Painfully Ordinary Special Edition (27 page)

Mom ran to the bed, lightly flinging herself
backwards onto the cushions. “Who knows? Ciro really outdid himself though. At
least we can enjoy the room while we wait. I’m not going to get anywhere by
sitting here biting my nails, am I?”

Johr chuckled.
“Always the
optimist, huh?
Sometimes I really wish you would take things more
seriously. You were always one to fly by the seat of your pants. As a matter of
fact, it seems to be genetic since Caitlin has a real talent for doing the
same.”

Hearing him mention my name made Mom snap to
attention. “Johr, do you think she’s ok? I wonder where she is right now.”

“It’s best not to dwell on it. If you figure
out where she went, they will eventually be able to pull it out of you. Just
know she and Leah are with Talon and Jace. They’re as safe as they could
possibly be.”

“What a heartwarming scene. I always knew
you two would end up together.” Ciro strode into the room. “I’m glad to see you’re
enjoying the room. I just came by to drop these off.” He tossed a pile of
clothes on the bed. “Puk should be here shortly with a tray of food for you.
It’ll be a while before the rest of the
Triada
arrives and we’ve such a wonderful banquet planned in your honor. Feel
free to use the pool.” He gestured to a side door. “I’ll have Puk prepare a
bath for each of you, allowing you plenty of time to get ready before dinner.
For now, I’ll leave you to your own devices.” Ciro chuckled low to himself
closing the door behind him.

Mom stared at Johr. “This just keeps getting
stranger and stranger. Don’t you think?” She rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “I
just can’t figure out what they’re up to. What do they want from us?”

“Dear, you know what they want. They’re hoping
to get information from you about Caitlin. They can’t seem to find her and it’s
driving them crazy. She’s somehow managed to cloak herself - not only that,
she’s cloaking Talon, Leah and Jace as well. It’s remarkable. I’m not even sure
she’s aware she’s doing it. As crazy as it seems, I think even we would have
trouble finding her right now.”

Mom eyed him thoughtfully and then her
expression turned incredulous. “Do you really think she’s capable? You think
she could possibly possess the skill it takes to cloak that many people?” She
shook her head in disbelief. “It would require a tremendous amount of power.
I’ve never even heard of anyone being able to cloak more than two
people…certainly never as many as four.”

“Exactly, my dear.
It’s why they’re so desperate in their
search for Caitlin. She’s exhibiting some truly amazing abilities without
having experienced any formal training at all. All they can see is the raw
potential and what could be if THEY provided her training.”

Mom’s eyes widened and she desperately
grabbed at the front of his shirt with both hands. “Johr, we can never allow
them to find her! I’m afraid of what they will do to her. Ciro said something
about wanting to administer the
Proelefsi
. I haven’t heard of anyone being subjected to that test and surviving
it for centuries.”

Johr patted her back in an effort to soothe
her, while looking at the darkening sky. He rested his chin on the top of her
head.

He held her to his massive chest gently
massaging the tense muscles in her back until her grip on his shirt relaxed. He
put her bare feet on the cool marble floor, then reached behind him and tossed
something to her.

“We might as well enjoy ourselves while
we’re here – they’re clearly not in any hurry.” He pointed in the direction of
the beautiful pool area. “There’s no point in sitting here making ourselves a
nervous wreck. We would immediately know if she was in any danger.”

“I know, I know, but it doesn’t make me worry any less.” She sighed.

“You are her mother. Worrying comes with the
territory. She’s in very good hands, though, and Talon will protect her with
his life. I can assure you, if anything happens to our girls, those boys will
suffer some serious consequences.” He flashed a cheeky grin. “Now, go put that
swimsuit on and I’ll join you in a minute.”

Her face brightened and she broke out in a
blinding smile. The dark clouds disappeared and the sun reflected off the
surface of the water.

“Ok, you win.”

She threw the swimsuit over her shoulder and
gracefully strolled to the bathroom. The door had a delicate design etched into
the frosted glass and was framed by dark stained wood. She opened it to find
beautiful Travertine tiles lining the floor and shower, with golden and bronze
colored granite finishing off the counters and lining the deep oversized tub.
There was a full-length mirror framed in the same wood as the door, too. The
entire room was
absolutely exquisite
.
It was what you would expect to see in the bathroom of a modern
five star hotel, not in a building that had been around for thousands of years.

