Her hand caressed the small bump. “No sickness. Just a few flutters here and there.”
Cain wore his emotions openly around her, and she noted his relief. After Abilene’s multiple miscarriages, it made sense for all of Adam’s siblings to worry. “Any sign of Larissa yet?”
“No.” His eyes squinted as he stared off into the distance. “Has the Bishop returned?”
“No. Silus is pestering everyone. I hate when he comes to the house. Adam doesn’t trust him.”
“The man is an arrogant fool. Larissa will never return to him.” His eyes turned serious. “I only wish I had some inclination that she’s safe.”
Annalise pressed a hand to his back. “You’ll find her.”
She let out a breath, and he turned to study her. “What is it?”
She blanked her expression. “Nothing.”
He scowled. “No, I felt something. You’re worried. What has you upset?”
She pursed her lips. Adam asked her not to mention it to Cain, and she wanted to respect his wishes, but it was a little difficult when his brother had a direct link to any negative emotion or sensation she experienced.
Giving up her efforts, she leveled with him. “It’s your parents.”
“My parents?”
She nodded. “I’ve been visiting with your mom every day. I let her know you’re doing well and that helps a little. But there’s been no word from Larissa, and Silus continues to demand answers no one has. And your father isn’t acting like himself.”
“How so?”
She couldn’t quite explain it. “He avoids the house, misses meals, and works well into the night.”
Concern flashed in his eyes. “Is he sleeping?”
Annalise shook her head. “He’s losing weight.”
At that, Cain showed true alarm. “What other symptoms? Has he lost his appetite?”
“He eats,” she quickly assured him. “It’s not that.”
“Then what?”
Her lips pressed tight. She didn’t want to make assumptions. “It’s as if he’s avoiding the house. Avoiding…”
“My mother?”
She didn’t want to say it. “I know he loves her.”
“Love is not a big enough word to describe the way my father feels about my mother. Whatever is wrong, it has nothing to do with her.”
She nodded. “You’re probably right.”
They let the topic drop. His gaze drifted to the woods. He pulled a blade of grass between his fingers. “How is my brother?”
She smiled at the mention of her husband. “Amazing. Busy. He’s having a barn built closer to the house.” She loved their home, especially the wood burning water heater he’d built and the flushing toilets. “He finished the baby’s cradle last week. Now, he’s whittling a collection of toys.”
“He’s always been gifted.”
Her heart pinched at the longing in his voice. No matter how he tried to hide his soft underbelly from the world, he couldn’t hide it from her. “You have gifts, too, Cain.”
He drew in a long breath and let it out slowly. “I’d trade them all for half his blessings.” His gaze drifted to her hand over her stomach. “I should go. Adam will wonder what has you sleeping so long.”
“He knows we still share dreams.”
His smile turned triumphant. “Hope it makes him jealous.”
Her lips twisted with disapproval. “You’re mean.”
“Does it?”
“I’m not giving you any information.”
“Oh, come on, Anna. Tell me he’s a little jealous of my time with you. It has to bother him on some level.”
She rolled her eyes. “Sometimes I sense his envy.”
“I knew it!”
But she was coming to adore Adam’s territorial nature. Knowing her husband, he’d make love to her the moment she woke from this dream, making sure he could take full credit for any smile she carried throughout the day.
Cain stood and smiled down at her. “Then you better wake before your husband falls into a possessive rage.” His image flickered, carrying him closer to the horizon as the air trembled and the wind increased.
She always felt a twinge of remorse whenever he said goodbye. The gentle reminder that while she would wake in the home Adam built, in a bed beside her mate, Cain would remain alone in the world.
“Hurry now, before I make it rain on you,” he teased, hiding any sign of vulnerability.
Perhaps it was their connection that made her protect his secret and pride. She lifted her chin and yelled, “I’m an immortal, now. We love the rain.”
Thunder crashed and he was gone. The sky faded to whiter shades of pale before easing to black.
Annalise stretched against her husband’s familiar warmth and sighed. Adam’s lips pressed to her shoulder and she blinked awake. “Good morning.”
“Did I wake you, ainsicht?”
“You know you did.”
“Sometimes you smile in your sleep. I was feeling left out.”
She laughed, stretching out beneath him as he kissed a trail down her front. “You’re a territorial male.”
He chuckled and nuzzled the inner flesh of her thigh. “I never claimed not to be.”
He bit her hip and licked over the slope of her belly until his breath teased the damp, pink flesh of her sex. “Don’t tease, Adam.”
“I’m starved for you. Open your legs for me.”
She parted her thighs and gasped as he licked over her folds, hitching her hips closer and slipping her legs over his shoulder. He kissed the delicate pulse there.
“He can have your dreams, but I get you everywhere else.” His tongue pressed inside of her, gently stabbing and waking her body for his.
She arched into him, her fingers pulling softly at his hair as he made love to her with his mouth. “You have my heart.”
He loved her with exquisite slowness. Teasing her with kisses and claiming her with his possessive touch. He owned more than her heart. He owned her soul. Not because some cosmic power decided so, but because she gave him her love freely. She surrendered everything to him, and he never let her regret her decision to trust him again.
