“You bet your ass I do, Bishop.”
Eleazar did not appear amused, but Delilah smiled in the face of his disapproval. “May God shed his blessing richly upon you. I pronounce you husband and wife.”
Christian was yanked down as Delilah sealed her lips to his. He blinked, not recalling such displays at prior ceremonies, but unable to resist her kiss.
The witnesses cheered and as his wife pulled away, she grinned and said, “Let’s party.”
More dreadful English music played and they exited the house only to pause at the front porch where the absolute unexpected awaited them. Over the tent in his yard, decorated with flowers and adorned with long tables, there was a white cloud sprinkling…snow?
He frowned as he spotted Cain sprawled out on a chair beside the ice sculpture, an arrogant grin on his sodden face. Dumbfounded, he said, “It is snowing in June.”
Delilah gaped beside him. “Bad. Ass.”
She tugged him off the porch, her anxious excitement rippling from her in happy waves. There was a quiet rumble of pattering, like whispered thunder, and he halted her steps, unsure what was happening. Unexpectedly, the ground seemed to twitch and ripple as a thousand butterflies took flight from the grass. The crowd gasped as his bride laughed with pure joy. He had no doubt she had done this. She had powers unlike any he had ever seen.
The celebration was a success. While the elders scowled his wife beamed. The English mates danced to unfamiliar melodies and showed many of the younger generations how to make sense of such wretched music. Every time he looked at his wife she smiled and he knew she was happy and that made him the happiest male on earth.
They did not retire until long after the sun had set. Guests continued their stay, truly enjoying the English touches his bride had provided.
As he carried his mate through the door of their bedroom she turned quiet and shy. He laid her on the bed and kissed her softly. “I love you, pintura. Thank you for an unforgettable wedding day.”
Her fingers brushed over his jaw as she smiled softly at him, her eyes tender and full of affection. “I love you too, Christian. Thank you for stealing my life and giving me a better one.”
They made love long past dawn and several times in the days that followed, their eternity leisurely unraveling with euphoric pleasures he had never imagined. She was his, but more so, he belonged to her and never felt more at peace with his life. She was truly the other half of his soul.
* * * *
In the weeks that followed Delilah learned many things. She learned what it was to be a wife to a man that loved her beyond measure, a man who would go against his nature to protect her. She learned that Christian truly loved his mother, as he restlessly searched for her whenever he had a moment to spare.
She learned that Amish life was nothing like English living with all the frivolous flare and glitz, but she was no longer English. She was Delilah—vampyre warrior and supernatural healer extraordinaire. Well, that’s what she liked to call herself. The others basically stuck to calling her by her name.
She’d taken up painting as one of her favorite pastimes. The Hartzler family seemed to be breeding like rabbits and it felt like every day she had a new request to paint a nursery. She loved hanging out with the females of that clan. They were like her, normal women who happened to be called to extraordinary men.
The bishop had recovered without issue and no one saw any signs of Cerberus after he left that night. Christian informed her the man’s hand would eventually regenerate, but it would serve as a reminder for a long time, that his son was not one to be tampered with.
She’d gone to the bishop and taken her husband The Book of Confessions. As they sat in the den reading over Adriel’s words, Christian had dropped his ever-present veneer of strength and wept. She’d wept as well. From that night on, he was never overly stern with her again. He proclaimed she was the gift God had sent him and he wanted her just as she was.
Her tattoos had all faded but one. It was the one she’d given herself the day Vito delivered her tools to the farm. She’d be retouching it for all of eternity, but that was okay. Being a vampyre her skin healed rapidly and the slight pain was irrelevant. It was two simple words, scrolled on the inside of her wrist in the form of infinity. Christian & Delilah.
Yeah, he was hers. Forever. It was pretty awesome.
Although they appeared to live the ordinary, mundane Amish life, there was nothing ordinary about it. Christian indulged her more than she ever dreamed.
Destiny’s brother, Vito, was totally awesome and came by regularly to bring her all kinds of booty like comic books and beer. Although she had pieces of her past on the farm, he life before was slowly being unwritten. Skin Deep was now being rented by a nail tech and there was a bit of sadness that came with that news. Christian had all of her belongings brought to their home and she was gradually making the house into their own little love nest.
Life on the farm was never dull. Delilah had never known what it was to have so many friends. For the first time in a long time, she recalled what it was to have a family. Even Christian had loosened up around those he was once uptight around.
She had plenty to do and she and the girls started taking turns hosting game night. On Delilah’s night they played Dirty Pictionary, which sort of backfired, because after the few pornographic sketches, the males carried off their mates to the nearest bed.
She wasn’t Amish, but she acted the part. Well, not really. She still cursed like a sailor and didn’t follow her husband’s orders for shit, but Christian would merely laugh and tease her about being the most disobedient wife on the farm.
The animals continued to come to her and she’d named every single one, even the barn mice, which Sylvester the barn cat liked to chase. Delilah gave Sylvester a firm talking to and hoped the message got through. Probably not.
“Delilah?”
She turned from where she currently kneeled in the shade petting the belly of a very fat and very pregnant dog named Leroy. She wasn’t always accurate when naming the animals, obviously.
Christian approached with a soft smile curving his lips. “I’ve been searching for you.”
“I’ve been here,” she said, patting Leroy and leaning up to kiss her husband.
“How was your day?”
“Peaceful. Tomorrow I’m painting the nursery for Destiny and Cain. They want a mural of a starry night. Doesn’t that sound lovely?”
