Abruptly straightening up, he looked down at me with desire filling his already intense eyes, licking his gorgeous lips. "Good idea," he nearly whispered as he swept me up into his arms and began to walk towards the house.
A quick giggle escaped me as I leaned into his strong and capable arms, feeling as if he could carry me for days and never get tired. He was just so astonishingly strong...and capable. I never questioned if he ever got tired. I never questioned anything about him.
"Solomon?"
"Yes?" His voice drifted down to me as he kicked the door of the house open and then closed again behind us.
"How can you be in the light?" It was a stupid question and it was obvious. How long had I actually known this man? Hadn't I asked this question before? Why didn't I have any memory of it?
"Well, the sun doesn't actually harm me." He shrugged as he walked his way through the large living area. "You put a charm on me long ago, as you have done for my men, to allow me to be in the daylight. Since I don't require much sleep, the daylight was the only thing that kept me from being your full-time protector. You thought that it would be more reasonable for me to be your personal guard if I was able to be everywhere you were. Sunlight or dark." He smiled down at me. "I have quite enjoyed the ability to be out in full daylight. It has been a true blessing to be with you at all times of day and night."
"Oh." I leaned my head against his shoulder and looked up at his strong chin.
As we entered the master bedroom, I could feel the butterflies begin to swim around in my stomach again. Am I really ready for this? I thought to myself as I eyed the bed with concern.
Solomon laid me down softly on the bed but then took a step backward, listening to everything around us as if he were double-checking that we were safe. He paused for a brief moment before turning to me with a tense look crinkling his eyes.
"Are you hungry?" I shook my head. "Thirsty?" I shook my head again. "Is there anything I can get for you?"
"Solomon?" Leaning back on my elbows, I looked up at his uncommonly broad shoulders and down to his slim waist. "Are you stalling?" I chuckled underneath my breath as I continued to scan his body. It suddenly occurred to me that I was not the only nervous person in the room.
"Of course not!" He stood up straighter as he looked down at me with an embarrassed frown, his spiky blond hair adding a shocking halo to his expression. "I just want...to make it perfect for you."
Letting that sink in, I eyed him again, taking in every detail of his body, his expression, his amazing profile. He was already perfection as far as men were concerned, so what could possibly be the problem?
"What are you nervous about?" I was suddenly no longer worried about the night—I was curious about his personal insecurities. An insecure man could cause all sorts of havoc on a romantic situation. Heck, an insecure woman could wreck it beyond belief with one simple word or action. I should know.
He sighed as he settled down on the edge of the bed and I took the opportunity to be closer to him by sitting up behind him, tucking my legs under my knees and reaching around him to pull him into me, resting my chin on his impossibly broad shoulder. It almost felt natural, comfortable. It was as if we sat like that all the time, sharing intimate details of our days and lives.
"It's just..." He shook his head in dismay, practically ignoring the fact that I was holding him at that very moment. "Well, I have been wanting...pining for you all of these years."
"Yes, fifty years. It's a very long time to want someone." I spoke with disbelief in my voice. "Are you sure that you are still...you know...that interested?" I knew what the answer was. He was here, with me, and he had been practically drowning me in his desire earlier.
Shaking his head slowly, he leaned down onto his knees, resting his elbows on his firm thighs and basically causing me to stretch out to be able to keep holding onto him. He was definitely making it difficult to keep the contact going, so I finally gave up and sat back on my heels, trying to watch him from behind, eyeing his defined back through his tight blue t-shirt.
"What is it, Solomon?" Trepidation began to leak into my voice. "Have I done something wrong? Mistreated you in the past?" My voice shook and I knew that he wouldn't have missed it. Solomon hardly ever missed any minute detail.
Shaking his head adamantly, he sighed deeply as if he were trying to clear his body of the stress that had been pooling there. "No, it's nothing like that. It's just...well, I haven't...you know...in a very long time." He turned around to face me, and there was fresh pain in his eyes, heavy and deep.
