Lunangelique (The Lunangelique Series)

by Campbell, Kristin R

  I have the curiosity of a cat. I can’t hold back on all the questions I have about dinner so I start the assault almost immediately after we drive off.

  “What did Edmund want to talk to you about?” I ask.

  He doesn’t say anything and I notice he has a death grip on the steering wheel and the speedometer is inching higher.

  “I’m sorry for asking. Call me Pandora,” I tell him.

  He takes a deep breath, releases the pedal some and loosens his grip on the steering wheel. “You don’t need to apologize. He just has a bad habit of interfering with other people’s lives.” He doesn’t give me anymore explanation than that.

  A silence grows until it’s too unbearable for me. I want to lighten the mood, especially his mood. I make my voice light and happy when I ask, “How did you plan for this night to turn out?”

  He turns to look into my eyes and I see I made him smile again. “For one thing, I planned on us dining alone,” he says and I laugh. “Then, we would have been dancing on the boardwalk so I could show off the most beautiful girl. After that, we would have sunk our feet in the sand and watched the moon’s reflection dance over the ocean’s waves.” He smiles at me again.

  “That sounds really nice. We’ll have to do that some time,” I tell him. I place my hand over his, which is resting on the clutch, and entwine our fingers. All the nervous jitters from the start of the date are gone and I feel like I can finally relax. I hope it isn’t totally due to the glasses of wine I consumed.

  My curiosity is still high on whom Edmund is but that knowledge will probably grow as I get to know Cole better. I just know that I’ve learned not to ask questions about Edmund because it obviously upsets Cole deeply. They must have had a rough past together. Maybe Cole never submitted to having someone other than his parents play the parental role. Cole must have been resentful and that’s why he acts so indifferent to him now.

  I get lost in my thoughts and before I know it, ten minutes after leaving the beach, we are pulling up to the Opera House, a drive that on average takes about thirty minutes. Cole again uses the valet that is offered and escorts me into the building. We give the usher our tickets and are escorted to balcony seats, front and center.

  I look around at the old theater, reminiscing past plays and ballets I’ve been to here with my family. The theater is in definite need of remodeling but has the old age feel that isn’t really inspired these days. The walls are all in red with tattered curtains and the seats have seen some better days. There are balcony, boxed seats along the sides, but I learned from experience that those are not the better seats. When I was a kid, my mom had gotten us tickets to ‘The Nutcracker’ and surprised me with the box seating, but I couldn’t see past the seats in front of us. Someone totally messed up when they designed the box seating.

  “What are you thinking about?” Cole asks me after we take our seats.

  “I’m just reminiscing the times I’ve been here before,” I answer him.

  “Have you been here often?”

  “Yeah,” I admit. “Almost every Christmas for ‘The Nutcracker’ and then a few plays and ballets in-between.”

  He takes my hand and starts playing with my fingers. I’m glad I had that manicure done today. “Ever been here with another guy,” he asks me, keeping his eyes on my fingers.

  “Nope.” I’m going to leave it at that but it seems he wants some kind of assurance. “I’ve never been out with a guy I thought of as more than a friend,” I admit to him.

  He looks up into my face and smiles wide. “Do you expect me to believe that?”

  “I’m being truthful. I’ve gone to school functions on a “date”,” I add the quotations for emphasis. “And I’ve kissed a few boys, but I was never really interested enough to take it farther than that, never progressed past a first date or first kiss. The kisses were more like ‘you’re a boy and I’m a girl and I want to practice kissing someone.’ Never intimate.”

  He rolls his eyes at me like he doesn’t believe me so I try again. “You have to understand that I’ve never left my little quiet neighborhood. I’ve grown up with all my friends since we were in diapers. Me, dating a guy I know, would be like me dating a step-brother or something. I’m just not interested. I know all of their dirty secrets and have seen all of their embarrassing moments that have turned me off from them for an eternity.” I laugh remembering Ethan’s flatulent problems in grade school and Nathaniel perpetually picking his nose and wiping his boogers on other people. So gross.

