Promise (36 page)

"You already have, my love. More than you can
ever know." He gave me a squeeze and kissed the top of my head.

"So what are we doing today?" I asked as we
entered the cool house, a relief from the heat outside.

Tristan glanced at the clock. "In about two
hours, we need to go sign some papers to make this house officially
the property of Katie Andrews' trust."

"So…we have two hours?" I asked, smiling
mischievously.

"Hmm…that's what I'm talking about." He
returned the smile and I led him to the bedroom, leaving a trail of
clothes.

We drove back to Islamorada to an attorney's
office to sign papers, Tristan supplying an array of documentation
giving us both different names, his as the seller, Katie Andrews as
the buyer. Afterward, Tristan took me to a couple boutiques to buy
clothes. They were a little too showy for my style, so I let him
pick them out as I tried them on. He seemed to enjoy himself as
much as a guy could and selected several sundresses. He bought a
few things for himself, too, and we stopped for groceries.

Time passed strangely—sometimes charging
forward, bringing us toward reality way too quickly, and other
times seeming to stand still and it was just the two of us in our
own world with no cares. We did what we wanted. We sat on our beach
and swam, sometimes skinny dipping. Tristan disappeared for a few
minutes one day and came back with snorkeling gear, so we snorkeled
around our little beach. Well, I snorkeled; Tristan could hold his
breath apparently for hours. We prepared new recipes every night,
taking turns choosing what to make. We made love…I lost count how
many times, but a lot. We stayed in bed as long as we wanted, just
talking.

"When we do have children, how many do you
want?" I asked him one morning as we snuggled in bed.

"If it were possible, I'd love to have twenty
with you, my love," he said. "Making them is a lot of fun."

"
Twenty
? I'd be barefoot and pregnant
forever
…or at least until the
Ang'dora
. I was
thinking maybe three or four."

He chuckled. "Whatever would make you happy
would make me happy. However, Amadis daughters usually only have
one baby—a daughter. That is all that is needed."

"Really? Just one?" My heart sunk. "I want a
boy…who is just like you."

Tristan's brows furrowed. "Wouldn't be a good
idea."

"What do you mean? You're perfect!" I kissed
his chin.

He smiled. "
You
are perfect,
ma
lykita
. And I hope our daughter will be just like you.
Although, there'll be problems when she gets older, since her old
man
and
her mom seem to have anger issues."

"Yeah, we'll have to make Stefan or Owen her
bodyguard to keep her out of trouble and to keep us from killing
any poor, innocent boys."

"There's no such thing as an innocent boy and
that's what I'd be worried about."

I laughed. "So…you said we
usually
have only one baby. Is there any chance I can have a boy?"

"There's a possibility. Boy/girl twins run in
your family."

"Twins? Cool! I wonder what the chances
are…."

"I hope not much." His eyes darkened. "Trust
me—we really don't want a boy."

"That's not fair. You get your little girl. I
just want a little Tristan."

He grunted. "If it does happen, we will
not
name him Tristan Junior."

"No, we won't," I agreed. "
You
are my
Tristan. I just know he'll be like you. But what would you name
him?"

He shrugged. "Never thought about it."

Of course, I had. "I've always liked Dorian.
I used to use it in my stories a lot."

He hugged me. "If you like Dorian, then that
will be his name."

"You're too easy," I said, returning his
squeeze.

"I'm putty in your hands."

I rolled my eyes. "What about our daughter's
name?"

"Hmm…we don't make that decision. Rina will
likely name her. It must carry on the Amadis royalty's
tradition."

I frowned. "That's not very fair either. We
should get to name our own child."

"We can make suggestions. Alexis had been my
idea for you."

I stared at him open-mouthed.
"
Seriously
?"

He nodded, grinning.

"Okay, that's just weird. You named your
future
wife?
"

He laughed. "We
are
weird, my love.
Rina trusted me even then, had me sit in on council meetings. They
asked me my opinion and I gave it to them. It fits you perfectly.
It means protector or defender."