I was immediately taken aback.
"What? What are you saying?" I blinked wildly at him, questioning his words. He simply sat there staring at me as if his eyes could make me comprehend what he had just said.
Taking possession of my hand that was closest to him on the bed, he covered it with his own as he frowned down at the comforter. "I haven't been with a woman since..."
"Since when, Solomon?" My voice shook.
"Since I met you."
My heart instantly sped up and I could hear it pounding in my ears like it was banging on my brain.
"What did you just say?"
Sighing, Solomon finally made eye contact again, his blue-green eyes boring laser-sized holes into my heart. "I'm saying that there has been no woman in my life since I met you." He suddenly looked even more insecure and uncomfortable.
"Okay..." I shook my head. "But you were busy. I always kept you close and you never had a chance to have a personal life. All you had to do was ask, Solomon. I'm sure that I wasn't so much of a tyrant that I wouldn't give you a day off." Was I actually that demanding of Solomon to never give him time for a personal life? Boy, I really sucked as an employer.
"No, that's not the case. I had plenty of personal time. I just never found it necessary to be with anyone else." His voice sounded wounded as he turned his head towards the doorway of the bedroom. "I wasn't interested."
Cocking my head to the side, I thought about all of the women that probably were constantly throwing themselves at him...unless he always acted like a cold, military vampire all of the time.
"Didn't you have someone that was interested in you?" I wasn't sure that I wanted to hear about any other women in his life. A sudden flash of jealousy pulsed through my brain as I pictured him surrounded by a plethora of bombshells on an almost-familiar yacht. It may have just been my imagination, but I have a very active imagination.
"Yes," he sounded like he was frustrated with the conversation, "but I preferred to use my time to practice with my weapons and other skills. There seemed to be no time for any relationships past those with my troops." He shrugged. "I wasn't interested in a relationship...save one." His voice drifted off as the honesty of his words clung to the air.
"Are you saying that you passed on all other relationships because of...me?" I was having a hard time keeping the surprise from my voice. "What could possibly possess you to feel that way?"
Solomon's expression appeared to share a deep sense of pain and anguish, the sight of it alone causing a sharp pang to ring through my chest. "Possibly because I've been in love with you since the moment that I first laid eyes on you. I didn't want anyone else." He looked quickly toward the curtained window as if he needed something to stare at, avoiding eye contact with me at all costs.
"Really?" My lips quirked up in a slight smile. Don't smile, you idiot! He just told you that he has been suffering for fifty years because of you. You went back into the past, looked into his luscious blue-green eyes, drooled all over him and then left him broken hearted for the rest of your professional relationship. Don't you dare smile! I couldn't help it. "You haven't? In fifty years?" I tamped down my smile as I tried to look serious and concerned about what he was sharing. Yippee!
Turning back to make eye contact once again, Solomon nodded at me seriously. "No, I haven't. So now you realize my concern." He shook his head as he gazed up my body, sighing deeply as he stopped at my chest a fraction of a
moment too long.
"What are you talking about? I don't get it. What are you concerned about, Solomon? We're both consenting adults." Dang, that sounded dumb coming out of my own lips. I tried to read his expression but he wasn't giving anything away from the looks of it.
"It's just been so long...I could...hurt you." He slumped forward in defeat as a warm wave of relief washed over me.
"Is that all you're concerned about?" I laughed because I just couldn't help it. "You're afraid that you're going to hurt me because it's been, well, fifty years?"
"Actually, it's been longer than that." His voice dropped as his gaze drifted up to my eyes again.
My chin dropped slightly as I shook my head, narrowing my eyes on him as if I was suddenly extremely suspicious of him. "How long, Solomon?" Was he going to explode from sexual build-up? He suddenly looked extremely dangerous to me.
"One hundred years?"
