Authors: Lydia Michaels
He frowned and followed
her out of the woods. She was indeed a strange female.
* * * *
Delilah was dragging.
Her steps were sluggish and all she wanted to do was take a nap. The appeal of
meeting others was no longer that overwhelming. They approached a cluster of
homes and Christian opened a gate to a yard surrounding a colonial with a
wraparound porch. A baby dressed in a blue smock sat on the planked floor
drooling over a rattle.
“Brother Christian, to
what do we owe this surprise?”
Who’s this broad?
Delilah frowned at the
petite Amish beauty as she leaned a broom against the door and approached.
“Sister Abilene, I have
come to introduce my mate, Delilah, to your family. I understand you and your
daughters have been working on her clothing.”
The woman smiled.
“Indeed. It is a pleasure to meet you, Sister Delilah. How are you enjoying our
farm thus far?”
What was with all the
Sister and thus talk? “Hi.”
The woman softly smiled.
“Jonas and the boys are in the barn if you would like to catch up with them,
Brother Christian. The girls are in the house. Why don’t I take Delilah in to
meet them? Little Jonas is due for a nap soon anyway. I was just about to
retire.”
Christian looked at her.
“Very well. Thank you, Abilene.” He took Delilah’s hand. “I will not be far.”
Whatever.
She smiled tightly. A
wave of dizziness grabbed hold of her as he let go. He seemed to detect her
sudden loss of balance and frowned. “Are you ill?”
She cleared her throat.
“No, I think the sun’s getting to me. I just need to sit.”
“Very well. I shall be
back shortly.”
With a hesitant look, he
left and she felt a ping of irritation that he did not attempt to kiss her
goodbye and that only irritated her more. Not that she wanted him to. She
didn’t! He was a jerk. But it just would have been nice for him to show some
sort of interest in front of the other woman. She was the newbie and didn’t
want the others thinking she was such a shrew even her mate—or whatever—didn’t
like her. Not that she gave a furry rats ass if he like her or not, but keeping
up an image maybe was something they should do until she figured out a way to
bail out of this freak show.
“Would you like to meet
my daughters?”
Delilah nodded. She
wasn’t a kid person, but sure, she could meet the girl’s daughters.
They entered the house
and she was surprised to see a table full of women—all stunning—smiling and
sewing. “These are my daughters,” Abilene said proudly.
Delilah frowned.
Right,
immortal. They don’t age.
Abilene could be a million years old for all she
knew.
The women at the table
stilled and turned. There were four females. A tall brunette with her hair
pulled into a lace bonnet. She had bright silver eyes and probably the
prettiest face she had ever seen. There was a shorter girl who looked very much
like Abilene, but with blue eyes. A girl with bright copper hair shot with gold
sat beside her. She didn’t wear a bonnet. Then there was a dark skinned beauty
with big brown eyes and full lips. There was no way these girls were all blood.
“This is my eldest,
Larissa, the bishop’s mate. This is little Gracie. Annalise,” she said,
gesturing to the redhead, “Is my son Adam’s mate. And Destiny is married to
Adam’s twin, Cain.”
“Hello,” they all said
at once.
“Hi.” Delilah needed to
sit down before she collapsed.
The smaller girl,
Gracie, stood and directed Delilah to a chair. “Please, sit down. Can I get you
something to drink?”
Why was she so
exhausted? “Uh, thanks, that’d be great.”
All of the women were
sewing. She looked at what they were working on and suspected it was clothing
for her.
“Thank you for the gifts
this morning,” she said quietly.
Larissa beamed. “It is
our pleasure. Gracie will measure you and we will take in these other items.
Soon you will have a stack of gowns to choose from.”
They were all dressed
the same. Delilah hated the idea of uniforms. Uniformity never sat right with
her. She was more into anarchy and causing waves.
“It’s a lovely day. Why
don’t we take this out front and enjoy the breeze?” Gracie suggested, carrying
a pitcher of what looked like lemonade.
The girls agreed and
gathered their belongings into baskets. Abilene carried the baby into the other
room and Delilah followed the four daughters onto the porch.
“So, how are you coping
with the Amish thing so far?” Annalise asked.
Gracie handed her a
glass of lemonade as she sat on a rocker. She sipped—
holy crap that was
good.
“Um, I guess it’s a little weird. Sorry. Is that rude of me?”
The girls laughed. “Not
at all,” Annalise said. “It’s totally weird. I’m still not used to it and I’ve
been here for years now.”
Delilah examined the
redhead. “You weren’t born…”
“A vampyre? No. I was a
waitress at a bar when I met Adam. Sometimes I can’t get over how much my
life’s changed, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love my mate and we
have two beautiful children, Cain Junior and Lucy. Cain’s named after my
brother –in-law and Lucy as in
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.”
“Nice.” Delilah loved
the Beatles.
“I’m new too,” Destiny
said. “You get used to it, although sometimes I miss television and the
Internet. Most times—
all
the time. It’s really hard. I have no idea
what’s happening on my shows.”
“Calm down, Destiny.
Breathe,” Annalise said, rolling her eyes.
Destiny took a deep,
calming breath. “You just have to negotiate with your mate for the things you
think are important. They usually bend after a while.”
These girls obviously
didn’t know Christian. “Uh, yeah, Christian isn’t really the bending type.”
“Just wait. You’ll find
a way to get the upper hand and soon he’ll be eating out of it. Just give it
time.”
Delilah doubted that.
She and Christian barely got along. When they did talk to each other it was
usually with snide comments or him bossing her around like a dictator. That
shit wasn’t going to fly. Ever.
“Has Adriel been around
to visit again?” Larissa asked.
“Christian’s mom? No. I
don’t think she’ll be back any time soon. He was a complete asshole to her.”
