The stares of those that remained at the graveside increased my mortification. My mother’s work friends and people she’d met over the years, distant family, the pastor and church members, and others I didn’t know judged me, deciding I was crazy or dangerous without knowing my past or the man who gave me life.
Teetering on the edge of my sanity, I knew I was close to losing control.
“Evan!”
I blinked, my mind rapidly trying to make sense of the sweet voice I heard. She was here? My Ari?
As our eyes met her own filled with tears and spilled over, racing down her cheeks with thin rivulets of rain water. My knees almost buckled. Running through the mud and soaked to the bone, she launched herself into my arms. I caught her and crushed Ari to my chest, my lips crashing down on hers.
All of the emotion of the day hit me at once.
I picked my girl up and strode forward, one thought on my mind. We reached my Harley quickly as I straddled the hog and she jumped on behind me. The black miniskirt she wore rode up her thighs and exposed that pretty alabaster skin. I gripped her leg with my hand and knew exactly what I’d be doing to her the moment we were alone.
I’d not waste another minute of my life.
My mother’s words echoed through my head.
“Life is fleeting and precious. We have to latch onto the happiness we’re given.”
From this day forward, I vowed to do exactly that.
“Ari,” I managed to ground out, my voice catching, “I need you.”
"I know, Evan. I’m here, I promise.”
Her words soothed the angry beast inside me as we rode away. The rugged rumble of the motorcycle’s engine purred beneath us as she slid her arms tighter around my waist. My left hand kept moving from the bar to her supple skin that was slick from the unending rain. Squeezing her flesh with promise, I didn’t have any doubt that she knew what I wanted.
“I’m here,” she repeated as a kiss pressed to my back. “I’m not leaving, Evan.”
Those three simple words – I'm not leaving – meant everything in that moment.
If my heart was capable of loving anyone besides my mother, that person was Ari. She was a symbol of everything good left in my life. In my shattered world she was my hope and salvation. I’d lose myself in her and forget the pain this day had brought. Even if it was only for a few hours.
When I was a child my parents used to take me to a log cabin in the woods, about a half hour outside of town. My dad would go hunting and my mother would sunbathe as I played in the lake. Precious memories that were irreplaceable now.
This was where I headed as the rain finally stopped and Ari clung to my waist tighter.
“I’m freezing,” she shouted above the wind.
“Sorry, babe. I’m taking us someplace warm and safe.”
We reached the cabin faster than I would have thought but I was speeding, hoping she didn’t catch cold.
“I’ll build a fire,” I promised, “once we’re inside.”
Shivering, Ari didn’t move as I slid off the bike. I wasn’t much better off. We needed to warm up fast and I knew the best way. Lifting her off the seat, I grasped her hips as her legs wound around my waist. Climbing the steps with haste, I stumbled into the front door as our eyes met. The covered porch protected us from the last of the raindrops as we leaned toward one another. The sensual kiss ignited a fire in my veins as I attacked her like a starving man, biting and nipping and sucking at her lips and tongue as if I could never get enough.
We made it inside the door, and I set her down on the couch, a confident smirk riding my features. “I’m going to start a fire and then warm you up, Ari. The next few hours I’m going to make you mine in every way and if you don’t want me to do that, I need to know now.”
“Evan,” she breathed, her eyes dark swirling pools of desire, “I want you to hold me and never let go. I want to feel you and share my heart, because I never want to be apart from you ever again.”
Her softly spoken words brought out the beast inside me. Not the angry hurting man of minutes ago at the funeral, but the passionate caring soul that loved her beyond comprehension. A part of me was hurting so badly that I wanted to weep but I wouldn’t give in to that emotion right now. There was plenty of time to wallow in the sad empty ache in my chest.
I didn’t know how long I’d have Ari in my arms. Her presence trumped everything.
We lay on several blankets in front of the fire, adjusting to the heat that spread throughout the room. The rustic décor was the perfect backdrop as the flames licked up the fireplace and flickered with hues of amber and crimson. Slowly and with great care, I removed every article of clothing she wore followed by my own. Pausing to admire the luster of her pale skin as the firelight danced across her luscious curves and sloped along each hidden valley, I lifted a hand to her cheek.
“I love you.”
Tears filled her eyes as she pulled me closer, my body covering hers as our naked skin pressed together. The only movement she made was to lift a leg and wrap it around my waist. Sucking in a ragged breath, I could feel the rapid beat of her pulse beneath my chest.
“I love you, Evan Porter, with all my heart.”
Everything faded into the background with her words. My lips lowered to her neck and peppered tiny kisses across her throat as I made my way back to her sensual mouth. Possessing her became my only thought. I needed to be one with her, sink into her, share my heart and bare my soul. Thrusting my tongue inside, my hips joined the movement as she moaned lightly. My fingertips traced the softness of her skin and dipped lower, tracing the inward curve of her waist as my hands tapered to the swell of her hips.
Joining our bodies, I gripped our hands together palm to palm, watching her every expression. “I’m not hurting you, am I?”
No,” she managed to answer, her eyes bright with emotion. “This feels perfect.”