I heard myself gulp audibly as I shook my head slightly. "Are you asking me if it's been one hundred years?" Was he honestly asking me or telling me?
"No, that's what I'm telling you—it's been one hundred years." He stopped what he was doing and rolled his lips between his teeth as if he had begun to pick up some of my personal habits.
"Well, that was not my fault." I laughed uneasily as I looked at him with renewed respect. How could anyone possibly wait that long to have sex?! "Why would it be over a hundred years?" I leaned away from his penetrating stare, suddenly feeling like I wasn't up to the task of 'deflowering' him after one hundred years. It's like he's been revirginized or something! WEIRD! It's a whole lifetime! One very long, very celibate lifetime.
"I was busy." He shrugged as he considered it seriously. "I had a kingdom to run and then, when I met you, all I could think about was you. My dreams were filled with you. It was always you."
"Busy?" I skipped right past the 'it was always you' part and went straight for what I thought was the real issue.
"Yes." He nodded seriously. "There was always something other than women to concern me. But then you came into my life and you were the only thing I could see; the only woman I was constantly consumed with. I was instantly aware that I had...needs." His eyes glowed suddenly as he leaned forward and lowered his chin so that he was basically scorching me with his desirous look. "A lot of them."
"And here I am..." I put the pieces together in my head. "And now you think you are basically going to break me apart with all of your sexual frustration." My shoulders shook with laughter because I just couldn't help myself. "Don't you think you're being a little too dramatic about this?" I ran my fingers through my long hair, flicking it over my shoulder for effect, knowing that I would draw his attention to my neck and skin by doing so. I was dragging out the best weapons I had to get him back on target. "Don't you think you could control yourself a little better than that just because it is me? I mean, it's your job to protect me, isn't it?"
He looked at me seriously as I tried to laugh off the whole silly conversation. "I'm deadly serious, Celeste. This is something that we should be cautious about."
Turning my head over to the side, I looked at him again—at his concerned expression, his cautious words, the tension in his shoulders and the despair in his voice. I didn't like being the cause of it all.
"Huh."
He straightened his shoulders ever-so-slightly as he took in my thoughtful expression.
"Huh." I said again as I straightened my shirt and turned away from him, flipping my legs over the edge of the bed, sitting up straight with my back towards him. "I guess you're right."
I stood up next to the bed and began to undress without ceremony. First it was my shirt that I yanked over my head, and then it was my jeans, slowly unzipping them and pulling them down to step out. I was fiercely glad that I had the foresight to wear a lacy bra and panty set underneath, because I wanted more than anything for this to be a big show. I wanted to make him pay for working me up, taking me to the brink of absolute madness, and then leaving me there hot and bothered. I sauntered over to the desk that held my overnight bag as I felt his eyes burrow into my back, his gaze skimming my body as I walked with a little too much hip and my bra and panties sharing a little more skin than he had ever seen from me.
"What are you doing?" He asked, his voice heavy with concern but a little breathy as well.
"Going to bed." I answered over my shoulder as I unzipped my bag and pulled out my favorite University of Oregon t-shirt. Yanking it over my head, I sashayed past him to the bathroom, slamming the door behind me.
I was going to take my time going through my regular routine just to help calm myself down. I walked through the motions of each as if I were a zombie, concentrating on the actions instead of the sensations as I brushed my hair, brushed my teeth, and washed my face. Looking at myself in the mirror, I cursed my own idiocy for even thinking about men.
You're better off alone, Celeste. Men are nothing but high-maintenance trouble, and you don't have room in your life for that kind of heartache anyway. Clearly my subconscious was right about that. My life was too complicated as it was for me to begin worrying about where our futures lay.
Turning to the door with a deep cleansing breath, I turned the knob and yanked the door open to find Solomon standing there, a look of deep concern on his face.
Taking a quick step backward, I stared him down. "There's nothing in there to be concerned about." I growled as I pushed past him towards the living room. It's me that you should worry about, actually. I think I could definitely explode from sexual tension and frustration.
