Love's Challenge (Pearl Vampire Chronicles #5)

by Dara Nelson

  “Sarah, stop running,” he bellowed, as I crashed into him. It felt like I had run into a brick wall. I went flying backwards and landed on my back in the sand. I lay there gasping for a few minutes, afraid to look to see if he was still there. I finally squeezed my eyes shut, lifted my head and looked. Of course there was nothing there. No Jonas. Nothing. But I knew that I couldn’t run anymore. It was hopeless. I sat up, put my head on my knees and cried. When I finally lifted it up and stared at the waves crashing to shore, Matt and Carlos were sitting on either side of me, waiting. I knew they would be. I started at the beginning, which, for me was the moment I woke up and knew that he had impregnated me.

  “I felt so ashamed. That’s why I couldn’t tell you Carlos.” I sobbed.

  “Sarah. Why the hell would you feel ashamed? You didn’t do anything. Hell, you weren’t even conscious for it. He did this to you. He did this to you and that’s why I’m going to kill him,” Carlos hissed.

  “No, Carlos, you can’t kill him. You just can’t kill him, and I’ll tell you why in a minute,” I said as I continued telling them about the pregnancy. I told them about the morning sickness, the vomiting. I told them how he kept me naked the entire time I was pregnant. I told them about the pain when the baby started moving around. I told them how Aquila would calm the baby by placing his hand on my belly to keep him from hurting me. And then I told them about how Aquila told me that I had to learn to love the child in order for it to not tear its way out of my belly, in order for me to survive the delivery. I had to love it and be strong for it. “I had to. I would rub my belly and talk to him whenever he was trying to move. I fell in love with him. I still love him, I can’t help it. That’s why you can’t kill Aquila, Carlos. Because Aquila is his father. He’s my son’s father.”

  “But he raped you, Sarah. How am I supposed to forgive that? How can you forgive that?”

  “Because, his species is more animal than human. In his world there is no such thing as rape. They mate to reproduce, to keep the species alive. He chose me as his mate. That’s all it was. Even though it felt different for me, that’s all it was to him. I can’t hate him for that. And I can’t hate him because he spared me the agony of being awake when he did it. He was kind enough to do that. He has a good heart, and he loves that child so much, and, and, and, oh God, no,” I cried as my final memory burst into my head. The memory that I was trying desperately to keep away. “His eyes. He has my eyes. He has Scotty’s eyes. Oh Jesus, he has Scotty’s eyes,” I wailed.

  They both looked a little confused,

  “I saw him, too, Sarah,” Carlos said. “He did have your eyes. What do you mean they were Scotty’s eyes? They looked exactly like yours to me. I’m not sure I understand. You’re saying they were your son, Scotty’s, eyes?”

  I nodded. “That’s what you don’t understand. Carlos, is that DVD still here? The one that Malina planted in Matt’s house? The one that showed her supposedly killing Matt? The one that started with the old video of mine of Scotty as he got ready for his fishing trip with his Dad on the last day of their lives?”

  Carlos nodded. “It’s in the desk drawer in the upstairs study, why?”

  “Because I have to show you. You have to understand,” I said as I jumped up and held my shaking hands out to both of them. They had to know why they couldn’t harm Aquila or this child, and this was the only way to show them. Matt walked with me to the couch while Carlos went up the stairs and grabbed the DVD. He popped it into the player, then handed me the remote and sat next to me on the couch. I clasped my hand in his and leaned into Matt as I tried to find the strength to push play. But I couldn’t find it. I stared at the television for a minute, trying to figure out what I needed to get through this and suddenly it hit me. What I needed was something I hadn’t thought of since before Aquila grabbed me. I turned to Matt first. “Kiss me,” I said.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Kiss me, please? And not a peck on the lips either. I mean really friggin’ kiss me.”

  Matt’s smile lit up his face as he leaned in and planted one of those kisses on me. I was gasping when he stopped. Then I turned to Carlos. “Now you. Please, kiss me.”