  Cole sighs and starts kissing my fingertips, my palm, my wrist, working his way slowly up to the inside of my elbow and back down, repeating the motion. I use my free hand to run my fingers through his hair, tangling my fingers through his curls. “What are you thinking about?” I ask him since he’s gone all quiet, lost in the motion of caressing one of my appendages with his lips.

  “How much I like you. The pull I always feel to be near you, to touch you,” he says in an accusing way, his eyes look like they are blaming me. “I thought I would go mad the other day when you locked yourself up at home and wouldn’t talk to me. I wanted to come see you but thought it best to let your anger wind down first. You have quite a temper on you.” He gives me a wicked grin.

  “Then, yesterday, I had every intention of planning something special with you to make up for our predicament, to work out something, come to a pleasant conclusion, to give into you.” He pauses. “But then Alex told me about the party and I knew you were still mad at me, so I waited some more. I was going to wait until today to talk to you but then I saw you flirting with some guy and knew I couldn’t wait out the storm anymore. I thought I would lose any hope of being with you if I continued to wait.” He stops after his confessions.

  I feel elated to hear his worries from over the past few days. Glad that I wasn’t the only one disturbed and fretting. “It seems we’ve both fell victims to a misunderstanding.” I think through the consequences of admitting my behavior towards him before I say, “Honestly, I was really hurt that you didn’t come over that next day. I was stubborn and I didn’t want to be the first one to give in and run to you. I was feeling a little taken advantage of and didn’t want to fall victim to a scam relationship.”

  A grin spreads on his face when he says, “I’ll remember that for the next time.”

  “The next time?” I sound astonished.

  “The next time you are mad at me and stay locked in your house or don’t invite me to one of your little parties.” I smack his arm playfully and then lean back in my chair, noticing for the first time that we were huddled close together while we talked.

  “How well do you know the guy you were flirting with?” He looks down at my fingers that he is still holding on to.

  I huff out air, not wanting to admit this part to him, knowing it will worry him after I just told him I don’t date the guys I’ve grown up with. Ollie is new, so that excuse is not going to work this time. He doesn’t have to know that part, yet. “Just a friend that I was hoping you would see me flirting with so you would march over and sweep me off my feet.” He smiles but I see concern on his face.

  “How long have you known him?”

  “Jealous much?” I tease him but there is something in his eyes that tells me he’s in a serious mood. My smile quickly leaves my face. “Just since the day I met you. Why?” I’m picking up another vibe from him and it’s not a jealous one.

  “He just looks familiar,” he shakes his head to shake off the conversation. I’m about to tell him that he wouldn’t know him unless he’s been to Rome, which he might have for all I know, but before I can continue the conversation, the lights start to flicker their warning that the show is about to start. We sit back in our seats and get ready for a drama-filled Opera. Cole picks up my hand that is between us and continues to fidget with my fingers in a way that causes electric sensations to run through my body.

  *

  When the Opera is over I am left feeling thankful that my life isn�
��t so complicated as the characters in the Greek drama. I don’t know what I would do if my life was so out of control that I ended up pulling my hair out and killing myself. It definitely wasn’t the romantic opera which would have made this date forever memorable.

  When we finally get in the car Cole asks me what I thought of the opera.

  “Honestly, I’ve heard a lot of good things about it and have wanted to see it for a long time. But it was not what I expected it to be.”

  “Sorry it didn’t live up to your expectations. If I would have known, I would have rejected the offer and the night would have turned out the way I saw it unfold,” he says.

  “Don’t apologize. At least we still had a new experience together,” I take up his hand. “And we can go on your dream date another night.”

  “We can still do one thing I had planned tonight, if you’re not tired, that is,” he glances at the clock in response to my covered yawn. I look at the clock too and see that it is almost midnight.

  “The night is still young,” I say dramatically.

  “Are you sure?”

  I think about it for a minute before asking, “What do you have in mind?”

