More Than Words: Kissed By A Muse #3 (22 page)

‘The fact that you can get it up for me, even after you’ve seen this photo is proof that you’re the one in need of glasses now,’ she joked without humour. Not that we’re soul-mates.’

Ryan tousled her hair. ‘Imogen’s basically told me that she believes as I do- that your heart alone willed me into existence because she found me the way the girl in your fan-fiction story found Ryan-washed up in the Niagara River. But aside from that…’ he turned and wrapped his arms around her waist. ‘I saw that before and it took me a few minutes to work out but…’ he leaned in and kissed her forehead sweetly, his voice croaking when he whispered: ‘That’s the little girl from the field- the one Callie gifted the lyre to.’

Leigh’s blood turned to ice. ‘What?!’

Ryan smiled encouragingly. ‘You’re one I spoke for, and who ran after me until her little legs gave out… that’s you. No wonder those eyes struck me hard, Honey- they were the same eyes that pleaded for my life the first time that I lost it.’ He pushed her hair out of her eyes. ‘You say people have been trying to coddle and protect you since you were born, well, I think I’ve been trying to do it since the dawn of time.’

Leigh snapped up her head to gape at him, mind spinning crazily. Was he serious? Could it be true? Could it-

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts and then immediately gave her two thousand new ones to panic over. ‘My parents!’ she squeaked, but Ryan was already taking the photo from her hands and running across the room to get his shirt, making her wonder if they weren’t soul-mates after all.

Twenty-One

A
s Ryan prepared himself, physically and mentally, to meet and wow Leigh’s parents in her ultra-girlie, incredibly pretty Tiffany-Blue bathroom, it was with a racing heart. He was disappointed that the significant moment between them had been interrupted before she’d communicated how his revelations sat with her in the grand scheme of things, but if what she had to say in response was going to make him feel worse than anxious, then he was glad to have the opportunity to show her how their life could be before she burst his balloon of hope.

Deep down, he knew that she loved him and a fathom or two above that, he knew that she believed him. But when she’d looked at him, her eyes had been guarded, and that worried him. It took an incredibly powerful, very rare imagination to accept everything he’d just said as fact, and now he could see that that imagination was working overtime to dream up all of the things that could go wrong, while her intellect was telling her that the odds of it going right- given how he’d already been dead twice and had one soul-mate- were stacked against them. He, on the other hand believed that the opposite was true- how much bad luck could one guy have? Surely he’d exhausted his by now, with the death by stoning and the eternal virgin and amnesia stuff?

But he could see why the idea of being with a former demi-god was troubling him… how insecure had he felt at the sight of a random blonde guy opening her door? How could he expect a shy, studious and practical girl to throw caution to the wind and assume that her Vegas husband was going to prove to be a safe bet?

He would be, but Leigh simply wasn’t in the position to accept that yet, and so he’d have to give her time. He’d always been a romantic like her, but unlike her, he’d ridden the wave of fate for long enough to know that you could only fall off so many times before you learned how to keep your balance in any condition. And that was what destiny was; an endless tide that ebbed and flowed, threw tsunami’s at you out of nowhere and then went suspiciously calm right before a squall. Sometimes you got dunked and sometimes you got a long perfect ride but at the end of the day- every wave washed up somewhere. He’d gone to hell over Calliope- there really couldn’t have been a worse outcome for him as a mortal or a god than the hand he’d been dealt- and he’d washed up on the rocks to find himself gazing out at the ocean, peaceful, content and aware that the harmony had replaced the blood in his veins and kept him just as warm as life had. He hadn’t thought for a moment that he’d come back, and he’d been okay, and that was the faith he had to hang onto now.

Naturally, Ryan wanted his eternal life back, just so that he could stay with Honey forever the way he was supposed to have had Calliope forever, but that was asking too much and so he’d gratefully take a human life with his Honey, whether it be five days or fifty years, knowing that was more than what most people got, and make the most of every long ride and calm sea. There would be problems and maybe, he’d drop dead the moment his child was born because The Harmony had decided that he’d had enough happiness, but he’d accept that yet again if it meant that some other lucky bastard out there got to experience happiness with their own soul-mate for a little while… so long as it wasn’t Calliope’s ego that cost him time with his honey.

And he knew that Honey would come around to his hopeful way of thinking too… if only she’d open her eyes and see that while he had died for Calliope- he would never, EVER die for Leigh, for he couldn’t bear to sacrifice a second of time with her. He’d swallowed pills for Calliope to prove his love but with Leigh, he’d hang onto her tightly with both hands and be unable to open a bottle. Maybe that made his love more selfish but for a martyr like him, it was a clear sign that he’d given up putting anything between himself and his heart and that was growth, in its own way.

