Tale of a Vampire Assassin

Chapter 16

"Zip me up," I say as Ian helps me  yank on my other boot.  He stood, walked around to my back and gently grabbed the zipper that was just above my bum.  His fingers gently brushed the bare skin where the zipper hung open on my lower back.  My skin covered over with chills and sent a blazing fire of need though my entire body at the feather-light touch of his blazing hot fingertips.  I felt the heat all the way down in the sols of my feet and into the tips of my toes.  I liked Ian.  He was nice.  He smelled very nice too.  And He's good with his hands, I silently reminded myself.

I held stone still as he shoved my hair out of the way of the zipper and slowly yanked it up to where it stopped at the back of my neck.  I froze completely when I felt Ian smoothing my hair back into a sleek ponytail and fastened it with the elastic that Grey had used to put my hair in a bun.  Ian handed me my helmet.  It was new.  I turned it in my hands, examining the shiny black surface.  The inside was plush compared to my old helmet.  Not that I really needed one.  Wearing a helmet was just some human law/ safety precaution.  If I was hit by a mack truck I wouldn't be fazed.  I looked up at Ian curiously.  "Did Max . . .?"

"No," Ian smiled.  "Me.  I sent out for it this morning.  That and your new bike."  He beamed down at me and handed me a set of two keys on a shiny new key ring with a charm on it with the guitar-pick shaped Ducati logo.  That was an expensive bike.  I could still feel the heat radiating off the keys where Ian had had them in his pocket.  I looked up at him.  "I hope you can drive a Ducati," he said still beaming.

My face went white.  That was my favorite bike in the world!  How did Ian know?  Maybe he had went snooping through my drawrs in my office.  I always kept a picture of a Ducati in the top middle drawer taped to the bottom in the hopes that I be able to afford one for myself some day.  "How did you get clearance to get this?"  I finally was able to spit the words out.  I may be a vampire but I'm not dead.  I still have emotions and wishes and dreams, they were just slightly altered when I was turned.

Ian shrugged.  "York promoted me this morning," he grinned.  He was almost acting as if this was to be expected.  I didn't really know what to think of it.  I wasn't really into office politics; who was next in line for the second highest position in the ranks of the office.  I was mostly concerned with my assigned kills.  That was really all I cared about since I didn't need or want a promotion.  Although now that I had this only bad assignment I might want to talk to Ian about who I was assigned to.  But if Mason was this bad of a threat to the government then I would have to take him out.  "You know, after you know who tried to kill you," Ian finished, breaking me out of my thoughts.  I had it express delivered for my number one assassin," he tapped me playfully on the nose.  I would have smiled at the gesture if I wasn't dying for some vodka or if my mind wasn't so heavily weighed with my assignment.

"Did you say your number one assassin?  Exactly how high did York promote you?"  I stared curiously at him; waiting.

Ian smiled down at me.  He slid his hand down the length of my arm, over my wrist and around to grip my fingers in his hand.  "Let's just say you'll be calling me 'Boss' from here on out."  He grinned and bent to kiss me but I beat him to it.  I there my arms around his neck and kissed him happily.  

"Oh, Ian!  That's wonderful news!"

"Isn't it?"  His question was accompanied by a soothing rubbing of my back.  When I'd kissed him he'd thrown his arms around me, consuming me in all his deliciously wonderful body heat.  He smelled so good!  "No more slaving for Max for either of us."  He bowed his head to kiss me on the forehead.  The soft heat of his lips was so wonderfully blistering on my cool skin.  I never wanted him to stop.  I knew that was selfish though.  I couldn't keep cheating Ian like this.  I couldn't keep leading him on.  I needed to set him strait, didn't I?  I felt the smooth texture of his lips pull away from my forehead and I was disappointed.  "Now," he said, getting down to business.  He left his left hand on my jaw.  "You've got an assignment.  Go down to the garage, get your plans straitened out with your crew and get going. I've read your reports before.  Impress me again and we can have a talk about your assignments from now on.  I'm expecting a good write up tonight."