“I would…no, I’d, well…”
“Enough said. You were right, Devon. We have no future, at least not until you take care of your past.”
She stood up and grabbed Devon’s overcoat and her shoes. She leaned over and kissed him, tenderly stroking his beautiful face. “I love you so much my heart aches every second I’m away from you, Devon, but I won’t be a shield for you to keep your distance from Libby. That’s the real reason you agreed to bring me. I see that now. I’m booked on a 10:20 flight tomorrow, Devon. I’m going home. Can you make arrangements for someone to take me in the morning?”
“I will, but I don’t understand. If you love me so much, why are you leaving?”
“Because I love you so much. Don’t you see? I can’t be here to watch you wrestle with your feelings for her. It would destroy me; it’s been destroying me, Devon, like it destroyed you when she ran off with Anton.”
“Please don’t leave, Darby, I need you here.”
“Why?”
“I need you to help me through this.”
“And if you decide you’re still in love with her? Then what?”
“I won’t. I’m not.”
“You can’t say that with any certainty. Until you lay eyes on her again and speak to her, you won’t know. Trust me, I know.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, I’ve been through this before. You’re not the only one who has ever been dumped, Devon. I dated someone for two years, thought I was going to marry the guy, until he left one night and went back to his ex-girlfriend and got married the next month. They now have four kids. I’ve seen the draw of a man’s first love. I already know what it feels like to lose that battle. Losing it with you would end me.”
“It’s not the same, Darby.”
“Devon, do you realize that you haven’t once told me you loved me since this started? You haven’t kissed me, not since you laid eyes on your uncle at Thanksgiving. You really want me here to sit back and watch my entire world fall apart before my eyes?”
“It’s not like that! I swear.”
“Fine, Devon. Prove me wrong and I will be forever happy.”
“Then you’ll stay?”
“For now.” She opened the door and started out the door.
“But you don’t have any shoes on.”
“It doesn’t matter. I can’t feel anything right now anyway; maybe the cold will keep back the next wave of tears.” With that she shut the door and walked gingerly up to the house. The ice didn’t keep the tears at bay, but the fresh, frigid air on her face kept them to a minimum.
He didn’t come after her and she didn’t look back. He had a lot to think about, she supposed, as did she. At least the cat was out of the bag, finally. She found herself in the library again, in front of the fire, sitting on the ottoman of the chair in which she had fallen asleep before. She pulled the pins from her hair and let it all fall down her back. She took both hands and raked them through her hair like a comb. She put the pins in the pocket of Devon’s coat that she realized she still had on. She stood up when she realized this and took it off. She neatly laid it over the back of the chair, stroking it as if Devon might still be in it, and pulled a couple of her long blonde hairs from it.
How could she ever survive watching Devon teeter on the cusp, not knowing which side he would land? Hers or Libby’s? She sat back down in front of the fire and wrapped the blanket around herself. She laid her head on Devon’s coat; his scent on it made her feel even sadder.
She woke in the middle of the night. The house was silent as she went up the stairs. As she tiptoed down the hallway, she thought she heard a woman’s voice. She stood there for a minute listening, but heard nothing more and continued on to her room.
As she got into bed, she thought how she hated to sleep alone. How funny that seemed now. For so long she had slept by herself until Devon came along. How easily she had melted back into not wanting to be alone. It seemed like forever since he had slept with her or even held her. Would he ever again? She wasn’t sure anymore of anything. She lay in bed but didn’t really sleep and thought of all the things that he had said. How sad he’d looked when telling his story of his love being taken from him by his evil cousin. Somehow though, she was pretty sure it wasn’t Anton who was evil. Something told her that Libby was the culprit.
Before Darby knew it, it was morning and there was the familiar tapping at her door. “Come in, Bernard.”
“Good morning, Miss.” With him entered Mr. Chow and Sammy toting his tennis ball. “Will you be joining us for breakfast?”
“Thank you, yes. I’ll be down in a minute.” She put on her bunny slippers and one of the beautiful sweaters Devon had bought her and headed down the stairs. She found Dominic seated at his usual chair and Devon too, both reading the paper, but no Anton. She did not kiss Devon this morning or stroke his hair as she walked by. Oh, she wanted to, but she wasn’t sure if she should. The ball was now in his court.
He set his paper down and offered the front page, to which she declined. She really was out of her element, refusing to read the paper in the morning. She hadn’t realized until that very moment that she hadn’t once read the paper since she arrived in Connecticut. All her adult life she had taken after her father in the morning ritual of reading the paper. At home, she and Devon always shared the morning paper. He was stunned and actually, she was too. She went to the sideboard, grabbed a muffin and coffee, and sat down without a word to either of them. She figured Dominic could tell that things hadn’t gone as Devon had planned the night before. And that’s when all hell broke loose.
