They approached the four-story brick warehouse that had been an institution on Long Wharf for over forty years. The inside walls of the building dating back to the late 1700s continued the red brick of the outside while light from lanterns and lavish chandeliers highlighted the original broad wooden beams and floors. Black iron railings lined the stairwells and landings, adding to the historical appeal of the eatery.
It was quaint, but Derrick motioned to the cast-iron tables with black umbrellas over top of them. “We can stay inside if you like, but it’s so beautiful outside. Would it be okay if we ate on the patio?”
“Sure,” Kristina agreed in a hushed voice, too quiet. She’d been prattling away inside the vehicle on the drive here about the last time she’d been to the wharf. How she’d loved watching the harbor seals, since she couldn’t afford to go in the aquarium. She’d been so perky and excited only minutes ago, and then he had to frighten her. It wouldn’t have killed him if he’d gotten a scratch or had to deal with the smell of smoke.
Derrick glanced down at Kristina as the host directed them to a table. Two days ago, she was dying under his hands and now she was on his arm. It felt surreal, and for a moment, he also wondered if it was real. The day had been going great; until he’d gone and offered that he’d tell her everything later and then practically growled at the valet, that is. Even though she didn’t seem uncomfortable touching him, he felt like a moron. He could only hope that his tiff wouldn’t fuel her alarm when he told her the truth.
He pulled out a chair for her to sit and then took a seat across from her. “I’m sorry, Kristina. I didn’t mean to be brash with the valet.”
She shrugged. “I’m okay,” she said in a soft whisper, leaning forward. “He just looked so scared that it sort of took me by surprise. I’ve never thought of you as scary; though, I guess I should have.”
“I’m sorry,” he repeated.
Kristina reached across the table and ran her fingertips across his hand, sending a thrill through his chest, and surprisingly, an ache in his heart. It was already happening, he thought. He’d been with women before. It shouldn’t be happening from a simple kiss. Of course, the kiss wasn’t simple. He’d tried to play if off, but it had unlocked something within him. And for some reason, he would have sworn that she had felt it too.
She tilted her head as if to get his attention, but waited to speak until he locked eyes with her. “I’m not afraid of you, Derrick.”
He nodded and turned his arm so he could take her hand in his. “Thank you.”
The waiter bounced over to the table. “Top of the day to you. Will you be starting off with a cocktail or beer?”
Derrick glanced up at the rail thin college kid with a white shirt and green bow tie. Ah, right. St. Patrick’s Day. “Water’s fine.”
“Umm...” Kristina looked over the menu and his eyes jolted to hers. Certainly she couldn’t be thinking about drinking. It could kill her. She’d be able to drink again, but not after drying out in just two days. “Water for me too, please,” she finally answered, allowing him to relax.
“And two orders of oysters on the half-shell,” Derrick added before the waiter skipped off.
“Two?”
“I’m hungry.” He rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand. “Can I ask you something?”
She nodded.
“Were you thinking about drinking?”
“Only fleetingly. I remember what you said. But I don’t need it. I know I drank a lot. Every night for the last few years, in fact. But I’m pretty sure I’m not an alcoholic.”
“People often confuse ‘use’ with alcoholism,” he said. “They don’t understand that your body becomes reliant on it. It doesn’t mean you can’t ever drink again—if in fact you aren’t an alcoholic—but you need to wait.”
“I’m fine,” she said as a dismissal, glancing toward Long Wharf and then to the aquarium. Everywhere but him.
Derrick squeezed her hand to get her attention. “I won’t ask again.” Though he’d been her protector, he wasn’t her guardian. And he didn’t plan to treat her as though he was, but he was still concerned for her health.
She retracted her hand under the guise of unwrapping her silverware, but he could hear her irritation as she ground her teeth together. “So something else I remembered from the other day has been bothering me, Derrick. About how you always knew where I was. Something about tracking my cell phone?”
