Beyond the Reach of Judgement

Chapter 10

“If there were structures which could irrevocably guarantee a determined and good state of the world, man's freedom would be denied, and hence they would not be good structures at all.”

- Pope Benedict XVI

They again fell into their pattern of nights filled with indulgence and days in together recovering. The erythropoietin injections did as it should, and Ruth’s strength returned. Two weeks went by, and it started to seem as though they had found the perfect life. Despite his reservations, Julien allowed himself to feed from the girl once again, even though his craving for blood was still well under control.

Without an ounce of guilt, his teeth sunk into her soft flesh and his mouth filled with her essence. After he felt satisfied and pulled his fangs free, he massaged her arm as he smiled down at her. “I never would have been able to guess or even dream that I would find myself in this position now. Certainly not the night I found you.”

She laughed. “Well, that makes two of us.”

While his cravings for blood were easily quieted, his other cravings for Ruth’s body were increasing exponentially. He quickly realized the more nourished he became, the more he sought the other things her body could do.

Fortunately, Ruth did not seem to mind his new urges, and in fact encouraged him further. She did things to his body that he did not know were even possible, and she did not hesitate to show him how to handle hers. He had come to know every inch of her skin, and she of his. No untainted space existed in their grand hotel suite. Had he known of such things in his previous life, he doubted his vow of celibacy would have been possible.

Despite of, or perhaps, because of the perfection of their situation, Julien had a persistent gnawing of unease deep within his gut with which he fought constantly to suppress.

One night, while they were in the Luxor casino standing around the Craps table, he thought he caught a glimpse of someone watching them from a distance. Feeling her eyes on them before he saw her face, he watched as she disappeared from his sight. Although he never saw her clearly, he was convinced that the observer looked like Agent Wolfe. His first urge was to give chase and confront the woman by a desire to leave the casino and potentially the city.

Ruth gave him a suspicious look, but did not ask. They continued playing.

The following evening, as they left a Cirque du Soleil performance at the Bellagio, he again caught a glimpse of the same blonde woman in the same dark suit standing across the performance hall. He made eye contact with her briefly before she shifted to disappear among the crowd.

Then days passed with him on high alert for her reappearance with no further evidence of Wolfe hanging around or any indication that she had learned where they were staying. He put the sightings out of his mind as simple paranoia and chose not to mention it to Ruth.

“What's wrong, Julien? You seem so tense lately.” She asked one afternoon after she awoke from a long sleep.

“It is nothing. I guess I just keep waiting for our perfect situation to come crashing down.”

“Yeah, I know.” She sighed. “It's too good to be true isn't it?”

“Indeed.” Especially when it is not deserved, he added in his thoughts.
***

The next morning as they returned home from another evening of dancing and drinking, Julien stopped suddenly and felt the words he had been fighting against come pouring out. “Are you not bored with me yet, Ruth?”

“What do you mean?” She stopped at the doorway to look at him as her face

“You have spent almost every moment with me since the time we’ve met, you must long for someone else once in awhile.” He ushered her inside without breaking eye contact.