by Myln Hurn
Hunter fought to keep from touching her until she was finished. He could feel the edginess and tension coming off her in waves. It was almost as if there was a glow in the air surrounding them—
“He can’t hurt you now, Tatiana. I am here, and I will not let anyone hurt you.”
Slowly her eyes opened and she turned to look at him. “I know. He pushed me onto the bed, and I closed my eyes. I was so scared…I remember wishing it was over. I know I prayed it wasn’t happening, and that he was gone.”
“I know this is hard, Tatiana. Can you remember if he said anything? Did you see what happened?”
“He ripped my nightgown, and I know at that moment I hated him because it was so pretty. My mother had embroidered it for me.”
“And then,” he prompted her gently. “It’s okay. I am here for you, darling. We are safe here with AnnaBelle and Iain. Nothing can hurt you, my love. I swear to you that I won’t let anyone or anything hurt you ever again. Please, trust me.”
“I do, Hunter. I have never felt so happy and alive since I’ve come to live with Lamenta.” She lifted one hand and cupped the side of his face, caressing his jaw and sliding down to rest over his heart. “What I mean is that my life here has been wonderful. Then you came and I knew what joy could be like. I don’t expect you to say anything in reply to this, but I love you.” Her fingers pressed against his lips just as he breathed in to speak. “I thought I was happy until you knocked me over in the dark and brought me back with you into the light. If all you want with me is what Fauster and Lamenta have shared through the years, I will settle for that. Anything more will be a gift.”
Hunter removed her fingers from his lips, holding her hand gently. “I am not like my father. I will marry the woman I love. Now how soon that happens depends on you.”
He watched as his words slowly made sense inside her tumultuous thought-ridden head. The glow coming from her was unmistakable, but he was still unprepared for the way she launched herself at him a second later.
“Of course, I love you, Tatiana! How could I not love you? I’m surprised you couldn’t feel the love I have for you in every touch and caress.”
“I do! I love you so much. Nothing else matters when you are near me. When we make love…I can’t think! All I can do is feel and love you!”
“I love you with every bone, muscle and fiber of my being. Witch or not.”
“I know you don’t believe me just yet. I don’t want you to be disillusioned later.”
“I won’t be, my love. About that man…was there an inquest following his death?”
“Yes. They said he had a heart attack while trying to…well, you know.”
“See, darling? It was natural causes; nothing you did.”
“I can’t remember everything I did. I know I wished him gone. I could have wished for him to die!”
Hunter pulled her close to him once again, stroking his hand over the back of her head to calm her. “I don’t believe you are capable of doing such harm, unless someone you loved was being hurt. I think to protect someone you loved, or someone who was innocent or weaker, and then you could and would do anything to protect them. You have a strong will to live, but I don’t know that you could consciously kill or harm someone else to protect yourself. I want to make sure you could whip their asses—”
Tatiana laughed softly. “I’ll have you come to class and you can see me ‘whoop’ a little ass.”
“My pleasure. Now, when are we getting married?”
“Married?”
Tatiana and Hunter both turned to see a sturdy three-year-old standing in the barely opened doorway. Her curls were tousled, eyes drowsy and her pajamas askew. Before they could say anything, Blue was walking toward the airbed.
“We getting married?” she asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, looking from one adult to the other.
Instead of answering, Tatiana tried distraction. “Did you just wake up, sweetheart?”
Blue’s curly head bobbed up and down. “I went to find you, but you weren’t in Mommy’s bed.”
Hunter rolled his eyes as Tatiana looked at him. “No, honey. Mommy and Daddy are asleep in their bed. Your Uncle Hunter’s bed is down here.”
“Why can’t we sleep up there?”
God! Hunter thought, out of the mouths of babes! A moment later he was very happy that he’d accepted a pair of cotton pajama bottoms from his brother-in-law as the door to his “bedroom” was opened even wider to admit Blue’s parents. Iain was standing with his arms folded across his chest and AnnaBelle was smiling.