  “Sarah, I’m not sure that’s such a good…” he stopped when I grabbed his checks and locked my mouth on his and I gave him one of those kisses.

  “Jesus, Sarah,” he gasped when I finally pulled away. My shaking hand picked up the remote and pressed play. It only took a moment before Scotty’s beautiful face lit up the screen and I pressed pause, freezing it there.

  “Link with me and I’ll show you the memory of when I saw the baby’s face in the cave,” I said, and they did. We all opened our eyes at the same time and stared at the screen in silence. I relaxed and took a deep breath because they understood now. Now they knew. And now we could all start healing.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Juan squealed as I grabbed him from behind and flew him down the stairs and out the front door. We flew a few hundred yards off shore and I pointed to the dolphins jumping through the water below us. Carlos called out from our left, “I’ve got some sharks over here.” I flew over to where he was and handed Juan to him, then I moved to hover directly behind Carlos. I kissed the back of his neck and he shivered. We flew back to shore and landed where Matt was waiting for us. Carlos started to move away, but I held tight to his hand and pulled him toward me, giving him a quick, yet tender and loving kiss.

  “See. I told you, you should be married to both of them, Auntie Sarah,” Juan said.

  Matt leaned down to Juan. “You told Aunt Sarah that she should be married to both of us?”

  Juan nodded. “When they were visiting last Christmas. I told her it felt to me like she already was.”

  “And you said this to them before they left to come home?”

  Juan nodded. Matt watched both of us. “Kids see everything, don’t they? Even the things we don’t,” he said as we both nodded. Matt pulled out his cell phone. “You guys go on inside. I have to make a quick phone call.” I gave Matt a kiss, completely unaware of what he was about to do, and headed inside with Carlos and Juan. Matt joined us a few minutes later and he was strangely calm and quiet.

  Matt, Carlos and I had spent two weeks alone on the island, and, yes, my sexual appetite had returned, with a vengeance. But Carlos and I had fought the urge for it to be us. We both felt like that was the right thing to do. So he had slept in the guest house while Matt and I rediscovered ourselves. But we all spent our days together. And Carlos and I found ourselves beginning to enjoy the buildup of sexual tension between us. Probably because we knew how explosive it would be when we finally gave in to it again.

  Matt had suggested having Cindy and the kids join us for a week before we went home; something that I soon discovered that I really needed. It was the first time I had really laughed again. It was interesting this time, because Cindy brought her new boyfriend Kevin with her. She had already explained to him what we were, but actually meeting us was a little nerve-wracking for him. But he soon got over it and had a blast. And I couldn’t help teasing Cindy about how much Kevin looked like Carlos.

  “Jeez, Cindy. He could be Carlos’ twin brother,” I said as she blushed.

  “Yeah, but at least Kevin can eat my cooking,” she joked, “and he adores the kids, Sarah. That was the clincher with him.”

  “I can see why. He’s awesome, Cindy.”

  I walked up the stairs to pack my things. The plane was going to be here tomorrow morning to fly us to Corpus Christi to drop off Cindy, Kevin and the kids, and then home. I started folding my things and tucking them into my open suitcase and I didn’t even hear Matt come in and sit on the bed behind me. “Sarah? Would you come sit down for a second?” he whispered. I stared at him in the mirror. Something about his tone scared me. I sat next to him and he clasped my hand in his. “You’re not coming on the plane with us tomorrow, honey,” he said.

  My head whipped around to stare at him. “What? What do you mea
n? Are you leaving me?” I gasped.

  He smiled and kissed my forehead. “Honey, you really need to stop doing that. I am not leaving you. I will never leave you, ever. I just wish I could convince you of that. I want Carlos to bring the boat to Corpus Christi so Cindy, Kevin and the kids can enjoy it. If we need it at the island, we can just fly in to Corpus Christi and drive it from there. It’s only a little farther boat ride from there than it is from Miami.”

  “So you want Carlos to drive the boat to Corpus Christi, but what does that have to do with me not being on the plane with you?”

