Chapter 10

Questions

 

The room was silent for a few moments until Beon sliced into it with a question. “Danielle dear, would you like to be turned?”

She stiffened, as did Ethan, and then realized this is what they’d been arguing about earlier. Her immortality.

She glanced at Ethan and saw he was shaking his head, mouthing the word “no” to her. Danielle closed her eyes to release herself from his influence and took a deep breath before answering, “Thank you very much, Beon ... but, I don’t think that is something I want. I’m sorry.”

“Darling, surely you must think it through more carefully. It’s not so bad—“

“Beon,” Ethan said dangerously. “She said no.”

“Yes. She said no, Ethan, or is it rather you who said no?”

It was true, Ethan hadn’t exactly asked her opinion on this, but she also knew he understood her wishes. “He’s right, sir, I don’t want this.”

When Beon’s jaw clenched she feared she could have offended him and watched his face for signs of anger. His brown-eyed gaze lifted to hers but she only saw concern residing there as he said, “Please don’t take this risk—”

“I asked you to drop this earlier. I’m not turning her.”

“Deveroux, you fool. Are you forgetting the risk Lucas poses to her ... as well as yourself? You cannot keep a mortal this close and expect to resist temptation indefinitely. You’ve gone for more than a century resisting mortal blood, now you put it all at risk! I thought you were more responsible. Bite her at sunset and solve the riddle later, it will be safer that way!”

Danielle’s stomach churned at the mention of Lucas. Couldn’t they keep her safe from him? She also became aware of the brutal fact that she was sitting in a place full of vampires, and biting her had just become the topic of discussion. For her safety?

This conversation had cleared the room, mostly. Max and Sophia had remained, but Nadia had left with others whom she hadn’t officially been introduced to yet.

“Beon has a point about Lucas,” Max whispered.

“Will you not help me continue to guard against him?”

“Of course I will, I’m just saying...”

“Ethan, please be reasonable,” Beon continued.

Ethan defensively tucked Danielle’s arms under his, and held her closer. That possessiveness of his was showing again. Studying Ethan’s face, she wondered what he would do next. He never removed his eyes from hers, and she watched as distress wrestled with determination in his gaze. With his brows furrowed, and his jaw ridged, he said, “I simply couldn’t endure seeing her cursed like that.” His gaze grew violent as it shifted back to Beon. “I’ll keep her safe until I find the cure.”

The cure? He was talking about the prophecy he’d mentioned earlier, but when she opened her mouth to ask about it, Ethan touched her lips with two gentle fingers. Understanding that he wanted to tell her about it, just not now, she resigned herself to remaining silent.

“Ethan, we don’t understand what it means yet, or if it even means anything at all.”

“I’ll figure it out,” he said through clenched teeth.

“I don’t think there is any hope in the legend, Ethan.”

“I beg to differ.”

“Please think this through logically.”

“I have, damn it!”

Everyone fell silent then, but the tension was so thick it was stifling and Beon seemed to finally realize that arguing was a lost cause. “All right, Ethan, I can see you will not be moved in this matter … I’ll respect your wishes. If I come up with anything that will help, I’ll let you know.”

Ethan breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you.” He clutched Danielle tighter, placed his chin on her shoulder, and began stroking her hair.

Sophia let go of her tense pose to suggest, “Ethan, I think you should take Danielle to see the rest of the house.”

Still she was calling this mansion a house? “That’s a great idea. Let’s go,” Ethan said. Danielle tried to stand, but Ethan swiftly scooped her up into his arms and headed for the door.

“Don’t forget her finger foods!” Sophia reminded.

“Yes, ma’am.” He swept down to grab the tray while still holding her and then exited the room in a rush.

He climbed a flight of stairs, taking two steps at a time. At the top, he turned down a hallway lined with closed doors. His pace was brisk, and he started mumbling as he went, “A bedroom on the right ... another bedroom, there on the left ... and another, also left ... bedroom, bedroom, and my room.” Ethan stopped abruptly. “There are more bedrooms down that way.” He tipped his head to the left, motioning down another hallway. He then entered his room quickly and kicked the door shut. He released Danielle’s legs, but still held her around the waist, keeping her feet suspended in the air. She tried to touch the floor with her toes but couldn’t reach.