“There is a novel idea,” AnnaBelle said with a knowing look in her eye as she met her brother’s gaze. “I can just imagine how that statement would come across at the next play date!”
“Don’t even say it, AnnaBelle!” Iain spoke in his sternest voice.
AnnaBelle crossed the room and joined her daughter, brother and Tatiana on the airbed. “I thought I heard you come into our bedroom, sweetheart. You didn’t want to get in bed with Mommy and Daddy?”
“I was looking for Tat, Mommy.”
AnnaBelle met Tatiana’s eyes, but there was no jealousy there. “Why did you want her, Blue?”
“I was hungry and wanted Ronald’s for breakfast.”
Silence reigned in the room. Slowly everyone turned to look at Iain, who was still standing in the doorway. Finally he uncrossed his arms and held his hands up, palms out. “Hey! When did I become the bad guy?” His eyes held his daughter’s for about thirty seconds. “Okay, okay already! We’ll go to Ronald’s for breakfast! But we aren’t making this a habit.”
AnnaBelle shook her head as Blue jumped off the bed and ran over to her big, strong father. She reached up toward him, wiggling her hands. Iain’s love for Blue was so obvious and poignant that the others turned away as he picked her up into his arms and hugged her tightly.
“So, what is this about getting married? Did I hear that word coming from this room?”
Hunter grinned at AnnaBelle. “Yeah. How quickly can we arrange to get married?”
Chapter 19
“Blasted tie!”
Lamenta smiled as she crossed to tie the black silk before Fauster had a chance to shred it in frustration. For an old vampire, whose exact age was unknown by everyone, according to rumor, Lamenta was beginning to suspect the truth that even Fauster had no idea how old he was anymore.
“Stop fidgeting and I’ll fix it!” She batted his hands away. “At the rate you are going, we are going to be late for the wedding. All we need is for you to be late for your son’s wedding.”
“Fat lot of good it did me having a son!” Fauster murmured.
Lamenta stopped for a moment, and then she finished tying a perfect bow in the expensive watered silk. Sometimes she wondered why she bothered with this old fool. Perhaps she was the fool after all. She moved away from him, going over to sit at his kitchen table. This wasn’t the best time to discuss things, but after all these years, it was doubtful there would ever be a “right” time.
“Why all those years ago did you choose my friend to have your son, instead of me?”
It was probably more than a minute before Fauster moved a muscle. When he turned to look at her, though, she couldn’t tell a thing from his expression.
“You make it sound like it was just a case of either/or, Lamenta.”
“You are saying there was some deep planning that went in to choosing her over me? After all, you and I were already lovers. I can’t see why I would not have been a good choice to bear your child.”
Fauster crossed over and took the chair opposite hers. “Does any of that matter, Lamenta? It was forty years ago, and now it has come to naught. Hundreds of years of planning—”
“How can you say that? Look at Iain. He has turned out to be one of the finest men I’ve ever known. He is intelligent, a leader in his profession, and most importantly, he loves his wife and daughter. What more can a person want?”
“Hhruumppff!” Fauster grunted,
crossing his arms on the table. “I wanted something more than just a human, damn it! I thought you understood. The day will come when the dark side of the vampire will rise again. Everything I’ve ever done has been to make sure that did not happen. And if it should, we have my inventions to use. Today we live happily side by side.”
“Hunter is a wonderful man. He has managed to transcend the conversion and I am sure he could even take on Simon.”
Fauster nodded his head. “I believe he could.” Chuckling softly, he added, “I’d pay to watch that fight.”
“You still haven’t answered my question. Why wasn’t I good enough to mix with your seed and bear you a child? I was good enough for you to suck and fuck, but not to give life to our offspring? Did you ever consider how any of that made me feel?”
