Of Witches and Warlocks: The Demon Kiss (7 page)

The master bedroom was gorgeous, with a tall,
four-poster, king-sized canopy bed. It was so high, a stool was
placed next to it to use to climb up on the bed. The room came with
its own master bath complete with a Jacuzzi tub.

The secondary bedrooms also had king beds and
shared a bathroom. It was decided that Vance and Brad would take
those rooms, while the two of us girls would share the master
suite.

We put our luggage away and headed out onto
the huge patio that overlooked the immaculate grounds of the resort
below us and then out into the beautiful Sea of Cortez.

“This is great!” I said, placing my hands on
the wrought iron rails and taking in the view.

“I agree,” Vance said, wrapping his arms
around my waist and leaning his head against mine.

Brad and Shelly joined us at the railing, and
we watched the people playing on the private beach beneath.

“Isn’t the water cold this time of year?”
Shelly asked as several young teenagers ran squealing into the
light surf.

“Probably, a little bit,” Brad replied. “The
water temperatures stay pretty good year round; however, in the
summer it’s extremely warm. I imagine the water would be fairly
cool right now but not as bad as say California would be. It can
get chilly in the evenings, though.”

“When was the last time you were here?” she
asked.

“A couple of years ago. Our family used to
come in July, but it was just so hot, plus there were a lot of
jellyfish. We started coming in October, and that was more fun. The
temperatures were better and no jellyfish! I’ve never been here in
December before, though.”

My stomach chose this time to start growling
loudly, causing the others around me to chuckle.

“Well, I’m hungry,” I said turning to Vance.
“What do you want to do? You’re technically the leader of this
little coven.” I laughed.

“I can’t let you starve now, can I?” he said
with a smile. “Let’s get some dinner, and then we can plan.” To
Brad he said, “Do you know any good places to eat?”

“There’s a sweet little place down by the
marina called the Friendly Dolphin.”

“Sounds great!” Vance said. “Let’s go
there.”

We were soon back in the car and on our way
down the road toward the marina. We found the restaurant easily,
with Brad’s help, and soon we were inside seated at a table on the
ground floor.

The place was rich with atmosphere. Spanish
tile covered the floors, and the walls were painted with bright
colors and decorated with all sorts of Mexican and seafaring
artifacts. A talented mariachi band wandered about the room singing
for the patrons sitting at the tables, who would in turn tip them
generously.

While we waited for our food, another man
came by the table selling long-stemmed roses.

“Flowers for your pretty ladies?” the man
asked in slightly broken English.

“Absolutely,” Vance replied and fished out
his wallet, Brad doing the same. “I’ll take twelve,” he added with
a smile.

The man’s face lit up into a thousand watts
as he realized he had hit a jackpot. He handed Vance a dozen roses
wrapped in clear cellophane.

“For my beautiful lady,” Vance said in a
whisper close to my ear as he handed me the roses.

“Thank you. They’re wonderful.” I accepted
them with a smile, and he placed a kiss on my cheek.

“Yes, but they pale in comparison to you.” He
reached over to hold my hand, softly chuckling over the blush that
was now spreading across my face.

The food arrived and was delicious. Vance and
I had both ordered a couple of the Mexican food dishes, while
Shelly and Brad had seafood.

The flavors were much different than what we
were used to in the States but very good nonetheless. We enjoyed
every bite while we visited together.

After dinner we returned to the hotel where
Vance invited me to go for a walk on the beach with him and enjoy
the last rays of the sunset.

We walked hand in hand, barefoot next to the
water’s edge, letting the cool waves rush over our feet.

The light reflected beautifully over the
water as the sun dipped low on the horizon.

“It’s really nice here,” I said, enjoying
sharing this moment with him.

“It is.” He gazed out into the distance over
the water.

“Too bad it just can’t be a vacation.”

“I agree. Maybe someday we can come back
here, just the two of us,” he said.

“You think my mom and dad will let us come
back here alone, together?” I said laughing.

