Lost Paradise (28 page)

Thinking that, I wondered what Anna had
looked like. Devlin had said she didn’t look like me, but it seemed
important to know somehow. She had died hundreds of years before I
was born, but she was responsible in a way for saving my life.

“I didn’t know,” Danial whispered, breaking
into my thoughts. “I won’t do it again.”

“Are her teeth normal again?” Devlin said
forcefully.

“Yes,” Danial said.

“Watch her skin, as you give her the blood
next time,” Devlin commanded. “When it begins to get luminous, stop
giving it to her immediately. You are much stronger than she is.
Pry her off you, do whatever you have to, but don’t give her that
much again!”

“I won’t,” Danial said in a small voice.

“Now put her on,” Devlin said commandingly.
“I should warn her about this, too.”

“Forget it!” Danial said loftily, his tone
changing immediately. “I am not going to, not tonight. Sar’s tired,
and it’s been a long day, besides her having to see you screwing
around with your old flame.” He paused. “I need to be going to bed,
Dev,” Danial continued slyly. “Sar is waiting for me. I can’t wait
to touch her soft, warm skin.”

“You don’t have to rub it in,” Devlin said
crabbily. “Call me tomorrow, and let me know how she is.” He
paused. “Call me every day, and let me know how she is.”

“I will,” Danial said gently.
“Goodnight.”

He hung up, then said, “Sar, I’m sorry. I
didn’t know about the blood.”

“I didn’t either. But we do now, and we’ll be
careful. Go to sleep.”

Ten minutes later, both of us were still wide
awake. “You sure couldn’t wait to rub it in, that you were with
me,” I said teasingly, to break the oppressive silence.

“I couldn’t help it,” he replied, stroking my
arm. “Dev always rubbed in when he was with you, and what he was
going to do to—”

I reached down on impulse, and caressed him
gently.

Danial let out a sigh. “Stop, Love,” he said
reluctantly, removing my hand from his swelling organ. “I meant
what I told you. I don’t want to endanger the babies. It isn’t
worth it, much as I’d like to.”

“Danial,” I said seductively. “There are
other things we can do, besides that.”

Danial looked at me in surprise. “We never
did that, when you were pregnant before,” he said, his voice
already husky.

“Do I take that to mean you don’t want to try
doing it now?” I asked teasingly.

“Sar, we have done that as foreplay. We have
never taken it all the way.”

“Would you like to?” I began blatantly.

Danial was already out of bed, locking the
door. He darted back to me, taking me in his arms. “Sar, you know I
can’t do the same for you because of my fangs. I might cut you. I’m
sorry, but it’s going to be pretty one-sided. Are you sure you want
to continue, knowing that?”

I thought about telling him that I knew
someone with fangs he could take lessons from, but decided it was
better to hold my tongue. “I’m sure. Lay back for me.”

“No,” he said lovingly. “I want to kiss you
for a while first, Love.” He paused, giving me a meaningful look.
“For what has the night to do with sleep?”

His intended purpose had been teasing
seduction, yet I felt oddly that there was some other meaning as
well. But the thought left my mind the moment his lips touched
mine. Soon Danial was kissing me ardently, and I was burning up
inside from the fire kindled from each feather light touch.

* * * *

In spite of Theo beginning the night
positioned at the edge of the bed, the three of us woke up again
the next morning holding each other. But Theo took it more in
stride this time, though he remained uncomfortable. It helped that
he was hurrying to make an appointment, and that Terian was already
outside, waiting for him.

“Our first solo case meetings are in an hour
and a half,” Theo said as he put on his shoes. “I’ll be back
sometime this afternoon. Wish us luck.”

I gave him an encouraging smile, hiding my
worry inside. Theo was rash sometimes, and he didn’t know how to
finesse people. Terian had experience from running his online order
business years ago, sure, but he hadn’t dealt with many people face
to face. There was a big difference between talking on the phone
and meeting in person. But I didn’t say any of that, not wanting to
imply I didn’t have utter confidence in them. They were both
nervous enough.

I gave Theo a kiss. “Good luck.”

I watched them drive off through the morning
sunlight, feeling cheered by the good weather. It was supposed to
be a nice day, sunny and clear. Hopefully spring was coming early
this year. I’d had more than enough of winter.

