We told our idea to Dad, and he agreed that this was probably the best course of action. He called Grandma, and soon we were on our way back to land toward the tiny marina.
Thankfully all the other boats that were normally stationed here were either docked and sitting empty or hadn’t come in yet.
Grandma and Shelly were waiting for us at the pier. They took our new friend, whose name was Sarit, with them, and Dad turned the boat around to head out to sea once again.
When we finally reached our original coordinates, Dad shut the engine down, and we went to work turning on the same lights, setting out our food, cards, and telescopes the way they had been.
We dropped one of the large fishing nets back into the water and made the metal bend and give way in one of the joints of the arm on the other to look as though it had strained from serious metal fatigue.
We then moved the men into position, pulling their bodies around and scattering them about on the deck, strategically placing fish net over them. We took extra care to make sure that Enrico and Vance were both completely dry also.
“You guys ready?” Vance called to us as we all took our places inside the cabin, pretending to be watching the house.
“Yes!” I called back to him, and he waved his hand over the men before running back in to lean over in front of me.
“Ahhh!” I heard one of the men scream loudly. He grabbed at the fishnet over his body, struggling to remove it from him.
The others’ voices soon joined his, as they tried to push up out of the nets, calling out for help.
“Oh my gosh!” I yelled, running from the cabin. “What happened? Dad, Vance, Brad, come quick!”
The three of them dashed out of the cabin, pausing for a second to look at the scene ahead of them before rushing to help, trying to gather the net and pull the men from beneath it.
When we had freed the men from their restraints, they huddled together looking confused at us, as Brad excitedly pointed up to the broken beam in Spanish.
The crew looked up in awe and dismay.
“No! No!” Enrico shouted when he saw the damage, grabbing his hair in his hands and talking rapidly in Spanish.
“Ask him what happened?” Vance said, prompting Brad.
Brad relayed the question, but the men just looked dazed and confused, shaking their heads as they talked rapidly to each other, and I was afraid they might be sharing their stories about us and what they had seen earlier.
Dad stepped up then and asked Brad to translate for him.
“Tell them we’ll pay for the damage to their boat since it happened while they were trying to help us out,” he prompted.
Brad relayed the message, and Enrico grabbed Dad’s hand, shaking it vigorously out of gratitude.
“Gracias! Gracias!” he said over and over again, bowing his head down to each of us, happy to know he hadn’t just lost his way to make his living.
“No problem!” Dad said with a smile as he shook Enrico’s hand back. “Tell them we’re done with our investigation and ready to leave whenever he desires.”
Brad passed the communication along.
The men worked to quickly pull the other full net up and onto the boat. Enrico made his way to the controls, and we were headed back to the marina once again.
The rest of us packed up our belongings in the cabin and went back out onto the deck to help the fishermen load their catch down into the cargo storage hold beneath the floor.
When we pulled up to the dock, Dad pulled a very large roll of American one hundred dollar bills out of his duffle bag and handed it to Enrico.
“Gracias!” Enrico called out again, as he profusely shook Dad’s hand over and over.
I thought it was funny how they just assumed the money came from Dad when I knew it was from Vance’s bank account, but Vance didn’t seem to be bothered one bit by the whole exchange, not even blinking an eye at it.
We climbed off the boat and onto the pier, and Miguel handed our stuff over to us. We left the smiling men waving at us as we walked away.
We quickly threw our stuff in the trunk and climbed into the car. Vance placed his key in, started the engine, and we drove off, leaving the smiling men behind us none the worse for wear.
“Do you think they bought it?” I asked with a laugh, now that we were finally out of earshot.
“I think so,” Vance replied with a smile. “They were awfully friendly there towards the end when they saw all that money.”
“I hated breaking their boat,” I said, truly feeling bad that it had come to that and hoping it wouldn’t take long for them to get it repaired.
“Well, we couldn’t let Sarit drown, and we couldn’t leave them there freaking out like they were,” Brad said.
“What’s done is done,” my dad added. “Thankfully it seems to have all worked out. This has definitely been one crazy night.”
“I’m afraid it’s only going to get worse from here,” Vance added, growing serious once again.
“I’m afraid you’re right,” Dad said echoing his concern.
The whole coven was waiting for us when we entered the condo, sitting around Sarit, who was eating a fresh bowl of hot soup on the couch.
I was happy to see that she was dry, dressed in someone’s borrowed clothing, and covered in a warm blanket.
“So we’ve all heard Sarit’s side of the story,” Grandma said, looking us all over. “How about yours? It sounds as if all of you have had a dreadful experience this evening.”
Dad began to fill everyone in on the things we had seen and experienced, though he edited the gory details extremely out of deference toward Sarit and all she had been through.
Vance leaned in toward me while Dad was speaking, looking very tired and worn out.
“I’m going to go get in the shower,” he said softly. “I positively reek of fishy saltwater.”
“Okay,” I said, nodding my head as he leaned over to give me a peck on the cheek, before he stood and walked off.
