A Special Gift

by Alice Brown

  *****

  Marshall groaned in pure agony as he stepped off the elevator into the underground society. Ever since he realized Stephanie was his mate, it was physically painful to walk away from her each time he did so. Although he had strongly suspected for years now, he knew Stephanie was his mate about a year ago. Then, she was barely legal. He wanted to give her time to grow up, and to be able to enjoy her youth without being tied down in a committed relationship. He had no idea if she realized he was her mate or not. He knew she hadn’t dated anyone else. The other issue he had to deal with was breaking the news to her parents.

  He honestly didn’t know how they were going to accept the news. He had always been very close to Stephanie, and both Erica and Kevin trusted him implicitly when it came to their daughter. Then, he had never given them a reason not to.

  Now, he had to face both of them and inform them that their only barely adult daughter was his mate. He was so not looking forward to that.

  *****

  After Marshall had left, the two girls went back upstairs, both forgetting what they had originally come down for in the first place. Mary wasted no time once in the bedroom with the door shut.

  “Oh, my God, you didn’t tell me how cute he is! That’s the same Marshall you are always telling me about? That’s the Marshall who works with your dad, and has been your best friend all your life?” Mary started popping off questions in rapid fire session, giving Stephanie no time to respond. Mary squeezed her fingers together as if squeezing his buns. “Wow! Just wow!!!!” she practically shouted.

  “Shhhh…will you please keep it down?” Stephanie whispered frantically. The last thing she wanted was for her mother to overhear them.

  Mary fell back on the bed and covered her eyes with her arm. “I swear, that is the best eye candy I’ve seen in a long time,” she sighed. Then, quickly sitting back up, she started in excitedly, “You know he just asked you out on a date tomorrow night, right? Oh, how lucky you are, girl. Do you know what outfit you’re wearing? Can we go through your closet and pick something out? You know I’m great at accessorizing.”

  Stephanie stared at her friend for a moment. Had the girl taken a breath at all? Letting out a sigh, she prayed for patience. “Okay, first of all, it’s not a date. We get together all the time and do stuff like this. So, no, I don’t have a special outfit picked out, and no, I don’t need help putting one together. You know me, jeans and a shirt will do just nicely for any occasion, thank you very much.”

  “Stephanie, I swear, a good-looking man could hit you with a brick and you wouldn’t pay any attention to him,” Mary stated in annoyance.

  “Yes I would,” Stephanie protested. “I’d kick his ass for hitting me!”

  “Oh, Stephanie, he is gorgeous. And the way he was looking at you. And I don’t care what you say—that gorgeous hunk of man just asked you out on a date tomorrow night!” Mary squealed.

  “Oh, get a grip! We’re friends. We go out like this all the time. Friends enjoy spending time together, and that is all this is. He has given me no reason to believe he wants to acknowledge the mating bond.”

  “I’ve heard that once the mating bond shows itself, it becomes difficult to spend any time away from your mate. Maybe that’s why he keeps asking you out. I don’t know why he doesn’t just go ahead and admit to the bond. Is it difficult for you when you are separated from him?”

  Stephanie plopped down on her bed next to her friend. “Yes, the only word to describe it is painful. I guess you could compare it to a human heart attack. My chest hurts—it gets all tight and sore.” She sighed as she ran her hand across her own chest to try to alleviate some of the pressure.

  Mary, seeing that her friend was on a fast track to depression, jumped up and took matters in her own hands. Soon the girls were swapping gossip, painting each other’s toenails and fingernails, and giving one another facials.

  *****

  Mary went home Saturday morning and Stephanie quickly joined her mother in cleaning the house. This was the usual Saturday morning thing-to-do. Her mother had always been a clean freak, and although Stephanie tended to grumble and gripe once in a while regarding this, she was glad her mother was that way. Stephanie never had to be embarrassed over how the house looked if company stopped by.

