“Do you have any idea what it means?” she asked, because she certainly didn’t.
“Not yet, but I’m determined to figure it out.” She watched as Ethan’s expression turned brooding momentarily, but then he promptly pulled himself out of it and returned his attention to her. “Comfortable?” he asked.
“Yes. Thank you.”
“Good.” With that he commenced caressing her face as before, gently gliding his fingers across her skin. She realized his goal was to distract her from the earlier drama. It was working perfectly well because Danielle was trying desperately not to melt all over the top of him.
Tilting his head to the side, he traced around the outline of her mouth, then lifting, his fingers tunneled through her hair, along her scalp. The stroke moved around her ear, continuing lightly along her jaw. When he then slid both thumbs as light as fairy wings down the sides of her neck, she shuddered. It tickled but when the pressure deepened to a massage, it felt nice. Danielle sighed and closed her eyes.
“Do you like that?” he asked.
“Yes,” she confessed, then wondered, if he was from Austen’s time then maybe, just perhaps he was a little like Mr. Darcy. And would Mr. Darcy be doing this, or could Ethan potentially turn into another Zack with octopus hands? In truth, with Ethan, did she care? As she pondered her love of all things Jane Austen, she decided she did. A little. The silly thought prompted a question, “So, can I trust you with—? I mean if you’re from eighteen whatever?”
“Eighteen fifty-four.”
“Right, so then you have ... um?”
“Proper manners?” he offered.
“Well, that and...”
“A strong sense of propriety?” he suggested.
Feeling like a complete nerd for bringing this up, she nodded.
“Of course.”
“But, isn’t this crossing the line a little?”
“Hm. I’ll confess, I have been crossing lines that wouldn’t have been acceptable well over a century ago…. But truthfully, Danielle, I can’t seem to stop myself when I’m around you. Yet I promise you that you can trust me. I still believe there are many things that are only acceptable between husband and wife. You can trust me to never cross those lines, I give you my word. But I have decided that this…” he ran his fingers along her jaw, “and this…” he then slid his fingers softly across the pillow of her bottom lip, “and kissing you are acceptable. Unless you would rather I didn’t. Just let me know where the line is and I’ll honor your request.”
This guy was so not handsy-Zack. He really was the noble gentleman she’d wished for and feared didn’t exist.
When she said nothing more, he resumed the innocent caressing of her face and neck. Her breathing slowed as his touch relaxed her and she unconsciously curled her legs up, which was more comfortable for her than having them stretched out. After he’d tenderly traced every inch of her face, his thumbs and fingers ran softly across the contours of her collarbone back and forth along the ridge. His touch always started out gentle, soft as a feather, then increased in pressure as he gently worked the muscles beneath. He continued following the same line trailing his hand over her shoulder and down her arm, stroking her fingers softly when he reached her hand. Danielle peeked when his hand left her fingers and hovered along her hip and along the side of her thigh, only centimeters from touching her, but when he got to her knee and calf, his fingers dropped and grazed along her skin, barely touching. His caress then smoothly fell to her ankle. While there, he gently slipped her shoe off and dropped it on the floor.
Danielle gazed up at his face. He appeared to be enjoying this as much as, if not more than she was. Still he hadn’t crossed any lines to make his actions inappropriate, at least in her opinion. She closed her eyes again. Ethan switched to her other foot, removing that shoe as well. With her feet free, he rubbed his fingers expertly along the soles of her feet, and then tugged gently at her toes. She was now so relaxed she began feeling sleepy, but also wondered if it was a mixture of his ministrations and his vampire magic that lulled her so much.
“How’s your ankle?”
“It’s fine now.” She hadn’t sprained it that bad and had actually forgotten about it.
“Your feet are cold,” he whispered.
She felt him shift as he retrieved the throw draped over the back of the settee, and tucked it in around her. “Warm?”
“Yes.... Thank you, Ethan.”
“You’re welcome,” he breathed.
