Authors: Lydia Michaels
“He was alive?”
“Yes. He had followed
his captors peacefully, believing it was his destiny. You see, Delilah, I have
lived through many tragedies, but my faith has wavered, but always remained. I
believe
in my way of life. That family had guns for hunting, but refused to use
them.”
“But his wife and two
children died!”
He nodded sadly. “Yes,
Delilah, they died, but three of them had lived. Who is to say what would have
happened if one meek Amish family used the remainder of gunpowder on a tribe of
natives and angry soldiers? We must trust what we believe, otherwise it is not
faith.”
“But she
died,
Christian.
He let her die. If some rogue maniac comes knocking on our door, you can step
aside all you want. I’m shooting first and asking questions later.”
His mouth twitched. “I
would never let another harm you,
pintura.
You have my word.”
“Then what’s the point
of this story?”
“I want you to
understand how strong the Amish faith is. These were real people who sacrificed
their lives rather than go against the teachings of their God.”
She no longer wanted to
sit through any more stories. Besides, they were more fucked up than Grimms.
“Uhhhh, Christian, I get
it, you’re Amish. I can do the drab clothing and even churn out some butter if
you show me how, but I think I’m a little too modern to trust in others that
much. And—not to complain about yet another thing—but your church services are
really, really long.”
He chuckled and took her
hand. “I know, Delilah. And
eawichkeit
—eternity—is long. You will
understand over time. What we have is so much more than any mortal could ever
know. We are given proof, in dreams and callings, that we are exactly where He
wants us to be.”
Delilah looked anywhere
but in his eyes. The religious stuff freaked her out.
“Delilah, I understand
your faith is not as strong as mine.”
She rocked nervously.
“Correct are you, Yoda.”
He pursed his lips. “I
only ask you to have faith in me for now. I vow to honor and protect you. I
believed I was doing what was asked of me the night I claimed you as my mate. I
know you do not see it that way, but I’ve been around a long time and there
truly is no other way.”
“Gracie said you would
have died if you didn’t claim me. Is that true?”
“Yes.”
“But doesn’t that make
you a hypocrite? Shouldn’t you have surrendered like that man in the story?”
He was silent for a
moment. “Do you honestly believe, had I offered you the choice of love, eternal
life, family, shelter, and gifts beyond measure, that you would have said no?”
“Well, I guess we’ll
never know, will we, Christian?” she answered snidely. She was getting
irritated again.
He sighed. “You are
thinking like a mortal. Try to think differently. Everyone in this world hopes
to find someone to understand him or her. Happiness is nothing unless shared.
You are given the gift of knowing exactly whom you are meant to be with. You
fill the emptiness inside of me and I can do the same for you. We are intended,
not by the choice of man, but by the careful selection of our maker. Even if
you do not have a strong faith, you must be able to comprehend how absolutely
unique and priceless that gift is.”
She shrugged. Yeah, that
sounded pretty nice. But she was still mad at him. Sort of. Not really. Mostly
when he brought up changing her without asking. Otherwise she’d started coming
to terms with where her life was heading opposed to where she had intended it
to go.
Delilah had dated, even
kept a few guys around for a month or two, but she never had someone look at
her the way Christian did. She’d never felt safe enough to be herself, as she
did with Christian.
According to destiny, no
matter what, he was meant for her, warts and all. It was an odd sort of
security, one she wasn’t one hundred percent confident in. However, she really
wanted to believe it was real.
“How come I never had
dreams?”
“Are you sure? I had
several.”
Her shoulder lifted. “I
don’t know. I’ve always been terrible with remembering dreams. Maybe if God
would have given me the memo I could have picked up a dream journal or
something—been a little more prepared for all this, you know?”
“Always returning to
sarcasm,
pintura.
”
“Hey, that’s how I roll.
So what kind of dreams did you have? Were they dirty?”
His cheeks darkened as
he stared into her eyes. “There were days I was restless, because I could do
nothing more than recall the beauty who had enchanted me in my sleep.”
