Jonah smiled. “I know what you’re talking about, Ariana. I’ve obviously never had it but it’s the number one fast food chain in the States, so it must be good. I could make a few calls to some of my peeps over there and have them get together the information we need to put one on the island. They’ll be discreet, Abe, don’t get your boxers in a bunch. Not all of my old buddies are bad news. I have actually cut loose the ones that are. No ties, not even in my cell phone contacts.”
Abe’s face was pained. “I don’t know anything about McDoodles so, as much as it pains me to say it, Jonah, make my fiancé happy.
Ariana and Jonah busted into laughter.
“It’s McDonalds, Abe… and I would be delighted to please your woman.”
Jonah laughed and took off like a bolt of lightning, with Abe right on his heels.
§ § §
Julia was dying to know what was happening on the island. With her only chance to destroy Abe hanging by a thread, she had already chewed all her nails off and had to resort to her only other nasty habit, smoking.
Damn, she hated Abe for doing this to her. She didn’t feel any better than some homeless crack whore stuck in this rat hole waiting for her next fix, and smoking these damn cheap cigarettes, although they had gotten better at making them over the years; the filter was a nice touch.
She had a good mind to just find some other loser’s life to take over, but Abe had rubbed her the wrong way this time. She might not kill the bastard, but he was going to wish he was dead after she finished with him.
She had found Max and told him he was free to do his own thing but to keep his cell on him. She didn’t know when exactly ‘Go’ time would be, but she felt that it would be soon, very soon.
CHAPTER 44
Ariana, Becky and Rainey started walking back toward the restaurant, laughing and talking about things that had happened in their lives. This was just what Ariana needed. To laugh and joke and not worry about anything. She had decided to be happy about getting married Saturday. If she was honest with herself, there was nothing holding her back anymore. Except, perhaps, for the fact that Janie wouldn’t be here for this one.
Her and Michael didn’t really have a wedding, unless you counted Janie and Lance, their two witnesses in front of the local JP, a wedding party. They didn’t have the money for a big extravagant wedding back then, and she used to joke with Janie, telling her that she could be her maid of honor at her next wedding. She didn’t know at the time that there would be another marriage; she thought Michael would always be there.
Ariana didn’t know how her best friend and Lance would take the news that she was getting married again, so soon after Michael’s death, and for that matter, what they would say about the groom and about what she would become one day. The thought of being a vampire really didn’t bother her as much as it had the past few days. She really couldn’t think of her life without Abe in it, as crazy as that sounded. She loved him, and since she was being so honest with herself, she admitted she had fallen for him the second their eyes met. She was going to keep that one to herself for now, though.
Ariana did want to wait to be changed. She was still undecided about having a child. She didn’t know if diapers, spit up and teething rings were her cup of tea.
Oh, hell, who was she kidding? She was talking to herself here, not trying to lie to anyone else. She wanted a baby so bad, but her and Michael had never even had a scare. They weren’t trying, but they weren’t preventing it from happening either. She always told herself she didn’t care, so she wouldn’t be so heartbroken if it didn’t happen.
A big gust of wind and sand whipped by the girls, and it seemed to be laughing. Ariana was shaken for a moment, until a second wind moved her hair and a kiss, quick as a blink of an eye, was placed on her cheek, and then it was gone.
“I didn’t even see them. How did they do that?” Ariana asked.
Rainey laughed. “Vampires’ blood does not have to obey the rules of a human’s circulatory system. There are no restrictions, no limitations, nothing to slow it down. The blood cells themselves are free moving, and they move at incredible speeds towards the part of their bodies that needs blood most. They will both need to feed by tomorrow, though. If a vampire uses a lot of energy – physically and emotionally, too – they get drained faster. They just use more fuel, like you would when you’re driving your car faster, for instance. Same way with them. They push it to the max, like they’re doing now, they need to fuel up more often.”
“Either of you ever think of becoming one of them?” Ariana asked.
