Dark Love by M. D. Bowden

and drove through the congested airport, Sarah’s hand
clutching his thigh. They left the traffic and noise behind and
turned west, driving into rolling hills and narrow country
lanes.
     
     

CHAPTER 11
     
    Sarah looked
out of the window as Daniel drove them on. She saw a narrow
lane stretching ahead and all views were obscured by hedges on
either side of the road, where wildflowers blossomed.
    She was
here!
    England.
    She glanced at
Daniel, catching his eye, and grinned. He returned her smile before
going back to concentrating on the road. He did not have to worry
about driving on the left hand side as it was a one way track. If
they came across another vehicle one of them would need to reverse
to find a wider stretch of road, or a gateway to a field.
    Sarah still
felt amazing from consuming human blood – God, it had tasted better
than that bear she had, err . . . fed on, back in Canada. She could
feel the blood buzzing in her veins, making her doubts and worries
pale into insignificance.
    She wondered if
she could handle the animal blood life style, but hey, even Daniel
drank human blood on occasion. It was him who had given in
and fed first at the airport. But then, she had drunk his blood on the plan. That must have made him pretty darn hungry. Her
cheeks reddened as she thought back on it. It had been pretty sexy
drinking his blood. If she had not been surrounded by people who
knows where it may have led. . . .
    Sarah looked
away from Daniel and focused on the scenery instead. As she did the
rain turned to a light drizzle and the sun poked out from behind a
cloud, casting a wide rainbow in the sky. The colors, they were
beautiful. Her first rainbow as a vampire and she was astounded.
She glanced at Daniel, and he smiled knowingly. Each color was so
pure, it was stunning.
    Sarah rested,
leaning back against the car seat, content to just take it all in.
As she watched the sky the drizzle stopped and the rainbow
disappeared. They rounded the crest of a hill and she caught a
glimpse of fields beyond. Yellow flowers filled her vision; they
grew in mass beyond the hedges on either side of the road.
    ‘What are
they?’ she asked Daniel.
    ‘Rape seed,
used for making an oil,’ he answered. ‘It’s beautiful, isn’t
it?’
    ‘Yes. Shall we
pull over? I can see a gate ahead, we could park there and climb
into a field with those newspapers you purchased and see if we can
find any useful info in them,’ she said.
    ‘OK, why not?’
Daniel said.
    He slowed the
car as they approached the gate and pulled onto the grassy verge.
Sarah climbed out straight away, eager to see and feel beyond the
confines of the car. She inhaled deeply, taking in the fresh and
vibrant scent of the abundant flowers, their pollen rich on the
breeze.
    Next she
stretched, enjoying being able to move again. She was not stiff,
like she would have been after such a long journey as a human. She
was stretching for the sheer pleasure of being able to move again.
It had been incredibly restrictive being on that plane, under
Daniel’s tight control, for such a long time. She was pleased she had been under his control though, who knows how badly
things may have gone otherwise.
    She imagined
her children running through those fields, seeing their happy faces
vividly in her mind. It would be amazing if I could bring them here
. . . one day, she thought.
    Sarah turned as
she heard a slam, her heart accelerating for an instant. She saw
Daniel at the boot, he had just pushed it down. Why was she jumpy
already? They had not even started looking for trouble yet. She
shook it off and smiled, stepping closer to Daniel as he came to
her, a think bundle of newspapers under his arm.
    ‘Hi,’ she said,
suddenly shy.
    ‘Hi yourself,’
he answered, and stroked her jaw with his spare hand.
    ‘We’re
here.’
    ‘I know,’
Daniel said amused, raising his eyebrows.
    He stepped even
closer, so their bodies were lightly touching. Electricity and
static ignited