“That would mean you’d have to be Roger Rabbit and wear overalls and a cotton tail, and that’s not---on the other hand, that might be very scary.”
Lila continued sliding costumes aside as she worked her way down the rack. Evan entertained himself by drawing small circles on Lila’s belly under her sweater and making her squirm.
“Hunh!” Lila gasped and sucked in a breath all at once.
“What?” Evan asked warily.
Lila spun around and looked at Evan.
“Morticia and Gomez Addams!” she said, and she parted the costumes on the rack to give Evan a better look.
Every costume had a photograph attached to it showing a person wearing it in full make-up. Evan looked at a photo of a dapper man in a pinstriped suit, his black hair slicked back, and a pencil mustache. On his arm was a tall exotic dark haired beauty in a form fitting floor length black gown with a plunging neckline. Evan envisioned Lila in that dress, and then he envisioned killing every other man who looked at her wearing that dress.
“No,” he said.
“Why not?” Lila whined. “This is totally halloween!”
“That dress reveals too much.”
Lila looked at the photograph again. The woman wearing it was probably an A cup, and the V neck plunged halfway to her navel.
“Baby, I’m sure that they can bring the neckline up to a reasonable height. The chick in this photo is trying too hard.”
The woman in the photo was much better looking than the man. She was even three inches taller, making the couple look more like Natasha and Boris from the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon.
“Let me model the dress before you reject it completely.”
Evan liked the idea of seeing her model a sexy dress.
“Okay,” Evan agreed, mostly because it was 11, and they had been looking at the racks for twenty minutes.
Evan helped Lila carry the costumes to the front to put on the ‘hold’ rack, just as a woman with a tape measure hanging from her neck came out from another room and called Lila’s name.
“Hi, that’s me, I’m Lila,” she said.
“Hello Dear, I’m Sarah, and I will be your fitter today. What have you found?” the woman asked kindly.
“Morticia and Gomez, but my date thinks it might be too revealing, so I need to model Morticia before we go any further.”
The woman looked at the size tag and then at Lila, and smiled.
“I have a feeling that this will be a perfect fit, my dear, come with me.” She took the two costumes and guided Lila to a changing area.
“Stay right there, Gomez, we’ll see you shortly,” she called over her shoulder as she disappeared behind a curtain.
When Lila looked in the mirror at herself with Morticia’s dress on, she understood why Evan did not want her wearing it. It was made from a knit crushed velvet that clung to every curve, and it also had a slit up the side to the hip. Sarah pulled out a box of safety pins and used them to create a new neckline that ended between her breasts, and lowered the side slit to mid thigh. She helped Lila with the wig of long straight balck tresses, and they walked out to the central area where they’d left Evan to wait.
Lila watched Evan’s eyes go from interested to smoldering as she walked out. Then she remembered that Morticia Addams always took tiny steps because her dress was so tight that she could not stride in it. As soon as they stopped in front of Evan she said to Sarah,
”The slit on the side needs to be no higher than the knee.”
“Ah, a purist. I do love the clients who stick to the original character. So many young women want the “sexy” version, when they can get that from any halloween costume store,” she praised as she pinned Lila’s slit closed down to just below her knee.
“Try walking in it now, I wouldn't want you to trip.” Lila took baby steps in a small circle. Her gait had been cut in half by the tight skirt. She looked up at Evan who’s eyes were riveted to her form.
“I definitely can’t go anywhere very fast in this, Evan?”
When he heard his name, Evan blinked as if coming to from a dream.
“It’s perfect,” he croaked out.
“You don’t care that I can’t move very fast in the skirt?” Lila asked.
“I can always close it with velcro instead of stitching, in case you feel it might get too constricting.
Lila looked at Evan who was no help at all, his eyes still as big as saucers as he appreciated her curves.
“I’m thinking that’s a ‘yes’,” Lila said definitively, ”unless you have a Jessica Rabbit dress for me to try on?”