Her lips parted. “Wow,”
she whispered. “I can’t believe I got gypped on these dreams.”
“We have plenty of time
to bring them to life,
pintura.
”
She smiled, sensing the
direction this conversation was going. “Oh, I think that depends, Mr. Schrock.”
“On?”
“On if you’d let an
intruder shoot me.”
His eyes darkened.
“Never.”
“Would you fight for
me?”
“I did this afternoon.”
“You knocked a fat putts
out of his chair. I mean really fight if it came down to it. Would you kill for
me?” She awaited his excuse.
“Yes.”
Her gaze jerked to his
and her smile faltered. “You…you
would
?”
“If I sensed your life
was in jeopardy, I would not cease until I knew you were safe. I am Amish by
choice, vampyre by nature. It is against what I am to let my mate die. You are
mine
,
Delilah. I will surrender your life to no one.”
Well, didn’t that just
make her feel all sorts of nice-nice. She had herself a vigilante who preached
all sorts of peaceful crap until someone stepped on his itty-bitty immortal
toes. That’s when the lethal fangs would come out and he’d go ape-shit on a bad
guy’s ass. It was totally sexy.
“Okay, Mr. Schrock. Let’s
go make some of those dreams come true.”
His eyes darkened and he
grinned. “Go to the bedroom.”
Heat rushed through her
belly and her thighs clenched. Delilah jumped up from the table and scampered
out of the room like the biggest dork in the world. She shucked her dress and
jumped onto the bed. “I’m ready!” she called.
Suddenly there was a
knock at the front door. She frowned. Didn’t whoever was knocking know it was
sexy time?
Quickly rolling off the
bed, she grabbed her robe. As she returned to the living room Christian was
standing in the door holding an enormous bouquet of flowers.
“Are they for
me
?”
The deliveryman looked
up from his clipboard. “Ms. Starling?”
Flowers!
“That’s me!” She nudged
Christian out of the way.
“Sign here,” the
deliveryman—nix that—delivery boy said.
She quickly scribbled
her John Hancock on the slip and smiled. “Hold on, let me grab you a tip.”
“No tip, ma’am. The
gentleman who placed the order has already taken care of it.”
“Oh, okay, well, thank
you.”
He tipped his head and left.
She turned to face Christian who was scowling behind a gorgeous Casablanca
lily. All she could smell were flowers. The arrangement was beautiful. She
hadn’t gotten flowers since she graduated high school. She was way overdue.
“Do you see a card?” she
asked as she gently peeked between the fragrant stems. Lifting the heavy
arrangement out of Christian’s arms she placed them on the table. “Stop
frowning. You’re going to offend the lilies.”
“They’re flowers,” he
grumbled, following her to the table.
“Flowers are very
receptive to the emotions of the people around them. Didn’t you know that?”
“I gave you a farm and
you didn’t get this excited. We have lilies there.”
“I know, but having
flowers sent to you is different. Ooh! I wonder if I have a secret admirer.”
He growled.
“Oh, settle down,
Frankenstein.”
“Frankenstein?” he
mumbled with offense.
“I found it!” Delilah
pulled out the crisp white envelope. “
Mizz
Starling,” she enunciated as
she slid the card out. The note was hand written in thick, fancy script.
Here is wishing you all
the luck in your new life. I tried to find a flower as pretty as you, but
sadly, there can only be one Delilah.
‘Til next time,
~Cerberus Maddox the
sixth
“Oh my God, it’s from
Mr. Maddox.”
She faced Christian. It
looked like smoke was literally about to come steaming from his ears.
“Uh, Christian?”
His jaw popped and she
flinched.
“Christian?” She waved
her hand in front of his face. He didn’t move. “Look, it doesn’t matter who
sent the flowers. I can still enjoy them. I’m sure he was just being nice since
I was clearly upset at having to shut down my shop.”
“How does he know where
you live, Delilah?” he asked through clenched teeth.
Her body, which had been
humming with excitement, deflated as something creepy slithered under her skin.
“I don’t know.”