"Where are you going?" His voice followed me as I grabbed a quilt that was lying across the foot of the bed.
"I'm sleeping on the couch." I huffed as I stalked to the couch, threw the quilt down and proceeded to fluff one of the many throw pillows angrily. Finally, after I had taken my frustrations out on the unsuspecting pillow, I stretched out, draping the quilt over my legs and torso as I turned away from him, noticing as he walked towards me from the bedroom doorway. I felt like a pouty little teenager, but at least I was getting my own way, darn it.
"What purpose does it serve for you to sleep out here on the couch?" His questions were beginning to get on my nerves.
"It gets me away from you." I snapped at the couch cushion that was inches from my face.
I listened to the sound of Solomon sighing deeply behind me as he began to pace the room. The sound of his footfalls distracted me for what seemed like ten minutes before I turned over and caught him eyeing me suspiciously from near the kitchen counter.
"What?" I growled at him.
He paused to eye me with a concerned expression on his face before opening his mouth cautiously. "Are you angry with me?"
The question surprised me because he honestly looked like he was frightened of my response. Am I really angry at HIM? Sighing deeply, shifting my head and turning back towards the cushions again.
"No." I replied honestly, but I didn't give him any more than that. There was no energy left in me to carry on any kind of deep conversation about this topic anymore. I was done.
The sound of movement on the loveseat next to the couch caught my attention as he sighed, shifting loudly in the seat as if it couldn't offer him enough support. The overwhelming desire to scream swept over me before I knew what to do.
"Solomon." I growled between my clenched teeth. "I would really like to have some space to myself. You know, time alone." I spoke to the cushion again.
Solomon said nothing and did nothing.
Blowing out an exasperated sigh, I closed my eyes and finally drifted off to sleep.
13
When I opened my eyes, I was laying on my back on the living room couch, my left arm draped across my stomach and my right arm up and over my head. Great job, Celeste. Stubborn as always.
Rubbing my eyes to remove the sleep that had become encrusted in the corners, I struggled to clear my head instead. Scanning the room, my eyes finally stopped on the loveseat dir
ectly next to the couch. Staring down at me was Solomon, pensive and twitchy in his physical demeanor.
"What are you doing here?" I growled at him.
"Watching you sleep." He said as a small smile twitched at the corners of his mouth.
"Well, I hope you enjoyed the show," I snapped as I pushed up on the couch and grabbed the quilt in a sharp movement.
Dragging the quilt behind me, I stormed towards the master bedroom, tossing the quilt onto the bed. I stomped over to my bag on the desk and grabbed a pair of jeans, a black blouse and a set of particularly enticing underwear. Oh yes, I could feel his eyes burrowing into my back as I set the lace weapons out on the top of my bundle.
"You're still angry with me." Solomon's voice drifted from the door. "Very angry, I see." Was that a hint of a smile in his voice?
"I already told you I wasn't angry with you." Jerk. I turned with my bundle of clothing and walked over to the bathroom, determined to make it through without a fight. "I'm going to take a shower." I walked into the bathroom and closed the door quietly behind me. Hopefully he took the hint and realized that I really wasn't mad...just disappointed. Guess Dylan would be happy with this new development. He didn't want us intermingling anyway.
I turned the water on in the huge tiled shower before I began stripping down to nothing. Walking over to the mirror, I leaned into the cold counter and took a long look at myself. I look tired, very tired.
My dark brown eyes almost appeared miserable, the shadows under my eyes making me appear so much older than I felt. Closing my eyes, I turned to lean against the countertop breathing in and out slowly. Get it together, Celeste. You can do this. Men are pigs, after all.
Opening my eyes, I concentrated on walking the distance to the shower. That was what I needed at the moment—to wash every last bit of stress and frustration down the drain. I was going to do it right, even it was the only thing that I achieved that day.
Ritual Magic Page 13