"Yeah, I looked it up once a long time ago
and I thought it was an oxymoron for me. At least until I punched
that guy in the face. I'm not proud I broke his nose, but
no
one calls my mom a whore."

Tristan chuckled and hugged me again. "
Ma
lykita.
My fierce little protector."

"And you are
my
ultimate warrior."

"I'll fight for you until the end of my
days."

"That would be forever."

"As long as you are by my side, I hope that
is true."

***

We had many similar discussions about our
future plans, keeping them on a happy note, avoiding the dark parts
threatening our strange lives. It was easy to forget about our
dangerous situation, because it felt like we lived in our own
personal paradise. Like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden…before
Satan's visit.

By the end of the second week, though, my
mood shifted. Classes started soon and the legal wedding
approached, too. Unless something changed our plans, we'd have to
go home. I cherished our peaceful time at the beach house and
didn't want it to end. On the other hand, we both grew a bit antsy,
feeling somewhat confined.

"I wish we could go to Key West," I said at
the end of that second week as we ate breakfast. "It looks like
fun."

"You're not really missing much," Tristan
said. "And it would definitely
not
be a good idea for
us."

"I know. I guess I'm just starting to feel a
little cooped up here. I don't want to leave, but I'd like to get
out for a while." I pushed the remainder of my pancakes around my
plate, the blueberries leaving purple swirls in the syrup.

"I should've brought the boat." He watched me
for a while, and then finally said, "I have an idea. Get your
bathing suit on."

He packed up my snorkeling gear and took us
to a nearby marina, where he rented a speed boat.

"Are you sure it's safe?" I asked as we
headed out.

"We'll be out in the middle of a big ocean.
The worst things out there are sharks and I can handle them." He
grinned. "In fact, that would be fun!"

I raised an eyebrow. "You're not serious, are
you?"

"About fighting with sharks? Absolutely.
Especially when they try to get away. You just hang on and let them
take you for a ride. Better than the Waverunner."

I laughed. "You've seriously ridden a
shark?"

"Yep."

"I don't believe you."

"I can show you. We'll go find some."

My eyes widened. "Okay, I believe you!
Please
don't go looking for sharks."

He laughed. "I thought you were bored."

"Not
that
bored. Just find some pretty
fish to look at."

"How about lobsters? They just came in
season."

I nodded. "If you get the lobsters, I'll cook
them."

"Deal."

He took us south until we could no longer see
land and only saw another boat every now and then and cut the
engine. We lay in the sun, swam and snorkeled. I was amazed at all
the beautiful life under the water—yellow, blue, pink and silver,
solid, striped and polka-dotted fish, among other creatures.
Tristan told me what we saw, but I couldn't keep track of what was
what. There was much more to see here than there was at our beach.
As promised, he caught a couple lobsters for dinner that night.

Toward the end of the day, I stretched out on
the bow, letting the sun bake me dry. I lay on my stomach, about to
doze off, when Tristan untied my top and started rubbing my back.
The warm sun and his electric touches made my skin tingle.

"Tristan…" I protested when he rolled me onto
my back.

"There's no one around for miles," he
murmured, keeping me from rolling back over by kissing me. It
wasn't long, though, before he cocked his head for a moment, and
then turned me back over. "I'm sure they're just passing by."

I lay there and listened as the sound of
another boat's engine grew louder as it came closer. It seemed to
be approaching steadily, not fading out as it turned off.

"Or maybe not," Tristan said, tying my
strings for me.

I sat up to see the boat pulling up to us.
The driver was alone. He apparently had spent many years on the
water in the sun, his face the color and texture of beef jerky and
his man-boobs hanging like leather pouches over his browned beer
gut. My sense told me he was bad.

"He feels wrong," I whispered to Tristan.

"It's okay. He's not
them
," he said
under his breath. He pulled his shirt on and handed me my sundress
as the man gave me a slow once-over, giving me the heebie-jeebies.
I put the dress on, not that it covered much.

"Hey, man, just wonderin' if you saw any
lobster down there," Leatherman called to us, his voice as rough as
his face, but friendly.

