The Book Waitress Series Volume One (18 page)

Rubbing his neck, Ziggy returned to his crew. One of them stepped forward. “Well, what did he say, boss?”

He picked up a shovel and delved into the gravel pile. “We pave.”

Chapter Nine

Camille traipsed up the stairs for another ice pack replacement. They really were the next best thing to sliced bread, but she’d already grown irritated with the system. And yet, without it, she knew she’d eventually die. Weary from the day, her bed looked scrumptious, so she decided to take a little nap before dinner. So many thoughts and voices swirled in her mind, she couldn’t shut them down.

“Shut up! Stop thinking! Just give me some peace!” Fisting her hands, she pounded her temples as tears of frustration seeped out of the corners of her eyes.

A surge of electric pain met her valiant ice packs. She called them her little soldiers. “And here’s Number 13!” They’d come more frequently in the last twenty-four hours and had been getting a little more intense. She had no clue if that meant anything, beyond the fact she’d now get maybe five hours of uninterrupted sleep before the new cycle began. Her eyes shot open. It also meant she and Derek could be together.
Screw the sleep! I can do that when I’m dead!

“Derek!” She ripped the hairband from her hair and let loose the curls that drove him mad. Pinching her cheeks and biting her lips for color, she looked frantically about for a place to pose seductively, and decided the bed was as good a place as any. She tried different poses, like sitting against the headboard and lying on her side, but she honestly didn’t know what to do with herself and felt utterly ridiculous. It finally hit her, exactly what to do.

Peeling down her scuba gear, she shivered from the cool air touching skin deprived of the cooling ice packs. Nerve endings were on high alert, and the anticipation of his coming to her room grew exponentially as the minutes passed. Tossing the outfit aside, she scampered over to her window, making sure the sheer curtains were properly drawn for privacy.

“Sweetheart, you call—”

As she held onto the sheers, she looked back over her shoulder to find him standing in her doorway, holding onto the door jamb, clearly stupefied. She batted her eyelashes and smirked.

“Number Thirteen’s come and gone, Derek. Just thought you should know.”

“There’s a lot of research into the number thirteen.”

“I know.” She let go of the curtains and stalked over to him, taking her own sweet time about it. “It’s known to be very unlucky.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’ve heard.” His chest heaved with every step she took toward him. And she loved it.

“You know what, though?” One step separated them, and yet he remained solid where he stood. “I think it’s gonna bring you a lot of luck today.”

She bridged the space between them and let her hands slide up his well-defined abdomen to his sculpted pecs. Pounding in his chest, she could feel his heart beat so strongly and thought it’d burst right through his skin. She rose up onto her tiptoes and laid her lips against his. Her eyes fluttered closed, as pent up emotion swelled in her soul.

At first, she felt a rumbling, and then she heard a groan as Derek lifted her off the ground and walked them over to the bed. He devoured her lips and plundered her neck, working his way down her humming body as though she were a delectable feast.

When he returned to lavish more kisses upon her face, he cradled her cheeks in his hands and gazed at her with drunken eyes. “I’ve hungered for you too long. This time, there’s nothing to get in our way. It’s just you and me. Satan be damned, I’m claiming you as mine!”

He crushed his lips to hers and gentled her down upon the bed. He tossed his shirt to the floor and dropped his pants. He’d gone commando today. She grinned ear to ear, and thanked the Lord her man didn’t have time to do his laundry. When he joined her, his hands journeyed across her body like a sacred pilgrimage, while their bodies tangled together in a lover’s knot. He pressed himself to her, and the feel of his skin against her breasts sent shockwaves of pure bliss throughout her body. Her own hands couldn’t keep up with the demands of her heart, as she kneaded his shoulders, his back, and his ass.

Through a flurry of wet, hot kisses, came the request she’d been waiting for. “Let me in. I need to feel you all around me.”

“Night table drawer,” she answered breathlessly. “You’ll find what you need.”