“I only did it when you didn’t come home. It’s not as though I watched you every minute of your life. I do work,” he ground out, a bite in his voice that he had no right to utter. She had every right to be nervous. He softened his tone and tried again. “I’d just got in the habit of driving by your place. And if you didn’t come home, I looked for you.”
“I want you to turn it off,” she snapped.
“Okay.”
She bit down on her lip, nodding as if pleased, even if somewhat confused. “That was easy enough.”
He reached for her hand again. “You’re here. You’re safe. Maybe you’ll stay with me, maybe you won’t. But I don’t need to watch you anymore. You’re a grown woman.” She nodded again, a small smile lifting her cheek. Had she thought he’d argue with her? “I’m not a controlling type of man, believe it or not. And even when I say stay with me, it doesn’t mean you can’t live your life. It just means we’ll always be together.” He lowered his head and stared into her eyes. If he was going to tell her everything, he might as well start with an important factor. “Explanation one, Kristina. My kind doesn’t separate. Once—rather, if you decide to stay with me, we will be together forever.”
Her eyes sparkled, a playful gleam lighting inside of them, and he could swear they turned greener. She pulled her free hand up on the table and leaned her chin on her fist, staring at him. “But what if someone like me, liked someone else of your kind. Is that allowable?”
Derrick jerked upright in his chair as if she’d plunged a knife between his shoulder blades. Now that she was with him, the thought that she’d even think… “Never,” he said seriously. “It just doesn’t happen.”
“Oh, I understand.”
“Do you? Once we—”
The waiter brought their waters and appetizers out on the same tray, halting their hushed conversation. He placed everything on the table and then pulled out a pad and pen to take their order. He looked to Kristina first. “Ready to order?”
“Yes. I’ll have the Chicken Romano.”
The man turned to Derrick, and he spilled out his entire order without giving him a chance to ask any questions. “I’ll have the chopped salad to start. No croutons. Vinegar only. Then, I’ll have a double order of the Ahi Tuna. Only, don’t sear it. And no side dishes or sauces. Just the tuna, please.”
The server wrote everything down without comment, but as every waiter had ever done before him, he gave him a confused look as he turned to leave. Derrick had learned to answer every question with finality before they asked, saved him from a lot of additional queries. Thankfully, sushi had become so popular in the last few years that most people no longer questioned his eating habits.
“Two orders again? Raw?”
“Explanation number two,” he said in a low voice so only she could hear, one of the reasons he wanted to eat outside. “I can’t eat cooked foods.”
She absorbed that, filing it away, it seemed, and then she whispered across the table, “At least you don’t drink blood.”
“Not quite,” he rejoined, watching as her eyes bulged as he met her playful comment head on. “People only thought we were.”
Chapter Six
Kris bolted upright. Her phone buzzed on the table, jolting her out of the trance she’d fallen into after Derrick’s remark about people thinking they were drinking blood. She glanced at the caller ID. “It’s Beth. It’s after three. She’s back from shopping,” she babbled incoherently in her frazzled state. “I should talk to her.”
Derrick reached across the table,
covering her hand and the phone. “Please—”
“I remember,” she interrupted, gulping the lump in her throat. “Don’t say anything about you.”
“That isn’t what I was going to ask.” He squeezed her hand. “Please don’t take her call. Beth knows you’re okay. She just wants to talk, and you want an excuse to walk away so you can clear your head, but I don’t want you to leave yet.”
Tears filled her eyes and she didn’t even know why. She didn’t care what he was; Derrick wasn’t dangerous. She just felt—she didn’t know what she felt. Scared, she thought. Frightened of the unknown. Kris glanced at his warm and gentle gaze. She wasn’t afraid of Derrick. She needed to snap out of this. The phone stopped ringing, and she glanced at it, feeling as though she’d let go of her lifeline. As if she’d be content in letting Derrick’s mysterious dark waters engulf her, absorb her, providing her life-sustaining oxygen from now on.
