Blue Sacrifice (Blue Davison) (26 page)

Every time I panicked as the evil surged around
me, Flynn basically dry humped me until I calmed down. The third time he did it,
his father sighed heavily and I started laughing. Flynn rolled his eyes at my
laughter and his father’s irritation, but I still found their behavior hilarious.

“There are ways to calm a woman, Flynn, that don’t
involve choking her with your tongue,” Beck said, his arms crossed and a smirk
on his face.

“Hey, I stick with what works.”

Laughing and relaxed, I still texted Lacey once
again. She sent me a photo of a zombie kitty in response. Earlier she had sent
a photo of a zombie squirrel. I wasn’t sure what all of the zombie shots were
about, but they were adorable and made me laugh.

“Everything okay?” Flynn asked when I set down the
phone.

“Yes, thank you.”

“What now?” Beck said, pushing out his chair and
leaning back. “TV time or maybe we can play one of the board games I found in
the closet.”

“I’ll take Blue upstairs and let her rest.”

“Rest indeed,” Beck said, standing up. “We can
play
The Game of Life
.”

Flynn frowned, but I figured it was better to keep
my brain busy and my clothes on for now. While Flynn and I cleaned the table,
Beck found the game and soon we were playing.

When Flynn “got married,” he named his wife Kate
then winked at me. When I got married, I declined to share my hubby’s name. Soon
Flynn refused to play unless I spilled the dish. Finally I admitted the guy’s
name was Drew which was Lily Falls for Flynn. I about died laughing at the
switch in Flynn’s expression from his rage at my muttering of the name Drew to his
cocky swagger when I told him what the name meant. Even Beck laughed at Flynn
who shrugged then had his little people making out whenever it wasn’t his turn.

Eventually Flynn had a car full of kids while Drew
and I remained childless. Flynn offered to sell a few of his children to me,
but I declined even though I was a little bummed about having no kids. Every
time I missed the kid spot on the board, I wondered if it was fate, or Lily Falls, telling me I would never have real children so why would I need the tiny fake
kind? It was dumb, but this bothered me because I’d always hoped to survive
long enough to have children and I wanted as many as I could get. Unlike my
mother apparently, I was willing to create life even if I knew the town would
claim my daughters later. Selfishly, I just wanted to be loved and I hungered
for the warmth that came from having a family.

Yet I didn’t admit any of this to Flynn when he
offered to let me adopt a few of his kids for a small fee. Claiming Drew and I
loved our freedom too much, I declined Flynn’s offer even when he kept reducing
the prices. I think mainly Flynn wanted fewer kids so they would stop falling
out of his tiny car.

In the end, Beck won and retired first. Flynn
didn’t even notice because he was too busy trying to get my little person to
hook up with his little person.

“That’s cheating.”

“Not really,” Flynn reassured me as his father
laughed at him. “See how you and my wife are twins?”

Looking at the matching tiny pink figures, I shook
my head. “It’s still cheating.”

“Oh, is it?” he asked innocently. “I guess I
didn’t understand the rules of the game then.”

Cleaning up, I ignored Flynn who stood behind me
and leaned forward as he put away the game pieces. He kept whispering in my
ear, but when I asked what he was saying, he merely shrugged.

“You’re being pervy in front of your dad.”

“Fair play for the many times he brought ladies
home and made me watch.”

Shuddering dramatically, I slipped out from under his
hips and returned the game to the closet where one of the twins was waiting.
Shutting the door on Noah, I walked to the family room where the fire still
roared.

“Off to bed yet?” Flynn asked.

For the first time I noticed something weird about
his behavior. Flynn was being possessive which might make sense if another guy
was around. Except it was his frigging dad he wanted me away from.

“Let’s watch TV,” Beck announced, grabbing the
remote and taking the chair.

“Fine,” Flynn said, having me nearly sit in his
lap on the couch.

