through the door.

Oh no! I totally panic.

I can feel Vincent squeeze my hand for comfort. 'You have to calm down'. I can hear Vin's voice inside my head even though he is not moving his lips and I stare at him, mesmerized.

"Sam?" I turn to see Eddie stand by our table with a surprised look on her face.

Err...

I watch Vincent stand up. "I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself better last time we met: I'm Vincent, Sam's husband." He takes her hand, while she has a hard time to keep her mouth closed. "It is so nice to finally meet you, Eldoria." I watch Vincent raise Eddie's hand and kiss it in an old-fashion manner, and she draws in a ragged breath.

Oh Please!

I'm fast on my feet. "Vincent." I clench my teeth and pull his arm to get him to drop Eddie's hand. "Eddie, don't drool!" I hiss at my friend, but the surprised look on my friend's face makes me snap out of the jealousy fast.

Vincent snakes his arm around my waist. "No need to be jealous, darling." He breathes in my ear and I grind my teeth even harder, making my jaw hurt. Vincent interlocks our fingers again. "Haven't you told your friend about me?" He playfully scowls at me. "I can't stop bragging to my friends about you." He pouts, and I am amazed to see this playful side of him. I didn't think he had it in him.

Eddie gasps. "Thanks' for revealing my name buddy." She says curt and sit down.

I'm not sure what she means, but suddenly recalls Vincent calling her by her full name. "I haven't!" I say surprised and then turn a scolding gaze on the man next to me. "And thanks' by the way that you totally missed the fact that he said he was my husband." I glare at both of them.

"It's a beautiful name!" Vincent claims turning on the full watt of his charm, surprising both girls. "Did you know it means 'Gift of sun'?" He asks Eddie, who just stare at him with her mouth still open. He calls for a waitress and orders champagne for us. "This calls for a celebration, I think." He says when my confused look demands answers.

"Vin, how do you know her name?"

"I know everything about you, my angel." He pulls me closer and kiss my temple.

Yeah, he claims he even knows much more about me than I do.

Even if I know I should be mad, I just can't.

"Shall we?" He asks with a gesture towards the table for us to sit down and to my surprise we sit down as if this was a perfectly natural thing to do.

"I've been looking forward to meeting you Eddie." Vincent smiles and I don't even know what to think.

"Ditto." Is all Eddie replies before glaring at me. "I mean it's nice to meet you too, even if Sam has told me nothing except that you live across the street."

"She's not one to brag." Vincent shakes that off and I actually feel safe with him on my team; he even defends me against Eddie.

I turn and give him a smile. "Thank you."

"Anything for you, you know that." He replies and this seems to be our first real normal conversation, even though he says we've been married for what...two hundred years?

"Do you really live in that shack?"

Vincent laughs. "It is not as bad as it looks." He defends the house. "It just needs some paint."

"If you paint that house, it's gonna fall apart." Eddie claims, making all of us laugh.

"Don't hate the house!"

Eddie is shooting glances towards Vincent and I find myself wanting to block those eyes of hers or something. "How did this happen?"

I look at Vincent who explains swiftly: "We met a long time ago, but haven't seen each other for... too long." I hear Vincent say and I watch him lift our joint hands and kiss my hand. It is such an intimate thing to do that my heart swells.

"And you just decided to get married?"

"When it's right, you know it's right." Vincent says smiling, and I find myself really wishing that it was real.

"But I've known you since college." Eddie gives me a glare, and I don't have an inkling of a clue what to say. "Why haven't you told me?"

"It was actually just after high school, and we didn't understand how serious a visit to Vegas could be." Vincent say and I have to focus not to gape. "But even if we took the decision a bit premature, I don't regret it angel." He smiles at me and there is something that makes it totally impossible to not return that smile. "And now we met again and everything just clicked." He smiles in a way that I know makes Eddie's brain go blank; I can easily see it even through my own dazed ones. I bet he can make both of us believe and do anything, even if it includes him biting into the carotid artery.

I watch Eddie shake her head slightly and I wonder if it has been that obvious when I have been doing it as well. "It's amazing that you met again now, just when Sam broke up with the..."

"Hush!" I snap at her, making Vincent snicker in his deep husky voice.

"It's okay darling, I know all about that." Vincent puts his arm around my shoulders and I can feel the hair on my neck stand upright. "Luckily I've roped you in now." He kisses my cheek soft and I have to concentrate to breathe. Passing out here wouldn't be such a great idea. "And I will not let you go again." Vincent mumbles.

We just sit there and look at each other and after a while I realize that Eddie is studying us both. "Wow that calls for a toast." Eddie raises her glass and we clink our glasses together and drink for the not so newly married.

Vincent turns out to be a very charming guy when the first shock is over and we share a lot of laughs together as we're doing our best to get reacquainted. Through Eddie's questions I learn that he is from Phoenix, just like me and that he had been looking for me for a while. He leaves out the part that revolves two hundred years though.

I can't help but to wonder what the real truth is. Hopefully I'll learn more if I just let myself.

"What would you like?" Vin' ask me when the waitress returns with the menus. "I think you'll like this dish with the scallops."

"I think not."

"You'll be disappointed." He croons.

Unfortunately I don't listen and when he later on feed me a fork of his pasta, I regret not listening to him in the first place.

"This is just too weird!" Eddie say, gesturing towards Vin' and me.

At this point I am so used to and glad to have him by my side that I don't realize what she is referring to at first.

"Is this why you've been acting weird at work?" Eddie asks.

"Weird?"

"Yes, you're snapping at people and acting like a spoiled brat!" Eddie claims.

"With all respect, she's been under a lot of stress lately." Vincent comes to my rescue. "With the breakup and some stalker following her around..."

"I thought you were following her."

"I'm just there to fend people off her back."

I blink as i watch Eddie's scrutinizing looks on Vincent. She seems to evaluate him. "So what do you do for a living?" Eddie asks and I think she is rude.

"I work in surveillance." Vincent surprises me by saying. I haven't seen him leave for work a single day. "So I can take care of Samira." Once again he says my name with that French accent that makes my heart flutter and my toes curl.

"You look like the kind of guy others would need surveillance on, not the guy who comes when you call." Eddie says.

I take a calming breath when Vincent actually smiles, and I am scared that she'll say something about vampires.

We end up having a great time together and share more than a few laughter. Finally Eddie can't help herself and mentions Dracula, something that makes Vincent laugh out loud.

"Just because both of us wear black, doesn't mean we have everything in common." He chuckle darkly.

I glare at my friend, who just looks defiantly back.

"I've got this." Vincent says and grabs the check the waitress brings us.

"No, I told Sam I'll buy her lunch, and you need your money for the house."

Vincent laughed out loud. "You think I'm poor just because I haven't had time to paint my house?"

Eddie actually looks embarrassed.

"I'm covered." Vincent says smug. "I'm not going bankrupt over a dinner."

The waitress returns and we get up to walk out of there.

"It is really nice to meet you Vincent." Eddie surprises me. "I can tell that there is a rich history between you."

"Thank you, that means a lot."