The Last knight and Beyond 

by Olivia Jean Ecklund 
Chapter 5 


Nick and Natalie stepped into the loft. Reese struggled behind, carrying several 
flower arrangements, then went back for more. 

Natalie was greeted by a big fur ball that threw itself at her. "Sidney!" she 
exclaimed, cuddling the cat close. "Thanks, Nick," she said, her voice muffled 
against the cat's fur. 

"Hey, boy, how are you? Oh....my sweet baby," she cooed, rubbing his fur. She 
looked up at Nick, surprised. 

"I thought I might as well bring the rest of the family here. Grace was only too 
happy to help," he shrugged. 

Natalie looked at him, "Family?" 

"Yes," he smiled, kissing her over the cat's furry back. "Wherever life leads us 
now, we will go together. Be it as Vampire, human, cat or Human, Human, cat... 
its together!" 

"Or Vampire, Vampire, cat," she added. 

Nick ignored her. "Twenty years down the road, someone might raise their 
eyebrows at the matronly woman with the young stud husband, but we can manage 
that, can't we?" 

"Husband?" she asked. 

"Of course... When you are better, we'll make it official." He turned away to 
help Reese with a new load of flowers he came struggling in with. 

Nat looked after him astonished. It was more than she had hoped for. She laughed 
nervously. Men! How could he just make such a mind bending statement so 
causally. She smiled and hugged herself. Nick wanted to marry her! She watched 
them as they placed all the flowers on the seldom used kitchen counters and 
watered them. She hugged Sidney again before setting him on his feet. 

Reese said, "Well, I guess I'd better get on home." They could hear the 
Reluctance in his voice. 

"Joe, remember you're welcome anytime," Nick reassured him. "I'm going to take 
Natalie upstairs. She needs to rest. Oh, Joe, could you feed Sidney before you 
leave. Cat food makes me nauseous." 

"Sure, Nick. See you, Natalie. Get some sleep." 

"Thanks, Joe," she called across the room. "Good Night." 

Nick took Natalie into his arms and flew with her up the stairs. They heard 
Joe's strangled cough below. 

Natalie thumped Nick on the shoulder as he set her down. "Nick! You're going to 
give that man a heart attack, not to mention me." She added, "That was a very 
odd sensation." 

Nick just gave her a devilish grin. "I'll run a bath for you," he said over his 
shoulder as he headed for the bathroom. 

Natalie called, "What's that smell?" 

"That's the new closet among other things," he said with a secretive smile. 

She followed him, curious. "Did you have a tub put in for me....?" she asked... 
Her voice trailed off... Nick knew she loved a tub more than a shower. Inside 
the remodeled bathroom was a beautiful sunken tub big enough for four people. 
The wall behind it was mirrored. It had steps that led up to it, and; it was a 
peach marble. A thick, off-white carpet framed the tub. There were candles all 
around that Nick was lighting. The water was already running, and it was filling 
with millions of bubbles. 

"Oh, Nick!" she squealed in delight, "How...?" 

"You can get almost anything done in a day if you have enough money and hire 
enough men." 

Natalie realized the smell was fresh paint. Fortunately she had always liked the 
smell of acrylic paint. She moved to Nick and caressed his cheek with her 
fingers, then reached up and kissed him gently. "It's beautiful, Nick... it's 
perfect!" 

Nick lowered the lights and said, "Climb in. I'll be back in a bit to check on 
you." 

She asked with a husky voice, "Will you wash my back?" She trailed a finger 
along his jaw. 

Nick stepped back, though he grinned, blushed, and warned, "Nat, you1ll have to 
make this easier on me." 

She sighed, "You're right... go on, I'll be okay." After he left, she looked 
around the rest of the room, marveling at how much it had changed. There were 
two matching sinks lined with mirrors. The commode was the same peach marble as 
the tub and a shower was tucked into a far corner. There was a new, bigger 
closet, too. The room was twice as big as it had been. She knew the loft sat in 
the middle of the big warehouse. There was room for expansion on both sides. She 
sighed, peeled her clothes off and stepped down into the warm water. 

Nick flew downstairs freaking out Sidney, who scattered with a yowl and hid 
under the couch. Nick ignored him, grabbed a bottle from the frig and swallowed 
about half. He corked the rest, got a glass and took it back up with him. He was 
very nervous, yet he looked forward to holding Natalie close while they slept. 
It had been a dream that he had always awakend from, to find an empty bed. He 
drew close to the door of the bathroom. It was ajar a couple inches, and he 
could hear Natalie humming. He stepped closer to the door and asked, "How do you 
like it?" 

She purred, "It's wonderful! Please, Nick, I haven't had a good back scrub in 
years." 

He wondered briefly who had given it to her, then thrust the thought away, took 
a deep breath and stepped into the bathroom. Natalie's shoulders were the only 
thing he could see above the bubbles. He sighed with relief, grateful that he'd 
thought of them. This was not easy on him. He pushed his desire to the back of 
his mind, knelt at the back edge of the tub and took the large sponge she was 
holding out to him. It was lathered with thick body wash. She had her eyes 
closed, and leaned forward a bit as he gently started to rub the sponge over and 
around her back. 

"Oh, Nick, that feels so good," she murmured. "A little lower, please. Now go to 
the right... a little higher... ah, that's perfect." 