Unaccustomed to the dad/son thing, I wasn’t sure
why Flynn was tense. Yousef and Tyson were never competitive in any way. The father
was a businessman and his son was too. They didn’t fight over who was better.
Then again, the Zandi family was really close and so maybe this explained why I
never saw the men behave as if they needed to pull out rulers and settle who
was more impressive once and for all.

Beck turned on the national news and Flynn said
nothing about his choice. I didn’t want to watch the news, but no one asked me
and I was a guest in their home. Flynn maneuvered us on the couch so we were covered
by a blanket and he could essentially feel me up at will without his dad
seeing. Technically he kept his hand on my smiley face, but he might have done
more if the gunshot hadn’t startled us onto the floor.

I stared up at Flynn, who moved us to the ground so
fast that I barely had time to register the gunshots were just outside. Turning
to study the high windows facing the road, I noticed one was cracked, though the
bullet didn’t make it through the thick glass. Nearby Beck was on the ground, crawling
around the chair to see outside.

“Flynn,” I whispered, just to force him to look at
me.

His gaze met mine and I was startled by the anger
in his green eyes. Once again I was a little afraid of him, but then he leaned
down and kissed my forehead.

“Your freckles missed me,” he whispered and I
smiled despite my fear.

“I’m sorry.”

Sighing, Flynn gazed down at me. “I believe you
were too busy warming me up to shoot at the house, so I’m not sure what you’re
apologizing for.”

While I tried to see events the way he did, a
lifetime of feeling responsible for the town kept me from merely shaking off
the guilt.

“I don’t think it was even aimed at the house,”
Beck said, standing up. “I believe it was just someone shooting in the air. I still
hear shots in the distance, so possibly they are driving around shooting.”

Flynn stood up which made me nervous then he
pulled me up and against him.

“We’re going to hide out in my room,” Flynn told
Beck. “You know, up high where stray bullets might have trouble hitting us.”

“Sounds like a plan, son.”

Before we left, I glanced once more at the bullet
hole then ran for my phone to text Lacey. She sent me a picture of a zombie hamster
that was so disturbing I actually felt worse. Flynn noticed the picture and
took away my phone.

Arriving in his room, Flynn turned on the electric
blanket to high then we enjoyed a hot shower. All of the possessive need he’d
kept relatively in check downstairs was now palpable. Holding me, Flynn could
barely catch his breath as his eyes burned with a hunger I’d never seen on him
before.

Giving him what he needed, I satisfied the one I
loved, instead of the town. Flynn calmed under my touch and I saw something
else in his eyes.
Fear
. Soothing Flynn like he had done with me again
and again, I embraced the love I felt.

Once we turned off the shower, it was a mad dash
to dry ourselves then bolt under the hot blankets before we froze. Laughing
under the blankets, I hid with Flynn and ignored the darkness.

Awakening to the sight of my breath in the cold
room, I realized how from the neck up I was freezing and my nose had gone numb.
Turning over in bed, I reached for Flynn and found his side empty. Terrified at
Flynn’s absence, I sat up, holding a blanket in front of me.

“Flynn,” I whispered, afraid to alert the demons of
my present alone status.

“In the closet,” Flynn said, his voice muffled.

I looked at where the door to the walk-in closet
stood open. A chair sat in the middle of the rather empty closet and Flynn’s
bare legs were visible. The rest of him was mostly hidden by the wall.

“What are you doing?” I asked, scooting over to
see him better. “Why are you naked?”

“Why are you naked?” he asked right back, humor in
his voice. “You are still naked, aren’t you? I’d hate to waste time undressing
you which is why I didn’t take the time to get dressed myself.”

“I’m still naked and warm in bed, but you haven’t
explained what you’re doing?”

“I have a theory the attic opening in my closet is
the reason the room is so cold. I’m testing out that theory.”

Hanging partially off of the bed, I looked at him
from an odd angle with my head tilted. Snorting, I barely kept from laughing.

“I thought guys were unable to get so happy when
it was cold.”

Flynn gave a hearty laugh as he fiddled with
something before jumping down and turning off the closet light.

