“Wit’a woo Tottie Toots, look at you looking all hot and shit!” Pip said bouncing over to us with Adam in tow. Actually it was hard to say if it was Pip or the new owner of the Little Shop of Horrors!
“Wow Pip, that’s…well that’s…” I said trying desperately to find the right words to explain the utter outrageousness that was Pip’s dress.
“I know right! Isn’t it just amazeboozyballs?” She said twirling around and under Adam’s arm that he held up for her. I had to smile at the adoring way he looked down at her and her crazy dress. Although crazy was kind of an understatement as it looked as though she had robbed some gothic flower shop!
It started with a bodice that was made from strips of black see-through organza that crossed over her small breasts, which showed her little pierced nipples. Then over her shoulders like a shrug was some kind of long black grass that hung down almost like pointed fur. But it was the skirt that was the real show stopper. It started at her waist with a belt of real black dahlias and then from there started with a row of black violas that each had a hint of purple and a touch of bright yellow at their centres. After that it was a full ball gown skirt of raining black flowers all hanging down and layered by their stalks.
“Well it’s definitely you Pip, that’s for sure…although I must say it’s the first time I have seen you all in black.” I added noticing the only colour on her was from her tattooed skin and bright hair.
“I know right, but well this is an official snotty nosed business affair and with being a shadow Imp and all, then we chickidees normally are seen wearing black…I uh…” She leant closer after pausing which managed to pull Adam’s arm straight out from behind her as she hadn’t let go of his hand. But of course he didn’t seem to mind.
“…I’m kind of not like others of my kind and well…those bitches don’t like me.” She said looking a little sad which made me frown. However the deep belly growl came from the man at her back and I could tell it was more Abaddon responding than the more placid Adam.
“Oh that’s ok baby cupcakes, those meanie bo beanies can’t say shit to me the boring bastards! Anyway back to the pure awesomeness that is my dress, we have lilies, Irises, Tulips, Hollyhocks, roses…oh and loads of other shit in there but isn’t it pretty and don’t I smell incredadooble? Here smell my pits Toots!” She said lifting her arm up and thrusting her Pip pit in my face.
“That’s enough my little garden Winnie, we don’t want to be late if we are to get you first chance at those crab cakes.” On hearing her husband reminding her of this important fact, she gave me a big toothy grin making her black rose lip ring wilt down before blowing me a smacker of a kiss.
“See ya there Tootie doll!”
“Well it looks like I won’t be the only flower at the ball.” Sophia said coming from around the corner with two velvet boxes in her hand. She was also referring to her own stunning dress that was a deep crimson colour and the material had been so cleverly cut and sewn that the skirt looked like the petals of a blooming rose. Almost like she had stepped into the centre of a giant rose and then let the petals fall delicately around her.
“Sophia you look so beautiful!” I said only seeing her dress for the first time as before when she led me in here she had on a long covering cloak.
“Thank you but I believe all eyes will be on a new crowning jewel tonight.” She said cryptically. This was when Draven nodded to the table and then made a motion with his head cocked to the side like he wanted her to leave. She placed the boxes down and then bowed her head before leaving the room with a massive grin on her face.
“Am I missing something?” I asked looking round the now empty room where I was pretty sure Zagan and Vincent had also been.
“May I?” Draven said holding out his hand for me to take. I didn’t hesitate in doing so and he led me over to the table where the two boxes awaited.
“Draven?” I said nervously as I could very well guess what he was about to give me, especially since my neck was bare.
“I have had this in my possession for a while now.” He said looking down at the box and running his fingers over the top of it.
“I was going to wait but when you agreed to stand by my side tonight I knew the time had finally come… birthday or not.” He had continued to speak to the box until this very last part. I sucked in an emotional breath at his confession and his eyes shot to mine.
“This was my birthday present?” I asked clearly shocked.
“It was.” He answered and it was easy to see there was pain in his eyes with the memory he no doubt associated with my day.
“I can’t express just how sorry I am that I wasn’t there for you and I know this doesn’t make up for it but I wanted you to know that you still had my heart that day.”
“Oh God!” I said on a whoosh of air that escaped me as he finished this passionate admission when opening the box.
“Do you like it?” He asked after I just stared at the most beautiful necklace I had ever seen, other than the one I had torn off that awful day at the lake.
“It’s…it’s…” I mumbled making him laugh and I couldn’t seem to be able to move my hand from in front of my lips in awe.
“May I?” He asked lifting it from its case and holding it out to me. I could only nod my head as all words escaped me. I felt the few curls that hung down from my pinned hairstyle being brushed gently to one side and he must have felt my shiver.
“Such a beautiful neck needs not only to be framed in the treasures of the earth but to also display the heart she captured long ago.” He added verbally as he placed the heavy weight to my neck before he turned me to face the gold gilded mirror on the wall.