And he knew she was the little girl from the field, he just knew it. Some souls like Hunter’s were new, and some like Honey were ancient- it showed in their every word and action. Besides, as he listened to her parents babble through the thin floor sheeting between both levels of the flat, it became apparent that they were every bit as fussy and protective as she’d claimed. And when she heard the air-con guy come in and offer to fix the problem in exchange for a slice of watermelon, and then heard her father say something about Honey being let off a traffic infringement the day before, it further solidified his theory that this girl had something about her that made men lay their jackets over puddles and mothers weep on wedding days. She was the girl whose big green eyes had compelled him to offer up his life in exchange for hers back in Ancient Greece, no doubt- but why? What was she to the universe? Just his true soul-mate? Or was she truly meant to be something special?

The two gay guys returned while Ryan was rolling up the cuffs of the only dress shirt he owned, and the babble from downstairs became louder, less fussy and incredibly welcoming, making Ryan smiled for the possibilities. All he’d ever wanted was a family… was he about to meet his?

He trotted downstairs with the wrapped Christmas gifts in his arms that he’d bought before coming. He had another one in the car for Honey that he’d picked upon the way, along with the dog he’d scouted on the Internet, that had been too big to lug in and now he feared, too big to fit in her apartment. He was careful as he walked down the stairs, and when he reached the landing and saw that the stack of presents that had been there before had doubled in size, he smiled, knowing that he was going to have to take his spoiling her up a notch to compete with her parents! He could barely see the tiny tree for the stack of parcels they’d bought in with them!

‘… Just saying that if you’d invited that nice police officer to dinner…’

‘I’m telling you Leigh you’ve got a happy ending for that story now and you need to use it- so I can benefit!’ Lachlan was artfully arranging the fruit that Ryan had cut on a white plate while her parents bustled around the kitchen opening cupboards and oven doors, a strange man in work fluro was taking the cover off Leigh’s air-conditioner, and Lachlan’s partner was on the floor with the puppy, waving a piece of pink tinsel at it like it was a kitten rather than a sharpei. And amidst it all, there was Leigh, spray and wiping the table top, no doubt trying to make it hygienic after what he’d done to her on it, and his heart made kissy noises at her as he slid his gifts on top of the others.

‘What happy ending?’ Ashleigh Dallas-Hone piped up.

‘Lachy I told you- I’m not a writer and even if I was, I need to work right now, not lock myself to a desk and go broke so you can profit off me.’ Honey poked her glasses back up onto her nose as she glanced over her shoulder. ‘Mum and dad honestly, that cop was like, a nineteen year old recruit and he wasn’t hitting on me- just being kind and Lachlan… don’t put the oranges on the plate with the others, okay? Dad’s allergic to citrus.’

‘You always think people are being kind…’ her mother grumbled, walking out into the kitchen with a white linen tablecloth in her hand, but she stopped short when she saw Ryan, her little mouth popping open in an ‘O’ of surprise. He smoothed his shirt and tried to look like he wasn’t into kinky stuff, telling himself that if he’d won over Zeus, these two couldn’t be so difficult, right?

‘Yeah well, even if it was more than that I told you- I’m not looking for anyone right now. It’s not a good time. I’m-’

‘Married,’ Ryan said bluntly, walking over and dragging her into his arms to hug her tightly. He felt Leigh’s stomach cave in on a sharp exhalation and knew that if he didn’t handle this right, she was going to clobber him again before the night was out. ‘To me.’ He kissed the top of her head and then regarded her father and mother with a warm smile over the top of Leigh’s crown of blonde hair. ‘Hi guys… I’m Ryan, Honey’s husband.’

The room fell silent.

Leigh

She wanted to kill him, but it was clear by the look on her father’s face that he was going to beat her to the punch, so she dug her fingernails into Ryan’s forearm to convey her disapproval while she looked from her shocked mother’s face, to her father’s astounded one, and waited to see who was going to break first.

‘D… did you just say…?’ Honey’s dad looked at her like she’d just punched him in the stomach and the tears welled in her eyes as though she had, and she may as well have! She’d told Ryan that her parents were protective! What did he expect them to do in response to such shocking news?’