He reached over, pulled the drawer open, and grabbed a string of condoms. Since their make-out session at her front door a while back, she’d hoped that all paths would lead to this moment. He turned back to her and offered a wicked grin.

“These will do… For now.”

He led her on a rapturous journey, over and over again, bringing her so close to the precipice and then falling back, until he, drenched with sweat and flushed with heat, couldn’t hold himself back any longer. Over the edge, she soared to a place she’d only read about in novels. Waves upon waves of intense pleasure coursed through her body as she held onto him for dear life. Spent, he collapsed briefly upon her, and shifted them both to have her lay atop him.

Jagged breathing returned to normal, racing heartbeats slowed, and she rested, comforted by a man who truly cared for her. A twilight sleep fell upon her as he gently stroked her mess of curls from the top of her head down to her waist. She barely noticed him easing her off of him to leave the bed for a moment. He returned to pull the covers on top of them and gathered her up, yet again, in his arms. She fell asleep with a smile brimming on her face. A few more times, they enjoyed each other, even ventured into the shower, before Derek demanded she rest for more than a half hour at a time. He left her to it, while he returned to the books downstairs.

She awoke to complete and utter darkness. She didn’t like the dark. At all. Darkness found her in the baptismal pool and led the Master of Evil to her. Paralyzed with fear, she lay in her bed, sheets fisted in her hands, body trembling with a cold sweat.

A kind voice wormed its way through the channels of her mind. “Easy there, my sweet. There is no need to fear.” A hand caressed her hair and cheek, sending waves of calm to override the terror. “Let my darkness embrace you, comfort you, and soothe your weary soul. Come to me and know endless joy. What you’ve experienced tonight is merely a fraction of the ecstasy I can bring forth in you. Just come to me. You know it’s the right thing to do, to take all your troubles away. Sleep now, and come to me, soon.”

She turned toward the gentle hand in search of its owner. She found none, and drifted off again. Blinding light flooded her eyelids and caused instant tears. “Hey! What gives?”

“I’m so sorry, Cam, but I had no choice. We gotta get you back in your suit before the beasties start passing through the portal again. It’s almost time.”

“Crud,” she mumbled, as she slowly sat up, trying to push the sleepy cobwebs from her mind.

“It’ll only take a few minutes, and you can sleep some more. If you don’t mind, I’d like to join you.”

A smile broke through her grumbles and she responded immediately. “That would be extremely wonderful. Yes!”

He helped her back into the suit, refreshed the ice packs, and joined her in bed. “Boy, has it ever been a long day. Sweet dreams.”

“Sweet dreams.”

***

The shrill ring of Camille’s cell phone served as a brutal alarm. Derek heard her fumble around for it on her night stand and throw it to the floor. “Oh, God! Why are people up so early?”

Derek rolled over and looked at his watch. “Holy crap! It’s nine o’clock!”

“Are you serious?” She turned her bleary eyes in his direction, and with her curls all mussed, she looked downright delectable. He forced himself to think of wild boars just to tame the raging hard-on threatening to emerge.

“Totally serious. As much as I’m dying to stay right here and make sexy love to you, I know better. We gotta get crackin’. Let’s start making the potion and at least dip the chains in it.”

“Oooh, I like the sexy love part better. But I’m feeling your point right now. Oh! He’s gotta be a big one coming through. This one hurts like a son of a bitch, even with the ice packs.”

He crossed over to where he thought he heard the phone land and found it. “Here, see who called.”

She looked at the caller list while huffing and puffing breaths in and out, like she was pregnant and taking Lamaze classes. “It’s the realtor. Wonder what he wants. I hope my plans haven’t hit a snag.” She called him back immediately. “Hello, this is Camille Dutton. You called just a couple of minutes ago. Is there anything wrong?” She paused. “Uh huh. Really? Okay, I can live with that. Thanks, I’ll meet you over there. Bye.”

Incredulous was the only way to describe her face after the short conversation. “Okay, you’re killing me, kid. What did he say?”

