by Editor
“Father Butler?” Serina’s voice echoed across the vacant room. “Lucian, maybe he’s at the rectory. It’s out the back door, come on.” Serina grabbed Lucian’s hand, and dragged him through the church. “See, m’lord, you’re not evil, not at all. The roof’s not come crashing down around us.” She winked and tugged a little harder on him.
Lucian tagged along, happy to be on the backside of his wife so he could enjoy the view.
“We’re in church you evil scoundrel. I got that thought.” She wiggled her backside quickly in a teasing manner.
“You just told me I wasn’t evil.” Lucian pinched her bottom.
“Lucian St. James, I’m appalled at your behavior.” She spun to him, a grin growing. “But I like it.”
“Me? Who just taunted me with that little dance?” He raised an eyebrow and quickly drew her to him for a small kiss.
Licking her lips she asked, “What if Father Butler saw you do that?”
“I’d say he’s a very lucky man to have such a beautiful wife.”
Serina’s heart skipped a beat. She knew that voice. Serina snapped her head around so fast her hair swished Lucian across the face.
“Father.” Serina dropped Lucian’s hand and backtracked across the church. She threw her arms around the portly little man, with huge blue eyes and squeezed him.
“Good graces, Serina, what’s gotten into you child? Not that this old man doesn’t love the affections!” Father Butler held onto her for dear life, hoping to ease her fears and his as well. Seeing her battered and bruised body he wanted to cry. “Serina, now don’t go setting a little bon-fire off when I say this, but you seem a tad bit insecure. Come on, show me my green eyes.” Father tilted her chin up to him and kissed the tip of her nose.
“Father, ’tis been the longest days of our lives, and I do suppose I’m just tickled to be home again with my husband.” Serina reached for Lucian as she talked with Father and they made their way to the garden.
Father Butler turned to Lucian. “You look well son, but I understand you’d nearly lost your life this week. Please tell me what happened. Raven told us bits and pieces, but then she was no longer able to communicate with you or Serina. She, we thought we’d lost you all. André too when we hadn’t heard from him.”
“If you’ve a few minutes first, Sir, I really need to see my little beauty. I can’t imagine the hell she must have been put through these past days, or she put you through as well. Then you and I shall have the chat.” Lucian’s grin widened. “Not quite the one you were thinking of, but…” Lucian’s voice trailed off.
Father blushed and made the sign of a cross saying, “This one’s for you son. If I had a sixpence every time I said that around Serina I’d be richer than your aunt.”
Serina nudged Lucian in the ribs as he spoke with Father.
“Boo!” Raven threw her arms around her brother’s neck and hung on for the ride of her life when he picked her up and swung her around in circles. “I knew you’d come back to me,” Raven said dizzy, her eyes filled with tears. “Put me down, you imbecile.” Raven clung to Serina for balance and said, “I knew you’d take care of him, Serrie. Do you like that nickname? Serrie, you’ve a colored eye. What happened to you? You’ve even cut up your face. Do you hurt?” Raven ran tender fingers over Serina’s cheeks as she inspected the damage.
Lucian threw his hands in the air. “What about me? I’m the one dying.”
“Imbecile. You look healthier than before you were married. And, Lucian St. James you’re never dying on me.”
So it seems, he thought.
Raven turned back to Serina. “You never answered me about your name.”
“I’ve never had a nickname before, other than the ones your brother calls me. I like it. As for my face, the train made a few unscheduled stops. The old mug will heal.” For now, Serina knew she could live with her avoidance of Raven’s questions until Lucian and André were ready to tell her all that happened. Serina hugged her husband, silently thanking each and every deity, she was able to do just that.
Enjoying being the topic of conversation between his two favorite women once more, Lucian decided it was true what he’d heard about vampires being vanity stricken. At the moment, he found no fault with it.
Raven put her worries behind her for the time being and flashed her brother her best smile.
Serina looked around and asked, “Where is Molly?”
