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The Endeavor

"Michael," I greeted between gritted teeth. Ari gave me a confused look.

"Have you two have met before?" She asked curiously. My eyes narrowed on their own accord.

"Oh yes," he stated, "we met on the plane." He gave Ari a smile that hinted at the true nature of our meeting. He winked one azure eye at me, and I groaned under my breath.

Ari gave me a look that screamed, please don't tell me you screwed him. I shook my head lightly in her direction and she gave a sigh of relief.

I hated being fooled with. I knew now that he had known what I was all along. How could I have been so oblivious? Why did I not wonder why I wasn't attracted to the smell of his blood and the fact I couldn't hear the sound of his heart beat? I was stupid, that's why. I felt violated, I didn't like losing control of a situation.

I decided to make the best of the circumstances. I gave him a dazzling grin, his eyebrows became knitted together. He obviously had not prepared for this.

"Oh yes, I think I remember seeing you, somewhere. Maybe in coach." His grin vanished in an instant. He dared not correct me, for that would admit that he had fornicated with an Invivsanber, which would be disastrous for his reputation. His eyes scrutinized me, furious. I gave him another vague smile.

"Well I dare say," Riccardo interjected then, "that you certainly have a demeaning nature Miss Catarina." I had temporarily forgotten about him. My head turned so that my greedy eyes could take in his presence, I smirked slightly.

"Me? Oh no, I simply point out everyone else's shameful acts." He seemed to appreciate my words and let out a brief chuckle. I could hear Michael snarl in a warning, he apparently did not appreciate being mocked by the pair of us.

That would have been considered rude, but he was new so I allowed it. Ari on the other hand did little to hide her shock.

My eyes returned to Riccardo and I found him scanning my body with his eyes. He knew I could see this but didn't look away which I appreciated this immensely. I didn't think it should be disgraceful to admire something you like. I knew I certainly didn't care if he caught me staring at him.

On a whim I grabbed his hand and lead him over to an empty couch. He didn't protest as I pushed him down and sat myself next to him, angling my body to face his. I wanted to learn more.

"So Riccardo, talk to me. Where are you from?" I asked tentatively.

"I'm actually from America too, Colorado. But I've lived in Vienna all my life. That wafer over there," he jerked a thumb in Michael's direction, "is my cousin, but he begged me not to tell anyone. I bet you can imagine how interesting it was for us when we discovered we were both vampires," he said with a weak laugh.

"Why are you telling me then, I mean why are you admitting your relation?" This perplexed me. By nature vampires tended to keep secrets to themselves. Gossip was not favored among our kind.

His chocolate orbs looked into mine sending an electric current through my body.

"I'm telling you, because I trust you," he said simply. I gave a nod. He could trust me with this.

"So tell me something…." He began.

"Yes?"

"What did you two do on that plane?" His eyebrows rose, to convey his curiosity. I let out a sigh.

"I was stupid, not clearly thinking, the flight was long and I was bored," I said unthinkingly trying to explain my actions, "I thought he was just a human..." Riccardo gave a concerned look.

"So I led him to the back of the cabin and hooked up with him," I said with a slight roll of my eye. STUPID STUPID STUPID.

He surprised me by breaking out into spasms of laughter.

"What?" I demanded, not appreciating his reaction. In fact I'd rather he'd be appalled than this. He continued laughing.

"WHAT!" He tried to control himself then.

"I'm sorry," he said between the laughter, "but your story and his story seem to differentiate a little."

"A little," I murmured, "how much is a little?"

"Well according to him," he cleared his throat slightly, "the two of you did a quickie in the lavatory." He eyes were cautious, waiting for my reaction.

"Wait…WHAT DID HE SAY??!?" My mind was reeling at the thought.

"Yeah, he said it's the best sex he's ever had. He also said it's true what they say about Invivsanber women." The shock was written clearly across my face, at this and I had to laugh. It was plainly absurd.

For a Vivsanber man, sleeping with an Invivsanber woman was considered to be extremely kinky. Apparently the mix of hot and cold was enthralling for them. Of course if knowledge of an Invivsanber woman doing this appeared she would be shunned and commonly called a whore. Further more, like everywhere else in the world, the vampire society was partial to men.

"Oh did he?" I said, trying to appear as nonchalant as I could. "Well I can't blame him for lying, he's not the first to have tried that." Riccardo did not seem to enjoy hearing this.

Reflexively I sought Michael out in the crowd with my eyes. He was mingling with a group of women Invivsanbers, I had to admit that the guy had nerve. But he was foolish beyond his wildest dreams.

Riccardo tried to regain my attention then.

"So… I heard you had just returned from a mission, where about?" I didn't really want to answer that question, it was awkward for me, explaining that I had been sent to kill his kind.

"Um, California…" I said nervously. He looked shocked.

