Keepers of the Flame (Trilogy Bundle) (9 page)

“Hey,” I greeted without looking at her.

“It's a bit chilly today, don't you think?”

I smiled to myself. I knew she was nervous when she resorted to British speak. Not only was she talking about the weather, she'd also let her slight accent slip through.

“Yeah. Care to share your blanket with me?”

She shot me a puzzled look but I deliberately kept my face blank. After a slight hesitation on her part, she held out one edge of the blanket to me. Within a few seconds, we were both snug beneath the blanket. Our arms brushed each other lightly and I felt tiny sparks of electricity pass through. I felt her jerk and knew she must have felt it too, even though she was ignoring it, like I was.

“So how did your date go?” I asked casually, though I was feeling far from casual.

“It went fine. We went to a fancy restaurant and I really had a good time,” she replied brightly.

I clenched my teeth, making sure not to let her know how I felt about her words.

“So did he kiss you goodnight?” I asked in my best big brother tone, not like there was anything big brotherish about the way I was feeling.

She reared back and looked at me, finally. “What?” Her tone was incredulous.

“I asked if he ...”

“I heard you the first time!” she interrupted me. “I just couldn't believe you were actually asking.”

“What? I'm not allowed to know how your date went?”

“I told you it was fine,” she said shortly and went back to staring out into space.

I could tell she was upset and I hadn't even begun asking all the questions I wanted to ask. I wanted to know who the guy was that she'd gone on the date with. How long they'd been dating or if it was just a first date. If he kissed her or even laid a finger on her. I wanted to know every single thing and if I found out that he'd touched her in any way, I had no idea what I would do to him.

Watching her side profile, I felt a wealth of possessiveness rise up in me. Whether she knew it or not, Luanne was mine. As the thought crossed my mind, I knew it sounded primitive and chauvinistic, but it wasn't like that at all. I was crazy about this woman, but I'd kept my distance so she could have a chance to grow up. She hadn't even been seventeen when we met and I didn't want her to regret being with me. So I'd stayed away. But I didn't go through all that self-denial only to have her dating someone else. Hell no!

“What is it with you anyway?” she suddenly demanded, turning to look at me. “First you kiss me, then you disappear. Eight months, Dylan! You kept away for eight months! Now you show up acting like you have the right to delve into my life!”

I looked at her in surprise. I'd never heard her sound that way before. She had changed since the last time I'd seen her. For one, she'd become more assertive and I found that sexy as hell.

“I thought being your friend gave me that right,” I replied.

“No, it doesn't give you the right.”

That hurt. I didn't know why it did, but it really hurt. “I see.” I turned away from her and faced the night. When would I learn that emotions led to hurt? I felt her hand on my arm and turned to face her again.

“I don't know what we have, Dylan, but it's not quite friendship,” she said softly, looking so earnestly at me that I wanted to kiss her, but I restrained myself. “There's that kiss we shared several months ago and, try as I might, I can't forget about it.”

Good, I thought. I couldn't forget about it either and I liked the fact that I wasn't the only one going through that form of torment. Before I could say a word however, she went on.

“But that aside, friendship should be based on trust.”

“I trust you.” I said, surprising myself. I didn't do trust. I'd been burned too many times to even want to try. But if there was one person I could say I trusted, it would be Luanne.

She shook her head sadly and removed her hand from my arm. “No you don't.”

What was she talking about? I frowned. “Of course I trust you.”

“Really? Then tell me why you're not speaking to your family.”

I clenched my teeth and looked away. That was not a subject I was willing to touch with a barge pole.

“Okay, then. What happened to turn you so bitter? Who hurt you?”

She continuously surprised me with how astute she was. The fact that she'd guessed I'd been hurt in the not too recent past was a shocker on its own, but that was not enough to get me to discuss that. I turned to look at her and caught the flash of hurt in her eyes.

“Lu, you don't understand,” I said reluctantly. I didn't want to hurt her but I wish she had asked for something else, something easier.

“No Dylan, I understand very well,” she said gently and stood up.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“It's late and I need to go to bed.”

I looked away to hide my reaction but I got a mental image of Luanne in bed with me right beside her. I immediately shook it away.

“Here,” I unwrapped the blanket and held it out to her.

“Are you going off?”

“No, I'll be here a while.”

She nodded then. “Keep the blanket then, you'll need it.”

She turned and as I watched her walk away, I felt suddenly bereft. She hadn't taken a few steps when I felt the hairs on my neck stand up in alarm. I heard a soft whining sound and before I thought about it, leapt towards her and pushed her flat on the roof. The bullet winged past us and got lodged in the wall of the chimney. From where we were on the roof, thanks to extraordinary eyesight, we could see it was a silver bullet.

“Are you okay?” I whispered into her ear. She nodded in response.

I felt her trembling beneath me and, taking hold of her arm, we floated through the roof onto her bed. I was scared, too. A silver bullet wouldn't have killed her, but it could have done potential harm.

