by Bonnie Vanak
Dale roughly nodded in agreement. In the hospital, his eyes were cold and dead, blank and devoid of emotion. He’d look into the mirror and see nothing, feel nothing, except a frozen emptiness.
He wasn’t a man.
He had become nothing.
When he came home, he learned to regain his life. Little things like shaving on his own with a steady hand. Sleeping with only one pistol under his pillow instead of two.
Turning off the downstairs lights when he went to bed, not leaving them blazing to chase away every shadow.
Little by little, his routine returned, with small changes. Now, instead of the basement, he kept the iron in the kitchen to press his shirts and get the crease in his pants perfect. He turned on the radio to SiriusXM’s classical-music station and let the soothing tones fill the air to tune out memories of his blood dripping on the basement floor.
And then there was Keira, with her unevenness, disorganization, crystals and spontaneity, turning his ordered life upside down all over again. Keira with her shining white light and big green eyes and air of innocence amid a world-weariness he’d seen so many times in his mirror.
Keira, who was bringing light back into the dark corners of his life.
He wanted to kiss her, draw her into his arms and hold her tightly against him. Jesus, it had been too long since he’d had sex. Melissa was often his bed partner, safe and predictable, and always combing her hair after, checking her makeup and teeth. She always seemed to worry about ruining her hair.
Orgasms, yeah, she’d had a few. Dale knew he was a good lover. Staying with Melissa had been the easy way. She never complained when his work took him overseas, never hinted about marriage or commitment. There was no real passion, no fire.
With a start he realized his relationship with Melissa was tepid as cold tea. But Keira...
Keira would probably love it if he fisted a hand in her hair and kissed her hard and deep. She wouldn’t complain about getting hot and sweaty if he coaxed her to scream and beg. She’d cling to him tightly as they tangled together, two lost souls reaching for pleasure to chase away the cloying darkness....
Where the hell had that come from? He shook his head, trying to clear his mind.
“I wonder if it has to do with your new Luminaire, Keira,” Stephen mused.
“She’s definitely improved my life since I got out of the hospital. I’d have introduced you, but she went to bed early.”
“Have you done a background check on her?”
Dale nodded and told him about the admiral’s mind-meld. “She’s clean, seldom stays in one place, usually takes odd jobs here and there, probably to bulk up her income. No known relationships or associations with any groups.”
“Bring her to the base and have Thad check her out.”
He swallowed his surprise with the brandy. “Planned to bring her to the base, but not to have my half-demon petty officer examine her. Why?”
“Most Luminaires lack sufficient power to tackle demons. Just being cautious. Especially since she’s so closely connected to you. Call me a concerned friend.” Stephen stretched out his fingers. “Tell me about her.”
Dale did. For the next few minutes, he told Stephen how she’d invaded his life, turned it upside down. A wide grin touched his mouth as he relayed the story of the coffee.
“She sounds quite spirited.” Stephen studied him. “You like her. A lot.”
His shrug hid his feelings. “I like how she cleans my house.”
“You like more than that, I sense it. If that’s the case, don’t screw it up, Curt, or you’ll lose her the way you lost Kathy.”
The brandy soured in his stomach. “My wife left because she cheated on me with a goddamn yoga instructor named Larry. They’re probably eating macrobiotic food and living in a hut somewhere while they commune with nature.”
“Your wife left because you couldn’t give her an emotionally satisfying relationship. You neglected her.”
“Bull. I gave her everything she wanted. There was no reason for her to leave our bed.” He tossed back his drink. When I was around to please her. But the life of a SEAL meant deployment and down range took precedence over the home range.
Stephen leaned back and swirled the brandy in his snifter. “I’m not talking about sex. For women, it has to be more than great sex if you want a relationship to outlast the tough times. When was the last time you told Kathy she was pretty? Brought her flowers, ones you picked out yourself, not had one of your staff buy? Took a day or two off to spend in bed with her, feed her chocolate and strawberries?”