I closed the front door and went into the
kitchen. Elle and Theoron were there getting breakfast, Elle
helping her brother. From the easy way she did it, I assumed that
she did it most mornings. I was hesitant to help her, and instead
just watched from the sidelines, eating my cereal and giving her
points for how well she got him to keep moving without yelling.

Danial came in briefly and then headed up to
his office, after giving us all a hug and a kiss. Afterward, I
teleported Elle and Theoron to the were compound for their lessons.
Their tutor had already arrived and was waiting. With a forced
smile for me, he quickly hurried off with them.

His name was Bill Winger. Though he was very
intelligent with a very impressive list of titles and degrees, he
and I had never really hit it off. He tended to stare at my bite
marks a little too much. I’d also seen revulsion on his face,
though I wasn’t sure if that was for the marks or because he knew
what the choker meant and abhorred the custom. Danial had never
seen the revulsion, or he would have fired him immediately. Yet I’d
never brought it up to him, as Elle and Theoron both liked him
immensely. Bill did his job well, with how much he had managed to
teach them in the short years he’d been their tutor. For that I was
willing to overlook the fact he was a jerk.

The morning flew by as Danial and I checked
email and contacted clients. At noon, he took my mouse from my
hand. “Why don’t you take the afternoon off, and rest?” Danial
said, giving me his now customary cheek kiss. “I have conference
calls for the rest of the afternoon anyway.”

This was a welcome surprise. “Are you
sure?”

“Of course,” he said, gently giving me a push
towards the door. “Have some lunch, and take a walk. It’s supposed
to be a beautiful day, with highs in the high sixties. Elle and
Theoron are taking a trip to the Alan’s Creek Nature Preserve this
afternoon with Bill, Brian and Demi. They won’t be back for a
while. Take a nap, if you want.”

“You won’t make me work harder tomorrow?” I
teased.

Danial shook his head. “You’re going to have
to start taking it easier in the next few months anyway. Just tell
me if you leave the grounds.”

“Agreed,” I said, flashing him a smile.

I went downstairs, thinking happy thoughts
about sending one of the foxes for takeout. I checked the
refrigerator, but nothing looked appealing. Takeout it was.

As I began dialing my phone, there was an odd
noise out front.
Was someone yelling outside?

I opened the door and looked out. Lash was
there waiting, leaning against his truck, staring at me. Per usual,
he was dressed all in black, his whip and knife on his belt. He
didn’t speak.

Despite my breaking up with Dev, and
everything else that had happened, I was glad to see him. He’d been
decent to me and I thought of him as a friend now. The intimacy
we’d shared gave me a little pause, sure, but he’d always been
decent about that, too. “Hi,” I said in a friendly tone. “Why are
you here?”

“I came to see if you wanted to go to lunch,”
Lash hissed.

I looked at him oddly. “You came all this way
for that?”

“No,” Lash hissed, opening his truck door. “I
came also to give you your leftover sushi, before it spoiled, and
to return your DVD.” He handed both to me, the former in a small
Styrofoam cooler. “I liked it so much I bought my own copy.”

I took them from him. “Gnomes can be
addictive,” I said, smirking.

Lash smiled, baring one fang. “Yes, they
can,” he hissed.

“What did you have in mind?” I said
awkwardly, remembering his special diet restrictions. “There isn’t
a sushi place near here.”

“There is one now. It’s near the movie
theater now outside Alan’s Creek,” Lash hissed. “Tell Danny we’ll
be gone a few hours.”

He hadn’t just shown up, hoping that I
wouldn’t already have a lunch date. “You know Theo isn’t here,” I
said slowly.

He nodded. “Yes, I know.”

Was Brian still reporting to Devlin, or was
it someone else here? Probably Brian. He was deathly afraid of
Lash. If Lash had asked him a question, any question, Brian would
have told him whatever Lash had asked him.

“First, assure me you are not here to try to
kidnap me and take me to Dev,” I said flatly.

Lash narrowed his eyes and said nothing.

“Tell me. Say it, and I’ll believe you, Lash.
But I need to hear you say it.”

“Only lunch,” Lash hissed. “Then maybe a
short walk, if you are up to it.”

