Tucker’s eyes burned. “It’s nothing.”
“It’s just…” Carl looked at an invisible spot on the wall. “There was always something magical about her, you know? The way she could lift the spirits of a room or read my mind better than I could myself. It didn’t seem so far-fetched they might want her on some other planet. Earth’s best offering.” Tucker’s father shook himself, reddening a little, as if he’d been caught in a private reverie. “But now you’re the one talking nonsense. About not being able to leave this…dark world. You can. You can come home.”
As always, the word home stirred a longing ache inside of him. That’s all he ever really wanted. A place to belong. And after the vision he’d had of himself and Mary and the porch, the craving for that imaginary place was more powerful than ever. “No. I can’t.”
“There’s something different about you. I can see that, plain as day.”
“Interesting choice of words.”
“But you’re still the same man underneath,” his father persisted.
Something caught in Tucker’s throat. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Tell me the whole truth.”
“I’m trying.” Tucker dropped his head into his hands, listening for Mary’s pulse in the back bedroom, the dulcet beats reassuring him of her safety. “I’ve thought about this conversation a thousand times, but I never thought it would actually happen. It’s harder than I thought it would be to look you in the eye and say the words. I don’t want to be the reason you live in fear from now on. I don’t want to leave you with that.”
“I’d rather live in knowledge,” Carl said evenly. “You already know that about me.”
“Yeah.” A reluctant smile teased his mouth. “Maybe we should have swapped places. I would have been happy for the rest of my life picking up a six-pack on a Friday night and watching the ball game. Ignorance would have been bliss.”
His father tilted his head. “You’d really choose ignorance?”
Tucker’s smile dimmed and he cast a glance down the hallway to the back bedroom where a familiar glow spread out from beneath the door. “Maybe up until a few days ago.”
“Ah.” Carl nodded knowingly. “I know how that goes.”
You don’t know the half. “All right, Pops,” Tucker sighed. “Hold on to your hat.”
He wove his fingers together and cracked his knuckles, shaking out his hands. Then he closed his eyes and thought of Mary cowering beneath the table in the diner. Thought of the man taking a threatening step in her direction, planning to do her harm. And a static roar began in his ears, electricity racing down to his fingertips. When he opened his eyes, everything in the kitchen had elevated and his father was walking through the scene with an incredulous expression on his face, ducking beneath the toaster, waving his hand around it as if to make sure some trick hadn’t been employed.
“This is extraordinary,” his father whispered. “How are you doing this?”
“This? Is new. And this is the first time I’ve tried to control it, so watch your toes.” Once again, Tucker listened for Mary’s heartbeat and calmed himself enough to bring the appliances and knickknacks back down, some of them landing far harder than others. By that time, his father had journeyed to the other side of the kitchen, so Tucker accelerated out of his chair, splitting atoms in two with a burst of speed to stand directly in front of a wide-eyed Carl. “Warn me if you’re going to faint again.”
“Lord almighty.” He took off his glasses and cleaned them with the end of his shirt, slapping them back down on his face. “Just tell me in black and white.”
“I’m a vampire.”
A long haul of silence passed. “Well, based on the pale complexion and the fact that you haven’t aged a damn day, that was my original guess, but…” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “Then you threw telekinesis at me.”
Tucker shrugged. “It’s complicated.”
His father jerked his chin toward the hallway. “Is she like you?”
“No.” His father was taking this way better than expected. Tucker hoped that meant he was prepared for a little more. “She’s a fairy.”
Down went Carl, eyes rolled into the back of his head.
This time, Tucker caught him.
Chapter 16
Mary lay curled on her side on a bed, hands tucked beneath her chin.
Her eyes burned with unshed tears, but none of them had fallen.
She didn’t know where she was, in relation to the rest of the house, but she was undeniably secure. Tucker had let her walk into the room and close the door, so it was safe. Not to mention, she could hear the muffled sound of his voice nearby.
And in that moment, she really, really resented the fact that someone who’d lied so inexcusably to her could make her feel safe.
I’ve agreed to marry one man…and I’m the mate of another.
Not just any man, though. Tucker.
Even though he’d explained his reasons for secrecy, her brain continued to pose the question, why? Why? Over and over again. No explanation satisfied her. It was possible that nothing ever would again. Because how could she live knowing Tucker was out there alone, in need of his mate, and would never have her?
The knowledge that he’d be eternally restless was like a sledgehammer to the ribs, making her curl tighter into herself, trying to keep her breathing pattern normal.
In, out. In, out.
Even after the lies, she longed for him to open the door and join her in the room. To be as close as possible. To put his arms around her and call her his mate.
Dangerous, pointless wishes that she should not indulge in.
Her body had other ideas, though.
Mary turned her open mouth into the comforter, the rasp of material against her lips somehow erotic. She rolled onto her stomach and tilted her hips, exhaling at the pressure against her pubis, her palms raking up the comforter, twisting in the sheets tucked beneath the pillow case. There was nothing unusual about being aroused in Tucker’s presence, but this was different. More. Knowing she was his mate, that she alone could give him release, set loose a flurry of pulses to her libido, playing her desire like a harp.
