Deadman's Blood (6 page)

He smiled. Her lips were pouty and her eyes were welling like she would start crying any second. He leaned down and kissed her forehead, then looked at her again with a crazy, big smile when one teardrop let loose and fell on his right thumb.

“Don’t cry, Angel. Please don’t cry anymore.”

He pulled her to his chest and wrapped his huge arms around her tiny frame, and she couldn’t help but sob as she clung to him.

He could barely hear her muffled voice against his chest as she said, “I’m so sorry I’m not sexy enough or pretty enough to...turn you on the way I should.”

“Oh....No...” He couldn’t help himself; he started chuckling. He put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her away from his chest, to which she reluctantly conceded, but she wouldn’t look up at him. “No, no, no. That’s not it at all - in fact it’s so wrong, I can’t help myself from laughing. Lanie? Please look at me.”

She wouldn’t. With his rough hands against her chin, he moved her head upwards to look at him. Smiling pathetically, he said, “You could be wearing a garbage bag and I’d think you were the sexiest thing on the planet.”

Her face was red and wet with tears and she was sniffing. One hand raked away her dark bangs from her eyes then both thumbs wiped the puddle of tears that had accumulated under her eyes. “Really?” she asked.

Josh, still smiling, said, “Really.”

He bent down and swept her off her feet and cradled her in his arms.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“We need to talk,” he said as he spun around and headed for the bed. With a swoop, he was seated in the middle of the bed and then he gently set her down in front of him.

“We do?” she said timidly.

“We do. Lanie, I need to explain what happened last night.”

“Do we have to?” she said meekly and about ready to cry again.

“Yes. We have to, because you obviously have some misconception that I don’t want to be with you.”

Still looking down at her hands, she said nothing. And he wasn’t sure but he thought he saw tears fall into her lap.

With a gentle hand under her chin, he lifted her head so that she would look him in the eye, but she kept her eyes down. He had been right; the tears ran like a flash flood down her cheek and onto her hand.

“Lanie. I have wanted to make love to you from almost the beginning. Do you remember when we were running from that vampire and we stayed in that tiny hotel just outside of Shasta?”

She nodded, but still wouldn’t look at him.

“You came out of the bathroom with my flannel shirt on and I had never seen anything more sexy in my life. I went into the bathroom after to get ready for bed myself and saw your panties drying over the towel rack; I thought I was going to die. I was so turned on that I was embarrassed you’d notice and think I was a moron. I don’t think I slept at all that night. I was so scared I’d take you in my sleep. Just thinking about it now makes me excited and a bit embarrassed.”

“Really?” she said meekly.

“Really.”

“Then why....” Melanie asked.

“Why did I practically jump out of bed when you told me you were a virgin?” Josh finished.

Her eyes fell and she nodded her head.

“Because...well....I didn’t think I deserved you.”

“You what?”

“Suddenly you became this angel of purity and self control and here I was pawing at you like a gorilla. It made me realize what a gift you were giving me and I was stunned, to say the least. I didn’t deserve you...I still don’t,” Josh explained.

“You’re wrong. Don’t say that,” Melanie argued.

“It’s true. I thought my sinful hands would go up in a cloud of ash like that vampire in the alley a few weeks back, if I touched someone so virtuous. I freaked.”

“Josh, I’m not that virtuous, I’ve just not...been around much....and hadn’t found the one I wanted to....share it with. If my situation had not been one of such isolation, I probably would have done it a long time ago. The opportunity or the right person just hadn’t presented itself.”

“Either way, it’s a gift I intend on being grateful for and when we do make love, I want it to be special and perfect for both of us,” Josh said.

“So we are back to ....you don’t want to?” Melanie asked.

“No, Lanie. You’re my angel and I want you more than anything I thought possible,” Josh replied.

“I’m not an angel, Josh. I’m just a messed up, twenty-five-year-old woman who wants you so badly, I’m embarrassed.”

“You’ve been my guardian angel from the start. You helped me when I had no one else. You brought me to Blake, Rowan, Dean, and Sally, who taught me to control my abilities and helped me with the bloodstone mess. You lured a deadly vampire away from me and after you to protect me for more than two and a half weeks. You then gave me your love and showed me what our love could be together. You will always be my angel, Lanie.

“And don’t be embarrassed, I feel the same way and trust me, men are way hornier than women,” Josh said.

“That’s not what it feels like,” Melanie admitted.

“I know, but we’ll get through it together.”

“But that’s the point. Why ‘get through it’? Why not just do it and move on?”

“You’re going to be the death of me - I swear it. Because, Angel, you’re worth it. I want to do this right and I want you to know what my intentions are.”

“Your intentions? What, are you suddenly from the Victorian era?”

“Ummmm. No, but that might have been where I got my advice from.”

“Advice?”

“Yeah. I kind of talked to Anton last night,” Josh admitted.

“About this? My virginity? Oh God!”

“I know. Please don’t be angry, but I really needed some advice and I have to admit, he made a lot of sense and was very helpful.”

“Really?”

“Trust me, Lanie. He’s not going to say anything, besides... he’s my brother.”

“Yeah. I guess he is. It’s still embarrassing though,” she admitted.

“I know. I’m sorry. It was not easy for me either, but for the first time in my life I could see myself as something other than just ‘Josh’. I pictured myself as a ‘husband’ and even a ‘father’,” he said.

Melanie looked up in astonishment.

Josh continued, “And Lanie, in that picture was you, right there with me as my bride and beautiful mother of my kids - our kids - I realized I really liked this picture of us and so....these are my intentions, Lanie.”

“What are you saying, Josh? Are you asking me to marry you?”

