He looks at me and lifts an eyebrow. “The holidays gave me an idea. I’m not sure if it might help, but I don’t see how it can hurt.”
I rest my hands on his shoulders. “Go on.”
“It’ll require some scouting.” Grinning, he grips my hips, then glances toward the window. “Out in the cold and definitely traipsing through a bit of snow. Think you’re up for it?”
I quickly slide off his lap and stand, waving for him to follow. “What do you have in mind?”
“Mistletoe,” he says as he stands and stretches.
“Mistletoe?”
He nods and immediately lowers his arms to hook them around my waist, pulling me close. “It’s appropriate for Christmas, but it’s also a tradition; not only does it provide protection and peace while it’s hung in doorways, but no one can pass under it without kissing someone.”
“Mistletoe,” I pause and gesture to his Christmas tree, “Popcorn and cranberries…I had no idea you were so traditional.”
Ethan glances at the tree in the corner, a pained half-smile on his lips. “I have many needle holes in my thumbs to prove otherwise. There is definitely stuff you still don’t know about me.”
Smiling, I nod. “I have to admit, I didn’t expect the garland. I love it, by the way.”
He laughs. “All Samson’s bright idea. Maybe having our parents in the same town inspired him to want to relive a happier time in our childhood or something. It had sounded like a great plan when he suggested it, but the reality of just how much length you need to decorate a whole tree had us cursing each other in no time.” He sighs and shrugs. “It’s done now at least. Next year we’re buying fake garland like normal people do.”
“No, you’re not! Don’t you dare skip such a neat Christmas tradition. I’ll help next year, and I’ll even bring some holiday spiced cider to enjoy while we’re working on it.”
The blue in Ethan’s eyes deepens and his hold on me tightens. “It’s a date.”
I eye him with amused suspicion and rest my hands on his chest. “Now about this mistletoe. How do I know this isn’t just another excuse to kiss me?”
He drops a quick kiss on my lips. “I’ll never pass up an opportunity to kiss you; however, mistletoe is special. Its mystical qualities can be especially potent if you harvest it from the highest branch of a white oak hundreds of years old. The older the tree, the stronger the mistletoe’s power.”
I curl my fingers against his soft thermal shirt. “That sounds very specific. How do you know this?”
Bafflement crosses his face, and he slowly shakes his head. “I have no idea.”
Tapping his chest, I smile. “Must be your Corvus sharing some of his eons-old knowledge. I take it you at least know where we can find a hundreds-year old oak with mistletoe growing on it?”
A cocky grin rides his face. “Yep, but we’d better get going. It snowed more in the northern areas of Virginia this morning, so the snow will be deeper there, making it harder to get to. I have to be back here to pick Samson up at the airport at two. His car’s in the shop right now. And I’ll need to stop by a sports store first, then we can swing by your house and pick up snow boots. Sound good?”
“Sports store?” I ask, tilting my head.
Ethan laughs. “You’ll see.”
I smile and push up on my toes to wrap my arms around his neck. Kissing his jaw, I whisper, “Thank you. A day of adventure with you sounds perfect.”
Ethan
I look over at Nara biting her bottom lip. She’s worrying over her mom and David getting closer while her dad’s now back in her life. Grasping the steering wheel, I give up trying to get her to guess what’s in the sports store bag, and clasp her hand, offering my warmth. She doesn’t even notice, she’s so deep in thought. All I want to do is make it right for her. She always sees the good in others. Even now, I know she hopes her parents will work things out. And for her sake I hope they do.
Unlike my screwed up family, hers might actually have a chance now that my Corvus laid the smack down on Fate. I actually owe him for that. Scaring the hell out of Fate was the best thing the raven spirit could’ve done for her. At least now, that spiteful amorphous entity will leave Nara and her family in peace.
When she sat there in my arms on the couch earlier, so still and silent, my heart dropped. I’ve never felt so helpless. Nara is always so positive, and to see her so upset stripped me bare. I didn’t know what to say to make her feel better. That’s why I was surprised when the idea for the mistletoe came to me. I knew the knowledge wasn’t mine, but the intent, the desire to make her smile again...hell yeah, that was all me.