He smiled and pulled her to his side. “Everything you paint is lovely.”
“How did it go with Abby?” Christian had been very concerned over his cousin’s future after she’d confessed to him that she’d had a dream.
His head lowered. “She is dreaming. Her father does not yet know. I told her I would inform the bishop tonight at the meeting.”
“Isn’t her dad going to be at the meeting?”
“Yes, but I will speak to Eleazar privately. Abraham cannot hold her against her calling.” He sighed. “I worry for Abby. She has been trapped under her father for so long I fear she will not manage well off the farm. I am thinking of asking Dane to go with her.”
“Do you think he’ll go?”
“Now that Cybil is safely away from Isaiah and Dane has the council’s word nothing will harm her, I believe so. He has been miserable and perhaps it is time he returns to his English roots.”
Dane wasn’t the only one miserable. Gracie had gone from a once bubbly person to someone inherently quiet and somewhat sad. Delilah had sort of gotten a bead on feeling other’s emotions and Gracie’s screamed sadness. Perhaps her friend would feel better if Dane left. For some reason the two seemed to find the other’s presence unbearable. She suspected they were in love, but the kind that was more torturous than pleasant.
“How long will they keep Isaiah in that separate building?” she asked.
“Until Cybil is of age, perhaps longer. Technically, Dane is her guardian. The years will pass quickly, but soon enough it will be time to test Ez
ekiel’s theory and I worry for when that time comes.”
“Do you think Cybil wants Isaiah?”
“I do not know. If he is her called mate I cannot see how she could not. Yet she is young and a transitioned half-breed we know little about. Half-breeds are not meant to be called. It is all very far-fetched and I foresee much pain in the girl’s future. So long as she is here, The Order will protect her as best they can.”
She nestled into his arms and shut her eyes. “Let’s not think about the things we can’t control. The future will be here tomorrow and who knows what that will bring. We’ll just have to wait and see how everything turns out.”
“Very true, pintura.” His hand crept over her apron and plucked at the strings holding her bonnet in place. As the sun faded behind the trees, he slowly undid her apron and eased her onto the grass. The man never tired and she was fine with that.
Gazing up at him, she whispered, “I have need, Christian.”
Tracing his lips down her cheek, he cupped the back of her head and brought her mouth to his throat. “I am yours, Delilah. Take what you need.”
She sunk her fangs into his pulse and drank until her thirst was satisfied and another hunger bloomed. They made love there in the shade. He gave her life and she never enjoyed living so much. As she came apart in his arms, she met his gaze and whispered, “You are mine.”
*The End*
GLOSSARY
A
Abedit- appetite
Aesel- jackass
Ainsicht- only one
B
Blabbermaul- talkative
Breder- brother
Brederlich- brotherly
Buss- kiss
C-D
Dobbich- awkward
Dormlich- dizzy; vertigo
Dummkup- idiot; dumb (also referred to as glutzkupp)
E
Eawichkeit- eternity
Erector- destroyed
F
Fahoongart- starved
Feeish- beastly; animal like; the condition suffered by a called vampyre when he or she goes unanswered; a loss of ability to make rational choices; a severe loss of control
Ferhext- bewitched
Ferricked- deranged
Ferroonzeled- disheveled
Ferleicht- perhaps
Fershteckle- hide
Frau- wife
G
Gagrish- loud cry
Ganoonk- Enough!
Grex- grunt
H-J
Hesslich- hateful
Hongwarsth- mischievous youngster
K
Kenn- know
Kintish- childlike
L-M
Looshtich- jolly
N-O
Niddertrechticha- vile
Nochich- naked
P-Q
Plesseer- pleasure
Pricker- sharp object
R
Roontzel- wrinkle
Rootsh- crawl; squirm
Rootshis- squirmy
Ruich- still
Rumspringa- referred to as the ‘running around time’ when young Amish men and women explore the modern world and return to their Amish culture only upon committing to being baptized into their faith once and for all.
S-T
Schmecklich- luscious (as in kisses)
Shrecklich- frightful
Schwiiz- descendant of Switzerland
U-Z
Unfershtendich- absurd
About the Author
Lydia Michaels is an award winning author of contemporary romance. She lives in Pennsylvania with her wonderfully supportive husband, beautiful daughter, and her two ridiculously spoiled pets, Roscoe (the dog who thinks he’s an underworld spy) and Calisi (the kitten obsessed with television who thinks she’s actually a dog). After graduating college, Lydia married her childhood sweetheart and best friend then became a mother and quickly discovered her love for literature. The only hobby she enjoys more than reading exciting romance novels is writing them! If she is not off spending time with her family you can usually find Lydia at her computer working on her next story or hiding somewhere quiet with a great book. She loves taking a romantic plot with steamy chemistry and pushing the characters through an evolution of emotion by creating real life challenges any hero or heroine worth their salt could overcome. She presses the bounds of love and surprises readers just when they think they have her stories figured out. Her books are intellectual, erotic, haunting, always centered on love.
Find Lydia on Facebook where she loves to chat with readers and friends!
www.LydiaMichaels.org
Call Her Mine
Sacred Waters
Skin
Chaste
Breaking Perfect
Simple Man
White Chocolate
All 4 You
To Catch a Wolfe
Chasing Feathers
Secret Cravings Publishing
www.secretcravingspublishing.com
Call Her Mine Page 32