Rainey dropped her gaze, but Becky laughed. Ariana noticed Rainey’s discomfort and made a mental note to ask her about it later.
“Ha, I haven’t found one charming enough to make me want to spend eternity with him, yet,” Becky said.
A gust of wind lifted the girl’s hair. “I heard that,” the wind said as it left.
“Well, I have met someone charming enough and becoming a vampire doesn’t bother me anymore. I’m looking forward to spending an eternity with Abe.”
“And I heard that.” Abe had stopped suddenly in front of her. He looked so deep in her eyes that she felt he was unlocking every door in her soul.
Ariana couldn’t breathe, but when she spoke again, though still locked in Abe’s intense gaze, she spoke to Becky and Rainey. She kept her face emotionless. “Hey, girls?”
“Yeah, what’s up?” Rainey asked.
“You wanna know one of Abe’s best guarded secrets?” Ariana allowed a small smile to play across her face.
Abe was confused. “I have no secrets.”
If she had been reading his thoughts just then, she would have only picked up on a known fact: how much he loved her, and how exultant he was at hearing her words. Finally, she’d admitted that being with him for eternity was actually what she wanted. He was trying to keep his thoughts clean around her and he was thankful she was getting better at controlling the mind reading on/off switch, because sometimes he slipped and landed smack dab in the middle of an R rated thought instead of a PG one. He couldn’t fathom what secrets she was talking about.
“Damn right, we want to know his juicy secrets. Spill it, Ariana,” Becky said as her and Rainey started circling the couple.
Ariana didn’t need any further encouragement. “He’s very… ticklish.”
She squealed as she dug her fingers in his ribs and sent him into what looked like an epileptic seizure. The other two girls joined in Ariana’s fun; Abe literally couldn’t breathe under their combined attack, and he fell to the sand rolling, trying to get away.
“Ah, come on, nobody invited me to the party?” Jonah whined, smiling, until he figured what the three girls were doing to Abe. “Oh, never mind, I don’t want to come to that kind of party.”
Becky’s and Rainey’s heads shot up at his end remark. “You wouldn’t happen to be ticklish, too, would you, Jonah?”
“Yeah… he… is… Go… get… him… Oh… God… make… it… stop… pleeeasssseee!” Abe managed to get out.
Rainey and Becky took off after Jonah, leaving Abe laying on the sandy beach, panting for breath, with Ariana straddling his hips, tickling him.
Ariana stopped and leaned down far enough that a strand of her hair slipped free off her shoulder, falling on his nose. He aimed his lips and blew the strand of hair up to the top of his head, her blonde hair mixing with his black. She bent lower still and ran her tongue along his top lip.
There wasn’t any holding his thoughts back now. She’d just crushed the brick dam he’d so painstakingly worked to build around them. Abe closed his eyes, and finally relaxed his mind as he realized that this was the first time she had made the first move, and, oh yeah, he was gonna let her.
Ariana stiffened as she comprehended what part of Abe’s body she was sitting on, and that her resting place was swiftly acquiring a very hard lump. As she looked at his closed eyes, knowing he wouldn’t move an inch until she made her next move, she d
ecided she wouldn’t hold back anymore, and wouldn’t back out, either. He was giving her the choice, but backing out just wasn’t on her mind.
Just as she pressed her lips to his, a moan come out of his throat, so low she actually paused. She watched a smile spread on his lips, and when they parted over his teeth she caught a glimpse of his fangs for the first time.
She sucked in a sharp breath and covered her mouth with her hand.
Abe’s eyes shot open and his fangs retracted slowly. “I didn’t mean to scare you, Ariana. I wasn’t going to bite you, I promise. I just got so caught up in the moment, I wasn’t aware my little daggers were even out. See what you do to me?”
She could hear the muted apology in his mind, that sometimes the ‘little daggers’, like other parts of his body, had a mind of their own. When his thoughts noted that no female had ever turned him on so quickly with just a kiss, she hit her mental ‘off’ button, but it didn’t take effect until after she caught the thought about the exact part of his body she was sitting on.