Adam was safe. He was her home, her heart, her soul, and her salvation. Their affection knew no bounds, and every day was a new adventure. Her heart, which had once been so empty, now overflowed with love.
He said she would save him, that she was his salvation. But she knew it had been him who saved her.
THE END
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ALMOST PRIEST
McCullough Mountain #1
Chapter One
She was making a mistake, Samantha thought for the hundredth time that evening. She distracted herself with her phone as they headed over the interstate toward the darkening west. Braydon tapped out a beat on the steering wheel as the chiming sounds of Coldplay filled the car. Unlike Sam, he appeared to be suffering from zero misgivings about this trip.
The signal finally picked up on her wireless network and she quickly logged into her mobile email. Grades had to be posted by now.
“You get through?” Braydon asked at her sigh of relief.
“Yeah, let’s just hope it loads.”
“The closer we get to Center County the harder it’ll be to get a signal. I don’t know why you’re worried anyway. You know you got an A.”
Sam tapped her foot on the carpeted interior of his Passat with fidge
ty impatience. The chances of her getting less than an A were unlikely, but she wouldn’t be able to relax until she knew for sure.
“I probably wouldn’t be so concerned if it was a normal semester for me, but student teaching and senior seminar ate up all eighteen of my credits this semester. That one grade carries more weight than a typical three credit course.”
He shook his head in resignation. “Samantha, you showed up every day, your cooperating teacher loved you, the principal of the school requested you to forward your résumé directly to her when you graduate, and you’ve carried a four point oh GPA since you were a freshman. You shouldn’t be stressing over this.”
She pursed her lips as the swirled rotary image cycled on her phone. There seemed to be a cyber traffic jam at thirty percent loaded. “Come on.” Her phone suddenly let out three obnoxious beeps and informed her that the wireless connection failed. “Damn it!”
“When we get to the house you can use my parents’ computer.”
“I don’t want to impose. Can we stop at a McDonalds or some other fast food place with wifi before we get there?”
Sam didn’t share Bray’s amusement when he chuckled. “Samantha, we don’t have fast food joints out here. Just let it go. Once grades are out there’s nothing you can do about them anyway. Put your phone away and embrace the fact that you have three weeks of vacation before you have to even think about college again.”
He was right. She sighed and slipped her cell back into her bag, but for some reason she still couldn’t relax. Rather than stress about her grades or the fact that she was only six credits away from graduating, she stressed about their journey.
It was the start of summer, yet to Sam it was the end of an era. Her flip-flops and shorts were only irrelevant accessories. Her mind was solely focused on the light at the end of the tunnel. As the air from the sleek black vent on the dash tickled her exposed knees, Sam imagined what the end of the summer would feel like. Such relief. By mid-August she’d be, if everything went according to plan, settling into her new classroom and zipping through textbooks and novels for her lesson plans.
She shouldn’t have agreed to go home with Braydon. She wasn’t sure why he even asked in the first place. The minute they pulled onto the highway, however, the belated acknowledgement that they were in a relationship set in. For some reason it never occurred to her to see their acquaintance that way. Sure they had a mild, mutual attraction and shared a few meals and kisses together, but as far as being a couple, well, Sam wasn’t quite there yet. She only hoped his family didn’t read too much into the significance of her visit.
The truth was she never would’ve agreed to join Braydon if her parents weren’t in Florida for the month. The idea of returning home to her mom and dad’s empty house seemed a depressing way to spend her summer break. It was the image of her watching played-out movies on basic cable, never once taking off her slippers, and destroying one pint of Ben and Jerry’s a night, that struck her as pathetic and had her quickly agreeing to spend her break with the McCulloughs. Now she was thinking she would’ve been better off returning home and waiting it out on her own.
Braydon laid his hand on her thigh and gave an affectionate squeeze. His hands were large and masculine, but pampered and surprisingly smooth. “It’ll be fine. You’ll see. You’ll love the mountains.”
Samantha offered a halfhearted nod and settled further into her seat. She’d never been this far away from the suburbs of Pennsylvania other than her time in the city and was unsure what to expect. She’d probably get a crash course in nature and the great outdoors over the next three weeks, but she wasn’t worried. She prided herself on her ability to adapt to almost any setting.
This would be an adventure of sorts, a chance to learn, and experience new things. She just hoped the McCulloughs didn’t mind her being there. Houseguests were tedious no matter how loved, after a certain length of time.
Braydon had a large family. Hopefully she could fall into the shadows and not cause too many waves in their normal routine. “Who’s going to be there? At the house I mean.”
“Well, you got my mom and dad, Sheilagh, who’s graduating in a few days, Kelly, who’ll probably live with my parents until he’s forty. If Colin isn’t there already he’ll be there eventually. Kate and the kids will be around, but she lives close so she’ll travel back and forth. You’ll get to meet Morai and Nonna. Luke lives in the guest house so he’ll be in and out for meals and other stuff and I think Finn just broke up with Erin so I think he’s back in the house too.” Samantha stared at him dumbly for a second. “What?”