Into the room bounced the most beautiful woman Darby had ever seen. She looked like an angel with flawless, porcelain skin and long ringlets of honey blonde hair that reached past her waist. She wore a gorgeous white negligee that barely covered her. It was long, but so sheer even with its robe, that Darby could see everything, including her moles. Darby wasn’t sure if she should be embarrassed for her or in awe of her. Who is this woman? She certainly didn’t have anything to be ashamed of; that was for sure. Both men stood at her presence and Darby was absolutely sure Devon’s eyeballs were going to fall out of his head as he got the full picture of her. Dominic, however, made no eye contact.
When the woman saw Devon at the table she nearly jumped for joy. Darby really hoped she wouldn’t as she didn’t really want to see that. But the woman did anyway. Again, Darby was sure Devon was going to have a stroke.
“Oh, Devon, love. It’s so good to see you!” She wrapped herself around him like a boa constrictor. “Anton said you were here visiting and I just had to see for myself.” And again, she wrapped herself around him tightly, then backed up again and did another little jump.
Love? That’s what Devon calls me at home. Love, did he get that from her? Gross. Oh dear Lord, this is not going to be fun, Darby thought to herself, but she was careful to block her thoughts.
“It’s good to see you too, Libby,” Devon said.
Libby? The bouncing gorgeous angel woman was Libby. CRAP! Darby thought. CRAP, CRAP and Double CRAP!
When the woman finally got done mauling Devon, Dominic said, “Libby, this is Darby O’Rielly, Devon’s guest.”
“Oh, you brought a servant? And you’re letting her eat with us? You always were the sweetest man, love.” Libby moved her place setting to within one half centimeter of Devon’s. Devon, perhaps too overwhelmed by her display of bouncy affection, didn’t answer, but Dominic stepped in with, “No, Libby! Miss Darby lives with Devon.”
“Well, of course she does, that’s what servants do, Dominic.”
“No, Libby, Darby and Devon are a couple,” Dominic said loudly.
“Well, now, that is something. The boy scout is living in sin? Have you become a bad boy, love?” She traced her long, claw-like ruby nails along Devon’s lips, ignoring Darby. “Who would have ever thought the saint would ever be a sinner? How intriguing.”
Dominic said, “So to what do we
owe the honor of your presence, Libby?”
“Don’t be so rude, Dominic. I told you. I heard Devon had come and I just had to see him. It’s been so long. I thought we could catch up on old times, maybe have dinner in the city?”
“How does that sound to you, Darby?” Devon said, finally finding his voice.
“Not…” Darby started.
“Oh, Debbie will love it. She can take a sightseeing tour and we can sit and talk at some posh little bistro. Then we’ll go to the nicest restaurant and Darla can pig out on anything she likes, while we talk about old times.”
“It’s Darby, and no, I think I’ll pass. Seems a little too crowded for me.”
“See Devon, Dolly’s fine with it. I’ll go get prettied up and we can head out.” She took one bite of toast, kissed Devon practically on the mouth, but just shy of it, as the red lipstick was stamped there as evidence.
Stunned, Darby stared at Devon in disbelief. He looked at her confused and said, “What?”
“What? You have to ask? You don’t see anything wrong with what just happened?” Dominic looked as though he’d like to disappear. Devon was also embarrassed, but not by Abby.
“Darby, please! Mind yourself!” he hissed at her while shooting a glance toward Dominic. Appalled, Darby got up and started to walk out when Devon said, “I don’t understand. You said you didn’t want to go, does that mean you do want to go?”
“No, Devon, Debbie doesn’t want to go and you shouldn’t either,” she said and walked out.
Devon shook his head. “Who is Debbie?”
Dominic laughed. “For an engineer, son, you really can be quite clueless,” he said as he left the room. Libby came down the stairs decked out like a movie star.
Darby watched from her bench on the other side of the pond as the red car left with Devon and Libby. Darby thought, can he really be so stupid?
Chapter 9
She decided they were gone now, no reason to hide, so she headed back to the house. She headed up the stairs to her room to get a change of socks and heard something fall in a room down the hall. She walked down to the closed door and knocked. “Are you okay?”
“Go away, I’m fine.”
“Anton?” She opened the door to find him on the floor next to the bed, the pitcher of water now on the floor soaking his pajamas and t-shirt.
She ran to him, throwing her coat and scarf on the foot of the bed.
“Leave me alone!”
“Don’t be stupid, Anton. Let me help you. What were you thinking? You need only say the word and someone would help you. You’re in a house full of people who love you, you knucklehead.” She took his arm, wrapping it around her neck, and helped him stand up and then sit down on the bed. He could barely do that on his own. “You are soaking wet.” She grabbed the bottom of his t-shirt and pulled it up over his head revealing a massive hairless chest. A tattoo of a Celtic intertwining chain wrapped around his bicep like an armband and a Pegasus with wide spread wings and flaming red eyes adorned the left side of his chest and shoulder.. She tried not to stare and went to the chest of drawers and searched for a t-shirt. Every drawer she opened was full of women’s clothes. “Where is your stuff, Anton?”
“She put it in the bottom of the closet. You don’t need to help me; I’m fine.”
“Boy, you Larsens are stubborn. Now I know where Blake and Devon get it. Was your aunt stubborn?”
