Dair nodded. He wanted to say something, anything, but it was useless. So instead he stood there looking like an idiot, a perverted idiot at that.
"Could you turn around for a sec?" He could tell she was trying really hard not to laugh, and that was the only reason he was finally able to move. Dair nodded and then willed his body to turn away from a very beautiful, but very dressed only in a towel, Serenity.
Chapter 8.
"If you dream you are standing naked in the park, it probably means that you need to spend some time in nature away from the modern inconveniences of the world."
Serenity bit her lip as she quickly slipped into her sleep clothes. She was trying very hard not to laugh at Dair, but it was difficult. He was usually so calm and collected. To see him at a complete loss, with shock and awe on his face, was something she really wished she could have gotten a picture of. She knew she should probably be embarra.s.sed at having him see her only in a towel, but she figured it covered more than a bathing suit did, so really she had nothing to be embarra.s.sed about. If she was honest with herself, she was actually flattered at the response on Dair"s face and in his eyes. There was no mistaking the desire that flared in their black depths as he drank her in. A girl could get used to being looked at like that.
"Okay, I"m decent," she finally told him. She watched as he turned around slowly as if he expected her to suddenly yell, just kidding now I"m naked as the day I was born! When he was finally facing her again, the look in his eyes had her breath freezing in her lungs.
"I am so sorry for just barging in like that, Serenity," Dair said in a low, velvety smooth voice. Serenity wasn"t sure if he was trying to ensnare her with his voice or not, but it was working.
"Uh, Dair, you"re going to have to turn that stuff off."
His head tilted to the side and his brow furrowed. "What stuff?"
"The s.e.xy as sin voice and the come hither bedroom eyes," she said and motioned with her hand, waving towards his face as if that explained it all. "That mess has got to go." Her words had the opposite effect. The room seemed to suddenly darken, like the lights had been dimmed somehow and the temperature dropped just enough to cause chill b.u.mps to raise all over her skin. Serenity knew from the many times Uncle Wayne had told her about dealing with predators that she wasn"t supposed to run. But with the way Dair was looking at her in that moment, everything inside of her was screaming run. The scary part was that she didn"t know if it was telling her to run to him or away from him. Way to go hormones, you"re totally making this easy on me...not, she told herself.
"We are in your bedroom," Dair told her unnecessarily as he took a measured step towards her.
"Your powers of observation are astounding; now could you please bring the hotness down a notch?"
"You said I have bedroom eyes, and I feel I should point out that it"s appropriate since we are indeed in your bedroom." He sounded so logical, as if she should have come to the same conclusion as well.
Serenity looked around for something to get his attentionsomething to snap him out of Don Juan mode and back into the maybe it"s not a good idea to use my powers on my girlfriend mode. She saw a gla.s.s of water on her night stand, and just as he was taking another step towards her, Serenity s.n.a.t.c.hed it up and flung the water right in Dair"s face. Serenity stood staring at a now dripping wetwhich only made him hotter, dammitDair. Her mouth hung open like a landing pad for any flying insects that might happen by, and her hand was frozen in midair with the empty gla.s.s still tilted towards the immortal. Had she really just flung water in his face? She watched as he reached up with his hand and wiped his eyes, nose, and mouth dry. Yes, yes she had.
"Are you back?" Serenity asked hesitantly.
Dair continued to attempt to dry his face with the sleeve of his jacket as he answered. "It seems that I lack some control in my desire for you. I"m guessing that the water was the only thing you could think of?"
She felt her face flush. "Yah, about that. See you were stalking me in a totally I"m going to devour you way, and I honestly didn"t know that I would stop you. So I had to do something before you were able to touch me. I thought about using the lamp, but I like that lamp sooo," she said as she drug out the last word.
"I apologize if I scared you."
Serenity could see that he was truly worried that she was scared of him, but what he wasn"t understanding was that she was not afraid of what he would do to her. She was afraid of what she would let him do to her. "I"m not scared of you, Dair. I just think that our attraction for each other is intense, and perhaps distance is a good thing at the moment."
"You"re a virgin?"
Serenity"s eyes widened. Okay, that was not what she was expecting. "Yes, I"m most definitely a virgin. That isn"t something that I"m willing to just give to anyone."
"It"s for someone you love?" he asked.
"Yes, but not just love. It"s for the one person that I will commit myself to for life."
"Your mate?" He paused and then corrected himself. "Your husband?"
She nodded.
"That is another thing that is different about you," he responded.