"Yeah, we saw a few," Tristan answered,
returning the genial tone. "Caught us a couple for dinner."

They exchanged small talk as I watched the
man suspiciously. I was surprised when Tristan invited him over to
our boat, but I figured when you're the "ultimate warrior" and it's
not a Daemoni trying to abduct your wife, you could be as friendly
as you wanted to be. It can still bite you in the butt, though.

"You two look pretty young to be out here
alone," Leatherman said after a while.

"Looks can be deceiving," Tristan answered
with a small smile.

Misunderstanding, the man looked around.
"You're certainly alone for now."

He was right. We couldn't see land or another
boat at all.

He suddenly jumped up and grabbed me with one
hand. He held a knife in his other. "Just give me whatever money
you got and everyone'll be okay."

Damn it!
One day out and this son
of a witch has to ruin it!
Tristan looked at the man's hand
roughly gripping my arm. He shook his head and smirked. We caught
each other's eyes and mine narrowed in anger. He nodded his head
once. I shoved my elbow into Leatherman's fat gut and spit flew out
of his mouth as he doubled-over. Tristan grabbed and twisted his
arm, the bone snapping audibly. He heaved the man back over to his
boat. Rattling off every cuss word imaginable, Leatherman quickly
took off.

"That was unpleasant," Tristan said after he
was gone.

"I told you I didn't like him." I
scowled.

He chuckled. "Nice job."

"You, too. But you didn't have to break his
arm."

"Sorry, didn't mean to. Do you forgive
me?"

I nodded. I'd rather Leatherman's arm be
broken than my neck be slit. I hoped that didn't make me a bad
person. "Maybe he'll learn his lesson. We make a good team,
huh?"

"Yes, we do. I knew there was a good reason I
married you." He winked. I gazed at him while he started the engine
and we headed back to cook lobster.

Chapter 2
5

Tristan's cell phone woke us up a couple
mornings later.

"Hi, honey, sorry to bother you, I know
you're having a great time," Mom babbled.

"It's okay." It was actually good to hear her
voice. I realized how much I missed her.

"Well, I just couldn't wait to tell you.
Someone from a publisher called today and she wants to read your
first three chapters!"

"
Really
? Already?"

"Yeah, it helps when you know peop—" She cut
herself off, as if she let something slip in her excitement.

I was too excited myself to ask what she
meant. "You know where to find the file, right?"

"Yes, I'll take care of it. This is great
news, honey!
Whoa
!"

"Mom? Are you still there?" She didn't
answer. "Mom, what's going on?"

"I don't know," she finally said. "It almost
felt like a small earthquake."

"You're in
Florida
, Mom."

"I know. There was something, though. Oh,
Owen's here. I need to go. I'll call you back." She hung up before
I could even say good-bye.

"A publisher might be interested," I told
Tristan, nearly jumping up and down on the bed. "Can you
believe
it?"

He grinned and gave me a bear hug. "Of course
I can. I told you, you're very talented."

Tristan's phone rang again a while later.
After looking at the number, he handed it to me. I barely had a
chance to say "hello."

"Put Tristan on the phone.
Hurry
!" Mom
didn't sound right at all.

I handed the phone back to him. "I'm
here."

A long pause. Then he sat bolt upright.

"
Shit!
Motherfuckers!" More silence as
Mom spoke. "No, we'll stay here for now…I'll call them…I know…I
will."

He snapped the phone shut.
Something's
wrong. Terribly wrong.
I stared at him expectantly as he just
sat there in silence. His jaw twitched.

"Tristan…?" I said quietly. He didn't look at
me, but stared at the wall.

"My house—our house—is gone," he said flatly,
distantly. "It exploded. Owen said it's just burning rubble."

"
What?
" I gasped, not
comprehending.

He paced the room with angry strides. My eyes
followed him, back and forth, as my mind raced, trying to make
sense of it. Is that what shook the ground all the way at Mom's
house? It had to have been a major explosion to reach that far.