  “Marshall is stopping by sometime this afternoon,” she stated to her mother as they started dusting.

  “That shouldn’t surprise me. If we were all humans, he would show up every night two minutes before dinner time and sit down to join us, invited or not,” Erica quipped, a bit sarcastically.

  Her comment took Stephanie by surprise. “I thought you liked Marshall.”

  Erica glanced up from dusting, and realized what she had said didn’t come out very nicely. “I do, sweetie. I’m just joking. I do feel like he half lives here at times, though.” Then, after watching Stephanie for a second, continued, “So, what do you two have on the agenda for today?”

  “He asked me last night if I wanted to go check out the new movie plaza that just opened up underground.”

  “Oh, that will be fun. I talked with Aunt Jennifer late last night; she and Joshua went a couple of nights ago. She said it was nice.”

  Stephanie had wondered more than once if her mother knew what was going on. If she did, she hadn’t said a word. But still, again that same worry hit her. How would she answer if her mother started asking questions? She needed to get away for a few minutes. She needed fresh air. Thankfully, her cat, Wild-man, came to her rescue. He strutted down the stairs and walked over to the door, obviously in need of going outside. “I’m going to take Wild-man outside for a few minutes,” Stephanie called over her shoulder as she noticed her mother walking into the kitchen. “Be back shortly.”

  Stephanie followed Wild-man out into the backyard, knowing her mother wasn’t fooled for a minute. The cat had been going outside by himself ever since he was a kitten. He certainly didn’t need his paw held. She was hoping a few minutes of fresh air would clear her head and give her the answers she needed. Ten minutes later, she stomped in the door, berating herself for even thinking such a thing was possible.

  Erica stopped cleaning when Stephanie returned. She watched her daughter for a moment before she spoke. “I know something is bothering you, dear. I’m not going to push, just know that I am available to talk with you anytime.” Stephanie sighed deeply. She was not in the best of moods, and she certainly wasn’t ready to come clean with her mother yet, but that gave her no right to take out her bad mood on everyone around her.

  She walked over to her mother and threw her arms around her, giving her a long hug. “Thanks, Mom. I’ll let you know. I love you, Mom.”

  If it were possible for a vampire to have tears in her eyes, Erica would have had them. “I love you too, sweetie, with all of my heart.” Her mother returned her hug, and the two embraced for a moment, allowing their emotions to get back under control.

  Chapter Seven

  Marshall showed up about three o’clock Saturday afternoon. Stephanie greeted him at the door, and they gave each other a quick, friendly hug as he stepped inside.

  “So, what are we doing?” Even though she knew it was just two friends spending time together, Mary’s words continuously played in her head. “But Stephanie, he is gorgeous! And the way he was looking at you. You do realize he just asked you out on a date tomorrow night, don’t you?”

  “Well, the movie doesn’t start until eight. I thought we would just hang out here for a while, and then we’ll go underground and check out some of the shops,” Marshall replied smoothly.

  He sensed his girl wasn’t in the best of moods. I wonder if the sleepover didn’t go over well.

  Stephanie led the way into the family room and plopped down on the couch. Picking up the remote, she started flipping through the stations, ignoring him as if he weren’t even there. She had gone through all stations twice when she realized Marshall was sitting next to her and glanced over to catch him watching her i
ntently. It was at that moment she realized she had totally ignored him and hadn’t spoken a word to him since sitting down.

  “Are you upset over something?” he gently inquired as he reached over to take her hand. It was meant to help calm her, but it had the opposite effect.

  “What makes you think I am upset?” she retorted, immediately grimacing over the sarcastic tone she could hear coming from her own mouth. Geez, what has gotten into me?

  “Look, would you rather me not be here?” he quickly countered as he dropped her hand and raised an eyebrow at her. He was not going to be her whipping boy. She could open up and talk to him, or he would leave and come back later.

  “No, Marshall, it’s not you. It’s me. I don’t know what is wrong with me,” she replied in a shaky voice. She lowered her head, showing her submission, which he was sure she didn’t even realize she had done.