  “I thought we could still go to beach. Not the boardwalk,” he clarifies. “The one near our house. Houses,” he clarifies, knowing he just made a blunder. Honestly, I wouldn’t have caught it if he hadn’t had corrected himself. And I’m too tired to laugh at him.

  He shakes his head at his mistake. “Anyways, I brought some blankets. They’re in the trunk, so we don’t get sand all over our clothes.”

  I blush thinking about the things I would like to do with him on those blankets. “I like the idea. Going to the beach always makes me happy. I love the sound of the waves, it’s soothing.” I feel sleepier just imagining listening to the sound of the ocean. When it’s cooler out and not so humid, I usually open my bedroom window so I can fall asleep to the sound of the distant waves crashing onto the shore. It’s better than any mechanical sound machine with all their subliminal messages whispering to you.

  Of course it takes us only fifteen minutes to arrive at our neighborhood beach with his crazy speed-driving. We walk down to the shoreline and spread a blanket on the ground. Cole wraps the smaller blanket around my shoulders to keep me warm against the wind. It might be hot and humid during the day but at midnight, with the wind blowing off the ocean, there is a fifteen to twenty degree difference.

  We sit down on the blankets and take in the beauty of the waves cascading in lazily towards the shore, each one rolling into the next and draping its way inward like dressing a sheet onto a bed. There is a waxing gibbous moon overhead and that is reflected onto the water’s surface, just like Cole promised.

  “I don’t think I could ever live far from the ocean,” I confide in Cole. “Living inland would seem smothering. Not being able to breathe in the refreshing salty air.”

  “I totally agree.” Cole takes in a deep, exaggerated breathe of the air. “Very refreshing.”

  I lie back on the blanket to stare awhile at the moon. There are clouds dotting the night sky, skimming the night on their way to far destinations. They only add to the beauty of the sky as they move sluggishly by, presenting stars to us. I search in the sky for the constellations and my eyes start to grow so heavy.

  Cole lies back and turns onto his side to face me. His hand comes up and strokes my hair in a way that makes me shiver involuntarily.

  “Your hair is the same color of the moon beams.” He plays with the tips of my hair that are fanned out next to me, lifting up a lock and using it to tickle my arm. “It glows,” he says with wonder in his voice.

  “It’s only because of the gray scale. I would say your hair looks black, but your hair practically is black,” I tell him and he chuckles.

  His hand comes up to outline my face in a series of soft, spine tingling caresses. I close my eyes and surrender to his touch, feeling drowsier by the second. I feel his body shift closer to me and I turn towards him with my eyes still closed to wait for a kiss that I know is coming.

  His lips touch my expectant ones and we start in on a succession of small, teasing kisses before they grow more serious. His tongue is desperate to mate with mine and our bodies are desperate to mold themselves into one. He rolls me onto my back and lies on top of me, never breaking our everlasting kiss. Our legs are interlocked, moving at a rhythm of their own as they slide up and down each other. My hands roam his back, searching for something they don’t even know what they are searching for. I move slowly along his scars, outlining each one. I let out a sigh that comes out more tired than complacent than intended.

  Cole stops his onslaught and pulls back, I imagine he’s looking at me but my eyes are still closed and I can’t seem to open them.

  “You’re really tired,” Cole says more like a statement than a question.

  “Mm…hmm,” is the only response I give him.

  “Do you want to sleep on the beach?” His voice sounds teasing.

  “Uh huh,” I sigh.

  He chuckles, softly and leans in to kiss me below my ear before whispering in my ear, “Sleep, Lexi.”

  And like all the other times he makes a command, I obey.

  Chapter 7

  The next thing I remember is waking up in my bedroom. The sun is coming in strongly from my window and I have to turn away from it so I can focus on my surroundings. I’m still in the dress from the night before and the blanket Cole had wrapped around me last night is now draped across my body.

  I can’t remember coming home. I don’t remember anything past kissing Cole on the beach and the strange dream I had. I don’t know if you can even call it a dream. It was more like words being spoken to me from a dark abyss. All I can remember is Cole’s voice whispering the words, ‘beautiful, moon, miss you, Kakabel, angel, forgive, Alex, sorry, wings, hurt, father.’ I know there was a lot more to it than that but it was like bad reception on a telephone. He was telling me more stuff but only those words were coming through the line.

