Eden's Charms

by Jaclyn Tracey

  “Liar!” he countered. “How much wine did you drink last night? Do you do this often? Invite strangers to your bedchamber? Bedchamber? How ancient is that word? It’s like you and your uncle snuck out of a Shakespeare novel.”

  “Nightly, there are strange men in here, so get used to it.” Savanah tried to get up, but with Ethan sitting on top of her blankets, he had her pinned. Savanah balled her fists and shook them in his face. “Out!” She pointed to the door a second time.

  “I thought you wanted to know why I was here.”

  “You just told me I invited you, although I don’t believe you.”

  “Try me. Am I lying?”

  Eyeballs bugged, she asked, “Do I look like I remember? My uncle got me so riled up, I had two glasses of wine on an empty stomach.”

  “More like two bottles with your father and uncle. Your Aunt Serina is a light weight. One glass, and she got carted off.”

  “No way!” Savanah tried to concentrate, but the only thing she got was a shooting pain between her brows. Once refocused, she noticed a large purplish hickey on Ethan’s neck. “Sweet! Who got you? Did you stop off after that tart from the restaurant? Oh crap, it wasn’t me, was it?”

  “Wish it were you. Your father got me, thanks for the concern though. Said he’d finish me off if I got out of line.” Ethan shrugged his shoulders. “Lucian carried him up stairs. Your uncle with the yellow eyes…”

  “Jonah.”

  “He too told me if I touched you, he’d watch me die a slow death. He said your other uncle—the one I met in the restaurant, is a marshmallow compared to him.”

  “Julian.”

  “Personally, Julian needs to get laid.”

  Savanah couldn’t help but smile. “That’s the general consensus. And yeah, Jonah can be deadly if he’s cornered. He worked with a vamp a long time ago that made him do things he never dreamt he’d ever do.”

  “Trust me, I know the feeling! I’m dog food on a daily basis.”

  “Ah…more like prime cut!”

  Ethan bit back a smirk. “Anyway, I got the short straw and carried you. You’re much heftier than you look. You hungry?”

  Savanah eyed Ethan curiously. “Why? I probably should watch my diet.”

  “Get dressed. I’ll be down stairs waiting in my car.”

  Savanah laughed this time, so hard, tears pooled in her eyes. “Not! Uncle Jonah’s got your keys. It’s no longer your car. That much I do remember. You can kiss that little put-put so long.” She twitched her nose at him.

  Ethan dug into his pocket, and produced a shiny gold key, with a black rubber protector around it. He dangled the keychain in her face wiping her smile away. “You really don’t remember anything do you?”

  Embarrassment shrouded her. “No,” she said with a defeated attitude as she sank back onto her pillow and attempted to cover her face.

  “Get dressed and meet me downstairs. I’ll fill you in over breakfast.”

  Savanah’s heart screeched to a halt. That was the second time he told her to get dressed. She peeked under the covers praying there was more to her than her birthday suit. “Where are my clothes?” came from under the blanket.

  “Couldn’t tell ya, sweet cheeks.”

  “What did you do to me? And don’t ever call me that again.”

  Ethan jumped up off the bed, hurt, his arms going up and out to his sides, appearing as if someone held a gun to him. “Look,” he protested, “Savanah, for as much as I would love to take advantage of you, and trust me, I would love to run my tongue up the length of your soft—leg and those—” Ethan pointed to her breasts—the urge to crawl under the covers with her was all he wanted. He took a deep breath. Stifled his actions. “I am not a rapist. I will not put a woman in a position she didn’t ask for. Ever! Once she consents, all bets are off, but not until she says those three beautiful letters that spell y-e-s. And before I covered you up, you were dressed. What you did in your sleep is none of my concern.”

  “No. You’re just a lying-would-be kidnapper.”

  “Let me explain over breakfast.”

  “There’s no one open at this ungodly hour.”

  That wasn’t a no. “You don’t go out much do you?”

  “With kidnappers, no.”

  “I honestly tried to get out of this.”

  “Yeah, and tomorrow you’ll sell me the Brooklyn Bridge. I’m hungry. Get out for the last time. I’ll be down in a few minutes.”