“Kristina, you asked me to tell you… and I don’t think I have a choice now. When we…” He paused as if collecting his words. “I don’t know how to explain this… without pressuring you. No. Not now, not here.” He shook his head again. “Can we just eat? Then we’ll go somewhere and talk, okay? I promise I’ll explain everything.”
“Yeah,” she choked out. Her mouth was so dry. She picked up her water glass, removing the lemon, and drained it. As he watched her warily, she picked up an oyster, deciding to try to relax and enjoy their date. She doused the shellfish with horseradish, then slurped it out of the shell and threw her head back. “Whoo! Love that rush!”
Derrick grinned, seemingly more at ease that she wouldn’t bolt. He dropped an oyster right out of the shell into his mouth. No toppings of course, as everything else he’d ordered. So he ate raw foods. Many people did. He was just joking about the blood-drinking comment she realized.
Kris glanced at her phone’s screen as it lit up. Beth had left a long message. But then she noticed there were two more messages. She picked up the phone and glanced at the three missed calls and messages. Her work was one. That wasn’t a surprise; she’d already assumed they’d fired her. But the other message was from an unknown caller. “Hmm…” she pondered. “I don’t get many wrong numbers. I’ve had the same number for six years.”
Derrick rubbed his hand across his chin. “I’m sure it’s nothing.” He finished off his oysters within seconds and then his eyes flicked to her plate. “Are you going to eat yours?”
She laughed. “No. Go ahead. I guess it takes a lot to fill a man your size.” She pushed her ice-filled tray toward him. “How big are you anyway?”
He raised a brow. “You mean, how tall am I?”
“Mm-hm.”
“Not so tall. Six-four. My brother’s six-six.”
“That’s tall. I’m only five-four.”
“I know. You’re cute. Dainty. I like it.”
The waiter interrupted them again to remove their dishes. She almost wished they’d decided on pizza so they could just sit and talk. But then it hit her. No cooked foods… that meant no pizza. Say it wasn’t so. How could someone live without pizza?
Derrick ate every last morsel of his salad, and when their meals arrived, he finished off both portions of his fish. “I’d offer dessert, but I think we’ll find something more appetizing at the market,” he said after the waiter cleared their plates.
“Deal!” She grinned wide. Dessert was her favorite part, and she just wanted to leave anyway, anxious to hear more about the unusual man in front of her. She stood and he rose with her. “Let me take a quick bathroom break, and I’ll meet you upfront.”
He bobbed his head, but a look of concern washed over his features.
Kris stepped toward him, resting her hands on his chest. “Derrick, I’m not going to disappear, and I won’t say anything to Beth. I promise.”
He dipped his head and rested his hand on hers. “Would you do me a favor, then?”
“Anything.” She owed him her life on at least two occasions she was aware of.
“Could you not listen to your messages until we talk? I know who the unknown caller is, and I’d like a chance to explain.”
Chapter Seven
After purchasing gelato for Kristina and fresh fruit for him, Derrick walked inside a gift shop and bought the first two afghans he saw. He escorted Kristina across the street to the Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park. It was much nicer when the wisteria-covered trellis was in bloom and the trees were full and green, shading the red brick walkways, but even winter had its appeal. The season was ending, and so would the quiet and peaceful nights. Warmer evenings meant more people would be on the street, which meant more crime.
It was only four-thirty, but the sun was fading behind the buildings and the temperature was dropping fast. Most tourists had already left for the warmth of their hotel rooms, so he and Kristina would have the park to themselves.
Derrick located a secluded spot under a deciduous tree, overlooking Boston Harbor. He layered one of the afghans on the grass and then held his hand out to Kristina. Lowering his body to the ground, he pulled her down beside him. He folded the other blanket around her shoulders and then wrapped his arms around her. The warmth in his body cranked up a notch as she leaned against him. For several minutes, they stared out over the water.
In a matter of moments, the nighttime sky had transitioned from the pastel periwinkle color of the day to a deep indigo. Only a sliver of the moon rested above the horizon as if an artist had used the smallest brush he owned and just whisked a thin white line onto his canvas.