His feathery touches had returned to her face, his fingers gliding over her eyelids and mouth. Then after what only seemed like a few minutes, she felt lips press against hers. “Mmm,” she murmured sleepily.
“Danielle,” an enchanting English voice whispered.
“Hmm?” she muttered, still on the edge of consciousness.
“Danielle darling, wake up,” that dreamy British voice called to her again. “Danielle, wake up, I need to take you home. The sun is setting,” he persisted.
Then she remembered—“Oh!” Her eyes flew open. “Oh no!” she gasped.
“What’s wrong?”
“I fell asleep?”
“Yes.” He sounded amused.
“I don’t want to go,” she whined. “I want to stay here with you. I didn’t want to squander the whole time sleeping! Why did you let me fall asleep?”
Ethan started laughing. “Actually I loved getting a chance to watch you sleep. This is something I miss out on since I shouldn’t be near you at night…. It was perfectly delightful!”
“What? I didn’t do anything embarrassing while I slept, did I?” she felt mortified.
“No, of course not, you were absolutely adorable.” Joy danced in his sapphire eyes.
“I hope I didn’t talk in my sleep, or snore.”
A smile spread across his face that was anything but noble.
“What? Did I drool?” Danielle was panicking now, checking her face for wetness.
Laughing again, “No, no, don’t worry, you didn’t drool, and you didn’t snore. You looked incredibly peaceful. Like an angel dropped from Heaven, landing in my lap. My very own personal angel, I absolutely loved it!”
“But, did I talk?” He’d skipped over that one, she noticed.
His smirk widened.
She gasped. “What did I say?”
“Well, there were no coherent words really. You would just mutter and hum when I touched you, and you smiled when you did it. It was delightful to watch.” His misbehaving grin grew bigger, though he seemed slightly disappointed.
“Are you sure that’s all?”
“Yes, that’s all, I promise. Honestly, I wish you had started talking, but you didn’t.”
“I’m not usually a sleep talker, at least, not that I know of.”
“Pity,” he said.
Danielle let out a big sigh. “I still don’t want to go home.”
Ethan groaned in support. “I know. I’d keep you here if I thought I could get away with it. But I do need to hunt as soon as it’s dark and your uncle would be quite displeased with me if I didn’t get you home at a decent hour.”
“My uncle thinks it’s rather odd that you always bring me home so early. Will usually brings Bri home around ten. He thinks there is something definitely bizarre and old-fashioned about you.”
“Well, he is correct. I am bizarre and old-fashioned.”
Ethan then scooped Danielle up from her horizontal position, pulled her close to his fit chest, and began peppering her face with soft kisses. She giggled and felt goose bumps popping up all over her body. When he stopped, he brushed her hair out of her face, tucked it behind her ear and whispered, “Today has been one of the best days of my life, and that’s saying a lot.”
She smiled.
He then pressed his lips against hers with more passion than the other kisses that day. She parted her lips to breathe in his delectable breath, and instinctively tangled her fingers into his smooth hair. The kiss deepened, but just as it did,
Ethan managed to pull his mouth from hers, then rested his forehead against hers. “I’m sorry, Danielle, but we are really cutting it close tonight. I have to get you home before the sun sets completely, or Beon might be proven right.”
“I know,” she said defeated.
Ethan seemed aware that she might still resist leaving since he had to pry her fingers from his hair. And then it was clear that he suspected he may have to drag her down the hall and out to his Jag, so he went for the easier option of carrying her. Danielle knew she wasn’t getting a choice in the matter.
As he carried her out, she noticed the tray of unfinished hors d’oeuvres. “You may want to hide those or Sophia will have your head.”
Her comment sent him roaring with laughter. He responded in a hushed chuckling voice, “Don’t worry, I’ll bury the evidence. I was wondering though, were they good?”
“Yes, they were wonderful. I feel bad I didn’t eat more, she went to so much trouble.”
“Don’t worry about it, I know she had fun. I’ve been teaching her to cook—the kitchen is usually my territory. She’ll probably make more next time.” Ethan’s brows pinched together. “I was also wondering, from the look of the kitchen, do I need to clean it again?” he asked, a hint of pain in his voice.