“She could be.” Finally, she found a T-shirt and some dry pajama bottoms. She helped him with his shirt. “Can you manage the bottoms?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said rudely so she turned around as he tried, but he hit the nightstand and just about fell again. Darby turned around to find him in his t-shirt and underwear.
“Don’t be so stubborn; if you need help just say so.” She held him as he slid his legs to the edge of the bed, then she slipped his legs into the pajama pants, pulled them up to his thighs, and then helped him stand to pull them up the rest of the way. She helped him sit back down and pulled the covers up. She grabbed the pitcher and glass and took both to the bathroom, rinsing and refilling them. She also grabbed a towel to soak up the water on the floor. She filled a glass of water and handed it to him.
“Are you sure you don’t need something? I don’t know, something with more sustenance? Blood or something? You look awful, Anton.”
“You should get out of here; if she finds you here, there will be hell to pay.”
“Who? Libby? She’s gone with Devon to the city.”
“You let her go with him?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know if I should say; you are married to the woman, after all.”
“Tell me.”
“Only if you tell me your side of the story.”
“What story?”
“When you and Libby hooked up.”
“Why do you want to know? Don’t you just assume it’s all my fault, like Devon does?”
“Actually, no. In the two minutes I met Libby, I was pretty sure it was never you. I mean, come on, she might as well have had sex with Devon right there on the table in front of me calling me Debbie, Dolly, and Darla the entire time and assuming I was Devon’s maid.”
“How very Libby.”
“Yes. It seems everyone sees Libby for who she is except Devon, so I would like to hear your side of the story.”
“But it won’t change Devon’s mind.”
“That’s not the point. I’d like to know for my own sanity.”
“You really love him, don’t you?”
“I really, really do. After meeting Libby though, I wish I didn’t.”
“Why?”
“Why do you think? In his eyes, forty years later, she is completely blameless, gorgeous, and here. I can’t compete with the image he has of her. Only she can ruin that for him. So tell me, what is your relationship with her? I thought you were separated.”
“I wish. She comes and goes as she pleases. She has other men she frequents too.”
“So why? Why do you let her keep coming back?”
“I don’t know. It’s as if when she’s around, I have no control over anything.”
“So you are still having, well, still intimate with her?”
“I think that’s the only reason she comes back. It’s certainly not love, it never was.”
“Never?”
“Well, maybe I thought it was in the beginning. She’s a terrible flirt. She only dated Devon to get into the Larsen house; at least that’s what she told me. He brought her for dinner that first night and whenever Devon was out of view, she was all over me. At the time, I didn’t really mind; she was gorgeous and well, I always felt I had to compete with Devon for everything. It was kind of fun at first when she found me more interesting than him. Stroked my ego, I suppose, but it quickly became manipulative. She pushed for an elopement. She was wonderful in the beginning, but tired of me rather quickly and then she started finding other men to entertain herself with.”
“Why you? Not that you aren’t very handsome in your own right.”
“She wanted to be a pure blood. Married to nobility. She wanted it all, and well, Devon’s mother didn’t marry a pure blood; she married for love, making Blake and Devon not as desirable to Libby. But he was certainly a step in the door. Too bad he was so devastated by her betrayal. He really was better off.”
“So when did your health start declining?”
“I don’t know, about three months ago?”
“What changed? What were you doing before as compared to after it started?”
“I don’t know, nothing. I was living in my apartment in the city, working in the gallery and traveling as usual.”
“What about Libby? Did she come and go, like she does now?”
“Yeah, no real difference there.”
“So nothing about the relationship changed then?”
“No, not that I can think of, why? Do you think she has something to do with this?”
“Boy, I hope not. I did notice when I helped you with your shirt, that you have tattoos. Any new ones, say in the past few months?”
“No. I got these before I met Libby. Why?”
“I came across something once, where a demon was using his blood as tattoo ink, so he could collect energy through the person with the tattoo. It was just a thought, seeing your tattoos.”
“How unpleasant.”
“You have no idea. I also noticed you have what Devon calls ‘bug bites’ on your neck.”
“How close were you looking at me?” She rolled her eyes. He laughed. “Yes, a little fetish of Libby’s. She likes to have a little taste.”
“I didn’t think vampires fed on other vampires.”
“She doesn’t feed; she just has a little nibble.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I know. Vampires don’t feed on vampires. They can’t control another vampire’s mind like they can a human. Feeding would deplete a person, weaken them, and I’d know if she were feeding on me.”
“But look at you, Anton. You are weakened, you look depleted of blood! Are you sure?”
“Yes,” he answered, seeming angry.
“Okay. I’m not trying to make you mad, Anton. I just want to help. Truly. I believe you if you say she’s not feeding on you; then there must be another explanation. Can I ask, though, in this fetish, do you have a little taste of her? Devon said that some vampires share each other’s blood, that it was a type of intimacy?”
“No, she’d never allow it. I tried once; she just about threw me out the window.”
“Yikes. Has she quite a temper?”
“You have no idea.”
“Hmmm. So is there anything I can get you? Some tea? A sandwich? Soup?”
Blood Lust Page 8
