Fateful (19 page)

“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.

Chapter 11

To Snog a Frog

When they arrived at her place, he walked her
up to the front door as usual.

“Tomorrow?” she asked, feeling a little
desperate about it as she touched a button on his shirt.

“Of course.” The words were soft, but the
smile was amused. Did he sense her desperation to see him
again?

Her eyes shifted to the sun that was
dangerously low in the sky as he cupped her face with strong but
gentle hands. “Goodnight, ma chérie, sweet dreams.” He then bent
down and pressed his lips against hers. Ethan didn’t let this kiss
get as deep as the one before. She figured it was because the light
was slipping away too fast.

“You too,” she replied, her brain muddled a
whole lot from the kiss and likely a little from the magic in
him.

“Well, I won’t be sleeping much, tonight
anyway. Lucas and others like him still want to murder helpless
pedestrians. We can’t save everyone, but for as many as we can, we
try.”

Danielle shuddered at the thought of who
knows how many people could fall victim to vampires tonight. “Do
vampires need to feed nightly?”

“No. Like Lucas had done, they let themselves
get thirsty for a while.”

“Why?”

“Well, it’d be pretty hard to stay hidden if
people went missing in droves each and every night. As it’s done
now, it just seems like a few random missing persons.”

Shuddering at the horrible thought, she
noticed the sun was almost gone, her hand dropped away from the
front of his shirt and she said, “Um, okay, have fun annoying Lucas
then … but who’s watching me while you’re out saving the
world?”

Ethan chuckled. “Don’t worry, we have it
covered.”

“All right.” She knew he really needed to
leave; the curse would be taking over soon.

“Goodbye, Danielle,” he said. While he smiled
down at her, his golden hair was ruffled playfully by a soft breeze
as it glistened in the waning sunset.

She sighed at the celestial look of him.
“’Bye.”

As she opened the front door, her uncle
noticed Ethan leaving and called out to him. “Ethan! Stay for
tea!”

Ethan returned to address her uncle even
though it was risky for him to do so. “Thank you, sir, but I’m
afraid I am expected at home. Next time?” Her eyes rounded when he
bowed, and she shot a look at Uncle Nick’s face to gather his
reaction to the show of vintage etiquette.

But Uncle Nick looked at Ethan like he’d
never seen a more impressive rejection to tea in his life, and
Danielle began to breathe again. “Of course. Goodbye then,” said
her uncle.

Ethan dashed to his Jaguar and sped away.

“Wow, Danielle, he sure is bizarrely
old-fashioned for a young man! That William bloke dating your
cousin needs to take a page from him.” Danielle giggled and rolled
her eyes as she followed her uncle inside.

“What’s for dinner, Aunt Charlotte?” Danielle
asked as she entered the kitchen.

Brianna eyed her suspiciously, probably
because of her cheery tone, and raised an eyebrow at Danielle,
which Danielle understood perfectly. She expected an update.

“We’re having Yorkshire pudding, then Cornish
pasty with baked beans,” Aunt Charlotte replied.

“Sounds good.” Not that Danielle was paying
much attention to the menu; her mind was still on Ethan and the
painting she needed to start.

She ate faster than usual, so she could
finish quickly and start sketching the ruins. After wolfing down
several bites she said eagerly, “That was great, Aunt Charlotte,
thank you! May I be excused now?”

“What’s the rush, Danielle?” asked Uncle
Nick.

“I just want to get started on a painting
before I forget the details.”

“Okay then, have fun painting,” he said,
dismissing her.

“Thank you.” She sprang from her seat, dashed
to the kitchen, gave her plate a quick rinse, stuffed it in the
dishwasher and then rushed to her bedroom. Brianna of course
followed, but had to scurry to catch up.

Danielle switched on the music she’d been
listening to with Ethan to help inspire her. She pulled out a fresh
piece of canvas, set it on her easel, and snatched up a pencil.
Danielle had sketched out almost all of the arches by the time
Brianna caught up with her. “Oh, you really do want to paint. I
thought you just wanted to talk about Ethan.”

“No, I have to paint the place Ethan took me
to today. It was really beautiful,” she said, barely able to
contain herself.

“Wow, where did he take you?”

“Just some old ruins, but they were
wonderful.”

“Ruins? Which ones?”

“I don’t know what they’re called.” It wasn’t
the complete truth, but she certainly couldn’t tell her what they
really were.

As Danielle sketched the doorways and added
more details of the scene, Brianna furrowed her brows. “I don’t
know that place, where was it?” Danielle was aware that Brianna
knew about most of the historical areas in London. However, she was
certain her cousin couldn’t possibly know about this one.