“Someone shot at me,” she said in shock.

I wrapped my arms around her and she clung to me. It had been eight long months since I'd had my arms around her. Eight long and lonely months. And even though the circumstances were grave, it still felt so right. I dropped a light kiss on top of her head and rested my cheek on her hair. Her hair smelled of strawberries and chocolates and I inhaled deeply.

As I exhaled, I felt desire course through me and knew an almost desperate need to kiss her. I felt a change in her as she suddenly tensed up. Her breathing had turned shallow and there was a different quality to the tremor which shook her body.

I drew back and cupped her face in both hands, forcing our eyes to meet. The desire I saw in hers took my breath away, even as I knew it was most likely an exact mirror of what was reflected in mine.

I gently stroked her hair, drinking in the sight of her. She was so beautiful, and it was more than just the way she looked. I knew that if I kissed her, things between us would change irrevocably. I had wanted to wait till her eighteenth birthday, and that was still five months away. But I was done with being noble. I wanted Luanne and I was going to have her, even if I had to be content with just a kiss for now.

He was going to kiss me. I knew he was going to kiss me and I wanted it almost more than I'd wanted anything in a very long time. I knew that a kiss from him could mean potential heartbreak, especially if he kissed and ran like he'd done the last time. But even knowing that, I still wanted it. Besides, there was something different about him.

“I'm going to kiss you, Lu,” he said softly, his deep voice doing funny things to me so that I could only nod.

When he still didn't kiss me I opened my mouth to tell him to get on with it but he placed a finger over my lips.

“Hear me out. This is not like the last kiss we shared. If I kiss you now, you need to know that there's no going back.”

I frowned in confusion. Was he saying what I thought he was saying? I was afraid to hope. “What do you mean?” I whispered.

“It means that if I kiss you, then we're together. You and me, Lu. No more dates with random guys.”

“Now wait a minute!” I drew back in annoyance. Was this simply the act of a jealous man? Even though I sort of liked the fact that he was jealous, it showed he had strong feelings for me; I did not want to be kissed out of jealously.

“No. I don't want to kiss you out of jealousy. I won't deny that I would like to personally crush the dumbass who took you out today, but it's only because he did that before I could.”

I thought I'd protected my thoughts from him, but I must have been more agitated than I guessed. “You know what? Just kiss me already.” I grabbed a fistful of his shirt and, pulling him close, kissed him.

He closed his eyes and moaned and kissed me right back. The force of emotion was so strong that I closed my eyes in reaction. His arms went around me and pulled me closer to him, all the while we were kissing. Before long, we slowly went down onto the bed. He lay down and pulled me over him, without breaking contact. I sank my hands into his hair like I'd longed to do for so long and his hands lazily caressed my body. Even though I wouldn't have minded, his hands never once strayed and moved firmly between my arms and my waist. Finally he broke the kiss and nuzzled my neck.

“We have to stop now, Lu,” he murmured into my neck.

I trembled, never realizing how sensitive that part of my body was. “I don't want to stop,” I moaned.

He laughed softly and lifted his head to look at me. “I know, neither do I. But if we don't stop, we will do far more than kiss and I don't know if you're ready for that. Are you?”

There was a slightly hopeful tone in his voice and I longed to say yes. But I knew I wasn't ready to take that step just yet. So I just hid my face in his chest and said nothing.

“I didn't think so,” he said with a hint of regret, then dropped a kiss on my head. He gently moved me off him and sat up. “I need to be on my way.”

I looked at him then quickly looked away. There was something I needed to ask him but I wasn't sure I could handle rejection from him just then. Still, I decided to take the risk. I turned to him and took a deep breath. “Willyouspendthenightwithme?” It came out in a rush.

“What?” He asked and I knew he'd heard me, and strangely enough, that calmed my racing heart.

“I asked if you would spend the night with me,” I said more clearly. “I'm scared,” I admitted. His kisses had taken my mind off things, but I hadn't forgotten that I'd just been shot at. I was scared of having to go through something similar to what took place eight months ago, when I'd had to battle for my life.

“You do test a man's self-control, don't you?” He sighed.

I smiled then because I knew he would stay. “Thanks,” I whispered.

He carefully tucked me in and dropped a kiss on my mouth, almost as though he couldn't resist doing that. Then he lay down on top of the covers. I thought I hid my disappointment but it must have shown somehow because he turned and kissed me again.

“It's for the best, sweetheart,” he said, gently stroking my hair.

He'd called me
sweetheart.
It was the first endearment he'd ever used on me and it gave me a warm feeling inside. I yawned once and tried to fight the sleep that was slowly invading me.

“Dylan?”

“Yeah?”

“Does this mean you're now my boyfriend?” I asked on a yawn.

“It means you're never getting rid of me,” I heard him say just before I fell asleep.