“Um…” Danielle was trying not to laugh. “Well, yes, you do need to clean it up a bit.” Then she did laugh, she couldn’t help herself.
“It’s a disaster, isn’t it?”
“Disaster is a good way to describe it.”
Ethan rolled his eyes and sighed to himself.
“If you don’t need to eat why do you like to cook? I don’t understand that.”
“I have fond memories of cooking with Clair, and there are times when I need to cook for mortals.” Ethan smiled and kissed her playfully under the chin. She squealed and giggled, she’d never known until recently that she was so ticklish there.
Chapter 11
To Snog a Frog
When they arrived at her place, he walked her up to the front door as usual.
“Tomorrow?” she asked, feeling a little desperate about it as she touched a button on his shirt.
“Of course.” The words were soft, but the smile was amused. Did he sense her desperation to see him again?
Her eyes shifted to the sun that was dangerously low in the sky as he cupped her face with strong but gentle hands. “Goodnight, ma chérie, sweet dreams.” He then bent down and pressed his lips against hers. Ethan didn’t let this kiss get as deep as the one before. She figured it was because the light was slipping away too fast.
“You too,” she replied, her brain muddled a whole lot from the kiss and likely a little from the magic in him.
“Well, I won’t be sleeping much, tonight anyway. Lucas and others like him still want to murder helpless pedestrians. We can’t save everyone, but for as many as we can, we try.”
Danielle shuddered at the thought of who knows how many people could fall victim to vampires tonight. “Do vampires need to feed nightly?”
“No. Like Lucas had done, they let themselves get thirsty for a while.”
“Why?”
“Well, it’d be pretty hard to stay hidden if people went missing in droves each and every night. As it’s done now, it just seems like a few random missing persons.”
Shuddering at the horrible thought, she noticed the sun was almost gone, her hand dropped away from the front of his shirt and she said, “Um, okay, have fun annoying Lucas then … but who’s watching me while you’re out saving the world?”
Ethan chuckled. “Don’t worry, we have it covered.”
“All right.” She knew he really needed to leave; the curse would be taking over soon.
“Goodbye, Danielle,” he said. While he smiled down at her, his golden hair was ruffled playfully by a soft breeze as it glistened in the waning sunset.
She sighed at the celestial look of him. “’Bye.”
As she opened the front door, her uncle noticed Ethan leaving and called out to him. “Ethan! Stay for tea!”
Ethan returned to address her uncle even though it was risky for him to do so. “Thank you, sir, but I’m afraid I am expected at home. Next time?” Her eyes rounded when he bowed, and she shot a look at Uncle Nick’s face to gather his reaction to the show of vintage etiquette.
But Uncle Nick looked at Ethan like he’d never seen a more impressive rejection to tea in his life, and Danielle began to breathe again. “Of course. Goodbye then,” said her uncle.
Ethan dashed to his Jaguar and sped away.
“Wow, Danielle, he sure is bizarrely old-fashioned for a young man! That William bloke dating your cousin needs to take a page from him.” Danielle giggled and rolled her eyes as she followed her uncle inside.
“What’s for dinner, Aunt Charlotte?” Danielle asked as she entered the kitchen.
Brianna eyed her suspiciously, probably because of her cheery tone, and raised an eyebrow at Danielle, which Danielle understood perfectly. She expected an update.
“We’re having Yorkshire pudding, then Cornish pasty with baked beans,” Aunt Charlotte replied.
“Sounds good.” Not that Danielle was paying much attention to the menu; her mind was still on Ethan and the painting she needed to start.
She ate faster than usual, so she could finish quickly and start sketching the ruins. After wolfing down several bites she said eagerly, “That was great, Aunt Charlotte, thank you! May I be excused now?”
“What’s the rush, Danielle?” asked Uncle Nick.
“I just want to get started on a painting before I forget the details.”
“Okay then, have fun painting,” he said, dismissing her.