"There are Vivsanbers there?" I nodded.

"There were more than The Order anticipated. In fact they kept me there for three decades before summoning me back." I tried to seem proud to be taken on such an important mission. He saw through my façade.

"That must have been difficult for you, to be away from Italy for all that time," he mused quietly. "Were you the only one of your kind there?" I nodded slowly. I turned my head slightly, so that he wouldn't be able to catch my expression.

To my extreme surprise, he lifted a finger to my chin and turned it to face him. It was intensely warm and extremely pleasant. I looked straight into the mahogany irises of his eyes. His eyes burned into mine.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that," he said remorsefully. He didn't remove his finger from my chin, and I didn't react to his statement, worried the moment would be ruined. We didn't look away from each other, his dark stare sending currents through my body. Of course Ari picked this time to come and steal me away. I watched from the corner of my eye as she came bounding up to us.

"Catarina! You must come see Gaspard! He's French, and he really likes the way I dress!" Reluctantly I turned my head to face her, Riccardo's finger dropped slowly. I saw in Ari's eyes that she was accessing the situation. Now if she had done that before she walked over here…..

"Ari that's wonderful! I'll come find you in a minute," I promised her.

"Okay!" Then she sauntered off, content to return to Gaspard.

"Your friend sure knows how to make an impression," he commented calmly. I gave him a nod and wide spread smile in agreement.

He commented further more saying, "I can see why you two are friends, you both do exactly that." If I could have blushed, I would have. Instead I smirked.

"It seems like we're not the only ones who have that ability," I commented vaguely. Now he smirked too.

It felt strange for me, being with him. I was tempted to do so many things, yet I would be happy just to talk to him for hours. But of course this feeling of mine needed to go, before I did something REALLY stupid. The fact that I could imagine him wanting to even consider being with me was absurd. Even more so because I had just met the guy.

I suddenly remembered that I was supposed to go meet Gaspard. I felt guilty, as much as I wanted to make Ari happy, I also wanted to stay here and stare at Riccardo. So I decided. I can have anything I want, so why not both? I pulled him up and led him through the crowd with me to find Ari.

Of course I found her chatting away with two other girls as well as Gaspard. I had to admit he was pretty attractive. He had dirty blond hair that covered his eyes. They were gold, captivating. He couldn't seem to take his eyes off Ari, it made me smile inside. I was happy for her.

I realized sometime later that she didn't need me turned to Riccardo.

"Would you like to go outside?" I asked him quietly. His eyebrows knitted together.

"Go outside, with you?" As I had feared he obviously wanted to disassociate himself from me. Reflexively I bit my lip and nodded. To my astonishment, his eyes cast me an endearing look, gentle but full of significance, it made my insides quiver.

"I'd love to," he said with an infectious grin and then led me to the balcony.

We'd been here for quite awhile. We were leaning over the banister and conversing casually.

The balcony looked over the pool, which was empty but served as both an accessory and a mirror of the sky. Behind the pool lay a mountain side covered with country homes and hiking trails. Above us a full moon shined down in all its radiance. The atmosphere was both tranquil and striking. This was the reason I came out here. The light was enticing and made Riccardo look more like an angel than anything else.

The moon's glow reflected off his skin and his face was hidden in the shadows of his hair. His eyes however, were completely alive within the shadows. Glimmering in the night, more beautiful than the moon. I found myself staring at his features as I listened.

"Catarina I must thank you," he said sincerely.

"What ever for?" I asked him, mystified as to what he meant.

"Well before I met you, I found The Residence to bore me," he paused to turn out to face the hillside, "I wondered to myself if this life, the neutral life, was really any better from what I'd come from.

"I had been raised with the bigotry of others of my kind. So when I was summoned it came as a shock to me. Surely someone raised with the biases I had could never be allowed to set foot here, yet for some reason I was. I still wonder why…" He dazed off temporarily, lost in his thoughts.

"I guess what I'm trying to say," he elucidated, returning to his statement, "is that by meeting you, I have come to realize that your kind and my kind are more similar than I'd thought. You have helped erase some of the tension I felt in coming here.

"I will admit that tonight I came to this event as a test. To see if I could blend in with the others. I had desperately hoped I would not be the black sheep, no offense," he made a gesture to my clothing and I rolled my eyes to assure him it was fine, "in this crowd. So Catarina thank you for being so kind to me. I can say now that I think, I think I've made the right choice in coming here."

He looked at me so earnestly then, so solemnly that I could not control my reaction. My hand traveled to his face, the one that was looking at me, and placed itself on his cheek. The warmth seemed to pulsate through him and into my own body through my fingers.

"I think you made the right choice too," was all I said. But beneath my hand I could feel the skin being pulled back to form one more tantalizing grin. And I knew the events of tonight, I could never be the same again.

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