Dragan's Redemption Book One of the Manor at Echo Lake Trilogy (28 page)

“Ahhh, thanks but no thanks.  I have not had an unwilling
victim
for many, many
,
years, and I am not going to start that again.”

“Aaron!”

“Fine, but you try and have
her
do it willingly.”  Aaron shuddered.  “
Feeding from a compelled person
is like feeding off of a zombie.”

“For the sake of science
,
Aaron
,
s
tay focused, and may I remind you how I looked after I fed
from her
.”

Aaron
grimaced
.  “Oh yeah.”

Aaron heard her crying even before he saw her.  Rounding the corner to the back yard, he observed her sitting on the bench that was placed in front of the St. Francis
statue
,
her head bowed.  Quietly
,
he walked up and sat down next to her placing his arm around her shoulder
s
.  Without any hesitation or surprise that he was seated next to her, she
laid
her head onto his shoulder and her hand on his thigh.

Feeling a surge rush through him, he frowned.  He wished that he felt nothing for his
brother’s
lover.  Gulping
,
he struggled to speak feeling the heat from her fingers sear through his jeans
hoping that she did not see how she affected him
.  “Amira
,
y
ou know I am not Dragan right
?”

Nodding her head, he watched as new tears flowed out of her eyes.  Knowing he shouldn’t
,
he pulled her onto h
is
lap, stroking her hair
as it rested on his chest
, letting her cry it out.

“Have you been crying all morning?”

“Yes.”  Hiccupping
,
she struggled to catch her breath.

“Do you want to talk about it?  I am a pretty good listener.”

“I don’t even know what happened.  I got so angry when he told me that he knew
,
and I think I
panicked
.”

“You should have told him
,
you know.”

“I know.  I just didn’t want things to change between us.”

“Is that what you thought would happen?”

“Yes, I guess I did.  I never had a boyfriend before.  Who wants a dead woman
as a girlfriend?
”

Aaron found her words ironic
,
and he almost laughed out loud
.  “Why not?  He is dead already.  D
id
you stop caring for him when you found out?”  Feeling her stiffen, he felt bad for his choice of words.

“
That’s
different and you know it.”  Sliding off his lap, she stood.  His arms felt empty, and he wanted to pull her back down to him.

Watching the pulse beat on her neck,
Aaron
wished he could feed
off
her now.
  Standing
abruptly,
he pushed his hands through her hair closing his eyes as he felt the silkiness over his skin.

Amira gripped his wrists
tightly s
wallowing hard
as she
stared at his face
,
s
urprised when his eyes reopened
to
see how dark they had become.  Dragan had that same look when he looked at her.   Looking at her lips now
slightly
opened
in
surprise, Aaron slowly brought his head down.

“Don’t
,
Aaron!
  Please don’t…..
”  She could not believe that the whispered words came from her,
but
even more, she couldn’t believe that she didn’t have the desire to
push
him
away
.

Groaning, his mouth millimeters from hers, he pulled away
from their softness
only
to bury
his face in her neck inhaling deeply
before
moving back touch
ing
her cheek gently
with his lips
.

“My brother is a lucky man
,
Amira.  If it doesn’t work out, I call dibs on you.”

The relief
emanating
from her was
palpable when he let her go
.  Aaron felt guilty
for putting her in this situation as he watched her face flush.

Looking everywhere but at him, Aaron touched her hand gently.  “It is obvious that you care for him
,
and
I know for a fact that he feels the same way about you.  If you were my
girlfriend,
I would be
very upset
also
that you didn’t spill the beans
.  I
do not
know
everything about
your situation except for the fact that you are a very sick
,
young woman.  You want to live? 
So live Amira! 
We all want that for you! 
What ever is going
to
happen will happen.”

“I need to apologize to him.”

“Ahhh, I would give him a bit more time.  He is still pretty hot under the collar right now.
But you can hang with
me;
make me some of that blackberry tea that I have been hearing so much about.
”

Amira’s face lightened as she laughed at him.  “Ok, that I can do.  Come on in.”

Following her into the house, he looked around at the tiny living area.   “
You
know, we have plenty of rooms at the house.”

Seeing his expression, she laughed
again
.
“You are a snob
,
Aaron
Reynolds.” 
L
ook
ing
around seeing what he saw
,
she shrugged
.  “
I like my little home.”