Everyone was listening with rapt attention to Dad as he explained the events we had witnessed. I stood up, moving away, not wanting to hear any more about it and walked into my own bedroom, thinking that a shower sounded just like the thing I needed to do, too.
I went to the drawer, reached in to get out a tank top along with some soft shorts, and headed into the bathroom, shutting the door behind me.
Once I was in the shower, I let the water rush over me as I tried desperately to not think about the images that were trying to invade my mind.
I heard the door to the bathroom open quietly a few moments later.
“It’s just me,” Shelly said softly, as she entered.
“Hey, Shelly,” I said, shampooing my hair.
“Was it awful?” she asked bluntly.
“It was worse than awful,” I replied honestly as I massaged the sudsy bubbles into my scalp. “Can we not talk about it right now, though? I’m really tired, and I’d just rather forget about the whole thing for a little while.”
“I understand,” she said, though I thought I could hear regret lacing through her voice. “I’m glad you’re all safely back here, though.”
“Me, too,” I replied to her, meaning every word of it.
“Are you going to sleep in Vance’s room tonight again?” she asked, changing the subject.
“Most definitely,” I answered. “I don’t want him to be alone after everything that’s happened tonight.”
I knew the real reason was I didn’t want to be away from him after all I had witnessed either.
“Well, sleep good then. I’ll talk to you in the morning.” Her voice sounded a little bit sad.
“Night, Shell,” I called out to her as she left the room, feeling bad for letting her down when she was trying to talk to me about things.
I climbed out of the shower and dried off, then got dressed for bed. I pulled my damp towel-dried hair into sections before I braided it into one long single braid down my back.
&
nbsp; Afterward I brushed my teeth, before cleaning up my mess and returning to the living room.
Everyone had already left our condo, and I was thankful for that since I didn’t want to face any questions from the others right now. I assumed that proper sleeping arrangements had been made for Sarit, since she was no longer here either, so I made my way across the room and down the hall to Vance’s room.
I knocked lightly on the door, and I heard him call out to me.
“It’s open, Portia. Come in.”
I walked into the room to see him lying in the bed with the covers up to his waist, his chest bare, his arms resting behind his head on the pillow.
“Come get comfy,” he said reaching over to throw the covers back on the other side of the bed.
I crawled into the huge bed and scooted over next to him, laying my head against his bare shoulder.
He wrapped his arm around my back, and I just lay there next to him in the dim lamplight, reaching out to draw lazy circles with my finger on his chest.
We didn’t say anything, each of us lost in our own thoughts, though I purposely steered mine away from any events of this evening.
“Are you doing okay?” he finally asked, breaking the long silence between us.
I nodded my head, continuing my absent tracing of his sculpted muscles with my finger, trying hard to concentrate only on the beauty of his physique.
He, in return, toyed absently with my braided hair, seemingly as content as I was to avoid the issues at hand.
“You ready to go to sleep?” he asked a few minutes later. He reached down and picked my hand up off his chest and kissed each one of my fingertips.
I nodded again.
“I have just one request,” I said softly as I stared into his eyes.
“What’s that?” he replied, looking down at me questioningly.
“Can we please sleep with the light on tonight?” I felt dumb to request such a childish thing from him.
“Yes, baby,” he said, understanding me immediately and pulling me into the comfort of his arms. He enveloped me completely within the safety of his warm embrace. “Yes, we can.”
Chapter 16
“NO! Stop!” I screamed into the air as I was running, my lungs aching from breathing heavily in the darkness.
I couldn’t get away. The fog swirled around me as I looked over my shoulder behind me. Damien Cummings stepped out of the mist and into my view.
“Hello, Portia,” he said, an evil smile stretching across his face as he stalked toward me.
“NOOO!” I screamed, turning to run again.
“Portia!” Vance’s voice called out in the gloominess that surrounded me. “Portia! Wake up!”
I could feel him shaking my body as I slowly came to. I opened my eyes, trying to focus.
I looked around to see that I was still in his bedroom, the dim lamplight casting an angelic-looking halo around Vance’s form as he held me, cradling me in his arms, a worried look on his face.
Grabbing him, I clung desperately to him as I started sobbing.
“It’s all right now,” he whispered into my hair as he placed tiny kisses against my forehead. “It was just a nightmare. You’re safe right here with me. I won’t let him hurt you.”
He continued to hold me as I cried, and I could see the wetness of my tears dripping against his bare skin.
He didn’t rush me, letting me step firmly back into reality, before he leaned back against his pillows so he could take a good look at me.
“I’m sorry,” I said, as I looked at him with my red swollen eyes, reaching out with one of my hands to wipe my tears off his now damp chest.
“Don’t apologize,” he replied with a soft glance. “You have nothing to be sorry for. I’m the one who should be asking for your forgiveness.”
“For what?” I said, completely confused.
“For dragging you and your family into all this mess,” he replied with a frustrated glance.
“It isn’t your fault.” I sighed as I looked at him. “You had no idea what was happening either.”