  This close to her, Ethan thought he’d won the lottery. Her exotic fragrance, cardamom, and rosewood drove through him faster than his beamer could go from zero to sixty. Behave, Ethan. For once in your miserable life, behave. What happened to luv ’em and leave, Eth? I’m going to love this one all right. Leaving is no longer an option.

  Ethan walked out into the hallway as quietly as he could. Not five feet from her door he spotted articles of clothing strewn across the hallway. He leaned over and picked up a pink sweater, then a pair of jeans, next a pair of fluffy pink socks. When he reached the top of the stairs, Savanah’s pink lacey bra and her pink—whatever the hell it is, hung on the banister. Ethan held the scrap of material out in front of him to analyze it. Why she would even bother wearing it befuddled him. It looked medieval, torturously uncomfortable. A pink leather triangle patch of fabric, attached to a rhinestone-covered shoestring-of-a-thing dangled from his fingertips. Ethan had seen thongs before, but this little thing didn’t have enough thread to be called that. He bit his index finger thinking about where the rhinestones disappeared and how pretty her little derriere would look decorated in it. And then he would take it off her and he’d decorate her.

  Without sensor, he brought the material to his nose and sniffed it and set it down in a pile on the bench in the hall. Breakfast in bed would have been a delight.

  Forty-five minutes later, Savanah meandered to Ethan’s car where she found him sound asleep behind the wheel, the stereo softly playing Creed’s, “One Last Breath.” Tiptoeing next to him, she leaned over and pressed the horn hard. An eardrum-shattering noise blasted into the wind. “Hey, wake up. You didn’t drag me out of bed to watch you sleep did you?”

  Ethan didn’t flinch.

  “No, but I didn’t think hell would freeze over before you got ready either. Get in.”

  Savanah returned to her side of the car and didn’t budge. She tapped an impatient finger on the door.

  Ethan looked curiously at her and said, “Oh! You’re kidding, right?”

  She shook out her thick curls and feigned boredom. Ethan got out of the car, walked around to the passenger’s side, opened the door for her and then slammed it shut after she got in. “Happy now?”

  “Yes, thank you. A real gentleman wouldn’t need prompting, Ethan.”

  “A real gentleman wouldn’t need prompting, Ethan.” He mimicked as he settled back behind the steering wheel. He threw his car into gear, stepped on the gas, the clutch, shifted and the car all but did a wheelie as it rocketed forward. Savanah’s head hit the headrest.

  Her hand choking the door’s handle she bit out, “Do you think you’re Nick Cage in Gone in 60 Seconds?”

  “You think you’re Angie? Nah! You’re way too…” His voice trailed off.

  “Way too what? Don’t do that. What?” She poked his side.

  “Beautiful.”

  ****

  Parked in front of Compton’s Restaurant on Broadway, Savanah admitted, “I’ve never been here.” She entered the small yet cozy place decorated in knotty pine and immediately took a liking to it. The eatery barely had a table open. People chatted quietly over fresh brewed coffee, some looking like they were ready to go to work, some ready to go to bed. All the bacon, sausage and egg aromas got her peristalsis geared into action. A cat lover, she enjoyed the different arrangements of kitty portraits decorating the walls. The ambience gave her a warm and friendly invitation to come back. Ethan led Savanah to a table in the front of a large window that overlooked the street.

  �
�Two coffees and menus. Thanks,” he said to the waitress who still looked half asleep herself. “This place is a relic. Great breakfast and lunch and even greater hours. I love sitting here watching the people go to and fro when I’m in town.”

  “Really?” Savanah studied Ethan as she relaxed in her chair. “You’re really quite different without an audience. Possibly even pleasant.”

  “What was I before?” Ethan leaned across the table on his elbows, giving her his best come-hither grin.

  “You really don’t want to know.” She winked at him. “Tell me about the baby. I don’t see you as the doting daddy.”

  “So you’re a woman who puts business before pleasure, after all.” It was Ethan’s turn to wink at Savanah.

  She gave him the one scrunched up eyebrow look that said it all: No pleasure today, tomorrow or ever for you.