It was perfect. Every exploratory touch of our skin. Each breath we took together. Every stroke of our flesh as we familiarized ourselves with one another.
Rocking into her with long gentle strokes, I whispered words of love and adoration. Ari needed to know how deeply I cared for her. As the rain began again and pelted the roof, I held my girl close. Hours sped by as I kept her within my embrace and refused to release her. Bringing Ari to the brink of pleasure over and over, I spent the entire afternoon buried inside her as much as possible.
I could face anything now, even confront the pain in my heart. With Ari’s love, I could do anything. I may be broken but I knew she would help me recover. When I brushed a finger across her soft cheek, she nuzzled my hand and repeated the words that owned my heart.
“I love you, Evan Porter.”
The declaration of her softly voiced confession echoed in my head as I lay her back against the blankets and showed my Ari every way possible that I loved her more than words could ever convey.
10
Ari
“Don’t you have to leave with the sunrise?” Evan asked, his arms holding me tighter as the words left his lips.
“No,” I answered with a smile, “I’m yours, Evan. Now. Always.”
He smiled so wide that I was nearly blinded by the brilliance. “I like the way that sounds.”
“Me too,” I confessed.
“You know, I used to think you must be a vampire since you didn’t visit me during the day. I guess I can cross that suspicion off my list.”
Laughing, I placed a kiss on his chest. “Vampire? Have I ever tried to suck your blood?”
He frowned. “Now that I think about it, no.” His lips quirked up in a grin as he swept me over his lap, covering us with a thick blanket. “There is something special about you, though.”
Surprised, I tried to avoid that particular conversation as long as possible. “Perhaps.”
“It’s okay, you don’t have to tell me now, but I hope someday you will.”
Lifting my chin, I pressed a soft kiss to his lips. “When I�
��m able, I will.”
His forehead met mine as we breathed silently, taking each other in. These last few hours had meant everything to me. Proof I didn’t make the wrong choice. Evan loved me as I loved him. Now that I was human, we were free to be together in every way. There was nothing to fear about being with the man that saved me from Hell. How ironic that he would never know.
Making love to Evan had been surreal, the feelings nearly overwhelming my newly human brain. Could you die from happiness? Was there such a thing as too much joy and pleasure?
We spent the rest of the night in the cabin. Never once were we apart more than a minute or two. I lost count of how many times we made love as the hours seemed an endless wave of ecstasy. Tired but happy, I climbed behind him on the motorcycle the next morning. It was a quiet ride back to his house, but I knew he had responsibilities that couldn’t be put off.
Evan left me to take a nap in his bed while he made phone calls and arrangements. He already mentioned that he needed a couple of weeks off work and his boss was cutting him a check and giving him vacation hours. Snuggled between the flannel sheets, I inhaled Evan’s scent. His musk and that rugged male smell, the hint of leather and motor oil, and the mint of his aftershave. I could bottle that scent and make a fortune.
I wasn’t sure how long I slept but a banging noise roused me from a deep slumber.
Sensing I wasn’t alone, I padded my way to his balcony and opened the sliding glass door. Outside on the beach stood all ten of my brothers. Ferocious snarls and glares appeared on their faces as they realized what I had done.
“Return, Ari.”
“No.”
“This is despicable.”
“No human is worth your immortality.”
Covering my ears, I tried to drown out their words.
“Ari!”
Evan’s voice broke through the chaos and I lifted my head, pleading for them to leave. “Please, don’t expose the daemon because of me. Go. I’m happy. I want this!” I shouted as they walked closer and I ran back inside, down the stairs and straight to Evan.
Jealousy, suspicion, and confusion clouded his beautiful blue eyes.
“Who are those men?” He asked, his jaw clenching in anger.
My secret was out . . . and once he knew Evan would never believe me.
Evan
* * *
“Who are those men?” I asked, my temper rising.
She blinked, confused. “What men?”
“The ones calling your name, who act as if the know you intimately.” Saying those words aloud nearly crushed my stiffening spine. “Have you betrayed me?”
“I don’t understand . . .” she trailed off, walking to the front door as the voices grew louder.
Ari flung the door open and stepped onto the porch, glaring at the group of ten strangers. One stepped forward, a strange black mist hovering over his body. Now that I noticed, all of them seemed to have a similar dark and imposing presence.
“You’re being summoned, Ari.”
She shook her head in defiance, backing up into my chest as I stood there, staring down the group and becoming angrier with every second that she didn’t answer me. “Ari is mine,” I called out, my arms encircling her with a surge of protectiveness. A sinister vibe radiated from the group.
“She doesn’t belong to your world, human.”
What the hell did that mean?
“You have no jurisdiction here,” she finally answered, “I am no longer daemon.”
Several hisses came from the group as they took a few steps in our direction. “Don’t do this, Ari.”
“The choice has been made.”
None of this conversation made sense. I was about to walk off the porch and force them to leave when they stopped advancing, their eyes darting around as if they were suddenly uncertain. An odd tingle rippled the air. For a brief second, I could almost taste their fear.
“The Dresh come for you,” one of them taunted.
“You will be destroyed,” another announced, although he didn’t look happy by the idea.