“Maybe not, but it’s my flesh and blood which seem to be causing all the psychotic problems in your life lately,” he reminded me, looking truly sorry about it.
“If that’s what I have to deal with to be with you, then so be it,” I replied, laying my head back against his solid torso and wrapping my arm around his waist to give him a little squeeze.
He didn’t say anything for a few moments, instead just ran his fingers over the rubber tie that held my braid. After a few seconds, I felt him pull the band off. He then began to run his hands through my still partially damp hair until it laid spread out across his body.
“You are so beautiful,” he said softly, as his hand continued on, stroking over the strands in a manner I soon found very relaxing. “Sometimes I still can’t believe that you want me as much as I want you.”
“Well, believe it, because it’s true,” I responded, lightly rubbing my hand over his exposed bicep, which rippled handsomely with every little movement he made, sending happy little shivers of attraction down my spine at the sight.
“What am I going to do about all this, Portia?” he asked in muted exasperation. “I have no idea how to stop him, but I can’t let this continue on either.”
“Don’t worry about it right now,” I replied, trying to think of a way to calm him as he was calming me. “We’ll talk things over in the morning with everyone else and see if we can’t come up with something.”
“I do worry about it. We can’t have a real future until I figure out a way to fix all this. I’ve been awake all night long trying to outline some sort of plan. I’m at a complete loss.”
“You’ve been awake all night?” I asked, lifting my head to look at him, worried that he wasn’t getting any rest.
He nodded.
“I was watching you sleep,” he said with a half smile. “You make such sweet little faces when you’re dreaming.”
“And when I’m having nightmares?” I asked sarcastically.
“You start screaming,” he said looking at me with concern. “So, I think it’s interesting to find out that my father has been the horrible thing in the fog that you’ve been running from all along,” he added, as he brushed some of my hair back behind my ear.
I shrugged and laid my head back down on his chest, not really wanting to think about it any more.
“Well, I don’t blame you. I’m thinking he’s a pretty scary monster right now myself,” he said.
When I didn’t say anything, he nudged me a little with his arm.
“Hey,” he said.
I looked up at him.
“Come here,” he added with a little jerk of his chin.
I moved the rest of the way up his chest, until my face was directly above his.
He reached up and placed both of his hands on each side of my head, pulling me in so he could kiss me on the lips.
“I love you,” he said, when he finally pulled back, his gaze flickering over the features of my face.
I nodded my head looking back at him.
“I love you, too,” I replied, knowing I would never get tired of hearing him say those words to me.
“Portia, I won’t let him hurt you; you know that, right?” he said, as he searched my eyes, and I could see the love and concern written plainly there.
I nodded my head again, laying it back onto his chest, letting him just hold me until I fell into a deep sleep once again.
When I finally woke up in the morning, he was still sleeping. I was lying on my side, in the crook of his shoulder, facing toward him. His arm was wrapped loosely around me, with his hand lightly resting on my shoulder.
I didn’t move a muscle as I was reluctant to wake him, and I didn’t want to do anything that might start his withdrawal process.
Listening, I could hear the rest of the family and coven out in the common area of the condo, making breakfast it sounded like, while talking with one another, spor
adic laughter filling the air. I knew I should get up and go help out, but it was so nice right here in this moment.
I let my gaze wander over the sleeping face that I loved so much. He was relaxed and peaceful right now, giving his look a tender quality I hadn’t seen since many days gone by.
I loved his thick dark lashes that lay gently against his cheeks. I loved looking at him period, never tiring of seeing him at any time, in any situation. He was a master at stealing my breath away, and I wondered if he were aware of that fact at all.
My line of sight continued down to his perfectly shaped nose and over his luscious full lips that I delighted in kissing so much and having them kiss me so passionately in return.
I traveled lower, over his strong chin with its ever-so-slight cleft in the middle, and down his neck where I could see his pulse beating steadily.
Continuing my perusal of him, my eyes traveled down to where my hand rested lightly on his smooth tanned chest, in between his perfectly toned and shaped pectoral muscles.
The blankets were scrunched up at his waist, covering most of the six pack abs that I already knew were underneath, so I let my vision trail a path down where his hips were hidden beneath the linens, and over the outlines of his long, strong, legs down to where his feet rested, with one foot kicked carelessly out from underneath the quilt that covered both of us.
He was such a perfect creature. He was all male, sinew, muscle, magic, looks and power wrapped into one incredibly amazing package.
I closed my eyes and wondered what it was about me that had possibly attracted him.
“Apparently you’ve never noticed me looking at you like that before,” his voice whispered into my head.
My eyes popped open to look at him.
His eyes were open slightly, and he was looking over at me with a soft smile spreading across his lips.
“Good morning,” he said out loud in a quiet voice.
“How long have you been awake?” I asked, looking into the red eyes that watched me intently.
“Long enough to enjoy the thoughts in that pretty little head of yours,” he replied, and I noticed the first pangs of his morning withdrawal as it shot through his body, causing him to clench involuntarily.
Of Witches and Warlocks: The Demon Kiss Page 17