“I don’t have to wait two weeks for the library to be mine. The paperwork went through, and since nothing’s being removed from the property and I’m paying in cash, I can have the keys today!”

“Really? That’s impossible. No house purchase ever goes this fast.”

“Derek, I’m not looking a gift horse in the mouth. If he says it’s all good, it’s all good. I meet him later on today, about one o’clock, at the library, I mean my new home. Oh, my gosh! I’m so excited! Look out, creatures of the underworld! I’m coming for ya! Ha!”

She bounded off the bed and into Derek’s arms. “This day has started off extremely well. Can’t wait for the rest of it!” She kissed him soundly and went to the bathroom.

“Let’s hope it stays this great!” He called out to her, and went downstairs to make some breakfast.

It took a few hours to prepare the mixture for dipping. They crushed the tablets and pills, mixed in the tea leaves, and added boiled rain water that had collected in the gutter overnight. There were phrases that had to be said at various points of the process, and spoken numerous times. Although she went through the motions with Derek, she remained dubious about its powers. There hadn’t been any great sparks of light, no thunderous clamber from the heavens, not even a little poof of smoke to indicate something supernatural had occurred. By the time she had to leave for the library, it had all been done with absolutely no fanfare.

They decided to take the work items with them, since she’d have the keys at the end of her meeting. Two minutes down the road and they were in the library’s parking lot, waiting for the realtor to show.

The scars burned even stronger today. Switching out the ice packs sooner didn’t help much, and she had mutated into an irritated mass of thorny nerves. What had happened to the promise of a great day? It’d gone down the toilet, or portal, as the case may be. She stepped out of the car, feeling awkward and bristly in her long, flouncy skirt and long-sleeved t-shirt. After pacing for five minutes, the realtor arrived.

“Hello, hello! Happy Homeowner Day!” He offered her a huge grin and a hearty handshake that rattled her bones.

“Well, aren’t we on the excited side of things?” She mustered a smile, while inside someone used eggbeaters to churn her stomach.

“It’s always exciting giving keys over to a new homeowner. It’s such a happy day for all.”

Derek stepped up beside her. “Hello, David. Shall we go inside?”

“Marvelous idea!” He walked them up to the front door and hesitated. “Here, why don’t you do the honors and we’ll make it official?”

“Sure, I think I can handle opening the front door.” She took a deep breath, trying to squash the intense desire to bop him on the head.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Let me do a countdown.”

She rolled her eyes. “Fine.”

“Three…two…one!” He nodded.

She unlocked the door and stepped inside. Flashes of memories and people clouded her vision. Susan and Nancy, the evil librarians. John and Betina, her helpful ghosts. Victor Langdon and his worshippers, conducting ritual sacrifices in the basement.

“And now you’re all gone and I’m still here.”

“What?” David gave her a puzzled look.

“Oh, nothing. Nothing, just talking out loud to myself.” She smiled and stepped forward, allowing an energy exchange between the library and her. Derek grabbed her hand and held it firmly in his.

He nudged her and whispered, “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she whispered back. “Just asserting my aura here. I wonder if John and Betina are still here.”

“Oh, they are. I know it. And hopefully they’ll be as helpful now as they have been in the past.”

The realtor walked over and ushered her to a table, leaving Derek to fend for himself for a while. “So, here are the final documents, and you already have the keys. This place is now yours, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do you part. Ha ha. Little marriage of human and home humor, there.”

She shuddered, not finding anything funny about his morbid attempt, but how would he know his joke was in bad taste? Glancing over at her man, she caught his glare. “David, you’re one in a million, that’s for sure. I’m just wondering how this came together so insanely fast. When I inherited my parents’ home, it took much longer than this.”

“Well, the sooner it’s sold, the better. Money is always needed by someone.” He patted her hand. “I have another meeting, so I’ll leave you to get reacquainted with your new place.”

He left in a flurry, but when she happened to look out the front door’s window, she found him still there, talking on his phone, and looking back with a strange, menacing expression on his face. Any good vibes she’d had about the man disappeared.