With
disdain,
his eyes touched on
the sparse furniture.  “Good God why?”

“Because it is home to me.”  Cocking her head to one side, she eyed him coyly.  “
Home
is where the heart is
,
Aaron.  My heart is here.”

“Whatever.  I
am still going
to talk to my brother about your living quarters.”  Shocked
,
she watched as he walked into her bedroom
;
hurrying
after him, her face flushed thinking of what her and Dragan had done in her bed.

Hearing her thoughts
,
Aaron felt a twinge of jealousy flow through him.  Sometimes knowing what others thought was a curse. 
He had to admit that t
he small room was all her.  The long flowing white curtains moved gently with the breeze that was
softly
wafting through the window.  Her bed
,
neatly made, was dressed all in white.  Touching the eyelet
cover,
he ran his fingers over the top.

“Aaron, please, let’s go have tea.”

She was nervo
us having him in her bedroom. 
Good
,
he thought.  She was not as unaffected by him as she portrayed.  He wasn’t sure himself why he enjoyed taunting her so much.  Silently he walked over to the dresser lifting the stopper on her perfume bottle.  It smelled like roses and sunshine
;
closing his eyes he inhaled deeply.

Hurrying
to him, she pulled it from his hand
,
exasperated when he opened the top drawer of her dresser, pulling out one of her bra’s holding it up with his eyebrows raised.

Laughing at
him,
she yanked it out of his hand.  “Oh my God
,
Aaron, cut it out.”

“Just
trying
to understand you a bit more
,
my dear.”

“Great, come into the kitchen
,
and I will answer
your
questions.”

Shrugging, he opened her closet door
,
flipping through the hangers
while looking at
her clothes
.  “I like this better.” 
Looking up
,
he noticed the box. 
Reaching up onto the
shelf,
he pulled down her wooden box
,
t
urning it over curiously in his hands
.
Glancing over at her, he saw that she had stilled
,
and he wondered if she was even breathing.
“Aaron, please don’t open that.”

“
H
mmm, what is in here
,
Amira
?
”

“Nothing
,
j
ust some private papers.”

With
relief,
she saw him slide it back up onto the top shelf before walking out the door but not with a last glance into the room.
 
Aaron had
learned a lot and that was enough for now.
  Later he would come and take a peak into the sacred box.

Watching as she poured his tea with shaky
fingers,
he noticed for the first time her
pallor
. 
Grasping her hand
with his,
he felt how warm she was to the touch.

“Are you feeling ok
,
Amira?”

Sitting she shook her head.

“Not really.  I was thinking of taking the train into Brigham
and Women’s
to see my doctor.”

“I can give you a ride.  You only have to ask.”

“
Will you?
That
would
be great thank you.”

Dragan stepped out of the tiny chapel.  He needed sleep
,
and he needed it soon.  He physically may not have looked it but he felt every one of his 335 years.
  Looking up, his eyes caught his brothers before looking down to the box that Aaron held in his hands.

“
I am sorry. 
I took her in.  Dr. Kinsley wanted me to give you this.”

Taking the medical cooler, his shoulders slumped.  “She is sick again?”

“I am really sorry
,
Dragan.”

Walking back to the house, neither brother said anything.  “I should go see her.”

“No.  Wait until she comes to you
,
and she will.  She is still processing and needs time.”

“And I need her.”

“She will come
,
brother
.  Have patience.”

Nodding his
head,
Dragan
handed the cooler to James
as he stepped into the house
.  “Please put this in the lab for me
,
old friend.  I am going to rest.”

Trying to remember the last time he slept, he slowly walked up the stairs to his bedroom while both brother and butl
er looked on with worry.

∞

James had checked on Dragan several times over the course of the day.  Each time, he found him sound asleep
.  Now it was
going on 9 hours.  Not wanting to
disturb
him, he left him as he was. 
There was such a sadness hanging over
the house
,
and James did not like it. 
Preparing to lock the doors for the evening
,
he jumped at hearing a light tap at the front door.  Opening
slightly,
his eyes met
emerald green
,
and a smile lit up his face.  “
Oh
,
Miss Amira, it is good to see you.”

“I hope it is not too late
,
James?  I wanted to see Dragan if that is ok.”

“Of course, please come in.”

He watched as she stepped into the room noting the over night bag she carried on her shoulder.  She looked tired herself.