“Wow. They’re really rolling out the red
carpet. It’s beginning to make me a little nervous. Of course, my history with
the
Triada
would make any normal
person suspicious. Still, I promised Johr I wouldn’t obsess about it any
longer.” Mom mused aloud to herself.

Johr slipped into the suit that Ciro had
thrown onto the bed. It was a pair of black board shorts with a green design
running through it.

There was a low knock at the door.

“I’ve got it” he called.

Puk was waiting in the hallway holding a
tray filled with roasted lamb
,
 
cheeses
, olives, pantespani and
baklava, and a basket full of various breads. Behind Puk, stood a young boy
carrying another tray with a decanter of wine,
glasses
and a plate containing olive oil and herbs for dipping.

Puk bowed slightly. “Good afternoon, sir.
Where would you like us to put the trays?”

Johr motioned out to the tables near the
pool.

“Let’s just set them outside for now.”

The boy followed Puk outside and gently set
the tray down on the table, never raising his eyes from the ground.

Puk turned to Johr with narrowed eyes. “Will
you
be needing
anything else?

Johr shook his head no.

“Very well.
If you require anything else, just pull the
bell rope located next to the door.” He noiselessly strode from the room on
bare feet with the young boy close on his heels.

Johr stared at them wondering about the
relationship between the two.

Marne stepped out of the bathroom.

“What’s wrong? Did I miss something?”

“Wow. Ciro really outdid himself. That suit
looks like it was designed for you.”

She spun around to model the suit. It really
was a great bikini. The bottoms were mostly black with an emerald green design
and the top was an iridescent green to match. The top changed colors as she
spun around and the light hit it in different ways. She peeked at him coyly.

“You haven’t changed in all these years.”
She whispered, and ran her fingertips over him, marveling at how flat and
muscular his stomach was, as well as the breadth of his chest and shoulders. “You
are just as big as you were so many years ago.” She shook her head sadly.
“So many wasted years.”

His breathing sped up at her touch, startled
at her bold advance. He watched at her with a thousand questions in his eyes.

She cocked her head to the side and shot him
a playful wink. Before he knew it, both of her hands shot out and caught him in
the center of the chest, sending him flying backwards into a beige silk chaise.
She ran toward the pool, giggling as she dove into the water.

In the blink of an eye, he was in the pool,
cutting his way through the water, heading directly for Marne. She saw him
coming,
squealed
and paddled for the other end of the
pool as quickly as she could manage, but, she was too slow His calloused hands
closed around her slim ankles.

She giggled and thrashed around trying to
escape from his grasp. He ran his hands up her calves until his head broke the
plane of the water. She splashed him, looking for a chance to escape, but he grabbed
her around the waist and swung her in a circle. Mom threw her head back, laughing
with total abandon. She took his face in her hands, kissing him boldly. He
immediately responded to her advance. Tears streamed down Mom’s face. “Johr,
I’m so sorry.” She whispered.

“Shhh.
It’s all in the past. I’ll never allow them
to separate us like that again. Regardless of the problem, we can figure it out
together.” He brushed a lock of stray hair out of her eyes. “We’ll finally have
the chance to raise the children together.” He gazed at her lovingly. “It’s a
dream come true, now that I know what I should’ve been dreaming for all along.”

She took a deep breath. Johr gave her a
knowing look and pulled her close. Mom buried her face in his neck. He sat Mom on
a towel at the edge of the pool and walked to the table to get the trays left
by Puk and the young boy.

They spent the remainder of the afternoon
basking in the sun and enjoying the good food and wine.

Several hours later, there was another knock
on the door. Johr jumped up to answer it while Mom slept peacefully in the sun.
Puk stood in the doorway.

“Sir.
You have a little over one hour before the
company will convene for dinner. Master Ciro already brought you a change of
clothes appropriate for the banquet. If you require anything else, please feel
free to let us know.” He bowed and pivoted from the door. Johr shut the door,
making his way back to where Mom still slept soundly and he gently shook her
awake.