The vampire set down the glass and leaned forward, hands braced on his knees. “Told her all your dreams and hopes? Shared your fears about the job, shared yourself?”
Dale’s scowl faded. Had he been so caught up in the job that he’d neglected Kathy’s needs?
“I know a thing or two about women, Curt. And I know you SEALs. You’re so busy jumping out of planes and blowing things up that even when you spend time at home, your mind is still on the job.”
Stephen glanced at the doorway. “That Luminaire is the first woman to make you this animated in the past ten years since Kathy left. She’s the best chance you have at happiness. Don’t blow it. Give her an emotionally satisfying relationship, not just the ten orgasms a night you give the other ladies who’ve wandered through your life.”
“Twelve,” he said absently. Far easier to please Keira in bed and keep her so enthralled with sex than to share himself. He couldn’t risk handing over his heart because no way in hell would he risk having that particular organ sliced and diced again like his ex had done to it.
He rubbed a hand over his face. “That pretty Luminaire is my housekeeper, vamp. I have no intentions of forming any kind of relationship with her.”
“Oh.” Stephen ran his tongue over the tip of one fang. “Then you won’t mind me indulging. I’ve never had a Luminaire in my bed. I bet she likes her sex with a bit of bite.”
Dale grew enraged at the thought of Stephen nibbling his way down Keira’s long neck, getting her naked and tumbling her into bed. He fixed a cold stare at the vampire. “She’s in my house, under my protection. You touch her, and I’ll snap off both your fangs and break your fingers, one by one.”
A low laugh rumbled from Stephen. “A little much, Curt. See? I knew she was more than just a housekeeper and your therapist.”
Then the vampire drained his brandy in a single gulp. “Be careful, Curt. Soon as you can, bring her to the base and have Thad check her out.”
“She’s not a demon,” Dale countered.
“Maybe not. But there is something about her you like,” Stephen said darkly. “And if she’s hiding something, you could be in danger, my friend.”
“My heart or my life?”
“Quite possibly both.”
Chapter 12
Sunrise was the best time of day.
After filling a mug with coffee, Keira opened the sliding glass doors and stepped onto the wooden deck. Pink streaked the leaden sky, chasing away the ghosts of night. Behind her, Dale stepped out, looking crisp and refreshed in dark trousers and a powder-blue polo shirt.
“You don’t have to get up this early. It’s Saturday,” he told her.
“I like watching the sunrise and greeting the day.”
Dale braced his hands on the railing. “It’s just another sunrise. I’ve seen plenty.”
“There’s no such thing as just another sunrise. When you’ve spent a long time in darkness, you learn to appreciate every single time the sun rises, because it means a new day filled with possibilities and fresh hope.”
He turned and studied her. She cradled her coffee cup, holding her hands around it protectively.
“Is that what happened to you, Keira? Is that why you travel around the country, doing your feel-good routine? Because you want to chase away the darkness? What kind of darkness are you talking about? The darkness of demons?”
How astute of him. How well he�
��d pegged her. But she wasn’t one of the problem countries on his map. Stick a pushpin into it, categorize it and file it away. And suddenly, she needed him to know that, needed him to realize she wasn’t a problem easily solved and soon forgotten.
Because for years, she had remained forgotten, a dusty pushpin tucked away in a drawer, never taken out into the light, no one ever knowing of her existence. Anyone who would have remembered her, family or friends, was dead.
Keira needed this man, who’d call her his enemy if he knew who she was. But being remembered, even as an enemy, seemed much less painful than having her life wink out into permanent darkness. Once she left Dale Curtis, that was it. She wasn’t aiding the demons again. If Dale failed to vanquish the Centurions, Keira would never return to hurting others.
Even if she lost her own life.
“Everyone has demons. Some are larger than others.” She sipped her coffee and lifted her face to the dawn.
“True. I have my own.”