"Well, to be honest, until now, it hasn"t exactly been a hardship. But, with you, it"s. . . I." She let out a deep breath. "Well, let"s just say I understand why people don"t wait. I"m not saying I agree or that I will change my plan, but I totally get it."
They sat staring at one another for several minutes. It wasn"t an uncomfortable silence but Serenity didn"t enjoy the distance between them. Finally she let out a resigned sigh and scooted across the bed until their knees where touching. "Would you consider me needy if I said I want you to hold me?"
Dair grinned at her and the effect on his handsome face took her breath away. "I always want to hold you. Do you consider me needy because of that?"
She shook her head. Serenity wasn"t surprised when he scooped her up as though she weighed nothing and sat her on his lap. His strong arms encircled her waist, pulling her tightly against his chest. Despite how it sounded, a little cheesy she admitted, it felt right to be in his arms. It felt as though it was where she belongedwhere she would always belong. Serenity felt his breath on her neck as he buried his face in her hair. He took several deep breaths before whispering, "You smell amazing."
She didn"t know what to say to that so she just snuggled in deeper against him.
"How did things go with Emma tonight?" Dair asked, his voice m.u.f.fled because he had yet to raise his face from her neck.
"Well, Darla was in heaven having someone to dote over. And I think Emma had a good time. It was really hard to take her back home."
"Did you take her by yourself?"
Serenity could tell by the sharp tone that he did not approve of that idea. "No, we all took her back. Darla was trying to convince Emma to let her ask if she could stay the night at our house, but Emma was insistent that she not rock the boat. She was worried about how Mildred might behave I think. I honestly didn"t think Aunt Darla was going to let her out of the car. She kept telling her things like make sure you put something in front of your door while you"re sleeping and keep shoes on while you sleep in case you need to escape quickly. Emma had to remind her that she had a guardian angel, which seemed to appease Darla a little considering she doesn"t doubt for a minute that Raphael truly is an angel. I asked her about it and she said "there"s purity in him that isn"t in others", so I"m just going with it."
"I wish there was something more I could do to help her," Dair told her. The sorrow in his voice broke her heart. And she understood how he felt because she wanted nothing more than to s.n.a.t.c.h Emma from her aunt and never let her return to the wretched woman. Serenity had found herself wondering how Mildred had ended up such a wretch while her sister had obviously fared much better. What choices had she made that had veered her so far in the opposite direction of her sister? Part of her felt sorry for the woman, but then the other part of her knew that life was full of choices, and it wasn"t always just the cards a person was dealt that determined their lot in life. Rather, it was what they did with the hand that mattered. There had to have been a point when Mildred Jones had the opportunity to choose something better for herself. For whatever reason, she let that opportunity pa.s.s her by.
"What are you thinking about?" Dair asked. She felt his hand begin to stroke her arm and she shivered under his gentle touch.
"Choices," she answered softly.
"What about them?"
"Just how they never truly only affect the person making them. Our choices always affect those around us, those close to us, even if the effect is not immediately apparent; eventually the choices have consequences."
"So do you ever think you should make a choice based solely on what you need or want? Or do you think you should always consider those who might be affected by that choice?" Dair had pulled back now and she could feel his eyes on her face.
"That"s the million dollar question, isn"t it?" Serenity turned to look up at him. "Is there a time when I should only think about myself? It sounds so bad when it"s put like that."
"I think that as long as your choice isn"t going to harm someone, or put them in danger, then sometimes it has to be totally up to you regardless of the effect on someone else"s life. That"s not to say there aren"t times when you do need to consider others, but seasons of life change, circ.u.mstances change, and there are times when you have to take care of yourself without worrying about everyone around you."
Serenity wanted to agree with Dair, but in the back of her mind, something nagged at her. She still wondered about whether she should leave her aunt and uncle after she graduated. Was it okay to think of herself at that point? Would it be heartless of her to leave them here after everything they"d done for her?
"I should let you sleep," Dair told her as he reached up and brushed her hair from her face. His fingertips grazed her skin and Serenity found herself leaning into his touch. He chuckled at her response to him and that did nothing to cool her desire for him.
Climbing off of his lap took effort because she truly would rather sleep in his arms than in her bed alone. But she understood that it probably wasn"t totally appropriate for her to be sleeping with a guy in her room, even if they were just sleeping. Okay, so it was totally inappropriate, and her aunt Darla might faint if she saw it, but that didn"t make her want it any less. "d.a.m.n hormones," she growled under her breath.