He reached for the card
and sniffed it. She frowned as he went to her window and yanked open the
curtain. He growled. She rushed to his side as a shiny black sports car pulled
away.
Ew. Creepy!
She gasped. “Do you
think that was him?”
“I know it was. Pack
your things. We are leaving.”
“But…what about my
stuff?”
“We will return for it
later.”
“How did he know where I
lived?”
“He is immortal,
Delilah. He has an incredible sense of smell, the ability to hear over miles.
He tried to get into my mind today at your store. I have no doubt he saw into
yours. It would take only seconds for him to garner your address.”
“How do you guys do
that?” she snapped. “It is so unfair that all I can do is fix boo-boos.”
“Pack a bag with what
you need. We are leaving in a few minutes.”
She huffed. “You see!
This is why I don’t know how to do anything cool. Every time someone does
something neat and I ask you to show me how, it’s
Pack a bag, Delilah. Get
back in the carriage, Delilah. Take off your clothes, Delilah.
”
He left the living room
and returned with the bag they arrived with. “Are you complaining?”
“Well, yeah. Show me
something neat.”
“I will later, Delilah.”
“I will later, Delilah.”
He turned and looked at
her. His expression told her he thought she was being childish. Easy to say
when you could do Jedi mind tricks. She stomped off to her room.
Chapter Twelve
They had been walking
for hours and Delilah was regretting packing so much crap.
“Are we there yet?” she
whined and Christian shot her a look that told her she was being annoying. “I’m
sick of walking. We could have taken my car. I don’t see why we had to walk.
You know, if I were still human, I’d be limping by now. This is extortion.
You’re extorting my new found abilities,
which
by the way, you seem to
keep forgetting to show me how to use.”
“Delilah, we must keep
moving. Please try to make the best of it.”
She huffed and trotted
on. Her body didn’t hurt. She was bored. “We could have sex in the woods
again.”
“Delilah,” he warned and
kept moving.
She sighed. They
continued walking. There was a constant scurry of small pawed things in her
wake that followed her like a blimp in the Macy’s parade. “So, what do you
think this Snow White power thing I have is all about?”
“Pardon?” He lifted a
low hung branch for her to duck under.
“The animals. They’re
drawn to me. Why do you think that is?”
“Perhaps because they
know you will not eat them.”
She thought about that.
“That could be it. I am incredibly superior when it comes to my meat restraint.
Do you think it draws other things too?”
“Such as?”
“Mr. Maddox.”
He growled. “You do not
need any sort of gift to draw other males, Delilah. He sensed you were new and
like him. You are beautiful. He wanted you for reasons other than your
connection to the animal kingdom.”
She couldn’t help but
push his buttons. “And how does that make you feel, Christian?”
He shot her a warning
glance. “You know how it makes me feel.”
“Sooo, you think I
should go out with him.”
“You are not amusing.”
“Oh, come on. I’m a
little amusing.”
He mumbled something
under his breath she didn’t catch.
“Mr. Maddox had a car. A
nice car. He could have probably given us a ride back to the farm.”
“Delilah.”
“Christian.”
They walked in silence
for a long while. Eventually they each silently agreed to pick up the pace, as
night was settling in. When they moved faster, Delilah’s thoughts slowed. She
focused on her footing and the next step rather than how bored she was. When it
was pitch black and no sounds of civilization met her ears, they finally
stopped for a rest.
“Perhaps we should
feed,” Christian suggested as they sat on a wide flat rock eating the granola
bars she’d packed.
“You can. I don’t do
animals.”
“Do you have hunger?”
She tilted her head and
thought about her state. She was sort of hungry, but nothing like the ache
she’d dealt with when she waited too long to feed. “I could feed.”
He tilted his head and
stared at her. “You are handling the feeding much better now.”
She shrugged. “I don’t
mind it. I sort of…like it, I guess.”
His smile was slow. “But
not from animals.”
“I told you, I won’t do
the animal thing. Feeding from you I can deal with. You piss me off enough that
I feel justified biting you from time to time.”