“Thank you.” She sprang from her seat, dashed to the kitchen, gave her plate a quick rinse, stuffed it in the dishwasher and then rushed to her bedroom. Brianna of course followed, but had to scurry to catch up.
Danielle switched on the music she’d been listening to with Ethan to help inspire her. She pulled out a fresh piece of canvas, set it on her easel, and snatched up a pencil. Danielle had sketched out almost all of the arches by the time Brianna caught up with her. “Oh, you really do want to paint. I thought you just wanted to talk about Ethan.”
“No, I have to paint the place Ethan took me to today. It was really beautiful,” she said, barely able to contain herself.
“Wow, where did he take you?”
“Just some old ruins, but they were wonderful.”
“Ruins? Which ones?”
“I don’t know what they’re called.” It wasn’t the complete truth, but she certainly couldn’t tell her what they really were.
As Danielle sketched the doorways and added more details of the scene, Brianna furrowed her brows. “I don’t know that place, where was it?” Danielle was aware that Brianna knew about most of the historical areas in London. However, she was certain her cousin couldn’t possibly know about this one.
“Sorry, I don’t remember that either.” Which was true because Danielle couldn’t have found it again on her own. “Ethan said most people don’t know about it,” she decided to divulge before Brianna strained too many brain cells trying to figure it out.
“Oh, that explains it, I guess.” Brianna went to sit by Danielle’s fireplace, propping her head against the back of the chair, and then asked the question that was really on her mind, “So, did Ethan snog you?”
Danielle turned to stare at her cousin. “What is…? I mean, I don’t think Ethan would do something that sounds so—icky,” she said with a look of disgust.
Brianna blew up laughing at the look on Danielle’s face. “No, silly, that means a long kiss usually with a little French. Did he kiss you?”
“Bri, it was only our third date. There were no tongues involved!” she said, though she was now imagining what it would be like. Would the proper Mr. Deveroux...? “But, yes, he did kiss me,” she conceded, then couldn’t control the stupid smile on her face and the little giggle that bubbled pas
t her lips.
Brianna slapped a hand over her mouth and then said, “I can’t help but be gobsmacked he did it so soon!”
“Okay now what the heck does that mean?” Some of her cousin’s slang had Danielle completely baffled.
“Incredibly amazed or astonished.”
Frowning at that. “Oh. Why are you so amazed?” Danielle asked feeling a bit miffed, did she not think he would kiss her?
“I mean, you just haven’t been here very long and you already have a boy after you.” Brianna made a scoffing sound as she tossed a look at her white dress. “I knew they’d fall for the ‘girly-girl.’”
“He does say he likes that side of me,” she said, now sketching the tree line.
“Is he a good kisser?”
“He’s a ‘scrummy’ kisser,” she said dreamily, adding a few long trunks to the trees. She could taste the magic in him and that totally made his kisses deliciously scrummy, she mused.
Brianna giggled. “What else did you do? You were gone all day, so you couldn’t have spent the whole time at the ruins—er—snoggin’ each other.”
Danielle laughed, but realized her cousin wouldn’t stop asking questions until she got enough. However, she knew she needed to be careful about how much, or what she said. “He took me to meet his.” She paused, because she certainly couldn’t say Order of rebelling vampires, and choked out a small lie, “family.”
Brianna gaped. “Really?”
Turning to note the look of surprise on her cousin’s face, she said, “Yes, really.”
Danielle had finished sketching and moved on to painting. She pulled a bottle of gray pigment from her box of paints and squeezed a dollop out onto her pallet. It didn’t take her long to have most of the stone filled in. It still needed shading and highlights, but it was a good start.
Brianna rose from the chair and walked over to examine the painting again. “I can’t wait to see it when it’s finished.” Lifting her hand to catch a sudden yawn, Brianna then stretched. “I need to go to bed, ’night, Dannie. See ya tomorrow.”
“’Kay, ’night, Bri.” Danielle glanced back at her cousin as she left, then yawned as well.
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