I pull through the woods and park my car. When I skim over the sunlight reflecting off her blonde hair and vivid green eyes, my heart actually aches. I love her that much. Last night was freaking amazing. I didn’t want to leave her this morning. All I wanted to do was clasp her hand and pull her back into bed so I could spend the day loving her from head to toe. I wanted to bask in her sweet smell and run my fingers along her soft skin all over again. For as long as she’d let me.
Last night wasn’t just sex. It was an epiphany, not just that I was right about us being perfect together physically, but it proved what I knew in my heart—that I’d never feel complete without her. The peace that I felt while she slept in my arms left me shaking. I watched her sleep until my eyes couldn’t stay open any longer. I just didn’t want our night to end. It’s like I knew that as soon as my eyes closed, we’d be yanked away from each other, from us, once more.
I shut off the engine, my love for Nara punching me in the gut as I turn to look at her. That another person can hold so much sway over my inner calm should scare the absolute shit out of me. I’ve worked so hard to control my reactions to all the negative and evil stimuli around me. Yet from the day Nara crossed my path, she crashed through my controlled façade with her own special brand of amazing. And she’s never stopped looking forward since; she never lost hope. Not for me. Not for anyone.
Until today.
Above all else, I will always want to keep her safe, but second to that, I’ll do everything in my power to make her happy.
When she smiles, sunshine rains down on me, and all I want to do is soak in its warm, cleansing rays. The darkness only lives in the corners when Nara’s by my side.
Today, I’m going to give my Sunshine her hope back.
Nara
Ethan has spent the last fifteen minutes trying to distract me from my thoughts. After I’d stopped by my house for snow boots, he picked up something from the sports store. But even though he keeps trying to get me to guess what’s inside the red plastic bag sitting on the car seat between us, it isn’t enough to pull me out of my conflicted musings. All I can think about is the Christmas store explosion that had gone off in my living room while I’d been at his house.
When I walked in the door to get my snow boots, Mom and David were putting up a brand new Christmas tree. The fake tree was massive and sported thick branches that made it look incredibly real and near picture perfect. Boxes of new ornaments, garland, and additional lights littered every bit of furniture, waiting to be put on the tree. The whole lot must’ve cost her a fortune.
I tried to quietly bypass them, but when Mom saw me start to head upstairs, she smiled and told me to come help them decorate the new tree together. Relieved I had other plans, I said, “Sorry, Mom. Ethan and I are heading out to do some…last minute shopping” —for mistletoe and all the wishes it’ll entail.
While David wished me luck on my shopping, none of Mom’s earlier anger showed on her face. Instead, she just nodded her understanding to my excuse, then started to hum to the Christmas song playing in the background as she moved around the Christmas tree, May-pole-style, with a string of multicolored lights of purple, red, teal and blue. Yeah, I couldn’t get back out to Ethan’s car fast enough.
Lifting my hand from my lap, Ethan kisses my knuckles, drawing my focus. “It’ll all work out, Nara. You have
to believe that.”
I blink at the snow-covered clearing in front of us, the pond to our left, and the stand of trees surrounding us. “We’re here already? I must’ve really zoned.”
Ethan slides his thumb over my knuckles, and understanding reflects in his blue eyes “I left you to your thoughts, but now we’re here to cheer you up.”
Right then, the noon sun slowly slides out from behind the gray clouds. When its bright rays spill across the secluded space, the blanket of undisturbed snow surrounding the pond begins to sparkle, as if someone has scattered a layer of diamond dust across it.
“It’s gorgeous!” A smile spreads on my face, and my fingers tighten around Ethan’s. “If that’s not a good sign, I don’t know what is.”
“I couldn’t agree more.”
My attention slides back to Ethan, but he’s not looking at the snow; he’s staring at me.