“Sorry, I don’t remember that either.” Which
was true because Danielle couldn’t have found it again on her own.
“Ethan said most people don’t know about it,” she decided to
divulge before Brianna strained too many brain cells trying to
figure it out.

“Oh, that explains it, I guess.” Brianna went
to sit by Danielle’s fireplace, propping her head against the back
of the chair, and then asked the question that was really on her
mind, “So, did Ethan snog you?”

Danielle turned to stare at her cousin. “What
is…? I mean, I don’t think Ethan would do something that sounds
so—icky,” she said with a look of disgust.

Brianna blew up laughing at the look on
Danielle’s face. “No, silly, that means a long kiss usually with a
little French. Did he kiss you?”

“Bri, it was only our third date. There were
no tongues involved!” she said, though she was now imagining what
it would be like. Would the proper Mr. Deveroux...? “But, yes, he
did kiss me,” she conceded, then couldn’t control the stupid smile
on her face and the little giggle that bubbled past her lips.

Brianna slapped a hand over her mouth and
then said, “I can’t help but be gobsmacked he did it so soon!”

“Okay now what the heck does that mean?” Some
of her cousin’s slang had Danielle completely baffled.

“Incredibly amazed or astonished.”

Frowning at that. “Oh. Why are you so
amazed?” Danielle asked feeling a bit miffed, did she not think he
would kiss her?

“I mean, you just haven’t been here very long
and you already have a boy after you.” Brianna made a scoffing
sound as she tossed a look at her white dress. “I knew they’d fall
for the ‘girly-girl.’”

“He does say he likes that side of me,” she
said, now sketching the tree line.

“Is he a good kisser?”

“He’s a ‘scrummy’ kisser,” she said dreamily,
adding a few long trunks to the trees. She could taste the magic in
him and that totally made his kisses deliciously scrummy, she
mused.

Brianna giggled. “What else did you do?
You were gone all day, so you couldn’t have spent the whole time at
the ruins—er—snoggin
’ each other.”

Danielle laughed, but realized her cousin
wouldn’t stop asking questions until she got enough. However, she
knew she needed to be careful about how much, or what she said. “He
took me to meet his.” She paused, because she certainly couldn’t
say Order of rebelling vampires, and choked out a small lie,
“family.”

Brianna gaped. “Really?”

Turning to note the look of surprise on her
cousin’s face, she said, “Yes, really.”

Danielle had finished sketching and moved on
to painting. She pulled a bottle of gray pigment from her box of
paints and squeezed a dollop out onto her pallet. It didn’t take
her long to have most of the stone filled in. It still needed
shading and highlights, but it was a good start.

Brianna rose from the chair and walked over
to examine the painting again. “I can’t wait to see it when it’s
finished.” Lifting her hand to catch a sudden yawn, Brianna then
stretched. “I need to go to bed, ’night, Dannie. See ya
tomorrow.”

“’
Kay, ’night, Bri.” Danielle glanced
back at her cousin as she left, then yawned as well.

Looking at her work, she selected the rest of
the colors she wanted. Setting those aside, she decided she’d done
enough for tonight to have it vividly in her mind, and that she too
had better go to bed. She washed out her brush, dressed in her
pajamas and tucked herself in. Fearing she couldn’t sleep in the
dark tonight, knowing that Lucas was most likely lurking around
outside, she left the music softly playing, and the light on.

The next day Danielle worked on her painting
all morning because she didn’t have classes until the afternoon.
Brianna sat at her computer and worked on her report. They liked to
hang-out together, even when they were working on homework and
couldn’t really talk much.

The doorbell rang about an hour before
lunchtime. After a moment or two passed, she heard low mumbling
voices. Then Charlotte shouted up the stairs, “Danielle, Ethan is
here for you…. Are you decent?”

Danielle tried not to scream in excitement.
She hollered back, “Send him up please, we’re decent.”

Brianna was trying not to laugh, while
Danielle franticly checked the room for any under-things lying on
the floor. She then remembered the painting of the ruins. Not
wanting him to see that one yet, she quickly removed it from the
easel and set it so it was on the floor facing the wall. She placed
another painting on the easel, and then finished scanning the room
for anything else out of place. She nearly missed a pair of panties
lying near the foot of her bed, and swiftly kicked them under while
Brianna continued to giggle.

Danielle tried to look innocent when she saw
Ethan enter from the corner of her eye, fearing her cheeks were as
pink as they felt. “Hi, Ethan, how are you?”

“Very good, how are you?”

“Great.”

“Hello, Bri, how are you?” Ethan asked,
leaning to peer around Danielle.