“Over at the orphanage helping out with the younger children. It’s where we’ve been since you two disappeared on us. I think it was Father Butler’s way of getting two grown cry babies out of his hair. Serrie, do you want to come to the orphanage and meet the children? They’re amazing. I’d no idea how many poor children and babies had no homes. Lucian, we need to make this home a better environment for them. What good is our money if we can’t help people?”
“Actually Raven,” Father Butler added, “Serina has been coming here to our home for many years now. So many indeed I’ve lost count.”
“I was around four. I taught some of the children how to read and do mathematics and garden when I got older.”
“You were younger than that, Serina,” Father added. “I’d been bringing you here since the day you were born. I actually delivered you. Did you know that? Right up there on my alter.”
“I believe I’ve heard it once before.” Serina pat his shoulder gently. He told the story of her birth with pride every chance he got.
“Yes, Raven, the children are amazing. They are all so different and all carry strengths and weaknesses in different ways. A complete mishmash of personalities live here. Some of the children are drowning for attention; others cower at the slightest touch. Every one of them different. Have you met Avery and Sydney yet? They are comical and so beautiful. I hope that when someone adopts them, they find a home together, because to separate them would be tragic. They remind me of you two. Avery is an overbearing older brother who wants his sister to do as she is told without question, and Sydney knows she’s holding Avery wrapped securely around her finger. “
“I am not overbearing, am I Ray?”
“Not in the least bit, my handsome knight.” Raven turned away from Lucian and winked at Serina. “Come on. Let’s go see Molly. Where are Ands, Duncan and Payton?” Raven grabbed both Serina and Lucian’s hands and tugged.
“They had to drop off a package to the castle.”
Raven gave her brother a look that held a giant question mark. “The castle, as in our aunt’s humble abode?”
“It’s a long story, Ray, and I’m only explaining it once.” Lucian sighed. “I’m waiting for André and Payton, then we’ll talk.”
“But you didn’t say Duncan. Where is he?” Raven’s voice changed dramatically to that of a whisper.
“He’s alive, Raven.” Shite! Why did I phrase it like that? “We just need to go pick him up at another train station. He jumped ship so to speak on us. He departed two stops short of our station. That’s all.”
“Yeah, but your tone Luce, you didn’t say he was well.”
Damn, when did Raven get so intuitive? “Let me rephrase myself. Duncan is well and we will be picking him up at the next train stop.”
“Why didn’t he just get back on the train when he’d realized he got off at the wrong stop? Out with it, Luce. What are you hiding?” Raven stood on tiptoes and looked him squarely into his eyes.
“Ah, bloody hell. Forgive me, Father.” Lucian gave Father Butler a quick bow from the hip. “Can you please wait until Payton and André return? They’ll be along shortly. Please, Ray?” Lucian attempted to smooth the worry lines away from her face. “I promise the last time we saw Duncan and Jonah they were fine, a little soggy, but fine.” Lucian wondered why women were so difficult?
“Jonah? Jonah is with Duncan? Isn’t he the werewolf from the mountain? What in bloody blazes is going on?” Raven’s voice filled the church each time she said Jonah’s name. Grabbing her brother’s shirt collar, she dragged him bac
k to her eye level. “Out with it. Now.”
The moment Molly walked in with André and Payton, Raven ran to André.
“André, you’ll tell me what’s going on here, won’t you? Lucian is evading me, and rudely I might add.” She hugged André, and flashed Lucian a snippy grin, her nose in the air.
“Hello, little one. I see absence makes the heart grow fonder,” André teased with a hint of sarcasm. He planted kiss on the top of her head.
“Luce, the package has been delivered, and is safely tucked away.” André peered over the top of Raven’s head to his brother. You haven’t told her yet?
“Raven and I were just about to have a conversation of our trip to the mountain and our ride home.”
“Where’s Duncan?” Molly asked.
Raven pointed her index finger at Lucian. “I asked the same thing, Molly.” She gave Lucian one more look that he recognized as trouble for him.
Lucian scratched at his beard. “Father, have you a place we can all sit and talk privately?”