I squeeze our clasped hands. “Thank you for bringing me here. Even if we don’t find the mistletoe, seeing this reminds me that things might seem dull and gray, but brightness always finds a way to burst through.”
Ethan smiles and shakes his head. “Oh, ye of little faith. We’ll definitely find some mistletoe. Get your boots on.”
While I pull off my thick socks and tug on my fur-lined boots, I frown at his jeans covering his black combat boots. “Those won’t protect your feet, Ethan. The snow out there has to be at least six inches deep.”
He just laughs, then opens his car door. “Come on slow poke. We have some mistletoe to gather.”
A few minutes later, wishing I could’ve found my gray scarf, I finish zipping up my coat and meet him by the edge of the pond. My breath gusts out in swirls of frost while I eye his thin army jacket over a thermal shirt and jeans. “Where’s your winter jacket? It’s thirty degrees. You’re going to freeze to death out here.”
Ethan shifts his attention from the massive tree close to the pond back to me. “Actually, it’s twenty-four-point-seven.”
I blink at him. “Um, that was pretty exact. Are you a human thermometer now too?”
“Apparently.” He shakes his head, a bemused smile tugging at his lips. “I just know the temperature.”
Stomping the snow off my boots, I snicker. “From now on I’m texting you for the daily weather report so I’ll know how to dress. Seriously though, aren’t you cold?”
In answer, Ethan tucks his hand under my hair, cupping the back of my neck.
His toasty touch sends a zing of warmth all the way to my toes. I give a wry smile. “That’s just not fair.”
He smiles and slides his thumb along my neck. “Consider me your own personal body heater.”
I snort. “You do that without touching me.”
Chuckling, Ethan releases me to point to the branches that spread out from the massive tree he’d been looking at. “I remembered this oak from our visit here before. Do you see the mistletoe up there?”
The round bunches of green are the only color decorating the tree’s bare branches. I squint past the sunlight filtering through. “Yeah, I see it, but that has to be at least three stories high. How are we going to get to it?”
Ethan eyes the mistletoe and rocks on his heels. “Well, some people shoot it down.”
“Shoot it?” I swing my attention back to him, eyes wide. “You didn’t buy a gun from that sports store, did you? The bag didn’t look big enough for that.”
He scowls slightly. “I don’t like guns. Plus, gunshots would draw attention that we’re on private property—this time without an invitation. Are you ready to guess what’s in the bag now?”
“I don’t have a clue.”
Ethan shakes his head as he steps back over to his car. “You’d make a terrible game show contestant.”
“A BB gun?”
He shuts his car door with the red bag in hand and a contemplative look on his face. “I didn’t think of a BB gun. That would’ve worked, I suppose. Though this is more fun.”
Snow kicks up around his boots and sticks to the bottom of his jeans once he makes his way back over to my side.
“So what is it?” I ask, impatient.
Ethan pulls the handle out of the bag, a wide grin spreading across his face. “A slingshot.”
“That’s your weapon of choice? Hmmm, I think my BB gun suggestion would’ve been better.”
“What? You don’t think I have what it takes?”
I gesture to the slingshot while he squats to push snow out of his way. “Those are highly inaccurate and not as powerful as a BB gun, especially one with a CO2 cartridge giving it some extra power.”
He eyes me from his squatted position. “How do you know so much about BB guns?”
“’Cause I own one. If you’d have told me how you planned to get the mistletoe down, I could’ve brought mine.”
His dark brows pull together. “What do you shoot with your BB gun?”
“Cans, Ethan. Just cans. Later when I got better, it was leaves, tree branches and stuff. Learning to shoot—versus being shot upon as a goalie—with any kind of accuracy is a skill I had to develop, not one that came from dreaming it the night before.” I pause. “Speaking of shooting, I haven’t done it in a long time. That might be kind of fun to do together some time.”
“How about we start with this for now,” Ethan says. Standing, he puts a small, cold stone in my hand, then holds out the slingshot.
“You want me to try?”
“Why not?”
I start to hand him back the stone. “I’ve never done it before.”
