MARKED (Hunter Awakened) (7 page)

It was almost six o'clock. I checked my
reflection one last time. Finding the right balance of casual and
dressy had been excruciating. It was no wonder that I'd barely
slept at all last night. It had taken me three hours to choose what
I was wearing now, and I was starting to feel like maybe I'd made a
mistake. I'd gone with a pair of dressy dark blue skinny jeans and
a sleeveless dove gray turtleneck, finished off by my favorite pair
of ankle-high boots.

The outfit complemented my figure and was
more than just an 'around the house' type thing, but it was simple
and comfortable enough that I didn't think it'd say that I had any
expectations for the night. I stuck with that strategy for make-up
too. The bruises on my face were still fading, so I used a bit of
light powder, and my favorite lipgloss, but that was it. There were
times when I liked having the whole eyeliner, eyeshadow, mascara
thing going on, but I didn't want that today. This wasn't a date or
a fancy party. This was just two people spending a holiday together
rather than spending it alone.

I was still telling myself that as I walked
down the stairs. I might've managed to convince myself that I
wasn't hoping that this turned out to be more if, the moment I
heard the doorbell ring, the knot in my stomach hadn't turned into
butterflies. I hurried the rest of the way, skidding to a stop in
front of the door. I took a deep breath and breathed a prayer of
thanks that Elias wouldn't be able to hear my heart pounding. I
just hoped he took the pink in my cheeks either for make-up or
exertion from all I'd been doing.

I smiled, hoped it didn't look fake, and
opened the door. The first thing I saw was that Elias hadn't worn
his typical bodyguard suit and he looked better than ever. He
filled out his suit just fine, but his current outfit definitely
made me think things that were not even close to appropriate for a
boss to be thinking about her employee.

A long-sleeved, fitted dark green shirt that
made his eyes pop, and a pair of dressy jeans that rode that line
between tastefully snug and advertising his goods... wow. It wasn't
until I'd been ogling him for nearly half a minute that I realized
he was holding something towards me. It was harder than it should
have been to pull my gaze away from his body to see what it was,
but I was instantly glad I had because he was holding a pair of
absolutely beautiful flowers.

“Oh.” The word came out in a breath as I
reached for them. They couldn't be what I thought they were. One
was light lavender, the other a bright blue, both flowers that I'd
only seen in pictures before. “Elias, these aren't...?”

“
Cattieya Trianaei
and
Thelymitra
Ixioides
,” he supplied the Latin names. “Orchids.”

I nodded my head, unable to look away from
them. I knew the names. In fact, I knew a lot about them, including
the fact that they were two of the rarest orchids in the world.
When I was thirteen, I'd landed the movie role of Orchid Lane, an
autistic teenager who goes to live with her mother in a cult
compound after her father dies. One of the ways Orchid coped with
the changes in her life had been with her orchid obsession. Rather
than just learning the facts that she spouted, I'd done my own
research on the flower and had fallen in love with it, with all of
the sub-species. I'd always imagined that, one day, I'd own a
greenhouse specifically designed for growing all of the different
types of the flower. These two had always been my favorite.

“Miss—Teal, is something wrong?”

I looked up, startled. I'd almost forgotten
that Elias was there... standing on the porch. “Oh, my goodness,
I'm so sorry. Come in, come in.”

I took a step back so that he could enter.
Both he and Paul had their own keys, but Elias was still at the
stage where he waited to be let in. I understood. It had taken Paul
a couple of months before he'd felt comfortable coming in on his
own at the beginning of his shift, and even he knocked when he was
coming by outside of his normal schedule.

“I thought I had read somewhere that orchids
were your favorite flower,” Elias said as he stepped past me. “I
hope that I was not remiss in bringing these to you.”

He smelled absolutely delicious, I thought.
It was almost enough to distract me from the flowers I held. Not
quite though. These were exquisite flowers. “They are, my favorite
I mean,” I hurried to reassure him. “And they're lovely. I love
them. It's just that these are really rare. Where in the world did
you find them?” I was aware that I was on the verge of
babbling.