“Follow me. What is said within these walls, stays within these walls. House rules. It’s been this way for centuries.” Father Butler led them all to his favorite room within the church, a glass atrium which overlooked his garden off the back of the church. A play-yard surrounded by a small moat filled with lush white sand had a little drawbridge to get to the miniature castle.
Father Butler excused himself for a few minutes and returned with a tray full of fruit, cheese, bread and wine.
As the food and wine disappeared, Lucian told every detail of his greatest tale to date. Silence hung in the balances.
Raven moved in very close to Lucian, her gaze locked on his. She’d heard so many stories about vampires and now twice one had bitten him as well. And here he sat, her beloved brother, telling her that he was a mutated version of one.
“Open up.” It was an order. No please or would you, just “open up.” Raven moved her fingers to Lucian’s mouth ready to pry open his lips if need be.
Lucian found the situation absurd and started laughing. He’d never seen her as resolute in a decision for many years. It made him proud she was gaining her self-confidence back, but she could’ve chosen someone else to pick on for starters. But then he knew she would start out on him as a testing ground. A trust existed between them that held no boundaries.
Raven peeked and saw only his pearly-white teeth. No fangs, no bewitching her with his silvery blue eyes, just Lucian, her beloved imbecile.
With her English accent in high gear, Raven spouted, “Ah bloody ’ell, Lucian St. James. You’re pulling me leg. I’m findin’ ya not the least bit funny. You’ve no fangs. You’re no blood sucker and ’tis broad daylight you daft sod. If you’ll be tryin’ to pass as one of those vile creatures then ya best be tellin’ such tales at night, with the moon full and your furry little friend that I’ve yet to meet—ah excuse me—pump full of silver.” Raven swiftly turned her full attention to her sister-in-law. “Serrie, please tell me he’s full of shite.”
Serina’s lips thinned as she glanced to Lucian.
Lucian finished his tale of woe explaining that Payton had been seriously wounded and would most likely turn in three weeks to a werewolf.
Raven switched gears. She studied Payton. A werewolf? She jumped from her seat by Lucian and slumped beside her personal chef on a big plump, cushy daybed. With a hand atop each of his shoulders she shoved him on his back so he had to look up to her. Without thinking of consequences, she hiked up her black silk skirt to give her legs room and straddled Payton. It started off as a joke, but once she sat across him, she found her feelings a little more intense than she expected.
Then she felt his feelings becoming more intense, right where she’d plopped her dainty little self upon him, he began to sprout a new limb and without the need of moonlight. She wiggled slightly, trying to adjust to him, not to cause any more arousal, but it backfired. He was solidly pressing into her most feminine parts which left her both mortified and aroused. If she jumped off him, well...her brothers and Father would know something was up and once off him, they’d see exactly what it was. So she stayed put and tortured both Payton and herself in a fun yet strangely aggravating sense.
Payton blushed. “I’m so sorry,” he mouthed to her, “but you really caught me off me guard. You, on top of me was the last thing I expected and the first thing I dreamt of.” Payton enjoyed the attention, even with an audience of their closest family and friends, all on the edges of their seats leaning forward, watching intently. And they were.
Raven’s long jet-black tresses created the perfect backdrop for her gorgeous blue eyes. It brought out the stark vivid sapphire hue. He could easily lose himself in the depth of their beauty nightly. Her lips silently beseeched him to reach up and close the distance between them. He’d wished they were alone when he did this, but the way he saw things, it was now or never. Raven showed concern for him. Maybe, just maybe it meant she had feelings for him. He was certain she knew he had feelings for her by now.
Looking into her eyes with a smile that he couldn’t control, he brought his finger between them motioning for her to come closer.
She did. No questions asked.
He ran his fingers through her hair with his one hand and when she didn’t flinch or try to pull away from him, he brought his other hand up to her face, and caressed her cheeks. “Raven, no matter what happens to me in three weeks, I’ll be fine. You’ll just have to learn how to cook one night out of the month. That’s probably the scariest part of this deal.”
Raven punched him in the stomach. Payton found his laughter made his own worries less intense. Now he had to find a way to do the same for Raven, once he got back his wind.