Her marriage to Hadrian would be platonic. She wouldn’t be forbidden from taking lovers, either. Even if the plan was to remain here in the human realm, Tucker would never go for being her lover whilst she was married, even in name only. He was too honorable, too traditional and it would be impossibly hard for her vampire, being with her when she belonged to someone else, even if just on paper. But she wasn’t married yet.
God, she was righteously angry at Tucker. That didn’t stop her from wanting to give him one night. Give him the full satisfaction he would be denied if she married…
Wait.
If?
When had she started thinking in terms of if?
Uncertainty didn’t belong here. She’d made promises to her mother. To herself.
To marry Hadrian, whether he was a negative force or a positive one, meant seeing the world for the very first time. Being independent and knowing what mountains, oceans, rivers and people looked like. That was not a small thing. It was a gift that couldn’t be quantified.
She’d never see Tucker through her new eyes, though, and that fact made her miserable. Made her panic.
And the panic made it impossible to ignore that yes, this marriage was the means to making her dreams come true, but she was marrying the bad guy, wasn’t she? No sense in pretending otherwise. Hadrian wanted to dethrone the current king for being too peaceful. For supporting vampires and their quest to live with as much normalcy as possible. Whereas Hadrian didn’t want their true instincts subdued, or even controlled, in any way.
He wanted war and power.
She was leaving the best man for potentially the worst.
Would she ever feel at home again?
Even angry at Tucker, she was still in the exact right spot. That knowledge stirred her blood. And lord, lord, she was confused. Her body wa
s screaming for an outlet and some deeply rooted part of her knew what it would be. What was necessary. If she didn’t give Tucker the satisfaction that only her body could, she’d live up to her name and truly go mad.
A knock on the door made her sit up, her head turning in the direction of the sound.
“Tucker?”
“Yeah.” The floorboards groaned in the hallways. “Can I come in?”
Mary wet her lips, thighs rubbing together anxiously. “Yes.”
A creak was followed by boot steps coming closer, then the soft closing of the door. “My father has, uh…crashed for the night.” He sounded almost shy. “He’s not used to this much excitement.”
She smoothed her palm over the bedding beside her, determining that there was enough space for Tucker to sit down. He didn’t take the hint, however, making her frown. “Did you tell him?”
“Sure did. He took it better than I expected. Aliens, fine. Vampires, no problem. Who’d have thought it would be the existence of fairies that threw him for a loop?”
“Oh dear. I’ll have to make a good impression tomorrow.” She took a moment to marvel over that. “Tucker, why are you standing so far away?”
“You’re going to think this is crazy, but I think it’s being back in my old bedroom. It’s the first time I’ve had a girl in here.”
Pleasure trickled into her belly, spiking her already potent awareness. “Oh.”
“Look,” Tucker said. “I’m sure you’re still angry at me. You have every right to be. I should have told you the truth. Should have told you what—who—you are to me, Mary.” A beat passed. “I worried it might alter your decision…and you can’t do that. I’m not what’s best for you.”
A sharp wrench took place in her stomach. “Why?”
“Why?” He sounded incredulous. “Everything you’ve been dreaming about lies in the other direction. With someone else. I’m not going to be selfish with your future. That’s the thing about having a mate. Their happiness is the most important thing.”
“No. That’s the thing about having Tucker for a mate. Don’t talk as if everyone out there is just like you. Or like you’re operating under some universal code. It’s who you are.”
He said nothing, but the swell of his concentrated longing for her hung in the air.
It had been there all along. But it had a name now.
Mate.
I’m his mate.
And she was going to seduce him.
It was the only way he would accept the once-in-a-lifetime pleasure she represented.
Anticipation crackled in her nerve endings as she scooted to the edge of the bed, letting the dress ride up high on her thighs. “Will you tell me what your old room looks like?”
His voice came out sounding like a painted-over window being pried open. “Of course.” Floorboards groaned, but he moved farther away, not closer. “Well I told you before I look like a linebacker and once upon a time, I’ll have you know, all this cushioning wasn’t just for show. There are a couple of football trophies sitting on my dresser by the window. Regional champions 1999. On your left. There’s some Entourage DVDs stacked on a shelf to your right. Not too proud of that. Lot of muscle car posters.” He chuckled under his breath, but it faded away quickly. “There’s a ukulele in the corner that belonged to my mother.”
“Do you play it?”
“She taught me one song when I was eleven. There’s no way I remember it.” Mary was going to let him get away with that, but a twang of strings told her he’d picked up the instrument. A second later, he strummed it, releasing a series of dull notes into the room. “It’s old and out of tune, but, uh…”
It was during the second chorus of You Are My Sunshine that Mary realized she was in love with Tucker. His voice was deep and almost conversational, the way he spoke the lyrics, reminding her a little of the Johnny Cash she’d occasionally hear drifting up the stairs from Enders. Smoky and warm and Tucker, through and through. And she loved him. God, she did.
That compelling initial connection between them had turned to a bond that couldn’t be severed. Not by time or distance or marriage to another. But this love? It was separate from that. Perhaps it ran parallel, but it was based entirely on a deep, breathless appreciation for every single trait that comprised this vampire. His humble attitude, his loyalty, his heart. His voice, his guardian’s energy and the fact that he could admit when he was wrong.