That was the fastest tour anyone had ever given her of a place so large and she couldn’t resist teasing Ethan about it. “Wow! That was some tour, Ethan. I really liked the hallway a lot. That was one of the nicest halls I’ve ever—” Ethan silenced her jesting with one finger placed across her lips, but her sarcastic smirk remained. “And...” she mumbled under his finger, “I can walk by myself just fine I think.” She pointed her toes trying to reach the floor again; still she found nothing but air.

She checked his face for annoyance with her teasing, only to find an enchanting smile resting there. He laughed out loud and then admitted, “I know you can walk on your own. I’m sorry, but for him to suggest—” He gently lowered her feet to the floor, still chuckling.

“If this is like a bed and breakfast, how many vampires stay here?”

“Many. Some more permanently, while others come and go.” Taking her hand, he drew her further into his room. “Come, let’s listen to music.”

He guided her to a Victorian, Chesterfield settee near the fireplace, flanked by two red leather wingback chairs. He set the tray of sandwiches on the table in front of it, and strode over to his sound system.

“I know exactly what music you’ve been listening to lately,” he said.

She wondered how he knew until he said, “I could hear it from outside your bedroom window, you play this a lot.”

“Oh.” Of course, from guarding her. “Is that all you’ve been doing since that night Lucas attacked me?”

“Pretty much.”

“I feel terrible, that must be so boring.”

“Not really, I trade off with Beon, Max, Cedric and a few others.”

“And they’re willing to do that for someone they don’t even know?”

“Of course.”

I don’t get it, she wanted to say, but decided to drop it for now.

Slipping off her jacket, Danielle smiled as “Alibi” by 30 Seconds to Mars began. It was a nice distraction from the argument downstairs.

She tossed the denim jacket onto the armrest of the brown leather settee, sat down, and then began exploring his room with her eyes. This wasn’t the dwelling of a typical young man. Uncle Nick would have been in his element here. Ethan’s true age was more apparent from the look of his bedroom, than his early-twenties face. The room was full of antiques, yet the decor was masculine and the fact that he’d traveled the world was manifested in the art, carvings and tapestries displayed around the room. It was also apparent that he liked stringed instruments; he had a collection of at least twenty different designs. Danielle didn’t recognize half of them as they were most likely no longer made or even played by modern musicians.

The vintage furnishings didn’t stop him from having technology, of course. He had everything a young man would want in his room, a laptop, a sweet sound system, and a flat-screen television. There was a large sleigh bed in one corner carved from a dark wood, a nightstand on either side of it, and a substantial armoire across from the bed.

Ethan joined Danielle on the settee and situated her so her head was resting on his lap. He ran his fingers through her hair as he spoke. “I’m sorry, Danielle. That’s not how I wanted your first visit here to go. I know Beon can be rather intense. He’s the only one who has the nerve to voice his opinion, maybe because he’s centuries older than most of us.”

“I’ll admit that it was kind of scary when he told you to bite me. I was a little worried he might just do it for you … but I could also see that he just cares about you when he finally gave in.”

“It is my decision or yours.”

“I’m sorry to cause you so much trouble.” Danielle looked up at him with remorseful brown eyes.

“No, don’t say that. None of that was your fault.”

“I’m not convinced of that, if I hadn’t gotten myself into trouble in the first place, you wouldn’t have had to save me.”

His brows pressed together as he spoke, “And I might never have met you.... I’m glad I had the chance to save you just for that. I’ll have to thank Lucas later.” He smiled wickedly at that idea.

“Oh! Are you going to tell me what this prophecy is?” she suddenly remembered.

Ethan chuckled. “Yes, of course. It goes like this, ‘The one who gives himself to humanity will find the cure to the curse.’ And that’s it, there’s nothing more.”

“Do you have any idea what it means?” she asked, because she certainly didn’t.

“Not yet, but I’m determined to figure it out.” She watched as Ethan’s expression turned brooding momentarily, but then he promptly pulled himself out of it and returned his attention to her. “Comfortable?” he asked.

“Yes. Thank you.”