“It’s not funny, Payton. None of it. You, Lucian and Ands don’t seem much worried. I suppose I’ll have to be the one who worries for all of you.” Her tears fell from nowhere.
Payton reached up and brushed each and every tear from her face. Conjuring up all his nerve, he brought his body up to meet her and kissed her gently.
Raven froze, her body more rigid than the protrusion between her thighs she sat perched on. She stared straight ahead, focused on nothing. She didn’t kiss him back, but she didn’t pull away from him either.
Raven didn’t know what to expect, but this wasn’t it, especially in front of her brothers, not to mention a priest. She knew God would strike her down—any second now. Waiting with her lips still glued to his, she actually looked up to the ceiling and around the room.
Reluctantly, Payton broke away from her. “Raven, look at me, not the ceiling.” He whispered, “I will never hurt you. Your family knows this or they never would have allowed me to touch you, let alone live under your roof with you.” He bent his head back to hers to kiss her once more but stopped just short of her mouth. In a low voice he asked, “Kiss me back this time, so I won’t look like a complete fool, but only if you want to.”
Raven let out a nervous little giggle and smiled as she closed the distance between them. She knew Payton would never hurt her, and she trusted him. For the first time in many years, Raven trusted another man.
She enjoyed Payton’s lips. He was soft, sweet, tantalizing, and made her want more, even if she wasn’t ready for the next step. Their kiss had no tongues―not this time, not her first time. She was content with the fact she’d let him kiss her. Maybe, in time they could experiment, slowly, and see what came of it.
Father Butler stood and excused himself, making excuses that the garden needed weeding.
Oh! Like he does the weeding. Serina bit her cheeks. Father patted her head in passing, laughing.
“You need not say what you’re thinking, child. It is written as plain as day all over your precious face.” His hearty belly laugh echoed in the hallway.
Molly stood up, fanned her cheeks and excused herself, mumbling something about dirty nappies.
In complete disbelief, André and Lucian went back and forth between looking at each other wit
h the exact same stunned mask and staring at their sister, her lips melded with Payton’s.
Serina grabbed both brother’s hands, and dragged them from the room. “You two act as if you’ve never witnessed a kiss before.”
Raven never noticed she and Payton were alone. Oblivious to everything except Payton’s gentleness and his lips on hers and his hips pressing gently into her sensitive spots, she opened her eyes to find him smiling. “What?” she shyly asked. “Did I do that right?”
Before Xavier attacked her, she had wanted the first man, the only man in her life to be just that, her first and only man. She wanted to save herself for her marriage. Could Payton be the one? She wasn’t sure, but now she was willing to experiment. She knew Lucian was absolutely positive about Serina. He never second-guessed anything in his life, ever. Raven, however, second-guessed what day of the week it was. Xavier made her doubt almost everything in her life.
“You are beautiful, Raven. You have the kiss of an angel. Although maybe I feel that because we are in a church, but I do believe it is of your doings.”
“You Sir, have the grin of the devil plastered about your face. Maybe we should leave here and make our way home, before the roof comes down upon us. No, wait. Am I right in assuming you won’t let us go home until Duncan and your attacker, Jonah, are back? When is everyone leaving to go find Duncan and the other one?”
Raven didn’t like the other man they were about to bring home with them. He’d hurt Payton, he’d kidnapped Serina, left her alone and chained in a cave, and God help him if he so chose to, he’d had a hand in her brother’s death/rebirth. And for that alone, she knew she’d never forgive the man.
“They’re leaving very soon. But it’s just André and Lucian going to find them. You’ve got me to watch over you. Doesn’t that leave a warm, fuzzy feeling all over you?”
“Yes and at the same time, no. This feeling you describe scares the daylights out of me, Payton. What happens if you really turn into a warm, fuzzy, snarling thing? I really can’t cook.” Teasingly, she smiled at him. “I won’t lie to you. We need to do baby steps. I hope you’re a patient man. But just so you are aware of what just took place―”