I love you.
She ached to say those words out loud. Did she dare?
Yes, she’d started thinking in terms of if. If she married Hadrian. What if she chose her family, her sight over Tucker? Then she would leave him without a mate and with the knowledge that his mate had fallen in love with him? Could he survive that pain?
Mary made a rough sound in her throat and Tucker stopped playing abruptly. “Are you okay?”
“Yes,” she managed, swallowing hard. “How long until sunrise?”
“Just under three hours. Then I guess I’ll be spending the day in the storm cellar until we leave for the final stretch of the trip.”
“I’ll spend it with you.” Loath to think about the final anything with Tucker, she held out her hand to be helped off the bed, giving him no choice but to touch her, though she could sense his hesitation. As if he sensed her determined mood, but didn’t quite know the cause. “Will you take me for a walk?”
His big fingers jolted slightly against hers, before firming, holding her hand in a protective grip. “Of course,” he said dryly, guiding her to the door.
“You sound…funny.”
They walked side by side down the hallway, but it must have been narrow, because her hip kept brushing his upper thigh. “It’s just that on the way here, I was thinking…this felt kind of normal. Bringing home a girl to meet your father. Spending the night in separate rooms—”
“Why?”
“Ah, it’s just a tradition, I guess. A sign of respect. When you’re an unmarried couple, you sleep apart under your parents’ roof. Especially if the girl’s father is in residence. Then you sleep your ass on the couch or wake up to a shotgun in the face. Come to think of it, I think most of this knowledge is coming from romantic comedies I watched in the nineties. Watch your step. There’s two of them.”
Mary smiled. “I still like it. Especially that you felt normal.”
A breeze coasted over her face, telling her they were outside. Before she could even shiver, Tucker had draped his jacket around her shoulders, taking her hand again. “Then I thought, if this was normal and we were a human couple, we’d probably sneak out in the middle of the night to be together.”
“And here we are.”
“And here we are.”
“What would we do on this sneak out? If things were normal. And I was just a girl you were bringing home to meet your father.”
“Oh…” Somehow, she could picture him rubbing at the back of his neck. “I’d probably give you an amateur astronomy lesson. Try to impress you.”
She grinned. “I’d totally buy it.”
“In that case, just overhead is the famous squirrel fight constellation. There are nine stars…arranged exactly in the shape of two squirrels trying to get the same nut. It’s Greek.”
No walls sent the sound of her laughter echoing back, so she pictured a wide-open space. “Tell me what everything looks like.”
“Pretty dark. The moon and stars are the only light, except a little spilling out from the house. We’re in a field that goes on for about two acres, before you’d hit the trees. They’re probably turning orange for fall about now. The grass you’re walking on will be knee-high in the spring, but right now it’s kind of laying low from being scorched all summer. We’re just in the wide open, really. Swallowed up in the night.”
“I want you to make love to me.”
His hungry energy ripped through her. “Oh Jesus Christ. You didn’t even warn me.” They stopped walking and his hands settled on her shoulders. “Absolutely not, Mary.”
>
The desire spilling off of him practically had her panting. “I know what you’re thinking. That I’m offering myself out of guilt. Because I’m your mate and I might be leaving you—”
“Whoa whoa. Might be?” Tucker’s hands dropped away from her shoulders like forty-pound stones. “God, Mary, you can’t be thinking of changing your plans. This is why I kept it from you.”
“Tucker…I’m scared.”
That brought him up short, his sudden alertness raising the hair on her arms. Her vampire did not like it when she was fearful—and she would have felt bad for using his protectiveness against him if it wasn’t true. She was scared. “Why?”
“I wasn’t scared to marry Hadrian before, because there has only ever been isolation and solitude for me. Anything was better than that. Don’t you understand? So I was just running toward it with open arms, ready to make any tradeoff necessary to bring my family back together. But now there’s you. I’m not alone or isolated now. I have something to lose.”
“I can’t give you what he can,” Tucker ground out.
“Stop telling yourself what you can’t give me. And believe in what you can.” She shrugged his jacket off her shoulders, let it slough to the ground and started unbuttoning her shirt. “Of course I was willing to do anything to get my sight back. To be whole. It was the reason my mother and I were left behind. My blindness has been a curse my whole life. But you don’t make it feel like that. You fill my head with beauty. You make me feel like I’m already whole. Like I don’t need to change a single thing to be accepted or loved.”
“You don’t,” he said without hesitation, coming closer, so close his voice was above her.
“How do you know?”
“Because I already love you, goddammit, Mary.”
She reached up and thread her fingers into his hair. “I love you, too.”
Tucker made a choked sound and then his mouth was on hers, communicating his desperation with every soft twist of his lips on her, every sweep of his tongue. She bloomed under the kiss, her heart opening for him, as if he were the sunshine, her breasts growing tender against the hard pressure of his chest. His fingertips were reverent on her face, tracing her cheekbones, cupping her jaw, but they traveled south as the kiss grew wilder, scrubbing down to her hips and clutching, securing their lower bodies tightly together and groaning into Mary’s mouth.
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