  “Because I don’t want him to make that trip alone. So I’m going to fly to Corpus Christi with everyone else. I want you to make the boat trip with Carlos.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous, Matt. I’m going on the plane with you.”

  “No, you’re not, Sarah,” he said then we both heard the knock on the door downstairs. “Ah, he’s here,” Matt said.

  “What? Who’s here?”

  “Aduviri.”

  “Why is Aduviri here?”

  Matt reached over and grabbed my unscarred hand. Part of the process to create a vampire involved a ceremony performed by an Aztecan medicine man that creates identical scars – something called a ‘linking ceremony.’ One of the nice benefits of these scars is that they allow us to feel everything that the other person is feeling when they touch.

  “Because you have two hands and two loves, Sarah. And I think little Juan is right.”

  I stared at my hand for the few seconds it took me to realize what he was saying. I gasped. “Matt, I, Matt, you don’t have to do this,” I whispered.

  He nodded. “Yes, I do, Sarah. He needs this. He needs you. What you two share doesn’t take anything away from you and me. I see that now. I can live with that. Aduviri’s going to marry you two tonight, with all of us here. Then tomorrow, after we’re gone, he’ll perform the linking ceremony. You two can use the travel time on the boat as your honeymoon. Then it’s back to you and me for a while.”

  “But, but, will you be waiting for me in Corpus Christi when I get there?”

  He smiled his amazing smile. “I will be. Unless there’s some huge emergency that forces me to go home early. But if that happens, I will be waiting for you at home, Sarah. I’ll be waiting for you and I’ll still love you. I will always love you.”

  “You promise?”

  “I promise. Now, I think you might need to go talk to Carlos for a minute. He’s never been married to anyone before, ever. Not even Maria. They did the linking ceremony but they never actually got married. Even though it’s you, I think he might be freaking out a little,” he said, smiling. I got up and walked toward the door, but stopped when I reached it. I put my hand on the doorknob and slowly closed the door and locked it.

  “He’s just going to have to wait a few minutes,” I said as I turned and flew into Matt’s arms, locking him in my arms and drinking in his love for me.

  A while later. “Jesus, Sarah. That was a-maz-ing with a capital A,” Matt said as he lay back and tried to catch his breath.

  “I thought so too. Now, can you please get dressed and come watch me marry my second husband?” I said, smiling.

  “You’re sure he’s gonna go through with it?” he grinned.

  “Do you really think he has a choice?” I said as I crossed my arms over my chest. Matt smiled and shook his head.

  “Just get everybody gathered downstairs. We’ll be there in a minute,” I said as I pulled a white sundress out of the closet and pulled it on, it would have to do as a wedding dress. I ran down the stairs and out the back door, taking the path to the guest house. I didn’t bother knocking. I ran through the front door and found him pacing in the living room. I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing. He hadn’t noticed me yet.

  “Hi, honey,” I said, making him jump.

  “Jesus, Sarah. I don’t know if I can do this. Is he insane? This really isn’t necessary, right? The m,m,m,mar, you know, that part of it. It really isn’t necessary, right?”

  I chuckled and shook my head as I walked up to him. I grabbed his face between my hands and locked my eyes on his. “You should be thrilled it’s like this, Carlos. This is a part-time gig. Whenever you and I are apart, you’re free to do whatever you want to do. Do you understand what I just said? You’re free to do whatever you want to do.”

  “But, it’s the part-time part that scares me. What if I want more, Sarah? What if I need more?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t think that’ll happen, Carlos. You and I, we’re all about the buildup. We love the buildup. We thrive on the buildup. We can’t have that buildup if this were more than a part-time thing. If we were together all the time, you’d get bored. That’s what you do. This way, that won’t happen. This way you’ll always have this,” I said as I brought my mouth to his. We still hadn’t been together since that time on the train before Aquila had taken me, and his body responded instantly. He groaned and pulled me to him. Suddenly I pulled back and looked at him. “Hey, I just realized that I’m marrying you and I don’t even know your last name.”