Fauster slowly looked up into Lamenta’s eyes. She could tell that he had not. All he had ever seen were his plans, and his goals. He probably loved her, but maybe he needed a wakeup call. Being at his beck and call for the last forty plus years had obviously not been the way to deal with this recalcitrant old vampire. Perhaps she needed to take a new approach—
“Hey! Come on you two!” Iain called out from the elevator. “We are going to be late. AnnaBelle will skin me alive if I muck this up.” As Fauster and Lamenta joined him, he added ominously, “And if she comes after me, I’ll know who to send her in pursuit of for the real culprit.”
Lamenta grinned, winked and patted Iain’s cheek as she passed him. She was a vision wearing a floaty kind of material the shades of the palest of rainbows. Blue had picked out the colors for the bridesmaids’ dresses. “Good idea, Iain. AnnaBelle has been making good progress with her spells lately. I think she could come up with a very clever one for her uncle.”
Fauster groused and groaned behind her and Iain all the way to the car. “I hate weddings!”
Lamenta smiled at Iain as he held the door for her to get into the back seat. As she sat down, she looked at Fauster and spoke succinctly. “Bite me!”
* * * * *
The ride to the courthouse was tense, to say the least. Iain and Hunter kept exchanging glances over the silence emanating from the back seat. After a few minutes, Iain muttered to his brother-in-law, “I should have hitched a ride with the girls.”
“Hell no!”
“And the ride after the wedding?” Iain glanced at Hunter. “You think Tat and AnnaBelle would let us trade them for Blue?”
Hunter started laughing, and then Iain joined in. They stopped abruptly when Lamenta spoke.
“What is so funny?”
“Nothing!”
“Not a thing!”
They were glad they found a close parking spot, and as they approached the steps, Blue came running toward them. Her reddish-golden curls bounced and the perfectly tied ribbon slipped to the side of her head. Her father lifted her into his arms, smiling toward the two beautiful women standing a short distance away.
AnnaBelle was dressed in a semi-formal gown of the same material as Lamenta and Blue’s, but hers was fitted to her hips and then drifted into a much fuller skirt. Her hair was tied off her face with a ribbon that matched her daughter’s. Instead of fussing with her own dress, she was acting the mother hen for Tatiana.
The bride-to-be was dressed in a cream-colored short waist jacket and skirt. Perched atop her freshly bobbed hair was a saucy hat with a veil to be lowered over her face. As she turned to face Hunter, she smiled. Before she could say a word, Lamenta came up to hug and kiss her.
“Well, we don’t have much time!” AnnaBelle spoke briskly. “We are expected in the judge’s chamber in ten minutes.”
Hunter stepped forward to take Tatiana’s arm, but Fauster moved faster. “I believe it is my job to escort the bride.” Offering her his arm, he escorted her as if she were royalty.
AnnaBelle turned to look at Iain and her brother. Lamenta held out her hand to Blue, who was back down and anxious to get going.
“Come with me, Blue!” Lamenta invited the energetic child, and then she and Blue started after the first two.
“All right.” AnnaBelle put her hands on her hips, tapping one foot. “What is going on? Did you two fight with Fauster?”
“Hey!” Iain protested first. “When I went upstairs to get them the atmosphere felt like the arctic freeze had moved in.”
Hunter shrugged when his sister looked at him. “I have no idea what happened. The only thing Lamenta said was ‘bite me’ when she first got into the car.”
AnnaBelle shook her head in frustration. Threading one arm through each of the gentlemen’s proffered arms, they hurried up the steps to ward off any skirmishes before the wedding could take place.
* * * * *
Lamenta looked at her reflection in the mirror. She had retreated to the lady’s room once they had given their orders at the restaurant reserved for their small post-wedding celebration. It was located in the hotel where Hunter had rented the bridal suite. After a two-night stay here, they were leaving for Australia. Hunter was returning to tie up loose ends before he and Tatiana settled in New York. The couple was going to bunk with AnnaBelle and Iain until they found a place of their own.
For a woman her age, she thought, turning her head one way then the other, she was in remarkably good shape. Good Lord! She looked much better than Fauster.