‘Here…’ Ryan pried her hand off him and slipped her rings onto her fingers a little harder that he probably needed to, making it clear that he wasn’t intimidated at all while everyone looked on, thunderstruck. ‘You forgot these before when you were cleaning up.’ He then reached around her neck, buckling the clasp of her long watch around her sweaty neck, and then kissed her gently before extending his hand to her father. ‘Yes, Mr Dallas-Hone, we’re married. I understand that’s probably going to come as a huge shock, but Leigh wanted to wait to tell you until I could get a flight home as well, and I love her so much… god I just want to scream it from the rooftops, you know?’ He took his father’s limp hand and shook it firmly. ‘She’s told me wonderful things about you, and about how protective you are so please… ignore my sweating palms. They’re symptomatic of how seriously I take her, and not a glandular condition…’

Lachlan chuckled. ‘I’ll bet you have a glandular condition and a half…’

‘Married?!’ Her father seemed to be choking on the word. ‘You married my daughter in the United States, and I’m only just finding out about it now?’

‘Daddy… I’m sorry…’ Leigh’s voice faded like the rose that Roxette was singing about on her record player.

‘Yes I did, but we fully intend to get married here again with her friends and family the traditional way so please, don’t think that I was trying to shotgun her for any purpose, other than impatience to call her mine.’

Leigh’s heart fluttered. Damn him for doing that smooth thing again! She wanted so badly to be pissed!

‘Wow!’ Her mother’s pale blue eyes lit up behind her own glasses as she stepped forward and offered her own hand. ‘You’re a doll- an absolute DOLL!’ Ryan chuckled and shook Ashleigh’s hand, and then bent to kiss it. ‘Leigh how could you keep this from us?’

But Leigh couldn’t talk- it was great that her mother was taking it better than her dad but still, one stroke was all it would take to ruin her life, and so she watched her father’s face anxiously.

‘Thank you,’ Ryan said to her mother, his face abashed. ‘But don’t worry- I’m also smart and wealthy and desperate to be tied down, so she’s secure.’

‘Ryan!’ Leigh clapped her hands over her eyes. ‘What a thing to say!’

‘Why?’ He pulled his hands over her eyes and used his arms to bind hers around her waist as he rested his head on her shoulder. ‘It’s true- and probably the first three questions that popped into your dad’s head after: Where’s my rifle?’

Ashleigh giggled- actually giggled- and both Leigh and her father turned to her with wide eyes. Leigh’s mother covered her mouth, but that didn’t veil the glittering blue hue of her eyes. ‘He’s a doll,’ she reached forward and pulled her out of Ryan’s arms. ‘An absolute Doll! Oh, my baby!’ She pulled back, her face a mask of elation. ‘We’re going to have a wedding?!’

Leigh opened her mouth to say : ‘Yes,’ to say whatever it was that would make at least one of her parents happy, but as she did, she remembered all that Ryan had told her, and her heart sank. Was she going to have a wedding? Was it wise to bind herself any more tightly to this man, before she really understood him? And it wasn’t just the whole whimsical aspect of his story that was throwing her, but other factors- things they hadn’t discussed or issues that he wasn’t aware of.  For starters, he was a father, which meant that she would have to be a step-mother, didn’t it? And not to a baby either, but an eight year-old girl who had the power and potential to raise hell the way her mother once had. Maybe that could come to be a wonderful thing but it was most likely going to be a disaster, and what if Calliope wasn’t over Ryan? What if Rya hated Leigh? And then there was Imogen… what was the deal with Imogen? If it was as Leigh suspected, and the muse of the written word had saved Ryan, was it possible that she had an angle, or would she disapprove of his match? How could she not want him herself? Tears came to Leigh’s eyes as she thought of all that could and would go wrong, but then Ryan had shifted and was pressing the tiny puppy into her arms- a pale grey sharpei, like the one she’d almost fallen out of his car over, with a little scroll hanging off his chain with his name engraved onto it.

‘That’s Mr Blythe,’ Ryan said, kissing her forehead again. ‘Merry Christmas, Honey.’

Leigh couldn’t help but stuff her face into the dog’s tiny rolls of fat. ‘Mr Blythe…’ she whispered, smiling up at Ryan and trying not to look over at her dead plant while fretting for the puppy. Her parents would take it, right? ‘That’s… kind of perfect.’

‘Um... you call her Honey?’ Leigh’s father piped up.

‘I do,’ Ryan was holding a gift in his arms- a flat square wrapped with brown paper and a red ribbon- her absolute favorite way to wrap gifts. ‘That’s her name, and it’s lovely. I’ve never met anyone more suited to a name and trust me, I’ve met a lot of people over the years.’

‘I picked out that name,’ her father said, sounding both subdued and sort of proud.

‘I know, and it just so happens to be my favorite song. I went shopping for Christmas gifts before I left, and because Honey mentioned that you had a hard time finding this old stuff in Australia now and could only get it on C.D, I snapped this up…’ Ryan handed the box to Leigh’s father. ‘For you, Mr Dallas-Hone. Merry Christmas.’