  “The Maestro told me your aunt Raven is a deranged, psychotic woman who isn’t capable of raising herself let alone his grandchild and that’s why she lives with her family. He said her looks would indeed be deceiving due to her beauty and that her family would put up a fight, because of his last name, but on the sharper side of that knife, they wouldn’t want the child either because it was Sinclair. Savanah, he’s got my balls pierced and chained to him. I can’t get away from the guy. He’s bitten me every week for the past year. Not that I’ve tried to get out. He’s given me everything I’ve ever wanted and then some. He treats me better than his son, but now with Xanti killing the cops, Xier will never take me back. I just became his second biggest liability. And I honestly pity that dumb son of his. Xier’s been looking for an excuse to rid the planet of him, and he just got it.”

  “You sound as if you like this Xier.”

  “What’s not to like? He’s incredibly wealthy and shares it and the only thing he ever asked for was blood. You don’t get that from the Red Cross. They take your blood and toss you cookies. I got a plane, a car, cash…”

  Savanah cut him off, “The Red Cross saves people’s lives every day, Ethan. Can you say that about Xier? Did he murder people?”

  “Yes and no. There’s a fine line between being alive and being a vampire. Yes, technically they die. Everyone goes to the funeral, cries hysterically…but hold the fort!” Ethan lunged across the booth making Savanah jump. “The next thing ya know, there’s a dead guy banging your door down, trying to get back into his house. That’s Xier in a hundred words or less. He’s the opposite of GE’s slogan—We bring great things to life. Xier brings dead things to life.”

  Savanah burst out laughing and accidentally spit her coffee across the table at Ethan. “Oh, I’m sorry, but I didn’t expect that.”

  Grasping at napkins he said, “Me either.”

  She shot him a wad of paper napkins to clean up the mess. “So, you really thought you were being the hero in this plot? Careful how you answer that. The next thing aimed at you may very well determine your future health.” Savanah picked up and held a silver steak knife loosely in her hands.

  “Do your little lie detector mumbo-jumbo on me, my Mistress of the night.” Ethan reached across the table, and grabbed her hand, the silver knife solid against his palm.

  Savanah wrinkled her nose and dropped the knife. “The singed skin isn’t anywhere near as appetizing as the bacon cooking in the back kitchen. All right, so you’re not lying. What happened to me last night? How did you get Uncle Jonah’s keys back? And please tell me I had clothes on at some point.”

  “Whose keys?” Ethan dug into his pocket and flashed his pride possession. “Jonah came looking for me and dragged me down to the wine cellar to join you. He may have drank as much if not more than the two of you combined, crying in his glass about Raven and Vonnie. And then about destiny and you and I. The three of you tried sneaking out of the house like teenagers, trying to take my car for a ride. Let’s not forget the saying, drinking and driving is for the dead. I drove everyone to the donut shop for some much needed caffeine and afterwards you managed to keep possession of my keys until I dug them from your pocket.”

  “For the record, I think Uncle Jonah likes you. You’re kindred spirits of sorts. You have the same lousy history. Brainwashed and bitten by bastards. He sees himself in you when he was younger.”

  “That’s exactly what he said.”

  After the waitress set down their plates, Ethan’s eyes grew wide with delight. A three-egg sausage, spinach and cheese omelet, home fries and rye toast, rested in front of him. Pancakes, dripping in warm maple syrup, whipped cream covering them like a snowy mountain and a large glass of chocolate milk waited for her. She dove into her stack, barely coming up for air.

  “You’re not like most women,” Ethan mused as he watched her food disappear. “Most women are petrified to eat in front of a man on their first date.”

  “Well this isn’t a date and I’m hungry and I don’t care what you think of me. Women should go to the gym more, then they wouldn’t worry about their weight and the exercise is good for them and speeds up their metabolism so they can eat like this. Which is where I should be in one hour.” With the mention of that Savanah yawned, wide and long.

  “Come on, sweet cheeks, I’ll take you home and tuck you in.”

  “You can take me home and that’s it.”

  Ethan dropped his chin into his palms and gazed up to Savanah. “How did your parents meet?”

  “Random! Why would you, of all people care?” Ethan’s hurt glare made her want to kick herself. The man had been nothing but honest with her this morning and for the most part a true gentleman, other than the car door getting opened. “I’m sorry—again. Ethan, I don’t know how to take you. You show up in our lives with the vilest of intents and now you’re living under our roof, and I’m sitting here having breakfast with you? My father got turned because of you.” She squinted and a tired little tear rolled off her cheek. She swiped at it. “Sorry. It makes no sense to me that my parents are allowing you to breathe, let alone stay in our home.”