Nick spent much longer than he needed to get the job done, but he was fascinated 
with the contours of her back, and his mind was forming the image of a painting 
he might do. When he finally came back to reality, he leaned forward and pressed 
his lips to her shoulder. She raised a wet hand and caressed his cheek, leaving 
bubbles all over his face. Some got up his nose, destroying the dangerous line 
of thought he was allowing himself. 

"Nat!" he sputtered, pulling away and getting to his feet. She laughed at him 
and he grinned back at her. 

She started to stand, giving him a devilish grin. "No. No! Nat!" he cried out 
and dove for the huge fluffy white terry cloth robe so he could hold out it out 
to her. Being chivalrous, he averted his eyes as she stepped up out of the tub 
and into it. He wrapped it around her and held her close to him, feeling the 
damp warmth that was radiating through the cloth. 

Natalie giggled at his embarrassment and hugged his arms to her, holding them at 
her waist. It was wonderful to feel his arms around her. 

Nick felt her damp hair touch his chin, and breathed in the fresh clean scent of 
her. She leaned back against him, and he felt his body respond to her. It nearly 
took all his strength to set her back up on her feet. He zipped away so fast he 
left Natalie teetering back and forth. 

She grinned and gave herself a hug. It wasn't fair to Nick to tease him like 
that, but it was such fun to see him act like an adolescent boy and his shyness 
with her was wonderful. It made him seem new and clean in their relationship. 
Natalie looked into the closet and had pity on him. She found a baggy sweat 
suit, and slipped into the warm, thick material. 

When she stepped into the bedroom, the lights were out and there were a few 
candles around the room in tall glass lanterns. She knew Nick wasn't fond of 
electric light. He was wearing black silk pajamas, and was sitting on the bed... 
a bit nervously, she noticed. A bottle of bloodwine sat near him on the 
nightstand. He took in the sweat suit and seemed to sigh with relief and 
thankfulness. He held out his arms to her and she slid into the bed beside him. 

With a huge sigh they laid on their sides spooning themselves together. It was a 
perfect fit. Nick laid his cheek against hers. He pressed his lips to her cheek 
and realized she had already fallen into an exhausted sleep. He smiled and let 
himself drift off to sleep. 

He woke about 11:00 the next morning and found himself alone. Had it just been 
another dream? Then, he heard the shower and Natalie humming. He smiled and let 
himself stretch like a long sleek cat. He realized he hadn't felt this content 
in centuries. He took the bottle from the side of the bed, poured a glass and 
sipped at it while he listened to Natalie going about her morning regimen. 

Natalie came from the bathroom wrapped in the white robe. She smiled warmly at 
him. "You're finally awake," she said. "You do sleep like the dead," she 
commented, then leaned over the bed and kissed his lips very briefly. Nick 
realized the bloodwine was probably stopping her from a more affectionate kiss. 
He understood. Getting up, he hugged her briefly and slipped past her into the 
shower. 

Natalie looked into the closet and discovered a good sampling of her own clothes 
there. "Thanks Grace," she whispered aloud. 

Nick was so considerate to have thought of bringing her stuff here. She was 
warmed that he hadn't put up much of an argument for her not to come live with 
him. She slipped into some clothes hurriedly, before he came back from his 
shower. 

"I see you found your things," he said. "You can decide if you want this closet, 
the one in the bathroom, or part of both." 

She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him with abandonment. His fresh, 
minty breath tasted good. 

He held her tightly for a moment, but when a noise from downstairs distracted 
them, they looked curiously at each other and went to investigate. 

As they came down the stairs, they spotted Capt. Reese in the kitchen. He was 
busy emptying groceries into the frig and cabinets. 

He looked up at them, "Hey, I hope you guys don't mind. I went shopping to get 
some supplies for you, Natalie." 

Natalie was touched. She went to him, gave him a big hug and a kiss on the 
cheek. "Great, I'm starving," she said thankfully. 

Reese glanced at Nick, "Did you sleep well?" 

Nick nodded, "Yes, Pop, very well." 

Reese looked a bit startled, then touched. 

"I hope you don't mind," Nick explained. I always wanted to call LaCroix, Pop, 
but, of course it didn't fit, and he would have drained me if I had." 

His two guests stared at him a moment, then Natalie started to laugh and pretty 
soon they were all laughing. 

Reese croaked out, "LaCroix... Pop! That's funny, Nick." 

Natalie said, "I'd love to have seen his face!" She giggled. 

Then Reese sobered, "I'd like it if you'd call me 'Pop'. My girls did." 

Natalie attacked the grocery bag that still stood on the counter, "Grapenuts! 
That's a favorite of mine. How1d you know?" 

Reese looked smug. 'I asked Grace. By the way, she's thrilled you're going to 
stay here. She wants you to call her tonight.' 

"She's a good friend. You know, Joe, she's got a crush on you." Reese was 
startled, but only smiled. 

Nick stood back watching the easy banter back and forth between his love and his 
new father. The happiness he felt, overwhelmed him. He turned away, feeling 
blood tears sting his eyes. He felt Natalie's arms wrap around him, so he turned 
and buried his face in her hair. 

"Nick! What's wrong?" she asked anxiously. 

"A few nights ago I thought my life was over. Now I have a beautiful woman that 
I love here with me, and a father I can respect and love. My life is so full." 

Natalie and Reese both held him in a circle of love. They stood in silence 
letting the emotion pass over Nick in waves. 

end chapter 5 

By Jeannie Ecklund Gersknightlady@cs.com