“Hey, lovebirds. We’re going to shake our ass on Code Red’s dance floor. You gonna come or you going… um… back to the palace?” Becky shouted over the hill.
Abe sat up, holding onto Ariana as he moved. “We’re on our way,” he shouted back. Then looked back into Ariana’s eyes. “I would love to stay here and do this all night, but there will be a point where I won’t want to stop and you won’t, either, and… well… I don’t want our first time together to be on a sandy beach. Maybe our second, and our tenth and maybe even our millionth time, but not our first. It has to be perfect, Ariana. For you, I will make it perfect. I was thinking… It would be nice to keep it for our wedding night, if we can make it that long. God, you drive me crazy.”
“I was already to the point where I didn’t want to stop, but I see your point and I agree. It would be perfect, on our wedding night. Although we might just have to stay away from each other until we say our vows, if we want that to happen.”
“We might as well hang that one up, because I am not going to go one day without seeing your beautiful face.”
“Zip it back up, Abe, and let’s go!” Rainey yelled from over the hill. “I’m tired of being a fifth wheel.”
Abe rolled his eyes as he stood up, still holding on to her. He set her on her feet and cupped her face in his hands, and then he briefly touched his lips to hers and ran his tongue along her top lip, sending chills down her body.
“Yeah, I think you’re right, I’ve hung that up already.” Ariana said as she tried to slow her racing heart. “You drive me crazy, too.”
Abe smiled and put his arm around her shoulder, leading her up the hill. “Let’s go dancing. Maybe that will wear us out so much, we won’t even think about touching.”
They looked at each other and said at the same time, “Nah.”
CHAPTER 45
Lance was laying on his back, Janie flopped across his chest. He couldn’t believe how amazing being together felt, like there was no world outside this steamy room they lay in.
Still, one thing was bothering him and, no matter how loathe he was of spoiling Janie’s blissful mood, he had to know.
“Could you leave everyone you know and love behind and move to Ariana’s island forever?”
It took a while, but eventually Janie whispered. “Everyone? What about you?”
“I was hoping you would want to take me with you.”
“I was hoping you would say that.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“I love you, Janie. I would move to the end of the world if I could be with you. I would live among witches and leprechauns, and wouldn’t even notice. I only ever see you.”
Janie was quiet. Here he was, finally declaring his love to her. It took him long enough. Men! She felt like she’d had to wait for him to pluck up the courage for at least a hundred years, if not longer. She needed to put him out of his misery and tell him how much she loved him, too.
Lance started growing uncomfortable over Janie’s silence at the same time she’d reached her decision. He made a move to turn toward her at the same time she jolted off his chest, aiming to plant a kiss on his lips. Their heads collided with a sharp snap and blood began to gush out of Lance’s nose.
“Ow!”
“Oh, my God, Lance. Oh, baby, I’m so sorry. You’re bleeding. Christ, I broke your nose!” Janie cried. “I broke your nose and all I wanted to say was I love you…”
Lance pinched the bridge of his nose to stop the flow with one hand and drew her close with the other.
“Every part of me is yours, Janie, broken or whole. Now, can you help me clean up so I can kiss you until we get so dizzy, neither of us can remember who we are?”
“How clean do you have to be before you can start kissing?”
§ § §
Ariana and Becky stared in awe at Jonah and Abe on the dance floor. They were perfectly synchronized as they danced with sharp, precise moves to a hip-hop song Ariana had never heard before. Every now and then they would do something new, trying to upstage each other, just like one of her favorite movies, “Step Up” or “Stomp the Yard”.
The song was nearing its end and Jonah tried to spin around on his hands, but somewhere in the middle of it he ended up on his assets.
Ariana and Becky busted out with laughter as Abe held out his hand to help him up. At least Jonah was a good sport about it; his grin was huge as he took Abe’s hand. Abe patted him on the back and they made their way back over to the girls. The colored lights bounced around the room and Abe’s head was suddenly bathed in electric blue. Ariana giggled, suddenly reminded of Rainey’s inspired protective spell. She’d have loved to have seen Abe with electric blue hair. She made a mental note to ask Rainey about it later.