“Dear, you need to wake up. We’ve a short
time to get ready for the banquet. They just sent Puk to notify us.”

She rolled over and groaned. “Ugh. Just a
little while longer – I’m so comfortable.”

He grunted and rolled her back over. “Nope,
you have to get up now. We need to be alert throughout this banquet. Now hurry
so we’ll have enough time before dinner to work through a plan. It’s time to
see what the
Triada
has in store for
us.”

Chapter 20

Beaches
and Rings

My vision
slowly cleared as if waking from a dream and I realized Talon was shaking me
with a frenzied expression. “Caitlin, are you okay? What happened?”

I shook my
head in disbelief. “Would you think I was crazy if I told you I just had a
vision of my Mom and Johr in some huge palace-like building covered in white
marble?”

His eyebrows
drew together as he frowned. “No, I wouldn’t. I know the place you are describing.
Have you ever had these visions before?”

“No.”

He smoothed
my hair. “There’s never a dull moment with you.”

“I’d like to
have several dull moments right about now. I’m getting a little tired of all
the excitement.”

“Dull it is.
We’ll spend the rest of the day looking at the surf.”

“Deal.”

We left the
room and walked down the myriad of pathways. I was admiring the lush grounds when
they curved away, suddenly opening up to the pool area. Talon took me by the
hand and steered me through the maze of lounge chairs to a path leading to the
beach. The air was oppressive, like everyone was staring at us. It made me very
uncomfortable and I moved closer to Talon’s side, tucking my arm tight around
his waist. He put his arm around my shoulder, squeezing gently.

We stepped
out onto the beach and I followed him to an area with two-person canopied chaise
lounges. He stopped at one with a sign that read “Reserved – Raikaa”, and I
stood on tiptoe kissing him thoroughly while pressing myself against his chest.
He wrapped his arms around me, crushing me to his length.

“Do you two ever
come up for air?” Leah asked. I glanced over at the next set of chairs and saw
Leah and Jace lounging with a couple of surfboards leaning up against the short
fence separating the chairs from the beach.

I snorted. “Not
unless we have to.” I kissed Talon one last time to illustrate my point.

Jace winked
at me. “Geez, what took you so long? I thought we were going to have to surf
without
an audience.”

Talon
chuckled.
“Oh, the horror.”

A cocktail
waitress came by, giving Talon an appreciative, lingering glance. “Is there
anything I can get for you?” she asked arching her back toward him.

Leah and I
raised an eyebrow at each other. I strongly suspected she wasn’t just offering
him what was on the menu and her audacity seriously pissed me off.

Talon
stroked my hair. “Love, is there anything you want? I’d really like to see you
eat something.”

I leaned
into his chest running my fingertip down his washboard abs. Leah stifled her amusement;
she knew exactly what I was
up to
. “I’m not really
that hungry. Can I just have another smoothie?” I purred.

He gave me a
doting smile.
“Of course.
You can have anything you
want. I’ll deny you nothing.”

I glared at
the waitress and gave her a bright fake smile while keeping my fingers
intertwined with
Talon’s
. “I’d like a smoothie with
mango,
pineapple
and strawberry.” I checked with Leah.
“Do you want one?”

“Yeah, it
sounds great.”

I turned my
face up to Jace and Talon. “Don’t you want anything?”

Jace, still shirtless, sat up
from under the canopy, making the waitress gasp in surprise. “Yeah, why don’t
you get us a couple of Mai-Tai’s and a couple of burgers—extremely
rare.
”

I glanced
back at the server, thoroughly enjoying her look of disbelief at
being ignored
by Talon and Jace before dismissing her from
our presence.

“I guess
that’s all. Thanks.”

I stared
wistfully at the ocean. It appeared so calming and I was dying to get at least
my feet wet.

Leah hopped
up and caught me by the wrist.

“Talon, I’m
going to borrow Cay for a minute and we’re going to splash in the surf for a while.
K?”

Talon nodded
his head. “You ladies go have fun.
Ves’tacha
,
don’t overdo it and I’ll let you know when your smoothie arrives.”

I kissed him
on the cheek and followed Leah out onto the beach.

Leah spun on
me. “Okay, so spill. Are you happy? You seem so content. I can’t remember the
last time I saw you so mellow for any length of time.”