“Then I’ll be right back,” I answered,
turning and going back inside.

After stowing the sushi in the fridge, and
marking it with my name so Theo wouldn’t eat it all, I left the DVD
on an end table and headed upstairs to Danial.

He was sure to throw a fit, and I was tempted
to not tell him, to just come back in a couple hours with no one
the wiser. But if something happened because of it, I’d kick myself
later. Also, I wanted to meet Lash again for lunch in the future.
Danial might not find out once, but he would if it happened twice.
It was better to be up front and get it over with

Danial concluded the conference call as I
entered. He hung up, and looked over at me, surprised. “Did you
already have lunch?”

“Lash is here. I would like to go out with
him to lunch.”

Danial’s eyes went red immediately,
glowering. “If you are asking permission, the answer is no. He’ll
take you to Devlin—”

“I’m not asking permission,” I retorted. “I’m
telling you because I don’t want you to worry, or think I’m
somewhere I’m not. But I want to go and I’m going.”

Danial gaped at me. “You
want
to spend
time with him?” he said slowly. “Why? You can’t enjoy his
company.”

“I surely do,” I replied saucily. “He likes
the same things I like—”

“No, Sar; take one of the foxes with you
instead.”

Time for the prepared speech.
“Danial,
if The Lust rises, I’d rather not do a complete stranger, or one of
your employees. Now just tell me to have a good time and get back
to your work.”

Danial’s eyes went red again, but he didn’t
speak.

“This is no big deal,” I said more
contritely. “I’ll leave my phone on. We won’t be gone long. A
couple hours at most.”

“If Theo was here, he would not let you
go—”

“I know,” I interrupted. “Just tell me it’s
okay already.”

Danial looked at me out of the corner of his
eye, raising an eyebrow. “Is there more to this, Sar?”

I flushed. “For all the bad things I’ve heard
from you and Theo, Lash has never treated me as anything but his
best friend’s girl,” I said hotly. “He could have easily made moves
on me dozens of times, or tried to bring The Lust. He’s never once
tried to take advantage—”

“Go ahead then!” Danial said, throwing up his
hands. “You will anyway.”

“Thank you,” I said curtly, and went
downstairs. Danial didn’t follow me.

It had taken so long with Danial I thought
Lash might have left. But he was waiting, leaning against the
truck. “Ready?” he hissed.

I nodded.

“Get in then,” he said, opening his door.

* * * *

Lash was silent until we’d reached the
restaurant and been seated. Even then, all he asked was what I
wanted when the waiter came, his eyes fixated on the sake list. The
place wasn’t too crowded, being a Monday, but there were enough
people there eating to encourage me that the restaurant might make
it.

Lash said nothing for many minutes, his eyes
never leaving me. That behavior wasn’t outside the norm for him,
though, so I just relaxed and enjoyed being out with someone who
wasn’t pressing me for anything, not even conversation. Most of the
people I spent time with weren’t quiet. Even Danial, the quietest
of them all, was always on the phone, giving orders, or
coordinating something. It was nice to share silence and not try to
please anyone but myself.

When our food came, I noticed he’d gotten a
few pieces of eel. “You branching out?” I asked.

“You liked it so much I wanted to try it,”
Lash said, making a face. “But no, I don’t really care for it.” He
motioned to his plate. “Help yourself.”

I wasn’t turning down extra eel. “Thanks.” I
moved his pieces to my plate. “But why did you really come here?” I
asked, giving him a smile with serious Don’t-Bullshit-Me eyes.

“You know why,” Lash hissed, eating a piece
of salmon. “Devlin wants you to come back to him. I’m his best
friend. It’s my duty as such to come to you, and ask you to take
him back.”

I’d suspected this, but didn’t want to
believe it. “You want me to forget what he did?” I said,
disbelieving “You’ve got to be kidding.”

“I am,” Lash said drolly, and then he
laughed, baring his fangs.

I gave him a look to let him know he was
being strange and to knock it off.

Lash leaned over the table. “Take your time
letting him back in, Sar,” he hissed. “You need to show him he
can’t treat you badly, and get away with it. That’s understandable.
I’m not saying what he did was okay. It wasn’t. And you shouldn’t
forgive him quickly. He needs to earn your forgiveness.”