Dale crossed the distance between them, his gaze intense as he studied her. She became aware of the way the peacock-blue and green satin kimono clung to her body, how the cool morning air touched her skin and made her nipples stand erect. Oh, how she adored pretty things. They fed her soul.
But the way he gazed at her now, as if she were more lovely than the satin or the sunrise, filled her heart.
Silly heart, she thought, feeling it pound harder as he stroked a finger over her satin-covered arm. Don’t you know that hearts are made for breaking?
Dale Curtis could steal inside hers, crush it beneath his military boots.
But she’d been lonely for so many years. Keira yearned for closeness and connection. All those horrific hours in the basement when the demons forced her into wolf form, and made her angry, pain-ridden beast rake claws over Dale’s exposed body, the small part of her humanity had registered his bravery, and his sacrifice.
This was a man worth saving.
This was a man she could fall in love with.
“There’s all kind of darkness. I’ve seen my share. It’s why I cherish the light, and try to find the good in people.”
Dale gave a wry smile. “I’ve seen my share as well, and why I try my damnedest to vanquish it.”
His mouth was firm and yet looked soft, soft enough to kiss. He had a rock-hard body, and suddenly she wondered what it would feel like to hold him against her. Casual sex for once, now that she was free to make her own choices.
For a little while.
His gaze was warm and as the sun touched the horizon, his admiring look made her toes curl.
You’re not good enough for him, a small voice whispered inside her. He deserves better.
She pushed aside the whispers, knowing they stemmed from the dark thoughts the demons had planted in her mind. Instead, Keira imagined herself looking at the monkeys at the zoo, sitting on the shore by the ocean, and eating a hot-fudge sundae in her flannel pj’s while watching old movies, all the things she’d taken a little time to enjoy when the demons granted her freedom.
“You’re so pretty when you smile like that,” he murmured, and brushed a lock of hair away from her face.
The bare touch against her cheek sent shivers of need curling up her spine. What would it be like waking up with this man in her bed, curling her naked body against him as they greeted the dawn?
Dale didn’t release her hair, but rubbed it between his fingers. “So soft,” he murmured.
She slowly inched away, forcing him to release the strand. “And it’s a mess. Bedhead. Shower time. Hang out here a few and I’ll make you breakfast when I’m finished.”
Keeping the smile in place, she saluted him with her coffee cup and ducked back into the house.
She took a hasty shower, combed her hair and pinned it in a severe bun, then selected an old pair of jeans and a candy-cane-striped shirt. Left untucked, the tails dangling past her bottom, the loose shirt looked definitely unsexy. Then she prepared a hot breakfast of eggs and sausages.
After breakfast, she rode shotgun in his truck to a local nursery. Dale switched on the radio and the droning sounds of classical music filled the cab. Keira shook her head and gave him a mock smile.
“No wonder you’re filled with negative energy. This music is boring.”
He threw her a look. “It’s classical.”
“Dirge music.”
“I suppose you’d tune in to a station that featured love songs.”
“Actually I prefer rock and roll. Or bluegrass.”
She punched a few buttons, brought up a satellite-radio bluegrass station and began humming the music. “Classic. Listen to that fiddle.”
“I prefer violin.”
“Snob. Live music is best. Always wanted to attend a big music festival, like Bonnaroo in Tennessee.”
Dale shook his head. “I think sealing my eardrums with hot wax would be more pleasant.”
“Expand your horizons and maybe you’ll learn to like it.”
She opened her purse and withdrew the checklist of what to purchase. Fennel and holly repelled evil. Burning mistletoe fended off negativity. Keira already made bay-leaf sachets, soaking the leaves in water for three days and then straining them, sprinkling the dried leaves around the house.
“Rosemary and heather, lavender against bad dreams and negative energy,” she murmured. “We may not find everything at one nursery. This could take a while.”
“There you go again, focusing on the negative,” he teased.
“I’m not negative, just practical. This is a war. In war, don’t you use every weapon in your arsenal against the enemy?”