“Good.” With that he commenced caressing her face as before, gently gliding his fingers across her skin. She realized his goal was to distract her from the earlier drama. It was working perfectly well because Danielle was trying desperately not to melt all over the top of him.

Tilting his head to the side, he traced around the outline of her mouth, then lifting, his fingers tunneled through her hair, along her scalp. The stroke moved around her ear, continuing lightly along her jaw. When he then slid both thumbs as light as fairy wings down the sides of her neck, she shuddered. It tickled but when the pressure deepened to a massage, it felt nice. Danielle sighed and closed her eyes.

“Do you like that?” he asked.

“Yes,” she confessed, then wondered, if he was from Austen’s time then maybe, just perhaps he was a little like Mr. Darcy. And would Mr. Darcy be doing this, or could Ethan potentially turn into another Zack with octopus hands? In truth, with Ethan, did she care? As she pondered her love of all things Jane Austen, she decided she did. A little. The silly thought prompted a question, “So, can I trust you with—? I mean if you’re from eighteen whatever?”

“Eighteen fifty-four.”

“Right, so then you have ... um?”

“Proper manners?” he offered.

“Well, that and...”

“A strong sense of propriety?” he suggested.

Feeling like a complete nerd for bringing this up, she nodded.

“Of course.”

“But, isn’t this crossing the line a little?”

“Hm. I’ll confess, I have been crossing lines that wouldn’t have been acceptable well over a century ago…. But truthfully, Danielle, I can’t seem to stop myself when I’m around you. Yet I promise you that you can trust me. I still believe there are many things that are only acceptable between husband and wife. You can trust me to never cross those lines, I give you my word. But I have decided that this…” he ran his fingers along her jaw, “and this…” he then slid his fingers softly across the pillow of her bottom lip, “and kissing you are acceptable. Unless you would rather I didn’t. Just let me know where the line is and I’ll honor your request.”

This guy was so not handsy-Zack. He really was the noble gentleman she’d wished for and feared didn’t exist.

When she said nothing more, he resumed the innocent caressing of her face and neck. Her breathing slowed as his touch relaxed her and she unconsciously curled her legs up, which was more comfortable for her than having them stretched out. After he’d tenderly traced every inch of her face, his thumbs and fingers ran softly across the contours of her collarbone back and forth along the ridge. His touch always started out gentle, soft as a feather, then increased in pressure as he gently worked the muscles beneath. He continued following the same line trailing his hand over her shoulder and down her arm, stroking her fingers softly when he reached her hand. Danielle peeked when his hand left her fingers and hovered along her hip and along the side of her thigh, only centimeters from touching her, but when he got to her knee and calf, his fingers dropped and grazed along her skin, barely touching. His caress then smoothly fell to her ankle. While there, he gently slipped her shoe off and dropped it on the floor.

Danielle gazed up at his face. He appeared to be enjoying this as much as, if not more than she was. Still he hadn’t crossed any lines to make his actions inappropriate, at least in her opinion. She closed her eyes again. Ethan switched to her other foot, removing that shoe as well. With her feet free, he rubbed his fingers expertly along the soles of her feet, and then tugged gently at her toes. She was now so relaxed she began feeling sleepy, but also wondered if it was a mixture of his ministrations and his vampire magic that lulled her so much.

“How’s your ankle?”

“It’s fine now.” She hadn’t sprained it that bad and had actually forgotten about it.

“Your feet are cold,” he whispered.

She felt him shift as he retrieved the throw draped over the back of the settee, and tucked it in around her. “Warm?”

“Yes.... Thank you, Ethan.”

“You’re welcome,” he breathed.

His feathery touches had returned to her face, his fingers gliding over her eyelids and mouth. Then after what only seemed like a few minutes, she felt lips press against hers. “Mmm,” she murmured sleepily.

“Danielle,” an enchanting English voice whispered.

“Hmm?” she muttered, still on the edge of consciousness.

“Danielle darling, wake up,” that dreamy British voice called to her again. “Danielle, wake up, I need to take you home. The sun is setting,” he persisted.

Then she remembered—“Oh!” Her eyes flew open. “Oh no!” she gasped.

“What’s wrong?”