“I give you my heart, Keira.” He whispered in my ear making a single tear fall. I followed its path all the way down my cheek, the side of my chin and then my neck until it reached the large purple heart that lay close to my own. It was stunning and up until that moment I didn’t even know you could get diamonds that colour. It hung by a string of white gleaming diamonds which were flawless themselves but this wasn’t what held my attention. It wasn’t even the heart shape in which the main diamond was cut. No it was what was holding the precious stone either side and it was what my shaky fingertips were reaching up to touch now.
“You told me that you missed my wings, so I added them for you.” He said from my back and my watery eyes sought his in the mirror. Because he hadn’t just given me his heart, he had given me it encased in his wings. This was the exact moment I closed my eyes letting my tears fall and the power they held was the crashing of the waves against my guarded walls. It brought every single last one of them down into the sea of hope with a thunderous roar and I was left with only one thing I needed to hear.
“I need the words.” I said trying to force the sentence past my lips without my voice shaking like my body was. Then without a single second of hesitation he turned me around and said the most beautiful words in the world,
“I still love you.”
And then he kissed me.
Chapter 31
A Royal Appearance.
The kiss.
That kiss.
It was simply the kiss I had been waiting what felt like a lifetime for. It was a mind consuming kiss that stole my senses and electrified them. It was as if Draven had taken every last part of me and was trying to fuse our lost souls together so they would never be alone ever again.
It was the second he placed both his hands on my cheeks and pulled me to meet his lips his touch seared my skin with those delicious tingles. I had almost forgotten what they felt like. In fact I started to shake from the overload of emotions they caused and this was when he decided he too wanted more. He tilted my head to the side and one hand left my cheek to grip the back of my neck. I sucked in a breath and he took this opportunity to deepen the kiss, taking it to a dangerously sexual level. I knew this when he suddenly wrapped an arm around my waist and lifted me up so we were the same height.
Then he consum
ed me totally with an even deeper kiss.
It was raw power in the way he mastered my mouth. The way he tasted me and searched me out like he needed to remember. It rendered me weak and barely able to hold on. I could feel my cheeks were wet from tears that couldn’t be held back. It was all too much and yet because our bodies craved each other it wasn’t enough. It was like two extreme forces of nature coming together as one and you could just feel the dangerous power underneath the surface begging to be released. I felt his hand slide from my neck to my cheek and wipe away the tears there I had silently cried.
“Draven.” I didn’t know why I whispered his name I just knew that I had to.
“Don’t worry, I have you…” He said placing me gently down on the table.
“…and this time, I won’t ever let you go.” He finished before his lips once again claimed mine. And he was right…
He didn’t let me go, not once.
Draven
By the Gods I could barely believe I finally had her in my arms and was kissing her. It felt as if every cell in my host was coming alive for the first time again since the day all that time ago when my soul first entered it. My body hummed and almost shook with the force of it. In fact I wasn’t the only one with the compulsion to do so as I felt the beauty in my arms start to vibrate with the sheer force of our lips reuniting once again. This was where she belonged, right here in my arms and it felt like nothing else in, not only this world but the next!
But she had no idea how hard an emotion like this was for a man like me. The concentration needed to not hurt her by the overwhelming urge to crush her body to mine in a way that could somehow fuse our very souls together. It was like succumbing to the most dangerous drug and I was hopelessly and undeniably addicted. She was my beating heart, my life and my every breath that was needed for my body to function. But not only that, as it went far beyond the realms of the physical world. It was everything in my very creation as not only a man but as a child of the Gods. It was what I believed in my heart and not the organ that beat but the very core of your soul.
The essence of who you were.
And at my core, at my heart and what made up my essence, was Keira.
Keira
“Do you mean that?” I asked pulling back the tiny amount he would let me.
“That I will never leave you again?” I nodded not trusting myself to speak.
“Leaving you the first time tore my soul apart but leaving you the second would destroy every last part of it. I cannot, I will not and more importantly I outright refuse to leave you ever again, not even for one single day…do you hear me?” He said putting his forehead to mine.
“I…I can’t believe it…I just…I can’t stop shaking.” I said after laughing nervously at the end and he took my hands in his and held them to his heart between us.
“I know I haven’t always been truthful with you Keira and I will explain the reasons why…I will explain everything…”
“Okay.” I said waiting to hear it but Draven shook his head gently.
“But not now.”
“But why?” I said thinking nothing could be more important than the truth.
“Because sweetheart, as per usual these days, time is not on our side. But I promise you, I will explain after the Ball.” He said pushing back a stray curl behind my ear.
“Do we have to go?” I said fully admitting that I sounded desperate. He laughed without humour before saying,
“By the Gods you have no idea how much I wish we didn’t.” He said suddenly pulling me hard to him and kissing me once more. It ended as quickly as it had begun and he whispered down to me,
“All I want to do right now is pick you up and fly to the top of St Mark's Campanile to re-join our bodies by making love to you.”
“Oh God!” I said before grabbing his face with both hands and then being the one to force my kiss upon him. It took all of about two breaths taken before he took control of the kiss and soon our hands were all over each other.