“They would if it was for our honeymoon,” he
said softly.

I stopped and faced him.

“You want to come here for our honeymoon?” My
heart beat a little harder at the unexpected change of subject.

“Maybe,” he replied, his eyes moving slowly
over my face as if gauging my reaction.

“That could be a long time from now,” I
said.

“Actually, I’ve been pondering on that,” he
replied, searching my eyes closely. “If it’s okay with you, I was
thinking perhaps I could talk to your parents and see if they’d let
us get married before you turn eighteen.”

I was stunned. I knew we had planned to
married eventually, but I had no idea he wanted to do it so
soon.

“I’m only a junior in high school,” I
replied, realizing that I was feeling a little bit blindsided. “I
still need to finish my senior year.”

“I know,” he said nodding his head. “I
thought after I graduate this year, I’d look for a good job in
Flagstaff. I could go to NAU there. We could get a little place to
live in together, and you’d still be close enough to finish your
year at Sedona High School.”

He had really put a lot of thought into this,
and while I was feeling a little nervous about what he was saying,
it made my heart sing that he wanted to be with me.

“So what do you think?” he asked after
several moments had passed, his eyes never leaving me.

“I think I love you,” I said taking a step
closer to him, the wind blowing several strands of my hair across
my face.

“I know I love you,” he replied, smiling as
he reached out to tuck the wayward strands behind my ear. “But you
aren’t answering the question I’m asking.”

“Which question was that?” I asked, toying
with him.

“Never mind,” he said suddenly and looked
away from me toward the condo. “Wait here,” he added.

He took off and ran up the beach toward the
hotel.

“Wait! Where are you going?” I shouted after
him, wondering what on earth he was doing.

“I’ll be right back,” he called over his
shoulder. “Don’t move!”

I stood looking after him, a perplexed look
on my face, before turning to look back out over the water. I was
soon absorbed in the beauty of the waves crashing against the
shore.

It had only been a couple of minutes when I
heard him call my name softly from behind me.

“Where did you go?” I asked, facing him.

“I had to get something.” He was panting a
little from his quick run.

“And what was that?”

“This.” He slowly retrieved a small velvet
box from his pocket.

“Is that what I think it is?” I asked in
shock, my eyes growing wide.

He slowly lifted the lid to reveal a
sparkling princess-cut diamond ring.

I couldn’t speak as I looked at him in
amazement, wondering where he had come up with the beautiful
gem.

“When you and I first got together, I already
knew you were the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with,”
he explained, his eyes deepening with some hidden emotion. “I had
secretly been in love with you for two long years, even though you
barely knew me.

“I was so excited when things finally started
working out for us, and to find out you felt the same way about me,
I started thinking crazy, fantasizing about our future together. I
actually bought this ring with the intention of giving it to you
when we did our binding spell, but then I changed my mind. I was
worried I was rushing you too fast, that too many new things were
being thrust upon you at once, so I decided to wait.

“I’ve carried it with me every day, hoping
for a day when I felt it was the right time to give it to you.” He
started laughing. “Isn’t it ironic that the one time I don’t have
it on my actual person is when the moment presented itself.”

He sank to one knee on the sand in front of
me, and I felt my pulse shoot up to an incalculable level.

“Marry me, Portia,” he said softly, smiling.
“I will spend the rest of my life trying to make you the happiest
person on earth.”

I stood over him for a moment, my emotions
racing through my body, my head was spinning.

“Now? But don’t you think I’m a little too
young?”

“I know you’re young, Portia, but humor me
here. I’ve never wanted anything in my life more than I want you. I
love you, and I want to shout it from the rooftops. I don’t care
who hears me. I’ll talk to your parents about the timing, but even
if we have to wait, I just want to see the ring on your finger,
letting the world know that you’re mine.” He paused for a moment,
and I could see the love in his eyes as he spoke to me again. “I
love you. Please, Portia, if you feel even remotely the same way
about me, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

I stared at him, my heart racing, thinking
his proposal was like something out of a movie, only I was the
star. I let my gaze wander over the handsome planes of his face and
his muscled physique, faintly wondering how I had become so lucky,
before letting a huge smile cross my face.

