Choices (The Forever series, Book Four) (25 page)

“I don’t know either. It’s sounds stupid Linc, but I really
don’t know.” I am hesitant to mention this mysterious gift, as clearly it isn’t
for public knowledge. I will take the hit for this until I know for certain if
I was somehow manipulated.

“I won’t ever mention it again. Just give me your word that
you won’t do it again. You have too much to lose and that also affects me.”

“I promise.”

“Okay then.”

I know he wants to kiss me but as we are now out in public
it is a no-no, so he just brushes my lips with his thumb and I smile.

“Try and make some time for us soon. I am craving you,” he
whispers and I just melt. For all the declarations of love I get from everybody
else, never once has he told me he loves me. I don’t want him to but I do love
how he lets me know how much he wants me.

“Count on it,” I say and he grins. We make our way back into
the dining room and sit again. There is tension hovering and I look from one to
the other trying to find its source.

My eyes land on Devon and he is glowering at CK who just
looks grim.

“What’s the problem?” I ask.

Neither answer me.

“One of you speak.”

“Your boy was just berating me on my recent treatment of
you. Like I didn’t get enough of it from you. I preferred it when he wasn’t
here,” CK says mutinously and I laugh at him.

“Oh my dear. You must have known it was coming,” I say to
him with a wicked wink to Devon who grins at me.

“Indeed. Always your protector. Even from me,” CK sighs.

“If you’re talking about Versailles, I stand by my
convictions,” Devon snaps at him. “You were harassing her.”

“Harassing? That’s a bit much isn’t it? I had just found her
again after looking for so long, only to find her gussied up as a blue-eyed brunette,
French courtesan, and you,” He says the last word with a thump to the table
that makes all our drinks jump slightly.

“Hey,” I interject now. “We will not have this argument
again. Christ. You two are as bad as each other. And while we are on the subject,”
I turn to face my irate sire, “you still owe Devon an apology for what you said
in Sibiu. It all got neatly brushed under the carpet with ensuing events but
what you said to him was incredibly rude.”

CK glares at me, shifting his ire from Devon to me. Lincoln,
Scott, and Sebastian are all looking lost as they weren’t there and Devon looks
gleeful at my defense of him.

CK looks back at Devon and says casually, “I apologize for
calling you a colossal fuck-up.”

Devon snorts at him, “Gee, the sincerity of that has left me
reeling.”

“Constantine,” I chide him. “Do better.”

He sighs at me, “Devon. I apologize for being rude to you.
Everything you said in that impassioned speech of yours came as somewhat of a
surprise to me and I shouldn’t have dismissed you.”

Devon couldn’t look more dumbfounded if he tried.  There
again I am sure that we are all wearing the same “who are you and what have you
done with Constantine?” matching expressions.

“Err, thank you for that. Accepted,” Devon says momentarily
at a loss but recovers quickly, as he does and quips, “What, you were even
surprised about the God Complex part? I thought I had you pegged.”

“Don’t push your luck, boy. I don’t hold the same affection
for you as my charge does,” CK warns but I know he would rather rip off his own
head than follow through on any threat towards Devon. He feels, inaccurately I
might add, that he can threaten Cole all he likes because he is new to me, but
he does know better than to mess with my darling boy.

“Thank you. That was good of you,” I say to him and he grins
winningly at me.

“Do I get a reward for my good behavior?”

“Certainly. What would you like?” I ask, enjoying the game.

He leans down and whispers in my ear, so low that only I can
hear him. I giggle and almost blush at his words and say, “Done,” to his
delight.

“God, you two are insatiable,” Devon says.

“You aren’t kidding,” Sebastian pipes up, suddenly rejoining
the conversation. “You should have fucking heard them last week. Or should that
be heard them fucking. Christ. I didn’t think it was going to end.”

“It was make-up sex,” I say haughtily as CK looks somewhere
between smug and embarrassed.

“No, that was normal,” CK amends and now it’s my turn to
look embarrassed. “Don’t be shy, my sweet. We are pretty fucking hot together,”
he says, repeating his words from months before.

I flush at the memory. “Yes we are,” I say softly.