“Where’s Rainey? Abe asked as he took the double shot of Jack Ariana offered him.
“Over there, sucking some guy’s face off,” Becky answered.
Abe followed the direction she was pointing and sure enough, Rainey was stuck at the lips to some guy who’d already made it to second base with her. Abe looked a little closer and smiled. “That’s Clive. It’s who she usually hooks up with when she goes out. He’s just a quick fix for her; neither of them want anything serious with each other.”
“Hey, when you told me you could dance, I thought you meant ballroom dances, not battling like Channing Tatum. What’s up with that?” Ariana asked and flashed her perfect smile at him.
Abe chuckled. “I can do it all, honey. Foxtrot, Mambo, Line dances… Even the Macarena!” He switched to his best country accent. “Hell, I can even Two-Step. You care to try it with me, little lady?” Abe held out his hand, palm up to her.
Ariana rolled her eyes and laughed. “We can’t two step to this, it’s Jay-Z.”
He held up his index finger to her, and jogged over to the disk jockey, spoke a few words to him and then came back to her.
“We’re up next.”
Ariana’s expression sobered when she realized he was serious. She had two-stepped a total of three times in her life: twice with Michael – and his dancing usually left her feet black and blue – and the only other time with her dad, when she was twelve.
“Um, Abe… I don’t think I can do this. I haven’t…”
He took her hand and led her to the center of the dance floor. He positioned her body to mirror his, and smiled as the song started playing. Ariana had heard the song long ago, but couldn’t remember its name. It had a good fast beat, which worried her once she realized she wasn’t good at doing the two-step slow, much less fast. Embarrassment colored her cheeks until Abe started leading her across the floor. It was effortless on her part, and she found herself starting to relax and enjoy the dance as they made their way around the floor.
They weren’t the only ones on the dance floor, Ariana noticed after a while. There were at least seven other couples, including Jonah and Becky. Vampires and witches knowing how to two-step, who knew?
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Abe watched the expression on her face change from dread and embarrassment to excitement and confidence. God, he loved to watch her smile. For a moment he let his mind imagine what she would look like with fangs. “You’re really good,” he said quickly, to bring himself back to the present.
“Ha, you’re kidding, right?”
“No, you’re a natural at this; it makes me wonder what else you’re good at.”
She blushed and his vampire reactions kicked in; he had to fight back the urge to elongate his fangs.
“I meant dances, Ariana. Now whose thoughts aren’t so clean?” He laughed, making her laugh too. “Do you Salsa?” Without waiting for an answer, he sent her out at arms’ length and twirled her, pulled her back in and sent her back out again in the other direction in another twirl, then swung her behind his back, grabbed her with his other hand and sent her back out to arms’ length again before falling back into the two-step.
Ariana felt a little dizzy. She didn’t know for sure if this was exactly the way the dance went, or if Abe was throwing in a few tricks of his own; she could have sworn there were about four different dances, all mixed together. But it didn’t matter. This was the most fun she’d had in years. She laughed.
“Depends on how easy you can make it for me.”
“I’m not making anything easy for you. Like I said, you’re a natural… and you have a very talented leader.”
“See?” she laughed.
Abe twirled her once more, just because he could tell she liked it and, as the song ended, he dipped her and touched his lips to hers briefly before lifting her back to an upright position. Then he kissed her hand.
“Come on, let’s go get a booth. I’ve got some questions to ask.” He kept her hand in his and guided them to a booth at the back of the club where the music wasn’t as loud. “You want something to drink?”
“Michelob Ultra.”
He waved down a waiter. “I’ll have a double shot of Jack and the lady wants a Michelob Ultra, please.”
“Coming right up, Sir.” The waiter scurried off.
Eternal Island (Book 1 in the Eternal Series) Page 24