His brow lifted. “I piss
you off?”
She nodded. “You didn’t
have to throw away my flowers.”
“We have no idea when
you will return. They would have died and made your home smell.”
She gave him a look of
skepticism. “Yeah, I’m sure that’s why you tossed them, because you were
worried about the scent of my apartment. I broke my lease. Who cares what the
place smells like in a month. Just admit it. You’re jealous.”
“I have no issue
admitting I do not want other males sending you gifts, especially immortal
males. That male was quite audacious thinking he could do such a thing.”
She bit into her granola
bar. “He didn’t know we were together.”
“He knew.”
“How?”
“I told you, Delilah, he
looked into your mind.”
“Well, maybe if you
taught me some tricks I could guard my thoughts a little better.”
She took his wrapper and
stuffed it back into a pocket of the bag. Christian stood and drew in a deep
breath. “What is it you would like to know how to do?”
“How’d you do the lock
trick on my door?”
His gaze drifted for a
moment. “I do not know how to teach you such things. I only know that I can do
it. I simply focus on the object and demand it to move.”
She thought about
Samantha Stevens from
Bewitched
and
I Dream of Genie
. “Yeah,
Christian, that’s cool. I want to know how to do that stuff.”
He reached to the ground
and picked up a rock, about the size of a cork. He placed it on the flat
surface of the bolder she sat on. “Try to move the rock.”
She looked at the small
rock. Speckled puddles of moonlight wobbled over the surface as the branches
moved above. She cleared her throat and focused.
Move.
It didn’t budge.
Mooooooooooove.
Nothing.
Open sesame. Move?
Go-rock-go! Rock get the steppin’! Mooooooooove!
Nothing happened. She
turned to Christian. “Nothing’s happening.”
“You are being silly.
Simply look at it and push with your mind.”
She stared at the rock
and imagined a little version of herself pushing the stone with all her might.
It didn’t even wobble. She huffed and turned back to Christian.
“Watch,” he said and
looked at the little stone. It scooted about six inches to the right.
She scoffed. “How did
you do that?”
He shrugged. “Exactly as
I told you. I simply pushed with my mind.”
She scowled at him and
then at the stupid rock. Taking a deep breath she groaned and tried to push the
damn thing. It trembled and moved. She gasped and turned to Christian,
excitedly, only to frown. “You did that!”
His guilty expression
gave him away.
“Christian! I’m never
going to be good at this stuff if you do it for me.”
“It is a silly trick,
Delilah. That is why God gave us hands. You will learn eventually.”
She stomped her foot.
“Easy for you to say. You can do all kinds of cool stuff.”
“Come along, let’s keep
moving.”
They walked quietly, but
Delilah was growing bored again. “Can you run faster than a speeding bullet?”
“How am I to know how
fast a bullet travels?”
“How about a train?”
“Delilah, I do not
measure my speed. Why are you so interested in such things?”
“Why are you so
uninterested? Don’t you think it’s neat?”
“It is what I am and
always have been. Do you think it is neat that your hair grows or that you can
walk on two feet?”
“You’re not being much
fun tonight.”
He sighed and took her
hand. “I am sorry,
pintura.
I simply want to be home. I do not like
being away from the farm.”
She stared at him for a
moment, this tall, gorgeous, vampyre man who was her mate. “Why are you so shy,
Christian?”
He stiffened. “I am not
shy.”
“Uh, yeah you are.”
“Just because I am
comfortable with silence does not make me shy.”
She thought about how
awkward he’d been at Destiny and Cain’s. “You don’t like being around others.”
“I simply prefer certain
people over others. It isn’t that I am intimidated by others.”
“Okay, sorry.”
They continued on their
way. Once they crossed Pittsburg it was dawn. They were actually making good
speed. They stopped to eat and Christian fed. Delilah wasn’t in the mood to
feed. She was sick of walking and wanted to get home. Or to the farm. Whatever.
She began to sing Simon
and Garfunkel’s
Homeward Bound
.