“Well while we are at it,” Lincoln says slyly, “I think Liv
and I are pretty fucking hot together as well.”

I snort into my hand at that comment that has stopped
traffic. “Yes, we are, sweetie,” I say to him and he beams.

“What about me?” Devon asks, pouting.

“Pretty fucking hot,” I say and he lights up.

“Well as fascinating as this conversation is, those of us
who cannot comment are feeling somewhat left out,” Sebastian says and I am
thankful that he has taken the high road and not dropped a bombshell on our
happy time.

“Speak for yourself,” Scott interjects. “I am quite happy to
sit this one out. That’s my boss you are all talking about.”

I have the grace to look abashed as do the others, as yes
this is a highly inappropriate topic of conversation. “Sorry,” we all mumble
and he stands and straightens his jacket.

“Yes. Well now that I have learned more than I care to, I
will leave you all to your…hotness and go and play the numbers.”

“Have fun,” I say and he smiles at me.

“See you tomorrow.”

“Mm, ALL our hotness?” Sebastian says slyly to which CK
glares at him.

“Get that thought out of your head.”

“Must, I? I am quite intrigued as to what all the fuss is
about,” he says to me innocently and he is a damned good actor, I’ll give him
that much. Mind you, 2760 years will probably do that to a person.

“The fuss is fucking incredible,” CK says and stands pulling
me up with him. “And with that we will leave you and go and…make a fuss.”

“Dev, don’t forget to come up later,” I call back to him as
CK pulls me away.

“Much later,” CK shouts out as we leave the dining room.

Waiting for the elevator I grab the bull by at least one
horn and ask, “Why are you so dead set against me and Sebastian?”

He looks startled, “Shouldn’t you be asking that of your
husband?”

“I know why he is against it. I’m asking you.”

“I don’t like sharing,” he says shortly.

“Well that much is obvious and yet you do. Why not with
him?”

“The others are not by choice. You have special connections
with them. If you fucked Sebastian it would be… for no other reason than
because you wanted him. I have issue with that.”

“I see. But earlier you would have let me if I hadn’t turned
you down,” I say quietly.

“On the grounds that we would all be together, as I know
that is something you want. If you went off and fucked him, just the two of
you, that is something else entirely.”

“Oh,” I mumble and he looks at me suddenly, very serious.

“Aefre, Sebastian can be very persuasive. Especially when it
comes to something that he really wants. Please do be careful if you are ever
alone with him. I don’t want to stop you from forming a friendship with him, I
know it’s important to you, but don’t let him talk you into anything more.”

His words are quite sobering and I am now almost completely
sure that what happened earlier was the result of some sort of mojo on
Sebastian’s part.

“Okay,” I say. “What do you mean by persuasive?” I ask,
dying to know what this gift is.

“He just has a way. It’s not important. Just don’t be swayed
by it.”

Of course he won’t tell me. I wonder if Sebastian will?
Probably not, as it will give his trump card away. I am not altogether pleased
that he used this trick on me and even less so that it worked. We shall be
having words and soon.

“So do you have it?” I ask as we walk back into the suite.

“Of course,” he says. “This is, after all, my reward for
allowing you to mix your business with my pleasure.”

“Show me,” I say eagerly. I must say that I am very excited
about this. After he mentioned it the other day I have thought of nothing else.
I know he wants this more than anything and I am happy to oblige.

He leads me to the second bedroom and there it is. I
recognize it instantly. “It’s one of mine?” I ask in disbelief.

“Yes. I had them stored as safely as I could over the years.
It is delicate but functional.”

Functional? Oh he is so funny sometimes. I giggle in delight
and move over to the intricate silk gown that is hung up in front of me.

“Put it on,” he murmurs huskily to me.

“Help me?” I ask over my shoulder.

“Of course,” he says and moves to my back.

I undress and slowly pull the gown off the hanger and hand
it to him. He holds it out as I step into it, so careful of the centuries-old
fabric.

“I remember this dress. You had it made for me for the
Burgundian visitation.”

“And you looked so beautiful. The envy of the court.”