“Then I’ll show you.” He flashes a confident smile and moves behind me. Setting the slingshot in my other hand, he shows me how to set the stone inside the leather and pinch it closed around it. Then, he lifts my arms and directs me how to pull the slingshot back. While I ready my aim, he rests his hands on my hips and leans close to whisper in my ear, “I want many of your firsts to be with me, Sunshine.”
His firm grip tightening on my hips and his husky voice radiating in my ear send the rock flying before I’m ready. I snort when it makes a spectacular arc right straight down into the pond. “David would so not want me on his team against Goliath.”
Ethan chuckles. “You’re not aiming for a monstrous giant’s head. Just some mistletoe.”
“Like that’s so much easier.”
He sets another stone in my hand. “Try again.”
After three more attempts, I at least got the rock as high as the mistletoe, but it lost steam and quickly fell before getting anywhere near the greenery.
Sighing, I hand him the slingshot. “Your turn. Hopefully your aim is far better than mine.”
After retrieving some more rocks, Ethan sets one in the slingshot, then closes one eye as he pulls the rock back. “For the mystical power of the mistletoe,” he says, then releases the leather.
The rock shoots out of the slingshot so fast and hard, I can’t track it, but a couple seconds later, I see a bundle of mistletoe the size of a soccer ball tilt sideways in the tree.
“Dead on!” I say and clap in appreciation. “One more hit should bring it down.”
Ethan sends another rock flying. Two seconds later, the greenery tumbles down…landing in the middle of the pond.
Pouting, I scan the massive oak for other options. “Crud. The only bundles are in the branches reaching out over the water. Any other mistletoe you break free will end up in the same place.” As if mocking me, the floating mistletoe hits some ice, then ever-so-slowly sinks under the water. I glance his way and sigh. “Now what are we going to do?”
Chapter Three
Nara
Ethan stands by the pond, shirtless and in the process of stepping out of his boots and socks.
“You are not going in that water.”
He touches my chin, a slight smile tilting his lips. “Do you know your cheeks get rosy when you’re all worked up?”
I slice my hand toward the huge pieces of ice floating in the pond’s surface. “Your brain w
ill shut down. The water’s too cold.”
Ethan’s brow furrows. “We just talked about this. I’m not cold. At all. I’ll be fine.”
His fingers might feel warm on my skin, but I jerk my head back and forth. “It’s one thing to be able to withstand cooler outside temperatures, but you don’t know how your body will react in freezing water.”
“You’ve studied ravens, Nara. How do you think they survive, even in arctic environments?”
I shuffle through my memory, seeking an answer even as I mumble, “They certainly don’t go swimming in freezing ponds.” By the time I glance up, Ethan has already stepped barefoot in the snow to the pond’s edge.
“Ethan, no!”
He just grins at me and walks into the water. My heart jerks when he shallow dives, disappearing under the water’s surface. Remembering he’d told me that he always keeps a change of clothes in his car in case a demon hunt turns messy, I tromp through the snow and open his car door. Once I pop the trunk, I hurry to the back to pull out a waterproof duffle bag.
I lug the bag over to the pond’s edge and set it down to glance at my watch, my heart racing with worry. Ethan’s been under for three minutes. How long can he hold his breath, and how long does it take for hypothermia to set in?
Another minute passes and my bottom lip is pretty much gnawed to bits. My chest aches and my eyes sting as I stare with fierce intensity at the now smooth-as-glass pond top where he dove in, willing him back to the surface.
Nothing.
“Ethan.” My voice sounds hoarse and strained and I start to hyperventilate, my breathing coming in fast, frantic bursts. A rush of arctic wind whips around me, and when the fog from my breath morphs into the words, TELL HIM, I grit my teeth and snap, “I work on my time frame, not yours, Fate.” The fact more time has passed without sight of Ethan sends me off the deep end. “Go before I tell him you’re back to bullying me again. Or this time around, I might not stop him from shredding you.”
Desire Page 3