“That is no longer your concern.” Ari turned her head into my chest and the sorrow on her face deflated some of my anger. “Leave me to my fate.”
Several of the males wailed a mournful sound that brought goosebumps to the surface of my skin. Glancing down at my girl’s sweet face, I knew I had been wrong to jump to conclusions. “I don’t know what’s happening but I’m here for you.”
A sudden whoosh was felt as if the wind had paused and taken a deep breath and then released it with force. When my head lifted, the men were all gone.
“Who are they?” I asked, needing the truth.
“Come inside,” she whispered, slipping her hand in mine.
I let Ari lead me into the house as the door shut behind us. “Please tell me.”
“I’ve done something that could hurt us both,” she began.
Immediately my heart began to race faster. “What do you mean?”
“I’m not who you think I am, Evan. I’m not human.” As I gasped, she continued. “At least I wasn’t human two days ago.”
I had heard a lot of crazy shit in my lifetime, but this beat it all. “What were you then?” My sarcasm rode to the surface as a protective mechanism and I felt my anger rising again.
“Evan, I know this sounds unbelievable, but I was a daemon.”
A demon? “What?”
“I used to live in Hell,” she blurted, “until I gave up my immortality to return to the surface world and be with you, a human. I wanted to be human too.”
Taking several deep breaths, I tried not to lose my shit. “Ari, this isn’t funny.”
“I’m not joking, Evan.” As I glanced in her eyes, I could see she was serious. Ari believed what she was saying.
Oh, man. She was crazy. I mean totally out of her mind. Or, she was playing a prank.
“Ari, how could you do this right now? After I just buried my mother?”
“I’m being truthful, I swear it.”
I didn’t believe her. How could she be so different than the girl I confessed my heart to only yesterday? “This isn’t a joke. Messing with me is just screwed up.”
Tears filled her eyes, but I refused to acknowledge them. “I gave up everything for you. Why won’t you believe me?”
“Because it doesn’t make sense. It’s a lie,” I growled, frustrated that she wouldn’t let this go and tell me the truth.
“I’ve suffered in ways you can never imagine.”
That did it. Rational thought fled and I reacted, giving into the angry beast once more. “What do you know about suffering?” I yelled, lashing out at the one person who loved me above all others, and I couldn’t stop the train wreck from happening.
I’d held it all in for so long.
The fights and the abuse. My mother’s screams. My father’s hurtful words and fists.
Just when I thought I’d never make it my father had finally left us. Eight years of horror stopped in a single moment. The best thing that ever happened to me and my mother. We were supposed to make it.
She promised she’d never leave my side.
It was all a lie. Every. Single. Word.
Why did everyone I love lie to me? Why did they keep secrets?
What the hell was wrong with me?
It was too much. The funeral. My dad showing up with his new family. The will. My mother’s death. Ari’s denials and lies. I’d met my limit.
“Get out!” I screamed, flinging my arm wide as my body shook with fury. “Leave, Ari. I don’t ever want to see you again.”
She flinched. The shock and horror in her eyes gutted me but it was the betrayal that lingered in the depths that truly ripped my heart to shreds. Her dark eyes lost their sparkle as she shook her head in disbelief.
“You’d send me away? Forever?”
A rotten, filthy hatred swelled in my chest, but it wasn’t directed at her. I was disgusted with myself. How could I ever have believed
she loved me? That she’d tell the truth?
I couldn’t speak. No words would form.
Breaking down, Ari began to cry and sob, her chest heaving as she blubbered nonsense I couldn’t understand and in truth I didn’t care. There was nothing she could say or do in that moment to change my mind. The rage had taken over and in the midst of the storm I was completely numb to the devastation that would result.
Hugging her middle, Ari sniffled, then stood straight. “I know you don’t mean this. You’re angry and hurt. I won’t leave you forever, Evan. Don’t ask me to do that.”
Her words made it worse. I snarled at her, pointing at the door like a crazed sociopath.
“I still love you and I always will.”
When she was gone, I couldn’t breathe. My chest ached and felt so tight I thought I may pass out. Running into the garage, I hopped on my bike and sped away, recklessly taking turns way too fast as the fury inside built and reached a dangerous crescendo. The rain continued its relentless downpour as I slid across the asphalt and rounded the bend high up in the hills.
The combination of speed, slick roads, and my distraction proved disastrous.
The bars slid from my grasp as I leaned too far into the right turn. Instead of gliding along the ground and straightening, I ended up skidding across the asphalt. My body slid next to the bike and headed straight for a large oak tree. Hurtling toward death, I swear I had an epiphany.
I was a total and complete fool.
The sudden revelation that I was wrong and had given in to my temper came far too late. The motorcycle crashed into the tree as my body was flung, landing with a brutal stop against the metal railing on the side of highway. Bones were crushed. My clothes ripped and torn.
Flashes of color and little zigzags of light danced along my peripheral vision.
I’d done it this time. Certain as the sun rose and set, I’d become my worst fear. I had turned into my father. Groaning with the pain that danced and vibrated along every nerve ending, I tried to move but wasn’t able to go far.
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