Sweeping Kristina’s hair off her shoulder, Derrick pressed his lips against the side of her neck and inhaled the fresh clean scent of her skin. She rarely wore perfume, which was fine with him since he had such an acute sense of smell. He appreciated her natural aroma along with a hint of raspberry, which must come from her body wash. He’d always been able to pick her out among a crowd, even if she was out of his line of sight.
“I have something for you,” he whispered. “No matter what you decide, it’s yours, and I want you to have it.”
Kristina turned in his arms, pulling her knees up in front of her and wrapping her arms around them. She lifted her head to look at him, and he couldn’t resist kissing those delicate pink lips. Just a soft kiss, but it sent a shockwave through his system again. What would he do if she left him? His kind didn’t fall twice. Yes, there was no doubt he loved Kristina. And his heart would break if she didn’t return that love. She was human. Capable of loving and leaving. His parents had warned him, his brother had cautioned him, even Vic had begged him to reconsider when he’d even mentioned Kristina in passing.
Kristina pulled her head back abruptly. “Are you okay?”
He nodded, realizing a tear had fallen. He’d never cried in his life, had never shed a tear. Even when Janelle had died in front of him. All he felt was hatred. But the thought of losing Kristina… the worst possible loss for his kind. “I’m fine.”
“Derrick. No matter what your secret is, I don’t care. I want to stay with you.”
“But you don’t even know me,” he countered.
“Yes, I do. And I feel something I’ve never felt. For anyone.” She lifted his hand and pulled it to her lips. “Talk to me please.”
“There’s so much… I don’t even know where to start. But first of all, I have something for you.” He reached inside his jacket, pulled out the tiny black box he’d had for six years, and held it out for her.
Kristina eyed it warily. “Um… well… this is fast.”
A laugh shot out of his throat before he could contain it. She was just so darn cute, and again, he couldn’t help but wonder why it had taken her jumping off a bridge to send him into action. How had he lived so long without her beside him? “It’s not an engagement ring. Besides, marriage isn’t what matters in my world anyway. A commitment is a commitment. A piece of paper means nothing.”
She reached from under her blanket and opened the velvet box. Her eyes
widened as she recognized the ring. “Oh, my God! How did you—” Tears burst from her eyes. “My mother’s ring—actually, my grandmother’s ring. I sold it when I was sixteen.”
Derrick brushed her hair away from her face and kissed her forehead. “I know. I made sure no one could beat my bid.”
Laughter and tears erupted again. “Oh, God. Thank you. I’ve regretted selling it every day of my life.” She slipped the ring onto her right-hand ring finger and then moved to her knees in front of him. “Thank you, Derrick. Thank you for everything. What would I have done without you?”
“Kristina,” he said, his tone serious, wondering where to start. He tilted her face to him, holding on to her. He’d jump right in, he decided, hope she wouldn’t hate him, or think he was a freak as his brother had teased. “I knew your mother. Janelle and I worked together. She was so sweet, so kind.” Kristina’s eyes grew wide again, so he rushed to continue. “We were just friends.” He inhaled a deep breath as he watched a tear roll down her cheek. He rushed to get his explanation out before she ran away from him. “We’d interned together. And I’d been held up that night. I’d been fighting with my brother. I should have been there, stopped that man. I should have killed him—”
She pressed her hand against the side of his face. “It’s not your fault.” She shook her head as she obviously tried to make sense of everything. “You knew my mother? Did you…were you—”
He shook his head fiercely. “No. Nothing. Just friends. I’d made a commitment to protect her, though, and I failed.” He lifted Kristina’s hand to his lips. “When my kind fall… in love, I mean… we fall completely. It’s not like a human falls in love. It only happens once. When we decide that we want to be with someone… and then make love, there’s a connection. Because of that, though not completely uncommon, casual sex is rare. We only pursue someone we want to be with forever.”
She narrowed her eyes, tilting her head. “So you’ve never ‘fallen’ for a woman.”
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