“I have a—friend who specializes in rare
flowers.” He smiled down at me, a genuine, unmasked smile. It was
almost as beautiful as the flowers.

“Thank you so much.” I tore my eyes away from
him and looked at the delicate petals in front of me. “And thank
your friend. I've always wanted to see these in real life, but I
never thought I'd have the chance.”

“Shall we put them in some water?”

I could hear the pride in his voice and loved
that I had helped put it there. He'd obviously wanted to get me
something special, and knowing that he'd succeeded had made him
happy. I wondered if he was that way with everyone, or if it was
just me. It might've been a bit arrogant and selfish, but I kind of
hoped that it was just me. “I keep the vases in the curio in the
dining room.”

It turned out that the one thing my table had
been missing was flowers. I hadn't wanted Elias to feel awkward
with just the two of us sitting at the dining room table I rarely
used, so I'd set things up on the table I usually used in my
kitchen. It made things seem a lot more casual. It also gave me an
excuse to sit closer to Elias than the dining room table
would've.

We chatted about everyday, boring stuff as we
made our plates and carried them over to the table. The
conversation faded in and out as we ate, but the silence was never
awkward. It was strange, I thought, how someone I barely knew could
make me feel so comfortable. Every so often, I'd glance at the
flowers, a warmth going through me each time. Not only had it been
sweet that he'd brought me flowers, but he'd remembered from
something he'd read that they were my favorite.

“So,” I decided to move the subject to
something a little more personal. We weren't close enough for
anything deep, but I had a thousand questions I wanted to ask.
“What made you decide to become a bodyguard?”

He looked surprised by the question, as if
he'd never considered it before. Interesting. The origin stories
were generally the most commonly asked questions in this industry.
Why did you become an actor? What made you choose acting as a
career? What or who was your main influence in the decision to
pursue such-and-such a field? My parents had drilled my answer into
my head since I couldn't very well say that it was because they'd
pushed me into it and made me feel like I owed it to them for
rescuing me from a life of being shuttled from one foster home to
another.

The answer I'd given until I was free of
them?
When you grow up in front of the camera, there comes a
moment, even as a child, where you realize that this is what you
were born to do.
And, of course, I'd always had to add that I
was so grateful to my parents for getting me started in film. I
hoped that Elias's story wasn't like mine. That one hadn't had a
very happy beginning, though the middle was much better so far.

“I do not know if I ever truly decided that
this would be my chosen profession.” He started out slow, like he
had to think about what he was saying before he said it. “I have
always wanted to help people, to protect them. It is, I believe, in
my nature, and has been for as long as I can remember. Doing this
just seemed to be a way for me to do this and make a living.”

Interesting. I leaned forward slightly. “I'd
think that the first thought for someone who wanted to protect
people would be policeman, fireman, soldier, maybe a paramedic.
Bodyguard is usually what people like Paul do, men who were one of
those things and need a civilian job.”

“Paul?”

There was a glint of something that I thought
almost looked like jealousy in Elias's eyes, but it was gone before
I could really analyze it. Instead of dwelling on it, I decided to
answer his question. “Paul enlisted in the Marines right out of
high school, and he spent three of his four years overseas. When he
came back to the States, he wanted something different and ended up
here.” I took a sip of the red wine I'd poured. “But your paperwork
didn't say anything about being in the military.”

“I suppose,” he said. “That those noble
professions would seem obvious for someone like myself who stated
that he wished to protect people, but as I considered every option,
this one appealed to me the most.”

Something about his tone told me that this
line of questioning wouldn't be going any further into his personal
life. I gave him a smile and turned to other things.