  I stretch my limbs and move sluggishly into the bathroom to start a shower. Oh my gosh! I look so horrible when I glance into the mirror. My hair is so disheveled and my eye makeup has smeared to create dark rings under my eyes. I hope Cole did not see me like this.

  I strip my clothing off, sending sand all over the floor. Great, I’ll probably have to clean it off my bed too. Then, I jump in the shower and spend half an hour trying to get the sand out of my hair and makeup off my face. When I’m done I dress in some shorts and pull on a v-neck boyfriend tee, tying a knot in the back so it doesn’t just hang on me. After I put on some moisturizer, light makeup and pull my hair into a ponytail I beeline my butt to Alex’s room to try to discover how I got home.

  Alex is on the computer when I barge in, he whips around in his seat and gives me a huge smile when he says, “Hey Sleeping Beauty, have a rough night?” he raises his eyebrows at me a few times.

  “It wasn’t like that,” I tell him, sitting on his bed before lying back and stretching my arms over my head.

  “Sure,” he replies. “If I didn’t know better I would say that Cole had to carry you in because you were passed out in a drunken stupor.”

  He leans over and rests his arms on his knees while his eyes bore into mine, daring me to prove him wrong.

  “I wasn’t drunk. We ended up getting tickets to an Opera that didn’t end until almost midnight and most of our date took a weird unexpected turn so we stayed out late, wanting the night to end doing something intended.” He raises his eyebrow at me, assuming the worst. “We didn’t have sex, Alex. That was not what I was alluding to.” I sit up on his bed. “To make a long story short, we started the night by going out to eat and ran into someone Cole knows, someone who looks exactly like you, I might add. I told you that might eventually happen.” He opens his mouth to say something but I continue with my story. “The guy gave us tickets to the opera after crashing our dinner. We went to the opera and then we went to the beach
, where I fell asleep. And the rest is for you to fill in.” I wait expectantly for him to pick up where my story left off.

  He shrugs his shoulders like there is nothing more to tell. “Alex,” I whine. “I’m a little embarrassed here. Please tell me how I got home and in my bed.” I steeple my hands together in a plea.

  He lets air whistle out of his mouth like telling me is exasperating for him. “I was on the computer about one in the morning when rocks started tapping my windows. I look down to see Cole standing there, carrying you. You were really out of it too,” he laughs. “It was pretty funny.” I shoot him an angry look. “Anyways, I let him in and he carried you to bed and left.” He turns back to his computer, disappointed that there is no more to the story.

  “That’s it?” I ask, wanting details.

  “Yeah.” His fingers start flying across the keyboard.

  “Did mom and dad see?” I hope they didn’t, I don’t want them to get the wrong impression too.

  “No, they had been in bed for awhile.”

  “Okay.” That’s all I am going to get from Alex. Typical male. He didn’t even ask any questions about his older doppelganger.

  I leave his room and head downstairs, where mom and dad are enjoying their morning pot of coffee. It smells so good this morning I think I’ll have a cup.

  “How was your night?” Mom inquires.

  “Good, different. Went to dinner, the opera and the beach.” I don’t want to spell it all out again after just doing so with Alex.

  “What time did you get home?” dad asks, turning his attention back to the Sunday paper.

  “About one, I guess. The opera didn’t end until late and then we went and sat on the beach to unwind.”

  “What do you have planned for the day, there is only two more free days left until school starts?” My mom has intrigue written all over her face, like she expects me to do exactly what I want to do. Hang out with Cole. So, that’s what I tell her and she smiles like she has just won a prize. I give her a kiss on the cheek before making some eggs and toast. I want to eat slowly and give Cole time to get up, even though it is past ten in the morning. Last time I went over there this early I was greeted by him wearing nothing but a towel. I don’t want to make that mistake again.