“No. I’m telling you that I’d like to see our relationship develop into something more than just sex. If your intentions are the same, then I will ask you properly at a later date,” Josh explained.

She was stunned. “I...well...”

He put his hand to his forehead like she had done the night before and said in a southern belle voice, “Oh no. You don’t find me sexy enough? Maybe I’m not pretty enough for you? Oh, woe is me! Maybe I’m not experienced enough for you!”

Melanie’s arms were crossed over her chest and she had a devilish smirk on her face as he played out his scene. When he was done, he fluttered his eyelashes and pushed out his bottom lip to a pout. She pushed him hard on his chest to where he was lying on his back and she straddled him. While he laughed, she said gruffly with her hands square on his shoulders, “You’re making fun of me.”

Still trying to imitate a woman’s voice, he mimicked her, “You’re making fun of me.”

The only way she could think to shut him up was to kiss him, so she leaned down and kissed him deeply and he happily reciprocated. She felt so good to him. He pulled her to him and he could instantly tell that she was wearing next to nothing, if anything, under her robe and his heart fluttered and jumped in his chest. He became acutely aware of every inch of her body on top of him. His chest became tight and his breathing deep. She wasn’t stopping and he didn’t want her to, but....

“Lanie?”

“Mmmm?” she said as she continued to kiss his neck, making her way to his chest.

“Lanie, Angel...you never answered me.” He swallowed hard as she ran her tongue across his earlobe.

She whispered rather seductively in his ear letting her lips graze his earlobe every now and then, “Yes, Josh…I would very much like to have a life with you too.” Then she met his mouth, eagerly kissing and teasing him, by grazing her lips past his and lightly kissing his lower lip.

His voice cracked, “Ummm....Lanie....we should.....stop.”

She continued. She kissed him long and hard. His chest got even tighter; it was hard to breathe and his heart felt like it was about to jump out of his chest and take her itself. He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her away from him.

“Lanie, we need to stop now or I won’t be able to stop.”

“But why? We’re practically engaged,” she pouted.

“But we’re not and we’re not married…yet.”

“Married. You mean you want to wait until we are married?”

“I think...yes...it’s the right thing to do,” Josh said, swallowing hard.

“Really?”

“C’mon. You know it will mean so much more if we wait,” Josh said.

“I can’t believe I’m hearing this,” she said.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this,” he admitted.

She climbed off of him, a little disappointed, and readjusted her robe. He was still lying on his back trying to recuperate with large, deep breaths.

“I think I need....I’m going to go take a very, VERY cold shower,” Josh said.

“Can I come?” she asked deviously.

Popping his head up, he looked at her in surprise and she could see that he was biting his lip hard. His head dropped back in defeat and he made a long, guttural sound which Melanie wasn’t sure how to interpret.

“Oh, Lanie....you’re going to torture me with this, aren’t you?”

“I think....yes....yes, I am,” she admitted.

“Then it’s going to have to be a very, VERY short engagement, Angel....very short.” Still mumbling as he got up and stumbled towards the door, he kept saying over and over, “short...very, very short and lots of cold, cold water.”

He turned towards her to find her sitting in the middle of the bed, arms wrapped around her legs, with her chin on her knees, looking absolutely adorable.

He smiled back at her and said, “By the way, I broke your doorknob. I’ve been breaking things all day.” He raised his bandaged hand as if to wave goodbye when he saw Melanie sit up straight and then come running over to him.

“You’re bleeding!” she said.

He looked at his palm and the bandage was soaked red.

“Yeah. I crushed a jam jar this morning.”

“Why?”

“Well, it wasn’t on purpose. I was trying to open it,” Josh explained.

She took his hand in both of hers, then kissed the bandage and held his palm to her cheek.

“Do you want me to re-bandage it for you? Are you in any pain?” she asked.

“No, Angel, the only pain I have is in my chest from walking away from you in a big inviting bed.”

“You don’t have to walk away, you know,” she said seductively.

“I do, princess. I do. You’re worth it and I love you. I’m going to go take that cold shower while I can still walk and then we need to go downstairs and talk to Dominic about something he found in the altar room.”

“Okay,” she said, defeated.

Fifteen minutes later, Josh knocked at Melanie’s bedroom door again. She appeared fully dressed and they headed down to the dining room where everyone was talking. They quickly sat down next to Dominic and listened in.

“I was just telling everyone about this artifact that I found in the altar room under the castle on Heart Island,” he said. “When the girls destroyed the Bloodstone Heart, the blast that came from it most have dislodged a stone on the hearth, and behind it I found this.”

He held up a carved cylindrical piece of wood and passed it around the table for everyone to look at.

Dean said, “Speaking of that blast, did any of you have a warm fuzzy sensation as it passed by?”

Everyone at the table nodded their heads in agreement.

Blake said, “Yeah and my skin seemed to glow or sparkle for a moment.”

Alyssa said, “Yeah. Mine did too. What was that, Dominic?”

“I’m not sure, but the stone was quite powerful in a loving environment. It all but destroyed Dimitri and his followers when it passed through them, so I’m sure they didn’t feel anything warm and fuzzy,” Dominic said.

Devon said, “You don’t think it did anything to us, do you?”

“Nothing bad. Anyone notice anything odd since then?” Dominic added.

There was a general mumble through the room, but nobody spoke up.

“Well, then I wouldn’t worry about it. You’ll notice as the artifact is passed around, that it has carvings on it. I think these are for the four houses of the ancient ones. Lion for Larsen, Eagle for Mathew, Bear for Douglas, Wolf for Wallace,” Dominic said.