I stepped
into the surf kicking the water up with my toes. “Leah, it’s because I am
content. I’d love for this to last forever, but I know it can’t. Sooner or
later, reality is going to catch up with us, but I’m refusing to dwell on it
and I am, instead, living every moment to the fullest.” I gestured toward her. “What
about you? You two
were absolutely made
for each
other. If I’d placed an order for the perfect guy for you, it would’ve been
Jace’s face on the menu.” I snickered and quickly snapped to attention, clapping
my hand over my mouth when I saw a butterfly pass in front of Leah’s face. “Crap.
I really have to learn to control that.”

Leah
giggled. “Don’t look now, but have you noticed practically every guy on the
beach is staring at us? Did I lose my top or something?”

I twittered.
“I know. Isn’t it weird? I don’t understand it. What changed to make them watch
us like that? It’s going to make me paranoid.” I winked at her. “Maybe we
should double-knot our bikini tops just in case.”

We played in
the surf for a while kicking water at each other and squealing. Leah suddenly
elbowed me, nodding her head slightly toward the beach at two men who were rapidly
approaching us.

“Oh my God.
They aren’t coming over here are they?” I asked,
panicked. “Talon and Jace will freak out. Let’s just turn our backs and maybe
they’ll go away?”

I had been
through enough drama in the last couple of days; I really didn’t need any more.

“Good idea”
she said.

We faced our
backs to them, walking down the beach closer to where Jace and Talon were
sitting. I knew they could see us from their seats, so I wasn’t overly worried.

“Hi.” A
deep, timbered voice boomed behind us.

I kept
facing forward while looking at Leah from the corner of my eyes. “Crap. Leah,
it didn’t work.” I whispered.

She rolled
her eyes and smirked.
“Nice, Cay.
We’ll just have to get
rid of them. How hard can it be?”

Leah and I faced
the newcomers. They were both around six feet tall, blonde and
fairly muscular
. A month ago,
Leah
and I would’ve been a couple of drooling idiots around these two, but that was
before Talon and Jace. I sighed in relief; they were absolutely no match for
our boys.

“Hi.” I said
simply refusing to make direct eye contact.

“Are you
ladies staying here?” he asked with a wink.

I glanced
sideways at Leah with a gleam in my eye. “Yes, with our husbands. We’re here on
our honeymoon. What about you?”

He grabbed
his heart in mock distress. “Tell me it isn’t so.” He reached out one hand
like
he was going to caress my bare arm. “What man could
possibly be worthy of someone as beautiful as you?”

Suddenly massive
arms wrapped around my waist from behind.
“This one.”

I whipped
around finding myself looking directly into Talon’s chest. Jace walked over without
a word, threw Leah over his
shoulder
and walked back
to our canopied lounges.

I chuckled
and Talon stared at me in alarm before covering my lips with his. He cradled me
in his arms and walked us to our seats. “You were beginning to sparkle,” he
whispered.

I peeked
over his shoulder and saw the shocked looks of the men back on the beach. I
groaned and leaned my head against his chest. “When am I ever going to get a
grip on that? I’m sorry to be so much trouble to you.”

He kissed me
on top of my head. “I told you already, you are mine to protect.

Leah was
sitting on the edge of her chaise, doubled over with laughter. “Did you see
their faces? I don’t think they expected anything like our two giants.”

I shrugged
my shoulders at her. “What was that all about anyway? I wonder why they came up
to us like that. For that matter, why do I feel like the men around here are always
staring at us? It’s starting to get a little bizarre.”

Jace
grimaced. “You can blame most of it on your heritage–especially when the two of
you are together. Men will be attracted to your light. No pun intended, Cay.”

Talon sat
down next to me. “The rest of it you can blame on your relationship with me. As
soon as you and I had the first exchange, it made you more attractive to
Corpora
men…human men. Unfortunately,
each exchange makes it stronger. After last night, you’ll be leaving a trail of
broken hearts for days.”

I groaned
and threw myself backwards under the canopy. “Great. I spent most of my life
trying to be invisible and had gotten pretty good at it…now this.”

Talon ran
his hand down my back. “You ladies will have to forgive us if we’re a little
more territorial and hands-on than normal. We’re going to have a hard time with
all your new admirers.”