“We have to go.” He said tearing his lips from mine before coming right back at me. I kissed him back and then pulled away myself saying,
“I know but…”
“Just one more kiss.” He said finishing off for me and finding my willing lips again. It was as though now our minds had finally let go of all the barriers we ourselves had put there, then now there was nothing stopping our bodies from celebrating the fact.
“Have…to…go…” He said as he now took to kissing my neck and my head fell back to look up at the ceiling in a dreamy haze.
“I know…uh, actually I don’t…why do we have to go again?” I asked and he pulled away from me to laugh.
“The Ball won’t start without me.”
“Seriously?!” I said and he shrugged before responding awkwardly,
“I’m their King.”
“Oh shit, then we really do have to go.” This made him laugh out the word,
“Yeah.”
“Okay then, let’s go.” I said pulling away from him but I found my hand quickly captured and as I was pulled back I fell into him.
“Not yet.”
“Draven?” I asked as he tilted my body backwards and just before he took what he wanted from me Draven said something very out of character but amazingly hot all the same.
“Let them fucking wait!”
And then he really kissed me.
“Can you run?” Draven asked and I shot him a cheeky grin before lifting up the front of my skirt with both hands.
“I don’t know, can you keep up old man?!” I said winking before turning round and running down the long gallery with a Demon King close on my heels laughing. Not surprisingly it didn’t take him long to catch up and he grabbed my hand as he went past, pulling me along with him. He looked back at me grinning and I wondered if the picture we painted was one of two lovers from the past on the run from the world?
“You guys are so late.” Sophia said shaking her head as we ran round the last corner together and down the steps. I went to answer her by stepping forward when Draven suddenly whipped me around and with a hand at the back of my head he kissed me in front of a speed boat full of his family and council. Then he let my lips go and pulled me towards the boat in a daze.
“We don’t care.” Draven said as he passed Sophia before nodding to the guy at the wheel. She then turned to me and couldn’t hide the shocked grin from lighting up her face. Only then did she really take in my appearance and turned an accusing look to her brother with hands on hips.
“Look at her hair, her makeup…what did you do to her, ravish her?!”
“Well it’s about damn time.” Vincent said making Draven step up to him and clasp his shoulder before agreeing,
“Yes, it certainly is.”
Sophia rolled her eyes at me but the smile didn’t match her pretend frustrations. Not only that but I think my own beaming grin was enough to show I cared little for my messy hair and smudged makeup.
“Come here and let me fix you.” She said and pretty soon with the Draven’s own brand of Mojo I was back to how I looked pre Draven and the beautiful confession.
“There, beautiful again.” She said standing back and obviously admiring her handy work. Draven walked up to me and pulled me into him like it was the most natural thing in the world once again. I wondered in fact if he had any clue what this was doing to me or my neglected nether regions?
“She’s always beautiful.” He said before kissing me like it was once again his given right. In fact it was slightly worrying at how much of a dream this felt. It was almost like stepping on thin ice and waiting to hear the crack beneath your feet. Because once you heard it you then knew you had no chance of reaching the other side and if I looked up I would only ever see one man that I needed to reach.
“Are you alright?” He asked me tilting my face up to no doubt get a read on my expression.
“Yes.” I said and with one raised eyebrow I knew he didn’t believe me. I was however tha
nkful when he said,
“Alright, Keira, I will give you this evening but you have to promise me something.” I just started to pull at my bottom lip with my teeth and nodded. He gave me a small smile before using his thumb to free up my self-inflicted torture.
“I want you to promise me that you’re not going to run scared from me.” We both knew why he said this because one look in my eyes and that was all he needed to know…I was terrified.
I nodded but it wasn’t enough for him.
“I’m going to need words, Keira.”
“I promise.” I said quietly making him smile.
“Good girl, now look, we are almost there.” He said turning me and pointing an outstretched arm towards a line of gondolas. The canal opened up into what almost looked like a lake and I could see the tallest buildings that we were heading towards.
“St Mark's Square is where our Ball is held every ten years.” Draven told me after shifting me to stand with my back to his front.
“Did you go to anything like this last year?” I couldn’t help but ask. I heard him sigh behind me and I gave him the minute he needed. Actually it felt so long to wait for my answer that I was surprised when he spoke.
“Yes I did.”
“Oh.”
“Keira.” He said my name in response to my dejected ‘oh’ and I felt him pull me closer to him as the boat steered its way closer to the side.
“Its fine, I understand life doesn’t just stop because we broke up.” On hearing me saying this he started laughing. I frowned and turned to face him, no longer caring about the spectacular view. However it was only when I saw his face that I realised it was a laugh of the bitter variety.
“But that’s where you’re wrong sweetheart, my life did stop. Yes, I had to continue in my duty to my people. I had to continue in my ruling and maintaining the balance in my world but I did this a shell of a man. I did this as a dead man walking. Which included coming to events like this and trying not to show my world their dead King.”
The Pentagram Child: Part 1 (Afterlife Saga Book 5) Page 35