The woman looked at Lila and smiled as if she shared a secret with her.
“This is for the DuBois party, is it not?”
“Yes,” Lila answered.
“Someone has already chosen that costume, so I’m afraid it is not available.”
“Oh, wow! That’s quite a service you provide. How embarrassing would it be for two Jessicas to meet each other at the same party?”
“Exactly, my dear.”
“Okay then, we’ll take this one. Why don’t you take my mute date away to try on Gomez and I’ll wear Morticia until he comes out. Then we can see what it will roughly look like.”
“You read my mind, Dear,” the woman said.
Ten minutes later, Evan came out wearing a black pinstripe suit over his dark shirt.
Sarah positioned Lila and Evan next to each other in front of the mirror, but Evan didn’t care what he looked like. He stared at Lila’s bountiful bosom.
“I see that the gentleman has his own wingtip shoes,” Sarah said referring to Evan’s shoes,”The rest will be styling. I recommend a white shirt and red or black tie, temporary black hair color, and Pomade. Most people use eyeliner to draw a mustache, and don’t forget a cigar, Gomez.”
Evan could not take his eyes off of Lila. From her exposed neck and collar bones, to her breasts and hips, she was an eyeful, and Evan could not get enough..
“Sounds good. When can we pick up the costumes?” Lila asked.
“The week of the party. Just call ahead so that they are waiting for you. I have all the measurements I need. Go ahead and change out of them and I’ll meet you at the register for payment.”
Lila pushed Evan in front of her towards the changing rooms.
“Evan, snap out if it!” he teased. “What if someone is stalking me? What kind of body guard are you?”
Those words seemed to penetrate Evan’s brain, and he met Lila’s gaze clear eyed. “Sorry Angel, I let myself get carried away.”
“Would it help if I walked around naked for a few days?”
Evan’s eyes became unfocused again.
“Sorry I mentioned it, Babe, just get changed. I’ll meet you out here.”
Lila was both amused and disturbed by Evan’s reaction to her costume and body. On the one hand, she was flattered that he was so mesmerized by her figure. On the other hand, he was also her bodyguard, and needed to be alert to everything around her. She wanted to talk to Evan about what had him so enamoured that he couldn’t focus on anything else, so that she could desensitize him before the party, but Sebastian met them at the register.
“How did it go?” He asked.
“Good,” Lila said. “We’re going as Morticia and Gomez Addams. Do you know who I’m talking about?” Lila was used to Sebastian not knowing any pop culture references.
“The Addams Family? I think I saw the play a decade or so ago.”
Lila just smiled at her teacher.
“Sebastian, I’d like to have Saturday off from any training or meetings.”
“Oh?”
“It’s my birthday, and I have a tradition---”
“Lila, Evan has already explained your reason for wanting the day to yourself, and while I do not approve of holding on to human customs, I understand that you have only been a Magique for a few months.”
“Are you saying, Teacher, that if I were to choose a day to treat you like a king, m
ake your favorite meal, and do something like wash and polish your car, that you would not enjoy it and refuse to be honoured?”
“Lila, you honour me every time you cook for me, every time you try to master a new skill in training, every time you do one more push-up, one more attempt at controlling your magic, one more chapter in your history book. I do not need a special day for those things, because they are spread out into everyday of the week, every week of the month, every month of the year.”
“That’s...really sweet, Sebastian, thank you for that. But I need a holiday, and I’m invoking my right as the Chosen One to celebrate my birthday with my, uh, boyfriend.”
Sebastian’s brow rose.
“Is that what Evan is to you?”
“Yes,” Lila said, looking at Evan,” unless there is a better word for what’s between us.” She hoped that Evan wasn’t upset by her presumption.
“I prefer being introduced as your beau. It’s not as juvenile.”
“Hello Sebastian, have you met my beau, Evan O’Connell?” Lila said, trying it out.”You’re right, ‘beau’ is better, but inside my head there’s a 13-year-old girl squealing ‘boyfriend.’”