“When you said you had a big family I didn’t realize it was that big. I’ll never remember all that. How many brothers and sisters do you have total and are you the only one that left the nest?”
“There are seven of us total. Katherine, that’s Kate, is the oldest. She has her own place with her husband, Ant, and they are expecting their fourth kid soon. Colin’s been away for years. He’s the oldest brother. He left for college right after he graduated.
“Finn works with my Uncle Paulie and my dad as a logger, but Luke, his twin, went away to Notre Dame for four years on a football scholarship. He never planned on returning home, but after he hurt his knee he kind of just showed up. I think eventually, once he gets over his hurt pride and bruised ego, he’ll take off again.
“Kelly, I guess, is our black sheep. He never showed any interest in leaving, but I wouldn’t be surprised if one day he suddenly declared he was going to drift across country for the pure novelty of it. And Sheilagh, well, hopefully she’s mellowed out, but from what my mom tells me I don’t think that’s the case. She’s graduating this year.”
“What do you mean mellowed out?”
He laughed.
“Ever hear the saying ‘if you want trouble find yourself a redhead’? That’s Sheilagh. It’s her life’s ambition to prove that redheads truly have more fun. Don’t let her intimidate you though. She acts hard, but she’s really a marshmallow on the inside.”
“Oh. Is she planning on going to college in the fall?”
“Who knows? Do yourself a favor and don’t bring it up in front of my dad. Sheilagh’s crazy smart. She was accepted at Princeton, Catholic U., and Penn State Main. She won a grant for the school of her choosing that’ll cover a huge part of her tuition, which in a family of seven kids is nothing to sneeze at.”
“So which one do you think she’ll choose?”
“That’s the thing. I don’t think she’ll choose any of them. She’s still figuring out what she wants to do and she doesn’t want to leave home until she’s sure. See, at home, Sheilagh’s a force to be reckoned with, but take her out of her fish bowl and she’s just a scared little girl from a redneck town.”
“So you think she’s nervous?”
Braydon twisted his lips and tilted his head in consideration. “Yes, but she’ll never admit it. Girl’s got more guts than brains and for a girl who’s IQ’s been off the charts since elementary school that’s saying a lot.”
“And what about Kelly? Does she work?”
“First of all, Kelly’s a guy and he makes sure anything with female parts is completely aware of it. He may be lacking in ambition, but he has an overabundance of confidence.”
“You say that as if you don’t get along with him.”
“Kelly’s fine, but sometimes it gets old, you know? Like, grow up already. He’s twenty-two, works at my aunt and uncle’s bar, sleeps in a different bed almost every night, and never takes anything seriously.”
Sam was cataloging everything Braydon said in her mind. If she was going to be spending three weeks with the McCulloughs she wanted to be prepared. There was nothing worse than living with people whose names she constantly confused.
“And who are the twins?”
“Luke and Finn. They’re identical, but Luke’s a little more built from playing sports all his life. He’s your typical athlete, star quarterback in high school, and in a small com
munity that equates to being the town hero. He was homecoming king, dated the prom queen until he left for college, plays hard and takes losing harder. He used to be the go to guy when you needed to laugh, but since he hurt his knee he’s been in kind of a mood. He would’ve been recruited to the pros. You’ll see. When he plays sports from time to time, there’s this fire in his eyes, like a passion. That’s still there, but he’ll never go big now. His field injury can’t take the relentless pressure. He went from being predicted as the upcoming draft sensation to a risk factor no one would gamble on.”
“That’s a shame. Does he have any other skills?”
“Not really. Football was his life. Once that got taken away from him he kind of pulled into himself. When he graduated and came home he moved right into the barn and began fixing it up as an apartment. He never went back to his old room. I think all the trophies and newspaper clippings were an ugly reminder for him. Once my mom realized he wouldn’t be living there anymore she boxed up all his awards and turned his room into a nursery for my nieces and nephew.”
“Kate’s kids?”
“Yup. Frankie, Skylar, and Hannah. You’ll meet them tomorrow. Katherine probably is spending the night because she knows I’m coming home.”
“So you’re close to your older sister.”
“Yeah. Kate’s almost ten years older than me so she’s always favored me. Where Colin and the twins were close enough to her age to fight with her like true siblings, I fell into that perfect era of her life where she wanted a real baby to nurture. My sister was born to be a mother. She’ll probably have a baseball team of children someday.”
Braydon wore an affectionate smile as he spoke of his older sister. He obviously loved her very much. As if he could read her thoughts he admitted, “She spoils me rotten.”
“And what about the other twin?”
“Finn? Finn’s quiet. He likes to read and mostly keeps to himself. He was sort of in the transition of moving in with Erin, but I guess that didn’t work out. I don’t think anyone’s really disappointed. She didn’t really mesh with the family. We’re pretty close, so things like that matter.”
Sam was almost starting to relax until she considered about what would happen if the McCulloughs didn’t mesh with her. Sensing her tension Braydon squeezed her leg and reassured, “Don’t worry. They’ll love you.”
Original Sin (The Order of Vampires Book 1) Page 43