At his nod, she continued. “My arsenal consists of plants and herbs and crystals, and what white light I can coax from elemental energy.”
“Not as effective as an M16.”
“No. But some demons eat M16s for dinner before gnawing on your bones as their dessert.”
A long silence stretched between them. She noticed how tightly he gripped the steering wheel, his gaze haunted. “I know.”
He fiddled with the radio knob, punching buttons. The lively sounds of an orchestra blared from the speakers. “Georges Bizet’s opera, Carmen. Not melancholy or sad.”
She began humming along. “This sounds like marching music.”
“It is. I learned to drill in the navy to this music. Learned to take my first steps as a baby to it. Got diaper-trained to it.”
Keira turned her head and saw him wink. “Tease.”
* * *
As she’d expected, the first nursery they visited didn’t stock all the plants she needed. They spent the morning combing through several Virginia Beach nurseries. He surprised her, this navy commander who liked classical music and teasing her. He asked several questions of the staff about landscaping and colors, and fertilizers. Like everything else he did, he did nothing by half measures.
When the truck’s bed was full, Dale consulted his watch.
“Since it’s Saturday, and I don’t have to be at the base, let’s take a leisurely ride back and stop for a late lunch.”
“We should get back and start planting.”
Dale took her hand and turned it over. “You’ve been cooking for me all this time and it’s about time someone cooked for you. Let me treat you.”
His calloused thumb stroked over her palm, making small circles. Keira shivered again, wondering what it would feel like to have his hands roving all over her body.
They pulled into the parking lot of an Italian restaurant surrounded by tall trees. Dale escorted her to a booth by a wide window overlooking a garden. The natural rocks and plants soothed her. Sitting across the table from him, she almost felt like they were on a date.
The slave armband around her arm was a constant reminder this man was not a potential lover, but her employer and her protector from the Centurions.
Since she’d had so few pleasures, Keira indulged her imagination. The restaurant, with its mauve leather banquettes and music sof
tly playing in the background, was charming and romantic.
A waitress in a starched white shirt and crisp black pants took their drink orders and handed them thick menus.
Dale scanned the selections. “Lots of garlic. So no vamps here.”
“Any recommendations?”
“The lasagna and the spaghetti. Food here is excellent and they have good wine.”
The waitress came with a beer for Dale and a glass of ice water for Keira and took their orders. They started discussing places where they’d traveled, his favorite destinations and places she longed to visit. Enthralled, she watched him begin an animated discourse about volcano boarding in Guatemala.
The way he paid attention to her, how he kept asking her opinion and listened to her, really listened, made her feel special.
Only one other table was occupied. A man and woman on the restaurant’s other side sat across from each other, accompanied by a baby in a high chair and a little boy about four years old.
Keira sipped her water. “This is a nice restaurant. Isolated, though. How did you find it?”
“My team comes here for dinner. We like it because it’s hard to find for starstruck tourists wanting to see a real navy SEAL. The owners only recently started serving lunch and opening earlier. Word probably hasn’t gotten out yet.”
He glanced toward the restaurant’s other patrons and his expression lit up. “I’ll be a son of a bitch...”
Grabbing his bottle of beer, he slid out of the booth and went to the couple. “Blake the snake, how the hell are you?”
The man looked up and grinned. He jumped out of his chair and embraced Dale in a bear hug. “Curt! You bastard.”
They pounded each other on the back as the woman gave an indulgent smile. Dale grabbed an empty seat and pulled it up to the table.
“Dale, this is my wife, Jessica. Jess, meet Dale Curtis. Went through BUD/S together. Ex-swim buddies until I had to drop out, wuss that I was.”
“Wuss? You broke your left femur in two places.” Dale stuck out his palm. “Pleased to meet you.”
The woman smiled. “Hi. Honey, I’m taking Michael over to see the fish tank while you two catch up. Keep an eye on the baby.”