Four sets of eyes silently stared at her. “What?”
Gracie lowered her head
and giggled.
Larissa looked
scandalized.
Destiny and Annalise
appeared amused.
“Delilah, dear, it is
not proper to call your mate such things,” Larissa offered gently.
“But what if it’s true?
Christian
is
an asshole and a lot of other things for that matter.”
Grace schooled her
expression and cleared her throat. Destiny smiled broadly. “Oh, I like you,
Delilah.”
The gate opened and they
all looked toward the entrance. Two men stepped into the yard. Delilah
recognized one as Dane. Between them walked a dark haired young girl with
piercing blue eyes.
“Momma!” the little girl
called as she trotted up the path to Larissa.
The girl looked like a
doll in her little bonnet and black Amish gown. Larissa scooped the child up.
“Did you have fun with your uncle, Mariah?”
Delilah eyed the men.
The one was Christian’s half-brother. They stepped up on the porch and Grace’s
expression hardened.
“Hello, Grace,” Dane
said.
Grace said nothing.
“Was she well-behaved
for you, Cain?” Larissa asked the other man. Talk about your Amish cover
models. Why didn’t these men have beards?
“As always.” He leaned
in and kissed Destiny. His lips lingered over hers a pulse longer than what Li
would assume was appropriate. He whispered something over her lips and
Destiny’s caramel cheeks turned a dusty shade of rose.
“Hi, I’m Cain,” he said,
turning toward Delilah.
“This is Delilah,
Christian’s mate,” Destiny introduced. The man smiled easily as his gaze
appraised her.
“Does Christian know
you’re here?” the other man asked.
Her hackles rose at the
chastising tone in Dane’s voice. The guy was a punk, she decided. “Yes. Not
that it matters anyway. I go where I want.”
Dane didn’t smile, but
Cain did.
“So Christian finally
has himself a female. This should be interesting,” Cain commented.
Dane continued to stare
at her. Jeeze, take a picture. It’ll last longer.
“Dane, you’re being
rude,” Grace snapped, then muttered, “Not that I should be surprised.”
Dane’s gaze immediately
left Delilah and turned to Grace. Whoa, talk about unspoken tension.
Awkward…
Annalise broke the
tension and asked, “Have you seen Adam, Cain?”
He pulled away from his
wife. “He’s working on something in the barn with Little Cain. Said he’d be
done shortly.”
“I better wake Lucy then
and head home to start on dinner. Are you two joining us tonight?”
Cain hesitated as if the
idea was unpleasant. Destiny slapped his arm. “Yes, we’ll be there,” she said.
Cain looked up at the
sky. “Well, we still have a few hours to kill before my dear sister tries to
poison us. Come, Destiny, let us go see about that thing…”
They must be newlyweds.
The sexual tension was enough to choke a horse.
“But Delilah just got
here.”
“E
agora eu estou aquil eu o quero nu.”
Wow, talk about sexy.
Delilah had no idea what Cain just said to his wife, but holy hell was it sexy.
As soon as he purred out
that line, Destiny’s cheeks flushed and she stood. “Well, we have to be going.
Anna, we’ll see you in a few hours.”
Cain walked to the gate
and waited.
“It was nice meeting
you, Delilah.”
She was in awe at the
display of lust right before her eyes. The other girls seemed to ignore it, but
Delilah couldn’t look away. It must be incredible to be wanted with such
blatant need.
“It was nice meeting you
too.”
“If you’re free tonight,
why don’t you and Christian join us at Anna and Adam’s for supper?”
“Oh, I…I’d have to ask
Christian.”
“Well, if he doesn’t
mind—”
There was a loud crack
of thunder and they all jumped. Cain playfully said, “Destiny, your husband has
needs.
Deixe-nos ir!”
Destiny rolled her eyes.
“I gotta go before we all end up in a storm. Anna will give you directions to
her house.” She turned, hiked her skirts, and ran off to her husband. He picked
her up and tossed her over his shoulder, planting a hand firmly on her ass
before toting her off.
“Ignore them,” Grace
said, rolling her eyes. “Cain’s a pervert.”
“He’s not a pervert.
They’re in love. There’s nothing wrong with being affectionate with your mate,”
Dane said snidely.
Gracie scoffed. “I
suppose you’re right. At least he has the decency to be loyal and not pay every
warm blooded female the same attention, unlike
other
males I know.”
“Get over it, Grace,”
Dane muttered.
“Oh, I am over it, Dane.
Make no mistake.”
The man’s jaw popped. He
narrowed his eyes then turned to Larissa. “Eleazar asked that you return home
within the hour. He asked that I walk you back.”
Larissa sighed. “Will
that man ever trust me to get from place to place on my own?”
Gracie rolled her eyes
again. “You would think if he was worried about your fragile sensibilities he
would find a more honorable escort for you.”
Okay, things were
getting weird and Delilah wasn’t sure what was going on, but she was pretty
positive Grace was not a fan of Christian’s half-brother, Dane.
Dane scowled at Grace,
but said to Larissa, “Whenever you’re ready we can go.”
Larissa sighed. “Come on
Mariah, we better head home before your Aunt Gracie harms poor Dane.”
They stood and said
their goodbyes. Annalise returned to the inside of the house to get Lucy up
from her nap. Soon enough it was only herself and Gracie sitting on the porch.
“I apologize. Dane and I
used to be great friends, but I find him repulsive of late.”
Delilah’s brows lifted.
“Uh, that’s okay. I’m not a big fan of his brother either.”
The girl tipped her head
to the side. “I do not know Christian very well. Is he kind?”
Is he kind? That was the
million-dollar question. “I probably know him as well as you do. He’s…pushy and
arrogant. He has a lot to make up for as far as I’m concerned.”
“But you chose to save
him.”