Turning away, she crossed the nice anteroom to where a sofa and several chairs had been placed. Once seated on the sofa, she opened the ridiculously small purse that AnnaBelle had gotten for her wedding outfit. Taking the lipstick out, she placed the bag on her lap. Removing the cap of the tube, she twisted the softly shaded lipstick upward.
A moment later the tube was floating in the air for a second, before it began to lightly reapply a new coat of lipstick. The door opened a moment later.
“Oh my God! Lamenta! You can’t do that in here!” AnnaBelle shrieked as Tatiana shoved the door shut as quickly as possible.
Lamenta merely shrugged nonchalantly, finishing with the application. The lid then replaced itself once the lipstick had retracted. It floated down and as her purse opened, also without any overt human assistance, it slid into the bag. Once the bag clicked shut, Lamenta turned to look at the two younger women.
“I do hope you didn’t follow me in here.”
Tatiana rolled her eyes at AnnaBelle, and walked over to sit in the chair beside Lamenta. AnnaBelle sat on the sofa.
“Of course we followed you, Lamenta.” Tatiana looked at her aunt in disbelief. “You can’t just make an announcement like that and then walk away!”
Lamenta patted Tatiana’s hand, which had come over to rest on her knee. “I most certainly can, dear. I own the building and it is mine to do with as I please. What I choose to do is give it to you and Hunter as a wedding present. This kills two birds with one stone.”
Tatiana took a deep breath. “I wasn’t aware that there was even one problem, Lamenta.”
“You young people need somewhere to start your married life. I am giving you the place. You can live there, if you can stand your neighbors, or sell it and buy something else. I’ve been approached a number of times to sell. I believe it should fetch a very good price. If it seems too much for a present—”
“It is a lot, Lamenta.”
“Then we will call it your dowry.”
“Dowry!” AnnaBelle almost shouted, and then looked hurriedly at the door.
“It’s way too much, Lamenta, and besides, what are you going to do?”
“Exactly,” AnnaBelle added. “Where are you going to live? You aren’t going to move in with Fauster finally, are you?”
Lamenta looked from one young woman to the other. “I most certainly am not! I am leaving here for a while. I believe a break will do me a world of good. There are many places I’ve always wanted to visit. I don’t want anything in return for the dowry, except to suggest a name for your firstborn daughter.”
Tatiana looked from Lamenta to AnnaBelle. “All right. What name did you ha
ve in mind?”
“Taryn is a name I’ve always liked. If I’d had a daughter, I would have named her that.” Lamenta looked down at her lap. Perhaps this wasn’t playing quite fair, but then no one had ever said she had to play fair. Fauster certainly had not done so, and neither had Simon. It was time for her to step in before they had a chance to ruin everything.
“Of course, Lamenta. That is a lovely name. I’m sure Hunter will agree.” Tatiana squeezed her aunt’s hand. “There is something that I think I must ask you, though.”
“Certainly, Tatiana.”
“In your diary, a name had been written for the woman chosen as Hunter’s future mate…I guess that is how Fauster would put it. Who is she?”
“It’s a name I made up, Tatiana, when I knew you were coming to live with me. I didn’t want you to know the truth.”
“You mean that AnnaBelle’s name had been written there? I knew that and the new name was the one you said Fauster had chosen to replace her.”
AnnaBelle nodded. “I had always wondered if Fauster had chosen a replacement.”
Tatiana frowned. “Hunter said he never told you what Fauster’s plans were.”
“I figured it out. I never saw Fauster through rose-colored glasses like Hunter did. He had admired him all of my life, so I imagined it had been the same before I was born. Then he suddenly stops seeing everyone in the family, especially Fauster. After I got back, and life returned to normal, I just started thinking and putting pieces together. I never told Hunter because I wouldn’t risk jeopardizing our relationship.”
“Oh my God, AnnaBelle! He feels the same way! You have to tell him, please! I think the secret weighs heavily in his heart. But it would kill him to lose your love and friendship.”