  “Jesus, Sarah. Now? You have to ask that now? Can’t you ask that after?” he groaned.

  I smiled at him. “Honey, we’re waiting until after the marriage AND the linking ceremony.”

  He groaned and kissed my neck. “But the linking ceremony isn’t until tomorrow morning. You’re going to make me wait until then? Can’t you at least give me a little taste so I can make it till then, please? It’s been months, Sarah. You’re killing me here. And it’s Delgado. My last name is Delgado.”

  “Hmmmm, Sarah Jensen Pearl-Delgado, or Sarah Jensen Delgado-Pearl. Which one do you think sounds better?”

  “I think they both sound great as long as you’re naked and sitting on my…” he stopped when there was a knock at the screen door. I smiled when I saw it was Juan.

  “Buildup, sweetheart,” I said as I kissed his cheek and went to answer the door.

  “I don’t think it could build up any more than it already is,” he mumbled softly enough for me to hear, but not Juan. Carlos walked up behind me, poking his head over my shoulder and pressing his “buildup” into my backside.

  “Hi Juan,” he said. I squeezed my eyes shut for a second, then smiled at Juan.

  “Well?” Juan said, clearly frustrated.

  “Well, what?” Carlos said.

  Juan exhaled and rolled his eyes. “Are you coming or not?” he said.

  I pursed my lips to keep from laughing and Carlos pressed his forehead into the back of my neck to do the same. “Buildup, huh?” Carlos whispered.

  He looked back at Juan. “Yes, Juan. We’re coming right now,” he said as he squeezed his arms tighter around my stomach. Juan reached up, grabbed my hand and pulled us out the door and down the stairs. “Whoa, slow down there buddy. You don’t want us to go running through the door out of breath, right?” he said, then he mumbled to me, “And you also don’t want everyone seeing my hard on. Jeez, Sarah, I think it’s stuck. It won’t go down.”

  “Juan, I’ll tell you what,” I said. “You go in the door and close it. Then count to ten and open it for us to come in, okay? That’s what the best man at a wedding is supposed to do.”

  “Me? I’m the best man? Sweet! I have to tell Mom,” Juan said as he ran up the stairs and slammed the door. I heard him telling Cindy then I heard him start to count.

  “Seriously, Sarah. It won’t go down,” he said with panic beginning to show in his eyes.

  “Carlos, look at me,” I said and watched his eyes meet mine. “You’re about to go in there and get married. Married, Carlos. Married with a capital M.”

  “Okay, Sarah. You can stop now. That scared it away. Shit, now I’m hyper-ventilating.”

  I laughed and clasped his hand in mine as Juan pulled the door open. We walked in to a room full of beaming faces. Even Matt was beaming. I clasped his hand in mine and brought next to me. “Ummm, Sarah. I’m pretty sure it’s just su
pposed to be you and Carlos up here,” he said.

  I shook my head. “Nope. You’re my maid of honor, so you belong up here next to me,” I said, which got everyone laughing.

  Aduviri cleared his throat. “Well. I’m going to have to wing it here a bit because they don’t write a ceremony for a second marriage, at least not one like this. But I’ll just say that everyone in this room was changed when they met Sarah. She doesn’t follow along just because that’s what the rules say she should do. She does what feels right to her, and if that means changing the rules, then that’s what she does. Even if it’s something that we ourselves never in a million years thought we’d be doing, she still somehow makes it feel right to us. She follows her heart and we can all learn from that and be better for it. So, with that being said, Sarah Marie Pearl, do you take Carlos Hector Delgado to be your second lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, so long as it doesn’t interfere with your time with Matthew. In sickness and in health. To be there for each other as best friends and confidants. And to love each other as long as you both shall live?”

  I took a frightened glance at Matt, who smiled and nodded. “I do,” I whispered.

  “And do you, Carlos Hector Delgado, take Sarah Marie Pearl, to be your wife? To have and to hold, without interfering with her other marriage. In sickness and in health. To be there for each other as best friends and confidants. And to love each other as long as you both shall live?”