“I’m sittin’ in a railway station,
gotta ticket for my destination, mm-hmm-mmm…”
Christian looked at her
like she was nuts, but she couldn’t take the silence anymore. She continued to
sing and during the faster parts of the song she found them moving faster.
Christian smiled as they leapt through the trees. She laughed as her voice broke
terribly during a softer part. He laughed with her.
There was something free
showing in his gaze, a sort of youthfulness that wasn’t always there. When she
finished the song they were out of breath. He smiled and stared at her for a
moment, an expectant glean in his eyes.
The moment was anchoring
toward something intense she didn’t want to deal with at the moment. So she
turned and leapt to a tree about thirty feet away. She landed like a monkey,
wrapping her arms around the softer branches at the top. Her fingers, sticky
with sap, helped her cling to the pine limbs.
He landed in the tree
next to her, a spark of challenge in his eyes.
“Wanna race?” she asked.
He nodded and she took
off. Her voice echoed through the woods and Christian’s laughter wasn’t too far
behind.
“Celia! You’re breaking my heart...”
He sped past her once
she landed on the ground. She giggled and chased after him. Her heart raced and
something light took hold of her. She felt like she was flying.
She continued to sing
about making love in the afternoon with Cecilia.
Her laughter broke the
rhythm of her singing, but she belted out the lyrics anyway.
“I’m begging
you please to come home…”
The earth opened wide
and a large canyon on the side of a mountain came into view, echoing her terrible
singing back at them. They ran around the ridged rock edge, laughing, singing,
chasing. It was probably one of the most fun and freeing moments of her life.
She never wanted to forget it.
As they slowed their
pace and carefully maneuvered around a steep curve of a mountain, Christian
held her arm, steadying her. She watched her footing as she crested the edge.
The altitude made her head feel slightly full. She breathed in and looked over
the cliff. Her breath caught at the vision before her. It was magnificent.
“Where are we?” she
asked breathlessly, her voice feeling like an intrusion in such a perfect
place.
The heat of Christian’s
body warmed her side. “The Pennsylvania Canyons.”
“They’re beautiful.”
Heavy mountains butted
together, forming a slender canyon deep in the belly of the earth. A gentle
haze formed low, trapping the sunshine as though they were above the heavens
looking down. She’d never seen something so impressive. “I want to paint this.”
He smiled and took her
palm in his. They stared silently, simply breathing in the splendor of it all.
Christian held her hand and it felt right, his fingers curling around her own.
She didn’t want to move.
She didn’t want to break
this moment. Everything was peaceful here. They were above all the stress, all
the worries. They were simply…
here.
“Delilah?” Christian’s
voice was soft, as though he felt how delicate the moment was.
Neither looked at the
other. The mountains captivated their gazes, seduced them with uncontainable
facets and crevices of hidden beauty. “Yes, Christian.”
He didn’t answer right
away. His hand was warm around hers. The air was fresh and somehow penetrated
her soul. “Will you marry me?”
The tender feeling that
warmed her as she looked out at the impressive canyon bloomed, only now her
eyes had shut. She still felt the beauty all around her. The sense of oneness,
the peace, the security, the silent promise that everything was all right. She
didn’t understand where these emotions were coming from.
Her heart skipped in her
chest and she could not escape the feeling that this—here in this moment,
overlooking these breathtaking mountains—was exactly where she was supposed to
be. With Christian.
And then there was the
fact that he
asked
.
“Yes,” she whispered and
his hand tightened around hers.
“I love you,” he said
softly. “I have never said that to another soul before.”
Her head lowered as
though her heart grew too heavy against her spine. “Oh, Christian…”
“You do not have to say
it back. I know you…care for me. I simply wanted you to know. What you do to
me…it is…I have no other words. I just know that what I feel…it is love.”
Should she tell him? Did
she love him? He made her…
feel
. With Christian she felt things she had
never felt before with any other man. She trusted him in a way that wasn’t
rational to trust someone she had only met weeks ago. But she did.