“Yes,” I whispered, nodding my head, “I
will.”

He stood suddenly, grabbing me around the
hips, lifting me into the air and twirling around in the sand,
laughing.

“Yes!” he shouted triumphantly, as my
laughter joined his.

He let me slowly slide back down his body
until my feet touched the sand again.

“I love you,” he said breathlessly, his blue
eyes sparkling in the fading sunlight.

“I love you, too.” I reached up to place my
hand against the side of his face.

Then he kissed me. It was a soft, sweet kiss,
but it conveyed all his tender emotions to me. He pulled me closer
to him in a strong embrace, and I could hear his heart beating in
his chest at the same frantic pace of my own. I didn’t ever want
this moment to end.

When it did, though, he stepped back from me
and pulled the ring out of the box. He reached out and lifted my
hand toward him, took the ring and slid it up my left ring finger.
Then he leaned over and kissed the ring on my hand.

“Thank you, Portia,” he said, with a smile.
“You have no idea how happy you’ve made me.”

I heard a squeal of delight, and then
clapping filled the air. I turned to look over at the resort.
Shelly and Brad were standing on the balcony watching us
excitedly.

Vance laughed as he pulled me close and
wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

“I told them what I was doing when I ran in
to get the ring out of my suitcase,” he explained.

I laughed with him and waved up at them.

“I guess we should go up so you can show
Shelly the ring, before she dies of a heart attack,” he added,
dropping his arm and reaching for my hand.

“In a minute,” I said, pulling him back
toward me.

I kissed him thoroughly this time, letting
all my passionate feelings for him flow freely into his head. I
kissed him until neither of us could breathe properly and his grip
had tightened almost painfully around my waist pulling me tighter
to him. I didn’t care who was watching or who could see us, I just
wanted to really let him know how I felt about him. When we finally
released each other, I could see the blue eyes were gone and the
irises were lined with red again.

“Now we can go back,” I said. “It’ll give you
some time to cool down.”

“You don’t play fair, do you?” he asked,
reaching over to intertwine his fingers in mine before lifting the
back of my hand to his mouth for a kiss.

“Never,” I said and smiled.

He slipped a pair of sunglasses from his
pocket and placed them on his face, even though the light was too
dim for him to justify needing them.

“Are you okay?” I asked, looking up at
him.

“I’m fine.” He gave my hand a squeeze before
leading me back up to the room.

We spent the rest of the evening in the
condo, with Brad and Shelly, visiting on the comfy couch and
watching television, which thankfully was mostly in English since
none of us spoke a lick of Spanish except for Brad.

I would occasionally lift my hand to look at
the ring on my finger and let it sparkle in the light. While it was
extremely beautiful, it was the meaning behind it that made my
heart leap with excitement every time I looked at it.

Vance sat next to me the entire night,
holding my hand, often whispering sweet nothings into my ear, never
leaving my side.

When we finally decided to retire to bed, he
walked me to the doorway of my bedroom.

“See you in your dreams,” he whispered,
lifting my hand to kiss it again.

“I could come lie by you in your room if you
want,” I suggested, remembering how he used to spend every night in
my room.

He shook his head, reading into my mind.

“It was too hard before; it’ll be way too
hard for me now. I don’t want to push my luck where you’re
concerned.”

“I understand,” I said with a sigh, as a wave
of disappointment washed through me. “I have just missed lying next
to you every night.”

“Me, too,” he said leaning in to give me a
light peck on the lips. “Now get some rest … and lock your
door!”

“Like that would keep you out!” I was still
laughing when I walked into the bedroom and closed the door behind
me.

Shelly was already changed for bed and
brushing her teeth at the sink when I passed through the bathroom
to go into the large walk-in closet. She was still there when I
emerged dressed in my bunny pajamas.