  “Oh, you’re having one of those female moments,” he moaned as he leaned back against the sofa.

  Wrong thing to say, buddy! “Just what exactly is that supposed to mean?” Her head jerked up as she yelled at him, eyes flashing with fire and attitude.

  “It means that you women get in these little moods, and take it out on us poor guys, who don’t have a clue what in the world to do with you.” With a devilish grin, he reached over and grabbed her by the waist, pulling her over his lap.

  “Oh, I don’t think so!” she quickly flipped back at him.

  Marshall sighed deeply. He knew of only one thing that might improve her mood. It would either work or totally piss her off. “If you don’t behave yourself, little missy, I am going to have to tickle you until you either scream or get into a better mood, whichever comes first,” he growled in a low voice. He quickly flipped her over so she was lying on her back on the couch, and he wasted no time in crouching over her. “Now which is it going to be?” He immediately started tickling her waist, knowing where to find every ticklish spot she owned.

  Oh, so he wanted to play that way, hey? She gave a futile attempt to push him away from her, knowing all along he wouldn’t budge. She simply didn’t have the strength to move him an inch, but it gave her satisfaction to try anyway. She had tried this same move a hundred times before, to no avail. He was a vampire, after all. Only this time, he suddenly wasn’t on top of her anymore. What the heck? Where did he go? She heard a loud ‘thump’ and something crashed. She quickly glanced in the direction of the sound as she sat up.

  The sight that met her eyes shocked her. She wasn’t sure whether to scream in terror or burst into laughter. Marshall was on the other side of the room, slammed into the wall. It was obvious he was dazed, as it took him a second to realize what had happened to him, and when he moved away from the wall, Stephanie gaped at the large hole, approximately the size of his body in the drywall, in total disbelief. She stood frozen in place, staring at Marshall, with her mouth hanging open. Finally finding her tongue, she whispered, “What in the world just happened?”

  “I think your vampire strength has finally hit you,” Marshall replied in a half growl, as he started dusting himself off. Well, so much for Kevin thinking the strength ability had bypassed her, he now thought. He and Kevin had just been talking about that a few days ago. Kevin seemed to think that because she had so many other unique abilities she had missed on gaining the strength. Guess they could rule that one out now.

  Marshall had been working as Kevin’s second-in-command at the VCTF for many years now. His first reaction was to let the vampire blood take hold and go into attack mode, but he quickly regained control of himself as he realized what had happened. Stephanie was still standing like a statue over by the couch, as if she was afraid to come near him, and he knew she was fearful of the possibility that she had hurt him. That thought alone made him want to roll his eyes. He was a vampire, after all. Then he thought about work. A shudder ran down his spine as he thought about all the teasing he would endure if word got out about this. He could just hear it now. The great Marshall Riggs thrown into a wall by a half-human girl! He wouldn’t be surprised if the wall above his desk soon sported a large poster with that statement and appropriately comical drawings.

  Erica suddenly appeared quite literally out of nowhere, took one look at the hole in her wall, and then turned to Marshall, “I expect my wall to be fixed.” She then glided back out of the room, just as calm as ever. What the hell? Couldn’t she have at least asked if anyone was injured? Or, even more so, what had happened? No, she just glided into the room and looked at her wall as if it was an everyday occurrence to find a man-sized hole in it. Marshall shook his head and quickly decided to give up trying to figure women out. They were lovely, some quite beautiful in fact, but if he lived to be a thousand years old, he didn’t think he would figure out what went on in their heads.

  Stephanie, who was still motionless and staring at Marshall, finally whispered, “Are you okay?”

  He gave her his famous cocked eyebrow look and frowned. “Of course I’m okay.”

  Yeah, there was no way he was going to admit that a half-human female had hurt him, even if she had.