"They complicate things, don"t they?" Dair smiled down at her having heard her grumbling.
She felt the heat on her neck as it rose up her face clear to her hairline. As she laid back and look up at the boy, well really man, who held her heart, she decided that it was a whole lot more than hormones that complicated things between them.
"Sweet dreams, Princess," Dair whispered as he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. It wasn"t nearly long enough, but then she figured she could never get enough of his kisses. He could kiss her a million times a day, and still she would crave more.
"See you tomorrow?"
He ran a finger down her cheek and nodded. "Definitely."
"Dair," she said quickly before he could do his disappearing thing.
"Yes, beautiful?" Her heart fluttered at the endearment. "What we talked about earlier, the whole mate or husband thing." She paused, unsure of how to ask her question without being too embarra.s.sed. "Have you ever thought about. . . I mean, would you consider. . . I was just." Thank goodness he saved her.
"Have I thought about marrying you?" He knelt down beside her bed so that his face was level with hers. His deep black eyes bore into hers as he leaned closer. "The answer is yes. I will not deny that I have dreamed about the idea of making you mine in every way possible. To have you vow before the Creator and man that you are mine, and to give you the same vow, is my heart"s desire. To share in the intimacy of physical loveto be the man gifted with your body, your heart, your soulwould be nothing short of a miracle."
Serenity couldn"t breathe. She hadn"t expected that answer. And as his words penetrated her mind and heart, she hoped that he did not ask her the same question because she feared she would yell out, Yes! Please take me now! Now, wouldn"t that be a tad embarra.s.sing? He must have seen that very answer in her eyes because he shot her one of his s.e.xy smirks and, with one last quick kiss, he was gone. She reached up and turned her lamp off, allowing the darkness to engulf her room. As her head hit the pillow, Dair"s words continued to wreak havoc on her mind, and images of a wedding, a wedding night, and a lifetime with him consumed her thoughts.
"You just had to go and end with the man gifted with your body, didn"t you, Sandman?" she grumbled into the empty room as she attempted to get comfortable. With thoughts of Dair and the possibilities of what it would be like to be his in every way dancing through her head, getting comfortable was a losing battle. She felt something then, the cool air that alerted her to his presence, but when she looked around her room he was nowhere to be seen.
"If you"re there, it"s your fault I can"t sleep; do something about it." She pulled the covers up tight to her chin as she curled into a ball on her side, and as she felt the familiar effects of his power, she smiled to herself and thought, make it a good one, Sandman, make it a good one.
Dair stood at the foot of Serenity"s bed watching her sleep. A subtle smile was on her lips as she slipped into the dream he had made for her. He had a feeling he would get an ear full tomorrow, but to see her blush would be well worth it. He hated to leave her, but he knew that if he stayed any longer, especially knowing what her mind was getting to experience in its sleeping state, he would crawl into her bed to hold her. He was also pretty sure there would be kissing after he woke her up. Nope, he definitely couldn"t stay. With one last look at his love, he closed his eyes and traveled to Emma"s house.
"I was wondering if you would show tonight," Raphael said as he stepped around the dark corner of the rundown home.
"Has everything been quiet?"
Raphael shrugged. "For the most part. A man came by earlier, but Mildred had what he wanted, so there was no fighting. They did, however, get high together and Mildred kept calling for Emma to come make them something to eat. I wouldn"t let Emma leave her room, and finally I went out to Mildred and her guest and subtly suggested that he leave and she go to sleep."
"By subtle you mean?" Dair"s eyes narrowed.
"I might have used a little influence on them, though I did not make myself known," Raphael said with a sniff.
Dair chuckled. "You"re crossing over to the dark side."
"No, I was protecting a child. I didn"t harm either human in any way, though the thought did cross my mind." The angel glanced up at the night sky and then back at Dair. "How is your female?"
Dair could tell he wanted to ask more. "She is well." He waited, knowing that Raphael wouldn"t be able to keep quiet.
"What are you going to do?"
"I"m going to the Creator."
Raphael"s eyes widened. "When?"
"Soon."
"What are you going to ask?"
"Honestly, I have no idea. But I don"t want to keep a secret, especially when He already knows."
"What if He tells you that she isn"t for you?"
Dair felt as though a fist had wrapped around his heart and began to squeeze. He didn"t want to even consider that the Creator would tell him to let Serenity go. "I don"t know what. I feel as though I belong to her. I"ve been walking this earth since the beginning of time; always something was missing, until her. How does a being live without air to breathe? She"s my air, Raphael."