I drop my eyes in modesty. We were so happy then. Little did
I know it would all come crashing down soon after over an eavesdropped
conversation that was taken completely out of context.

The red silk with gold embroidery fits me like a glove and I
smooth it down as he does up the back with skilled fingers.

“I miss this,” I say quietly.

“So do I,” he says. “Although I always had more fun taking
them off you.”

I giggle again, now completely under the spell of 15
^th
century Italy and who I was back then. I turn around to him and arrange my hair
in a suitable style--fortunately still blonde as was the fashion--but braided
up, the ends loose as was the style.

His eyes set on fire as he sees me as he wants me: a perfect
replica of myself from back then.

“You look just as you were,” he whispers as he pulls me to
him gently by the V-neckline of my gown. “I love you,” he says before he cups
my face and kisses me harshly, expressing his deep emotion in that one action.
I tug on his clothes wanting him free to be with me but he stops me. “Not yet.
I want to sit with you. Talk to you. Be with you like this.”

I nod and he leads me back out to the sitting room. In our
absence, dozens of candles have been placed, in threes, around the room.

“Light them,” he says.

I focus and up they go in roaring flames. He flicks off all
the electricity and I stand there mesmerized but now also slightly concerned.

“Do you love me as I am?” I ask suddenly. “I mean as I am as
Liv?”

He peers at me, “Of course. I told you earlier that I love
every part of you. I always will. But this…” he gestures to me, “this is what I
love most about you. Seeing you like this makes me ache to be with you. If I
could go back in time I would keep us there forever.” He pauses, “Remember what
you said to Cole at
Negru
? That what I want is 15
^th
century
Aefre?”

I nod.

“Just be her. Just this night, be her for me,” he says
quietly as he comes over to kiss me.

I want to die right there in his arms, wishing I too could
go back in time. To take us back to
Ponte
when we were together and
happy.

“I wish I had been your first,” he murmurs out of the blue
to me.

“In a way you were,” I say to him and he smiles sadly.

“I hate to think what your first time was like. I wish it
had been me. To show you as I did then what it means to be with someone you
love.”

I chuckle, “But didn’t you have a rule? Fourteen would
definitely have been too young.”

“Don’t cover up your heartache with jokes, Aefre. Tell me.
Talk to me. You never talk about it.”

Erm, Hello? Isn’t that what I always say to him?

“Why do you want to know? It’s irrelevant.” I use his own
words back on him and the irony is not lost.

“Don’t try and sidestep your way out of this. I want to
know.”

“And I want to know about you. Who was your first? Was it
good, bad, boring? Someone you loved? A wife? I know nothing of your human
years so if we are going there, ‘fess up D’Arcangelo.”

He laughs out loud, “I can always count on you to be bold,
my sweet. Not even Sebastian would get away with a comment like that.”

“I should hope not. Although I am madly curious as to your
reasons for turning him, we can leave that for another time.”

His eyes cloud over and he is quiet for a while. I don’t
push. If he wants to tell me he will, if not he gets nothing out of me either.
I eventually go to pour us some wine and sit on the sofa. He joins me as I hand
him a glass.

“My first. Hm. I was fifteen and she was a prostitute my
father hired to make me a man,” he says. I am utterly shocked at this piece of
information. Not the content, just the fact that he is sharing. “It was bad,”
he says with a half smile and a sidelong glance at me. “I wasn’t interested in
women. All I wanted was to be a warrior. To fight for the city and to be a
hero. To make my father proud and to make a name for myself. I did both.
Probably too well, which is why Tiamat picked me. But I was never all that
interested in getting a wife or a family.”

“Did you though?”

“I was due to be married. To an honorable woman I barely
knew. I was made about three weeks before we were to be wed.”

I am over the moon that he has finally after all this time
opened up, but I have no clue what to say to him. I just stare at him,
expecting him to continue. To my delight he does.

“After what happened, well I don’t need to give you the gory
details.” And I shake my head vehemently. “I couldn’t go back to that life. I
had to move on and become this thing that was expected of me. My family thought
I had been killed in battle and I let them believe it. After all, it was
practically true,” he says and I flinch at his harsh tone.