  “I am so sorry,” Stephanie quickly sputtered, seeming to come out of shock all of a sudden. “We’ve done that same move before. I just figured I would push, and you wouldn’t budge as normal.”

  He slowly walked over to her, smiling and holding out his hand to take hers so she would know he was not angry with her. “It’s okay. I think I am going to have to be more careful with you in the future, though,” he stated, giving her a reassuring hug.

  Marshall grabbed her hand and hauled her over to sit back down next to him on the couch. She couldn’t help thinking, isn’t this where everything started to begin with?

  “Anything you want to talk about?” he asked solicitously, and then added with a chuckle, “Talk, no throwing bodies.”

  Stephanie shook her head in dismay. No matter how much she wanted to, she didn’t dare. Tears started forming in her eyes. She hated when she cried, especially in front of anyone. As far as she was concerned, it made her look weak. And weak was the last thing she wanted to be associated with.

  “Marshall, you are my very best friend, and believe me, I want to. But these are feelings and emotions I really don’t think I can share with you,” she whispered the last few words, wiping her eyes on her shirtsleeve.

  Marshall, gentle as ever, reached over with one finger to lift her chin, bringing them face to face. Now he was fairly certain she was feeling the mating bond pull also. “I really wish you would open up and talk with me. This isn’t like you. I thought we shared everything.”

  Stephanie broke free from his hold on her chin and stared down at the floor. How could she tell him that her problems centered on him? How could she tell him that she had been having deliciously wicked dreams about the two of them? How could she tell him she loved him with her very soul, only to have him tell her that for whatever reason he was choosing to ignore the mating bond and only viewed her as a friend? Surely that would destroy her tender heart.

  Marshall glanced down a bit from her face, and noticed she was wearing his necklace. Maybe I can use it to get her to open up to me.

  He pulled his girl up close to him. The minute they were close, his scent hit her full force, and she found herself wrapping her body around him as tight as she could. She placed her head on his shoulder and buried her face into his neck, breathing deeply. That alone helped calm her down. He sat in silence with her in his lap for about ten minutes while she pulled herself back together.

  When she lifted her head, he gave her a gentle smile as he ran his fingers down her cheek and then on down the side of her neck. He stopped when he reached the solitaire diamond sitting on her chest. He gently smoothed his thumb over the solitaire. “I am glad to see you still wear the necklace I gave you for your last birthday.” He’d had a ten carat uncut diamond just sitting at home; it had done nothing but collect dust for more years than he cared to remember. Last year, right before her birthday, he
had taken it to their jeweler to have it set, and had given it to Stephanie as a token of his love for her. What he didn’t tell her was that it was a promise necklace. An unspoken promise that he would be hers for the rest of their lives. Because she was so young, and he was fairly sure the mating bond had not presented itself to her yet, he gave her the gift, and she remained none the wiser.

  She looked down at the stone nestled between his finger and thumb with a frown on her face. “Don’t get me wrong, Marshall, I love the necklace. I was surprised, though, to receive such an expensive gift for my birthday.” There, she had given him an opening to come clean with her. Would he take it?

  Marshall knew this was his chance to clear the air between them. “Well, it’s kind of a long story,” he stated with a shrug, and then leaned back on the couch, hauling Stephanie with him.

  He reached down and picked up her left hand, holding it gently yet firmly within his. “I gave you the necklace as a symbol of my devotion to you. A type of promise ring, if you will.” He stopped, watching her face as she digested the information.

  She jerked her head up off his shoulder. “Then you do feel the bond pull.”

  “Yes, I have probably felt it a lot longer than you have. I just could not bring myself to tell you last year. You were still young, just barely of age, and let’s face it, there is a big age gap between us. I also didn’t know how your parents would take the news. To be perfectly honest with you, I still don’t know how they are going to accept it.” He stopped there for a moment, staring deeply into her eyes. “I have known for a while now that you are my true mate. I can only hope that one day you will find it in your heart to love me as much as I love you.”