"Then I hope for your sake, brother, you get to keep her."
Emma couldn"t believe how quickly the days flew by. But it was the nights that seemed to drag. She had woken up that morning and pulled out the small calendar her mama had given her and to her surprise saw that it was Christmas Eve. How had she not realized it was so soon? School had been out for a week, and she had spent every moment she could at the library or with Serenity. With all of the present wrapping Darla had her doing at the library, she would have thought that she"d have realized Christmas was literally right on top of her.
She climbed out of bed, already dressed with even her shoes on. It was a Darla request and so she honored it. Emma pulled her long hair over her shoulder and re-braided it the way her mama had taught her and then headed for her bedroom door. As always, she stopped and listened before she opened it. The house was quiet, which meant Aunt Mildred was still asleep or gone. She hoped it was the latter. When she opened the door and stepped out into the hall, she was greeted with a nod from Raphael who was standing guard, as usual, between her room and the living room. She had to wonder if he got bored standing in the hall all night. She had asked him once if he ever got tired, and he had informed her in his flat, no nonsense way that angels did not require sleep.
Emma made her way to the bathroom to take care of her morning business and then headed back to her room. Raphael followed her in and she saw that Dair had appeared as well.
"Mildred left this morning, but she will be back very soon. We should probably leave before she returns. I saw that she had a list of grocery items in her hand," Raphael told them.
"She was going to the grocery store?" Emma frowned. "That"s new." Emma had never actually seen her aunt bring home groceries that she had bought herself. Usually the way her aunt acquired food was as a form of payment for the "goods" that she sold out of her home. Emma figured accepting groceries for payment was much easier for her aunt than actually having to get out and go do something that might require the slightest bit of energy. "Why are you worried about us being gone before she gets back?" Emma asked the angel. Mildred had never tried to stop her from leaving before.
"She was muttering something about putting you to work to pay for your stay."
Emma could tell that Raphael didn"t like having to tell her, but it didn"t hurt Emma"s feelings. Why should she be hurt over a woman who she didn"t really know, nor did she care for? For her, living with her aunt was simply a season of her life that would pa.s.s. She wouldn"t always be a child and she would not always need the room Mildred begrudgingly provided. One day Emma would be able to care for herself, and then she could put the time she spent with her aunt behind her.
They left the house quickly with both Dair and Raphael keeping a wary eye out for her aunt"s beat-up old, what use to be, blue station wagon. They walked more quickly than usual and Emma found herself having to pay close attention to the slippery sidewalk and roads. She found herself wondering what things Darla had planned for the day. Even though she dearly loved her time with Darla, she was hoping Serenity would be by to take her to the vet so she could be around the animals. Regardless of what the day held, she knew that as long as she was away from her aunt, it would be a good one.
As they entered the library, the familiar smell of books. .h.i.t Emma and she found herself smiling. This place had truly become her home. Darla and the other staff always welcomed her with open arms and they never treated Raphael differently, despite his huge size and somewhat intimidating demeanor.
"I am so glad you are here." Darla"s voice carried from the small office that was to the right of the checkout desk. She came rushing out in her usual exuberant manner, smiling as if Emma and the two guardians with her had hung the moon. "h.e.l.lo Dair, Raphael." She nodded to them and then wrapped Emma in her usual hug.
"Darla," Raphael"s voice rumbled.
Dair simply nodded in return.
"How are you doing this fine Christmas Eve morning?" Darla asked her.
"I actually didn"t even realize that today was Christmas Eve. It"s hard to believe that I"ve been here for over two weeks already."
"Time does fly when you"re having fun," Darla sighed.
"So why are you so glad we"re here?" Emma asked.
"Oh, right." Darla clapped her hands together and then rubbed them as if warming them. Darla was about to say something more but was interrupted by screeching tires in the parking lot. They all turned to look out the window and see what the commotion was. Emma"s stomach dropped to her toes when she saw her aunt"s car parked right outside the front door of the library.
"Emma, go to the back please," Darla said, her voice suddenly taking on a tone that Emma had never heard before.
Emma shook her head. "I"m sorry ma"am, but I can"t do that. I can"t leave y"all here to face my problem."
The door flew open with a resounding snap as it struck the wall behind it. Mildred Jones stormed in, looking wild-eyed and as crazy as Emma had ever seen her. Emma swore if she had been a dog she would have been foaming at the mouth.
"Mildred, you cannot park your car in front of the door; it"s a fire hazard," Darla told her calmly.