Chapter 25
Fated Forever
“Who goes first, you or me?” Ethan asked.
“Why can’t we go together?” Danielle responded, staring into his eyes, enjoying the wash of familiarity that always rolled over her when she looked into that blue gaze of his. They’d never fed since returning to England and weak from lack of blood as she was, she could still see the flecks of green, blue and gray in his clear eyes. But as always, she was more absorbed by what she saw beyond the color. Ethan Deveroux, the man she was fated to be with, forever she hoped. Had they chosen each other before this life, she wondered, or were they fated even then? But what if this return to mortality put them at too much risk and they lost everything?
Fear still lurked in the back of her mind from thoughts just like that. Certainly the vampires were no longer a threat to them, but what about the werewolves and the witches and the pixies and who knew what else? Her gaze dropped from Ethan’s face to the blood-red candies in her hand. Her thumb rolled them around in her palm, the wrappers crinkling with the movement. What if they turned back into mortals only to have their lives and even worse ... a second child taken?
“Danielle?”
“Hmm?” Her chin lifted with the two fingers he’d placed beneath.
His brows drawn low, he studied her expression, probably trying to read her. “What’s wrong?”
“I—mortality, weakness—I don’t really know.”
“You hate the drawbacks of immortally.” Dragging downward, his gentle knuckles traced a path from the high edge of her cheekbone to her jaw. Rolling to just one finger, he continued the path to her chin. “Your pallor is troubling to me.” His thumb rose to her lips and trailed along it from one corner and over the pillow of her bottom lip before stopping. “This kissable mouth of yours is dry and bruised. Darling, I can hardly bare to see you this way. You won’t feed, won’t take what you need.”
“It hurts you. I can’t hurt you like that. Plus you haven’t fed either...”
“My tenderhearted Danielle, what am I to do with you?”
Her shoulders lifted in a shrug that ached. In truth her body was one big ache at the moment, right along with her indecisive heart. She knew not only were her lips bruised, the rest of her flesh bore marks from the attack in Romania.
“We need this. We have vampires to protect us. I truly believe we needn’t worry.”
The liar. She could see it in his eyes, he had the same concerns as her, but as with other things in the past, he also had more faith.
Proving that point to her, he took one of the drops and unwrapped it. “I’ll go first,” he said, lifting the candy to his mouth.
She stopped him with a hand on his wrist. “Wait!” On a frustrated growl, she mumbled, “Fine.” Danielle slid the morsel free of the plastic, lifted it so far it rested against the edge of her lip, then pulled it away. “But.”
“Cease the doubts, Danielle, we cannot live our lives on what ifs. Here...” And he touched his candy against the seal of her lips as he captured her wrist and brought hers to his mouth touching it with his tongue.
The pressure of the candy against her lips increased and she opened, letting the ruby piece of sugar fall inside as he snatched the other from her fingers with his teeth and bit into it.
Crunch, crunch. “Hmm, there’s a liquid center. Intriguing.”
Afraid to do the same, Danielle sucked on it and it melted slowly like a bit of rock candy. Detecting cherry, she wondered about the center, and asked, “What flavor is the liquid part?”
Rolling it around for a moment, Ethan said, “Kiwi, I think.”
“Na-uh!”
“No really! Bite it and see.”
Figuring it was too late anyway, she caught it between her molars and pressed. Sure enough, a flavor that seemed quite a bit like kiwi exploded in her mouth. “Weird,” she said around the bits of candy, and what a relief it was it didn’t taste like blood!
After the candy was gone, she took inventory of her injuries noting that they were actually healing. “How do you feel, Ethan? Any different?”
“I definitely feel mortal now.”
“You do?” How come she didn’t feel that way?
Bursting into a rumble of chuckles, Ethan said, “I’m only teasing. I feel the same, however, since it is night...” With that he shoved her back into the bed they were sitting on, crawled over her, and pressed his ear to her heart. “Hmm, nothing yet.”
“Really?”
“Maybe it takes a moment,” he said, remaining where he was, his entire weight pressing her into the mattress. Dragging fingers through his hair she decided she liked that. She always had. “There!”
“Now?”
Listening a moment longer, he lifted his head and said, “Do you feel it?”
Frowning. “Mmm, not really.”
Dragging her hand from his hair, he pressed her palm against her chest. “Now do you feel it?” Instead she reached for her other wrist and pushed her thumb into her wrist. She’d always been able to feel it better that way. Then she felt it. Excited now, she twisted and shoved his back to the mattress. Laughing, Ethan allowed it as she straddled his hips and dropped her head against his chest to listen. Like music to her ears, his mortal heart pumped out a perfect beat.
Rising up, Danielle smiled at him forgetting her fears for the moment. They could eat food again, and.... Distracting her from those thoughts, Ethan curled strong fingers around her nape and drew her mouth to his. Before kissing her, he blew, filling her lungs with the same delicious breath he’d been able to treat her with before. Then as his mouth began to move over hers, he mumbled against her lips, “Ready for baby number two?”
###
Other Titles by Cheri Schmidt
Fateful, book #1 in the Fateful Series
Fair Maiden, book #1 in the Fair Maiden Series
Please visit me at:
http://cherischmidt.blogspot.com
https://twitter.com/#!/cheriaschmidt
I would love to hear from you!