“I’m not falling asleep, or kissing your armoire again.”
“No injuries allowed on this visit, Danielle. You’ve managed to get hurt two out of four visits so far.”
“Only one of those was my fault,” she said in defense.
He chuckled softly, and began tantalizing her face and ticklish neck with his gentle fingertips, apparently making this type of caressing into a tradition.
Danielle giggled, wiggling her feet as he ran his hand softly along the side of her neck. His fingers then curled over her shoulder as he glided his thumb along her collarbone. She couldn’t resist the shudder that followed. He chortled at her reaction as a noble, yet impish, smile touched every aspect of his expression, and she gathered that he loved watching her squirm and giggle while he touched her in this innocently seductive manner.
He became more staid as he focused his attention on her face, which wasn’t as ticklish for her. This is what had made her so sleepy the last time he did this, and she wasn’t going to let that happen again, so she focused in on Ethan’s blue eyes, which stole her breath away. The feelings that washed over her then didn’t make her drowsy, or muddled, but she was held spellbound with the sight of his familiar soul.
“I wish I could remember what it was like for us—before we had physical bodies,” she said. “All I know is that it did exist because I can’t deny the feelings I get when I look into your eyes.”
“Yes, somehow our souls knew each other before this life, but those memories have been veiled from us. It must have been something incredible for us to recognize each other without that memory.” He traced her lips as he spoke and continued to gaze into her eyes.
“Hm, yes, it must have been amazing,” she agreed while tracing patterns along the skin of his hand that touched her.
“And intense,” he added.
Danielle melted into his gaze as they stared into each other’s souls, caressing each other’s faces.
“This is intense,” she said breathily.
“Very,” he replied softly. “Let us make new memories, Danielle, and when we enter the next life, hopefully our past will return to our minds, and our memories will be complete.”
He then cradled the back of her head and kissed her. They lingered, tasting the other in the sweet kiss. Ethan slid his fingers along her spine, to the small of her back and then pressed, bringing her body closer to his.
But just then, they were interrupted as Sophia rapped lightly on the door. “Afternoon tea is ready!” she sang merrily.
They immediately released each other. Danielle sighed, and Ethan groaned.
“She really does have thwarting timing, doesn’t she?” he complained softly.
“Could she really not know what she’s doing?”
“There’s a good chance she knows exactly what she’s doing.” Ethan then got up from the settee and headed for the door. He opened it, took the tray from Sophia and thanked her. She spied them carefully before leaving, and Danielle realized that Sophia did know what she was doing. She was checking up on them. Rolling upright, she drew her knees to her chest and hugged them. Even here they didn’t have complete freedom, and she frowned at the thought.
Fed up with the interruptions as much as she was, Ethan decided to do his own cooking from then on. Sophia seemed disappointed, but Danielle thought Ethan was equally tired of cleaning up after the messy vampire, and realized the job may be more daunting for him as a mortal.
“What are we doing tonight? Did you make plans?” she asked, pouring herself a cup of what smelled like peach tea.
“I was thinking dinner and then a movie.”
“That sounds nice.” She stirred honey in, but couldn’t help it when she remembered the dark fact that many other vampires were out stalking the night for prey. And they had plans to go out into that night. “You’re sure we’ll be safe?”
Seeming only a little surprised by the question, Ethan said, “I’m certain. Max has led men into battle with swords, I’m sure he can handle the safety of two little mortals. I want you to try to forget the danger and just enjoy this. It’ll be a while before Celeste and Lucas figure it out, we have some time.”
“How do you know?”
“While members of the Order are limited, we still represent many. They know they’ve offended us by attacking us and will lay low for a while because of it.”
“Really?”
He nodded.
“All right.”
After they’d finished with the tea, they went to the Jaguar. “I want to try filet mignon with my new taste buds. Are you up for a fine restaurant?” Ethan asked, opening the car door for her.
“That sound’s really nice. Do you have reservations for us and our shadows?” she asked with a mocking tone as she settled into the passenger seat, all the while knowing they were being followed by two guards.
“They’ll have to worry about that on their own,” he replied flatly, and she realized he didn’t like this arrangement much more than she did, even though it was necessary.
As they arrived at the restaurant, she noticed who their guards would be for the evening. Max had been Ethan’s bodyguard for the day, and he was also following tonight, but Danielle had only met the other man once when she’d been looking for Nadia the night of the ball and couldn’t recall his name.
“Who’s that?” she asked as they were seated at their table.
She watched as Max and the other vampire arranged for a table within view of her and Ethan, while avoiding eye contact with the mortals.
“That’s Cedric. I’ve known him for a very long time. We can trust him.”
Ethan lifted the menu, and opened it. “Ahhh … it has been sooo long,” he muttered as he hungrily looked over all the choices his taste buds could now fully enjoy.
“Don’t order too much,” she warned. “I’m not rolling you out of here.”
“Yes, ma’am … appetizer?” he offered while he invited her to agree to it with a tempting smile, and the raise of one eyebrow.
She rolled her eyes but smiled. “Sure, babe, choose whatever sounds good to you. I don’t have any preference.”