“That’s a nice angle for you. Very mermaid.”

“Oh, I finally got it. A mermaid like Ariel.”

“Who?” Flynn asked, frowning as he joined me under
the covers.

“The redheaded mermaid from the
Little Mermaid
.”

“Oh, I don’t watch Disney. Is it a good movie?”

Rolling my eyes, I wiggled farther under the
covers until only the top of my head was out in the cold.

“You defy logic,” I said as he pulled the covers
up over his head too. “Or is the cold thing a lie guys tell girls to explain
their size issues?”

“Oh, that,” Flynn said, giving me a little smirk. “Well
I think normally those guys don’t have naked redheads hanging out of their
beds. If they did, the cold wouldn’t be a problem for them either.”

Giggling, I grazed my nails along the warming
flesh of his chest. He gave my forehead a quick kiss then peeked out of the
blankets.

“I hope that’ll cut down on the cold because the
room was like an icebox when I woke up.”

“Why don’t you move downstairs to the spare room
so you’ll be warm?”

“Well duh, Blue,” he said, batting his eyes and
grinning. “The better view is totally worth freezing my ass off every day.”

Shaking my head at his silly expression, I asked, “Did
you sleep well?”

“Had my mermaid with me all night so yes. I
believe she didn’t have a single nightmare to speak of.”

“Nope. Slept really well.”

“Still love me?”

Nodding, I felt suddenly shy with him watching me
the way he was. Even with his swagger absent, he seemed more unattainable.

“You get more beautiful every day,” he said and I
wanted to step back and roll my eyes at his corniness. My desire to deny how
much I needed him was so intense, nearly as intense as the love in his eyes.

“Many women lose their magic,” he said, running
his fingers over my bruised face and pausing at my lips. “Their beauty doesn’t really
fade though. It’s just that the power a woman has to startle a man with her
beauty or other qualities can fade. I knew one girl who was a dark beauty with
eyes the color of the night. I’d never seen black eyes before and I remember
how they sparkled when she laughed.”

Flynn let his fingers trail down my jaw to my
neck. “She was infectious really, but I eventually stopped finding myself
startled by her many qualities. It’s like once I accepted how she was amazing,
somehow this made her less amazing. It’s difficult to explain,” he said, as his
fingers slid down my arm to my hand which he pressed against his chest.

“I suspect it happens to everyone,” he continued.
“I know quite a few girls who were giddy over me in the beginning then I lost
my allure. I was still as handsome and charming as ever, of course,” he said,
giving me a wink, “but the newness wore off and I didn’t seem so perfect anymore.
I assume it can’t be helped. The thing is I accepted you were amazing last
Sunday morning when I woke up with you for the first time. Yet nearly a week
later, I still find myself amazed by you. Do you know why that is?”

“My moisturizer?” I said awkwardly.

Lifting an eyebrow, Flynn sighed. “You’re not
accustomed to being responsible for someone’s happiness, are you?” he asked
softly. “I don’t mean with the sacrifice, but with a friend or loved one. Lacey
is pretty self sufficient and your zombie guardian seems to live separately
from you. Most boys you’ve known were happy to get what they could. I want
everything though and you’re scared because it feels so good to be that close,
yet so terrifying to think it might end.”

“Are you psychic or do I talk in my sleep?”

“I just feel you pulling away and I know it’s not
because you want to be alone. You just know no other way.”

Biting my bottom lip, I shrugged. “I’m sorry.”

“Stop saying that,” he said then exhaled roughly.
“Ideally I could have helped you ease into a forever with me, but between this
town and the crap you’ve been raised with, suddenly everything has to happen
now. It’s a lot to absorb and I keep thinking to give you space, but space
isn’t what you need. You need to know you are loved and it’s okay to love me
because I’m not going anywhere. You told me you’re a sacrifice for Lily Falls. If I wanted out, I could have called you crazy and got my out. I don’t want it
and I never will.”