As the meal progressed, I learned that his
favorite desert was blueberry cobbler, his favorite color was dark
green and that he'd always wanted to own a St. Bernard. All of this
was good, but I was sensing that he was purposefully keeping things
just at surface level. That, I supposed, left it to me to allow
things to get personal.

When we finished our meal, I told him that
there was something I wanted us to do before we had dessert. “When
I was growing up, my favorite part of Thanksgiving was when we
finished the main meal, everyone would help decorate the house. I'd
really like it if you'd help me decorate.” Okay, so I didn't let it
get too personal either.

Elias looked surprised, but he didn't run
away screaming either, so that was something. When he nodded, I
could feel my smile stretching wide enough to hurt. As I led him
into the living room where I'd set everything out, the excitement
bubbled up inside of me, and it wasn't just because Elias was here.
I'd forgotten how much I'd loved this time of year. I gave him a
sideways glance as I turned on the Christmas music and earned one
of his rare real smiles. He seemed to be enjoying himself as
well.

“Are there particular places on which you
wish these decorations to hang?” Elias picked up a garland.

I shook my head. “Surprise me.”

And that was when I learned something very
important about Elias Bane. He could actually be a little
silly.

He took two long strides and hooked the
garland around my shoulders. My heart gave a silly little flutter.
He pulled me towards him, our eyes locking. This was it, I thought.
He was going to kiss me. He tossed the end of the garland around my
neck like a scarf, the twinkle in his eyes turning into a smolder.
I was suddenly very aware that we were alone in the house.

“Thank you, Teal, for inviting me to share
your holiday meal.” His voice was low, running over me like warm
water. “It has been a long time since I have had company on a
holiday.”

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. All
he had to do was lean a little closer. The electricity was growing
between us, I could feel it. I'd played characters who were
supposed to have this type of connection with someone, and I could
portray it perfectly, but I didn't know what to do now that it was
real.

Then Elias was taking a step back and the
spell was broken. “Where shall we put this?” He picked up a
wreath.

If I wasn't so disappointed at the lost
opportunity, I would've loved the way his voice was a little shaky.
It was good to know that I wasn't the only one being affected. I
somehow managed to miraculously keep my own voice steady as I
answered him. “Let's put that one up there.” I pointed without
really thinking. I could always move it later if I didn't like how
it looked, though I knew I wouldn't. This wasn't about the house
being perfectly decorated with everything balanced and exactly
where it would illuminate whatever theme I was trying to convey.
This was about the time spent together, even if we never became
anything more than friends.

For nearly two hours, Elias and I strung up
all of the decorations I'd kept. Every so often, I'd comment about
one of the decorations, but for the most part, the only sound was
the music playing in the background, though, more than once, I
thought I heard Elias humming along. It was nice, seeing him
relaxed, his demeanor natural and fluid rather than stiff and
stand-offish. There were a few times I thought I'd caught him
looking at me, only to turn and find that he wasn't where I'd
thought I'd sensed him. Still, I couldn't shake the feeling that he
was watching me the entire time.

By the time we finished, I was exhausted. I'd
barely slept the night before and it was nearly midnight. I'd been
running on fumes way too often over the past month, and recent
incidents hadn't helped matters much. I knew I should tell Elias
that I was ready to call it a night, but I wasn't ready to let him
go. I felt safer with him here, even if he wasn't in full bodyguard
mode.

I plopped down on the couch in front of my
big screen television and stared at the little designs that swirled
as the music played. For the first time in a while, my brain was
blissfully blank. I gave a contended sigh. Things were nearly
perfect.

Elias sat next to me, mere inches between us.
My brain perked up, though a fully coherent thought was still not
happening. I could feel the heat radiating between us, and I knew
that if I turned now, touched him, drew him towards me, that would
be it. His resolve was strong, but I knew I could break it if I
really wanted to. And I did want to. Very much so. It had been a
while since I'd had anyone in my bed, and the fact that I felt this
strong attraction to him on so many levels just made it harder for
me not to make the first move. There was something holding him
back.