The meal had progressed with lots of praise and humming from Ethan as he savored the cheese fondue appetizer and the crisp salad. When the main course finally arrived, Ethan drew the aromas coming off the hot food into his lungs and closed his eyes for a moment. With an eager look holding his expression, he cut into it with his knife. Chewing, his eyes rolled back and he said around the bite of tender steak, “This is simply divine!”
Danielle giggled as the other guests turned to gaze at Ethan with looks of annoyed surprise. She noticed that Max and Cedric were also watching, their plates of food untouched on their table until the waiter asked if something was wrong. Both men then made a show of cutting up the food into small pieces before eating some.
Ethan again made another happy noise, drawing more gazes. “We’re getting looks,” she said, smirking at him. “Try not to enjoy it so enthusiastically.”
“Sorry.”
When they’d finished, she noticed Ethan didn’t look so well. His golden brow creased as he rested his knife and fork on the plate.
“Are you all right? Did you eat too fast?”
“Probably,” he admitted, placing one hand over his stomach. “Red meat may be one of those things that don’t agree with me.” A reckless smile lifted the corners of his mouth. “But it was well worth it!”
She tried to talk him out of getting dessert, but he was insistent on not missing that the first time he dined in a restaurant after more than a century.
Her eyes widened when he ordered three desserts: sticky toffee pudding, cheesecake, and crème brulèe. “Now you’ll really be sick.”
“We’ll share.”
“Right, so then we’ll both be sick. Maybe Max can help you walk out of here when you’ve finished gorging yourself.” She shifted her gaze to the knight and noticed him trembling with laughter. Apparently he heard that.
“Sure. You know, you didn’t save any room for popcorn. Have you ever had that before?” she asked as Ethan paid and they left for the theater.
“I’ll make room for it, but no, I haven’t tried it. We've been to the cinema a few times during the day, but never bothered with popcorn.”
“Oh, you have been deprived,” she said. “We need to get the extra butter, that’s a must.”
Danielle could see the anticipation reflected in his eyes, and came to comprehend the fact that he was thoroughly enjoying the little luxuries of being a mortal. Maybe she was wrong to think he regretted this change.
Before the movie even started, Ethan began munching on the popcorn as soon as he’d purchased it. His brows lifted, along with the corners of his lips while he chewed. He liked it, she could tell.
She looked to see where the guards were as they seated themselves in the theater. They’d settled in about six rows behind them. When she caught Max’s eye, he winked at her from under his half-closed eyelids. She loved it when he did that, and giggled girlishly, then turned back around. She was muddled slightly with the slight glimpse of his spellbinding eyes, but it was fleeting.
“Danielle, are you flirting with Max again? I think I have issues with that. Now behave yourself,” Ethan commanded sternly.
She knew from Ethan’s tone that he wasn’t really angry, and was only teasing. “I am behaving! Max is like the big brother I never had,” she said, falsely peeved.
“All right then.” He turned to give Max a reproving look.
“It’s strange having bodyguards like this. I’m not used to it.”
“You’ve had bodyguards for almost as long as you’ve been in London,” he reminded.
She guessed that was true, but since she didn’t know she had guards then it felt different.
Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, Ethan said, “Popcorn?” as he held the now nearly empty bucket of popped kernels in front of her, and gave it a shake.
“Um, you’re supposed to save some of that for when the movie starts.”
“I can get another one,” he said a little too eagerly.
“Are you trying to make yourself thoroughly ill?”
“You were right.” He looked at the bottom of the paper bucket. “I really like the popcorn. And cinema butter, that’s a blessed thing.”
She laughed.
The film began playing, but they wound up paying more attention to each other than the movie. Danielle had never liked couples who necked during the entire length of a film. She always wondered why they even bother to purchase tickets. However, it seemed now she was one of them. She’d just joined the movie kisser club, and liked it. They hardly noticed when the movie ended.
“So, what next?” Danielle hoped Ethan had more planned, like club dancing. She’d decided to let her worries about Celeste and Lucas go because Max and the others actually made her feel safe even if she disliked the lack of privacy. So why couldn’t they enjoy themselves?
“Won’t Uncle Nick be angry if you begin missing your curfew too?”
Her eyes checked his watch, sure enough, it was that late. Now she totally understood Brianna’s habitual curfew breaking. It was hard to get home on time. Especially when she had a boyfriend whom she’d much rather stay out with. “But I don’t want to go home,” she grumbled.
“I don’t think I want your Uncle angry with me. I believe I’m already on thin ice with him.”
“You haven’t done anything for him to be angry about.”
“Danielle, I’ve put you in more danger than you’ve seen in your entire life.”
“I don’t blame you for that.”
“But your Uncle will if anything happens to you,” he admonished.
“You said everything would be fine, and we have Scooby and Shaggy tailing us. How could anything happen?”
Ethan ruptured into boisterous laughter concerning her dynamic duo choice, but remained determined. “I’m not going to push the limits with Nicolas tonight, Danielle. We’ll spend all day together tomorrow and the next day and the next. Well, except for during school. Otherwise I promise to be around—a lot.”