“And if I had a letterman jacket, I’d let you wear it, Angel,” Evan said, putting his arm around her shoulders.
Sebastian rolled his eyes, a gesture he’d picked up from Lila.
“Juvenile, indeed.”
Lila cracked up.
Three days later, Lila woke late to a crisp Autumn morning, and the incongruous scent of roses. When she opened her eyes, she saw a giant bouquet of pink roses on her bedside table. She smiled and breathed in the sweet scent. She stretched and sat up to see that there were no less than ten bouquets of pink roses in her room. Every surface had a vase full, and petals were scattered across her covers.
Evan walked in wearing only his jeans and carrying a cup of coffee. Lila drank in the sight of his defined pecs, torso, and arms as he walked around her bed and handed her the mug. God, he was gorgeous. The day before he’d gotten his hair cut in anticipation of the costume party, and he’d shaved this morning. He looked like a model from a magazine, and he was all hers.
“Happy birthday, Angel.”
Lila sighed happily and took a sip of her coffee.
“I hope you didn’t do too much more, Evan. This is already the best birthday ever, and I’ve been awake for less than five minutes.”
Evan smiled and sat on the edge of the bed in front of Lila.
“Well prepare yourself, because there's a lot more, Lila my love.” He leaned in and kissed her, and when he pulled back, his face was serious.
“First we have something very important to talk about.”
“What?”
“You and me, Angel.” Evan tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. He was looking at her with such affection that Lila’s heart stuttered. She waited for him to go on.
“Ever since the Costume Shoppe, I can’t stop t’inkin’ about how much I want you to be mine.”
Lila noticed that his lilt got stronger, indicating that his emotions were high. She bit her lip to stop herself from interrupting him.
“I love you, Lila Bell. I want you all to myself. Mine to love, mine to lay hands on, mine to protect, mine to claim.”
His to claim? Lila had only read a little about “claiming.” She thought it was what vampires and shifters did instead of marriage. Was Evan asking her to marry him? Her heart began to race, and she wished that he would hurry up and say more. Lila carefully put her coffee mug on the side table. Her hands were starting to tremble.
“Evan, what are you saying? Are you asking me to be more than your girlfriend?”
Evan smiled at her use of the juvenile word. His feelings for her went so much deeper than it could define. He nodded his head slightly and took her hand in his.
“Aye Angel, I’m asking you to give me more than your word, or even your vow. I want you to carry my mark so that other men will know you are not free for the taking.”
Lila swallowed. Evan was still being elusive, giving her just enough information to make her wonder, and not enough to explain completely. It was something all the Magique men in her life did to her, but right now she needed clarity.
“I love you Evan, and your intention is clear, but I’m not understanding what you want. Are you asking me to get a tattoo, or mate with you?”
Evan’s heart stuttered when he heard Lila say ‘I love you” back to him so casually, as if it was a given. Then his brain registered the rest of what she’d said. He closed his eyes for a minute searching for the right words. He was going to blow this if he wasn’t careful. It was obvious that Lila only had a vague idea of what a vampire mating involved.
“The magic of mating is always in the intention. I don’t know why, but it’s the same for vampire’s and shifters. There are two parts to it, a ‘claiming bite,’ and a mating. They can be given at the same time, or not. The claiming bite leaves a physical mark for all to see, and it's magic changes your core scent. If you accepted my mark, the bite would be the only scar I would ever put on you. I could bite you a thousand times after and all those scars would disappear when I healed them. That bite would also infuse some of my magic in you. That is what shifters would scent and vampires too. Other Magiques with a lot of magic could also sense it, but not all. I guess it’s like getting engaged and tattooing a ring on your finger.”
Lila’s eyes widened as she listened. So Evan was asking her to marry him, or mate him.
“How is mating different from that?”