  “Me either. And have you noticed the way everyone looks at me? I feel like a freakin’ ghost. Come on.” Ethan got up and threw a wad of bills onto the table.

  Savanah glanced at the amount of money and then back to Ethan. “You’re one hell of a tipper.”

  “Oh, have I got some tips for you!” He held the door to the restaurant for her. As he approached his car he stroked the side in passing, wiping off someone’s fingerprints before stopping and grabbing her door.

  Savanah smiled, but this time walked to his side of the car and opened the driver’s door.

  “Absolutely not. You are so not driving. You’d still be blowing the top off the breathalyzer.”

  “Not me. I’m opening the door for you this time.” Savanah motioned her hand to his seat. Ethan stood there with his mouth slightly ajar before getting behind the wheel.

  Stopped at the corner of Washington Street and Broadway for a group of late-night-early-morning partiers zigzagging their way across the road, Savanah pulled her feet up onto the seat and told him the love story between her parents.

  Without thinking twice, Ethan knocked her feet off the fine leather upholstery. He shot her the evil eye toward her feet on his new baby. “How long before they fell in love and had sex?”

  “Ethan!” She choked. “That’s none of your business. Why?”

  “I just wondered how long before you and I…”

  “You’ll turn a ripe shade of blue before that happens. And I don’t mean your face.” She nodded toward his loins. “My parents actually liked each other, had respect for each other, and it was love at first sight. They were together three days and then apart nearly four years, because of a cruel vampire.”

  “Of course,” he teased. “What else would ever get in the way of twoo luv?” He laughed.

  “I get it. Billy Crystal in the Princess Bride. Great imitation. You even resemble, the old wizard.” From the corner of her eye, she saw him quick peek in his rear view mirror, and she had to bite her cheeks t
o not laugh. “Actually, my great aunt got in their way. My Uncle Lucian told me she had both female and male sex organs, a hermaphrodite.”

  Ethan tried to peek under the skirt Savanah wore. “Genetics, shit. I hope it doesn’t run in the family.” Savanah tried to slap his hand away, but he caught her and held on. “I know you have feelings for me, Savanah. I’ll work on the other stuff, but I know there’s something there.”

  Savanah fought for her hand. “Which one of your deranged personalities told you that? Me, myself or I? Me—the one who sits there and tries to act so cute and innocent? Or myself—the one who has excuses for each day of the week, or I—I am God. I am handsome, irresistibly charming… I, Ethan, can get you into bed, Savanah.” She raised her eyebrows to him, waiting for his rebuttal.

  “Definitely, I will get you into bed, and you’ll be rather pleased with the outcome. I will be the last man you ever invite into your bedchamber!”

  Somehow, she had no doubt he told her the truth. She leaned across his seat, getting kissably-close to his lips and whispered, “It’s on.”

  It took his every ounce of self-restraint he owned not to close the distance to those luscious lips of hers. Less than a breath away, he asked, “What’s on?”

  “The bet, you loony tune.”

  “One week tops and you’re mine, but, Savanah, you can’t fight me if you really want me, just to win.”

  “Oh Ethan, you’re so going to owe me.”

  “What’s the bet for?”

  “This little car.” Savanah smiled, as she rifled through the dashboard glove box. “All this junk will have to go,” she said with a wicked sexy grin plastered across her face.

  “You’re insane. You really don’t play fair do you?”

  “No one said life is fair, baby.” She turned her blue almost black eyes on Ethan, and he caught his breath. She blew him a kiss with her perfectly heart-shaped lips, and his dick went solid. He prayed she didn’t notice.

  She prayed he didn’t notice her staring.

  Parking the car in the lower lot of the rose garden, the two of them snuck in the back door, took their shoes off and padded across the kitchen floor in stocking feet, trying to be as stealthy as the plane itself. Reaching the stairs from the kitchen, they quickly realized they hadn’t squeaked in under the radar. Heading up the angry lynch mob, stood André, holding all of Savanah’s clothing, undergarments dangling from his knotted, angry, fingers. Jovan perched behind him and Julian brought up the rear.