She exhaled loudly, blowing her hair from her face. “Okaaay,” she agreed morosely.
* * * * *
Ethan walked Danielle up to the front door at an appropriate time of night for their return. He kissed and hugged her goodnight. She pushed the door open as he descended the steps, but then Uncle Nick noticed Ethan leaving and called out to him. “Ethan! Please come in for tea!”
Ethan halted his stride to the Jaguar, and smiled up at the risen moon. “I would love to. Thank you, sir!” He nimbly bounced up the steps, snagged her hand and pulled her inside after him.
When they got seated and the tea had been served, Uncle Nick began the conversation. “Ethan, I must apologize for my outburst at your home. I hope you can forgive me.”
“Yes, of course, it’s already been forgotten,” Ethan said graciously.
Then it seemed Uncle Nick attempted to lighten the mood further with a comment he meant as a joke—or did he? “Thank you for bringing Danielle home at a decent hour, even though it is later than in the past. Truthfully, I’m relieved you’re keeping her out after dark. I was beginning to fear my niece was dating a vampire,” he said in a tone laced with mirth.
Danielle nearly spat out her mouthful of tea, but managed to collect her composure before Nick noticed. Ethan didn’t even flinch, he only smiled and chuckled softly at the joke and then glanced at her with a gentle reproving look for almost giving him away. She bit her lip, stared down into her tea, and began stirring it nervously.
“Clearly I’m not. I daresay, you wouldn’t want to be face to face with a vampire at night, now would you?” Ethan said with a similarly playful tone.
Danielle widened her eyes at his antique way of stringing words together. She felt he came close to giving himself away when he used words like “daresay.” Luckily, it seemed Uncle Nick didn’t notice, and she thought maybe it was just one of those “proper British” things.
“Definitely not. That would be quite hazardous, for sure,” Nick concurred.
His supportive reply made her wonder again about her uncle’s belief in the existence of vampires, and she couldn’t stop herself from questioning again. “Uncle Nick? Do you believe in vampires?” she asked, even knowing she shouldn’t feed this hazardous topic. She checked with Ethan to see if she’d angered him with her question, but he remained as calm and patient as usual.
“I don’t know, love, but I think it certainly is a possibility. There are many things we don’t know about in this world.”
“True,” she agreed softly, and couldn’t help but be grateful to Ethan for sharing many of those hidden truths with her.
When they finished with the tea, she walked Ethan to the front door. She stepped outside with him, and shut the door so they could talk candidly for a moment.
“I’m sorry for asking that. It’s just that he was the one who got me thinking about vampires when I first moved here and before I ever met you. I wondered then if he believed in them, and I still wonder that. Sometimes I would like them to know, so they’ll be careful. But I—” Ethan silenced her by pressing his lips to hers.
He spoke when he leaned back. “I’m not angry with you. You continue to be my rarest possession, and I will always cherish you. Don’t worry about your family. Your uncle is a wise man. He thinks they could exist, and with that amount of knowledge he will be safe.”
She smiled when his eyes caught onto hers and held for a few quiet moments.
“It’s nice to be able to look into your eyes at night,” she said.
“And it was a pleasure to be able to have tea with you and your uncle—at night,” he said. “The moon is a welcome sight for me now, thanks to you and your valiant bravery.” He slid his fingers along he
r cheek as he spoke.
“No, it was thanks to you and your incredible self-control,” she argued.
“I guess that is one thing we’ll never agree on.”
“Agree to disagree?” she offered.
“Yes, agreed.”
He gave her a second goodnight kiss for the night, but it was cut short by a vampire. “Come on, Ethan, enough with the smooching. Let’s go already.” Cedric and Max had emerged from their hiding places, drawing closer, but kept their enchanting eyes narrowed.
“What’s the matter, Cedric? Not getting a decent salary for your work?” Ethan asked without looking at Cedric.
“Paid!” He laughed. “You’re funny, Ethan. We do this because we like you for reasons I can’t fathom at the moment,” Cedric ranted.
This caught Danielle’s interest. “They’re not paid?”
“They’re all volunteers, and trust me, they’re the only ones who can be trusted with this. Old vampires don’t need the money, as they’ve had plenty of time to accumulate wealth. Only a young vampire could be bought off. Beon will not allow any youthful vampires around us, and if they’re not paid then we have a better chance of them doing it for honest reasons.” Ethan explained.
“But what if someone else bought them off?”
“That’s why Beon has chosen old guardians whom he’s known for many years and can trust.”
“Oh. How old are you, Cedric?” she asked.
“I’m younger than Ethan, he’s an old fogy. I’m only eighty-four,” Cedric stated as if he was clearly still in his youth. Ethan cringed and chuckled at Cedric’s joke.
“And you, Max?”
“Truthfully, I’m quite a bit older. I’m six hundred and sixty-seven,” Max announced, puffing out his chest like a proud rooster.
Danielle laughed, though she was astonished by the huge number. “You’re ancient! You all are!”
“All right, time to go, Ethan.” Cedric grasped Ethan’s arm. “We need to get out of sight before Danielle’s uncle decides to check up on her.”
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