“Mating is what shifters do. Vampires blood bond. Again, the intention has to be there for the magic to become permanent. It would also require us to drink from each other while consummating our bond.”
Evan's eyes bore into Lila’s.
“A blood bond is permanent for vampires, Lila. We don’t divorce. Even death can’t break a blood bond. For me there is no other, there never would be if we bond, and I’m not asking you to do that yet.
“But if you took my mark, the intention to bond with me would be clear for many to see. If you decided later that you don’t want to bond with me, you would be free to leave me, but I would never look for another. I wouldn’t want to, and I’ve been told that vampires can only mark one other in their lifetime. I could have other lovers, I suppose, but not another mate.”
“I thought I read somewhere that vampires can’t cheat on their spouse-mate.”
“So I’ve heard as well. I’ve never known a vampire couple well enough to ask. I’ve also heard that after bonding vampires lose their taste for all others, and they only drink from their bonded mate for the rest of their life.”
Lila sat still and quiet for a while, processing Evan’s words. He’d given her a lot to think about. She looked up at him and thought about spending eternity with him, literally, and she couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face. Before she could say anything, her phone buzzed on the table next to her.
“It’s your Ma,” Evan said, handing her the phone.
She took it to accept the call and grabbed Evan’s hand to stop him from leaving.
“Hi Mom.”
A chorus of people started singing the happy birthday song, and Lila laughed holding the phone away from her ear. Evan watched as Lila soaked in the love and joy that was pouring through the telephone line from her family. He was suddenly envious of all those people whom he hadn’t even met yet, but were blessed by Lila’s unconditional love. He tried to pull his hand out of Lila’s to leave and give her privacy, but she tightened her grip and then yanked him down on top of her. Evan rolled so that he didn’t hurt her, and she rolled on top of him, pinning him under her body.
“Don’t you dare go anywhere,” she told him as the song finished.
“Thank you all,” Lila said into the phone.
“We love you, Lila!” the chorus cried.
“Love you all, see you soon!” Lila answered.
Then Lily’s voice came close.
“So, what are you going to do today?”
“Um, I’m not sure, Evan planned a surprise day. So far I’ve woken up to find about a dozen bouquets of roses in my room, and he asked me to marry him.”
Lila jerked the phone away as Lily screamed with glee.
Evan watched her carefully, surprised that she mentioned it.
“What did you say?! Did he give you a ring?”
Evan flushed. He should have gotten a ring, why hadn’t he thought of that?
“Oh my god, I can’t believe this!” Lily was going on, not letting Lila say a word. She patiently held the phone at arm’s length and waited for Lily to calm down. Her smile was getting bigger by the second.
“I’m so excited to plan a wedding!” Lily cried.
Lila burst out laughing. She’d never heard her mom so excited.
The laughter was infectious, and it made Evan smile even though he was nervous about what Lila’s answer would be.
“Okay, I’m calm now, start from the beginning,” Lily said.
Lila could feel Evan’s heart pounding in his chest. Was he nervous?
“I woke up and saw all the flowers, and then Evan brought me coffee in bed.” Lila said.
“Then he told me he loved me and he wanted everyone to know that I belong to him, and then he asked the vampire equivalent of ‘will you marry me.’” Lila admired Evan’s handsome face as she spoke to her mom, humor dancing in her eyes. She traced the lines of his face, and Evan began to relax under her touch.
“What’s the vampire equivalent of will you marry me?”
Lila paused, thinking of what she could say. Evan’s hands had found the skin of Lila’s sides, and tingles had started, distracting her.
“Uh...I’d rather tell you that when we’re together and you’re drunk.”
“Ooo, sounds like a plan. So, what was your answer?”
“I haven’t answered yet.”
“What?! Why not? Don’t you love him?”
“I do, Mom.” Lila kissed Evan on the nose.
“How hard?” Lily demanded.
“So hard,” Lila’s voice went soft, and she kissed Evan sweetly on his lips.
Magic's Love Page 15