Leah leaned
back against Jace’s chest and his arms came around to embrace her. “I don’t
have a problem with the hands-on,” she giggled.

He leaned
over nuzzling her neck. “Good. You didn’t really have much of a choice.”

I rolled to
my side and peeked at her from under the canopy. “Leah, you are such a player.”
I hardly got the sentence out before I started laughing.

“Your order, sir.”
Our waitress stood with her chest thrust
out.

That effectively
stopped my laugher and I rolled my eyes at Leah. If it didn’t work for her
earlier, what made her think it would work now?

She put
everything on the small table next to Talon. As he signed for the bill, I
leaned to the left handing Leah her smoothie.

“Holy
cow
!
Caitlin!”
Leah shrieked as she took her glass.

We gawked at
her in shock. Jace froze with his hamburger halfway to his mouth.

She grabbed
my hand and held my ring up for Jace to see. “What’s
this
?
Oh my
God
,
Caitlin.
It’s breathtaking.”

I blushed
furiously, looking to Talon for help. The server was still standing there with
her mouth hanging wide open before eventually dropping her tray. I stared at
her pointedly and she picked it up and scurried away.

Talon took
my hand from Leah’s, kissing my knuckle just below my ring. “I wanted the world
to know she belongs to me. She deserves the best, even if she doesn’t believe
it.” He winked.

I narrowed
my eyes at Leah and grabbed her left hand. “And I assume this came from a
gumball machine? Leah, this’s gorgeous!” Her face flushed red. I raised an
eyebrow Jace. “Jace, is there something you want to share with the class?”

He shrugged
his shoulders and kissed her on the neck. “Same as you—I wanted these men, who
are watching you two like vultures, to know she had someone waiting for her at
home.”

I leaned
over, hugging them both. “I’m so happy for you both. You’re two of my favorite
people in the whole world.”

Talon put
his hands on either side of my waist, pulling me back against his chest where
he lay under the canopy. “Love, you desperately need to rest. I’d like you to
drink some of your smoothie and take a nap. I’ll stay here with you, so you are
not bothered.” He handed me my glass and I obediently sipped it.

“Okay, but only if you eat first.
I assume one of those
burgers is yours, since they’re so
rare?
What did they
do, shine a flashlight on the patty before bringing it out?”

Talon threw
back his head and laughed, showing all the cording in his neck. My pulse
quickened and a lump formed in my throat as he studied me with flashing eyes.

“Later, but only if you get some rest.”
He murmured.

I sat
cross-legged and drank my smoothie while Talon finished his burger.

Leah dried
her hands off on her towel. “Are you boys going to be okay if we go the
bathroom without an escort?”

Jace gazed
at her seriously. “Be careful, and if you two aren’t back in about ten minutes,
we’re going to come looking for you.”

Leah leaned
down, pressing her lips gently to his forehead. “We’ll watch out for each
other. I promise.”

Talon pulled
me into his lap and kissed me gently before setting me on my feet. He whispered
in my ear. “Don’t worry, Love. One of the benefits of our bond is that I’ll sense
if you become distressed.”

Leah and I
walked to the bathrooms side by side. I could feel Talon’s eyes burning into my
back so I twisted over my shoulder and blew him a kiss. As we passed by the
sand volleyball court, a volleyball hit the guy nearest us in the side of the head
because he was too busy watching us walk past. I had to choke back my amusement.

They called
to us from the court. “Wait. Come back. Don’t go. Come play just one game.”

Leah shook
her head as we kept walking. “You know, I never thought I’d say it, but that’s
going to start getting really irritating.”

“I agree,
and I’m not helping things with my
activities
with Talon, but I’m not willing to give them up either.”

She chuckled
and threw an arm over my shoulders. “I’d never ask it of you.”

We finally
found the bathrooms as my dizziness threatened to take over again. I hurried up,
washing my hands and leaning on the wall for support while I waited for Leah. She
stepped out of her stall and wore an expression of concern.

“Are you okay,
Cay-bear?”

I rubbed my
eyes. “Yeah, I’m just really tired. I’m beginning to really look forward to
napping in Talon’s arms right there on the beach.”