“I fell asleep?”

“Yes.” He sounded amused.

“I don’t want to go,” she whined. “I want to stay here with you. I didn’t want to squander the whole time sleeping! Why did you let me fall asleep?”

Ethan started laughing. “Actually I loved getting a chance to watch you sleep. This is something I miss out on since I shouldn’t be near you at night…. It was perfectly delightful!”

“What? I didn’t do anything embarrassing while I slept, did I?” she felt mortified.

“No, of course not, you were absolutely adorable.” Joy danced in his sapphire eyes.

“I hope I didn’t talk in my sleep, or snore.”

A smile spread across his face that was anything but noble.

“What? Did I drool?” Danielle was panicking now, checking her face for wetness.

Laughing again, “No, no, don’t worry, you didn’t drool, and you didn’t snore. You looked incredibly peaceful. Like an angel dropped from Heaven, landing in my lap. My very own personal angel, I absolutely loved it!”

“But, did I talk?” He’d skipped over that one, she noticed.

His smirk widened.

She gasped. “What did I say?”

“Well, there were no coherent words really. You would just mutter and hum when I touched you, and you smiled when you did it. It was delightful to watch.” His misbehaving grin grew bigger, though he seemed slightly disappointed.

“Are you sure that’s all?”

“Yes, that’s all, I promise. Honestly, I wish you had started talking, but you didn’t.”

“I’m not usually a sleep talker, at least, not that I know of.”

“Pity,” he said.

Danielle let out a big sigh. “I still don’t want to go home.”

Ethan groaned in support. “I know. I’d keep you here if I thought I could get away with it. But I do need to hunt as soon as it’s dark and your uncle would be quite displeased with me if I didn’t get you home at a decent hour.”

“My uncle thinks it’s rather odd that you always bring me home so early. Will usually brings Bri home around ten. He thinks there is something definitely bizarre and old-fashioned about you.”

“Well, he is correct. I am bizarre and old-fashioned.”

Ethan then scooped Danielle up from her horizontal position, pulled her close to his fit chest, and began peppering her face with soft kisses. She giggled and felt goose bumps popping up all over her body. When he stopped, he brushed her hair out of her face, tucked it behind her ear and whispered, “Today has been one of the best days of my life, and that’s saying a lot.”

She smiled.

He then pressed his lips against hers with more passion than the other kisses that day. She parted her lips to breathe in his delectable breath, and instinctively tangled her fingers into his smooth hair. The kiss deepened, but just as it did, Ethan managed to pull his mouth from hers, then rested his forehead against hers. “I’m sorry, Danielle, but we are really cutting it close tonight. I have to get you home before the sun sets completely, or Beon might be proven right.”

“I know,” she said defeated.

Ethan seemed aware that she might still resist leaving since he had to pry her fingers from his hair. And then it was clear that he suspected he may have to drag her down the hall and out to his Jag, so he went for the easier option of carrying her. Danielle knew she wasn’t getting a choice in the matter.

As he carried her out, she noticed the tray of unfinished hors d’oeuvres. “You may want to hide those or Sophia will have your head.”

Her comment sent him roaring with laughter. He responded in a hushed chuckling voice, “Don’t worry, I’ll bury the evidence. I was wondering though, were they good?”

“Yes, they were wonderful. I feel bad I didn’t eat more, she went to so much trouble.”

“Don’t worry about it, I know she had fun. I’ve been teaching her to cook—the kitchen is usually my territory. She’ll probably make more next time.” Ethan’s brows pinched together. “I was also wondering, from the look of the kitchen, do I need to clean it again?” he asked, a hint of pain in his voice.

“Um…” Danielle was trying not to laugh. “Well, yes, you do need to clean it up a bit.” Then she did laugh, she couldn’t help herself.

“It’s a disaster, isn’t it?”

“Disaster is a good way to describe it.”

Ethan rolled his eyes and sighed to himself.

“If you don’t need to eat why do you like to cook? I don’t understand that.”

“I have fond memories of cooking with Clair, and there are times when I need to cook for mortals.” Ethan smiled and kissed her playfully under the chin. She squealed and giggled, she’d never known until recently that she was so ticklish there.